By Olivia Merrick
One of the things that I think most college students can agree on is that there are times where school suddenly becomes much more difficult than it typically is. This could be for a variety of reasons—the weather in Seattle can leave many struggling with the effects of seasonal affective disorder, overwhelming weeks of class readings, midterms season, and of course, finals week—but stress is an undeniable reality of being a student. It can often be difficult to find motivation when the world around you feels so overwhelming, but as someone who has been through this recurring phase of college before, I’ve developed a few strategies to help me continue to work through it. Hopefully, you will find some of these helpful, whether they work for you or if they inspire you find a different approach.
Seattle University Counseling and Psychological Services: https://www.seattleu.edu/caps/ Seattle University Health and Wellness Resources: https://www.seattleu.edu/wellness/mental/ Seattle University Timely Care (24/7 Virtual Physical and Mental Healthcare): https://www.seattleu.edu/caps/timelycare/
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By Riley Young
If you told someone who I grew up with that I was arguing against the importance of grammar, they would think you were mistaking me for someone else. I grew up infatuated with grammar, even taking on the nickname “Red Pen Riley,” and having my best friend tell me she “wanted her best friend back” when I centered conversations around grammar rules and corrected any small mistake. Grammar was something I could control. There was a right way to do grammar. As I transitioned from high school to college, this strongly-held belief started to crumble. In ENGL 3090, the class that trained me to be a Writing Consultant, my attachment to grammar was entirely destroyed. We read countless articles and had countless discussions about the harm grammar, from now on specified as Standardized American English (SAE), causes as a colonialist construction. Gloria Anzaldua, Ashanti Young, Laura Greenfield, Anis Bawarshi and Stephanie Pelkowski, Frankie Condon, and many more introduced us to the ways SAE can be limiting and pushed us to move beyond its constraints. The notion that there is only one correct way to write, or a singular Standard English, is conclusively false. We further explored this falsehood in a historical journey with Dr. Maria Bullon-Fernandez: “Language, Power, and the Development of English Overtime.” It was critical to examine the relationship between power and language as fundamental, providing context which situates our advocacy for linguistic justice in a much larger picture of historical hegemony. When we give into the narrative that SAE is necessary to clear communication and any attempts to dismantle it are new or unfounded, we give into standards defined by white supremacy and systems of domination. We structure our pedagogy in the Writing Center around these values, challenging monolingual norms and welcoming the use of linguistic variety as a unique and flavorful rhetorical device. I decided to take a class on social justice this quarter, as recommended by an advisor. I expected this course to exemplify the anti-colonialist, anti-Standard English pedagogy that I was becoming accustomed to. Then, the syllabus glared at me, indicating that we would be graded on our mastery of grammar, syntax, punctuation, spelling, and APA formatting. I was stunned. Why would a social justice professor who has spent his whole life as a social activist be advocating for a structure that directly upholds colonialist standards? I tried not to make a judgment call based only on the syllabus. Maybe it was outdated, or leftover from a different professor who had taught the course. I didn’t have the opportunity to challenge him until he told the class that there were a lot of issues with grammar in the first assignment, and offered a class period to work through grammatical issues. He also told the class they should go to the Writing Center for help with grammar and APA. Oh boy. Now was my time. “Hi! I work at the Writing Center and actually…” He had a wonderful response to my vocalization of concern. He completely agrees–Standard English is a picturesque exemplification of colonialism. To defend his position, he explained that he feels responsible for preparing us (specifically the social workers, since it’s a social work class) to be successful out in the colonized world. I valued his response, despite my hesitation about the punitive assessment of SAE. There must be ways in which we can prepare students for success without perpetuating the very systems we claim to be against. After the next class, he asked me to stay behind to chat for a moment. He asked how I felt about his response, and further explained the pedagogical conflict he has surrounding assessing writing in academia. He told me a story about when he was in my position; he was the student telling his professor that these standards were problematic. His professor responded with an argument that struck him. While he and I may not have to worry about writing in perfect SAE, as we have the privilege and freedom to bend the rules, his professor, a Black woman, detailed that her experience required a mastery of proper academic writing. This argument struck me as well, and I find it is important to reflect on its implications. What is the middle-ground? Is there a solution? How do we approach consultations as a resistance to standard language ideologies? In what ways can we prepare students for a world which employs standardized English without enforcing it as the only way through? There seems to be no right answer. What do you think? Please let me know and I would be curious to do another post reflecting on these ideas! By Olivia Merrick
"The book was better.” If you’ve ever seen a book-to-film adaptation with a reader before, chances are the second the film or show ended, they turned to you and said those four fateful words. As someone who will always read a book before I see a film based on it, I know that I'm guilty of saying as much. However, as I’ve seen more and more book-to-film adaptations, I’ve begun to see my steadfast conviction that books are always better than their adaptations begin to fade away. In fact, I’d go as far as to argue that there are a handful of reasons why an adaptation can be better than a book.
