My rantings, musings, and the overall verbal diarrhea of optimism that leaks out of me.
The best part about being busy – of working 80+ hours per week and balancing grad school – is that there isn’t time for sadness. There isn’t time to mourn. There isn’t time to be angry. There isn’t time to miss the people you shouldn’t, or to linger on the memories you want to forget.…
I had the opportunity to be a guinea pig for Jessica Reyes on The Daily Buzz today! It was a blast, and I’ve never smelled more tropical. Credits: None. I was merely a willing participant in this particular segment! More to come! ~ Victoria Elizabeth
It has been several weeks since I posted a life update. Things have been very busy, and I’ve used the blog (lately) to post samples of my academic writing, my poetry, and a few short stories – but nothing personal about me, the “optimist.” (Perhaps I’m due for a rebranding…) Sometimes I wonder what the…
Every day the world tells me that I am not good enough. Every day, hundreds of times per day (hundreds of thousands), the world tells me that I am not right. I am not beautiful enough. I am not smart enough. I am not worldly enough. I am not cultured, I am not experienced, I…
In Spring 2013, I attended a Short Story Writing Workshop through the Urban Rethink Foundation in Orlando. The teacher, Jamie Poissant, was great: attentive, patient, and passionate for his craft. In less than four hours, I took a nine page story (that felt like it needed to be a novel) and trimmed it down to…
On Wednesday, April 30th, I attended my final class of the spring 2014 semester at Rollins College. This was the first term of my MLS and I’m stunned by how quickly the term passed. I still remember my first day of class: I was overwhelmed, intimidated, and nervous. I felt under-prepared and worried (often) that…
Loss is one of the few things in life you don’t become desensitized to with repeat exposure. When you lay in the sun day after day, you develop a tan – your body’s natural resistance to the sun’s rays. (And skin cancer, of course, but that’s another story.) When you tweeze your eyebrows continuously, seeking…
Anyone that knows me has seen a lot of evolution in me, especially in the last twelve months or so. Going back to school (in March 2011) had a lot to do with that change. It reawakened pieces of my soul that had long been dormant: my thirst for knowledge, for challenge, for discussion–all of…
The first class of my graduate degree is a comprehensive study of sociology, ethnography, and the deeply personal exploration of autoethnography. The Director of the MLS recommended it as a good transitional class from my BFA, as it combines the creativity of storytelling with academic research and self-exploration [when generalized to cultural norms and perception].…
On Monday, the Spring 2014 term at Rollins College officially starts. I will attend my very first MLS class on Wednesday, January 15th. I’m nervous. Anxious. Excited. Prepared. I’ve been waiting for this day since the moment I exited the stage from my BFA graduation ceremony. In many ways, I feel like most of the…
Victoria Elizabeth Ann 