Life Update
May. 22nd, 2024 10:12 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
samthehyenaSorry that I disappeared from DW for a hot minute... or rather a couple of months XD
Uni just got really hectic during the second half of the semester so I wasn't online as much. Heck, I didn't even stress-write as much as I usually would to cope because I just didn't really have the writing spoons. And then after the semester ended there was a power outage for a week because a tornado knocked out the power and internet. But I'm all safe and sound and so are my folks, so all is well that ends well. Anyways, this post is gonna be long and rambly because a lot of stuff (good and bad) has been going on.
And I am very exciting to catch up on all the DW posts I missed out! Based on scrolling through my feed, y'all have had a lot of cool stuff to say.
Dance
So this semester I got to join in on not just one but TWO dance performances. Both were at larger APIDA community events so we got multi-course meals for free (the food was delicious)! It was a little nerve-wracking to be on stage again after so long and have the spot light shining in face but the fact that the dance is a group effort sure makes it a lot easier. It wasn't like I was alone on stage. And there were some other dance groups who performed after us, including my uni's kpop dance group, and they did such an amazing job (I have Magnetic stuck in my head now). Anyways, even though I felt nervous it was pretty nervous it was easy enough to keep smiling because the dance for the second performance (which was the same as the closing dance for the first performance) is really high-energy and there are a lot of fun moves. Like we slide into something like the splits as some point, we form a circle and the bridge where we hold our fans closed reminds me a lot of dance styles in which people use batons.
And I think I've also improved a little over the course of the semester. Before the first performance, we had some individual testing to make sure that everyone knew all the choreo, the timing, etc... and I messed up comically badly. I forgot so many steps and my timing was completely off. But the other people in the dance group were really patient with me and helped walk me through the steps. And so by the time the performance came along my bridge timing especially was much improved and if memory serves during the second performance I only forgot one movement (honestly, my only major oopsie was standing directly behind the person in front of me during the one of the formations LMAO). Nevertheless, I think it went really well, I had fun and I've gotten closer to people in the dance group and it has definitely been an extracurricular activity that has given me some reprieve from my major.
But yeah I'll definitely be joining the fan dance group again next year if my schedule allows it :D
Volunteering
The other main school club I'm in is one in which we perform as Disney characters, superheroes, Star Wars characters, etc. and go to hospitals, book readings at schools and such to support kids. I got my cast list last semester but I needed to complete enough volunteer hours (taking photos, supporting the performers at events, etc.) before I qualified as a performer. We need to have enough exposure for knowing how to navigate interactions with kids first, you know?
But yeah there's a lot of preparation that goes into becoming a performer, including watching all of your characters content so you can stay in character no matter what questions someone throws your way (and also be able to buffer in character or bs if you don't know the actual answer). And of course there's getting the costumes too - I don't think I've ever been self-indulgent enough to spend this much on a costume until so I was over the moon to have an excuse that enabled me to fulfill my cosplaying dreams (I'll def be wearing my princess costume to a local cosplay convention in my city in September and one of my friend's who is a performer is planning to go with me so that will be very exciting).
Anyways, toward the end of April I completed my minimum required hours and got to do my first event as a character, namely a book reading at an elementary school. Since the Disney movie my character is in came out during the height of Covid, I wasn't sure if many of the kids would know the movie - but the majority of them did and I was in awe about all the specific detailed questions they asked about both my movie and that of the other princess I was performing with. These kids really knew their stuff! It was just such a magical experience and the kids just had so much positive energy which so infectious. (Also, one kid decided to infodump on me about MHA which made me so damn happy. Like OMG what were the odds that my hyperfixation was going to come up at my first book reading?)
I plan on working on my next character over a good chunk of this summer because she has a lot of content but I am very excited to add a superhero character to my performance roster next!
School
But where my extracurriculars have been an absolute delight this semester, school has been kind of a pain in the ass. Course-wise this was probably my least favorite semester which was definitely reflected in my weaker than usual academic performance (Goodbye, 4.0. You were nice while you lasted). They weren't by any means easy classes though so I am fortunate to have passed with decent grades - especially math for which I was rounded up very generously.
I did like Electricity and Magnetism though. My instructor focused a lot on the practical applications and had a lot of patience and understanding. He's a real GOAT. Our final was open book. So, I think for me at least he achieved his goal of making his students more passionate about physics.
Now, the same cannot be said for my Introduction to Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics class. I self-taught myself pretty much all of the material and I def spent a couple lectures writing fanfic instead because my prof started delving into topics beyond the skill level for undergrads. But I passed the course so at least it's done and over with. Plus, the class discord server I had set up was a major help for getting through that course.
Differential equations was rough too, but thank goodness that was my last math course so I am finally free of the math department which brings me so much joy after dealing with two years of their administrative shenanigans. (To those who like math, I have nothing against the subject - it's very useful. At my uni the bureaucracy for the intro math courses just gets kinda messy.)
Anyhow, I'll see about skimming over my text books/ topics for next semester in advance because my theoretical physics classes next semester are tough according to my upperclassmen. I hope that will help my mental health not go down the drain as much next semester.
And moveout from the dorms went pretty well. It only took twelve hours to pack all my stuff (a great accomplishment considering my hoarding problem - my love of plushies, fashion and books has it's consequences XD ). And my Dad flew in from Europe for a week to help me drive all my stuff to a storage unit to help me store all my stuff there for the summer. While he was in the States I introduced him to First Watch and he was very impressed by their brunch food so maybe we can take the rest of the family there on an outing at some point).
Oh and my room mate is moving off campus. She will be missed! She helped me set up my AO3 account, she helped me tag my first fic and most importantly she introduced me to my favorite tag (Crack Treated Seriously). I'll probably still see her around though since she's in one of my clubs. And my new roommate seems really nice; she's super bubbly and extroverted and just has really good vibes!
Writing
In terms of writing, the thing I'm most hyped about this summer is NWA's Fic Fight! I've been looking forward to it since last June and at long last I signed up today! One of the best Momomei fics I have read as well as one of my fav togachako reads were both written for last year's fic fight so I am beyond excited for what this year's fic fight hold. It was a struggle to narrow down the ships I wanted to list and I tried to have a mix of wordier and more concise prompts for the sake of variety. I've been taking a look at the Excel spreadsheet periodically and OMG there are already so many eyecatching prompts (the one-word prompts speak to me especially).
Aside from that I have some event fics to wrap up, including my piece for the BNHA Hanahaki Bang, my fic for the Supernova Ochabowl Bang and my TDDK Big Bang piece. I'm almost done with my Tododeku piece. My draft is currently at 12K, making it the longest oneshot I've ever written, and I am approaching the final act of the story. It's a fairy tale retelling and I am so excited to share it once it's ready!
And of course I'm joining in on Round 18 of Planet BNHA Exchange with the theme this time being "Wheels, Rails, Wings, Sails" which I'm excited for because I'm a big fan of trains.
Anyways, that's a rundown of some of the things that have been going on in my life. I might talk about my summer research internship at some point. It starts next week :D
Uni just got really hectic during the second half of the semester so I wasn't online as much. Heck, I didn't even stress-write as much as I usually would to cope because I just didn't really have the writing spoons. And then after the semester ended there was a power outage for a week because a tornado knocked out the power and internet. But I'm all safe and sound and so are my folks, so all is well that ends well. Anyways, this post is gonna be long and rambly because a lot of stuff (good and bad) has been going on.
And I am very exciting to catch up on all the DW posts I missed out! Based on scrolling through my feed, y'all have had a lot of cool stuff to say.
Dance
So this semester I got to join in on not just one but TWO dance performances. Both were at larger APIDA community events so we got multi-course meals for free (the food was delicious)! It was a little nerve-wracking to be on stage again after so long and have the spot light shining in face but the fact that the dance is a group effort sure makes it a lot easier. It wasn't like I was alone on stage. And there were some other dance groups who performed after us, including my uni's kpop dance group, and they did such an amazing job (I have Magnetic stuck in my head now). Anyways, even though I felt nervous it was pretty nervous it was easy enough to keep smiling because the dance for the second performance (which was the same as the closing dance for the first performance) is really high-energy and there are a lot of fun moves. Like we slide into something like the splits as some point, we form a circle and the bridge where we hold our fans closed reminds me a lot of dance styles in which people use batons.
And I think I've also improved a little over the course of the semester. Before the first performance, we had some individual testing to make sure that everyone knew all the choreo, the timing, etc... and I messed up comically badly. I forgot so many steps and my timing was completely off. But the other people in the dance group were really patient with me and helped walk me through the steps. And so by the time the performance came along my bridge timing especially was much improved and if memory serves during the second performance I only forgot one movement (honestly, my only major oopsie was standing directly behind the person in front of me during the one of the formations LMAO). Nevertheless, I think it went really well, I had fun and I've gotten closer to people in the dance group and it has definitely been an extracurricular activity that has given me some reprieve from my major.
But yeah I'll definitely be joining the fan dance group again next year if my schedule allows it :D
Volunteering
The other main school club I'm in is one in which we perform as Disney characters, superheroes, Star Wars characters, etc. and go to hospitals, book readings at schools and such to support kids. I got my cast list last semester but I needed to complete enough volunteer hours (taking photos, supporting the performers at events, etc.) before I qualified as a performer. We need to have enough exposure for knowing how to navigate interactions with kids first, you know?
