Academic Year Kick-Off!

Hi everyone!

With the initiations come off-course the Kick-Off parties for the incoming academic year. Sponsored by the Harris School of Public Policy, we had a Kick-Off party that closed the welcome week.

In a great bonding activity (which ended in a couple of afterparties after the actual party), we had the opportunity to join with friends and build closer relationships with faculty and alumni. Above you will see a strong evidence of that fact, sharing a picture with Deans!

Below you will find the Latin and Indian representation, counting with people from Venezuela, India, Argentina and Mexico! Hope you enjoy it!

Initiations at UoC!

Hi there!

Finally the time has come! This is our first week of real classes and the authorities at the University of Chicago have been splendid in making this a special moment. From a 10.000 graduate student base (out of 15.000 in total at the University of Chicago), we the incoming students have been initiated with the procession to Rockefeller Chapel.

From the heart of the campus, namely the Main Quad, we have started the procession following Scottish Bagpipes. Then we received the welcome speeches from the Dean of Students and several authorities that managed the daily life at the university.

After our initiation, we had a lunch sponsored by the University where we had time to meet all the organizations, groups and counseling entities that work at the campus. I found this particularly special in the way that helps you in the challenging process of becoming part of a different academic and social culture abroad.

Beach Voleyball at Montrose Beach

Hi there! After several bonding activities with sports enthusiasts, last weekend we spent some time at the Beach Voleyball Event, sponsored by the UChicago Chinese Student Association. Each team was up to 4-people and needed to count at least one female representative. I therefore organized a team with my classmates at the Harris School of Public Policy and went to play just for fun.

Actually, we ended winning a voleyball as the third place prize of the friendly competition! Indeed, better than this was the motivation to build a voleyball team at the Harris School and to commit to play at least once a week at the Ratner Gym. This not only as a bonding activity, but also as an external endeavor that will help us manage anxiety during stressful periods.

If you have the opportunity, try to couple your academic duties with some other activities (e.g. sports, community volunteering or student organizations) to accompany your lifetime as a student grad abroad. Try to get everything from this unique experience!

Scavenger Hunt

After our first week of Math Camp, the Harris School of Public Policy organized what is called the Scavenger Hunt! As an integration activity, we got a list of clues to find in the city of Chicago. Some of them were easy to find neraby the campus in Hyde Park, but for the most of them we had to travel all around the city using our CTA passes (public transportation unlimited passes for buses/rail system).

Along with getting to know the city and the "must" places to go during our stay in Chicago, we were split into 19 teams of 6-people each, in order to get to interact closely with our classmates and as a team-building strategy.

We spent from noon to 6pm travelling from point to point in the map and looking very carefully for each of the clues listed. Actually, it was a great strategy to learn how to travel around the city and to meet places that we had not otherwise known.

Intense visit from Venezuela

Hi everyone! The past weekend was crazy. We had 4 friends from Venezuela visiting for Labor Day weekend. As part of the Chicago Tour's adventure, we took the Wendella Boats Arquitecture Tour (totally recommended if you are visiting Chicago for just a couple of days), visiting the John Hancock Observatory for an incredible panoramic view of the city and finally have dinner at Giordano's, the most popular place to eat the Chicago-style pizza.

Here are some pics from our trip, that later included the 33rd issue of the Chicago Jazz Festival at Grant Park!

If you are coming for Chicago, it's a must to check this out http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en.html

Refreshing math

Hi there,

The Math Camp already started! This is a special pre-classes program that the Harris School of Public Policy at  offers to  all their incomming students. This actually helps to start turning on the engines before we start with the core courses, which have all of them an important component of math and statistics. This week we start with Algebra and the nex two weeks we will cover Calculus contents.

Of course the level of the classes depends on your professional background and the time that has passes since you review this contents on college (or even high school for some people). Also, it's a great opportunity to familiarize with some math concepts in English and to start the classes dynamics in English as well. Actually, for me as an international student, this has become key to understand how to succeed in my Master's degree abroad.

Above you will find a pic of our classroom today at Algebra class!