"Though My Soul May Set In Darkness, It Will Rise In Perfect Light; I Have Loved The Stars Too Fondly

Free MIT online courses that sound interesting

Arts & Literature

Introduction to World Music

Reading Fiction

Literary Interpretation: Virginia Woolf's Shakespeare

Introduction to Photography

Foundations of Western Culture II: Renaissance to Modernity

Studies in Poetry - Briths Poetry and the Sciences of the Mind

Studies in Literary History: Modernism: From Nietzsche to Fellini

Screen Women: Body Narratives in Popular American Film

Studies in Poetry: "What's the Use of Beauty"

Queer Cinema and Visual Culture

Monteverdi to Mozart: 1600 - 1800

Writing and Experience: Reading and Writing Autobiography

Advanced Topics in Hispanic Literature and Film: The Films of Luis Buñel

Major Authors: Rewriting Genesis: "Paradise Lost" and Twentieth-Century Fantasy

Arthurian Literature and Celtic Colonization

Contemporary Literature: Britsh Novel Now

Studies in Poetry: 20th Century Irish Poetry: The Shadow of W. B. Yeats

Writing About Literature: Writing About Love

Introduction to European and Latin American Fiction: Great Books On The Page and On The Screen

Popular Culture and Narrative: Use and Abuse of the Fairy Tale

Victorian Literature and Culture

Reading Poetry

English Renaissance Drama: Theatre and Society in the Age of Shakespeare

Introduction to Fiction

International Woman's Voice

Major Authors: Oscar Wilde and the "90's"

Prizewinners: Nobelistas

American Authors: American Women Authors

Shakespeare, Film and Media

Japanese Literature and Cinema

Woman's Novels: A Weekly Book Club

Classics of Chinese Literature

Major English Novels

Topics in South Asia Literature and Culture

Introduction to Literary Theory

History & Social Studies

American Classics

The Middle East in the 20th Century

Africa and the Politics of Knowledge

The Rise of Modern Science

European Imperialism in the 19th and 20th Century

Philosophy of Love

Human Rights: At Home and Abroad

The Nature of Creativity

Introduction to Comparative Politics

Riots, Rebellions, Revolutions

Introduction to the History of Technology

Ancient Philosophy

Youth Political Participation

disappointment.

i want to stay up and waste my life but i dont want to disappoint her.

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 :)

“To have someone understand your mind is a different kind of intimacy.”

— Unknown

something about substances so strong they can only be cut by that same substance (like diamond) gets to me. the self-fulfilling prophecy of it. you can armor yourself against any and all outside threats, but you're still beholden to your own nature.

Needed to get this Hobie out my system. Yall were NOT lying about that intense spark of inspiration after watching this film

"mom"

"its a hmm sound with an alphabet with lips open in between" - charles bennetto 'chick' from one more day by mitch albom.

i adore my mother so much. maybe you all do too but its about me today. she was in a meeting, i was in that meeting too so she had her cam off and she was telling the rules for an event taking place on 13th aug to which i was paying so much attention that made me write this post.

i m listening to her as she is mentioning all the rules and there is something in her voice which gives me goosebumps. which just makes me realize that i love her so much. she has got that power, that spark which takes you on a long journey and helps you reach wherever you want to be.

this can be a manifestation - she will definitely reach greater heights.

cheers to her current success and all the best to her for the upcoming stuff. she is the strongest woman i know.

(there is no way this post will be viewed by my mother and thats the best part because guess what - i cant show my love like this. i always tell my mother this when she asks me to give her a hug and deny it... i say that mom this isnt my love language. i cant tell you i love you by saying it or by hugging you instead i show my love for you through my actions and i think that only she has observed my that form of love. nobody else ever did that. and i expect people i love to see that i love them through my actions and what i do for them, how i do for them, why i do that for them. it hurts but we dont talk about it.)

i love you so much mummy. i love you.

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!

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

im so excited for fall semester ⏳🧸💌

all pictures are from pinterest!