April At Last

Well here it is, my final blog post EVER (in this position at least).  It’s been a crazy fast three years.  It’s weird to think I finished undergrad and graduate school in the same amount of time.  I’ve learned a lot, and I do mean a lot, being in the MPA program.  The program has certainly prepared me for a wide variety of careers and I know I can go just about anywhere I want in the future with this degree (and some work experience of course).  I’ve also been fortunate enough to work with a lot of great professors here in the Department of Political Science, Criminal Justice, and Organizational Leadership.  Many of the professors and staff members have been so kind to me and really cared about my well-being and my future.  It’s going to be sad to say good-bye to everyone. 

I have finished my last two courses and hopefully passed with flying colors.  I knew it was going to be tough writing a research paper and doing my capstone, but I only died of stress for just a few days.  Overall I’m pretty happy with the results of my two projects and hope my professors agree.  As sad as I am to leave NKU, I’m really, really, really glad I’ll never have to write a paper again. 

On the job front I’ve had mixed success.  I interview at an arts organization on May 1^st for a part-time position as administrative support for the development office.  The position would provide a lot of great experience in development and fund-raising.  Fingers crossed that I can get it.  I will also be staying on part-time at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as a patron services representative.  Now I’ll finally get paid for working there!  I will be able to gain even more experience in marketing and customer service in arts organization.  (Kind of obvious I’m hoping to find a career in arts nonprofits no?).  Don’t worry though, no matter what I’ll be at Skyline for a few more months!

Graduation is in just a few days and I couldn’t be more excited.  I think I’m in a good place to find a full-time job and move on with the rest of my life. I’ve been in college for six straight years and it’s finally time for that to come to an end.  I’m sure one day I’ll wish I wasn’t working full-time and get an itch to get another degree, but for now I’m ready to take more than a few years off.  Peace out NKU, it’s been a great journey.     

More March Madness

Welcome back everyone!  It feels like it’s been a long time since my last post, but apparently it’s only been a month.  Though it may have felt like such a long month because I’ve been so busy!

It’s crunch time around here.  I graduate in just a few weeks and I’m feeling the pressure.  I have my Capstone draft due in just two weeks which is slowly coming together (though slower than I would have liked) and I’ll also have a paper due for Public Policy Analysis soon after that.  I am also applying for jobs pretty much daily with no luck so far.  I am either too picky or am casting too wide a net, I have no idea.  Looks like I’ll be going back to slinging coneys at Skyline a couple days a week after graduation.  Maybe the part time work will give me more time to apply for big-boy jobs, who knows (I don’t)?  Either way, May 7^th can’t come soon enough even though I know it’s going to be a stressful few weeks.

At this job I have been quite busy.  I recently finished up typing transcripts of interviews Dr. Misis conducted with local police chiefs. Transcription was a lot more…tedious than I thought it would be.  I never realized how much people change their train of thought while talking until I had to try and type it and keep track of what they were saying.  Once I finished that Dr. Misis and I started on writing our research paper on law enforcement’s use of social media (we presented it here at NKU at a conference last semester).  It should be a neat little paper that fills in the gap of literature of police use at a smaller city level.  I have also been chipping away at updating the MPA’s alumni database.  Creeping people on LinkedIn has made it fairly easy, but there are still lots of people who apparently don’t have any form of social media and thus make it difficult to update their information.   Hopefully we can use the updated list to better promote what career fields prospective students can go into, while also keeping in better contact with our alumni. 

At the Aronoff I recently worked “Something Rotten” which was hilariously awesome as well as “The Illusionists” which was pretty cool to see up close since I worked in the very front of the theatre.  We also just had our volunteer party which had a pretty fun group called the Broadway Boys perform.  Up next is “Matilda the Musical.”  At the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra I have been learning a lot about nonprofit marketing.  I have done a wide variety of projects and have even written some promotional letters that have gone out to the public!  It’s been really interesting learning a whole new side of nonprofits that isn’t always covered in classes. 

Well that’s all, it certainly has been March Madness for me (and my brackets).  Hopefully in April (for my FINAL blog post EVER) I’ll have some job updates and will have finished a lot of my work. 

See ya next time!

Literally me right now.  (Get it, the March Hare who's mad?  Hahahahahaha) 

Full February

Happy February everybody!

This month turned into a very busy one for me.  I got hired as a marketing intern at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra.  I have been there for two weeks now and have had a good time.  I’ve been doing random work for the marketing department similar to how I’ve done random work at NKU actually.  I applied there on a whim to try and get some experience in a nonprofit even though I didn’t have marketing experience, but they hired me anyway.  I’m hoping I can turn this (unpaid) internship into a full-time job there in May. 

At the Aronoff I worked the Cincinnati Ballet’s “King Arthur” and Chris Rock’s stand-up show.  “King Arthur” was a really cool mix of story and dance and nothing I’d seen before from them.  I look forward to more of those types of shows.  Chris Rock was, as you’d expect, hilarious.  He had some very insightful and humorous material.  Coming up is “Something Rotten” which is supposed to be awesome.

Around the department at NKU we had our ASPA-MPA dinner last week.  Our guest speakers Kevin Wright and Joe Nickol gave a great talk on neighborhood revitalization in the area.  I have been doing interview transcriptions for Dr. Misis and it has been…slow going.  Hopefully I’ll finish it during spring break and can be done with it forever.  My capstone project, a survey of local city and county managers, was approved by IRB and should be sent out to the NKCCMA soon.  I need to start working on the literature review part of it soon.  I’m getting the pre-stress stress for it.  It’ll hit me when we get back from spring break and I’ll realize I need to get it done. 

March will bring more stress and more job hunting. 

As always thanks for stopping by!

Jolly January

Happy New Year readers!

This is it.  This is my last semester.  It’s a weird feeling knowing that I have to find a big boy job in a few months and won’t have to go to night classes anymore.  I am very nervous, yet excited to be starting a new chapter of my life soon. 

First I gotta get through these next few months, and the classes I’m taking surely won’t be letting me graduate without working for it.  I have Public Policy Analysis and Capstone, two classes that require a lot of work.  Public Policy Analysis requires a decent sized paper at the end and my Capstone project will be an even longer paper.  For the latter I will be conducting a survey with city and county managers in Kentucky about citizen engagement; it is a follow up to a survey done by another MPA student a few years ago.  For Capstone we also have to write a paper reflecting on our time in the program and on the classes we took, but luckily this is due earlier in the semester.  The last month of school will be challenging with my PPA and Capstone project due about the same time, but after that I’m home free.

Around the department we have quite a few events coming up.  We will be having an ASPA-MPA dinner in February and the Awards Banquet in April.  We also acquired tickets to SVP’s Fast Pitch event where local nonprofits make a short pitch for funding.  It was a lot of fun last year, and I’m looking forward to going again this year.  I am also still working with Dr. Misis on our KY law enforcement social media paper, but we should finish that before I graduate.  I will be doing a project for the program where I’ll be updating our alumni database to see where everyone is working, so I will be doing lots of social media creeping. 

At the Aronoff I will be having a busy next few months as well.  All the big shows seemed to be saved for the new year.  In December I worked “A Gentlemen’s Guide to Love and Murder” which was a charming little show.  I also worked the Cincinnati Ballet’s “The Nutcracker” which was just as enjoyable to watch as it was last year.  In January I worked “Disney’s The Little Mermaid” twice.  It was very fun, but different from the movie.  It was neat seeing all the little girls dress up in their Disney princess outfits for the show and seeing them fall in love with the characters and the music.  February will be busy there for me since I’ll be working another Cincinnati Ballet show, Chris Rock’s standup, and the musical “Something Rotten.” 

Well that’s all for this month folks.

 Thanks again for reading, see ya next month! 

Two for One Blog Post

Well….I completely forgot to post a blog post for October, so this one will count for both October and November. 

The past two months have been pretty quiet for the department as everyone has started planning their final projects and exams (and Christmas vacation as well).  I did finish my work for Dr. Misis’ research on Kentucky law enforcement’s use of social media.  Next semester we should be working on the actual paper in the spring.  This Friday is the department Christmas party which should be a good time.  We are doing a “dirty Santa” so I gotta be sure to get a good gift for whoever winds up getting it. 

I have registered for classes for the spring (a.k.a. my final semester!!!) and will be taking Policy Analysis and Capstone.  I have been working with Dr. Olberding pretty closely on ideas for my Capstone project and have decided upon doing a survey of local city managers that is an update of a project done by a student a few years ago.  It will also look at citizen engagement in local government.  I think I’ll be able to make it timely and relevant with the recent Presidential election. 

