Final Goodbyes - To be continued???

I want to take this time to thank everyone who has visited this blog in the past. I hope the readers got a good sense of the inner mind of a graduate student as I went through an entire school year of intensive higher education courses along with twenty hours of graduate assistantship! It has been a wonderful ride and a great pleasure to blog every week (it was almost therapeutic for me at the same time!).

It is amazing to look back each year and see the growth, not just academically but also socially and culturally. As I continue my career in higher education, I hope to look back every year and feel that I had learned something profound and impactful. I want to continue to develop my cultural competency so I am able to connect with everyone in some shape or form. It's a lofty goal, but I want each year to have some sort of growth and development, even when I am a seasoned higher education professional! The desire to learn and grow as a person and as a professional will hopefully push me to strive for new experiences each year. This may be my last admissions blog post, but it is definitely not the end of my journey in higher education!!!


Stay tuned for August/September when the new GAs of admissions and financial aid start the new cycle of blogs! It's been a great privilege and pleasure to blog for you all. Have a fantastic rest of spring and summer!

Sincerely,
Wesley
M.S.Ed. '14

UPenn Could've Would've Should've list

Another list! This is the last one, I promise. I was reflecting on this past year and wanted to write about the could've, should've, would've things to do at Penn GSE. This is just a short list of some of the things that I unfortunately missed out the chance to participate, either a class or activity. Hopefully this can inform the future cohort of Higher Education to think about spending some time to do!

1. Football game
     I think it's a tradition to go to a college football game, no matter how good they are. I unfortunately did not seize the chances to go to a game (I did go to a Penn basketball game). Looking back, that would have been a wonderful time to get to know my friends in the cohort even better. I did not realize that Spring semester would create such a drift among some of the people I hung out with during fall. So I wished that I had more chances to hang out with my cool cohort members in the fall.

2. Certain classes (Finance, Athletics, etc)
    For various reasons, this year's cohort did not get as many classes to choose from compared to this upcoming year. Regardless, there were definitely some classes that through the word of mouth this year was a enlightening experience. I wished I had shopped around the classes some more and taken a few other classes that would've been extremely helpful in my growth as a higher education professional. Needless to say though, all of the classes that I have taken this year have been awesome, but if I had the chance to take even more classes, I would do so in a heartbeat. (audit, anyone?)

3. Monthly Cohort Outings
     I am pretty close with my cohort and I have done several fun things with everyone at some point, but I felt that we missed out on a monthly cohort outing. I think it depends year by year if there is someone to take on the task of becoming the "social chair" so to speak and plan the weekly or monthly events for the cohort. We sporadically planned weekly happy hours but there was never anything consistent. I wished that there were more times to hang out with this awesome cohort!

UPenn Bucket List - Museum edition

Hi everyone! So last time I revealed my bucket list for the nearby restaurants and places that I would like to try before I graduate. This time I will talk a little bit about all the museums around UPenn. I love museums and science centers as a kid growing now and even more so today! The exhibits are becoming more and more hands on and it's refreshing to learn or re-learn those materials. Some of my friends would always ask me whether or not I mind the children running around science centers and museums. Honestly, I feel like a kid every time I step into one of those museums so I appreciate the enthusiasm and the active learning that takes place.

Over the past year or so I have gone to several science centers and museums, but I know there are still a few that I have not gone to yet. Hopefully (and this might be a long shot by now) I will have a chance to visit some of these before I leave!

1. Penn Museum
     Crazy! It is literally right there (10 min walk or so) and I believe it's free for Penn students! I just never found the time to visit. We did host the PhD and EdD weekend in the Egyptian exhibit and that was the extent of my visit. I hope to visit this museum soon!

2. Museum of Art
     I have to admit that I only ran up the steps (like Rocky) and did not actually go inside the museum. My friends were on a schedule and we did not have enough time to dedicate at least half of a day to the museum. Art museum is lower on my priorities when it comes to museums and science centers but I would still like to go and experience it before I leave.

3. Mutter Museum
     I don't know too much about this museum, but from those who have went, they have given me very good reviews. The focus of the museum is on medical history so it does have lots of skeletons and potentially bone-chilling exhibits.

4. Barnes Foundation
     Similar to the Penn Museum, I had the opportunity to go in there briefly when we hosted the GSE centennial celebration. However I was helping mostly with registration and did not have time to walk around the exhibits. The place is beautiful and I would compare this place to LACMA from back home. I hope to find some time as well to visit this place again!

