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Semester 6 Grad School Reflection

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So… I’m back after disappearing for about a semester. Looking through my posts, I only wrote two posts between the last grad school reflection and this one. I haven’t even read a book in a while, which is disappointing, but this is just a wake-up call to get back on track with my yearly goal. I try my best to read at least 50 books a year, and I was about 15 books behind.

I think that this semester I had just burned out. I just didn’t want to do anything. I would go to school, do as much work as I could mentally manage, and then go home and lay around. I didn’t read, I didn’t write, and I did not take part in any of my hobbies. It utterly sucked, but there were some wins for the semester. I completed my preliminary exam, meaning I am now a Ph.D. candidate. Two, I am done with my classes. This means that I can put my full attention onto research and I don’t have to spend hours studying for classes. I’m hoping this lessens my mental burden on myself, but I’m not too sure, especially since I would like to graduate in two more years. In one way, I’m excited to start my life, but in another, I don’t want to do more adulting. Later this year, I’m getting dropped off my parent’s insurance, which terrifies me. Does this mean I will no longer have help making doctor’s appointments? I hate talking to people on the phone.

I took a month off from the semester’s end, hoping to regain some of my sanity. As of writing this, the semester ended a month ago, but I just didn’t feel like doing anything until now. I am mentally doing a lot better, which is a sign that I need to pace myself for the next two years. Let’s just see what happens in another half year.

The Invisible Cost

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Book two of the nonfiction grind includes more information that I feel like I should innately know. This week, I will discussing Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez. This book discusses the many different ways in which women are not accounted for, whether it be everyday living, work, and gaming. There were many aspects of which I had never even thought. Ever thought thought about how you are always cold in the work place? Well, women’s metabolic rate may have something to do with that. Ever thought about motion sickness? Well, there many be differences there as well. Again, is just these things that you never thought about, as well as things that are common, such as the unpaid labor that is often put onto women. Yes, I did know that, but I did not realize some of the downstream effects having the burden of much of the unpaid labor has on women. It was a fascinating read, for those who are interested, but also brought up was in which I personally could close the gap, because these were also things I never thought about. It’s definitely something to think about.

From the Lower Rung

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I’ve been on a slight nonfiction kick, so be prepared to learn for a bit. While I entered this book knowing I would most likely learn something, I never expected to learn as much as I did. Sure, I read the summary and synopsis, but that did not prepare me for the brain blasts I had multiple times and the profound effect this would have more me. The most recent book to add to my list was Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.

For those who don’t feel like reading the summary, this experience argues, quite effectively, I might add, that America was built on a caste system. It does this by comparing the historically well-known and long-lasting caste system found in India, as well as the short-lived one that is the Nazi occupation of Germany, by bringing up the eight pillars: divine will, heritability, endogamy, purity, occupation hierarchy, dehumanization, terror as enforcement, and inherent superiority. This book discusses many historical facts that I had never heard about but is both surprising to never hear about and not surprising that it was covered up. One surprising fact was that the dehumanization of people in Europe during the Nazi occupation was based on the horrendous Jim Crowe laws that proliferated through society after the American Civil War, but then again, why not copy a system that has been shown to work.

Yes, there are some antidotes directly from the author, but I agree that this is necessary since history is built on the human experience. As another African American female, I felt many of the antidotes on a spiritual level, as I have felt many similar feelings in similar experiences. On top of hearing this compelling argument, it also speaks to my experiences, which probably made it a more profound experience for me. There are also other perspectives that should be heard from this book. That is why I would recommend anyone interested in the systemic racial structuring of the United States to read this book. It is a perspective that I never thought of before, and it completely made sense to me.

Semester 5 Grad School Reflection

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This feels a bit like cheating that I am not writing this reflection until the night before the next semester begins, the day that this will be posted. But this is mainly because I did not have a break for either holiday, Thanksgiving, or Winter. I was working the entire time: either writing for my preliminary exam or a paper that I hope to have published within the next year or working on experiments. Want to know how little I had a break? I had to go in on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. I pretty much went in every single day. I’m tired and want a break. Again, unfortunately, the new semester is tomorrow/today. I have no thoughts, really. I’m just tired.

Along that Yellow Brick Road Pt 7.5

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I’m back in the land of Oz, and this time, we are back with short stories. Unlike another one with a certain bug at the forefront, this one wasn’t complete nonsense. This one was in-universe for the entire series and actually felt like a children’s book.

