My First Week at Harvard

My first week at Hah-vard.  What can I say?

I keep calling this “Academic Disneyland.”  I’m not sure if this sense of magic is ever going to wear off in the next ten months I get to study here.

All the rumors are true.  The facilities are incredible, my classmates are astonishingly talented and interesting, and I am working really, really hard.

Right now, I’m in a two-week intensive academic preparation for the school year.  It’s optional, and about half our cohort of 75 is here for it. 

Here’s my “first day of school” photo:

My classmates are from Kuwait, Japan, Egypt, Malaysia, China, Mexico, India, and Dominican Republic.  They’ve worked in Qatar, Germany, Spain, Nicaragua, Thailand, Kenya, Peru, Indonesia, Chile, and Costa Rica.  I think the 26 of us in “IPSIE” alone speak a combined total of 33 languages.  This is the big leagues, people!

Yiran, Cecilia, Kayla, and Julia...Future World Changers

For Friday’s class, we read a journal article on a set of educational policy interventions in Qatar during 2003 – 2007.  Ordinarily, we’d discuss the rosy picture painted in the paper and the theories on an abstract level.  Turns out, one of classmates was in Qatar during that time.  She spoke up and talked about what it was like for the teachers and administrators who were caught in the middle of this transition, giving us an understanding of how policies affect real people.  What a rich set of experiences we have to draw from!

A toast to our first day of school!

 While the classroom experience is amazing, the city of Boston has so much to offer, too.  I went to an outdoor symphonic concert at “The Shell” on Wednesday evening that was incredible.  Today is the August Moon Festival in Chinatown, and tonight there is free Shakespeare in the Common.

There’s so much to share…stay tuned for more updates from Beantown!