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PLV Scholarship Winner: Iliana Goodhew on Immigrating to America and Her Father’s ALS
Due to generous donations from my sister Michella, my aunt Ginny, and my father Tom, I was able to kick off the Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship’s first ever awards season by helping to select not just one, but three winners. The PLV Scholarship was founded in memory of my mother Patricia (1952-2014), whose giving spirit spread love, beauty, and happiness to those who knew her, those people who were made to feel special and appreciated by her genuine warmth and compassion. When the Scholarship Board reviewed applications last May, there were several outstanding candidates worthy of recognition. Board members, however, unanimously agreed that three applicants stood out as particularly…
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The Patricia Lynn Vermeulen-Tomocik (PLV) Scholarship
For a few years now, I’ve considered the possibility of someday starting a charitable fund or nonprofit in honor of my mother Patricia (1952-2014), who passed away unexpectedly a year after I graduated from university. It was a project I had originally intended to start much further into the future, perhaps even decades from now. Recently, however, a women’s volunteer organization (the Orange County chapter of Junior League, or JLOCC) provided me with the opportunity to be part of an ad hoc committee founded for the sole purpose of reviewing scholarship applications from local high school seniors. The experience was tremendous, as I found myself greatly moved by the stories…
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Words of Advice for Coping with Grief and Loss
To be human is to confront mortality, yet death is a profoundly unsettling prospect that few people accept with total peace. Some losses seem unfathomable — such as the death of a parent, child, or best friend — but it is beyond our control who Death takes; we can only allow ourselves the time and self-compassion to grieve as we are constantly propelled forward in time, into a future without the deceased. Bereavement is a topic that hits especially close to home for me. About a year after I graduated from university, when I was 23 years old, my mother suddenly and unexpectedly passed away from an acute health condition…
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Entering Auschwitz: Reflections on My Visit to a Nazi Concentration Camp
Please note: The following post contains detailed descriptions of torture, genocide, and other violent and heinous acts committed by the Nazis during the Holocaust. It was an emotionally taxing yet rewarding piece for me to compose, and some readers may find it disturbing. I would urge visitors to continue reading at their own discretion. Please also note that most of the factual information contained here was sourced from my two Auschwitz-Birkenau tour guides, informational plaques at the camps, and the official Auschwitz-Birkenau website. I’ll admit, it may seem a bit macabre to kick off the travel section of my blog with personal impressions of my visit to Auschwitz. But for…
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The MBTI: Tips and Tricks for Typing Others
Princess Diana, Shakespeare, and Anne of Green Gables were INFPs. Jesus and Gandhi were INFJs, and so is J.K. Rowling. Barack Obama is probably an ENFJ, and Donald Trump is unmistakably an ESTP (in the company of Britney Spears and Madonna, might I add). So what do these four-letter acronyms represent, and why is everyone so eager to share them on dating sites, through social media, in the workplace, and — as I have done — on their blog’s “About Me”? These letters refer to a system of personality typing known as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), one of the most widely used personality inventories popularized by laypeople and mental…
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The Six Dos and Don’ts of Online Dating: Part Two
Now for Part Two of this two-part post on how to find lasting love on the Web (if you haven’t already checked out Part One, that’s a great place to start!). By now, you’re pretty much a pro and can tackle any obstacle that the online dating game throws your way, right? …Well, maybe no one can ever fully master the precarious art of online dating. Humans are complicated. But knowing what to avoid — or the “Don’ts” of online dating, as I call them — can help to safeguard your heartstrings, significantly improving your chances of finding Mr. or Ms. Right. Through a combination of webinars and personal experiences,…
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The Six Dos and Don’ts of Online Dating: Part One
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The Six Dos and Don’ts of Online Dating: Part One
In days of yore — or the early 2000s, which was many eons ago in Internet time — people treated online dating like a shameful secret, a sign that someone had “failed” to find a partner through traditional means and was now desperate (…why was it so easy for your 90-year-old grandmother and her friends to find husbands at age 21 at the local dancehall?). But times have changed, technology has become an all-pervasive force in our lives, and online dating is all but totally destigmatized. So why is it that online dating can feel so deeply draining and personally defeating for the serious dater? For one, you’re forced to…
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The Six Dos and Don’ts of Online Dating: Part Two
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About My Mellow Brick Road
Welcome to My Mellow Brick Road, a personal blog for sharing ideas, observations, and memories on a variety of topics ranging from travel to psychology to literature to mini gardening/miniatures to love & relationships! Now for a little bit about myself and the purpose behind this blog… I was born and raised in Orange County, California and spent five years in the UK studying English literature. While my degrees are both in English, I studied psychology for three years as an undergrad. I’ve always had a keen interest in the human psyche and am planning to begin a master’s program in clinical psychology soon. Since my mother’s passing a few…
