Boston
Life After Graduation
Posted May 24, 2016 by Jill Silverberg
This past Friday something incredible happened: I graduated from Simmons with a Masters in Library and Information Science. Three years, seven semesters (including one summer session), and two internships later, I have emerged from the other side with my shiny degree in hand ready to take on the professional world. Huzzah! And yet, here I am, still blogging for SLIS. Just when I thought my time with SLIS had reached its end, I was asked if I wanted to continue blogging for the program over the course of the summer. Having done so for the past two summers, I was happy to take on the challenge. Submitting posts for the SLIS student experience blog has been apart of my Boston life since moving here in the Fall of 2013. It’s really fun to go back and read old posts and see how far I’ve come since then. But enough reminisces, let’s talk about what I have in store for this summer. This summer I have two major projects to tackle. The first will be completing…
Boston By Foot
Posted April 23, 2016 by Amy Wilson
One of my goals for 2016 was, as soon as the weather was nice enough, I would walk to work. From my house, it’s only 2.7 miles, which takes me about an hour. Normally, if I am taking public transit, I need to leave by 8:15 to ge to work for 9am; walking the same route only adds 15-20 minutes to my commute (which doesn’t say much for our transit system). One of the top women runners at the Marathon Attending the Boston Marathon on Monday inspired me to step it up (pun intended). After the marathon, I walked to Simmons to do some homework. Unfortunately, the computer lab was closed, so then I decided to walk home across the Charles (I live in somerville). My 3.5 miles was definitely no marathon, but I felt proud of myself because normally it wouldn’t even corss my mind to walk. View after crossing the Charles I think it’s easy to forget what a small city Boston is when you take public transit, because it can take so…
Sunshine and Seventy-Five
Posted April 21, 2016 by Tara Pealer
Today, as a friend put it, is the “First Nice Day In Boston”. Although my phone is trying to tell me it is partly cloudy, the skies are a clear blue, the 75 degree temperature is perfect, the grass is a lush green and the trees and flowers are in bloom. You can almost forgive mother nature for turning Boston in this two weeks ago: (Almost) At any rate, the weather has turned from winter to spring, and it is finally gorgeous enough out to just start walking everywhere again. This is wonderful, especially considering the fact that my commute home takes me through Fenway and Kenmore, and the Boston Red Sox opened last week for the season. As much as I’m a fan, I’m waiting excited for those nice, relaxing commutes in the summer when there are no games and there are a lot less undergraduates. (Do I sound like a grumpy old graduate student yet? I’ve been working on it.) While I don’t have plans for this weekend–yet!–I’m happy to force my friends…
Playing the Waiting Game
Posted April 1, 2016 by Katie Caskey
I have good news and bad news. The (very very) good news is that I am graduating in less than 7 weeks! Done! Finished with school! And while I have absolutely loved my time at Simmons, and in academia in general, I am very ready to begin the next (paper- and homework-free) season of life…which brings me to the bad news. As I am learning, this next season may be aptly titled “The Waiting Game.” I’ve been applying to internships and job positions since late January, and so far, no nibbles. The hardest part is that with the company I’m applying to, I can track my application progress on their website. So while I can see that my application is being considered, I have no way of knowing how long that might last or how serious that consideration is. So, I’m having to re-learn the art of patience that was drilled into me by my kindergarten teacher. This is enough to drive a planner like me crazy, by the way. So I’ve decided that I’m…
Celebrating St. Patty’s Day!
Posted March 18, 2016 by Katie Caskey
I am a sucker for any holiday that gives me an excuse to dress up! Halloween, Valentine’s Day, Fourth of July…all good outfit inspirations. And this week we have another! St. Patty’s Day is the perfect excuse to break out that green t-shirt or scarf, or you could go bold and try mixing some hues for a head-to-toe, Kermit the Frog-inspired look. But you don’t have to limit the green takeover to your own clothing. Our apartment will certainly be decked out in some four-leaf clovers, courtesy of my roommate’s kindergarten-teacher mom. And I plan on doing all my writing with a green pen that day as well. Moving beyond my own little world, I started thinking about how everyone else might be choosing to celebrate the beloved Irish saint this week. Thanks to the wealth of information that is Google, I was able to find some rather unique ways people out there are celebrating St. Patrick. Perhaps the most popular tradition originated in Chicago, where they die the river green every year for the…
Playing the Hostess
Posted March 4, 2016 by Katie Caskey
I am so excited because it is finally March! This means that spring has sprung (kind of), Spring Break is just around the river bend, and my mom is coming to visit from Minnesota!!!!!!! This will be the first time since moving me out here two years ago that my mom has been to Boston, and now that I’m settled I finally get to introduce her to my life on the East Coast. But how does one even begin to narrow down the huge list of possible activities, restaurants, and sites Boston has to offer when their guest is only going to be here for two full days?! Well, it’s taken quite a bit of list making and revising, but I think I’ve finally decided. So, without further ado, here are my Top 5 Things to See in Boston. 1) Faneuil Hall This old state building turned shopping center is a great hub of activity to check out. There are usually street performers in the courtyard outside, and the building has that charming and…
Not Much Happenin’ Here…Or Is There?
