#about dea

name or nickname: Dea

location: Germany

area of study: medieval archaeology

level of study: MA

a word on your thesis/dissertation: uh, something involving bioarchaeology and the archaeology of disability, but I’m still figuring things out

*what has been your experience with graduate school/university thus far: my history of CFS/ME and chronic depression has made things really hard, but I still like it? Somehow?

what do you hope to accomplish with this challenge: get my paper for my course last semester written, and if I finish that ahead of time, do some heavy thinking about my thesis

is this your first #gradblrchallenge: it’s my second? third? can’t remember.  both times I kind of dropped out in the middle though thanks to *points above* and scheduling so here’s hoping third? time the charm

favourite film: ahhhh no clue, um, Star Wars series (with TLJ, ROTJ and ROTS being absolute faves)

favourite tv series: another really hard one.  I have a soft spot for Supernatural, am really enjoying Wynonna Earp atm, and Charmed is an old favorite.

*places you wish to visit in a near future:  more of Europe!  Also Los Angeles because that’s home

* where do you see you self in five years: working on my PhD or being finished with it and teaching hopefully!

*meaning behind your url: my online nickname is Dea and I’m a grad student.

  location: Germany

   area of study: Medieval archaeology

   level of study: MA, going into my 3rd semester

   a word on your thesis/dissertation: oh man I have no idea but my interests are in the identity construction of marginalized populations particularly the disabled so I’d like to do something along those lines

   what you hope to accomplish with this challenge: finish my Vikings paper left over from last semester, get a good start on the two papers due for this semester, and get a 1 (A) in my Experimental Archaeology course next week.  Maybe write more/fix up the like 6 different research papers I’ve been meaning to get published for the last year or two. In general, just write a bit every day -- be it research or my original writing or fan fic, just to get back into writing again. Also exercise, eat relatively healthy and get out of the Autistic Burn Out I’ve been in.

   is this your first #gradblrchallenge: nope, I did last year’s October challenge

   favourite film: oh man, um, Star Wars, The Mummy, Disney’s Hercules, Mulan, Treasure Planet, Pirates of the Caribbean, and SO MANY MORE

   favourite tv series: I am bad with favorites but the most recent series I have watched and squeed over were Wynonna Earp and The Night Shift.

  places you wish to visit in a near future: I should be visiting Italy, Austria and Czechia soon, as well as Northern California and LA.

  meaning behind your url: my nickname is Dea and I am a grad student?

  when you are not working on your studies, you are…: probably on tumblr, chatting with friends on Discord, reading, watching TV or movies, playing various Windows games, and just hanging around. Though next semester I’d like to really start to explore my part of Germany.

  a random fact about you: I went to boarding school for about a year and a half in 9-10th grade.

Hey! 

I started this gradblr in October when I first began my MA but quickly fell off the wagon when the combination of uni and life got too much.  I am now back again, hopefully to stay.    I’m trying to motivate myself and organize my life, so I’m hoping that using this gradblr will spur me to get back on track and possibly even get ahead - it worked this afternoon! I did 70 pages of reading and took 4 pages of notes, and my goal is to get this chapter done before bed (still have 26 pages to go).

The pictures are of my very messy desk and still messy but not as bad notes along with my color key.  I’m trying to find a note-taking method that works for me right now: in class I type everything but when I am taking notes from a book I find I prefer paper for general notes and a word document for particular quotations since I have issues with handwriting.  My desk will be cleaned...after the presentation the notes are for, which is on Wednesday. Be glad you don’t see the rest of my apartment.

Anyways, I am turning 31 in just over a month, hail from California but currently live and attend grad school in Germany.  I’m doing an MA in Archaeology with a focus on the medieval and early modern periods.  I’m autistic, visually impaired, chronically ill, and have a bunch of other disabilities including but not limited to ADHD, anxiety, OC(P)D and dyspraxia.  My depression has really been kicking me lately, so I’m trying to get out of that funk.

The next day, after my arrival in Germany, I realized that because I am thirty, I am no longer eligible for most student bank accounts (and therefore would have to pay at least 5 Euros a month to have an account unless I make a whopping 1200 Euros a month), and that I’m also probably ineligible for student health insurance too.  In which case I would have to pay twice the amount to be insured.

And it’s a holiday weekend, too.

And I’m still recovering from the cold.

But I may have an apartment, so...