At the Aronoff I have only done “The Phantom of the Opera” in the past two months.  “The Phantom of the Opera” was the first musical/show I ever saw at the Aronoff (when I was about 10) so it was really cool to be able to experience it now as an adult and volunteer.  The music was just as good as I remember.  In December I will be working the Cincinnati Ballet’s annual performances of “The Nutcracker.”  I worked it last year and really enjoyed their production.  The Ballet was just recently in Washington D.C. at the Kennedy Center performing “The Nutcracker” so I am expecting this year’s shows to be better than ever. 

That’s all for these two months. 

Thanks for reading!

When September Ends

Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather (finally)!

September has been quite the busy month.  Last weekend NKU hosted the 76^th Annual Meeting of the Ohio Association of Economists and Political Scientists.  I was fortunate enough to present the research Dr. Misis and I have done so far on Kentucky law enforcement’s use of social media.  It went fairly well I think.  I also got to see research presentations by some fellow NKU Department faculty and was impressed by what they’d done.  The next step for Dr. Misis and me is to write a paper to submit for a journal which would be very exciting.

I have been chosen as the next President of PASS (the Public Administration Student Society).  We are trying to expand the organization this year and get it a little more active than it has been recently.  The first event we will be attending as a group is the Michael Sam talk being put on by NKU’s Office of LGBTQ Programs and Services on Thursday October 6^th in the Student Union Ballroom.  After the talk we are hoping to get people to go to the Skyline Tavern to further discuss his talk.  Those who have class that night are more than welcome to come after.  PASS is also hoping to do one more event this fall and do a lot more in the spring.  Check out our Facebook page and stay up to date at: www.facebook.com/NKUPASS. 

I will be returning to the Aronoff this season and have already worked one event.  The Cincinnati Ballet performed “Director’s Cut” which was a series of vignettes choreographed by the company.  It was simply breathtaking and I am definitely looking forward to more of their shows this year.  The first big Broadway Across America show is the national tour of “The Sound of Music.”  Fans of the movie will no doubt be coming in droves to see it performed live.  I’m sure it will be a crowd favorite. I will be working it twice so I’ll probably be hymning “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” for a while. 

I have no idea what October has in store, but it puts me one step closer to graduation and the real world.  Like I say in every post, thanks for continuing to read this blog.  See ya next month!

Back to Reality Again

Welcome back everyone! 

I can’t believe this will be my third year doing all this again, but also sadly my last.  I will finally be graduating in May so cherish these last few posts of mine.

The MPA program has changed a little bit since May.  Dr. Mattson has officially retired and Dr. Lambert has taken a position at a university in Louisville.  They will certainly be missed and will no doubt be successful in their new endeavors.  On a brighter note, Dr. Olberding has finished her book on social enterprise and special events, of which I am a co-author of the final chapter, and should be released late this year.  It’s very exciting for her and the department.  Dr. Misis, and undergraduate student, and I are currently working on the presentation of our research on social media practices of Kentucky law enforcement agencies for a conference next month being held here at NKU.  After the conference we will be writing the paper to submit for publication. 

I’m sure all of you want to know about my summer.  My study abroad trip to Austria was quite simply, amazing!  I learned a lot about leadership, the Holocaust, Europe, and myself.  I was able to visit Munich, Vienna, Venice, Rome, and Zurich during my five weeks.  I checked a lot of stuff off my bucket list.  I was able to see the Colosseum, ride a boat in Venice, drink a beer at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich, watch an Opera in Vienna, visit a concentration camp, and so much more.  The classes were a little bit more difficult than I had hoped, but it made me a better student.  Both of my classes were very insightful.  I definitely recommend KIIS-Austria, Bregenz for any future students if it is offered for the MPA program again.  It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.  (Pictures are attached to induce jealousy). 

On top of that I was able to take a week-long vacation to Cabo, Mexico with some friends.  It was nice to unwind after 5 weeks of riding trains, studying, and sleeping on a couch.  I luckily didn’t get too burnt either.  I then spent five days in New York City with my mother and brother.  I was exhausted already, but I mustered up the energy to see the Big Apple.  We took bus tours of the island of Manhattan, walked through Central Park, and saw a Broadway show (“An American in Paris” is amazing btw).  After my two month long travels I sadly had to return to reality of work and school. 

