Done with LSE!

I finished grad school this week!!

(Let's out screams of woo!!)

I finished my last exam on Wednesday, shortly before noon. As soon as I put my pen down, it hit me. After going to school for 21 years, I am finally done. It's been quite a long time. 

Pre-school, primary school, secondary school, undergrad, and grad school...

I love to learn, and I will always be a lifetime learner. But, the fact I no longer have to write papers or take an exam is a huge relief. I know in no time, I will most likely miss the assignments. I know I say I'm done with school forever, but since the future is unknown, I may end up back in a classroom someday! 

As for now, I'm enjoying my last few days in London while I begin packing.  

It still hasn't hit me that I'm done. Grades will begin to come with all of them being released in July. 

But, now...onward thinking to Las Vegas! 

Polo in the Park

I've been dying to go to a polo match since I was a little girl. 

The scene in 'Pretty Woman' where Julia Roberts gets to stomp the divots resonates with me very well.

The part of 'Winning London' with Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen where they go to a polo match was something that I always wanted to do. Fairly sure I can still quote that part of the movie. 

So, as I enter my final weeks in London, I grabbed discounted tickets to Polo in the Park from the SU alumni club! This past Sunday, three of my friends and I ventured down to Putney for a match! 

The entire park was transformed for the perfect day out. From a Pimms Bus to the shopping venues to the location that I dubbed 'food truck heaven,' we had a fabulous time before the match started. 

While I am still a tad confused on the rules of the game, I attempted to follow the match. I do have to admit that it was one of the quietest sporting events that I have ever been. I wanted to cheer, so I had to keep that in check!

During what I deemed to be intermission, we got to stomp the divots! Truly made me feel like I was in 'Pretty Woman.'

It was a fabulous day out...even with getting a horrible sunburn! I would totally go to another match! 

I got a job!

Well, folks...it's official! 

I have a job following my graduation in July!

If you recall my post yesterday about my trip to Las Vegas, I was out there for a final job interview!

In July, I'll be moving to Las Vegas to start a career in local government with Clark County! 

It's still sinking in, but I'm excited to begin a new chapter of my life!

2 Years Later...

Today officially marks my second anniversary of being a Syracuse University alumna!

I'm not entirely sure where the last two years have gone, but I know I've been enjoying the ride. 

As I spend part of my day looking through old albums, I leave you with the commencement address that Aaron Sorkin gave to my graduation class.

Reunions

Greetings from the States!

I've been back for a little more than a week at home. Just about three and half more weeks of spring break before I finish up my last term at LSE. I know I say this quite a lot, but crazy how fast time flies!

Since, I've been home, I was able to catch up with some friends that I have not seen in quite some time! 

Last week, I grabbed lunch with one of my best friends, Erin, and our good friend, Ryan. Erin and I met on the first day of freshman year at Syracuse. Living on the same floor that year, we've been friends ever since! Ryan is a mutual friend of both of ours, and he just headed off to China to teach English for the year! 

Friends

Erin and Me 

Ryan and Me 

Taking a break from doing work, I met up with my friend Evan in Syracuse on Sunday. He was up visiting campus as he finishes up his last year of grad school. We were both Remembrance Scholars, and we hadn't seen each other since graduation day in 2012. 

To celebrate our reunion, we took a trip to Dino BBQ before driving through campus and remembering the glory days!

Delicious Dino BBQ

Syracuse University

Evan and Me at Dino 

And, lastly, I grabbed dinner with a friend from high school on Wednesday. It's been a week of so of many catch-ups, but it was so nice to see all my old friends! 

Life Lately...

Another week, another weekly recap...just a tad delay on this one. 

While I have school news to catch up all of you on, we can save that for another time.

Spring has officially arrived in London! 

Sorry to all my friends on the East Coast that are still battling snow. 

I'm over here, enjoying my flip flops. 

On Saturday, I got to sneak away from a group meeting and walk in St. James's Park. I stopped and smelled the roses (literally) and waved hello to the Queen. 

Buckingham Palace

Spring Flowers

On Sunday, Federico, Simon, and I went and had lunch at Union Jacks- a Jamie Oliver restaurant. As spring has arrived, I, of course, had to have my first Pimms of the season!

Also on Sunday, the SU Alumni Club in London hosted a game viewing for the SU game against FSU! It was a lot of fun!

GO ORANGE!

As a huge project at school has finally come to an end, I'll be back to posting regularly! 

Fuller's Brewery

As I mentioned in my weekly recap post for last week, I got to chaperone some of the SU abroad students for a trip to Fuller's Brewery!  

On Friday morning, I met two other guides and the students at the SU Abroad center before boarding a bus to Fuller's Brewery. 

Fuller's Brewery is located out in Chiswick with the closest tube station being Turnham Green. For those still needing clarification on where it is, it is so far west that you can access the highway to Heathrow. 

Now, I've done the Guinness Factory three times and have toured Jameson twice, so I expected a similar tour. I was wrong!  

We were broken into groups of around 15 with a guide that took us threw the actual brewery showing us step-by-step of the process that occurs each day. 

On the banks of the Thames 

To start, we walked down to the Thames. Fuller's Brewery sits right on the edge of the riverbank.  Don't worry, though, the Thames water isn't used to make the beer! 

Throughout the tour, we learned of the various players that took stock in the company through the last couple hundred of years. 

Inside the brewery, we saw a lot of the original equipment that was and is still being used!  The brewing process is incredibly complicated yet interesting at the same time. However, I think I'll stick to government for the time being as the science behind the brewing was a tad complicated for me. 

Got Beer? 

Original Equipment 

Post the tour that lasted a little over an hour, we were treated to a few drinks! After all, it was a Friday, and it was 5 o'clock somewhere…

SU Student Guides 

If you've completed a lot of the main London attractions, or if you are up for a good pint, I highly suggest checking into Fuller's Brewery! It's entirely different than other tours, and it offers a fun adventure for a few hours! 

Jammed Recap

The end of another semester results in a constant flurry of events, extra coffee, and a lack of sleep. I'm adding a lack of consistent blog posts to this list as well.  In this post, I'm trying to essentially recap a bunch of things I've been doing on and off over the past two weeks in order to be back in the present!

About two weeks ago, I heard Alec Ross (@AlecJRoss) speak at LSE on power in the information age. Alec Ross formerly worked on the Obama 2008 campaign and was Senior Advisor on Innovation for Hillary Clinton when she was Secretary of State. 

I've had  a  bunch of Pi Phi Alumnae events and meet ups over the past few weeks as well. One was a farewell as my friend, Michelle, and her family moved back to the States. Michelle was the first Pi Phi that I met in the UK. She and I met randomly on the streets of London near Holborn in 2010, and from there, we both found out we were Pi Phis! 

Michelle and me

The Pi Phi Alumnae Club also hosted a small Thanksgiving potluck the weekend after turkey day!

Other events over the past few weeks included the MPASA pub quiz (2nd place team!), a UK Panhellenic Alumnae Club Luncheon, a few holiday parties, enjoying the West End, and plenty of Christmas themed treks around London! 

1st Winter Wonderland Trip of the Year

Sorry again for the lengthy catch-up post! More frequent posts are coming to an blog reader/email inbox soon!

Day 2 and 3

(As this is a scheduled post, please ignore the writing phrases, "yesterday" and "today." It was written on the 20th, and posted on the 21st). 

Yesterday, I took off to set up my bank account. That was a fun task. I stopped at one HSBC, and was told I had to wait two weeks. Not the most ideal situation. Eventually, I stopped at the one near the Notting Hill Gate tube station, and was able to make an appointment this Saturday at 2pm. I know my loan check won't be released to me until October 11th, but I would like to be able to switch to a normal phone plan as well as put money into it to use the debit card payments in the stores. Having a US card without a chip is a hassle.

My other errands and adventures of the day included buying a few more things for my apartment-storage container, desk lamp, sticky tack to hang photos, and toiletries. I took the main bus route that I've been using farther down yesterday and found that it stopped at the end of Queensgate. In 2010, I lived on Queensgate, so there were quite  a few sentimental moments as I headed into the neighborhood of South Kensington.  I eventually got off at Hyde Park, and also found myself exploring Covent Garden. Being able to re-expereince two of my favorite parts of London on my second day was great.

And, yesterday, I got lost. I somehow managed to get on the wrong bus, go the wrong direction on the tube, and get on the wrong bus for the second time in the matter of an hour. It was interesting, to say the least. I found a pretty sketchy tube station when I was trying to get back in the correct direction, and was glad when a train came right away. I did eventually make it home- in one piece.

Last night, we had an informal happy hour for first year MPA students. It was great finally meeting some people that I've been talking to on Facebook all summer in person as well as a lot of others embarking on the program. I was able to have Magners and Bulmers, both of which I've been severely missing since 2010. You can usually find Magners at Wegmans, but I hadn't had much luck in the past six months or so. Everyone that I met has an interesting past that makes me so much more excited to get started with the program and get to know everyone more!

Today, I had an interview for an internship. After that, I finally got the last things I needed to finish my flat! It's been a long few days lugging things from Sainsburys. This evening, I was able to meet up with my friend, Nicole, for dinner. She just graduated from Syracuse this past May as well. We actually met when we were both abroad in 2010 and did the Encompass program together. It was great catching up, hearing about her program, and how much we have planned to do over the next year!

Nicole and I celebrating my 21st birthday in March of 2011.

Get to know LSE...

As the final month of my countdown to London begins, I figured it'd be a good idea to share some facts about LSE.

General Facts:

• LSE was founded in 1895.
• There are 9,300 full time students from 145 countries.
• The founders were part of the Fabian Society. Members included Sidney Webb, Graham Wallas, Beatrice Webb, and George Bernard Shaw.
• LSE is part of the University of London.
• 18 Nobel Prize Winners
• Approx. 45 Heads of States as Alumni
• Has one of most prestigious public events programs in the world. Past speakers include Nelson Mandela, Bill Clinton, David Cameron, and the Dalai Lama. 

Fun Facts:

• Chancellor is HRH The Princess Royal. 
• Mascot: The Beaver
• Motto in English: "To Understand the Causes of Things"
• Colors: Purple, Black, and Gold
• Newspaper: The Beaver
• My favorite US President is an alum: JFK!

List of Famous Alumni 

The change of a mascot will be weird. Going from an orange to an actual animal...

I love the idea of still having a woman chancellor for two more years!

LSE has an incredible history as well as a long-standing future. I'm excited to begin my final countdown to London!