Hi friends,

During a coaching session this week, the concept of "internal heroism" came up. I immediately looked up the term, and it's not a real thing, but its intentions certainly are. My coach used this term to celebrate the victories I overcame without people knowing; this looks different to everyone — from overcoming anxiety to making a tough decision or even completing your to-do list. Sometimes they can be big moments, and other times they can be moments we either trivialize or overlook. For me this week, one of those moments was my participation in class for a case study we did. I was terrified that I would embarrass myself in front of my peers; however, it went well, and I learned plenty in the process. I would've been disappointed if I didn't act on my feelings. So the message here is to be your internal hero — recognize the things you do and don't trivialize the things you accomplish.

Rose Bud Thorn 🌹🌷🌵

🌹 This week, I finished my first whole week of in-person grad school. It was overwhelming at times – primarily because I feel the expectations of a second-year while experiencing everything like a first-year. This space feels tricky to navigate, especially since the academic year is moving forward with or without me. There is undoubtedly going to be an adjustment period, but I'm glad to be back.

🌷 I met several new classmates this week — they are from all over the world, and I cannot wait to grow our friendships.

🌵 A friend from my high school passed away this week. While I wasn't close with this person, we have some shared memories, and I can't help but keep his family in my prayers.

Book Talk📚

I finished The Dark Forest (aka Three-Body Problem Book #2) this week, and it was incredible. The first third of the story was slow; however, once humans' response to the Trisolarians threat kicks off, the story accelerates and never slows down. One cool concept introduced in the book was hibernation as a form of time traveling. Would you hibernate into the future if you could? Perhaps if you were diagnosed with a terminal disease, you could hibernate to a point in the future where the disease has been cured!

Intentional Content Consumption📰

Newsletter — Below the Fold; MooLoo

• Below the Fold is a hip newsletter that shares news that goes unheard in mainstream news outlets. For example, in an edition from last week, they shared climate-related research on MooLoo, an outdoor toilet made of turf that collects, treats, and neutralizes cow urine to pose a lesser risk.
• This research made me wonder about all the creative solutions scientists worldwide are developing, especially concerning climate change. Sometimes I think ideas such as MooLoo are borne from brainstorming sessions and somehow survive.

Article — Equity is key to resilience.

• This article from "The Hill" shares how we can incorporate equity into our climate resilience initiatives. I thought it was especially remarkable because it mentioned several organizations I worked with this summer, including the Transformative Climate Communities Program in California, which focuses on capacity-building.

This Week's Video 📹

This week was a bit hectic, so no new video — however, I still researched my topic (Climate Injustice Analysis on Wildfires) and recorded the video itself. I think this will lead to posting every other week because of school, but I'm okay with 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 ✌🏾