17 April 2026
17 April 2026
How hectic life feels. It has been a few short days, not even a week, since I started this blog, and already I find myself beset by a balance of constant concerns, pulled on all sides by personal pressures and scholastic scares.
Allow me a moment to elucidate a little, dear reader, my current situation. I am at this present moment, a university student, currently in the third year of my studies. Due to a variety of prior academic accomplishments I am due to graduate from my university a semester early, in the fall/winter of 235 (fall/winter 2026). One of the requirements for graduating at my university with my particular degree (that being a degree in history) is to write a capstone essay, a twenty-page essay to be written on any historical event, moment, period, or so forth, with all research of primary and secondary sources (along with, of course, the writing) being entirely the responsibility of the individual student working towards their capstone (though, of course, professors are assigned to provide aid and counsel where needed). The class wherein students write their capstones is only available in the spring semester, for the need of such a class in the fall is practically nonexistent (barring cases such as mine, which are not particularly common). As such, I found myself in such a capstone class during my penultimate semester.
I have, at this point in my studies, fully written out in draft my essay, focusing on my local queer community, and how it evolved from the late 1960s to mid-1970s, with a particular focus on how it changed after the Stonewall Uprising. Though this draft is done, there are doubtless revisions that need to be made to it, and I will need to create and deliver a ten minute presentation on my subject before I will be through this ordeal. While I would like dearly to share the essay with you all when it is finally done and the dust of this project settles, as it is very directly tied to my physical location, I don’t know that I will ever have the opportunity to share it on this blog. If I ever do, it will most likely be in quite some time.
The capstone, of course, is not the only thing which troubles me. I have found myself in two other classes this academic semester, and while one of those classes is trivially easy (literally being a 101 course !), my third class has presented an entirely unique challenge. This class, French Revolutionary History, is one which focuses on France from the 1780s to the beginning years of the 19th century. As the astute reader may have ascertained, I already have something of an interest in France and the French revolution, due to factors I may delve into at a later time. The main challenge, however, is not one of content, but of character. Starting as of the 25th (14th) of this month, the class started a role-playing game where classmates would act as members of the French National Assembly of 1791, and other notable figures of the period. This is a far cry from anything I have ever done before, especially in-person, and I have already found myself both thrilled and overwhelmed by it.
On the personal side, I find myself a tad more reticent to tell of my goings-on. This blog post has already gone on at length, and I am also conscious of the need for brevity. As such, I will leave this discussion here, to be picked up another day. Thank you, dear reader, for your time, and I wish you a wonderful day.
(p.s., as an additional note, due to the amazing work of a close friend, I have finally won in my battle to get this site to fully cooperate with my French Republican Calendar dates. Thank you Emma, if you read this ; I am forever in your debt.)