Chiya Biskut: Accumulating materials for my future therapist

Hi.

Finals week is the time I go through my notebook. People who know me know that I'm not the most, well, "present" person. I mean, NASA has been studying me for years. Going through my notebook, I am always grateful for the doodles I make on the pages - not only do they make me chuckle and provide the much-needed relief during stressful times but they also actually help me remember the contents of the page. When someone goes through my notebook, they may assume that perhaps I was not paying attention and that my doodles represent my distracted state of mind. However, not quite (haha). This surprises me too but when I doodle or sketch something, I know exactly what triggered me to do it (usually something the professor says during the lecture), how I was feeling at the time and most importantly what the professor was saying. During tests, I tend to remember the page as it is, complete with drawings and all, and this help me navigate through the written words.

But they drawings themselves are just ... completely random and often times strange even. Like I said in the title, these drawings may help you tap into my "inner psyche" (BS 101).

Here are some of the recurring themes:

1. Sketches of students around me:

And occasionally, even of the professor:

Explanation of the "violent soup": my cynical professor said he was annoyed by the fact that people paint a rose-tinted view of diversity in the United States by calling it a "melting pot". According to him, a melting pot is hardly something that is pleasant. In fact, melting pot - just like soup - is "violent" because you cut up all the veggies in tiny pieces and throw them in a pot of boiling water. Similarly, the different kinds of people "living together in harmony" in the United States, began and in some cases are still coexisting in violent inequality (murdering Native Americans, Slavery, Racism etc.) Melting pot just sounds painful.