During my first few days at Penn State another student happened to say hello to me when I was looking a little frazzled. She was friendly and encouraging on a day that had been a little hectic. Her name was Hansa Sinha, one of the advanced IST students. As we talked I learned about her research interests which were similar to mine. We discussed our programs with high school and middle school students, shared some of the lessons learned and found we had a lot in common. She really helped turn a day around for me, helping to make the first few days seem a little less overwhelming. Its interesting how one person we casually meet in a hallway can help us feel more welcome.
When we were reminded this week that we should interview a student who was in at least their 3rd year of the program, I thought of Hansa. As I gathered information on her I realized we had a lot in common. She has been a resident of State College for as long as I have lived in San Antonio, has a family too, published papers and attended conferences. In her free time (yes, I did wonder if that would be a strange question to ask a graduate student) she enjoys painting. I thought this was interesting since I have always wanted to paint. I have brothers and a mother who can paint but sadly that was one gift that was not granted to me.
She would like to travel to Switzerland, so would I, as I child I didn't appreciate going there with my parents. Sometimes we seem to appreciate places more as we get older; it's strange how that works.
One item that Hansa did not mention but I will is the 2009 IST Graduate Symposium. She probably didn't want to say anything about it since she has been advertising it to all the classes for the last few weeks. However, I think it is important to note that she is the committee chair this year. Being the committee chair of a Symposium of this size is quite a major undertaking and can be very rewarding. All the members of the committee are working well together and this speaks well on Hansa's leadership skills. So far from what I can see she is doing a great job and it should be a great event all should plan on attending.
When we were reminded this week that we should interview a student who was in at least their 3rd year of the program, I thought of Hansa. As I gathered information on her I realized we had a lot in common. She has been a resident of State College for as long as I have lived in San Antonio, has a family too, published papers and attended conferences. In her free time (yes, I did wonder if that would be a strange question to ask a graduate student) she enjoys painting. I thought this was interesting since I have always wanted to paint. I have brothers and a mother who can paint but sadly that was one gift that was not granted to me.
She would like to travel to Switzerland, so would I, as I child I didn't appreciate going there with my parents. Sometimes we seem to appreciate places more as we get older; it's strange how that works.
One item that Hansa did not mention but I will is the 2009 IST Graduate Symposium. She probably didn't want to say anything about it since she has been advertising it to all the classes for the last few weeks. However, I think it is important to note that she is the committee chair this year. Being the committee chair of a Symposium of this size is quite a major undertaking and can be very rewarding. All the members of the committee are working well together and this speaks well on Hansa's leadership skills. So far from what I can see she is doing a great job and it should be a great event all should plan on attending.
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