Once upon a time, someone told me that senior year is easier. And by once upon a time, I mean everyone has lied to me for the last four years about what my life senior year would be like. I have been swimming in piles of class work, trying to sort through grad school applications (PLEASE SOMEBODY WANT ME), and dealing with the fact that with senior status comes a large amount of responsibility within student organizations.
When did I sign up for this?
I think, to some extent, the idea that seniors don't have to work hard is rooted in the way we, as underclassmen, saw seniors behave in personal contexts. It always seemed like the seniors were the ones who always had time for a party...and can anyone say Cellar Wednesdays (the Cellar is our on-campus bar)?
I'm starting to wonder, though, how much of that culture was perpetuated by the sheer amount of work and stress which comes with senior year -- if maybe that's how people are choosing to cope.
All I know is that I'm jealous of the students whose Wellness classes involve taking naps. That's just not fair.
Senioritically yours,
Rachel Leigh
This is a blog about things, about thinking about things, about talking about things, and about being as snarky and poignant as I can manage. I hope you enjoy it.
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college. Show all posts
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
On Testing (and what else has been on my mind)
I'm taking classes on American healthcare policy and urban poverty this semester and, as is often the case, you can reasonably expect that thinking a lot about these topics is going to color the direction of my blog a bit as ideas knock around in my head. Be warned.
However, today what I want to talk about focuses a lot on education policy. Specifically, test scores. Obviously, with the GRE coming up, this topic has been floating around in my head for a while -- and finding out that several schools in the poorer areas of Richmond have been shut down or are in danger of being shut down for failure to meet standardized testing requirements definitely drove me to think about it some more.
I never really understood all the opposition to standardized testing. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I typically test well and, as such, never saw any harm in it. Having family enter the teaching field, though, and watching teachers and professors struggle with standardized testing has made me think a lot about what can be measured by standardized testing.
It's always been a pet peeve of mine that SAT and other test-prep classes all seem to focus on "teaching the test" instead of teaching the material. These classes consist largely of keywords and tricks to avoid actually knowing the materials being tested and instead to know what kind of people the test-writers are. But that's the class you've signed up for.
However, and I see it in students I work with from time, when this becomes the role of teachers in the typical school setting, things slip through the cracks. Instead of teaching the material and doing well on, say, the math section of the SAT because you know how to do the math, the job of math educators becomes teaching students to look for cues that an answer is wrong, many of which have nothing to do with the math itself. And that gets to be dangerous. It also de-legitimizes the testing process, because instead of quantifying how well something has been taught or learned, it quantifies how well you can game the system.
When did that become the point?
Qualitatively yours,
Rachel Leigh
However, today what I want to talk about focuses a lot on education policy. Specifically, test scores. Obviously, with the GRE coming up, this topic has been floating around in my head for a while -- and finding out that several schools in the poorer areas of Richmond have been shut down or are in danger of being shut down for failure to meet standardized testing requirements definitely drove me to think about it some more.
I never really understood all the opposition to standardized testing. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that I typically test well and, as such, never saw any harm in it. Having family enter the teaching field, though, and watching teachers and professors struggle with standardized testing has made me think a lot about what can be measured by standardized testing.
It's always been a pet peeve of mine that SAT and other test-prep classes all seem to focus on "teaching the test" instead of teaching the material. These classes consist largely of keywords and tricks to avoid actually knowing the materials being tested and instead to know what kind of people the test-writers are. But that's the class you've signed up for.
However, and I see it in students I work with from time, when this becomes the role of teachers in the typical school setting, things slip through the cracks. Instead of teaching the material and doing well on, say, the math section of the SAT because you know how to do the math, the job of math educators becomes teaching students to look for cues that an answer is wrong, many of which have nothing to do with the math itself. And that gets to be dangerous. It also de-legitimizes the testing process, because instead of quantifying how well something has been taught or learned, it quantifies how well you can game the system.
When did that become the point?
Qualitatively yours,
Rachel Leigh
Thursday, August 8, 2013
On Ranking Season
It’s that time of year again. The annual college rankings are starting pour in (ranking every aspect of college life from the biggest party schools to the most sober schools, overall happiness, attractiveness of both campus and students…), in anticipation of the next round of applicants for whom this is the time to really narrow down the list of schools they’ll be applying to over the next couple months.
If you’re in college and pretending you haven’t been stalking where your school falls on these lists, you’re lying to yourself.
Love it or hate it, everybody has something to say about where their school ranked. In my case it’s something along the lines of “who forgot to tell The Daily Beast that the University of Richmond and the University of Virginia are not the same school?”*
There are a lot of reasons to be curious – gloating rights, for one. Plus, high rankings in certain areas mean prestige for the school, a more competitive incoming class, and donor money. All typically good things. But being ranked too high or too low on the party school rankings is probably not a good thing.
Case in point, last year’s top-rated party school (according to the Princeton Review, although Playboy also does a ranking) was WVU, which saw a crackdown this past year on campus drinking, drug use, and partying in an attempt to clean up its image. Make it all shiny and new for the incoming class of parents who may not want their kids at the top-ranking party school. But let’s face it, if your academics can even reasonably match your social scene, and you make it on that list, you’re going to see a rise in applicants. People spend most of their young-adult lives being told that college will be the best four years of their lives, and they look to these kinds of rankings as a way to ensure they’re not wasted.
Are they always accurate? Not really. The Princeton Review, for example, generates their entire list based on self-reported student surveys about campus life, which means scores can be artificially inflated or deflated, and that the standards aren’t exactly what you’d call objective.
But it’s still pretty interesting to check out.
#45th Happily Yours,
Rachel Leigh
Sunday, July 7, 2013
On Skins and Adolescence
Last Monday was the premiere of the first episode of the last series of Skins.
For those of you who don't know, Skins has been one of my favorite shows since it first washed up stateside my junior year of high school. I loved it for a lot of reasons, including, in large part, the fact that Nicholas Hoult played Tony Stonem in the first two series.
But really, what drew me in when it comes to Skins was the way they portrayed people my age. Yes, the show was racy and definitely a lot more wild than my life (or anyone that I knew, really) was at the time. But after years of seeing the 16-19 year-old years treated like nothing more than bad grades, shopping trips, and shenanigans learning to drive, it was amazing, to me, to see a show that portrayed its teenage characters as complex, autonomous characters.
The characters in Skins had the complicated backstories that are often associated with much more adult stories -- neglect, abuse, loss, joy, family. They also had real, complex problems -- depression, suicide attempts, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, anxiety. Skins was the first show I ever watched that treated my generation more like adults than children. And it made me feel less alone.
The characters in Skins made real, complex decisions and those decisions had consequences. Even now, with the final series and the reboot of some of the original characters in the specials Fire, Rise, and Pure, the characters, who have aged since the last time we saw them (Effy Stonem, for example, is now working for a high-powered investment bank instead of wreaking havoc on her high school/college), are facing adult issues with real consequences. And I'm excited to see where it all heads. In the meantime, I'm glad there is at least one show that presents adolescence as something more complicated than just that awkward time between when you're a little kid and when you become a full-fledged grownup.
I am speaking, of course, to the UK version of Skins. The American adaptation that MTV tried to pull off was a laughable shadow of its British counterpart.
Culturally yours,
Rachel Leigh
Photo credits:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYBodWpgle0hIMbsYTKZBIef1lk_al7HdSIl0M9y3YbcrKztrbOcs6rS6h_ljjHLyNVLRd4iLTTgeWdtjDvERAPRbmnP9ZaJmXw828mlGSCHE33zQT4n42ELHwRHwuXRjuQ_h43CcT9hr/s400/skins-cast-nagy.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOULGUtYct73gRdOX-Vqi0l4R-2m0WmNU-oxEkc1fmGUQ_PoZMromuPK7GvPTRjtj-ntC0VXmpVc7JF6hN-zfRfCS35S1EyeAIdVrEmTwJIwr2n5Q1Ni39Krh0I1AFyKy4qk60OpDARib6/s1600/article-0-0CA776D4000005DC-732_634x429.jpg
But really, what drew me in when it comes to Skins was the way they portrayed people my age. Yes, the show was racy and definitely a lot more wild than my life (or anyone that I knew, really) was at the time. But after years of seeing the 16-19 year-old years treated like nothing more than bad grades, shopping trips, and shenanigans learning to drive, it was amazing, to me, to see a show that portrayed its teenage characters as complex, autonomous characters.
The characters in Skins had the complicated backstories that are often associated with much more adult stories -- neglect, abuse, loss, joy, family. They also had real, complex problems -- depression, suicide attempts, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, anxiety. Skins was the first show I ever watched that treated my generation more like adults than children. And it made me feel less alone.
The characters in Skins made real, complex decisions and those decisions had consequences. Even now, with the final series and the reboot of some of the original characters in the specials Fire, Rise, and Pure, the characters, who have aged since the last time we saw them (Effy Stonem, for example, is now working for a high-powered investment bank instead of wreaking havoc on her high school/college), are facing adult issues with real consequences. And I'm excited to see where it all heads. In the meantime, I'm glad there is at least one show that presents adolescence as something more complicated than just that awkward time between when you're a little kid and when you become a full-fledged grownup.
I am speaking, of course, to the UK version of Skins. The American adaptation that MTV tried to pull off was a laughable shadow of its British counterpart.
Culturally yours,
Rachel Leigh
Photo credits:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTYBodWpgle0hIMbsYTKZBIef1lk_al7HdSIl0M9y3YbcrKztrbOcs6rS6h_ljjHLyNVLRd4iLTTgeWdtjDvERAPRbmnP9ZaJmXw828mlGSCHE33zQT4n42ELHwRHwuXRjuQ_h43CcT9hr/s400/skins-cast-nagy.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOULGUtYct73gRdOX-Vqi0l4R-2m0WmNU-oxEkc1fmGUQ_PoZMromuPK7GvPTRjtj-ntC0VXmpVc7JF6hN-zfRfCS35S1EyeAIdVrEmTwJIwr2n5Q1Ni39Krh0I1AFyKy4qk60OpDARib6/s1600/article-0-0CA776D4000005DC-732_634x429.jpg
Monday, June 17, 2013
On Dumb Culture
Now, I'm generally not a fan of calling attention to people with rocks for brains, mostly because I think stupid people get too much attention anyway. However, in the aftermath of a stunningly incoherent speech about women, education, men's inherent leadership role, and job creation from Miss Utah in the Miss Universe pageant and the incredibly disheartening news that Sarah Palin will be entering the network news circuit as a political commentator (admittedly on Fox News, but that's still more viewers than she should be getting), I need to speak up.
I am all for female role models. We definitely need more of them.
But, for the love of all that is good in this world and for the sake of creating a better future for the next few generations of girls, can we please stop treating ignorant, uneducated women as something endearing or desirable?
We have a culture that says that women are bad at math and science, despite repeated studies that show that the gap in performance occurs over time, as girls LEARN they aren't supposed to be good at math and science. We discourage women from entering leadership roles, and those who do are often met with sexism and criticism of their mental and emotional capabilities in their role. And, despite the continued push for empowering female education, we still hear things like "My boyfriend thinks I'm too smart for him" (vlogbrothers video) or "'If smart guys like dumb girls and dumb guys like dumb girls, what do smart girls get?' 'Cats, mostly'" (Modern Family).
Glamourizing and promoting the idea that it's "cute" for a woman to be ditzy or ignorant makes intelligent girls feel like their intelligence is a hindrance -- something to be ashamed of and hidden if they ever want to be loved or taken seriously. But what good does it do for society to teach half the population that, if they're good at something, they should try and hide it?
Ignorance isn't cute. It isn't funny. It's sad, it's an insult to our education system, and it's really bad for the way girls see themselves.
Angrily yours,
Rachel Leigh
I am all for female role models. We definitely need more of them.
But, for the love of all that is good in this world and for the sake of creating a better future for the next few generations of girls, can we please stop treating ignorant, uneducated women as something endearing or desirable?
We have a culture that says that women are bad at math and science, despite repeated studies that show that the gap in performance occurs over time, as girls LEARN they aren't supposed to be good at math and science. We discourage women from entering leadership roles, and those who do are often met with sexism and criticism of their mental and emotional capabilities in their role. And, despite the continued push for empowering female education, we still hear things like "My boyfriend thinks I'm too smart for him" (vlogbrothers video) or "'If smart guys like dumb girls and dumb guys like dumb girls, what do smart girls get?' 'Cats, mostly'" (Modern Family).
Glamourizing and promoting the idea that it's "cute" for a woman to be ditzy or ignorant makes intelligent girls feel like their intelligence is a hindrance -- something to be ashamed of and hidden if they ever want to be loved or taken seriously. But what good does it do for society to teach half the population that, if they're good at something, they should try and hide it?
Ignorance isn't cute. It isn't funny. It's sad, it's an insult to our education system, and it's really bad for the way girls see themselves.
Angrily yours,
Rachel Leigh
Thursday, May 23, 2013
On Digital Humanities and My Job
I don't often talk about my work, but seeing as I'll be doing it 40 hours a week for the next seven weeks, maybe it's not such a bad idea to give everyone a little 'splaining.
If you followed the other blog linked to this account, you probably know I'm a writing consultant, as I used that blog to discuss the training process and the challenges I expected to face as a writing consultant. But what you may or may not know is that for the last three years, I have worked at the UR Digital Scholarship Lab.
