#but i have maths and physics hw instead :’)

[ad7red]

Hey!! Can I have Peter and his gf who's not rlly smart but catches a mistake Peter made in his hw and teases him but he doesn't mind? Thanks xx!

smarty pants | peter parker.

bf!peter parker x reader

this has been sitting in my inbox for a WHILEE i am sorry!

not proofread, no warnings

-

you had just bombed your math quiz and you could not feel any worse. math just wasn’t your thing, ela or history? sure, but math and you were never getting along. and that was a fact.

the only person who might’ve been able to raise your spirits was your one and only genius vigilante boyfriend, peter. which led to you vigorously knocking on his apartment door like you did many times, expecting to be greeted by a familiar peter, instead being met with his aunt may.

“hey, there sweet pea! peter won’t be home for a while, but would you like to come in and wait in his room for him?” you nodded while thanking her, being in his room would help remind you of him.

she walked you to his room, though being here so many times you know the place like the back of your hand.

when you walked into his room you were welcomed with messy algebra homework as well as half-done history homework scattered all over his desk.

you hopped down onto his undone bed and patiently waited for peter to come back to tell him all about how math was the worst subject known to man.

-

after what felt like forever you finally heard the bedroom door creek open, with the curly head following.

“hey, sunshine? how are you?” he said while placing a kiss on top of your forehead. you pouted before responding, and that’s when peter knew he was in for a doozy.

“terrible! peter, i failed my math quiz!” flapping your arms up and down for emphasis. peter patted your shoulder, his way of saying ‘i’m sorry’.

“c'mon, it can’t be that bad” peter was sorely mistaken. it was that bad.

“i got a 25%.” he made an ‘o’ shape with his mouth, as though it physically hurt him to hear that grade.

“i mean, whose bright idea was it to come up with trigonometric functions? when will i ever use that in my entire life?” you began to rant. the grade was irritating you considering you’ve never gotten lower than a c in math.

“okay, come show me what you need trouble with.” peter said while pulling you up from his bed and leading you to his untidy desk.

you told him what was confusing you and he thoroughly explained it, but you couldn't seem to focus with that history homework on his desk.

“it's italy.”

“what..?”

“which country did the renaissance begin in? you said germany but it's italy.” he quickly scanned over the question again, skimming over the small paragraph before it.

“you got me, good job smarty pants!” he wasn’t sour or bitter about it all. if anything, he was happy, he knew how much it would mean to you if you corrected the smartest person you knew.

“i am a bit of smarty pants aren’t i?” and with that both you and peter started to explode in a fit of giggles.

-

[syncogon]

young blood modern au university musings

(disclaimer: i never do these kind of aus because all i know are my own experiences haha. this is just for funsies. i'm not even drafting this in gdocs first)

yzx: computer science. he's the guy who never goes to class but gets perfect scores + extra credit on his assignments. could probably drop out and start a billion dollar startup but that would draw too much attention so instead he probably side hustles some flavor of academic dishonesty. zj is very mad when she finds out about it

zj: either pre-med (for the academic intensity & chance to do good in immediate community), or some kind of government / policy (doing good in broader scope). either way she is very serious about her studies, and aggressively The Best. a reliable peer tutor even if she can be a little harsh.

wk: pre-law lol though honestly he could have done anything. he's just barely not valedictorian because he pissed off a prof by sticking to his values and making them look like a fool.

xj: psychology, though she tried out a lot of different things first. really cares about humans, wanted to study more about how people behave and how to help them.

wyn: econ. but like, the easy (not-math-heavy) econ classes. probably paid someone (yzx) to do his hw for him (yzx actually contracted out the work and took a generous cut).

xy: biology (environmental). likes going out to study nature. bad at exams but good at labs. is normally very quiet but take him out in the right setting and he'll spout sharp facts and observations at you. alternatively i could also see civil engineering.

//

cn: computer science for the straightforward path to a good job, but if she had full freedom then maybe literature, foreign studies, something that lent itself to travel.

wwq: math

hcs: physics

they're constantly bickering theory vs application.

[transmascnepetaleijon]

hmmmm feeling... homosexual.

[mikaneedscoffee]

girl help i thought i had good normal study motivation but its actually just the niche (self) study (of smthg absolutely not useful for school) motivation flavor :’)

[so2uv]

For Alyster and/or Rome, you choose :D

💆‍♀️How do you relax?

💕how affectionate are you?

😟what's your worst fear?

- Tired

i'll do both bc im procrastinating math hw- ehe-

💆‍♀️ — how do you relax?

alyster — "as part of the council and the King's most trusted (*!$@)%&$, im afraid there's no time for me to waste on my own trivial self-indulgent matters. though..." he coughs into his hand as a small flush appears on his face, "sometimes i sneak into the kitchen and help the staff with meal prep for the next day. on other nights, watching the stars is always quite a peaceful time."

rome — "a good book, a warm mug of tea or hot chocolate, and a nice reading spot are a good way to unwind after a long day." they chuckle, "you should try it with me sometime. im sure you'll find it a wonderful way to spend the night

💕 — how affectionate are you?

alyster — "i shall admit... affection is a more er.. foreign concept to me. i suppose what his majesty is doing could be considered 'affection' of sorts..." he mutters the last part to himself before shaking his head, "my duties prevent me from forming proper bonds though uh-" he blushes, "i do quite enjoy the idea of both being smothered by love and giving it back through service and gifts."

rome — (in order to answer this we have called his past lover to the stage) "you what now." he grimaces, "t-there's no need. i'm a more physically and verbally affectionate person. PDA is not my strong suit and i'd never initiate it myself but if my s/o were to do it instead, it wouldn't be unpleasant at all.

😟 — what's your worst fear?

alyster — "to my knowledge... i don't believe i have any big fear." (that's a lie. his worst fears include the king, losing loved ones, and tightly enclosed spaces (does his best to suppress this one). has a few other small ones too but those three at the biggest)

rome — "being pinned for doing things that im not guilty of doing. more of an annoyance than a fear but imagining myself in that position is so... ugh." rubs the back of his neck, "as for actual fears, being forgotten from the world is pretty scary."

[antpernas]

9/8/21

Another update! Been a minute again jeje Quick bullet points - Classes are still amazing, Miami's cute :D - Already want to delete my OF and porn twit again (no specific reason other than anxiety ab my family or future employers finding out) - I've been thinking of switching from Engineering to Pure Math... mmf lord help me - I've been talking to a cute boy :) Will expand on that below though - I DIDN'T TURN IN MY PHYSICS LAB - I get nothing done when I go home on weekends (thank fucking god I don't have hw this semester) - I got sick >:( Not as bad as my crush did though jeje - I WENT TO A LIVE JAZZ SHOW TONIGHT it was sooo good I wanna be a regular jeje But yeah!! Miami's fun anyway here's me talking about a man So I'll call him Geminigo, because I associate him more with his Virgo rising than his Gem sun (our charts are SO similar it's scary) and I really like him! He's a sweetheart. But I have a bunch of reservations and I don't know if that's a consequence of comparing everything to Scorpio nowadays, or if it's because I don't want to "settle," or some other reason! I'm just gonna list out the things that have been on my mind with him. - I don't want to go into a relationship with someone hoping that they'll turn into the boyfriend I want them to be at some point along the way. I understand that a relationship takes work, and no one's "perfect," but there are certain things that I want out of a relationship that simply might not be a part of someone's personality. I like being reassured, I like texting, I like the idea of playing music and singing with my partner... But if it's not in someone's nature to enjoy those things, who am I to convince them to do so just for me? Wouldn't it make more sense to find someone who just *is* those things instead of hoping for someone to change for you? IDK - In the same vein as the above, but with the roles reversed, I don't want to be any less than what somebody wants! If I'm someone's partner, I want to know that I'm everything they want me to be. I want them to love that I talk a lot, that I'm analytical and logical about everything, that I want to know everything they're willing to share about themselves! And I'm willing to respond to the things that someone wants, but not if it's fundamentally inverse to who I want myself to be. There was more to this but maybe I'll just leave those for another day. I wanna be lazy now and I have class soon teehee <3

[thatadhdmood]

does anyone else really struggle with just like... doing hw in general? like i generally spend my time on my phone thinking i should do the work but looking at posts related to my current obsession instead, and then it's midnight and i go to do my work and stare at my screen and get hardly anything done and then its one and i havent done anything but i have to wake up early so i go to bed. can anyone else relate to this or am i just an asshole

homework is so hard

i havent done any math or physics or chemistry or chinese or english or ess or.,.,

i havent done any homework all year

[cadykeus-clay]

please tell me more about your dance major!

ohhhh ok!!!! ive been doin hw most of the day so i missed this notif but i’m happy to answer now!!! so i’m currently doing two majors, one of which is in dance. in all honesty, i have it a lot easier than many college dancers for several reasons:

for one, I’m getting a BA rather than a BFA, which means the program is far less rigorous wrt hours. Most BFA programs I looked at when applying to college require daily class, whereas I have technique only 3 days a week, and they also have a much stricter performance requirement. 

Most dancers would be in either multiple pieces per show, or multiple shows, depending on the departments rehearsal schedule. We are not *required* to perform at all (though everyone does lol) and we are only in one piece per semester (usually) as undergraduates. 

So my hours are a lot less than a lot of programs, even more so due to covid slashing our rehearsal space (our actual studio doesn’t have central AC and so isn’t approved for use AT ALL, and we’re in our second semester of taking class out of an orchestral performance hall instead)

for another, I’m doing a performing arts major at a tech school. I won’t say which one cause internet privacy, but we’re mostly known for our med school and engineering programs. so, the department knows I’m not at this school to dance, i’m there to dance and do something else (in my case math on an eventual education cert track). so our classes and stuff are structured around all the dance majors having another major as well. 

just as me, i’ve been dancing for ..... 16? 17? years now. from when I started through the end of high school, I trained heavily in ballet, modern dance (specifically graham and humphrey techniques) and jazz, with little bits of dabbling in more other styles than I can name between guest artists and short intensives and the like. the college I’m at offers only ballet and modern classes, which are supposedly in graham style (that’s why I came here) but imo they’re a fucking joke if they actually call themselves graham technique classes. they’re graham-based at best. 

however, our main focus is on producing choreographers and teachers rather than performers. a handful of our undergrads go on to join major companies as performers, but (esp because of the tech school thing) most of us go on to do teaching or choregraphing gigs outside of our day job, and our grad program gets you a MFA in contemporary choreography.

which i actually think is pretty cool conceptually! now i kinda fucking hate the way our dept head teaches choreo and have been avoiding it like the devil but thats a me problem. because of that, though, we also take a couple classes on like ... dance pedagogy, and stage production, and we have to work several performances worth of stage crew which i think is really neat behind the scenes experience that not a lot of colleges will offer!

we also do a lot of dance science stuff - so like studying nutrition, physiology, medicine, and even psychology with the specific intent of working w/ dancers. a lot like sports medicine, but for dancers rather than athletes. every semester (except for covid lmao) we do this little fitness test thing that gauges our natural abilities and makes it easier for us/our teachers to pinpoint our strengths and weaknesses and it’s actually overall really cool.

just as a personal example, and i have no idea if you’re a dancer and will know what this means anon, but for those who are: my turnout on the left has always been way more shit than it is on the right. absolutely no idea why. and i’ve been hounded about it for Decades. I came to this school and took my first little physical exam and was told “well no wonder. your right hip has 20 more degrees of movement in it than your left”. that’s nothing to do with my posture, or my muscle strength. my left femur head is literally just larger and gets in the way quicker and unless i get surgery to shave it down there’s no fixing it, so instead i could focus my time on trying to retrain equal stability in both sides rather than trying to force left turnout that literally didn’t exist. 

overall there’s a lot of really nice things about this program, and it’s by no means a setup for me to go into a professional performance career, but that’s not what i wanted anyways. i like my school and i like this program and i like .... enough of the people in it (dept chair and assistant chair do NOT interact i’m talking to my cool queer professor with blue hair who just started publicly using they/them pronouns) to stick around and keep my inherent need to dance satisfied!!! 

[haruki-ya]

random dumb self indulgent Akira school hc’s cause they in my head but i just need a place to put them down

these are basically my ideas of what the kids are like in school set in the film verse !

so just jumpin right into it but Kaneda has ADHD which is why he’s usually really hyphy and physically restless (honestly i feel like this is just high key canon). He’s never been v strong in school not because he’s unintelligent, it’s just the one teacher to twenty + student ratio doesn’t work for his specific way of processing and retaining new info. He’s very hands on and would benefit from more one on one teaching, or like a specific trade even, but by the time he reaches middle school he’s just so over feeling stupid and worthless in class that he develops this charmingly air headed persona and becomes the class clown instead of putting effort into something that he knows he won’t understand. it’s not until Kai comes along and, bless his soul, has the patience to sit down with Kaneda and help him with the work he struggles with that Kaneda realizes he’s not dumb and his brain is capable of making connections like other ppl and all he needed was someone willing to answer his stupid questions and get him back on track when his mind wandered to something else aside from classwork. he likes science and thinks space is cool as fuck. when asked what he wants to pursue in the future as a career path, he says astronaut (often interchanged with yakuza boss. none of the teachers find that funny.)  

Kai is a lil scholar, born and raised. Is often referred to as the human encyclopedia lol. Has a very good memory and is capable of adapting to specific teaching methods or just reworking the info so that it is easily understandable for him. I hc his mom as being a uni teacher of Classic Literature and Rhetoric, maybe with some side classes on Journalism or Literary Interpretation. His mom encouraged his curiosity and literary prowess at a young age and it helped him all around in school. he doesn’t really have to try hard, he’s one of those ppl who manages to float by without putting too much effort into the work, but he secretly likes a challenge (which is something he definitely doesn’t get at the disciplinary school) and kind of takes Kaneda under his wing as a side project of sorts to both help his friend and challenge himself by teaching the previously unteachable. it works out wonderfully for the both of them in the end (except for Yama who gets jealous of all the times Kai and Kaneda spend together after class)

Speaking of Yama tho, he’s actually dumb as a rock lmao sorry pal I just call it like I see it. He’s definitely the stereotypical “dumb jock”, super athletic and physically fit but like…not the brightest. Which he’s fine with, as long as he knows the basics he figures he’s set! and he is cause his plan was to get by passing grades, graduate, and go work for his dad at the family construction company straight outta school. Kaneda and Yama have that dumbass solidarity and love to mess around during class, but where Kaneda tries to get his shit done after the bell rings, Yama would rather just have his younger sister do the hw for him in exchange for doing chores. that too works out wonderfully for the two of them (Yama’s younger sister wants to be a doctor and benefits from the challenge of “advanced” coursework :)

Tetsuo is kind of caught somewhere in the middle. Tetsuo is also by no means unintelligent, but he finds it hard to focus in class with all the other kids talking constantly (is usually easily overstimulated and has general audio processing issues as well. more a visual/hands on learner similar to kaneda) and doesn’t work well under pressure. He definitely struggles in school but is too prideful to ask for help or even let anyone know he struggles. He has that attitude of “if I have a problem, I’ll work through it myself” even if he ends up getting so frustrated with his homework it moves him to tears and then to throwing his homework out the window. That on top of his general disinterest in most of the subject matter, and tendency to jump on the offensive when teachers try and help him, doesn’t bode well for his education. Kai tries to help him at one point, but even after being friends for a year he’s still too stubborn to admit defeat (especially when this is something he can finally be better at than Kaneda and subsequently lord it over him -lol tetsuo u asshole-). When Kaori enters the picture tho, bless her soul too, Tetsuo begrudgingly accepts her help with the subjects he struggles most with (lit and science. he’s surprisingly good at math!)

Kaori a smartie pants! duh! I hc her as taking advanced classes, maybe one or two college level classes in hs as well, which is why she lives in a dorm with other girls.That’s a requirement for the school she attends. She’s a freshman in her school, but has been taking honors and ap classes as long as she’s been able. Kaori gets that cream of the crop education: smaller classes, engaged students, Socratic seminars, field trips, political, psych/soc, environmental classes. Specific courses, teaching tactics, and subject matter the boys don’t get exposed to in public school. I feel like she would be interested in some kind of community work, or like something that she feels is impactful to both the individual and society as a whole. Maybe like a nurse or social worker? Some kind of nurturing job and ok yeah i know that’s kinda stereotypical but Kaori as a character is so sweet and selfless and nurturing I just feel like it would fit her character. I could picture her actively planning out a future for herself based upon her education…but she a freshie and doesn’t know what exactly she wants to do. She enjoys helping Tetsuo with his work, so maybe she could be a teacher too.

Kei, finally, would definitely be enrolled in college classes early on. Maybe even an early hs graduate. She’s sharp as a tack and too likes to be challenged academically/intellectually . Found high school to be too easy for her and applied for the Japanese equivalent of a CHSPE (california high school proficiency exam which is basically after completing all required hs classes with the required amount of credits, an exam which verifies ur high school proficiency for early graduation). Definitely would be interested in Socio-economics, political science, humanitarian and psychology courses. Possibly environmental science or evolutionary science. I bet she met Ryu through some of her classes and thus prompted the beginning of a beautiful totally platonic rebellious friendship. Maybe a semester or two into her courses, the government upheaval begins and many of her fellow students start talking about their unhappiness with the state of society and the government. This prompts a shift in both the attitude of the students and the attitude of the revolutionaries Kei has recently joined thanks to Ryu. There’s an opportunity to get the youth involved in the fight against the corrupt government and a possible dawning fascist future. Kei drops out of college shortly after inspiring students to organize protests (like that in the opening scene of the film ayeee) as both a battering ram and a distraction from the rebel’s plan to infiltrate the esper’s compound and kidnap Akira (lol good luck y’all).

this once again has been an unprompted ted x by yours truly. thanks that’s all folks.

