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
From my office desk, I can see cars and motorbikes jamming along Preah Monivong Boulevard and the ephemeral downpours soaking the street as I read through Cambodia’s Education Sector Plan for 2014-2018. I’ve grown increasingly familiar with that document: most of my work revolves around analysing policy and the constraints the country’s education system has in implementing it. As I mentioned in my last post, … Continue reading Work
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?
This past week has been an emotional one, seemingly throwing all of the feelings that one can experience within the span of six days. Writing about it feels like pulling teeth. I go back and forth between wanting to talk about it and not, knowing that sometimes people don’t want to be burdened by the weight of these conversations, especially when happiness and good events … Continue reading Impact
Expat (ˈeks-ˌpat). Noun. An expatriate person, or someone who has withdrawn (him/herself) from residence in or allegiance to his/her native country. In GK’s migration class this summer, one of our assignments was to write up and present our personal or familial migration story, and this word turned out to be a tricky thorn in my side when writing up my narrative. See, in some ways, … Continue reading Interrogations
I mentioned in another post that the first of possibly several field visits was to happen in the third week of my internship. Now that I’m on my fourth week, it’s already taken place; it seems that this is as good time as any to talk about it! AAC is part of a larger federation of country offices whose work is to collaborate with local … Continue reading Oddar Meanchey
That’s the question I asked myself as we sat in a circle at our IEDP orientation last Friday and shared our backgrounds. The professors all had such distinguished resumes, and all my cohort mates had a cool story about working internationally or coming from another country or speaking multiple languages…what did I bring to the table, besides a love that borders on obsession for chocolate … Continue reading Week 1: What Have I Gotten Myself Into?
Three straps are beginning to criss-cross my feet in smooth, pale lines. Every time I look down, I see the hint of this tan and wonder how long it will take for it to boldly take over the visual landscape of my feet. I’ve always preferred walking to other modes of transportation, so after discovering that it takes only fifteen minutes by foot to get from … Continue reading The language of the city
The first week of work is officially in the books. Somehow I’m surprised that I managed to function through it, especially during the first few days. See, I may have sabotaged myself slightly. As I mentioned in my previous post, I was in Paris and had a week to go until Cambodia. Little did you know that I was in either an airplane or an … Continue reading One down, eleven to go
The International Educational Development Program 