Little Wizard Stories of Oz is exactly as the title says. They are short stories, bedtime stories if you will. There is no timeline that you have to keep up with, no characterizations that you need to remember, nor any thought to be had. It was cute, simple, and straight to the point. I could definitely see this short book being included in a stack you put on your child’s bedside table to read them asleep. It was cute. What more could I say?

The Circus Life is Not For Me

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I tried my hand at another book centered around the circus. I thought it would be decent, seeing as there was a movie made based on the book. I thought it would be a cutesy romance, because that was what I saw in the movie trailers. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen was an experience that will be hard to replicate.

This books shows what is portrayed by the author as a true experience behind the circus in the 30s, I think. (I don’t remember if we were given an actual date.) It’s not the glitz and glam that is often portrayed in stories, although there is a nostalgic factor coming from the protagonist flowing throughout. From many of the characters, the circus is truly a horrifying experience, but it’s the only thing that they have. The romance sprinkled throughout is the only light at the end of the tunnel. But that’s what I think makes it more satisfying in the end. I was honestly cheering at the end.

This book is more on the mature side that I was expecting. There is lots of offensive language, some explicit sexual content, and animal abuse (hey, it’s the circus). Do take care while reading. And then please tell me who is your favorite character and why it is Rosie.

A Romantic Cop Drama?

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I’ll admit, I may have a problem with constantly reading Nicholas Sparks novels. I found two I loved to death, to the point where the covers are falling off. Now, I’m treating his books like Pokémon, and I need to read them all, for better and worse. This book, A Bend in the Road, falls squarely in the middle. Reading the description, I was expecting an adorable romance about two people from previously failed relationships, for very different reasons, coming together and finding love again. That was true for the first half of the novel. The second half was a terribly written cop drama that made no sense.

The second half of the book was a beautiful description of police brutality when of course, the only recourse for the protagonists’ actions was suspension with pay. Other things could have been happening, but I was just so mad. A message to Sparks:

Stop writing cops! You are terrible at it! Just because you made the cop the main protagonist doesn’t mean we will forgive his insane actions!

And by trying to make us forgive him, he did try by having our cop protagonists do a cute flashback to when the book was a romance novel. I one hundred percent support just stopping and the middle and pretending that the ending didn’t happen; you will be much happier that way.

An Entirely New World Pt 4

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I finished reading the forth book within the Chronicles of Narnia series, and now I’m wondering if there is a point in finishing the series. If not for the fact that I’ve pretty much promised myself and the fact that my friends are adamant that the later books are better. I’ve just feel like I myself am getting more annoyed at the books than I spend time caring about what’s going on.

For example, at this point, as we found out in t he previous books, the characters that we gained a connection to, will no longer be showing up. Instead, we get random boy and girl who we could care less about and have no development other than being stupid, because pushing someone off a cliff is the logical response to having a conversation. Also, evil chair… I whish I was joking, but there was an evil chair. I don’t think I need to say more. Avoid this book at all costs, mainly for your sanity.

Along that Yellow Brink Road Pt 2.5

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As I was making my way through what is left of the Oz series, I realized that I missed an installment. Being the completionist that I am, I of course had to go back and read The Woggle-Bug Book. It takes places, directly after the second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz, I think. To be honest, I don’t know why this book exists, and book is being very generous.

This fanfiction of a short story is about how Mr. Insect-with-too-many-names-to-be-taken-seriously somehow ends up in America, I think, and tries to by a wife because he like a dress. And then some other things happened. I’m also pretty surer there was a random section with a dash a racism but I was just trying to get through to the end. It sounded stupid, and I’m pretty sure that if I put any actually though into it I would cry because of it. Just take my advice. This “book” isn’t worth your sanity. Literally do anything else.

Escaping the Underworld

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Imagine this: you are trapped in the underworld with your father, but what to do anything to escape, including taking down hordes of enemies in the way and getting help from your estranged family members. That is Hades in a nutshell. This is an action-packed room-based procedurally generated game taking place in the Underworld of Greek Mythology as you follow Zagreus, son of Hades, in trying to reach the surface.

Not only is the game gorgeous and amazingly voice-acted, but the action is also very seamless and responsive. It could be because I’m used to crappy computers, but I am used to playing action games that do nothing but stutter and take seconds before a response from the on-screen character. I recently got this game on the switch, and now I am saving up all my money possible to buy a better computer so I can feel this fantastic playing an action game in the future. I just don’t want to stop playing because of the fantastic gameplay and heart-touching story I wasn’t expecting. I would highly recommend anyone picking up this beautifully made game.

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