Another night in Gelman Library

Hi readers,

It's that time again. Midterms. For the first time since last spring (almost an entire year), I am having to study really difficult topics again. While my study abroad program was rigorous in a lot of ways, we never had tests that took up a large percentage of my grade and my grade didn't even matter as long as I passed the class (a benefit of non-GW study abroad programs is that the grade won't transfer.. so don't worry if you end up with a B!! Truthfully, you'll end up with As though if it's a topic you show interest in).

Today, I took my public health midterm and tomorrow night I have my development politics midterm and a geography quiz. By Friday, I have an economics problem set due. Next week, I have an economics midterm and a oral presentation in English. I've booked study rooms in Gelman library for practically the whole weekend and I'm ready to roll.

Gelman library booking system- red times are booked rooms

I just need the motivation. The motivation to get good grades is there, and a lot of this material is interesting- it's just difficult to come back from study abroad and feel at home again at GW with taking 5 classes, interning, volunteering, and having a social life. I'm really excited for this summer when I'll be interning (hopefully) and volunteering teaching ESL classes.

More about that later when I have more time. Hope everyone is doing well! marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu
- Marisa

George's Birthday Bash!

Hi everyone!

Finally- the event I've always wanted to go: George Washington's birthday celebration in U Yard! I wish I had better pictures but I had my friend take a few pictures on her phone. This celebration happens every year- they make a huge bonfire in the middle of U Yard and roast marshmallows, have hot apple cider, and just hang out. I was on my way to a professional speaking event and it was a nice surprise to leave U Yard with a big cup of apple cider.

Bonfire

Band performing

Overall, it was a really nice get together for lots of students, administrators, and faculty on campus. I was surprised at how many people came out to celebrate! Thankfully, it was also a pretty warm night. We've been lucky with the weather lately- it's a great time to come visit campus (hint hint!).

Questions? As always, email me! marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu
- Marisa

Warning: Long Post Ahead

Fair warning: this post is quite long and covers various topics. I apologize if you don’t want to read a novel, but once I started typing, I couldn’t stop. So….enjoy!

Today is Ash Wednesday for all of you who are Christian, which means that yesterday was Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras as it is more commonly known (and today is the first day of Lent). As a result, yesterday, my sister and I decided to carry on a tradition from my childhood—making paczkis, or Polish doughnuts. This is a Polish tradition that many Polish Americans across the Midwest (including Wisconsin) have carried on and introduced to the United States. As you can probably tell from this, I am of Polish descent (as well as German) and so when I was growing up, on Fat Tuesday my mom, my grandma, my sister, and I would celebrate it by spending a few hours making these paczkis. The customary reason for making this treat stems from the need to use up all of the excess sugar, eggs, and other ingredients since they are technically prohibited during the fasting season of Lent.

Last year, I didn’t attempt to make these since I did not have the time (they take quite a few hours to make) nor did I have adequate kitchen space. The year before that, my freshman year, my sister and I attempted to make them, but they did not turn out as well as we had hoped. However this year, they turned out quite nicely, and deliciously. Just to show you just how much time and work go into these treats, here is a summarized and brief overview of the recipe. First, you have to make the dough by hand, which took approximately half an hour. Next, was to let the dough rise for an hour, beat it, and then let it rise again for another hour. Then, you must flatten the dough and cut out circular cuts of the dough and place them in the frying pot and cook them. Lastly, once they are done cooking them, you lightly coat them in sugar and let cool/ dry. Like I said, this is a very brief overview of the recipe and let me tell you, there are a lot of ingredients that went into them. While it took a while, it was fun to make them and even more fun to eat them. However, I think I ate too many by the end of the night, I could barely move. Now, every time I see someone, I am practically giving them away since I don’t think I can eat anymore. Thankfully, they are delicious, so people are gladly eating them. Here are some pictures of different intervals along the way:

before (in dough form)

cooking

after (so yummy)

As for Ash Wednesday today, I am going to mass tonight with a few of my teammates and other GW varsity athletes to receive our ashes. The other day a fellow athlete started a facebook group for GW Catholic varsity athletes to promote a sense of unity with other athletes on campus and maybe attend masses together, which I think is a great idea. It just makes it even easier to practice your faith while in college when you have others who want to as well.

