Better late than never, eh? I have been so busy and stressed that this is the first time I’ve really had time and energy to work on this post. It was meant to go up on the 6th, of course, but that was finals week, and I had to crank out three papers, give a presentation in Spanish, and take a final exam — everything else was put on the backburner. Since then I’ve been frantically trying to get things together for my trip to Ghana. There’s so much for this trip I didn’t even think about. I’m giving myself serious adulting points for all of this — it’s a lot of work! Below are May’s points, and the Review post is below the cut.
Goals:
- Build up my small press
- Consciously love and care for myself
- Continue learning and expanding my skill set
Month in Review:
What worked? What didn’t?
1) I did very little in this area, and thus have nothing to report.
2) This area has been getting a lot of my attention: I’m thinking creatively about food, buying staples and making a variety of meals. I’ve also been making smoothies, which has been lovely and delicious. My success with fixing my sleep schedule is mixed at best, but I’ve been taking care of myself a lot in other ways — including not making this post on time!
3) This is where a significant chunk of my time and energy has been going, what with preparing to study abroad and finishing up the term. I’ve been forwarded to the second round of consideration for the McNair program, and will know by the end of my time in Ghana whether I’ve been accepted.
I think I did pretty well in Spanish and at my Swahili study, which were two areas of worry for me. But I passed both classes, and I feel good about the grades I got in them. The choir concerts went off quite well, though I struggled with getting accommodations. Being in the bass section was great, and I loved the pieces we did. Success!
I did end up taking an incomplete in my history class, because I fell really far behind, and writing 4 serious essays in the space of two weeks was overly ambitious. (Especially with the Orlando shooting and the issues on my campus.) But I got my other essays in, and now I have extra time to get the last one done. I also added the History minor, because of course I did. That will take some finagling on my part, especially since I will need to take a course out of sequence, since I’ll be out of the country in the fall, but I spoke to the desk staff in the department, and this should be totally doable.
In the thick of fundraising for my semester in Ghana. So far, I have a Crowdrise fundraiser, a Zazzle store, and my book of poems for sale. Books have been selling, t-shirts and such have not. Some donations have come in, but I’m rather far from my goal, frankly. More work to do in this area — a lot more.
Planning the Next Month:
What am I working on going forward?
1) Press is going on the backburner while I’m out of the country. I might see if a friend is willing to fulfil orders and check the mailbox while I’m gone, but I don’t have much capacity for press stuff beyond that — the logistics are too screwy.
2) I need to grab some fruit and more staples from the store. But I also urgently need to figure out my housing situation — because of personal stuff, my roommate is moving out of state, and I have less than two weeks to find another person to move in, or commit to moving out. In other words, there’s a real possibility that I’m about to be homeless. Cancelling the study abroad costs money, and I still really want to go. That may mean I put all my belongings in storage and couch-surf for a month and a half until I leave, and then again when I get back in the country. The timing is… not ideal, but I’ll figure it out — I always do.
3) I am looking for funds to cover my study abroad any way I can, and that’s going to continue. I’m looking to do a poetry reading as a fundraiser, and I’m in the process of editing audio for a spoken word poetry album. I’ve spoken to various community orgs and professional contacts about supporting, and have new contacts to reach out to, so I’m going to be doing a lot of that. I need to buy my ticket and get my vaccinations asap, so I can apply for my visa with plenty of time. Other than that, I need to figure out what I’m going to take with me, and purchase things I need to get in the States/want to have in the first few days, before I can get to the shops: a high-quality headlamp, a decent first aid kit, etc. I also need to speak to my pharmacist about getting all of my meds, and follow-up with my doctor and psychiatrist to get all my prescriptions filled before departure.
Anyway, here’s a not-so-shameless plug (if you didn’t know, I struggle with Impostor Syndrome, even with all the stuff I do): if you follow and like my blog, and you support the work I do, please donate or buy something to support me (if you can), and please share the links on your social media. Anything helps! This trip means so much to me, and it will really help set me up for successful grad school applications, putting me on the road to my dream of teaching and writing about history.
See you in 2 weeks for the next Groundhog Day Review!
Get copies of the GHDR Tracker form: Version 1, Version 2.
Support my semester abroad: Fundraiser – Zazzle – Book
See all of the Groundhog Day Resolutions posts here.
Tessara Dudley, Poet-Publisher-Educator-Activist 