Z - ShamrockSox

Back from a not-so-brief hiatus

It's that time of the semester.

The time of semester when you know you're going to get everything done on time.

You just have no idea how.

I finished my paper for Foundations of Public Administration last night.  It's about citizen participation in policy-making.  I don't think it's one of my best papers...not even close.  It's hard to put a lot of effort into something you're not passionate about, and frustrating to not be pleased with it despite those efforts.  I'm going to let it escape my mind for a few days and edit it up before Tuesday.  Hopefully then it'll be to my liking. 

Now I'm starting on my juvenile delinquency paper.  It has to be 20 pages long, and I'd say I have maybe 3-4 pages so far.  It's such a broad topic (special needs of female offenders), but I'm having trouble digging up information on it that's not repetitive.    I believe in writing concisely rather than dragging things out to meet an arbitrary limit.  Isn't what they'd want in the "real world" anyway?  If I can say the same thing more concisely, i'm saving time and attention.  And trees.

I also have to start on my terrorism and PAPE papers too.  They're all due the first week of December.  I hope the take home finals aren't due that week too, or else I may literally be pulling many consecutive all-nighters.  Hopefully they're due the week of FINALS, or else I'll be losing a whole week of the semester.  I would not be pleased with that at all. 

I made my schedule for next semester.  Only ONE PAD class that I need, aside from the 2 I'm taking now, is being offered.  That ticked me off.  From talking to other people, a lot of others arne't very pleased with the scheduling either.  I'm also going to have to take CJ Research Methods, despite taking PAPE, even though they're essentially the same thing.  Seems like a waste of time and money to me, but my advisor/head of the CJ Dept said I have to. 

Also, make sure you check into the class descriptions before you sign up for them.  Foudnations of Public Admin is a lot of repeat information for anyone who has a lot of experience in American Government.  I know for this program it's an option...I'm not sure if it's mandatory for MPA only students.  I have a feeling that the intro CJ class is going to be a lot of repitition for me too.  I understand that not everyone has majored in their Master's field as an undergrad...but it seems to me that if you have, you should be able to elect or test out of it.  I'd rather take an elective and learn something new.  I also wish that there was a way you could see the syllabus of a class before you elected to take it.  I assume they're done by the time classes are put up on SAIL, so why not?  It'd save a lot of adding and dropping when the semester starts, you'd have a better of idea of what to expect, and maybe, if you're really motivated, you could get started before the semester starts.  Just a thought.

Anyway, time to get back to reading lots and lots of journal articles. 

Another Week

Another lackluster yet crazy week...

As it usually happens in many classes, the syllabus isn't strictly adhered to.  I don't think I've ever had a class that has stayed right on schedule.  So, many of my midterms have been pushed back.  I got my terrorism midterm last night, and it's not even due until the end of the semester.  I want to do it in the next 2 weeks though, since I'll have way too many other things to do at the end of the semester.  It's 4 essay questions, of which we must answer 3, at 1-2 pages each.  Not bad at all.

We haven't gotten our midterm for Policy Analysis and Program Eval (which I think I'll refer to as PAPE from now on) yet, but I think it'll probably be difficult.  We're getting into the more mathematically based stuff, which is really not my forte.  But I'd better learn it, since it's the type of stuff I'd like to do someday.  I'm not happy that I have to take CJ Research Methods as well, since it's basically the same thing.  I'd rather take an elective.  Maybe I can work that out, who knows? 

What's the deal with Suffolk having classes cancelled due to holidays rescheduled for Fridays?  Luckily, most of my professors have substituted a take-home exam for these days (instead of using a whole class to take a test).  I thought the general unspoken rule was that if you have a class on a holiday, too bad, you miss it.  No one wants to be here on a Friday night, especially from 7-10pm!

Anyway.  We're reading a very interesting book in Juv. Del. called "Last Chance in Texas."  It's about an innovative program for rehabilitating youth in Texas.  I might have mentioned it before, I'm not sure.  It's very interesting, going into the stories of the youths and what they've been through, causing them to become serious offenders.  However, it's very disturbing and sad at the same time.  But, I'd still recommend it - it's an interesting an easy read.

For my Juv. Del. paper, I'll be focusing on juvenile female offenders, which will be good, since I can pull from my experience as a residential counselor in a detention center.  I had a few other ideas, but my professor basically told me not to do them.  But, to be able to put personal experience into such a paper is rare, and I'm excited to do that.

I started doing research for my Foundations of PAD paper, which I'll be doing on citizen participation in policy making.  Could be interesting.  I pulled a bunch of articles that sounded like they might be relevant, but have yet to go through them.

The long weekend was much needed.  I went to Connecticut to visit some friends from high school going to grad school there.  It was fun, though a lot of driving.  And I certainly didn't get much homework done.

