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HANGRY

Tonight, I am writing to you from a hangry state-of-mind. As you might be able to imagine, the food in Chicago is a bit more expensive than food in State College. Coupled with the fact that I don’t have any kitchen supplies to cook anything in my apartment, I have...

Are personality tests bullshit?

After my first year in PLA, the most crystallized takeaway that I got was the power of introspection. In each speaker’s presentation on the NYC and Seattle trips, there was some kernel of “know yourself and what you value.” Knowing yourself is a lot easier said than...

Wow I have a lot to learn

Three months after the PLA spring trip, I am back in the Windy City for the summer! I am interning at Grenzebach Glier & Associates (GG+A), a philanthropy management consulting firm based in Chicago. Essentially, GG+A is a for-profit consulting firm that...

Refreshed, Thankful, Motivated

In the week leading up to Spring Break, I remarked to my parents that “I’m looking forward to break, but I don’t really feel like I need a break yet.” I was staying afloat with my coursework, and I was getting used to the cold weather. I felt that a break from school...

Olympics

If you have read the blogs from Candice or Sumit from this week, you’ll know how much I love the Olympics. Like I ****ing love the Olympics. I love the ideal of the world coming together to celebrate athleticism and sportsmanship. I love the patriotic pride that...

Storytime with Ryan

Without a doubt, the most engaging part of the PLA Newsletter each week is the new column “Storytime with Sam.” Each Thursday afternoon I look forward to learning a little more about the life of Samuel Guthrie and the wisdom he imparts on us. Because of this, I...

A Semester in Review

Each semester, I keep a series of spiral bound legal pads that I use for general notes, a lot of list-making, occasional notes, and every-now-and-again freewriting on my life. I flipped back through the notebook and found a page titled “BIG QUESTIONS,” with a series...

Are these the Glory Days?

After a tiring week of rehearsal where I was cranky from the cold weather and antsy to get back to the mountains of homework that I’ve been putting off, this homecoming weekend reaffirmed my love for being in the Blue Band. As I am writing this, I just returned from...

DC Trip

Blogging about the DC trip is pretty basic – I know, but here we go! While I did not experience the entirety of the PLA trip to Washington DC, I am still left with an experience that is going to resonate with me for years to come. The experience that I am...

The Phoniness of College Admissions

To put it bluntly, the college admissions process sucks. To channel my inner Holden Caulfield, it’s all phony. This weekend, I read this awesome essay published in New Republic titled “Don’t Send Your Kid to the Ivy League” written by a former Yale professor William...