[working-on-becoming-a-better-me]

Day 253—Mar. 23, 2021

Okay, so the numbers for my previous consecutive posts were off by a day (like a day ahead) and February 7′s math was way off, but I googled this! so from here on out, we will be accurate! let’s go bois!

BIG UPDATE BOIS! Essentially? I’VE GOTTEN BETTER! Mental health is better, habits are better, outlook on life is better, productivity... isn’t as high as it was when I first started the blog, but it’s doing MUCH better than November and even January.

coping with minecraft:

So, I’m still addicted to the dream smp minecraft fandom. my friend got me a dream hoodie, bucket hat, and a georgenotfound hoodie for my birthday. but! I’m coping better. I’m behind on streams, and am now catching up during Spring Break. For a while, I was pushing back school work to watch and catch up on streams. I promised myself that during free periods I would work since I was catching up on streams at home, and then... yeah. ANYWAY! I’ve gotten a lot better at that recently by noticing that even fanart accounts (accounts dedicated to mcyt-ers) were talking about how they didn’t watch a phasmaphobia stream because they weren’t interested in it, or talking about how they were behind on streams... it really helped me accept the fact that I can be a real fan and not watch every single stream.

cultural convention:

My international school does events with other international schools but because of covid, we can’t travel. I act and made varsity drama (we call it a different name, but yeah!) and we had virtual conferences. I was incredibly friendly and loud and there were tons of zoom calls. Our schools kinda known for being... uh, stuck up? and kinda elitist. Not like I was being fake, but I was making an effort to talk during calls and be active on group chats made. I joke-flirt a lot and focused my attention on one person. A whole thing ensued, but some of the other actors in my school (there were only 11 of us) were joking abut sending me to “horny jail” and one girl kept apologizing for me. During “lounge sessions” I would interject with what I thought were funny comments and she’d say “again, I’d like to apologize for her behavior” and... uh... I cried at school. Cuz I’ve heard way too many times from too many different people about how I’m embarrassing... BUT.

What really helped was the fact that there were late night zoom calls and I was one of only three kids from my school the first night on a call with around 25 people. Other people said I helped give them a really good first impression of our school, especially considering all the things they’d heard previously. The guy I joke-flirted with (I previously dmed him asking if he was okay with it and he said he was) said on a call that I was one of the funniest people he’d met in a while. It was a huge confidence booster in knowing that the efforts I was making were paying off :)

confidence:

Since starting this blog, I’ve been trying to be nicer to myself. I’ve been practicing more positive self speak and have recently realized the difference between the way I speak about and to myself and how some other people do. Being nicer to myself out loud has helped a lot in feeling better and more comfortable.

I wanted to try wearing black masks, but my mom bought the wrong kind. They had patterns and I was really nervous because I didn’t really want to stand out. I used to not care, but... I dunno. Teenagehood and whatnot. We wear uniforms too, so the only differences are in accessories, hair, etc. I’m not sure why, but I was really nervous to wear the new mask patterns to school. But I told myself it was an experiment, to force me to be more confident. I actually forgot I was wearing it until I saw myself. And since I’d posted on my private story saying I was doing this to try and be more comfortable, some of my friends came up to me and told me it was actually cute. Shows that I really had nothing to stress for. Not that it was really self-expression, but for me, and anyone else who needs to hear this, no one cares. Maybe they even wish they had the courage to wear different things as well.

mcyt mantra:

I have a mantra now! adapted from something drunk Wilbur Soot said during Quackity’s livestream, I think. I repeat it when I’m happy and when I’m nervous or scared and I guess... I dunno, I’m like classically conditioning myself? Except not really since I’m doing it out of order. But yeah! get yourself a mantra!!!

character day:

more with confidence! spirit week is just an excuse for kids to not wear their uniforms, but I put a lot of effort into an Ace Ventura outfit I put together. I only saw around two or three other people actually dressed up as characters, but I had so much fun and thought I looked amazing. I was proud that I wasn’t a normie ;]

