#i.e. the only thing going for me was academic success

[immortalsins]

why is it impossible to do any work despite the certainty that everything will go to shit if i don't

[sunderwight]

Random thought but:

Those wide-brimmed pointy hats that witches and wizards are often depicted wearing are for traveling, right? That's what the brim is for, to protect from the sun and other elements. But the pointy part is probably ceremonial -- historically speaking most conical hats are often worn by priests or nobility to signify rank or role.

But sometimes in fantasy settings, wizard hats don't have the brim. But witches almost never lose the brim.

This indicates to me a shared origin between wizards and witches as traveling practitioners of magic. Which makes sense! If you only get a few magical people in a community, either because magical talent is rare or because it takes a lot of study to pick it up or both, then most magically inclined people would probably be in high demand. Which would mean that there was a lot of call for them to travel around and provide their services to place too poor or remote or unlucky to have their own resident magical practitioner.

But gradually, a divide begins to occur. Formally educated magical users are of course most commonly found in cosmopolitan regions (big cities) and can afford to stay in one place for a lot longer. Perhaps even exclusively, if the community is large enough to support them! So as more great cities establish themselves and also establish things like larger and better-funded academic institutions, a class of non-wandering magic user begins to grow. This group, i.e. wizards, signal their greater access to formal education and to wealthy patrons by dropping the brim from their hats. They keep the conical shape and height, to denote status and rank, but they get all bougie about the brim. Other attempts to flaunt success among wizards emphasize the lack of need to travel for work, such as building magnificent magical towers, positioning themselves in the courts of nobility, or building entire academic institutions dedicated to the study of the arcane arts.

Meanwhile rural communities still require the services of magically inclined people, but can no longer afford to entice wizards away from their status-defining sedentary lifestyle. Thus another class of magic user (witches) begins to define itself by their continued existence and work outside of major population centers. Since witches still travel and live in the countryside, their hats keep the brim, because they still need it to protect them from the elements.

This also explains the gender differential. While magical talent probably doesn't operate on the basis of gender, classism sure does. Girls born into wealthier families are often slated for marriage alliances and encouraged to treat formal education as an opportunity for husband-hunting, rather than actually becoming adept in or engaging with the professional use of magic itself. Which doesn't mean that none of them do it anyway, but there's probably a more marked difference between women who become wizards and men who do. Especially as wizards become more preoccupied with social status, and thus more likely to gate off access to certain levels of education, so that only either the extremely wealthy or the extremely talented can get at them. If a girl's family doesn't want to go to all the trouble of paying for a full education or compelling a skilled teacher to take her on, her options for pursuing it on her own are probably quite limited.

Meanwhile out in the sticks, magic users are such rarities that gatekeeping on the basis of gender is frankly too impractical, especially considering the degree of utility magic has for saving lives and livelihoods. It's just not that feasible to give a shit about the gender of the spellcaster who is saving your entire sheep flock from a bad case of bluetongue, or holding up a barrier that's keeping a recent landslide from burying your house, or getting the ghosts out of a local well that you'd really love to be able to actually use.

So over time witches become associated with women, even though it's more that they've got a 50/50 split whereas wizards heavily favor men. In the way of things, this actually become a self-fulfilling prophecy over time, because men who develop magical aptitude see witchery as "women's work" and are more likely to try and save up and move to the city to learn "real" magic, or else try and differentiate themselves from female witches by creating their own distinctions between what they do and what women spellcasters do, carving out particular areas of focus to be the masculine fields of magic.

This would probably create even more distinct classes of magical users -- the male witches who still do the usual magic work in rural regions but don't like to be called witches, and so do something else to distinguish themselves in an equivalent of stamping a No Girls Allowed sign on their door (warlocks?), who probably still keep the wide brim on their hats but perhaps ditch the pointy part in a middle finger to the elitism of wizards (and also to ensure they're less likely to be mistaken for witches), and the magically talented people who make their way from the country to the nearest cities to try and join the wizard class. Though this group is more likely to struggle due to a lack of social or financial clout, and probably has to depend way more on having enough sheer natural talent to draw the eye of a benefactor (sorcerers?). Most of them would be men too, because of increasing social attitudes that men were just better at this "type" of magic would mean that women would have a harder time getting backing, but there would probably be some who were ambitious enough to nevertheless go for it and then end up in a related-but-still-gendered category of their own (sorceresses?).

Because classism, it seems likely that these underdog country-to-city spellcasters (probably also joining in with impoverished but talented locals to the metropolitan areas too) don't get the pointy hats unless they manage to actually succeed in being absorbed by wizard establishments, but also don't keep the brimmed hats because those are associated with being a bumpkin. They're hat-less, or else wear a completely different style. They probably also get a bit of a shady reputation because there are a lot of predatory institutions that scoop up magically talented individuals who don't know how to navigate the relevant social institutions, and then basically embroil them in debt or whatnot in order to exploit whatever magical talent they have for whatever profits are to be gained.

Of course you probably also have the opposite class of people, i.e. formally trained magic users who decide that trying to rub elbows with kings and rich people is stupid, and take their training to go off and save villages from mudslides and such instead. They're basically witches again but with a fancier pedigree, but of course coming from the outside of it they lack the community knowledge to navigate regions as well and also now there's this split from the Boy Witches Who Won't Be Called Witches, and probably what counts as Girl Magic gets very regional, so what jobs you do or how you go about casting spells has an irregular impact on what the locals will call you if you aren't a woman. If you're a woman you can probably take the witch label without as much issue. But since the fellas started as wizards, then, they more likely still call themselves wizards in the face of all this, but the big city wizards do NOT want to be associated with them (unless they do something really impressive that they can share credit for), so there has to be a new category for them (hedge wizards?) to differentiate from proper wizards. Anyway they wear the big brimmed hats again, because that's just practical. Whether they wear tall ones or not probably varies between individual and regional implications about it.

So. Yeah. Magic user hat politics, with bonus gender nonsense.

[frankenmouse]

Just saw a post about the college graduation rate for folks with ADHD, with the % graduation rate estimated at 5% and a research article with the same figure linked. The post was focused on how that reflects a failure of institutions, not of individuals and I wasn't about to derail the conversation on that post because it is absolutely an accurate point.

However

I do think that statistics like that sometimes discourage disabled folks. People think, "Then why try if my chance of success is so low?"

So I wanted to provide some context for interpreting that number.

TL; DR - The 5% (8%) figure comes from studies that do not have a modern sample and whose participants were likely predominantly white, male, academically impaired, and untreated

This number is cited based on studies headed and/or compiled by the same first author. I believe the 5% figure comes from a study reported as a chapter in an edited book. Full disclosure: I was unable to read the full text of the book and can only evaluate it based on the selections of the text available through Google Books. However, that gave me enough information to immediately identify some things that folks should know about how/where that number was arrived at.

However, another article by the same author was also cited as containing the 5% figure. It does not. The figure that paper reports is 8% (and I'll be talking about that number as well). So we already have a misrepresentation of research going on here.

So the first piece of context you need? Is when the 5% figure came from. What I mean is, during what time period was the data that gives the 5%/8% graduation figures were collected

In the case of the book, it was published in 2016. HOWEVER, the studies reported are longitudinal studies. That means the original cohorts for the studies were recruited and followed for years if not decades. At least one study in the book is reporting on cohorts that were initially recruited as early as the fucking 1970s. As for the article, the latest possible date that the participants could have been recruited from is the year 2000, as the figures reported on come from a 16-year follow-up study (i.e., the participants were recruited in 2000, followed for 16 years, the data was collected and reported on in 2017) but likely several years earlier. Participants' age at recruitment was 12, meaning they would have been college freshmen around the year 2008.

Needless to say, the outcomes for people with ADHD who went through college over a decade ago are likely VERY different from the outcomes for people with ADHD going to college now. There are significantly more support systems, people are getting better treatment, etc.

Additionally, since the people in the studies were recruited as children, it means that 1) they had to be diagnosed as children and 2) their parents had to agree to involve their kids in a decades long research study. This means we have a pretty significant selection bias going on.

Again, remember when these kids were initially recruited. We know diagnosis rates for ADHD have substantially increased in recent years as screening has improved and we've gotten better at diagnosing ADHD in people who are 1) female, 2) non-white, and 3) are getting acceptable grades. And that means that the kids recruited for these studies are going to be predominantly male, white, and struggling academically. This is especially true for the earliest studies, but even for the article published in 2017. I find it very suspicious that the 2017 article doesn't report the sex or race/ethnicity of the participants.

This means that these figures were almost certainly based on white boys with significant academic (and possibly other behavioral) impairments.

We've also got some other "interesting" things going on with the 2017 article. The 8% figure comes from a subgroup of people whose ADHD symptoms "persisted," defined as people who continued having severe symptoms due to ADHD. Almost 50% of the people identified as having ADHD at the beginning of the study were later evaluated to have "symptom desistence," i.e., significantly reduced symptoms of ADHD, and were not included in the analyses that ended with the 8% figure. In fact, the statistics for the people whose symptoms desisted are pretty significantly different from those whose symptoms persisted. Among the ADHD desisters, 17.8% received a college degree, over double the rate of the ADHD persisters.

You know whose ADHD symptoms are significantly reduced? People who are treated. The 2017 article strongly implies that for people who received treatment (which was not measured) the graduation rate was 17.8% (which again has to be assessed in relation to the other contextual information of dates of college attendance and sample bias).

TL; DR - The 5% (8%) figures come from studies that do not have a modern sample and whose participants are likely predominantly white, male, academically impaired, and untreated.

So...not at all accurate for all or even most of the young people with ADHD who are exposed to this figure.

Statistics like this are very useful for giving us information on how (some) folks with ADHD did within historical structures and contexts. They are at least in part why people have gotten a lot louder about demanding accommodations and accommodations have become significantly more accessible and widespread (I teach in a college environment and at least a few of my students in every class have some kind of accommodation for testing). We still have a long way to go, but showing that there was a problem is what gets us policy to improve the future.

However, statistics MUST be reported with the correct context. It isn't good or helpful to shout at today's young people with ADHD that they only have a 5% chance of graduating college. First off it isn't accurate and secondly it may discourage people from trying to attend college or from seeking out accommodations that would support them in a college environment.

I would STRONGLY recommend that any young person with ADHD who thinks they would like to go to college get in contact with a college's current students, disability offices, and professors. That will give you a significantly more accurate understanding of what your experience at a given school will be like than a statistic.

