Papers and Puppies!

This week, everywhere you go around campus you find people! I went to the library yesterday to try to find a place to study and nearly every nook and cranny was full. I found though, that the higher up you went in the library the less people there were. By the time I got to the 5th floor I found a nice circle of chairs and... silence. I'm just about going crazy right now trying to finish all these papers before Tuesday. Last night I finished one of my BIG ones (24 pgs) and well afterwards I had to have a dance party!! I was so excited. Now, I'm pulling an all nighter working on the next one. To help with student stress, which is higher than normal this time of year, the graduate student assembly hosted some stress relieving events. Today in the graduate student center they had therapy puppies you could play with as well as free massages. GSE had free massages yesterday. Pretty nice amenity after hours of typing away at a computer.

Snow

First snow of the year!! Picture courtesy of my friend Fabiola! It's finally starting to snow here in Philly. I heard that doesn't happen too often. I'm a Midwestern girl so we get A LOT of snow. Those of you not used to the snow though... keep in mind: You NEED an actual coat here. Not just a cute one that look stylish but isn't warm. Once it starts getting really cold people will no longer care about style. You also need a good pair of waterproof boots. This is useful for the snow and the rain (which we get a lot of here in Philly). Finally, invest in a warm pair of gloves. If your feet and hands are warm you'll be pretty good. My friend was wearing a thin pair of leather gloves the other day and her hands were freezing. Leather is not ideal in the snow folks. Once you have obtained the proper gear now you are ready to go have a snow fight with your cohort! We are already planning one with IEDP

Winter Gala

Thursday night Penn's Graduate And Professional Student Association (GAPSA) hosted a winter gala at the Ritz Carlton in Center City. It was a masquerade ball- cocktail dress and black tie recommended. Since this event was so close to the end of the semester a lot of students chose not to attend but I sure am glad that I took a night off to enjoy the fun. There was a GREAT dj, open bar, pastries and dancing.

Upcoming Events

I wanted to share some information about two very exciting events that we have coming up next week for prospective students!

The Dean of GSE, Andy Porter, our Vice Dean, Alexis Wolson, and our new Director of Admissions, Natalie Herring will be traveling next week, so we are planning to have Holiday Reception/Meet the Dean events in both Chicago and NYC.  It will be a great opportunity to meet leaders from GSE, find out more about our degrees and programs, network, and enjoy some delicious food.  As a graduate student, I know that winter break is a popular time to work on applications, so this is the perfect time to celebrate the holidays and fall in love with Penn GSE =)  You can register/RSVP for these events by visiting our events page:  http://www.gse.upenn.edu/admissions_financial/events#off_campus

Here are the details for each event:

Chicago
Tuesday, December 10th, 6-8PM
Gleacher Center at the University of Chicago
450 North Cityfront Plaza Drive
Room 420 (South Lounge)

New York City
Thursday, December 12th, 6-8PM
Grand Hyatt New York
Park Avenue at Grand Central
Uris Room

Final Weeks

Well I went home for the Thanksgiving break last week. Spent 4 1/2 lovely days in Kansas City enjoying turkey and relaxation. I decided to take a complete break from my homework, even though I have a lot to do before the end of the semester. But sometimes you just need to let it all go for a moment.

Now that break is over everyone at school seems to be "hitting the ground running". The library is packed, there are group study/work sessions going on all over campus. All you hear anyone talking about is how they were writing this paper or that paper.

GSE Admissions office is getting busy too. The other GAs and I are trying our best to pitch in and help with filing and copying for them. GSE will stop giving tours temporarily started Dec 6. but we'll start again next year! I can hardly believe my first semester is nearly over.