Also... it’s so humid in this country and the rubber bottoms of my boots actually stuck to the pavement and fell off. I spent the day without the bottoms of my shoes and it was so funny. Even my mom laughed after (she laughed for so long, it was adorable) and she said only I could pull it off and that the friend I walk to school with everyday is lucky to have me as a friend. My mom was telling me about how she never had a friend like me growing up, just so weird and goofy. And it made me happy to think that I can bring so much... zaniness to people’s lives

ao3:

been writing a lot more recently! haven’t been posting on my writing blog since it’s all fanfiction, but it’s helping me write! I update one of my stories every two weeks. When I feel like I’m not doing enough, it’s a nice reminder that I actually can��be consistent. I may be getting better... who knows :)

nehs:

been editing lots of papers even though I don’t need to anymore since I made vp of my school’s nehs chapter. but it’s helping me learn too! I’m very instinctual when writing, but obviously when I’m editing I can’t just ask them to change something because “it doesn’t sound right”. So I google explanations and then tell the people who’s papers I’m editing. It helps both them and me!

ipad/drawing:

got a new ipad for my birthday. been messing around with procreate. been doodling in class (only dream team characters so far lol). might be getting better... hopefully I am!

also have a sticky notes app on my ipad and been creating to-do lists! yay!

teaching:

been teaching students in cambodia! last year I had a teaching partner who guided lessons mostly. this year I’m the leading teacher. It’s helping with my fear of leadership and responsibility.

social:

still not the most social, but more active on snapchat now with keeping in contact with some of the cultural convention kids. covids made it harder to keep in contact, and I’ve been trying to reach out more to my closest friend who I’ve not hung out with in a while. not that we don’t see each other at lunch every other day, but I walk to school with, share a class and after school study hall with another friend. so comparably, I’ve spent less time with my closest friend.

recently had a spa day with my small neighborhood gang! my friend painted my other guy friend’s nails! yes! we used face masks as well :)

general update:

- went to the pool the other day and now I’m hecka burnt

- yesterday I wrote letters for honor society points, caught up on math hw, wrote a reflection and plan for a class, reviewed chinese with my mom, met up with my “mentor” for a class

- have been helping a lot of people! am currently a part of two people’s pieces for their theater class and I have a rehearsal later today!

- was doing a lot of work as an officer of thespian honor society—I’m likely going to be on the officer team again next year and, until a few weeks ago, I hadn’t felt like I’d been doing much and was feeling unworthy. but then I was proactive about something and updated our sponser (school’s drama director) on what we as officers decided. felt... prettyyy goooodddd :)

- !!! yesterday I went on a walk and brought money and my student ID, ready to buy bubble tea, but then... I mustered up what little willpower I had and then didn’t buy it. Instead, I bought surprise lilies for my mom (and some groceries she asked me to get)   - been trying to cut out unnecessary sugars and foods. if I’m not hungry, I shouldn’t eat, but also... I listen to my body and if I’m feeling really snacky, I’ll indulge   - recently been craving ice cream, but not the flavors in my fridge so instead I’m just not eating ice cream at all and ate an apple once as a substitute :D

- not sure if I’ve been sleeping more, but it kinda feels like I have been?

- started taking pictures of the world when I think it’s pretty one sunny afternoon when I was laughing lots with a friend... especially right after cul con, I was taking a lot more pictures...

- just been more active (not physically... though occasionally, when bored, I’ll stretch some... but I should try and get more active (I mean... the walk yesterday?))... creatively speaking (ao3, with art), socially online (cul con kids), in person (making plans over spring break!)...

- I just feel like I’ve been putting more effort into life

of course, there are the down bits, like for one project based class where the end product is due in May-ish and it focuses on the “process”... I’m just... not... process-ing. I chose a writing project (why). I’m focusing a lot on my side projects, but not my class writing one :/ as well as that, when assignments pick up, I do too, but when I get down time I feel like I deserve it (which I do!) but I don’t work ahead. I’ve been really busy though. Teaching got cancelled because the school in Cambodia shut down unfortunately due to covid. But before spring break, I was teaching, editing papers, writing my own for lang, doing cul con and then catching up on work I missed because of cul con, studying for tests, attending rehearsals... there’s a lot going on and I need to recognize that I am doing so well, especially compared with a few months prior when I was in a much darker place.

mostly stress has been my plague, but yeah! also in the span of one week, two classes bumped up a grade (or half a grade... we have letters and + system (no -)) so my previously low gpa became slightly less low! It gave me confidence that I can end the semester strong!

procrastination: another plague. I keep delaying setting up college counseling meetings and have delayed this update for a while now... and the project-class...

also have babysitting jobs again so we gon get some monnaayyyyy! (job is not from people we met at the pool, but we did meet people at the pool and their kids liked me so much they asked me mom to get me to babysit them... another boost to confidence! yay :) I’m a likeable person :] )

thanks for sticking around! I’m glad I’m getting this update in because I’m doing... really well :D hope you guys are also doing well or that it gets better!

