Hello, howdy, and good afternoon! Blogger Kat here, you’re source into the amazing lives of Texas MPA students. Since I’ve been back from winter break I have taken advantage of many unique opportunities here in Austin, including comedy shows and visits from incredible authors! Here are a few of my favorite moments from the semester so far. I hope you are inspired to explore all that Austin has to offer and make some memories of your own!

Austin’s winter is quite different than a winter in South Bend, Indiana, where I spent my undergrad years at Notre Dame. Instead of snow and negative degree wind chills, Austin’s winter has been sunny and 75 (well, a few days have been)! I have taken advantage of these wonderful winter days by going to my favorite place in Austin, Zilker Park, to run or kayak with friends. I just couldn’t imagine any other way to spend such beautiful days. For great kayak and paddle board rentals, we always go to Rowing Dock! If you haven’t done a water activity in Austin yet, I highly recommend it!

Austin is known for its concerts and live comedy shows. A few of us MPA students took a break from our studies and went to see Kevin Hart at Austin City Limits Live at the Moody Theater, an amazing venue. We definitely enjoyed our night and laughed more than I thought possible at the comedian!

This past week, I had the opportunity to see one of my favorite authors speak at the Long Center, a popular performing arts venue. Bill Bryson was quite entertaining and delighted the audience with stories of his life and readings from some of his most beloved books.

As you can see, I experienced some unique events in Austin this year and I’m on the lookout for more! Don’t limit yourself to just going out to sixth street every weekend; there is so much more that this incredible city has to offer!

My friends and I have started to really venture out and I love getting to know Austin. Up in North Austin, we found Topgolf, a driving range that turns golf into an arcade game, and you can enjoy food and drinks with your friends as you compete! Down in South Austin we found our inner kid at Blazer Tag, chasing each other around a multilevel arena with laser guns, each seeking victory for our team.

Like I said before, Austin is an amazing city with so much to offer to students. Try something new one weekend, such as laser tag or Topgolf, or seek out a concert to attend or a speaker to see. Spend some time outside at the beautiful parks and lakes that are found all around the city! You won’t regret it!