[I'll think of a witticism.] @gaby-co - Tumblr Blog

"That’s it! I’m cleaning my own room!"

Literally looked through 4 years of someone's Facebook status to find this gem... Some guy I knew in high school posted this, I kid you not

GOALS FOR THE WEEK

Finish thesis (whooo!)

eat healthy

don't eat out (limit to ~2 meals)

Keep calm and carry on.

three things I guess i learned at penn (taken from a class blog post)

1) The most successful people are the most resilient. This is an idea that I realized not too long ago. I used to have the mindset that “falling down” and discovering my weaknesses was a bad thing and oftentimes would mope about certain things because I felt they did not come as easily to me as they did to my peers. And while the latter assumption was sometimes true, I realize now I had it all wrong. Everyone faces rejection from time to time – we just don’t always hear about it. However, only successful people face their failures head on and use it as a motivator to keep trying (or at least don’t allow them to get to them), instead of letting their failures define them and giving up.

2) Build and surround yourself with a great support system. This is another lesson I learned while in college. After receiving an opportunity to work and live in DC last summer, I thought I would have the best experience in one of the greatest U.S. cities. However, moving there without knowing anyone – or having ways to meet people – and far away from home resulted in me feeling pretty lonely. So if you do not have a support system when moving somewhere and/or opportunities to build a support system (whether it be through internship/job cohorts, etc.), think twice about moving somewhere away from friends and family. Things might turn out all right, but the people you are around do matter to some extent. 3) When in doubt or under stress, remind yourself “You are enough. You are so enough. It’s unbelievable how enough you are.” I’ve never been one for mantras, but a friend forced me to tell myself this (I think she got it from a Broadway actress' interview though... haha) after I was stressing out because of my thesis. And surprisingly, it automatically calmed me down. I couldn’t explain it, but all of a sudden, I felt more confident and didn’t feel as if my thesis defined my self-worth (which I didn’t realize was an association I was making before).

howdoiputthisgently

WHEN I REALIZE HOW MUCH HOMEWORK I NEED TO DO THIS WEEKEND

new favorite blog

if this person could handle babies + a phd dissertation, i can definitely handle a thesis: http://getalifephd.blogspot.com/

#self motivation #productivity blogs

at times i wonder if i would have still come to penn given the chance to make the decision again.

i had a brief chat with a freshman friend of mine from a similar socioeconomic background and we were talking about what would have happened if we had gone to less competitive schools. i might have done engineering, or been pre-med, had i not been intimidated by the cruel curves — and the exorbitant amount of geniuses — here. (this is just the tip of the iceberg, though. i can talk about this topic for hours on-end and how Penn doesn't truly level the playing field, although it does do a better job at closing the gap than a lot of institutions)

but oh well. i chose my path and now there's nothing i can do. i'm still pretty frigging fortunate.

in writing a senior thesis, i knew i wanted to do the following:

write about something that is currently relevant to many americans

find something that has real-world implications

i think i finally found something that fulfills both pieces of criteria, but damnnn, my brain hurts and this whole process is a never-ending rollercoaster of emotions

my first gif