So, yesterday I had to read part of a paper I wrote--which I hope might become part of my thesis. It was what they call an "autoethnography", which is something that include your own voice and research that other's have completed.

I wrote about my life as phurnavi (light-skinned Roma) and difficult and hurtful times because of it. It was hard to write and even harder to read. …

I found out that I won't get to speak at the TEDx event. I think that I am not good enough or something. I really wanted to give a talk about Roma and the Porajmos and education for our children. I gave them an outline and they said to me:

"There aren't Roma in the United States and if there are somewhere, they aren't in our area"... I said, but wait, I'm Roma! They said, no, you're not Roma...

So, I am very upset. I feel like I've let myself and everyone down. I don't have PhD…