Runnning Lowww On Serotonin

last 5 days of June 2023

had a whole caption for this with what I'm up to, but I'll let the pics speak for themselves (other than the lower left one, that's homemade coffee jelly with home made, manually whisked whipped cream, hahaha)

but instead, i've been thinking of things to do for this gap year (not in order of priority)

learn spanish – suddenly thought how none of us spoke Spanish anymore, my grandmother on mama's side is 1/2 Spanish, I think she was the last to speak the language. ik i have a loooong way to go wit Korean, Japanese and Mandarin (actually ... i think i just forgot all i learned w mandarin from how a lot of things are happening at once ??) also this would most likely be easier than the ones i started, according to mama haha

get part time job/s – this girl needs money for books 😮‍💨 i'm not much of a spender but uni requires so much so this time i want to buy something non-academic ??

read lots of books again !!!

learn sign language – something i feel is very important.

consistently work out + eat healthier this time please – lowkey want to start befriending my enemy: cardio

appreciate more, wake up earlier again

be more consistent with my quiet and prayer times.

do lots of volunteer work

improve on my lacking areas (eg social skills 🥸)

spend more time with my family and pets ofc, something that's 10th here but is top priority before i start internship

with those tho i'll be allotting study times respiratory therapy related. very grateful to have found a mentor at this time, sometimes having someone such as your prof tell you they believe you can do great things is very heart warming, inspirational and makes you really go for that goal or more !!

anw tho its 1145pm at the moment, haven't finished working out but very determined to better myself — new month, new week, new opportunities and beginnings.

sex position called hold me while i cry

ROMATCIZING SADNESS. (not really)

i didnt know what romanticizing sadness actually means until i watched this video by tam kaur on yt and in the last part she said "stop romanticizing your sadness.. thinking about them and making scenarios and replaying the situation over and over again" and im sitting here absolutely clueless and dumb. because i was ROMATICIZING SADNESS in april 2023. and man. holy holy.

always trying to name my feelings

i hate people sometimes and not HATE HATE but love hate kinda hate. soft hate, not like i dont like u, but like im too tired to not like u so ill just let it be as it is. guess stuff happens and we keep moving in that cycle again and again and at this point i dont feel real me anymore, ive a lot of covers on now and i dont give a piece of me to people. been having a lot of events where my "heart beats fast as hell". "i cry", "feeling very very useless", "distant", "getting a closure". its okay now, i hope i turn into a decent adult, the kind of adult i want to be and i also feel like theres a time period of infinity between right now and what i want to become - the person, not about career.

p.s. my heart is beating fast as hell while im typing all this. more power to me!

citationless behavior

I hate when somebody i don't deal with anymore is in my dream like ugh wtf does this even mean

special post

okay so guys ive been posting about sad stuff lately or like whenever i come to tumblr its mostly because i wanna talk about my feelings and again im here to talk about my feelings but its not sadness today.

i feel actually thankful (wont use the word grateful cause its a concept now because everyone's like be thankful this or that blah blah) because i have this good moment and its sunday and the same sunday when i was feeling very very off in the morning but exactly opp in the evening (rn) and mom's happy, im happy, friends are happy, i have a new set of friends and they are sweet. that particular girl in my new set of friends is so sweet and i love it when she talks about something that she feels deeply. she is simple and so nice. thank you so much god and the universe for all the positivity and love for today. ill forever be thankful to you for everything and this day!

i love you so much and thank you so so much. truly <3

yooo how do u email a prof for a recommendation letter?

Hi Professor!

I am in the process of applying to ____ and they require letters of rec. I sincerely enjoyed your classes, and felt that they gave me a particularly good chance to display my strengths, such as ____ [class participation, writing, etc.] and would love for you to write me a letter, if you’d be willing. The due date is ____, and I can send you further instructions for submission later if you accept.

Attached to this email is ____, the piece of work I did in your class which best showcases my abilities, as well as my current CV [or resume]. If you agree to write me a letter, soon I will also send you drafts of my ____ [statement of purpose, personal statement, application essays, other relevant material] for my application to aid in your writing. I am also happy to meet in person to discuss this with you.

I want to stress that this application is quite competitive, so if you feel you will not be able to write me a strong letter then I completely understand - but please let me know. Thank you so much for your time!

Sincerely, ____

—

a few notes:

- you should have all your relevant materials (app essays, etc.) sent to them *at least* a month in advance to give them ample time to write the letter

- thus, your initial email asking them if they’d be willing to write a letter for you should be sent *over* a month in advance. professors are busy

- if you are applying for a really prestigious position/scholarship/fellowship, or grad school, it’s best to have at least a majority of your letter writers be professors (rather than adjuncts or post docs). ideally you’d want them to be full/tenured professors. in lots of cases, especially academic ones, *who* writes your letter matters - not just *what’s in* your letter

- the reason you send them the piece of work you did in their class that you are most proud of is to remind them of your abilities as a student and the quality of the work you produced for them. they have lots of students. sometimes they need a bit of help jogging their memory of exactly what you did in their class.

- the reason you send them your other application materials (personal statement, statement of purpose, CV) is so that they have information to draw from when writing your letter. they know what you’re passionate about, what you hope to do in the future, other experience you have, and can use this information when writing your letter

- on a similar note, this is also why you’d want to list the strengths you displayed in their class

- basically, you want to give them as much information as you can about your strengths, goals, and intentions - give them prompts they can use to write your letter

- the bit at the end about asking for a “strong letter” is important because some professors can only write you mediocre letters (e.g. “this student was always on time to class and gave their undivided attention during lecture” - what does this tell admission committees? well, it tells them that the professor has nothing positive to say about your *academic* abilities and so they’re resorting to other strengths. it’s a polite way of saying “this student was okay, but not spectacular in any notable way”. big red flag for admissions committees.) if all you’re going to get is a mediocre letter, you might as well not get a letter at all

- if the professor you ask accepts, then be sure to send them polite reminders as the date approaches. (i usually send a reminder at the 1-month-till-due-date mark when i send the other application materials, and then again at the 2 week and 1 week marks, and, if necessary, every day after the final 3 days leading up to the due date

—

i know this was a lot, but i remember being in your shoes and being completely lost when it came to applying for stuff so i know how daunting it can be. i figured i’d just throw all this information at you to be of as much help as possible.

for reference, i’ve applied to graduate programs, fellowships, and scholarships. i have been accepted into several of the top 10 graduate programs in my area, as well as received multiple scholarships and a fellowship, and received honorable mentions for some of the most competitive fellowships in the US. i have also worked with the admissions committee at my graduate program to organize multiple informational events for those interested in applying to graduate school and, in the process, have learned a lot about what makes a strong application.

so while you should absolutely take my advice with a grain of salt (different circumstances call for different standards), i do have quite a bit of experience with applications and what makes a strong letter of rec.

i hope this helped! best of luck with whatever you’re applying for :)