#High school english classes didn’t pop this one into the curriculum | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

marjansmarwani · 4 years ago

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You Can Learn to Love (Again)

A Tarlos Teacher AU // 14.3K

[Read on ao3]

TK Strand needs a fresh start. He needs to get as far away from the memories and temptations of NYC as he possibly can so when he finds an opening at a prestigious high school in Austin, he jumps at the chance.

As things fall into place he is surprised to find just how well he fits into Austin; how well this new life he built for himself suits him. There’s only one complication: another (insanely attractive) English teacher by the name of Carlos Reyes whose existence does not fit into TK’s carefully constructed plans. The universe, however, seems to have another plan entirely.

Or, the Teacher AU absolutely no one asked for.

Welcome to the most self-indulgent thing I have ever written! I had a good time writing it and I ended up really liking it though, and I hope you do too. Huge shoutout to @officerrxyes for helping me with the edits and putting it up me throughout the entire process.

-----

This is not how he had wanted to start his first day. He had been hoping to make a good impression, maybe make it through the first week without drawing too much attention to himself.

The universe had other plans, it seemed.

It had started with the traffic. He was still new to the area and had severely underestimated how heavy traffic was in this city (really, who knew?) Thankfully he had been nervous enough that he had left his apartment almost an hour earlier than he should have had to for a 4-mile drive, which had gotten him here with about 10 minutes to spare.

If it had just been that, it would have been fine. He could have shaken it off, gotten into his classroom and been ready to face the day with plenty of time before his students showed up. But no, it couldn’t be that simple. Instead, he was stuck here, in his current predicament.

By the time he arrived there was not a parking spot to be found. He had anxiously circled the parking lot twice before spotting an empty space miraculously close to the front doors. He thought maybe his luck had finally changed - until he tried to open his door. The car next to him was parked so close that he could barely even get his door more than an inch let alone wide enough to get out. He glanced over to the passenger side to find that car was almost as close. He banged his head against the steering wheel in frustration. Of course. Of fucking course - he had moved across the country, managed to get a job in one of the best high schools in the state, and now he was going to blow it because he was trapped in his car. Typical.

He forced himself to take a deep, calming breath before examining the situation again. There might just be enough room on the passenger side to open the door and squeeze out. Then he would just have to wait long enough that the other cars would be gone before he tried to leave at the end of the day. Totally doable — he just had to climb over the center counsel. He examined the layout and sighed. There was no way to do this gracefully. He took a silent moment to mourn his nice professional wrinkle-free first-day outfit before he resigned himself to the inevitable.

He had known it was not going to be a graceful process, but he had still underestimated exactly how awkward it would be. He cleared the counsel and got one foot on the ground outside the passenger door before carefully sliding himself out, careful not to let his door hit the car beside him. Once he had both feet on the ground he reached back in to grab his bag, which he pulled out before closing the door and walking to the back of the car. Once he was free of the confined space he took a deep breath as he smoothed out his clothes, wiping away any wrinkles.

“That was pretty impressive,” someone noted, voice full of amusement.

TK spun around to find an incredibly attractive man standing behind him, looking him over with a raised eyebrow. TK wanted to shoot back something clever but instead he tripped over his words, stuttering through half-formed thoughts before he blurted out “thanks.”

Inwardly, he groaned. Because this morning hadn’t been bad enough - now he was a stuttering mess in front of this guy who possibly had the most gorgeous eyes TK had ever seen and had just used those eyes to watch TK climb out of his own car like a contortionist. He was really winning today.

“Anytime,” the stranger returned with a grin. They stood there, not saying anything for a few more moments until the stranger continued, “Well I guess I should,” he trailed off gesturing towards the building. TK nodded vaguely before a glance at his watch pulled him back to reality, “Oh, yeah. Me too.”

“Well, I hope you have a good first day. My name is Carlos, by the way.”

“TK,” he offered, plastering on what he hoped was a charming smile.

Carlos grinned at him, “I’ll see you around, TK.”

And with that, he was gone. TK watched him walk away until the snap of the door closing behind him dragged him back to the present. He glanced at his watch again only to see that he only had two minutes before he would officially be late for his first day.

“Shit,” he muttered to himself before hiking his bag up in his shoulder and sprinting towards the door.

------

“Don’t forget to get those syllabi signed!” TK called to the retreating backs of his second-period freshman class. “Whether or not you think it’s stupid does not change the fact that it is an easy grade!”

This earned a few chuckles from the students still gathering their things and he flashed a grin at them. Despite the rough start, the morning has actually gone pretty well. His first two classes had gone smoothly and the kids seemed like a good bunch. He was optimistic about the year. Now he was looking at his first prep period of the day and since there was no grading to tackle yet he figured this was as good of a time as any to try to get the lay of the land, so to speak. Plus, he needed to find the copier. He had printed out the syllabi for the first day on his home printer but there was no way he was going to keep doing that. He fully intended to use the school provided resources, thank you very much.

He was just about to grab his ID and keys and head out in pursuit of a copy machine or faculty room when someone stepped into his classroom. TK recognized him but couldn’t put a name to the face.

“Hey Mr. Strand, I just wanted to stop by to see how your first day was going. I’m Judd Ryder, one of the Assistant Principals.”

TK smiled at him, crossing over to shake his hand, “I remember you, you were on my interview committee, right?”

He nodded, “That’s right. I was pretty impressed by you, I think you’ll do great things here.”

“That’s very kind of you to say, I hope I can live up to it,” TK responded, a little taken aback by the praise.

Mr. Ryder shrugged, “I was impressed by your thoughts on curriculum, but really I think you’re going to do a good job connecting to the students. You’ve got the freshman this year and they need that. That connection might be the difference between failure and success for some of them.”

TK nodded, unsure of how to respond. He fiddled with his lanyard for a moment before the AP laughed, shaking his head; “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to dump all that on you - my wife is always telling me I don’t need to voice every thought that pops into my head and, well clearly that’s a problem for me.”

TK relaxed and smiled at the older man, “It’s fine, it’s nice to hear such good things, it’s just the first day and all—a lot to take in, you know?”

Ryder nodded, “I hear that. Anything I could help with?”

“Actually, yeah—any chance you could point me towards a copier? My printer at home will never recover if I try to do much more with it.”

“Sure thing, I’ll take you there. It’s on my way anyways,” he said over TK’s protests, “no trouble at all.”

They step into the hallway and once TK is sure the door to his classroom is shut and locked behind him they move down the hall, back towards the main hallway. Judd keeps up a steady stream of conversation all the way and TK nods and makes noises of agreement where necessary. It’s not that he doesn’t like Judd, he’s just not used to such an amicable relationship with administrators. It had never been like that in any of his previous schools. He liked the feeling of familiarity but knew that it would be a while before he ever completely bought into it. He was much more likely to err on the side of polite professionalism.

They had arrived at the faculty room now and as TK went to open the door it swung open as another teacher stepped out. He was a little older than TK and his eyes went wide as he halted inches from colliding with him. Judd laughed from behind TK, “Well I was going to say you two should meet at some point, so I guess now is as good a time as any. TK Strand, meet Paul Strickland, one of our Earth Science teachers. He’s also your neighbor.”

Paul grinned and stuck out his hand, “it’s good to meet you, man. I was going to stop by later on, but bumping into each other works too I guess.”

TK chuckled and took the offered hand, “I suppose it does. So you’re my neighbor, huh?”

Paul nodded, “And part of the grade level team. You’ll actually be seeing the rest of us in a bit—we have common planning 5th period.”

TK nodded, he had noticed that on the schedule. “Cool, well, I’ll see you then. In the meantime, I should get some copies done while I have a chance.”

“Don’t use tray 3—it always jams.”

“Thanks for the tip.”

“Don’t mention it; I know how much it sucks to have to spend your entire prep clearing out a paper jam.”

“Still, I appreciate it.”

Paul nodded and then with another smile and a wave to Judd, he was gone. They watched him go for a second before Judd spoke again, “You have a solid team to work with in your wing, I’m sure you’ll all get along fine.”

“I think you might be onto something,” TK agreed. Then, with another thanks, he stepped into the faculty room, leaving the Assistant Principal behind.

---

Two periods later and TK was starting to remember how exhausting the first week of school was. The endurance it took to do this all day was nothing to scoff at, and each year in September it needed to be built up again. Somehow each year, he managed to forget that. As the last of the 4th-period stragglers filed out he sank into his desk chair and leaned back, allowing himself to take a deep breath. All he wanted to do was sleep for a week, but he still had common planning, hall duty, one more class, and an apartment full of boxes waiting to be unpacked. Sleep was a luxury he couldn’t afford right now.

A knock at his door wrenched him from his fantasies of peaceful sleep. He jumped to his feet, blinking the exhaustion out of his eyes as he looked towards the door to find Paul and two others standing on the threshold.

“The first week is always the hardest, isn’t it?” Paul noted as he invited himself into the room, the other two at his heels.

TK nodded, only cutting off for a yawn, “You could say that,” he finally got out.

Paul gave him a sympathetic grin before turning to his two companions. “Guys, this is TK Strand, the new English teacher. TK,” he said turning to face him, “this is Marjan Marwani and Mateo Chavez, Math and Social Studies teachers respectively.”

TK gave them each a nod and a smile. “So, we’re the ninth grade team?”

“One of them,” Marjan confirmed, settling onto one of the desks. “So you better get used to us - we’re stuck together and you get to see our lovely faces every day for this common planning period.”

“Where do we meet for that, by the way?”

“Your room of course,” Marjan said with a raised eyebrow, “the newbie always hosts.”

Paul rolled his eyes. “She’s kidding,” he informed TK, “but we do usually meet in here because there are more tables so it’s easier to spread out.”

“Fine with me,” TK replied with a shrug, “you guys are more than welcome.”

The others smiled their thanks before Mateo spoke up.

“So TK,” he asked in what was clearly meant to be a casual tone, “how long have you been teaching?”

TK raised an eyebrow, “This is my 4th year, why?”

“Damn it,” Mateo swore mournfully as Marjan let out a bright burst of laughter.

When TK shot Paul a confused look he stifled his own laughter long enough to explain, “Mateo here is our probie. He’s only in his second year and he’s desperately hoping to find someone lower on the totem pole than him. You being new to the district and pretty young, he thought maybe he had a chance.”

Now TK grinned outright as he turned his gaze back to Mateo, “sorry to disappoint you probie, but I already put in my time as the newbie. You have my sympathies though.”

Mateo pouted as the other two laughed lightly at him. TK shook his head fondly and sat on one of the desks to survey this group—his new team.

As Marjan crossed to Mateo to ruffle his hair and Paul rolled his eyes at the pair while not quite being able to hide his smile, something settled in TK’s gut. They were going to get along just fine. More than that, TK had a feeling that as long as he had this group at his side he’d be fine. Maybe, despite the disastrous beginning, this year might not be the disaster he feared after all.

---

After the first day, things went pretty smoothly. He’d settled into a routine and beyond the usual unpredictable nature of teenagers, he had everything under control. He was feeling pretty confident about this change—for once he may have actually made the right choice. He wanted to savor that feeling, but there was still one more unknown element to his work life that he hadn’t gotten to experience yet: the department meeting. So when Thursday rolled around he waved goodbye to the rest of his team and set off to find room 306.

If his past experience was anything to go on this meeting would likely be nothing more than a waste of time. Just something they are mandated to do where they talk about goals and test scores and analyze data without actually accomplishing anything actionable. But it was still something new; a potential disaster waiting around the corner for him. He’s almost convinced that’s what it’s going to be too - everything else is going far too well. Something has to give at some point.

He found the room and entered cautiously; scanning the room as he took an empty seat. Everyone else is chatting amongst themselves and while a few sent him curious glances as he entered, for the most part everyone is minding their own business. He was so focused on surveying the room that he almost jumped when the chair next to him was pulled out and someone slid into the seat beside him. He looked over to see a woman smiling at him warmly, “You must be TK Strand,” she said by way of greeting.

He nodded and her smile somehow grew as she stuck out her hand, “I’m Grace Ryder, one of the 10th grade English teachers and yes, Judd Ryder is my husband,” she confirms.

TK chuckled as he took her hand. Apparently, his surprise at hearing her name was more evident than he had thought, “It’s nice to meet you Grace, and I’m afraid I don’t have a very good poker face.”

She laughed lightly and shook her head, “No, you do not. I can’t say I blame you though - new school, first department meeting, and someone comes up and knows your name - I’d be flustered too. But my husband has mentioned you so I figured I’d check-in, make sure you weren’t left out for the sharks. They do love fresh meat.”

TK raised an eyebrow, “It’s not that bad, is it?”

“They like a laugh, but from everything I’ve heard I think you’ll do just fine.”

TK was going to ask what she meant by that when her expression shifted again as she spotted something over TK’s shoulder.

“They’re not all bad though,” she said with a smile. “In fact, here’s one you should meet. Reyes!” The last part was directed at someone behind TK. He turned to see who Grace was intent on him meeting and froze.

“TK,” Grace was saying as the man walked over, “This is Carlos Reyes, one of the Senior English teachers and an all-around good egg.”

Carlos chuckled and TK felt a shock run through his body at how wonderful of a sound it was.

“You’re too nice to me Grace,” Carlos was saying as he bent down to give her a quick one-armed hug.

Grace swatted at him, “I am exactly as nice to you as you deserve. Carlos, this is TK Strand - the new Freshman English teacher.”

Carlos turned his smile on TK, who was fairly certain he was going to melt in this very spot from the warmth of it, “We’ve met, actually—in passing. I didn’t know you were in the department, how’s it been so far?”

“Good, it’s been good,” he managed to splutter out after a few moments and the mortifying realization that he had been quiet for too long and Grace and Carlos were both looking at him.

Carlos kept smiling at him, “That’s good to hear. I’m sure I’ll see you around but feel free to let me know if you need anything. I’m in room 214.”

TK nodded and then with a wave, Carlos was gone. TK shook himself from his stupor to find Grace giving him a pitying look, “Oh honey,” was all she said. Her voice was low, but it was clear she was suppressing laughter.

“What?” TK demanded, even as he could feel a blush creeping up his cheeks. Grace just shook her head and let some of the laughter escape. He turned away from her petulantly but she reached out and put a comforting hand on his arm.

“I’m sorry dear,” she said through her laughter, “I’m not making fun of you, really. I can’t say I can blame you either; he is quite something.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he responded stiffly.

“Yes, I’m sure you don’t,” Grace said, making an effort to match his tone. He rolled his eyes and shot her an exasperated look but she just kept chuckling quietly even as the meeting started.

It was good to know he had been right about this meeting being the disaster he had been waiting for—it was just not the kind he had anticipated.

----

The days marched on and more and more it felt like any other school year. TK had fallen into a routine; he had found his stride. He had found his footing with his students; he had found friends in his team. This change—the new job, the new school, the new state—was going so much better than he had anticipated. When he had sent in the application, it had been on a whim. He had been floundering in the shambles of what had been and desperate for a direction, a way out. This job had seemed like a desperate hope; a future he could only dream of surrounded by the wreckage of his old hopes and plans. He had just needed a point to aim for, an exit sign to direct him out of this mess. He had never expected it to actually work.

But against all odds and his own firmly held beliefs he made it work, he hadn’t failed. It was an exciting prospect, but also a terrifying one. With things going this well, it was only a matter of time before the proverbial other shoe dropped. He does everything he can to prevent that eventuality. He works hard, throwing himself into every lesson plan and every assignment. He tackles any administrative task as soon as possible, never letting anything sit on his desk. Above all, he takes a wide berth around room 214. Carlos’s smile may live in his head rent-free, but he can’t afford a distraction. Especially not one like him —one so objectively perfect. He’s not ready for that and to be so close to the possibility would break his still-healing heart.

He almost welcomes the distraction of his traditional beginning of the year benchmark essay—right up until he gets a look at the stack awaiting grading. He is in the middle of the first period’s stack when the rest of the team walked in for common planning.

“It’s only the second week of school,” Mateo noted, “isn’t it a little early to be assigning essays?”

“No,” TK explained, looking up from the paper he was reading, “because it’s my job to get them to high school level writing by the end of the year for the sake of all of the other English teachers and I need to know where they are at now so I know what to focus on.”

Marjan leaned on the corner of his desk and poked at one of the piles apprehensively, “Learn anything yet?”

TK sighed wearily as he circled yet another use of “bc” and left a comment indicating that abbreviations may have their uses, but they did not belong in academic writing. “Yes,” he said, looking up from the paper before him, “I have learned that we have a lot of work to do.”

Mateo chuckled and Marjan winced sympathetically. Paul, who had grabbed one of the essays off the stack and was skimming it, raised an eyebrow.

“I do not envy you, man,” he noted as he replaced the paper, “and I thought trying to hammer the format of a lab report into their heads was hard. This is next level.”

“Academic writing is something completely different from what they’re used to,” TK pointed out reasonably, “It’s my job to teach them how to do it,” he paused here as he glanced back down at the paper before him. “Doesn’t make it any less painful though,” he said with another sigh.

The others settled down at and on the desks nearest to his and watched as he skimmed through another paper, pausing occasionally to make a comment or correction. After a few minutes he looked up at them, eyebrows raised.

“Are you all just going to sit there and watch me grade these or…”

Mateo shrugged and Marjan grinned back at him, “We’re offering you moral support, didn’t you know?”

He scowled and grabbed an old worksheet from the table beside him and balled it up to throw at her. She dodged it expertly and grinned even wider. Paul sighed from a nearby desk.

“Now children,” he admonished, voice filled with exasperation as he rolled his eyes at their antics.

“She started it,” TK pointed out reasonably. Paul shook his head and stood up.

“I think that as long as we can agree that there are no pressing matters to be discussed we can all take this time to work on our own grading, in our own classrooms. Any objections?”

Marjan looked like she was going to say something, but at TK’s narrowed eyes she sighed and shook her head.

“Good,” Paul declared with a nod. “Good luck with all those, man,” he added to TK as he headed to the door. TK wearily waved his thanks and then they were gone. He leaned back in his chair and sighed, rubbing at his tired eyes. He loved what he did really, but sometimes when faced with the stack of 120 essays and the reminder that other content areas didn’t have to do this, he sometimes regretted not following his father’s footsteps. Firefighters didn’t have to grade essays.

Inevitably, he would recall all of the reasons he didn’t join the family business: the long hours, the danger, the toll it had taken on his father over the years both physically and emotionally. Then he would think of all the reasons he loved teaching anyways and go back to work. This time was no exception. The only difference was that as he picked up his pen again to continue grading he felt a pang of guilt in his chest. He should really call his father. It had been too long. He knew that his dad was trying to give him space, trying to give him the time he needed to adjust on his own terms; but his dad had been the one thing in New York he hadn’t needed distance from. He was the one thing he had regretted leaving. He needed to call him - he owed him that much. More than that, it would be nice to hear his voice. After he finished this class’ essays, he promised himself, he’d take a break and call his dad during his lunch.

Fate seemed to have a different plan though as the next thing TK knew students were entering his classroom. He glanced up at the clock in surprise, only to find that he had worked straight through his prep and lunch without even noticing it. He sighed and put down his pen, standing to go greet his students at the door. His dad would have to wait, it seemed. He plastered on a smile and got ready to start the lesson.

At some point, Marjan appeared in his doorway, a sheepish look on her face. He nodded to her and instructed the kids to read the next section in the text on their own and be ready to share some thoughts from it before he crossed the room to meet her.

“What’s up?” he asked, expression furrowed.

She held up the papers in her hand, “I forgot I promised the SPED teacher I would get these 408s sighed during our common planning. I have all the documents that you can look over later, but for right now could you just sign so I can get these back to her?”

He smirked at her as he took the papers; flipping through them to see what students he was signing for, “How could you have possibly forgotten? Were you so busy doing something else that maybe it slipped your mind?”

“Haha,” she responded drily, expression far from impressed. He shook his head and chuckled, but pulled a pen out of his pocket and used the wall beside the door to sign his name on the appropriate lines. He went to hand them back to her, but pulled up just short and held them just out of her reach, “do I have your word that you will provide me with the proper documentation for all these students so I can be assured I did not just commit fraud by signing these?”

She rolled her eyes at him, “Yes, I will bring them by at the end of the day.” With that she held out her hand for the papers, which he passed back to her. Then she was gone, and he turned back to his class.

“Alright, I asked you to have things to share, so who’s going to break the ice?”

There was the typical teenage silence before one of the girls in the back raised her hand tentatively, but not before glancing at her friends.

“Aniyah, what do you think?” TK asked her with a grin, perching himself on his desk.

“Mr. Strand, are you and Ms. Marwani dating?”

TK blinked at her. He glanced around at the rest of the kids in the room, none of whom seemed surprised by the question. “No,” he answered slowly, “why would you ask that?”

She shrugged awkwardly, glancing at her friends for support, “You guys just seem really close, and almost like you’re flirting?”

He shrugged, “No, we’re just friends, definitely not dating—not that it is any of your business.”

One of the boys in the front smirked at him, “I don’t know Mister, you two seem pretty friendly, I think maybe you’re in denial.”

TK met the kid’s eyes and raised a single eyebrow as he said drily, “I can assure you she’s not my type.”

Most of the kids nodded sagely, but a few seemed puzzled. He rolled his eyes and stood up, “Okay, ‘discuss Mr. Strand’s love life’ time is over. Don’t think you’re going to distract me enough that I forget about the homework. Anyone else want to share any thoughts on the reading—you know, the class work; that thing we’re here for?”

A few hands raised but even as he called on them he was chuckling to himself. Marjan was going to love this.

----

As time progresses TK sticks to his plan: do his work, make a good impression, avoid Carlos. He’s successful in that last goal too, for a while. But of course, nothing good can last and one October afternoon in the faculty room, his streak is broken.

He crossed the room towards the mailboxes without glancing around and didn't think to check his surroundings until a familiar voice called for his attention.

“Hey TK, how have things been? You settling in alright?”

He froze, slowly glancing up from the flyer about the can drive he had been reading. He knew before he saw (there was no mistaking that voice) but his heart still skipped a beat just the same.

“Carlos, hey. Yeah, it’s been great actually. No problems at all.”

Carlos grinned at him and TK had to remind himself how to breathe. “Glad to hear it. Oh,” he said suddenly, “this is Michelle Blake, one of the school social workers. And my best friend,” he added with a roll of his eyes when Michelle, apparently, gave him a pointed look.

She grinned at his addition before turning to face TK. She looked him up and down appraisingly before speaking, “It’s nice to finally meet you TK, Carlos has mentioned you.”

TK flicked his gaze to Carlos who was very intently studying the rice in his lunch and studiously avoiding both their gazes. “Nothing bad, I hope,” he said lightly.

Internally, he was panicking.

“Definitely not. Nothing but the truth I’m sure, and the truth was all good.”

“Right,” TK said with uncertainty. He waited, but Michelle did not speak again. “Well,” he said eventually, “I should get going. I just wanted to grab these flyers and then I was going to try to use the rest of my prep to try and put together a mini-unit for Halloween.”

At this, Carlos looked up, “What are you thinking?”

TK shrugged, “I was leaning towards Poe. Always a classic, and in my experience, kids have always liked his stuff.”

“I have some materials you could use, if you’d like. I’ve done that before, so I have most of the stuff in one of my binders.”

“Really?” he didn’t even bother to hide the surprise in his voice.

Carlos nodded, “Sure. You can stop by at the end of the day, if you’d like.”

TK hesitated. One the one hand, there was the pact he had made with himself: no distractions. On the other, there was a unit he wouldn’t have to plan. Which meant more prep time to spend on grading, which meant less work to take home.

“That'd be great, thanks. Room 214, right?”

As if he could have forgotten.

Carlos nodded in confirmation, “See you later then?”

“Absolutely.”

Then with a smile to the pair, TK was gone. He didn’t realize he was still grinning until he ran into Paul outside of his classroom. The other teacher looked at him suspiciously, “what has you looking so chipper?”

“Nothing,” TK said too hastily, judging by Paul’s look, “one of the other English teachers has materials I can use for a unit I wanted to do so as long as they work out, that’s an entire unit I don’t have to plan.”

Paul nodded appreciatively, “That’s a lucky break.”

TK nodded again before excusing himself and stepping into his own classroom. The rest of the day flew by and before he knew it he was seeing his last class out the door. Once they were gone and the hallway was mostly clear of students, TK grabbed his things and headed up to room 214. There’s a trophy case down the hall and he stops and anxiously checks his reflection before approaching the door to room 214. It’s open but TK hovered at the threshold nervously, knocking on the doorframe to get Carlos’s attention. He looked up from his desk and the smile that spread across his face at the sight of TK nearly had him holding onto the doorframe for support.

“Hey,” he said in what he prayed was a normal voice, “I was just here for those files, if you still wanted to give them to me?”

“Actually, I’ve changed my mind and you can’t have them.”

“Oh,” TK said, “I’ll just go then, sorry for—”

“TK, I’m kidding,” Carlos assured him as he stood up from his desk. “I offered them, didn’t I? Besides, we’re working on college essays and applications; there won’t be any time for Poe this year.”

“That’s a shame,” TK noted as he took a few tentative steps inside the room, “but I’m sure they’ll appreciate it when they have their applications done.”

“That’s the hope,” Carlos agreed, “but right now they’re not too fond of me.”

TK chuckled and Carlos looked up from the bookshelf he was scanning to see TK still standing a few feet from the door. “I don’t bite,” he deadpanned, “you can come in.”

TK laughed nervously and crossed the room, coming to a halt several feet away from Carlos. The other man continued scanning the shelf and upon finding what he was looking for made a triumphant noise before turning to face TK, holding out a binder. TK raised an eyebrow and took it, glancing over at the shelves that were filled with neat rows of binders all clearly labeled.

“You are aggressively organized,” he noted.

Carlos chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, “Yeah. I know it looks like a lot, but after switching grade levels a few times it’s the only way I can keep anything straight anymore.”

TK nodded as he slipped through the binder, “That’s fair. I used to have a lot of binders like that too, but I thankfully digitized them before I moved down here. I can’t imagine transporting all those across the country would have been fun.”

“No, I can’t imagine it would be. Guess it’s a good thing I have no intention of leaving.”

TK looked up from the binder to see Carlos studying him. He smiled at the other man, who returned it before settling onto the desk across from TK.

“I didn’t realize you were new to the area.”

TK nodded, “Just moved here from NYC about 2 weeks before school started.”

Carlos raised an eyebrow, “that’s ambitious.”

TK sighed and nodded. “Wouldn’t have been my first choice, but everything happened so fast. Thankfully everything has worked out pretty well so this may not be the horrific disaster I thought it would be.”

“That’s optimism for you,” Carlos observed dryly. “What brought you down here, if you don’t mind me asking.”

TK’s hand froze in its journey down the page he was reviewing as his other hand clenched the binder tightly.

“Just looking for a fresh start,” he said evenly, keeping his eyes firmly planted on the page before him and praying that Carlos could not hear the racing of his heart.

If Carlos noticed anything odd, he didn’t let on.

“That’s a big change. Did you come down here alone?”

“Just me, myself, and my boxes.”

“So why Austin then? I could be wrong, but it seems like a pretty big change from NYC.”

“I wanted to leave the city and try something new. I saw this opening here, researched the school, and decided it was worth a shot. What about you though,” he asked, switching gears and looking up from the binder, “Austin born and raised?”

“Yep, go Longhorns,” he said with forced enthusiasm. TK raised a skeptical eyebrow and Carlos pushed on, “never mind. So,” he continued, and TK noticed a change in his tone that had him looking up again, “leave anyone behind in New York?”

There was silence for a moment as their eyes met and they both knew what was really being asked.

“Just my dad.”

“Yeah, I only have my family too. But there’s a lot of them so that’s more than enough.”

TK smiled in spite of himself. “My mom’s in New York too, but she’s always traveling for work so really it’s always been just me and my dad. Honestly, leaving him there was the hardest thing about this move, and the only thing I regret.”

He paused in the wake of his words, surprised by how much he just shared with this near stranger but before he could dwell on it Carlos was giving him a reassuring smile that set his nerves at ease.

“Sounds like you’re close.”

“We are,” TK confirmed, voice growing softer as he thought about his dad. “He’s still my hero, always has been. He’s a firefighter, and I thought I wanted to be one when I was young too. But as I got older, I saw the toll it took on him and decided to take a different path. I still love and admire him for doing it though. I couldn’t picture him doing anything else.”

There was quiet in the room again. TK started to panic, thinking that maybe he shared too much (he still can’t believe he said any of that), but something about Carlos makes him feel so comfortable he hadn’t even noticed until the words were already out there. He’s about to apologize when Carlos speaks.

“I get that. My dad was a cop and it was the same way when I was growing up. He was larger than life and my hero; I wanted to be just like him. But then I got older and decided I didn’t like the reality of law enforcement as much as I had the concept. I decided I could do more good from inside a classroom and well, here we are.”

“Here we are,” TK agreed, “who would have thought?”

Carlos laughed appreciatively and the sound washed over TK with all the warmth of sunlight. He smiled back at him before turning his gaze back to the binder. The conversation flows easily between them and before TK knew it he caught a glance at his watch and let out a curse when he realized how late it had gotten. Carlos gave him a questioning look and TK gestured up at the clock, “We should have left ages ago. I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to hold you up; I’m sure you have things to do.”

“It’s fine, this was nice. Maybe if you stop by more often, we can chat in smaller increments. Otherwise I’m afraid this is just going to keep happening—I don’t think I’ll be able to let you go quickly if I don’t think there is a chance of it happening again within the next year.”

TK rolled his eyes, “Well excuse me for being busy settling into a new school.”

Which was a reasonable excuse. There is no way anyone would suspect he had been avoiding the other man (even though he absolutely had been).

Still, this had been nice.

He fingered the strap of his bag as he picked it up, “maybe we can continue this during lunch tomorrow? I’d like to actually ask you some questions about the materials, which is what I came here to do before we got sidetracked.”

Part of TK was praying he would say no.

Instead, he grinned, “sure, I’d like that. Until tomorrow then, Mr. Strand.”

“See you then, Reyes.”

And with a wave, he was gone.

His heart was still racing as he climbed into his car. He leaned against the seat and sighed. Operation avoid Carlos Reyes had officially crashed and burned. This was a terrible idea; he should find a reason to cancel tomorrow and go back to avoiding him as much as possible. This was a risk he didn’t need to be taking.

But even as he sat here, he couldn’t ignore the warm feeling of the aftermath of a pleasant conversation. His mind was shouting at him that this was a terrible idea, but he was having a harder time believing it with every passing second. His rules said no dating, but there was no reason they couldn’t be friends, right?

[Continue Reading on ao3]

#911 lone star #911 lone star fic #tarlos fic #my writing #userkimmy #userjilly #userac #usermaximus #sunshinestrand #lonestarbabe #lire-casander #bellakitse #sneetchestoo #reyesstrand #moviegeek03 #captainstennerstar #tarlosbuddie

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blackgwenstacy · 4 years ago

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Haha I saw the post where you explained the difference between Leo and Annabeths intelligence and how they'd be in a highschool setting and as someone who's struggling a bit in school I was wondering if you could possibly maybe gimme some tips on finessing the system please 👉👈

i’m not sure how long this has been in my inbox because tumblr never sent me a notif for it, so first of all sorry about that!! secondly: i’ll try my best to give tips but 1) it’s been a while since i was in high school, 2) i’m not exactly sure if my advice will be remote-learning-proof, and 3) these will all be based on the U.S. school system

take advantage of lenient teachers. sounds horrible but it’s true. you hear that one english teacher lets people hand in essays 2 weeks late? request to be put in their class. that one math teacher always curves really big tests? request to be put in their class too. does that one science teacher always give extra credit? do the extra credit. also! if you’re struggling in a subject and your teacher is just absolute shit, hit up another teacher in their department. trust me, they know just as much as you how much your teacher sucks. they’ll help you out if you ask nicely.

take honors/ap/dual enrollment classes. so every school is different so this may not apply to some, but if your school is anything like my alma mater, these classes are weighted more than regular ones. passing these classes with high grades will help your GPA immensely. personally, i would recommend taking dual enrollment, because as long as you pass the class you’re guaranteed that college credit, which will save you a shit ton of tuition money and time in the long run. but they are structured like actual college classes, so if you feel like you can’t handle that then do not do it.

for ap classes. yeah reading the textbook and taking notes is great. but take practice tests. they’re structured just like your actual AP test will be in may, and the curriculum percentages are almost the same. if your practice test for AP Psych was like 20% cognitive psychology, and you suck at cognitive psychology. . .you should probably study cognitive psychology. it really helps you narrow down what you need to focus on and what you don’t. tests and practice questions are usually available on college boards website i think. or find an illegal pdf of a practice book. either works.

figure out how the gpa system works. what i mean by this is: my first few years of high school, i used to push for all A’s every single quarter, because our grading periods were nine weeks long. however, around junior year i realized that the only grades that affected our GPAs were the semester grades, aka the grades from the first two quarters averaged out. once i learned this, i would purposefully strive for either a high B or a high A. for example, if i knew the first nine weeks for a class was going to be super easy, i would strive for a 98-100 percent. then the second nine weeks, i would slack off and aim for at least an 85 percent. that way, my final semester grade would average out to at least a 91%. my school didn’t do A+/-, so this gave me 4.0 in the class for that semester. bonus points for finessing this in AP classes, which I did a bunch of times.

for the love of god, cheat. LISTEN. i do not mean blatantly look off someone’s test, or plagiarize an essay from the internet. that’s dumb. what i mean is this: split homework answers between your friends and then change the wording around a little. if you have a tedious worksheet, put a question word for word in google. usually, a pdf of an answer key will pop up, because teachers are stupid sometimes, OR, a quizlet with the answers will pop up, because students have each other’s backs. you really don’t need to waste your time on tedious busy work. focus on shit you really need to learn.

in regards to sat/act/and other stupid placement tests. fucking. please don’t stress yourself out over these, first of all. second of all, try and take them early so you have scores in time for college app deadlines. also, like i said before, practice tests are your best friend. don’t buy sat/act prep books. google is free. khan academy has free sat prep. if you can, take pre-calculous or trigonometry the same year you plan to take the sat/act. a lot of those math concepts appear on the tests. don’t pay for the writing portion of either test. counselors are gonna say that colleges look at the essay section. spoiler alert: they don’t, because the essay section doesn’t affect the total score. for sat, only aim to take it twice. study for the reading/writing section the first go around. study for the math section the second time. a lot of times schools will take your best scores from each section and superscore them. and lastly, never leave a question unanswered. bubble it in and mark it if you really need to go back to it.

i know these tips might not all be applicable, because every school is different. this is just from my personal experience. but i hope this was helpful overall. remember kiddos: work smart, not hard.

#long post #asks #our-weepingalpaca-universe #high school advice #high school #high school tips #tips

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whathebash · 4 years ago

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⌠ BOOBOO STEWART, TWENTY-THREE, CIS MALE, HE/HIM ⌡ welcome back to gallagher academy, SEBASTIAN “BASH” STEWART! according to their records, they’re a SECOND year, specializing in KNIFE FIGHTING SKILLS, SWORD TRAINING, PRECISION SHOOTING, FIREARMS & SWAT TRAINING + MEDICAL TRAINING; and they DID NOT go to a spy prep high school. when i see them walking around in the halls, i usually see a flash of (messy manbun, lips pressed together tightly, head stuck in a thick book). when it’s the (cancer)’s birthday on 6/30/1997, they always request their VEGAN CHEESESTEAK from the school’s chefs. looks like they’re well on their way to graduation.

NAME: James Belikov Sebastian Stewart

KNOWN AS: Bash

BIRTHDATE: June 30, 1997

ASTROLOGY: Cancer sun / Taurus moon / Aquarius rising

HOMETOWN: Fredonia, AZ

RESIDENCE: Roseville, VA ( Gallagher Academy )

GENDER: Cis male ( he/him )

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Bisexual

HEIGHT: 5'8"

HAIR COLOR: Dark brown

EYE COLOR: Dark brown

TATTOOS: coordinates of Munich ( where his parents had been killed ) on the inside of his right arm, a paw print on the bottom of his arm/shoulder, a Japanese quote on his side, an eagle on his back between his shoulder blades, a band around his left arm

KNOWN LANGUAGES: English, Russian, Japanese, Spanish, & some German, French, Italian

IMMEDIATE FAMILY:

Vladislav Belikov: Father, Blackthorne alum and former Brotherhood member turned spy for hire, deceased

Rosemarie Belikov: Mother, spy for hire, deceased

Aurora Belikov Spencer Stewart: Younger sister, second year at Gallagher Academy

Clarissa Belikov Summer Stewart: Younger cousin sister, second year at Gallagher Academy

BACKGROUND.

Sebastian Stewart was born James Belikov, the eldest son of two spies whose world-renowned families had been in the business for generations. Him and his sister Aurora lived fairly sheltered on their Arizona ranch for the first few years of their life, cut off from civilization, with only their parent's visiting friends as rare guests. From a young age they both were groomed by their parents to be the absolute best, and nothing less. Jay Belikov grew up with a gun in his hand before he learned how to ride a bike, and instead of receiving a car for his sixteenth birthday, his parents let him and his sister join them on professional missions.

Even before they were old enough to assist on missions, the Belikovs often let their son and daughter travel along with them to wherever the mission was, only staying back in Arizona when the stakes were too high. They had never known spy prep schools or universities like Gallagher or Blackthorne existed until their family friends began enrolling, and the news trickled down to them. Their parents had always been very adamant that the schools were useless, and the best training they could receive was by their sides, where they were treated like professionals. It was a position most budding spies would kill for.

From a young age, he had always hated the spy life. Part of it stemmed from the fact that he was never given a choice in what he wanted to do with life; his parents were world-renowned spies, like their parents, and their children would be the same. Him and his sister had grown up where failure was not an option, nor was arguing. His parents, though both kind and caring in their own way, made it clear that if they wanted out of the spy life, that meant losing them for good. And while he didn't always agree with them, family was EVERYTHING to him. So he learned to push down his own feelings and keep on trekking, for the sake of his family.

In May, his parents had been on a mission when he and his sister were given word that they had been killed on the job, and were immediately sent into witness protection. It wasn't until being contained that they learned a little more : their deaths hadn't had anything to do with their most recent job, but likely due to a previous one that James, Clarissa and Rory potentially participated in. Being placed in witness protection was for their safety, and with it came new identities. Sebastian -- who insisted on going by Bash -- was devastated and in shock, but he had hoped that maybe this would mean a reason to be pushed into the normal world, one where he could leave the spy world for good. Instead, him, Aurora ( now Spencer ) and Clarissa ( now Summer ) were detained at a facility for six months, where they were unable to see any friends or family, have contact with the outside world, or do anything that could be considered a security breach before being sent to Gallagher Academy.

GALLAGHER ACADEMY.

Bash and his sisters joined Gallagher Academy halfway through the fall semester, thrown into majors they didn't pick and classes that had already finished midterms. For a boy who had never been to an organized school before, to say it had been culture shock would be an understatement. However, it turned out that school was actually… something he liked ? Not the classrooms and curriculum themselves, but being in a place with other people his age, all with similar backgrounds as him, and -- even better -- ones with different backgrounds. Though he's met quite a few spy families through his parents, seeing them had always been few and far between, making it a very alienating lifestyle. It was nice to be around people his own age, and though shy, Bash had been able to make friends and start a life for himself.

At the beginning of the new year, Bash had been able to change one of his majors from combat to medical training, an area that's always interested him from a young age ( unfortunately, he was probably the only boy in America who had parents who didn't want him to be a doctor ) . He also entered a relationship -- his first ever -- with a girl he had been penpals with when he was younger. Of course, he couldn't tell her that he was her old friend Jay, though the truth always finds a way of coming out. She learned the truth on the night of the Valentine's Day party, causing a rift between them right in time for the three day school-wide lockdown and murder of his very own roommate. Eventually they reconciled and he told her the whole truth, and she became one of two people outside him and Spencer who knew the truth about his identity.

That wasn't the only twist in the semester, unfortunately. A few months later, an email blast was sent around with names of previous members of the Brotherhood, a terrorist organization that had targeted Gallagher once before, and had now returned. Bash's father had been on that list. This was all news to him, who had never thought his father had anything to do with spy schools, based on how he had been raised. With his Uncle Jack ( not related, just a close family friend ) at Gallagher as one of the alumni mentors, he had been able to learn the truth : his father had actually attended Blackthorne Institute. Once that bubble had been popped, Bash slowly began to see his parents in a new light.

After a particularly challenging semester, Bash had been happy to get invited to Berlin for a summer internship -- not because of the experience, but because he and Spencer still had no home to return to while school was out. They've officially been in witness protection for a year, and as far as they were aware, no strides had been made in their parent's case, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. Bash asks his encryption major girlfriend to look into the deaths of his parents, and from hacking into the German Intelligence's system, she was able to find that they had been killed in Munich, at the hands of an assassin -- and Bash's roommate's father.

So the hunt to learn more about their deaths and the potential danger he and Spencer are in continues, all while Bash is beginning to get blackmailed by an anonymous source that knows about him and his sister's past... and threaten to expose it. He hasn't told anybody about it, not wanting to worry them, but with so many moving parts going on in his life -- as well as an unknown future -- Bash is beginning to lose control.

PERSONALITY.

Bash is a quiet kid, not one to say much. After being homeschooled his entire life and being surrounded by nobody but his family, he’s pretty socially awkward around strangers and new people. His way of getting around it is keeping his head down and trying not to make waves, which is exactly what he does at Gallagher, though he has since found himself with more friends than he ever thought possible.

He had been raised not as an individual, but as one cog in the machine, and he always considered himself as such. His own individuality and thoughts and feelings had never really been something Bash had to take into consideration, so he's still really trying to figure out who he wants to be. Above all, he wants to get out of the spy world, but even with his parents being gone, he's afraid of ruining their legacy and losing his sister in the process. Now that his parents are gone, he wants more than ever than to make them proud.

Bash is very non-confrontational and passive, a textbook people pleaser. You could pour soup into his lap and he'd apologize. He's a great friend, and an amazing listener ( the type to actually remember when you tell him things ) , but as a conversationalist ? He could be better.

MORE INFORMATION / HEADCANONS.

He's fluent in Russian because it's his father's native language, and knows Japanese because of his mother.

Bash is fiercely protective of his little sister Spencer, even though he knows she can take care of herself.

Of all the different lessons and skills his parents had taught him, Bash has always been best at hand-to-hand combat, excelling above most men his age. There's rarely a fight that he'll lose -- it's one of the reason he switched out of combat major to something different, because he didn't love the attention that came with it. He rarely fights or works on his combat skills, though he's always willing to help a friend out who needs it. He's a great tutor.

What he's not good at is anything that involves cracking a textbook. Bash is an undiagnosed dyslexic, so reading and writing has never been his strong suit. Luckily, when you're homeschooled by crazy spy parents, it's not really a skill that's needed.

For his most recent birthday, his Uncle Jack had gifted him a fishing boat that he had previously owned, named after James himself. Don't ask me where it is right now because I have no idea.

He's been a vegan since he was sixteen. His mother had been a vegan for as long as he could remember, so even before he fully made the change, it was often all he ate. Bash was a total mama's boy, as if that's any surprise.

CURRENT & WANTED CONNECTIONS HERE.

#gallagher:intro #this one isn't as good bc ya girl got LAZY

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ethospathoslogan · 6 years ago

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okay so this is definitely me self-projecting but i haven’t been able to stop thinking about roman and logan as “””competing””” english teachers. like, i know it’s common to have logan as a science teacher and roman as the drama/choir teacher!!! which i love!!! but i also think the two would make great english teachers

they both teach 9th grade english, roman also teaches 10th grade english, and logan teaches 12th grade ap english literature

logan’s favorite books in his curriculum are the great gatsby and the lord of the flies. honestly, though, he gets frustrated teaching them because the curriculum and ap test make him hammer out “the green light is symbolic for what” and “who does simon represent” so much that his students can’t have fun with the books. so, after the ap exam, he hosts a game of “survivor” amongst his 12th graders where they all compete in teams and take on various challenges (scavenger hunt/jeopardy/riddles/etc) and, as students are “eliminated,” the final surviving student wins five points to their overall average and also logan buys them a lunch of their choosing

(my old high school did that but we didn’t do it in ap lit and im still sad abt that)

roman’s favorite thing to teach is anything shakespeare. he’s a sucker for romeo & juliet but he also loves twelfth night to no end. he casts his students as the characters and does his best to get them involved and interested in what they’re reading. when students are nervous about being seen as weird or dumb for getting into the plays, he’s like, “so what! have fun! who cares what others think!” also, at the completion of the plays, he shows the ‘90s r&j (yeah the one with leo) and she’s the man (im reading twelfth night now for college and i was amazed to find out that she’s the man is deadass twelfth night)

their classrooms are next to each other and every student of theirs Knows that shit is gonna go down each class period

like when both of their freshman classes were doing romeo & juliet and roman’s mercutio was absent the day he was supposed to do the queen mab monologue??? roman took over and. oh boy. logan had to shut his door bc “dammit roman you’re being too loud and my students are only on scene two of act one, you’re spoiling everything”

when roman teaches catcher in the rye to his 10th graders, roman makes so many slights at logan. “oh yeah, mr. sanders, what a phony, amiright, kids? don’t worry, i won’t tell him you agreed”

this makes his students think that he hates logan. when a student finally steps up and asks roman, roman’s like, “wait what? mr. sanders is my best friend. my ride or die. he bought me coffee this morning.”

during his seniors’ free periods, they typically come to logan’s class to have him proofread their college essays and other papers. roman typically waltses in (because, i must repeat, their classes are next to each other) and gets all nostalgic because he had a lot of logan’s seniors as former students.

“oh, valerie, terrence, leo! i had all of you and it felt like so long ago and-” “mr. prince, please, i am trying to read their essays.”

everyone expects logan to be the hard-ass and roman to be the super easy going teacher. this results in a lot of students being, at first, terrified of logan and ready to take advantage of roman.

and then they learn that logan is the teacher most likely to throw random bagel/pizza parties (he believes that it’s positive reinforcement) and roman is notorious for pop quizzes when his students don’t read (most of them end up not being counted, he just needs to put his foot down occasionally)

both of them are well respected teachers and their students typically come to both of them to talk about things. students like logan’s honesty and how he tries to realisitically assist his students in things going on in their lives. with roman, they like his optimism and how he encourages all his students to pursue their dreams.

