READY TO GO

I am so so so ready to go home. It's not even that cold yet, but it'll be so good to get back to the warmth of the Caribbean. I snapped a picture of my bikini in my suitcase, and I must say it's amazing to be able to pack a bathing suit when you're on your way home for Christmas. I don't think there's quite a feeling like it. I threw about six pairs of shorts and two short skirts in there; I'm ready to go.

Sadly, it won't be a completely free vacation. The application for my program's second year is due early in January, so I'll be working on my new statement of purpose while I'm chilling at the beach. I kid, of course. I won't be bringing my laptop to the beach.

Since I love you all so much, I will continue to blog throughout the Christmas break, and of course will provide braggy photos of the Caribbean sun and the palm trees swaying in the breeze of the Caribbean Sea. See you in Trinidad!

You're Adlerian? Prove It!

Today was our very final interventions class! It's kind of funny how all of our professors are so excited that the semester is finally over. Not that I'm not excited...I guess I'm excited. But I feel like I could go for a few more weeks. Maybe that's because I don't have a practicum yet, so I'm not as worn out by life as some of the other members of the cohort are.

OH but I do have a practicum! Last week I went out to an interview at Gaudenzia, a co-occurring drug and alcohol treatment center where three other members have already been placed. I'm a little nervous: the interviewer told me as I sat there that the site is not for the "sensitive", and as much as I would love to see myself as having a tough skin, I definitely do not. So I'll have to grow one if I want to be successful. I wonder if that's something I'll be able to work on during the winter break. Perhaps I'll join the army over the break? I guess we'll see...

But anyway the point I wanted to bring up in this post is what we talked about in our very last interventions class period. We discussed each of our theoretical orientations and how we are going to foster our knowledge of the orientation and our skills at using the techniques. I thought about how I consider myself Adlerian, with some sprinkles of person-centered and cognitive-behavioral theories mixed in, and I wondered about how I'm going to learn more about Adler, PCT, and CBT. From whom will I seek supervision? Where will I go to attend workshops and conferences?

These are definitely questions that I, and every beginning counselor, should answer. I look forward to learning everything I can about my favorite orientations, and I hope to do my part to improve my theory's professional organizations, so that Adlerians on the whole can improve how clients see our orientation. I worry that the lack of time spent on the websites for our orientation gives a poor presentation to potential clients, and I hope to be one of the instrumental people in changing that.

Papers, Papers, Papers

In a few more days I will be finished with the first semester of graduate school! It's funny because I've been hearing so many people saying that they just finished their first semester of grad school and I haven't really been able to celebrate because I am still three papers away from that milestone. Having a transcript to write puts it all into perspective for me. And it's interesting to see how much different it is being here than it was to be in undergrad. Were people this excited to finish their first semester of their undergraduate first year? I'm not sure. 

But anyway the point is that we're almost done! Just a few months ago I was scared about how difficult graduate school would be, but while it has been a challenging semester, it has also been an enjoyable one, much much more than the first semester of undergrad. 

I think a good recap of the semester is that it was productive. I read (almost) every reading, and I worked hard to do deeper reflection and sometimes extra research for our papers. And while my enthusiasm could be, and has been, deemed overkill, I think I'm a better person for it. I learned so much more than I would have, not only about counseling skills, theories, and concepts, but about myself. 

Looking back on the past few months, I'd say I'm proud that I stuck sticky notes in the pages of the textbook chapters that I read word for word. I'm happy that I used those extra articles for that theory paper. I'm glad that I put my all into the program, because even if it wasn't completely necessary, it has made this program all the more worthwhile. 

This has, hands down, been one of the best semesters of my entire student career. I have made friends who I hope to keep for a lifetime, maybe even moving out to live closer to some of them. I have seen my faults but also my strengths, and I am using this knowledge to try to become the best I can be. I have learned how to be an empathetic, driven, and ethical counselor. And I have become an Adlerian. And I must say that this semester has been a SUCCESS!

I am so looking forward to getting back here in the spring, when I get to spend another few months with some of the best people out there, the Kounseling Krew. 

Finals Time...

I know what you're thinking: EW. Finals time. But of course it's just another inevitable part of the student life. And it hasn't been as bad as finals used to be during my undergraduate career.

Finals started off with an exam for ethics. It's supposed to be a paper on the ethical issues at your practicum site but since I haven't started anywhere yet, I wasn't able to write that paper. Although this has been frustrating, it's been nice that the professors have been flexible about changing assignments, since they know there's nothing I could do about not having a practicum site.

