Art was always one of my favorite classes in elementary school. Compared to the rote memorization of multiplication tables or spellings words, drawing was a pleasant, creative diversion. I also remember the art teacher being a very nice lady who encouraged everyone’s work. She had long hair and wore long, flowy dresses or shawls with… Continue reading The Ongoing Saga of Seal and Polar Bear
Blog
My Writing Process
Like a lot of graduate students, I write regularly. Whether it’s a discussion post, a research paper, or even a blog entry like this one, I’m usually writing something in one form or another every day. Today then, I’d like to tell you about my writing processes. I say processes because I go about my… Continue reading My Writing Process
Taking Charge of My Schedule
I don’t know about anyone else out there is academia, but this semester has felt particularly busy to me so far. Even though I’m technically taking two classes instead of three, and am working on campus rather than driving to Newport News twice a week for my assistantship, I still feel like my days are… Continue reading Taking Charge of My Schedule
Imposter Syndrome and How to Ignore It (or at least not let it inhibit you)
A peculiar conundrum that often accompanies highly successful people is the fear that they do not deserve their achievement. They doubt their intellect or skills and believe that their success is a charade. They tell themselves that they’re really not that smart or talented, but that they’ve merely managed to fool everyone into thinking they… Continue reading Imposter Syndrome and How to Ignore It (or at least not let it inhibit you)
Ongoing Art Project: Colors of Summer
As we head into autumn, I thought I’d show you some highlights from the summer edition of my daily abstractions project. In some ways, summer has been the most challenging season for me to paint so far. After the rapid and dramatic transformations of the spring, with new leaves and flowers appearing practically every day,… Continue reading Ongoing Art Project: Colors of Summer
What I’m TAing this Semester
When you’re an American Studies graduate student at William and Mary, your assistantships change every year. Last year I worked at the Mariners Museum in Newport News, where I helped out with inventories and drafted an exhibition proposal using the map collection. This year, I’m in the classroom serving as a Teaching Assistant for a… Continue reading What I’m TAing this Semester
What I’m Taking This Final (for classes, that is) Semester
Now that the fall semester is underway, it’s once again time to talk about the classes I’m taking this term. As you may have noticed from the title, this is my final semester of coursework. While I’m far from finished with the program (more on than in a future post), it’s still a significant milestone.… Continue reading What I’m Taking This Final (for classes, that is) Semester
Life in Virginia: One Year Later
It was a little more than a year ago that Brandon and I left our jobs in Roswell to start a new life in Virginia. So has it been for us so far? It’s definitely been an eventful year. We’ve lived in two different places, with our most recent move happening in July. Brandon’s held… Continue reading Life in Virginia: One Year Later
Keio Program
From August 5th to the 20th, I served as a classroom instructor (CI) for the immersive Keio/W&M Cross-Cultural Collaboration. For two weeks, twenty-five students from Japan’s Keio University visited William and Mary to practice their English skills, learn about United States history and society, and complete a research project comparing American and Japanese cultures. Today,… Continue reading Keio Program
A Space of One’s Own, Part Three
Last week I told you about the personal issues I worked through while getting a new desk. Today I’ll show you what the finished study looks like. The first thing I did was get the bookshelves set up. It took me several hours and three car trips, even after weeding out 1/3 of my books,… Continue reading A Space of One’s Own, Part Three