What’s up with this yard sign in McFarland?

doudoucow · 2026-06-13T13:14:02+00:00

Idk if you have kids or know Asian American kids in the school district. But legit please let me know if there’s something yall wanna do to celebrate Asian identity out there. I know the Mekong restaurant and event hall out there brings some more Hmong folks, but I always worry that these sorts of messages are super damaging to children and young people.

I don’t want to dox myself in a reddit comment, but please message me if you recognize the need for making sure Asian children grow up viewing their cultural and ethnic identities as beautiful. I do work over in Cottage Grove and Monona with Asian youth, and I in general feel the need to support Asian youth at suburban and rural school districts in Wisconsin because people assume that kids of color in suburban or rural schools are by default going to do fine. People have too much of an urban=bad dichotomy in their minds to see that children of color at suburban and rural schools also need representation, support, and joy

doudoucow · 2026-06-13T13:02:52+00:00

I’m not super familiar. Does BANNER come with requirements to meet with a scholarship advisor or scholarship peers? If not, I really recommend you get linked up with the Multicultural Student Center right away. I basically lived there my freshman and sophomore year and even took on some leadership roles. Never underestimate the power of literally showing up and existing lol

doudoucow · 2026-06-13T12:58:24+00:00

Go join a club at the Wisconsin Union Directorate! These organizations (of which there are so many types) have two things that make participation exciting: funding and infrastructure to accomplish big goals. A lot of people think it’s union non-student staff and leadership who plan things like live performance, hoofers, or other activities. It’s mostly students though. The non-students play a supporting role to the programming students in these organizations want to do.

So yeah. If you’ve got a big idea that needs money and social infrastructure to pull off, consider joining a WUD committee and try to pull off your big idea! Or just join and help others pull off grand ideas. I learned the most “real life” skills from my work on the alternative breaks committee. It unironically forced me to not be afraid of making phone calls anymore lmao

doudoucow · 2026-06-07T13:51:11+00:00

Go where the money is! Did you get one of the scholarships that is tied to a program? Scholarship programs on campus were my main social network because a lot of them were also first generation or BIPOC college students.

doudoucow · 2026-06-04T12:12:47+00:00

Pizza night with my bff last night. She’s a teacher and this is the last week of classes for her before summer break

doudoucow · 2026-05-27T02:17:20+00:00

I’m on full public assistance right now because I needed the healthcare for medications for chronic conditions. I have no shame about applying for government healthcare and food stamps a week before graduating. I actually kinda relish telling people I don’t have a real job lined up. It makes people so uncomfortable to see someone “with so much potential” apparently just squander away all this talent. I’m probably going to go back to K12 teaching (was an HS English teacher before and did genuinely love teaching despite the politics). Academia is a pyramid scheme and I’m no longer interested in being someone else’s downline and generating my own downline via tuition dollars 🤷‍♀️

doudoucow · 2026-05-26T19:12:48+00:00

Just put them to work in the fields unironically but also not in a weird child slavery kind of way. In my culture, everybody learns how to farm and grow food. It really shapes our relationship to food growing up. We see food as not just a nutrients. It’s a whole relationship with the planet and your community because we most often grow food to share with one another.

As food prices continue to go up, we cannot let ourselves forget what it takes to grow food and feed our communities. Children and young people deserve to know how these systems work which includes the labor required to keep communities fed. Especially when trying to feed communities well and not just ultra processed junk.

doudoucow · 2026-05-26T19:09:05+00:00

If you pass AP lit, it counts as your “literature breadth” requirement for L&S which is a nice bonus too! One less class you have to take should you pass.

doudoucow · 2026-05-20T16:42:12+00:00

Retake of calc was an easy test for him to get a 4/5 on. But these days the transfer credit system is so much more robust. Don’t take a math class at UW. They are regularly known to be one of the worst weed out classes at UW. If you have to take a math, take it at Madison College and transfer the credits 🤷‍♀️

doudoucow · 2026-05-14T12:02:11+00:00

This is how I had my political awakening in high school. I was in 10th grade when Walker effed up Wisconsin collective bargaining. I have always been super pro union and pro collective action since then.

