#and my own internship mentor said she's really interested in helping me make connections in the industry so I could very well be employed

[waterfoul]

Got into my last classes I needed AND got TWO internships for this upcoming semester - one doing editing and marketing for an indie kid's book press, and one setting up an international publishing conference. Like it's actually happening. My dream since I was like 10 is coming true for real?

[spacenutspod]

5 min read Indigenous Student Brings Skills, Perspective to NASA Internship Alyssa Warrior, who is Onödowá’ga’(Seneca) and belongs to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, was an intern at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in summer 2023.Credit: NASA/Ellen Bausback On hot, summer days when Alyssa Warrior was growing up, she spent her time outside by her home on the Seneca Nation Cattaraugus Reservation near Buffalo, New York. She lay in the creek to escape the boiling sun, ran through the woods with her sister and five brothers, picked raspberries and wild onions, and lounged in a hammock. When night came, her father started a fire and told scary stories while hot dogs and s’mores sizzled. Her family sunk down in lawn chairs after the fire turned to ash and gazed up, searching for lights in the sky. “Looking at stars was always my favorite thing,” Warrior said. “I think I’ve always been interested in the natural world.” With a blanket wrapped around her, Warrior walked barefoot in the dewy grass, staying out long after her family retreated inside. Other nights, she lay with her face pressed against the sliding glass door in her living room, hoping to catch just one more glimpse of the sky. “I was always like, ‘One more, just one more shooting star,’’ Warrior said. “I just couldn’t stop. I loved to see them.” In summer 2023, Warrior – now a physics senior at the University at Buffalo – interned at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, where she used software to validate and verify a model of a control system that could be used in future hybrid-electric aircraft. Adjusting the model and combing over code for hours to make improvements reminded Warrior of her skywatching memories. “At one point, I needed to stop,” Warrior said. “But I’d be thinking, well, maybe I’ll just make one more adjustment and that’ll help.” Warrior, who is Onödowá’ga’(Seneca) and belongs to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, never expected to come to NASA. But after attending an American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES) conference and meeting Glenn engineer Joseph Connolly, she was recruited as an intern. Outreach is integral to bringing more Indigenous people to NASA, says Connolly, who shares Warrior’s Haudenosaunee background and has mentored a handful of other Indigenous interns during his 19 years at Glenn. “I think one of the reasons that it’s really important to get more Indigenous people at NASA, and just people with different perspectives, is because the problems that we work on are ridiculously hard,” Connolly said. “If we have all of the smartest people, but they get trained the exact same way, sometimes you just don’t have the insights that can give you the ability to look at problems in a new way.” Building connections with fellow Indigenous employees is another way to help inspire the next generation, Connolly says, and Warrior connected with many through an online Natives at NASA group. “It’s been really great to see other Native people working here at NASA – people that looks like me or look like my family – because it’s not something I see or that I’m used to,” Warrior said. “Everyone I’ve met has held some sort of information or knowledge that has improved my time here and will improve my future.” Alyssa Warrior (far right) poses with other summer 2023 interns outside a small-scale electrical lab at NASA’s Glenn Research Center.Credit: Joe Connolly Warrior sees a clear connection between Indigenous people and the STEM fields. “I think a lot of Native people specifically are connected with nature and have an interest in learning from it,” she said. “I think that’s its own science.” In addition, working on hybrid-electric aircraft and sustainability aligned with Warrior’s cultural values, she said. “Within Native communities, that is very important,” Warrior said. “It’s not always just trying to go to space, it’s also just trying to improve the planet that we’re on now. “ Besides recruiting and speaking at conferences, NASA Glenn works with Cleveland organizations, like the Lake Erie Native American Council and the Cleveland Metroparks, to support Indigenous Peoples Day events and other gatherings. NASA also supports a high-powered rocket competition for Indigenous students called First Nations Launch. Within the agency, the Science Mission Directorate hosts monthly conversations with Indigenous scholars. “It’s incredibly important to make sure that Alyssa and some of the other students see that these communities exist, because when I was getting started [in STEM], I had no idea they did,” Connolly said. Along with continuing outreach, Warrior suggests that those at NASA and others seeking to connect with Indigenous people learn about Indigenous heritage and history. “Those are all really important things to know before even trying to open your arms up to Native people because then you‘re aware of where they’re coming from and certain struggles that they face,” Warrior said. “That makes it easier to reach out.” Warrior says she is proud to have been an intern at NASA and hopes she’ll inspire younger Indigenous people, like her nieces and nephews, to reach for the stars. She knows she’ll continue to draw on the lessons of the natural world as she pursues a future STEM career. “It’s always with me, this mindset and maybe looking at things a little differently. I feel more comfortable outside, seeing green,” Warrior said. “I think it’s definitely affected who I am today. I’ve got to put my feet in the grass sometimes.” Explore More 4 min read NASA Glenn Helps Military Service Members Transition to Civilian Life Article 5 days ago 4 min read Aviones de movilidad aérea avanzada: un viaje suave en el futuro Article 3 weeks ago 4 min read Submit Your 2024 Event Proposal to NASA Glenn Article 3 weeks ago

[nokomiss]

Gonna take this as an opportunity to request a rare pair. Either May/Tony or May/Rhodey for “volunteer chaperones”

It was a mistake. A complete, total, absolute mistake. May was never, ever doing this again.

She looked around, overwhelmed. Yep. She was still surrounded by teenagers armed with battle robots they’d built themselves.  Allegedly they were all to remain at their workstations with proper protective equipment, but they were teenagers. They were absolutely not going to wait until the competition to try out their lasers and saws on each other.  

“Peter, I’m gonna tap out,” May said, trying not to wince as Peter’s robot unfurled a whirring blade and attempted to cut a piece of lumber in half.  “I’ve gone through too much to watch you chop off a thumb now.”

“My thumb is nowhere near the blade,” Peter said, waving his hands in a manner she supposed was meant to be reassuring. “Besides, you never know, it could grow back.”  He gave her a shit-eating grin, and May nobly managed to refrain from calling her kid an asshole.

“Chaperones are allowed coffee breaks, right?” May looked longingly towards the exit. 

“You’re supposed to supervise me the whole time I am engaging the robot,” Peter recited, making air quotes with his fingers. “It’s in the Teen Battle Robot Competition handbook.”

May rolled her eyes at him. “I’ll be gone ten minutes, tops. Cover for me.”

“May!” Peter hissed, adorably frazzled for someone who fought crime on the regular.  She ignored him and wove her way through the crowd, trying not to focus on the terrifying murder robots the children were creating all around her. This was so seriously not her thing. She slipped on her sunglasses and headed out the door, aiming for the nearest coffee shop.

She aimed to be gone for ten minutes, though thanks to the line and the fact that she really didn’t want to return to robot hell immediately, it stretched out past half an hour. She finally returned, iced coffee in hand, pushing through the door while scanning the room for Peter.

Instead she ran directly into someone.  Her hand holding the coffee bumped into her chest, covering her top with iced coffee.

“Shit!.” She shook droplets of coffee off her hand as she transferred the cup to her dry hand, and patted at her shirt with the napkin she’d had wrapped around the cup. 

“By all means, save the shirt, screw the bystander.”

It couldn’t be. May looked slowly up, still dabbing the napkin at her chest, to see Tony Stark standing there, grinning at her.

“What are you doing here?” Crap, that was rude. May tried not to be rude to Tony, because while he could be supremely irritating and smug, he had done things for her kid that she could never repay him for.  But… what was he doing here? And dressed like, well.. A farmer. She quietly chose not to question it too much. Besides, this was her time with Peter, as ill-suited to the outing as she might be.

“Same as you, I assume,” Tony said, flagging down someone who magically had a towel on hand. He offered it to her with a, “I can help if you want.”

“I’d rather you didn’t, thanks,” May said, but she accepted the towel. She dried up the worst of the spill -- it was sheer luck that she was wearing a dark top that wouldn’t stain, merely clung to her damply. Tony seemed to appreciate it, though she raised an eyebrow at him when she noticed him looking.  He had the decency to quit immediately. 

May didn’t love the idea of Tony popping in and taking over her time with Peter, though, no matter how little she was enjoying the killer robots. It was exactly up his alley, and she should bow gracefully out, but… “I hope you aren’t here to be Peter’s chaperone. I’ve got that covered.”

“And bless you for it, that kid is a disaster,” Tony said fondly. “I’m here for that sarcastic little bastard over there.”  He gestured towards a kid in a faded AC/DC shirt who was using a controller to aim what appeared to be a ray gun mounted atop his robot at the ceiling.

“You don’t have a kid,” May said with certainty.

“Nope,” Tony agreed. “But Harley’s a kid I watch out for, and he’s almost as bright as your kid.”

Pride laced his words, and he was watching the boy with a soft fondness that made May feel immediately guilty for her own possessiveness moments before. She of all people should understand the bond you could forge with a child not of your own blood, and know the legitimacy of such a bond. 

“He have superpowers too?”  

“Nope, and it’s probably a good thing,” Tony said cheerfully. “Think Peter will notice I’m here?”

“You think he hasn’t already?” May said. It was the right answer, Tony’s eyes lit up in a genuine way that made it clear to her how often she saw him playacting at happiness.

“Come on, I’ll introduce you to Harley,” Tony offered. “Unless you want me to get you out of those wet clothes first?” He waggled his eyebrows in a way that was so over-the-top that May just laughed.

“Shockingly I didn’t bring a wardrobe change to a day outing. It’ll dry.”  Hopefully she wouldn’t smell too awful when it did.  

“Here.” Tony shrugged off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders like a letterman’s jacket before she could think to protest.  Despite the rough material, it was warm and smelled like Tony  -- expensive and a little much -- but May didn’t take it off.

She didn’t even want to, which… was something she would have to examine more closely.  She was no stranger to gallant gestures, and she didn’t normally accept them from people she wasn’t interested in.  Tony was a force of nature, she told herself. He wouldn’t accept it back even if you tried.

Plus, there were way too many teenage boys in the room for her to really want to walk around in a cold, wet shirt that clung uncomfortably. 

Tony flung his arm over her shoulder, apparently deciding that if his jacket was allowed to do so, so was he, and he led her over to the kid he’d claimed.  

Harley was the polar opposite from Peter -- confident, sarcastic in a biting way, and treated Tony like he was any other human being. It was a sharp contrast to the hero worship Peter tended towards, and the shyness and sweetness that she was always worried was going to be worn away by the world they lived in.  But watching Harley and Tony together made it obvious that deep down Harley was another kid who had been given the short stick by life and was trying his best to carve his own path through it.  

Harley also kept giving her what could only kindly be called the stink eye. It took her a moment to work out why -- he’d watched Tony stroll up with his arm around her shoulder, she was wearing Tony’s jacket like they were going steady, and it was fairly obvious that her expertise was not in mechanical engineering.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the kid was assuming about her, and May couldn’t figure out a casual way to tell him how very wrong he was. Finally she settled on, “I gotta go see how Peter’s robot is coming along.”

“You know he’s actually lined up to battle Harley’s robot,” Tony said, and it was obvious from Harley’s confused expression that Tony had not divulged his connection with the competition. 

He looked back and forth between them. “Who’s this Peter kid?”

“An intern,” Tony replied smoothly.

Harley was clearly not satisfied with this answer. “You’ve never offered me an internship.”

“This is a different thing,” Tony replied. May winced; Tony was entirely too new to managing teenagers to understand what he’d just done.  Harley’s expression darkened and May knew without a doubt that Peter’s robot was a dead machine rolling.

“I’m just going to head back over there,” May said, gesturing vaguely towards Peter’s distant station and hurrying off before she got somehow wrapped up in the argument Harley was about to start.

She hustled off, and only realized she was still wearing Tony’s jacket with Peter raised an eyebrow at her. 

“I ran into Tony -- literally--  and dumped my coffee on myself,” she explained. 

“Very, uh, gentlemanly of him to offer his coat,” Peter said,. “And why was he even here? He hasn’t said hi to me.” He checked his phone, where she could only see messages from Ned bemoaning his parents for choosing this weekend for a family trip.

“Apparently,” May said, stretching out the word to show it was news to her, too, “he’s mentoring a kid in this competition. I didn’t get the details.”

May marvelled as Peter’s expression  became a mirror for one Harley had worn moments before. Tony really knew how to pick ‘em.

“What? What kid?” Peter stood on his tippy-toes, looking around to try to spot Tony. His expression darkened even more when he found him. “That kid? He’s the three-time champion! Last year his robot managed to freeze and set his opponent on fire simultaneously!”

May’s eyebrows raised. “You know him?”

“Some other kids were talking about him earlier,” Peter explained. “They somehow didn’t mention that Tony was with him.”

May thought back to Tony’s appearance and he had appeared more low-key than usual. The jacket she was still wearing was denim, which… she wouldn’t have thought was in Tony’s wardrobe at all, honestly. “I think he’s in disguise.”

“Huh,” Peter said. “I didn’t know he knew how to do that.”

“To be fair, I only realized it in retrospect.”  May shrugged. “I think the fact that he isn’t announcing his presence is doing most of the disguise work for him. No one would believe Tony Stark would show up at a battle robot competition and not try to win.”

“He is though,” Peter said darkly. “With that kid.”

“Well,” May said, looking at Peter’s robot, “guess we just have to kick that kid’s ass.”

Peter grinned. 

An hour later -- and the time seemed to magically fly by much faster than before, now that May had a goal in mind -- it was time for Peter’s first battle. He wasn’t up against Harley until the third round, and May felt a little proud that Tony had assumed Peter would make it through to the finals without any help. Her boy was brilliant, and it always gave her a warm feeling when others acknowledged it, too. 

Especially Tony, but she would never, ever tell him that.

Peter’s robot destroyed his competition in under a minute, and twenty minutes later, in his semifinal round, he took out a robot that seemed to be made entirely of buzzsaws in an agonizing three minute match.  

He won, though, and they settled in to watch the competition. Harley’s robot had destroyed his first competitor in thirty seconds, and in this battle, he revealed that he’d somehow installed a flame launcher on the underside that melted the wiring on the robot he was fighting in the semifinal.

Finally, it came down to Harley and Peter. Tony was beaming proudly, and May had no idea how anyone failed to notice it was him, flannel or no. 

“Kick his ass, kiddo,” May told Peter encouragingly. “You’ve got this.”

Peter gave her a double-thumbs up, and marched into battle.

May slid over to where Tony was watching, standing shoulder to shoulder with him as their kids prepared to destroy each other. “Hope you’re prepared for defeat.”

“You know I can’t pick favorites,” Tony said, “except for how there’s no chance in hell that Harley’s not gonna win this.”

“Wanna bet?” May said teasingly.

“Why, Ms. Parker, I wouldn’t have taken you for a gambling woman, but yes, yes I do,” Tony said. “My kid wins, I get to take you out for that dinner.”  

Tony had been threatening to take her out to dinner for months. “And if my kid wins?” she asked.

“Why, you have to take me out, of course. Terms have to be fair.”  Tony’s grin should make her want to smack him, but May had found that the bastard tended to grow on you. 

She considered it half a moment, but… what the hell. She held out her hand to shake on it.

When she turned back to the rink, she noticed that both Peter and Harley were giving them the stinkeye, even as the ref counted down for the battle to begin.