(true story based on something that happened to my old english teacher) bet you thought that, because roman is an english teacher, he has no connection to theater, right? well, you thought wrong!!! roman is also the director of the school’s plays and musicals. during musical season, roman rallies some of his leads and ensemble members and crashes logan’s freshmen class with a performance. logan is shooting daggers at roman from his desk. the freshmen are entertained and also slightly terrified. roman is having the time of his life. the musical opens the next night.

to get revenge, logan sticky-notes roman’s entire classroom. roman’s desk, students’ desks, the bookcases, even the walls. every single thing in and on roman’s desk has been sticky-noted. no one ever finds out how logan had the time to do it in one night, nor where he got all the sticky notes from.

when roman found his classroom, he actually dropped his coffee. he waited in line at starbucks for ten minutes. he is going to kill logan.

anyone who has logan as a teacher is told that they need to try to get roman, and vice versa. students of both teachers can never choose a favorite.

they both go to graduation, even though roman hasn’t had many of those students for years. they both are extremely emotional.

logan is definitely the type of teacher to be like “in this classroom, we’re professional. you cannot have my twitter or my instagram or anything because i am your teacher and you are my student. and- oh, wait, you’re graduating right? oh shit then here take my number, here’s my snapchat and my twitter handle, retweet my pinned tweet.”

it is through this that logan’s graduating seniors discover that roman and logan have been engaged for eight months.

(patton, the 12th grade ap calculus and 9th grade geometry teacher, is logan’s best man. virgil who is either the art teacher or a history teacher i haven’t decided yet is roman’s.)

#roman sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides #logince #headcanons #stuff i write

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purplesurveys · 5 years ago

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640

Your name, please? Robyn. Are you heartbroken right now? No, my heart’s doing okay. If so, how long have you been heartbroken? Do you like the area you live in? I like that it’s a lot quieter than the metro, but we get everything we could also get in the city nonetheless. Right now it’s just a little unsettling since the Taal Volcano erupted and we have ashfall land all over our house, but otherwise where we live is pretty decent and uneventful for the most part. Do you ever get complimented on your eyes? What color are they? It’s not my strongest feature so no, not really. They’re dark brown/almost black.

What facial feature do you like the best on a person? Everyone has their different strong suits, so. Do you like to be called baby? Only by my parents and my girlfriend, because otherwise that would be creepy. What is your favorite flower? I like roses, sunflowers, and peonies. Idk, my answers to this question changes every time so it’s safe to say they’re only my favorites today. When did you last use the restroom? Five minutes ago. I went before starting this. How long is your hair? Pretty long. I haven’t had it cut since late in 2018; if I throw my head slightly back it already reaches my hips. I plan to keep it long until my graduation shoot, so I won’t be going to the salon for at least another month. Do you have braces? I used to. Do you have any freckles? Nope. What is your favorite Internet meme? There was a local meme going around last week and it involved people making hilarious puns out of celebrity names and pairing them with Photoshopped pictures of the celebrities to match the pun – for example, a local celeb named Rico Blanco was styled as Rico Blanket and a photo of him was shopped so that he’s in bed wrapped in a blanket :(((( OK IT DOESN’T SOUND FUNNY RN but all the entries were hilarioussssss I swear. Unfortunately everyone hopped on the meme train and it died in like a week. How many windows does your room have? Two big windows but each have four tiny window panes in them that can be opened. Do you have a rug in your room? What color is it? No. My dog likes peeing on rugs so we don’t like having them laying around. What is the weirdest animal you've ever held? I don’t think any animal is weird... but the coolest ones I’ve ever held are a snake, an eagle, a sea turtle, and a crocodile. The first three I got to meet in Bali, and the crocodile was from Palawan. Do you get extremely hyper when under the influence of sugar? No. I never really believed in that either. What about caffeine? I get pretty talkative, yes. I also talk like I have built-in exclamation points lol. Have you ever tried any drugs? If so, did you regret it? No, I haven’t. Do you have any pregnant friends? None of my friends are, but I can never be sure anymore when it comes to people I know. I always say no to this question, then sooner or later someone I know gives birth kfdgkdjfhd like a classmate from high school just had her third kid and no one even had any idea she was pregnant again. Guess I’ll just keep answering this question with a shrug. Have you seen anyone lately that you knew but didn't remember from where? Yeah, this was me for a few seconds when I arrived in my history class for our first day last Friday and I saw several people that I knew I know, but I had to recollect my thoughts. I eventually remembered who they were, but for a few seconds I was stumped. When was the last time you toilet papered or egged someones house? I’ve never done this, because you don’t do this in the Philippines. Do you usually dress up for Halloween? Some years I would. When ordering food, what do you usually get as a drink? I always get ala carte because I only drink water (I get full quicker if I have any other drink), and service water is always there. Put your favorite color and favorite animal. EX: Silver walrus Pink dog. When drawing something, do you try to be super precise or do you not care? I don’t care for drawing and am aware of just how bad I am at it, so I barely make any effort when I have to. When was the last time you snapped at someone? Sunday morning. My mom was playing a mobile game where the character will only be able to move if you scream, so she was screaming her ass off at 7 AM and I was worried it would wake the neighbors up. Does it bug you when people clap with their palms? HAHAHAHAHA like Nicole Kidman? Oh man. I’ve never actually seen someone clap the way she did in real life, so I don’t know if it would bug me. I know it’d send me laughing, though. Have you hugged anyone today? Just my dog. Classes have been suspended because of the Taal erupting, so I’m not seeing anyone else today. How many languages do you know how to say 'happy birthday' in? Filipino, English, Spanish, French, and Korean, so make that five. What language would you like to learn that you don't already know? Korean, just because I watch so many Korean shows as it is lmao. Are you able to take this language at your school? Yes, but it’s not required in my curriculum so I’ve never taken a Korean language elective. Have you ever been into a bar? Yes, I’ve always preferred bars to clubs so I’ve gone to a lot of them. What ethnicity are you? Broadly, Austronesian. But specifically, I’m Filipino, and even more specifically, Tagalog. How much makeup do you wear? None. I usually wear makeup only for special events, or if I absolutely had to, like for my graduation shoot. If you could fly, what kind of wings would you have? I’d like pink sparkly ones please hahahaha. Write some lyrics from the song stuck in your head right now. Nothing’s playing in my head at the moment. Do you like that song? Would you describe yourself as 'fiesty'? You mean feisty? I can bring out that side of me if I have to, but I’m not naturally it. How corny is High School Musical in your opinion? Pretty fucking corny. But I love the series and it’ll always be an important part of my childhood, so I’m never going to hate it. Have you actually read Twilight? Yes. I don’t know how I started getting into it though; I just remember it became insanely popular in the fourth grade and all of a sudden I wanted the Twilight boxed set for Christmas. What about Harry Potter? Yes, I read most of the books. My sister got into HP when she was aroundddd 10-11ish and my parents also got her a boxed set, so I borrowed each book after she finished them. Out of the two, which is better? Twilight.

Name a member of the Beatles! Ringo Starr. Who was the name of your first crush? My first real crush was Andi. How long ago was that? Eleven years ago. Do you still know that person? She migrated to New Zealand nine years ago, so we got disconnected for a long time and that’s when we got cut off. We’re Facebook friends now, but it’s never been the same. Happy for her, though. Can you handle your emotions very well? Usually I can, but when I’m at my breaking point then I’m at my breaking point. How often do you read books? Once every five years :(( JK uhhhhh I read loads, just not from books, and particularly not anything fictional. Are you the jealous type? I can be when there’s reason to, yep. Are you the type of person who gets jealous of people's pasts? No. And usually people regret their past, so I don’t feel jealous about that. Have you ever gotten an ear infection from riding an airplane? No. My ears were incredibly uncomfortable during my first plane ride though, and it didn’t help that I was already panicking long before the flight started. Anyway, my ears never fully ~popped and I was like 80% deaf for the entire plane ride. When was the last time you witnessed someone throw up? The last time someone threw up, it was me lol. But if we’re gonna be strict about the question, it wassssss last April I think. When was the last time YOU threw up? Sometime around May last year. Do you know anyone who faints at the sight of blood? ME. I’m anyone who faints at the sight of blood. Maybe not literally faint but I do feel super nauseous and weak and dizzy and I’d sometimes gag too. Hmm. I wonder how those girls have their period. Yeah well it’s not a very fun 3-4 days for me, my dude. Don't you just love the Cottonelle puppy? I don’t know what that is. Can you do any 'magic' tricks? No. Do you know how to play Checkers? I used to as a kid, because we used to have lots of board games. But since it was the game we barely ever played, I eventually forgot the rules. What clubs are you in at school? I’m in one of the two journalism organizations, and I also joined the graduation committee this year so that I get to contribute something for our batch :) What do you fear most in this world? Either falling from a very high place or drowning. And injections. What do your siblings fear most in this world? I know my sister is afraid of big crowds, chaotic situations, and small spaces. I don’t know what my brother fears, nor do I really care. What was the last sentence you heard anyone say? I’m listening to a mukbang ASMR right now and the last thing the girl said was her basically describing what she’s about to eat. Is Taylor more of a boy's name or a girl's name? I know we’re not supposed to care about this anymore, but if I really had to think about this question I see it as a boy’s name. But I also see that it works on girls just as nicely, so. What about Dylan? Boy’s name. But it sounds so badass on girls, and I prefer it as a girl’s name. What colors are the eyes of your family members? Dark brown/black. Filipinos all look the same, dude. Are you related to anyone with red hair? No. Do you know anyone with super super green eyes? Other than celebrities, no. What color was your hair when you were little? It has always been black. What color is it now? ^ Were you a chubby baby? I was a pretty chubby young kid especially from the ages of 3-5, but I was an okay-sized baby/toddler. I’d be surprised if I was chubby considering my mom and dad are both slim. What is your favorite mythical creature? Not a fan of those. Do you know anyone with a mullet? No, I don’t think so. Put down a random word here. Watermelon. What is your favorite fruit? Avocado. Now what is your favorite flavor of lollipop? Chocolate. If you combine your 2 above answers and make a perfume would it smell good? Probably not. They’re so different. Do you always feel like you have to be the best? Yes. That’s why I always take it hard when I end up not being that. Are you looking forward to summer? Yes, because I’ll get to rest. No, because it will be my last summer until I die. Are you wearing socks right now or are you barefoot? I’m barefoot. Socks always feels like they’re there, and I don’t like that feeling. What's on your favorite necklace? I’m not regularly wearing any necklace these days. How many hours of sleep did you get last night? Around seven, which is okay for me. Which is better: gingerbread or butterscotch? Caramel or peanut butter? Nutella or chocolate? Do you own an iPad? We own a family iPad, but no one’s used it in a while. I was the one who used it last as a means to work and communicate, back when I broke my phone and didn’t have a new laptop yet in my first year of college. I honestly hope that iPad never dies on us, since there’s a load of great memories there. Do you watch Glee? No and as someone who hates song covers, I think I’m better off not watching it skksjfdhgfg. How hard is it for you to get out of bed in the morning? When that day would require me to do something I dread, like attend a class I hate, it will be a lot harder for me to get up. But generally I’m pretty okay, as long as I set my alarm 30 minutes to an hour before I actually have to get up so that I have enough time to properly wake up. How many books are in the current room you're in? I’m in the dining room so there are zero books around. Have you ever witnessed an aircraft break the sound barrier? No. I also never really knew what that means, but I know I’ve never seen that. Do you keep a sketchpad in your room? I don’t draw, so I never needed one. Is there anything you do right before you go to sleep? Put water on my dog’s bowl – he likes drinking before we doze off. What color is your favorite purse? I only use one and it’s pink. How much money is currently in your wallet? ₱2,000. Do you get an allowance? Yes. How many songs are on your iPod? Don’t use an iPod these days. Do you usually have sweet dreams or nightmares? My dreams are either weird or nightmares. I never get any sweet ones. How has the weather been lately? It’s a little gloomy and cloudy. I don’t know if it’s an effect of the volcano eruption nearby, or if the weather is just like this. When was the last earthquake you felt? It was either August or September.

#survey #surveys

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the-studying-coffee-addict · 5 years ago

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Hello, students of all ages! Since I graduated, I knew that I wanted to share advice with you guys and it will cover from studying to life and everything in between. So here it is, enjoy!

School:

Figure out what school works for you and your life: This is probably the first thing I normally tell people. Researching the schools that you want to go help narrow down your choices. Make sure that reading details carefully is also important for full understanding. There may be schools that offer specific majors that others may not, so make sure that there’s a full understanding of what the schools offer before making a decision.

Find out your major (and it’s okay to change it later): Knowing of what to major in can be difficult for people to narrow down. There are some people that double major in their college career. If you’re unsure of what to major in, try thinking of what career field you want to be in and find the major that is required. Remember, you choose how you live your life, even choosing your major.

Know what expectations are for the classes you’re taking: Not every professor will be laid back or chill. The work can be difficult and hard to understand. Make sure that on syllabus day you are focused and take notes on the syllabus for later use. As long as you are trying in the class and talking to the professor, you should be fine. Getting a tutor does not make you any less than you are now (I had to have a tutor for my last quarter to help with my French. Was it degrading? No, not one bit. Did it help? Yes.) Talk to some people you may have the class with, join or create a study group. Everyone is in the class with the same goal: to learn.

Find a group, club, or organization to join: This one was a bit hesitant for me because being an introverted person (well, extroverted introvert), it took me until my junior year of college to join something I was passionate in doing. (I’m not going to lie, I didn’t know specifically what I wanted to do until late sophomore year into junior year specifically anyway). I found an organization, Her Campus, that helped me do what I love: writing/editing and helped me learn the skills I needed to learn. I knew that I wanted to work in magazines by the time of me finding HC and when it was brought to Tech (Louisiana Tech University), I knew I had to do it. Since then, I got the opportunity to make my work published through an official online blog that can be seen nationally and internationally, work with the best girl gang on campus, and be able to see what I could create.

Find different study tactics to help you: Ever since I created this studyblr, I found different study tactics: from printables to schedules and everything in between. My go-to for studying were printables. I used ones from @theorganisedstudent ‘s essay planner (I swear by these because I majored in English and used these for every paper I wrote), weekly planner (to help with planning out commuting times, working, and study schedule around class times). I used @studyquill ‘s To-Do List, I constantly used this to make sure I kept track of all assignments and due dates and everything that popped up like random assignments to thought like “ extra credit assignment”. @emmastudies has a lot of wallpapers (which are adorable and amazing) I use those 100 percent of the time. The calendars are chic and available as well, I use the yearly ones. I see in the Studyblr community that people use the bujo templates for journaling, calendars, lists, etc. I didn’t have the skillset, time/patience to try it, but I may over the summer to see how it can turn out. I worked at a ratio of studying for 45 minutes and taking a break for 15 minutes. This helped me stay focused and know when to take a break without thinking about stopping. Remember that everyone is different and use what works for YOU.

Take classes that you’re interested in: When you take classes that are interested in helps make learning fun. Now, there are required classes that are not in your interests and that happens. Try to find something that makes the course interesting. I would watch documentaries for history classes and watch videos (typically short Youtube videos) for psychology. This also helped me with troubling subjects as well.

ALWAYS be prepared: the most important thing I did at the beginning of the quarter I would gather all the info I was giving off the syllabi and make a checklist. My checklist would have “electronics (computer, phone, maybe iPad) and chargers, planner, books, homework assignments, snacks/lunch, and headphones”. I brought these items with me every time I went to school. Now I wasn’t perfect, I still forgot things and I tried to make sure if I had extra chargers or headphones, I put them in a bag or specific holder (similar to this holder). For paperwork of any kind, I kept them in folders of some sort and kept them where I could find them. When I was a freshman, I didn’t receive a curriculum sheet (the paper that had the class requirements) for my major (this was before I transferred) until the last semester before transferring. Since then, I’ve always kept a copy of one for myself and had it with me when I would go to advising for classes. It helped me keep track of what classes I needed to take and where I was at in my schooling. Review notes the night before, even if it’s right before you go to bed. Some professors require that you do the assignments before you get to class and it happens. Merge both previous notes and upcoming assignments in the same time frame to help make sure that you remember the last class’ lesson plus know about the new lesson. Try to plan ahead as best as you can in every way you can. Remember: not everything goes as planned, and there are more letters in the alphabet :)

Find a friend or two in each class: a trend at my university was making a GroupMe chat (or a chat of some kind) for classes in case we needed information. I’ve made a few friends in college and I even made friends with people internationally. Don’t stress over this factor cause sometimes it just happens. If you want to start a friendship or know someone, ask them about something in the class or about their major. This is a common icebreaker for college students. I also made friends with my professors because they were understanding, amazing, and open to helping students out.

Make a studying playlist: the best way to study is with classical/instrumental music because it keeps you focused and it won’t cause distractions. You can find playlists on Youtube, Spotify, and Pandora. Even create one for yourself. Music like soundtrack scores can also help

Look for internships and jobs ASAP: always be on the lookout for jobs, internships, even ask around to job shadow to see if you would like the career path. I found internships and I job shadowed while I was in school and it helped out tremendously. I did mine through Her Campus here.

Find your favorite spots on and off campus: there will be days when you’re going to be studying. Sometimes, being cooped up in your room doesn’t help you focus. Find a place that you’re comfortable being in: a coffee shop (mine was off campus), a student center, a place outside, anywhere where you can enjoy your surroundings and help you study. This can also be a sort of “time out” spot as well. If you have two places you like to be in, you can pick one to be a study spot and the other can be a wind-down spot.

Be realistic with yourself: know yourself, know the workload and responsibilities that are at task. If you can’t handle it, find ways to break it down and handle it. If it gets overwhelming, reevaluate yourself and your situation. College is NOT easy, it will test you and push you to become better- that’s the point.

Change is not always a bad thing: change can be scary and it can either push you to be better or scare you. Pick your decision on if the change will scare you or let it push you.

Know everything you sign up for: Financial aid, work-study, any contracts, etc. Know everything about anything that you sign up for because you want full awareness of the situation. You don’t want to be in a situation where you don’t get what you need or end up owing more than what you bargained for.

Keep receipts of EVERYTHING: when I got my first debit card, I was told to keep my receipts for bookkeeping. If there were a situation where I would need to return something, you would have the receipt. I use this method for everything in my life from keeping my bank statements in a binder to keeping up with any large payments like tuition payments. It helped me keep up with everything I needed to. If you feel like you should have a copy of something, ask for one. Never doubt your gut.

Look for deals on textbooks: there’s always somewhere where textbooks are cheaper. I used the school’s bookstore, Chegg, and Thriftbooks- these were all lifesavers.

Life:

It will not always be perfect: when I graduated from high school, I pictured that I would immediately jump into university like people would do in movies and books. Despite my efforts (and an endless amount of money and time in tutoring), I found myself not going into university and was able to go to community college (side note: there is nothing wrong with community college. If you are in this predicament, you are doing amazing and there is no shame in that). One: even though I was upset that I couldn’t make it how I imagined, I made a backup plan. My plan was to go to c.c. (community college) and then move up to uni (university). Two: I also found out that transferring was possible while in c.c. Even though it’s been four years later, I earned my Bachelor’s Degree and I don’t regret it.

Your situation may change: After my sophomore year, I made the decision to commute because it became expensive for me to live at uni. This may happen to you and that’s okay. I don’t think that moving back home was a bad choice. It did come with some up and downs like living an hour away from uni, spending more money on my car and its maintenance (plus gas), saving money for tuition, and being closer to family. Nothing is wrong with moving back home or even deciding to stay home during uni days. Don’t make matters worse for yourself for any reason.

Have fun, I mean it: college isn’t spending 24/7 on studying and going to classes (yes, please go to class- don’t skip class to have fun). You’re allowed to have fun. I managed my fun. I know myself enough to schedule my fun (and I had understanding friends that knew I took my studying seriously). There were some days where I would have no classes and would decide to use that time to work on assignments, papers, etc so that I could relax later. Or some weekends I would plan not to do anything (especially on Sundays- I call “Sunday Bumdays”) and take the day to unwind, work on self-care, explore, etc. If you can afford for one day of total nothingness, great. If not, try to attempt at a half-day. If you don’t have fun within your journey, it will look back on with either regret or disappointment.

Save money (and be strict about it): every penny matters. Save money for food, gas/ transportation, tuition/books, emergency savings, etc. There are going to be times where you will need money, even if it’s to grab lunch or go grocery shopping. Always have money in the bank and in your pocket. Find odd jobs to do or find a job if you need money. Most college students work part-time and go to school full-time. Don’t forget to treat yourself, and keep in mind to manage it so it doesn’t become a burden.

Learn things outside of the classroom: learn things about your campus, people, the town you’re in, everything. Learning about things around you can help make you feel comfortable, even if you live away from the campus. It’ll help appreciate the environment around you and give you a better experience.

Find a healthy hobby to do: I know college can be/will be exhausting. There is a solution to make sure that there is a healthy outlet for stress relief. Healthy hobbies such as exercise, photography, and exploring new things (crafting classes, movie nights, etc) can help relieve burn out and stress. Personally, I made this studyblr, I free wrote (writing with no agenda/reason), went to the gym, and walked around campus during sunset. I also wrote a short article on it here.

Make a routine: I made a routine to help keep myself busy, know what was going on for the day and to be prepared. The routine would vary for the days depending on my schedules for work and school.

If you need extra help, ask: there is nothing wrong with asking for help. Ask for it and don’t be afraid to.

Take care of your body in ALL forms: mentally, physically, spiritually, emotionally, etc. From skincare to getting check-ups. All of it matters and your body and mind are important.

Make a resume and keep up with it: you will learn how to write a resume and clean it to help get you jobs and track your experiences and skills. Don’t slack on it because it is an important tool you will need.

Work:

Don’t overwhelm yourself: work and school can be intimidating, especially when you’re involved with extracurriculars. Get a planner and make a plan for yourself. Remember: make time for yourself too.

Quirky things/ Etiquette:

thank you cards- I sent thank you cards to a bunch of people for different reasons. Like teachers- for teaching me things that helped me graduate, organizations that came to our booth for our organization that we hosted this year, people that gave me things like presents/ advice, and any job shadow/ internships- because it’s always nice to thank people that helped you along the way.

find things that are productive that doesn’t involve studying- you’ll go crazy without it and here.

organize your workspace- tips here

find stationary you love- it makes studying enjoyable even the worst subjects

say your “please”s and “thank you”s- I promise, it will go a long way. Even if you don’t use them, it can help a bad experience turn into a good one

don’t be afraid to think outside of the box- I’m serious, not everyone is traditional and that’s okay. Be comfortable with your life.

know the rules- yes there will be rules and weird ones that you will need to know/follow. There will also be protocols and policies to keep up with as well for things like on-campus living, rules of clubs/organizations, etc. Read them thoroughly.

don’t be rude- just don’t.

make business cards- it’ll make it easier for you in the long run and it’ll help you network

branch out- look for new things to get involved in like poem slams, video game battle meetups, yoga classes, things like that to help expand your taste and experiences.

College will be different for everyone. It can be a different journey that is taken and it can make all the difference. Make it the best years for you.

#college tips #college advice #studyblr #collegeblr #student help #thestudyingcoffeeaddict #collegelifehacks #lifehacks #college #tips and advice

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pavlovers · 5 years ago

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15 questions thing

much 💖💞💓💗💕 to diana @britneyshakespeare for tagging me

are u named after someone? ...i guess maybe? my aunt’s american name is nancy which feels weird to say bc ive never heard anyone call her that in my life (granted its not like ive met any of her coworkers or the like). really though my dad claims he was listing off girl’s names to my late grandmother (who didn’t speak english) to see what was easy for her to pronounce and nancy was the supposedly the one that stuck

last time i cried? think i told someone this in an ask a while back but yeah still when i was listening to a crow looked at me (2017) by mount eerie for the first time, pretty much every final line on every track on the album is just an instant tearjerker

any kids? no... and thank god too. maybe ill feel differently when im a lot older but like i really truly feel that i probably will never be able to handle the emotional responsibility of just having a child around

first thing i notice about a person? idk. whatever happens to be noticeable about them.

do i use sarcasm? i mean yeah of course when i feel like its appropriate

what’s your eye color? just brown :)

scary movies or happy endings? scary movies, although im sure you could argue many of them do in fact have happy endings

special talents? consuming cups of boba tea in less than 8 minutes and butchering the french language whilst attempting to sing along to francoise hardy

birthplace? where frisbees were invented

hobbies? absorbing useless bits of information via watching various documentary/informational style videos recommended to me on youtube about philosophy, linguistics, history, etc. oh and also just lying the hell down and doing absolutely nothing.

do you / have you played any sports? never, the absolute closest thing to my parents signing me up for anything fitness-related were swimming lessons held at my middle school’s pool when i was like 5,, and that did not turn out well (lets just say currently at age 16 i still do not know how to swim)

pets? a sole goldfish known as nemo. sometimes i think he can recognize me because he’ll swim up to wherever my fingers are at (on the glass or above his tank doesnt matter) when i come over to check on him. or maybe he just associates human fingers with giving him food idk

height? 5′3

fave subject in school? dont wanna brag but generally i feel like im a pretty good and well-rounded student so like i feel like i can enjoy and excel in almost any subject depending on the curriculum and how its being taught to me of course. so far though my favorite classes ive taken in high school have been english, psychology, and chemistry. (also my schedule for this upcoming school year just came out and i got the shakespeare and philosophy courses i requested so. we’re very excited for that ladies!)

dream job? doing research related to cognitive psychology/medicine or journalist who writes awful pop culture editorials

umm suppose ill tag @eleventh-earl @littlemisssweetdreams @rosecoloredvan @necromnce and @turnoffyourmind if any of them wanna

#tag thing

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chericaxlorenze · 6 years ago

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Now who's Lorenjeu?

Before you read, I'm already telling you this. This is pretty long! Enjoy!

Cherica Lorenze “Lorenjeu” C. Padullo was born on September 18, 1999. She was baptized at San Lorenzo Ruiz Chapel, Barangay Magay, Tanauan Leyte ten days after she was born. She got the name ‘Cherica’ from the combination of her parents’ names which are Cheryl and Erico (‘Che’ plus ‘Ric’ and added ‘a’ equals Cherica) and ‘Lorenze’ from the name of the Saint Lorenzo Ruiz. Cherica, or commonly known for her nickname as ‘Chika’. She started schooling when she turned five, at Barangay Buntay Daycare Center. When she was in Kinder 1, she was loved and cherished by her classmates because she was such a jolly, talkative and talented child. She started singing and dancing even before she started her pre-school education. She also joined dancing and drawing competitions when she was in Kinder 2 at Barangay Licod Daycare Center and developed her talents as she went her journey in elementary education. At seven years old when she was in first grade in Tanauan I Central School, her teacher discovered her skill in speaking and in delivery because she was also one of the fast-learners and fast-readers in her class. With that, her teacher trained her to compete for a declamation contest. With her joining, she was also recommended by her teacher in first grade and let her join again in second grade. In all her six years of elementary education, she was part of the English Month celebration by joining declamations and verse choirs. She was not just good in English but also, she was a consistent part of the Balagtasan during Buwan Ng Wika celebration from grades three to six. When she was just ten years old, she was the emcee of their school’s recognition rights 2011. Cherica proved that even how small she looks and how poor they are in financial aspects, she was a consistent honor student from kinder until her she grasped elementary graduation with flying colors. In such a young age, Cherica was used to be exposed in front of a big crowd because of those presentations and competitions. It had molded her self-confidence and competence that she used and carried until she reached junior high school. As the pioneer of the k-12 education, she was introduced to a kind of curriculum that was very new to her. She had made great adjustments however she was able to successfully cope with the different environment and teachings in Tanauan National High School. During her junior high school years that started in the year 2012 and ended in 2016, she didn’t stop dancing and was always part of the cultural show during the annual fiesta celebration of her town. She had experienced dancing to a festival, to playground demonstrations, hip-hop, cheer dance, interpretative dances, modern dances and of course, to k-pop dances. The stage was a big part of her junior high school years. She was also a debater and a spelling quiz bee participant. She was also always in charge of leading and preparing for verse choir competitions, choreographing dances and creating songs. On the other hand, she never sung to a singing competition but she lets her classmates hear her sing inside their classroom. She had never had a confidence to singing in a contest individually because she thinks her voice isn’t appropriate for things like that. However, she joins jingle competitions and jazz chants because it comprises several people. In terms of relationships between others,

Cherica had a large number of friends and acquaintances even though lots of people identify her as a ‘scary’, ‘moody’ and ‘intimidating’ one. She was such a serious person and most of the time, her classmates fear her especially when she was already the one speaking with authority. Despite the deep, scary and authoritative voice she had, she maintained having best buds and supportive classmates. Besides, being part of the special science class that had an elimination didn’t hinder them from creating good memories, camaraderie, and common understandings. Back when the super typhoon Haiyan smashed the entire Tanauan, the aftermath caused a lot of headaches to the townsmen because of the casualties it brought and how devastated the town was, especially our house that was no longer rebuilt until now. A month passed after the super typhoon, the Republic of Korea Army, Navy, and Marine, which was called the Araw Contingent at that time, helped our town rebuild our schools, police station, and other government properties. Aside from that, Cherica being an ultimate k-pop fan, she was able to have a lot of Korean friends and most specially, she was given the privilege of studying Korean Language at their basecamp in Palo, Leyte at the age of fourteen and took the TOPIK (Test On Proficiency In Korean) in Leyte Normal University for the first time. She always had that guts of learning new things, especially language, aside from English. When she had her moving up ceremony during junior high school, she was also an honor student. At summer 2016, Cherica started having her summer job, and the municipality of her town also the DOLE RO8 office, was the offices who took charge of giving them salaries. After that, she continued her senior high school education at Asian Development Foundation College. On that institution, that was where she found great friends. She enrolled in an academic track which was Humanities and Social Sciences and she never expected that she would experience a lot of crazy and various things she never thought of before. Her friends whom she called also as ‘family’ taught her different realizations in life. There, she thought of herself as already a mature person because of the experiences and involvements she had with those kinds of friends and classmates. Aside from improving and sharing her skills and talents, she was able to express herself and let others know what she wanted them to know. Cherica was again an honor student when she graduated her senior high school at the year 2018. In addition, Cherica had summer jobs starting from the years 2016 to 2018. After graduating from senior high school, Cherica got into Leyte Normal University and enrolled Bachelor in Secondary Education then took English as her major. Her first semester was such a pain in the neck because of the full loads given to them. Anyway, she also had time to study and learn Korean Language and be part of the Intermediate Class at Tacloban Korean Methodist Church. Most importantly, Cherica also became an Army ROTC Cadet Officer and graduated last November 18, 2018 also having an award as the rank 2 among 80 cadet officer graduates. When the second semester started, Cherica was given the opportunity again of showing her talents in singing and acting as she was part of the casts in their musical play adaptation of Tim Burton’s ‘The Corpse Bride”. Many people, even during their rehearsals, were cheering and praising her. She made those as her inspiration in always doing her best and always stayed humble. Now March 2019, Cherica is still facing the wrath of the second semester in her first year as a college student. Cherica is studying Korean Language again and is now in the Advance Class. She is also pressured as she is part of the SUT (Small Unit Tactics) in preparation of the coming tactical inspection of Army ROTC Unit of Leyte Normal University. Fingers crossed, Cherica is aiming to pass on her first year as a college student and be free from regrets and dismay. By the way, “Lorenjeu” is how Koreans speak her name Lorenze!

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legrandepapillon · 6 years ago

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Get In (thaurens)

Summary: In summary, high school math teachers are shit. Prompt: ‘Need a ride?’ Beginning Notes: yall thaurens is so cute tbh what are we missing out on here

John Laurens exits Kings High School with annoyance written clearly on his face and his backpack heavy with extra math homework. The wet wind howls wildly outside the safe haven of the school, trees bending in the direction of the stormy mess and lightning crackling overhead. He doesn't even bother stepping from under the canopy—it's obvious it's going to be pouring down rain soon. Of course, it would rain at 6 o'clock on an already terrible Monday, when he has to go pick his little sister up from the middle school. Internally, John curses his habit of running into terrible luck. If his stupid fucking Math teacher hadn't of held him back after class, if the man would have just waited until Friday when he knew Martha would ride home with her best friends for a sleepover, he wouldn’t be in this predicament. But no, apparently because he had come to the school in the middle of the school year, he desperately needed tutoring to even dare meet the level of curriculum that the other students were meeting. The douchebag probably had forgotten that he came from a Magnet school. The worst part is, he can't even call one of his best friends to come pick him up because his phone is dead—it had died while he was attempting to call Martha and let her know that she would have to call their father to pick her up. At least he'd been able to talk to his sister before his phone died, so hopefully Martha was home—safe from the storm. That still didn't explain how he would get home. Ready to give up and storm back inside to ask to use the phone—which he would have to give his ID number for, and explain why he needed to use a school phone after school hours, and blah blah blah—John turns on his heel with frustration written all over his face. But the sound of a car horn honking twitches his curiosity. Like every other human being, when a car honks, he has to look. John turns and looks over his shoulder for another student waiting to be picked up by an expectant parent or older sibling. Parked haphazardly in the parking lot—he can hear his father's voice complaining about poor drivers that take up two spaces, because this car takes four—is a boy. Man, actually—with unruly dark curls and flirtatious brown eyes, sitting in the driver's seat of an expensive looking black pick-up truck. From appearances, he looks to be a college kid—maybe one of the students that attend King’s college program in the mountains. His wrist is draped over the steering wheel lazily, and his chair is leaned so far back he can't possibly be able to see the streets. He would look like a normal college kid, if it weren't for his very wet hair and car interior—as if he'd driven his car with the windows rolled down. The boy honks again and smiles at him, popping his gum in his mouth. John cringes.

"Need a ride?” he offers, leaning over to open the passenger side door. Immediately, alarm bells are ringing in John' ears. Some random college kid is driving around, offering seventeen-year-old high school students rides in their shady looking pick-up truck. John may not have a lot of street smarts, but he was far smarter than that. Not to mention his counselor gave him the standard 'don't talk to strangers' talk when he enrolled, as if he were a child. John is about to answer with a snippy 'no' when two heads poke into the front, both of the boys seeming confused as to why they were stopping. Two sets of chocolate brown eyes both look him up and down before turning towards the driver. He knows those two students—James Madison and Aaron Burr, two of the most popular kids in the entire school. James was a campuswide name due to him being only a fifteen-year-old about to graduate, and Aaron was known for his ability to 'get around'. They both were Juniors—Aaron was on the varsity swimming team and James was the Engineering teams pride and joy. The point was, he sort of knew them, but he wondered why the Juniors were in the truck with this strange boy—who he still thought was pedophilic. "Thomas, let's go!" James whines, reaching over the steering wheel and honking his horn. The boy smacks his hand and glares at him. "Wait, he's trying to get laid," Aaron jokes. John flushes, hopes that his blush isn’t recognizable from where he stands. "Uh, no thanks," he answers, remembering the boys offer. "I was just going to call my mom."

John gestures lamely towards the school and makes to turn back around. Thomas chuckles and shakes his head, his wet mop of hair falling into his eyes. He opens his door, and hops out—to the sound of James' displeased groan—before running over to meet him under the canopy. Up close, John realizes his eyes aren't brown but the color of caramel—brown in essence, but speckled with different shades of green. They're actually extremely gorgeous. "Well, then, here's some advice," he says, whipping out what appears to be a brand new phone—he wonders how he can have the latest generation of Android and the latest year of car, figures he’s probably spoiled rich—and pulling up the weather forecast. "If you live in the Northeast, then there's no way she's coming out to get you—not if she doesn't want to crash into some bat shit crazy drivers—people like us. We just came from that way—streets are full on flooded, water came up to my calves. If she cares about her car, she'll wait until the rain lets up. Same for the East. West is the only place where it's not raining cats and dogs... yet. Look, I'm only offering you a ride because we're driving around and we saw you over here, looking like someone just ran over your puppy. And they're going to kick you off school ground at seven, then you'll be walking around here trying not to drown. Accept it or not—I'm trying to be nice." "How would you get me home if there's no way we're driving that way?" John asks, crossing his arms over his chest and narrowing his eyes. This entire situation is sketchy, but he proves some valid points. Plus, he sort of knows James and Aaron—they all had AP Physics together—and even if he doesn't know 'Thomas', then he kind of knows them and so far, they've proven to be alright in his book. "We won't. You can hang out with us until my friend Adams texts us and tells it's let up over there—we were on our way to his place. We'll drop you off on the way," he offers, with a head tilt and lopsided grin. John sighs and looks around nervously. He didn't want to stick around until the rain let up—who knows when that will be—but he also didn't want to get in a car full of partial strangers. "I don't even know you," he voices, looking up from the gum spotted concrete of the entrance to his school. Thomas shrugs and his smile widens. "Well, I'm Thomas Jefferson—I graduated from here last year. That’s James Madison and Aaron Burr, but I'm sure you know them already. Anyone who goes to this crusty ass school knows those two. And curled in the back napping is Theodosia Bartow—you should know her, she's a Junior." He did know Theodosia Bartow a bit—they had English III together. Theodosia was one of their smartest students. She would sit with John and talk sometimes—when she wasn't focusing on whatever they were doing in class or tuning out into her own world. John would even call her a friend. "I still don't think I should get in a car with you guys. For all I know, you're a group of rapists," he says. Thomas laughs, his head tilting back and showing his Adam's apple. It takes a long few moments for him to realize he's serious. When he does, he rolls his eyes and shrugs again. "Suit yourself, sweetheart. Don't say we never did something for ya," he says, before stalking off back towards the car. John fidgets, watching as his one chance home walks away. He checks his cracked watch, seeing the time as six thirty. Thirty more minutes on campus before they kick him off, no matter the circumstances. Grumbling about going to a shitty school, John lurches forward and grabs Thomas' sleeve. He turns to look at her, a smug 'I-told-you-so' smile on his lips. John resists the urge to punch it off. "Fine. But I need to borrow your phone and call my mother first," he says. Thomas inputs his password and hands him his phone, where he quickly dials his mother's number. It takes a few rings, but then his little sister's voice fills the receiver. He breathes a sigh of relief—this meant Martha was with their mom, at home. Either way, his sister was out of the horrible weather. "Marty, I'm going to be with some friends. I'm going to call you, every hour on the hour until the rain let's up. If I don't call at seven thirty, call the cops, okay? And don't tell mom unless I don't call, alright?" John voice is hurried. He dares a glance at Thomas, who doesn't seem fazed at the instructions at all. Maybe he's not a rapist or a murderer or whatever the hell. "’Kay, Jack. Where are you going with your friends?" Marty asks childishly—John thanks his lucky stars for his sister being the obedient little girl that she is and not asking what friends he would be with or asking why he would have to call the cops. "Just to their house for pizza and soda. I'll bring you some back," he assures his little sister. Martha squeals in delight and the two siblings trade their goodbyes—John going over the instructions twice more before hanging up. As soon as he's deleted his mother's number from his call log, John hands Thomas his phone back. The taller of the two pockets the device and grins maniacally at him before rushing to the driver's seat. In the back seat, James and Aaron give loud ‘Finally!’s when he explains that they've got a new companion. John continues to stand outside the passenger door, the nervousness taking its grip on him. Thomas grins at him again and opens the door for him. "Get in bitch, we're going shopping!" he shouts in a high-pitched nasally voice, waving her in. Hopping in the truck, John wonders if he’s going to regret this.

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sambart93 · 6 years ago

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2018.07.31 Danshi wa Tsurakunai yo? / Being a Boy Isn’t Hard? [Review]

Official Website here Official Twitter here

CAST and CHARACTERS

Present Selves Harashima Motohisa Ishiwatari Masshu Akisawa Kentaro Jounin Tatsuki Matsumura Taiichiro

Past Selves Masaki Kaoru Higuchi Yuta Kimura Atsushi Takenaka Ryouhei Fukazawa Taiga

Classmates Takasaki Shungo Iwa Yoshito Tanaka Hiroki Oikawa Kou Horita Reo Sato Nobunaga Yamagata Takumi

Teachers Mende Tomoyuki Murakami Kouhei Nishioka Daisuke Kitadai Takashi Kanesaki Kentaro Totani Kimito

NON-SPOILER REVIEW Overall: This is a lot of fun. Many times the audience were dying in hysterics of laughter. It's a simple story but it's very funny, packed full with comedy and hilarious moments. The characters are interesting and it has some ridiculous moments. I can't really say anythnig else about it other than say it's entertaining and very funny! ALSO I am very thankful for the high-touch at the end of show! I got to high touch with so many actors that I like!! It appears this stage isn't selling out which makes me sad because it's got some really great names in it and it's a lot of fun! Rating: 8.5/10

SPOILER REVIEW

PRE-SHOW Well this place is fancy as fuck... << was the first thoughts that went through my mind xD also I quickly realised that ‘Oh, it's also where Wakasamagumi is going to be this time around!’ which got me excited although I probably won’t be going. I forgot how many damn actors that I love that are in this! And there was a high touch after this so I was super nervous because I like a LOT of actors who were in this!!

MAIN PLOT

So five friends decide to meet up for their 10th year High School anniversary, especially one of them (Masshu) is adamant on them getting their seishun/youth feeling back. So they go back to the place where they all met and were forced to spend one month as a summer extra curriculum activity. While at first, as students, they hated the idea of having to spend a month of their summer holiday doing classes and cleaning and spending time with people they don't know or like, especially our main character Naoki (Harashima Motohisa and Masaki Kaoru) who has no interest at all in making friends or even continuing being with them after the activity is done. But as the summer classes go on, they all genuinely begin to bond and enjoy their time and by the end, they don't want to depart and want to end their summer by making a festival, which will hopefully attract all the nearby schools which all happen to be ALL-GIRL schools (while they're stuck in an all-boys school).

THE SHOW ITSELF

Oh this was so funny! Unfortunately I spent the first 30 minutes of this play in a LOT of pain with my back from some reason so I couldn't fully immerse or get into the story even though I really wanted to laugh along with everyone else! *cries* but once the back-pain passed, I did not stop laughing and there were so many rounds of applause from the audience because so many parts were absolutely hilarious! I was dying of laughter as was everyone else and some of them on stage were dying too - I'm looking right at you Higuchi! He could not contain he laughter at some times xD this little shit.

I'll do my usual, go through actors and hopefully talk about their characters and what I thought and some scenes that stood out to me.

I was so surprised to see Harashima Motohisa (he plays future Naoki) in this! He's one actor who I love no matter what he does but I don't go out of my way to see him so it's always pleasantly surprising when I see him pop up in stuff that I'm watching. I really love how much his cringed at his past self and his past blogs that he used to write and upload. Also I love how at the beginning his suspiciously says 'my job? .... I'm a... I'm a salaryman.' but then towards the end he completely loses it and yells 'I LIED!!! I'm a salaryman!!! I don't want to be normal!!!! I tried being an actor.. I tried being a youtuber... I tried having part time jobs!' and he just blows and it's so funny!

When I first saw Masaki Kaoru, I wasn't keen just purely from me being vain and basing people on their looks. I'd never seen him before so I should've been a bit more open. But I quickly opened up to him and I really enjoyed how ridiculous his character was. Every time he came on stage to narate the next day or the next part of the story, he would always introduce himself as someone else, like 'Good morning, I'm Bob Dylan! That's a lie. I'm Naoki!' and then would proceed along with the story. He ended up being really cute and his character was really nice. I'm glad his character development ended up being good and him learning to appreciate his friends, but also his reaction to his future self was hilarious (more on that later). He's an Amuse kid and he was in ODAC's HOME when I watched it last week (I still haven't released that review have I?! Jesus just how far behind am I... damn K-TV taking up all my time). One scene in this I really liked was when Higuchi brought some snacks and games for them to bond over and they break the sweets pack out and over into the audience, so the first 6 rows or such had a chance of getting sweets from them! And once they were thrown Masaki was sweet enough to be like ‘there’s still a packet on the floor over there’ and such.

Masshu's character was so adorable. I was surprised that him and Higuchi were playing the same character but it makes sense. They're both super funny and entertaining. I love how ridiculous this character was! Especially with Masshu randomly throwing out random English like 'let's find our.... blue spring ('seishun' instead of 'youth')' and he would be like '...why?! ... why??' in English instead. It cracked me up a lot. But I did get worried because in this story past self, Higuchi, spends a lot in the hospital and can't join in on activities because of doctor's orders so I was super worried that we were going to get a 'I wanted us 5 to do this trip because I'm dying'' kind of plot line -- but thank god, turns out his future self is doing well.

As for Higuchi, lets be real, he was just playing himself. There was a scene where Taiga goes mental because he got his game system taken away from him so he goes on a mental pillow hitting streak on the members and Higuchi was just in the corner dying of laughter to himself along with the entirity of the audience. His character was annoying and in your face but in a good way; he just wanted to be friends with everyone! And because he was clearly a weak or sick child he wanted to make lots of friends and be normal and make meaningful memories - he reminded me very much of Kamen Rider Fourzes' Gen and his mission to make 100 friends!

Moving onto the Jounin/Takenaka pair. I personally, if you know me and remember, I don't particularly like Jounin as an actor; whenever I've seen him, I've always felt annoyed or underwhelmed by his character/acting. But in this one, I felt he did just fine. He was alright and did just a fine job. But he didn't exactly stand out either. Takenaka on the other hand; I focused on him more than I did Jounin; and I really liked his introduction where we're immediately told that he was once the main lead in Meitantei Jun and everyone around him wants handshakes and such and he's just like 'I'm used to it. You can ask, don't worry about it,' and we also see glimpses of teachers coming to him and saying, 'your mother called, won't you answer?' and he always replies 'tell her I'm busy' because (as he explains) she's only calling because she wants him to take more auditions because he just keeps failing them all. Jounin remembers his past self and gets annoyed because by now his mother has already past away (5 years ago) and when he finally go the courage to tell her that he didn't want to act anymore and to finally tell her he found a normal job etc. she was so happy to hear and congratulated him. But she soon passed after that. So when these two finally meet, of course Jounin is like 'you should answer your mother's calls. You should just tell her how you feel' etc. But more on that later.

