Journal Entry 20: Presentations and My Final Post

This is my last journal entry for my international internship experience at Anglia Ruskin University.  Though I officially leave for home on Sunday, there was something fitting about ending this blog experience on the high note that today provided (Also, there is something about having exactly 20 entries that appeals to me). 

Today I had the opportunity to present my internship project for the first time in a public forum.  My fellow interns and I had a great turnout for our feedback session and the audience was very actively engaged.  It felt so rewarding to finally unveil something that I have been working on for the last three weeks.  The campus community really seemed to embrace the ideas for consideration that I developed from my research and I think there is a good chance these ideas could be implemented in the near future.  The presentation today was the culmination of a lot of hard work and I was happy to see that the staff at Anglia Ruskin were pleased with my work.

After my presentation, I had the opportunity to meet one-on-one with my internship supervisor Dr. Kundu.  He was extremely impressed with my presentation and my work.  He also gave me some good bits of advice to consider for the future with this presentation.  Additionally, he initiated a conversation on the fact that I should pursue publishing this work.  He gave me some great recommendations to do this, (as he has a publication list a mile long).  I hope that I will be able to pursue this in the very near future.  Additionally, he stated that I should continue to expand the scope of this project, so that I am not just looking at U.S. Student Conduct and England Student Discipline.  He felt that I could really start researching other countries' practices and develop even more comparative reports.  He mentioned that Japan, Mexico and continental Europe would be fantastic options. I think this would be a fascinating endeavor and I would love to pursue it.

Currently I am wrapping up a few things in my office and will be heading to meet my colleagues to celebrate the culmination of our projects.  This has truly been such a rewarding experience for me and today after looking through all my journal entries, I feel like I have grown significantly from this experience.  I remember the person that came here that was cautiously optimistic about his first plane ride ever.  Now, I feel so much more globally competent both personally and professionally.  The emersion process has been incredible.  I am so happy that I took advantage of this opportunity. 

Thank you so much to the following people as they were instrumental in getting to this place both intellectually and emotionally:  Susan, Dr. DuVivier, Mom, Dr. Kundu, Julie, Gary, Katie, Nick, Joey, all of my interviewees, Lorraine, Caroline, my loyal blog readers (the response has been fantastic!), my fellow interns (we may have looked like a rag tag bunch at first, but I think we pulled it off), my cohort, and anyone else that has helped me along the way.

Thanks everyone and much love.

ML

Song of the Day: The Smiths - "Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before"

Journal Entry 19: Bangers and Mash and Evensong

Today was my last full day in my internship experience at Anglia Ruskin University.  First, I had my last one-on-one with Julie Walkling, the Director of Student Services.  She has been so helpful to me, giving me advice and serving as a mentor as I work towards my long term goals.  I am so happy Dr. DuVivier arranged for our one-on-one meetings.  I am glad to have Julie as a mentor for me in the future.

Also, I met with my internship supervisor Dr. Kundu to go over some paperwork and talk about the progress on my project.  I shared my findings with him and he was extremely happy with the work I had done.  This was nice to see as this project has been a lot of work, but I feel that I have learned so much more about student conduct in the United States, just by comparing it to a different system.  I am excited to present my project tomorrow.

Also, I had the opportunity to attend Evensong at King's College Chapel with Dr. DuVivier and Trevor this evening.  The music was truly beautiful and I came away extremely impressed.  The architecture inside the chapel was magnificent and while I wish I could share some pictures, there was no photography allowed inside the chapel, so I am sorry to disappoint about the lack of photos of the inside of the chapel.  I have been in some pretty impressive churches in my time, but this was truly breathtaking.  I have attached a picture of the front of King's College below. 

On the way home Trevor and I stopped at the Prince Regent Pub where I was able to get my truly English bangers and mash.  Getting authentic bangers and mash was on my to do list for this trip, so I was glad to finally check it off.  Tomorrow is my presentation and I am looking forward to sharing my findings with Anglia Ruskin University.  It will be the culmination of a lot of hard work and a great learning experience. 

Cheers!

Song of the Day:  Keane - "Everybody's Changing"

Journal Entry 18: My Final Bow Tie Tuesday at Anglia Ruskin University

Today was the last opportunity that I had to celebrate the glory of Bow Tie Tuesday at Anglia Ruskin University.  Additionally, tomorrow will be my last full day in my internship experience.  I will say that I have had an amazing experience working with everyone at ARU and that they have been extremely welcoming of me and have been very open to assisting me with my research.

Today I concluded my research and the written report portion of my project (came in at a solid 45 pages!).  I am now trying to work on finishing up the presentation portion and executive summary of my project and then I will give my presentation on Thursday for representatives from ARU.  After my presentation on Thursday, my internship work is done and I will have half of Thursday, all of Friday and Saturday to enjoy Cambridge before heading home on Sunday.  The group has been discussing going punting, so that might be in the cards. 

However, while thoughts of the weekend and heading home are nice, I still need to get through the next day and a half.  They should both prove to be pretty busy as I have meetings with a number of people.  I will say this though, I am looking forward to those meetings.  I am also looking forward to getting feedback from the stakeholders at Anglia Ruskin University regarding my project.  We will see how stakeholders feel about my findings on Thursday!

Song of the Day:  Coldplay - "The Hardest Part"


 

Journal Entry 17: Continued Exploration and The Batman Theme Song

Yesterday we had the opportunity to continue our exploration of Cambridge.  We walked about over near King's Parade and I will say, it does not matter how many times you walk on a certain street here, there is still always something you have not seen.  Our journey took us to several bookstores in the area where I was able to peruse through a myriad of familiar titles and some new ones that caught my eye. 

While walking down the street we happened to hear the familiar drumbeat of "Wipe Out" by The Safaris.  Once we reached the source of the music, that song ended and as if on cue for my arrival, the band began playing the theme song to the 1960's Batman television show that starred Adam West.  It was a small moment, but I thought it was a memorable one for my experience here.

We arrived at our ultimate destination of Castle Hill sometime later and we were treated to another breathtaking view of Cambridge.  After snapping some photographs we headed back toward home.  On our way Ryan and I stopped by an independent music store.  While in the store, I was looking through their book selection while listening to a diverse mix of music offerings.  First, there was a Japanese techno song that played followed by a French pop song.  As a musician, I always enjoy hearing different forms of music and I enjoyed hearing the songs this music store played.

Finally, after arriving back at the flat, I had the opportunity to Skype with my mother for Mother's Day.  It was very nice to speak with her and see how she is doing, especially since she has supported me so much in my journey through graduate school.  Also, these conversations are very interesting from a cultural perspective because she is always eager to hear about the little differences between English and U.S. culture.  So every opportunity I have had to speak with her has almost been a review of the day's cultural lessons. 

Song of the Day:  The Batman Theme Song

Journal Entry 16: London Take-Two

Yesterday I had the opportunity to return to London for a day full of sightseeing and adventure.  First I am sad to report that we were rained/cold/winded out of the Jack the Ripper Tour in the evening.  However, despite the weather's attempts, Melissa and I did have a pretty great day out and about in London.  There were a number of sights we were able to see that we did not on the first trip we took and despite losing out on 10 pounds from bailing on our tour, I was very happy with the day.

First we arrived at King's Cross and took the tube to the South Kensington Area of London and went to Harrods.  While it was not my particular cup of tea (I legit saw a bathrobe that was 170 pounds!) and I stuck out like a sore thumb in the stores with my Batman t-shirt and jeans on, it was still an interesting experience.  While there Melissa got some macarons that I will admit were pretty delicious, especially since I am not big on sweets. 

We stopped for lunch at Café Rouge and had a very nice meal before taking the tube and heading for Cleopatra's Needle.  This was one sight in London that I did not get to see on my first trip to the city so I was very excited to see it this time.  There are three obelisks that have this name, they are located in:  New York City, Paris, and London.  The London one and the New York one are a set and were originally erected around 1450 BC.  Seeing something that old that has held up so well was remarkable.  Also, I was very surprised with how large it was.  I am planning on seeing the other two at some point as well.

Unfortunately we chose a weekend where there was a significant amount of tube maintenance so many of the stations were shut down.  Luckily we purchased train, tube, and bus access on our tickets because we were able to next hop on a double decker bus to the Tower of London.  Melissa had not been able to see the Tower of London when she first went to London and I certainly did not mind seeing it again.  While at the Tower of London, we snapped some pictures of the Tower Bridge which is located next to it.  It was an awesome experience because right at the moment we were there, there was a double rainbow right behind the Tower Bridge, so I managed to snap a couple of photos of the beautiful occurrence. 

