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kitasgloves · 3 months

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"You are in love"

event masterlist

— ♬ "And you understand now why they lost their minds and fought the wars. And why I've spent my whole life tryin' to put it into words"

— ♬ Kuroo x Reader, timeskip, SFW, fluff, gen reader, high school friends to lovers, no beta

One look, dark room, meant just for you. Time moved too fast, you played it back. You see buttons on a coat and remember a lighthearted joke, back then it had no proof and it was not much but you saw enough. When you were younger, you had trouble making friends. You used to believe that there was something wrong with you and that nobody was willing to stay and play, for a long time you coped with that. Being alone. Until high school went up and changed everything.

You didn't originally want to go to Nekoma High, you were aiming for Fukurodani Academy or even Itachiyama Institute. But you ended up going to Nekoma which you admit you hated at first. You had the potential to be in more prestigious schools in Tokyo but at least you ended up in one of the higher class sections during your first year. In terms of academics, there was no hassle. You went through every homework, classwork, presentation, and even group activity like a breeze. However, in terms of social life, you offer nothing but silence.

You couldn't connect with anyone in your class, they were kind people but there was no one who you see willing to open up to you and vice versa. It felt like your childhood and middle school all over again, you always ended up alone. But you were fortunately wrong. It was a fateful day during lunch and you were eating alone when you spotted a shadow over your head. And you saw him, feline-like eyes and bedhead hair. He offers you an eager smile.

"Mind if I sit here with you?"

He asks and you nod. He sits across from you and pulls out his lunch. He looked taller and older than you. The way he behaved around you told you how he was comfortable with approaching strangers, and you stopped eating.

"You're Kenma's seatmate, right?"

"Oh, you mean Kozume-san?"

"Yep! He didn't go to school today, he got sick"

"You know him?"

"We're childhood best friends, we sorta tell each other everything. I'm Kuroo Tetsuro, by the way"

"[Name], [Name] [Surname]"

Kuroo seems so eager to get to know you. Your first lunch shared with Kuroo left you perplexed, you're convinced it was only a one-time occurrence. But it repeated, again, and again. For months until the entirety of your first year. You and Kuroo became friends, something you never anticipated. You two became so close that it felt natural. By the time you reached your second year, you and Kuroo were inseparable.

He convinced you to join the boys' volleyball club as manager. Kenma became the witness to all your shenanigans with his childhood best friend. Because of Kuroo, you changed. You've learned to open up to people, you've become the person you are today thanks to him. Your friendship with Kuroo got you through the hardships in high school up until graduation. The two of you remained close after he left for college and the beginning of your third year. You and Kuroo consistently kept in touch until it was your turn to leave Nekoma for college.

You haven't heard from each other ever since and you've made a new life while in college. You gained new experiences, new friends, and new challenges to overcome. Even if you and Kuroo drifted apart, there wasn't a day that you don't wonder where he is right now. By your last year in college, you began to miss him. To miss the memories you had with him in high school. Watching movies, playing video games with Kenma, volleyball practice, and having sleepovers. You had a major case of nostalgia when you went through your photos back at high school, there were polaroids of you and him on his graduation that never fail to make you tear up.

College ended as your career started. You found a good job that paid enough to sustain yourself, that's when you began trying to reconnect with Kuroo. You also found out that Kenma became a YouTuber, rising in popularity. All it took was a quick DM to his Instagram account and you got Kuroo's contact number. Apparently, he works at the Japan Volleyball Association within the Sports Promotion division. Something you knew he would definitely pursue.

It was close to midnight when you contemplated calling up his number, a million scenarios flooded your head. He could be already asleep, he probably doesn't know your number, or maybe he has already forgotten you. Your chest goes tight at the last thought. But you suck in a deep breath and dialed Kuroo's number. You held your phone against your ear and stared down at your Polaroid picture with him in your hand.

"Hello?"

You hear his voice in the line and your throat goes dry. It felt like your heart stopped beating but began racing after realizing the weight of the situation. You let out a shaky breath.

"Hi, Tetsu"

"...[Name]? Holy shit [Name] is that you?!"

He sounds so excited and it causes tears to well up in your vision. You let out a relieved chuckle knowing Kuroo hasn't forgotten about you. Immediately, you and him began talking and catching up on each other's lives. There was a brief exchange of apologies for letting the years go by without keeping in touch, but there were no grudges held and all was forgiven.

"Where is your place? I'll pick you up, let's get coffee"

"Sure"

It began snowing outside as you wrapped yourself in your warmest clothes. You waited in front of your apartment complex and saw a car pull up minutes later. The windows roll down and your heart leaps out of your chest. It was Kuroo Tetsuro, your high school best friend. He was grinning at you like he always did back then. He kept his signature bedhead hair and the only difference was he seemed to look more charming than he was during high school. You smile as he opens the door for you.

You sat in the passenger seat in quietness while smiling at each other, it truly felt like nothing had changed. Small talk and he drives. You two grab coffee at midnight. You and Kuroo stood against each other under the snow, sipping on coffee and laughing. The lampost light reflects the chain on your neck, Kuroo's eyebrows raised.

"Look up"

He says, and your shoulders brushed. It was no mistaking it. You were still wearing the necklace he gave you on your eighteenth birthday. You couldn't tell if the cold made his ears red or something else. No proof, one touch. But seeing Kuroo slide closer to you made you feel enough.

Something has changed, you couldn't point out what it was but something wasn't the same with you and Kuroo. The two of you spent a whole month making up for lost time. If it was possible, it seemed like the two of you became even closer. Perhaps closer than him and Kenma but felt way more different. You began noticing the shift in your and Kuroo's relationship one morning when you woke up at his place after spending the night before drinking. You smell burnt toast in the kitchen and it was a Sunday. You keep his shirt, and he keeps his word. And for once, you let go, of your fears and your ghosts. One step, not much. But it said enough.

You feel the change transform you and Kuroo uncontrollably. This felt nothing like high school anymore. Kuroo was getting closer and closer each time and you always let him. You've never felt so comfortable with anyone in your life. This is proved when Kuroo and you began kissing on sidewalks. You knew you'd never find someone like Kuroo in your life, so whenever you two would fight, you two would always talk.

However, everything comes into full circle one night when Kuroo wakes. He spent the night at your apartment and slept beside you. You stirred awake and you see the strange look on his face. He looks at you deep into your eyes, you gaze back with bated breath. He pauses.

"[Name], you're my best friend"

He says. And you knew what it was, he was in love. He's in love with you. So you instantly leaned against him and shared a long gentle kiss. For a long time, you felt like you two were dancing in a snow globe 'round and 'round. And now he keeps a picture of you in his office downtown. And understand why you spent your whole life trying to put it in two words. But you can hear it in the silence. You can feel it on the way home. You can see it with the lights out. You didn't see it back then but now it becomes crystal clear; you're in love, true love. You're in love with Kuroo Tetsuro.

"I think I fell in love with you the moment you gave me this necklace for my eighteenth birthday"

"Oh, really? Well, I think I fell in love with you when I sat with you for lunch back at high school for the first time"

"You're lying"

"No! Ask Kenma! I just didn't know it back then. But now, when you called me up after what felt like ages, I knew I didn't want to be in love with somebody else"

"Ew, cheeseball"

"Look at you, being so in love with me"

"As if you aren't more terribly in love with me, Tetsu"

"I wouldn't want it any other way, darling"

©kitasgloves (do not steal or copy)

#— ♬ ©kitasgloves #haikyuu #haikyuu fanfiction #haikyuu fic #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x you #kuroo testuro #kuroo tetsuro x reader #kuroo tetsuro x you #kuroo x reader #kuroo x you #kuroo x y/n #Spotify

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drdemonprince · 15 days

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I've noticed a pattern in anticapitalist books I read (specifically I'm talking abt Mark Fisher here, in Capitalist Realism). They do this great anticapitalist analysis etc and then go on to critique their students? and sometimes it's a bit ableist? it's like all the critical thought goes out of the window and they cannot understand the situation because for once suddenly they are in the authoritative position. It always gives me this "I don't understand these kids, back in my day-" vibe, and I see this with lecturers at university too. like Mark Fisher maybe we can think outside the box about your student who "needs" headphones to focus in class "even though no music is playing". and maybe it's not to do with the "Matrix"(????) I'm well aware this was written in 2008 but it's weird that I see this pattern continue today. Not to mention Mark Fisher took part in some ableist studies, and was a guy with questionable intentions on occasion.

it's like you Just said that reducing labour is good why are you calling your students lazy, that's so unprofessional and privileged. I wonder of coincidence that he is anti-meds when his right wing, pro-eugenics, accelerationist friend was addicted to amphetamines.

Or even just the amount of people who have written books about laziness and anticapitalism (excluding you) and just saying the most contradictory shit ever?? or not following their own ideology???

Anyway, I wonder if, when writing Laziness Does Not Exist, you came across any of this and were equally as baffled.

