Life Update Themed
I.
I made this poster which hangs on my apartment wall in Washington DC.
I’m absolutely gutted by the death of Joan Didion, a woman I regard as quintessentially all-American in a way that I aspired to embody as a girl, and would like to think I now do.
The thing about Joan Didion (slash Dhaaruni) haters is that a lot of people don’t respect intentional discipline in women because they’re resentful they’re unable to possess it. As a young woman who takes herself extremely seriously, and is harsh and prideful at times in a way that's almost masculine but doesn't have the male privilege to embrace it, Joan Didion's work has always deeply resonated with me at my best and my worst, and I'll miss her.
Didion's "On Self-Respect" is a piece of writing that I believe made me who I am and which I regularly return to; I'm not sure what that says about me, but I know it says something.
II.
I accepted a job offer to be an analyst at a consulting firm, which is exciting!!
I think it's low key hilarious that after fighting against parental expectations to do math/technology for so long and moving to DC to enact social change or whatever, I lasted less than a year in Democratic politics before I was like "Nope, my brain is rotting and I want to make $25k more and do something intellectually stimulating" so there we go.
In any case, since my start date is January 24, 2022, I'm definitely going to brush up on my statistical computing and data logic skills so I can excel at the role.
III.
Isabel Wilkerson and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents are everything that people pretend that Nikole Hannah-Jones and the 1619 Project are. I could elaborate but I’ll get canceled.
IV.
Getting rid of the SAT/ACT for college admissions is quite bluntly, only going to benefit downwardly mobile, upper class failchildren who think that the very concept of math is oppressive. To quote a tweet I saw, “Legacy admissions, crew and squash team admissions, and application essays about that meaningful summer spent doing unpaid volunteer work in Guatemala” are MUCH less accessible to kids who don’t come from money than SAT prep books, and contribute much more to economic inequality at elite institutions than standardized tests.
You can get SAT practice books from the public library! I did just that because my parents didn’t believe in paying for prep classes that weren’t accessible to poor kids and told me that if I got over a 2350, I could properly date my then-boyfriend. Of course, when I got a 2370 after missing a single math question, they still refused to let me date him and I had to start sneaking out, and the hilarity of this incident is really the only reason I remember my score and the breakdown of it, but I digress.
My point is, just because rich kids can’t do algebra doesn’t mean that poor kids who can do algebra should suffer as a result.
V.
My most Republican opinion is that personal responsibility is really lacking among a lot of people, and we all have to live with the consequences of our decisions.