It is difficult to believe that today is the last day of spring semester 2014. Admittedly this has felt like the longest semester out of the four that I have now spent here. This is probably due to the incredibly long and harsh winter (that sometimes I think still has not ended regardless of the fact that it is May 2nd) as well as a heavier than usual class load. The semester is of course not quite over because there is still so much to do before next Friday, however, it is nice to know that in a few hours from now there will be no more classes to go to until August.
Yesterday was our last PLA class. I must say I am quite relieved to have put the presentations behind us. Over all, each group was truly excellent, presenting polished policies. Now it’s time to get that paper finished up. This semester in PLA has been a challenging and rewarding. In the beginning of the semester presenting a policy and writing a paper about it seemed like an ominous cloud hanging in the distant future. Now that once distant future has arrived and the path to get there has been a lot of fun. This project has been one of the best group project experiences I have had so far in the course of my education. It is so nice to have a group that is hardworking and enjoyable to be with.
One of my favorite parts about the project was getting to interview both inside and outside of class many people across the Penn State community as well as within the broader State College community. It is amazing how much one can learn from asking questions and hearing about other’s experiences. This was a really enriching part of the semester and a great way to explore all the different facets of “Education Reform”.
So far the policy writing experience has been a positive one. I am excited to see what our policy will look like when we are finished getting it all put together on paper.
Something that is really cool is that many of our policies have potential for being implemented, particularly the ones pertaining to Penn State. I look forward to seeing if any of those policies will be presented to other groups within the Penn State community.
Until next time!