With great affection,

An ADHD-er with a PhD and ADHD-er colleagues

Links to the books and articles referenced:

Hechtman, L. (Ed.). (2016). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: Adult outcome and its predictors. Oxford University Press

Hechtman, L., Swanson, J. M., Sibley, M. H., et al. (2016). Functional Adult Outcomes 16 Years After Childhood Diagnosis of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: MTA Results. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 55(11), 945–952.e2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaac.2016.07.774 (Open Access)

[orelsemystery]

Me & Academia & Publishing & Pittsburgh

I’ve just posted the first three chapters of Or Else. I wrote this yesterday in anticipation. 

I’m sitting in Mellon Park, in the shade of a big tree, drafting a blog post for tomorrow. Off to my right, I can see the bell tower of East Liberty Presbyterian and the white dome that I’ve always assumed is an athletic facility that either belongs to the park on the other side of Fifth or to the Ellis School for Girls, I’ve never been sure which. In some summer in the late 2000s or early 2010s, I used to cross this park on my way back from Shadyside to the house in Point Breeze where I was staying with family friends. I would stop and sit on a bench and read that week’s edition of City Paper. Some other summer, I lay on the hill in the sun and read P.N. Furbank’s biography of E.M. Forster. Now I am here, again, in 2024, because I chose to be.

Academia insists that you move wherever the job takes you, and since traditional tenure-track (i.e., stable and well-paying) jobs are so horribly hard to get these days, you feel guilty if you’re not grateful for whatever you get, no matter how bad a fit the location is. Or so my friends say. I didn’t get a tenure-track job after getting my PhD in English. I don’t have any real idea how much that was my own fault: whether it was because I stubbornly chose to do an unconventional project; whether I didn’t try hard enough to legitimize my project in my job documents; whether I hadn’t published enough. Maybe I hadn’t worked hard enough. Maybe I wasn’t that strong of a scholar. Or maybe there were just so few jobs to begin with that the academic job market is in large part simply a crapshoot, and I didn’t win.

It’s possible I just didn’t stick it out long enough. I don’t know. But I suspect that when all is said and done, the underlying reasons I am here and not there can be boiled down to two things: (1) I want to make my own choices about what my work looks like and (2) I want to be happy in my own life.

So after I finished my Ph.D., I moved back to Pittsburgh. I love the city—it’s where I went to college, and I’ve missed it ever since leaving—and there are enough schools here I figured I could at least adjunct somewhere. I’m actually getting to teach literature right now, which I love doing and am very grateful for. But I am on no ladders to academic glory. 

For the last couple years, however, I’ve been clinging to another possible means of professional success: I could publish the novel I wrote as part of my dissertation. Then I’d be impressive in another way. I queried a number of literary agents, at an inadvisably slow pace, shooting off emails when I could stand the accompanying anxiety. It felt clear, though, that what I was going to need to do to get anywhere serious was network, some of which (workshops, conferences) costs money. And I hate networking and I hate paying money for someone to give my work a chance. I am so cognizant of how many people can’t afford that, and how unfair the whole system can be.

And anyway…I didn’t really want to make my work more marketable. Which is inevitable if you’re going to try and market it.

So I made a different choice, again. To put the novel, the project, on a website of my own. I’m lucky and I am privileged to be able to make this choice—I have a job, for now, that pays enough. I have a safety net in my family and friends. I have a cat but not kids; I have rent but not a mortgage. I have an advanced degree. I can afford to not pin any financial hopes on writing.

Yet it’s hard not to feel like a whole litany of well-meaning teachers and colleagues from over the years are going to be disappointed in me for doing it this way. Or just…disinterested. People who would perk up their ears at a commercially published novel will simply pass by one posted online for free—even if they have good politics generally around capitalism and professionalization. There was only one right answer to the head of my undergraduate drama school’s question, “What are you working on?” and it always involved something that would look good on your resume (and the school’s promotional materials).

Oh well! Here I am! Sorry, everyone: I love amateurism. I love art and writing that people do because they want to. I love fanfiction. I love community theatre. I love zines, I love high school marching bands, I love queer craft fairs. I love adults who rediscover Shrinky-Dinks and polymer clay and make potholders for their friends. I love local book clubs and writing communities on Discord. I love Pittsburgh—I think Pittsburgh’s whole vibe is slightly wonky DIY: faded old signs painted on brick buildings, tree roots pushing up through sidewalks, folding chairs saving parking spots, memories of the Beehive and Garfield’s Nightmare and whatever happened to that one ice cream place that became an illegal banking cooperative or something? Or Else is set in Pittsburgh, at a made-up university I’ve shoved next to Pitt and Carnegie Mellon (who says there’s not room in Oakland), and it’s about people who sort of…make their own worlds, for better or worse, who live one foot in the kind of scrappy imaginary I find so possible in this city. And I am glad to be here, in Mellon Park, writing this, watching a dog with the spindliest legs I have ever seen in my life walking past (sorry Juno), preparing to launch my big little project into the world.

Later update: After I finished writing this post, I walked around the garden in Mellon Park. I was appreciating the Pittsburgh hallmarks I’d just been writing about—bumpy bricks, crumbling walls, etc., and then I tripped on an uneven sidewalk and skinned my knee. I will take this as a reminder that choosing one’s own road comes with obstacles of its own. I am sticking some metaphorical antiseptic into my metaphorical knapsack as I venture down the mysterious path through the woods.

<3 Miranda

[40sandfabulousaf]

大家好! I caught up with Dude, an old friend of 15 years at Burger & Lobster, located in 1 of our most iconic and poshest hotels besides Marina Bay Sands: Raffles Hotel. The restaurant name basically tells you what they specialise in. I'd wanted to try their lobster laksa but they didn't serve it, alas, so I ordered their lobster lollipops in 3 flavours - cayenne pepper, smoked and butter. They were nice but I probably would've enjoyed the lobster laksa more. Anyway, I made a video again, so, enjoy!

I try to have at least 1 simple meal each week out of compassion for Palestinians in Gaza. The risk of famine there remains very high. Even if more food has been allowed into the war-torn area, malnutrition remains rife. Whilst I may not always have 2 or more simple meals a week, my weekly breakfast is a must. This time, I chose kuai shu mian (instant noodles) after intensive exercise on Saturday morning. Because many Palestinian families survive off bread and little else, I didn't add protein nor vegetables. I'm very blessed since I'm able to eat nutritiously for other meals, whereas thousands of civilians in Gaza don't enjoy this privilege.

During our weekend catch up, Grace, Douglas and I watched horrifying videos depicting the anguish children in Gaza are experiencing. I'm sharing some in this post because we find them impossible to ignore. Kids with limbs blown off, undergoing surgery without anaesthesia, who may not walk again, some who remain in critical condition despite efforts to save them and some so malnourished, they either died or are skin and bone. This is only the physical pain. Our hearts went out to the child asking to be buried together with his dead younger brother. Watch the videos and see for yourself the kids' trauma. You can't make this up; who in their right mind wants to make this up anyway?

I've been feeling even more gratitude for our wonderful hawker fare in recent weeks. News about the starvation in Gaza as well as weekly simple breakfasts (and lunch or dinner if I can) reminded me of how blessed we are to have nutritious meals. It's easy to keep complaining about much higher prices of almost everything, lower living standards and having to watch our spending. But when I read about or watch the devastation in Gaza, I know that during these turbulent times, we're already very fortunate. What is there to complain when millions around the world are going through the same thing?

Ending this post on a bright note, negotiations between Hamas and Israel look optimistic at the mo. Most countries around the world (i.e. the real international community) overwhelmingly support a permanent ceasefire and two-state solution. What needs to be addressed next is police brutality against student protestors on university and college campuses. Why was this only targeted at those speaking out against the war in Gaza? It looks like oppression and this isn't supposed to happen in a country which claims to be democratic, right? 下次见!

[mydarksadshadow]

build your dream life ~ prompts

date: 8 July 2023 where do I want to be in a year? 3 years? 5 years?

in a year: I want to be in a job that defines me as a Data Analyst. I want to be thin, as a result of going to the gym regularly and eating healthy, nourishing food. I also want to be living in a flat with roommates, with a whole room to myself, ideally.

in 3 years: I want to have progressed enough in my path and I want to be looking and working at different ways to grow myself in my career, whether it is doing a master's degree or further upskilling myself. at this point, I also hope I am able to easily afford a Europe trip for myself.

in 5 years: I want to finish all my academic-related goals by this time and only look forward to keeping growing my career and myself as a person; indulging more in my hobbies and living a healthy life and look forward to settling down with a special someone. if someone like that isn't in the picture, I'd like to be able to be fully capable of doing everything that I have ever wanted to do, all on my own, i.e., taking care of myself, traveling, having fun, being able to save up to buy a house, etc.

what does my dream life look like? include career, health, relationships, finances, personal goals, etc.

career - start off in the technical side of data analysis, then work my way up into its creative decision taking aspects as well, by educating myself in varied subjects.

health - I want to exercise daily and eat a healthy, nourishing diet regularly as well. I want to quit smoking completely and I want to age well. I want to always follow a skincare routine that works for me and I want to be thin and strong and not have a double chin.

relationships - I want to have a good set of friends who are loving, kind, and loyal to me, as I am to them. I want to have a financially successful husband whose vibe matches mine and our jobs allow us to live in the same city always. these relationships feel very fulfilling to me. with my extended family, I want to be in touch with them semi-regularly in a way that helps us keep up with each other's lives always.

finances - I want to have multiple sources of income by the time I retire. I want to own at least 2 houses that I can rent out and one that belongs to me as my permanent home that I can live and retire in rent-free. I want my matured stocks and mutual funds to bring me handsome money that I can happily and comfortably live with. I do not ever want money to be a source of worry in any way. I want to live with abundant money at my disposal.

personal goals - I want to manage my anxieties, self-doubting, self-pity, lack of self-belief, and low self-esteem in a way that makes me feel like I have rid myself of these feelings forever. I want to be able to feel proud of myself and not feel any imposter syndrome or like I am undeserving of any goodwill that comes my way in any form. I want to move on from all of my past traumas and I want to move on from being hurt by all the bad things people have done to me before. I want to feel happy and I want to feel like I deserve happiness and love and freedom from all things that hold me back including things that are beyond the realm of my understanding.

which feelings will I feel living my dream life?

