It has been almost a year since I moved to Rochester and started graduate school. Time has flown by! A couple of people have asked me recently what the biggest difference has been between college and graduate school, or what the biggest adjustment has been. There have been a lot of things, but two major ones stick out in my head.
First, I am expected to have an opinion and be vocal about it. I'm supposed to speak up. I went to a big high school and a big university where I could get by under the radar if I wanted to (which, let's be honest, that's exactly what I wanted most of the time...I get horrible social anxiety when I have to speak up). It's been really good to learn about my own head and how it works, and to really have to know what I think about things rather than just going along with everyone else.
The other things is that I have to do things before I master them. Let me see if I can explain what I mean. In college and high school, you take a class, learn the material, then demonstrate that you know it through a test or project or something. Now it's different; research is something that you have to learn by doing. Grad school is kind of like an apprenticeship in that you work under the supervision of an advisor. They are there to give you guidance and make sure you aren't doing shoddy work. It's a totally different paradigm than what I'm used to and it makes me feel really insecure sometimes. Anyone who knows me well knows I'm a perfectionist and I hate making mistakes. I have to keep reminding myself that it's ok if I don't know everything or do everything right the first time. I'm still learning how to do this academia thing, and there is a framework in place to support that.
It's been an adjustment, definitely, and I'm still not 100% sure that I know what I'm doing a lot of the time. But it is becoming more comfortable. I enjoy it a lot, and am happy with the work I am doing. Here's to learning new things!
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Visit Home
I realized that I haven't written anything about my trip home last month! It was super fun. I got to see most of my family and friends. It's nice to be around people who have to love you no matter what :) And, I mean, how could you not love these cute guys:
Mom arranged it so that I could go meet Doug Fabrizio...see this link, #2...Kiana will understand how excited I was about this.
I love what I am doing, and I love where I am. But it can be hard being so far away from so many people that I love so much. I am so blessed to have been able to go see them.
Thursday, July 11, 2013
My New Digs
Actually I should say OUR new digs. I moved into a house last week with three other ladies from my program. Christie is a developmentalist like me, Laura is in clinical psych, and Karisa is in social psych. We found this great place and are all settled in. It is so nice to have other people around when I get home from work, and to want to be home at the end of the day! Last night they taught me how to play Settlers of Catan and we have two adorable kitty cats roaming around. I mean, what more could a girl ask for? The missionaries, and a bunch of peeps from my ward also deserve a big shout out. They totally rescued me and Laura. We had reserved a uhaul type truck, but when we went to pick it up, they said they were out; "a reservation is not a guarantee" apparently. I called my home teacher Stephen, and with in thirty minutes, he and about 5 other guys from church were at my apartment loading up a pickup and a trailer. They had my furniture and Laura's furniture moved by about 11:30. Thanks guys, we really appreciate it!
Here is a tour of the house:
Our kitchen...so glad to have an adult sized oven again!
Our super cozy living room
Looking from the living room out onto the porch.
I am so excited about this place, and I adore my house-mates. Here's to many (but not too many) more years together :)
Here is a tour of the house:
Our kitchen...so glad to have an adult sized oven again!
The butler's pantry, or the Butt as it's affectionately known. You can't tell, but there are a million shelves off to the right. The dining room is straight ahead
Our super cozy living room
Looking from the living room out onto the porch.
Our awesome screened in porch. I love doing work out here!
My bathroom on the third floor. The toilet is next to the tub...you just can't see it.
My bedroom. It's a little small, but I kind of like it that way. It's really cozy, and gets a lot of sunshine. I also have a rug in there now that makes it seem a little more cheerful. I'm the only one on the third floor; the other bedrooms are on the second floor.
I am so excited about this place, and I adore my house-mates. Here's to many (but not too many) more years together :)
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
SCOTUS
Ok, since it seems like I'm all about being controversial these days...
In case you've been living under a rock, there were 2 important decisions from the Supreme Court this past week. One was actually their refusal to hear a case: they upheld a lower courts ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. They also ruled that DOMA (the defense of marriage act) was unconstitutional, and that same sex couples should be granted the same federal benefits that heterosexual couples get.
I think everyone knows what the LDS church's stance on this is. (If not you can read their response at mormon.org or lds.org.) I am not going to tell you what I think, because that's not the point I want to make and I don't want people to be distracted by whether they agree or disagree with me...though if you look at my Facebook activity, and can put two and two together, you might be able to figure it out.
