Throughout the program, I made a deliberate effort to foreground conversations around media literacy, intercultural communication, and media accessibility, which are themes I consider essential, not peripheral, to lifestyle journalism today (fashion writing included).

It was very dumb of me to think that this kind of grit, perseverance, and ambition could ever be rewarded in academia. We live and we learn, they say.

Since summer 2024, I’ve been scouting new opportunities that could keep me afloat in both academia and media. It has taken me a year to figure out who exactly, in detail, I want to become and show up in these spaces - higher education and the publishing industry.

I don’t know how common it is for newly weds to feel a certain kind of connection shortly after they said in front of everyone they know “I do”. We had already committed to our love way before a minister was in front of us. All I did was crying of happiness during our ceremony. Just like in a movie, the one I had never watched when growing up.

As I’m writing up a new syllabus for the next semester and brainstorming new programs to offer a’ la carte I thought of bringing a map on the first day of the semester. Here’s why.

January, February, March, April, May: Spring 2024 will forever be one of the most eventful semesters in the books. Definitely the most peculiar one, since I got married just one week before finals season.

An intellectual yet pragmatic framework that suits the busy and unpredictable life plans of the next generations of scholars

We’re officially done. A whole semester has come to an end, which almost feels like a fresh start. It is with a smile on my face and warmth in my heart that I can finally confirm my second appointment at Lehman, teaching a similar course under the School of Arts and Humanities.