Once it did, there was absolute carnage. May saw a streak of fluid that looked alarmingly like blood arc through the air after a saw unfurled off Peter’s robot and surprise-attacked Harley’s. Then as Harley’s robot retaliated, there was fire and sparks. When the smoke cleared, both robots were incapacitated.

“A tie!” declared the ref, much to the disappointment of both boys.

May glanced over at Tony. “Guess it’s a draw.”

“So we have to do two dinners, obviously,” Tony said without skipping a beat. 

From the corner of her eye, she could see Harley and Peter turn towards each other, and she was proud to see Peter offer Harley a handshake. A moment’s hesitation, eyes cast towards Tony, but Harley shook firmly.  She had a feeling that was not going to turn out great for Tony.

“It’s a date.”  Tony continued, looking so overly confident that May knew that he was hoping that she’d agree.

May’s attention crashed back into focus on the man in front of her.  This could go so very badly, and there was Peter to think about, for when things inevitably crashed and burned, but…

May had made most of her best decisions in life on impulse, and she knew what she wanted to say. “Pick me up at seven.”

[mysterylover123]

BNHA Rewatch: Episode 27 “Bizarre! Gran Torino Appears!”

mysterylover123

The Internship arc starts off with a bang! Let’s see that Full Cowl, Deku! 

SORA NI UTAEBA! While the song in this intro is kinda meh to me, the visuals are amazing. I love the symbolism for all the events of the ep - tho not gonna lie, this core’s ED is better than the OP. Anyway tho, go punch that wall Deku!

We start with Gran Torino pretending to be crazy. I’ll admit, I’m kinda eh on this bit, though I love  Gran. It’s probably because I found it annoying when Yoda did it, so I find it annoying here as well. (It’s really just my inner fangirl talking. Nobody makes Deku unhappy except Kacchan. Who can get away with it.)

But actually, this sets up an interesting difference between Deku and Luke, though admittedly situation isn’t the same because Deku knows Gran is Gran. But Deku’s response to this is to call All Might to tell him Gran’s gone senile. He’s so empathetic Deku why aren’t you real? (no shade at Luke there,e I love him too. Just not as much).

“I don’t have time to mess around.” Deku did not come to play.

New costume! It’s incredible how much better it is than the old one. Like, not even funny how much better. Day-um, Deku. 

Pfh Gran knows exactly how to piss off Deku: Insult All Might. You clever little scoundrel.

So onto Deku’s character flaws: 1. He’s overly analytical. Deku doesn’t know how to act quickly, partially due to circumstance, but partially that’s just how he is. Hesitant. Over-cautious, over-thinks things. He needs to learn how to take action - and in this arc, he does indeed do so without hesitation, and saves Iida’s life by so-doing. Box 1 checked off.

2. Deku admires All Might too much. Like every MC in BNHA, his Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Tragedy (insert me telling you to read that essay again). It’s a problem because he doesn’t believe in himself. So he needs to learn not to imitate All Might and be his own hero. That one doesn’t really sink in until the PLE arc. But check.

3. Deku is insecure. He has a massive inferiority complex (which fits nicely into his foil’s inf-sup complex,  wouldn’t-cha-know) and doesn’t believe in himself. So he needs to learn to be more confident. (Is it wrong that I want this to end with him breaking through Instrumentality to a chorus of his friends saying ‘Congratulations’?)

Gran is my favorite Teacher, as a teacher, in BNHA. I’m a teaching-major, and I kinda aspire to his techniques. What I love the most is helping students figure it out themselves. Just telling someone the answer doesn’t help them. It’s so satisfying seeing a student make that breakthrough thanks to your guidance.

Now we’re cutting away to Iida’s internship to remind you Iida Wants Revenge. This is a little exposition-y, let’s cut somewhere else.

OK good, the villains! Right off the bat, we’ve got some great Parallels with the Heroes, as Tomura decides to basically Intern with a Pro-Villain. He even calls Stain a pro. Tho Tomura really needs to work on his recruitment strategy. “Stain join us. Cause.” “Bakugou. Join us. Cause”.

I want Deku and Tomura to build a grand Hero-Villain rivalry. Tomura basically hates him for no real reason right now, and I want there to be a good reason. Other than “He’s All Might’s successor”. I want them to be the Joker and Batman of BNHA with a real complex hero-villain rivalry, where one reflects the other. They’re getting there but I want more.

“Bloodlust without conviction is meaningless.” Ooh I love me some Stain. He really elevated this series’ philosophical side with his ramblings on heroism and villainy.

OK am I creeped out by the fact that All for One just said the same thing I did about learning? A little.

Deku is so brilliant and such a fast learner tho. It doesn’t take him long to put it all together. And Gran actually really admires him for that - I enjoy their mentor dynamic a lot, since Gran has some real respect for Midoriya in a different way from All Might.

Bakugou with Best Jeanist! OMG the comedy gold of this. Though I just want to take a sec to gripe about a change from the manga to the anime: Manga! Bakugou does not charge at Best Jeanist and yell at him. He’s not dumb enough to try that on the #4 Pro Hero and his teacher. He sits still and listens to Jeanist’s lecture. The only Bakugo line here that’s from the manga is “Didn’t you make an offer for me?” This completely changes the way we perceive Bakugo in this scene, and in general. Bad change.

 But in Good Storytelling-ville, I like the continuing parallels between the Wonder duo this creates: Izuku interns in a rundown neighborhood with an unlisted hero, Bakugo in Tokyo with a top pro. Izuku needs to learn to control his power and believe in himself. Katsuki needs to learn to be kinder and more humble. Izuku learns his lesson her, Katsuki doesn’t. Parallels!

Kirishima and Tetsutetsu again! 4th kind is ok. He’s probably the least memorable of the internship pros, since his gimmick is simple and his design kinda dull.

Uraraka and Gunhead! I love how well they get along. He’s kawaii and she’s a hardcore badass. Don’t you forget it!

Now for more of Momo’s arc. The Uwabami internship is usually dismissed by fans as Just Fanservice, but think about it in context, and it becomes really interesting. One, the Hero Killer arc is about Stain protesting the commercialization of heroism, so we do need to have a Pro-Hero demonstrate the problematic nature of that commercialism. Uwabami does just that. Two, we need to have Momo’s internship be unfulfilling to her, to complete her downward trajectory (before the Final Exam arc can bring her back up), so it’s useful for further embarrassing and developing her character. 3, it sets up Momo and Kendo’s future rivalry.

I’ll take more about it in future eps where it appears.

Izuku practicing and constantly hitting his face on the wall is one of those things that makes me wonder if either a) he has a secret endurance quirk or b) OFA just naturally ups your durability. How does he still have a face after that.

Here’s a hot take: Izuku with his face smashed up from spending a night with no sleep training in garbage all night is still prettier than any other guy in this series.

One of the reviewers I follow made the comparison between All Might vs Deku’s using of OFA and Korra vs Aang’s role as the Avatar. You know, All Might and Korra, both master the power pretty quickly so they get to be strong fast but lose out on the spiritual connection a bit, while Deku and Aang take their time learning ofa/the four elements, but get as a tradeoff more of the spirit-y side...(ATLA & BNHA. My 2 favorite shows, alongside FMA. I swear these are like, three sides of the same show).

While I’m watching in the Sub this time around, i wanted to note a dub-ism in this scene: it’s localized to ‘hot pastries’ instead of taiyaki. There’s a lot of bits like that, where they take Japanese food and translate it for us dumb Americans. But well, maybe that made sense in the 90s, when there maybe wasn’t as much cultural crossover, but...even I knew what mochi were before watching BNHA (Uraraka’s fave, and the dub always localizes it to ‘sweets’) and everyone has google if they’re confused so why not just say ‘Taiyaki?’ Ah well, it’s a stupid nitpick but still.

Gran’s metaphor here is so great. As a teacher I aspire to learn from this man. Teach me your teaching ways.

“THIS TAIYAKI IS ME!!!!!” Another dub-ism has him say “I’m not really a dessert” I saw a reactor once comment on this ‘Yeah, but you are a snacc, Deku.’ I wholeheartedly agree.

FULL COWLLLLLLL!!!!!!! FYEAH!!!!!

OK so there are a lot of reasons I love Full Cowl. it’s one of the series’ finest moments, emblematic of what makes it cool. And what makes Deku cool. He’s smart, and has to work his way around problems, and this solution was just...it was there, for us and Izuku the whole time, to finally sit up and take notice of. It’s about applying power in a different way. About taking what you can do and doing the best you can with what you’ve got. A big central theme for the series.  

Also dayum that slow pan up Deku’s entire body as he activates it...he just looks good in this arc. Actually, post-cavalry battle Deku in the sports festival arc always looks weird and odd (because he’s beat up and in pain, duh) and prior to that he was mainly just adorable...this arc, however, is his official transition into Best Boy for Reals. He’s just...swoony. and also really cool, smart, and all sorts of great fangirl-y things. 

We end on a confident Deku smile and Daiki’s adorable ‘hai.’ Basically, i really enjoy this episode. A little slow at the beginning, maybe. But that conclusion is amazing and so worth the payoff. It’s even got this amazing rhyme and rhythm to it, cutting back and forth between the different students and teachers and just having themes echo between each other like poetry. It love it.

To close off: ED4, AKA BEST ED EVER!!!! This is seriously, no sarcasm, best ED. So for those of you who don’t know, the story behind ED4 Datte Atashi no Hero is, 1: The Fantasy AU theme comes from the second popularity poll, which came out around Chapter 120/Episode 61 (yes, THAT one) and for which Horikoshi drew the top 10 in fantasy garb. 2: The Song was written by LiSa and was explicitly stated by her to be effectively about Izuku’s feelings towards Kacchan. I wrote a post analyzing it. It is, basically, the anthem for...

BKDK CORNER

“Loose…” Guess who the first person Deku thinks of to create Full Cowling is? If you sad Kacchan, ding-ding-ding!

On an analytical note, I think it’s very, very significant that the first real breakthrough Deku makes in handling his power comes by observing Kacchan and imitating him. This is one of my Top 20 Favorite BKDK moments, even though it’s completely indirect, because of how important that is in the long-run. But what about the Imitation theme? Why is it OK for Izuku to imitate Katsuki, but not All Might? Well, first of all, he does use Gran Torino’s moves as well, but mainly, I think the series is saying with this distinction that it’s OK to imitate someone if you see their flaws and acknowledge them, but if you hero-worship them and see them as perfect, you’re only going to screw yourself over.  This is why Iida imitating Ingenium, Shoto imitating his mom, Deku and Kacchan imitating All Might, and yes, Uraraka imitating Deku, are all so bad for them. If you see someone as perfect, and want to imitate them, you’ll never achieve that in your mind, because you already view yourself as imperfect. So Deku can imitate Katsuki because he thinks he’s a jerk, but also an amazing fighter, and Gran because he thinks he’s weird, but tough.

Also Deku just automatically thinking of Kacchan first is so damn shippy.

BEST GIRL OF THE EPISODE: Uwabami!

RANKER: Ranking the Internship Pros, least helpful to most.

10. Uwabami

9. Mt. Lady

8. 4th Kind

7. Endeavor

6. Death Arms

5. Manual

4. Selkie and Sirius (anime only)

3. Gunhead

2. Best Jeanist

1. Gran Torino! (Deku lucked out)

[thatblondebelgiangirl]

Baby Daddy Part 1 - Tyler Seguin series

Pairing: Tyler Seguin x Reader

Mentions: -

Word count: 1871

A/N: I mention the All Stars Game of 2015, idk why. It was easy. I have been postponing on posting this series because I wasn’t so happy about it, I even have a couple of versions of the series, maybe I will use another NHL player for the other versions. I’m sorry I haven’t been uploading, I had exams and other problems and wanted to stop writing for a while. I hope you will like the imagine! Please check out my masterlist. Feel free to request, posting will be slow because I’m starting school soon.

Chapter One

“Can’t Masterson do it this time?”, you asked your boss on the phone. “No, I want the best to go there and you are the best, Y/N. You know what to do.”, your boss said. You sighed, “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me?”, you whispered under your breath. “What was that? I’d love to go, boss?”, she said. You sighed. “Alright, alright, Rachel, I’ll go. Don’t expect a full paragraph on him though.”, you said agitated. You were a sports journalist for the Toronto Sun and the All-Stars Draft and Game were coming up soon and you were chosen to do it. You were actually chosen to do it ever since you were hired there, but this year you definitely didn’t want to do it. “I know you have been avoiding him to see him in person but it has to happen sometime, it’s been a year and a half, Y/N.”, Rachel said.

The person you have been dreading to see is Tyler Seguin. You ‘dated’ him when you were doing an internship in Boston. Correction you had a sexual relationship with him because you weren’t into commitment at the time – a party girl yourself even though your feelings for him changed over time. At the beginning you thought it was weird he was into it, since he was a good friend of yours, from back in Toronto where you were born, and definitely not his type – or so you thought. Not everyone knew about the relationship – most people thought you were good friends going out and about. That all changed when you found out you were pregnant. That made your brothers – Patrick, Dylan and Michael [made up names] - mad, they’re all hockey players and one of them – your twin brother, Patrick -  was a teammate of Tyler at the time.

This happened three years ago, they didn’t make it easy for him on the ice during your pregnancy. Yes, you kept the baby, you would’ve felt bad if you would’ve done an abortion. At the start Tyler didn’t help you much with preparing or supporting you but you thought that was bound to happen. But his mother knocked some sense into him and he started going to the appointments with you and helped you buy some baby clothes and furniture. He even started developing feeling for you and he pursued a relationship with you. You really appreciated it that Jackie did that for you even though she didn’t approve your pregnancy, since you were only twenty years old. You actually felt bad you got pregnant but two people swung this tango.

It happened before the rumors about him sleeping with his teammate’s wife surfaced. You knew you weren’t exclusive with him but that drew the straw for you and ended things with him. He was allowed to see his son but you never wanted to be near him. When Tristan was born you announced it on social media – people talked about it, wondering who the father could be – knowing you were familiar with a lot of hockey players. You never announced who it was, only people close to you knew about it – your families, friends, your co-workers and his teammates from the Bruins and now also the Dallas Stars.

“… And then you’re going to the All Stars Red Carpet to interview them… Y/N? Are you even listening?”, Rachel asked you. You were pretty close with Rachel, she knew about your situation, allowing you to work from home if Tristan got sick. She was your mentor, she saw potential in you and she was right. “Yeah, it just has been awhile since I have really talked to him face to face.”, you said. “Yes, I know. I’m sorry about that but I want you. The players like you, they know you better than our other reporters.” There was a silence. “Well, I’ll send everything you need to know tonight and I’ll see you tomorrow?”, she said ending the call. Even though you haven’t seen him about a year and a half, you talked to him on the phone or Face Timed him but every call was for your son. In the beginning he would always try to talk about something else but you would shut him out. If he wanted to see his son, you would always find someone else where Tyler had to pick him up. He just couldn’t let go of his player ways.

 “Mommy, I want a cookie.”, you heard Tristan say, pulling you from your thoughts. “How do you say it nicely?”, you asked. “Can I have a cookie, please?”, he said cutely with a big smile on his face. “Okay, little guy.”, you said smiling at him, standing up from your desk you sat at. You walked to the kitchen following the little brunette three-years-old.

Anyone knowing the two of you were together would know in an instant that Tristan is Tyler’s. He had the same mesmerizing brown eyes and soft brown hair, he’s like a mini-me of Tyler. He loved it that he had a mini-me. Every time he would make that remark you would roll your eyes, even though he wouldn’t see it because you talked over the phone then.

You walked to the cupboard, grabbed the cookie jar and took one cookie out. “There you go, baby.”, you said, giving the cookie to Tristan. “Thank you!”, he said before munching on the cookie. You looked at the clock and saw that Tyler would call any minute. You had a scheduled time where he would call, to keep the routine up for Tristan. “Are you ready? Daddy’s going to call any minute now!”, you said feigning excitement for the little boy. You grabbed your iPad and set it up at Tristan’s spot at the dinner table. Tristan jumped up and down from excitement and climbed in his seat. Just in time for Tyler calling. The little boy tapped his finger on the green phone and Tyler’s face popped up. “Hey Tyler.”, you said before walking away, going to fold and iron some laundry in the connected living room. “Hey Y/N, can we talk later?”, he asked quickly. You turned around and nodded to the boy sitting in front of the iPad. “Mommy says yes.”, Tristan smiles. “So how are you doing, buddy?”, you heard Tyler ask. “Mommy just gave me a cookie so my stomach is happy now.”, you heard the little one answer. You smiled at the answer, the little one could become a comedian later. Tyler chuckled, “How’s kindergarten? Are you making friends?”, he asked, really interested. “It’s good, Mommy how many friends do I have?”, he asked you. You tapped your chin with your pointer finger, really thinking about it and counting the kids he talks about. “You made ten friends, Tristan.”, you smiled at him. “Did you hear that?! Ten is a lot!”, you heard him say. “Woah buddy, yes that is a lot!”, you heard Tyler say excitingly. They talked for a little while more, with the dogs and all that. “Hey Tris, can I talk to Mommy now?”, “Okay, I’m going to get her. Bye Daddy.”, you heard them say. “Mommy, he wants to talk! Can I watch TV now?”, Tristan says. “Yes of course.”, you said, putting the TV on and changed it to his favorite channel after you were done ironing.

You walked to the kitchen taking the iPad in your hand and walked over to your little office. “What’s wrong?”, you asked, a little agitated. “It’s just, I know you reported the All-Stars Draft and Game of the previous years – are you doing this year’s too?”, he asked with a concerned look on his face. “Yeah... Do you want me to bring Tristan with me?”, you asked. “If you want too, well we can do some activities together but... Only if you want too of course. I get that you don’t want too.”, he asked hesitantly. “I would like that Tyler, I know I have been distant to you the past year but you know why.”, you said with a serious look.

That statement hurt him, you could see it in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”, you said quickly. “No, it’s true. I’m still sorry about that but I’m changed now. You know I’ve been trying to be a dad for Tristan. What I did when I was in the Bruins was wrong. The coaches even say I have changed.”, he said honestly. “I know Ty. I appreciate everything you do, you know that too, right?”, you said, unconsciously using his nickname you used. He looked surprised, while you looked wide-eyed when you realize. “Oh, sorry. Must’ve slipped too soon.”, you said recovering. “Y/N, I never said you had to stop using it. I like it when you say it.”, he said smiling at you. “I guess it could make the situation more normal for the both of us, like we’re friends again. Before you had that internship back in Boston.”, he added.

You knew each other before you moved with your family to Toronto. Your dad used to be a hockey goalie with the Toronto Maple Leafs. You were good friends, occasionally playing hockey together – the boys not being rough on  you of course. In the off-season you would see each other back again – in the beginning though, after a while he had his own guy friends and he really didn’t want to hang out with you anymore. You saw each other again when your brother and Tyler got drafted to the Bruins. When you saw him, he was shocked to see you. You didn’t notice it but he looked at you in a different way – seeing you had grown up in a beautiful way. He always had this crush on you but he didn’t want to admit it, denying it even because he thought he would never see you again.

 You blushed a little and looked at the time. Oh, you had to start preparing dinner. “Well, Tyler. It was nice to talk to you but I have to start preparing dinner or there someone won’t be happy about it.”, you said chuckling and being honest with him. “Okay, I’ll talk to you in two days, same time?”, he said beaming at you. You liked his smile so much and it was weird you could still make him smile like that. “Yeah, good for me. See you then.”, you said ending the call.

You walked out your office with a wide smile on your face – a faint pink blush on your cheeks. You couldn’t believe Tyler made you blush or smile like that again. You did still had feelings for him. “Did Daddy tell when the next call is going to be?”, the little lookalike asked you, still watching TV. “Yeah, the day after the tomorrow.”, you answered smiling at him. “I’m going to start preparing dinner, okay. So can you stay in the living room so I can keep an eye on you?”, you said sternly. “Okay, okay, Mommy.”, he said with his hands in the air. The little one had an attitude, you thought to yourself while you chuckled at the sight.

[noheroes-allowed]

week 2

I felt like I was getting carpel tunnel in my hands last week. and that was why I couldn’t write my thoughts down earlier bc I was literally resting my hands the past two days. I was trying so hard everyday to catch up on credit strategy and sas. I think I’m frustrated on how things are going. but I’m not allowed to complain about it bc I’m ‘so lucky.’ when people are so ‘excited’ on zoom, is that real? there’s this guy larell who is literally smiling all the time, but it’s the scary kind of smile. his eyes look empty. it’s an act, right? they’re just trying to make good impressions so they can get a full-time offer. or they’re just better adjusted than I am. I can’t tell. everyone’s so excited about things I’m so bored about. like orientation when we spent so long going over irrelevant things. or personal social media branding. which was just common sense. the ur team is holding an olympics thing next friday which would've been fun in person to make friends and socialized but over zoom, it kind of feels like it’s going to be a mess. I’d rather just work on my project and get work done. 

I’m frustrated with myself too. I can’t focus when I need to sometimes and I have difficulty conversing over calls. a part of me is grateful I don’t have to worry about my body language and making extra effort to smile if we were in person since no video is the default bc of bandwidth I think. but also it’s really difficult to converse. but also that might be bc I’ve literally not had to talk in a professional sense or think off the top of my head or quick on my feet in so long that I’m just regressing in that skill when I was really bad to begin with. one of my strengths is the amount of effort I put in and being organized and conscientious but I can’t even portray that through this virtual environment. and speaking up matters so much more now. I think that’s why anthony bothers me. bc I’ve been trying so fucking hard to learn sas and he’s over there still not having done anything 10 days in. and he’s also just dominating every conversation he’s in and trying to make himself sound smart. like when he was talking about economic theory assuming everyone is rational and throwing in terms like adverse selection and flexing that he has a gf in two separate situations in the span of two days that had no relevance to the topics at hand. gross. I just hate people who think they’re so smart and try to sound intellectual. and yes I fucking hate his glasses ok. it makes him look like a fucking asshole.

the ur team also set up an intern networking program and I met the first girl last thurs. and I swear she looked disappointed when I came on screen. I swear. the conversation was fine I guess. we talked about school and the fall and she said she would rather have everything be online than potentially have classes on saturday. we talked about shows too. she said she liked b99 bc it reassured her that not all police are bad. which I hope she does not actually use b99 as a representation of police. idk if I regret signing up for the program bc I like having lunch breaks to myself. like I just wanna watch shows. but I forced myself to sign up for this and the innovation challenge even though I already foresee that being a mess bc group work in these times is not gonna go well. I feel like I’m forcing myself to do a lot of things lately. which is good I guess to push my boundaries and being comfortable doesn’t make me grow but also. I just want to slow down.

nolan's last day was friday. I wish he wasn’t leaving so soon bc I feel like I was being a huge idiot around him and I want to redeem himself. so I’m not just some dumb kid in his mind. I sent him a message though thanking him for explaining things with me even though he was extremely busy. but he kept saying he had a free schedule. idk. he thanked me for my ‘kind words’ and said I could connect with him on linkedin and ask him for career help if I needed it. which was nice. he would’ve been a nice mentor to have but he also intimidated me so much bc I think I just. don’t know how to conduct myself around typical business guys even though he was so nice to me and all the fear around him is just manifestations of ideas in my mind. it’s also unfortunately bc I don’t know how to act around white people these days bc I basically don’t know any and aren’t around them since leaving hs and umd. I think he actually would’ve been really helpful in my own development too, not just for the intern project bc he’s so young and went through the program. and probably would’ve been more candid with me and I would’ve been more open to him as time went on. sigh. chee is nice though. he’s helping me and I think he’ll be quite helpful as the project goes on, but it feels like only on technical things. not necessarily mentoring. which is fine. people have different styles. and he’s less intimidating in my mind for some reason even though he’s older and has more experience than nolan. 

I hope my project is good. ugh I really want my work to stand out against everyone else’s. I’m really scared about having to find a job soon bc my interview skills are below par and I feel like this is my only opportunity to get a job. but I also don’t see myself moving there. and if they go online idk if I’d survive it. idk it’s probably not a good fit for me but it’s like. I don’t think I can factor that in this job market. and I know the project outcome isn’t everything bc I have to network and prove I’m a good fit. even though I’m most likely not. but everyone keeps saying network network network. but I don’t know how. it’s frustrating. and they keep saying ask questions. but what if you don’t know enough to know what to ask? it’s like that issue when people are like go to your prof’s office hours to ask questions to get to know them. but like. I barely had questions and whenever I went to office hours I just sounded like a dumbass bc I’d just be there for 5 min. ask a question and then be like ‘ok’ and then leave. like I just don’t know what to ask. 

other things of this week. I had a corp rel meeting on thurs. so I’m starting to look into potential companies to contact. and it was easy to find sustainability/environment ones and social sector ones but finance and tech are tricky. I got grades back on a lot of my final exams. I was one point away from a cutoff but on student center I got the higher grade. which thank you bc the grade I got on my final was the lowest grade of the entire sem for that class so I was a little disappointed I didn’t just pull through at the end. also it’s so ironic of me to get an internship tangentially related to the second most disliked class I took this sem. I did worse than I wanted to on all of my finals but. what was I expecting really. I still haven’t figured out what to do about the mps thing. but I really need to soon. idk if I should play it safe and apply for stats or try for info sci. but also. ugh does it matter. like I was so sure I wanted to do info sci over stats but now I have to only choose one bc I can only apply to one. and have to decide my fall schedule based on that decision. and the cs databases class seems so theoretical. and the business intelligence class and the tech ethics class looked interesting. but the messy data class and applied databases class are probably more useful. 

[facesofcsl]

Nessa, Student (Psychology)

Nessa is a student majoring in psychology, read about her unique CSL placement experiences below! 

Please trace your involvement with CSL.

I saw CSL on the U of A website, when I was looking for some option courses. I thought it would be an interesting way to get more involved with the community. I do some volunteer work, and I wanted to be able to integrate that with my actual degree program.  Especially since the psychology program doesn't have any internships, unless you apply, where you interact with the community in relation to coursework. I thought that community and coursework connection would be really interesting. 

So, I enrolled in CSL 100, with Tania Kajner. I was placed with fYrefly in schools as a panelist. fYrefly in schools is a program that brings queer education into classsrooms from elementary schools all the way up to high school. We also do work with Education students as well, and sometimes community groups. We mostly spoke with Career and Life Management, (CALM) classes. Basically,  what fYrefly does is we bring presentations, with basic queer literacy into the classroom - so that’s like information on all the letters in the LGBTQ2SI+ acronym. Evan, my contact at fYrefly gave presentations giving that basic knowledge to the students. At the end, he would invite me, and the other panellists to share our stories one by one. Because there are so many diverse experiences and one person is not going to be able to tell what everyone's experiences are like, we had a diverse group of panellists. We obviously don’t have to share if we were not comfortable, or ‘out’ ourselves, but it was an opportunity open to CSL students. 

The intention of the fYrefly in schools, is to give children another perspective, or if they are part of the LGBTQ2SI+ community, that you can make it, and you can do this no matter who you are. A lot of kids who are part of the LGBTQ2SI+ community don’t have role models in the community, they don’t know anyone their age who is part of the LGBTQ2SI+ community, or don’t have friends that understand. Through our school engagement we can maybe help them have one person, or story they can relate to, and see how life does get better! 

fYrefly made the volunteer experience so pleasant and understanding. I felt like a guest to them, I was really welcomed! I think a big thing was that their volunteers are a part of the community that they are serving, so it feels very good to be recognized in that way. I enjoyed the experience so much, I have kept contact with fYrefly, and I intend to start with them again in the fall! 

I am in a CSL class right now, I am in PSYCH 344, which is intercultural communication. My placement is with Braided Journeys. It is very different from the placement I did with fYrefly. Braided Journeys provides various services to Indigenous students, from kindergarten all the way up to grade 12. My role as a CSL student is to be a tutor, I am available to any students who need extra help, but Braided Journeys does a lot of other things, like cultural events. 

So far it has been just getting to know the kids,  because they don’t have a lot of assignments due yet. I still think I have already learned so much just from interacting with the students and the staff and making contacts in the community. I met the school psychologist and she invited me to a group therapy session to learn about it. She also said, “Meet the principal! So you can take my job when I retire!” I didn’t expect to be making contacts that could be really important in my career later. It blew my mind, and made me really excited! 

Are you completing the CSL certificate?

I am hoping to! I am trying to fit it into the last little bit of my degree. I want to do it because it pushes me to stay involved in my community even when I am busy with coursework and school. I have had to drop a lot of volunteer commitments since I started university, but I feel that the 20 hour placement is very doable. Unlike a lot of other volunteer positions, it is pretty short term, but through CSL I can have diverse experiences at different organizations, and get a feel for so many paths! 

What was the most memorable or important lesson you have learned so far?

I think the distinguishment between those who are being served, and those who are serving is not as clear as I may have once thought. 

I felt a little bit strange about CSL at first, because I thought it was: “We are going into communities and serving because we have this higher knowledge” - but that’s not true! I felt like it was more of a reciprocal thing, where I am coming in with a type of knowledge, and the community partner is providing me with a different type of knowledge and we are working together. It is a more mutually beneficial relationship than anything else!

How did CSL expose you to new experiences and knowledge?

Here’s an interesting thing that I did not expect; I was not really ‘out’ in high school, there wasn’t really a GSA [Gay-Straight Alliance] at my school- there was no queer community to be part of. University has been the place where I have started to express my identity. When I think about serving the community, I think of it as very material like “I am providing food or clothes or something.” But really it was a lot of advocacy for myself, and my own community. That was not something I expected at all, that I am serving the community I am also part of. 

Has CSL impacted your academic or personal life in any way?

I would definitely say that I feel more confident in my ability to publically speak, first of all. Also, I feel more inclined to do that type of advocacy work, and maybe get into a little bit more activism. I have always been a little bit scared of activism and public speaking, especially just coming into my identity and things. Now I feel confident and good about it, and empowered to talk about it openly.

How did you see your coursework brought outside the classroom? 

I thought it was interesting to see the theories about how non-profits function and getting a better idea from the perspective of how the organization runs, instead of just a volunteer perspective. Thinking critically about  questions like,  “Why did they treat their volunteers the way they treat me?”, and well it is because - like I mentioned before, we are a part of the community they serve. Some other organizations I have been a part of do not have a lot of training for volunteers, and that feels really weird sometimes, but learning from the theory in classrooms, we learned that the resources, the time, and the funding often do not allow staff the ability to fully train volunteers. As well, it is necessary for them to have volunteers that come in and provide their time for free, because they are understaffed. While staff are running the organization themselves, how are they supposed to train all the volunteers as well? It was good to learn from that perspective so I can understand why my other volunteer experiences have been the way that they’ve been. 

How has CSL shaped your career  or academic goals? 

Like I mentioned, I met the school psychologist through fYrefly, and she offered to be a mentor for me, and allowed me to learn about her group therapy. That was not something I had expected at all!

More broadly, I have had an interest in working in the non-profit sector- and CSL has provided me with the opportunity to have more full experiences within that sector, and I am now more interested in working with non-profits than ever.

I would say if you are looking for new experiences where you can be productive and helpful, and learn things - CSL is the place for you!

[inawickedlittletown]

Whatever It Takes (3/?)

Summary: It isn’t easy being Spider-Man, but having Tony Stark in his corner makes it that much easier. Or, Tony didn’t know he could be parental or care that much and Peter really needs a father figure.

Note: Meant to put this here yesterday and forgot even though I posted it on AO3. Oops.

On AO3

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Tony arrived at Peter and May’s apartment almost exactly at six. He had timed everything perfectly because he’d only been back in New York for about twenty minutes before he was headed to there. The long week in D.C. had finally come to an end and Tony was glad that Vision was actually taking point with a lot of the stuff to do with the Accords. He was better suited than Tony exactly for two reasons. He was one logical, and two not prone to acting on emotion alone. It discomfited the politicians who liked to think that they could act without feeling. Not to mention of course that Vision could fact check all of them right on the spot because everything he read he retained. So the UN and the U.S. Government were getting the best that Tony could offer in terms of someone suited to negotiate the new terms.

 Peter opened the door when he knocked and let him in with a smile. “Hi, Mr. Stark,” he said.

Peter didn’t look different than he had a week ago and Tony couldn’t even tell that he had been injured mere days earlier but that didn’t mean that he didn’t let the relief to finding him alright settle into him.

 “Hey, kid,” Tony said as he stepped inside and actually reached over to ruffle his hair.

 Peter grumbled something and tried to fix it with his fingers. Tony smirked at him.

 Tony had been in Peter’s apartment all of two times and neither time had given him time to look around so Tony took it all in. It was small and homey.

 “Hello, Mr. Stark,” May said. She was wiping her hands on her apron as she opened the fridge door.

 Tony smiled. “Hello, thanks for inviting me over.”

 “Well, it was only necessary,” May said, “dinner will be ready soon. Make yourself at home.”

 Tony took that to mean that he could wander. Peter watched him as he walked over to a bookshelf that contained both books and picture frames. He found one of Peter with May that must not have been too old in one corner next to one of a much younger May with a man that had a slight resemblance to Peter except that he was blond and his eyes were a striking blue. That must have been Ben.

 Other pictures featured the three of them. In some Peter wasn’t more than a toddler and in others he was just a few years younger than now. Then, Tony found one of a different couple and he knew at once who they were. Richard and Mary Parker. Tony hadn’t connected the dots, not even after Friday had told him all about Peter back when he was about to recruit him. Maybe he hadn’t paid it any attention or it was because back then Mary hadn’t gone by Parker but Fitzpatrick. She had been brilliant in the vein of how Bruce Banner was brilliant and had, if Tony remembered correctly, published some fantastic articles in the field of genetics.

 Then, she had disappeared or Tony hadn’t noticed she changed her name but he knew almost with 99% surety that Mary Parker hadn’t done anything of any notoriety. Neither had Richard for that matter.

 “Those are my parents,” Peter said and Tony looked away from the picture.

 “I figured,” Tony said and then glanced at Peter. “Your mother was a genius,” he added before he could stop himself.

 Peter stared at him and Tony knew that May had stopped chopping vegetables in the kitchen. “I – you knew her,” Peter said, “why didn’t you tell me? How did you know her?”

 “I didn’t know I knew her until just now,” Tony admitted. “She published a lot of papers in her youth under her maiden name. I guess it was before she got married. I met her once at a conference and I think I probably tried to recruit her for SI to work with the bio engineering division that we were starting out but she turned me down.”

 Peter gapped at him. “I didn’t know she was published,” Peter said and then looked towards May who just shrugged her shoulders. Tony could tell that he was itching to try and find his mother’s work so Tony pulled out his phone.

 “Friday, download anything Mary Fitzpatrick published into Peter’s computer,” he said into the phone.

 “Friday has access to my computer,” Peter said.

 Tony walked away from the shelf. “Friday has access to anything with internet, kid.”

 They went into Peter’s room mostly because Tony could tell that Peter wanted to look at the articles immediately. It made Tony wonder about how much Peter actually knew about his parents. Obviously he had been raised by his father’s brother so he probably knew a lot more about Richard than Mary, but he couldn’t help but feel like there was something else there.

 He texted Friday to look into it and have information ready for him when he left the Parkers.

 Tony leaned on the doorway to Peter’s room and kept a watch on him. He had gotten to the articles already and was looking through them. Tony knew he would understand some of the material but certainly not all.

 “They, um, they died in a plane crash,” Peter said after a while.

 Tony knew. Friday had told him just that while Tony drove over to the apartment all those months ago.

 “I don’t remember them much. I was so little when it happened and according to May their work was so time consuming that most of the time I was with her anyway even before it happened but they tried to keep their memory in tact. Mostly I was just always curious about what they were like but either way I didn’t have a bad childhood. It’s always just a question. A what if.”

 Peter shook his head and let out a breath. “Anyway,” he said and got up, “that wasn’t the point of dinner tonight.”

 Watching him, Tony could tell that May and Ben were his parents far more than Richard and Mary had been and that it was likely that Ben’s death had hit Peter harder than that of the two people that were biologically his parents.

 “No,” Tony agreed, “but part of it was to ask about that fire you decided to run into.”

 Peter dropped his head back. “It was nothing I couldn’t handle.”

 Tony stared him down. “I saw the medical notes after they checked you out. It was dangerous and reckless and I don’t care that you have a healing factor. You need to be more careful.”

 “So did Pepper call you herself to tell you about it?” Peter asked.

 Tony nodded. It had been an interesting call especially because Pepper had been worrying about someone other than him. But mostly it had made Tony want to just get in a suit and fly directly to the compound and Peter.

 “She was the one that Friday alerted when your breathing became irregular,” Tony said, “and if you didn’t heal the way you did, who knows what might have happened.”

 “But I do heal faster,” Peter pressed.

 Tony knew he needed to let it go. It was going to keep happening and as long as Peter continued to be Spider-Man he would get injured and hurt. Tony didn’t know if it was because Peter was young or because Tony felt directly responsible, but he couldn’t bear the thought of him truly getting hurt or injured because of his antics as Spider-Man.

 “You do,” Tony said, “but you are going on instinct rather than proper training and you just rush into things without thought. So, starting this weekend we’re going to start training you.”

 Peter didn’t seem annoyed by it like Tony knew he would have been in his stead but then again Tony had never been as well adjusted as Peter.

 “Okay,” Peter said.

 “Good,” Tony said.

 “Dinner’s ready,” May called.

  Peter was impressed by how well May and Mr. Stark got along despite everything. He knew that May wasn’t exactly a big fan of Tony Stark, but she could also respect him and respect that he was Peter’s mentor and friend.

 “A fantastic cook and a pretty face,” Tony said after dinner was over.

 May rolled her eyes. “I hear you’re engaged, Mr. Stark,” she said.

 Tony didn’t correct her so Peter didn’t either but Peter noticed the blush on her cheeks. He got up to clear the table and May smiled at him in the affectionate way that she always did. It made Peter feel like things really were going to be okay even if there were changes in the horizon.

 “So, you knew Peter’s mother,” May said while Peter started the dishes. Peter paused and listened.

 “Barely,” Mr. Stark said, “we must have rubbed elbows at a bunch of different conferences but I only met her the one time. SI had been looking into expanding our bio engineering fields and I knew about Mary because she had written some really intriguing articles about genetics and in particular how little human DNA differs from that of other animals. Of course she turned me down when I asked her to be the head of our research department and it’s not something that really took off with SI anyway. We didn’t attract the right people because everyone knew we were more about the weapon development. Truth is, I turned a blind eye to a lot of what my company was doing to focus on my own projects and my own work.”

 Peter scrubbed the dishes with a sponge and he waited for May to respond.

 “I don’t know what Mary or Richard did for a living,” she admitted, “but we knew it was classified and important and they felt that it was important enough to be away from Peter for long periods of time. It was – it was a tragedy how that ended for them.”

 “Yes,” Mr. Stark said.

 Peter kept washing and listening to them as they went from that topic to another until May was telling Mr. Stark that being Spider-Man wouldn’t interfere with Peter’s dreams of going to college and beyond.

 “Of course it won’t,” Mr. Stark had said at once. “If Peter had the time, an internship at SI would be his in a heartbeat. I think he will get into any school he wants and that he will have a bright future in any field.”

 “Good,” May said.

 “I’ll pay his tuition,” Mr. Stark said then and they were all silent until a cup slipped out of Peter’s fingers and fell into the sink, splashing water on the front of his shirt.

 May spoke before Peter could. “Mr. Stark, I am not insinuating that this situation we are in means that you have to compensate by paying for Peter’s education. That is an insane amount of money and—”

 “And I have it,” Mr. Stark said, “and I have never met anyone like Peter. He is the kind of kid that wants to learn and yearns to prove that they can be the best and he can and we are both aware of the doors that I can open for him. They would not be undeserved. I want to take this off his shoulders because I can and because he deserves it. He has the potential to do great things.”

 They seemed to be staring each other down and Peter couldn’t predict who would win. He cleaned up the broken cup and kept washing the rest until the whole kitchen was clean. Only then did he pay them any mind and May had finally shrugged.

 “Okay,” she said, “if you’re insisting.”

 “I am,” Mr. Stark said.

  “I feel like I just keep accumulating spiders,” Tony said as he entered the compound and let the Iron Man suit be put away.

 “He’s an interesting kid,” Natasha said and she came out of the shadows.

 Peter was right and she had gone blond. It didn’t look bad on her, just odd. She wasn’t the Nat that he was used to.

 “And he spotted you,” Tony said as he walked towards the kitchen. The lights turned on as he walked and he heard Natasha follow him.

 “You remodeled,” Natasha said and came into step with him.

 Tony could remember his anger in the aftermath of Natasha letting them go. Then again he had been angry about Rhodey getting hurt too and it had all been jumbled up together. Even still, Tony had let her go and had known that she would be left to operate from the shadows. It was exactly what she had been trying to avoid but ultimately she had made her choices and in a way Natasha had been right because Barnes was being framed. In the end, it hadn’t been about that at all.

 “It wasn’t built with me living here in mind originally,” Tony said and he got a cup for the coffee that Friday had already begun brewing for him.

 “Right,” she said and sat down at the island. She watched him as she always had and Tony always felt a little like she could see everything he was hiding. “For the record,” Nat said, and when Tony looked at her she looked resigned, “I thought he told you.”

 Tony stopped short of bringing the coffee carafe out and he moved to stand directly across from her with only the island between them. “So you assumed instead of thinking that you might want to be sure I got informed about how my parents died.”

 Natasha hung her head. “Tony,” she said, “I thought you’d take it better from Steve.”

 He probably would have if Steve had told him as soon as he could after finding out. Tony had even called him while he was still at the hospital in D.C. and it hadn’t just been to offer him a place to stay in New York but to ask after him and Steve hadn’t told him. Come to think of it, Steve hadn’t even asked Tony for help in locating Bucky. It had been months and a bit of prodding before Steve even told Tony that The Winter Soldier was his childhood best friend.

 “Well,” Tony said, “all of that happened and maybe I would have come home from Siberia without a giant bruise across my chest and not as much emotional baggage.”

 “He feels horrible about it,” Natasha said.

 Tony turned away to get his coffee and then he joined her at the island and sighed. “What are you doing back here, anyway? Did Fury send you?”

 She shook her head. “Cap did,” she said, “he wanted me to check up on you and make sure you’re doing okay.”

 “Ah,” Tony said, “I did wonder if your loyalties were still with him.”

 Natasha threw up her hands. “We are all on the same side. I am your friend and I am his. I care about both of you and I am not reporting on your every move to him. This isn’t like—”

 “Like Natalie Rushman,” Tony said and couldn’t help but grin because they really did go way back.

 “I haven’t even told him that you and Pepper aren’t really engaged,” Natasha said and smiled at him in a knowing way, “nor have I told him about how close you and the kid have gotten. He’s pretty young, Tony, he shouldn’t be involved in this.”

 Tony drank a huge gulp of his coffee. “No, he shouldn’t. Hey, actually, since you are around and I hope sticking around, how do you feel about proper introductions and also training him? He has amazing instincts which I think come with his abilities and he’s good about trusting them. That and the suit I made him help him out a lot but there’s so much about himself that he doesn’t get yet and he’s lacking in technique. I think – well, from what I’ve gathered watching him – that he can even sense things before they happen. Sometimes from the way he turns or knows just where to be.”

 It had been one of those things that Tony didn’t pick up on at first until he was seeing all the data and video from Germany. It had been a hard one to watch but Tony had wanted to see the progress that Peter had made since Tony had given him the suit and he had noticed it when Peter would actually act almost in tandem with whatever was coming his way as if he had known it was coming.

 “How did you know I planned to stay?”

 “Friday told me you brought luggage,” Tony informed her and smirked because he knew that Nat had been trying to catch him unawares. “Not to mention that I know Fury wants you here to make sure that I manage to bring the others home.”

  Peter felt a little bit bad about cancelling plans with Ned, but Ned had to know that it was almost inevitable. Peter just had to remind himself that he would have to make it up to him. He even mentioned it to Karen to remind him just in case. It was just that on top of all the homework that he needed to get done, Mr. Stark had called to tell him that he needed to be at the compound for training on Saturday and then called again to tell him that Happy would pick him up on Friday after school instead and that he had already cleared it with May for him to spend the weekend there.

 So, Peter made sure that he had all of his homework and textbooks with him on Friday and then told Ned the bad news. Then, he and Ned walked out of school and Happy was waiting for him with a stoic look on his face.

 “Have a good day at school?” Happy asked when Peter had gotten inside the car.

 “Yup,” Peter responded and pulled out his copy of The Great Gatsby and flipped to the first page. Even though they had been reading the book for the past month or so, Peter hadn’t even opened it. Now he was right on the cusp of a test on the book on Monday and he knew that it wouldn’t just do to watch the movie.

 Happy didn’t bother him as he read and Peter got through a few chapters before they arrived at the compound. Mr. Stark was actually waiting outside for them and Peter was sure that it was due to Friday informing him when they were pulling in.

 “Hey, kid, lets get you settled in before training,” Mr. Stark said and placed an arm around his shoulders to steer him inside.

 Peter pushed his backpack strap up his shoulder. “What does training entail exactly?” he asked.

