A recap of the first week

One hundred posts strong! That is something worth celebrating. But as many would remind me, I really don't need much of an excuse to launch into celebratory mode :-)

Things have been so busy that I neglected to capture much of the excitement and change of the first week back, so I'd like to briefly comment on those happenings. Indeed, much has changed in Hamburg Hall since last year - much of it driven by student dissatisfaction with the highly segregated, antisocial nature of the place - and I am remarkably pleased to see the administration taking demonstrable, concrete steps towards crafting a better, more sustainable academic and social environment here. What is so remarkable is how minor most of the changes are - i.e., mixing up student lounge space so as to make it much more likely that PPM and ISM students will bounce into each other - and yet, despite the simplicity involved, the entire atmosphere here already feels quite different (to me, at least, but I do tend to pay much attention to these things.) By April of this year, the mere mention of the words "Hamburg Hall" invoked a dread unbeknown to me since my high school years; now, in an amazingly different state of affairs, I really feel few to no such feelings (not that the place is exactly evoking memories of paradise...but we're getting there.)

I wrote extensively last year about coming to a more mature conceptualization of "change" - about witnessing first hand negative and even pernicious aspects of change as opposed to the positive - and now, in an affirmation of my earlier optimism, I am being exposed yet again to the very positive side of change. Hamburg is undeniably different this year, and I feel that the leadership here - Krishnan and others - deserves much praise for the efforts that they have already undertaken. Clearly, they took our thoughts and comments seriously. Last Friday, for example, was dedicated to a "Re-Orientation" event which brought together students from all programs and all years for team-building, networking, food, and drinks; even with the steady rainfall, it was an absolute blast. Not related to the integration efforts but certainly as a personal plus, I find all of my classes this semester to be at least interesting, if not downright amazing (such as Management Consulting, perhaps the most career-applicable course that I've had across my entire academic career.) I am optimistic again, highly optimistic in fact, and the phrases "Shittsburgh" and "Hamburg Hell" have scarcely crossed my head since returning here. And I do believe that it will last this time around, longer than a very brief honeymoon period.

My living arrangements this year, in terms of quality of housing, have also improved dramatically. Lawrenceville is an interesting neighborhood, as I suggested earlier truly a case study in gentrification - a place where 4 rowhouses might be home to 2 native Pittsburgh families in their 50's; a gay single or couple similar to me; and a yuppie transplant from across the country, or indeed the world. It is not as fun nor as animated as Oakland, but it is certainly more lively and youth-friendly than the vast majority of the rest of Pittsburgh. My housemate is enjoyable and has done an amazing job in renovating a structure that must be at least 100 years old. Parking, however, remains an issue; for the first time in my college career, I am not either living on campus or within comfortable walking distance to campus (I am within absolute walking distance to campus - 45 minutes - but that is hardly a trek I would want to make wearing flip flops now while the weather is pleasant, or certainly not through the snow and 30-degree weather in a few months. Still trying to find a (real, not off the street or parallel) parking place in Oakland with no success thus far; parking as a guest on campus in Carnegie Mellon's East Campus garage is not financially sustainable in the long-run, with rates between $7 and $10 per day depending on how long I'm there...and I think it's too late, alas, to get a spot on campus.)

And as a final note on this semester's academics, my synthesis project seems interesting and was right at the top of my choice list (i.e., no goddamned coding!), and should push me in many positive ways. Indeed, I am highly excited about it. It is a Deloitte project...so I won't be mentioning, in great detail at least, that I work for KPMG. Essentially, it involves research on social networks and other social media, and the development of a toolkit that will facilitate the use of these media throughout the various Deloitte practices. Though I must say that the faculty advisor, through his emails, seems a little...well, let's just say, not similar to me in communication style, perhaps even a bit of a micromanager. Let's hope that my impressions there are wrong.

Also, I'm planning a road-trip to Vermont for the fall foliage (yay for Hilton HHonors and being a frequent-flying consultant!) There is a very clear message there. If you are starting to sense that politics influences even my travel decisions, you would be precisely correct. Why in the hell should I give my hard-earned money to people who don't believe that I deserve equal civil rights as an American? The more gay people who financially reject communities and states that are awash in homophobia, the more likely we are to bring about real change. States like Vermont that are far ahead of the nation - on the marriage issue and many others - will always receive the brunt of my tourism dollars. There may be a great humanitarian basis for pulling a backwoods, Bible-thumping hellhole such as Alabama out of its perpetual state of immense poverty, but that is not an endeavor in which I will be providing assistance through tourism dollars (this was, interestingly, one of the key philosophical differences between my mom and I; more on that note in a later post.)

Here's to a productive and fun semester! And unlike last time around, I feel like that is much more than a pipe dream in this final iteration of my academic life.