Thanksgiving is perhaps my favorite holiday of the year. Although it is an uniquely North American holiday (I say North American to acknowledge the Canadian observance), it truly transcends religion, language and national origin. Everyone has something they can be thankful for—especially MPAs. Whether it’s the high reputation of the program; the quality education we receive from accomplished faculty; or our excellent career services team, MPA students have an abundance of resources at their fingertips. So when it came time to plan my Thanksgiving holiday, I decided to celebrate it in Austin with my new MPA family.
Because the Texas MPA program has a huge contingent of out-of-state students, there was a considerable number of MPA students staying in Austin for Thanksgiving. Of the traditional MPAs for the class of 2010, 60 percent were non-Texas residents. And of the attendees at the Thanksgiving MPA get-together, I was the only one from Texas.
At the beginning of the month, I consulted with one of my friends about planning a Thanksgiving get-together. We decided to do it potluck style, which means that each person attending the meal brings a dish. I decided to make this Jell-o and fruit cocktail mix that my grandmother usually makes. It turned out pretty well. In case you were wondering, the secret is not use water to make the Jell-o. Use Sprite.
My friend, Theodore, decided to cook the turkey. We were all very apprehensive about this. Earlier this semester, he had tried to tailgate before the Wyoming game. After failing to light the grill, he decided to cook the sausages in the microwave. The sausages exploded! Needless to say, we didn’t want a repeat of culinary disaster right before our Thanksgiving meal. But Theodore reassured us that he would get directions from his mother, and he would have a delicious bird ready for our meal. Well, he surprised us all! The turkey was delicious, cooked properly and not dried out. You can’t ask for more than that.
And finally, what Thanksgiving is complete without some football? After we finished the meal, we all helped clean the dishes and tidy up before heading back to campus to watch our Longhorns take on those Aggies from that other school across the state. Theodore and Mark actually dressed up as cowboys for the game. They were quite hysterical. Too bad their school spirit wasn’t enough to help our boys to the win. Despite the loss, we all still enjoyed the game.
It’s great to see that you stay close in a program of 96!! Are there networking events through the school or is it all student organized?
Hi Valerie,
This particular event was student organized though it wasn’t done through any department or organization in the University. It was more of a group of friends that got together and decided to celebrate a holiday. Of course, MPAs are more than welcomed to get involved on campus to meet people. I know we have an MPA that plays hockey for the University team (it’s a club team I believe). In the business school alone, there a lot of student organizations you can join to start networking with your peers (because at least in accounting, your peers could end up becoming your client). You just have to watch the signs posted on the bulletin boards for times and meeting places.