Maybe I won't be as anxious when it comes to uncertainty. I will feel secure no matter what life throws at me or how badly people treat me. My reaction to these things will define me, and not how people are treating me or what life has thrown at me at that point. I will be happy, generous, and good at setting healthy boundaries with people, and know how to hold my tongue when things get rough. I walk with grace because I know I am loved and cared for. the thought of me always being there for myself doesn't frighten or make me sad, instead, it makes me feel strong whenever I am low.

what are my long-term goals and which short-term goals can I aim for to achieve them?

long term goals:

have a fulfilling career

be healthy and slim and look youthful

cultivate a safe space for myself, within myself, i.e., be self-assured. I want to learn to be okay with being by myself and know that I'll always have my own back no matter what

feel worthy of having a comfortable life and having loving relationships

be well-read and informed.

short term goals to achieve them:

devote an hour daily to prep for my dream role, ie, time block

do some form of rigorous exercise almost daily

eat healthy food on weekdays, junk only on the weekends

quit smoking completely

do skincare daily religiously

drink at least 4-5 liters of water every day

wake up early to read non-fiction for half an hour

have a fixed morning routine- water, poop, read, exercise, and make a to-do list for the day.

write down 3 things I am grateful for each day before bed

what challenges might arise while trying to attain my dream life?

the only challenge is my lack of action, ie, productivity, ie motivation, ie excuses. this is my only challenge tbh. and also feeling a lot of guilt for not having started earlier. guilt for not being motivated enough when I should have. guilt for letting the ugly jibes of my parents get to me.

what am I willing to sacrifice to make this dream life happen?

my feelings of lack of self-belief, self-pity, and past traumatic words, I hope I am continually able to ignore these feelings that hold me back from being consistent. I anyway don't have a very "enjoyable" life. I just need a routine and some discipline to follow through.

[frances-kafka]

So, if you want to understand the history of ND stuff in any useful kind of way you have to know that we talked about these things differently. Gen Xrs have a different generational experience and Boomers' is different still.

Prior to the 80s, NDs were really not a thing. The optic was almost entirely in terms of learning disability and intellectual impairment in the 70s.

ADHD - not autism - is really the first we see of anything resembling the modern ND consciousness, as "autistic" was a label reserved for children presenting with severe disability or at minimum, delay.

Autism in the 70s and 80s and before was not culturally adjacent to ADHD or giftedness, it was adjacent to conditions of severe intellectual impairment.

It's possible to be an 80s ADHD labeled autistic who gets good interventions *because lots of how ADHD was understood at the time, got absorbed by autism later.*

This is basically my story as a matter of fact, a lot of helpful support I got early was via the ADHD pipeline, and so ADHD *is* my "recognized early enough to get meaningful self understanding and meaningful support* narrative, which is a big reason I was ABLE to shrug off autism as a label for about 15 years, until the changing autism stereotypes caught up with me.

ADHD and early issues with visible LD etc are WHY I didn't end up in the "normal until hospitalized" optic that some autistics I knew ended up in, if they had *only* been seen as gifted. I was very aware of my stuff very early even if it was called something else and even if it will be called something else in the future, and it shaped my social choices, my career choices, etc.

Also there was the optic to Boomers and older that you really could just be a "normal" person or even a high performing "genius" who was just "a little slow as a kid." (There are many historical figures this actually applies to. "A little slow as a kid" may just be within a *normal* range of child development.) This is actually part of where many Boomers are coming from when they think a certain degree of autism is just normal.

Early labels in adults (whom we would now understand as high masking ASD-1) were more personal history than identity.

To Boomers and older, you were "mentally well" until you presented "mentally ill." There really wasn't anything like being ND as we presently understand. Also, the *very same optics* that got boys seen as gifted, invested lots of time and support into, etc, got girls into the clinical pipeline early. The real dx discrepancy between girls and boys in my generation and older is the degree to which cis het white rich boys were just allowed to not be anything at all while girls were immediately tagged as mentally ill or developmentally disabled with the very same presentation, even within the same family. My grandmother who was a victim of this, and heavily and deeply abused from early childhood, is the sister of my physicist uncle who was on the Manhattan Project and was odd but successful, had a wife and family, never labeled anything at all.

Lots of people we now see as autistic were just considered normal gifted people who then had a "nervous breakdown" after high school/entering the adult world.

It was possible to be totally ego-syntonic as an odd person until diagnosis, if you were in the 80s gifted pipeline, because if you were in a social set that was actually ALLOWED to be intelligent let alone gifted in the first place (i.e., an upper middle class person, with more weirdness optic allowed for boys) you likely weren't going to be diagnosed with ANYTHING unless you were Weird with a Capital W.

That I had any kind of optic besides just being Gifted is *because* despite high IQ, I was a poor academic performer, and *couldn't* mask well inside a school setting.

These are people without even that optic.

They literally were just seen as gifted, and it was assumed that - of course - highly gifted people were a little weird. Gifted optic in school meant access to a whole different social and academic pipeline consisting hugely of other people we would now understand as ND, so it's actually possible to come out of that being totally ego-syntonic, and never ever even seek diagnosis until something breaks.

If you're like my ex husband who ended up just going away to sea for years, and then becoming a programmer in a basement at a university, you might never get diagnosed with anything, especially if you never see yourself as the problem in any of your interpersonal interactions, and that was a FAR more common optic with gifted white Gen X and Jones ASD-1 boys than early dx was.

The thing for my generation isnt the degree to which boys were diagnosed over girls... quite the opposite, it's the degree to which smart white rich boys were just *allowed* to be odd and given tons of concessions *without* being labeled ANYTHING, because of the degree to which the culture saw that boy was probably a future curer of cancer or a future astronaut.

A chunk of the "NT [more likely, high masking autist] woman miserably married to ASD man" narrative on those websites like FAAAS is actually referring to men who don't have any diagnostic label whatsoever and don't understand themselves as the problem, if you actually read the stories.

Those guys don't get diagnosed until something actually breaks - like, their wife hauls them into couples counseling, or they have finally exhausted their supply of good will (many social compensations of gifted children stop working past one's 20s and that's actually when my dx happened too).

Interpersonal problems weren't enough for dx unless they actually bothered a person enough to seek help. Something has to break. You don't end up with a diagnosis because you're happy and adjusted, no matter how odd you are.

Please ask Boomers about nervous breakdowns because half the time this is referring to what we now understand as autistic burnout.

[sexydreamgirl]

To the academic validation anon - I’ve literally been in your exact boat. Exactly. Abusive situation and completely fucked up school after years of grade skipping and gifted and talented programs. Struggled with depression, OCD, and eating disorders for years. However, the only thing you cannot come from is the thing you give up on.

However, I had to step back. I had to acknowledge what was stopping me. What was my surroundings like and how did I fall into the nihilistic thought patters that led me to such a downfall. After figuring that out I brainstormed ways to do damage control. I kept trying and failing with the law of assumption (because my severe anxiety and shame surrounding the situation kept leading me to spiral and unknowingly step back into the old story).

How to do damage control? For me it was summer courses. You can do it through taking a supplemental course on your next year’s schedule or studying ahead of time for your next set of courses.

I got an A+ in two summer courses I took for original credit and I knew I could do it. I had to prove it to myself that my potential for success purely within the 3D was still there. That I was capable and competent. I ran for club officer positions, started a YouTube channel to discuss my hobbies, got a job at a local restaurant, and started doing things for my enjoyment. I made to-do lists and built up the discipline to complete them (by pushing through it even if it’s exhausting or seems pointless - you have to break the chains that hold you to your bad habits) even if my motivation was extremely low.

Tip for the to-do list thing: don’t break things down into mini-tasks. Break it down into sub-tasks but I found a long time-do list overwhelmed me. My to-do lists were usually two pages. Example:

Differential Equations

- packet 10 (packet 10 may have 20 different activities within it, but listing those out would only serve to distract, demotivate and overwhelm me and cause me to not complete it all).

- lecture 4

YouTube

- complete research for video 1

- finalize bibliography

Clean room

Etc. Etc. Etc.

Another thing that may be helpful is creating an alter ego. Make up a new name and refer to yourself by it. What does that version of you do? Embody this identity and soon it will become you. Ex. I created the alter ego “Alexandra.” When I was Alexandra I was motivated, unstoppable, and I always won and never gave up. And I began to act like that even when I let go of the alter ego.

I also began to be honest with myself. I hadn’t revised the past or lived in the end yet, so no, I hadn’t failed at the law. Could I have done more at the time to not get into that situation? Yes. Was I ashamed? Yes. Was I jealous? Yes. Did that serve me? No. And so I bought a journal and wrote about it all. The things in my head that I was too ashamed to talk about and I just let it live there. Self-awareness is integral to improvement.

Then I considered what I truly wanted. I wanted to be stress free and successful. I gained a lot of pride from academic success and I wanted it back. And by taking those relatively inconsequential summer courses I proved that if I want - I got it.

I had to find worth in myself and confidence outside of academic validation. My good grades didn’t exist without my intelligence. I.e. the intelligence came before the grades, not the other way around. The discipline came before the grade, not the other way around. I had other traits. I am an optimist and on some level I never ever gave up on myself. I am intelligent and always have been. I am pretty even if the majority of the time I doubted it. People depend on me and I depend on myself. I have dreams and goals I want to achieve. I am creative and have tons of ideas even if I’m not particularly artistic. I promise you, you are an amazing person outside of academics.

By then, I was in a good place with myself and could manifest the circumstance out of existence with little stress and resistance because I had validated my feelings, looked at my actions critically, came up with a game plan that I followed through with to appease my dominant thoughts, and was proud of myself by the end of it all.

You don’t have to do anything in the law of assumption - that’s true. However, that’s usually said by people who don’t have similar circumstances like us that have produced damaging thought patterns, nihilism, and self-sabotage. Doing something in the 3D to ease the situation whether it’s some volunteer work or a published hobby or sport to help your college applications, a few weeks of a course or two to prove that you’re capable, etc.

P.S. here are some miscellaneous habits to do that you might have let slip with the depression:

Hygiene - it can be so hard to keep up with your hygiene when you’re in the dumps but a shower, brushing your teeth, and detangling your hair goes a long way. Make sure your clothes are cleaned often, too. I know it’s overwhelming but tough love from someone who was depressed - change is painful. Doing a pull up for the first time may be hard, it may be painful - but the next time you go to do it, it will be easier.

