We Survived Fall Break...

though it confirmed our decision not to have children for at least five years! It was a great trip, we had a lot of fun hanging out, playing, going to the beach, the park, the orchard to pick raspberries, dropping the kids off at school, watching youtube videos, watching cartoons, looking at halloween costumes, making art projects, building cars, going to a train show, going through hay mazes, and more. Clearly, it was a busy weekend. We got to New Haven at 1:00 on Saturday, and left at 11 am on Tuesday. We confirmed that sleep is well-loved by both of us-- we aren't ready to be woken up by excited yelling children at 7 am who are ready to jump in bed with us and play (I confirmed my suspicions of my style of future parenting skills-- that of reinforcing the habit my mom used to do-- of telling me to watch cartoons quietly when I would get up at 6 am on the weekends) because I definitely pulled out the couch cushions for the kids to sit on, flipped the tv onto noggin, and spent several more minutes trying to wake up before stumbling into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
Spending time with my sister, brother-in-law, and the kids was a great chance to see them and catch up. Even though they live relatively close (its about a five hour drive), it really necessitates a long weekend to make it down there, which I haven't had that many of-- school is pretty intense, and I don't skip classes if I can help it. This was the first time that we had seen them since Christmas, and it was a blast, but definitely tiring. The trip down to New Haven was excellent-- the weather was perfect, the leaves were changing color and falling as we were driving through the Catskills into Connecticut. The little two-lane roads we drove in Connecticut, alongside small lakes and streams seemed perfectly New England-esque. Cody commented that he would need to re-read Walden after our trip, it just seemed necessary.
We have made it back to Ithaca, and classes are back in swing. I started my next set of meetings for my thesis earlier this morning. It seems like it should be a good group of students and faculty that I am meeting with in this second semester of thesis prep. We each have very different topics, but all the topics are areas that I am interested in. If things go well, I should pretty much have my thesis prospectus wrapped up in a week or so (a key step in the process that is due by the end of this semester). Work is a little nuts for Cody, but I will let him explain that one when/if he ever decides to start blogging again (it isn't an intentional break from blogging on his part, more of a sudden realization recently that he hasn't blogged since June).
The break was an interesting opportunity for me to discuss my thesis topic with various people while down in CT. Paul's (my brother-in-law) parents were visiting on Saturday, which led to a brief discussion of my topic, as well as a lengthy conversation with Karissa (my sister) and Paul on Monday night when we all went out to dinner. People are definitely opinionated when it comes to my thesis-- willing to debate, question, and debate some more. It should make for an interesting year of continued research!
--brianna

Fall Break

We are going away for fall break-- to Connecticut. We are driving down to New Haven through the Catskills on what should be a beautiful weekend drive-- it's supposed to be sunny with temps in the low 70's for the next several days, which should make for a nice drive and back (which is especially nice, considering it will take about five and a half hours each way). I am very much looking forward to it, as it will be a good chance to get away, and see the fam. My sister, brother in law, niece and nephews are there, and it will be good to see them,. It will also be good to see a friend from college, who I haven't seen since we lived together the semester that we spent studying in DC.
We are taking off at about 8:00 tomorrow morning, with a stop at Starbucks for some coffee before leaving town. Hopefully, we will remember to pack our camera with us, and we will take some pictures over the course of the weekend as well. So, just wanted to give you an update. We have survived midterms (me taking them, Cody dealing with crabby customers who are studying for them), and are glad to be able to leave town for awhile.
--brianna

Presidential Elections and Debates

I am currently watching the Vice Presidential debates. I watched the first Presidential debate last Friday and thoroughly enjoyed it. Tonight however, not so much. I have definitive opinions when it comes to politics-- I am not wishy-washy when it comes to this election. I am wholly supportive of women in politics, and wish that there were more women involved in the political arena. However, Sarah Palin is driving me a bit crazy. I don't think she is the best choice as a vice presidential for John McCain, who I have a lot of respect for.
Sarah Palin is not reassuring me tonight on her ability to lead a country, or being the second in command. She is not making the verbal mistakes that she has been criticized for earlier this week in the interviews with Katie Couric, but she seems to be sticking to the talking points that have been prepared for her ahead of time. While I acknowledge that everyone does this to an extent, I think she is avoiding questions by changing the subject when she gets uncomfortable to an extent that isn't really showing me who she is, or reassuring me on her capabilities to lead this nation in the precarious situation we are currently in.
I will admit that I get sucked into politics-- I majored in political science in college, spent a semester studying in Washington DC in the fall of 2005 with an internship for a government commission. Even now, I am getting a degree that focuses on working for the government-- a master's degree in public administration. I am passionate about the country that we live in, and think that Sarah Palin frightens me as having control over our international relations.
--brianna

