<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[portfolio]]></title><description><![CDATA[portfolio]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/writing</link><generator>RSS for Node</generator><lastBuildDate>Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:56:30 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/blog-feed.xml" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><item><title><![CDATA[How Words Shape Our World Shapes Our Words]]></title><description><![CDATA[So, if even love can be altered by our ability to communicate it, or rather our language’s inherent structures for it, what nerdy linguistic fun fact can I surprise you with? Have you considered the]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/how-words-shape-our-world-shapes-our-words</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8cf7cbae3e800161c20f8</guid><category><![CDATA[personal]]></category><category><![CDATA[culture]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 17 Mar 2026 03:56:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/db67d18e2f934422a7cd8554866b53f7.png/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Ellsworth Kelly's 'Austin']]></title><description><![CDATA[At the edge of the University of Texas at Austin campus, sits a small white building, filling in the landscape between brutalist educational infrastructure and the Blanton Museum. From the outside, it resembles a temple, stripped down to its bare form. Its curved ceilings and crisp white limestone, mirror a house taken off the Santorini coast and placed under religious aesthetics. Above its entrance, is a grid of nine colored windows. Each side of the building showcases a spectrum of colors...]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/parting-art-ellsworth-kelly-s-austin</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69cc8ad5bc536ac286aa70d3</guid><category><![CDATA[art]]></category><pubDate>Wed, 01 Apr 2026 03:17:40 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3dac78_c5cb8af59a5c4cbebfd2fbe044f022af~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bookmark: Anxious People by Frederik Backman]]></title><description><![CDATA[should you go back to admire a sentence you've finished reading, or rush to experience the next...]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/bookmark-anxious-people-by-frederik-backman</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8485824a4157406a81821</guid><category><![CDATA[literature]]></category><pubDate>Mon, 28 Jul 2025 17:55:02 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3dac78_ad1f5476593c45358cd14ed3e8aef661~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[In the Name of the Pygmalion Effect]]></title><description><![CDATA[From the wise words of our professor Mr. Michael Bennett, “Grading is a bit of a social construct. It's a way for society to judge or credit something. Evaluation is something we do naturally. We evaluate on a daily basis. When we first meet someone, when we enter a new place, when we taste a new food- we are evaluating. So what purpose does grading serve?” After being hit with a philosophical question towards the very nature of our academic system, you’d think the idea would make my head...]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/in-the-name-of-the-pygmalion-effect</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8485824a4157406a8181c</guid><category><![CDATA[culture]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 05 Jul 2025 11:49:57 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11062b_c1491cb22d7144b2a3164cfaaca3bef0~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bookmark: My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki]]></title><description><![CDATA[You come to learn how the stories we tell hold power, and sometimes in finding yourself others find themselves too. ]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/bookmark-my-year-of-meats-by-ruth-ozeki</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8485824a4157406a8181d</guid><category><![CDATA[literature]]></category><pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2025 15:16:09 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3dac78_ea63c12430b04d029cdc7155f79bea6b~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_340,h_522,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Seven+ Years   ]]></title><description><![CDATA["There's this study that once you have been friends with someone for seven years you are most likely to...]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/seven-years</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8485824a4157406a8181b</guid><category><![CDATA[personal]]></category><category><![CDATA[culture]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 14 Jun 2025 19:00:35 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11062b_5fe919153b5e4712bfa47f86a694ba62~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_1000,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bookmark: Greek Lessons by Han Kang]]></title><description><![CDATA[I put down this book several times...I'll admit this book was not one I found easily read.]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/bookmark-greek-lessons-by-han-kang</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8485824a4157406a8181f</guid><category><![CDATA[literature]]></category><pubDate>Sat, 01 Mar 2025 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3dac78_8b480a280cda47abbb10bf1e72564246~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_613,h_1000,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[Bookmark: The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer]]></title><description><![CDATA[There is so much mundanity in not achieving your dreams. Wolitzer manages the unique magic of making this mundanity, vulnerably human. ]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/bookmark-the-interestings-by-meg-wolitzer</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8485824a4157406a8181a</guid><category><![CDATA[literature]]></category><pubDate>Sun, 04 Feb 2024 23:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3dac78_a0caca180a254d118a16add91c786df1~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_300,h_463,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[3 Lessons: Living Through &#38; Graduating During a Global Pandemic]]></title><description><![CDATA[When the virus reached U.S. soil everything normal in my life disappeared so abruptly that the reality replacing it felt...]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/3-lessons-living-through-graduating-during-a-global-pandemic</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8485824a4157406a8181e</guid><category><![CDATA[personal]]></category><pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2022 22:00:00 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3dac78_e22bf6019cf54c16af1a938399f2575f~mv2.png/v1/fit/w_736,h_914,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item><item><title><![CDATA[A Mother's Life and Advice on College]]></title><description><![CDATA[how often I forget that my mom was not always a mother. She too was once young with siblings and parents of her own...]]></description><link>https://www.jiannaalvarez.com/post/a-mother-s-life-and-advice-on-college</link><guid isPermaLink="false">69b8485824a4157406a81820</guid><category><![CDATA[personal]]></category><pubDate>Tue, 11 May 2021 18:35:10 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://static.wixstatic.com/media/3dac78_9cb3a2e9f57c48c4b8c5242b60ec7dd3~mv2.jpg/v1/fit/w_750,h_607,al_c,q_80/file.png" length="0" type="image/png"/><dc:creator>Jianna Alvarez</dc:creator></item></channel></rss>