College & Caviar

TO MEMES.

If you have had a casual conversation with me that lasted at least 5 minutes, you know I love memes. No matter how you pronounce these amazing little widget’s name (meeeeeeme, mem me, etc) you most likely have at least heard of them. To me, memes are the future. How did I learn Donald Trump had won the election? First news of it I saw was on instagram, via meme. They take less time to create than a news article, and communicate important things via humor – which in turn can create different perspectives and ways that news is received.

I’ve written two essays on the importance and effectiveness of humor, and to sum it up: humor works (usually). So memes are especially important to communication, and I believe this claim will only become more and more true as time goes on. Humans my age spend more time on social media than any news cite, so memes get news across to them faster and more often.

Below I will attempt to critique and explain memes in order to prove my point.

Source: Buzzfeed

This meme exhibits how us, youngins, saw 2016 (it came up when I searched for “memes that sum up 2016”). To us, it was a year of sudden negative reflecting. We saw our worst (the beginning of the election… how many millions of people cared about a gorilla that got shot…. etc). This humorous post, that anyone can relate to because who hasn’t opened their front camera seeing a sight full of double chins, sums up a year through emotions. Often you will see plenty of memes during the olympics regarding specific athlete’s expressions to problems going on in their country — patterns like these only real meme-lovers can notice!

Source: Buzzfeed

How social media has changed our life… now we know almost everything about everyone before we even meet them. To me, this is a negative, and I hate social media because of the real-life affecting aspect of it… maybe it should be for only memes and news! In fact, some of the highest followed instragrams aren’t even celebrities, but meme generators that get millions of likes!

Source: Instagram

Often memes actually relate to real life to – and in a way put serious things into perspective for “normal” people to understand. Above is a meme I found a few months ago, that I relate to and often show friends if they ever ask about anxiety. In no way are memes a form of research, but I believe in the future we can start to illustrate research in a visually interesting way, such as through a meme. Note: it does take strategies that we have discussed for the “authors” of these memes to create them and distribute them – and in a way I hope my children are looking through archives of memes when I am old and frail!

Lastly, I belong to a hilarious group where genius and hilarious kids post memes that relate to real life … at Berkley. I still pretend I understand occasionally and join in throwing them a like every once in a while; however, to me this Facebook group – with more than 100,000 members (and more waiting!)- is an exclusive group that proves how important memes are in communicating!

Source: UC Berkley Memes for Edgy Teens Facebook Group

Quick add note on April 28th: Look at this connection via meme – a post on Facebook, referencing a commercial about kendall jenner that caused controversy around the black lives matter movement through a snapchat screenshot mocking the berkley conflict about the coutler speech.

Source: UCBPET

In Michael Klein’s article What Is It We Do When We Write Articles Like This One – and How Can We Get Students to Join Us?, I agreed specifically to his sadness expressed with how much students just copy. Not copy other’s work and claim it their own, but more think of researching as copying, and copying as researching.

Source: PopKey

He presents this idea of “hunting and gathering,” which, in his quite scholarly way, he describes as “a complex, recursive process that includes both research, or data-gathering, and reading form start to finish” (24). Furthermore, he continues to state that the other scholars he worked with agreed with him that “hunters and gathers, whether collecting data, reading, or actually writing…” present a “clear purpose” that “at times helped guide [their] work strategically” (25).

So, past all the fancey-shmancy words, he and others agree instead of copying and partially reading little passages we think sum up the journals and papers we should have really been reading… we should strive to collect, rhetorically sift, seek patterns, and translate (much like I am doing now: scholarly words –> words we actually understand until we learn the scholarly words) in order to get the most out of reading the WHOLE piece.

I am totally guilty for being a copier – I mean even in the archives I was sweating and worried about copying down the information I had found onto my computer! But, I believe I do it a but more mindfully than the other mindless imbeciles, otherwise called fellow classmates (haha.. totally joking you guys… kind of). While I copy, I still read the words. And if anything, I actually spend more time on word choice and thus smaller-scale rhetorical analysis of my sources. But, we must be careful in what we say- not everyone is like everyone else!

