My summer 2023 class (Human Information Behavior) at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information, where I am completing the Master of Information (MI) degree program, ends in about three weeks. I still plan to graduate in May 2024.
I started a summer internship at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last month. I am working with [the Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response](https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohsepr) (OHSEPR) to analyze administrative data and conduct research on disaster assistance programs.
My temporary research assistant position with the Center for Research on Ending Violence (REV), Rutgers School of Social Work, was extended by a few months to work on a new project.
I've been exploring both [the Bogleheads investment philosophy](https://www.bogleheads.org/wiki/Bogleheads%C2%AE_investment_philosophy) and [socially responsible investing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socially_responsible_investing). Last month, I read [*The Bogleheads' guide to investing* (2nd ed.)](https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Bogleheads%27+Guide+to+Investing%2C+2nd+Edition-p-9781118921289) (Lindauer, Larimore, & LeBoeuf, 2014), [*Your essential guide to sustainable investing*](https://harriman-house.com/essentialguidetosustainableinvesting) (Swedroe & Adams, 2022), [*The little book of common sense investing* (Tenth anniversary edition)](https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Little+Book+of+Common+Sense+Investing%3A+The+Only+Way+to+Guarantee+Your+Fair+Share+of+Stock+Market+Returns%2C+Updated+and+Revised-p-9781119404507) (Bogle, 2017), and [*A random walk down Wall Street* (Fiftieth anniversary edition)](https://www.harvard.com/book/a_random_walk_down_wall_street/) (Malkiel, 2023). I'm also using tools like As You Sow's [Invest Your Values](https://www.asyousow.org/invest-your-values) to compare investment funds: "As You Sow is a tax-exempt, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating and empowering shareholders to change corporations for the good through the collection, analysis and dissemination of relevant information to the public, free of charge."
* Current reading: [*Nudge: The final edition*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/690485/nudge-by-richard-h-thaler-and-cass-r-sunstein/) (Thaler & Sunstein, 2021) and [*Doughnut economics*](https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/doughnut-economics-paperback/) (Raworth, 2017)
* I completed an [8-week introduction to grant proposal writing](https://www.fhsu.edu/sociology/grant-writing-certification-program/) offered by the Sociology Program at Fort Hays State University.
* I started a full-time summer internship at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where I am working with [the Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response](https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohsepr) (OHSEPR).
* I was invited to continue working with the Center for Research on Ending Violence (REV) at Rutgers School of Social Work as a temporary research assistant on a new project.
* I graduated from the 2022-2023 [New Jersey Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NJLEND) graduate fellowship program](https://boggscenter.rwjms.rutgers.edu/student-experiences/njlend).
* I accepted a Governor's Executive Award for the 2023-2024 [Eagleton Graduate Fellowship Program in Politics and Government](https://eagleton.rutgers.edu/grad-fellowships/).
* I completed the non-credit [Certificate in Nonprofit Career Development (Center for Nonprofits and Philanthropy, Texas A&M University)](https://tamu.badgr.com/public/assertions/ifg0paHpTSOBvVutj4_JsQ?identity__email=ethan@ethanyoo.com), for which I received a full scholarship.
* I was awarded an [Equity Scholarship](https://www.njla.org/scholarships) by the New Jersey Library Association (NJLA) for the 2023-2024 academic year. The Equity Scholarship was funded through partnerships with Rutgers University School of Communication and Information, the New Jersey State Library, and LibraryLinkNJ.
* I started working for the Center for Research on Ending Violence (REV) at Rutgers School of Social Work as a temporary graduate research assistant.
* I decided that I will pursue a research doctorate (i.e., a PhD) after graduating with the Master of Information (MI) degree - most likely in a social science (e.g., sociology or demography).
* I started working on a pilot study with a professor from the Department of Library and Information Science at Rutgers University School of Communication and Information.
* I interviewed for full-time employment with many interesting government and non-profit organizations, but I ultimately decided to continue attending school full-time while working part-time. For example, I started working for Rutgers University Libraries as a Data Science Graduate Specialist, a role in which I develop and teach weekly, open workshops in "Data Science Basics" for individuals who want to improve their data management and visualization skills.
* I finished my year of national service in the [AmeriCorps VISTA](https://americorps.gov/serve/fit-finder/americorps-vista) program on October 24, 2022.
* Using the scholarship I was awarded by Thomas Edison State University, I started a graduate-level course (Optimization - Linear Programming) in the data science program.
* I met with a group of friends from Swarthmore College in New York City.
* I was certified to graduate from Thomas Edison State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Computer Science and an associate's degree in mathematics on June 10, 2022. I also completed the undergraduate certificates in Computer Information Systems and Operations Management.
* I was awarded scholarship funds for the fall 2022 semester by the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University.
* I was awarded a Joseph Lippincott Fellowship ([Swarthmore Fellowship](https://www.swarthmore.edu/fellowships-and-prizes/swarthmore-fellowships)) by the Fellowships and Prizes Committee at Swarthmore College.
* I was selected to participate in [The Boggs Center's Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (NJLEND) program](https://www.rwjms.rutgers.edu/boggscenter/student/LEND.html) as a Library and Information Science Fellow during the 2022-2023 academic year. NJLEND is an interdisciplinary graduate fellowship and leadership development program.
* I officially withdrew from the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at Smith College School for Social Work, from which I had been taking a leave of absence.
* I finished the November 2021 term at Thomas Edison State University, including three [online courses](https://www.tesu.edu/academics/online-courses) (Data Structures; Database Management; Software Engineering) and two [e-Pack courses](https://www.tesu.edu/academics/e-pack-courses) (Computer Concepts and Applications; Industrial Psychology).
* Between moving in January 2021 and summer coursework at Smith College, I had some months where I wasn't regularly volunteering as an EMT. I'm back to it as of late November 2021.
* I started participating in [#100DaysToOffload](https://100daystooffload.com/) on December 1. #100DaysToOffload "challenge[s] people to publish 100 posts on their **personal blog** in a year." I'm posting these entries to [Write.as,](https://ethan.writeas.com/) a blogging platform with its foundations in [free software](https://writefreely.org/) and [a respect for privacy.](https://write.as/principles)
* I disabled access logs and updated the [privacy policy](/privacy/) on December 24.
* I left Mastodon for a few weeks before creating a new account as [@ethanyoo@todon.eu](https://todon.eu/@ethanyoo) on December 29.
## November 2020
* I wrote my first "personal" post on November 2, where I describe [leaving Cloudflare and GitLab Pages.](/cloudflare/)
* I'm back to volunteering as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) as of November 4.
* I posted the [privacy and security policy](/privacy/) for this website on November 8.
* I wrote a new ["Start" page](/index.html) on November 11; it's now more of a landing page. There is an image of the old index page at the bottom of this post.
* I added the "Now" page (what you're currently reading) on November 11.
# Images
