Road Trip Day #3

Continuing to re-cap the road trip, day three was a very long day of driving.

In the morning, we toured around Omaha. 

Doing some scheming the night before, we were able to find Warren Buffet's home!

Warren Buffet's Home

Down the street from Mr. Buffet's home, we found the birthplace of President Ford. While the home was torn down many years ago, they have put in a garden and small exhibit about what the house looked like. 

Birthplace of Ford

Finally, before we left Omaha, we wandered down to where Lewis and Clark surveyed the Missouri River and stood on the state line on the pedestrian bridge. The pedestrian bridge runs over the Missouri River.

Lewis and Clark Landing

Omaha

State Line

Our second major stop of the day was in Lincoln. It was supposed to be a quick stop to see the state capitol. I, of course, got us lost in the city for a good 40 minutes. Nevertheless, we did get to see more before finding the capitol!

Nebraska State Capitol 

One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see a lot of sites that were part of the Oregon Trail. After a few wrong turns, we found Fort Kearney on our way into South Dakota following Lincoln. 

Fort Kearney

GO WEST! 

We wanted to stop and see the actual markings in Ash Hollow which was a short drive away from Kearney, but we were battling some weather. We did get to drive through parts of the area on our way to Chimney Rock. 

Phew! Nebraska Rain Showers...

Chimney Rock Cemetery

Chimney Rock 

My Car thought it was in a Chevy Commercial

Before turning North to get to South Dakota, we found one of the most amusing things on the side of the road.

What, you may ask?

CARHENGE.

Based off the one I've seen several times in England, Carhenge is well...Stonehenge but made out of American cars. It was a bit weird, but it served as a good break.

Unfortunately, the drive into South Dakota was not a pleasant one. We stopped for gas right outside the border, and we were both considering giving up driving for the evening and grabbing a different hotel. But, I started to drive into the rain, the Black Hills, a highway that while runs into Texas has no light all while we avoided deer...somehow we made it through it.

Nicola and I clearly were stressed when we got in, but we survived!

Stay tuned for day four! 

State Opening of Parliament

Pomp and circumstance tends to be synonymous  with the UK.

This past Wednesday, my friend, Nicola, and I went to the State Opening of Parliament. 

The State Opening of Parliament essentially marks the first day of the parliamentary year. On the day, the Queen gives a speech about the government's agenda for the upcoming session.  It's on this day that the Queen, members of the House of Commons, and members of the House of Lords all are together (apart from other official events). 

Nicola and I got to the Houses of Parliament around 9am to camp out for the procession! It was a gloomy, rainy day, but we made do. Thank goodness for rain jackets and umbrellas. 

The procession started around 11am with several military bands.

From there, the crown jewels arrived.

Followed by the royals...

First, Prince Charles & Camilla

And, then the Queen and Prince Phillip arrived! 

It was well worth the cold and rain to see the procession as well as some of the members of the royal family! 

Studying

The month of May was truly a month of travel for me. 

It was also a month of tremendous excitement as I accepted a job offer!

However, now that June is here, I've succumb to the tool of 9-5 studying. I was lucky to have all my papers and projects due at the beginning of May. Those long hours paid off as now I can devote my entire time to my last two exams.

Both of my exams are back to back...go figure. The first is on June 17th. That is my "Cities, Politics, and Citizenship" which is 100% of my grade. Thankfully, it is only two essays on the test. My second one is the next day. That one is for my class on the US Congress, and it is only around 66% of my grade. A tad less stressful than the first! 

I'll be hitting the books straight until the 18th...but I do have a few fun plans to report on the next few weeks (polo game, birthday parties, sightseeing). Stay tuned! 

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!

Bulgaria Day Trip

While I was in Bulgaria, I got to take a day trip to the countryside! One of my favorite things to do is being able to observe the way people live throughout an entire country. And, at the same time, there are some real gems hidden across the Bulgarian county-side! 

The morning was an early one. I grabbed some breakfast at the hotel before the tour company picked me up. Luckily, the group was fairly small that day. Myself and three other women plus the tour guide. It got to be much more customizable due to the small group! 

About two hours post being picked up, we started up the curvy mountain roads to Rila Monastery. When I say curvy, I mean the type that caused me to get motion sickness. I ended up having to put my sunglasses on, closed my eyes, and then chugged a bottle of water. But, the drive was worth it!

Rila Monastery

Rila Monastery is listed on UNESCO's World Heritage List. Built in the 10th century, Rila Monastery is known as largest Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria.  At one time, there were more monks than there were rooms. However, today, there are only nine monks in residence. 

Oldest Part of the Monastery 

Say Cheese!

We toured as much as we were allowed to see. Inside the main building, there were numerous relics from the original building of the monastery.

While we were there, we also tried the "famous" bread made at the monastery. Sadly, I likened it to fried dough from a state fair. Still had to try it though!

Post viewing the monastery, we stopped at local "famous" restaurant. Known for their access to a fresh water stream from the mountain ranges, we all dined on the trout. 

Re-engergized, we headed to Melnik for our last stop of the day.  

Melnik used to be a huge city and served as a seat of the Ottoman Empire at one point.  It is roughly 15 km from the Greek border (no small trip, that day). Apart from the fact that only 450 people now live in the city, Melnik is famous for its wine. We got to tour a wine cellar, sample our way around the city, and see how people live in the town. It has to be one of my favorite memories of Bulgaria.

Wine Cellar

Sampling...Check!

Melnik

Old Ottoman Empire Building

It was an amazing day trip to the country-side. If you're in Bulgaria, make sure to get outside of Sofia! 

Last Course Registration….ever?

This morning, I registered for my final courses at LSE. Weird, huh?

Even weirder? It could also be the last time I ever register for courses!

During my first year at LSE, as you may recall, there were no option courses. All first-year students have to take the same three requirements in addition to the stream requirement. All my units were clearly selected for me! This year, minus the two main requirements, I've gotten to choose what I've wanted to take. And, since last semester, I was interning, I waited for this term for the majority of my units to balance out a workload.

This term, I'm taking:

MPA Capstone: My group will be completing our project with G4S this term!

MPA Policy Paper: Started last term, but my final policy paper will be submitted.

GV4C4: US Legislative Politics 

GY439: Cities, Politics, and Citizenship 

GV477: Comparative Public Policy Change

IS479: Information Systems for the Public Sector: Digital Government and Service Innovation

It's going to be another long semester of reading, late hours, and tons of coffee. But, I'm up for the challenge. I'm excited to finish out my final two terms strong!

One Week Later

US Embassy in London

I will  have officially been back in London a week tomorrow morning. It's crazy that even a week flies by this quickly anymore. 

I mentioned in my post earlier this week that on Thursday we'd be having our introductory sessions for the second year. Thursday started off rainy (of course), but I got to collect my loan check for the term. It's the little things of feeling slightly richer and poorer at the same time.  

The second year sessions began with our Dean giving us an oversight on some changes to the program.  Following that, besides being reunited with so many of my friends in my program, we had an introductory class to a half-unit course we are required to take this year. It deals with power, organizations, and leadership. It's taught by the "father" of the MPA program, so I'm looking forward to this one! 

The afternoon and early evening of Thursday was spent listening to the various capstone projects that we could choose from for the year. Essentially, there are numerous government departments (UK), non-profits, world organizations, and non-profits that we can choose from. Each capstone group contains between three and five people doing research, preparing reports, etc.  I submitted my preferences today, and we get to find out our projects/group this week! 

And, we also finally registered for courses. Sadly, in all my years of higher education, I was shut out of a class I wanted to take completely. I wanted to take a media and politics course as an option this year. It's not even offered until the Spring, but despite registering for it, I've been shut out and put on a very long waiting list. But don't worry, I registered for two others that will be my options to take in the Spring! 

We officially start classes this week. As for my schedule, besides interning and capstone group projects, I only have class two days a week! 

More on my weekend adventure including the boat party to come!

Three Exams Down, One to Go!

This week has been crazy so far.  I took three exams on back to back days. Economics on Monday, government and game theory on Tuesday, and management yesterday. To say that I was tired would be an understatement. They were some of the hardest tests that I ever taken in my entire life. But, they are over! Today, I start studying for my last exam which is next Wednesday. It's hard to believe that next Wednesday at 6pm, I will be done with my first year of grad school.  As I return to the textbooks, I'll leave you with some photos on how a lot of us celebrated yesterday!

It's June!

My exams finally start today. And by finally, I do mean that by the time most of you are reading this, I will be wrapping up my economics final exam. It's worth 100% of my grade. 

May the odds be ever in my favor. 

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I have my government and management exams. And, then one week later, I will take my last one- econometrics.

Thus, studying is what has caused a lack of blog posts. I've been doing a lot of fun things to try to balance out the studying. (See my post yesterday about the Sound of Change Concert)!

Once my exams are over, I'll officially be on break till October. Hell of a vacation, huh? My internship that is based in London will wrap up mid-July. I'm escaping to the US then! Get prepared, America!

For now, I'll leave you with some photos for what I have been up to besides studying! 

Celebrated a 'Bon Voyage' evening with my friend John- he's headed to Burma! 

Hung out at Portobello Road and ate this delicious sandwich!

And, yes...continued my way to eat every macaroon ever. 

Academic Purgatory

Exams are two weeks away from today. (eeek!) LSE has a six week summer term period for exams, and mine all fall within a week of each other. Three of them are back to back, actually.

I've labeled this post academic purgatory because I wake up studying, fall asleep studying, and I do believe I've been having dreams with economic theories.  I knew this summer term would be rough, but I've never experience anything like this before. Having no exams, quizzes, and hardly any graded assignments during the first 20 weeks of this year has placed a direct impact on my studying this term.
Truthfully, I stayed consistent with the materials that we were learning each week. I reviewed during the Christmas break. I completed my weekly STATA assignments due to the random grading of one of them. And, yet, I'm still nervous for what is coming.

Essentially, I feel that I am cramming as much material in my head as I can before these exams. We are given access to past exams, and I've detected the patterns of exam questions and topics. But, at the same time, I've reread so many textbook and articles that sometimes I feel my brain has turned into mush. Yes, at Syracuse, I did sometimes cram the night before a test, and I was fine. This is entirely different.

But, it's a learning experience. It's the UK higher education system. And, I signed on for it.

Just two more weeks...

Lent Term Begins!

Ahhhhh...the smell of a new semester! 

Or, term as they call it over here.

Lent Term officially begins today. While my schedule and courses stay the same for the semester, I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine. My day consists of my usual four hours of econometrics for Monday, but I'm actually really looking forward to dealing with STATA and problem sets today!  

One change that I will see with my courses this semester is that my economics class will begin to focus on macroeconomics until final exams. As for everything else, I will be interning with the internship that I landed at the start of the Michalmas Term. It was delayed starting, but I'm looking forward to having a few other things in my life besides math and game theory!

If you will excuse me now, I need to get coffee and get to work!

Courses!

Now that the school year has officially started, we can get down to business discussing what I will be taking for the next year. Unlike the United States, our semesters do not mean I get to take different courses each semester. Instead, the concentration of the classes are spread across both the Michaelmas/Lent terms with exams falling in the summer term. Most grades for all courses are decided on those exams in the summer term. The advantage of this is I will not have as many assignments as frequent- no weekly blog entries, no papers every two weeks, etc. I will also get a month or so off following the Lent term. One of the hardest things that I am facing is that without a lot of continuous assignments, or midterms,  it'd be easy to forget about a reading assignment. I'll be using time management to its fullest these next two years. 

My program requires us to take four units during our first year as a student. All of us have to take three basic courses. Micro/macro economics, Econometrics, and a political science course.  My stream is the only one that his the required course for the stream to be taken in the second year. My required course is more economics, and it would be foolish to try to take it without a solid background. Thus, my choice to fulfill my last unit was a little hard. I could take two half-unit courses, or I could take one of the other streams' required courses.  In the end after a lot of thinking, talking to my advisor, and going to the newly founded MPA course fair, I chose to take a class on public management. Ideally, it should be a base for further work in the government. 

I've copied the course descriptions from the LSE website! Take a look!

(All of these are taken directly from the LSE website here: http://www2.lse.ac.uk/study/units/IPA/MPA_PEP.aspx. No copyright infringement or lack of source.)

GV478: Political Science and Public Policy

• In this course we develop tools to analyse important political phenomena including elections, legislative bargaining, lobbying, bureaucracy, civil conflict, and international relations. We focus on game theory as a way of understanding strategic interactions among political actors. Students will learn basic game theoretical concepts and apply them to a variety of political contexts; these tools should be useful both for explaining existing political outcomes and for designing interventions to achieve desired future outcomes.

EC440: Micro and Macro Economics

• An introductory graduate course providing an economics background suitable for high-level public policy-making. The emphasis is on acquiring sound models and methods suitable for appraising policy-making issues and applicable in a wide variety of contexts. The first term (MT) covers microeconomics and the second term (LT) covers macroeconomics.
• MT: Microeconomics: Week 1: Demand and Supply in Competitive Markets. Week 2: Consumer Optimisation: Demand for Goods. Week 3: Consumer Optimisation and Labor Supply. Week 4: Firms' Optimisation the Supply of Goods and the Demand for Labour. Week 5: Monopoly. Week 6: Uncertainty and Insurance. Week 7: Markets and Asymmetric Information. Week 8: Monopolistic Competition and Game Theory. Week 9: Externalities in Consumption and Production. Week 10: Public Goods.
• LT: Macroeconomics: Week 1: Growth and poverty. Week 2: Institutions and economic performance. Week 3: Regulation and economic performance. Week 4: Human capital and growth. Week 5: Productivity and innovation. Week 6: Unemployment. Week 7: Finance and economic performance. Week 8: Openness and economic performance. Week 9: Economic fluctuations. Week 10: Stabilization and reform.

EC455: Quantitative Approaches and Policy Analysis

• The course introduces students to the quantitative evaluation of public policies with the help of regression based evaluation methods, cost-benefit analysis and computable general equilibrium modelling. The first six weeks of the course introduce students to basic multiple regression analysis including hypothesis testing, modelling of non-linear relationships, and dummy variables. From week 7 of MT the course covers a number of regression based evaluation methods to assess the casual effectiveness of policy interventions. These include the use of randomized experiments, natural or quasi-experiments, panel data, difference-in-differences estimation, instrumental variables, matching and regression discontinuity designs. The final part of the course provides an overview over cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis and an introduction to the use of computable equilibrium models to assess policy interventions.

MG419: Public Management- Strategy, Innovation, and Delivery

• The course develops the perspectives, knowledge, and intellectual skill required for rational discourse about intelligent practical action in the core public sector. In Michaelmas Term, the course focuses on the design of organizational strategies in public sector contexts. This general issue is subdivided into the design of organizational strategies for start-up, realignment, and success-sustaining transitions. In Lent Term, the course delves specifically into scholarship and teaching cases about the design and operation of practices whose logic is to perform three functions instrumental to sustained organizational achievement: strategy development, developing innovative capabilities, and delivery (encompassing both production and management control). Overall, the course provides a foundation for further coursework about management in the public sector as well as the ability to engage constructively and critically in the development of public management practice.