Make routines. Every morning I wake up at the same time, I know what I’m going to have for breakfast, and watch the same docu-series while I cook it. Here’s my morning routine as an example: the night before, I pick out my all of the clothes, bags, etc. I’ll need for the day. I wake up at 5:30AM every morning, I do a workout (which boosts my energy and motivation for the day), I shower, brush my teeth, do my hair, get dressed. Then I go to my kitchen and prepare a breakfast that has protein and carbs (usually an egg and a salad or fruit salad w/ a plain bagel and cream cheese and some water), then I eat it. I go to my room and clean up the space, sit down at my desk and write a to-do list and a short (usually <1 page) journal entry to dump any brain clutter, and then I get started on my to-do list. I try to do everything at once and not take breaks because I’ve found that breaks cause my motivation to drop and I become less productive (and consequently very upset with myself). Your routine is something you should try a bit with. Create one, stick with it for a few days, if it’s making you feel mentally worse then discontinue it.

Never get behind and always show up. By showing up you create a social consequence if you don’t get your work done and you create a relationship with your teachers/professors/lecturers and you won’t want to disappoint them. By getting behind, you clutter your brain with old stuff, shame from not being on top of things, and regret while you scramble to rectify the situation. Just try your best to keep up. Try to get your work done in class or as soon as you have free time. It’s miserable in the moment but it relieves your stress right after.

Acknowledge that you may feel nihilistic and depressed - but you haven’t always and you won’t always. Your concern itself proves that this is important to you and that’s enough to work for a better future.

Only when you’ve reached stability - employ the law of assumption if you still want to revise. Only revise what you want to. If you don’t want to revise your childhood - don’t. I didn’t. It’s very ugly but it’s a part of me and I can be successful despite it. But if it’s something you’d rather not be associated with - stop associating with it.

I completely empathize with you anon and I hope you can find something helpful in this advice.

Give yourself tough love but don’t be derogatory to yourself. You got this anon. Another thing would be to cut out self-deprecation but I’ve gone on too long already ❤️❤️❤️

Oh and to academic validation anon, I assumed you were in high school from the phrasing used and high school was when I went through the same thing. If not, just apply the same to college (it might actually make the advice more manageable depending on your university, mine allows you to complete many units at once at your own risk, I’m not sure of your specific institution though ofc.) Either way, besides the buffing out your college application part it all still applies. And if you plan to go to grad school or pursue a professional degree afterward it might still apply. I’d also recommend internships and shadowing someone in your desired career. You can even contact professors who teach courses in your (desired) major if you’re in college and request to shadow them or research under them. Pre-college programs are great. Scholarships are great. It makes you feel motivated, gives you experience, and buffs out your college, job, and grad school (for me, med school) application. And as much as you don’t want to hear this - again, give yourself some law of assumption downtime and just do something to do something. Yes you could manifest that you already got the degree - but you could also step back and do something cool in the 3D based on your current assumptions and gain a lot of stability from it. All the best ❤️❤️❤️

My love, thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to dedicate such a lengthy and heartfelt response to my anon. I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. ♡

[power-chords]

tbh mann really perplexed me w/heat2, lol. not that he NEEDED to make it explicit that vincent/neil is platonic - most straight guys wouldn't even think that was in question. but chris is repeatedly referred to as neil's brother, which makes hanna's lack of labeling seem even more ambiguous. why a heart-shaped locket, instead of oval? if mann didn't realize how that ending could be interpreted then he's clueless almost beyond belief. my best guess is that he just likes keeping it undefinable.

My take on his dramatic intention, in the total context of the movie and the book and close to 30 years of his own editorializing, is that their relationship is supposed to transcend categorization entirely. (Kind of like how he insists that Heat is not a genre film.) He’s been asked repeatedly about the obvious interpretation, for which there is cultural precedent and plenty credible suggestion within the story itself, I.E. whether Hanna and McCauley are his versions of the “double” or "doppelgänger" in film and literature. He always counters that it is not anything so simple or straightforward like that, and he’s right — but those pieces of symbolism have nevertheless been scattered throughout. Critics and academics are not pulling this out of their asses.

So it’s not an incorrect reading so much as an incomplete one, and I think this is what he keeps trying to clarify in his interactions with the press etc, to varying degrees of success. That motif is thoroughly established, right alongside the absolutely unrelenting insistence that these two dudes are star-crossed soulmates who have been brought together by fate. One of them is going to kill the other if they meet again, and they are also the other’s “only safe person” (Mann’s script annotations! His words, not mine!) with whom genuine honesty is possible. Mann’s whole thing is that both of these truths exist, and exist harmoniously as opposed to in contradiction (note how often he refers to Hanna and McCauley’s respective story arcs as being contrapuntal, that they are in collision more so than in conflict).

The paradox of their connection is introduced via these externalities, time and place and circumstance, what it is they do for a living. Who they are as individuals, he seems to be suggesting, makes them so essentially, cosmically compatible that even the institutional structures constraining their self-expression cannot diminish the bond. It defies the incompatible, irreconcilable spheres of their existence: cop and criminal, friend and enemy; it goes well beyond the rules of the zero-sum game of predator vs predator. (...So why not the rules of heterosexual attraction?)

These truths do not negate the other, but rather transform and amplify the strange magic of their connection, kaleidoscoping the audience's view of it, positioning it almost within the realm of the fantastic. What happens in the movie feels tragic, no doubt, but also dazzling and dynamic and profound and... oddly uplifting. Mann employs ambiguity, un-resolution, as an explosive emotional force multiplier, trying to induce this subjective experience of infinite possibility even as he seals off his characters’ exits. His goal is to cast this dreamlike spell on you, to induce a hallucinogenic sensory experience of contemplation and awe. So why subtract from that array and intensity of enjoyment when you could add yet more enchanting shapes and colors?

To that end, I think any reading that makes a point to exclude a romantic part in the subtextual symphony is arguably also incomplete. What Mann is trying to say, over and over again, is that absolutely everything I am presenting you with is real. These men are sworn enemies who will not abandon their professional and/or moral obligations, and they are platonic spiritual blood brothers bound by invisible cosmic filaments. OK, well, maybe they're also psychotically sexually repressed traumatized veterans and deep down some small part of them wants to crawl across the table and tear each others' Men’s Wearhouses off! Why the hell not! Clearly they already contain multitudes.

Funnily enough, the guy who introduced the screening I saw at MoMI back in May specifically referred to the film as a romance, and a theater FULL of straight dudes good-naturedly cheered. Of course they were also laughing, but they definitely didn’t have question marks floating above their heads. That signal is unequivocally in the broadcast, and it’s getting picked up on — to say nothing of the response to the infamous Chris Fleming tweet a few weeks ago! LOL. And since Mann’s films tend to incorporate “masculinity in crisis” as a major venue of thematic interest, allowing room for romance would be internally consistent. After all, what's more crisis-inducing to traditional norms of masculinity than a sudden realization that maybe capitalism sucks and you want to quit your job and Hey what if I just fucked that guy instead of shooting him??? I’m being hyperbolic for my own amusement, but the point remains. Love, children! It’s just a kiss away! ("Gimme Shelter" is in fact the song playing in Nate’s bar at the end of Heat 2 oh my god this isn’t even queerbaiting it’s second degree queer gaslighting, I feel insane.)

Jesus, this got out of control. TL;DR yes, he would have to be clueless. Or, more likely and perhaps more cynically, he would have to consider that analysis so self-evidently off the table as to be unconcerned with the subtext of coffee dates and tearful hand-holding. Or writing director’s notes to Al and Bob in the margins of the script for the diner scene: “ULTRA intimate now,” “both seduced, ironically,” or my personal favorite, “NOTE: exchanged dreams is when palship maximized.”

NOT going to bring this up as a part of my Plots & Schemes, lmao, although not because I’m not ballsy enough to do it or am insecure in my analysis. I honestly think I can make a solid, evidence-based case that is free and clear of any social media fandom brain worms. (My two spheres of artistic engagement are CONTRAPUNTAL, you could say.) I'm just not going to hand him the rolled up newspaper with which to swat me on the nose, so to speak. If I don’t bring it up he can’t hypothetically email me back, subject line IT’S NOT HORNY YOU SILLY BITCH, so perhaps I also thrive on the intoxicating magic of the ambiguous and undefined. Although getting that type of response would be funny enough to warrant the risk of an explicit refutation. I would just be like, a little bummed out if he didn’t go, “You know what, I see your point!” LOL.

[nothorses]

Seeing you speak about your experiences in school has given me a little hope. I'm pretty similar to you academia-wise (severe ADHD, almost identical story about high school) on top of having a physical disability and depression/anxiety combo, and I'm currently struggling for my life in a community college because the school has been pretty adamant about not giving me accommodations I need. Plus covid meant I discovered online learning is awful for me and I dumpstered my gpa so badly the school almost kicked me out (so yay I have to do in-person classes while being high-risk for covid during a time when no one is masking anymore). But a certain academic subject is basically all I live for. I've been losing hope that I'd ever be able to get into a master's program and do the work I've wanted to do since I was like 3, but I see that you have struggled similarly and were still able to go to a different school and get into a program! That makes me feel a bit more optimistic about my situation. I'm not able to word things very eloquently bc I'm sick as hell with the flu rn but I hope you understand what I mean. Higher education is hostile to human life, especially if you have any kind of disabilities. It's inspiring to see others with similar problems to you be able to persevere.

I'm really glad I've been able to give some hope!! I will say- I credit a lot of my success to getting a diagnosis and treatment, specifically at an age where I was able to make changes I needed to make & was in control of my own identity and autonomy. I also really lucked out on that I majored in education in a school notorious for teaching an extremely progressive philosophy of education; literally designed to help students like me. And the professors generally practiced that, too.

I say this only because I want to be honest about what this stuff can be like- i.e., really hard! You can suffer and claw and drag your way through it, and I don't doubt that you can. But if you can get any help or resources, at all, please please do. If you can find someone at your school who will help you figure that out, please do! Whatever you can to make things even a little bit easier is very, very worth it.

But you can do it. And some tips that helped me:

See if your school has learning disability testing; a lot of community colleges do, and can provide accommodations through that without an official diagnosis.

"Academic renewal" can remove classes from your record that you have retaken for a better grade, or that aren't relevant to your major, which can be a HUGE GPA boost depending on your situation.

Transferring to a 4-year means acceptance rates are a lot higher than if you go straight from high school!

Depending on school and professors, oftentimes your professors will give you accommodations without you needing backup from the disability accommodations office. It's worth asking about!

4-year universities are also more likely to have their own internal healthcare services; I was able to get ADHD treatment through mine, and they deal with that WAY more than any other clinic because it's so relevant to school in the first place. They also often work with external insurances, or they might have a school insurance you already pay for as a student.