Lastly, I would like to notice one little passage of Klein’s, that I cannot find myself to agree or disagree with. Klein mentions that the students he studied “remembered far more about the research process itself – about procedures, methodology, empirical data-gathering, etc. – than they did about the rhetorical implications of their work” (28).

I’m not exactly sure what to get out of that^. To me, this kind of means that in the bigger picture students care more about the process than their finished product; and to me this kind of relates to the bigger picture of grades – most students care more about the grades than what they actually add to the world with their work.

Why write a paper you care about and with content you are worried about or extremely fascinated about, when you can write an easy a paper that takes a position you know your professor agrees with?

When grades count for college, and apparently where you go for college CHANGES your whole life – I bet 98/100 students would make a safer decision than risk THEIR ENTIRE LIFE, on, what I have just jumped to, one paper.

Honestly that tangent was a bit ridiculous, but it’s how I think. One C test and I get so down on myself I physically cry. I got a C once on a math exam in high school, and, 3 years later, I can still see the mascara mark on this one pillow from crying about it.

Source: Giphy

And with that, I wish you happy Wednesday night… only two days until the weekend!

Dear Blog Readers – whoever you may be – today I met a librarian I wish could be my real life friend.

She was funny, had great little phrases, fashionable, and most importantly knowledgable! Aside from my new found appreciation for those who help others and help preserve our history (like archivists), I also found how she taught us to be extremely effective. She did mention before class that she was going to teach us in a way that research suggests would be most effective, but I found myself way more involved in the completion of games!

Source: Gifsoup.com

GAME FACE.

As Celine and I ran from her to our spot and back 15 times, we collected various exercises that ultimately (we theorize) taught us how to produce the annotation part of an annotated bibliography (yet to be confirmed). However, I found myself enjoying this… and in a way I was pleasantly surprised yet disturbed by my utter amusement way! I found myself engaging with the librarian and asking questions that covered more than just the small colored handouts. One question I particularly found interesting, in that it really dissects the databases, is “what does sort by relevance really mean?”

Source: Leslie Akin

This brought me back to my BEAM and Tirabassi days…. (oh how long ago that was!) and reminded me that how sources are organized affect my selectivity. So, I decided to do some outside-of-the-class research on what relevance really means.

The kind librarian said “what the database finds relevant” but that did not suffice my hunger!

Below are some definitions I found:

-Relevance refers to the  connection the information in the catalog database and the search string you’ve entered and the search filters (if any) you’ve chosen.

-A database record is “relevant” to your keywords because the keywords appear in the record. The more times your keywords appear in a record, the more relevant that database record is considered to be.

–Hard Core Definition:  The document actually answers the question or solves the problem which caused you to perform the search to begin with.

–User Understandable Definition:  It is readily apparent to the end-user why the search engine retrieved this document.

(Thanks to effectivedatabase.com & searchtechnologies.com)

I resonate most with the second of the definitions I compiled. To me, relevance is about number of occurrences – that’s why it is so important to pic your key words WISELY and CORRECTLY – it affects the searches that appear, the order they appear, and how you ultimately judge the sources in your analysis / compilation.

(they want fame, success, money)

As I tried to walk a mile in these coaches’ shoes…

So my topic of archival study is the Santa Clara Extension Course Scandal. To give you a little info, the scandal started in 1979 and lasted a long time. Players, particularly UNM (University of New Mexico) football players, took summer extension courses over the hot 1979 summer at Santa Clara, only to get more credit than they deserved. This led to major pushback, and eventually an FBI investigation on the school.

Source: SearchWrap

I decided if this type of “cheating” happened then, it probably still does – especially since college athletic programs make BANK, and even more so has become a huge industry. After one quick google search these two men came up:

Source: NJ: True Jersey

Source: NJ: True Jersey

What do these two, as my dad would say: “old farts,” have to do with a scandal in 1980. Well, they are living and breathing each their own today. The top guy, Rutger’s head coach Kyle Flood, has been suspended for 3 games and fined 50,000 dollars just for contacting a teacher to change a grade. The orange tied gentleman, also known as Jim Boeheim, has been under careful investigation by the NCAA for academic violations, FOR TEN YEARS.

