Another Wednesday as an IEDP Student

8:00am Wakeup & Prep for the Day with Cafecito

I try to be up and drinking my coffee by 8:00am. My morning routine this day consisted of making a to-go breakfast smoothie, packing lunch and getting out the door as fast as I could.

9:00pm Morning Library Session

I rushed out not because of class or prior commitment, but because I’ve noticed that I’m way more productive in the morning when I’m somewhere far from my bed. So, I went to the Moelis Family Grand Reading Room at Van Pelt, (the main library on campus). There I read emails, caught up on slack, and got started on my final assignment for Principles of Monitoring & Evaluation in International Education Development. This is an introductory statistics course which fulfills our Quantitative Methods requirement and is a favorite within the cohort this semester!

11:45pm Recitation

Recitation is my only required academic activity on Wednesdays. For two hours every week the entire cohort gathers to partake in enrichment activities like workshops on writing and study strategies and professional development. For this recitation session, Patty Greenfield, Associate Director at Career Services, walked us through a cover letter writing workshop. We read through sample cover letters and worked in pairs to identify a company or organization we would like to work for in the future. Then, we articulated the specific qualities and values of the organization that appeal to us.

2:00pm Co-working with Lauren & co.

Every week, I meet with Lauren and other IEDP Program Graduate Assistants to brainstorm blog topics, newsletter ideas, plan events, and collaborate on longer-term projects.

4:00pm Study Break

After co-working hours, I met up with a friend in a GSE study room to continue working on my final stats assignment. Instead of the silent study session we had planned, we ended up discussing which courses we’re thinking of taking next semester.

5:00pm Financial Wellness @ Penn Event

Then I headed a few blocks over to the Frankling Building for a Financial Wellness @ Penn event focusing on Purchasing Investment Assets. They talked IRA’s, 401(k)’s, student loan debt, and lots more. I also learned that as a Penn student I have free access to Aloola, a financial advising service.

6:00pm Group Run

I made it to one of Philidelphia Run’s free weekly community runs. These runs typically range from 3-5 miles and all paces are welcome. On this day, we did a speed workout: 1-mile warm-up followed by 30 seconds of speedwork and 1 minute of recovery 6 times with a 1-mile cooldown.

The sun sets by 4:30pm these days, which means that by 6:00pm it already feels like the depth of night. To stay visible, most runners were wearing these light-up vests.

I haven’t yet become a weekly regular, so I’m challenging myself to continue going throughout the winter. I hope to keep the excuses scarce since PhillyRuns meets right across the street from GSE.

8:00pm Dinner

After the group run, I biked back home and started to prep dinner since my friends were coming over. I made arepas (grilled corn cakes), beans (not pictured), and fried sweet plantains. My friend brought over grilled steak, pickled jalapeños, and homemade salsa. It was a quick and beautiful fusion of Colombian and Mexican flavors.

9:00pm Night time study session

After dinner, I squeezed in a final work session where I finished up readings for my Thursday class and continued to browse the course catalog for next semester. I’ve been keeping a running list of courses that sound interesting, but haven’t yet made any decisions.