I hope you're able to get the support you need, and good luck!! And if school ends up just not being for you, that's okay too- it might not be a bad idea to look into ways you can be involved in your field without a degree, or through some kind of alternative education or trade school program. You can always come back and finish your degree another time; you're entitled to the same catalogue rights from when you first started (i.e. the degree requirements stay the same for you, always.)

[aronarchy]

@iris-sunflower I’ll respond to your reblog of my post here, since my OP was already very long and I don’t want its notes to be cluttered:

1) Children and everyone having a right to public, accessible education is such an important value for me. Is youthlib against the idea of funding public schools?

I’m not The Single Valid Youthlib Representative(tm). There are many different youth liberationists who don’t necessarily agree with each other on every single point. I can only give my own opinion, which I believe is the most accurate interpretation of the principle of youth liberation: Of course I agree, and I acknowledge that public schools are currently underfunded and should have more financial support. Gatekeeping from education is oppressive.

It would put all minors at a disadvantage, and we should be improving children’s education so they have a fairer prospect for their future. Being literate, understanding math especially finance, etc.

I agree it’s a problem that so many children are unable to access any education in the first place. But I would caution against taking the “less educated = less successful” at face value. The issue isn’t that being less educated automatically, inherently means one will become disadvantaged, but that capitalism creates these disadvantages for uneducated people. It’s unfair that people who haven’t had a chance to go to/remain in school are also gatekept from jobs, resources, and respect later in life. Resolving the issue (re classism and adultism) involves making it possible for children to be able to go to school instead of being unable to access it, but it also means fighting for justice for children & adults who didn’t get to go, instead of just leaving them behind in the dust now that it’s too late or whatever. It’s sad that if someone can’t understand the (overcomplicated, very bullshit, should-not-be-existing-in-the-first-place) financial system capitalism has forced onto us, then they’ll be disadvantaged in life.

And, some children/minors/adults just can’t understand math or finance or learn literacy well in the first place, regardless of how good their teachers/educational materials/settings are. It is unfair to expect that they should, or treat them as lesser, or refuse to accommodate them. Everyone, regardless of capability, should be able to expect a good future for themself, and to have the resources to live securely.

And, formal schools (both public and private) are extremely adultist and violent to children. Does that mean homeschooling is the solution? No, because family homes are also extremely adultist and violent to children. I’m frustrated at a lot of the discourse I’ve seen, where survivors of violence from schools or violence from the home have tried to discuss our traumas, only to be dismissed and told that we should just suck it up and deal with the flaws of the institution because the alternative would be “worse.” Many people have experienced immense abuse and trauma from both schools and our families. I want to think of solutions beyond just trying to pick the lesser of two evils.

(Official) schools (in their current form, at least) aren’t particularly good at teaching in the first place. They don’t teach how to really understand the concepts of “math” so much as rote memorization and computation, for example. The way subjects are taught in schools focuses more on trying to train them into good capitalist workers, not help them develop life skills for themselves or learn things they actually want to and choose to learn themselves. Meanwhile a lot of potential educational materials (paywalled academic texts, informative books in general, politically unpopular info/arguments like honest analyses about abuse dynamics/what to do in more difficult situations, niche things they don’t really care about because they’re not profitable) and sources of education (i.e. people, places from the outside) are withheld from children because of the formalized schooling system which narrows what and how they can learn, and meanwhile tries to force students to learn whatever they don’t want and don’t need to learn, and is especially hell for disabled children/minors being forced to attend and being overloaded with work when they can’t handle that, plus all the higher likelihood of bullying and abuse from authority figures they can’t escape from.

So I believe youth liberationists, and leftists in general, should be focused on both improving access to education and ensuring that people who had not been able to access education or just genuinely don’t want to or cannot are not being punished for being uneducated either. Right to learn things doesn’t mean also being okay with forcing children to learn things (which is also a major problem right now). And grassroots education outside of formal schooling hooked up to the state/capitalist systems / the nuclear family home should also be a priority. Though it would help, “reform & improve public schools” is still not a solution to the fundamental problem of enforcing a divide between “learning” and “the rest of life” / “place to learn” and “anywhere else” / monopolizing good (or as good as possible) education in the hands of authorities.

We should be making schools better for children not losing their right to an education.

(I prefer to frame children’s rights discussions as something which centers their input and their efforts; should not just be a thing “we” pass down onto “them” on their behalf instead of them being directly involved in the process.)

(Note that nowhere in the entire article I reposted was there any claim that children should “lose their right to an education.”)

2) Does losing parental rights make parental abuse obsolete as a legal protection? Confused here.

That’s not what “right” means. A right you have is something you can do, not something you have to do. “Parental rights over their children” doesn’t mean parents are being made to care for or be nonabusive to their children; “parental rights” are the mechanisms which allow parents to abuse their children because their children are viewed as their property, or to force invasive medical procedures onto/withhold needed medical care from their children because they’re viewed as having a right to make their children’s decisions for them regardless of what the children themselves feel, or to decide what their child’s future must look like because of their “right to control” them. “Parental rights” means that outsiders are barred from housing an abused/neglected child because only the parents may choose where “their” children live.

On the other hand, parental obligations (or responsibilities, or duties) are a rather different concept. For example, every person has an obligation (or responsibility) to not abuse or otherwise violate other sentient beings. Everyone also has an obligation to not hoard essential resources they won’t use themselves while others are in desperate need but can’t access them—for example, (IMO) very rich people with control over their finances are obligated to redistribute their wealth downwards ASAP, and are committing ethical violations when they do not. As for obligations specific to parents: if they have children under their care who cannot leave/acquire that care elsewhere, they have a responsibility to feed, clothe, house, and otherwise provide for their children wrt essential resources to the best of their physical and financial capability.

Parents should face consequences for abusing children, which unfortunately will happen sometimes regardless of efforts to prevent crime. Some parents are just cruel.

I like to think of this question a bit differently. The issue here is that right now, if a parent has cruel beliefs/intentions, then abuse will happen, because they have near-unchallenged power to enact their will for cruelty. Consequences for abuse which has happened are important, of course, but I’m also interested in preventing abuse from happening in the first place, instead of just keeping up the system where kids have to roll the dice and if they land on a cruel parent then that’s just what they get and having a good parents just depends on their luck. I want to work towards a world where regardless of an ideological bigot/authoritarian’s personal desire for cruelty, they will be unable to act out the abuse they want, because they no longer have the power to do so unresisted. This is also why general social justice organizing (if it’s good) doesn’t focus primarily on reforming bigots, getting them to change their beliefs/intentions, but on reclaiming power and autonomy so that despite what the bigots might still believe, they can no longer make those beliefs matter to us as easily.

Leftists and anarchists in general are often told that we are too utopian and need to understand that “violence will always happen no matter how much you make social changes.” I dislike this framing; first of all, I’m not a doomer, and I do not want to say there certainly will always be violence, because I don’t think it is possible to guess that with 100% accuracy, and I like to leave room for a little hope in the world; second of all, it’s not really a relevant objection, because we’re not about gambling on the possibility of there being no abuse, but about taking steps to reduce abuse as much as we can and make it as hard as possible for abuse to happen.

But if parents aren’t “legally responsible,” are they not also going to be found liable for abusing their children?

I’m thinking about a certain Reddit post I read a few months ago. A woman was raising an infant with her (boyfriend? husband? not exactly sure which it was). She hadn’t wanted the child, and he had. She was slowly realizing that she just couldn’t bring herself to love the kid, and the childcare work was annoying and frustrating and exhausting her. Her bf/husband really liked the kid and was enthusiastic about taking care of them and nurturing them. A lot of commenters on that thread told her that she should leave them, because she’s not suited to be a parent for the child, as they grow up they’ll be able to tell that she’s just faking her emotions and actually dislikes them/doesn’t love them, so she should halt the toxic dynamic as early as possible. That stuck with me a lot—it would’ve been so helpful to a lot of kids if it was normalized for parents who don’t like a kid to be able to give them to better-suited, more loving caretakers who do want to have a kid, because many parents are just incompatible, just aren’t fit to parent, personality-wise or otherwise. Expanding the options for everyone to have healthy relationships and get the love and nurturing they need does not mean that neglectful parents of children stuck in their abusive household are not culpable for their harms (i.e. specifically withholding resources when they were needed). And, in general, abuse is wrong when done by anybody to anyone, legal parent or not. This doesn’t change that. And, I don’t really care about the legal system much in the first place because even with laws forbidding extended kinship networks they still don’t actually do a lot about parental neglect or abuse. I’m interested in more concrete questions like “how do we help neglected children acquire the resources/care they’ve been deprived of” or “how do we get abuse victims out; how do we minimize unwanted relationships and maximize wanted relationships; which cultural norms do we need to change to facilitate this.”

3) How would we ensure that children, particularly very young, are being well cared for - diapers, feedings, etc? Currently parents are completely abandoned by the social systems in place. I actually think a reformed/socialist service like cps (unsure of a better word) should be freely provided to all parents. Social workers or volunteers can make sure a child isn’t being ISOLATED which is the biggest factor for abuse. Neighbors may not even know abusive parents have a child and that’s terrifying.

Agreed, though I’d like to point out that this isn’t just something that can only be done by a specially appointed or paid professional group; this is something anyone can do, and especially people already close by. Like, checking up on your friends if it seems like something abusive is going on. Being that person for them if they’re stuck in an abusive home. Normalizing being more attentive to children near you socially, paying more attention to people around you in general, and lending a hand, and creating more interconnected communities which make it harder to isolate someone. It’s kind of hard to imagine given our current atomized hellscape but there are & have been societies in which families weren’t just sorted into single-unit disconnected households, and it was a lot easier to notice if something was off/hold each other accountable; also people fighting for this right now—whether children/minors using the Internet to finally befriend outsiders when they never could before, or having electronic devices they hide from their abusers, or meeting/talking to a friend in secret; or the teachers, healthcare workers, classmates, anyone else seeing them and opening the pathway for questions, help where there were no other options before, etc. & preventing isolation and exploitation wholesale means targeting the root of the problem (the nuclear family’s isolation, thru various political/economic forces)—which is exactly what the article was talking about.

[luxe-pauvre]

Hello, do you think it would be inappropriate if I sent a handwritten letter to a professor that works in the same field I’d like to work? (I’m still a student, a woman and he is man). To show my appreciation, and maybe inquire, although I’m not exactly sure how, if he would be a mentor to me. It’s the only way that I can think of, to contact him, and I’m not sure he would reply anyway, because he is somewhat “famous” and maybe he doesn’t even read his own mail. Maybe I should try LinkedIn? But again, would my message get lost among the hundreds he receives everyday? Could you share your opinion, please? Or do you think it’s delusional to think that he would even contact me? I’m not phd level so I don’t have much to offer. Thank you.