Both these cases add such insight into my research. 1) it is still happening  2) why coaches do this, why athletes have problems in class (do you think it’s time we come up with a solution?), and the ethical stature of grade cheating/why it could be good.

Let me know what you think… have you ever heard of any of these scandals? Can you brainstorm any solutions to these problems?

True confession: the smell of old books kind of makes me go crazy. A GOOD crazy, however. Having grown up watching history channel, Fool’s Gold (great Kate Hudson Movie), and all of the Indiana Jones’ many a times, I always have been so fascinated with history. And what fuels this passion of mine even more is the negativeness about learning history that I heard on my high school quad everyday.
“Zomg why do we even have to learn about the past, it already happened” and comments like that usually made me think one of three things: 1) wow I am scared for our future 2) history repeats itself, and have you ever learned from one of your past mistakes?! and 3) Lara Croft Tomb Raider? Indiana Jones? National Treasure? Your local librarian? Do know know how much fun people have going on hunts – big or small – to piece together our INCREDIBLE past that made the world we live in today.
I also occasionally think, “well great, when I become an anthropologist/archeologist I won’t have much job competition! But, besides all that rumble-jumble, you can tell I love history, and more specifically little histories about maybe even not-so-significant people (the yearbooks and memory books made that my favorite class day I’ve ever had at SCU), and the fact that I am learning to do archival research makes me kind of super really a lot extremely excited.
So, what areas do I think I want to focus on while at the archives tomorrow morning?
1) How has the surrounding areas changed? (neighborhoods? orchards?) – I loved finding this stuff about Disneyland, so why not research about it when it comes to Santa Clara?

2) What was the school like during the Cold War/ Red Scare(s)? – The watergate scandal was most likely one of my most interesting classes I took while at Menlo.

3)SCU’s relation to Stanford (competition, rivalry, etc.) – Has there ever even been a rivalry? I not only live right next to Stanford, but my best friend’s mom (also my best friend) went to Santa Clara and Stanford in the 80s, so I could get some first hand accounts!

4) I am a sucker for love letters, so somehow I would love to know more about specific relationships of the old older alumni while they were at Santa Clara, did any important alumni meet here?

Source: Giphy

Now that I am exciting we are funneling into things (I feel I always need to clarify when I use that word: think we are taking a broad perspective and getting through and honing in on a few things) I want to lay out the kind of ground things I need to constantly be thinking about so that I can write my paper, and use the readings we have been going over the past two weeks!

The following information I got from readings, and I want to give credit to the authors: Gaillet and Tirabassi and in class sources.

PICKING YOUR SOURCE: an investment of time on your life

• be selective
  •  human error, bias, do you judge a book by its cover?
• cross reference
  •  read those who support, read those who disagree, read those who most likely tried to throw a rock at the author! – in this way you create a conversation with your pieces
• know where this goes in your big picture process
  • search key words, dates, the author
• know when to stop
  • have a check off list so you know when you have completed sufficient research, understand there is no way for you to know everything!!

STEP INTO THEIR SHOES: Think about how this person wrote/made this, who the audience was/is (Greene)

• Argument as conversation – dialogue between your sources – and what do I add to the conversation of the already started conversation (context!)
• Steps – identify issue, situation that calls for a response (who needs to hear about this, why), identify a question (audience!)
• Framing your argument – the way you see an issue -> you’re choosing what to represent and what to exclude, is the author bias!? :0
• Research as an inquiry rather than just looking for information – “source things” – what is the conversation, what are people saying? – was there backlash to this piece? Why did he/she write it anyways?

WHILE READING: 

First Reading: Context 
Why does this matter? Why is the person significant? Why is the date or period significant? Why is the place significant? Why is the context significant? What background information do I know about any of these?

