tryingtobeanerd

[tryingtobeanerd]

Hi friends,

Hope all is well with you all.

Adam is a wonderful little child who's in need of your help. He's been struggling with a variety of health issues since he was born, however recently the damage has spread to his brain and spinal cord, and he requires an operation within the next 6 months, otherwise he risks permanent paralysis.

Unfortunately, the operation costs about $90,000 (which must be paid by January) and his family's only raised around $14,000 so far. So if you could please donate, and share his GoFundMe page with your family and friends, it would be much much appreciated.

Thank you all so much!

https://www.gofundme.com/f/adam-back-surgery?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1

[tryingtobeanerd]

“Be a better you, for you.”

— Sonya Teclai (via thoughtkick)

[tryingtobeanerd]

[tryingtobeanerd]

me, at 2 am: there’s no better time than the present. let’s immediately start learning 3 different languages, write a screenplay and several poems, finish all of my assignments, read 12 new books,

[tryingtobeanerd]

concept: waking up early, eating a healthy breakfast, going for a run, drinking enough water, finishing assignments on the first day and not last minute, having clear skin, not being stressed 24/7, 

[tryingtobeanerd]

I love people who teach me something new. Expand my mind. Talk to me about the universe. Share your dreams with me. Take me on a mental trip.

[tryingtobeanerd]

I really love feeling the sun

[tryingtobeanerd]

I'm doing what I can today and that is always enough. I don't have to meet anyone's standards but my own. I am good enough.

[tryingtobeanerd]

please make sure that wherever you’re at in life, you don’t treat it like a transitory period. don’t waste your college years wishing to already be graduated & have a job. don’t waste your single years wishing for someone to be in love with. if/when those things come, they will come in due time and they will be good. but there is nothing like looking back and feeling empty because you wasted literal years ignoring what you had because you were hoping for something better. while it’s important to better yourself and reach for your goals, don’t neglect the present because that’s where you are now and it’s your now that determines your future. 

[tryingtobeanerd]

[tryingtobeanerd]

repeat after me:

even if i don’t like my body today i will take care of it

even if i don’t like myself today i will still be patient and kind with myself

even if i do not love myself i will still take care of and be kind to myself, despite not wanting to

[tryingtobeanerd]

The most fascinating part to me about studyblr isn’t the unique stories and backgrounds each of you have, though that has always been important and amazing. It’s the futures each of you look forward to: the doctors, the translators, the writers, the teachers – and notice I don’t say “aspiring.” You all are here because you aspire, but when you combine that ambition with discipline, your work pays off. You aren’t just on a never-ending path of studying, you are on a path to a goal that opens up many more paths. In even so little as 5 years I could be talking to a medblr that is conducting their first surgeries, saving their first lives. In 10, the high school freshmen interested in social work could be keeping kids off of the streets or teaching their favorite subjects to kids just like them. And the greatest part is, because of the people that you are, it won’t just be a could, a what if. It is a will be. I am not only excited for the work you will do, I am excited for the person you are and will be. I am proud of you.

[tryingtobeanerd]

it’s a new month !!!!!!! and i hope something wonderful happens in it for you !!!!!

[tryingtobeanerd]

“No matter how attractive a person’s potential may be, you have to date their reality.”

— Mandy Hale (via thoughtkick)

[tryingtobeanerd]

“Who the hell said you no longer had it in you?”

— Charles Bukowski (via resqectable)

[tryingtobeanerd]

I’ve been working so hard for this Ph.D. over the last 7 years. I have sacrificed a lot: hobbies, friends, visits to family members, etc. But I always assumed that the sacrifices would be worth it, because I thought: “once I have that degree, I can really start living my life”. I thought I could finally start to have hobbies again. I can start visiting family more often. I can start having more friends. 

I recently submitted my dissertation to my committee. But now it’s on to the next step, which is writing up and submitting the corresponding publications. Then it’s applying for postdoctoral funding and jobs. Once I have a job and/or postdoc, I have to keep working so I can obtain a more stable position as a professor. And then if I get that professorship I need to work towards all of those individual promotions to secure tenure. If I get tenure, I need to work through post-tenure promotions for emeritus. And to keep that emeritus status I need to keep working. It’s an endless cycle. 

So when I turned in my dissertation, I didn’t feel that sense of finality that I thought I would feel. My committee just reminded me that it’s on to the next step, and the next step, and the next step. And it sucked. There is always something else that needs to be done. There is no real end point in sight. 

I can’t change the job grind, but I can change the way I live my life. My goal is to spend more time living in the present. I don’t want to sacrifice anything anymore. I want to be an academic and have time for things like hobbies, friends, and family. I want to achieve balance. I’ve already been putting a lot of effort into self-care, but I think that can only go so far if I see it as a ‘temporary aid’ for working towards an ambiguous end goal. 

I’m seeing a lot of similar posts like this on Tumblr in the school-related tags. My goal is to start reblogging content like that occasionally as a friendly reminder to myself and others. So I hope you all don’t mind if the content of this blog changes slightly. Thank you for understanding <3 

[tryingtobeanerd]

“Resolutely remind yourself that you are not the mind and that its problems are not yours.”

— Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj