havemybloodchild
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Posts
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Posts posted by havemybloodchild
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2 minutes ago, Bopie5 said:
Similarly worried about paying for housing. Quick question (and maybe this is a totally ignorant thing to ask, but I'm the first in my family to apply for graduate school, so I'm still trying to get a sense of how things work functionally): do people anticipate using most of their stipends toward rent? Or is that not feasible/do you all anticipate directing your stipend toward other channels/needs?
Except where it is literally impossible to find housing for less, I’m anticipating budgeting 1/3 of my stipend for rent, like I would in any other situation. More than that is just miserable, in my experience.
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2 minutes ago, mandelbulb said:
@kendalldinniene i can get more details from my friends who own, but as far as i know, the market is pretty competitive and everything in the city is pretty expensive. the market has been slowing down recently though!
god this really reminds me of how little i'm looking forward to actually moving, even if i'm excited by the idea of learning a new city and starting a new chapter of my life...
I'd appreciate any info you can give me! I've been looking a bit and there are definitely things here and there I can afford, but no word on HOAs, so who actually knows. I would rather own a shoe box to myself than share a bathroom and kitchen with a building full of people for about the same monthly cost. These west coast cities are just getting to be completely unlivable on one income.
I usually love moving but some of these locations are far more stressful to move to money-wise than others. Of course, if everyone else can do it, you and I can, too. Fingers crossed the move is the biggest stressor we all have come March or so!
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13 minutes ago, mandelbulb said:
there are no other tips lol
I might be able to buy something itty bitty once I get there. Any idea what HOAs are like?
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13 minutes ago, savay said:
Housing is tricky, and perhaps @mandelbulb has better tips here than I do, but if you end up at UW I'm happy to send along my advice. Basically, unless you want to live in a pod, or very far away, roommates are usually the best bet.
This is what I'm afraid of. I'm a crotchety old lady, I do not want anymore roommates unless they are cats or books.
That being said, Scandinavian Studies sounds fascinating! I hope (besides the library homesickness) you're enjoying your time abroad. Do you mind my asking what country you are in? Scandinavia is a dream spot to live for me.
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2 minutes ago, Bopie5 said:
Also, on an unrelated note, I just had a meeting with my thesis advisor, and she was so incredibly encouraging to me. We were talking about grad apps, and she said "Did you know I'm a second-try PhD? On my first cycle, I didn't get anywhere other than one school. And then I got my MA, and then tried again for my PhD. And let me tell you, on my second try, I got into schools that I didn't get into the first time. But guess what else? I didn't get into schools I got into the first time. Admissions is a mixed bag, and there are so many factors at play. There's nothing wrong with trying again, and there's so many factors out of your control."
Dang I really need to save my reacts for the posts that count. This made me feel a lot better ❤️
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1 hour ago, savay said:
@kendalldinniene that anthology on sci-fi & reproduction sounds amazing! I don't know if you work at all with kinship but Victoria Pitts Taylor work has been really great.
I will have to check her out! I did a little work with queer kinship when I was writing on this very peculiar Victorian novella called A Sunless Heart. I really enjoyed it.
Also how are you liking UW? I doubt I'll get in but if I do I'm already stressed about finding housing I can afford.
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@dilby ? thanks for that
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1 minute ago, savay said:
Butler's Giving an Account of Oneself (the whole book I suppose) somehow finds its way into most things I write, lol. And Rubin's Thinking Sex. Roderick Ferguson's work in general, but “Administering Sexuality" sticks with me as does M. Jacqui Alexander's “Not Just (Any) Body Can Be a Citizen." And if anyone is interested in animal studies, the article "Bestiality and the Queering of the Human Animal," blew my mind. (I think I have pdfs of all of these for sharing)
Please share!
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Sapp, Erin Grayson. “Patriarchy, Paternity and Papas: Reproductive Technologies and Parenthood in Science Fiction.” The Sex is Out of This World: Essays on the Carnal Side of Science Fiction.
LOVE this article, it talks about the feminist discourse on extra uterine gestation and its potential impact on gender ideation and equality. It is fascinating.
Bost, Suzanne. “Gloria Anzaldúa’s Mestiza Pain: Mexican Sacrifice, Chicana Embodiment, and Feminist Politics.”
I love Bost, she’s why I applied to Loyola, and this article is just...so good.
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7 minutes ago, breemartini said:
Thank you! : 0 ) Two fantastic (and foundational) magical feminism texts are Their Dogs Came With Them by Helena Maria Viramontes and The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I am currently making my way through a collection of short stories by García Márquez - his stories are always a safe bet. Borges also has a ton of short stories that are must-reads.
I love your goal of moving to Chicago! It is definitely unhealthy and unrealistic to attach your worth to this application cycle. Your worth is tied to all of your great ideas and how you move forward with them, independent of institutions!
If I am not admitted to any programs, I would move back home to Los Angeles and work towards landing a job that would help me gain more experience leading creative projects that are social-justice oriented. I really want to connect my love for art and writing with my desire to help young people from underrepresented backgrounds.
I love that goal ❤️ If I end up going to LA maybe I can hit you up for some advice about the area? I’ve only ever been for vacation and not tor years.
Also, I ordered TDCWT, thank you for the rec, I’m excited to read it!
Good luck to you this cycle, I can’t wait to see everyone’s results come in! I have a feeling a lot of congratulations will be in order.
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Thanks @Warelin. I needed that.