Second Reading: Why did this person write this? *Queue time machine*
Is it a persuasive speech, a private letter, or a newspaper article? In terms of content, is it clear or confusing? Were there many vocabulary words or historical references that students found difficult or skipped over? Who is the intended audience for the document?

Third Reading: Argument / rhetorical things!
How is the argument constructed?  What assertions, evidence, or examples are used to support or give credibility to the author’s argument? Is it logical and believable? Does it contradict other evidence that the students have read? OR How is the image or artifact designed? What does it emphasize? What are the effects of the visual elements?

Fourth Reading: Put it  all together and poof you’re a scholar!
Given the author of the document, what bias or perspective might be expressed? How does that shape our understanding of the argument? Given the date of the document, what is the document responding to or in dialogue with? Given the place and audience of the document, how is the argument shaped to be effective?

Would the argument in the document have convinced its audience? Who might have disagreed or had a different perspective? What facts did the author leave out and why? What questions are unanswered by the document?

Is this primary document significant? Did it have an impact within its historical context? Did it express the view of an important group? How does it fit within debates taking place within that historical period?

… and most importantly: What does it make you wonder or want to know?

Last little thing to add on – we have not discussed Gaillet in class yet, but a few things stood out to me, personally, that I really want to emphasize.

1. “‘History is  not, and never has been, systematic or scientific.'”
2. Use online tools in your spare time! or as Gaillet says “conduct preliminary investigation online.” Even though you might not get all the really great parts of having a physical copy (order, stationary, etc) you can still get important information and do some background research!
3. categorization!!! make a list and obtain necessary documents – this is important for closure too
4. contact librarians before, during, and after research. It is their job and they love to actually help people!
5. While examining…
   1. determine your questions
   2. describe EVERYTHING (watermarks, handwriting, marginalia, etc
   3. categorize
   4. “couch” (I loved that this word was used) your materials within political, social, economic, education, religious, or institutional histories of time – context!
   5. corroborate your assumptions and claims  – confirm and cross reference
   6. understand the author – what was his or her motives to write?
   7. ** investigate contemporary reception of the work… this will help you with the so what, and why do we care now questions we must answer!
   8. research reactions to the materials – what was the reputation?
   9. decide how to tell your story (I especially love how this point really makes the move onto you, because in the end you could and can affect how this material is received in history.)

This post was a bit longer and scholarly, for that I say your welcome but also apologize… I owe you a funny one in the future! Good luck to everyone!

As an assigned reading this lovely weekend I read Stuart Greene’s Argument as Conversation. Although this reading was long, it engrained into my head two key things my high school teachers NEVER let me forget about research writing, and quite honestly writing in general. 1) have dialogue between your sources and 2) framework. framework. framework.

So back to my real life outside of doing homework… this week I decided to throw my phone away (into a drawer) and live for myself for once (ooh revolutionary!). As I went onto Facebook for the first time in a few weeks I noticed the ads to my right, and then a twitter trending post… on Facebook – see below.

Source: Facebook

In a bigger picture sense of what I am trying to say, I saw two sources (social media sources Facebook and Twitter) having a conversation about what is happening in the world. And as frame work Facebook put links onto the twitter trends to Facebook articles about them. In this way I believe social media may actually be trying to get the users to care about something other than their likes on their posts…. the world.

Source: PopKey

So starting this week I am going to be more aware of where the information I get comes from, and how it may be working with other outlets (cough cough Syrian chemical attack news via President Trumps twitter or via USA Today or via a Syrian news outlet etc etc and what their job is to display (entertainment? background? data? opinions?). And that, my friends, links back to BEAM! Wow this world is small!

*queue It’s a Small World After all theme song *

Before reading a quite hilarious article on the most TERIBLE research account ever, I dove into my own head and mapped out my research process.

As you’ll see I believe organization of research during and before you even start is extremely important, and makes the process quicker, better, and honestly kind of fun…. like a game or puzzle!

