Summer's here

Wow, it's been more than a month since my last post. Chalk that up to a busy last month of school which had me working on an engineering biotech project, engineering biotech final, a lab report, an in-class biochemistry final, a take-home biochemistry final, and a final presentation for PBG. How did all of that go? I don't know, I haven't checked my grades (and don't plan to until mid June). I like to wait long enough until I don't care anymore what my grades were before I check them. It's a mind game I play on myself.

Overall, the semester was good. I enjoyed the classes - the teaching could have been better in several places, but the subject matter was really interesting. And I really lucked out with my PBG consulting project. Not everyone had a good experience with their project, but I was fortunate to have a good team, good project, and good client. I learned a lot about drug pricing and pharmaceutical marketing practices. Serving on the international council of GAPSA was also a good experience - we got to work on a lot of important issues for international students. International students, I learned, have faced a lot of difficulties due to the economic recession including greater difficulty in securing loans for their education. I also adjusted pretty well to Philly. It's a manageable city with down-to-earth people and getting around is really quick and easy.

I'm excited about spending my summer in Philly. This place is really alive in the spring and summer. I will be doing a 2-month project for the client I worked for in the spring that builds off our previous project. I'm also taking Immunology at Penn, which will count toward my course requirements. For fun, I'm taking Arabic I at Temple University. I've always liked the Arabic script and I thought I might learn some words that would help me with Hindi. Of course, there is always HealthCare Volunteer work to be done. We are currently preparing for a volunteering trip to Mexico next weekend. We're hoping for a safe and rewarding experience for everyone involved.