 Mr. Stark just smirked. “You’ll see,” he said.

 He left his stuff in the bedroom he’d used last time and was surprised to see that someone had put a Spider-Man sticker on the door as if to mark it as his.

 “You haven’t actually seen the whole facility,” Mr. Stark said as he led him away from his room.

 They walked out of the living areas to a hall that bridged that building onto another. There were more people in that building and Peter was surprised to see them. He looked to Mr. Stark with the question.

 “There are lots of things that need doing,” Mr. Stark said and they kept walking.

 Mr. Stark showed him some of the training rooms from the regular looking gym with things like treadmills and weights to a room that was all padded and then one that was clearly meant for aim practice.

 “This place is really cool,” Peter said as he and Mr. Stark walked past a punching bag.

 “I kind of figured you’d think so,” Mr. Stark said and then motioned for him to keep walking.

 They went into the locker room and Peter got a look around. It was clean and looked relatively unused.

 “Get into your suit,” Mr. Stark said, “it’s probably for the best you train in that.”

 Peter couldn’t help but notice, then, that Mr. Stark was in one of his usual expensive suits. He opened his mouth to ask about it, but Mr. Stark walked out of the locked room and left Peter to change.

 He had gotten better about changing quickly so it was less than a minute before he walked out sans mask. Mr. Stark stood right outside waiting, phone in hand.

 “Come on, I have to introduce you to your instructor.”

 “Instructor?” Peter repeated.

 Mr. Stark just smiled and Peter couldn’t ask because someone was approaching them. It took Peter a moment to realize that it was Black Widow. She really had gone blond which meant that Peter had definitely spotted her those two times.

 She wasn’t wearing her Black Widow uniform but instead yoga pants and a tank top. Had Peter not known her from the fight in Germany, he didn’t think he could have differentiated between her and any other gym going woman in New York. He supposed that that was the whole point of the blond hair.

 “Peter, this is Natasha. Nat, this is Peter.”

 Peter remembered sort of meeting her in Germany. At some point Mr. Stark had introduced him to his team but there hadn’t really been time for proper introductions and in the aftermath too much had been going on for Peter to really get a chance to talk to any of them not to mention that he was a sore and bruised mess and Happy had taken him directly back to the hotel room and there had just been so much going on.

 “It’s good to finally meet you,” Natasha said.

 “You too,” Peter mumbled out and her lips quirked up a little at his nerves.

 “I figured since Natasha was available she would be the perfect person to get you some hand to hand training,” Mr. Stark said, “she’s the best there is.”

 She rolled her eyes and shook her head a little but didn’t correct him and Peter knew that Mr. Stark was right. Peter had seen her in action first hand and she was amazing. It was impressive how much she could do without having any kind of mutation or enhanced abilities. The Black Widow really was the real deal and Peter couldn’t believe that she was going to train him.

 “I tried to train this one a long time ago,” she said and motioned towards Mr. Stark, “he didn’t really take to it.”

 Mr. Stark let out a laugh. “I can defend myself just fine,” he said, “in and out of the suit.”

 “Well,” Natasha said, “how about we see what you can do, Peter.”

 “Oh, uh, alright,” Peter said and swallowed.

 Mr. Stark motioned for him to move forward and he could tell that Natasha was watching him. He heard Mr. Stark step back towards a few chairs that had been set up out of the way of the mats but turned when he heard Natasha come at him with a kick. He dodged her leg and moved to the side but she moved quickly and Peter found himself on the ground and when he jumped back to his feet he only just managed to catch her fist. He pulled her in and raised a knee to hit her on the abdomen but Natasha recovered quickly and in a move that happened in seconds she literally wrapped one of her legs around his shoulder and then brought him down to the ground and rolled away to her feet. Peter could just lay there.

 “He’s better than you told me, Tones,” she said, “but there’s room for improvement.”

 “That was so cool,” Peter said, “you have to show me that last move.”

 Natasha laughed and she helped him up.

  Tony had always been notorious for not sleeping every night so it didn’t surprise Natasha when she heard him in the kitchen arguing with Friday over his need for coffee. She had been back a little over a week and it was nice but different in a way that Natasha didn’t like. The compound felt too big and less like home. On the days when Peter Parker showed up things were better. Tony would drop anything to spend time with the kid and Natasha could watch them fondly because Peter was just sweet and enthusiastic and innocent in a way that Natasha hadn’t expected and he was also smart. Sometimes watching Tony and Peter together left her with the impression that she was watching a father and son because they were so similar and because they were so fond of each other.

 “Sir, I must advice you against drinking more caffeine,” Friday was saying, “you have been awake for over thirty six hours.”

 “That’s a lot even for you,” Natasha said and leaned against the kitchen island.

 He threw his hands up in the air. “I’ve been dealing with a lot,” he said.

 Natasha was well aware of how the week had gone. Peter had faced off against some jewel thieves and broken his arm in the process. Vision had shown up for about half a day with a new version of the Accords that Natasha could tell were already more favorable. He had also brought good news. The UN and the US government wanted to pardon Cap and the others, but they also wanted them to sign the new Accords and Natasha and Tony both knew it would be a long shot. Then, something had happened at SI that had finally been resolved earlier that day.

 “The kid’s arm is already fixed. That healing factor of his could rival Steve’s. Vision and Rhodes are dealing with the amendments to the Accords. Pepper will take care of anything that comes up and the UN wanting to inspect this place doesn’t mean that you have to get it ready alone.”

 Natasha watched him. His eyes were bloodshot and there were prominent bags under his eyes. As he tried to turn on the coffee machine his hands even shook.

 “Tony please go to bed. Peter’s coming in the morning and I don’t think you want him seeing you like this.”

 Tony let out a groan and he hung his head. “Fine,” he said.

 Natasha followed him all the way to his bedroom.

 “Although, it makes me question why you are up at this hour,” Tony said.

 “I’m heading to DC today, remember? I’m signing the new Accords and getting reinstated.”

 It was going to be a very public affair and Natasha knew that Steve wouldn’t like it, but someone needed to take the plunge and sign this new version and also fight for the provisions that needed to be made in order to get Steve, Clint, Sam, Wanda, and Scott back.

 “It’s that day already,” Tony mumbled.

 Natasha watched him until he had crawled into bed and then she closed his bedroom door and hoped that he actually did get more than just a couple of hours of sleep.

 “Friday don’t let anything wake him for at least five hours.”

 “Will do,” Friday said.

 Natasha gathered the few things she was bringing with her and headed over to the hangar. The new quinjets courtesy of Tony and T’Challa were ready for use and Natasha was a bit excited about taking one out finally. Tony had really gone out of his way to update everything in the compound and it made Natasha feel like Tony either expected the old team to come back or was trying to form a new one.

Part Four

[portfoliomasterclass]

Women on Fire

Women on Fire

Three female creatives from Portfolio Studio crack the glass ceiling, talk about their hot, new careers, awards, and how to overcome challenges young women face in the workplace.

By Gina Greco

In 2014, the (now-former) President Barack Obama stood facing the nation on live television and stated, “Equal pay for equal work. It's not that complicated.” He then signed into law the Lilly Ledbetter Bill for Equal Pay. But what he said next, in his landmark speech, was the most compelling:

“Now, here’s the challenge: Today, the average full-time working woman earns just 77 cents for every dollar a man earns; for African American women, Latinas, it’s even less. And in 2014, that’s an embarrassment. It is wrong. And this is not just an issue of fairness. It’s also a family issue and an economic issue, because women make up about half of our workforce and they’re increasingly the breadwinners for a whole lot of families out there.”

Pretty profound. But, change has been slow to come, if at all, and representation in the workplace is still severely lacking. The share of Fortune 500 chief executives who are female remains very small, just reaching a record 5.4% in the first quarter of 2017. 

Fleishman-Hillard Inc. estimates that women will control two-thirds of the consumer wealth in the U.S. over the next decade. We can attribute over 80% of all consumer purchasing decisions to women, yet, according to research by The Terry & Sandy Solution, that 91% of women said that advertisers don't understand them. Perhaps that's because, in the advertising industry, there are still very few female creatives making the ads that women see. In 2008, just 3.6% of the world’s creative directors were female. Since then it has tripled to 11%, but that's still shockingly low.

Interesting Facts >>

70% of young female creatives are working in a 75% male-dominated department

70% of young female creatives says they have never worked with a female creative director or executive creative director

60% of young females say they believe advertising is a career that doesn’t support young families

(Courtesy of The Guardian)

The founder of the Adobe 3% Conference (which gleans its name from the fact that women lack representation in the advertising industry) recognizes this reality. It’s what inspired her to create the conference. She explains on her site, that after some digging, she figured out why women were down in the 3 percent dumps: “Most of the issues start with a two-word phrase: lack of,” she explained. Lack of support during pregnancy, no childcare support, lack of female-based mentoring to help younger women get ahead, salary negotiation skills—lack lack lack!"

So, what’s the point of all this?

Well, quite recently, three smart, highly talented students from Portfolio Studio (who happen to be women) scored some great achievements that I would like to highlight and share with you.

These ‘Women on Fire’ are breaking into new careers in male-dominated spaces, winning Awards and using Portfolio Studio to gain the chops they need to succeed. They hope to change things. 

Without further adieu, here’s their three experiences, a bit of advice, and success stories. We hope they inspire you, drive you further, and help you accomplish your dreams despite the challenges that will unfold—starting now.

THREE WOMEN. THREE STORIES. THREE CRACKED GLASS CEILINGS.

ONE >> Lisa Papada

WHAT SHE’S UP TO NOW 

Papada currently works at a Texas-based digital marketing agency as a Digital Copywriter for AT&T Business Solutions. Right now she's working for the Masters Tournament.

AWARDS REDUX 

While attending Portfolio Studio, Papada, along with Stephen Chu, won student scholarships from Adobe to head to the The 3% Conference. 

“After attending, I can joyfully say there are some strong women out there who aren’t afraid to voice what’s right,” Papada recalls. Overall, she explained that the validation of winning an award is a lot like a little hug, “...you know you’re doing matters,” she said.

PAPADA’S ADVICE TO YOUNG CREATIVE WOMEN 

“Be tough, but not bitchy. I know that might be hard to gauge, but it’s all in how you talk. Stay strong and don’t budge on the small things. The last thing you want to be is a pushover. Your gut speaks volumes, and when you have an idea, own it. Have fun with the ‘What if?’ game and remember, a job should be fun, even with the frustrations.

Papada continues, “It is male-dominated—it just is—to stand out and show your strength is how you will earn the respect you deserve. Stay up-to-date on articles and in-the-know, and you’ll be the go-to person for ‘cool sh*t’ and relied upon.”

Also, "Don’t ever stop. If you see someone pass you up on a promotion, speak up. It’s never ‘That’s just how it is.’ Always ask questions because the worst thing that could happen, is you’ll get told, no. We learn from mistakes, we learn from what didn’t work. Your work will get criticized and pulled apart but at the end of the day, be proud of what you put forward and fight the good fight.”

TWO >> Elizabeth Lybrook

WHAT’S SHE UP TO NOW?

Lybrook’s Macco Diverse Media Campaign won two Gold for “Out of Home” and “Ambient Media” at the ADDYs. She completed the campaign in summer of 2016 during Portfolio Studio's Diverse Media course. “All the work paid off however,” she explained. Because, after winning the two Gold Awards, I was reached out to by Vitro, and just accepted a Jr. Art Director position that I will begin in April!”

*Here is a link to her winning campaign

AWARDS REDUX 

After she graduated college, she felt her weak portfolio was the cause of her struggle to find a job in the field. “I was living in Alabama and learned about Portfolio Studio's great program. I had never even been to California before, but packed up my bags and headed to San Diego!” Knowing no one, waiting tables to make ends meet, Lybrook scored an internship at a small San Diego agency. After a year of hard work in the Portfolio Studio Art Direction Program, Lybrook not only now has a strong portfolio, but she has won 10 different awards. 

For Lybrook, winning the awards really provides motivation to keep creating better work. “It is such a great feeling to be validated for all of the hard work put into your project. It has put me into a competitive mindset to continue pushing my concepts and think even more creatively,” she noted. 

LYBROOK’S ADVICE TO YOUNG CREATIVE WOMEN 

“I would encourage more women to take on masculine clients, such as ones in the automotive or sports industries. It is easy to be siphoned into feminine or 'girly' clients. Women in the ad industry have creatively pushed boundaries for a wide variety of clients, and should continue to do so. Having variety in your portfolio is key. ”

Lybrook also encourages younger women to work hard and love the work. Never settle on the first idea or the first 50 ideas, she explains. “I've found that my best ideas always come after I thought I had nothing left to think of,” she said.

THREE>> Kristen Sugihara

WHAT’S SHE UP TO NOW?

Sugihara was raised a tiny little island in Hawai'i. At 17 years old, she packed up her things and moved to San Diego to attend college. By 2015, she had enrolled in her first class at Portfolio Studio. “After that, my creative journey started moving at full speed. In a little over a year, I did a couple internships at Lambesis and i.d.e.a, won many awards, went to New York as one of AAF's Most Promising Multicultural Student, and developed a portfolio book from scratch. By the time I was 21 years old, I was hired as Vitro's youngest creative,” she says. "I'm now working on print, digital, out of home, and activations for a wide range of clients such as Caribou Coffee, UCSD, AGCO, and Adidas Golf.”

AWARDS REDUX 

Most recently, Sugihara and her copywriter partner won a Silver Addy at the “SDX American Advertising Awards” for Space Camp. She’s also received recognition and awards from the 2015 Addy's, Graphis, Applied Arts, and HOW.

"The most positive aspect of winning awards is being able to share it with your teammates," Sugihara notes. “You've gone such a long journey with your copywriter, designer, etc., that it’s always a breath of fresh air that your hard work was recognized.” Receiving recognition of any kind inspires Sugihara to create something even better for the next project. “I am motivated to beat the idea that won and to always level up on my work. I have the mentality that if I can win X award or get X job, then I wonder what else I can do,” she explains.

SUGIHARA’S ADVICE TO YOUNG CREATIVE WOMEN 

“I think one of my biggest challenges that I faced—and am still facing—is my age and the way people perceive me. Because I am so young, people often think I am unreliable and have no idea what I am doing—which may be true 50 percent of the time [...] I am always trying to prove people wrong and end up working twice as hard to gain the trust of my colleagues.”

As for advice for women in creative roles, Sugihara says to tie your hair back, put on some lipstick, and kick ass. 

“Find as many mentors as you can. Find people who you aspire to be like and learn from them. The best part about my job is being able to work with and learn from all of the talented senior teams, CDs, and ECDs. I am able to take the best advice from each person and craft a style that is all my own.”

Gina Greco is the co-founder of Portfolio Studio, the creative hub that connects ambitious students with industry professionals for career training and portfolio building. 

[gabriellakirtonblog]

14 Steps to Become a Great Online Fitness Coach

If you’re a trainer, you have a training business. Moving some or all of that business online can be a smart move.

Becoming an online fitness coach offers three huge benefits:

Help more people

Make more money

Have more freedom

For many trainers, it means no more waking up at 4:30 a.m., eating lunch from a Tupperware container, or dealing with your gym’s toilet-overflow incidents. (No guarantee the toilet won’t back up at home, but at least it’s your own mess.)