Maybe you’ll fall in love all over again. By Olivia Merrick In many ways, the writing process can be one that’s incredibly intimidating. With deadlines looming and grades in the balance, academic writing often ends up becoming a stressful experience. Despite the reputation it has in the minds of many, there are a lot of mental health benefits that writing can have, especially when it comes to journaling and self-reflection. Journaling is often considered as something people do when they’re younger (URMR). I’m sure I’m not the only person who really wanted one of those diaries that you could only unlock by telling it a certain word. There's something so novel and timeless about the image of scribbling about friendship drama and crushes with a bright pink ink inside of a sparkly, neon diary, and I think that’s why journaling often gets left behind as we grow up. The truth is that journaling into and throughout adulthood has remarkable benefits on your overall mental health and well-being. An article published in the University of Rochester Medical Review asserts that daily journaling has been shown to help anxiety, depression, and general stress. The authors of this article stress the importance of not feeling obligated to write in a certain way or pattern, but rather, to be open to going with where your thoughts and experiences take you (URMR). There’s no right way to write, and this is especially true of journaling. Furthermore, writing can help you process difficult experiences and emotions. Now, this isn’t to say that you should do journaling as a substitute for therapy, but it can be helpful in processing traumatic events (Reed). Sometimes, it can be helpful to write out how you’re feeling to try and even just put words to emotions you’re experiencing. There's something that’s comforting about knowing that you’re sharing what you’re feeling, while simultaneously knowing that your journal won’t judge you because it’s an inanimate object. Instead, you get the benefit of knowing you’re not just keeping it to yourself as you work toward addressing your feelings to hopefully be able to seek out external support, should you need/want it. Although the mental health benefits are immense, writing can also help increase your level of self-awareness, which recent research has indicated might be the reason as to why mental health is so drastically improved by writing. Increased self-awareness can lead to an increase in self-confidence, more effective decision making, and can allow us to possess more self-control. Plus, the increase in self-awareness as a result of writing can be seen no matter the kind of writing that you’re doing (Thatcher). There is a ton of overwhelming evidence that supports the benefits of writing on your overall mental health, and more than that, it doesn’t necessarily matter what kind of writing you’re doing. The most important thing is that you give it a go and do your best to keep yourself from having certain expectations of what you need to be writing. Instead, work to just write. Works Cited:
Reed, Jon. Writing and mental health: 8 psychological benefits of writing. Publishing Talk. 10 Oct. 2022. https://www.publishingtalk.org/writing/writing-and-mental-health-8-psychological-benefits/ Thatcher, Christina. Writing can improve mental health- here's how. The Conversation. 17 June 2021. https://theconversation.com/writing-can-improve-mental-health-heres-how-162205 University of Rochester Medical Review. Journaling for Mental Health. University of Rochester Medical Review, Health Encyclopedia. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentID=4552&ContentTypeID=1 I think that many people would agree that our generation is the generation of need for constant stimulation. Since we’ve grown up in a society where we have constant access to stimulation, be it through televisions, our computers, our phones, and social media apps, our brains have literally evolved and changed as a result (Alvarez-Jimenez et al.). As such, it’s no surprise that many of us enjoy listening to music as we complete our homework. There’s something about it that’s so cathartic and comforting. I’ve found that when I do my homework, I’m able to focus better when I have music playing in my ears.