UPenn Bucket list - Food edition

So I have about three weeks left in the program and I realized...there are so many restaurants and places that I have not yet tried! So I will describe a short list of restaurants near Penn GSE that I have to try before the semester is over. There are only a few weekends left in the semester but thankfully some of these places are super close!

Must try list
1. Doc Magrogan's
     This place is super close (on sansom st.) I heard from my friends that they have a really good happy hour late at night. And I love seafood! Can't believe I haven't tried this place yet (maybe it's the frugal grad student in me)

2. Pod
     Also really close (less than a min walk from where I live) famous for their expensive but delicious sushi. I will have to try it one day just for kicks and experience. maybe for happy hour as well?

3. Pattaya
     There are a few Thai restaurants around UPenn but I have heard great things about this particular one. I love the Pad See Ew back home so it will be a nice way to compare the quality!

4. Reading Terminal Market (because they have so many places to eat there)
     I have been there a few times already but there are just so many places to eat there! I have tried the most popular ones I hope (Dinic's roast beef, Beiler's donuts, Dutch breakfast place, etc). But I still need to try more places there, preferably on a weekday so it is not as busy.

5. Gigi's and Big R food truck
     Another good food truck recommended by someone. The Caribbean food I heard is AMAZING so I am excited to try them! I heard it is a bit on the salty side but jerk chicken and sides sounds good to me!

6. Food trucks on Market street
     This is a bit of a walk for me (like 5-10 mins) but there are a lot of wonderful food trucks there, especially during lunch time. I remember fall semester when I walked around and saw several interesting ones, but never really got around to trying them. Must try them soon!

The transition period

So I officially have a little more over a month before graduation. This week is the calm before the storm (next week I will have 3 presentations followed by a few big papers the week after). The job search is still going, but luckily I have received some responses, both good and bad (but hey, at least they are responding now). These next few weeks will truly test my resolve and will because there is not enough energy in my body to manage classes, social life, job search, and graduate assistantship.

SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE. 

Recently it has been classes because we are getting to the stages of preparing for our final papers and presentations (therefore less readings). But now that those are due soon, something else must give. The balance between those four aspects of grad school has definitely been a challenge. Since my post graduation schedule has been planned already to visit my sister's graduation, I want to make sure of every single free moment is spent with my wonderful cohort members. But hanging out with my cohort members means giving up precious time to write papers or search for more jobs. I have been tip toeing this line very carefully over the past several weeks and now comes the hardest balancing act of all, surviving the month before graduation.



An exciting time nonetheless, but things are about to get real. 

Spring is here!

Yay it is finally getting warmer! It's practically t-shirt and shorts weather now! Looking back at the winter season we had in Philly, I definitely have to say that it was a wonderful and fun learning experience. I had totally expected the snow and cold to stop around late February and BOY WAS I WRONG! We still had flurries and light snow all the way through late March. But now that it is close to mid April, the snow has been replaced by a weekly occurrence of rain...It  is just amazing to think about the drought that California went through recently and the amount of moisture the East Coast gets on a regular basis. BLOWS MY MIND.

So this week's forecast is in the 50's and 60's, which is UNHEARD of in the past few months. I see students walking outside with spring dresses, t-shirts and shorts! These are the days that I wish I can just go outside and play football or Frisbee and just enjoy the day with my cohort. Too bad this nice weather comes right in time for my final papers and projects so instead of frolicking outside, we are stuck indoors writing papers and creating presentations. I am looking forward to the week leading up to graduation when I will not have any classes or graduate assistantships. I am planning with a few of my friends in the cohort to have field days and hang out times with everyone before we go out separate ways. Hopefully I will get a chance to plan some more events leading up to that week, maybe even smaller food outings or happy hours. In any case, here is to the sunny weather in Philadelphia!

Me Time

Another tip for incoming students!

In the midst of all this craziness (last few weeks of classes, papers, job search, social life), it is still important to get some time to reflect and process everything. I've come to realize that as graduation approaches, I need more time to process everything and make sure that I am intentional with everything that I do. There is no time for wasted hours and weekends!

I went this past weekend to dim sum in China Town. I haven't eaten dim sum in Philly before and the experience was actually really good! I love ordering in Chinese and showing my cohort members the food and culture that I grew up with. I only hope that I can get more of my cohort members to come with me next time so we can all share this cool experience!

The countdown is real and it is fast approaching!