The end of Spring Semester (back in May, remember??) was so fun! My Pilates class ended on a great note and the students had some great feedback for me, which I always appreciate. I really enjoyed reading their final reflection papers and seeing how Pilates fit into their life and goals. I had the opportunity to write an evaluation plan for a farm to desk elementary school program and it really piqued my interest in this side of public health. I mean, after all the research I've done, I realized while taking this class that EVERYTHING is research and research = evaluation. I now look at everything with an evaluation cap on, which I think is a good thing! :) We had a few celebrations to finish the year. Alex, our amazing program director, hosted a graduation party for the grad students. It was very relaxing and we all had a ball at her beautiful house! She wouldn't even let us bring anything!! We also had a night out on the town, and the PE teacher I worked with for my research project came, too! As I rarely go out to the bars, it was fun to get together and celebrate with everyone. I really miss all my classmates...a bunch of us did get together this past Tuesday for dinner/drinks to celebrate Kyle's thesis defense, and it was soo great to see everyone and catch up!! I also got to go to a Fit To Win BBQ and enjoy my Pentagon co-workers outside of the clinic. Though there were some public transportation hiccups and it took me almost 3 hours to get to Silver Spring, I had a really great time and Kim and I are already planning a happy hour so I can stay in touch with them all. I miss them every day when I go down to the Metro at the Pentagon instead of going through the security line. :(
Graduation weekend was SO fun! Mom, John, Jesse, and I got to go on a tour of the White House (no Obama sightings, though). It wasn't as extensive as when I went as a child since they turned the tours over to the White House from the National Park Service. Some of the SS agents stationed in the rooms were really nice and had good stories, while others (one in particular) were not into it and may have been playing golf on their (his) cell phones...oh well. We still enjoyed it and felt totally cool.
Our School of Public Health and Health Services graduation ceremony was held on campus on Saturday. That's where we walked across the stage and got to shake hands with the dean and our department chair. In true Alison style, I hammed it up and blew kisses to the crowd and the faculty on stage, so my dept chair was doubled over laughing when I got to her and she bear hugged me. :) Gotta love it. Our university graduation was held on Sunday on the National Mall. The forecast was for thunder storms, but the sun shone brightly and we had great weather! It was such a special ceremony and I felt so lucky to have been able to attend such a distinguished school and graduate in such a historic location!
My grad school besties: Kyle, Erin, me, Meagan, & Alfonso
It was such a whirlwind end of term/graduation that I was exhausted afterwards, but could I rest? NO! I had a conference to attend in Boston! More on that in another post...
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