It's not delusional. It's always worth a try. I got research placements from blind emailing professors during my BSc so you don't need to be graduate level for it to work.

I don't think a handwritten letter is 'inappropriate' per se, but perhaps a little overboard. In my experience these things are usually done over email, and academics' emails are usually on their university website.

I don't think LinkedIn is a good idea either, unless where you are it's widely used in academic circles. At the universities I've attended bringing up LinkedIn to a professor would get a very heavy eye roll.

If you're going to send an email it should be short. If he opens it and it's longer than a few clear and to-the-point sentences you risk him either skimming it or not reading it at all. And it should have a point to it, i.e. not just say 'I love your work and I think you're amazing'. Ask for what you want clearly.

As for it getting lost, it's possible. When looking for both MSc and PhD projects I had a 100% reply success rate for professors by sending the email at 9am so it's at the top when they first log in. It could be a coincidence, but it likely decreases the chances of it getting lost in the pile in the middle of the day.

Edit: see the notes for an excellent addition from @soilandsinew 👇🏻

[collectivefandomstuff]

Hey mom! I’m stressed at 1am, any advice? I’m having trouble in school via studying sometimes it feels like we’re going from 0 to 100. And I need better study habits, do you have any advice? Bc sometimes it feels like I’m so afraid of failure that if I do study to my full potential (sounds weird) I feel like I loose the excuse of saying oh I got a bad score bc I goofed off. Like if I actually do all my effort to study and do bad, then is there something wrong with me??

(A/N: this answer is so long I almost feel ashamed to post it. I’m very sorry everyone. Anyway, if you’re looking for the concrete tips they’re at the end :) )

Hey :)

This doesn’t sound weird at all because I’m the exact same way. This way of thinking is actually more common than you’d think, and is often a part of the cognitive profile of perfectionism (btw, perfectionism isn’t that apt a name but I digress. Also, this way of thinking doesn’t mean you’re a perfectionist.). Anyway, I know a bunch of people who’ve experienced this, and the common factor isn’t fear of failure, but rather what it is you think you’re failing at. For example, I once told my therapist that I was super stressed over a bunch of stuff and I also had a paper I had to get done, and he asked me what would happen if I didn’t turn it in on time and I was like “academically? nothing. mentally? I wouldn’t be me anymore.” And that’s the stitch.

The people I know who struggle with this are often (though not exclusively) girls, and often people who’re pretty smart. They spent their childhood being told over and over that they were gifted, intelligent, and good at school. And back then, that was easy to live up to. They danced through the first few years of school without any issue, and enjoyed it a lot. They did their homework, understood stuff, and were usually “good kids”.

Now, we’re always growing and re-shaping our sense of self, but the foundations are lain when we’re children. So, when people around you keep identifying you as a smart/good student, then we start identifying ourselves like that too. Especially if it is being reinforced by your actual achievements. And then, suddenly, getting good grades isn’t about doing well or working hard, it’s about identity. It’s about who you are at your core. Thus, the stakes become infinitely higher. If you fail at a math test that you really studied for, then that means that you don’t have what it takes, and that means you are no longer yourself- the intelligent kid who’s good at school. A test might not be that anxiety-inducing, but losing your whole sense of self is. So, in that case procastination makes a lot of sense, because as long as you don’t fail while doing your best then you never put your identity on the line.

(This also applies if failing at school has become synonymous with being a failure, i.e. if you’ve been taught that doing well academically is the only way to be a successful/useful person in society, or if academic success has merged with the idea of a happy future so it feels like failing autmatically leads to an unhappy life. Essentially, mental structures that lead to a misconception of the stakes involved in a single exam/paper/task.)

That said, I do have some more practical things to say here. First off, sometimes we’re in a situation where we can’t do our best and that’s okay. I’ve failed exams, tests, papers, you name it and I still have my degree in the end. It’s never the end all of things.

Now, my own biggest freak out like this came when I started uni. My first paper I went completely insane and procrastinated like crazy, and I failed. And then the though crept in “what if I can’t do this? What if this is it. I can’t handle higher education, even if I try my hardest?” The anxiety was... big bad and mad.

I should say for this next part that my therapist once told me that I have a strangely aggressive approach to handling anxiety. Moving on. I sat down and said to myself “what is worse, to try my hardest and fail or half-ass it and never be able to live the life I want?” Since the answer was pretty obvious, I got to it. I had about 5 weeks until the next exam, and I sat down and planned every single hour until then. I studied for that damn test like I’ve never studied before, and whenever I felt anxious I would tell it to FUCK OFF and focus on the task I had planned. I didn’t allow myself to think beyond that first planning session, I just did what was next on the agenda. What am I supposed to do right now? read these 10 pages? Ok.

I’ve had two exams during my studies where I failed (the second due to the situation I was in) and ended up in this spiral. And here’s the funny thing: I have a small number of courses in uni where I got a higher grade. They include 1) courses that I found extremly interesting and 2) those two courses.

Okay! I know this is already so fucking long but I want to give you some actual tips too. Number one is obviously to plan. Take a whole day, sit down and plan the next month. Consider all your assignments, when they’re due, what you need to do to study, how long that’ll take and when that is done most efficiently. Plan everything in your calendar. Give yourself enough time for each task that you can do it even if you’re not super super focused. Do not study outside these hours. When you’re done for the day you’re done for the day. This way, there’s a clear, reachable end to each study session and you don’t feel as compelled to postpone tasks. When you sit down to study, don’t worry about the other stuff you have to do, or other subjects that you haven’t done yet. They’re all in the plan, all you have to do is what is in front of you. As long as you keep doing that you’ll make it. (If the plan goes to shit for some reason, take a day to plan a make a new one. It happens).

Some things to consider:

Different subjects are best studied in different ways. I used to set aside 15-30 minutes every day in high school for Italian, where I’d sit down and read the chapter we were working on out loud. I didn’t even focus that hard, I just did it every day- the chapter and the glossary. I STILL remember some sentences from that book. Math is best done in longer stretches, but not too long. 1-2 hours preferably. Think about how YOU work. Do you best read a textbook in one go or in increments? Do you learn better in a coffee-shop or your room? Silence? Music? This can also change depending on your subject. Plan accordingly.

For reading, time your reading speed for the book. Read a page at normal speed and clock it, then multiply that by the pages you need to read to see how much time you’ll have to plan for. Round up to give yourself room for spacing out.

Plan for breaks. Think about your normal need for it, but the uni standard is 15 minutes for every 45, making an even hour. Find a break activity that’s has a specific end, for example making some more tea/coffee and snacks and doing some stretches, or maybe playing one race in mario kart. Avoid things that you can get stuck doing beyond the alotted break time.

Buffers. For every five hours or so, plan one hour of buffer time. This is time that you can use if something takes longer than expected. If you do everything as planned, this is surprise free time! :D If you have a long study session, plan 30 minute buffers every two or three hours to be used for extra breaks and to keep panic at bay. Buffers will save your life.

Make a chart with different tasks and have little boxes that you get to fill in with fun colours when you’re done. If you have to read 100 pages, do a bar with ten boxes, that way you can see your progress visually.

Plan for days/evenings that are free. Plan what you’re going to do those days, like “movie night with X”, “play videogames and eat cupcakes”, “take a long bath and read a good book”. That way, you use your free time well and can use those days and evenings as incentive.

Prioritize your work. If you have too much to do, make a list of what’s most to least important and focus on doing the important stuff first. This includes studying tasks. What’s more important, reading that text for the third time or really understanding integrals?

Drink lots of water and eat sugar. It’s brain food. I usually bake before an intense week. That way when I feel myself going down I can go get a cupcake instead of taking time to make something to eat, or worse- try to soldier through which never works.

I hope this helped a little at least :) Good Luck! I believe in you! 💙💜

[acchonorsstudentorg]

Study Tips from the HSO

It's that time again, fellow Riverbats and friends. You know the one: the weather is changing, the leaves are falling, and midterms are calling... 🎃🍁📝 Stirred by the crisp autumn air of a new season, the HSO Leadership Team is happy to share its personal study habits and insights! 📖📚

We hope you'll enjoy exploring these unique approaches toward learning and success. We'd love to hear your own. ✌

Jana McCarthy, Director of Advising

My study routine is based on years of tweaking and learning what works for me and what doesn't. I found my study style and early routine with the help of an Academic Coach, which is a resource I recommend for ALL students, but especially Honors students.

I start with my readings. I read and annotate in a heading-to-heading format.  I start with the top-level heading, read the info, highlighting main ideas and things to note along the way. Upon reaching the next heading (sub level or any heading), I pause, and concisely note the highlights I made in that section - usually in a doc or in a spiral. At the end of the chapter, I have then made an outline of what I felt was important, which serves as a reference moving forward.

If there are lectures or videos to watch, or assignments to complete - that comes next. I put the notes in the same doc or just after the reading notes, so that it's all in one spot. Importantly, I use symbols and notations to ensure that I can easily locate specific items that I may need again.

I usually study in 1-hour blocks, with a 15 minute, mindless, break in-between. Mindless means that I'm doing something that won't override the material I'm trying to absorb: walk the dog, do the dishes, take a catnap - avoiding mental stimulation that will distract me from encoding the new material. The time I spend works for me, but others need more or less time studying or breaking.  Find what works for you.

Finally, I always work on the material asap after a lecture or class meeting. Google: The Forgetting Curve, to learn why.

Mars Medina, HSO President

Studying for me is definitely challenging (wooo ADHD!) but I’ve found some ways to circumvent that.

Overall, first things first: I turn my phone over and put it out of sight! That is definitely my biggest distraction. Next, I make a list for the assignments or projects I need to work on/complete for either the day or for the rest of the week if I somehow have little to work on.

Working with different studying techniques, especially the Pomodoro technique, has worked well for assignment-heavy weeks. For notes I try to write them down by hand, as I found that writing it down instead of typing it usually results in me retaining the information easier. I’ve also found that index cards (for things like memorizing quotes or definitions) are a huge help.

Music helps me out too, to kind of drown out the rest of my environment; hilariously enough, I usually study to metal music but lo-fi is my second go to! My biggest advice for studying, however, is this: make sure to take breaks!

Aaron Turner, HSO Social Media Team Lead

I'm pretty flexible when it comes to studying. Since each course is unique, I structure my approach in a "flowchart" sorta way (something I didn't know until I actually wrote it out here, lol).

