5 Months Left

This winter break has been so nice because its bee just that: a break. A break from lectures, homework, friends, my house in Tacoma, poorly made meals (by myself) and everything. But its kinda scary that with only one semester left: aka 5 months. That deadline is coming up so fast that it makes me not look at this break like a break anymore.

Its a time with no distractions to figure out what I’m doing next semester. For some they’ve already figured out they want to attend grad school- they’ve applied and they’ve heard back and are deciding or waiting to hear back, they want to attend a postgrad fellowship program- they’re waiting to hear back. Basically most people on those paths know when they’re making a decision about next year or they already have. Me, I could’ve been on the second path but basically I’m looking for a career and jobs post-undergrad.

The first semester was kinda a weird time because I couldn’t apply to jobs that had immediate openings or that starting in Jan 2017 because I would still be a student, but I still looked at a lot of companies and organizations just to get a feel about what I want to apply to, how and when to do so. Upon thinking about what my major is and what I want to do I realize its just like applying for college again but way more scary. Every company is different, every location is different and at this point they aren’t necessarily catering to graduates but real people and I’m competing with other real people for these jobs. I can’t take a nonchalant approach to applying for jobs as I did for college because I need them more than they need me. So now my break has turned into future planning because getting a job is the first step. Then there’s finding somewhere to live, feeding myself, getting transportation and then actually moving there.

SAT, ACT, MCAT, GRE, LSAT, EE, and other confusing acronyms that determine our future.

Foreword: In reflection of finals, the real world, grades, achievements and moving through life

The word assessments, its synonyms and examples often strike dread, nerves and other not so happy or bright thoughts. Yet it doesn’t occur to use to question the methods of assessments. “Why must we be given assessments?” “To assess your learning and understanding” Ah okay that makes sense. But then the next question we should ask is “How well do the assessments accurately reflect our learning?” And that is a question that can vary from person to person. Especially in today’s society we understand everyone if unique, and conforming standards can affect our personality and emotions.

 

Food Independence

This past Martin Luther King Jr’s Day at the beginning of the semester I volunteered at HUG-Hilltop Urban Gardens Food Soverignty project with my Theta sisters. We got to hear the vision of Dean, who wanted to create a community-based and independent system of creating a space to grow food, tend to the plants and share food ideas with everyone pitching in what they can: recipes, gardening time, land plots in front of their houses, etc.

That was especially meaningful for me as a student worker in our Dining & Conference Services on campus and for the fact I do not have a meal plan and have been shopping, planning and cooking my own meals (mostly!).