Monthly Archives: February 2014

Tech Troubles

Working Girl

I almost got to be a photographer today. ALMOST.

It has completely ruined my weekend that this failed to happen.

To summarize, our library has an awesome digital technologies section (essentially where the library and IT department join together), and my job there is to work in the digital archives. Which I’ve gotten fairly decent at – so naturally, I want to move onto struggling with something else. But as of today, I’ve gotten to join a new committee on social media which I certainly didn’t know that we had before. I’m really excited by this, as I hope to work in social media as a future career path down the line.

> It’s somewhere inbetween becoming a personal finance expert and going to grad school for Buddhism. Somewhere. I swear. <

In my opinion, working in tech is kind of a crapshoot – but I’m certainly not a natural, so keep that in mind. I think there are plenty of people who learning technologies is as quick as breathing, but that’s not me. Which is why I like learning new SM platforms, programming tools, and tricks in Excel, it challenges me in a way that I don’t quite get anywhere else.

But like anything else, I believe you need to really concentrate to succeed in tech. Really focus when you get the instructions the first time instead of zoning out, and then make sure that you can apply them in the way instructed before experimenting. And since I love experimenting with things/concepts/ideas, this was really the best way I learned how to focus and get better with learning tech and programming. Not an extremely fun activity I’ll admit, but it was definitely necessary for my success.

So next time you’re having trouble understanding a new form of technology, think about whether you really focused the first time around. Make a resolution to listen intently when you need it – it will definitely pay off in the future.

Political Linguistics

Extracurriculars

As a resident INFP, I think a lot about the nuances and politics of language. We even had the chance to talk about it in relation to sexuality and relationships during our ALF meeting today.

In both of my disciplines, I’m constantly arguing on we structure terms and the implications of those words. For example, we’re very quick to assign terms such as ‘fundamentalism’ or ‘uniformity’ to Islam, while allowing other world religions to have a freer sense of flexibility. Or the fact that you’ll rarely ever hear the word thug used in relation to anyone other than a black man. Or, as we expressed in ALF, the terms surrounding sex – hit it/screw her/nail her/bang her/etc. are pretty violent. And as a victim of sexual assault, that really struck me in a way that I hadn’t completely thought of before.

What does it mean to structure ourselves around a series of implications and stereotypes? Is that something we can explain away just because that’s how society has continued to be? Or is this something that we should change for the better?

I’ll always argue for the latter obviously, but it is notable that to an extent, we don’t consciously understand or actively try to oppose these stereotypes. Not that we’re validating them either, where’s the line between complacency and ignorance? Maybe there isn’t one.

File Cannot Be Read

Working Girl

I almost didn’t get this post in! Mainly because I’ve been working all day.

As much as I love Wednesdays, they leave me almost no time to breathe, study, or seriously crank out any creative work. But I love them primarily because they remind me of what I enjoy best – learning new technologies.

Today, I finally got to put my knowledge in Qualtrics to good use after a ITS training session about a month ago. I learned how to use display logic when creating questions, different formatting ideas, and stylistic choices. Though I’m very much in the rough stages, hopefully I’ll be able to use that training in other respects.

I just finished up a WordPress section – the results you can clearly see here, and even though it’s not a program that you learn such as HTML/Python/etc., I enjoy finding out new things about the sites I use everyday.

At my other job, I get to work in the official IT/digital scholarship department, so I’m around books and computers all day (living the dream)! I’d be lying severely if I said that I was anywhere near any expert using Adobe Photoshop, Bridge, and ABBY FineReader, but I’ve definitely improved a lot over the school year.

A lot of technical learning for me at least is just watch, theorize, test, and apply – but I know that everyone has their own way of deciding things. For me, I really like to jump in it and make tons of mistakes. And while it was pretty soul-crushing having to go over some projects again – and again – and again – it was very educational to feel my way through things at my own pace. It also probably helps that I have a very patient boss, which probably comes with the territory when working in IT.

I’ll continue with some more points tomorrow on learning tech, but that’s all for now!

So I heard you study religion….

The Liberal Arts

Do you read the bible a lot?

Are you religious?

Why would you pick such a weird subject to major in?

Aren’t you worried that your bosses will think that you’re a religious fanatic?

Why are you studying religion?

… and so on. These are but a few of the questions I’ve been asked about why I decided to take on religious studies as a double major. They don’t really bother me much, as 5 years back, I’d probably be asking something similar.

Out of all of these, the last question is the both the simplest and hardest to answer.

I’m a religious studies major because I love the fact that I feel as though I’m always taking in new information. I enjoy connecting ideologies and trends across different disciplines in a way that leaves me mystified.  It’s fun for me to have to constantly challenge my language, my thoughts, and my presuppositions about a culture/ritual/religious text/etc. that stem from my racial, ethnic, national, sexual, and gender identity.

In case you didn’t realize, I like to be proven wrong – or I like to prove that there’s no right answer even after I’ve tried to come up with one in my head.

And the religious studies professors at Lafayette College are fantastic, hands down. While I have to attribute my current fascination with Buddhism to Professor Rinehart, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and understanding from all of my professors within the department. Each of them has pushed me to question exactly what the field of religious studies entails, and whether its even possible to discuss a concept that has so many layers to it.

I’m certainly coming from a biased source, but I really recommend for anyone coming to Lafayette to take at least one course in religious studies. It probably won’t change your life like it has affected mine, but there’s a lot to be gained from the nuances that come with understanding religion across different cultures, ideas, and areas.

100 Days to Nowhere

Uncategorized

Hi all!

While at times I never thought that I’d make it this far, there are currently less than 100 days before I graduate from Lafayette College. Though part of me will certainly miss this place that I’ve come to call home, I think it’s definitely worth mentioning everything that this college has done for me. And if nothing else, I’ll be able to share a few tips about Lafayette and some of the great things happening here to any wandering visitors.

This isn’t an admissions blog, and I’m (tragically) not getting paid to post anything here, but I want to share the multitude of projects related to work, academia, and the general improvement of the campus life that I’ve experienced here. And if nothing else, hopefully I’ll become the unofficial PR person of our religious studies department.

My goal is to update every day, even with small posts, about any insightful things I learn about the college. With less than 100 days and tons of job applications to fill out, that’s probably going to be touch – so wish me luck and happy reading!

– Ivy

And for those of you who have a lot of free time, here’s a link to one of my favorite TED talks ever on education: