I was right

This week was crazy as usual, but actually a slow-down compared to the week before. I have one interview next week. Pretty exciting - then I am waiting to hear from a few more companies in the next week or so.

And now I am sitting in the library again all day. I work in all the computer labs across campus, including the big one on the first floor of the library. That's why I spend all day in the library - because I am getting paid. For studying, I prefer sitting in the comfort of my own home. For some reason I am so much more efficient that way.

Lately it's been hard being at school, a nine hour drive away from my family. My brother is expecting his first child on Monday, and my cousin just got married last week. I am missing both events, unfortunately. There is always something that happens that I can't help but miss. Jackson (my nephew) is going to be born on Monday at 6am.

Guess what I will be doing? I have an exam in econometrics that day - but I also have a job interview the next day which I absolutely cannot miss. There will be time for me to go home later; I am just sad I can't be there the day he will be born.

A distraction

I can tell this week is going to be another crazy one - so I wanted to go ahead and get in a post.

Today was fun - I had an exam in Game Theory! In other words I stayed up really late studying last night and am now, at 8:51pm, exhausted. Do not practice my study habits - they are a result of doing way too many things.

I still think I scored at least at the average. We'll see.

Every Monday night I have a 2.5 hour class - the Economic Consulting Workshop. It is a really interesting class, but also pretty challenging. Tonight we learned that we will use EVERYTHING we've learned in business school for economic consulting. It is fun to apply things I learned back in managerial accounting and macroeconomics, it will just be interesting trying to remember things I learned 3 years ago. I just keep in mind that what I learn in this class will be directly applicable to whatever I am doing in my full time job next year.

Other than school, I am looking forward to going home to Georgia in a week and a half. My nephew Jackson is going to be born! I am pretty much going to have to drop everything to go see him - but it will be completely worth it. I'll be an aunt for the first time... which makes me feel a bit old for the first time also, haha.

Will post again this weekend and probably talk about how I am studying like crazy for my statistics test on Monday!

Time... where is it?

Wow this was a crazy week. I'll give you a brief overview of one of my days so you will understand what I mean by crazy.

Tuesday; pretty representative of my week:

9:00am - wake up and study for two hours before my International Trade and Policy class
11:15am - Class (International Trade)
12:30 - 1:00pm. I have thirty minutes to get from the business school to the library, grab lunch and talk to my boyfriend, and walk 15 minutes to Ballantine for my English class. Everyone on campus is doing the same thing as me it seems like, and there is usually a 20 minute line to get food, haha. By the time I get out of line I usually have about 2 minutes to eat.

1:00pm - English L354 - Modern Literature since 1914 (we are reading The Grapes of Wrath in this class - very interesting since I've never read it)

2:15pm - 3:30pm - work on homework for my Econometrics class - it's always due on Wednesday.

3:30pm - 4:30pm - I close the Bagel stand every Tuesday, and it usually takes me about an hour. My club runs the stand, and lately we have been selling out every day - of everything!

4:30pm - 5:00pm - This past Tuesday I had to sprint home, change into business casual, grab food, and run back to the school, literally, to make it back before 5:00pm.

5:00pm - 6:30pm - Interviews for Women in Business! We recruited new members this week and did 2nd round interviews. I sat in on both rounds of interviews and was impressed with everyone! It was a hard decision to make, but eventually we narrowed down 127 applicants to 31 members.

6:30pm - 7:15pm - Private event with the CFO of Whirlpool, Tax VP, and employees in the program I am interested in. It was an awesome event because I got to network with a CFO!

7:15-10:00pm - More interviews

10:00pm - 2:00am - Homework! Nathaniel actually felt bad for me I think and brought me dinner (Jimmy Johns!) and gave me company in the computer lab, so it wasn't too bad.

Next week things should slow down because I will not be conducting interviews every night and I should find out if I have some interviews...

I'll update again soon!

School started already?!

I have simply not had the time to post here in a whileeee. The last half of the summer was a complete whirlwind for me.

