I have not really made a formal blog before, so I am still trying to figure out how to do this. Nonetheless; hello!
I’m going to be finishing my second and penultimate semester in Stony Brook University’s Master’s in English program. Should I feel excited? Scared? Some mix of the two? I have yet to figure that out.
If I’m feeling pretentious, I’ll tell people I’m an early modernist. Maybe that’s too generous for an MA student still finding their footing, though I have also found a deep interest in early modern history, culture, and disability studies. I do intend on pursuing a doctoral degree once I’m finished with my Master’s.
One of my longest held— and most questionable!— aspirations is to teach, despite the social phobia I have battled since I was a child. I want to inspire myself to find my own voice, as well as others because I think there is truly something valuable we are missing in an increasingly STEM focused world. The humanities are called humanities for a reason: they make us human!
I am likely going to be posting, over the next few months, various musings about courses I am taking, or have taken. I also intend to write about the books I have read, either for personal pleasure or class or for the Master’s thesis I am writing next semester.
For the sake of visibility (in or outside this empty void…) and the importance, I believe, in destigmatizing these struggles, occasional posts about the struggle of dealing with mental illness and chronic pain in an academic setting may also be present. As both of these things impact my day-to-day life as well as my academic work, I believe they are important to talk about; my experience has been that “sit down and hush” is a detriment which leads to isolation.