nearing the end of another semester

i guess this is my final post for the semester.  the semester, of course, isn't yet done, but we're close!  to give an update on my post from last week, my teammates and i did really well on our presentation (i think).  if you're interested in seeing it, you can do so by clicking here.  i used prezi to create this presentation.  i find it super easy to use and manipulate.  it's great for illustrating challenging concepts or making connections between multiple ideas.  i have also used prezi for note-taking and paper planning.  after our presentation, one of my groupmates sent around an email with some notes she took on people's post-presentation questions for us.  we used these notes to revise our paper and i handed it in on behalf of the group just yesterday.  i'm really happy to be done for multiple reasons: (a) i'm officially done with my fels cert work; (b) it's easier now to focus on my final work for my other class; and (c) it's just nice to complete such a large and challenging project!

so, now i'm working on my final paper for my other class.  i have pages and pages of relatively organized notes, but i am still struggling with getting the thing written.  one piece of this is that i've picked up and begun reading three new books, two fiction ones and one historical one.  i love reading, but sometimes, i get so caught up in a book that i can't seem to do anything else.  i need to figure out a way to change this habit.  right now, i'm just trying to stay up in my office (away from my kindle) and concentrate on getting some things written.  hopefully, i'll accomplish at least SOME of this.  maybe i'll even have a chance to update this post with positive news tomorrow.  time will tell.

working on my final fels final

just a quick update -- i'm in the midst of working on a group final project with 7 other folks in my budgeting class.  the assignment is to write a draft 2014 budget for the city of philadelphia in the context of a liberal mayor-run city and to present it to the class.  it's my last fels class, i.e. my final els final, and i can't wait to be done and have a certificate!  of course, that does partly depend on my completion of this last batch of work.  i think a couple of my teammates are a little concerned about the rate of completion of this paper, but i think we're doing pretty well.  i'm sure i'll have more to say next week after we present our work.  in the meantime, wish me luck!

a hectic but happy week

this past week was so hectic!  we've officially moved into the second half of the semester.  i know this because my fels course has been broken up into two halves: the accounting half, which we just completed and the budgeting half, which we've just begun.  i'm looking forward to the budgeting portion of class, but my one disappointment so far about this unit is that it seems too heavily focused on government budgeting with no real eye toward non-profit budgeting.  i hope we at least get some taste of the latter in the next six weeks.

having the beginning of the second part run into the end of the first was more stressful than i expected: we had our first day of our new budgeting class this past saturday and the final for our accounting class due this past sunday.  it was hard to think about our new unit and assignments this saturday when we were still working on our final accounting projects, which were group projects.  i have a lot to say about group projects, but i think i've said much of this stuff previously -- it gets challenging when only half of a group is committed to responding, communicating, and just plain timeliness, but we worked through it and handed our project in on time.  because there were many leader-y personalities in the group, i expected to take a backseat on the group management end, but i ended up becoming the de facto leader at some point, much to my own surprise.  anyway, it all worked out and hopefully, we'll have a grade we're happy about.

this week, i also had a team presentation in my discourse analysis class -- my classmate T and i presented on "repertoire and recontextualization" on thursday.  the presentation went pretty well and we got a perfect score, so that was good.  even though there are six or so weeks left in the semester, i find myself thinking about my final paper and looking forward to at least developing a good outline and beginning my work on it soon.  the thing i've missed most this past few months is doing research and writing a good academic paper.  i'm really looking forward to it.  i emailed my professor with some clarifying questions about the final assignment and once i get a response, i'll get started.

the one really exciting thing about this past week was that i got to spend time with a couple of people from my cohort.  last friday, i had coffee with one cohort-mate and we shared tons of news and insights.  it's so nice to reconnect.  and then just yesterday, another cohort-mate visited me at work for a few minutes.  our cohort has so much love for each other, but we don't see each other too much, so it was really lovely getting to hug these folks and listen to their news and chat about school and life things.

anyway, more later... for now, i'm off to work on my first budgeting homework assignment! 

a fall update

the new semester is in full gear and i'm so excited to be back in classes.  i should mention that i've been sick for the past month with an eye illness, so it's made it a little hard to do regular things like write emails and post on my blog, but i'm making it work.

this semester, i'm taking two classes: "discourse analysis" with betsy rymes and "public financial management," which is a fels course focusing on accounting and budgeting.  so far, i'm really enjoying the readings for the courses. i'm in the middle of chapter 1 of the first book for dr. rymes' class, which is called discourse: a critical introduction, by jan bloomaert. so far, it does a really good job of giving a lay of the discourse studies land, so to speak.  i'm really excited to read more.

although we're reading one somewhat blah textbook for my accounting class, we're also reading an intensely interesting book called uncharitable: how restraints on nonprofits undermine their potential, by dan pallotta.  this is one of those can't-put-it-down type books that you want to read on your commute, at quick stops and waits, etc etc.  once i've finished it in a couple weeks, i'll probably write another post with a more complete opinion about it.

i should add that i've continued to do some fiction work and i've got a few novel and short-story type things in the works.  writing is fun.  hope everyone's fall is feeling as rich with promising new possibilities as mine is!

staying afloat

my winter study plans are in full swing. i'm actually lucky enough to get a week of paid holiday this upcoming week, which means i can focus on my winter class and my comps studying. to be honest, i thought i was off to a good start with studying for comps but i got caught up on other work last week (including having to hand in a final for my fall class, having A LOT to do at my job, having homework for my winter class, and having some family stuff going on) and all that meant that i fell a bit behind on comps studying. i know -- it's pretty disappointing.

still, i finally have all my materials in one place (in the physical world, that means it's all on one table finally; in the virtual world, i'm working on a prezi where all my notes can live and interact with each other). overall though, i think i'll be okay. two months from now, comps will all be over... i think.

my winter course has begun!

it's the second to last week of the semester and while many of my colleagues are working on final papers, i have already completed mine (though i do still have to present it on monday) and begun a new semester. that's right -- you're still writing your fall final papers and i'm already in my winter course. part of the reason for this overlap is that gse's semesters extend a couple weeks past those in the school of arts and sciences. since i'm doing a certificate at the fels institute of government (which is in the school of arts and sciences), some of my classes run on a slightly different schedule than my gse ones. my winter fels course(grant writing) is one of those cases.

to be honest, i planned to be exceptionally stressed out about this winter course, especially because i will be studying for my doctoral comps in tandem with this course. the course is comprised of 36 hours over 3 weeks with class sessions ranging from 3 hours (the bulk of sessions) to 8 hours (a couple of sessions run 4, 6, and 8 hours). today is the first day, an 8-hour session, and it has been quite fun and very educational.

the professor has a lot of real-life expertise in writing grant proposals to large foundations. one of the best parts of taking classes at fels is that every professor is a leader in the nonprofit world who brings a lot of real-life experience to their classrooms. our professor has also explained that she has designed this class for working professionals, so there's very little reading, but lots of real, applicable research and writing. i'm excited -- can you tell? even from the first class, i can tell that she's very interested in helping us to get our feet wet. yay.