First, I read each syllabus and compile all due dates from all courses into a single calendar. For each course, I then:

1. Get info on tests (Note: If there are no tests, I skip to Step 2)

1.a. Will test questions come from multiple sources or a single source?

If the professor confirms only one source (i.e. from lectures), I double down and study from just that source. That said, I always follow the professor’s lead.

1.b. If I'm studying from a textbook: I try to read ahead of the lectures; I highlight key concepts and say/write out my own explanations; I conduct multiple reviews leading up to the test.

1.c. If I'm studying from lectures: When attending the initial lecture, I listen to get acquainted and usually take few notes; I rewatch the recording and write down key concepts and info; I conduct multiple reviews.

2. For reading, writing, and researching (i.e. for a paper, presentation, homework, etc.)

2.a. I start EARLY and do a little every day.

For research, I use the ACC Library and other reputable websites; I highlight and save passages; I take notes while reading or watching videos; I keep track of my sources.

2.b. I ask questions; I go to office hours and seek tutoring when needed.

Amber Traylor, HSO Treasurer

Like many students, I can struggle to manage my time when trying to study or complete homework. What I’ve found works for me is a combination of two strategies:

1. I maintain an accurate calendar reflecting when assignments are due, when exams are, and what other activities I have planned on certain days. This helps to remind me what needs to be done on a given day and allows me to focus based on the order of importance, this is often called the Covey technique and involves ranking things from urgent, to not urgent, to not important.

2. I also use a variation of the Pomodoro technique when studying or doing work. I often find that around the 1-hour mark of working, my brain starts to lose focus and I seek out distractions. To maintain my productivity, I work straight through for 45 minutes and then take a 10-to-15-minute break. By breaking up my work, I can stay on task for several hours at a time. I also alternate my types of work between sessions; I may start on math, then rotate to science, and then switch to English before going back to math.

At the end of the day, you must make studying a priority while in college. Develop techniques that work best for you but look over these ideas to see if you like them!

Here's to a great 2nd half of the semester! 😎 👍

Visit the Academic Coaching Team's Online Study Resources for additional tips (+materials and study guides).

Happy Studying and Succeeding,

the HSO Leadership Team

[mr-entj]

Career 102: Getting a job you have no experience in

Combined with the following asks:

Hey Mr ENTJ. Do you have advice on how to move from academia into industry for someone who has only research experience? Only a CV and not a resume? Thank you!

How do you spin skills from one industry to be applicable to another? I'm a theater and English major (yes, I know) and it's been difficult finding work lately, because I am stuck living in a state where there are little jobs for that. I've worked on films, weddings, as a curator guide at a museum, and have my AA. I've had good interview after good interview, and have been outright told at three different places that I was a perfect fit. And then they went with someone else. Any advice?

Hi Mr. ENTJ I love your blog, is a great source of information for me so thanks for that! I have a question if you don’t mind. What kind of advice would you give to a graduate student who has not worked on their field during college and now is looking for a job? I’m a Business major but I’m currently working as a language teacher at a private institute (it started as a part-time job) My salary’s really good, however I’d like to start working in business but I have no experience on that :( thnks!

Hi there! I've read some of your advice to other askers and find what you say very perceptive and realistic. I'd like to ask your opinion. I have Bachelors and Masters degrees in the life sciences. I worked in academia for 2 years but my field lacked funding so I left. I have no commercial experience.I have problems getting a job because of this and most companies' resistance to hiring nonpractical grads. I want to go into consulting which is more flexible with degrees. What would you advise?

Hi mr entj! This may be a bit of a stupid question but what should I do if I can't find the job in a field(actually sub-field of a field) that I'm aiming for? I'm looking to be a concept artist but I can't seem to find any such jobs that don't require atleast a year of experience and since I'm a fresher I don't have that. In my country, there is also not a tradition of getting small student jobs so I don't have that experience either. Help me with some tips please.

Related answers:

Resume and Cover Letter Guide

Job Hunting 101

Top 3 job hunting mistakes college students make

Tips on transitioning from school to the workplace

Job interview tips

To break into a field that you have no experience in, translate the experiences in your current career into the “language” of your target career. The ultimate goal is this: make it as easy as possible for the hiring manager (and recruiter) to understand your background. People are lazy, they aren’t going to waste their time performing mental gymnastics to figure out how your obscure experience applies to their available job-- if they can’t figure it out-- your resume goes into the rejection pile. Make it easy for them.

To do that, see below.

Step 1: Collect multiple job descriptions of similar roles 

The goal is to source as many overlapping skills as possible for the same role so that you can update your resume to reflect them. To illustrate this, let’s say you’re currently a school teacher but your goal is to become a Communications Manager for a tech company. What kind of skills are tech companies looking for in Communications Managers? A simple search on LinkedIn for “communications manager” yields 42,000 results:

You don’t need to read all 42,000 job descriptions, but pick 4-5 that interest you from top companies (i.e. Lyft, Twitter, Facebook, Google) of similar nature. Top companies are leaders of the pack; their job descriptions are reliably the ones that other lower tier companies will copy.

Step 2: Identify key themes

All job descriptions that aren’t scams will have sections called “roles/responsibilities” and “minimum qualifications” with detailed bullet points describing what they’re looking for in the ideal candidate. As an example, I’ll use the Lyft “Internal Communications Manager” job description above and a “Communications Manager” job from Twitter to identify the key themes.

Lyft - Internal Communications Manager

Responsibilities

Work closely with and influence key company leadership to develop and disseminate their important messages to team members, including aligning the team on our strategy, goals, and priorities (Key theme: Communication)

Own strategy and results for keeping all relevant team members informed on important org news and updates in a timely and engaging manner.  (Key theme: Stakeholder management)

Provide strategic, direct hands-on support to key senior leaders  (Key theme: Project management)

Proactively identify new opportunities and develop new programs to continually up level our internal communications program  (Key theme: Analysis)

Successfully collaborate with cross-functional partners to execute on a comprehensive plan for seamless communications.  (Key theme: Collaboration)

Maintain the Lyft voice across all communications, written and verbal, and across company leadership (Key theme: Branding)

Keep Lyft fun!  (Key theme: Culture fit)

Twitter - Communications Manager

Roles And Responsibilities

Coordinate with various Twitter teams on product launches, announcements, issues and other news  (Key theme: Project management)

Craft communications materials with a high degree of consistency, conviction, and strong tone of voice (e.g. messaging docs, communications plans, blog posts, statements, Tweets)  (Key theme: Communication)

Drive proactive, creative storytelling around our products and the people who build them across a range of media, both traditional and non-traditional (press, podcasts, speaking engagements, video, etc.)  (Key theme: Communication)

Help the team establish and maintain relationships with reporters nationally and globally.  (Key theme: Stakeholder management)

Manage a high-volume of incoming queries from media covering product matters, and be able to consult and drive towards decision-making on press response during high-pressure scenarios  (Key theme: Project management)

Serve as a company spokesperson in the U.S. and in other markets.  (Key theme: Branding)

Draft, manage through reviews, and upload blog posts and Tweets for announcements and updates  (Key theme: Communication)

Track press coverage for key announcements; identify and correct inaccuracies in stories  (Key theme: Analysis)

Support team to drive proactive stories in global, local and industry-focused publications  (Key theme: Project management)

You’ll notice that the same key themes will emerge for similar roles. Extract these key themes and copy and paste them into your resume. Move to step 3. 

Step 3: Translate your experience and achievements to map to these key themes

From the Lyft and Twitter Communications Manager job descriptions above, we have the following 7 key themes:

Communication: Writing, editing, speaking, etc.

Stakeholder management: How to be organized and manage large groups of people of different levels and backgrounds

Project management: How to be organized and adaptable to support senior leaders with whatever they need done

Analysis: How to be a critical thinker who can spot better ways to do things (AKA performance/process improvement)

Collaboration: How to achieve success with people from different backgrounds

Branding: How to write in the company’s voice or a voice not your own

Culture fit: You need to jive with the company’s organizational culture

As a school teacher, you may not have the exact experience required but you’ve definitely done work that maps to these key themes. Use the verbiage from the job descriptions to write new bullet points for your resume:

(Key theme: Communication): Crafted and distributed weekly internal communications to 500+ students on academic updates, key event announcements, and other news in collaboration with administrative staff

(Key theme: Communication): Managed a high volume of inquiries from parents and administrative staff on the academic performance of 30+ students, provided updates and resolved concerns resulting in strong performance ratings

(Key themes: Stakeholder management + project management): Collaborated closely with senior leadership and a team of parents, educators, and volunteers to fund, launch, and manage the school’s $400,000 music program resulting in new extracurricular opportunities for 40+ students

(Key theme: Analysis): Led strategic initiative to improve academic curriculum and identified new teaching methodologies for 20 ESL (English Second Language) students resulting in an 15% increase in annual graduation rates

It won’t be a perfect fit, you will still get a lot of rejections, but your profile and background are much easier to understand to someone hiring for a communication manager role than it was before. Use your new resume as a script for the job interview to explain your experience as it relates to the role they’re hiring for.

Key Takeaways

Brand yourself for the role you want, not the role you have. Your resume and LinkedIn should contain a description of the role you’re aiming for and what skills/experience you bring to the table. If you’re currently a school teacher who wants to become a Communications Manager, then brand yourself as a “Communications leader with expertise in education, project management, and collaboration with people of various backgrounds.” This also makes it easier for recruiters to find you online because if they’re hiring for a Communications Manager, they will not be searching for a school teacher, they’ll be searching for key words related to that specific role.

Apply everywhere. You’re going to get rejected, a lot, it’s part of the process and you’re an underdog so don’t take it personally. Job hunting is a numbers game, always cast a wide net.

Progress is better than perfection. If your goal is to become a Communications Manager for the United States White House but you’re currently a school teacher, then the odds are you won’t immediately get hired by the White House. The goal here is to first break into the industry and work your way up. Accept the role that you want in a company that may not be your first choice because progress is better than perfection. Once you accumulate achievements in this role, other more reputable companies will be willing to take a chance on you.

Networking is everything. This is why human connections are the most powerful-- resumes can score interviews, but relationships build careers because hiring is about trust. If people don’t know you and your experience doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence or trust, they won’t extend an offer and commit to a legally binding employment agreement. To build that trust, use university career offices, professional networking events, internet job sites, forums, and other venues to engage and meet people. Socialization leads to trust which leads to opportunities.