As for what I am giving up for Lent (another Christian tradition), I have decided, with the encouragement of one of my roommates, to give up procrastination. This will be probably the toughest thing that I could give, since it is engrained in every part of my being. I can’t help it, I’ve been a procrastinator ever since I can remember, probably since kindergarten if I’m honest. The reason this choice has been made with the encouragement of one of my roommates is because I always make her nervous when I procrastinate, even though it’s not her work that’s due. She feels the stress of the looming deadline instead of me. So, I have decided to do my best and not procrastinate, which in the end will probably benefit both of us in the long run.

P.S. today has an extra special component besides it being Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent, it’s my 21st birthday! I am looking forward to going out to dinner tonight with my sister and some friends to celebrate the occasion. More birthday fun: actually, I was typing this, I got a knock on my door and it was a flower delivery man; my parents sent me beautiful flowers for my birthday. They certainly brighten up my dorm room already. Here’s a picture:

Feel free to email me with any questions! cbgraf@gwmail.gwu.edu

-Christie

Random Thoughts

Life’s pretty boring right now. So, fair warning, this post isn’t too exciting. It’s just filled with random things that have been going on or are coming up relatively soon. First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Valentine’s Day.

On Monday, I just applied for housing for next year in South Hall, the senior building on campus (my sister lived there her senior year and it is only a few years old and very nice). I’ve been waiting since I was a freshman to live there and I can’t wait for next year, especially since I will be living with my freshman year roommate and one of my roommates from last year.

Over the last month, one of my roommates and I have been plowing our way through Law and Order: SVU on Netflix, starting with season 1. Right now we are partially through the 2nd season, so we are making fairly good progress. We both have watched it for years, just never in chronological order, so one day she mentioned that she was going to do this and I gladly joined her endeavor as a way to relax this semester and watch one of my favorite shows at the same time.

The only things going on in my life at the moment have been classes and volleyball. The speed of my classes have picked up and I have my first exams all next week (I think 3 in total and 2 papers, so it will be a busy week). Plus my birthday is next week, which will make it extra busy. However, I am excited since one of my friends is coming to visit me/ celebrate my birthday! As for volleyball, we are in our off season, but we have something 5 days a week (open gym, practice, conditioning, and weight room) and our weekends off (at least until tournaments in April).

On another note, spring break is approaching. Just a few more weeks and I’ll be in sunny Florida with my family. Even though this winter has been exceptionally mild, I cannot wait until I get to enjoy even warmer weather and lay by the pool.

Feel free to email me with any questions: cbgraf@gwmail.gwu.edu

-Christie

The Smithsonian American Art Museum

For the past few months, I’ve been working at SAAM on weekends, as a presenter for the Art à la Cart Program.  It’s a really great way to engage visitors (especially kids) with the art in a more interactive and fun way, while still being really informative and interesting.  I’ve learned so much working at the museum, and I’m gonna share a bit of that with all of you!

Our presentations cover a variety of topics: “found art", quilting, art of the American Indian, photography, and sculpture, among others.  Here, I’ll give a super-quick teaser of our sculpture presentation, but for the whole thing you’ve got to come visit us at the American Art Museum on the Chinatown/Gallery Place stop.  We're there weekends from 2-5pm!

This horse sculpture was made by Debra Butterfield—can you guess what it’s made of?  (Don’t Google, it’ll ruin the surprise!)  Come see for yourself the intriguing and elegant Monekana at SAAM.

Really, visit me at work!  And email with questions about GW/DC/my job!  shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

~~~Shireen

Food Trucks: Yellow Vendor

Just visited the Yellow Vendor food truck for lunch with a friend, and I was very happy with the results!

It’s solid, authentic, and not in the least flashy—both in presentation and flavor—but the lack of elegance is made up for (and then some) by the quality and taste.  It was as close to real Korean food as I’ve ever had, save for when my high school friend’s mom made us dinner a few times.  Moving on.

I got the vegetarian bibimbap, which consisted of rice, sautéed carrots, cabbage, bean sprouts, and greens (I think fern?), with an over-easy egg on top.  Very pleased with my choice: it was delicious, filling, and you got a lot of food for your money.  I couldn’t finish it all, which is rather rare with me!

Definitely recommend.  Check ‘em out!

And of course, for GW/DC/college questions, email me! shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

~~~Shireen

The Big Job Hunt and GW's resources

Hey folks,

Thought I'd pick up where I left off last time--with a discussion of the specific resources GW offers its students in finding jobs.