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6 minutes ago, dangermouse said:
@kendalldinniene that is super exciting - as someone who has experienced very little of the US, i have always said chicago is the one place i have dreamed of living if i ever made a permanent move overseas, so please vicariously live out my dream for me!
long term goals on my end... i'd like to move back to london if i don't get onto any phds, and i have a lot of friends there currently so that seems quite doable and exciting all in one! i'm also currently working on a novel (holla @ everyone's poetry/fiction discussion a couple of pages back) and my ambition is to finish, revise the hell out of it, and send it out to agents so that should give me some good post-rejection distraction if i need it! i'm working in academic publishing currently but i'd love to move towards more trade publishing in the next couple of years maybe - who knows!
I'll live out your Chicago dream while you live my move to London and get a book published dream. It's a deal.
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2 hours ago, breemartini said:
Hello everyone! I graduated in December 2017 with a BA in English. I am currently an AmeriCorps Tutor in Newark, NJ with MMUF, the Leadership Alliance, Sigma Tau Delta, and a variety of professional experiences under my belt. I was also a Semi-Finalist for a Fulbright Taught Masters. This is my first time applying to PhD programs, and it was definitely more intense than I expected - I learned a lot about my organizational skills in the process, and I am happy/proud to have finished everything with a bit of time to spare.
A very brief description of my research aspirations: I hope to center my studies around magical realism and magical feminism in Latin American and Afro-Latinx diasporic fiction, poetry, and performance. I intend to evaluate how textual elements of magical feminism are physically manifested in performances, and how performative spaces foster the creation of writer-activist communities that are continuously in conversation with the original works.
Regardless of results, everyone should feel accomplished for making it to this point. I hope that the new year motivates us all to stay productive with personal/professional projects in the interim - I know I am devoting some time this month to ground myself by re-establishing some long-term goals that will not be affected by upcoming acceptances and/or rejections. Sending love and best-wishes ?
Welcome!
I love magical realism/feminism! My first encounter with the concept was Ana Castillo's So Far from God in a Chicano Lit class a couple of years ago. I've since read that book probably 100 more times, it's just so good. Are there any specific texts you would recommend?
You're exactly right, we all achieved something worthwhile in getting through the application process, which can't be diminished by the results. It's nice to see the reminder here, though, as I'm very good at diminishing my own efforts when they don't yield what I want. So thank you
I think sharing some long term goals might be fun on this thread. For me, if I don't get accepted this go around, I'm moving to Chicago anyway. I was there last month and I fell in love with the city, I can still find decent rent there, and I'm overdue for a big move anyway. Just thinking about it makes me excited and feel less insecure about how my applications are going to be received.
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3 hours ago, placeinspace said:
Yep! Can't wait for 3 weeks from now when I haven't gotten a Chicago invite and therefore know I've been rejected. It's honestly going to be a relief from all this stress and waiting haha.
I have this exact thought about four times a day.
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Novelist & poet
Actor
Being paid to travel around the world eating and drinking things on camera
Researcher
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I've been reading a lot and writing. Also just binging Hulu. I need to get back into yoga but recently I haven't felt like doing much of anything.
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Speaking of creative writing, just saw If Beale Street Could Talk...I’m obsessed with James Baldwin. Anyone else read/seen it?
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4 hours ago, Bopie5 said:
omg! What if we made like a workshopping group? @kendalldinniene you down?
Yessssss
let’s do it
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@Bopie5 I am always writing poetry and submitting. If you ever want to workshop, I’d be so down!
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2 hours ago, Bopie5 said:
Ooo, I have a fun question (well, to me it's fun...)
What's everyone researching right now? What thesis/paper/article are you currently writing?
I’m out of school but working on an article about the potential benefit of teaching Disability Poetics in increasingly inclusive classrooms. Submitting it to the Fall edition of the Oregon English Journal.
I’m also reworking a paper on vegetarianism and celibacy as revolutionary tools in the Victorian Era. The professor I wrote it for thinks it could be a good candidate for publication in an undergrad journal. Not sure how that’s going to work but I love the paper and editing it.
I’m also doing some creative writing, including a fantasy novel and a revision of Oedipus which centers around Jocasta and is set in the 1980s.
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And my professors told me to highlight my TA experience and sell my desire to not only research but also to teach.
Fml this process would be hilarious if I wasn’t utterly invested in the result.
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Worries
This is my second year applying, and though I feel much better about the schools I’ve chosen to apply to, and the fact that I applied to many more programs, I’m worried if it doesn’t work out this year I won’t have it in me to apply again. I’m also worried because I have significant gaps in my academic history. My major gpa is great, my overall gpa is good, my gre scores are good, but what if they’re not good enough? My WS are excellent, I know that, but these adcomms are seeing hundreds of excellent samples. I worry my SoP isn’t specific enough and that the ending isn’t strong enough. I’m worried about how I’ll live on a stipend.
Excitements
I absolutely love researching and writing. I’m so looking forward to being in a cohort of similarly driven and passionate students. I’m thrilled to move and start over in a new place. Literature is my life and I’m looking forward to it being my whole life. I want to be challenged to my limits and see how much I can grow.
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@Sigaba was looking for more general information. Tried digging through the websites of the 20 schools I applied to and didn’t find much detail, unfortunately. May have to try again!
Favorite Rejection Quotes from the Results Page
in Waiting it Out
Posted
Holy shit I am drinking deep of these "hard working white men" tears rn. Good riddance to this dude.