Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Refresh
There are on the number of millions of discussable and up-datable things that have gone on over the past four months and as always, the innocuous question of 'where to begin?' is bouncing around the inside of my brain like a shiny rubber ball. Actually, there are maybe 12 things worth talking about. In the interest of time, I will resort to a list, not organized in any order:
1. I got accepted into USC in June and I am in the middle of graduate school orientation for a Master's in Social Work program. There are 522 incoming students in this program, of which 84%, or 438.5 are female.
2. Also in June, I accepted a part-time position at the much maligned (at least by my Seattle friends), yet sometimes praised organization called Teach For America. Although this position has not afforded me a G6, it has provided some great experience and I have built some strong connections with an excellent staff.
It is worthwhile to make note of the fact that the staff makes regular use of phrases like "lets deep dive into this," and "I want to put this on your radar," and "thanks for flagging that for me." I am a huge fan of this lingo.
3. I am now in a new living arrangement with a new roommate named Noa. Noa has been great so far and our personalities are very similar, as in we both have an appreciation for magnets and deals. As you can read between the lines, I will keep this update to what it is as it is all still very fresh. This transition took place in the beginning of August.
4. I tackled my apartment's balcony today and I have a sunburned neck because of it. I feel like it was worth it though because the balcony got a face-lift which included Christmas lights, a personally potted garden of five small succulents or cacti, a flower producing vine called Mandavilla, a whole lot of sweeping and some organizational feng shui. All in all I consider it a success, even though it ended up eating my whole day.
5. Tomorrow, 8/18/2011, I will be exploring the neighborhood of Venice with the rest of my small cohort of USC students to understand some of the issues that are going on there. This is apart of my orientation at USC. It is being lead by a professor and licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) named Randall who is a gay man originally from NYC and now living in LA. I could tell within minutes that he is a passionate and captivating teacher.
Well that about brings things up to present, and I feel like I am writing an email to an old friend. Is that what is happening here in some indirect form? At any rate, these are some major changes that have taken place. Some exciting, some difficult and some challenging. I welcome them all as it has certainly been interesting and I am excited for what is to come. I stand before a tornado of education, experience and loans that I know will impart great things.
¶ 11:18 PM
1. I got accepted into USC in June and I am in the middle of graduate school orientation for a Master's in Social Work program. There are 522 incoming students in this program, of which 84%, or 438.5 are female.
2. Also in June, I accepted a part-time position at the much maligned (at least by my Seattle friends), yet sometimes praised organization called Teach For America. Although this position has not afforded me a G6, it has provided some great experience and I have built some strong connections with an excellent staff.
It is worthwhile to make note of the fact that the staff makes regular use of phrases like "lets deep dive into this," and "I want to put this on your radar," and "thanks for flagging that for me." I am a huge fan of this lingo.
3. I am now in a new living arrangement with a new roommate named Noa. Noa has been great so far and our personalities are very similar, as in we both have an appreciation for magnets and deals. As you can read between the lines, I will keep this update to what it is as it is all still very fresh. This transition took place in the beginning of August.
4. I tackled my apartment's balcony today and I have a sunburned neck because of it. I feel like it was worth it though because the balcony got a face-lift which included Christmas lights, a personally potted garden of five small succulents or cacti, a flower producing vine called Mandavilla, a whole lot of sweeping and some organizational feng shui. All in all I consider it a success, even though it ended up eating my whole day.
5. Tomorrow, 8/18/2011, I will be exploring the neighborhood of Venice with the rest of my small cohort of USC students to understand some of the issues that are going on there. This is apart of my orientation at USC. It is being lead by a professor and licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) named Randall who is a gay man originally from NYC and now living in LA. I could tell within minutes that he is a passionate and captivating teacher.
Well that about brings things up to present, and I feel like I am writing an email to an old friend. Is that what is happening here in some indirect form? At any rate, these are some major changes that have taken place. Some exciting, some difficult and some challenging. I welcome them all as it has certainly been interesting and I am excited for what is to come. I stand before a tornado of education, experience and loans that I know will impart great things.
¶ 11:18 PM