As anybody who knows Washington, D.C., can tell you, this is the city of internships. Almost everybody I know has made searching for internships a principal focus of their undergraduate careers. For more on that front, I highly recommend looking through our archives here at the GW Admissions Student Blog--my colleagues have written some great pieces on the diversity of their experiences.

As a second-semester senior, I want to offer a bit of a different perspective: that of a soon-to-be-graduate looking for work. (I also have graduate school applications in, but that's a story for a different post.)

Freshman and parents probably want to know the answers to the following two questions:
1. How well does a GW education prepare you for employment in general?
2. What kind of resources are available to assist the job search itself?

My last post talked more about question #1. From my experiences over the past ten days, I can offer two data points on question #2:

Career Fairs: GW offers two big general-interest career fairs. Our first fair this year was held back in the Fall; our Spring fair just happened on Wednesday, February 1. I attended the Spring fair this year, and I have to say I was really impressed with the breadth of opportunities available. Many employers were looking for students with strong written and verbal communication skills to fill spots immediately, and most were accepting resumes.

I admit it: I'm not going to be designing submarines for this GW Career fair perennial--though many of our outstanding SEAS students do work for outstanding companies like this one.

One comment I frequently hear from my fellow humanities students after job fairs is "What about me?" I have to say, I think this criticism is unfair. It's only natural that a disproportionate number of employers actively hiring will be looking for engineers--technical fields are the country's main growth sectors. This is certainly reflected at our job fairs, but humanities majors need not lose hope: with a little research, you too can discover those hidden opportunities. (More on my personal experiences next time.)

Career Center Workshops: If fairs offer students a shot to impress employers in attendance, workshops give us a better chance of making each shot count. Everything from resume design to interview behavior is covered by our Career Center's staff.

Yesterday, I attended a guest lecture on interview behavior hosted by the Center. Some schools offer similar services, but GW really makes quality career support accessible. I learned a number of tips on how to improve my interview performance, and will definitely be going back for more help next week.

--Adam
Questions about the job search and life as a GW senior? Comments about this or other posts? Let me know at ash1290@gwmail.gwu.edu.
Next time: My personal employment experiences and my job search strategy.

Classes for spring semester

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd share the exciting class schedule I have got going over for Spring!

Public Health 1101
Introduction to Public Health and Health Services (3)
Introduction to aspects of public health and health services, including health services administration and policy, maternal and child health, environmental health, and health promotion


Economics 2180
Survey of International Economics (3)
Basic concepts of international trade and international finance, with emphasis on policy issues.


English 3810
Selected Topics in Literature (3)
Topics announced in the Schedule of Classes; may be repeated for credit provided the topic differs. Topics may include the Bloomsbury group; southern literature; the picaresque; literature of the Holocaust; literature and politics; Freud, Dostoevsky, and Shakespeare. My class is focused on Modernism and the Lost Generation: literature from the 20s including Hemingway, Cather, and more!


Geography 2133
People, Land, and Food (3)
Domestication and dispersal of plants and animals; development of agricultural systems; spatial disparities in world food production, demand, and distribution.


Political Science 2337
Development Politics (3)
An examination of how and why political systems develop the way they do. Why do some countries develop into democracies, while others become authoritarian? How do class conflict, the nature of the elite, and the political culture affect the development of political institutions?

International Affairs

Internship for Credit (1)

I am currently interning at the American Psychological Association. To get a credit towards graduation, I have to work a minimum of 4 hours (I work 12) and write a 10 page paper. Easy!

Any questions? Let me know!

marisaw@gwmail.gwu.edu

- Marisa

Food Trucks: Amorini Panini

For lunch, I stopped by the Amorini Panini truck parked right outside GW's Marvin Center, our main student hub.  I've gotta say, I was rather unimpressed, though overall my sandwich was good.

Maybe I was expecting it to be over-the-top excellent?  I dunno, but I thought it was just ok.  I got the Caprese, your standard Italian-style pesto, mozzarella, and tomato sandwich on sourdough.  It was the only vegetarian option, so maybe if I had gotten something meaty I would have been more pleased... maybe that's what I wanted all along!  It was definitely good, just a bit too tomato-y, I guess.  There were plenty of others ordering alongside me who seemed happy with their choices, so it's very possible that this just isn't their best sandwich.  Or I just expect too much on the cheese side of things?

