Last check-in for the year, and wrap-up.
Behemoths1.
Pass topo preliminary exam. - I took the exam with an active case of COVID and a fever; I had to take a couple of naps in the middle; but I passed. Hooray! I'm close to earning my master's.
2.
Clear algebra and analysis incompletes and new combinatorics incomplete, and new topology incomplete. - I still have some work to do on a couple of incomplete courses, but I'm emphatically out of the danger zone. I'm no longer concerned about being ejected from my program.
3. Prepare for and pass JLPT N1. - "Probably not this year. There's a few things happening in October and November that are going to make this impossible, and which are very important for me to participate in right now. I can't talk about what it is online, maybe I'll post in December."
Yeah, this didn't work out. There were a lot of surprises this year and I didn't have much of a plan to actually complete the N1. That's OK. Better luck next time.
4.
Apply to 8 opportunities I don't feel I'm sure of getting.
- I applied for a grant through the school [REJECTED, try again this year]
- I applied to be a directed reading project mentor [REJECTED, try again in the fall]
- I applied for a summer workshop [ACCEPTED]
- I applied for a summer abolitionist teaching reading group [REJECTED]
- I applied for another summer workshop [ACCEPTED]
- I applied for a marginalized student peer mentorship program [ACCEPTED]
- I'm running for department student body president [ACCEPTED]
- I have a proposed thesis advisor [ACCEPTED]
5. Keep a journal. - I destroyed some old entries. I really wish I could stop destroying my own writing. Self-expression is a real problem for me. I get paranoid.
6.
Depression treatment with magnets with needles with labor organizing. - I'm feeling much better than I did at the beginning of the year. This isn't the end of my mental health journey by a long shot but I am in a much better place.
7. Full Moon Teas - I didn't do even one. I'm kind of okay with that, I'm surrounded by people much younger than me who have a lot of drama. I feel like I missed out on seasonality this calendar year, though.
8. Martial arts practice. Goal is to regularly practice 4x weekly by the end of the year. - I went to two practices total this year. COVID really took me out in a bad way.
9.
Continue to downsize right-size possessions. - The problem is now a lack of money more than anything else. I can't call it "done" but I feel really good about what I did this year. I also feel great about the breakup I mentioned in my last post.
10.
Reading goals (see the Hot Fresh Reading Challenge) - Good enough.
11.
Tithe 10% again this year and consistently volunteer three hours per month. - Gave substantially. Organized with the union from June to December. Next!
12. New Year Cards - I didn't send any cards; I'm desperately behind on email. This, too, is a relic of the past.
Paradoxically enough, I feel good about this year.
2020 was horrible. I had spent years building up to launching myself in a new career and literally the day when I was supposed to start resting before the career started, the lockdowns were called locally. 2020 - 1 was, for me, equally bad -- no normalcy there. 2020 - 2 was all about attempted recovery and constantly getting knocked off my feet but I at least feel that there is some chance of careening towards psychological normalcy. I dated seriously for the first time since 2014, helped with a strike, got myself out of the academic red zone, and am far more comfortable with being a trans person in the year of our lord twenty-twenty-two.
I have a lot of ideas for next year, so I'm going to head towards the new thread and try to write some stuff down.