This is going to be a quick post, just to tell you what spring is like for IEDP. One word: whirlwind! Time has been flying by, and I can’t believe there’s really only six weeks until we’re pretty much wrapped up for the semester, and seven weeks until many of us will walk in GSE’s commencement ceremony. Spring semester (can we even call it spring … Continue reading The 6-Week Countdown Starts Now
Told you that you wouldn’t have to wait a month for the next post! For the next installation of How to Find Your Dream Home – IEDP Edition, I got some help from some of my cohort, and we’re sharing our own experiences finding a place to live. Me – Five-bedroom house in West Philly; used Craigslist I found an open room in a house … Continue reading Finding Housing in Philly (Part 2): Home Sweet Home
I definitely owe you guys a blog…Things have been a little more hectic and crazy this semester than last. Last semester there seemed to be more of an easing-in period with classes, and this semester that has definitely not been the case. Not to mention the additional stress of internship placements and (for some of us) preparing for our presentations at the CIES annual conference … Continue reading Finding Housing in Philly (Part 1): Know Your Neighborhoods
I noticed recently, in rereading my previous blog posts, that I tend to use a lot of lists and steps and bullets. This is pretty reflective of my attitude toward life in general: I have a habit of making to-do lists, wanting to break things into manageable chunks, and tend towards a fairly linear way of thinking. (I was even a logic model for Halloween…) … Continue reading Thinking Outside of the Box: Personal Reflections of a Recovering Type-A Human
To my dedicated readers (all two of you), sorry for the extended break. I was in hibernation mode over winter break, and trying to avoid the extreme temperatures and bomb cyclones that hit Philly by spending some time on the much milder West Coast. I was not the only IEDPer having a fun time… But, alas, the time for nine+ hours of sleep a night … Continue reading Course Shopping (Not Exactly Retail Therapy)
We have another guest post on the blog this week! Ujjwala Maharjan is a current IEDP student from Nepal, and is one of the founding members of the Word Warriors, Nepal’s first spoken word poetry group. Do you know those moments in life when you look around your group of friends and you realize that you LOVE these people and you have this urge to … Continue reading Guest Post: I Get by With a Little Help From My Friends
I’ve been posting a lot about my experience in grad school (understandable), but not so much on my experience in Philadelphia. Moving from NYC, I wasn’t sure what I would think about Philly, but now I’ve come to see that Penn’s location in the heart of the city is just one more thing that makes the school so great. For one thing, the city is … Continue reading A Grad Student’s Guide to Philly
It’s very much October. Mother Nature is finally letting us enjoy some crisp weather and fall foliage, meaning that, after months of the stickiness of a long summer, we can fully embrace eating pumpkin-flavored foods and wearing sweaters. What October also means is that it’s very much the middle of the semester. Everyone is walking around with slightly glazed looks, mugs of caffeine glued to … Continue reading Right in the Thick of Things
We have a guest post this week! Toffy, who is originally from Thailand, started IEDP right after finishing her undergraduate degree in California. So for those of you still in college considering a graduate degree, this post is for you! (Though I think everyone else will find it useful too!) We’re plummeting into week 7 of the semester and I still have trouble wrapping my … Continue reading Guest Post: The Transition from Undergrad to Grad
Theoretically, looking at my class schedule, I have loads of free time. I mean, ending by 4 PM? No class on Fridays? For those of us coming from a 9-5 (or more likely, a 9 – who knows how long) job, one of your first thoughts as a grad student might be “how will I fill all those empty hours?” Well, it would be very … Continue reading What Does a Grad Student Do All Day?
The International Educational Development Program 