Samsa - Studies

I am VERY aware that it has been a long while since I have posted any original content, and that this blog probably comes across as a dead blog. In many ways, it has been, and it is in part because of my own inaction and lack of motivation.

To keep this post from becoming too long and revealing too much about my personal life, I will say that I have had some difficulties due to my country's current administration and because of classism in academia and politics with continuing down my previously planned career path. The only options left for me were to become a teacher, which I know I do not have the temperament or drive to do, or to go work in the military industrial complex, which goes against my morals.

Because of these issues, I have been mainly focused on my part-time work and attempting to find out what other paths are available to me that may lead to better career opportunities.

After a great deal of discussion and paperwork, I will be returning to school in late August 2026 to begin a Biology degree, with the intention of going into medical school following the completion of my undergraduate prerequisites.

What does this mean for the blog? Well, the first thing is that I am going to be deleting my original intro post and overhauling the appearance of the blog. I want it to reflex better on who I am NOW, rather than holding onto the visuals it has had since I first started this before my frontal lobe was even finished forming.

This will also mean that a lot of my original posts will be deleted, because I do not like them anymore. This may also include some of the reblogged materials as well. Overall, expect a completely different looking blog in a short while. Likely by the end of next month, when I start my program.

It is my hope that with the update, I will have more motivation to post, and in turn to do the things that make it possible to post, that being studying!

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I wish everyone the best and that you stick with me through this new chapter in my journey.

FINAL REPORT

Books Read: 83/100

I think this is very good! More than last year, and I know that most of my issues with meeting the goal this year were related to decision paralysis, which I am fixing next year by not allowing myself to read too many books at the same time and by focusing my nonfiction reading on more specific subjects for longer periods of time.

Wrote 25k of the 50k words of my planned manuscript. I am going to focus more effort into it in the new year, as the cold weather will be keeping me inside.

My language study very much fell off in the beginning of the year, largely because I was trying to do too much at once. I am going to be picking one language to focus on for 2026 (and likely a few years after).

The choices are between Latin and Russian. I think for graduate school, I will be choosing to focus on Russian.

The plan is to get my cybersecurity certification early next year, again using the excuse of the cold weather to stay in and focus on these things.

The certification program charged a monthly fee for access, so I was putting it off until I knew I would be able to dedicate the time to finish it as fast as possible.

It turned out my plans to go to graduate school this year ended up being put off due to monetary issues, but with some careful planning, next year looks like it will be the year that I can apply, and 2027 will be the year that I attend. Similar issues arose with Fulbright, as there were cuts to funding and issues with people being unable to get return flights, so my family and I decided to try to look elsewhere for funding opportunities.