Compared to the types of multiple choice exams I used to take back at UVA, this exam was awesome! Only 20 questions (which can be both good and bad, since each question is worth a lot) and only covering what we talked about in class. Mind you, I read every single chapter of the textbook as well as taking notes in class every week, and it paid off! So one piece of advice I'd definitely give to incoming students: READ. A lot of people shirk their readings because they think it's common sense or we learn it all in class, but it couldn't hurt to have a handle on the information before going over it in class.

Next, we've got a theory paper due for interventions, a group proposal for group, a case presentation and transcript for practicum, a process analysis for group, and a last paper on the importance of theory for interventions. PHEW! Well, that was a mouthful. But I've already got a handle on a lot of the assignments, so I'm not too concerned. But it definitely is getting STRESSFUL! So of course here I will put a plug for the importance of SELF-CARE! That's something our program emphasizes so much, because counseling can be a hazardous profession. Hearing other people's struggles can bring out your own struggles, or it can just trigger an empathetic reaction, and we have to take care of ourselves to remedy that.

Finally, one of the best things going on right now (something good to counteract all the papers) is that I have an INTERVIEW at Gaudenzia! Gaudenzia is a concurrent drug and alcohol treatment center, so they work with people who struggle both with addictions and with some mental illness. It will no doubt be difficult, but I'm excited to get the chance to start making a difference in people's lives, and to learn something new, regardless of how far out of my comfort zone I will be stepping.

Wish me luck!

What I'm Thankful For

So as you may already know, this past week was Thanksgiving break, and it was a well deserved vacation for everyone! Sadly, this vacation included working on papers for both group class and interventions class, because no vacation is complete without homework. But that's just part of the student life.

Thanksgiving was so much fun! I traveled to New York to spend the weekend with my family, most of whom I hadn't seen since before I left for Philadelphia in August, so it was really good to get to spend time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. Especially fun was the game night I went to on Saturday night, where my cousins and I played a whole bunch of games together at one cousin's house. Since my first cousins are all much older than I am, I haven't had a lot of opportunities to spend time with them, so I was especially grateful to be able to hang out with them, even if just for a few hours. One of the big benefits of being in Philadelphia is that my family is only a few hours away, so I can go visit whenever I want.

What I really wanted to talk about in this post, however, is what I'm thankful for here at Penn GSE:

1. Meeting and getting to know the other members of my cohort. It seems like just yesterday we were strangers, but in just a short amount of time I have met people with whom I hope to remain friends long after this program concludes. We've stuck by each other through hard times and celebrated with each other through the good times, and I will never be able to express how grateful I am for that.

2. Realizing how perfect a fit this program is for me. Mind you, I applied only to this program, and I did not visit the campus before accepting my offer of admission. I realized I might want to be a counselor deep into my fourth year of college, and I just went with that whim, and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Every day in this program, I realize how much I love counseling, and how ready I am to start making a difference in the lives of the clients with whom I work.

3. The African American community. I never thought I would feel so welcome and so comfortable in my own skin, because my whole life I've been told that I was an "Oreo". I wasn't "black enough". But coming here to Penn has taught me that I can be who I am; that doesn't change my identity. That is a lesson I am going to keep with me for as long as I live.

4. The professors. You just can't find people like Dr. Marsha Richardson and Dr. Ariane Thomas anywhere else, or Dr. Christina Washington (who is probably 36 but appears to be 22). These professors have made every class a joy to attend, and have shown me that being a professional with a doctorate degree does not mean you have to lose your sense of humor. They are all role models who I aspire to be like in the future.

As I look back on the past few months, I see how lucky I have been to be a part of this program and this school, and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store.

You CAN Sit With Us! (And You Should)

So today I want to write a post about spending time with the other members of the cohort, and to do so I have channeled my inner Mean Girl...except in reverse. So instead of telling people "You can't sit with us!" I'm saying " You CAN sit with us!" And you also SHOULD.

Last week on Friday, we had a karaoke night planned by the leaders of our division, Applied Psychology and Human Development. It was so much fun! A few of us met up beforehand and then went down to the karaoke bar together, and when we got there we sang songs loudly and with reckless abandon. Sadly though, there were only 5 of us there (the usual suspects).

