I graduated!

Yesterday, LSE held a graduation ceremony for the MPA program! 

While I wasn't there to attend in person, I'm now officially an LSE alumna! Earlier this week, we got our grades including the mysterious capstone grade that I'm sure all my friends were waiting for me to stop talking about. For those wondering, we did better than we anticipated. But, the release of the grades confirmed my graduation!

So, while I would have loved to celebrate in-person with my class and have a great night out in London, I'm getting ready to start my job on Monday!

But, don't worry...this was my version of a graduation ceremony!

Weekly Recap

Before I begin my weekly recap, let's just take a moment and celebrate (again!) Syracuse's victory over Duke last night!! I was at a MPA party and had to withdraw to the corner for the ending of the game. My tension and stress of the game might have scarred my friends that aren't used to the stress of college basketball. (Sorry all!). It was a great way to start the new rivalry! 

This week was much more mellow than the first few weeks of the term. Nothing too major in terms of assignments due. My capstone group met with our client this week to get a grasp of how they perceived out interim report. We got a a lot of great, constructive feedback which will be helpful moving forward for the final due in March. 

On Thursday, I went and met with a Pi Phi at the Sloane Club who is hopefully moving to England. She pledged during the 1960s, and it was awesome to just sit and discuss our college days together. Lifelong friendship, indeed! 

Friday morning, I helped out SU Abroad by assisting chaperoning study abroad students on a tour of Fuller's Brewery (post to come about the tour)! 

Fuller's Brewery

Friday evening, the MPA Student Association elections were held. How has it already been a year since the last ones? Time is just flying by! My dear friend, Alyssa, won the chair position for the next year! Afterwards, we all headed to a pub nearby campus for a few drinks!

With the newly elected MPASA Chair

Yesterday, I felt I was on the go non-stop. 

I started the down wandering the gardens of St. Paul's.

St. Paul's 

From there, I walked to an open air shopping mall to grab brunch with two friends I met through the Local Levo group. We tried out the Bread Kitchen which was amazing food wise and had a great atmosphere.

Inside of the Bread Kitchen

Brunch me, please!

Grabbing cupcakes for later, I headed home to do some laundry and answer emails before going out to Wahaca in Shepard's Bush for dinner! I met up with my friend, Maggie, her wife, and a few of their friends. Maggie is on the Executive Board for the Pi Phi Alumnae Club with me! 

And, last night ended with going to a MPA party. The theme this week? Tropical! 

BG and me 

Tropical goodness

Today, Alyssa and I grabbed brunch before wandering down Portobello Road. After she headed to campus to get some work done, I finally went and walked around Kensal Green Cemetery (more on that to come).

It was a great week of balancing academics, a social life, and being a tourist.

How was your week? 

Grad School Stress

Week two of the Lent term was anything but slow. 

I felt as if this entire week I was running around with my head cut off. 

One of the required courses for the MPA program ended this week with the final essay being due. It was a half-unit course with the majority of the work and classes being held last semester. The essay was 4000 words on crisis management. It was an interesting topic, but balancing everything with such a large essay was a bit difficult!  This past week, I also had a report for my capstone group project due, two group presentations, and regular work on top of all of that. 

Can we say that Katie needs a breather?

Because of my crazy week, I've been slow on posting on the blog and even doing tourist things in London. Even my social life slowed down this past week! 

But, I did go to a friend's birthday party on Thursday night! It was at the Roxy in Soho. I've been there a few other times before, and it's always a fun night out!

Jenny- The Birthday Girl!

Capstone Group 

On Friday before a capstone meeting, I had lunch with a fellow Pi Phi who recently found out about the UK alumnae club. She was unable to go to the happy hour earlier this week, so lunch in the city was the answer! We went to Alice near Bank. The food was great, but the view was much better:

The Gherkin

Yesterday, two of my friends hosted a "housewarming" party. They discovered they were both living in the same building after they had moved in! What a coincident! 

1st Year/ 2nd Year Buddy Combo 

The Trio

Today, I've been bogged down with a bunch of other work that I had no time to get to last week. Getting back to a normal is the goal this week, so expect regular posts! 

Holiday Parties!

It's that time of the year again! 

The holiday season has officially taken over all aspects of my life. From the small decorations I have in my flat to the Christmas lights twinkling around London, you can't escape the feeling!  I had three different holiday parties this week as well as the LSE Christmas Concert!