But yeah there's a lot of preparation that goes into becoming a performer, including watching all of your characters content so you can stay in character no matter what questions someone throws your way (and also be able to buffer in character or bs if you don't know the actual answer). And of course there's getting the costumes too - I don't think I've ever been self-indulgent enough to spend this much on a costume until so I was over the moon to have an excuse that enabled me to fulfill my cosplaying dreams (I'll def be wearing my princess costume to a local cosplay convention in my city in September and one of my friend's who is a performer is planning to go with me so that will be very exciting).
Anyways, toward the end of April I completed my minimum required hours and got to do my first event as a character, namely a book reading at an elementary school. Since the Disney movie my character is in came out during the height of Covid, I wasn't sure if many of the kids would know the movie - but the majority of them did and I was in awe about all the specific detailed questions they asked about both my movie and that of the other princess I was performing with. These kids really knew their stuff! It was just such a magical experience and the kids just had so much positive energy which so infectious. (Also, one kid decided to infodump on me about MHA which made me so damn happy. Like OMG what were the odds that my hyperfixation was going to come up at my first book reading?)
I plan on working on my next character over a good chunk of this summer because she has a lot of content but I am very excited to add a superhero character to my performance roster next!
School
But where my extracurriculars have been an absolute delight this semester, school has been kind of a pain in the ass. Course-wise this was probably my least favorite semester which was definitely reflected in my weaker than usual academic performance (Goodbye, 4.0. You were nice while you lasted). They weren't by any means easy classes though so I am fortunate to have passed with decent grades - especially math for which I was rounded up very generously.
I did like Electricity and Magnetism though. My instructor focused a lot on the practical applications and had a lot of patience and understanding. He's a real GOAT. Our final was open book. So, I think for me at least he achieved his goal of making his students more passionate about physics.
Now, the same cannot be said for my Introduction to Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics class. I self-taught myself pretty much all of the material and I def spent a couple lectures writing fanfic instead because my prof started delving into topics beyond the skill level for undergrads. But I passed the course so at least it's done and over with. Plus, the class discord server I had set up was a major help for getting through that course.
Differential equations was rough too, but thank goodness that was my last math course so I am finally free of the math department which brings me so much joy after dealing with two years of their administrative shenanigans. (To those who like math, I have nothing against the subject - it's very useful. At my uni the bureaucracy for the intro math courses just gets kinda messy.)
Anyhow, I'll see about skimming over my text books/ topics for next semester in advance because my theoretical physics classes next semester are tough according to my upperclassmen. I hope that will help my mental health not go down the drain as much next semester.
And moveout from the dorms went pretty well. It only took twelve hours to pack all my stuff (a great accomplishment considering my hoarding problem - my love of plushies, fashion and books has it's consequences XD ). And my Dad flew in from Europe for a week to help me drive all my stuff to a storage unit to help me store all my stuff there for the summer. While he was in the States I introduced him to First Watch and he was very impressed by their brunch food so maybe we can take the rest of the family there on an outing at some point).
Oh and my room mate is moving off campus. She will be missed! She helped me set up my AO3 account, she helped me tag my first fic and most importantly she introduced me to my favorite tag (Crack Treated Seriously). I'll probably still see her around though since she's in one of my clubs. And my new roommate seems really nice; she's super bubbly and extroverted and just has really good vibes!
Writing
In terms of writing, the thing I'm most hyped about this summer is NWA's Fic Fight! I've been looking forward to it since last June and at long last I signed up today! One of the best Momomei fics I have read as well as one of my fav togachako reads were both written for last year's fic fight so I am beyond excited for what this year's fic fight hold. It was a struggle to narrow down the ships I wanted to list and I tried to have a mix of wordier and more concise prompts for the sake of variety. I've been taking a look at the Excel spreadsheet periodically and OMG there are already so many eyecatching prompts (the one-word prompts speak to me especially).
Aside from that I have some event fics to wrap up, including my piece for the BNHA Hanahaki Bang, my fic for the Supernova Ochabowl Bang and my TDDK Big Bang piece. I'm almost done with my Tododeku piece. My draft is currently at 12K, making it the longest oneshot I've ever written, and I am approaching the final act of the story. It's a fairy tale retelling and I am so excited to share it once it's ready!
And of course I'm joining in on Round 18 of Planet BNHA Exchange with the theme this time being "Wheels, Rails, Wings, Sails" which I'm excited for because I'm a big fan of trains.
Anyways, that's a rundown of some of the things that have been going on in my life. I might talk about my summer research internship at some point. It starts next week :D