It'll probably have to be made up for this weekend.  Eek.

S is for Stress...and Sox!

It has been a long, tiring, hectic few weeks. 

My Mondays and Tuesdays start off on the commuter rail around 8am, and end on them around 11pm.  During this time there is work, class, and maybe 3 hours or so of downtime - which usually ends up being homework.  It leaves me with a relatively open Wednesday and Friday, but it also leaves me exhausted for most of the week.  I'm very glad I didn't take a second job.  I just don't think the time would be worth it!

Midterm season is upon us...already!?  For Foundations of PAD we have a take home essay, and it's optional.  I think I'll do it, just to take a bit of the pressure off from the final paper and final exam.  We've been asked to describe the major thoughts of two main thinkers of early public administration.  It's hard to go wrong there.  Policy Analysis and Program Eval should be 2 weeks after that, also take home.  Take home exams are a double edged sword.  On the one hand, you do well, almost without question.  On the other hand, I usually end up spending a lot more time on take homes than a regular exam.  But honestly, what I learn probably has a lot more depth to it.

I'm still having trouble coming up with paper topics.  As for the homeless project, I'd still like to do that.  However, since I'm not taking the statistic follow up of Program Eval, I'll never carry out the program evaluation I design for the agency.  Why should they give me all their time when I'm not going to even do the project?  This'll be something I'll have to hash out.  For Juvenile Delinquency, we have free reign on topics.  I saw a documentary about a boys detention center in Indiana where 24 select boys were put into a program for military training, whereupon they would have a good chance of entering the military afterwards.  Since in my opinion, education and career are the most important aspects of sucessful offender re-entry, I'm hoping to look into similar vocational programs and their success.  Hopefully the info is out there!

At work, our big semester program is coming next week, and I'm almost solely responsible for planning it.  Most of it has been done for a while, but I'm hoping I haven't screwed anything up.   Suffolk is still very new to me, so I don't know all the channels and procedures.  Today I went around hanging up posters...what a workout!

There is another factor adding stress to many New England students, myself included.  The Red Sox!  The playoffs are here, and we're playing the Angels.  That means late games.  I didn't go to bed until 1:30 last night.  I'm tired and a bit cranky, but in a much better mood than I would have been had I stayed up to watch them lose!

On a slightly more serious note - the deadline for voter registration is near.  Get registered and vote, vote, vote.  Altough the presidential campaign is important, there are other things at stake too.  If you're a Mass. resident as I am, there are also proposition questions concerning banning the state income tax, marijuana, and dog racing.  I think it's very important that young people turn out and pay attention to this election (and politics in general - however boring it may be).  There are so many things that need to be fixed.  We have a huge defecit, a social security fund that will be long gone before we're ready to retire, a mortgage crisis, millions without health care...oh yeah, and two wars.  I could go on, but you get the point.  We're going to be paying for all of this.  We might as well have a say in where are money will go and what will be done with it - hopefully to the benefit of many.

I'll get off my soapbox and do some homework.

Go Sox!

Wake Me Up When September Ends...

Everyone says that grad school is tiring, but I had no idea. I’m working part-time and taking classes part-time, but a lot of those hours are compacted into the first two days of the week for me.  Which means I end up working, doing homework, or sitting in class from about 9am-10pm, and not getting home until around 11. 

I also get very antsy after doing so much sitting around all day. Having Boston Common so close by has been great (while the weather is decent), since I can walk around for a bit between work and class (not so great when you’re wearing your work shoes…I don’t recommend it).  But, I have recently gotten back into kickboxing, which has really helped out this week.  I’m feeling happier, more energetic, and feeling good. Plus, it’s a great way to blow off steam after sitting around so much.  I definitely recommend some kind of exercise program that expends a lot of energy.  I might start trying yoga soon, too.

Classes are going fairly well.  I really dislike having classes so late.  It’s hard to concentrate at all when you’ve already been going for 10 hours, and all you want to do is go home.  I have a ton of reading…some of it’s interesting, some…not so much.  As I expected the CJ classes have been a lot more interesting for me.  They’re much smaller and more informal, too, and I think that also makes a big difference.  One has 6 students while the other has 9. I makes for a less structure class-like environment, and opens it up for discussion more.  I think that makes the time go by much faster.

For Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation, we have to pick a real public program, and evaluate a problem they’re having.  I’m kind of excited about this project, since it’s what I (think) would like to do after graduation.  However, I don’t feel at all prepared or knowledgeable enough to take something like this on.  Hopefully I will be by the time we get to it.  But for now, we’re supposed to be finding an agency/program/problem to evaluate.  One thing about this part of town is that there are a lot of homeless people around.  Seeing them, especially late at night, or in the bad weather has really gotten me down at some points.  I’m thinking of choosing a homeless shelter or program for my project, as they could probably use the free evaluation more than most agencies.  Of course, something more criminal justice related would be more interesting to me, but I’ll have to do my research and see what’s around here, and who’ll be willing to give me their time.