However, it’s a bit more difficult to find the right kind of music to write to. Your brain still has to be able to produce words for you to write as you listen to music, and having to multitask with both thinking of words to write and listening to the words in your music can prove to be distracting (Mahoney). There are perks to writing to music, though. Listening to music while writing an essay has been shown to increase your creative process, and this, in turn, can make it easier to come up with ideas for your paper (Edmunds). For many people, the hardest part of the writing process is developing ideas, and music without lyrics can be really helpful in making that possible. Now, I know it’s much more fun to listen to music with lyrics in it while you work. Personally, there’s only so much classical music I can take before I lose my mind. One of the things that I found works really well for me is being able to listen to karaoke versions of some of my favorite songs. I still get to listen to music that I enjoy without being distracted by the words that typically go with the songs. Some other suggestions of music to listen to that don’t have lyrics in them that can help focus your brain include listening to jazz music, electronic music, and music in a language that isn’t a language you speak (Edmunds). Try listening to a variety of different styles of music and playlists, and chances are that you’ll find something that works well for you! There is data that supports the concept that listening to music while you write can benefit your overall writing process, so long as you aren’t listening to music with lyrics in it. So, if you’re like me, you can rest assured that music is good for your creativity, and you can explore a variety of different sounds and styles to find what serves you best. Works Cited: Alvarez-Jimenez, Mario et al. The “online brain”: how the internet may be changing our cognition. World Psychiatry. June 2019. DOI: 10.1002/wps.20617 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6502424/ Edmunds, Leon. The Best Music for Students While Writing an Essay. Playground Professionals. 9 Mar. 2020. https://playgroundprofessionals.com/playground/musical/best-music-students-while-writing-essay Mahoney, Trevor. How Listening to Music can Improve your Writing. Medium. 19 Nov. 2019. https://medium.com/med-daily/how-listening-to-music-can-improve-your-writing-4242b062bb0c Like so many others, the winter quarter has been rough. With cloudy, cold weather, an overwhelming number of readings and essays, and being the shortest quarter of the three main, there’s just so much to do in such little time. I have found myself constantly working on stuff for my classes that I have neglected doing anything for my own enjoyment.
As an avid reader, finding time to read throughout my day is probably my favorite thing on earth, but when I have to read one hundred pages for my American Lit class in 2 days on top of writing a philosophy paper and a paper for my intercultural lit class, things like my own books and tv shows I want to watch get pushed to the side. In a lot of ways, I have found this really hard. Reading and watching tv have been great ways for me to make time for myself in past quarters, but that just hasn’t been the case this time. I’m sure a lot of fellow students have felt this way this past quarter; the things you like to do get sidelined as you try to juggle the things that need to get done. While I haven’t perfected the way to make time for hobbies in a busy schedule, here are some of the things I learned: 1. Use mealtimes as a way to do things you want. I will admit, I have found myself reading articles or book chapters for class as I eat lunch or dinner, but I try to make a conscious effort not to. You have to eat a meal sometime during the day, and it’s the perfect time for a personal break. Whether your meal is fifteen minutes, or an hour and your break is scrolling though TikTok or reading a chapter of your favorite book, it’s 100% worth it. Because my personal schedule is so busy, I use meals as a dedicated time to catch up with friends during the week. Even a small moment with the things that bring you joy is better than no time at all. 2. Don’t feel guilty about not having time. Because of how busy my schedule is, I often find myself only having longer periods of free time around 9 or 10 pm each night. Usually, I am exhausted at this point and while I have the time to do things like read or watch an episode of a show, I just don’t have the energy. This makes me feel guilty. I want to but I can’t. I’ve come to learn that not having the time to do something is okay. You shouldn’t feel guilty. It’s okay to choose something like sleep over other things if that’s what you need. Just know you are doing your best and there is always tomorrow. 