I think that failure is unavoidable and an intrinsic part of life, even if unpleasant. Paradoxically, a life without failure is a life not lived. Personally, I find the process of failure difficult and debilitating; it is one of my larger personal goals to be a more resilient person in the face of failure and…
Category: Pragya Thakur
A Testimonial, Blog 9B
I found WAGSFP to be an engaging program and the experiences that I had as a fellow to be unparalleled. I think the intensive time dedicated to research was very valuable to my academic progression and understanding of how to integrate gender issues in all avenues of research. This program’s small size and attention to…
Waterloo
In my opinion, my summer experience is best summed up by a classic Abba song called Waterloo. I chose this song due to my love of the film Mamma Mia and its soundtrack. Usually, I have a distaste for musicals, but like most things I seem to blog about, it’s an aberration to the rules…
An Unexpected Foray into Reality Television
Like I mentioned in a previous blogpost, I’ve recently become fascinated by a reality television series called The Real Housewives of New York. Personally, I find this surprising as I think my television tastes are usually far more dark, serious, and gloomy. I stumbled across a few references to the series in my YouTube recommendations…
A Reflection on Relationships
As I reflect back on my experiences within WAGSFP, the people surrounding me have definitely made this time productive, engaging, and enjoyable in nature. I’ve found the relationship that I’ve had with other fellows to be the most surprising, spontaneous, and endearing part of this summer. Two occasions of our time together come to the…
A Daily Schedule
Usually my daily routine of research commenced with me waking up at around 9 a.m. and starting my morning necessities of brushing, showering, and breakfasting. I keep my breakfast simple, often only having a fruit and a cereal bar. Then, at around like 10:30 I begin my research activities. Sometimes I change location from my…
Fun, Light Summer Reading
Although the reading material that I’ve chosen to discuss in this blog is not a peer-reviewed research article, it’s still a novel that I found to be enjoyable and relatable to certain educational goals of WAGSFP. Recently, I’ve read My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan, which is a fictional romance novel that follows the life…
The Impact of Lobbying in the United States
My research project is concerned with lobbying patterns in the United States from the Progressive Era to the present. It seeks to understand lobbying within state legislatures, specifically, and how lobbying networks took shape. My research mentor, a graduate student within the Department of Political Science at the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, travels…
Who am I, really?
Personally, whenever I get asked about who I am, I get filled with existentialist dread. I’m not really sure if there is a good reason for this emotion, but, upon reflection, I think it comes from my desire to continually change myself and aspire to be a better, different version of myself. I think there…
Blog Post 1 – Letter to Self
Dear Future Self, The opportunity to participate in the Women and Gender Studies Fellowship Program (WAGSFP) is one that I am looking forward to with nervous anticipation. While I am eager to continue the research that I started during my freshman year, I am slightly unsure about how I will adjust to the more rigorous…