One major complaint I have about Suffolk so far is the library. The few times I’ve gone so far, there has been little seating available.  The seating that IS available is in extremely uncomfortable chairs. Maybe it’s to keep you from falling asleep, I don’t know.  It also was very loud in there, even on the “quiet” 4^th floor.  But, the staff has been very helpful and courteous, so I can’t complain about that. 

Overall a tiring but good experience so far. We’ll see what the rest of September brings.

First Week of Grad School…

From your friendly neighborhood admissions admin: Still experiencing troubles, but here is ShamrockSox's latest:

It was hectic to say the least. Even though it was a short week with the holiday, it seemed to take forever!  In that time, I started a new job on campus, as well as had my first of 3 of my classes.

My Foundations of Public Administration class seems like it should be fairly interesting.  One of the books I have already had for my undergrad PA class, but I don’t mind because it uses case studies to examine areas of PA instead of dryly talking about things like organization, communication, etc.  The professor seems great, and I even know 2 other people in the class from undergrad.  We spent the first day going over the syllabus and talking about what PA is.

My second class is Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation.  Our professor told us it’s the most difficult course in the program.  Great. The name of the class is sort of deceiving…it’s basically research methods.  I feel as if I’ve taken Research Methods a million times already, but since research is something I’m very interested in pursuing post-graduation, I shouldn’t complain.  The professor has a criminal justice background, so I think I got lucky in that sense.  Our main project is going to be doing an evaluation of a real-life program…actually talking to the people that run it and whatnot.  I’m excited to do that. It’ll be hard work, but very interesting, I think.  I’m looking into doing something with a non-profit or state agency that works with offenders re-entering the community.

My third class is Terrorism and Counterterrorism. This follows the same format as the other 2 classes.  Midterm, Final, Paper, Participation. It’s good not to have a lot of assignments, but at the same time, your grade is dependent on very few things.  If you mess one up…you’re in trouble. But, at this point, I’m not too worried about it.  Figuring out a paper topic for this one should be interesting too.

After the first week, I only managed to get lost on campus twice.  And I realized that I shouldn’t count on a lot of sleep, with working in the morning and not getting home from late classes until 11.  I’m jealous of my friends that are working and have regular schedules, but I think it’ll be worth it in the end…

Helping out ShamrockSox...

We are experiencing technical difficulties.  She emailed me this post, so here it is!

--Your friendly neighborhood Admissions person.

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The weeks leading up to starting grad school have certainly been hectic. Where are my classes? How should I get to them? How many jobs should I work? Will I ever see my friends again? Will I make new friends? I’m supposed to read ALL those books? You get the point…

If you’re reading this, then you’re probably trying to answer some questions yourself, like where you should go to grad school, or if you should go to grad school at all. How did I end up at Suffolk? Well, as an undergrad, I majored in Criminology and Political Science. I thought about going to law school, but decided to go in a different direction. I’m hoping to either head into research, offender re-entry, or perhaps a justice related branch of the government. Maybe even run for office. Who knows. The unique Criminal Justice/Public Administration program is a major reason why I decided to pursue my Masters here. I think it’ll give me a breadth of information on the careers I’m interested, plus a lot of maneuverability. 

I’m going straight from my undergraduate school to Suffolk, so I’m not entirely sure how much of a change it will be. There’s an ominous pile of books staring at me from my bookshelf right now, which is nerve-racking. I’m used to a lot of reading due to my undergrad majors, but I’m just hoping it won’t be an overwhelming amount. I’m a little surprised that I haven’t received any syllabi yet, but I guess I’ll find out what I’m in for in a few days. 

The classes I’ll be taking are Terrorism & Counterterrorism, Seminar in Juvenile Justice, Foundations of Public Administration, and Policy Analysis and Program Evaluation.

I’ve always loved my criminal justice classes, and though I’ve already taken a couple juvenile-related classes, I’m anxious to see what it’s like at the graduate level. I’ve already started reading one of the books, and it’s been very interesting so far. Terrorism and Counterterrorism should be interesting too, and very relevant. It’s also sort of a “hot” area of the justice system now, so I think any knowledge I can accumulate will be extremely useful. As for the Public Administration classes, I’m less sure of what to expect. I took one class during my undergraduate years, and I actually have the textbook from the class for one of these classes. It can be a very, VERY dry subject, but also incredibly useful. 

Well, enough about school. I have the long weekend to enjoy…the calm before the storm, I think…