I finished my internship at Parliament, with a pending publication under my belt and an experience I will never forget. I was sad to leave my co-workers and friends I made while in London - I felt like I was really getting to know them well.

Now I'm back at school and it has already been super eventful. I am now the President of Women in Business, an organization I've been in now for over 3 years. We are interviewing new members this week - 130 people applied! I am always glad to see so much interest in our club.

In addition to heading up the organization, I am networking as much as possible so I can get a full-time job offer by the end of the fall semester. It is really competitive this year, but I know it will all work out.

...And in about two weeks I should have a new nephew! My brother and his wife are expecting their first baby, Jackson, on October 5th. I will definitely be making the drive home for him!

Now I am just working in the library, all day. Unfortunately I cannot get that much homework done because most of it is book based :(.

Tonight I will be building a cardboard boat with some friends from WIB. The Council for Advancing Student Leadership is having a race next weekend, and in order to compete you have to build a boat strong enough to hold two people, so you can paddle your way across one of IUs pools. It should be a really interesting night!

Scotland Update

This weekend I got to go to Edinburgh, Scotland for FREE! The other parliament interns and I went to visit the Scottish parliament. We met with a scottish MP and he talked about devolution in Scotland and how they are becoming more and more independent from England. The majority party in Scotland also would like to become completely independent. That was interesting!

The remainder of the weekend was spent sight seeing. We toured Edinburgh Castle (also for free!) and went to all the pubs and shops we could find. You can think of Edinburgh as a mini vegas. People were there from all over the UK, celebrating stag and hen parties. The people in the town were all very friendly and were happy to talk with Americans.

Even the train ride there was amazing. Some of the route took us along the coast of the ocean, where castles and ruins lined the sea side. It was an amazing experience I will not forget.

This week I go back to work at Parliament in Westminster and I am excited as usual. I have some pretty intense projects to finish. Tomorrow I have to write a letter to my MPs constituents that is an annual report, outlining all of the things she has been working on.

And then... my 21st birthday is (effectievly) this weekend! I will post again in the coming weeks about how that goes...

London Week ONE and TWO

My first week and a half in London has been a whirlwind. We got here a week early, so you can guess what all of last week was devoted to: sightseeing! I saw many, many amazing things last week.

Among them: St. Paul's Cathedral, Harrod's, Buckingham Palace, Parliament, the Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, the National Gallery, and Hyde Park. I looked at alot of other sides in passing. London is an amazing place, with so much to do. This program is especially fun because you get to live in a house or apartment with several other students doing the same thing. At the end of the day, you can all come back together and talk about how it was.

I am definitely home sick though. I miss my boyfriend. A lot. But, I am staying extremely busy. Basically, my MP showed me the computer on the first day and I got to work on my research project. I am studying the effect of the recession on women, and whether or not they go into it with an unequal footing with men. It's interesting work, and I am going to meet with top union officials and women's advocates.

I am literally working or skyping all day, but I will try to post again after this weekend!

Winding down, then up again

My last final is tomorrow morning at 10:15am! I will be sooo happy when I am done. This week has been super stressful. I had four finals, one every day since Tuesday. At least they were not all in the same day though.

So the semester is winding down. Right now it seems like there is just not enough to do. Usually I do not have enough time to study, and this week all I have been doing is studying. Quite a change.

For the next two weeks I will pretty much be doing nothing. I will just be hanging out with Nathaniel AS MUCH as possible. We are going to miss each other so much when I am in London. After all, we have not been apart from for more than two weeks at a time since we've known each other, ha.

But, we will both be busy, so I am sure it will go by quickly as summers always do.

I will try to focus more on making the most of my experience. I am going to be really busy every day, working at Parliament, seeing the sights, eating, and taking a class.

I cannot wait! I leave in two weeks. The next few days will consist of my still trying to get my visa, packing everything up and then going home, unpacking once I get home. Then in two weeks I will have to pack everything up again and take an 8 hour flight.

I will be sure to keep this updated with tons of pictures.