This makes me so sad! I wish more members of the cohort would come out and chill with us. I love getting to hang out with the usual crowd, but it would be such a nice change of pace to hang out with someone new, and I would really enjoy getting to know the members of the cohort with whom I haven't yet had a chance to interact.Also, we have so much fun when we hang out! I know some of our cohort members have other friends and obligations in the area that keep them from hanging out with us, but others are sitting at home alone when they could be chilling with the Kounseling Krew (I know you like that new slang). 

Welp...hopefully more people will come out to the Friendsgiving we're having on Friday. Look out for pictures next week!

Do You Wanna Be An Analyst?

This week has been a psychoanalytic kind of week.

On Sunday, I went with a few other members of my cohort to a roundtable with the Philadelphia Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology. The discussion was all about how we can use our personal experiences to benefit the client. It was interesting because we've been learning a lot about how disclosing our personal information can be problematic in therapy, and because we have learned that psychoanalysis is the theory most adamantly against self-disclosure in therapy. According to Freud, the therapist has to be a blank slate with no experiences of their own so that the client can transfer images of their family members onto the therapist.

At the roundtable, however, we learned that countertransference (when the therapist transfers images of people in their own life onto the client) can actually help us in a lot of ways, for example it can allow us to better understand the client's experience. One member of the roundtable spoke about how he had a hard time coming out as gay to his parents. In therapy, after inadvertently bringing up a center for gay men that the therapist frequents, the client revealed that his son was gay. This brought up an entirely new aspect of the client's life that the therapist could help with.

I thought of another view on the use of self-disclosure in therapy when I spoke to a friend who has actually worked with a legitimate Freudian psychoanalyst, one who, unlike the professionals at the roundtable, believes in the therapist as a blank soundboard who supplies no real input in the therapy session. Just the thought of such a therapeutic relationship seems so dry and meaningless! I definitely subscribe much more to theories that place importance on a mutual and collaborative therapeutic relationship, and on at least some measure of therapist self-disclosure. Of course, we still have to make sure that our own disclosure doesn't take away from the client's work. It's the client's therapy after all, not yours!

But one big thing I think everyone should know about this psychoanalytic roundtable is the opportunity it provided for us to meet people from other grad school programs and practicing psychologists in the area. We actually connected with someone getting their PsyD at Widener and I hope we get to hang out with him again and attend other events on the use of different techniques in psychotherapy. After all, how else are we going to become the best therapists we can be?

The Open House!

Today was a very big day for the admissions office: Open House Day!!

I think it's safe to say we were all OVERWHELMED by how many people came out. We had such an amazing turnout, about 126 people! This was my first big admissions event, so I had no idea what to expect. I actually didn't get a chance to visit the university before I accepted my offer of admission, so this event made me wish that I had. It was so nice to be able to interact with the prospective students and show them my passion for GSE and for my program.

I feel like coming out to the open house is, if anything, the perfect way to go from being unsure of whether you're going to apply to GSE to turning in your completed application. I so wish I'd had the chance to talk to people in my program and see how they felt about it and what it was like to live in Philadelphia. I kind of got lucky (here and in my undergrad) because I didn't visit before accepting my admission offer.

I think one thing I took from this event that made a lot of sense is how important it is to ensure that the graduate program you apply for FITS. You don't have much of a chance to decide whether GSE fits you unless you come for a visit. And I hope we helped the prospective students who visited today to decide whether GSE is a good fit or not.

One thing I really wish I could have done differently would be to spend more time talking to the prospectives who were interested in the counseling program! I know we had ambassadors to help with that part, mingling with them at the beginning of the event, but I think my favorite part of this assistantship with admissions is having the opportunity to interact with people, especially people who are interested in counseling and share my passion for helping people. I did get more of a chance to talk to the prospective students when we led the campus tours after the event, but I hope next time I can take more of a role in telling them how I feel about GSE, CMHS, Philadelphia, and the whole admissions process they're going through.

To anyone reading this blog who is thinking about applying to GSE, I'd say the best way to decide is to come here and see it for yourself! Or talk to one of us and we can help you see the student perspective.

Thinking back to undergrad, THAT'S why it was so easy to warm up to UVA. My cousin went there, and when he spoke about it, he spoke with such genuine affection for the school, and now, when I talk to my own younger cousin about UVA, I have my own genuine affection for it, same for GSE. So anything you want to know, just ask! And (shameless plug) visit www.gse.upenn.edu/rsvp if you're interested in finding out about our open house in the spring or any other events we host. We seriously love seeing and talking to you, and it's really the best way to see whether GSE is the place for you.