[programics]

buckle up folks because I can already feel this is going to be a long one.

i think i was very lucky because i was able to experience both community college and university. I was accepted as a Spring Admit at my current university so that means I would enter as an incoming freshman in the Spring Semester instead of the Fall like a typically freshman. Therefore, in the fall, I decided to enroll in my local community college to get a head start on some credits.

Here is my opinion on the pros and cons of both.

M O N E Y

COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

cheaper (duh) 

I qualified for FAFSA so they paid for all my classes and I was able to pocket the rest which as almost 2,000 

UNIVERSITY

my university costs approximately 72,000 this year; yikes 

I still qualify for FAFSA so I get financial aid from my university 

they offer 100% financial aid need - so if I cant pay it, they pay it 

homegirl got scholarships - I have a yearly scholarship of 12,000 

so in the end, I end up paying approximately 10,000 which is completely doable for my family 

there’s a lot of ways to make university free; don’t let that stop you from going 

Its very common to go to community college first and then transfer to a university for the next two years. Which leads me to my next topic of transferring.

T R A N S F E R R I N G

Attending CC first then transferring to a University only works in some cases. 

COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

Trying to find CC courses that were transferable to my university was very difficult. 

The curriculum of Texas and California are very different and they did not accept all courses.

If I wanted to avoid taking the dreaded freshman writing course at my university, I would have to take two writing courses at my CC.

So two writing courses at CC was the equivalent to one university course.

UNIVERSITY 

if you plan on going to CC and then transferring, the best way is to go to a CC and University in the same state! 

Universities are more willing to accept courses from CC that they recognize! 

Also, public state universities are more likely to accept CC credits over Private state universities.

H I G H   S C H O O L   C R E D I T

I know in high school AP scores and dual credit (college and high school credit) is stressed as being able to get you a head start on university courses, but this is NOT TRUE. 

COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

CC will accept any AP scores with a 3 or higher and dual credit that was done through them 

UNIVERSITY 

Universities will only accept some of your AP credit! 

I took AP US History, AP World History, AP Human Geography, AP Macroeconomics, AP Lit, AP Language, and AP Spanish that did not help me AT ALL.

AP credit that I know has been accepted at my university: AP Physics C (E&M & Mechanics), AP Calc, AP Stats, AP Chem, and AP Bio, but you have to get a 5. 

I got a 4 on my AP Stats exam, but I still have to take Statistics. 

Take into consideration that I go to a private out-of-state university. 

My friend is graduating a year early because she was able to transfer all her dual credit, CC classes, and AP scores to her public state university.

T I M E

COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

I had so much time on my hands! I only had one class a day so I went for one hour or two.

except for my 6 hour lab/lecture on fridays rip me 

As a result, I was able to spend all my time focusing on my classes! 

I spent so much time on calculus that I was probably one of the best students even though I was the youngest in my lecture.

UNIVERSITY

I feel like I have no time! 

Some believe that you have three things to balance at uni; sleep, school, and social. this is false. 

you have to balance so much more; sleep, classes, social, extracurriculars, networking, food, office hours, applying for internships, and on-campus job. of course some of these things are optional like job and extracurriculars but if you want to be a well-rounded student then you need all these things.

S O C I A L

All of my high schools friends went to university at least 3 hours aways from me so basically, in the fall I didn’t have any friends.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

You make some friends in CC from your classes, but you only ever see them in class. 

I was the youngest and one of two girls in my Calculus II class so i didn’t really talk to anyone

You meet so many different people at CC who have different lives from yours

a lot of my classmates has children and i just couldn’t relate lol 

Some people know each other from the surrounding high schools

but I didn’t go to a normal high school so 

Some friends you keep in contact with! 

I met a girl at orientation who I ran into at the mall so we see each other sometimes there 

and we follow each other on instagram 

UNIVERSITY 

in university, everyone knows everyone. 

Well not really, but basically.

