Putting the "social" in social work

Before starting the program, I was warned about trying to maintain a social life. Actually, I was told it was not going to be possible my first year. However, I have been able to meet a lot of great people and go out and explore. Two weeks ago, Joe came to visit and we explored Philadelphia. We went to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ. It provided a great view of the Philly skyline:

The aquarium was AMAZING!

I got to pet a shark! As much as I love touching the bat rays at the Monterey Aquarium, touching a shark wins! Some were rough, but a few (like the one pictured) were soft. It was so much fun. I could have stayed there all day. 

This exhibit was meant for kids, but I couldn't resist looking at fish from inside the aquarium. 

Loved the hippos! We showed up at the perfect time and got to watch them be fed. They eat full heads of lettuce. 

An awesome shark tunnel. Needless to say, I loved the aquarium. So many sharks, so little time.









After the aquarium, we went to a food truck festival in Manayunk, a town in northern philly. The town as a giant main street and there were about 50 different food trucks parked along the entire street. It was so much fun to explore and eat delicious food truck food. I also discovered fried cheese curds, which are sooooooo delicious.

My cohort has been organizing many different social gatherings. The first one was held at a bar in Media. I took Joe and we mingled with people in the human sexuality program. Last weekend was my friend Cassie's birthday. We went out to a bar in Philly called Barcade. It is a big bar that has 20+ arcade games. Apparently, there are 2 other Barcade locations so they rotate which games are at each location.

Here we are outside on the patio (it was to loud inside to have a conversation).






This past weekend I went out with bigger group from my human sexuality program. We met at a german bar in philly and had food and some drinks. Afterwards we went dancing at a nearby gay bar. On the dance floor, one wall had a projector set up - instead of showing music videos (which is normally what gets projected to correspond with the song being played), they were projecting clips from different movies. Mainly clips from The Labrynth, Golden Compass, and Mortal Combat. It was hilarious.
Yesterday I hung out with my friend Mary Faith, who is in the social work program with me. She is becoming a close friend and I really enjoy spending time with her.
I'm really happy I have time to hang out with people and get to know everyone in my program.