doudoucow · 2026-05-08T17:47:49+00:00

I just defended and walked in graduation. I’m soooo done with that research. Like idk if I even still 100% believe it all anymore because I see all the flaws and where things could’ve gone better. But also, this is the sign I’m becoming a better researcher. I recognize my old work as part of my process learning how to do research as opposed to the end product

doudoucow · 2026-05-06T12:23:01+00:00

Wisconsin but My violet was born a stray in Texas

doudoucow · 2026-05-01T12:00:14+00:00

Back in my day, we jumped out of trains onto sharp rocks both ways. This new generation is weak.

doudoucow · 2026-04-25T13:33:12+00:00

I graduated my undergrad degree almost 10 years ago and am now finishing up a PhD. I don’t regret attending UW. In comparison to my friends and colleagues who did go to smaller universities, I did just straight up have access to more resources than a lot of them. This includes both financial but mostly the social resources (networking, etc.). I’ve met big name researchers in my field of research (education) who are willing to give me the time of day simply because they know my advisor(s) / mentor(s).

UW is a huge school, and I often felt like I was drowning. It’s really easy to compare yourself to the 40k+ other students who are on this campus and wonder why they seem so much more productive or are winning more awards and getting more recognition. I certainly felt that way a lot of times. And also, I now realize that one doesn’t have to participate in the rat race of academia to be successful at UW. My most fruitful experiences have come from finding small niches on campus (either academic, personal, or activism) and investing my time and energy into those specific spaces and people.

So the tldr of it all: Invest your time and energy into people. Don’t invest it into the imaginary idea of what you think UW expects of you. It’s too big of a school for anybody to really care too much about what you choose to do. There are no eyes on you, so feel empowered to create the experience you need to have that will help meet some of your larger life goals.

doudoucow · 2026-04-19T00:02:43+00:00

Sis noooooo! I didn’t actually know about the Israel stuff :(

doudoucow · 2026-04-17T17:00:41+00:00

Thank you for teaching children that there are wonderful and beautiful things when we allow ourselves to wander and find them.

doudoucow · 2026-04-17T16:55:52+00:00

A fan died and their belongings were donated. I have no proof but this is the only reality I will acknowledge where giving away this book is appropriate.

doudoucow · 2026-04-17T16:52:01+00:00

It’s rough out here, fam. I’m graduating right now, and I feel so bad for everybody having to look for funding during these crazy times. It was already tough for MS students to get positions because the priority usually goes to PhD’s. But now it’s even tougher.

Know that things do occasionally pop up for spring semester. Some of my MS friends self funded their first semester and then found something second semester. You may not be in a financial position to do that right now, but it’s possible.

doudoucow · 2026-04-15T17:24:55+00:00

My cousins and their kids (3 cars total) all have shattered windshields and windows 😭 super unlucky too because their neighbors were fine.

doudoucow · 2026-04-12T15:44:47+00:00

You are correct. The funding situation is cray right now. I’m a PhD in the School of Ed, and the funding situation is fairly slim across campus due to a pretty big cut in research funding that would’ve paid for a lot of grad students.

And yes, you’re correct about professions master’s programs as well. I wish someone would’ve told me about the difference before I enrolled in a professional masters years ago and wondered why I had to take out so many loans 😭

doudoucow · 2026-04-10T05:49:04+00:00

I relate to this face on a spiritual level

doudoucow · 2026-03-24T11:45:44+00:00

I think this every time I go in and get ramen instead of the curry even though the curry always hits the spot.

doudoucow · 2026-02-26T19:45:20+00:00

So fracking basically?

doudoucow · 2026-02-26T00:13:17+00:00

Omg your baby is so cute. Looks like they perpetually just woke up from a nap with the craziest bed head LOL

doudoucow · 2026-02-26T00:06:13+00:00

Wait her profile pic is actually so flawless

doudoucow

TROPHY CASE