Happy New Year everyone, this is the first official blog posting of 2008 (I know you all are thrilled).
As has become tradition on New Year’s Eve, C & I, before heading to a party, went ice skating.I am not sure if it's the remnants of the holiday season, the cold weather or the romance of skating under the lights, but we love ice skating on New Year’s Eve.Despite waiting over an hour, uncomfortable skates that either have ridiculously long or stupidly short laces and the numerous beginners falling down all over the ice, we had an awesome time.It lived up to the thrill of previous years.I’ve included a few select shots below of the fun time.
As much as we love the tradition of ice skating on new year’s eve, we would have much preferred to be home in the StL attending the wedding of our two friends (congrats B & C).Unfortunately, C had work on the 2nd and it would have been impossible for her to party all night, then fly back on the 1st and still manage to obtain enough rest to be chipper with her students the following day.The way I see it, we’ll make it up and party down with them for their anniversaries.
For those unaware, today was my first day interning at the CATO Institute.I have the distinct pleasure of assisting two scholars conduct research in the tax and fiscal policy division.I spent my afternoon of my first day reading and catching up to speed on the issues the two scholars are researching.It should be a fun and educational internship handling new and interesting issues.The intern class is made up of 22 people, all recent grads or grad students, with about 3/7 to 1/3 of the other interns from international countries.I’ve included a photo of me below dressed and ready for my first day (C already left, so I had to use the timer to take the photo…no one’s perfect).
As you can notice, I’m wearing a suit in the photo; this will be the first time in over 3 years that I have to wear a suit to work everyday.When I showed up to work at Frontenac my first day in a suit, they sent me out to change – suits were only allowed for meetings.At the new internship, they made sure to mention that if I showed up without a suit on, they would send me home to change – suits are mandatory (except for casual Fridays, of course).I hope all of my suits still fit, cross your fingers.
Have a great new year everyone.My first class, 2nd semester statistics, starts on Thursday – it should be a great way to start the spring semester.
This afternoon my friend Katie (she will now be referred to as K) and I were talking as we ate our lunches in my classroom.We were talking about working out, having goals and making a difference.Before I knew it we both declared that we would be walking in the 3-Day Breast Cancer walk in D.C. in October.We will be training and getting in shape over the coming months for our 60 mile 3-day walk over October 3rd, 4th and 5th.We are so excited and motivated for this experience and to make a difference.We have a fundraising meeting on Saturday that will inform us about the walk, fundraising (of course) and other things that we need to know.I have set up a web page on the 3-Day website where my fundraising will be tracked and I will be able to update everyone on my progress. I will put a link to my 3-Day website in the near future.
There will be some new walking shoes in my future and many long walks.Give a call if anyone feels like taking a brisk stroll with me!
Life at JDS is finally back to normal after the winter holiday.My kiddos are working hard as they are learning how to multiply with “big numbers” (ex: 573 x 4).We are writing in our "Unstoppable Me Journals" that were inspired by Wayne Dyer’s children’s book the The Unstoppable Me.
We are wrapping up our Book Clubs and getting ready to begin new books. In Social Studies we have studied the 13 colonies coming together and now we will take a closer look at Maryland and when it first became an independent state as we also move into learning about the changes in transportation.We are definitely quite busy in the 4th grade.We take yoga breaks for a few minutes each day which allows us to get up, move, stretch and let out any frustrations so that we can then refocus and work hard.I also have been playing classical music for my students as they write and although there were a few giggles the first day, they are really enjoying it and working quite hard as the music plays in the background.Amazing!
My good friend Cheri came to visit my classroom today, it is so fun to have guests.She got to observe my students during math and also was a part of our Closing Circle where we did a lightning share today (each student gets 45 seconds to share something from their weekend) and then we did some yoga poses using my Yoga Pretzel’s deck of cards.My kiddos absolutely love yoga and I am so happy that I have brought it into the classroom!It benefits us all (that is me included) J
It’s certainly not everyday that I get to meet an African dignitary from the continent’s oldest (and one of the newest) democracies, but last Friday was my lucky day. For nearly 50 minutes my interview partner (known as R) and I sat down and talked about the future of Liberia with the nation’s Ambassador.
As you may know, as a G-town student I volunteer as an interview editor for the Georgetown Public Policy Review. Aside from a relatively new website that features student publications, the Review produces a large annual publication featuring numerous academic writings and two topic relevant interviews. The theme of the 2008 GPPR is Democracy, Elections and Voting (in congruence with the 2008 Presidential elections). With such a broad theme R and I had difficult task of selecting someone to interview; previous interviewees included a former-DC Mayor, numerous Congressmen, scholars, non-profit leaders/founders and corporate executives. Our options seemed limitless, not to mention that being in DC placed most politically active and involved individuals within close proximity. After some brainstorming we decided to focus our interview on a new international democracy that was now realizing the benefits of freedom.
