coffee-and-cheme

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Back into the grind.

My roommate has an 830 class, so I join her drive to school just to get some extra time in the library before it fills up. Today, I got a full module of my Senior Design work done, and had a little time to read a new book I got myself yesterday.

#studying #girl in stem #library #ncsu #studyblr #study aesthetic #engineering #study community #studybreak #study motivation #study space

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Another filled afternoon.

Senior design project schedule and Gantt chart due (who tf likes Gantt charts??).

Working on a draft of my wastewater treatment final paper bc I know my group isn’t going to do shit to help me.

Love it.

#stemgirls #engineering #ncsu #studying #woman in stem #writing #college

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God I love watching the sky change while I’m studying. It also low-key reminds me of how long I’ve been here but no bother. I’m going on my 5th hour up in my little study spot and still cranking away at my deliverables due this week.

#study #studying #woman in stem #stemgirls #engineering #project #ncsu #library #clouds #downtown #views

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And we are back.

#ncsu #studyblr #studying #library #college #engineering #woman in stem #stemgirls

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the way in which responding to emails simply creates more emails...... hell

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step 1 : make a to-do list

step 2 : do an activity that's definitely not on that list

step 3 : at the end of the day write down that activity onto the list

step 4 : tick off that activity from the list

:) is this productivity

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it's really hard to comprehend why billionaires close to being on their death bed still wake up every morning and think "how should I fuck over people for money this week?"

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your level of education means nothing if you never learned any compassion

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DO NOT SUPPORT SALVATION ARMY 

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A nurse has heart attack and describes what she felt like when having one

I am an ER nurse and this is the best description of this event that I have ever heard. 

 FEMALE HEART ATTACKS 

 I was aware that female heart attacks are different, but this is description is so incredibly visceral that I feel like I have an entire new understanding of what it feels like to be living the symptoms on the inside. Women rarely have the same dramatic symptoms that men have… you know, the sudden stabbing pain in the chest, the cold sweat, grabbing the chest & dropping to the floor the we see in movies. Here is the story of one woman’s experience with a heart attack: 

 "I had a heart attack at about 10:30 PM with NO prior exertion, NO prior emotional trauma that one would suspect might have brought it on. I was sitting all snugly & warm on a cold evening, with my purring cat in my lap, reading an interesting story my friend had sent me, and actually thinking, ‘A-A-h, this is the life, all cozy and warm in my soft, cushy Lazy Boy with my feet propped up. A moment later, I felt that awful sensation of indigestion, when you’ve been in a hurry and grabbed a bite of sandwich and washed it down with a dash of water, and that hurried bite seems to feel like you’ve swallowed a golf ball going down the esophagus in slow motion and it is most uncomfortable. You realize you shouldn’t have gulped it down so fast and needed to chew it more thoroughly and this time drink a glass of water to hasten its progress down to the stomach. This was my initial sensation–the only trouble was that I hadn’t taken a bite of anything since about 5:00 p.m. 

After it seemed to subside, the next sensation was like little squeezing motions that seemed to be racing up my SPINE (hind-sight, it was probably my aorta spasms), gaining speed as they continued racing up and under my sternum (breast bone, where one presses rhythmically when administering CPR). This fascinating process continued on into my throat and branched out into both jaws. ‘AHA!! NOW I stopped puzzling about what was happening – we all have read and/or heard about pain in the jaws being one of the signals of an MI happening, haven’t we? I said aloud to myself and the cat, Dear God, I think I’m having a heart attack! I lowered the foot rest dumping the cat from my lap, started to take a step and fell on the floor instead. I thought to myself, If this is a heart attack, I shouldn’t be walking into the next room where the phone is or anywhere else… but, on the other hand, if I don’t, nobody will know that I need help, and if I wait any longer I may not be able to get up in a moment. 

I pulled myself up with the arms of the chair, walked slowly into the next room and dialed the Paramedics… I told her I thought I was having a heart attack due to the pressure building under the sternum and radiating into my jaws. I didn’t feel hysterical or afraid, just stating the facts. She said she was sending the Paramedics over immediately, asked if the front door was near to me, and if so, to un-bolt the door and then lie down on the floor where they could see me when they came in. I unlocked the door and then laid down on the floor as instructed and lost consciousness, as I don’t remember the medics coming in, their examination, lifting me onto a gurney or getting me into their ambulance, or hearing the call they made to St. Jude ER on the way, but I did briefly awaken when we arrived and saw that the radiologist was already there in his surgical blues and cap, helping the medics pull my stretcher out of the ambulance. He was bending over me asking questions (probably something like ‘Have you taken any medications?’) but I couldn’t make my mind interpret what he was saying, or form an answer, and nodded off again, not waking up until the Cardiologist and partner had already threaded the teeny angiogram balloon up my femoral artery into the aorta and into my heart where they installed 2 side by side stints to hold open my right coronary artery. 

I know it sounds like all my thinking and actions at home must have taken at least 20-30 minutes before calling the paramedics, but actually it took perhaps 4-5 minutes before the call, and both the fire station and St Jude are only minutes away from my home, and my Cardiologist was already to go to the OR in his scrubs and get going on restarting my heart (which had stopped somewhere between my arrival and the procedure) and installing the stents. Why have I written all of this to you with so much detail? Because I want all of you who are so important in my life to know what I learned first hand. 

1. Be aware that something very different is happening in your body, not the usual men’s symptoms but inexplicable things happening (until my sternum and jaws got into the act). It is said that many more women than men die of their first (and last) MI because they didn’t know they were having one and commonly mistake it as indigestion, take some Maalox or other anti-heartburn preparation and go to bed, hoping they’ll feel better in the morning when they wake up… which doesn’t happen. My female friends, your symptoms might not be exactly like mine, so I advise you to call the Paramedics if ANYTHING is unpleasantly happening that you’ve not felt before. It is better to have a ‘false alarm’ visitation than to risk your life guessing what it might be! 2. Note that I said ‘Call the Paramedics.’ And if you can take an aspirin. Ladies, TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE! Do NOT try to drive yourself to the ER - you are a hazard to others on the road. Do NOT have your panicked husband who will be speeding and looking anxiously at what’s happening with you instead of the road. Do NOT call your doctor – he doesn’t know where you live and if it’s at night you won’t reach him anyway, and if it’s daytime, his assistants (or answering service) will tell you to call the Paramedics. He doesn’t carry the equipment in his car that you need to be saved! The Paramedics do, principally OXYGEN that you need ASAP. Your Dr. will be notified later. 3. Don’t assume it couldn’t be a heart attack because you have a normal cholesterol count. Research has discovered that a cholesterol elevated reading is rarely the cause of an MI (unless it’s unbelievably high and/or accompanied by high blood pressure). MIs are usually caused by long-term stress and inflammation in the body, which dumps all sorts of deadly hormones into your system to sludge things up in there. Pain in the jaw can wake you from a sound sleep. Let’s be careful and be aware. The more we know the better chance we could survive to tell the tale.“

Reblog, repost, Facebook, tweet, pin, email, morse code, fucking carrier pigeon this to save a life! I wish I knew who the author was. I’m definitely not the OP, actually think it might be an old chain email or even letter from back in the day. The version I saw floating around Facebook ended with “my cardiologist says mail this to 10 friends, maybe you’ll save one!” And knew this was way too interesting not to pass on.

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20 goals and reminders for you

a small collection of things to remember.

1. your life can look so different, so much better, in just a few months. keep going.

2. read at least a book a month

3. list 5 things that make you happy every day

4. create playlists for every mood

5. learn a new language through consistent practice every day

6. research new topics that interest you, how about coding, music, or graphic design?

7. compliment people frequently!!

8. don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to someone new, it can be online as well

9. try to notice the sky and the air and the flowers, pay attention to your surroundings

10. focus on one thing at a time. just one thing. that’s what prioritization really is.

11. collect quotes that motivate you

12. try journaling, or just writing down all the funny quotes your friends say

13. you teach people how to treat you by what you tolerate

14. always have a bottle of water by your desk. when you get the urge to check your phone, keep your hands busy by drinking water instead.

15. don’t be afraid of bad days; they happen and you shouldn’t blame yourself for it

16. when you’re not doing great: open your curtains, take a shower, stretch, go for a walk. let your mind wander, rest and refresh.

17. know what you can and cannot control.

18. make a list of reasons to keep going, to keep you motivated. whenever you feel down, read it and add another one.

19. more cozy study dates in cafes!! (still abiding distancing rules in your country ofc)

20. and above all: stay hydrated!!

[ for more posts like these, visit my instagram @softlyshade ]

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We got an email a few days ago talking abt how classes are going to start up next semester. It totally makes sense to me to move the start of the semester and change how classes are taugh to minimize the chances of a pandemic hotspot at my university.

That being said, I don’t know if the people around me will actually be taking any of it seriously. Of course, everything that’s going on is a huge change and trauma to everyone involved, but some of my friends are talking about how great it’ll be to go to packed frat parties and have big group events once we go back.

It worries me bc I don’t know how to explain or help them understand that those kinds of things are just huge risks and while they are certainly free to do what they want, if they engage in those risky behaviors, I won’t be spending a ton of time with them.

It’s hard bc I really miss my friends and would love to do all those classic fall semester fun things with them but it’s still too risky.

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You should be outraged. You should be enraged and if you are not, if the senseless killing of the black community at the hands of our police force does not anger you please reevaluate your humanity.

To be unmoved by the current issues of our society is a privilege. To prioritize looting and damage to property over lost black lives and police brutality is to lack humanity.

Please evaluate and educate yourself, this is a major issue and we need serious reform and revolution in this country.

You can’t love the Romantics and academia and remain ignorant and complacent.

Photos taken from @thetogfather on Instagram

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look, tomorrow you will wake up and feel a bit better, a bit calmer. you are going to figure things out eventually, it dosnt have to all be done tonight. take a deep breath, relax your shoulders, and get some rest. you will manage.