School/Work/Life Balance

"Work/Life Balance" has been one of the hot topics that we have been discussing in class and outside of class since the beginning of our program. As many higher ed. professionals have shared with us, there is really no "8-5" job within the field. People are almost always "on board" to serve their students and the institution, dedicated to making a difference on a daily basis. One of the pieces of advice that I have received from Dr. Rudie Altamirano, Director of International Student and Scholar Services at Penn, is that anyone who is looking to step into this field needs to truly "love the job and love the field." 

So far, this program has definitely been giving me plenty of opportunities to get a taste of what it truly means by balancing school/work/life on a daily basis. During this coming week, I have the following MAJOR things to accomplish:

* Three papers due by the end of the week

* Three projects done by the end of the week

* Resumes / Cover letters done by Tuesday

* One 90-minute workshop on Wednesday

* Two jobs to apply for ASAP

* Prep. work with the team for the Ph.D. weekend

* Dance practices for the upcoming Chinese New Year celebration

...

All of these need to be completed sometime in between my classes, assistantship, networking, time with my husband and parents (over the phone), and sleep! The two most effective tools for me to keep track of everything are my 8x11-inch planner and the Google Calendar. I have assigned a specific time slot for each task that I have to and would like to get done for the day, and so enjoyed the moments of crossing off a completed task as time goes by. I am definitely feeling more equipped to complete this semester strong after a VERY rigorous semester last year! Also, thankfully, I have my wonderful family, cohort, GA supervisor and staff in the office, as well as some close friends by my side who continue to show their strong support and sweet love.

The classes that I am taking this semester are: 

- Enrollment Management

- Globalization of Higher Education

- Administration of Student Life

- Diversity in Higher Education

- Professional Development

Compared to last semester when most classes are foundational, we have more options to choose from an even bigger range of classes of our own interests. I am very interested in Admissions and International Student Affairs, so I am absolutely loving all the classes that I have this semester! If there is anything specific that you would like to know about my classes, please let me know. I would be very happy to elaborate more. 

By the way, I have been very excited to "meet" those of you who have been accepted and joined our Facebook group! Best to those of you who have applied and are still waiting to hear back from the Admissions, and to the rest of you who have been reading our blogs! 

One last note - I did get to meet Dr. George Kuh at the Penn GSE Exec. Doc. Alumni Leadership Conference last week! He has such a genuine heart for students! No wonder why he is regarded as an "Icon" for Student Affairs in this country.

Until next time, take care! :)

Refreshed, Recharged and Ready to Roll!

Back to Campus! :)

Hello, everyone! Thank you all very much for following our blogs last semester! We are all back for another brand new semester, and I am extremely excited to see how things are unveiling for me as time goes by.

My winter break was very relaxing! My husband and I were in Philly most of the time except for spending five days in Maryland visiting our close friends. I was able to catch up with sleep and some movies, and am feeling all refreshed and ready to roll!

Photo taken by one of my cohort - Nadila

Having gone through a super academically rigorous semester last year, I am more confident about taking another five classes this semester while continuing with my awesome assistantship, starting job search, and taking advantage of all the amazing resources Penn has to offer. (I was just volunteering with two of my cohort members this afternoon at the Penn GSE Executive Doctorate in Higher Education Management Leadership Conference where renown scholars and Higher Ed. Icons like Dr. George Kuh and Dr. Vasti Torres were present! Well, I got to meet Dr. Torres very briefly but have yet to meet Dr. Kuh! Hopefully, I will meet him tomorrow during the time when I am volunteering! Fingers crossed!! Two days ago at Penn, many of my cohort members went to see John Legend and listened to him speak at the 12th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture.)

Speaking of classes, I thought I had made up my mind on what to take this semester, but I just learned about another class that I am very interested in. There are just so many cool classes that we can take within Higher Ed. division or within GSE or even outside of GSE, so it can be difficult to pick only five to take. I will share what classes I am actually taking this semester once I make up my mind.

On another note, congratulations to those of you who have been accepted! Please feel free to join the 2013-2014 Accepted Students Facebook Group. We are also planning a lot of exciting events for you to help you learn more about what it is like to be a student here at GSE.

To those of you who are one button away from completing your application, or still working on your application, or considering to apply to GSE, all the best to you!! I still remember how I was very nervous and reluctant to click SUBMIT even though I had read through everything on my application form a million times, and how I was so relieved after letting things go out of my hand, knowing that at least I have done my part to the best of my ability.

Please feel free to leave a comment here or email us if you have any specific question. I will try to blog more this semester now that I have a much better sense of how to manage my time well in order to do a lot more before I graduate. :) Stay tuned~~~

Higher Ed. Cohort Love, from us to YOU!

       Happy 12/12/12!!! My husband reminded me that it is the century's last sequential date, so I decided to post my blog before I miss such an important opportunity! I hope you all have done something special on this special date. Perhaps that means that you have completed your applications to grad schools? :)
       As for me, I am trying to push myself really hard this week, so that I can be done with all my final projects and start to catch up on my sleep!
       At the same time, I am still not sure how "all of a sudden," the Fall semester is coming to an end. Again, where did the time go? Being at the Orientation and trying to find my way around campus and the city seemed just like yesterday! I remembered being nervous about starting school again, feeling "excitedly anxious" about meeting all the new people, and somewhat uncertain about what this was all going to mean to me in this new stage of life.
       Even though these past four months have been the most intense time of my life, I am absolutely loving it! I am thankful that I have all of these awesome friends studying and working hard side by side with me day and night, all sharing the same level of passion for education with me and truly caring about the well-being of every single one of the members in the cohort! I am very blessed!
       Here are two photos of some of us at the two recent events together!

Higher Ed. Holiday Party
(Disclaimer: all of us are over 21. :) )

Study Break at President Amy Gutmann's House!!!

       Hopefully some (or many) of you have submitted your applications to graduate schools, or at least are working to complete them before the deadline at this point. Many of my cohort members are thinking of you as well, as we were just in your shoes last year, trying to determine which programs/schools to apply to and consider what to be mindful of in the application process. I have put together some students' profiles here, and hope that they will be helpful to you. Please feel free to contact us and all the best to you!

Name: Matthew A. Nelson (mnel@gse.upenn.edu) 

Graduate Assistantship: I work in the Communications office of GSE. My office has a three person staff responsible for the content creation and maintenance of the GSE website, most general publications about GSE faculty work. We are also responsible for the campaign (and accompanying materials) that drive the U.S. News & World Report graduate school rankings, which take place annually.

Hometown: Dallas/Fort Worth, TX

Undergrad. Education: B.A. Communication Theory and Marketing / Prairie View A&M University

Why Higher Ed. program? I came to the higher education program because I have always had a passion for working with students and business and it is very important to me that students receive the education they need. I am interested in preparedness of students (and student-athletes) when they leave the campus. I am also interested in access for students of low socioeconomic status. I hope to work in a career driving or academic advising role and help students find their passions and prepare themselves for opportunities beyond the campus gates. Also hope to provide access to students of low SES in some capacity, professionally or otherwise.

Advice for prospective students: It is important that you get what you're looking for out of the education you are seeking. The best way to do that is to understand what the school generally provides and offers. Different schools focus on different things. Do research beyond the websites of prospective schools to understand the schools' culture and focus. Speak to students currently in the program or alumni. This will help you find the school that is right for you.

Danielle & Payal 

Name: Danielle Staggers (staggers@gse.upenn.edu)

Graduate Assistantship: I am assisting the Program Manager with communicating vital information to the cohort and handle the administrative details of the Professional Development in Higher Education course. I also serve as the lead coordinator for the Annual Accepted Student Preview Weekend. 

Hometown: Raleigh, North Carolina 

Undergrad. Education: Sociology, B.A./ University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Why Higher Ed. program? I chose to complete a HED program because of my strong passion for college access and working with first generation college students. I spent the past two years serving as a College Adviser and I have seen the need for more student affairs personnel in programming for first generation students and underrepresented students. After graduation I hope to continue my work and research in college access with a position as a high school college counseling director or an Admissions administrator in a community college or four-year university. 

Advice for prospective students: I would advise prospective students to be honest about your interests and goals and look for common interests in the faculty at the school you choose to apply to or attend. Do not let your undergraduate GPA or GRE scores deter you from applying to a graduate school; focus on your personal statement and letters of recommendation. Best Wishes :-)

Name: Maurice Williams (mawill@gse.upenn.edu) 

Graduate Assistantship: Office of Student Life at the Community College of Philadelphia. I oversee the Student Programming Board that plans all student related activities on campus. Mentoring, supervising, counseling and developing are duties I preform on a daily basis at my Grad Assistantship.

Undergrad. Education: B.A. in Sociology with a minor in Elementary Education; Claflin University

Why Higher Ed. program: As an undergraduate, I was involved in several clubs and organizations and served in a number of leadership capacities including student government vice president and president. I was also a Call Me MISTER scholar (scholarship program for African American males entering the education field).I hope to gain further knowledge in higher education administration with specific interests in student affairs, historically black college and universities, and organizational leadership.

Advice: Show your diversity and versatility through your personal statement.  Do not be intimidated to mention your successes.  Express how you can be an asset to the program and what you hope to gain for your instructors and cohort members. 

Name: Sri Rao (srirao@gse.upenn.edu)

Graduate Assistantship: Rosemont College Office of Leadership and Engagement - Working at a small college, I am treated as a full time staff member and have the opportunity to have lots of hands on experience. I helped run all aspects of our orientation program as well as advising student run organizations and planning our fall leadership retreat.

Undergrad. Education: Lehigh University '11 Major: Behavioral Neuroscience. Minor: Health, Medicine and Society

Why Higher Ed. program: During undergrad I became heavily involved in many aspects of campus including being a class officer, an orientation leader, on house council, president of the american medical women's association, part of our senior class gift committee and working at our women's center. All of these experiences led me to realize that student affairs was the perfect career path for me. I hope to work directly with students in some capacity, specifically through first year student programming or student activities and leadership development.

Advice: Make sure that you are passionate about higher education/student affairs. Do not stress about applications, you will get in to the programs that are right for you. Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions. 

Name: Andrew Martinez (andmar@gse.upenn.edu)

Graduate Assistantship: Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships (CURF) - Aid undergraduates in finding research opportunities and applying to fellowships in and outside of the University.

Hometown: New York City

Undergraduate Education: Cornell University; College of Arts and Sciences; 

B.A. Sociology; Minor: Inequality Studies & Latino Studies

Why Higher Ed. program? While I was at Cornell I became very involved with student organizations and saw the value in student development and leadership. I also developed a passion for social justice and found myself very interested in intercultural dialogue and conversations concerning diversity and access. With a Masters in Higher Education, I hope to pursue a career with student affairs in order to have a significant impact in the lives of the students I will eventually help to become great leaders. I also hope to pursue my education further to study access and retention rates in elite institutions for underrepresented groups. With that knowledge, I will be able to implement strategies to increase and retain more students of color within higher education.

Advice: Find out which faculty members' research aligns with your interests when you are writing your personal statement to further emphasize why you are a great fit for Penn GSE.  Try to visit Philadelphia if you can so you can see what the area is like. 

Love for Penn and the City!

        I can't believe that there are only 17 days left for the semester! Looking back at the days spent at Penn and in this city so far, I cannot express my gratitude enough for being part of this wonderful and rigorous program and of this incredibly amazing cohort! 

