A Brief History of the World (of Me)

Before blogging took off to become the way in which everyday people shared their supposedly “prolific” (though usually mundane) thoughts on the world or Perez Hilton appeared to entice us with all of the celebrity gossip that we never really needed to know or aspiring political pundits took to the web to espouse the most radical viewpoints imaginable that never have been and likely never will be suitable for any other forum, people simply wrote to pass the time and engage in an activity as cathartic as the most relaxing vacation or life-examining conversation with life-long friends. In the past, writing has provided that outlet for me, and now I hope it will again. Will anyone listen? I doubt it. Does that matter? Absolutely not. In my teens, creative writing along with some journaling helped me come to grips with who I was and where I saw myself in the world. Yet, as of late, I’ve found it somewhat difficult to find a handhold on the passage of time - to slow down and enjoy the simpler things in the tiniest moments that are nested in the day-to-day hustle and bustle of big-city life which is only exacerbated by the pains joys of graduate school. I hope that by forcing myself to sit down and examine different things with the intent of writing about them, I can regain some footing in the overly-busy world I’ve created for myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I asked for and usually enjoy the life that I’ve chosen to live at the ripe old age of 22. Could I have chosen something to go into something more lucrative (like business or medicine) or something easier (like a basic office or computer job)? Of course. However, I’ve never really aspired to underachieve when it comes to my academic and career goals. Other than that brief, ungodly stint where I thought I not only wanted to be but would enjoy being a doctor, I’ve never even really considered careers with high-paying salaries. Now of course, this paints me into a corner where I’m theoretically working way too hard for not enough money. Welcome to the reality of grad school. And yet, for some reason, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Grad school is all of the following: difficult, stressful, full of failure, abound with overly inflated scientific egos, five years of your life sucked into a black hole, a roadblock to personal relationships and a social life, and a guaranteed financial stress. Of course, you may be sitting there thinking, “Who on earth would possibly subject themselves to that?!” The answer is quite simple really – masochistic nerds. Yet, the thrill of discovering something new even if it’s only exciting to you and no one else (as is usually the case in academia) is enough to make the entire process worthwhile. Keeping this in mind along the way is often difficult, but that occasional glimmer of light at the end of the scientific tunnel is enough to keep us going.

Grad school aside, I certainly never had to move to a city like Boston. Well over 1,000 miles from my friends and family, a move from the South to New England’s and one of the U.S.’s largest cities didn’t have to be part of “the plan” (read: occasionally drawn out life goals that constantly change, often to the dismay of the parental units). Why did I do it, then, you might ask? I’ve always felt more at home in a cosmo/metropolitan area. People tend to be less judgmental and much more “live and let live.” Of course, even in the largest city in the South, you have people who still want to know all about your business. In many ways, Louisville was the largest small town you could imagine because it retained that rather undesirable southern trait. Over a million people? No problem! You can still go out of our way to find out anything about anyone if you’re really interested and/or motivated enough.


New England, at large, seems to find a way around this problem. It probably has something to do with being more liberal in general – and thus, in many ways less judgmental – than many areas of the South. Yet, it also comes at a bit of a cost. Although it’s not clear which causes which, the “live and let live” attitude of New England comes along with a social aloofness or isolation that you’d never find in the South. In the South, you can walk outside, wave at someone, and end up with a new friend before the day is out. In New England, if you do the little awkward wave that says, “I’m just walking by but I’d thought I’d be nice and let you know that I simply acknowledge your existence” to someone you’re likely to be given a really weird look and/or eyeroll. This is not to say that people in New England aren’t friendly, which is the common misconception held by those hailing from the U.S.’s more southern latitudes. I’ve never had an interaction with anyone in Boston where they were simply flat-out rude. There just seems to be a difference in opinion as to how energy should be expended with respect to other people between those in the South and those in New England. Now, what does all of that rambling mean? The point is that it’s somewhat more difficult to establish a friend-base in a larger city, especially one like Boston. This, of course, perpetuates some of the worst qualities of grad school like social isolation or overworking. When it’s that much harder to make friends, why not spend all of your free time trying to find that scientific breakthrough that’s always just out of reach just around the corner!

So, after all of that, you can see that the portrait has been painted of an overworked, underpaid, slightly masochistic graduate student who’s made it even more difficult to maintain the relationships that he has by moving 1,200 miles away from most of the people that he considers the most important and is in a difficult position to create new relationships thanks to both his choice of career and location. Fantastic. Now you can see hopefully see a bit of where my perspective comes from and why taking the time to do something as simple as writing a blog would be therapeutic and perhaps necessary to remain sane.

From here on out, I’ll be providing my thoughts on lots of things: life, politics, pop culture, technology, music, all things gay, or anything else. It’s all fair game if I happen to find it interesting. Does that mean that YOU will find it interesting? I won’t even come close to trying to guarantee that. Luckily, that’s why a search bar exists near the top of your browser to get you as far away from here as quickly as possible if you wish. That being said, when I do make new blog posts, I’ll try and inject my own brand of humor so that hopefully if you suffer through this with me, you might at least get a tiny chuckle here and there (don’t hold your breath for total LOLs).

For now, all I can say is stay tuned and watch what happens.