Initially we came up with three options: Iraq, Afghanistan and Liberia. After exhausting our connections in trying to track down anyone related to the democratic rebuilding of Iraq (insert your own political commentary here), I called the Afghan and Liberian embassies to see if we could setup an appointment with an ambassador. When I called the Afghan Embassy in DC, the receptionist did not speak English. After several minutes of trying to communicate and failing, I made the managerial decision that, if they would let us, we would interview the Liberian Ambassador. Thankfully they agreed (the Ambassador even called me personally to arrange a time & date) and the interview turned out awesome!
Prior to the interview I spent time over a couple of weeks researching Liberia. Like many people, I originally knew three basic political facts about Liberia: 1) the nation was founded as a democracy by President Abraham Lincoln, as a home for freed slaves; 2) aside from the US, Liberia is the only nation with its capital named after a US President (Monrovia); and 3) Liberia had a long series of bloody civil wars in the 80’s – 00’s, I remembered the scenes on CNN of then-President (and Warlord) Charles Taylor’s military in shoot-outs on the bridges into Monrovia with opposition forces.
Through my research I learned many interesting things, including that Charles Taylor was forced from the nation in 2003 (he was granted amnesty in Nigeria at the time). Many have speculated that Taylor left Liberia when he did, because a US Navy ship just off the coast of Monrovia at the time . Oddly enough, my locker buddy (I share a locker at school, like in Jr High), Andy, was in the Navy and on the aircraft carrier that scared off Taylor.
Switching subjects back to the interview with the Ambassador, it went great. We discussed the 2005 Presidential elections, economic reforms, and the struggle to rebuild the nation and democracy amongst hardship, destruction and poverty. I’m not sure if it’s because of my internship at Cato, or my beliefs in free-market economies, but I noticed the Ambassador highlighting that under approximately 15 years of authoritarian rule the Liberian economy and infrastructure (not to mention the rights of citizens) were devastated; but under 2.5 years of democracy the nation is rebounding, repairing and helping its citizens. The Ambassador was a wonderful and eloquent spokesman for his nation, highlighting the efforts of the new President, while not ignoring the realities of their current situation (unemployment, crime and the lack of governmental financial resources are still serious issues). R and I left the interview excited about Liberia’s future and thrilled with our interview – we decided that if we had the means and the economic reason, we would certainly invest in Liberia’s future.
Anyway, the Review is set to publish in March and at that point (if not sooner) I will post a link to our interview transcript.
Well, I have bad and I have good news to share with everyone…
The Bad: For those that miss C & I and really want us to come home soon, you’re going to have to wait until 2010 for our return.
The Good: I received a phone call today from the G-town McDonough School of Business Admission’s Office…they were calling to be the first to congratulate me on my admission into their MBA program.This means I will do a 3-year joint degree program (including the semester I just finished) with the public policy school and the b-school.I should graduate in May 2010; you can book your hotels/airline tickets now.This is also good news for our readers from CESJDS, it means C will teach there at least 3 years.
The Business School: They're in the process of building a new b-school building... check out the progress (it should be ready early 2009 - just in time for me). This photo was as of the blog posting.
Often Mondays are not my most favorite day, but today turned out to be a fine day.Perhaps it is because I am pumped for our up and coming Mardis Gras party!The beads have been purchased, the food has been bought (but not prepared) and the drinks are ready to go!All we need now is to put up the decorations and have our guests arrive!
Today was surpisingly a great day at school. Usually, both my kiddos and I have a case of the Mondays, but not today!Out of 20 students, 4 boys were out today…M said maybe that is why it was a great day!I disagree. It was just a great day absences or no absences.We worked hard, transitioned smoothly and had many laughs all while getting our work done!I hope tomorrow the boys are back and that we have another great day.
There are some new pics up on my school website if you want to check them out! Mrs. H's Website.
I have been working on my 3-Day fundraising letter most of the evening and finally just sent it out!My friend K already had started, so I felt like I needed to get the ball rolling!It is not a contest, but it is fun to have someone there to keep you motivated…which is why we decided to do this walk and also why we thought we would make a great team.
Check out my 3-Day web page if you have not done so already!
M has been busy with school, his work and breaking in his new black shoes…hehe!
Subscribe to this Site
February, 2008
.
Through my research I learned many interesting things, including that Charles Taylor was forced from the nation in 2003 (he was granted amnesty in Nigeria at the time). Many have speculated that Taylor left Liberia when he did, 