I’ll write a new post in September with an update on my classes, the MPA program, and any other odds and ends I can think of.  As always, thanks for stopping by!

The NKU peeps

Colosseum selfie

Inside St. Paul's Cathedral

Being a bubble boy in Munich

Another April

Welcome to the final blog post of the school year! 

My last blog post a good number of page views from Europe.  I assume this is from me mentioning my upcoming Austria study abroad trip, so I’ll name drop a few more European cities/countries to get a wider audience.  Maybe they’ll be interested in the MPA program, and I’ll be responsible for them joining.

So, I had orientation at WKU a couple weekends ago for the Bregenz-Austria trip.  I learned I’ll have to take really, really, really short showers which is impossible for me so that’ll be new.  Apparently water is crazy expensive over there.  The group will be taking trips to Munich, Germany and Vienna so I’m super pumped for both of those.  Bregenz is also on Lake Constance and I guess we can just hop into it wherever and swim around.  There’s also very little crime there so I’ll feel much safer walking around than I have in other cities.  It’s going to be a great time and I’ll be sure to write a blog post about it, pictures and all, when I get back to make everyone jealous.  

Work and school here in the MPA program have gone really well recently.  Dr. Olberding is finishing up the first draft of her book, so hopefully that’ll be available for everyone in the near-ish future.  Dr. Lambert has had a couple provisionally accepted for academic journals (one of them I’m a co-author).   Dr. Misis will be presenting some research at a conference at NKU in the fall (which I also co-authored).   This week I have two presentations for class and next week are finals, both of which are online/take-home thankfully.  After next week’s finals I have about two weeks of R&R before heading out on my great European adventure!!!

The Aronoff in April had “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Book of Mormon.”  Both were great, but completely different.  “Beauty and the Beast” had lots of kids in attendance, and a couple little girls had on their best Belle dress.  “The Book of Mormon” had a more adult crowd.  Hilarious show, but hardly for anyone below high school age.  Up next is the classic “Cabaret,” and it’s the final show of this Broadway season so no more big musicals until September.  The Cincinnati Opera will be at the Aronoff this summer due to renovations at Music Hall so hopefully I’ll get to work an opera show or two (it’ll be my first time seeing a legit opera performance). 

I think that’s about all for this month.  Like I said, I’ll write something up over the summer about my summer trip. 

Thanks again for reading!

Marching On

Happy March everyone!  I’m not even gonna mention March Madness this year.  I actually remembered to write this at the end of the month this time.  It’s hard to believe there’s only a couple weeks left of school.  Soon enough it’ll be summer time and I can enjoy a little bit of time off school.  Speaking of summer…

The Austria study abroad trip is slowly coming together.  It’s finally hitting me that I’ll be leaving in less than 2 months.  In April I have to go down to WKU for an orientation session so my family’s going to make a little vacation of it and go to Nashville for a night.  I’ve received some scholarships so far from NKU, but I’m also waiting to hear on a few more.  Everyone keep your fingers crossed for me.

March was pretty quiet for the MPA program.  Dr. Lambert did host a guest speaker, Richard Wolff, who discussed income inequality and the problems it causes for our democracy (those who are “feeling the Bern” would have really liked his lecture).  It was a great event, and I think a lot of people learned something about how crazy our modern capitalist society can be.  In April we will have the Spring Awards Banquet where Jeniece Jones, our MPA Distinguished Alumna, will be speaking. 

Registration for the fall semester just happened, and I signed up for a GIS course (which I’ve heard is a great class to take because you learn some unique skills) on Monday and Wednesday during the afternoon and Dr. Misis’ Homeland Security online class.  Yes, this means no night classes for me!!! 

At the Aronoff, I recently ushered “Newsies.”  It was a really fun show with the best choreography I’ve seen yet.  It also had a really catchy soundtrack.  Next up is “Book of Mormon” and “Beauty and the Beast” in April, both of which I’m super pumped to see.   

That’s all for now folks.  I’ll be back at the end of April for a recap of the semester and school year overall.  As always, thanks again for reading! 

Forgotten Post February

Well everyone this post is coming on March 1^st because I completely blanked last week about my February post :/.  So March will technically have two posts (unless I forget, which is very likely). 

First, I was accepted to study abroad in Austria this summer!!!!!  I will be spending five weeks in the beautiful city of Bregenz.  I will be taking a course on global leadership and a course on the psychology of good and evil with a focus on the Holocaust (should be some heavy stuff).  Right now I’ve been applying for scholarships because this program certainly isn’t cheap.  I will also be going to Cabo for a week like three days after I return so it’s going to be a very expensive, but fun summer.  May cannot get here soon enough.

Here at NKU I’ve been working on a few projects for the professors.  For Dr. Misis I’m finishing up his study on social media use by KY law enforcement agencies.  I’ve had to make a lot of phone calls.  That was the worst, because like everyone else my age, I hate talking on the phone.  Luckily the conversations were very short.  For Dr. Olberding I’m working on a literature review for her book.  My lit review focuses on special events and their impacts on diversity.  I’ve found some really good articles and studies so far, now I just have to write them up.  For Dr. Lambert I’m working on sprawl data in Excel. 

The MPA program recently hosted a dinner with ASPA that turned out great.  The guest speaker, Eric Avner, gave a brilliant presentation on People’s Liberty.  It’s a great, revolutionary organization that gives grants to people.  The grantees have done some extremely creative and thought-provoking work and I look forward to seeing what People’s Liberty does in the future.  You can check them out on Facebook and on their website: www.peoplesliberty.org. 

Coming up at the Aronoff I’ll be ushering “Newsies” (twice!) which should be a super fun show.  I just signed up yesterday to usher “Book of Mormon”!!!!!  That will probably turn out to be my favorite show ever and I will definitely write how awesome it is.  The schedule for next season also came out recently and there are quite a few shows that I look forward to working.  Check out the Aronoff’s website for more information on that. 

Next week is spring break already which means we’re already halfway through the semester!  I’ll be sure to post at the end of March to update on anything else exciting happening in the program.  Thanks again!

New Year, New Offices

Happy New Year and New Semester everyone!

The department has successfully moved into our new offices in Landrum.  All the important people are down on the 1^st floor.  I’m up on the 2^nd floor with my own office, sort of.  Two other professors have to come through my office to get to theirs, so I kind of work in their lobby area.  Either way my office is very spacious, but right next to the elevators and hangout area so there’s been some adjusting to all the foot traffic. 

This semester I’m taking PAD 602 Organizational Theory and Behavior and PAD 621 Resource Acquisition.  I highly recommend taking 602 right after “Foundations” because a lot of the theories and practices learned in that class will be very important in Org Theory.  I’m really looking forward to 621 because we’re aiding two local nonprofits with grant applications.  We are doing a service learning project with a new nonprofit called Scrap Nati. 

Over the break I was able to work a few times at the Aronoff.  I experienced my first ballet with the Cincinnati Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.”  It was a great show and had a lot more humor than I expected.  I definitely recommend more people check out the ballet.  I also ushered for “Kinky Boots.”  It might have been the most fun show I’ve worked yet.  It was hilarious with a lot of fun, memorable songs.  Upcoming I have the ballet’s version of “Cinderella” and a new musical “If/Then.” 

I’ve had a few projects for the three weeks we’ve been back.  I’m still working on a database for Dr. Misis about Kentucky law enforcement agencies and the social media platforms they employ.  I just finished up some Excel work for Dr. Lambert and Dr. Mattson.  They’re working on writing the paper so hopefully they’ll be some news on that in the near future.  I also helped organize the MPA Spring Newsletter, so keep an eye out for that in the next few weeks.

As always, thanks for stopping by!  By my next post I’ll have news about being accepted officially to the Austria program and what all it will entail! J

Final Post of 2016!

Well here it is, the final blog post of 2015.  By the time I write a new one, it’ll be January 2016 somehow.  I decided to combine November and December’s blog post because they’re basically combined anyway during the school year with all the holidays. 

For Thanksgiving I made my annual trip to St. Louis and was able to see some extended family I really only see at Thanksgivings and graduations.  I had to come back early to work on both of my final papers that were due this week.  Luckily once I get them out of the way after Friday I’ll only have one exam during finals week next week. 

For Christmas break I don’t have any big plans.  We’re hosting Christmas this year, so the house is all festive.  We had to get a smaller tree and place it in a high spot because my cat is psycho and would probably eat everything on it.  I have no idea what I want for Christmas like every year, so I’m sure I’ll be receiving lots of Amazon gift cards and random articles of clothing from the family.

