Less than a month to go...

Things have been busy as usual. School is going well. We're running a half of a board retreat halfway through April for our consulting client, so that should be interesting. Other than that, nothing too exciting there.
I've sent out my resume to a bunch of companies, primarily international development consulting firms, but haven't heard back from anyone yet. I sure picked a fantastic time to graduate. There aren't many jobs available right now. Kevin said I can keep working at the Johnson Institute over the summer, so I will at least have something after graduation. I'm going to try to pick up another job around here as well until I find something permanent. Hopefully I'll have something at least by the time our lease runs out at the end of July. A good friend of mine here wants to start an organization to combat human trafficking in Latin America, and we've been talking a bit about that. I may become Chair of the Board of Directors and help him and his fiancee get that set up.
I had a lot of fun over spring break when Liz & Lisa came out to Pittsburgh. It was nice to do some of the touristy stuff that I've been wanting to do. We went to Phipps Conservatory and the Mattress Factory (a modern art museum). Both were lots of fun. I also went to the St. Patrick's Day Parade, which was kinda fun, but too long and cold so Ari and I left halfway through. Soccer season ended last week. We didn't win any games, but we had fun. Finally, last night was our GSPIA Gala. I had a really good time. (Mom, I ended up having a date after all. A friend of mine and I went with our friends Charlie & Becky.)

The pictures:
Liz, Lisa, and I at Phipps


Some random headless statues outside the mattress factory


exhibit at the mattress factory


at the mattress factory


another exhibit...everything slid back and forth between rooms. you could put the beds halfway back and they made chairs on one side and a bed on the other. we were just being goofy


out salsa dancing with my neighbor andrew (who doesn't salsa, but came with us just to hang out) and my friend shawn (who does salsa)


Ari, Cristian, and I at the St. Patrick's Day Parade


Everybody at our favorite bar down the street from Charlie & Becky's for St. Patty's Day


Soccer team picture...our team got smaller and smaller towards the end...this was before our last game


I'll post Gala pictures soon.

i have less than 2 months left...whoa

School updates:
School's going well. For once, I didn't have a ton of work due in the past week or so and had a chance to catch up on some other stuff that needed to be done, although that will change after break. I finally heard back from my professor from last semester, and he said he's going to start looking at and revising my paper (on globalization and happiness) for publication. I'm excited about that. I'm going to do a paper on a similar topic, but in a different area/different focus for another class this semester dealing with civil society presence in peace processes and how that relates to happiness.
Work is also going well. I'm submitting my final proposal for the leadership portfolio I've been working on developing this week for my boss to present at the faculty meeting next month, so that's pretty cool. We have a lot of events coming up in the next month or so too. A diversity in the workplace lecture and workshop, then our exemplary leader conference. Colleen Rowley, from the cover of Time Magazine a couple years ago is coming. She was recognized as being the FBI whistleblower after 9/11. She seems like a pretty awesome lady. It's against her personal code of ethics to accept awards or honorariums, so we decided to get rid of the whole award thing, and turn it into a lecture series.

Life & Everything Else:
I started applying for jobs and posting my resume places last week. I've posted my resume on USAJobs and Abt Associates, and applied for a research assistant position at the Brookings Institution within their Global Economy and Development program. I'm also going to apply to Chemonics Entry Level Professionals program. I'm sure there will be a lot of other places in the next couple weeks.
Fun stuff in the past couple weeks...we had a mardi gras party here, went out for my friend Becky's birthday, hung out with the neighbors a couple times. One of them was the music director for a high school music so his roommate and I went to see that this past weekend. It was some musical called Children of Eden, and it was pretty good.
Spring break is this coming week. I'm heading home Friday, then Liz and Lisa are coming back to Pittsburgh with me Tuesday! Can't wait =)

Becky & I out for her birthday

Mardi Gras Party
Me, Sandra & Ashley

Manuel & I

yay Mardi Gras!

Sandra decided to take pictures of us in the midst of negotiations during our Darfur simulation for our NGOs and Humanitarian Disasters course