A great semester!

Well, folks, this is my last post of the school year! I've had a great time getting to know all of you! Thanks to many of you for coming out and letting me show you around campus.

This summer, I will be taking summer classes at Penn during the first summer session. I know it's going to be stressful, but I'm really looking forward to it. One of the classes that I'm taking is in the sociology department. All of the classes that I've taken so far have been in GSE, so it will be good to try something different!

During the second have of the summer, I will be visiting my family in Jordan. I haven't been home since December, so it will be good to see my old friends, catch up with my brothers, and eat good Arabic food!

Thanks again to all of you, and I hope to see many of you at GSE in the fall!

Best wishes,
Maher

Take me out to the ball game!

Ok, this may sound strange to some people, but I'm not into sports. I don't know the Cardinals from the Lakers. When people talk football, I nod my head and pretend like I know what they're talking about. I guess the jig is up now. Everyone, I know nothing about sports...

So, seeing as I like to try new things, I decided to go to a Philadelphia Phillies game this past Friday. For those of you who know as much about sports as I do, the Phillies are a baseball team. Yes, all of you that know sports can roll your eyes now. You have my permission (not that you asked!).

Anyway, GAPSA (the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly) was selling tickets to the game for 25 bucks. Basically, for that price you got to enjoy all you can eat hamburgers, soda, beer, and ice cream at the rooftop of Citizen's Bank Park. I brought my friend, Leslie, who probably knows less about baseball than I do. In fact, when someone hit a homerun, she yelled, "TOUCHDOWN!" Because this outburst was accompanied by an amusing dance, I didn't tell her she was confusing her sports. I was having too much fun watching her "shaking it like a polaroid picture," as she put it.

In the end, I had a great time! I can't say I knew what was going on, but it was fun to cheer, laugh, and experience something new!

Finally Done! Well, sort of…

Before you graduate in Education Leadership at GSE, you have to write a Master’s thesis on a topic of interest to you. My paper is basically a literature review on the topic of teacher recruitment and retention. I worked really hard and long on this paper, so I’m happy to say that I submitted it to my advisor, Dr. Lytle, on Tuesday. It’s a weight off my shoulders to finally have finished it, but I still have to meet with Dr. Lytle to talk about it next week. Although having to make changes is not something I’m looking forward to, getting Dr. Lytle’s comments and suggestions will ultimately make my paper better, which is something that I am looking forward to. I consider myself lucky to have someone so well-respected and knowledgeable give me his feedback. That’s something I really like about GSE. Most students work closely with their advisors and other faculty. For me, this part of my education is priceless.

FYI, GSE is hosting an open house for accepted Master’s students this Monday (April 7). I look forward to meeting those of you that attend. Please contact me if you have any questions about this event or general questions about GSE.

Guess who is coming to Penn!

My regular blog-readers will remember that I was super-excited because Bill Clinton was coming to Penn! Unfortunately, I didn't get tickets... To make a long story short, you had to be at the ticket window early in the morning, and my alarm failed to go off. I'm suing my cell phone company for having a defective alarm clock! Needless to say, I was extremely disappointed, and I was even more disappointed when I talked to people that were able to get tickets and go. Apparently, the man can still put on a great show!

So... Here I am the other day, sulking over having to miss Bill speak, when I get the greatest news EVER! Stephen Colbert (of the Colbert Report) is coming to Penn soon! Now, I found out too late to get tickets, but a friend of mine has the hook up at the Annenberg Center, and we might be able to work at the show (and get to see the performance)! I'm not getting too excited yet, seeing as I was horribly disappointed about missing Bill, but... I'm holding out hope!

Also, rumor is that Barak will be coming to speak sometime soon also! Pennsylania has its primary elections in mid-April, so he and Hillary will both probably be coming soon! I can't wait! Even though I'm not a Hillary supporter, it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see her speak.

Spring Break in Philadelphia

Well its been a great relaxing week. Spring break for most people at GSE is just ending, while Teacher Ed students are just starting theirs. I decided to stay away from sunny Florida and avoid the gorgoous beaches of Cancun, after all who needs all that when you have Philadelphia! ok , ok, I like my job but honesty is a better policy. I had some major papers due this week, in addition to my masters thesis, so a few buddies of mine decided to come over to Pennsylvania instead. It was a great way to explore the city with old friends and get some work done at the same time. Multi-tasking, Penn tends to do that to a person. Also, if any of you are familiar with the show Mad Money, I actually managed to make it as part of the audiance for the third anniversary show. Now that was pretty enjoyable. I am planning not to let this get to my head, but persuing a career in showbiz is still on the table!

I feel like I've been away from school for way too long! but then again, this break was much needed for most of us. We have some really exciting events coming up this month, and we are really looking forward to seeing all of you. I have set up some AIM chat sessions with prospective studetns and I am always enjoy talking to anyone whose interested in GSE, so drop me a line and I will surely arrange for something. All the best to all! This me signing off...Good luck!

I couldn’t be more excited! On Friday, I read in Penn’s student newspaper, The Daily Pennsylvanian, that Bill Clinton is coming to speak at Irvine Auditorium, which is on Penn’s campus. Tickets are FREE with a student ID, and are available for pickup tomorrow morning at 10:00 am. I will probably try to get there early to ensure I get a ticket! Tickets to these types of events tend to run out fast!

Even though I am a huge Bill Clinton fan, and I’m looking forward to hearing him talk, I don’t think he’s going to convince me to vote for Hillary Clinton in the Pennsylvania primary! I have been watching the democratic debates religiously on CNN, and so far, it looks like I will be voting for Obama. His speeches and rallies are so inspiring, and let’s face it, there isn’t much of a difference between him and Hilary when it comes to policy issues. I have to agree with one of the reporters I heard yesterday on the news – at this point in the game, issues of personality really start to matter!

The only thing I have left to do is register to vote, which I plan to do in the next few days. When I lived in Boston, my vote in the general election didn’t matter much, since obviously, Massachusetts is a HUGELY democratic state. Now, living in Pennsylvania, my vote actually matters! I’m really looking forward to getting into the election this year. GO OBAMA!

Movies in Philadelphia
Recently, I’ve really been getting into independent movies. I mean, I love a good Hollywood blockbuster every now and then, but sometimes I want to see something a little different and unpredictable. Luckily, Philadelphia is home to a great “indie” type movie theatre called The Ritz. You should check out their website!
http://www.ritztheaters.com/
They have 3 different locations, so they always have a variety of movies to choose from! For instance, they are currently showing 12 different movies! A couple of weeks ago I saw “The Orphanage,” a Spanish horror movie about a woman who returns to her childhood home, which is an orphanage for handicap children. Her young son starts talking to ghosts, and well, risking sounding like a huge wimp, it scared the hell out of me!
I’m really looking forward to seeing a movie currently showing called Caramel. It’s a film about a group of Lebanese women living in Beirut. I have spent a lot of time in Beirut, and Arabic-language movies on the big screen are fairly hard to come by in the U.S., so I’m really excited! It will also be fun to watch this movie with my American friends, and in turn, expose them to a little bit of Middle Eastern culture!