I Got into Grad School! Also, Thoughts on Before I Fall

After submitting 15 applications, traveling to a new state every weekend for a month, and taking a lot of time to deliberate, I have accepted an offer to attend a renowned Counseling Psychology Ph.D. program in the D.C. metro area! I almost cannot believe that I started this blog as a sophomore in high school, and now, seven years later, I write this post just a few months before graduating from William & Mary and beginning a doctoral program in August. In addition to sharing this good news with everyone, I also want to reflect on a few ideas inspired by the film Before I Fall, which I saw a few nights ago and loved.

I am also in shock that this book came out in 2010 and that I read it in high school, so many years ago. Image via goodreads.com.

This intense application process and film both made me ask: why do we do what we do?

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Cover via Goodreads

Rating: 4/5 stars.

A powerful story of a dystopian world where love is a disease, and that at the age of eighteen everyone undergoes a procedure to have love removed from their bodies. While the surgery is not full proof and something could go wrong, it is better than falling victim to amor deliria nervosa.

Lena has accepted this fact at a young age. She saw the destructive effect of love first-hand, bearing witness as it tore her mother apart and took her away. Now she eagerly awaits her own procedure and the promise of normalcy it entails. Then, the unthinkable happens: she becomes infatuated with a boy only a little older than she. Love has infiltrated Lena’s once impenetrable world, and the worst part is that she cannot get enough of it.

I enjoyed this tale where love is illegal and any display of affection is an illicit act. Oliver shows her multifarious authoring abilities as this book was definitely different from Before I Fall. In both, however, she utilizes stylistic devices that set her apart from other young-adult authors: like the little excerpts at the beginning of each chapter, or her beautiful description of setting. Her writing is fantastic but not florid, compassionate while remaining concise.

I am looking forward to the next installment in the Delirium series. The plot in this one was a little slow-moving, but possibly because it serves as a buffer for the next two books.