[aal-archaeology]

Words from a so-far successful archaeologist (25 years old/recent Ph.D. admit)

Hello Everyone!  I have revived my Tumblr to find many messages asking “what do I do next” when it comes to Archaeology/Anthropology. So I thought I’d create a post explaining what I went through to get to where I am now, and hopefully give some information to those who are pondering on the next steps to take in this truly wonderful field of study.  Quick academic about me: 

Undergrad: Ivy League, Major: Anthropology-Geography, Minor: Religion

After Undergrad: 1 year of Cultural Resource Management (CRM) & Substitute teaching

Graduate School: England MSc in Archaeological Information Systems

After Graduate: 10-month long research grant in Cambodia

Now: (USA)  Ph.D. Candidate in Anthropology, Archaeology Track

I come from a low-middle class family, all of my academics have been funded through financial aid or through grants that I’ve applied for. A lot of the time school and research can get expensive, but that doesn’t mean you have to be wealthy to pursue it!

Per usual, please feel free to DM me at any point with questions (here or IG @ aal.archaeology), I’m always happy to help to the best of my ability. Success in this field is really dependent on networking!

I’ll set this up based on the various landmarks of my academic career: 

1. Undergrad

Themes: Ask for help, build your resume, write down everything

No matter where you are going to school, it is so so so important to use the resources around you. Becoming a professor is HARD work, and each one of your professors went through a lot to be able to stand in front of you and teach you. They’ve likely had years and years of research experience, which is probably still happening behind the scenes of teaching and grading papers. More often than not, professors want to help you, they want students to be excited about the research they’ve worked so hard on, and they want to do what they can to help you achieve your career goals.  Therefore, if there’s a class you’ve taken or a professor whose research you’re interested in, tell them. This is how I got my first experience with archaeology (before I even knew that I wanted to do archaeology). I randomly took an Anthropology class that sounded cool, and after the first class, I was like WOW I love this topic so much and I really want to know more about it. I went up to the professor that was teaching it, told her I was really interested and asked if she knew of any research opportunities available. She then hired me as a student researcher in her lab to do data entry for one of her archaeological projects in Mesoamerica, and after working for her for a few months, she asked me if I wanted to go with her and her team to Mexico for fieldwork. 

         (my timeline at this point: 19 years old, end of Sophomore year)

From this experience, I learned how to apply to grants within the University and funding outside of the University, and was able to FULLY fund my research experience in Mexico. During this fieldwork, I got to work with 3000-year-old artifacts, do archaeoillustration, and eventually got my own chapter published in the book that my professor wrote about the research that was done.

After I got back from Mexico, I started exploring archaeology further. A new professor entered the department who specialized in “digital archaeology,” and his research involved tracking looting patters in Syria using satellite imagery. I thought this was crazy so I then went up to him and asked if I could help him with his research. (the common theme throughout this entire process is just asking for help). From this experience, I learned that I loved the possibilities that technology brought to the study of archaeology, everything from 3D modeling to identification of sites in satellite imagery to spatial mapping in GIS. With this professor, I was able to form an “internship” with him, and continued doing that and other minor projects within the department. I ended up modifying my major to incorporate coursework from the Geography department and created my own “Digital Archaeology” major.

        (my timeline at this point: 22 years old, Senior year)

As graduation began to creep closer, I had been able to get a good amount of lines on my resume. I had:

research assistant/ data entry

fieldwork in mesoamerica

x2 internships with digital archaeology prof

multiple “small” projects around the department i.e. making posters, painting 3D prints of bones,

all of the coursework I had done on GIS/ relevant digital experience

started a drone club at my school (it flopped, but it still counts as a line on the resume!)

All of these lines became useful when starting to think of jobs and the “next step”

UNDERGRAD HIGHLIGHTS & TAKEAWAYS:

Ask for help, your professors are there for a reason, it will almost always lead you to new opportunities. These relationships last well beyond your graduation and definitely come in handy later, make it count!

Write down EVERYTHING that you do. Did you help out with a conference? Write it down. Did you do a couple hours of data entry? Write it down.

Follow your leads! I started my anth journey in Mesoamerica and ended my undergrad in Near Easter digital archaeology (and I entered college wanting to do astronomy?). Change is natural, let it happen.  

2. Gap Year Between Undergrad and Grad School

Highlights: Job applications, field school, CRM, uncertainty

Something that I was always told during my undergrad was that you really need to do a field school and some CRM to be taken seriously post-grad. This shows that you actually want to be an archaeologist outside of the classroom environment. Field Schools and CRM give you valuable experience such as: excavation methodology, report writing, grant applications, teamwork, leadership, etc. 

I started applying for jobs probably about 5 months before I graduated and ended up securing a job at a CRM company in LA. They liked how much I had done during my undergrad, but they really wanted me to have a field school under my belt before I started working for them. Because I had already graduated and didn’t need course credit, I was able to do my field school at a discounted price (these things really do get expensive, and this was a difference of about $2k). I think this worked out in my favor waiting until the summer after I graduated because it saved me a lot of money in the end. 

After my field school was done, I started work that September in CRM. This job ended up being nothing like what I thought it would be, to be honest. I was an Archaeological Field Technician that was part-time/on-call, meaning I only got work when they needed someone to go monitor a construction site. I only got work once every month, sometimes every couple of months, so I was making hardly any money. I realized this quickly and decided to become a substitute teacher to supplement the CRM job. I HIGHLY recommend doing this if you end up in the same situation. Not only does subbing fill up all of your non-working days, but it also gives you the flexibility to choose when you can work and gives you teaching experience that you can put on your resume. That CRM experience can be really important, so it’s good to stick it out long enough to quit.

      Why didn’t I like CRM? For me, my job was very sparse, included driving long hours to a construction site, sitting there all day in case archaeological material popped up, and then driving home. Sometimes it was just walking back and forth across a massive field full of cow poop looking for arrowheads, and often it felt like I was just clearing land so that a big building could be erected. I was really missing the research component to all of it. The pay was also not great. 

GAP YEAR HIGHLIGHTS AND TAKEAWAYS:

What I got from this year was very valuable, even though it wasn’t necessarily that fun, however. 

I got the experience I needed in CRM

I got some teaching experience (also volunteered to mentor clubs and research at local high schools during this time)

I started doing some networking (I found some alumni that were doing work that I wanted to be doing and reached out to them)

and most importantly, I realized that I really do love school and wanted to go back for my Masters

So I started looking into Masters's programs. This is kind of a scary thing especially in the US because school is expensive. I still really wanted to do Digital Archaeology, and I couldn’t find a single program in the US had a focus in this topic, and especially couldn’t find one that I was willing to pay for. 

The UK, however, had plenty of Digital Archaeology programs, and the programs were only a year long and a fraction of the price in the US. I decided to take a chance and apply, got in, and then suddenly I was moving to England. (in hindsight I really didn’t spend much time at all making this decision, but it worked out in the end). 

3. Masters Program

         (my timeline at this point: 23-24 years old)

I chose the program I applied to based on its focus on the techniques that I wanted to use, namely, remote sensing, GIS, and 3D modeling. I really wanted a degree qualification that spoke for itself, and therefore applied for an MSc in “Archaeological Information Systems.” 

I had done some networking during my gap year and connected with an alumnus who was doing research in Cambodia using digital methods, and she offered me the opportunity to join her fieldwork. I agreed to join her in Cambodia during my degree, and also applied for a research grant for the year following my master's degree to continue fieldwork in Cambodia. 

I used this opportunity to fuel my dissertation topic and focused all of my writing and coursework throughout my grad school experience around Cambodia. While I was surrounded by people studying Roman architecture and Medieval Studies, I spent my time doing independent work and building a network in Cambodia. 

This program was a great experience for the most part, I was surrounded by beautiful medieval architecture and had a great community throughout. I personally didn’t really like the UK school system compared to what I had received in the US, however. This was largely because of the way coursework was set up. (If you want to know more just DM me).

MASTERS HIGHLIGHTS AND TAKEAWAYS:

Follow networking opportunities, and find someone doing what you want to do (or close to it) and let them help you take the steps to get there

If you’re going to do grad school, do it in something you know you love. Don’t waste money on a program that isn’t right for you.

Make sure that the program you apply to allows for flexibility so that you can do research on what YOU want, not what THEY want.

Halfway through my Master's degree, I received word that I had been accepted for the research grant (Fulbright) and would spend the next year living in Cambodia doing independent research.

4. Gap Year Between Masters Program and PhD

If you’re planning on a Ph.D., I think its a really good idea to do something before applying that relates to what you want to be studying. This shows that you’re dedicated to your research and to a life in academia, and have the ability to produce something from your work. 

My master's degree was nice because 1) it was short, only a year-long, and 2) allowed me to focus research on what I was interested in. This gave me the experience I needed to lead into a year of independent research.

This year of independent research was definitely contingent on receiving the grant in the first place, and I think that I would have started job searching again had I not received it. However, the small things I did leading up to applying for it really helped in qualifying me to receive it. 

     I had:

All of the undergraduate research experience

CRM experience

teaching experience

fieldwork experience

a master’s degree that focused on the region 

established a network of people in the country beforehand

a couple “publications” from fieldwork 

This grant fully funds me living in Cambodia, and has allowed me to participate in cultural exchange with some amazing people here in addition to allowing me to partake in archaeological fieldwork across the country. 

Again, I cannot stress enough how important it is to network. If you like something, find someone else who likes the same thing, send them an email.

Networking got me my experience in Mesoamerica, Digital Archaeology, my CRM job, my research experience in Cambodia, and so so much more. All because I sent that first email.

5. PhD Applications

I applied to 1 school. I got in. Its a really good school. I’m still in shock. 

However, I think I really did set myself up for success in this one. 

The biggest advice I can give in the world of Academia is:

NETWORK

Talking to people who have gone through what you’re going through are the BEST help. They can mentor you through these experiences, offer you new opportunities, or lead you in the direction of someone else who can help.

PLAN AHEAD (but be open to change)

Okay, so you’re applying to grad school. What do you want to focus on while you’re there? What do you want to do with the degree when you’re done? Do you want to start working? Do you want to do more research? What opportunities are out there for research funding? What is the job market looking for? Is there anyone in my network that can help me get there?

None of these have to be concrete plans, they just have to exist in some shape or form so that you have the ability to latch on to one when the opportunity arises.

If you’re doing something that you love doing, you’ll find a way to make it happen. All opportunity comes from the amount of effort you put into getting it! Thanks for reading and best of luck on your studies! Also Happy Anthropology Day! :)  -Lyss