 

     I have always loved taking photos everywhere I go, but just realized that I hadn't posted that many photos since I started the program. So here are some of my most recent ones. Hope you will enjoy them. 

GSE - 3700 Walnut Street - My second home in Philly

Graduate Student Center, my third home in the city! :) This is where I get free tea and coffee! 

College Green - U Penn                         

Inside of the Penn Bookstore

GSE Student Lounge, where we often chill out and gather with our study groups

Inside of Houston Hall, the 1st Student Union in the nation :) 

There are many Victorian style houses like this one in Philly!   

Philly - City of Brotherly Love!  

Out and about in Center City on a cloudy day - still beautiful! :)

Another look at the Center City - Doesn't it look like a diamond in the sky? :)

I have yet to try the megabus! Hoping to hop on and visit NYC! 

The Grand Finale...

       The grand finale of my first semester of graduate school is here! Honestly, it is scary! Between now and December 19th, I have an exam, a group presentation, a video project, a 7-page paper & a 15-page paper for one class, a 5-page paper & a 15-page paper for another class, and another 15-page paper for one more class! Even though I have started to work on some of them, I am still not sure how I am going to survive during these next three weeks. 

       On the way back to Philly from a great visit of some close friends in Maryland this afternoon, I found myself complaining about the harsh reality and denying the fact that school is starting again tomorrow. I asked myself, "What happened? Being able to study at Penn was totally a dream that came true! Where did all these negative thoughts come from?"

       Well, I was just freaking out "a bit." I tend to push myself pretty hard, and sometimes, I might have added an unnecessary level of stress upon myself. Thanks to my friends from both within and outside of my cohort who have empathized with me and encouraged me! After I calmed down from having such an anxiety, I am now able to "breathe" again, and ready to take on whatever it takes to finish the semester to the best of my ability. After all, I am still living this wonderful dream that is worth all the efforts and sacrifices. No pains, no gains!

       Thinking about this time of last year, I remember being stressed about completing my grad. school applications while working full-time. Therefore, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions now that you are considering or working on applying to Penn GSE! I will write publish another post soon, but until then, best wishes to you in all that you do! Thank you for following my blog!

       

A (Dramatic) Glimpse into the First Three Months as a GSE Master's Student at Penn - Aman Goyal (Guest Blogger)

Hello dear readers! I am excited to introduce my friend Aman Goyal to you this week! Like what I have promised earlier, I will continue to invite my friends in the cohort to be guest bloggers so that you will learn more about our Penn Journey from various perspectives. Please enjoy!

Brief Bio of Aman Goyal:

Aman is from Toledo, Ohio. He did his undergrad at Miami University of Ohio, so leaving Ohio was definitely nerve-racking but exciting at the same time. He is in the Higher Education Administration cohort and is a graduate assistant in the Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Program Initiatives. So far he has loved Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania but wishes he had more time to take it all in and go to all the events they have for students on campus and out in the city. Feel free to reach out to him via email at: goaman@gse.upenn.edu.

A (Dramatic) Glimpse Into the First Three Months as a GSE Master's Student at Penn

From August to September:

This first month was really just a blur of a lot of changes. Getting used to your dorm room at Sansom Place West which was convenient and small, and exactly what you expect for a dorm on campus for grad students when you aren't willing to spend a lot on living. Then, since you're a social being, you had to make a few friends and hopefully that will be easy with your cohort, as it was with mine. But you will need a few people outside of your cohort that do not know anything about your classes so that you can talk about something besides Critical Race Theory and Human Capital Theory. These would be the people you study with on occasion, go to when you want a break and to talk about life outside of school, to go out to a quick, last minute dinner with.

And of course there was the whole "getting used to your GA and classes." Twenty hours does not sound like a lot, but when you add in five classes it ends up being an adjustment to say the least. Managing your time, day to day schedule, and priorities seems pretty easy this first month because classes you are on top of all your class readings and assignments and you GA is picking up slowly because students are back on campus.

