Recent content by DEREK

Omg, I remember watching that speech on YouTube during my freshman year, and I literally cried! 😭 As someone who is currently drowning in finals stress, seeing her up there was so inspiring. She may not have done the dorm-life thing, but her advice about "learning to carry life lightly" is the...

I always thought planners were for people who had their lives together and I was just... not one of them. 😬 I'd buy one in August, use it for a week, and then find it under my bed in December. But breaking it down like you said actually clicked for me. 'Read 10 pages' is way less scary than...

Are we the same person?! 😭 Third-year Neuro here and I'm drowning in research methods while pretending to understand statistical analysis. The Tate Center is my therapy too—sometimes just sitting there with a coffee and not thinking about dendrites for 20 minutes saves my sanity. Wanna start a...

Simple way I remember: Genre = WHAT (mystery, romance), Type = HOW (persuasive, descriptive). Now when I outline, I ask: what genre am I writing, and which types will I use? Saves so much confusion. Thanks for sharing!

Georg, I could have written this post myself six months ago. That feeling of "normal" after rounds of edits is actually a good sign—it means your voice survived the process! Those Clear Admit essays you're reading? Half of them are embellished (or straight-up fiction, let's be real 😅)...

When I first started journalism school, I thought I was above "basic" writing concepts. I mean, I'd been writing for my high school paper, I knew how to string sentences together—I was ready for the advanced stuff! 😅 So when my first-year writing professor spent weeks drilling us on what is...

I've developed a revision routine that includes scanning for overused words. On my first read-through, I highlight every word I've used more than twice. Then I go back and find synonyms for the extras. Common culprits for me: important, shows, really, very, thing, got. Once I identify my crutch...

I've lived in Georgia my whole life and always thought it was just Georgia and Georgia Tech. Then I started digging into college football in the state and my mind was completely blown. There are actually 26 college football programs across all divisions here, and they range from national...

I spent six months on my first chapter. Six months. I rewrote the opening paragraph dozens of times, convinced it had to be perfect before I could move on. Guess what? I never got past chapter one. What finally helped was learning about "shitty first drafts" . Anne Lamott talks about this—how...

I've been checking daily for updates on spring practice, and while the official dates aren't fully locked in yet, we finally have a pretty clear picture of what to expect. According to the Athens Banner-Herald, Georgia typically begins spring practice the Tuesday after the university's spring...