It is the last full week of June, which means it is my last week at Kensington Investment Company! I am very excited to be done with my third and last co-op. It's been one crazy ride at KIC these past two years with the company feeling the effects of the recession. It has been a great experience furthering my knowledge of the real estate industry and also of the strategic decisions a company has to make to adapt to different economic climates. I've been involved in a few different aspects of the company and I definitely will be taking with me a lot of new/improved skills. I'll miss the people at the office. It's been really fun working with all of them and I'll definitely keep in touch. They're throwing me a going away lunch on Thursday too! Woot! Anyway, will I be working at KIC in the future? We'll see. If a position is available, then they'd be pretty high up on the list, but you never know these days. I do want to keep my options, though, and look around to see where else my experiences will lead me to. If you have any questions about the co-op program, definitely feel free to ask. I'll try to answer them with the best of my knowledge.

After this week, it'll be my summer off! It'll be my first since my freshman year! So, what's next for me? I have a few things planned ahead. In July, I will be spending about a month in New York City to experience life in the Big Apple. I am very excited. It'll be a good change of pace from my life here in Boston. August, I will probably be going to see my family in Cincinnati since it's been awhile since I've been home for more than a week. After that, I will be back in Boston to get stuff together for my semester abroad! I don't think I've mentioned this, but I was accepted to the Rome study abroad program through the College of Business. CBA recently started their study abroad program and as soon as a city in Italy was available, I hopped on it. Anyway, so after this co-op I'll be somewhat of a jet-setter. I'll try to keep all of you updated on my travels.

Posted by Martin Lenon at 7:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past weekend, I volunteered at City Year's Serve-a-thon with a group sponsored by the Asian American Center. The AAC sponsors a group of students every year to do the Serve-a-thon and I've volunteered every year since my freshman year. It's always been a great experience. In the past, we've helped paint murals, clean parks, and fix torn up basketball courts at under funded schools and neighborhoods. This year, we helped brighten the Nathan Hale Elementary School in Roxbury. A few of us were given the task of painting a giant US map on the ground towards the back of the school to make it a more welcoming and usable space. After seeing the finished product, I was really proud of helping out to make the school a nicer place to be. The school will definitely be able to utilize the space for classes and/or recess.

Other people in our group and the other volunteers at the site were in charge of painting murals to be hung inside the school, painting four square and hopscotch courts in the playground, and planting a few trees and bushes.

Overall, it was a terrific day. The weather was perfect, and the City Year teams did a great job organizing the volunteering event. Thanks City Year! Also, a shout out to my friend Jaime Siochi for gathering people from Northeastern to be a part of the AAC Serve-a-thon team! Woot!

Posted by Martin Lenon at 8:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Summer is really kicking into gear. It's definitely a bit quieter around here, but still a ton of fun. Two weeks ago, some friends and I went to a Red Sox game against Toronto. It ended up being an amazing game. There were a bunch of home runs were hit, and the Sox rolled to victory. It's always a fun time at Fenway Park, especially when the good guys win.

I've been exploring Beantown a little bit more too. I work close to the financial district of Boston, but closer to the harbor in this new developing area around Fan Pier. I take walks around there every so often (during my lunch breaks), and have been wanting to go to the Institute for Contemporary Arts (ICA) ever since I stumbled across it during one of my walks. Anyway, I finally found time to go with some friends and I recommend everyone to visit the ICA sometime. The artwork is very interesting, and the layout of the museum itself is amazing. For awhile, there was also a display of racing sailboats right by the ICA. Boston was a stop for the Volvo Ocean Race, so they had all the boats there, games, product promotions, etc... It was a cool set up.

So that's it for now. One thing definitely to look forward to if you're attending NU in the Fall, is that you'll definitely never run out of things to do in Boston. There are always special events going on around the city. Obviously, it's not as big as New York, but I think the Bean holds it down pretty nicely. : )

Here are some pics!

Posted by Martin Lenon at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)