Reflections with Raa

They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

❤️, Raashi

The Good News: June, 2016

Finally, back into blogging! :D
I am sooo looking forward to catching up on a mountain of blogposts over the next few days,
and then working on some of my own!
And, no better way to get back into the blog than with some Good News!

The lowdown:

I have always been all for being positive and optimistic

(read about my take on The Importance of Positivity ☺️).

A long time back, I had the idea of doing a blogpost series called 'The Good News'.

The news and current affairs of our world is so important, it is crucial we keep updated on what is happening around us.

BUT...

A lot of that tends to focus on what is going wrong.

And, although it is necessary to think about what is wrong in order to right it,

I think we could stand to gain a lot from appreciating what is already right, or getting good, as well!

So, without further ado,

THE GOOD NEWS!

June, 2016

...

Help with breakfast and breastfeeding

I saw this 1st day of June and knew STRAIGHT AWAY that I wanted to put this in here. I don't have anything to add, acts of kindness are the best.

...

18 year old student draws a portrait for each member of the graduating class.

Via

Phillip Sossou, a graduating Boston Latin High School senior, secretly drew every single person in his senior class over the past few months. 411 portraits, all created by Phillip. Phillip admitted that he used Facebook and the odd phone snapshot to serve as inspiration for the portraits. After posting them all over the school's hallways on the last day of class, to say his classmates were shocked would be an understatement. Soussou spoke to the Boston Globe about how "[their] class [had] been kind of divided" and "having these pictures helps us to embrace our diversity."

...

Cop and a 4 year old on a birthday lunch date

Via

She got to be with, and be a, cop for a day - and that's all she wanted.
(These photos you guys, these photos!)

...

A journey of a balloon, leading to friendship

Nursing home residents in Wisconsin decided to release a balloon, along with notes they wrote for a soon-to-be fortunate recipient. A little while later, and about 237 miles away, the package arrived at the home of the Fowler family in Lake Michigan - and they were incredibly eager to send a reply to the residents. The balloon release initiative was part of National Nursing home week and "show[ed] that a nursing home can have fun and still live too just as anybody else", said Activity Director, Nancy Duerr. The Fowlers sent back a care package filled with Michigan treats and a message, and so began the bond of some unlikely pen pals.

...

Two months spent writing 130 personal notes to students, all in the name of suicide awareness

Teacher Brittni Darras, 25, was changed when she found out one of her students attempted suicide. After writing a letter to that girl (read the post above) she composed 130 letters - to each of her students.

Not generic, stock standard letters, but personal letters about their great qualities and things they have achieved - why they are a valuable individual.

This act prompted endless hugs and smiles on the last day of school before vacation.
Darras told TODAY: "(The girl's suicide attempt) made me realize she felt like she was not important and didn't make a difference in this world… For these other kids, it's very hard for us to know who is struggling with thoughts of depression or suicide. If she had that response and I couldn't see her as having struggles, the only thing I could think to do was to write every single one of them a unique card."

Student Rachael Redmond received a note mentioning her achievements in the basketball team and a great memoir she had written.

Redmond told TODAY: "I think that's why it meant so much to all of us…It wasn't just a, 'Hey, have a good summer,' it was a specific memory or something that we said. It made us feel really important. Some kids got cards about stuff that happened they thought nobody remembered, and it made them really happy. Kids think (suicide) is something that happens only in movies or online, but when it happened locally everyone took a step back because it hit home…Sometimes you go through high school and you feel like your teachers don't really care, but she went out of her way to let us know she does."

...

A church built by Muslim farmers by their Christian neighbours

Via

Unlike other Pakistani villages, there is no segregation in this region, Christians live side by side with their Muslim neighbours. In a place where religious minorities are often attacked, by building this church they are showing they are united as a community.

"This church being built in a small village by the Muslims, it is very significant. It shows that people have love in their hearts, they want to stay together, if they are those that fuel the fire, there are also those to douse the flames."

...

A fun weekly garbage pick up

Guys, these three triplets wait for the garbagemen every single week, and not only that - they are ready with snacks and gatorade to give to them! The workers always stop to say hi, have a chat and give a hug to these kiddos. Their mum has posted about this special relationship for a while now, saying it's her way of sharing love and kindness in the world ❤️

...

And that was some of The Good News for June! ☺️

What were you surprised to hear about? Do you have a favourite?

Do you like listening to some Good News? ☺️

New post will be up next Wednesday!

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at -

They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

❤️, Raashi

See you in two weeks!

I am in full exam mode.
As much as I am wanting to take a few hours out of my current schedule to blog, I know I shouldn't.
(Woooo for priorities and being responsible :P)

So, right now as you're reading this,

I'll be doing this...

Financial Management is not my favourite subject, let's just leave it at that :P
Anyways, next time you hear from me,
I'LLL BE DONE WITH EXAMS AND OFFICIALLY ON HOLIDAYS!

I have so many exciting posts planned already!
I am just so beyond keen for some actual free time to dedicate to this little blog of mine.

But, until then,

Gotta power through a little more of this ^

Hope you guys have a lovely rest of this week, and a great next week,
and I'll see you guys the following week 😉

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at -

Instagram

Twitter

They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

❤️, Raashi

Six months in.

Hi June🌸 The next 6 months mark a change in direction, focus & priorities for me: PhD wise & creativity wise! So here's heading into the last 6 months of 2016.

A photo posted by Ananya (@namastefromananya) on Jun 5, 2016 at 10:52pm PDT

THIS ^
Lovely Ana, from over at Namaste From Ananya, posted this on Instagram the other day.
As I was scrolling through my feed, I came across this, read the caption,
and stopped.

We are 6 months in, with 6 left to go.

As I was writing this post, I read Ana's and she had said two very important things.

Being 6 months in,

"It’s an opportunity:

-to see how far you’ve come

-how far you’ve set yourself up for the year ahead"

"It’s also an opportunity:

for panic to set in as we realise those goals that we set for the New Year

have gathered some or a lot of dust."

I came into this year incredibly sure of what I wanted of myself, and very motivated - ready to push myself to do what I needed to do, for what I wanted.

I am proud to say, so far, I've done relatively well and am semi- on track!

I am also happy to say I have a relatively good idea of what I need to do in the coming 6 months.

BUT, I can 100% say there are things I was supposed to have done by now that I haven't.

Maybe it's just the eternal optimist in me - but, I don't want to focus on this negative.

I want to use the positive things I've managed to achieve as a proof of my ability,

something which I can use to fuel me in reaching my next goals.

I have been a little out of the blogging world lately, and I can thank some of my other goals for that.

I have been working hard on other things, but slowly and surely I'm starting to catch up with some of you all.

I am now heading into exams (and one final 50% assignment! ~~Pretending like that isn't worrying~~ :P).

I am so ready for holidays, I am ready to have finished one semester - and to reflect.

I am ready for time to sit down and set up for the remainder of this year.

I am ready to focus on some different projects this holidays.

I am ready to get to invest some more time into blogging.

I am ready to give some more time to myself.

I am ready to refocus.

I am ready.

(I'm a total Type A person, so I'm not even going to pretend that I wasn't thoroughly excited about the fact that those sentences above - they turned into the perfect inverted pyramid :P

~~Yes, I'm a total geek~~. Ok. Back to being serious.)

I am ready.

And, as Ana put it,

"There's a level of excitement coupled with enthusiasm and focus."

What are you ready for as we are now 6 months in, and 6 months out from the end of this year?
And, how were your first 6 months in! ☺️

New post will be up next Wednesday!

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at -

They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

❤️, Raashi

The Good News: May, 2016

We are heading into the halfway point of this year 😳
~~Time slooooooooow down, pleaseeeeee.~~
But, the past month of May has brought some amazing:

The lowdown:

I have always been all for being positive and optimistic

(read about my take on The Importance of Positivity ☺️).

A long time back, I had the idea of doing a blogpost series called 'The Good News'.

The news and current affairs of our world is so important, it is crucial we keep updated on what is happening around us.

BUT...

A lot of that tends to focus on what is going wrong.

And, although it is necessary to think about what is wrong in order to right it,

I think we could stand to gain a lot from appreciating what is already right, or getting good, as well!

So, without further ado,

THE GOOD NEWS!

May, 2016

...

Mowing Seniors' lawns for free

Rodney Smith Jr. (pictured above, right) began mowing lawns in Alabama to help the elderly, the disabled and single parents. He has since created the not for profit Raising Men Lawn Care Services. With other teens now getting involved he says he is using the service to teach them "a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, moral value and purpose in themselves".

...

Resume of Failures to encourage everyone

Ivy League Professor, PhD from Harvard, Princeton's Johannes Haushofer wanted to make a point:

"Most of what I try fails, but these failures are often invisible, while the successes are visible. I have noticed that this sometimes gives others the impression that most things work out for me. As a result, they are more likely to attribute their own failures to themselves, rather than the fact that the world is stochastic, applications are crapshoots, and selection committees and referees have bad days. This CV of Failures is an attempt to balance the record and provide some perspective."

...

Son asks his Mum to her first ever prom

Via

Son, Trey Potter, said "She never had that experience and she's risked so much for throughout my life and made so many sacrifices. I thought it would be the right thing to do".

Mum, MelRo Potter, grew up in 23 different foster care homes and ended up pregnant and homeless at 16.

“When I was pregnant with him well, I heard, ‘Mel because you lived in the foster care system, you’re probably not going to raise a thriving individual. It just doesn’t happen. You can’t give him what you don’t have.’ So seeing who he has become and knowing the sacrifices that have been made and how much I love him and seeing that come to fruition, I’ve proved him wrong".

...

Tabletop notes of encouragement for students

This follows the school's "growth mindset" concept; the belief that in order to become successful, it isn't all about brains and talent. Abilities can be developed through hard work and dedication.

...

Nepal's Two Year Celebration of Zero Rhino Poaching

High-level political will and government entities + the active involvement of conservation communities = Conservation success and zero poaching.

Thanks to Nepal's efforts, more than 645 one-horned rhinos live in Nepal, which is the highest record number for the country and will hopefully serve as inspiration for countries like Africa (where poachers killed 1,338 rhinos last year).

...

[DISCLAIMER: IF YOU WANT TO SMILE TODAY, JUST PRESS PLAY. Legitimately ☺️ ]

Love at first sight for toddler and Snow White

Jack-Jack (2) wasn't too keen on Mary Poppins and Buzzlight Year, but one person was the exception. My heart ❤️

...

And that was some of The Good News for May! ☺️

What were you surprised to hear about? Do you have a favourite?

Do you like listening to some Good News? ☺️

New post will be up next Wednesday!

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at -

They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

❤️, Raashi

The Framing Of Feminism Over Time

I study a few different things at uni and one of them is Journalism and Mass Communication ☺️

When the journalism life finally becomes all research-y and professional 😊💻📊

A photo posted by Raashi Agarwal (@raashiagarwal) on Apr 26, 2016 at 2:59am PDT

Earlier this year I got the chance to do a very cool data capture, text analytics, data visualisation project. I was able to choose any topic of interest and use a really fancy, complicated, text analytics engine. I really wanted to share what I found with you guys cause I thought it was very interesting.

THE FRAMING OF FEMINISM OVER TIME

Over the last few decades, women have taken great strides in breaking the boundaries surrounding their rights and what was expected of them. However, the past decade, specifically, has seen a definite word move to the foreground of all these developments,

Feminism.

It is a topic area that is of high significance to contemporary social science and communication studies, and to our society as a whole - for a multitude of reasons (all of which have been at the forefront of media representation and coverage in recent times). The fight for feminism is still in full force today, and hereby stems the motivation for this study: to analyse and visualise the evolution of the media's portrayal of Feminism.

I'm interested in looking at coverage on the topic of Feminism from the angle of the differences that have occurred over time.

Map of the most important themes and concepts discovered.

There are four major themes:

1. Women and Empowerment:
Female, men, feminists, sexual, young, girls, society, power, change, world, sex, culture, today.
These concepts are in focus as women are obviously integral to Feminism, as is men's involvement in the topic. Furthermore, the actions and behaviours of women today are changing, and empowering, what young girls in society are seeing and fighting for, i.e. their equal rights. These concepts are demonstrated in the implications of issues such as the gender pay gap, reproductive rights, and women in government, to name a few.

2. Feminism:
Feminists, political, social, movement, gender, people, equality, rights, issues, society.
The significance of these concepts is that they convey a definitional overview of what Feminism means - and what and whom it affects.

3. History:
History, women's, culture, public, politics.
This theme relates to information about the Suffragette movement, oppression, discrimination, Waves of Feminism, the fight for rights and feminists earning their place in history.

4. Work-Life Balance:
Time, life, family, work, children, home.
Clearly the concern here is how are women finding balance between their work and home life - the issue of women being able to "do it all" in the time they have.

However, as I am most interested in comparing the differences that have occurred over time, regarding the coverage of the topic of Feminism, I will look at the concepts according to the categories of interest.

The interesting trends and qualities of the data captured include:

Approximately ten years ago, the focus was on being a feminist instead of Feminism as a movement - as well as focusing on females and not including men in the conversation. However, women's increasing involvement in the workforce seemed to be very noted - which transitioned into the next five years as a key issue as well (although in a slightly different light).

Approximately five years ago, work was still a focus within the topic of Feminism but it was framed within the context of time - indicating the discussion was concentrated towards the work/life imbalance that many women were struggling with at the time. Additionally, men became engaged in the coverage. This occurred for reasons such as the need for men to become more involved at home to aid working women, and because Feminism as a concept was entering into media - hence bringing equality between men and women to attention (which also transitioned into the next five years).

Most recently, and less than a year ago, coverage on the topic of Feminism has shifted almost entirely onto Feminism as a concept and movement - reporting on the social and political equality of genders, involving all people. It should be noted that people was a single concept and was not broken down into males or females as specific concepts, denoting the change in conversation about everyone being a feminist (which has become widely covered in media as of late).

Therefore, through an analysis of a corpus of traditional media data, an evolution in the media's portrayal of Feminism is evident. Feminism has always been relevant over the past decade, but in very different frames over time.

Over the last 10 years, the coverage of the topic of feminism has evolved from focusing on females and their work-home lives, to the promotion and publicising of equal rights and opportunities across the genders - conceptualising Feminism as a movement pertaining to other important social issues.

Moreover, rather than merely just a discussion of issues relating to Feminism, there is a move towards creating a change in consciousness, framing Feminism as a movement for all people.

To those who managed to reach the end of this more wordy post, I hope you found it interesting and enjoyed it.
Would absolutely love, love, love to hear your thoughts ❤️
How do you think Feminism is framed today? How is it framed by our generation? How would you want it to be framed?

Switching up my posting schedule to Wednesdays now! So see you Wednesday 😉 !

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at -

They're all linked so you should just be able to click on them! :)

All data analysed in this study was sourced from the Factiva Search Engine. 600 traditional media coverage articles were captured using 'Feminism' as the key string. The dataset search was conducted in three different time periods with five-year intervals: 2005, 2010, and 2015.

One year: Time for some changes!

(Tomorrow! But I'm sticking to routine and posting today ☺️ )

-If you want to skip all the sappy, reflective stuff,

and see MY TWO BIG CHANGES,

scroll down till you see some more orange!-

I started my blog for three main reasons:

1. As a journalism student, I really wanted to get my hands into developing my own content and getting involved in the practice of what I'm learning.

2. I wanted some change, something to experiment with, a new challenge.

3. I respected (and still do!) the effort, creativity and thought behind blogging - and the sharing of content blogging enables. To be able to read someone's thoughts, on any topic, at the click of a button, it's something I feel incredibly fortunate about.

But, I've gotten so, so, so much more out of it than I ever anticipated.

I have a whole collection of posts to look back on. Sometimes I love to sit and reminisce about what I have done over the last year, what I was thinking about, what I enjoyed writing about.

I love it.

Even more lovely and exciting are the amazing people and posts I've gotten to connect with through blogging.

I said in my first post ever:

And it really has been fun!

And inspiring, and eye-opening, and so much more!

-MY TWO BIG CHANGES-

And, now that I've had a year with my blog, it's time for some growth and a couple changes!

When I initially tried to figure out how to describe my blog, I said this:

And, that still hasn't changed.

But, today, I want to change two things.

Like I said earlier, I started my blog to get some journalism practice and exposure, and so I had just kept my blog name as raashiagarwal.blogspot.com.

I've been contemplating changing that for a long time now, and this felt like the perfect milestone to do it on!

So...

introducing...

REFLECTIONS WITH RAA

(!!!)

An honest, conversational, genuine blog between you and myself ☺️

Reflections:

I chose this word because this blog is a product of my pensive contemplation and thoughts on a whole array of random topics...and a whole lot of rambling (typical Raashi, am I right?).

Raa:

I have a lot of random nicknames, but Raa will always be one of my favourites.

This nickname was created by one of my best friends in our Grade 8 History class.

We were covering Egyptian history and learnt about Sun God, Raa

(who is technically referred to as Ra, and is technically a male, but, technicalities! :P).

Apart from the obvious similarity with the start of my name, I adored everything this deity stood for:

Light, warmth, and growth.

As a lot of you would already know from my Good News posts and The Importance of Positivity post I always talk about, I am all about focusing on love and light.

It feels perfect to bring this nickname I adore into my blog permanently ☺️

My other change?

It is something I have been meaning to do for FOREVER, and so many of you have told me to!

I GOT TWITTER.

Tweets by @reflectionbyraa

Bear with me as I try to figure this whole thing out and start following some of your lovely selves, haha :P

My twitter handle is reflectionbyraa, cause 15 character limits apparently dislike my new blog name that I love so dearly :P

Anyways!
Thank you for all of those who read this post which is so special to me,
and to those that have read and supported this little space during its first year.
It's meant a whole, whole lot. ❤️

New blog post will be up next Tuesday!

Until then, you can: Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Or follow me below at -

Instagram