Either way, if I ate meat I'd definitely try some of their other sandwiches; they sound inventive and quite tasty.  If you can't find the truck, try out their brick-and-mortar location at 9th and F streets NW, in the Penn Quarter area.  I've heard good things!  Actually, the restaurant is supposed to be very good, so maybe I just got the fluke sandwich.  I really hope that's the case!

Anyway, check out their site, stop by, and prove me wrong!  Definitely write back with positive reviews, and I'll share them: shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu -- also email if you have any questions about GW/college admissions/DC!

<3 Shireen

Food Trucks: DC Shawarma (minus the shawarma...)

Today, I stopped by the DC Shawarma truck for some grub!  Not shawarma, mind you, but poutine!  They churn out some of the best poutine I’ve ever had alongside lamb, beef, and chicken shawarma and falafel sandwiches, plus some other sides I didn’t pay too much attention to because I had poutine on the brain!

Now, I’m gonna admit: I don’t think the gravy used in the poutine was vegetarian.  I know Eat Wonky’s poutine is, but theirs tasted like meat gravy (I think, I’ve actually never been the biggest gravy person so I'm no expert!).  I’m gonna live in blissful ignorance on that one—my policy on things like that is don’t ask, don’t tell.  Same with broths.  As you can see, my resolve in that sector is slight, but overall I’m still a veghead!  Or at least, on my way there!

Back to the poutine.  It was tasty, hot, and curdelicious.  There’s something about partially-melted squeaky cheese that’s very comforting, aside from the noise it makes when you eat it.

All in all, good dinner.  Now off to class!  (Yeah, I gotta night class.  UGH.)

For questions about anything GW/DC/college related, email! shireens@gwmail.gwu.edu

~~~Shireen

Charles E. Smith Center Transformation

Over the last several years, my 2^nd home on campus, the Charles E. Smith Center (our varsity athletic center) has been undergoing serious updates and construction. Before I started here at GW, the building’s look and facilities were starting to show its age and slightly outdated nature. In order to continue to make GW a force in the A10 Conference, a major construction overhaul was needed. And in 2008, a rather large donation was given by the Robert H. Smith and the Charles E. Smith Family Foundations and the Robert P. and Arlene R. Kogod which jumpstarted the renovations. Everything in the Smith Center has been redone, including all the locker rooms, sports medicine center, weight room, hallways, conference rooms, academic support center, the offices, concession stands, fitness room, entrance, ticket office, laundry room, bleachers, and of course the actually gym itself.

At times, this change for the better has created other challenges and obstacles. Such as for my first 2 years on the volleyball team, for our preseason (August), instead of practicing in the Smith Center, which was not ready for use yet, we were forced to practice and prepare for our season in the Lerner Health and Wellness center. While “Hell Well,” as it is called by the student population for short, is an extremely nice student rec and gym, it made life a little more difficult for our team. For example, doing our team laundry was much more difficult, the gym facilities were much smaller, and we were without a locker room. And each of the two seasons, our entire first half of our season was played on the road until the gym was suitable enough to hold matches. In fact, my volleyball team and I were the 1^stsporting event to be held in the new gym.

Here are two excellent videos that explain and take tours of the Smith Center, showing off its renovations:

And here are two websites from gwsports that have pictures of the construction progress that occurred over the last 4 years:

http://www.gwsports.com/view.gal?id=70520

http://www.gwsports.com/view.gal?id=52748

Since I spend several hours there every day, this transformation has affected my life over the last few years in many ways and I have seen each stage along the way. The building is quite beautiful now and I am glad that I get to experience playing and training in the newly renovated facilities. And the Smith Center isn’t just used for varsity athletics. Its hosts a variety of events, such as graduation ceremonies, concerts, comedy shows, and guest speakers. It is a vital part of the GW campus and its new facelift has it looking new and improved.

On another note, I can’t tell you how beautiful the weather here in DC is today. Absolutely gorgeous. 67 degrees. I can’t get over it. I mean, its February! It’s the middle of winter and I am wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals outside. Every opportunity to go outside today, I take it. Well I’m off to the men’s basketball game where at halftime they are honoring those who made the Athletic Dean’s List for the last 2 semesters. And guess what? Yours truly is being honored separately with all of the athletes who earned a 4.0 GPA either of the last 2 semesters! Woohoo!

Feel free to email me with any questions! cbgraf@gwmail.gwu.edu

-Christie