The DSL is a Digital Humanities research lab. To a lot of people, digital humanities sounds like something of an oxymoron, because the humanities (history, philosophy, etc) tend to be pursuits we naturally link with neo-Luddism. Okay, no, most people don't think it's an oxymoron -- mostly, they just kind of look at me like "huh?"
Our work in the lab is some bizarre hybrid of historical research and computer science skills that come together to create interesting historical resources which match the modern age -- interactive maps, updated digital archives, things which make often inaccessible research or concepts modern and graspable.
My pet project since I've worked there has to be Visualizing Emancipation -- an interactive map of the emancipation process during the Civil War. A lot of people think (and we're certainly taught) that Emancipation happened when Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation and, like a magic spell, all the slaves were free. Maybe, if your education was a little more in-depth, you were taught that what gave the emancipation of slaves legal teeth was the passing of the 13th Amendment. Yay no more slaves!
What VE shows is the fact that the process was much more complex than that, and also precisely that -- it WAS a process. Every emancipation event in the database corresponds to a primary or secondary source which can point to the exact date at which a slave ran away, was liberated, was re-enslaved, or any number of other major events which focus on the fact we're not just talking about a historical or political moment in time. We're looking at the lives of people with real agency and whose freedom was not simply given to them.
This is not even to touch on the continuing plight of slaves and human trafficking victims which persists in a country that points to a point in history as the time when Americans stopped owning other Americans. But that's a topic for another day.
For the time being, if you want to check out what I've been up to or the Visualizing project, you can go to http://dsl.richmond.edu, http://dsl.richmond.edu/emancipation, or follow the project on twitter at @vizemancipation.
Historically (and digitally) yours,
Rachel Leigh
If you followed the other blog linked to this account, you probably know I'm a writing consultant, as I used that blog to discuss the training process and the challenges I expected to face as a writing consultant. But what you may or may not know is that for the last three years, I have worked at the UR Digital Scholarship Lab.
The DSL is a Digital Humanities research lab. To a lot of people, digital humanities sounds like something of an oxymoron, because the humanities (history, philosophy, etc) tend to be pursuits we naturally link with neo-Luddism. Okay, no, most people don't think it's an oxymoron -- mostly, they just kind of look at me like "huh?"
Our work in the lab is some bizarre hybrid of historical research and computer science skills that come together to create interesting historical resources which match the modern age -- interactive maps, updated digital archives, things which make often inaccessible research or concepts modern and graspable.
My pet project since I've worked there has to be Visualizing Emancipation -- an interactive map of the emancipation process during the Civil War. A lot of people think (and we're certainly taught) that Emancipation happened when Lincoln made the Emancipation Proclamation and, like a magic spell, all the slaves were free. Maybe, if your education was a little more in-depth, you were taught that what gave the emancipation of slaves legal teeth was the passing of the 13th Amendment. Yay no more slaves!
What VE shows is the fact that the process was much more complex than that, and also precisely that -- it WAS a process. Every emancipation event in the database corresponds to a primary or secondary source which can point to the exact date at which a slave ran away, was liberated, was re-enslaved, or any number of other major events which focus on the fact we're not just talking about a historical or political moment in time. We're looking at the lives of people with real agency and whose freedom was not simply given to them.
This is not even to touch on the continuing plight of slaves and human trafficking victims which persists in a country that points to a point in history as the time when Americans stopped owning other Americans. But that's a topic for another day.
For the time being, if you want to check out what I've been up to or the Visualizing project, you can go to http://dsl.richmond.edu, http://dsl.richmond.edu/emancipation, or follow the project on twitter at @vizemancipation.
Historically (and digitally) yours,
Rachel Leigh
Sunday, April 28, 2013
On Finals Week (Page 6 of 8)
It's the last Sunday of the semester, and I'm holed up in the library writing a blog post. You know what that means -- it's Finals week, and I'm once again using this blog as an excuse to procrastinate on whatever it is I am actually supposed to be doing. Finals Week posts tend to be, in some ways, reflective, as I get a chance to look back on a semester of life lessons and stories and stupid generalizations (like my post about judging you based on where you study).
This one's a little different, because most of the time, Finals Week comes with a sense of finality. Instead, I find myself already thinking ahead to three weeks from now when I'll be moving all of my stuff back into the dorms at U of R for my summer job. It feels like nothing's really ending, which I think is compounded by my fundamental inability to grasp the fact that I'm going to be a senior in about two weeks. None of it seems real -- nothing's ending, nothing's starting, it's just kind of fading into itself. Is this what the real world is like? Who knows?
For those of you who have finished your finals already -- well, I hate you. For those of you still struggling through, best of luck!
'Twas the night before finals
And all through UR...
I'll come up with a way to finish that rhyme someday.
Good luck,
Rachel Leigh
This one's a little different, because most of the time, Finals Week comes with a sense of finality. Instead, I find myself already thinking ahead to three weeks from now when I'll be moving all of my stuff back into the dorms at U of R for my summer job. It feels like nothing's really ending, which I think is compounded by my fundamental inability to grasp the fact that I'm going to be a senior in about two weeks. None of it seems real -- nothing's ending, nothing's starting, it's just kind of fading into itself. Is this what the real world is like? Who knows?
For those of you who have finished your finals already -- well, I hate you. For those of you still struggling through, best of luck!
'Twas the night before finals
And all through UR...
I'll come up with a way to finish that rhyme someday.
Good luck,
Rachel Leigh
Saturday, April 13, 2013
On Take Back the Night
As I take a break from taking notes on why Paul Feyerabend thinks we should throw method in science out with the bathwater, I want to talk about Tuesday night.
Tuesday, April 9th at UR was Take Back the Night. For those of you who don't know what Take Back the Night is, it began in Philadelphia in the 1970s in response to the problems that women face walking alone at night. Women are taught to fear the dark and the things that go bump within it, and Take Back the Night is intended to empower women and reclaim what has repeatedly been taken away. It is primarily a sexual assault/rape awareness campaign, and at UR involves an open-mic style speaking event and a candlelight vigil.
It is a really moving event, but I think more than anything what I love about Take Back the Night is the extent to which it 1) puts a face to the idea of a survivor of sexual assault and 2) forces you to look at people as whole, complex individuals who have faced things and have proven themselves to be extraordinarily strong in the face of something that breaks a lot of people. I know that I, personally, have this overwhelmingly powerful reaction whenever I see someone now who I have seen speak at TBtN in the past. It is a combination of sympathy, empathy, and respect, sadness for what they have gone through, and pride for the strong and wonderful people they continue to be in spite of it.
I was heartbroken to see the sheer number of women who are a part of my daily campus community who went up to speak about something that no one should have to face and extraordinarily impressed and inspired by the number of strong, brave, beautiful women who refuse to let their rapists, stalkers, abusers, or scars define them.
I am proud to know you. I am proud to fight with you.
Yours,
Rachel Leigh
Tuesday, April 9th at UR was Take Back the Night. For those of you who don't know what Take Back the Night is, it began in Philadelphia in the 1970s in response to the problems that women face walking alone at night. Women are taught to fear the dark and the things that go bump within it, and Take Back the Night is intended to empower women and reclaim what has repeatedly been taken away. It is primarily a sexual assault/rape awareness campaign, and at UR involves an open-mic style speaking event and a candlelight vigil.
It is a really moving event, but I think more than anything what I love about Take Back the Night is the extent to which it 1) puts a face to the idea of a survivor of sexual assault and 2) forces you to look at people as whole, complex individuals who have faced things and have proven themselves to be extraordinarily strong in the face of something that breaks a lot of people. I know that I, personally, have this overwhelmingly powerful reaction whenever I see someone now who I have seen speak at TBtN in the past. It is a combination of sympathy, empathy, and respect, sadness for what they have gone through, and pride for the strong and wonderful people they continue to be in spite of it.
I was heartbroken to see the sheer number of women who are a part of my daily campus community who went up to speak about something that no one should have to face and extraordinarily impressed and inspired by the number of strong, brave, beautiful women who refuse to let their rapists, stalkers, abusers, or scars define them.
I am proud to know you. I am proud to fight with you.
Yours,
Rachel Leigh
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
On March Madness
It's March. If you don't live under a rock, you know what that means. It means that every college sports fan you know, and even some people who aren't, will be glued in front of the television for the next few weekends.
It also means brackets. Now, brackets are just an interesting statistical experiment, because a) despite the painstaking efforts that go into determining seeds for the tournament, they never really seem to hold in practice and b) no matter how much effort you put in, it seems like there's always that one person who lucks their way into a better bracket than yours.
Don't get me wrong, I get why some people make three and four brackets, each differentiated by a few key decisions. But I also kind of...don't. Sure, it's exciting, but unless you're an intense gambler with a lot of time on your hands, I really don't get the hype.
Maybe someone can explain it to me. Meanwhile, time to return to stressing over mine.
Madly,
Rachel Leigh
It also means brackets. Now, brackets are just an interesting statistical experiment, because a) despite the painstaking efforts that go into determining seeds for the tournament, they never really seem to hold in practice and b) no matter how much effort you put in, it seems like there's always that one person who lucks their way into a better bracket than yours.
Don't get me wrong, I get why some people make three and four brackets, each differentiated by a few key decisions. But I also kind of...don't. Sure, it's exciting, but unless you're an intense gambler with a lot of time on your hands, I really don't get the hype.
Maybe someone can explain it to me. Meanwhile, time to return to stressing over mine.
Madly,
Rachel Leigh
Monday, March 11, 2013
On Major Life Decisions
"Everyone I know is getting married or pregnant. I'm just getting more awesome."
~Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother
Okay, hold the phone. Who told everyone around me that it was okay to start getting engaged and married or popping out babies? When did I miss the memo on this whole life-changing-decisions thing?
I feel like I've got my life in order when both my socks match and I wake up before noon. How is it possible that people my age are making these huge decisions about spending the rest of their lives with someone? Or multiple someones, apparently.
I guess I'm torn, because I've read a number of things about how this generation is wasting our 20s, because we think we have our whole lives ahead of us to make these huge decisions, so it doesn't matter if we don't settle down or figure our lives out. And I rationally know that that really just isn't the case. But I don't feel like I'm emotionally or personally ready to start making those kinds of choices.
And I think a lot of this comes down to another big difference between Denmark and the States -- because in Denmark, most people don't get married until their 30s, at least, and most people older than I am are still in college and figuring out their lives. And I feel like that shouldn't be a crime. But unfortunately, in our system, it seems like not having everything figured out already puts you behind the 8-ball.
So now I'm suddenly having these visions of browsing the Help Wanted ads and spending my nights searching cheap dating sites (since my broke, unemployed, imaginary butt clearly couldn't afford the good ones), taking care of cats that somehow came into my possession, hoping to figure out my life. And it seems like it's way too soon for those kinds of thoughts.
I guess I'm just not sure if everyone else is moving too fast or if I'm just going too slow to keep up, but either way, my head is spinning and something seems off. I really just want to watch some cartoons and play with Legos.
Peter Pan-ing with the best of 'em,
Rachel Leigh
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
On My Plans for Valentine's Day
This week is the Vagina Monologues, which in addition to being a great time with an amazing group of women, is one of my favorite times of the year because it allows me the opportunity to make people extraordinarily uncomfortable by yelling at them about vaginas.
Now, the reason I enjoy making people uncomfortable by yelling at them about vaginas is not simply because I like making people uncomfortable. The fact is that I like pointing out the ways in which your discomfort doesn't make sense. The word "vagina," and the legions of college girls yelling about them in the Student Commons, are considered weird or offensive because we are taught from a very young age that vaginas and the things they do and the things they're used for ought to be shameful and secretive. All you need to know to know that is to look at the ways a girl will go out of her way to hide the fact that she's on her period -- which is, y'know, entirely out of our control and completely natural.
So girls are taught that our bits are supposed to be secrets that ought to be kept quiet, out of sight, and out of mind. But while it's weird and disconcerting for women to be tabling about their vaginas (and, more honestly, about the violence which is perpetrated against those people who possess them), it's totally fine for men to be yelling about testicular cancer or to draw penises in public. But people see our weird emoticon-vaginas on our posters and think they're creepy and wrong.
So, yes, I will continue to yell at you, professor who is refusing to make eye contact, about the wonders of vaginas and the things we say about them and the things we don't say about them (the things that lead to illness and violence because we're AFRAID or ashamed to talk about them), because I want to force you to think about why exactly the most quintessential piece of female human anatomy should be seen as creepy or wrong. I mean, yeah, I get that they're all flaps and doo-dads, but I'll keep yelling about them Until the Violence Stops.
Yours in Vagina-Love,
Rachel Leigh
For the record, any one in the area of the University of Richmond, the show is the 13th, 14th, and 15th in the Pier (Tyler Haynes Commons) at 9 pm. You can get tickets, t-shirts, or chocolate vagina lollipops in the Commons every day.
Now, the reason I enjoy making people uncomfortable by yelling at them about vaginas is not simply because I like making people uncomfortable. The fact is that I like pointing out the ways in which your discomfort doesn't make sense. The word "vagina," and the legions of college girls yelling about them in the Student Commons, are considered weird or offensive because we are taught from a very young age that vaginas and the things they do and the things they're used for ought to be shameful and secretive. All you need to know to know that is to look at the ways a girl will go out of her way to hide the fact that she's on her period -- which is, y'know, entirely out of our control and completely natural.
So girls are taught that our bits are supposed to be secrets that ought to be kept quiet, out of sight, and out of mind. But while it's weird and disconcerting for women to be tabling about their vaginas (and, more honestly, about the violence which is perpetrated against those people who possess them), it's totally fine for men to be yelling about testicular cancer or to draw penises in public. But people see our weird emoticon-vaginas on our posters and think they're creepy and wrong.
{( )}
For the record, they look like that. Is that weird?
So, yes, I will continue to yell at you, professor who is refusing to make eye contact, about the wonders of vaginas and the things we say about them and the things we don't say about them (the things that lead to illness and violence because we're AFRAID or ashamed to talk about them), because I want to force you to think about why exactly the most quintessential piece of female human anatomy should be seen as creepy or wrong. I mean, yeah, I get that they're all flaps and doo-dads, but I'll keep yelling about them Until the Violence Stops.
Yours in Vagina-Love,
Rachel Leigh
For the record, any one in the area of the University of Richmond, the show is the 13th, 14th, and 15th in the Pier (Tyler Haynes Commons) at 9 pm. You can get tickets, t-shirts, or chocolate vagina lollipops in the Commons every day.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
On Being Out of Shape
It's no secret -- I am entirely unathletic. Made of tiny little wrists and next-to-no-muscle-mass and lungs that are ready to give out at any given moment, the idea of working out has never exactly appealed to me. I mean, seriously, I get out of breath just THINKING about having to walk across campus. And let's not even talk about how much I felt like dying after walking up the steps to Prague Castle. Take my word for it, I have spent most of my life so out of shape that it was actually pretty laughable.
Which, of course, has sparked this never-ending cycle of not wanting to work out because I was so out of shape, and being out of shape because I didn't want to work out. I've been trying over the last couple of months to be better about that, and I think to some extent it's been working pretty well.
The big question is going to be whether I can keep up this good behavior when I get back to school, or whether the lure of D-Hall fried chicken and being "too busy" (watching Netflix) to go to the gym will win out.
I've always had an odd relationship with working out, a combination of disliking how out of shape I was and feeling so helpless and overwhelmed (and, okay, I admit, lazy) to even know where to start to make it better.
Ohwell, here's hoping I can keep it up in the coming months. If not, you have my permission to hit me.
"Round is a shape, right?"
Rachel Leigh
Which, of course, has sparked this never-ending cycle of not wanting to work out because I was so out of shape, and being out of shape because I didn't want to work out. I've been trying over the last couple of months to be better about that, and I think to some extent it's been working pretty well.
The big question is going to be whether I can keep up this good behavior when I get back to school, or whether the lure of D-Hall fried chicken and being "too busy" (watching Netflix) to go to the gym will win out.
I've always had an odd relationship with working out, a combination of disliking how out of shape I was and feeling so helpless and overwhelmed (and, okay, I admit, lazy) to even know where to start to make it better.
Ohwell, here's hoping I can keep it up in the coming months. If not, you have my permission to hit me.
"Round is a shape, right?"
Rachel Leigh
Sunday, January 6, 2013
On Back to School
Going back to school has always been something of a toss-up
for me. On the one hand, the stress
levels are definitely not on my list of my favorite things – particularly when
I know that I’m going back to a class that I’ve been dreading for years (yes, I’m
looking at you, Methods).
But on the other, I find a certain comfort in being back at
school – not just in being surrounded by friends and having things to do,
although I absolutely miss those things.
And also not just the River City itself, though I am extremely excited
to get back to that as well. But in some
ways, I feel comfortable in a classroom in a way that I don’t feel comfortable
anywhere else.
It’s one of the few places where I don’t feel like I need to
temper myself or work to impress anyone – I can just be open about the things
that get me passionate or things that I nerd out about, and not have to worry
about being socially awkward. Outside of
the classroom, it takes a very different comfort level for me to act the same way.
On the other hand, back to school means that I have to pack
this week, which everyone knows is my least favorite activity.
Good luck to everybody!
Procrastinatorily yours,
Rachel Leigh
Saturday, December 8, 2012
On Exam Week: Danish Edition and Eight Days
Well, it's that time of the semester again -- time for my Exam Week post! Exam Week: Denmark Edition.
It's hard to believe it's already that time of the semester - four months has gone by so fast that it almost makes my head spin. I've been in five countries, eight cities, and four airports in the last four months. I've watched the days in Denmark go from never-ending summer nights (no seriously the sun didn't set until like 10 pm) to three hours of daylight (if you're lucky and it isn't overcast). I've gone to the ballet at the Royal Theatre, a beer tasting at one of only seven Trappist breweries in the world, a party at the EU (although that was kind of a trainwreck because there were issues with wiring and food, whoops), and more. And I've met some truly amazing people.
Yesterday, someone asked me what my favorite memory of this semester was. It's a pretty close call. The single greatest moment, potentially one of the greatest moments of my life, was right before Halloween. We went to the Halloween village at Tivoli, and there is a ride at Tivoli called the Himmelskibet or Star-Flyer. It's a really tall swing ride.
Anyway, it was dark, and we went up on the ride. When we got to the top, I could see the entire city of Copenhagen, all lit up, and it felt like we were flying over it. It was absolutely magical.
The other competitor for my favorite memory was sitting in Grand Place is Brussels on our long study tour. It was our first day there, sunny and warm, and a bunch of groups were picnicking in the square. We had some time to kill, so we found a Belgian specialty beer shop and a chocolate shop, and grabbed some drinks and chocolate and just sat in the square, enjoying the weather and the wonderful opportunity we had to take a trip with our core class.
It's been amazing to think how this semester has flown by, and while I am really excited to get home to my friends, family, and a phone plan that doesn't charge me 50 cents a text message or decide to sporadically not work, there will be some things I will really miss about Denmark and my time here. I'm just going to have to work hard to bring the best parts of my time abroad home with me.
Now, I really need to stop procrastinating on working on my international law paper. Except not really. Who assigns a paper due Christmas Eve (Heidi, if you somehow find this, you are a wonderful professor and I love your class, but REALLY?)? Eight days left to pack, study, write, Hobbit, and get in all the sightseeing I still haven't done.
For those my darling readers suffering through Exam Week out there: Good luck, stay sane, and remember that it will be fine (and if it's not, at least it's over).
Procras-Dane-ating,
Rachel Leigh
It's hard to believe it's already that time of the semester - four months has gone by so fast that it almost makes my head spin. I've been in five countries, eight cities, and four airports in the last four months. I've watched the days in Denmark go from never-ending summer nights (no seriously the sun didn't set until like 10 pm) to three hours of daylight (if you're lucky and it isn't overcast). I've gone to the ballet at the Royal Theatre, a beer tasting at one of only seven Trappist breweries in the world, a party at the EU (although that was kind of a trainwreck because there were issues with wiring and food, whoops), and more. And I've met some truly amazing people.
Yesterday, someone asked me what my favorite memory of this semester was. It's a pretty close call. The single greatest moment, potentially one of the greatest moments of my life, was right before Halloween. We went to the Halloween village at Tivoli, and there is a ride at Tivoli called the Himmelskibet or Star-Flyer. It's a really tall swing ride.
It looks kind of like that.
Anyway, it was dark, and we went up on the ride. When we got to the top, I could see the entire city of Copenhagen, all lit up, and it felt like we were flying over it. It was absolutely magical.
The other competitor for my favorite memory was sitting in Grand Place is Brussels on our long study tour. It was our first day there, sunny and warm, and a bunch of groups were picnicking in the square. We had some time to kill, so we found a Belgian specialty beer shop and a chocolate shop, and grabbed some drinks and chocolate and just sat in the square, enjoying the weather and the wonderful opportunity we had to take a trip with our core class.
Now, I really need to stop procrastinating on working on my international law paper. Except not really. Who assigns a paper due Christmas Eve (Heidi, if you somehow find this, you are a wonderful professor and I love your class, but REALLY?)? Eight days left to pack, study, write, Hobbit, and get in all the sightseeing I still haven't done.
For those my darling readers suffering through Exam Week out there: Good luck, stay sane, and remember that it will be fine (and if it's not, at least it's over).
Procras-Dane-ating,
Rachel Leigh
Thursday, November 1, 2012
On Lessons I Learned From TV
TV taught me how to feel, now real life has no appeal.
Marina and the Diamonds has it right. (Side note: Way to be real world for totally not recognizing my Halloween costume.) I have spent way too much of my life watching television and feeling all the feels. But thinking back on it I've realized I've learned some interesting lessons.
Things TV Taught Me:
- It's Never Lupus. Except when it is. Any House fan out there probably knows this. It's like the fundamental rule of House. I think the real takeaways from this, though, were that a) it's never as bad as it could be and b) no trope is safe from subversion. Because it's never lupus. Except for that one episode where it was totally lupus.
- Don't Mess With the Girl Who Can Kill You With Her Brain. River Tam is smarter than you. She's a better fighter than you. Also, she can kill you with her brain. This crazy lady from Firefly is probably the biggest reason to never break the heart of a smart and emotionally unstable girl. She will find you. She will kill you.
- When You're Sad You Should Stop Being Sad and Be Awesome Instead. Okay, so it's not usually that simple. But I have to give Barney Stinson some credit for this one... Sometimes the best way to get past being sad is to just pretend that you're not sad, force yourself to go do something fun, and let the fun make you actually not-sad. Be awesome instead. Also, a more important lesson from HIMYM: more people should suit up. You look really classy, and I love that. Also NPH is a god.
- Even If You're Completely Nuts, Good Friends Will Love You Anyway. Okay, so this isn't based off of a quote, but seriously. Sheldon Cooper. Gregory House. Donna Noble. Real friends love you for who you are, even if that means you are an absolute psycho sometimes.
- Fictional Characters Are Better At Their Jobs Than Real People. Jed Bartlet. That is all.
- And finally, it doesn't matter if it's non-canon, inappropriate, incest, against their sexual orientation, squicky, or if it involves inanimate objects, bending of fictional universes, or time travel. Somebody Out There Ships It.
I enjoyed this post, and while I was writing it, I started thinking of examples from books and movies, so there is a decent chance there will be future lists based around books and movies.
Your Favorite Couch-Potato,
Rachel Leigh
Thursday, October 25, 2012
On Career Plans and Congress
I'm a Poli Sci major (as referenced in the post "My Fake Major"). This means that I spend most of my time in classes that focus on how the government runs, domestic and foreign policies, and theories about how states should form/act/etc. Which means I pay a lot of attention to politics. And I've realized something...
When you get a Poli Sci major to talk about their future plans, if they have any, you tend to hear: campaign advisor, lobbyist, diplomat, civil servant, lawyer... One of my friends even wants to go into work in the prison system, because, hey, we'll always have prisons. Very, very rarely does a student go into Political Science with the goal of becoming a politician. Or maybe it's a few years of studying the system that scares us all out of it. Who knows really?
But I think it's an interesting indictment on our political system that the students who have devoted their college careers, and potentially their lives, to studying it want nothing to do with it in the end. In my case, as I think I've probably mentioned before, it's because I think domestic politics gets far too clouded by things that don't really matter. It also has a lot to do with the fact that I find it sad that people's personal and family lives are dragged through the mud in an attempt to prove they're not suitable for office.
But just imagine how differently our system would operate if the people who spent their lives studying the field were the ones who went into government. If you didn't have to explain to the average Congressman the difference between debt and a deficit. If everyone in government knew that states are all constitutionally required to submit a balanced budget - one that requires BOTH cuts in spending and increases in taxes, if necessary. If the people arguing for state sovereignty knew the thinkers who gave that phrase meaning.
We require our lawyers to pass the Bar Exam. We have the highest academic expectations of our doctors. Yet we don't have an educational requirement for the people we let run the country. And so the people who spend their lives learning how the system works end up going elsewhere - either outside of it, or inside, learning to game the system instead.
Politically Yours,
Rachel Leigh
When you get a Poli Sci major to talk about their future plans, if they have any, you tend to hear: campaign advisor, lobbyist, diplomat, civil servant, lawyer... One of my friends even wants to go into work in the prison system, because, hey, we'll always have prisons. Very, very rarely does a student go into Political Science with the goal of becoming a politician. Or maybe it's a few years of studying the system that scares us all out of it. Who knows really?
But I think it's an interesting indictment on our political system that the students who have devoted their college careers, and potentially their lives, to studying it want nothing to do with it in the end. In my case, as I think I've probably mentioned before, it's because I think domestic politics gets far too clouded by things that don't really matter. It also has a lot to do with the fact that I find it sad that people's personal and family lives are dragged through the mud in an attempt to prove they're not suitable for office.
But just imagine how differently our system would operate if the people who spent their lives studying the field were the ones who went into government. If you didn't have to explain to the average Congressman the difference between debt and a deficit. If everyone in government knew that states are all constitutionally required to submit a balanced budget - one that requires BOTH cuts in spending and increases in taxes, if necessary. If the people arguing for state sovereignty knew the thinkers who gave that phrase meaning.
We require our lawyers to pass the Bar Exam. We have the highest academic expectations of our doctors. Yet we don't have an educational requirement for the people we let run the country. And so the people who spend their lives learning how the system works end up going elsewhere - either outside of it, or inside, learning to game the system instead.
Politically Yours,
Rachel Leigh
Monday, October 22, 2012
On Halloweekend/Update
Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Which is odd, because I spent many years of my life with a pathological fear of Halloween decorations. No haunted houses for me, thanks. But when I was younger, I used to love the ridiculous Halloween costumes that my mother and I would plan out (which always won me awards and free stuff, and we all know how much I love free stuff), even though my request in sixth grade was that I wanted a costume that, for once, I could sit down in. Try sitting down in an operating traffic light costume. Do it, I dare you.
Not the point. The point is, that as I got older, my costumes got slightly less inventive, but I never stopped enjoying planning them out, even as college began putting demands on me for four and five costumes over the course of Halloweekend. Which is why it made me slightly sad to realize today that Halloween weekend is only four days away (three depending on who you ask), and I haven't even thought about a costume or plans or anything. I think it's partially because Halloween isn't really that big a thing here (and because I've had a lot of other things on my mind recently), but it just makes me sad that it could have snuck up on me like this.
On the bright side, Tivoli has this gorgeous and magical Halloween village that made me really happy, so I'll attach some photos of that. Regularly scheduled rant posts will resume in a few days.
Not the point. The point is, that as I got older, my costumes got slightly less inventive, but I never stopped enjoying planning them out, even as college began putting demands on me for four and five costumes over the course of Halloweekend. Which is why it made me slightly sad to realize today that Halloween weekend is only four days away (three depending on who you ask), and I haven't even thought about a costume or plans or anything. I think it's partially because Halloween isn't really that big a thing here (and because I've had a lot of other things on my mind recently), but it just makes me sad that it could have snuck up on me like this.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
On My Fake Major
It's no secret that I'm a Political Science major -- I blog pretty often about politics (although I do try to keep it non-partisan (...I said "try," people, no writer is without bias!)), and it even says in my bio that I'm an "aspiring political activist." I am quite proud of my studies and the work I hope to do in the future, and I'm not ashamed of my major.
Which is why I get really annoyed when people treat me like my major isn't real. I almost feel like I didn't even really choose my field; Political Science chose me. By the time I came to college, the gravitational pull in that direction was so strong that no one I went to high school with even has to question what I decided to major in. I chose my major because it's what I'm passionate about, because the work I do for it is good, and because I'm very excited about what doors it may open for me when I graduate.
So let's get down to the nitty-gritty of why people seem to think my major is "fake."
My favorite question, by far, is, "What are you planning to do with that? Become the President?"* Now, if you're an Actuarial Studies major, an Astrophysicist, or studying Chemistry with plans to take up Pharmacology later in life, feel free to ignore this part of the discussion -- your unemployment rates are literally zero and you are therefore pretty much exempt from this whole issue. You will always have jobs because your fields are either too depressing, too boring, or too complicated for the vast majority of students, so we will always need people like you! Go you! But if you are planning to major in pretty much anything else, you can expect your job prospects to be pretty grim. Almost every field sees an unemployment rate of around 7%. Interestingly enough, the unemployment rate for students with Political Science degrees? 6%, according to a study done by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce**.
Let's face it, there are only so many Fortune 500 companies in the world to run (incidentally, there are 500 of them), which I'm pretty sure means that, even if everyone in charge of every one of those companies either retired or died, there STILL wouldn't be enough available positions for all of the Business School graduates from just my tiny University alone from the last three years. So I guess that makes your "job prospects" question a moot point. I appreciate your concern.
The other major (get it?) question I get a lot in relation to my major's legitimacy comes down to the number of units in my major. My major has a 10 unit class requirement (which equates to about 35-40 credits for all you crazy credit-system students out there), which is, admittedly, on the lower end.
There are a few reasons I think this complaint lacks legitimacy. First, we're all still required to complete the minimum 32 classes to graduate that everyone else is. We don't suddenly get to call it a day after a year and a half. Second, part of the reason the major is so small and flexible is because they encourage us to pick up minors, second majors, research, or study abroad semesters, and they want the major to be flexible enough to accommodate that. I actually feel bad for some of my friends in the hard sciences or business programs who just don't have the flexibility to go abroad. Third, and in my opinion, most importantly -- trying to take an entire semester of Political Science courses is crazy. If your brain doesn't explode from all the readings (which often contradict each other because theories contradict other theories and often those contradict practice), your fingers will probably freeze up and develop early-onset carpal tunnel from all the papers you'll write.***
It's not that I think other majors don't deserve credit -- I absolutely do. Most students I know work hard and get stressed, and everybody has their own skill sets. I, for one, am glad my best friend from high school is the Engineering major and I am not, because I would build bridges that would collapse and kill people. But while most people I know in my field recognize and respect the legitimacy of other majors, it makes me sad that we don't get the same respect in turn. Our skills are different than yours and our paths and passions took us in a different direction. Why does that make us any less worthy?
Studiously yours,
Rachel Leigh
* Leaving aside the fact that very few of the Political Science majors I know want to become politicians. That's a post for another day (one which is currently in the works).
** Source: http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/NILF1111/
*** Shout out to Dr. Dagger and Dr. McDowell for combining to make me write more papers as a first semester freshman than many of my friends will write their entire time in college!
Which is why I get really annoyed when people treat me like my major isn't real. I almost feel like I didn't even really choose my field; Political Science chose me. By the time I came to college, the gravitational pull in that direction was so strong that no one I went to high school with even has to question what I decided to major in. I chose my major because it's what I'm passionate about, because the work I do for it is good, and because I'm very excited about what doors it may open for me when I graduate.
So let's get down to the nitty-gritty of why people seem to think my major is "fake."
My favorite question, by far, is, "What are you planning to do with that? Become the President?"* Now, if you're an Actuarial Studies major, an Astrophysicist, or studying Chemistry with plans to take up Pharmacology later in life, feel free to ignore this part of the discussion -- your unemployment rates are literally zero and you are therefore pretty much exempt from this whole issue. You will always have jobs because your fields are either too depressing, too boring, or too complicated for the vast majority of students, so we will always need people like you! Go you! But if you are planning to major in pretty much anything else, you can expect your job prospects to be pretty grim. Almost every field sees an unemployment rate of around 7%. Interestingly enough, the unemployment rate for students with Political Science degrees? 6%, according to a study done by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce**.
Let's face it, there are only so many Fortune 500 companies in the world to run (incidentally, there are 500 of them), which I'm pretty sure means that, even if everyone in charge of every one of those companies either retired or died, there STILL wouldn't be enough available positions for all of the Business School graduates from just my tiny University alone from the last three years. So I guess that makes your "job prospects" question a moot point. I appreciate your concern.
The other major (get it?) question I get a lot in relation to my major's legitimacy comes down to the number of units in my major. My major has a 10 unit class requirement (which equates to about 35-40 credits for all you crazy credit-system students out there), which is, admittedly, on the lower end.
There are a few reasons I think this complaint lacks legitimacy. First, we're all still required to complete the minimum 32 classes to graduate that everyone else is. We don't suddenly get to call it a day after a year and a half. Second, part of the reason the major is so small and flexible is because they encourage us to pick up minors, second majors, research, or study abroad semesters, and they want the major to be flexible enough to accommodate that. I actually feel bad for some of my friends in the hard sciences or business programs who just don't have the flexibility to go abroad. Third, and in my opinion, most importantly -- trying to take an entire semester of Political Science courses is crazy. If your brain doesn't explode from all the readings (which often contradict each other because theories contradict other theories and often those contradict practice), your fingers will probably freeze up and develop early-onset carpal tunnel from all the papers you'll write.***
It's not that I think other majors don't deserve credit -- I absolutely do. Most students I know work hard and get stressed, and everybody has their own skill sets. I, for one, am glad my best friend from high school is the Engineering major and I am not, because I would build bridges that would collapse and kill people. But while most people I know in my field recognize and respect the legitimacy of other majors, it makes me sad that we don't get the same respect in turn. Our skills are different than yours and our paths and passions took us in a different direction. Why does that make us any less worthy?
Studiously yours,
Rachel Leigh
* Leaving aside the fact that very few of the Political Science majors I know want to become politicians. That's a post for another day (one which is currently in the works).
** Source: http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/NILF1111/
*** Shout out to Dr. Dagger and Dr. McDowell for combining to make me write more papers as a first semester freshman than many of my friends will write their entire time in college!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
On Internships
Do you know why they have interns in movies and television shows constantly running for coffee? Because I do. They’re attempting to demonstrate the menial and occasionally demeaning work that interns have to do for little or no pay. But the funny thing is, if they actually accurately depicted what an intern does most days, they would have no viewership.
I WISH my day involved going on coffee runs, sometimes. Want to know what I did today? Hand to heaven, I spent Four. Hours. stamping papers and then moving those papers to the bottom of a stack of papers.
Getting coffee is glamorous compared to what I’ve done as an intern. Which is, in all honesty, literally anything. Licking envelopes, checking information, lugging boxes up and down from the attic, making databases, using databases, crying in a corner intermittently, and other various bizarre and not-at-all glamorous tasks.
This would all be slightly better if a) I didn’t have to get up at 6:40 every morning and b) didn’t have to dress for the off chance that I run into someone important every day. YOU try doing manual labor in dress shoes, tell me how you like it.
And the best part is, I get to do it all again tomorrow.
In all honesty, though, I think I’ve lucked out. I’ve never had a job that I absolutely hated, and the bizarre internships I’ve had are certainly included. Sure, I’m not doing the most exciting work, but I have always loved the people I’ve worked with and, hey, beggars can’t be choosers.
Complainingly yours,
Rachel Leigh
I WISH my day involved going on coffee runs, sometimes. Want to know what I did today? Hand to heaven, I spent Four. Hours. stamping papers and then moving those papers to the bottom of a stack of papers.
Getting coffee is glamorous compared to what I’ve done as an intern. Which is, in all honesty, literally anything. Licking envelopes, checking information, lugging boxes up and down from the attic, making databases, using databases, crying in a corner intermittently, and other various bizarre and not-at-all glamorous tasks.
This would all be slightly better if a) I didn’t have to get up at 6:40 every morning and b) didn’t have to dress for the off chance that I run into someone important every day. YOU try doing manual labor in dress shoes, tell me how you like it.
And the best part is, I get to do it all again tomorrow.
In all honesty, though, I think I’ve lucked out. I’ve never had a job that I absolutely hated, and the bizarre internships I’ve had are certainly included. Sure, I’m not doing the most exciting work, but I have always loved the people I’ve worked with and, hey, beggars can’t be choosers.
Complainingly yours,
Rachel Leigh
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
On The Things I Assume About You Based on Where You Study
You know that scene in Mean Girls when Janice and Damien are explaining the layout of the cafeteria to Cady, going around and pointing out all of the stereotypes and social groups? Of course you do, because it's one of the greatest scenes in a movie that will define our generation. My school is kind of like that. And while I could go on for days about the stereotypes about the layout of our dining hall, I have something else to vent about.
With finals right around the corner and the entire population of the school (except the seniors who are so close to graduating that you can physically feel the number of f*cks they do not give) is going to start marking territory around Boatwright like some possessive, tiny-bladdered puppy, it seemed like the right time to do this. I give you: "Partially-Unfounded Assumptions I Make About You Based on Where You Study"
Finally,
Rachel Leigh
With finals right around the corner and the entire population of the school (except the seniors who are so close to graduating that you can physically feel the number of f*cks they do not give) is going to start marking territory around Boatwright like some possessive, tiny-bladdered puppy, it seemed like the right time to do this. I give you: "Partially-Unfounded Assumptions I Make About You Based on Where You Study"
- Boatwright (the Library): As a general rule, you're checking Facebook more than your textbook and probably using 8:15 and potty breaks as just another excuse to procrastinate. Then again, so are the rest of us. But there's more to it than that.
- B2: Aww...the group study area. Couples that want to be obnoxiously coupley in the not-so-private privacy of the bottom level, a couple awkward study rooms, and the bathroom that people use when they really need to poop and don't want to be around other people.
- B1: Fratstars and the sorority biddies who love them (also known as the B-school in exile). Also, the socially awkward people who actually WANT to sit and study on the silent floor. I assume you have no social skills, no friends, and a generally sad future ahead of you.
- First Floor
- Open Area: I get it. You're here with your sorority fam and you'll get on each other's cases to get work done after you finish catching up on the gossip you couldn't catch up on at chapter, fam dinner, and that time you got lunch like two hours ago.
- Quiet Section: Also known as the "We came here to get shit done" section of the library.
- Second Floor
- Open Area: Frat guys and loud Internationals. It's funny that you expected to get work done.
- Quiet Section: No really, who ARE you people? I'm pretty sure I've never seen you in my life, probably because you never leave this room, and PLEASE stop glaring at me for slamming the bathroom door. I can't help it that it's so dead silent in here that you could hear a fly land on a table.
- MRC: Don't even pretend you're doing anything other than checking Facebook and watching movies. I can see your computer screen.
- Gottwald (Science Building): I assume your life is sad, you probably haven't slept in anything other than that chair in the lobby in about a week, and I'm sincerely concerned about the last time you showered.
- The B-School: You couldn't even detach yourself from outside Dean's office door and dress like a college student rather than my 40 year old math professor long enough to leave the B-School to study somewhere else. You worry me.
- Your Dorm Room: You say "studying," I say "watching Netflix and ordering Jimmy Johns"
Finally,
Rachel Leigh
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