3. Look forward to the future with your hobbies. While it can be discouraging to not be able to do what you love in a moment, remember that it won’t be like this forever. School is overwhelming but recognize that with each quarter comes a new workload, schedule, and chance to do the things that you love. Continue to be excited about things. I know for me personally; I always get excited for new books from my favorite authors even if I know it will be months before I have time to pick up a book. Just because you can’t do something now, doesn’t mean you should give it up. As we wind down winter quarter and move into both spring break and spring quarter, I encourage you to find little moments with your hobbies and passions. Find the joys in life when you can and always take care of yourself to the best of your abilities. As we close out the third week of Spring Quarter and start moving towards midterms, I have found myself hitting the slump that I hit every year during this time. After 2 very long and hard quarters, I am on the cusp of burning out and finding it hard to stay motivated at this time. I think this is a common experience across campus.
With the weather turning nice, the days getting longer, and summer teasing its presence, it’s quite hard to fully to stay in the school mindset. However, with several more class weeks and a week of finals still ahead of us, it’s important to finish off the year strong. Here are my tips on how I stay motivated.
There’s a lot to look forward to in the Spring Quarter, so you should make sure you’re having fun but also making it through the final push towards summer. Find a balance and take care of yourself. We’ll be out before you know it! Are you trying to achieve excellence in your professional and personal life? Are you looking for an effortless way to manage your time and lead your teams effectively? One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson has the answers to all of these questions. I intend to share my reflection on this reading and discuss how you can incorporate the lessons from this book in your writing projects, personal life, and professional life.
The Lessons from One Minute Manager One Minute Manager offers three tools and asks you to spend only 60 seconds on each tool. These tools intend to improve your management style. First tool is to set three specific goals for your employees/team members and spend only a minute to review them. Second tool is to spend only one minute in praising the work of your employees/team members. Third tool is to spend a minute or less in showing your dissatisfaction with work (if any). How to apply these tools in your life These tools can be applied at your workplace, in your class team projects, and more. You need to ensure that the goals you set are specific and achievable. You might want to look into SMART goals when setting goals for your team, for yourself, and/or for your employees. Personal SMART goals can be related to drafting your paper, such as completing an outline of Paper A in maximum of two pages including supporting arguments/quotes, number of paragraphs and main arguments in two days from now and meeting a writing consultant to review it on the third day. At the end of the second day, you would spend 60 seconds in reviewing your progress. If you accomplished your goal, you would spend only 60 seconds in praising yourself, and if you completed your goal poorly, you would spend only 60 seconds in criticizing your work. It is important that you highlight changes in your outline and set a new SMART goal in this process. I apply these tools in my life as much as I can. One important thing I realized was that I do not need to apply these tools in an order they are presented in the book. When I reflected, I also realized that no approach is free from limitations. However, we can adjust an approach to best fit our lifestyle, work, and school. I usually have more than just three goals for the week or month or the year. I also have some long-term goals. Assessing those goals usually takes me longer than one minute but by keeping this approach in my mind, I become more mindful of the time I spend in planning, goal setting, assessing, and praising. For instance, you do not need to set three goals to praise your best friend’s achievements in life. I apply these tools as they seem applicable in my personal relationships, too. For instance, I usually spend 60 seconds praising the achievements of my friends and siblings. You can too! I hope these tips are as helpful for you as they are for me. A personal statement is similar to a short essay, but its purpose is to share about yourself and share what makes you UNIQUE. Many of you might be in the process of writing a personal statement for graduate schools. Therefore, I plan to share some tips and ways to get started with writing the first draft of your personal statement.
