Hi friends,

Two weeks without a newsletter is basically forever, right? To say I've been busy is probably the understatement of the quarter. I find it funny because when I opened my Newsletter page on Notion, my last notes about potential topics included "productive rest" and the difference between "busyness and hurriedness." When I jotted those points down, I was in the middle of a Redwood forest in Santa Cruz for a retreat. This retreat came at a tricky point at the end of week 6 when things were hectic; however, I felt it was important I slow down and rest intentionally; get away from campus for 36 hours and enjoy nature. During this time, I reflected on what it meant to be busy and to be hurried. I think it is okay to be busy as long as I have the capacity and energy to be present — I want to have the patience to give my full attention wherever I am without worrying about the next thing. This manifests by not booking things back-to-back if I can help it; if possible, I'll give myself 15 mins to gather my thoughts to prepare for the next thing. Mind you; this was my intention during the retreat. Here is my calendar for the week following my retreat:

I know — so much easier said than done! And you can imagine how I felt by the end — busy and hurried! I am now on Thanksgiving break, and while it doesn't really feel like a break with all the work I have, it's a bit less structured, and I'm looking forward to some peace.

Rose Bud Thorn 🌹🌷🌵

I could theoretically try to recap everything from my last few weeks; however, it might be better to give some glimpses of what's going on; queue the rose, bud, thorn!

🌹 I have been stepping out of my comfort zone whenever possible to develop relationships with my peers.

🌷 I have my first job interview this coming Tuesday! I've reflected so much about shaping my future over the last few months, and feels surreal to be in a position to take a step towards making it somewhat of a reality. This feeling is simultaneously exciting and anxiety-inducing.

🌵The class I was planning on TAing this Winter was canceled, and it has been a scramble to replace it. I try to keep in mind what's important to me when searching for these opportunities, and while it helps financially to have a TAship, I also want to enjoy and keep learning from that experience.

Book Talk📚

There's really only one book I want to talk about, and my lack of reflection is probably why I haven't been able to into a new book in nearly two weeks. I finished Death's End, the last book in the Three-Body Problem Series, and holy smokes — it was fantastic. This trilogy was the most exciting rollercoaster I've been on this year, and I could not put it down. The ending left me stunned. I know I'm praising this book/series really hard, but I just enjoyed everything about it. You can find more of my Goodreads thoughts here.

I'm struggling to find a book to read right now. I've been jumping between books like Evicted and The Wizard and the Prophet. If you have any recommendations, please send them my way!

Intentional Content Consumption📰

Short and Fun Article: Google Maps holiday trends worth mulling over (blog.google).

• Data is super cool when you can produce trends like these! While a lot of the points shared seem intuitive, it's still nice to see numbers next to the observation itself.

Current Events Article: Kyle Rittenhouse Acquitted on All Counts - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

• In the middle of a hectic week, I kept one eye on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. It bothered me that with news like this that I'm (1) not surprised, just disappointed and (2) I didn't have the chance to talk about it or reflect on it with others. It felt hard to craft a message to tweet and it felt strange to bring it up during conversations during this week.
• I'd be happy to talk about this with anyone so don't hesitate to reach out if you are available.

This Week's Video 📹

I've mentally decided to resume my video production during the winter holiday so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for reading and reflecting this week! If you aren't subscribed to get this in your inbox weekly, you can here!

Best,
Awoe ✌🏾