January
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Positives: Playing DnD w/Dallas friends, finding barrister’s ball dress, mall shopping w/Juliana, great interviews on interview day, fresh tulips, gay club w/Orlando and Juliana, pizza w/Solum, party @ Orlando’s, catching up w/Dallas friend
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Negatives: Only being wingman at gay club, very unsuccessful match-up @ Orlando’s party, abrupt end to catching up w/Dallas friend
February
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Positives: Prep, pre-game, & barrister’s ball, being in New York City for short break, time at Te Company, sewing pillow covers with suede, dinner w/Tower Scholars in DC
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Negatives: Makeup going wrong before barrister’s, having no +1 at barrister’s, being sexually assaulted by best friend and dealing with that
March
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Positives: Sewing yellow suede curtains for bookshelf, seeing friends for trivia in Dallas, photo shoot w/Courtney, going to Hermann instead of being alone in DC for COVID, Colleen’s pets
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Negatives: Missing flight to Dallas, stress of helping dad show the house in Dallas, stress of school closing because of COVID
April
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Positives: Getting/playing PS4, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Colleen’s amazing cooking, Colleen’s pets, Solum’s plague playlist, crosswords with friends, Tower defense game app, Solum being so supportive of transfer, long walks in Hermann, cross stitching
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Negatives: Being so socially isolated in Hermann, stress of school changing so much virtually
May
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Positives: Colleen’s pets, making goat cheese gnocchi, getting back to DC, Harry Potter virtual trivia, seeing DC friends
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Negatives: Stress of transfer applications, stress of Harvard write-on, Hermann local getting too friendly, hair getting so long
June
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Positives: Getting Harvard interview and interview nails, getting into Yale Law and celebratory dinner, putting googly eyes all over Orlando’s apartment, cross stitching
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Negatives: Boring summer work days, stress of needing to plan transfer, being scared of harming Orlando’s plants
July
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Positives: Archery, kayaking, and family time in CLE, getting to be friends w/Xian again, finding (and sketching decorations for) housing for New Haven, first custom suit call, speed racer movie night, Tombstone movie night, getting a haircut after so long, custom suit fitting, Founding Farmer’s goodbye dinner w/friends
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Negatives: Not getting to see Luke and Tori in CLE, finding out Fabrege egg wasn’t worth much, hurting ankles a lot in new brown oxford’s, having to fix paint problems, awful moving day stress
August
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Positives: Arriving, unpacking, decorating, getting to paint room, fun dates, getting and using a grill, working in and improving front garden, finding a piano to play on, cross-stitching, sitting at Koffee?
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Negatives: Getting turned away for new driver’s license because of paperwork, mystery allergic reaction on arm, stress of not being able to get into correct YLS classes
September
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Positives: Cross stitching, amazing new YLS classes, escape room, being in New York for second suit fitting w/Dennis the dog, successfully getting CT driver’s license
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Negatives: AG jeans tearing, not great shopping around, dating becoming tedious
October
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Positives: Tacos w/transfers, discovering/making protein pancakes, Tower scholar virtual event, escape room, hanging w/Henry, especially Halloween and carving pumpkins, bought tiny pumpkin for desk
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Negatives: Stress about tidiness, clinic work stagnant, woman’s health scare, so many meetings w/firms getting tiring
November
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Positives: Time w/dad in Boston, hanging w/Henry, especially with fun cocktails, cross stitching, getting Lap Lap, success of raking leaves, playing board games w/family, chatting w/rabbis
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Negatives: Election stress, tiring firm interviews, ankle injury, stress of traveling for Thanksgiving, quarantining after Thanksgiving travel
December
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Positives: Plant pop-up, short story group, working on independent clinic project, big snowstorm, recording pride book reading, Christmas Eve dinner, getting to see Juliana, Miles Morales video game
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Negatives: Bit of finals essay stress, feeling unsuccessful at butter chicken meal prepping, cabin fever
Take-Aways
Positives:
- Time with friends and time with pets was best this. Sitting alone in a room for extended periods of time? Not great. I’m hoping to get a cat in 2021, and intending to make a concerted effort to get more social engagement to capitalize on these things.
- Video games were also a big positive this year, and one I feel like I’ve neglected the past year at least. I should stay on the lookout for new games I like!
- Improving the space around me like by gardening and decorating brought me a lot of joy. I’ve been saying for at least a year now that I want to take a course in interior decorating—I should really get to that.
- Having a bright living thing to be near me, like flowers or a tiny pumpkin, has a surprisingly big impact on my mood. I need to find a flowers place here in New Haven maybe, or just keep growing new plant friends.
Negatives:
- Obviously being sexually assaulted by your best friend and then experiencing an international pandemic in which an incredibly important nail-biter election happens isn’t great, but I also don’t think it was avoidable in any way. Positive coping mechanisms are the best way to deal with these big bads I think, which really just means doing more of what’s above.