Speaking of Facebook, I've been really disappointed with people on Facebook**. Some of the responses have been closed minded and, well, mean. I understand this is an emotionally charged topic, and I understand why. That is all the more reason that we be careful in how we conduct our discussions. First of all, have your opinion. If it's different than mine, fine. But make sure you know why. Don't decide before you carefully consider all the possibilities, and their implications for everyone. Also, rather than straw man arguments and personal attacks, we should be approaching each other from a place of compassion, and genuinely try to put ourselves in "the other's" shoes. In the words of Forrest Gump, that's all I got to say about that.
**If you are one of the people who still actually reads my blog, this probably doesn't apply to you; I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I needed to get this off my chest.
While we're talking about the Supreme Court. Did you know that last week, SCOTUS also shot down part of the Voter Rights Act?
Basically one section of the VRA mandated that certain states (mostly south of the Mason-Dixon line) have to have federal approval before they can change their voting laws, including qualifications for voting, lines for voting districts, and ID requirements. It was this provision that killed Jim Crow laws that discriminated against Black voters. The argument is that this kind of racism doesn't exist any more. The supreme court says that the law is antiquated and that the metrics used to measure racism need to be updated. BUT. It is up to a deeply contentions congress to decide what the new metrics will be. In the mean time, states can do whatever they want.
Some people might agree with the Court, that systemic racism isn't a problem like it was 50 years ago. However, the reason this case was brought to the Supreme Court at all is because the Texas state legislature tried to shamelessly gerrymander certain key districts in such a way that a) Mexican-Americans would have a hard time even getting to their polling places and b) minorities would never be elected to public office. Other states have tried to pass requirements that would disenfranchise minorities, inner-city dwellers, those from low SES, and elderly people. The reason systemic racism isn't a problem is because it has been fixed by this provision of the VRA! The Court has been able to keep states in line. Don't get me wrong; I am all for states' rights. But when those states threaten Constitutionally guaranteed rights, someone has to step in. The right to vote is the foundation of our system. We should be making it easier for people to participate in the political process, not harder.
Anyway, it just felt like time to stir the pot, and I'm behind on my quota :)
In case you've been living under a rock, there were 2 important decisions from the Supreme Court this past week. One was actually their refusal to hear a case: they upheld a lower courts ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional. They also ruled that DOMA (the defense of marriage act) was unconstitutional, and that same sex couples should be granted the same federal benefits that heterosexual couples get.
I think everyone knows what the LDS church's stance on this is. (If not you can read their response at mormon.org or lds.org.) I am not going to tell you what I think, because that's not the point I want to make and I don't want people to be distracted by whether they agree or disagree with me...though if you look at my Facebook activity, and can put two and two together, you might be able to figure it out.
Speaking of Facebook, I've been really disappointed with people on Facebook**. Some of the responses have been closed minded and, well, mean. I understand this is an emotionally charged topic, and I understand why. That is all the more reason that we be careful in how we conduct our discussions. First of all, have your opinion. If it's different than mine, fine. But make sure you know why. Don't decide before you carefully consider all the possibilities, and their implications for everyone. Also, rather than straw man arguments and personal attacks, we should be approaching each other from a place of compassion, and genuinely try to put ourselves in "the other's" shoes. In the words of Forrest Gump, that's all I got to say about that.
**If you are one of the people who still actually reads my blog, this probably doesn't apply to you; I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I needed to get this off my chest.
While we're talking about the Supreme Court. Did you know that last week, SCOTUS also shot down part of the Voter Rights Act?
Basically one section of the VRA mandated that certain states (mostly south of the Mason-Dixon line) have to have federal approval before they can change their voting laws, including qualifications for voting, lines for voting districts, and ID requirements. It was this provision that killed Jim Crow laws that discriminated against Black voters. The argument is that this kind of racism doesn't exist any more. The supreme court says that the law is antiquated and that the metrics used to measure racism need to be updated. BUT. It is up to a deeply contentions congress to decide what the new metrics will be. In the mean time, states can do whatever they want.
Some people might agree with the Court, that systemic racism isn't a problem like it was 50 years ago. However, the reason this case was brought to the Supreme Court at all is because the Texas state legislature tried to shamelessly gerrymander certain key districts in such a way that a) Mexican-Americans would have a hard time even getting to their polling places and b) minorities would never be elected to public office. Other states have tried to pass requirements that would disenfranchise minorities, inner-city dwellers, those from low SES, and elderly people. The reason systemic racism isn't a problem is because it has been fixed by this provision of the VRA! The Court has been able to keep states in line. Don't get me wrong; I am all for states' rights. But when those states threaten Constitutionally guaranteed rights, someone has to step in. The right to vote is the foundation of our system. We should be making it easier for people to participate in the political process, not harder.
Anyway, it just felt like time to stir the pot, and I'm behind on my quota :)
Beliefs
“Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives.”
- Tony Robbins
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