1st Assignment

 

Julia Bisbee
Writing for the Social Sciences
Introduction Letter
February 17 2022

A Letter for You, About Me
Dear Professor,
The first thing you should know about me is that I tend to step my foot into everything, dipping into the waters that feel the most exciting. I like the tingling feeling of doing something new and the unknown curiosities that prevail before committing to something alien to me. My friends call me a jack of all trades, yet a master of none, and I am okay with that.
I like to be informed and I tend to be curious about all topics no matter how extreme or weird. This probably explains why I enjoy horror genres, science fiction and tend to have a liking for weird creatures in nature as well. This same thing can be applied to my music taste. I enjoy just about everything from indie to classical. This also makes it difficult for me to pick favorites or to attempt to sort myself into a box. I find that all the boxes are exciting and I don’t quite fit into just 1 or 2, or even 3. I guess it’s all or none. But I would rather check none of the boxes at all, than any.
To continue, if I had to pick a default emotion, it would probably be excitement because I tend to try to look forward to things in my life that are coming up, as I also deeply enjoy being busy and having places to put my time. My saddest moments have been when I have looked forward to nothing because my mind was not occupied, which made me feel useless or purposeless. For me, a busy mind has always been a good one, even when it hasn’t led me to the best decisions. I often play music a lot to make the mind chatter feel less alone, and I think it usually helps me focus.
On that topic, I do consider myself to be impulsive. I admit that I have tried to deny it, but my friends, boyfriend and family agree. I laugh about it now, but the most impulsive thing I have done is probably pierce my own nose or give myself a stick and poke tattoo. For me, it isn’t so much about the aftermath, it’s about the feeling of doing something off of a whim, and being happy and grateful to be able to experience something so chaotic so fast.
My friends have also called me chaotic, but I think that’s because I think of things differently and tend to be spontaneous. For example, I am always down for an adventure when it seems there is nothing to do, and I tend to have random questions or ideas that most others would consider weird. I also think I have become more blunt, but also perform actions based on my feelings rather than my thoughts. The way I feel nine out of ten times comes before my thoughts, which can be a beautiful thing but also a catastrophic one.
My moral alignment is chaotic good, or so it was the last time I took the test about 2 months ago. Before that I was a true neutral. I think both apply to me because I have little regard for the law when it comes to helping others, and I can still gain insight from people that have committed bad crimes. One thing I recently did was write a letter to a prisoner who was convicted of murder. It had always been something that I wanted to do, and since I turned 18 this past June, I finally did. It has always made me very curious to understand how people think and the reason behind why they perform the actions they do. In fact, this topic interests me to such an extent that I have thought about it in terms of a career, for example, becoming a criminal psychologist or even a detective. I still think about it sometimes but I am definitely not set yet, as I also enjoy traveling and find myself to be an extremely compassionate person who adores working with animals much more than people. Out of all things, my worst nightmare would probably be working in an office and having to confine myself for eight hours a day. Although “the Office” is a funny show, I probably relate the most to Michael Scott because he has a hard time sitting still and focusing, and tends to attempt to connect with people through interaction, when he should be working.
Along with animals, I have a dog at home named Duke who is now 12, a Fox Terrier – Chihuahua mix. He is a great dog that is very emotionally comforting and very cute. Although I only have him at home, I have loved animals of all kinds since I was a child, even playing with insects and watching birds. Having a vacation home in the Adirondack Mountains in New York also helped me to observe wildlife that I didn’t get to see back in Deer Park, Long Island (where I have grown up). One of the most important things I have done is aligned my love for animals with my actions, and became vegan. I had never been aware of how cruel the industry was to animals, and although I had always loved the question the narrative, I never questioned who I was eating. I now understand that dairy cows make milk for their babies, and it is not ethical for us to take that, or to artificially inseminate them because “we like the taste”, or to take a chickens eggs, or to kill something because it tastes good or because “that’s just what we do”. In May of 2019 I stopped eating meat and dairy products and in July of 2019 I went fully vegan. And I have never looked back since.
Being vegan has helped me to question things in general, things that don’t feel right to me or things that I feel I should be more educated about. But, I don’t think that I look back on things a lot as a person, which makes me happy to think. I feel I am quite optimistic for myself and others and strive to recognize that a situation can always be worse.
I am very excited to dip my toes into Writing for the Social Sciences this semester, and since I have now reached the maximum word count, I will be departing.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my letter as much as I have genuinely enjoyed composing it.
See you in class,
Julia Bisbee