Let’s first build an understanding of personal statement. It is an opportunity for the admission’s committee to understand your life experience and passion outside the academic and professional experience (demonstrated in resume). However, you may draw the link of your passion with your academic and professional journey in the personal statement. Throughout my short life (so far!), I have written several personal statements -9 for graduate school and many more for the undergrad schools prior to that. One thing I always focused on was to share WHO I AM besides being a student and what I VALUE. This helped me in writing about WHAT MY PRESENCE IN THEIR CAMPUS CAN OFFER THEM. I believe that going to graduate school or any school or even workplace is a two-way relationship. Since you already know what they are offering (as you research the institution and programs before applying), a personal statement is an opportunity for us (students) to share what WE can bring to the table. How to get started? First step would be to brainstorm. You may use pen and paper or your electronic devices to write down your ideas. Here are some tips to get started with brainstorming.
Helpful checklist for the drafts
I can go on and on with the list. However, I think these are the most important things to consider when getting started with your first draft and revising it. Remember that it is a long process or writing several drafts so you will need to be patient with yourself. Make a goal to achieve from each draft so you can ensure that there is an improvement. Not to forget, you can get it reviewed by consultants at the writing center and get a more detailed and objective feedback on your drafts. You can also get it reviewed by the career center for an additional objective feedback. Good luck writing! For as long as I can remember, writing has been an emotional outlet for me. As someone who struggles to verbally express their emotions, mostly in the moment, writing allows me to sit in my feelings, analyze them, and meticulously craft how I want them to be expressed. I can lay myself bare. I can throw everything I’m feeling onto a fictional character and have them react in the way I can only dream of reacting. It is the most liberating feeling in the world. However, sometimes, that feeling of liberation can feel a bit trampled if your vulnerability is coming out in a piece of writing that will be viewed by an audience.
As a writer, I write my best when I pull from my personal experiences and emotions. That means I always have a strong attachment to my writing. Some pieces are more vulnerable than others, but no matter what, I see myself in all of it. Because of how vulnerable I allow myself to be when I’m writing, even when it’s something like an assignment that will be read by an outside audience, constructive criticism and feedback can be hard to take. In no way do I think that I know absolutely everything when it comes to writing but having an outsider critique something that comes from deep within you can be hard to swallow. So many times have I felt like a weight has been lifted off of me because of what I write, only to have doubt come crashing in when someone gives me feedback about what I can do to “fix” it. I am currently taking a creative writing class where we write adaptations based off of art (e.g. paintings, photographs, music video, etc.) The three pieces I picked to adapt (The Nightmare by Henry Fuseli, Office in a Small City by Edward Hopper, and The Lovers by René Magritte) were all pieces that I felt I could use to replicate a moment or feeling with and make a story out of. I wrote about my personal trauma that has stemmed from relationships, the fear of losing my dreams and aspirations in order to survive financially, and the insecurities and vulnerabilities I’m faced with while dating my current partner. All my pieces have explored deeply intimate parts of myself, and I greatly appreciate having the opportunity to express those feelings. The part I don’t appreciate so much is having to share these pieces and receive feedback from my classmates. As much as I hate the feedback stage of writing, I have come to accept it and I think that is the important part. I don’t hate it because I don’t think the feedback is useful or I believe that I don’t have room to learn; I just dread having feedback made on something that is so personal to me. But that’s the point of creative work: being vulnerable. There is one thing I always tell myself when it comes to sharing my writing: you do not have to love sharing your writing and you don’t have to agree or use the feedback you receive, but you should at least hear it out. About 99.9999% of the time, feedback doesn’t come from a malicious place. People are just trying to help you grow as a writer and you always have room to grow. Feedback and criticism are just part of being a writer, but you decide how it affects you. |
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January 2024
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