Posted January 29, 2016 by Katie Caskey
I’ve got to be honest…I am struggling with this blog post this week. I usually like to post about fun activities or cool experiences I’ve had in the past week. But this week has, thus far, been pretty event-less. I began the semester, and I started binge-watching episodes of Veronica Mars, which I would never have discovered if it hadn’t been for my professor including the first episode on our syllabus “reading” list. For that I am very grateful! But honestly, what do I write about in the doldrums of January? It’s not yet Valentine’s Day, I don’t have any papers to stress over, I still have a relatively firm handle on my homework load. I’m kind of coasting right now, and that doesn’t make for very interesting blogging. My apologies. ***A few hours and a few snacks later*** Alright, I’ve thought of something! Aren’t you relieved? Today’s post is for those of you who, like myself, feel like they are drifting through their first few weeks of the semester. Enough is enough! Time to…
Go See Some Art!
Posted November 6, 2015 by Katie Caskey
I know that, for a graduate student, the concept of “free time” is like some ungraspable mist, always hanging nearby making you aware of its existence, but rarely solidifying into something practical and tangible and enjoyable. Because its appearance is so rare, it is important to make the most of it when it arrives. And Boston is never lacking in cool events to check out in that precious free moment. For a theatre geek like myself, one of my favorite discoveries over my last year and a half in Boston has been the Student Rush program. This program has been such a gift for my grad-school-afflicted wallet. For just $25 and a peek at your student ID, you can receive amazing tickets to some of the biggest Broadway touring shows in town! All you have to do is show up an hour before the house opens and show your ID! Now I know this sounds too good to be true, and while it IS true, there are a few downsides… You can only get one…
Thank you, Boston! – Boston Calling September 2015
Posted September 28, 2015 by Alexandra Bernson
Between a full-time job, a part-time job, and graduate school, I don’t have much time for vacations. So this weekend at Boston Calling, a music festival at Government Center, I decided it was time for a little three-day holiday. Throwing my budget out the window (gulp!), I prepared to enjoy myself as much as could while surrounded by young amorous undergraduates in the first throes of their first semester romances. I’m not much of a music festival person. My brother loves them: Bonnaroo is his mecca and it seems like he’s always planning another trip and collecting more amazing experiences as he dances to any and all types of music and musicians. Despite his many efforts, I’ve never attended any of those massive, multi-day fests full of music, drinking, and other miscellaneous vices. I love music but I’m a fuddy duddy: I like to enjoy it at home or in small venues rather than while being jostled to and fro by sweaty, drunk, painted people. But I couldn’t resist Boston Calling: it was right in…
A Favorite Fall Outing
Posted September 25, 2015 by Katie Caskey
The sun is shining, the breeze is crisp, I’ve broken out the heavier scarves…it’s official! Fall. Is. HERE!!! And very few cities do fall better than Boston, with the glorious leaves, the bustling crowds, and, my personal favorite, the Copley Square Farmers Market. Held every Tuesday and Friday from 11:00am – 6:00pm in Copley Square, the market features well over 20 vendors selling everything from watercolors to watercress. Last week I ventured over to the market after my weekly trip to the library (which is conveniently right across the street), and as I wandered around I was struck by the rich variety of produce and farm goods the area has to offer. Some of my favorite tents included a lady selling artisanal cheeses made from her goats’ milk, a local greenhouse with some stunning bunches of sunflowers, and a bakery and bee farm selling homemade whoopee pies and locally-harvested honey. But my favorite find of last week was the biggest, sweetest honeydew melon I have ever seen! It was the size of my…