Here 'n There

Greetings! I've done quite a bit of traveling the past few weeks which has been great, since traveling and I are best buds. Trip number one was up to New York. My friend Lydia's family lives there, about one hour from Buffalo. During a very stressful time in the semester, it was wonderful to get out of Columbia and experience a few days of the "northern" crisp fall air and changing leaves. We were able to drive through some "Amish country" and visit a few country stores run by Amish families. My bargain-hunting self loved those stores! I must admit that the highlight of the trip was being able to go to Niagara Falls-- talk about breathtaking beauty!!! We were able to see the falls from both the American side and the Canadian side. I'm so happy to be able to check that off of my bucket list! :) Here are a few photo highlights from the trip:

Fall break at USC was last weekend. During that break, I took trip number two and attended/presented at my first professional conference. The conference was held at the Citadel, a military college in Charleston. The campus was beautiful and the students, always in full uniform, were extremely chivalrous. I never had to worry about opening a door for myself whenever I entered or left a building!

 There was a good group of us from USC represented at the conference. The photo above includes some housing co-workers and I next to the Citadel ring on campus.

 My good friend Ryan and I co-presented at the conference. Our session focused on communicating effectively with international students. It was a great first presenting experience!

Before leaving the Citadel campus, we discovered that their football stadium was open, so we took a peek inside! And then of course we had to have a mini photoshoot :) This is Megan, my lovely friend and conference roomie!

I was able to stay an extra day in Charleston and explore the area with a few wonderful friends. This photo was taken on the College of Charleston campus with my spuddy Dillon.

 Beautiful campus at the College of Charleston

 Exploring the Charleston Waterfront Park

 HESA Friends at the coast

From here on out, my schedule will be work and school until I'm able to fly home for Christmas break in December. It's hard to believe that I'm over halfway done with my first semester of graduate school. Only three more left and I'll be on the job hunt! My time so far at USC has been packed full of learning, fabulous people and lots of memories. If the next year and a half is anything like these past 4 months have been, I'm in for a terrific grad school experience. :-)