By this point, the weather had been on and off all day and it was looking to take a turn for the worse.  My shirt was mostly soaked from my Poundland umbrella breaking multiple times in the wind.  Though I will admit, it was pretty poorly constructed to begin with.  So Melissa and I decided to not take the Jack the Ripper Tour because the winds were picking up even worse and neither one of us had proper jackets on.  However, we did head over to the Whitechapel neighborhood where the incidents occurred to take a quick peek before getting on the tube and heading back to Kings Cross. 

As I mentioned, overall it was a great day and one that was full of learning for me.  First, I will admit, I have never taken the tube (or subway as we call it) so that was very cool for me.  Also having walked almost 10 miles the first time really helped me with my ability to navigate the city.  It is so fascinating being surrounded by landmarks that are so well known, that when you walk up to them it almost doesn't even seem real.  This is aided by the fact that some of them are so large they don't look real.  However, they are and it is important to take in the moment and pause on what got you to that place.  I will say I am so glad I have taken this opportunity to experience this wonderful country.  I look forward to starting my last week here and then heading home to my family!

Song of the Day:  The Smiths - "Panic"

Journal Entry 15: Seeing Another Side of Cambridge

I had a great day yesterday in my internship experience at Anglia Ruskin University.  After a great interview while at work, Ryan and I went to Jamie Oliver's restaurant in Cambridge.  While there I had some of fantastic food and was able to finally try black truffles!  After eating Ryan and I explored the area around the University of Cambridge and took in the sights by the river. 

Today I was able to explore a side of Cambridge that I had not seen yet.  While I know we cannot necessarily see "everything" there is to see in the short amount of time that we are here, I was surprised at some things I had missed that were right in front of me.  It was great to get out and explore this area and learn more about Cambridge.

Today I am off to London to explore there a bit more and to go on my Jack the Ripper Tour!  I am so excited to be in London once again.  Also, I am excited about what my internship experience will bring next!

Song of the Day:  Imagine Dragons - "It's Time"

Journal Entry 14: Decisions for the Weekend and An Interview Gone Well

Today I had a great experience interviewing a representative from the Student's Union Advice Service at Anglia Ruskin University!  I was able to get all of my questions answered about the services they offer and how those impact the student discipline processes.  I think the interview was full of great information that I can use in my project.  As far as the project is concerned, I am almost done with the portion on the U.S. student conduct system.  I was also very excited because I got a response from the request I sent out for interviews to Wright State.  Additionally, I found another stakeholder at Anglia Ruskin that I want to interview for my project and scheduled a meeting with her next week.  She is a representative of Counseling and Wellbeing Services at Anglia Ruskin.  I am looking forward to getting her perspective.  Especially after all I have heard related to practitioners wanting to better support students with mental health concerns. 

Also, I am proud to report that I have FINALLY decided what to do this weekend!  I think I will spend Friday in Cambridge going out and about in the city after work.  Then on Saturday, Melissa and I will be going to London again in the daytime and then doing a Jack the Ripper tour in the early evening!  I am very excited for Saturday as I will get to see more of London that I previously had not seen and I will get to learn more about an interesting (and dark) period in London's history (spoiler alert, I am a history nerd).  Also, this weekend I will be taking the tube in London, no ten mile walk for me this time!  Pictures to come!

I am learning so much about the Anglia Ruskin University and student discipline in England.  However, I will say I have been a bit bad this week as I have not ventured out into the city that much this week.  I have been pretty tired from writing all day, that by the time I get back to my flat I just want to relax.  I will change that this weekend and get out there and experience what England has to offer again!

Also, I am looking forward to taking the train again.  I wish that we had a better system of trains in the United States.  It really is a cost-effective and fast way to travel.  I detest having to drive everywhere.  I do realize though that there is a stark cultural difference that likely would prevent this from happening.  That is, many Americans already do not use our existing forms of public transportation such as buses.  Additionally, most Americans would probably feel self conscious about getting onto a train with a bunch of strangers.  I personally infinitely prefer it as a means of traveling long distances to driving.  Again, I do wish it was something we would consider in the states. 

Tomorrow is another day and I am looking forward to taking in more of England this weekend and taking a break from my project for a while so I can see the sights!

Song of the Day:  Coldplay - "Don't Panic"