4th in line is Matsumura and Taiga. They are the polar opposites; Taiga is obsessed with playing games and finds so much positivity and joy in life even from the smallest of things; while Matsumura, even though he got his dream of being the CEO of a gaming company, he finds it boring, nothing is interesting in his life. Seeing this polar opposite was very interesting. I really enjoyed Taiga's character and I love how mental he went when he didn't have a game to play in his hands xD I also love that he just enjoys whatever! I didn't realise, until the high touch event, who Matsumura was and then I saw him and I was like 'damn your Makoto from EnStage!'. He looks MUCH better in this stage than he does in EnStage.

Finally we have Kimura and Akisawa. These two were very similar in their present and past selves. It was very hilarious to see them two because they didn't change much. Both of them were scared of ghosts and both were loud and pretending they weren't scared of ghosts. They had... a lot of passion < is the best way to put it xD they created a lot of the comedy when it was just the five boys on stage together. This character is constantly moving and it's in a very yankee way and he's also always twisting and being super fast moving etc. it was very comedic and fun to watch! OH and another ridiculous thing about him; Akisawa has kids and they're called Donald, Minnie and Mickey, which is already ridiculous enough, but then it's later revealed that they're all boys!

Towards the end, the present selves manage to contact their past selves so they end up having one on one battles with each other which is just absolutely hilarious. So we had Harashima and Masaki going head to head against each other and Harashima is like 'you're my black past!!! Why didn't you enjoy it?! Why did you have to be so crazy?!' and Masaki is like 'you're a salaryman?!?! You're my black future!! Why did I become like this?!?!'

We had Masshu and Higuchi getting along very well and just talking about how's life and Masshu explains 'you get really sick for about 4 years, but don't worry, I'm all good now'.

Jounin keeps asking Takenaka about their mum and why he won't answer her calls while he's on this summer trip and tells her that he should be honest about his feelings of not wanting to be an actor anymore and that he should talk to his mother more. Also he asks him if ghosts are real and Takenaka is like 'they're not' and Jounin admits he believes in them.

Then we had Matsumura and Taiga; Taiga is so happy and fascinated that he became the CEO of a gaming company and asks Matsumura to play a game with him. But Taiga keeps losing but because Taiga is so happy about playing games and Matsumura can see the happy life his old self is leading that he says Taiga is the real winner and he now wants to find fun in his life again.

Finally we have Kimura and Akisawa who are just being absolutely ridiculous and going all headbutty and fighting on top of each other a lot and Kimura is annoyed that Akisawa is considering divorcing his wife and Kimura is like 'I thought I was cooler than this!!! I'm supposed to love my one and only girl for the rest of my life like a cool guy!!! If I find a woman I love then she surely deserves it all!' and finally Akisawa is like 'damn past me is so damn cool! What was I thinking divorcing her!'

Another scene I really loved with our main five boys is in a past scene; where they five boys and their teacher Tani-sensei and the Kendo sensei are all together and Higuchi randomly asks 'who here are virgins? Come on, admit it' and at first only Tani-sensei raises his hand, so naturally the audience start laughing, and then all the boys except Higuchi raise their hands and finally, he's turned away from the boys so they can't see but the Kendo sensei raises his hand a little too, and the entire audience EXPLODED in laughter. So naturally all the boys are like 'come on (Higuchi), raise your hand too! You're a virgin too!.... right? ... you're a virgin, right? ... wait what?! WHEN?! TELL US EVERYTHING!'

Now I'll get down to the more minor characters, starting with Iwa Yoshito! His character stood out because everytime he was on stage and with the rest of the class, for some reason they really wanted to just strip him off all his clothing and while they didn't show it the first few times, there's one part where the 5 MCs are in the foreground and you can see some of the students using their shirts to block the view and when they stop doing that, Iwa is just stood completely shirtless. And then towards the end of the show he just takes his shirt off himself and everyone's like 'why did you do that?' and he's like 'I give up!' and walks off xD

Takasaki Shungo’s character was very interesting. He was the ONE guy in their school year and in the summer school who was in touch with girls and the first scene with him, we see him on the phone to a bunch of girls and making dates to go to the summer festival with them. Naturally, all the other boys are super jealous! He is also the one who really gets into Kendo sensei’s ‘Special Class’ and he starts practising at night when everyone else is asleep and he wants to learn more so he starts trailing the sensei at night (which is hilarious). And then when they do the cultural event slash festival at the end, he’s the one who’s able to invite the all-girl schools to go and watch (we, the audience, as treated as those students at the end) them perform.

Hiroki's character was so funny! He was adorable too with these two cute pink pins in his hair. His part was smaller than I would've wanted but you can't win them all can you xD he had a main part of this story which was tormenting the PE(?) teacher and constantly making banana jokes around him. He asks the teacher where his banana is and the teacher is like '???' and Hiroki replies 'well you look like a monkey'. Then in a later scene, the teacher has a yellow towel around his neck and Hiroki goes 'why do you have a banana around your neck?' and every time this joke happens the teacher tries to attack him and yells 'It's not a banana!'. But in the very final scene for him, he's actually holding a banana and Hiroki approaches him and just says 'thank you for teaching me so much teacher!' and of course the teacher gets pissed because that's not what he was expecting and is like 'OI! I have a banana! Are you not going to say it?!' and Hiroki is like 'nah I gave up on that joke' and Hiroki runs because the teacher tries to attack him again xD it was really funny and really hilarious. Especially considering how many monkey jokes get thrown at Hiroki himself from his coworkers and friends xD

Now onto the teachers - who are BAT SHIT CRAZY!

Murakami Kouhei plays the headteacher (or at least is the more senior within this group) and he's perculiar in that he quotes many different and famous people through the entirity of the play and acts very stoic. But then when they do the festival at the end, he goes a little loopy because he gets to play one of the final bosses and has two swords to fight the boys with (as expected of a Kamen Rider actor!).

Nishioka Daisuke is just the most perverted teacher ever! He's Murakami's right hand man and of course obeys and respects everything about Murakami but he's also like 'oi, you should introduce me to the students at the All Girls tachibana school' and things like that. He's just a pervert xD

Mende Tomoyuki plays the 'robot' teacher. Everyone thinks he's a robot because his movements and his talking is so monotone and so rigid but of course he isn't. He's a very strict teacher and doesn't show much emotion.

I am pretty sure it's Kitadai Takashi who plays the aggressive and abusive PE teacher. Whenever he tries to attack and hurt the students, Murakami is always by the side and he looks over to him and stops attacking the students xD

Kanesaki Kentaro ends up playing the Kendo sensei who everyone in the audience absolutely fell in love with, He is absolutely hilarious! At first we see him teaching the 'Special Class' and we just think he's normal but then in a later scene we seen him on a scooter with a helmet and just skating across the stage all silently which was just bizarre. And then in a later scene he's off scootering and a student tries to talk to him but he continues skating like he never saw him xD and finally towards the end when he joins up with the MCs, he just gets ridiculously funny; the virgin scene and then him getting happy about girl schools coming to the festival and he's all trigger happy when he has a wooden sword in his hand. He totally became the audience's favourite by the end of the show! He was such a barrel of laughs. Seriously, my notes of him were just 'The kendo sensei being crazy as fuck'.

Totani Kimito plays the new homeroom teacher 'Tani' (which is a pun becaue in Japanese homeroom teacher means Tanin and he's like 'I"m the tanin, Tani. No that's not my name on purpose' xD I really liked him. He was very sweet and very easily lovable. But I was suspicious of him because he bumps into the boys in the future just after they talk about 'are ghosts real?' so for the majority of the play, I assumed present Tani was actually a ghost reciding in that place, but I was wrong. There was no catch. He was just there with another year of school summer activity students.

One thing I am thankful about is the fact that there was surprisingly nothing sad in this play, thank god! I was waiting for it. Especially when we had Higuchi being sent to hospital and we learn that Jounin's mother passed away. But there was no big sad moment and no tears so (thank god) it was a completely comedic and positive play which -- guys -- it's been a while.

Unfortunately none of the other boys particularly stood out but after googling them, I recognise a lot or can say I've seen and/or know about some of the stuff they've done.

AFTER EVENT!

As in per usual style of mine, I had no idea there was an aftershow event until I was at the damn show! It was a high-touch/high-five event with all the main characters/actors! So I got to high-five:

Harashima Motohisa Ishiwatari Masshu Akisawa Kentaro Jounin Tatsuki Matsumura Taiichiro Masaki Kaoru Higuchi Yuta Kimura Atsushi Takenaka Ryouhei Fukazawa Taiga

And it went in order of Matsumura-Taiga-Akisawa-Kimura-Takenaka-Jounin-Masshu-Higuchi-Harashima-Masaki along the line. I am so super happy that I got to get high-touches with Taiga (I remember he had such a great smile on his face), Masshu (my friend is his fan so he's used to seeing white foreigners in front of his face now xD), Higuchi (I was super nervous high-touching him... I honestly think this is the FIRST stage I've ever seen him live in the flesh too! DAMN), Kimura (he was cute, obviously! I've always wanted to see him on stage but our schedules and stages just don't tend to match xD) and Harashima (I was super nervous high-touching him too!). Also the line slowed down about Higuchi/Masshu/Jounin around so that didn't help my nerves with Higuchi! Haha MAsaki always greeted me with this huge smile right at the end of the line which was adorable! But of course I was sad that Hiroki was NOT in the line xD

GOODS

I was so thankful that Hiroki only has one bromide set this time. BUT I did feel a little upset he didn't have at least two sets xD I think this is the cheapest he's ever cost me!

And we are done!

#tanaka hiroki #hiroki tanaka #iwa yoshito #higuchi yuya #masaki kaoru #harashima motohisa #ishiwatari mashu #kimura atsushi #jounin tatsuki #fukazawa taiga #murakami kouhei #kanesaki kentaro #totani kimito #stage #stage play #review

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a-place-to-learn · 3 years ago

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Affirming Identity and Empowering ELLs

How have you been challenged by the information?

I can't say too much of it surprised me or challenged my thoughts on the world. In part because I think about these kinds of things, powers structures, imbalances, and how I can affect those things often. But mostly because I'm a queer biracial (though I appear black) woman, so that colours my experiences, so to speak. I'm aware from my own schooling that there is imbalance, that the curriculum has often favoured white male voices over anything else, that representation has often been an after thought. This isn't to say I have no learning to do, but rather that the ideas he proposes sound very in line with everything else I know about how the world works.

Hearing speeches like Cummins' is good in reminding me of where my own privilege lies, and reminding me of when to decenter myself and my own experiences when it comes to teaching. It did point out some of the specific ways in which whiteness and eurocentrism which I had yet to explore as deeply. In particular the construction of the curriculum. Now, being a history teacher I know that the history curriculum was revised in 2018 to place a greater emphasis on the perspectives of indigenous people as well as other marginalized groups. But Cummins' comments had me thinking about even the break down of the course. The way the strands favour a lot of focus on war and how it can lead to skipping over many of the important things that happened surrounding civil rights. In particular the way the strands in the grade 12 world history course are broken down based on European history specifically. So it has me thinking more deeply about all of the places I can see these issues arise.

How will you empower your ELLs through a collaborative creation of power? What are some specific activities and strategies you will use in light of your new understanding?

I love to create assignments that allow the students to pull in their own knowledge. I created one music history assignment while on prac a few years ago that asked them to pick one common thread (use of string instruments, popular music, etc) and find examples from different eras. The final example had to be from the 21st century but they had a lot of leeway to choose a song that interested them and talk about it. I also got to see their music tastes and the types of music that spoke to them.

I enjoy assignments with a level of openness to them, allowing students to pick their topic in some way or draw in their own interests and understanding. That can be even more important for ELLs and other students from marginalized backgrounds. They need to see their own experience is reaffirmed and valid within the context of schooling.

As well, weaving the experiences of different groups into the learning in a meaningful way. I recall a middle school assignment, in February of course, to pick a influential black person and do a project about them. It seems like a nice idea on the surface, and some part of my 13 tear old self really loved it. But in hindsight it was a stand alone. We didn't talk about black people in Canada or how it tied into history. It feels like an after thought. Or like a highlight for a brief moment before moving back to our actual history class. Learning about different groups in school needs to be done constantly and consistently to be meaningful.

This also ties in with working with the ESL teacher on how the student can express themself. I'll allow for a variety of forms of expression (such as written, verbal, pictoral) based on the level of their English. When topics arise that they may have more insight on or a closer relationship with, if they wish to speak to it I want it to be open to them. (That being said, they shouldn't be forced or expected to. Having grown up in a very white area I know the stress and frustration of being the one black, often times one non-white kid in the class. I'm aware of the pressure of people turning to you for the opinion of all people who look like you. I don't want my students to be in that position in my classroom and I want students who are more socially, or economically, or racially privileged to understand that).

I will also employ things that we've seen pop up in other parts of the module, particularly in culturally responsive pedagogy. I'll hold high expectations for all students. High, but attainable. And while they will be given the supports to succeed they will also be expected to try and shown that they can achieve within my classroom.

How do Cummins’s arguments deepen your understanding of one’s responsibility as an educator of ELLs?

ELLs are coming into the system at a disadvantage. In this world already, speaking English is an advantage. On top of that they're coming to a country where they don't know the majority language. They're going through the process of immigration which has it's own set of stresses sand they're in the place of being a new student, going through what new students do. Trying to make friends and fit in and find their place in the community. These are all challenges that they'll be facing all at once.

It's so important in our job that we understand that they are not just an English learner, they are a whole person coming into a system that values people who often look and sound different from them. We have a really important role to help them balance their own sense of identity while teaching them a skill that is useful in both their schooling and life in Canada.

Cummins' arguments have me thinking about the ways to teach the whole child and see the whole person as well as ways to engage with their life and knowledge that are meaningful and will help them to thrive in their new environment.