1) creating an organized map (titles of sections, subtitles, etc) so I know exactly what I need to research

2) having 2-5 bullet points below each section on the main points I know I want or need to find out to put in this section (this could be from background research OR, if you are a better student, questions that you want answered)

3) starting journal research using JSTOR or Google Scholar, adding those URLs to each section’s bullet points

4) approaching each section’s research individually by printing out each jounral (unless excessively long), high lighting, then including the information in each section with, of course, proper citation

5) adding on – if after the reading there are sections I find I should include, then I add them in, this includes opposing views

Librarians have always scared me, and honestly every librarian I meet reminds me of this lady:

Source: Tumblr

BUT they are nice, and it’s their job to help you, so use them!

For now…. onto our next topic!

Source: WIfflegifs

I connected to Joseph Bizup’s report on BEAM: A Rhetorical Vocabulary for Teaching Research-Based Writing because of his emphasis on classifying the sources you use. He stressed that he wants students to “adopt a rhetorical perspective toward research-based writing” and through this, change how they “use them.” I have created a fun little BEAM cheat sheet below:

Source: LeslieAkin

As you can tell, I put a lot of stress on organization in my process of research… so I was immediately drawn to Bizup’s article. What’s more than organizing what I need to research (content wise), but also organizing what sources I have researched (classification)?! Sounds like heaven to me!

After organizing the sources, you can map out your plan for conversation between the sources. I remember this vividly in high school teachers saying “have conversations with your sources!”

Having conversations between your sources will make your piece flow (and feel less structured and middle-school book report like!) Bizup agrees with me when he states the relationships between each of the BEAM team: “If you start with an exhibit, look for argument sources to engage; if you start with argument sources, look for exhibits to interpret.”

Now if you ask me, I think I’ve summed up how I (and you!) can use BEAM to further my research! And therefore “use these “fruits” effectively.”

Source: Wifflegifs

End Side Note: not to mention his brief moment of stress on vocabulary… I specifically related to this because I feel I was not taught vocabulary enough in middle and high school, it was either assumed you knew the word or explained to you through a very simple, and often times over-simplified and thus incorrect, way. Bizup exclaims that through “relying on… everyday understanding of words to make initial sense… potentially misleads explanations” of terms.

Everyday I sit in Italian Class and get extremely frustrated. No not because the combination of prepositions and definite or indefinite articles does not make sense, at all, or comparisons do not translate into english whatsoever… it’s because this kid behind me does not pay attention. I see him everyday strut in his fancy clothes and brag about his fraternity dues on his way to class, but once in class he can’t translate that effort to impress into an effort to succeed?

His junior level status means nothing to me now, for I know he doesn’t try. He has opportunity, but he’s used to life being easy and therefore doesn’t feel the need to try. I just sit there in class confused, I sit there like this:

Source: PandaWhale SNL

This frustration I have with his failure has continued into week 10, so when prompted to write about college I wanted to dive a bit deeper into motivations and patterns I see with backgrounds when it comes to this force driving you to succeed. 

The first question I needed to ask was if this force comes from an internal or external push. Internal would mean no matter your background or whats going on in your life, your motivation is purely dependent on your own self. An external push would be a student who feels their motivation is channeled mainly through external factors of why they attend college… in other words did they come from a bad city that they want to change? Did their parents not support them so they want to stand up for themselves and prove them wrong?

I believe a major trigger for motivation is an anger or passion for change in the world you grew up.

To build off of that, these external forces may be a bad community you grew up in, and this passion for change in your community contribute to your will to achieve in school and get you where you want to be. So back this Italian Class Guy, who we shall call Dom, seems to have grown up in an area where his values weren’t really challenged and he didn’t have any real apparent struggles. Because of this he is lacking in that pinpointed reason for education- he has no real idea of what change he wants to drive into this world, and thus doesn’t have the motivation to do well in classes.

I acknowledge that people of all backgrounds can be and have been successful, I still maintain that privilege, in theory, is detrimental when it comes to motivation.

My Experiences

The first few weeks I struggled a lot with the social expectations of most students at SCU and started questioning if I had decided to attend the right school.  I met many students that quite bluntly do not put effort into schooling, and yet most of them are not on financial aid or do not have struggling family or health problems, etc. I decided these kids just don’t have a defined larger purpose for a college education in mind than just, it’s “what everyone does.” I do agree social abilities to interact is important for success no matter what you want to do, but maybe going out 4 or 5 out of the 7 nights a week starts to hurt instead of help.

I actually don’t find it funny when you post about how blacked out you got last night, how you “don’t remember anyyythinggggg,” or how many times you had to leave your 8 am class to go throw up in the bathroom stall. To me, you’re wasting your parents (or your own!) money, someone else’s much more deserving spot to be at this university, and most importantly my respect for you.

Source: Rebloggy

What I once thought was a generation to give up on because of all these interactions, I have grown to decide to tackle and motivate myself.   This “social norm” is my community I wish to change.

Look at Who Has Come So Far…

Not only can you see this almost unanimous decision to give up (except for the strong few out there, GO YOU!) when you walk on a college campus and see beer cans and underwear everywhere (an exaggeration, but it’s been seen), but you can also see those who are successful in channeling their drive out of bad situations as you look at some of the worlds leaders.

A quick google search can get you lists on lists of the “most influential people who faced adversity growing up.” Lets see if you can recognize any of these people or the companies they run.

1. Ursula Burns: CEO of Xerox
2. Narendra Modi: Bloomberg’s 13th most influential person in the world… otherwise known as the Prime Minister of India, the country that holds over 17% of the world’s population
3. Benjamin Franklin: I really hope you know of him, but did you also know he created bifocals (shout out to my mom who wears those!), the idea of Daylight Savings, and a smokeless coal stove?
4. Jay Z- a famous rapper, also known as the husband of Beyonce, who once lived on the streets for years and now is worth a mere half billion. Him and his wife? Over 1 billion.
5. Our presidents who went from rags to riches: Abraham Lincoln, Harry S. Truman, and James A. Garfield.
6. Or these billions who once were dirt poor:
   1. Kenny Trout (Excel founder, aka that green app on your computer with graphs)
   2. Howard Shultz (you can thank him for your Starbucks Coffee)
   3. Oprah Winfrey (worth almost 3 billion, first woman african american TV correspondent)
   4. Kirk Kerkorian (you can thank him for Las Vegas)
   5. Don Wang Chang (a guy who started a little company called Forever 21)
   6. Ralph Lauren (of Ralph Lauren)
   7. Larry Ellison (Oracle, he dropped out of college after not being able to pay for it once his adoptive mother died).

(I’m going to link each of the names to their wikipedia)

The list goes on, and I’m sorry if I bored you listing A-G.

One person that most people really do know this about is Malcolm X. He had 8 brothers and sisters, his father died when he was 6, his mother was placed in a mental institution, and grew up in an area where the color of his skin quite literally affected every aspect of his life. His larger purpose for change was driven by his desire for change, he wanted a better community and a better world.

Now You!

Source: Wikimedia

Now you, college students, you are here you have opportunity and you SHOULD take advantage of it.  You’re gonna get out what you put in.

No one has it perfect, in some way or another we all have been challenged by life, some more than others, but still most humans understand loss, frustration, and anger. The problem here is not that all students are not underprivileged or are struggling to understand their backgrounds; the problem is that not all students’ motivations have been fully tapped into.

Take advantage of that disturbing news story you saw last week, or that puppy you saw outside the library that made you realize how therapeutic dogs can be, or be like Khloe Kardashian and her new show “Revenge Body,” yes it’s silly but its an example of taking advantage of a bad situation.

So Dom, pay attention, meet with the teacher, and put effort into you studying. Italian is a subject that may not be as applicable to real life, but maybe your dream job is in Italy, that one investor you need in your non profit has Italian heritage, this one C a future prospective employer will notice and give you a pass, or maybe the girl you will fall in love with’s parents only speak Italian. Everything matters, and if you didn’t grow up with your values challenged or in a community that you want to change, anticipate the future and plan for it, nothing will go unnoticed, everything can be applicable.

So What?

Education is an investment; we must work and tend to it in order to get all that we can out of it. To put it bluntly, you put in what you get out, and our mothers, fathers, grandmothers, and even ourselves are busting their butts to put us here, so make it worth it.

Experts are right with what they say about the way to channel anger, but we must also consider that not all students are perfect and able to hone in and focus on their passions; I don’t suspect the average student’s distractions from academics to be abolished anytime soon.

So how do we get all students curious and motivated? Not all students are underprivileged, but all students can find something frustrating to focus their passions on.

The larger reason of getting a job and living your life is to find something you want to improve, so why shouldn’t education tackle this pursuit as well? Maybe we can work force with force, get the students motivated and the school to open up more opportunities to do so. If we can just get the school to encourage curiosity in their own communities, we can show the students the harsh reality of topics they are interested in.

Source: SardonicSalad

Privilege can be detrimental because it allows you to go through education without seriously contemplating why you are here and what you want to do with the education you receive. I agree being from an underprivileged community poses many struggles for the affected individual’s life, but the silver lining of it all is that you are motivated.

You understand the problems the world faces first hand, and maybe when those who are marginalized are aware of it, they have more anger to work against it and do well to prove the “others” wrong.

an introduction to me and my blog…

Just like in the real world, as a student at any university across the world you are going to see income disparity. Whether it’s the young man I’m staring blankly at while trying to write this with 200$ Beats headphones on, or the girl sitting across from him with cheapo earphones bound to break if ever dropped from a height greater than 4 feet… we observe and make assumptions.

I’m a college student. If you asked me to describe myself in one (ok two) words that is what I would say… I believe just the word college bring back the depression, fun, and confusing emotions any human has felt during this time.

I used to assume money and ease through life are for the most part parallel in their pursuit, but I’ve come to notice something more and more (throughout what I must admit is only a 9 week survival rate of college thus far)…

Which includes a mixture of this:

Source: Her Campus

then this:

Source: Giphy

and to survive this:

Source: Northwest Nazarene University

Privilege can, in some cases, be detrimental when it comes to motivation in a school setting. AKA having to watch your money in college may actually make you work harder to try and get more bang for your buck.

For me, I must admit I’m not personally paying for my education. I’ve been in private school my whole life and my parents have funds set aside for up until graduate school, shall I choose to apply. BUT, I’ve always been motivated to do well in school, no matter what school comes first. I rarely “go out,” and sometimes I even choose to miss my cousins’ birthday dinners if I have a paper due the next day that I’m not totally confident about. But, I have many a friends who clearly use their money to their advantage… which in a way puts them at a disadvantage.

I knew one girl in high school who openly (and quite randomly) told me she was on financial aid… and let me tell you this girl had the opportunity to be popular, go to parties, get all the dudes, but she didn’t. And it hasn’t been until recently I’ve realized she already knew, probably years before the other more privileged, what she was at school for, and in some cases who she was at school for. I commend you now anonymous friend, you have strength that very few have! Thus, I channeled her motivations, found my own, and together we made a great team.

Source: ReactionGifs

I came from a decently wealthy area, and when asking my friends (as “research” for my blog) if we remember any kids who decided their immense wealthy could make up for their lack of motivation- we reminisced about some pretty funny stories.

This boy, CJ, or as I’ll call him here Jolin Cohnson, was a straight c student, whose father, ironically, donated a mere 250 million to Yale just prior to Jolin starting his junior year in high school. He didn’t work hard, and I’m assuming never will, but still three other students actually GOT IN to Yale, and both received financial aid. GO THEM!

These kids that have parents to make proud and aunts and uncles who add to their investment of an education to feel successful. They have more than one bigger picture to work for.

So, as the revered businessman in the world of Netflix, Michael Scott, once said::

Source: monstruoysly.tumblr.com

Wish me luck on this pursuit to blogging… For now I will respond with:

Source: TheOdysseyOnline

But I’m assuming I’ll be proved wrong.

Kindest Regards,

Sincerest Apologies,

L.A.