2nd Year as a LSE JPIA Editor

If you missed it, I'm in the United States for a week! 

I flew in last Thursday in advance of the reading weekend for the Journal of Public and International Affairs. 

The reading weekend kicked off on Friday, so Thursday night was a reunion night with one of my best friends. I hadn't seen my friend Kasey since graduation weekend at Syracuse in 2012. 

Short story: Kasey was a sophomore on my floor, my freshman year, and we've been in the same group of friends ever since! She picked me up from the airport, went to dinner, and just caught up as if we had saw each other yesterday. 

Kasey and me 

I spent the rest of Thursday evening and much of Friday at the hotel I had booked doing work for my capstone and applying for jobs. Thank goodness for the Starbucks in the lobby!

Friday evening was the kickoff of the JPIA Reading Weekend.  As you may recall from last year, I traveled to Princeton as the first year representative.  It's a two- year position, so last term, I selected the new first-year student for LSE.  

Friday evening was spent doing introductions, reading the first round of papers, and getting to know others. It was great seeing some of my friends that I met through last year's reading weekend as well. 

Woodrow Wilson of Public and International Affairs 

Saturday was the main day of the weekend. Starting at 8am, it really was a reading and scoring day. Not without a few breaks and getting to know others,  I think I read close to 40 papers throughout the day.  Some were in my areas of expertise, but others were not. That was the aim of the preliminary reading: to ensure that people who are not specialists in an area can understand the policy paper/article. 

Princeton's Campus 

By the end of the evening, we had selected the final nine papers for this year's publication. A close friend of mine from the MPA program was selected for publication this year!  Congrats, Naomi!

The evening ended with a Princeton MPA party. And, as it was last year, my fellow LSE MPA students, we can still claim the prize for better parties! 

Princeton's Campus 

Sunday was the wrap-up day. I left a little earlier to catch the train to Newark as I'm now home for a few days. It was a great weekend getting to contribute to editing a prestigious journal, getting to know other future policy makers (including a few current SU grad students), and taking it all in. The past two years in my role as a contributing editor were two years that I wouldn't pass up! 

Guest Blogging!

Greetings from America!

While I plan on blogging on my trip including the reading weekend at Princeton, I wanted to share a post I did over on my friend, Tola's blog! I'm guest blogging about a trip to Seneca Falls, NY! 

Enjoy!

Now Boarding!

I'm headed to the homeland today!

It's the annual reading weekend for the Journal of Public & International Affairs. I went last year as a contributing editor, and as it's a two-year position, I'm headed back!

Today, I leave for Newark and am spending the night, there.  One of my best friends from college is coming to meet me for dinner. We haven't seen each other since before I graduated, so it will be a great evening to catch up!

Friday- Sunday, the reading weekend takes place on Princeton's campus.

And, on Sunday, I get to sneak home for a few days of snow and relaxation before returning to London!

Overdue Recap: JPIA

A couple of weekends ago, I flew to Princeton University. It was the reading weekend for the Journal of Public and International Affairs. As you may recall, I was selected to be a Contributing Editor for the Journal back in October. The MPA office sends two students on behalf of LSE to be the contributing editors. 

The weekend started off with landing Thursday evening. Ganga (the second year, contributing editor from LSE) and I made it into Newark and Princeton right before the massive snowstorm.  We stayed with two MPA students at Princeton for the weekend. It was nice to actually be back in a real house instead of my tiny studio for the weekend.

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University

During the day on Friday, Ganga and I camped out and did work before the weekend started.  Friday night consisted of the weekend starting with roundtable introductions, the schedule of the weekend, and dinner! It was great to get to meet other MPA/policy master's students from around the US and the world. The rest of Friday evening consisted of starting to read the paper submissions and a Princeton MPA party. Don't worry for my fellow LSE MPA students....we still win on that front!

Saturday was the main reading day. By the evening, we selected the final eight papers that will be released in the Journal for the 2013 year. That evening, there was a social planned. It was a great way to cap off the weekend before the final meeting on Sunday, and my flight back to London. 

I know my trip to the US was short and academic, but it was nice to be back on the home soil for awhile. I'm glad that I was able to be a contributing editor for the Journal, and I look forward to participating again next year!