Tag: education


  • responsibility to yourself

    “Responsibility to yourself means refusing to let others do your thinking, talking, and naming for you; it means learning to respect and use your own brain’s instincts; hence, grappling with hard-work.” adrienne rich Do I believe something because someone told me to? Or because I’ve thought and worked through it on my own? Do I…

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  • hindsight is 20/20

    A deeper understanding sometimes means a different understanding. Usually I figure this out in retrospect. I thought I wanted one thing, but when I received the one thing and something still felt amiss, I realize I was wrong: What I thought I wanted to get out of grad school: better cello skills. What I really…

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  • like, realizing stuff

    One.) What other other people say about your art is not objective. Even if they’re “experts” in the field. Two.) Difficult decisions are most difficult when you’re in the process of making them. After you’ve made the decision it is no longer difficult. (this idea is from Debbie Milman) Three.) We often say, “it’s all…

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  • on making mistakes

    “Sometimes you don’t want to risk making mistakes; you actually want to make them — if only to give you something clear and detailed to fix. Making mistakes is the key to progress.” -Daniel Dennet in Intuition Pumps and other Tools for Thinking Dennett dedicates the first chapter of his book to pysching his readers…

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  • does that make sense?

    “Does that make sense?” A question that I ask my students frequently. But I forget that most people are non-confrontational. And for them to say, “no, that does not make sense,” may suggest two things. First, that I did not explain the material in a way that they understood, which theoretically one/I could take offense…

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  • higher education

    What is school for when both non-students and students have access to the same information? If you can access the information anywhere, then the value is not longer in that scarcity. Maybe it is about enrollment– students feel enrolled because they are paying for tuition. Seth Godin thinks that it is about obedience and conformity.…

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  • the difference

    What I thought I wanted out of grad school was better cello skills and process. What I actually wanted was the ability to trust my cello skills and process. I wonder what I would have done differently had I known this.

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  • libraries

    Libraries are one of the most egalitarian public spaces in our current culture. All you have to do to access the space is walk through the door. All you have to do to borrow a book is provide a street address. The resources are free and available to anyone who ventures in. And what is…

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  • easier

    I’ve been thinking about how I choose the “easier” option that often makes me feel most unhappy– and then revel in venting about it. For instance, grad school. I knew going into it that higher education is a struggle for me because of how the system is set up. I do very well in classes,…

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  • victim

    When the system is corrupt it is easy to feel like the victim. Perhaps, it is even easier to play the victim than it is to change your narrative. It is easier to point to everything that is flawed within the educational system and say, “this is why I’m burnt out,” than to to consciously…

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