Materialism is just *so* true that high-status academics don't have a vested class interest in seeing their student struggles as legitimate or in recognizing the struggles of disabled people in general. For many edgy academic leftists having the correct opinions is just a way to flex one's intellectual status, not a lived experience they give a shit about. I'm not shitting Fisher in particular in saying this, it's more that it's a really widespread problem in the culture of these kinds of (very white, very academic, very cishet) leftists communities. You see the same kind of thing among some of the Chapo stan types, too, you don't have to be specifically an academic to do it -- lots of people throwing around the r-slur and flexing on how much they have read and doing fuck all for the oppressed people around them. I tend to find it especially common among people who inherited leftism from their (often academic) parents? Whereas leftist communities populated by Black & brown anarchists and working class people tend to fare a lot better in this particular respect.

Note that I'm not saying a person's identities are a guarantee of them being any more radical -- there's lots of liberals lurking in our midsts of all identities for instance -- more that someone's orientation toward power tells you a lot. and unfortunately there is an approach to leftism that puts a lot of stock in either institutional power via the academy, or in a kind of soft power of intellectual authoritativeness that tends to punish anyone who is supposedly less well read, less intelligent, lazy, needs disability accommodations, has trauma triggers, or what have you.

The simple answer is that power and privilege obscures other people's challenges from you, and the desire to preserve one's power (be it actually institutional academic authority or just the status of the person who supposedly knows the most in the room) leads to a lot of oppressive behavior. a lot of these guys that you're talking about believe in communism sincerely but they don't have humility, they believe themselves to be superior to most everyone else. and they tend to be white guys from wealthy families who either do not have any disabilities of their own, or they have the undiagnosed intj mastermind rational flavor of autism that makes you feel incredibly alienated from others but interpret that alienation as a sign of your intellectual superiority. (i had this type but i got better. a little)

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margridarnauds · 2 years

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honesty hour thoughts on the dark academia aesthetic

Oh, I *hate* you for this.

I think...on one hand, I have to be as consistent as I can be with my personal beliefs, and I'm big on free will in general. People can do whatever they want so long as it doesn't harm anyone else.

That being said, I think the entire thing is superficial and pretentious, more about appearing to be well-educated and smart than in anything of substance. It's all about name dropping the right authors, wearing the right clothes, knowing the right artists to name drop. And it's incredibly white, it's incredibly classist, it overwhelmingly glorifies Humanities fields that have traditionally been built upon and benefited from colonialism (....Classics), built upon an idea of academia that hasn't existed for decades at this point, and glorifying the worst aspects of it -- the burnout, the mental health issues, the class issues, the huge, sprawling campuses that we all know have more than a few skeletons in their closets. It's all less glamorous when you hear people from multiple departments around the world, many of them large, prestigious institutions, talk about how they all know their programs are hiding the real suicide statistics. I can always tell when someone actually has experience with this stuff, whether it's at the undergrad level, the MA level, or the PhD level, and whether they got that experience at a community college or at a Grand, Established University, just based on how they talk about it. (Here's the secret, as someone who's been in about every single tier of university you can get and has friends in the ones I haven't been in -- the main difference is money. You can get more resources in those grand old institutions than you can in the community colleges, but no, people are not, in general, getting inducted into any nefarious cults. It's a richer school, it isn't like you're going to Hogwarts or going to school on the moon, even if people there might act like it at times. It's one more program. You have a nice view, that's it. And at my uni in Florida, we even had that, because we had some lovely botanical gardens.)

And I get it, for a lot of people, it's a neat escapist fantasy, it's harmless, but I'm just...too close to it to enjoy it. I've been in those big, prestigious universities, I've done the whole "leaves scattering under my feet as I clutch a warm apple cider in my hand, taking in the first chill of winter beneath my blazer, the pile of books in my backpack a secure weight on my back" thing, and, surprisingly, I was still extremely depressed. There's no escapism for me because it's my every day life. I've seen the classism first hand, I've seen the pressure to dress a certain way or act a certain way, I've seen how much performance goes into it even as grad students are increasingly being recruited from lower and lower middle class families (even though, overwhelmingly, students come from families that have at least one parent in academia) because they need us to fill their programs and do their cheap work for them. I've seen some of the dark things that everyone knows but that we're not supposed to speak about out loud, not necessarily in my own immediate department, but...my field's small. Rumors travel. And it's fairly common for grad students who present as women to be gently taken aside by some of the older grad students and given a List of professors to avoid at conferences, and that's not including all the Nazis in academia historically (and into the present.) And...it's not glamorous, it's not exciting, it's soul destroying. These men (and the odd woman) are never going to get punished, they're going to live their whole lives without being challenged, with many of them being there in the first place because they came from backgrounds that told them they were destined for academic greatness just based on who their family is, and we have to live with the knowledge. And it's hard to be reading the old classics when you're on the line for multiple conference papers + the coursework you're already doing, because you need to get out as much work as possible before you're thrown into the cruel world of the academic job hunt, especially if, like me, you're in a very niche field.

