Getting organized

Today I am working on getting organized on many levels.

Level #1: "Moving in" to my new Macbook Air. I am really excited about my purchase yesterday! I have never owned a BRAND NEW out of the package computer before...actually I take that back, I think my dad did give me a Dell for college that was brand new....but you know, Brand New as in I bought it I guess! :) I am really happy with my choice so far, its a nifty computer!! I used the terminology "moving in" because I was thinking about it last night as I was transferring files, getting used to new commands on the Mac, how files are organized on this thing and all of that and it dawned on me...breaking in a new computer is a lot like moving into a new house/apartment. When you first move into a new house/apartment you can never remember which cupboard you stashed the salt, or which drawer you put the silverware in and all those fun struggles. Much like organizing a new computer. "Where are documents stored?" "How do I want to categorize my pictures...Oh wait, computer just did it for me!! WOAH" (literally my reaction to the coolest thing ever!! Computer organizing my pictures FOR ME! SO COOL). It is a lot more fun "moving in" to a computer I'd argue than an apartment.

Level #2: School. Week two of school has come to an end and things are starting to get serious. There is so much to think about and digest all the time. I try to save Friday afternoons to decompress but I think that will soon need to change. There is so much reading to digest, so many thought provoking class discussions to internally process, research assignments to start working on and on top of that, starting to think about internship and jobs...yes already. I am taking a 3 week "course" on Fridays with my academic advisor, that I mentioned last post, and in her course we are really working on how to hone our resumes/cover letters and how to present and brand ourselves for the marketplace. It is really helpful to keep in the back of ones mind because they say to really start looking into internships around November for the summer. Right now, pending a one on one conversation with Maggi, my plan is to do an abroad internship/service project this summer and use my last semester to go to NYC, DC, or wherever I can find an internship with a company, NGO, state organization, that will potentially hire me. I have a lot of thinking to do in this respect, on top of all the academic thinking to do for class! FUN. I am going to start posting more about class and what I am learning this week I think now that I have a few readings under my belt and I am starting to form opinions about things. I think I am also going to look into the feasibility of posting some of my papers from this semester up here...I am not sure if that works at all.... we'll see.

Level #3: Home. LAUNDRY DAY!!! YAY I am finally getting around to doing my laundry today. One of the hardest parts of not having laundry in the unit is remembering to DO my laundry! I know, I sound gross but its true. You have to be at home, pay attention to the clock, its so much more of a hassle than having your own laundry...oh well, guess I shouldn't complain much...at least its only right down the stairs, not blocks away at a laundromat or something! Always should stay positive!

WELLLL I guess I should get back to my studies. I have LOTS of reading to do this weekend! Also some research to do to prepare for my first few assignments. For my Women in War class my group will be researching Gender Based Violence in Refugee Camps (still need to narrow down to a specific country), my Development project is to research political development in Afghanistan with my group and we'll be writing a policy proposal to USAID (obviously a fake one to practice if that was our real job)- I think I am going to research women's participation in the political development of Afghanistan, but I still need to decide. And then for my first Policy Analysis assignment I need to pick a policy that has already been implemented and analyze it at each of its stages...this is the one I am struggling to decide what to do. SO Please feel free to leave a comment below if there are any policies you'd be interested in knowing its effectiveness, or what happened to formulate it and all that.

Time to put my brain to work!

Until next time,

Much Love