From September to October:

This next month proves to you that whatever system you had going the first month will have to change because now you have papers that are grad level, something you may not be used to (I certainly wasn't). You now have friends and a lot of familiar faces all of whom present opportunities go out and have an adventure, whether it be downtown in one of the neighborhoods of Center City, the arboretum, or the local Penn area where there is plenty to do if you find all the right weekly calendars. And then you start missing home during this month, you realize it has been a while since you've talked to family and friends, and so you try to make time for those conversations. Fall television is back so you try to make sure to dedicate some time to watch these because it is therapeutic after all. Your schedule and routine are being thrown off because everything is changing inside and out, just like the seasons.

But again, you figure it out. You talk to your cohort and they are feeling the same way which is a relief because you can sometimes feel alone in a new place, especially when you spend a lot of your time with books and your computer typing and researching for papers. You get your first grades and you start to see progress in your writing and analyzing skills, you impress yourself and you let yourself down, but you are learning, and after all, that's why you're here, isn't it?

From October to November:

You start realizing you are more than halfway done with your first semester, there are a lot of deadlines approaching, and you have projects at your GA that are exciting escapes from your school work. Instead of reading your coursebook you decide to spend a little extra time organizing your life. You start to look at job opportunities because you are already 1/4th done with the program and if you don't do it now, you'll be behind everyone else! You have your social life figured out somewhat, and you are still trying to balance talking to friends and family who are far away. Your life is a balancing act between your GA, classes, fall TV shows, career exploration, your Philadelphia social life versus your other social life away from Penn, and, oh yeah, sleeping and eating occasionally.

It feels like you might forget something and miss out on opportunities, and you will, and you'll have to start choosing what is more important every single day. The beauty of this part of the semester is that you are starting to realize your passions, what you actually want to do with the rest of your life, or at least next year! By this point you have history at Penn and memories, whether they be Hurricanes or Presidential Elections, you will never forget this place, this place that is beginning to feel like home.

(This may sound over-whelming, but I promise it's not as bad as it sounds! Some days you will feel like you are in over your head with work, but other days you will feel accomplished and like the scholar that you are becoming! No one said it would be easy, so why expect it to be? Accept the challenge and take it on full force, it's only a year after all! You can do it!

Thank you to Xixi for letting me express myself on her blog. Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like me to expand on anything, of if you have any other general questions!)

Where did my time go?

       Happy Election Day! I am sure most people are eager to find out who the next president will be in just a few hours!    

       Well, besides this big revelation, the arrival of November also means the approaching due dates for big papers, presentations and group projects for us graduate students at GSE. I have been meeting with different groups for different collaborative projects almost every day these two weeks. Just when I am all settled in this routined life, feeling right in the middle of the program, I was reminded that there are only two classes left for my Ethics and Leadership in Higher Education course, which meets every other Friday for four hours.

       So far, it has been an absolutely wonderful experience being in this Ethics class. Dr. Mary-Linda Armacost is definitely one of my favorite professors. Her educational and personal life experiences are amazing. Feel free to google her if you wish. She is President Emerita of Moore College of Arts and Design and is one of the sweetest professors I've ever had. I so appreciate getting a big hug and a caring kiss on the forehead from her before classes, so the thought of having only two classes left with her just makes me sad.

       I can't believe how time flies! Most of us have completed our advance registration for next semester this week. Some of my cohort members have met with our Career Services Director, and I have also received kind advice from staff that it is never too early to start looking for job opportunities. Many people have told me that the one-year program will go by very fast, but I still cannot fathom how fast time actually flies. My biggest goal is to make sure that I "breathe" properly for the rest of the semester, and try to intentionally slow down from time to time so that I can truly cherish every moment of the present time.

      If you'd like to learn more about what it is like to be a graduate student here at GSE, please consider joining one of our upcoming web chats with current students and alumni. I will continue to share my experiences here and invite some guest bloggers. Thank you very much for following my blog! I appreciate your time!