It's simultaneously outdated while also being a little too real. And, again, I get it's good fun, there are parts of it I even like, especially given that I really like when they lean more into the gothic themes of the aesthetic, but it's just...wildly not my thing. Raccoon Academia for the win.

#suicide tw

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pragmatic-illusions · 3 months

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i just wanted to play with mud.

I'm currently in community college, and i get there by bus, 30min prior to start of class. I went to the art departments building, i walked into a pottery class, i saw that the schedule is open house or open hours.

I always heard ancient stories from various cultures and civilizations that humans, animals were made out of clay.

Years ago I came across Steve's Job graduation speech how he dropped out of university and just kind of dropped into class attending class and lectures. This was in the 60-70's or early 80s for all i know. I thought maybe I can do that here in my college, that wasn't the case.

I couldn't just walk in, i had to get approval of the professor teaching the class, and the head of the art department.

The college teaches enrichment classes that you pay out of pocket outside of finical aid or if your not a student.

You can audit a class, as in you can participate in class without getting a grade. But its out of pocket.

I can only observe a class, for only 1 day within the first week of a new semester.

the professor most likely teaches everyone who is registered and asked what was i doing here.

I asked around if can attend a class just for the sake of learning. thats not how it works,

I walked in one day using material unauthorized, got caught, i was left with a warning not to do it again.

I took a piece of clay from a bin, i went out with it in the cold dry air,

it felt so raw, i can feel the texture, the grain of every surface, i feel it crumble and turning into sandy grains as it dried in the cold air,

I cupped my hand, and blew warm air and moisture in it. How water, air and earth combine together to give it shape. Like in real life, how we all rely on it, I understood why people of antiquity then thought that way.

pottery is one of those art forms i haven't tried, pottery feels so ancient and personal and pure like in the process how children make pottery in the muds.

i was denied pottery class, i unintentionally found a security flaw, i would be surprised if they locked the door with a number pad in the future and a special code is given only to registered students.

i feel spiteful, that i went out of my way to research where to find wild clay outside. I spoke to the pottery professor, can i bring my own materials and use the spinning thing,, can i gift you the clay for you to fire up in the kiln, can i just YouTube videos and teach myself and use the tools here.

all no. do you accept bribes? *a chuckle, no.*

I don't blame them on the job security end.

i did ask where i can find clay and told me about a location.

I had a challenge of can i make art outside of capitalism without spending money. (impossible)

i want to make a clay middle finger out of spite and gift to the school.

i'm kinda spiteful of bueratic academic institutions, I just want to play with mud on the ground.

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lichenaday · 2 years

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i have a few questions about adhd in academia, please feel free to only answer them if want to

1. best mistake you made with adhd?

2. what kind of organizational systems do use to manage your adhd in academia?

3. what did you have to unlearn to succeed with adhd in academia?

4. what were some of the hardest things to accept about being adhd in academia?

5. with adhd, anxiety, and depression, how do you combat procrastination in academia?

thank you for your time and congrats on your success! 🥳

1. Best mistake you made with ADHD: Like the funniest? Almost certainly the time I picked up a venomous snake in the woods during field work, got bit, and had to go to the emergency room. I am now a cautionary tale within the department. I blame this on my ADHD, maybe it was just me being a straight-up dumbass, but I find that I tend to hyperfocus on something and don't have room in my brain to consider the consequences because SNAKE SNAKE SNAKE NEW SNAKE FRIEND GONNA CHECKOUT ITS BELLY SCALES FOR BETTER ID PURPOSES YES THIS IS A VERY GOOD IDEA. Best for me personally was impulsively signing up for my first lichenology class!

2. I have a therapist! I am lucky to live in Germany, where the very-low cost of my student health insurance covers the cost of talk therapy. Most universities have some sort of student counseling service. I saw an academic counselor for a few sessions and quite frankly, didn't find it helpful because yeah, I know how I am supposed to study, but I'm built different, and so I found my therapist with the help of the student union and she was essential to my success. USE THOSE STUDENT RESOURCES. 3. I have had to unlearn a lot. But perhaps the biggest thing I realized is I never really learned how to study? I always skated by on just like, being smart. And being really good at rote memorization. Being a good test taker, essentially. But now that I am at a level that is super challenging, and forces me to think theoretically, I actually have to study for exams. Like, a lot. And that means I need to start studying like, more than a day before the exam. So relearning how to study has been a nightmare, but ultimately really good for me? Probably? Ask me again in 10 years. RIP my GPA 4. A few I can think of: a) not everyone is going to *get* you. Academia selects for certain types of people. If you are different, you are gonna stand out, and some folks don't know how to deal with that. If you asked them individually, of course they would say that all perspectives are welcome in academia, but they probably have some internalized biases that they don't realize. And you gotta just accept that. You will find plenty of folks who do like you, and are willing to work with you even though you may work at a different pace, ask lots of questions, talk a lot, and need extra help from time to time. b) You might get shit grades. And you will see other people putting half the effort as you getting much better scores and it's gonna hurt. But academia is biased. The system is built to reward certain types of intelligence, and ADHD ain't generally one of those types. But you don't have to let that hold you back. You can actually get by being a good worker/writer/public speaker/passionate scientist, and the grades will only matter to the folks/institutions you are better off not working with anyway. c) You are good enough. And you deserve to be here. Even if things are harder for you, you are slower to learn, you struggle--science and academia needs you passion, your perspective, your desire to change the system. 5. Hahahahahah . . . I don't combat it so much as embrace it. It's just how I'm wired. And I may procrastinate, but I still get my shit done. Eventually. One of the best suggestions I got was "eat the frog first." If you have something you gotta do, set an alarm for an hour earlier than you have to wake up, and work on it right then, first thing, before you have anything else to distract yourself with. Reward yourself with your favorite hot beverage of choice. Or scheduling alternating tasks. Gotta do the dishes, gotta write a paper. Write until can't anymore, unload dishwasher, write until can't, rinse dishes, write until can't, load dishwasher, write . . . so on and so forth. I gotta do dishes because I am out of dishes, so I guess that means I gotta write, too.

#lichen asks #lichens #lichenology #adhd #grad school #ama

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akathecentimetre · 4 years

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Hey there, so I really like history as a subject, and I'm pretty good at it. The thing is, I don't know what my career options would be if I studied it, or if I would be able to make money. My parents are heavily discouraging me from taking it as a major. As a 'historian' in training' what's your take? Thank you

Hi there! Sorry for the delay, ‘tis the hectic season…

Oh man, I have so many thoughts for you. Full disclosure: this is something I have worked on a LOT over the course of my graduate career both at my uni and on a national level; most of my advice, however, comes from a PhD candidate’s perspective and may not be directly helpful to an undergraduate, and I should also emphasize that everything I can say on this is very firmly based on the U.S. market only. That being said, a lot of what I can say can be universally applied, so here we go -

The number of history undergraduates in the U.S. has plummeted in the last decade or so, from it previously being one of the most popular majors. There are many interacting reasons for this: a changeover from older to younger, better-trained, energetic professors who draw in and retain students has been very slow to occur, partly because of a lack of a mandatory retirement age; the humanities have been systematically demonized and minimized in favor of the development of STEM subjects, to the occasional benefit of students of color and women but to the detriment of critical public discourse and historical perspective on current events; with many liberal arts colleges going under financially and the enormous expansion of academic bureaucracy everywhere, resources are definitely being diverted away from social and human studies towards fields which are perceived to pay better or perceived, as mentioned in the article above, as being more ‘practical.’ (We do need a ton more healthcare workers/specialists, but that’s a different conversation to have.) But now I feel like quoting a certain Jedi Master: everything your parents say is wrong. Let’s dive into why being a historian is a positive thing for you both as a person and as a professional -

You will be a good reader. As you learn to decipher documents and efficiently and thoroughly read secondary literature, you will develop a particular talent for understanding what is important about any piece of writing or evidence (and this can go for visual and aural evidence as well). This will serve you well in any position in which you are collecting/collating information and reporting to colleagues or superiors, and evaluating the worth of resources. Specific example - editorial staff at publishing houses either private or academic, magazines, etc.

You will be a good writer. This will get you a good job at tons of places; don’t underestimate it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been astonished (not in a punitive way, of course, but definitely with a sense of befuddlement) by how badly some of my Ivy-league students can write. Good writing is hard, good writing is rare, and good writing is a breath of fresh air to any employer who puts a high premium upon it in their staff. History in principle is the study of change; history in practice is presenting information in a logical, interesting, and persuasive manner. Any sort of institution which asks you to write reports, summaries, copy, etc. etc. will appreciate your skills.

You will be a good researcher. This sounds like a given, but it’s an underappreciated and vital skill. Historians work as consultants. Historians work in government - almost every department has an Office of the Historian - and in companies, writing company histories and maintaining institutional archives. A strong research profile will also serve you well if you want to go on to work in museum studies and in libraries public or private/academic. As a historian, you will know not just where to find information, but what questions you have to ask to get to the answer of how to tackle, deconstruct, and solve a problem. This is relevant to almost any career path.

You will provide perspective. Historians react to current events in newspapers and online - not just on politics, but culture as well (my favorite article of this week is about the historicity of The Aeronauts). Historians act as expert witnesses in court proceedings. Historians write books, good books, not just meant for academic audiences but for millions upon millions of readers who need thoughtful, intelligent respite from the present. Historians work for thinktanks, providing policy analysis and development (a colleague of mine is an expert on current events of war in Mali and works for multiple thinktanks and organizations because of it). Historians work for nonprofits or lobbying groups on issues of poverty, environmental safety, climate change, and minority and indigenous rights. In a world when Texas school textbooks push the states’ rights narrative, historians remind us that the Civil War was about slavery. Historians remind us that women and people of color have always existed. In this time and world where STEM subjects are (supposedly) flooding the job market, we need careful historical perspective more than ever. We need useful reactions to the 2016 election, to the immigration travesties on display at the southern border, to the strengthening of right-wing parties in Europe - and history classes, or thoughtfully historical classes on philosophy and political science, are one of the few places STEM and business students gain the basic ability to participate in those conversations. [One of my brightest and most wonderful students from last year, just to provide an anecdote, is an astrophysics major who complained to me in a friendly conversation this semester that she never got the chance to talk about ‘deep’ things anymore once she had passed through our uni’s centralized general curriculum, which has a heavy focus on humanities subjects.]

You will be an educator. Teaching is a profession which has myriad challenges in and of itself, but in my experience of working with educators there is a desperate need for secondary-school teachers in particular to have actual content training in history as opposed to simply being pushed into classrooms with degrees which focus only on pedagogical technique. If teaching is a vocation you are actually interested in, getting a history degree is not a bad place to start at all. And elementary/high schools aside, you will be teaching someone something in every interaction you have concerning your subject of choice. Social media is a really important venue now for historians to get their work out into the world and correct misconceptions in the public sphere, and is a place where you can hone a public and instructive voice. You could also be involved in educational policy, assessment/test development (my husband’s field, with a PhD in History from NYU), or educational activism.

If some of this sounds kind of woolly and abstract, that’s because it is. Putting yourself out there on the job market is literally a marketing game, and it can feel really silly to take your experience of 'Two years of being a Teaching Assistant for European History 1500-1750’ and mutate it to 'Facilitated group discussions, evaluated written work from students [clients], and ran content training sessions on complex subjects.’ But this sort of translation is just another skill - one that can be learned, improved, and manipulated to whatever situation you need it to fit.

Will you make money? That’s a question only you can answer, because only you know what you think is enough money. That being said, many of the types of careers I’ve mentioned already are not low-paying; in my experience expertise is, if you find the right workplace and the rewarding path, usually pretty well-remunerated.

Specific advice? Hone your craft. Curate an active public presence as a historian, an expert, a patient teacher, and as as person enthusiastic about your subject. Read everything and anything. Acknowledge and insist upon complexity, and celebrate it when you can.

And finally - will any of what I’ve said here make it easy? No, because no job search and no university experience is easy these days. It’s a crazy world and there are a lot of awful companies, bosses, and projects out there. But I do very firmly believe that you can find something, somewhere, that will suit your skills, and, hopefully, your passions too.

Resources for you: the American Historical Association has a breakdown of their skills-based approach to the job market, reports on the job market(s) for history PhDs collectively called ‘Where Historians Work,’ and a mentorship program, Career Contacts, which could connect you with professional historians in various workplaces. There is a very active community of historians on Twitter; search for #twitterstorians. For historians who identify as female, Women Also Know History is a newer site which collates #herstorian bios and publications to make it easier for journalists to contact them for expert opinions. ImaginePhD provides career development tools and exercises for graduate students, but could probably be applied to undergrads as well. The Gilder Lehrman Institute is one of the premier nonprofits which develops and promotes historical training for secondary school teachers and classroom resources (U.S. history only). Job listings are available via the AHA, the National Council on Public History, and the IHE, as well as the usual job sites. And there’s an awful lot more out there, of course - anyone who reads or reblogs this post is welcome to add field-specific or resource-specific info.