Halloween Hijinx

It's almost Halloweekend!! And we all know what that means: it's time for another crazy counseling cohort get-together.

There are a few different things going on with the Counseling Crew (my new name for the cohort, or perhaps Kounseling Krew?) this weekend. The first is the Halloween kickback/party tomorrow night, during which we are going to provide evidence that there ain't no party like a counseling party. I think by now it's apparent that you don't necessarily stop having fun once you graduate from undergrad. Because trust me when I say we have just as much fun (maybe more) as the undergraduates do! Even some of the second year students are stopping by the party, which just goes to show that the students in our program are so down-to-earth and easygoing. That's definitely a major part of what made it so easy to fit in here.

The second thing that's going on for us this weekend is the big group trip to the homecoming football game against Brown on Saturday afternoon. I've heard that football isn't as big here as it was at UVA (I think our team sucks, for lack of a better word). But I'm so excited to learn about the football traditions here! At UVA, I learned all the cheers and the songs, so I guess I'm starting fresh by attending my very first Penn game. One tradition I have heard about, however, is the "toast". According to some of my coworkers and cohort members, the students celebrate with a toast, but since alcohol isn't allowed in the stadium, instead they throw pieces of toast (toasted bread, seriously) into the air at the games. I'm excited to see how that turns out...and to throw my own toast(ed bread) into the air.

Last, and the thing that's stressing out most of the cohort, is that we have a big assignment due Saturday night. It's a comparison paper for our interventions class, where we've been learning about all the different theoretical approaches to conducting psychotherapy. For this paper, we have to compare and contrast three different theories in 5-7 pages, APA style. Compared to all of the other papers we've had so far, this is the most objective and research-based. Rather than discussing our feelings toward what we've been learning or the skills we're using in our practicum experiences, we actually have to look up data to support logical arguments about comparisons between these theories.

I guess because this paper is so different, people are FREAKING OUT. Some level of freakout is understandable, of course, because our professor didn't give us a completely clear explanation of what he wanted for the paper, and until now we've just been writing about our feelings. However, I'm so tired of freaking out (which characterized pretty much everyone's undergraduate experience, I'm sure). I'm ready to just chill and write extensive papers while casually sipping on caffeinated beverages, in stereotypical graduate student fashion. So basically what I'm saying is DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY, which I'm somewhat obligated to say by virtue of my being a Caribbean student with dreadlocks.

I'd just like to say Bob Marley was right when he said that "every little thing is gonna be alright."

Homecoming!

HOMECOMING!!

This is my very first UVA homecoming as an alumnus...It's so sad! But I'm excited to be going back to visit my alma mater this weekend. I think it's interesting the difference between how people treat their undergraduate alma mater and how they treat their post-grad alma mater. Will my cohort members be as excited to come back to visit Penn as I am to go back to UVA? I guess since I spent 4 years there, it's easy for that school to have become my home, but being at Penn for only 2 years isn't really going to allow us to form the same bonds to the area or to the school.

Recently, I was having a conversation with one of my friends from my cohort about going home after finishing this program. He's from California, and he was expressing how he's more than ready to go back. It's funny because, as I told him, I feel like I don't actually have a home to go back to. At least, not in the same way he does. My parents live in Trinidad and Tobago, and while I still have a room and a place there, that hasn't felt like home since I left it 4 years ago to go to UVA.

I feel like, and I don't mean to be cliche, my home is seriously where my heart is. So when I went to UVA, far, far away from my high school and the friends I had there, my home was UVA. And when I made friends there, I wanted to stay because that's where my home was. When I came to Penn, I had exactly the same experience. I just sort of adapted and made new friends and Penn became my home.

It kind of makes it so that I don't know what's going to happen next, but it also makes it easier for me to think about going to a new place. Like how easy it was for me to go to Japan and make new friends when I went two summers ago. I'm considering moving out to California when I finish this program in two years, and I can just imagine how much of an adventure it will be, and how great it'll be to meet new people there and find my place all over again.

So I guess that what I've realized is that, although I wish I was one of those people who had a specific and concrete "home base", I'm glad I'm one of those people who can live wherever her heart goes. But for now, I'm happy with my heart (and my home) at Penn.

Halfway There??