#this whole blog will just live with one post for now lmao

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hippyjonny · 3 years ago

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Universal Language

The universe is screaming at me, but I can’t understand what it’s saying. Today my co-worker quit. This came after I told her everything that frustrated me about working with her and many of the ways she invade my space and privacy, disrespected me, and manipulated me. She glossed over all of this and simply left me a very vague professional letter placing most of the blame on her “not being perfect,” being “new at this,” and on Mr. Suginomori, the current English department head. She made claims that Mr. Suginomori told her that the English teachers MUST change its curriculum, and that he was asking her to constantly check up on me. Checking up on me became an issue because she would give me dates and deadlines for things, but she is not my boss and I hadn’t heard a single word from any management about it. So eventually I had to bring it up with her that I was annoyed she was checking up on me and that she needed to learn that I was a part-time employee hired to teach classes as I see fit. Not once at THAT time did she mention that these were orders from on high. And if they were, why would she not just plainly state that at the time. For example, “Mr. Suginomori asked me to check up on you to see how your progress is going.” Also, why wouldn’t you just refuse in the first place and tell Mr. Suginomori that it is his job to delegate tasks as the team leader? She blamed the total absence of clear communication and chain of command which I think is a strong contributing factor to what happened. However, she did not once take responsibility for her unprofessional and abusive behavior towards me. This made my letter which was an emotional outburst look insane in comparison. Today she resigned stating that she was just trying to do her best for the students and she is dying a martyr on her cross of English education. She blames the department for their inability to communicate. It really is an issue at our school. However, that lack of communication does not explain why she condescended me, attacked me, insulted me and made me feel worthless for years. It does not excuse her petty behavior that she willingly chose to be a middle man for poor management and chose not to tell me that her check-ups were direct orders from Mr. Suginomori. It seems hard for me to believe. I had literally just gotten off of the phone with my brother and decided that I would be giving my resignation and leaving the school in October when she posted the message. When I found out that she was quitting, I almost felt sorry for her. She had no one to turn to and her voice was drowned out by a bunch of old men with antiquated ides. However, none of that justifies her cruelty towards me. She aimed her stress and anger at men all onto me. I was the totem pole of injustice in the world. She once told me a story about seeing her friend after a gang rape covered head to toe in ejaculate. Now she wants vengeance. She sees every experience through a veil of pain. And I would have been much more receptive to that need if she hadn’t put me on sleeping pills and brought me to a mental breakdown. So now my decision to leave Japan early cannot be based on my anger for this woman because she is leaving regardless. I contemplate what I am supposed to learn from my time at this school that has shown that they don’t give a rats ass about my mental health, and a dumpy, white Joan of Arc. I don’t feel better now that she’s leaving. I don’t feel that my pain has been recognized. I know that one of my biggest problems is converting my feral rage into words that are not barbed in order to create a clear boundary. This has been the case time and time again with so many people in my life. I simply disassociated and became absent at work after taking so much abuse. I began to just agree with her and say “yes” to everything because it was clear through her behavior that I was not allowed an opinion or my own space. I had already tried talks with her, I had already tried every single way to make myself clear and still it was not enough. I should not have waited so long to nip certain incidents in the bud, but she had shown herself incapable of changing her behavior and the amount of the bad behavior was so frequent that I would have had to have a talk with her on a weekly, if not daily, basis.

So, I am trying to sort as I write this very post whether or not I mistreated her or didn’t give her a chance. Was there something I should have changed about myself? Was I unfair in telling her how crazy she made me feel? No.

I have learned that I can’t blame others for my unhappiness when I need to find a way not to become a prisoner of my rage and helpless thinking. But if I knew how to communicate my emotions and fend for myself, I never would have begun resenting her. I would not have engaged in her infectious negativity. But what used to be rage is just sadness now. I’m getting exactly what I wanted. I imagined strangling her until her eyes popped out or putting cyanide in her tea. I had even said I thought her dad dying of cancer was Karma. If this had been me when I first started, I would just end it with “Rot in hell, fat bitch.” But the real tragedy of it all is how meaningless it all was. She didn’t find the meaning she was looking for in her life and I just tormented myself until I didn’t even know who I was or what I want anymore. Why did you do that, lady?

If there is anything the universe is trying to tell me, it’s not anything that I can use.

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sundayswithangeli · 7 years ago

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Language Tag

I was tagged by @bulletproof-korean to answer these questions about languages. Thanks for the tag. ^^

1. what languages are you/have studied?

My native language is Filipino. I can speak English and I’m currently learning Korean. I’ve studied Hokkien back in high school but that was years ago and I don’t remember anything at all now.

2. how long have you been studying?

I’ve known how to speak English before I entered kindergarten. I’ve only studied Hokkien for one year. I’ve been learning Korean on and off since after I graduated from college in 2011.

3. did you learn through class or self-study (or both)?

I don’t remember how I learned English. I just remember watching a lot of English cartoons. Also, English is like a second language here in the Philippines. We have English classes so it helped a lot in improving my skills. I’m learning Korean through self-study because there are no Korean language classes here.

4. why did you decide to learn this language?

English is part of our curriculum so I’ve been taking English classes since kindergarten. Then I took a Hokkien class in high school out of curiosity plus I was so into F4 that time. I wanted to learn Mandarin but I wasn’t allowed to join the Mandarin class because their lessons were way too advanced and it was impossible to catch up because they’ve been learning it since kindergarten.

I like k-pop and Korean drama so much that I decided to learn Korean language. I didn’t really have any goals when I started learning Korean, I just thought it would be fun to be able to understand what they were saying. But I fell in love with the language and now I appreciate it and study it not only because of k-pop or k-drama but also because it’s kinda fascinating how it sounds more romantic or more meaningful in Korean than when it’s translated to English.

5. what was a major highlight/milestone in studying this language?

I don’t think I have a major highlight or milestone when it comes to English unless you count the times I won in spelling bees and story writing contests in school. Lol!

But for Korean, one of the major highlight was being able to work in a Korean military base camp in 2014. A group of Korean soldiers were deployed here to help with the rehabilitation. They were looking for interpreters and I was the only native in the city who knows Korean language.

There are other highlights/milestones like getting TOPIK Level 4 and winning a Korean speech contest. You can read more about it here.

6. what was the hardest thing about studying this language?

It was difficult to construct sentences at first since the sentence order in Korean is different from English. Well, it wasn’t that big of a deal when I'm just writing down sentences for my diary or replying to someone in chat since I can just erase and rephrase. But when I had my first conversation in Korean, it was a scary experience since I needed some time to organize my thoughts before I can come up with a response that makes sense.

7. what resources did you find most useful for studying this language?

I studied Korean using a lot of textbooks. Some grammar patterns were very similar to each other and yet one cannot be used in certain situations so I had to refer to a lot of different books to know more about the similarities and the differences between two very similar grammar patterns.

For reading, I’m very fond of reading Korean webtoons. That’s where I learned phrases that Koreans usually use on a daily basis. Textbooks are good when you’re learning grammar but some sample sentences are too weird to be used in daily life so I suggest reading materials that natives read like webtoons.

For listening, I’m focusing on improving this skill nowadays as it is one of my weakest. I’ve recently started watching Korean Youtube channels to train my ears to listen to how Koreans normally converse. I listen to male youtubers, female youtubers, youtubers who have a 사투리 accent to train my ears in listening to different kinds of voices and speaking styles. I understand well enough to know what they’re talking about except for when they use slangs and words I’ve never encountered before.

8. any top tips for studying this language?

You have to constantly challenge yourself to study materials that are a little higher than your current level. Try to step out of your comfort zone every once in a while. But don’t be discouraged when you don’t understand everything.

When you’ve reached the intermediate level, try to read or listen to stuff that natives read or listen to like webtoons and radio shows. When I took the TEFL course, I learned that people who are learning a language should listen to or read authentic materials meaning stuff that natives would normally listen to or read because this is where you will learn natural expressions or expressions used in daily life.

9. whats your next major language goal?

My goal for now is to improve my listening skills because the last time I took TOPIK, I had a hard time in the listening exam.

10. anything we can do in the tumblr community to get you there?

If you guys know any interesting Korean Youtube channel, please let me know.

I tag @nocturnalinseoul, @pihaenggi, @jiae-study, @sootudying, @studiousbees, @hangulstudy, @hangulheart, @ttmikstudy, @soheestudies, @mykoreanstudy, @jeongsnotes Only if you want to do it, and sorry if you’ve already done this!

#korean #korean language #korean langblr #korean studyblr #new langblr #new studyblr #language tag #languages #learning languages #studyblr #langblr #한국어 #studyspo #study motivation #language tags #koreanblr #about me

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epacer · 5 years ago

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Useful Info for Student to Know

‘Adulting’ is hard. UC Berkeley has a class for that

Conner Wright is carrying a demanding course load in his final year as an English major at UC Berkeley: antebellum American literature, introduction to music therapy and a research seminar on William Shakespeare.

The 20-year-old senior is immersed in the works of Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Herman Melville and Harriet Jacobs.

But Wright, who is anticipating his graduation in May, has the self-awareness to know he needed a little something extra to prepare for his launch into a post-college world, that a superior ability to interpret classic literary works may not be enough.

So he signed up for a class on “adulting,” where he is learning to create and stick to a personal budget, build a resume and apply for jobs and navigate romantic relationships in a time when online interactions are eclipsing face-to-face encounters.

“I need to learn how to get this adult thing down and manage life,” Wright said.

The class, which has 30 students enrolled in each section, is led by two Berkeley undergrads who plan discussion topics and schedule guest speakers to fill 90 minutes each week. The “adults in training” are among thousands of people across the country who have signed up for courses that focus on things such as cooking or budgeting or time management.

Adulting classes for college students and postgrads have swelled in popularity in recent years, in part because many high schools have largely abandoned “life skills” courses such as home economics, which were created to help students navigate the path to adulthood.

That trend, combined with armies of hovering parents who emphasize academic achievement to the exclusion of almost everything else, has resulted in university classrooms filled with students who scored a 5 on their AP Physics test, but struggle to plan for a week’s worth of groceries and meals.

In Portland, Maine, the Adulting School offers in-person classes on “soft” skills, such as interviewing, conflict resolution and making friends, along with topics such as personal finance and basic home maintenance.

Principal Rachel Flehinger said her students, who are typically in their 20s and 30s, have experienced their share of disdain over their so-called entitlement and laziness.

“We’ve had clients who are millennials having major anxiety that they didn’t have these skills and didn’t feel successful as an adult,” she said. “There’s a lot of self-loathing that happens.”

Similar classes or in-person workshops have popped up at libraries and universities across the country, in private groups on social media and even on blogs tailored to college students. Some high schools have scheduled seminars on life skills as a way to prepare their students for life after graduation.

Sometimes students come up with their own solutions.

Neither Belle Lau of Washington nor Jenny Zhou of Arizona felt fully prepared for life away from home when they arrived at Berkeley two years ago. When Lau moved out of the dorms and into her own apartment during her sophomore year, her lack of self-reliance at the time became apparent. She was working, attending classes and, for the first time, had to plan her own meals, put money aside and cover her expenses. She quickly realized that she was spending too much money eating out all the time.

Lau and Zhou noticed that many of their peers were having similar struggles.

“We’re thrown out into this world and have little idea about what the heck we’re supposed to do,” said Lau, 21. “I think in general we all feel a little bit lost and don’t know where to start.”

To remedy that, Lau and Zhou, 20, decided to create their own class.

When it was first offered last spring, every one of the 30 spots was filled. Seventy students had to be turned away.

Lau and Zhou added a second session this semester. More than 200 students filled out applications explaining why they wanted to take the 12-week course. The women accepted fewer than half who applied.

Adulting is one of dozens of student-run courses in the university’s DeCal (Democratic Education at Cal) program, in which students create and facilitate their own classes on topics that include those practical and fun and often aren’t addressed in traditional curriculum. The project is rooted in the ideals of Berkeley’s free speech movement, launched in the 1960s when students pressed for and won greater academic rights.

There’s a class on criminal psychology, which “aims to analyze the minds of criminals, particularly of those who commit heinous crimes,” in an effort to understand factors that influenced their behaviors and led them to commit violent offenses. Students enrolled in “Intro to Baking” learn to make bread, cakes, pastries and other confections “without setting you or your roommates on fire,” according to the course catalog.

Another course takes participants on a journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry through discussions of Harry Potter novels.

The courses in DeCal count for one or two credits and are offered as pass/no pass; as a result, students say they are unlikely to add to their stress levels.

“College is a time of so many transitions — the losing of certain reference points — and it’s relatively sudden,” said Nancy Liu, an assistant clinical professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and the faculty sponsor for the adulting class this semester. “You’re on your own for the first time, you’re navigating a large system with limited support, you’re taken out of past comforts and starting anew, you have new tasks that you’ve never had to deal with before.

“Add to that the stress of a high-pressure academic environment, it makes sense that many would feel overwhelmed,” she said.

“College also sets the tone for much of what comes afterward: fostering those daily habits and routines; balancing work, school and life; remembering to file your taxes and keeping a budget; learning how to navigate interpersonal challenges with less scaffolding or support from experienced others. It seems crucial to address it head-on in a way that was valuable to students,” Liu said.

When Lau and Zhou decided to create a class, they initially envisioned a course in cooking, a passion they share. That idea morphed into life hacks and, later, adulting.

When the two began brainstorming a syllabus, daily tasks such as laundry, sewing and car maintenance didn’t make the cut. Instead, they focused on topics that are more abstract: time management, budgeting, fitness and nutrition, and relationships.

Each 90-minute session features a presentation from Zhou and Lau, juniors majoring in molecular and cell biology and integrative biology, respectively, and an outside expert who visits the class in person or via video chat. Last year, a recruiter from Lyft prepped students about job searches and a former accountant discussed filing taxes.

Those accepted into the classes, mostly seniors, have lamented that many of the things they were learning weren’t taught by their parents.

Lau’s mother, Allie Wu, says that parents “don’t trust their kids enough to do things on their own,” adding that “when they’re at home their parents pretty much take care of everything for them.”

Wu says she has always been very independent, a trait that was a necessity when she arrived in the United States from Taiwan as a 22-year-old to pursue her MBA. Wu hoped her daughter would leave home with the same sense of self-sufficiency. But when Lau confessed to her mother that she struggled a bit her first year at Berkeley, Wu said she began to worry.

Those concerns dissipated when Lau told her about the adulting class she wanted to start with a friend.

Wu, who visited the class last year to talk about taxes, said the course is “wonderful” and “unique.”

“I know she’s in a good place now. I’m very proud of her,” Wu said. “She knows what she wants and what she needs to accomplish her goals.”

During the first week of “adulting” at Berkeley this semester, students were asked to come up with goals that were “SMART”— specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based.

To kick it off, Zhou asked whether anyone had ever set a goal they didn’t accomplish.

A few hands shot up. Several people shifted uncomfortably in their chairs. A handful looked around the room.

In less than a minute, everyone’s hand was in the air.

After a brief lecture, Lau and Zhou split the class into groups of six, each assigned to discuss their goals for the semester. Precision was rewarded; vagueness had to be remedied.

Students shuffled their desks into haphazard circles in the classroom and made quick introductions. They bantered about the dread of 8 a.m. classes and late-night studying marathons that would compound that trepidation as the semester dragged on.

Then things got uncomfortable.

Some of the students spoke in hushed tones as they shared the goals they had written on sheets of paper in front of them and, along with those, their insecurities that they might not be doing this whole grown-up thing quite right.

Wright spoke up first. His goal was to build more healthful habits with diet and exercise before graduation. The group nodded in agreement.

Several students said better time management would make a huge difference in their lives. One woman, a junior, said planning and establishing a routine might keep her from staying up all night cramming for exams.

Another piped up, saying she’d like to get more done during the day by limiting how much time she spends on her phone — a common distraction.

Kate Curtis, a 21-year-old senior who showed up 10 minutes late to the class with a look of embarrassment and a quick apology, said she’s long struggled with punctuality. She’s been late so many times to her job at a fast-food restaurant that her manager recently pulled her into a meeting to discuss it. She was humiliated and ashamed.

“I want to learn to be dependable. I want other people to be able to count on me,” she said.

Curtis, who transferred to Berkeley from a community college in Orange County, said she lived at home for the first two years of college and feels she was coddled longer than her peers.

“I’m eight hours away from home now, so I’m actually on my own. I have to find my own doctor if I’m sick. I’ve just signed up for my first loan, and I’m not really understanding what I’m getting into,” she said.

Lau acknowledged that she and Zhou don’t have all the answers, but she’s quick to note that parents shouldn’t be faulted for their children’s lack of real-world knowledge.

“Maybe it is our parents who aren’t teaching us these things we thought we should already know, but we don’t want to blame our parents for us being naive or ignorant,” she said. “It’s our responsibility as college students to know that if we’re struggling in some aspect, there are resources out there for us.” *Reposted article from the UT by Hannah Fry of December 10, 2019

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