Next year will bring quite the adventure as I completed my application to study abroad in AUSTRIA in the summer!!!!!!!!  As soon as I saw the announcement that graduate students could go, I knew I had to go.  Hopefully I can get some good scholarships so I’m not paying almost $6000 out of pocket/through loans.  I should be taking a class about leadership in global environments and a class about the psychology of good and evil during the Holocaust.  Both should be extremely enlightening.  I highly recommend everyone to apply for study abroad if they can swing it.  I went to Paris one summer with KIIS (the program also doing Austria), and it was amazing.  Hopefully a few other MPA students apply so I’m not alone with a bunch of undergrads (just kidding, but also seriously). 

That’s pretty much it for the year!  It’s been a crazy busy, but fun year and I fully expect 2016 to be just as crazy and fun. I hope everyone enjoys their break.  Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

Thanks!

P.S. This isn't my cat, but I felt it appropriate. 

October

Well this month turned out to be much busier than expected.  Lots of good news to report luckily!

I'll start off with the announcement that I adopted a kitten!  Her name is Autumn and she's the cutest thing ever.  You know I wasn't busy enough with classes and work that I thought I would add a pet into the equation.  She's way too active at night right now, but she's also a big goofball so it balances out.  (PS thats not my cat at the bottom.)

School was pretty crazy for a few weeks there.  I had a final grant proposal due, an 8 page profile, and a midterm all within a week of each other.  Luckily I came out alive and with decent grades.  Now the end of the semester is creeping up with more final papers and all their stress. 

The MPA program had quite a few developments during October.  On the 22nd we had our annual fall reception.  There was a good turnout for guest speaker Bonnie Meyer who spoke about LGBTQ issues at NKU and within the state of Kentucky.  She gave a great talk and I really think everyone there enjoyed it.  We also just found out this week that MPA students are able to go on a study abroad to Bregenz, Austria in Summer 2016!!!! I am extremely excited about this oppurtunity (and so should every other student), and I really hope to be able to go!  For information contact Jeff Zimmerman at zimmermanj3@nku.edu or look at the program's website http://www.kiis.org/go/BregenzPO.php. 

At the Aronoff I was able to usher for the musical "Pippin."  It was quite a show and hard to describe.  It was a mix of musical theater and cirque du soleil type stunts, a very unique combo. Up next is "White Christmas" based off the Bing Crosby movie, so I hope to see some of you there!

I'll be back at the end of next month to let you know all about the happenings in November.  As always thanks for reading!

Oh and Happy Halloween!

"September"

Pinch, punch first of the month!

Soooo I forgot September only has 30 days so I’m posting this a day later than I should have, so there will be two posts for October.  At least it’s time now for fall and Halloween stuff.  Also, my birthday is Oct. 11^th so I’ll be celebrating that too :D.

September was a crazy busy month.  I trained for ushering at the Aronoff, and then worked a show on my own.  I did get to see Motown the Musical though three times in one week, so that was pretty fun.  I went to Indianapolis for a weekend.  I had relatives from France come in for a day.  I had lots of classes and class assignments.  I also tried to maintain a social life.  My monthly calendar was very full to say the least. 

October is looking to be a little easier despite having Midterms and a paper due next week.  Fall break will be the 12^th and 13^th so I will definitely be making the most of that.  The MPA program will be hosting their annual fall reception on Thursday Oct. 22th, so I look forward to seeing some of you there!

The MPA program is also going through a bit of a rebranding phase along with the university.  We’re updating our advertising materials to look more modern and in line with other NKU branding. 

Missy, Dr. Olberding and I are also going to start doing the Norse Fitness Classes during the week to break up the day and get healthy.  Missy and I did TRX today (the first time for each of us) and it kicked our butts.  I also embarrassed myself with the equipment multiple times, c’est la vie. Hopefully the more we do the classes, the easier they’ll get. 

So October should be a pretty fun month overall.  As always, thanks again for reading!

Happy New School Year!

Well happy new school year!  Yes I’m still the GA so I’ll be updating the blog once a month again.  

There’s a lot that’s new this year, and then there’s a lot that’s not. 

Today (August 31) is Beth’s last day before retirement! She's helped all of us so much, she deserves the time off.  We’ll all miss her a bunch, and it’ll definitely be weird without her.  

Tomorrow (Sept.1) our new coordinator starts, Missy Gish.  Fun fact, we’ve known each other a very long time; she used to be my babysitter!  So we should work well together since we already have a rapport.  She’ll fit right in and keep the program going strong, so stop by and welcome her to department!