I hope this helps, Anon, or at least provides you with a way to argue in favor of it to your parents if it comes to that. Chin up!

#replies #anon #history #academia #education #career diversity #grad school #Caz rambles

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saraseo · 4 years

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mrsbeef · 7 years

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Question time! So you are an international grad student right? I'm a second yr grad in my program and this upcoming semester there will be four international grad students. I know you and each of them are from different countries but I was wondering if you could give me some general ideas on how I could best help them. I think grad school has broken me but I want to do my best.

That's a really important question, and I sat on it for a while because I wanted to make sure I could give an answer that goes into as much depth as it deserves. Keep in mind that my responses are going to be coloured a bit by my experiences as a mentally ill student from a tiny country, with no legal leave to remain in either of the countries where I've studied, outside the terms of a student visa. So what I say might not always apply, but I hope some of it is useful, at least.First, it's so great to know that there are people like you who understand that we as international students can often need a hand, due to the unique challenges we can face in a university environment. So thank you. You rock :D International students who are completely new to a country will likely be having a particularly hard time, especially if there's a big culture shock or language barrier. And it applies even more if they come from a small country, because it's harder for them to find a community than it is for someone from a big country. But even just in general, loneliness is usually a huge problem for people who are in a new country, or a new institution, especially if they're not very extroverted by nature. So it can be nice to casually check up on us now and then, and see how we're fitting in. You don't even have to be close friends with us, because of course not everybody gets super chummy with people in their own department (hell, most of my friends were scientists). But a little friendly concern goes a long way toward making someone feel welcome. For example, you can casually ask how we're finding things, if we've got to know people outside of our courses/the department, etc. Inviting us to department social events that we might not know about is always great too. Even if we never end up attending, lonely international students appreciate the invitations, and would probably feel really sad if they stopped coming.Also bear in mind that academic culture shock can be a thing. For example, if someone was educated in the UK or the current/former Commonwealth, coming to a North American institution might be a jarring experience. NA students might have learned things that they themselves have never even seen before. So if you see someone struggling and it's in your power to help, offering is always nice.Another good thing is to ask them if you should forward emails or notices that would be relevant or helpful to that individual in particular. As an example, one of my lecturers back in the UK would mass email my year group of about 10 or 12 people with job or funding opportunities, and he would always make a point of saying whether something was British/EU citizens only, or open to international students. Sometimes he'd even hail me out by name: "This one's domestic/EU students only-- sorry, Meghan." Currently I have a colleague who emails me about conferences and talks, since I'm new to both the country and the university, and she's been here for years, so she's more in-the-know about what's happening. The school I go to now is, in my opinion, particularly shitty with how much it seems to bury its student life under academics, so it might not always apply in your case. But if in doubt, you could always ask.Finally, I guess this advice only really applies if you become close enough friends with an international student, but here it is anyway: be prepared to learn a bit about your country's immigration rules, in case your friend runs into difficulty there, and maybe find out if any campus offices deal with immigration, so you can direct them in case they might not already know. I was really lucky to have a number of close friends who were domestic, and they would help me research avenues to get leave to remain in the UK. That didn't work, and I had to leave in the end, but the gesture alone meant a lot, because it showed that I had people who were on my side :) Somewhat relatedly, if an international student is experiencing discrimination from somewhere on campus, it's good to stand up for them if the situation allows. If it's an institutional discrimination thing and the person doesn't know what procedures to follow, helping out with information gathering is a cool thing to do. We're technically supposed to have a grasp on a lot of these things already, but if you're isolated by loneliness it's not always easy to keep abreast of rules and guidelines, and a bit of outside help is pretty groovy.Of course, none of the above is ever *expected* of you, and you shouldn't overextend yourself. We as international students also really need to know when and how to reach out for help ourselves. But that is made so, so much easier by a welcoming environment, and a department (especially a grad department!) should definitely be a place where you can be comfortable knowing you won't completely fall through the cracks. So I guess just use your intuition: if you get the sense that someone is struggling, try asking if they need a hand.This was long and verbose, but I hope at least some of it's helpful :D

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sometimesrosy · 7 years

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I am so sorry to bother you with this, but some weeks ago I saw you used to teach? This is kind of hard to explain but how would you "help" or "recommend" a path to your students? I'm finishing my degree but I don't want to work on it (didn't know how it was before second year of uni), so I'm honestly thinking of taking a second one. I just don't know in what. I like a lot of things, I find most things interesting. How would you help your students finding their purpose? +

+ Some insight that may be helpful, I like discovering things and debating them, and would like to work with people. I’m currently studying Translation but it’s an awful profession in my country, not stable in any way, and you work at home and that would honestly kill me, considering how “depressive” I already am. Don’t know if this helped at all. I’m so sorry for asking you this.

