Week of Papers

I think that I had an assignment due in 4 of 5 classes this week and that a lot of others in the cohort had the same. Everyone, including me, looked wiped out! The good in all this is that we learned a lot this week and that I think it is fair to say we are officially back in the swing of this school thing. In addition to school work and my assistantship, I have been looking into college access volunteer opportunities.

Last week, the perfect opportunity came to me via the Higher Education Program listserv! An organization in Philadelphia called "one little DID" is looking for mentors to walk young Philadelphians through their college application process. I like that one little DID uses a one-on-one model and that they orient mentorship around the college application process. They also don't just help high achieving students, they help anyone who wants to go to college. I am very excited about the possibility of volunteering with one little DID. Later today, I will find out if i got the position. Wish me luck!

A bunch of people in the cohort are going to the NASPA regional conferences today, some to the one in Baltimore and others to the one at PACE in NYC. I was interested in going, but decided against it because it is still pretty early in the year and we had a ton of work to do for classes this week. As the year progresses, I will probably be more inclined to go off and network. First, I had better learn how to do it!

Recently, I have had some really valuable conversations with people in the cohort. One student in the program here is a full time admissions representative at John Hopkins and  a part time student. Another student came to Penn GSE from having been a high school college counselor. Their experiences are helping inform my approach to college admissions. I am learning so much from them.

This week, Matt Hartley's class was about boards of trustees. We learned about the intricacies of board responsibilities and about some of the basic differences between public and private boards. It is impressive how Matt can take things that sound so boring and really bring them to life.  I never thought I would be interested in academic governance, but he has showed how vital an understanding of governance is to any academic administrator.