This semester I’m taking Data Analysis, Leading in Diverse Public Environments, and Grants Writing.  All three should be extremely beneficial to whatever career path I decide to take. 

I have officially become an usher at the Aronoff Center, so that’s exciting!  I figured since volunteerism and nonprofits are part of the program, I should volunteer and experience it all firsthand.  It should be a lot of fun working all the big shows, so if any of you attend a performance, keep an eye out for me! I recommend anyone else in the program to try and volunteer as well; you can make some great connections which could help you later.

Not much else to report today, just thought I’d give you guys a few brief bullet points about myself and the program. 

Thanks again for reading!

This is the End

Hey everybody!  Welcome to my final post of the school year!  It’s already the end of the semester somehow.  Finals are next week and everybody is stressin’ out.  Luckily I’ve managed to not be too stressed. Yes I have two finals and two final projects, but the projects are group ones. 

My Research Methods class performed our Colerain Township survey this month.  We only received a little over 100 responses, which is on the lower end of our goal, we could still be proud of ourselves.  We now know how to perform a full scale telephone survey, which will probably be a very useful skill for later classes (especially Capstone).  17 of us met one night to write our final paper, which turned out really well surprisingly.  I was chosen to edit the paper and write up the summary on the findings of the survey (I was the one who entered them into Excel).  I’m still working on finishing it up for the deadline on Monday, the day of our final, but I think it’s gonna be a great paper despite being a little bit of a Frankenstein’s monster.

My Public Budgeting course has turned out pretty well too.  We have a group project where we have to create a fake budget for a city department.  Me being the TV-obsessed person that I am really wanted to do a mock budget for the Parks and Recreation Department of Pawnee, Indiana form the show “Parks and Rec.”  Myself and two classmates (one of whom is a huge fan of the show too) agreed to do it and the project has turned out really well.  We tried to incorporate things from the show into our project, such as information about the eccentric citizens and their obesity problems.  We present tonight, and I’m looking forward to it.

Also this month I went to Chicago with Dr. Lambert for the MPSA conference!  I was able to listen to some interesting panels and discussions.  I also explored the city a bit more.  I made to Millennium Park and the Bean, the Chicago Art Institute, and Navy Pier (no deep-dish pizza though this time unfortunately).  Dr. Lambert and I presented our paper and received some good feedback from the audience and our fellow panelists. 

This has been a fun foray into the blogosphere and I hope I was able to entertain you guys a little bit while sharing with you my experiences as a first year graduate student/assistant. I’ll be back in the fall for year 2, so don’t worry guys you’ll be hearing more from me.

Thanks so much!

Kyle  

March Madness

Well early March was pretty similar to late February, cold and snowy.  We missed a few more days of school in the week leading up to Spring Break, meaning my break was a few extra days longer.  Coming back that Monday March 16 was a little weird after almost two full weeks off.  I did not want to believe it.  Now we just have to power through these next couple weeks and we’re home free for summer time.

            Sorry to make you guys jealous, but I had a pretty great Spring Break.  I went to good ole Sin City, Las Vegas. Although I didn’t come back a big winner, but I didn’t come back a big loser either, so it didn’t get the best of me luckily.  I stayed at the MGM Grand so I was right there on the strip.  I got to see an aquarium inside a hotel, Hoover Dam, and lots of famous movie characters (there are a surprising amount of Zach Galifianakis from “The Hangover” impersonators, baby and tiger and all).  It was nice to get away from school, work, and everything else and enjoy my break. 

            I also just started volunteering at the Aronoff Center, so that’s pretty exciting.  I’ll be at the information desk/guest services a few hours a month, so if you ever have any questions about what’s going on there, hit me up and I might know the answer.  Hopefully I’ll be able to become an usher later in the year, but right now I’m pretty happy to be helping in any way I can.  Everyone I’ve met there is super nice and I encourage others to volunteer there if you want to see how an arts-related nonprofit operates. 

            Here at NKU we’re still working on updating our website.  I’m working on the Alumni page, so if you know any alumni who have great things to say about the program, send them my way.  Dr. Lambert and I are still finishing up for our conference next month, so I’ll be sure to share that whole experience in April’s blog post. 