But before you make the leap, there are a few things you should know—14 things, to be exact.

They’re the 14 game-changing lessons I learned during my own transition from in-person to online fitness coach. I hope they help you as much as they helped me.

READ ALSO: How to Be an Online Personal Trainer

1. Create content for your audience, not your peers

It’s tempting to target your posts and videos to your fellow fitness professionals. That’s how you learned when you were starting out, and now you want to add your own ideas and opinions to the mix.

But if your goal is to help Ricky from accounting lose fat, you need to stop debating people online about CrossFit or fasted cardio.

Because Ricky doesn’t care. Ricky just wants abs.

What will he see when he looks at your content? Will he see evidence you understand his challenges, and want to help him achieve his goals? Or will he see a trainer trying to impress his peers or score points against people he disagrees with?

Everything you write should cater to the people you want to help. Choose the subject, format, and voice with that audience in mind.

READ ALSO: How to Build an Online Following from Scratch

2. Seek mentorship and guidance

“A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than 10 years mere study of books.” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Several years ago, I booked a same-day, one-way plane ticket to New York City for an internship with John Romaniello, and I’ve never looked back. Roman had the career I wanted, and I set out to learn everything I could from him.

I know that’s an extreme example, but there are simpler ways to connect and learn from potential mentors.

The first step is to identify someone whose career you admire. Then you need to learn what you can before you approach them. Have they written articles or posts about how they got started? Do they have a book or product offering a step-by-step plan to achieve success?

Once you know as much as possible about their history and process, you need to figure out how to gain access. Do they offer coaching services, or run a mastermind group? If so, they’ll expect you to join.

If not, or if personal coaching is out of your price range, consider how you can be useful to the person without being a pest, a sycophant, or a weirdo. Is there a new product you can amplify with a detailed, enthusiastic review? Can you volunteer to help with a seminar, bootcamp, or some other live event? Is there a skill you can offer that complements what they do?

The worst approach is to ask for help without any history with the person. Even if the person is well-known for helping trainers on the way up in the industry, you can’t build a relationship based on your need to receive something, with no consideration of the other person’s needs or motivations.

Focus on giving, and you’ll be surprised by how much you receive.

READ ALSO: How Eight Online Personal Trainers Earn Six-Figure Salaries

3. Practice what you preach

All trainers, online and off, are judged by their looks. It sucks, and it’s not fair. Lots of perfectly qualified coaches don’t quite look the part. And lots of complete morons are shredded out of their (empty) minds.

But there’s a logic to it. When the majority of your clients have appearance-based goals, it’s natural to assume a trainer with the physique they aspire to knows how to help them achieve it.

An online trainer can win people over with charisma and empathy, and of course nothing speaks more forcefully than impressive client transformations. But it’s hard to get clients to give you a chance when there’s a disconnect between your appearance and your expertise.

Clients who want to be lean and muscular aren’t likely to hire a coach who isn’t lean and muscular. Weight loss clients won’t expect you to be shredded (and might be intimidated if you are), but they do expect you to look healthy and represent their goals.

Put in the work, and get in the best shape you can.

READ ALSO: The Busy Trainer’s Guide to Staying in Shape

4. Clear your social calendar

Be prepared to work extremely hard at the beginning of your transition from gym to internet.

Writing, shooting videos, and posting on social media takes time. And if you’re trying to build an online presence while still maintaining a full client load in the gym, you must adopt a hustler’s mindset. Other parts of your life have to become a lower priority for a while.

You can still have it all, but not yet.

The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training retails for $19.99, but we bought it for you. We just ask that you pay shipping & handling. Claim your copy at go.theptdc.com.

5. Bet on your strengths (part one)

Trainers ask me which social platform they should focus on, or whether they should build a video library, or if they should launch a podcast.

My answer: Let your personal strengths guide your platform of choice.

If you write well, write.

If you’re good on camera, get on YouTube, Instagram, and Snapchat. If you’re a great conversationalist and a good interviewer, consider starting a podcast, or becoming a regular guest on an established show.

Do whatever allows you to present your ideas, your personality, and your value to your target audience.

6. Coach the influencers

An influencer is anyone with a following, and if you’re the person they turn to for online coaching, you have instant validation.

Think about it from the potential client’s point of view: If she sees an advertisement for your coaching, or a promoted post on social media, she probably scrolls right past it.

But if someone she knows and respects talks about you, and shows off the fantastic results from your plan, she’s immediately more interested.

But how do you find a celebrity to train?

Obviously, you aren’t likely to snag the next Brad Pitt and lean him out for Fight Club 2: More Adventures in Nihilism with Tyler and Marla.

Think smaller, and think local. An influencer doesn’t have to be world-renowned. Train the chef at a popular restaurant. Train a doctor or a nutritionist who can then refer their patients to you. Or train a CEO with a huge online presence, like I did.

Whether their audience is small and local or massive and global, influencers will bring you more attention and referrals than you could get on your own.

7. Find unique or underutilized distribution channels

Creating great content is the most important thing you can do to grow your brand as an online fitness coach. But only if the content reaches your target audience.

You can do it organically, for free, by going where others aren’t.

Test new apps, and use them natively—that is, in a way that shows a genuine interest in helping others within the platform. Don’t try to push your services on people, or get them to connect with you on your own media.

Years ago, I did that on Fitocracy. I put in dozens if not hundreds of hours simply interacting in the community. It was crucial to the early growth of my online training business.

Like I said earlier: Good things happen when you help people and ask for nothing in return.

READ ALSO: How to Find the Right Fitness Niche for You

8. Get amazing results for your clients

None of this advice means anything if you can’t deliver.

You need to help your clients become leaner, or stronger, or more muscular, or pain-free, or whatever they hired you to do.

As an online fitness coach, there’s no substitute for good results.

READ ALSO: A Trainer’s Guide to Building Muscle

9. Coach friends and family for free

It doesn’t have to be friends and family, and it doesn’t have to be free. It could be steeply discounted online coaching to people you interact with online. Whoever it is, and however you know them, giving away your services provides two huge benefits:

1. You learn faster by doing

As Jonathan Goodman says, online coaching isn’t just personal training done differently. It requires different skills and practices. But you can’t develop those skills or practices without clients. Offering free or cheap coaching will give you the experience you need to accelerate your development.

2. You can showcase the results

Your clients are your portfolio. If they get great results, you’ll have visual proof. If they love working with you, they’ll be happy to share their stories. The combination will help you land future clients—the kind that pay you.

Take the financial hit now, if you can. It will pay off later.

READ ALSO: Personal Trainer Salary Survey: Who Earns the Most?

10. Master your craft

If the proliferation of Instagram trainers annoys you, or makes you cynical about the state of online fitness, I get it. But the truth is, the cream rises to the top.

Sure, abs are an easy way to land a few short-term clients. But for building long-term brand equity, and financial security, nothing beats word-of-mouth referrals. You don’t get those unless you’re good.

Read books, attend seminars, and interact with people smarter than you. Constantly learn better ways to serve your clients and improve their results. That’s what will set you apart.

READ ALSO: The Best Advanced and Specialized Personal Training Certifications

11. Bet on your strengths (part two)

Want a better snatch? Or a faster 5K?

That’s awesome! But you won’t get those things by training with me.

I get inquiries all the time from people whose goals aren’t in my wheelhouse. Sometimes I’d really like to work with the person, but I don’t take them on as a client. It would be unfair to them, and ensure future headaches for me.

No matter how tempting it is to take on anyone who applies, especially when you’re starting out, you need to be honest with yourself. Recognize who can achieve the best results under your watch, and who would be better served by a different coach.

Do it for the client’s sake, and your own.

12. Trust your gut

I once coached a woman who claimed to burn up to 1,000 additional calories a day from breastfeeding. She was sure she needed at least 2,500 calories per day.

My gut told me this was way too much food for a sedentary woman with 98 pounds of lean mass. But because I was afraid to lose her as a client, I didn’t tell her what I thought.

Can you guess how it worked out? That’s right: After four weeks with no progress, I lost her anyway.

Take it from me: When your gut tries to tell you something, listen.

READ ALSO: How to Tell a Client to Cut the Crap

13. Practice extreme empathy

Even the most perfectly designed, optimally periodized, exquisitely calibrated training program will never change a life. But you know what will? Really, truly caring about your client.

A personal or professional setback will sap a client’s focus and motivation. If you’re training in person, you’ll notice their lackluster workouts, and the scale will tell you they’re backsliding on their diet. If you ask what’s going on, the client isn’t likely to air out the problems on a crowded gym floor.

But an online client may be more comfortable opening up in texts, emails, or calls from the comfort of home.

When you pay attention and care, you might just change a life.

14. Be insanely honest

Don’t tell clients you’re giving them personal access and full support if you’re really sending them to a 1,000-person Facebook group, where their questions will be answered by your newly hired assistant coach.

It’s easy to cash-grab with dishonest marketing and empty promises. It may even work for a year or two. But sooner or later, it catches up to you, ruining your reputation and the value of your brand.

If you want to make it in the long run, you need to be honest.

Final thought: Online fitness coaching isn’t for everybody

I know dozens of trainers who coach clients online. They don’t all love it. Some prefer traditional, hands-on personal training, and that’s awesome.

My purpose isn’t to convince you that online training is better. It’s not. Just because it works for me doesn’t mean it’s the right choice for you. Nor are the two types of training mutually exclusive. Lots of trainers do some of each, and get the best of both worlds.

But if you do want to make the transition to online training, these 14 lessons will help you get started the right way, and I hope they help you avoid some of the mistakes I made.

        Launch Your Online Personal Training Career Today!

Have more freedom. Make more money. Help more people.

The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training is the gateway for trainers and gym owners looking to break out of the grind of long hours and unpredictable income. Let Jonathan Goodman show you …

The foundational skills successful online trainers develop (pg. 3)

How to price and package your services to get what you’re worth (pg. 67)

The tech you need to deliver world-class results — it’s simpler than you think (pg. 103)

Insider secrets for getting and keeping your ideal clients (pg. 109)

The truth about marketing your online business (pg. 125)

And much, much more!

If you’re ready to take the next step in your personal training career, or know someone who is, you won’t find a more authoritative or comprehensive resource.

Order the paperback today and get the audiobook and ebook versions FREE (a $40 value).

Ready to start? Just click here: The Wealthy Fit Pro’s Guide to Online Training

The post 14 Steps to Become a Great Online Fitness Coach appeared first on The PTDC.

14 Steps to Become a Great Online Fitness Coach published first on https://onezeroonesarms.tumblr.com/

[zipgrowth]

3 Reasons Students Aren’t Into Computer Science—Yet

I attended Everest Public High School in Redwood City, Calif., and during the years that I was in high school, never once did I hear about computer science, coding or hackathons. To this day, I still do not have a clear idea of what those phrases really mean.

However, I am not the only one who seems to be in the dark. So many students go through their entire high school career without being exposed to computer science—a rapidly growing field of study that is an important key to opening doors to jobs at tech giants like Google, Apple and Facebook. And ever since I started interning with the Code Next team at Google this past summer, I became even more curious to understand: Why aren’t students into computer science?

Statistics show that “computer science” programs produce fewer bachelor’s degree graduates in the U.S. when compared with other STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) majors, as can be seen in the image below. For several years now, researchers have been conducting studies to find the relationship between students and their relatively low interest in computer science. As a current college student myself, I’ve spent the past few weeks having conversations with professionals who work for Google, high school students who are pursuing an interest in computer science and mentors who desire to guide students to success in the field. Through my own research, I have isolated three reasons as to why students are not interested in computer science (CS).

Data via National Center for Education Statistics, danwang.co

Lack of Exposure

Throughout middle school and high school, I was never exposed to CS, which I believe is a big reason as to why I never developed an interest in the subject. That doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be codified into the curriculum. Exposure can mean lots of things. A 2018 study, which looked at the factors that influence students to pursue CS degrees in higher education found that, “School education appeared to have limited influence on students’ decision to study CS, though exposure to problem solving, programming, online self-learning and internships appeared to be important positive influences.”

This research paralleled very closely with the interviews I conducted with incoming ninth graders who will be attending the Code Next program this fall. During the interviews, students who had already been exposed to CS activities were much more enthusiastic and excited about the program than students who hadn’t been exposed to CS before. According to Orvil Escalante, an incoming student: “Once I was taught how to use the tools to create designs and prints of my own, I really began to find interest in CS.”

Support is Key

Support from family, friends, teachers and mentors is crucial to a student’s success in CS, according to several students interviewed in that same study referenced above. Take the following quotes from two of the study’s subjects:

“One of my dad's friends, I went to talk to before the university, because he actually works in … Computer Engineering.”

“I have quite a few friends who study and work in computer-related subjects. They told me about what they were learning, so I want to do that.”

Similarly, Graylene, a Code Next student in New York, said that she heard about the program from a teacher who helped her through the entire application process. Once Graylene got into the program with the help of her teacher, she received a lot of support from the coaches she worked with.

She explains: “The coaches really push you to do your best because they believe that you can do great work, and the fact that the coaches come from a similar background as me, really inspires me to pursue a career in CS.”

Social Factors

In today’s world, students are exposed to an infinite number of hobbies and activities, making it extremely difficult for a student to focus on one thing. I think of my own friends—whether it is playing Fortnite online, looking at other people’s lives on social media or watching videos made by their favorite YouTubers, teens are always performing social activities in technological environments.

But despite that comfort with technology, some research shows that many students think of computer science as an activity where one sits in front of a computer screen all day in the darkness, typing away—without any engagement. For example, one student told the authors, “I don’t think I could do that, sitting in front of a screen all day, just looking at the typed stuff,” while another responded, “I’m more of a people person.”

Clearly, there is a disconnect. Students need to have CS explained to them in a way that will relate with their passions and interests, rather than listening to a presentation about circuit boards and coding languages. But that is not the only component necessary for engaging students. They also need the access and opportunity to CS equipment in order to develop first-hand experiences with CS projects that will give them the skill-sets they need to increase their engagement and level of interest in CS.

There’s also a problem of perception—which can be solved by getting students to think about CS differently. Many of the students that did not find CS interesting in research studies stated perceived CS as sitting in front of a computer typing all day. However, those who said they found the field interesting were more likely to see it as a creative one. These students found that CS is a way to express their feelings and ideas through code.

Additionally, mentorship is crucial to the success of a student pursuing roles in the tech world. Denzale Reese, a coach for Code Next Oakland, explains that “mentorship can allow the student to expand their network and create connections that will lead them to their future job.”

CS is certainly a creative field. Now it’s up to us to get creative in supporting kids to pursue it.

3 Reasons Students Aren’t Into Computer Science—Yet published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness

[cluedintobehavior]

Validating The Problem

I asked 7 instructional designers if they thought problems arose due to the transition between a graduate school learning environment and the real world. 5 said yes. 2 said no, with qualifications.

1) Dave Wiley — Yes. Here’s the problem: IDs have trouble engaging effectively in their work due to unmet expectations. Non-ID example: Japan mission experience of missionaries who thought they were going to knock doors had a tough time transitioning to just playing sports and teaching english. Impact: lots of dogs kicked. Solution: 1 credit class called “Principle Compromise 101.”

