Shelby studies

10.12.2018

picked up my new ipad pro today, and immediately starting journalling and planning - i lOVE IT!!!

finals szn is here

✨ space themed july spread  

My June spreads so far

It’s something that a lot of us hear - or dread hearing - when we’re starting off in university. “What are you going to do with a useless degree like that?” Some variation of this question will be said, whether it’s by a friend, a family member, or even a perfect stranger who decided that they knew better about your future than you do. 

Here’s the thing about academia - all degrees have value, but the amount it’s worth is always going to be up to you. Did you go into your university career with a different major than you have now? I did. This degree was less lucrative, less “useful” than my previous major would have been. But I excelled in the classes, and I enjoyed them, which was not what I was doing in my previous program. 

The experience you have while you’re studying at the undergraduate, or even graduate, level does not just have to extend to coursework, but to other things as well. Did you make new friends? Did you uncover an interest you might have not otherwise known about had you not taken that class? Did you overcome a fear? Did you read more books than you ever thought possible? Did you learn something new about yourself? Did you have fun? Did you laugh? Do you have a professor who will stand out in your mind forever because of their literal catchphrase? (Mine was a Medieval professor who started every first day of class with: “There is no use of the F-word in my class! You can fuck all you want, but noooooooooooo feudalism!” - I had him for three different Medieval courses and looked forward to the reactions every single time.) 

Your program is there to help you learn and become a better scholar, but it is also to help you grow as a person. To me, there is no such thing as a useless degree - I get more out of my degrees than most people would expect. Do I need to indicate that I have a Creative Writing degree on my CV for my museum work? No, but I claimed it as a double major because I wanted to do it for my own enrichment, my own enjoyment, and if you’re doing something that makes you feel good, then it’s not useless. 

If you have fun, your degree is worthwhile. 

If you’ve made friends, your degree is worthwhile.

If you have memories you’ll never forget, your degree is worthwhile.

If you learned anything during your program, your degree is worthwhile.

If you found yourself during your program, your degree is worthwhile. 

15/4/17

October - Reading Journal 

Holy moly! 18 books!! I’ve never read that much in one month before and I am shook! It is most definitely thanks to the Spookathon and Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon that I participated in during the month. I guess readathons are key!