Sorry it took me so long to get to this. Sometimes people have questions I need to think about and I may not have the brain capacity to think about them at the moment. And also don’t apologize for asking honest sincere questions, that’s why I have an open inbox. Too many people apologize for that, and I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for asking genuine questions.

Okay, so the thing is that it’s hard to figure out what you want to do.

When I went to college, I had a few thoughts. I thought child psychology, but I didn’t like psych 101. I thought teaching, but my school only had a program where you did teaching ON TOP of a different academic focus, and I figured that if I was going to do extra work, I could do it later, since I’d have to get my masters anyway to get a permanent license. I thought I’d study multicultural literature and become a professor. I thought I’d go on to get my MFA in poetry and become a poet. I thought I’d go into publishing, which I almost did.

In the end, I got a degree in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, and when I got out of school, I got a job waiting tables so that I could write and be an artist. And I did that for 5 years before I began to feel dissatisfied and wanted to have a bigger effect on the world than what I thought was the selfishness of being an artist. It was then that I decided to go back to school and pursue teaching at the high school level this time, rather than the elementary level I’d started with in college.

As soon as I started my ed program I loved it. It was so important. I loved teaching even though it was challenging and there were so many things that made it difficult. I taught for five years and I do not regret it at all. I took a risk leaving because I felt I could do more good outside of the institution of the educational system, which I felt was trying to suppress educators and oppress students. I left for political reasons.

Here’s the other thing. Sometimes you pick a path and that path leads you to an entirely different place. There is no ONE right path for you. There is only following your path to see where it leads and sometimes taking detours and sometimes taking breaks and sometimes changing directions to find a new path.

But it doesn’t matter if you choose a career, find out it doesn’t work for you and leave it. You still take with you everything you’ve learned from that path and all the good you did and your skills and experiences.

I might be a freelancer and writer now, but I can go back over EVERYTHING I’ve studied, every job I’ve had, every profession I’ve taken up, and take something from it all to lead me into the next step in my life. And it turns out that all those things, all my past lessons and projects, have made me someone who actually is an authority in what I do. I’m not trying it out anymore. I may have to go slowly some times because I took an alternative path, but everything I learned on that journey feeds back into my current path. It all fits. It all makes me stronger and more knowledgeable.

I think back to 25 years ago, and how I didn’t know what I was doing or what I wanted really and how I would reach my dreams that I wasn’t sure I was even allowed, and I realize that EVERYTHING I did was taking me down the right path.

Geez. I don’t know if I’m helping at all.

Here’s the gyst. Don’t worry about picking the one perfect profession. None of it is permanent. If you try out what you got your degree in, you can see how it works and if it doesn’t, move on. If you don’t try it out and get a “for now” job, see how that works, get to know yourself. You can always go back to it if you change your mind. Or go back to school for that second degree. From what you describe and that you connected to me being a teacher, I wonder if that’s not something you’d like? Look into the ways that translation might be used in a more people oriented position. There will be some. Maybe they take a second degree that you could try for. Take the steps. Go down the path. And while you’re going, keep your eyes open around you and look for direction on what works for you within it.

How do I recommend people find their passion? By looking for it, and paying attention to what resonates for them. By asking people about what they do. By doing research on the things that sound interesting. By actually focusing on those dreams you think you can’t have and looking into them, and things that are close to them, because sometimes we have ideas about dreams that are unrealistic, but when we research more into them, we find out there are specialties that DO make more sense realistically. Like, when I was a little kid I wanted to be a fashion designer, but I thought that was out of reach for me. However, as an adult, I’ve looked into it more and realized that what I REALLY could have done that would have been realistic for me was to go into COSTUME design. To work in movies and theater and tv behind the scenes. Well, I didn’t take that path, but it reminds me that if I had known more about my dreams, it would have been an option.

#life lessons #rosy answers #life path #passion #passion quest #education

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