Like Mike Tyson said, “everyone has a plan until someone punches them in the face.” Bill Gross (TED Talk) 

Key insight: Expectations and plans impact one’s reality.

2) Zack Tibbits — No. Zack never had trouble transitioning. He thinks this was because he was already employed by U of U working in EdTech when they offered to pay for his MS in Instructional design. Then he worked for the FAA (government) while he was doing his PhD work in distance education. His “transition” was seamless because when he was in his graduate courses, he would mentally say things like, “I’ll use this. But I won’t use this.” He also told me, “my personality is far too easy going” to ever push back. “I don’t have any problem bending to the will of others.” He definitely sees this as a problem for others.

Key insight: Zach’s story made me realize that a key factor to transition success is how much exposure you already have to life in the field before or during your time in grad school.

3) Shandon Gubler: Yes. He has observed a conflicts with new employees transitioning between school and work learning environments.

Shandon Gubler is an emeritus professor at BYU’s Marriot School of Business. At the Y, Gubler used Blackboard (LMS) as a framework for a blended-learning/flipped classroom pedagogy. In addition to teaching, he has been involved with developing many businesses including Agilix, which is still around (K-12). Now, Gubler teaches business at Dixie State. Upon moving down there, he asked, “how can I improve the learner's experience?” (Incidentally, his son was recently accepted to BYU's IP&T Masters program. He is apparently good friends with Kevin Worthen and is in discussions with him to implement changes to BYU-Provo's univeristy learning model...)

Shandon's Learning Approach:

As a business practitioner, Shandon is concerned with limiting the transition of employee readiness when entering the workforce. He wants learner's first education to be closer to what every new employee experiences in a "second education." In other words, he wants to help close the gap between theory and practice. To combat this, Shandon has his business school learners connect with potential employers and learn the course curricula in the context of Walter Gong's 3-Person Problem. Shandon is anything but a “sage on the stage.” Gubler is currently experimenting with his own brand of “active” classroom, which seems to also be modeled after BYU-I’s president, Kim Clark’s Learning Model. Gubler calls his model, Millennial pedagogy:

Pre-class work

Study to teach — Learners do chapter readings in textbook outside of class. Learners then answer custom-made chapter-summary questions to ensure the learner stays focused on important content.

Teach to learn — Learners select a real-world practitioner/mentor in the community whom they can teach what they just learned. Hopefully, the learner finds someone in the specific field they hope to eventually go into. This weekly communication is typically achieved via f2f, or video conference. When teaching, learners engage higher-order learning (according to Bloom’s Taxonomy) by coming up with appropriate stories, illustrations, and examples. Students usually teach 10-12 times, which is the number of chapters covered in the textbook.

Learn to apply — (Student asks real-world practitioner, “how are you going to change your business based on what I’ve taught you today.”) The person they’re teaching (practitioner) then mentor’s or coaches the learner. One more touch point for learner to apply what they’re learning to the practice.

Class Work

Learners are grouped (ideally in smaller groups, e.g., 3-4 people) at the beginning of the semester and pre-assigned to walk the class through the chapters.

In addition to chapter reviews and synthesis, real-world case studies are handed out in class. Learners are asked to apply what they’ve learned from the chapters and teaching experiences as they discuss the cases.

Experience working with Mentors:

During the first few weeks, there is grumbling on both sides of the learner/mentor relationship. But after that time, the mentors realize that this experience is a terrific recruiting opportunity for their respective companies. Business practitioners realize that this kind of relationship creates a valuable connection to university hiring pools. This mentoring opportunity is a great alternative to how businesses traditionally spend their recruiting dollars. Similar to UBER, the partnership meets the needs of both parties; employers want new hires they can trust, and students what jobs after graduating in their area of interest. Thus, practitioners want to systematize this program so they don’t need to wait to be asked to mentor each new semester. If systematized, other businesses and universities could choose to adopt it.

Feedback from professional mentors:

Mentors want the textbook chapter material before the student comes to them so they can be more prepared with appropriate feedback? (This raises a copyright issue. I’m sure publishers make an option for the practitioners to purchase a copy.)

Mentors want to give the students mini-projects during their 12-weeks together. (Internships are costly and take time.)

Mentors want Gubler to better match them up with students that really want to be in their industry. In return, they’d be willing to share with Dixie their company’s budget used for talent acquisition. They learn together.

Key Insights: Gubler’s model of connecting students with professionals during the grad school experience is closes the gap between theory and practice. The further the learning is from the context of use, the fewer schemata nodes are being utilized to store the information.4) Tara — Yes. She was hired by UVU for a “professor support” Summer internship. But she didn’t really employ design skills like she thought she would. She considered herself an overpaid administrative assistant. E.g., “Come do this mundane task for me.” She hoped to be working with the professor instead of for the professor.

Key insight: Unmet expectations.

5) McKoo Staples — No. McKoo was only hired by the CTL 2 weeks ago. His job is to design a website that increases awareness of the affordability of OER. He’s in the “honeymoon” phase. Not enough time has passed for him to be critical of other’s ideas of business processes/practices. He’s still wrapping his head around his task, so all information is good. If someone tells him to alter his thinking/practice, he will. You sweet summer child.

Key insight: Too soon in education and work experience to have expectations to be unmet.

6) Taylor Halverson — Yes. Tyler did experience transition woes when he worked for Cisco. Currently BYU’s director of innovation. His major beef was that was ID students feel locked into doing things a certain way. They have no flexibility; and design jobs demand flexibility, if nothing else in terms of competencies.

Key insight: For one reason or another, people feel like they have to fit into job roles, titles, expectations, boxes, competencies.

7) Sabrina Hyuitt — Yes. Sabrina slogged it out at UVU for over a year and a half. She claimed her manager was insecure about his position. That he didn’t know how to make managerial decisions, and thus feels challenged when novice instructional designers ask how to do something. There was no on-boarding, which is what Sabrina says contributed most to her struggle to transition to her position.

Key insight: Sometimes there’s nothing that can be done to prepare people for a toxic cultural work experience.

Maybe I should be looking at crappy senior instructional designers and where their educations failed them. Title: How Not To Be a Crappy Senior Instructional Designer (Manager of other IDs). There is a difference between what the workforce calls a “senior” designer (time in field/familiarity with company processes and culture) and what academia calls an “expert” designer (competencies).

[the-vinedresser]

Good days and bad days; concept: Cody. LOL jk these are photos taken from my family group chat. Cody got a haircut today and was traumatized by bigger dogs? Not sure, that’s what my mom told me. Although he does seem more on edge than usual.

1. Today was a bad day. It was raining all day. Usually it doesn’t bother me, but I do notice that anytime I’m working on a rainy day, my body shuts off. I almost turn lethargic, and I’m hardly exaggerating. The fatigue is insane to the point where my eyesight sometimes gets blurred. I drink all the coffee but I still end up not being able to function, no matter how much I have to do or how much sleep I’ve gotten. But this whole season (do I really even want to call it that anymore?) has basically been me on edge of a breakdown and trying to hold it in all day and not fall into the deep end when I’m out doing obligatory things like school, work, errands, etc. But the rain, along with working with my mom, something about it all just triggered depression again and I couldn’t do anything. I was paralyzed and just wanted to cry.

2. In a way, I thought it was almost cool how connected I am to nature, but for the most part it just sucks because society doesn’t glorify stuff like that. They just like people who don’t feel as much and get the job done. I know that someday I’ll also give in and reach that point but I’m trying to delay it as much as possible.

3. Last year was interesting in part because I found myself trying to resist adulthood responsibilities as much as possible. While my friend was graduating early and asking me about my interviews for internships and all this stuff, I was fighting to keep my childlike and laid back attitude but I felt like shrewdness and worry just kept getting pushed onto me and force fed to me. I don’t want to wear loafers and be on edge all the time and become jealous of young people who don’t have any idea what’s coming to them. I mean, that was me less than a year ago.

4. I shut down and sat at my desk just thinking about how enormous life is (again) and how people are so selfish and hypocritical and how I would love to have a zombie apocalypse come in. I told my friend that and I realized then that I would actually be in the most in my element of a zombie apocalypse occurred because of anxiety. I told her that I definitely don’t want to die, but I also would not mind having a terminal disease.

5. I was angry at my mom because I felt forced into doing this job because she kept begging me to and my dad said I should help out my mom. All good intentions and that’s what I went into it with. But I started growing bitter because I feel like she has selective hearing and never truly hears what I’m saying. Is this a universal mom/parent problem? Why do I feel like it is? I’ll say something like hey mom, I really want to see a psychiatrist to get medication because I’m really struggling. I thought it out and I’ve tried a lot of things, but this is the step I want to take. However, I’m really scared to make an appointment. Can you help me out? This went on for a really long time. I had to keep reminding her which is fine because she’s busy, but she didn’t seem to have any problem calling massage parlors to see if they have any appointments available multiple times. That made me pretty angry. Because it’s honestly enough to feel like I’m going crazy and I’m making all this shit up and doing this to myself, let alone not getting help on something I made really clear. At work I kept telling her I feel really nauseous and I’m losing feeling in my hands and feet. I think I’m going to throw up. But she kept teaching me how to do this complicated work thing and I have no idea what’s going on and I’m only working there for three more days so why would she even teach me this when there’s someone who already knows how to do it really well? Also, why does it take crying and throwing a shit fit to get people to actually hear you out? Like why does it have to get to that point? Can’t people just listen when you say something to them is it really that hard I don’t understand

6. So I went home early. This is great, nobody knows enough about mental illness and it’s also on me too because I don’t know how to communicate my needs either. I just know someone is going to need help in the future with some sort of mental cloudiness and struggles and I’m going to tell them it’s ok to seek help and I highly recommend it and they’re going to immediately retract in repulsion because all society ever told them was that therapy was for crazies. I hate this. I know because I did the exact same thing instead of listening to the 4 people who told me it’s ok to seek help.

7. I don’t know why I don’t think of myself and why I constantly stretch myself too much and let myself be taken advantage of, even by my own mother. I used to think of it as sacrifices you take to make a relationship grow and to make other people happy, but now it just seems like people expect me to act this way to them all the time. You like going to the mall and that’s how you relieve stress? Ok, I’ll go spend the day with you at the mall even though I get really tired but I try not to show it too much because you’re energetic and you’re having a fun time. Why am I always thinking about ways to make my mother happy and feel like it’s my duty to put her needs before mine? She always brings up her childhood and then I just feel bad for her.

8. The weird thing is I would never like or hang out with or look up to people like my parents, if I just objectively look at them as people and not my parents. My mom is the neurotic boss who won’t leave me alone, is entirely insensitive to the nuance of feeling in other people, and makes it clear to everyone that’s she’s sad when we don’t do things as she expected, like going to the mall. My dad is the boss that makes sexist and racist jokes and pretends he knows everything by making vague, cryptic statements in a loud voice. But I can’t bash them, they’re great parents and good people and they have me a good childhood that could’ve been significantly worse. I just wish I could look up to them more as mentors because it was easier that way, but our interests and the way we deal with problems can’t be more different.

9. I’m not sure why, but another thing that really annoys me is how everyone I know seems to use my education at NYU as a thing for them. Like, oh I know someone who goes to this top-ish college like honestly I feel like nobody should care, especially because I personally don’t, but everyone does for some reason. Like does that grant me the access to be prideful and feel like I’m better than you just because I went to a college? Every time we meet a group of people, nobody else ever says anything more than their name or talk about what college they go to but somehow someone else always has to mention it. Like my dad was like oh she’ll get the job for sure, I mean, she went to NYU. WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN. ARE WE REALLY ATTACHING VALUE JUST TO A NAME OF AN INSTITUTION. Like we’re all depressed and in debt I’m glad you like using the institution of college, a place that brutally preps people for nauseating adulthood and crushes people’s dreams, as a way to boost yourself up that’s great. Let’s encourage more people to hate their lives and work under insane amounts of pressure it’s great.

10. People are so stupid I can’t deal with the lack of knowing and disregard for other human life that is happening. Do you think videos about glitter on instagram are going to make your lives meaningful? THAT’S GREAT GOOD FOR YOU I am honestly so jealous, I’m not even kidding. People suck so much which was why being a Christian was so frustrating at times because they’re so exclusionary. They say, no gay marriage no this, no that but the Bible also says to be compassionate and giving, and they all of a sudden become so shy when it comes to outreach and showing grace to other people. I guess my perspective is just different because I don’t have those deep relationships where I can tell people anything on my mind and vent to, I’m too busy trying to just help other people who I barely know WHY DO I DO THIS

11. Life sucks and nowadays I’m drawn to topics about death, sex and drugs. Just stupid counterculture things because I feel like they hold more truth amongst whatever the fuck people are doing these days? My teenage angst seems to have delayed about 5 years it’s great. I mean, the later the better for this kind of stuff so in a way I’m thankful I guess. I just don’t believe in humanity or anyone anymore I hope we all die in some kind of natural disaster to be completely honest. Like I heard people all the time saying that politicians suck and the world is corrupt but it isn’t until now that I truly understand what they mean. Capitalism literally drives everything. This is why I would rather kill myself than go to most things that are business related. I refuse to be part of the problem just so I could live a quaint life, not unless I had my future children in mind or something more altruistic like that. Other than that, it’s terrible and takes advantage of the most vulnerable people. Our president is a narcissist. I want to just live on an island for a little while and do something like make surfboards or something this is bullshit

[fashiontrendin-blog]

5 Women Who Made Our Careers What They Are Today

http://fashion-trendin.com/5-women-who-made-our-careers-what-they-are-today/

5 Women Who Made Our Careers What They Are Today

In partnership with Bumble Bizz

Before I was a writer by trade, before I even knew I could be one, I was obsessed with my professional complacency. It was all I could think about. On a bad day, How can I do this forever? On a good day, But can I do this forever? In search of wisdom, I took in as many career stories as I could: essays about peoples’ jobs before they “found themselves,” podcast interviews about the early failures of business owners, books by successful people about their winding, chaotic paths to now. I found comfort in their stories, certainly, but what I hoped to find was an equation — a set of steps I could retrace. But over and over, I’d come out empty-handed. There were no patterns, no steps, no answers. Every story seemed to inhabit some little twist of alchemy, some moment of luck I couldn’t possibly recreate. I was frustrated. How had everyone else seemed to stumble upon the right path?

It took a while before it dawned on me that these stories weren’t just about luck, or even persistence; they were about generosity — the willingness of friends, mentors and bosses to put the ladder down for people with gumption, and help them up. Maybe, then, all I needed was some gumption of my own. As I continued down my winding path and gained confidence from heeding my curiosities, I finally stumbled into my own “luck.” Her name was Chelsea.

Below are five stories from the Man Repeller team, including mine, about the one connection who came into our lives and gave us a push we needed. It’s something we put together in celebration of the launch of Bumble Bizz, an app that links up ambitious people and seeks to make these very connections happen faster and more often. The impetus of the app — the idea that one person can change the course of your career (a phenomenon the app has dubbed #OneConnection) — is something we immediately recognized in our own paths. Read on to hear our stories and, more importantly, our thanks, because without these women, none of us would be where we are today.

Haley, Digital Editor

I met Chelsea, oddly enough, on an escalator at the mall, but I’d been a fan of her blog and YouTube channel for years before that. When I finally found myself shaking her hand, I didn’t realize how serendipitous the timing was: I was neck deep in emotional, creative and professional uncertainty, feeling disconnected from the women and community I engaged with online, and unsure of how I fit into it. To my surprise, we became fast friends.

Before long, we were swapping jokes, ideas and interests, and soon she asked me to be a guest on her YouTube channel. Even though I was an internet “nobody,” or felt like one, she never treated me that way. She invited me into her world with open arms. She was always quick to bring me on when I asked to contribute to creative pursuits she’d built from nothing, particularly her e-commerce business, Anomie, which she was in the process of bringing to brick-and-mortar. Soon I was spending nights and weekends helping her with the store, going on buying trips with her to New York, flexing my amateur graphic design skills for the brand’s Instagram and modeling for her website. I was having so much fun.

I didn’t know what I was doing, but she knew I was looking for outlets and gave them to me willingly. When I started a new blog, she told me I was a great writer, and hyped it on her channels. After I met Chelsea, my creative world blossomed. What’s more is, she acted as if I was doing her the favor, but I always knew it was I who benefited from her generosity and willingness to let me into her world. And it was she who introduced me to Carlye, the writer who introduced me to Leandra, which lead me to Man Repeller.

I shudder to think of where I’d be if I hadn’t run into Chelsea on that escalator, and I feel grateful every day that I did.

Matt, Head of Operations

I met Jeanette my sophomore year of college in my business communications class on public speaking (yikes). She was the teacher. I was drawn to how she offered direct candidate feedback while maintaining an encouraging and warm disposition.

Beyond what she taught me in class though, Jeanette was one of the earliest people in my life to encourage me to factor my feelings into the decisions I made about my career. I’m a rather pragmatic and rationale-oriented person, so to have someone I respected encourage me to value and pay attention to my emotions, and in turn give them legitimacy, so early in my career was wildly helpful.

I ended up asking Jeanette to lunch when I was evaluating a job offer. I received one for a pretty competitive position at a well-known company in Louisville where I lived, but I was torn. It was a great offer and I didn’t have anything else lined up, but as a gay man, I had reservations about accepting a job at a company that wasn’t necessarily LGBTQ-friendly.

Jeanette was one of many people I spoke to about the situation, but her advice and support was by far the most influential. I don’t know that I was so much seeking “help” as I was looking for someone to tell me exactly what to do. Instead, I got a sounding board and, in essence, a bit of a mirror. Jeanette listened attentively, asked probing questions, and ultimately repeated back to me what she was hearing. She was in the process with me, helping to work through the decision and weigh the pros and cons (both factual and emotional).

As cliché as it sounds, Jeanette was one of the first people to encourage me to prioritize living authentically and this has colored my perspective on career (and life, really) ever since.

Jasmin, Senior Partnership Strategist

I met Kim at work. We both worked at a digital design agency: I was an intern on the strategy team, she was the Director of Production and the most senior woman in our New York office. She was also a ton of fun, always made people feel involved and brought a lot of energy to the office. After I got over my initial shyness, we became friends.

I was interning at this agency throughout the second year of my master’s program. As graduation loomed, I was thinking about my position at the company in a more permanent capacity. I knew I wanted to join the team as a full-time strategist but at this point in my career, I didn’t have any experience with salary negotiation and I had absolutely no idea what type of figure I should ask for.

I went to her office to ask, as a friend, what she thought I should ask for. The answer I was expecting was a ballpark figure, but she ended up giving me more than I bargained for. She said that one of her former bosses (also a woman) had given her some great advice that she now shares with everyone she manages: You should always have a clear understanding of what exactly you bring to the table, the value you add to every project you’re involved in, as well as your contribution to the company at large. It’s a practice she makes sure to do every year, as well as one she does with each member of her team. She taught me that having a clear understanding of your value will not only make you a more confident negotiator but will put your contributions into perspective and help you map out where you are, how far you’ve come and where you want to be.

I still didn’t know what salary to ask for when I left her office, but I had a far better idea how to ask for it, and it worked! I really “fought my corner” among the all-male senior leadership team in my department and received the offer I wanted. However, before my official first day, the stars magically aligned with Man Repeller and I didn’t end up accepting the offer. Nonetheless, the experience of that process, and Kim’s words, remain really important professional (and personal) moments for me.

Nikki, Director of Ad Operations and Product

I met Di when I was an intern supporting her team on a project. I was intimidated when I first met her because she was so smart and I didn’t want to make a mistake in front of her, but I soon grew more comfortable and was able to watch and learn from her.

After my internship, I got a position on her team full-time. As I was transitioning to take over some of her reporting responsibilities, I noticed something interesting. Whenever I asked a question, she didn’t answer it. Instead, she would show me how to figure it out on my own. At first I was frustrated by her lack of knowledge-sharing, but by the end of my training period, I understood what she was doing: training me to be self sufficient. Through that, I learned when and how to figure things out on my own and when to ask for help.

Ultimately, she taught me to be resourceful and how to teach myself something new. This is now the third time (in my nine years of working) that I’ve shifted into a completely different role, and these lessons are helpful every day.

Louisiana, Photo Assistant

I found Hannah’s Tumblr through an article online, saw that she was looking for an intern, e-mailed her to apply for the role and then met her a few weeks after that. This was in the winter of 2015 when I was still a freshman at the School of Visual Arts. I wasn’t familiar with Hannah, her work, or being a photo assistant in general, so I had no idea what to expect. She seemed really cool (which turned out to be true).

When she became my boss, she brought me to shoots and events and showed me what working those jobs would be like if I were a photographer, and introduced me to a lot of people. She also passed along small retouching jobs here and there, which helped me improve my skills. She showed me what it meant to be a freelance photographer and manage your own small business.

She was always forthcoming with help and advice, even when it felt like I was asking 500 questions. No matter what I would ask, she would explain it to me. Over the course of our conversations, she showered me with bite-sized words of wisdom. A lot of what she taught, especially in terms of retouching, I couldn’t have learned in school, and for that I’m eternally grateful. She also showed me how important it is to stay organized and have fun while doing your job.

Download Bumble Bizz here to connect with your future mentor, mentee or your next big break (Man Repeller is already on there!). Then share your story on social media using #OneConnection.

Photos by Edith Young.

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[euro3plast-fr]

Adobe Invests Over Half a Million Dollars in University Research

Industry and academia can often times feel like different worlds. But here at Adobe, we work to build bridges that connect these fields of work together.

But how did this collaboration even begin, and why?

To get to the bottom of this question we went straight to the source—Anil Kamath, Fellow & VP of Technology. “What the biggest problem facing data science in marketing today?” we asked him.

He laughed. I mean, where do we start?

“There’s just so much data—last year alone we tracked over one hundred trillion data points. So it’s all about getting good data and then finding out how we can make it useable in the right way to solve the key problems our customers have.”

As for the best way to do this, we need to partner with the best minds in algorithms, statistics, marketing, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Thus, industry and academia joined forces and the Data Science Symposium and Adobe Research Awards were born—all with the goal of finding new ways to solve some of the riveting challenges that plague today’s marketers.

This year we’ve made even greater strides in this collaboration. Adobe awarded a record total of $750,000 to 15 Universities across North America! We spoke with Anil and some of the winners to further gain insight on the Research Awards and what advice they have for other Universities looking to submit their own proposal.

Data is King, Collaboration is the Castle

When we asked Anil why the partnership between industry and academia was so important, the answer was easy. “Academia is usually in the cutting-edge of research. They can explore new challenges, but they oftentimes don’t have all the resources they need. That’s where Adobe comes in. We have so much data and can offer lots of insights into the market.”

One of this year’s winners, Edward McFowland III, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, couldn’t agree more, “I value the partnership very much. We write a lot of theorems and algorithms but we typically create our own theoretical problems to test. With my partnership with Adobe, I’m allowed to develop tools that actually have immediate impact and work on problems that real organizations are facing.” Professor McFowland’s winning proposal explores anomalous pattern detection, and tries to make sense of them from a marketer’s point-of-view.

“There’s no denying that there’s a gap between academia and industry. Adobe is really concerned with what industry and academia can collectively offer and we value that tremendously,” said Wreeto Kar, Assistant Professor at Purdue University. Professor Kar, along with his colleague and mentor, Professor Mohammad Rahman, developed a proposal that will look at recommendation engines and explore video consumption patterns.

Finding a Way in

So, what kind of advice do these talented group of winners have for those looking to submit in the future? When we pried a bit, there was a common theme. Find a way in.

“Be very persistent and begin to engage with researchers at Adobe. They can give you valuable feedback into the business and the real problems industry is facing. I had the opportunity to go the Data Science Symposium and that was a great way to connect and network with the employees,” said Professor McFowland.

Alternatively, Natalie Mizik, Professor at the University of Washington, said that another good way to gather feedback is through previous Research Award winners. Professor Mizik was originally informed about the Research Award from one of last year’s winners, “I depended on her word of mouth and she really encouraged me to submit.”

And in the case of Professor Kar and Professor Tianshu Sun, Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, both were previous interns. Through their internship, they grew close to the business and were able to learn about the problems that Adobe was facing. And they wanted to help.

“Winning the award feels like coming back home!” said Professor Sun when asked how it felt to go from intern to Research Award Winner. “This award gives me a very good opportunity to work with Adobe again after 5 years, and I have a lot of thoughts and ideas that I can’t wait to discuss with different teams at Adobe,” he said.

“I still can’t believe it. It feels phenomenal. It’s hard to believe because when you’re an intern or at the Data Science Symposium, you’re in awe of the faculties that have won the award,” said Professor Kar. “As for my piece of advice. Adobe values original proposals. If you have a good idea, reach out to a researcher at Adobe and see what they think.”

Research Never Stops

As for what’s next for these winners. The possibilities are endless.

“I already have regular meetings planned with an Adobe researcher who’s going to help develop my work,” said Georgia Perakis, Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “And I would like to have some of my PhD students have the opportunity to intern at Adobe. This partnership is great and continuing it will likely lead to new and interesting questions, and hopefully solutions!” she added. Professor Perakis and her PhD student, Lennart Baardman, developed a proposal that would help advertisers manage their portfolio through uncertainty.

And as for Anil on the future of Adobe’s collaboration with Universities. “We have another deadline coming up in February for new proposals. Go on our website and start exploring the types of proposals we’re looking for and reach out to the team to float ideas and work with us to see how your idea can be tailored to the problems we’re looking at. Then submit your proposal! You could be the next grant awardee.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Find out more about the Research Award program on our University site and submit your proposal by February 16, 2018!

  The post Adobe Invests Over Half a Million Dollars in University Research appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe.

from Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/adobe-invests-half-million-dollars-university-research/

[mccullytech]

Adobe Invests Over Half a Million Dollars in University Research

Industry and academia can often times feel like different worlds. But here at Adobe, we work to build bridges that connect these fields of work together.

But how did this collaboration even begin, and why?

To get to the bottom of this question we went straight to the source—Anil Kamath, Fellow & VP of Technology. “What the biggest problem facing data science in marketing today?” we asked him.

He laughed. I mean, where do we start?

“There’s just so much data—last year alone we tracked over one hundred trillion data points. So it’s all about getting good data and then finding out how we can make it useable in the right way to solve the key problems our customers have.”

As for the best way to do this, we need to partner with the best minds in algorithms, statistics, marketing, machine learning and artificial intelligence. Thus, industry and academia joined forces and the Data Science Symposium and Adobe Research Awards were born—all with the goal of finding new ways to solve some of the riveting challenges that plague today’s marketers.

This year we’ve made even greater strides in this collaboration. Adobe awarded a record total of $750,000 to 15 Universities across North America! We spoke with Anil and some of the winners to further gain insight on the Research Awards and what advice they have for other Universities looking to submit their own proposal.

Data is King, Collaboration is the Castle

When we asked Anil why the partnership between industry and academia was so important, the answer was easy. “Academia is usually in the cutting-edge of research. They can explore new challenges, but they oftentimes don’t have all the resources they need. That’s where Adobe comes in. We have so much data and can offer lots of insights into the market.”

One of this year’s winners, Edward McFowland III, Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, couldn’t agree more, “I value the partnership very much. We write a lot of theorems and algorithms but we typically create our own theoretical problems to test. With my partnership with Adobe, I’m allowed to develop tools that actually have immediate impact and work on problems that real organizations are facing.” Professor McFowland’s winning proposal explores anomalous pattern detection, and tries to make sense of them from a marketer’s point-of-view.

“There’s no denying that there’s a gap between academia and industry. Adobe is really concerned with what industry and academia can collectively offer and we value that tremendously,” said Wreeto Kar, Assistant Professor at Purdue University. Professor Kar, along with his colleague and mentor, Professor Mohammad Rahman, developed a proposal that will look at recommendation engines and explore video consumption patterns.

Finding a Way in

So, what kind of advice do these talented group of winners have for those looking to submit in the future? When we pried a bit, there was a common theme. Find a way in.

“Be very persistent and begin to engage with researchers at Adobe. They can give you valuable feedback into the business and the real problems industry is facing. I had the opportunity to go the Data Science Symposium and that was a great way to connect and network with the employees,” said Professor McFowland.

Alternatively, Natalie Mizik, Professor at the University of Washington, said that another good way to gather feedback is through previous Research Award winners. Professor Mizik was originally informed about the Research Award from one of last year’s winners, “I depended on her word of mouth and she really encouraged me to submit.”

And in the case of Professor Kar and Professor Tianshu Sun, Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California, both were previous interns. Through their internship, they grew close to the business and were able to learn about the problems that Adobe was facing. And they wanted to help.

“Winning the award feels like coming back home!” said Professor Sun when asked how it felt to go from intern to Research Award Winner. “This award gives me a very good opportunity to work with Adobe again after 5 years, and I have a lot of thoughts and ideas that I can’t wait to discuss with different teams at Adobe,” he said.

“I still can’t believe it. It feels phenomenal. It’s hard to believe because when you’re an intern or at the Data Science Symposium, you’re in awe of the faculties that have won the award,” said Professor Kar. “As for my piece of advice. Adobe values original proposals. If you have a good idea, reach out to a researcher at Adobe and see what they think.”

Research Never Stops

As for what’s next for these winners. The possibilities are endless.

“I already have regular meetings planned with an Adobe researcher who’s going to help develop my work,” said Georgia Perakis, Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “And I would like to have some of my PhD students have the opportunity to intern at Adobe. This partnership is great and continuing it will likely lead to new and interesting questions, and hopefully solutions!” she added. Professor Perakis and her PhD student, Lennart Baardman, developed a proposal that would help advertisers manage their portfolio through uncertainty.

And as for Anil on the future of Adobe’s collaboration with Universities. “We have another deadline coming up in February for new proposals. Go on our website and start exploring the types of proposals we’re looking for and reach out to the team to float ideas and work with us to see how your idea can be tailored to the problems we’re looking at. Then submit your proposal! You could be the next grant awardee.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Find out more about the Research Award program on our University site and submit your proposal by February 16, 2018!

  The post Adobe Invests Over Half a Million Dollars in University Research appeared first on Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe.

from Digital Marketing Blog by Adobe https://blogs.adobe.com/digitalmarketing/analytics/adobe-invests-half-million-dollars-university-research/