byrd

hi all! I'm a senior this year, majoring in history and gender, sexuality, and women's studies. I don't go to a super renowned university but i go to a large public university on a full ride scholarship that i was selected for based on my history research in high school. i'm planning on applying to a whole bunch of PhD programs and also master's in history as a backup in case I don't get into any funded PhD programs; I'm incredibly lucky that I don't have any student loans (yet, haha) so I should be able to obtain a master's even if I don't get any funding. I'm interested in the history of clothing in early america, especially in regards to queer and transgender experience, and have done research on that end on the life of Joseph Lobdell in the 19th century in america, who we would identify now-adays as transgender, which is part of a paper that I'm presenting at my first-ever conference this fall. This paper is what I'm going to use as my writing sample, so I'm in full swing on revising and revamping it to be both presentable for the conference and within the page limits for the schools i'm applying to. I'm... honestly not sure if I'll get into any PhD programs this cycle, I was diagnosed with a chronic illness while in school which limited both my gpa and my oppurtunities to do in-depth research beyond my current project, and am only passable in foreign languages (basically reading in french and latin but no speaking or listening skills). I'm going to try my best anyways! I only just discovered this website exists so pardon me in advance if i trip over any unspoken etiquette in this post. - byrd