Thesis Beginnings

I have until early-mid May to submit my thesis. It should be somewhere between 60-110 pages (excluding appendices, etc.). While it has been making me nervous since I started at Cornell, I am beginning to feel on top of the situation. It started with a two-semester seminar series last spring, where we split into small groups in order to read old theses from our program and critique them, looking at what makes a successful thesis.
So, last week I had an adjunct professor in my program giving me crap on my thesis-- why I hadn't gotten it all figured out already, wondering what my plan was, thinking I should have started writing it over the summer. Needless to say, it made me mad. I understand that his goal was to guilt me into action, and make me feel like I am already behind. But, I have been thinking about my thesis all summer and through the start of this semester, and still haven't come to any conclusions on what I want to study, or who I want to advise me for my thesis, so it is difficult to know what to do until these issues are figured out.
I finally experienced a break through this weekend though, and figured out what my thesis topic will be. I think my problem before was that I wasn't really excited about any of my potential topics. I found them interesting-- but not enough to feel willing to commit to a year's worth of research and revision on the topic; at least until now.
As I was thinking about all of the papers that I have written in graduate school so far, I realized that the one I found most interesting was the paper I wrote last fall on torture for my class on ethics and public policy. While I will need to narrow down the specifics of my paper, I have a starting point-- I will be researching how a US policy condoning torture influences the United Nations, and what it means for the International Court of Justice.
I met with my ethics professor from last fall this morning (I am taking a class with him this fall on Intergovernmental Systems) about my research. He knows just about everything on ethics and the US government, and gave me a bunch of ideas on where to go with my research. What was exciting to see was how excited he got about my research topic-- wanting me to come back and let him know how things were going in a couple of weeks, and we could work from there (I think this means I have found an advisor, and I haven't even asked him yet!) on it. He is also letting me write my research paper for him this semester on my thesis topic-- by focusing on how President Bush twisted the intergovernmental system to give himself enough power to allow torture to take place. I will focus on the failures of the check and balances of the legislative and judicial branches.
I am meeting tomorrow with my International Institutions professor to discuss the framing of my thesis topic for the UN, and also to get more ideas from her on where to go from here. The fortunate part of this is that I can also write a paper for her looking at this topic, and will have one chapter of my thesis written through the work I do on the final paper for her class.
We begin our second semester thesis seminar series in a couple of weeks, and I am beginning to realize that I have a lot more established than I thought I might, which is an exciting feeling.
I even spent part of the afternoon in the library, getting books so I can work on furthering my research. I'm excited-- I think this should be good.

Beginning to Look at Life After Graduation

My graduation isn't that terribly far away. While I still have to make it through the year, I can start applying for jobs now. In fact, it is highly recommended that I do start applying for jobs now, which in some ways seems completely crazy. I have started a list of organizations that I want to check on, to see if they have any open positions, what they are, where they are, etc. It's a bit difficult though, because I know that the organizations I am most interested in working for are not organizations that Cornell will direct me toward. The excellent part of Cornell is that there are so many great companies, non-profits, government agencies that are interested in it's graduates. But I know that I am not exactly the typical Cornell student. They are primarily based out of NYC, and I have a difficult time picturing Cody and I there. So, I am working to figure out how to find the right job for me, without having to leave all of the leg work to me, and seeing what Cornell's connections can do. It seems like a bit of a balancing act. We will see what happens. Cody and I aren't planning on going back to Minneapolis (not that we're avoiding it, but it is one of many options). It's exciting to have choices, and a little scary. But hopefully it should be good.

Classes have Begun

According to Cody, Starbucks has achieved its usual insanity again, which is a clear sign that the students are back. However, they are now coming in rushes, a good indication that they are on their way to class. I have now attended a number of my classes, which for the most part seem pretty good. One class hasn't happened yet, the prof decided to cancel our first day of class in honor of labor day. So, I went to three classes yesterday, all of which seemed good. My major question at this point is about the class I visited today. In theory, it seems like a good class-- International Institutions, looking at the UN, WTO, IMF, etc. The problem seems to be multipart. First, it meets from 11:30-2:00 on Tuesdays, which makes lunch difficult, particularly considering that we meet in a conference room off of one of the libraries, where no food is allowed. The prof knows her stuff, but I had a difficult time following her today, as she was basing her lecture off of hand-written notes, with no indication to the rest of us what was coming next. It was a little much for two hours on the first day. And, I have a three-hour long class on Monday nights that ends at 10 pm, so doing that twice in a row seems like it could be tough to do twice in a row. So, we'll see. I think I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon doing homework and checking out other options. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to skim a course catalog, as Cornell's course catalog is the size of the Minneapolis phone book. But overall, its been a good start.

Entering the Second Year

Classes technically began yesterday, though I haven't actually attended any yet-- because the classes I am registered for all take place on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday with section meetings taking place on Thursdays. I am feeling a little weird about begin a second year in this program, because it means that I will graduate in a year (well, I guess technically less than a year, I will graduate in May). So, the job search has officially begun. There are already companies who are interested in meeting with students in my program, which seems a little ridiculous.
As of right now, I am taking Labor Economics, Stats, Intergovernmental Systems, International Institutions, and Labor & Global Cities. I am hoping that it will be a good semester-- I know some of my professors already, and have heard really good things about others, which gives me hope. It will be busy with five classes, but I think it should be manageable (at least that's the goal). And, theoretically I can begin more work on my thesis this semester as well, so it is ready for submission by May.
Things are going pretty well here, it's definitely nice to be back in town. But, I am mostly glad that I have time to relax before everything starts again.