Tuesday, some of the girls and I grabbed tickets to see the LSE Christmas Concert. There was both a choir and an orchestra!

Earlier in the day, my office had a Christmas Luncheon! Last week was my last week at the US Embassy for the internship, so it was great getting to have one more outing with the friends and mentors that I've gained!

Thursday evening, I had two holiday parties to hop to. But of course, what is a holiday party without an ugly Christmas sweater! This year, I went for the sweater inspired by the movie, 'Home Alone 2.' The slogan? "Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animal!"

The first party on Thursday was the Pi Phi UK Alumnae Holiday Party! We tried out a new bar in the Holborn area. It was great catching up with old friends and meeting new ones!

Maryann and me

Later in the evening, I headed over to Islington for the MPA Christmas Party! It was great to see a lot of people before we head off for a four-week break!

Capstone Partners 

Alyssa, Susannah, and me!

How many holiday parties are on your calendar this year? Any great Ugly Christmas Sweaters?

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!

Annual MPA Retreat

Another year of the MPA? Another year of a MPA Retreat?

You may remember my post on last year's retreat in Croyde Bay? This year, we headed down to Portsmouth. Specifically, we spent this past weekend at the Mill Rythe Resort on Hayling Island. I had actually been in the area before back in 2010 when I did a public footpath trek through Chichester. 

(And yes, if you do a search on Hayling Island, there are reports of a tornado that happened there yesterday. I was outside when said tornado happened, but did not see anything...)

We left mid-day Friday for the resort. The drive was supposed to take under two hours, but we spent sometime in traffic.  However, as typical MPA students, we made the best of it. A bunch of the dual degree kids that had gone off to Berlin and Paris came back for the retreat, so it was great catching up with them!

When we got to the resort, we grabbed dinner and relaxed and waited for the other busses to arrive. There were two additional busses for everyone who had class late on Friday afternoons.   The rest of the evening was spent dancing, catching up with old friends, and meeting some of the new members of the incoming class!

#orangenation

Saturday morning, the girls and I headed out to the small lake that was on the property before watching Arielle and Jenny take on the challenge of learning how to crossbow! 

Post cross-bows, we headed into the small town on Hayling Island as well as checking out the beach! It had started to rain in the morning, but cleared off just in time for our walk.  

Hayling Island Beach

Day at the Beach

Zaina and me 

The rest of the evening was spent again in typical MPA fashion of drinks, dancing, a birthday, and plenty of laughs! 

First Years!

One of the best!

First Years!

All in all, it was a great weekend away! Plenty of laughs with old classmates and friends, but it was awesome to meet more of the first year class! 

Weekly Recap.

If you haven't figured out by my lack of regular posts again, school is in full bloom.

I've just about got my schedule down to normal and can resume to post regularly. Compared to last year, this semester, I'm not in class for many hours. The majority of my courses are not offered till the spring term.

Ronald Reagan Statue outside the US Embassy

Fellow Interns at Borough Market

It's been a crazy few weeks.  My internship is going amazing, and I'm so glad that I have a chance to intern with the US Embassy this semester!  I intern around 20 hours a week as I'm restricted to part-time work due to my student visa.  And, the other interns for the semester and I have gotten to know each other well. We even stepped out to Borough Market last weekend.

Last weekend, I also attended a house-warming party for four of my friends in my program. They live down in Bethnal Green, so a quick shot down the Central line! It was a fun night out with the second year MPA class and a few first years!

The Girls

MPA Capstone Team!

Over this past week, my capstone group and I got going on our six-month project. We are working on accessing public accountability in services provided by private companies. Specifically, we are working with G4S. It should be an exciting project!

This week, I also got to have three mini Syracuse reunions. I first met up with my friend, Brittany, for cupcakes and coffee. We first met when we had class together...it was the same class that I got to meet Hillary Clinton in!  I also got to grab lunch with my friend, Maria, while she was in town as well as give a tour of LSE to a current SU student! Tons of Orange love for the week!

Brittany and Me at Kensington Palace

Stay tuned for an update on the MPA Retreat and other musings! 

MPA Boat Party!

The MPA programme had its annual boat party this past Friday!

Four-hour cruise on the River Thames getting to catch up with second years as well as meeting tons of the incoming first year students!  Thankfully, the boat wasn't named Poseidon like it was in Prague... 

Check out some photos from the evening! 

Susannah and Me- She's my 1st Year MPA Buddy!

Jenny and Me

The O2

The London Eye

The Girls

Brett and Me