Speaking of Dr. Lambert, his Research Methods class has become a great tool for performing an actual survey.  Most of the class is working on a telephone survey for Colerain Township about their various services.  We’re going through all the steps of a survey such as creating/editing a questionnaire, choosing a sample, and then actually calling everyone.  It should be extremely useful if any of us decide to perform a survey for our Capstone project. 

Mr. Elmer’s Budgeting class has also started heating up.  We recently performed a mock budget meeting where each student was given a position within a fake city and we all had to work together to get our various departments enough funding while also keeping the city under budget.  It was pretty fun, and there were a lot of heated debates between us various department heads and the city council.  I’ve really enjoyed his teaching methods, and I recommend all of you take him if/when he teaches it again!

Well March has actually been a lot busier than I thought.  Next month should be full of news with the conference, final projects/tests on the horizon, and other odds and ends I’ll come across throughout the month.  Again, thanks for stopping by!

February Freeze

Well February has turned out a lot differently than anyone thought.  After a pretty pathetic winter, snow wise, we got all the snow at once, but I suffered through the impromptu spring break.  I did absolutely nothing and it was spectacular.  The Antarctica-like conditions continue, but seem to be slowly going away soon.

Program wise we’re working on updating the MPA website.  We’ve been featuring students who haven’t been students in a few years so we’re putting up a few actual, current ones.  We are also improving the alumni page so that prospective students can see the successes of past ones.  So be on the lookout for those updates. 

I have to give a special shout-out to PASS, the student organization for the program, for their Homecoming event.  It was a lot of fun and I encourage y’all to go to their next events. 

Not a whole lot otherwise going on around here, for me at least.  Dr. Lambert and I are finishing up our article for the MPSA conference in Chicago in April. I’ll post next month with any more exciting news for the program.  I’ll leave you with the immortal words of Ollie Williams:

Welcome Back from Winter Break

Well we’re back.  A New Year means a new semester.  I hope all of you had an enjoyable winter break.  I treated mine like just that, a break.  I caught up on some great shows (Mad Men and The Leftovers), read a little bit, and saw a lot of amazing movies (Wild and Selma being the top 2).  I decided to take only 2 classes this semester after having taken 3 last semester.  I don’t want to rush through the program (and I don’t want 3 classes worth of homework again). I’m taking ‘Budgeting’ with the new professor Mr. Elmer and ‘Research Methods’ with Dr. Lambert.  Both classes will definitely benefit me in the long run, especially research since that’s my job primarily.  I’m looking forward to gaining some new knowledge and skills. 

Two weeks into the semester and it’s been pretty quiet here thus far.  Dr. Olberding has returned to the office from her sabbatical from last semester.  So far I’ve painstakingly reorganized the Capstone Project and Portfolio shelves, so hopefully nobody comes and messes them up.  I also recently finished up researching boards of directors/trustees of some local nonprofits for Dr. Ahmed, so if you need any info on them, I got you. 

One final note: The PA Nexus, the program's annual newsletter, for 2015 has been published!  I worked a loooong time on it, and I’m glad it turned out really well (not to toot my own horn). You can stop by the MPA office in Founders Hall 424 to pick up a copy or to download a pdf version go to http://tinyurl.com/mpanewsletter.

 That’s all until February and thanks for stopping by! 

Finals Are Coming

Finals Are Coming

Well we’re down to our last few weeks of the semester already.  Black Friday ads are flooding the TV and Christmas music is in the air.  This also signifies that finals and final projects are right around the corner. 

Luckily I only have two research papers between my three classes.  I would most likely be dying right now if I had three big papers to write.  One I've made a lot of progress on, and the other one, ehhhh not so much.  Both of them are due during dead week (the week between Thanksgiving and finals), so while I’m munching down on some turkey and bread, I’ll be working on the pay differences between Walmart and Costco. 

On a happier note, Dr. Lambert and I were accepted to conferences in both Chicago and Portland (!).  Hopefully we’ll get to go to both of these conferences, we should find out soon.  But getting accepted was the first step. 

Other than that, it’s been pretty quiet here.  I helped Dr. Misis with research on fear and terrorism, (hint: people are still fearful).  I also have been helping Dr. Olberding with her research on Kennedy Heights and Pleasant Ridge working together.  I’m also slowly chipping away at the new newsletter that will come out next year.  Hopefully I can make a good one!

Thanks for stopping by!

I leave you with a meme you've probably seen a million times before, but I love it because I actually know where it comes from: