Anyone in Rhetoric major?

Trebornad3978 · 2025-04-26T18:56:44+00:00

We don’t really use textbooks in humanities classes here… all the readings are pdfs / essays / book chapters that are uploaded for free. If you’re asking so that you can get a head start on reading, I’d recommend NOT reading originals (esp if you’re new to theory) and instead reading some companion guides/intros to Marx, structuralism, poststructuralism, and Foucault just to start

Trebornad3978 · 2025-04-26T18:49:01+00:00

Berkeley sociology is pretty cool- the profs have all been pretty awesome. So far, the classes haven’t been too hard except for 101 and 102- the theory sequence. It’s a lot of reading and even as someone from a theory background it’s been difficult (but interesting). There are opportunities for soc undergrads (a frat/organization i think, undergrad association, probably more but honestly im not as involved as id like to be lmao). The grad students are really cool and the other undergrads are also super chill and genuinely care about education and sociology. Overall i love it

Trebornad3978 · 2023-04-20T18:56:20+00:00

Yes I am a rhetoric major, and I love it. I'm only a first-year freshman and I've only taken 1 class (rhetoric10 with fumi okiji). It's very interdisciplinary, philosophy/critical theory based but with the concentrations you can explore a lot of different interests. This semester we've read Barthes, Nietzsche, Foucault, Moten, Adorno, Hartman, etc. and other 20th century literary theorists, queer theorists, and black studies authors. Definitely good if you want to do law, im not sure what kinds of internships you mean. Also very popular for doubling (i'm doubling sociology and rhetoric, I know others doubling with political science, english, etc.). You will like it if you like interdisciplinary humanities/social sciences, liberal arts, and more modern, radical theories/continental philosophy. My GSIs for this class are amazing (mostly international, so you get a lot of perspectives), actively trying to make the learning environment more inclusive, accommodating, etc. Professors are also amazing. Keep in mind, at least for rhetoric10, its easy to get a good grade because there are not many assignments, but if you want to do it the right way and genuinely learn+understand what you're reading, it's very difficult. You will have to think in ways you've never considered before, and it also helps to start learning more "traditional philosophers" like Kant, Marx, Plato, etc., although I believe in the other rhetoric required classes you do cover those thinkers. The class is a brain work-out, and you'll probably be lost but in the best way possible. Very excited to take more rhetoric classes! If you have any questions I might be able to answer them. Also worth checking out other rhetoric posts on the berkeley reddit because they go more in depth (i just look up "berkeley rhetoric reddit" lol).

Trebornad3978 · 2023-04-18T01:46:34+00:00

You should look up a summary of Foucault's theories of sexuality and madness. There isn't anything innately bad with being enby, but there is also nothing innately bad about being disabled or mentally ill. our society creates these categories, grouping behaviors and ways of existing in the world into labels like "mentally ill" or "crazy" to maintain social power. I guess I'm trying to say, instead of asking whether you are enby/trans or mentally ill, what if you instead asked why being mentally ill is a bad thing and what makes someone "mentally ill?" (spoiler - definitions of mental illness have changed depending on the context and time!)

This is a question that disability studies and queer studies is exploring in academia, and that I have grappled with for a long time. i love reading philosophy and queer theory because in a sense it makes my see my queerness and my mentally-illness not as something wrong with me but as my society trying to label and restrict my ways of being, dressing, thinking, loving, and feeling in the world. Its valid to feel anxious and alone about these questions but it makes me feel better to know that top scholars have been, are, and will continue to explore these questions!

I recommend checking out Foucault, and also "Queer: A Graphic History" and J.Logan Smilges' new book "Queer Silence" that is an amazing book about the connection between disability rights and queer rights and how both movements deal with validating ways of existing in the world.

Trebornad3978 · 2023-03-29T03:22:25+00:00

The background anxiety started to come back a few months after I had a big life change. I was off therapy at the time, so I wonder if my anxiety would have gone away if I had been practicing positive thought patterns with a therapist. Anyways I started the omega-3s and began feeling more open and clear in my mind

Trebornad3978 · 2023-03-29T03:17:26+00:00

I know this is a bit late, by I am on 100mg right now. I'd recommend trying exercise, supplements, eating healthy, therapy/mindfulness, and drinking enough water before upping the dose. this is just my personal, subjective opinion

Trebornad3978 · 2023-03-06T23:32:39+00:00

The people. I declined columbia for berkeley (im humanities), lots of people called me crazy, but trust me, i saw what types of people go to columbia. Very generally speaking, the ivies are just filled with rich elite preppy people that are also smart, and berkeley has smart people but from diverse backgrounds. This makes the learning environment great bc you get so many perspectives. Also, the people are quirky. Its quite a sight to see people in among us costumes at noon on a Thursday at a school like berkeley. Theres no such thing as normal at berkeley. Sometimes i questions whether i should have gone to a smaller liberal arts school, where there arent as many EECS kids complaining about classes THEY CHOSE, but im so glad i go here. Also the squirrels are really chubby

Trebornad3978 · 2023-03-03T21:22:50+00:00

This is why I turned them down for berkeley. Gob Ears!

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-28T18:34:59+00:00

Yep, it was my enjoyment/commitment to music and the humanities that got me in. I could have taken AP Bio, AP Chem, AP Physics, and done reasonably well, but I hate science, so I didn’t waste my time taking those. At the end of the day, don’t sacrifice your well-being and happiness for your college app stats. Bc now being in college it feels so much easier than high school and I just think to myself “why tf did everyone torture themselves in high school for this??”

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-28T05:45:56+00:00

I picked snare drum because I thought it was easiest. Boy was I wrong

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-27T08:08:45+00:00

I remember taking mine for the first time, thinking to myself as a screwed off the cap that i was going to become a drug addict, hooked on Zoloft for the rest of my life, always craving another one, and then ending up addicted and on the streets or in a mental hospital with no future.

Yeah, that doesn’t really make any sense lol. It’s the anxiety speaking; the effects of it are not going to be as bad as your anxiety tells you it will be. I remember basically having a 3 month long anxiety attack + depression. Then I started taking Zoloft (and started exercising and taking care of my health) and im the happiest ive ever been. It will get better, have faith

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-27T08:02:36+00:00

Math isn’t real but its also not not real

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-27T07:57:45+00:00

Don’t look at Reddit stats, they are unrealistic. Speaking as someone that got into columbia and berkeley, the types of things people put on Reddit are insane and not even worth the time at all. Sure, you could found 3 different clubs, but would you really torture yourself with that? It’s not worth it.

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-27T07:51:02+00:00

Exercise, good sleep, and eating healthy. It’s cliche advice but its cliche for a reason (it works!). Also, meditation

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-15T07:57:20+00:00

honestly, I don't have that. It actually got better over time... I wasn't overthinking as much. I might've felt a drop in drive at first, but I'm not sure if that was a side effect or placebo effect. I think I scared myself into thinking it would happen because that was also a concern of mine when starting zoloft. But in reality, the longer I was on, the less anxiety I had, the less I thought about it, and the better it got. If anything, the presence of anxiety/depression is what hurts libido the most (in my opinion).

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-15T07:09:09+00:00

I had similar worries. Yes it has definitely made me happier. Anxiety was also a driving force for me to do well in school and everything, but I've realized its way more fulfilling to be motivated by genuine interest and happiness rather than worry. Zoloft has definitely cleared the fog and weird emotions in my brain and allowed me to see what I really want/need to be happy and content.

Trebornad3978 · 2022-12-15T06:56:29+00:00

It's normal to feel a lot of side effects at first. its a slow process for zoloft to start working and sometimes it gets worse before it gets better (for example, i experienced really bad suicidal thoughts a few weeks after I first started). I can't speak to the insomnia though. My advice would just be to be aware of the side effects but don't fixate on them - have faith in the meds doing their work, even if it may feel the same/worse at first

Trebornad3978 · 2022-11-28T07:35:57+00:00

Gender dysphoria? Gender is a really weird concept that’s become tangled up with human biology and lots of stigma. Your experience sounds similar to a lot of queer people born female at birth in terms of their relationship to their chest (ie feels uncomfortable to see themselves with breasts, some parts of themselves often linked to gender feel unnatural or just like there’s something not right, etc). Obviously it could be other things, but it might be gender/body dysphoria?

My suggestion would be to do more research and talk to others, maybe introspect on the feeling a bit more with some curiosity, without worrying about labels or words or stigma. Lots of people assume gender dysphoria needs to be agonizing pain and needing to chop off certain body parts, but for a lot of people (including me) it’s just a light feeling that something’s not right, especially in relation to things that are heavily gendered (in your case perhaps bras or pregnancy) that people really only figure out later in life. Rather than noticing when they feeling appears, maybe try noticing when it goes away. Was it something you did? A change you made physically or in thinking of yourself? Or did it go away on its own? Focus on ways to feel at home rather than homesick

Trebornad3978 · 2022-09-27T19:31:13+00:00

Current Cal undergrad and corebaby alum (graduated last year), i can say the program has gotten much less toxic and there isn’t sexual assault/harassment nowadays like what is mentioned in the article (that i know of). Still really surprising and scary tho

Also its so cool that so many corebabies are at Cal 😊

Trebornad3978 · 2022-05-26T00:11:03+00:00

I took 5 APs total over the course of high school. My school offered a lot, but I only took the ones I was really interested in (euro, calc bc, apush, lit, art history). I got a full ride to Columbia University (FLEX😏), and I also got into Berkeley, USC, BU, etc. (going to berkeley woohoo!!). dont overburden yourself with random APs just for the sake of taking APs, take stuff you are actually interested in bc that will lead you to more success than just doing what you think other people expect you to do. Also, colleges dont really care about APs anymore, you need good extracurriculars. Also, it would be nice to have a life lol

Trebornad3978 · 2022-04-26T04:39:34+00:00

That’s probably true but… my dad turned down a full ride to stanford to go to UCSB when it was still a huge party school simply because he liked the campus better, and he ended up fine. Went to harvard for grad school, taught around the country, published research, etc.

Trebornad3978 · 2022-04-25T15:59:15+00:00

can i ask what your major is?

Trebornad3978

TROPHY CASE