So this is just a quick check-in... Yesterday Dr. Thomas, our ethics professor, pointed out to us something that clearly no one in our program had realized: we're already halfway through the semester. She was all excited. She said, "GUYS YOU'RE HALFWAY THROUGH YOUR FIRST SEMESTER! AREN'T YOU EXCITED??!" And maybe it's because it was 9am on a Thursday, or maybe it's because no one really counts the weeks (apparently it's week 8 of 16), but our response was a chorus of "oh yeah?" and "huh, I didn't realize..." and "cool". No one was nearly as excited as she was...

Dr. Thomas was adamant that we should be happy that the first half of the semester is over, but I must say, the end of the semester is going to be SOOO much worse than the beginning was. She mentioned how difficult it must have been to go through the transition phase, but I've gotta say, it was the easiest thing in the world, like a fish slipping back into water. We made fast friends, and I feel like I've been in this program my whole life and known these people since childhood.

So in comparison to the beginning of this semester, these next few weeks are about to be terrible...well maybe that's an overstatement. We have three papers due next week (short papers, but I like to exaggerate) and one due the week after that. Yeah, the second half of the semester is when it all goes down...

But like I said, I like to exaggerate. I think most people in this program would agree that the second half of this first semester is only going to be relatively difficult. I think the real difficulty is going to come in the next few semesters or years, but only time will tell...                                            

Oh God...It's Cold

So as you already know, I was born in New York. And as you don't already know, I was actually born in early February, so yes, I do know what winter feels like, or at least I used to, because when I was 10 years old, I moved to Trinidad and Tobago, and to the warm, carefree life of the Tropics.

Of course, I did come back to the States for college, but even then I spent my four years in Virginia, where we did see snow, but usually the temperature stayed around 50 degrees and never got much colder. Basically, it was quite a bit colder than any weather I ever felt in the Caribbean, but it wasn't the type of cold you feel up in the Northeast region.

This brings me to the question: how am I going to survive this weather??

Today was the first really cold day of the season, and I have become painfully aware that I'm really not ready for this cold. I look through my closet and think, "There is nothing in here that is going to protect me from the Philadelphia cold." I need a new fall coat, and maybe a new go-to hoodie, because my favorite one is riddled with holes through which heat has been escaping,

All this can only mean two things:
1. I am going to die if I don't buy myself some new coats/jackets.
2. SHOPPING SPREE

This is definitely the perfect opportunity to go out and spend some money on clothing! Hopefully I'll find something that will protect me from the cold weather. But until then, this is definitely me...

Now I'm off to fight for survival in the cold. Wish me luck!

We Probably Party Too Much

I say probably because I'm not too sure that it's actually possible to party too much, but then again I'm thinking I probably need to cut back before our program gets hectic and throws a bunch of papers and projects our way.

Earlier this week, I spent some time hanging out with a girl in my program who I haven't had a lot of contact with so far and a guy who's in a different GSE program. We spent a few hours drinking beers at City Tap House even though we had said we were going to participate in the bar's trivia night and had some interesting conversations about things like GSE, schoolwork, going out, and other people in our programs.

I must say, I have loved being in this program and getting to know not only my fellow counseling students, but also other people in GSE and beyond. One big connection I have made that I want to discuss here is my participation in events with other African American students. Last weekend, one girl from GSE hosted a big potluck dinner in her room in Sansom Place and it was a great opportunity not only to eat some home-cooked food (and WOW it was delicious) but also to take some time getting to know other black people at Penn. And unlike when I was at UVA, I actually feel at home with the African American people here. I guess it's that I finally see that I can fit in despite my differences. At UVA, I always felt like I didn't fit in, and now I feel so much more accepted for who I am.

Also, of course, I have bonded so deeply with the other members of my cohort. I feel like I've already made some best friends who I can share everything with. I've also had some wild nights partying with them at clubs and checking out the sights in Olde City...

...and I look forward to more. And I won't even discuss the infamous Game Night...

Having said all that, YES I have been having so much fun both in my program and in Philadelphia, BUT I am wondering whether I'll be able to sustain this level of fun-having when our bigger papers and projects start to come up. That being said, I now remember just how chill our program is in comparison to other graduate programs, so maybe I don't party too much.... But I'll keep you posted.

I Was Born to be a Phenomenologist

So this week in our interventions (theory) class, we learned all about existentialism, and next week we'll be talking about person-centered therapy. It's been pretty interesting because they're all focused on the idea of phenomenology, that the person's subjective view of reality is what matters, not some objective idea of how the world really is.

I love the idea behind these theories! As I'm reading through the foundations of the theory, I feel like I was born to be an existentialist, a person-centered therapist, and a phenomenologist. It just makes sense to me that the individual should be the one making the choices about how their lives should be.

Even based on ethical practice and multicultural practice as we've learned here, this whole focus on the client as the expert on his or her own life seems to make logical sense. We're meant to follow the client's lead, not to impose our own beliefs or values on the client, to see things through the client's eyes. I don't even know how you can do all that without the basic assumption from phenomenology...

As you can see and all in all, I swear this program just keeps getting better. It's funny because I went out to dinner with my sorority sisters last weekend. I'm in Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc and my sorors here are all graduate students or professionals in the Philadelphia area. They all talked about how stressful their graduate school programs were, how much work, how they didn't like the other people in their cohort, or how they spent days thinking, "WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF?? I NEVER SHOULD HAVE GONE TO GRADUATE SCHOOL."

Needless to say, I WAS SHOCKED! LOL I probably sounded like a naive optimist when I said how amazing it is to be here at Penn, how supportive and fun my cohort is, how chill our professors are, and how laid-back the work has been. I don't mean to sound unrealistic, but for real, for anyone thinking about becoming a counselor, Penn is definitely a great choice, in ways that I didn't even realize before I started talking to other people about their grad school experiences...

Umm...So How Do I Counsel?

So I've now been a student in the counseling program here at Penn GSE for about 3 weeks. I've learned a TON about how NOT to counsel and how to be an ethical practitioner. I've learned some theories behind counseling (Freudian psychoanalysis and Adlerian psychotherapy, so far) and I've learned a bit about some of the techniques that a person of those theoretical orientations would use. I've learned about different types of groups and the traits of an effective group counselor, as well as the traits of an effective individual counselor. I guess you could say that in 3 weeks, I've learned quite a bit. To which I would say...I think I've started to learn everything I need to know...EXCEPT the practical applications of how to counsel...

I know that could be taken as a negative, but one of the best things about this program is that it does include a practical component, the practicum. Some of the people in my cohort have already been placed and have already started working with clients, while others, including myself, have not.

I know it's probably important to have some theoretical basis for practice before you actually practice, but waiting for my practicum to start is making me so anxious! The more I learn about what a GOOD counselor is, the more I worry that I really don't know how to be that good counselor.

We did do some practical work in our seminar, a class we take where we can discuss our practicum and how it's affecting us with a counselor from the community, but not having done any REAL work with clients makes the thought of working with clients so intimidating! I DO want to say here that I think the fear I feel about working with clients is probably all part of the process. If anything, it has helped me to gain insight into my motivations for becoming a counselor and into the type of therapist I'm going to be. My fear means that I have a genuine concern and desire to help clients; I don't want to walk into a therapy session without having developed some skills, after all. And learning about the good traits of an ethical counselor has shown me that my common sense approach to helping people isn't necessarily the best approach. It's sort of like I've been shown which of my natural helping tendencies are good for professional counseling and which are not, and knowing that I don't know the best way to counsel yet makes it even scarier to think about now going in to try to help people. 

But of course, we're only 3 weeks in, so I'll let you know how I feel once I actually start counseling! I'm sure that, to some extent, I'll never really know how to counsel until I step into that role with an actual client. Wish me luck!

I Think I'm in Love with this School

Hello!! My name is Zakiya and I'm a brand new student at GSE in the Counseling and Mental Health Services (CMHS) program. This first post will just be an introduction of who I am and a little bit about my first impressions of Penn GSE and the CMHS program.

I was born in Brooklyn, NY, raised in Brentwood, NY, went to middle and high school in Trinidad & Tobago, studied anthropology at the University of Virginia, and now here I am in Philadelphia. I guess you could call me a traveler, but I'm actually about one-eighth Trinidadian, so that's why I spent so many years in Trinidad.

As far as who I am personally, I love reading. My favorite book is Lillith's Brood. I sometimes write poetry; I'm part of a multicultural sorority called Theta Nu Xi; I studied Japanese for 2 and a half years but now I remember only a small number of words; and I hope to learn some Chinese while I'm here.

Well, that's enough about me. Now, I'll tell you all about my experience so far at Penn. I LOVE IT! My classes have been interesting (although this week the reading is a little heavy), the professors are all easygoing and friendly, and my classmates are all so fun and we've all made friends quickly. So if you ask me how I'm adjusting, I feel like I am already in love with this place. So check back in next time to hear more about my Penn love affair...