Everyones is connected somehow and you meet lots of people from your housing, classes, job, and extracurriculars.

You might not be best friends with everyone you meet but it’s nice to see a familiar face

I’ve had lots of classes with people who i’ve never met, but i know of them and see them all the time 

D I F F I C U L T Y   O F   C L A S S E S

I know people say that the classes at uni and CC have the same difficulty, this is also false. 

COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

the classes at CC were very similar to my high school classes so it felt like a continuation of high school.

 I got A’s in all my classes except writing (bc i suck) and I felt like i didn’t have to work that hard for it.

My homework was usually online for some classes (chemistry and math) so I had multiple chances to get an answer right

Classes are heavily curved and my math professors dropped our lowest test grade

A TEST GRADE!!!!!

I took one online class and literally as long as you do all the work, you should get an A 

UNIVERSITY 

the struggle is real y’all 

Classes vary by your major

As an engineering student, we are asked to practice theory. so first we learn everything and then we actually have to do it unlike some majors that write a lot of papers. 

Last semester, I had 9 hw assignments of algorithm design and 5 coding projects plus our group project. yikes 

Classes are curved but not always. 

each professor curves differently 

some curve exams

and others curve final grades

some professors curve down!!! 

the business classes at my university are so easy

they don’t want everyone getting an A so they curve down 

[aliisalive]

this is very long but I have no idea how to make a read more on mobile bcs Tumblr is a piece of fucking shit.

i just found out that my cousin, who is 1.5 years younger than me, got a job 2 days ago and earns more money than me.

u know. the me that worked all the way thru the quarantine. the me that helped out with my boss' kid's hw. the me who has worked at my job for over 2 years. the me who has specialist knowledge that no one else at the company knows. yeah, that me.

FUCK this job. my boss is an evil man. literally. all thru the pandemic I did 2x the amount of work AT LEAST bcs everyone else was working from home so I had to send files and stuff, I had all my regular work AND I was helping out with my boss' kid's hw bcs they're too fucking thick to understand how maths works. u know. like the maths an 11 year old learns. I didn't get paid extra for ANY OF IT (I thought I would be) but my boss was like "oh, well, u made this one tiny mistake so instead of docking it pay for that u can just get ur usual pay haha" (a mistake I made bcs I was overworked but haha that doesn't matter at all)

i have mountains and mountains of papers all the time and had to beg for months, MONTHS for my boss to buy us a printer with an adf scanner so I wouldn't have to use the old slow one to scan invoices over the span of fucking DAYS. like. I know how much money they earn bcs I'm the one who freaking counts it all. it's not that big of a fucking expense.

all day, I just fucking argue with incompetent accounting departments about money, scan documents, listen to my coworkers racist jokes and freaking deal with just the most bullshit bullshit to ever bullshit and I get paid PENNIES!

I'm so done. I'm so fucking done with this place. I can't fucking do this anymore. I forreal can't.

the worst fucking part is that there's no jobs in my area. all of them are physical jobs which I can't do bcs haha disability! that the govt won't recognize I have!!!! adulthood is a fucking scam. I hate it here.

like, explain to me how we switched over companies who do all the drivers' documents so that I have more work (bcs the old company we used got sold) and my boss was like "oh well, I'll find a better one" and like nice, cool, great, except we switched over in fucking October 2019 and it's fucking July 2020. and I would look myself but I'm too! fucking! busy! all! the! time!

literally, I deserve better than this but have no other choice bcs I have loans to pay off that I took out when this job didn't crush my entire fucking soul. to think. I actually used to like my job! I actually liked going!

what the fuck happened to my life? i dont fucking get it.

[pythgaoras]

summer is here! none of us really like studying over break, but unfortunately, it is a necessity. so here, i have some tips and tricks to studying over break.

this is very long, so you may want to read under the cut :) 

1. when summer ends, make a list of your subjects for next year.

i know i don’t like thinking about my classes for NEXT YEAR right away, but in order to study, you gotta do it!! wait a week or two though, enjoy your summer.

here’s an example: let’s say that i’m entering my junior year of high school. i’m taking AP physics, AP calc ab, honors english, AP econ, honors french iv, and AP world history.

categorize your classes! you’re obviously better at some things than others - in the example above, you’re probably better at the sciences. so your list of hardest - easiest might go: 1) AP world history 2) AP econ 3) AP physics 4) honors english 5) AP calc ab 6) honors french iv

2. once you’ve got that, you can go onto the next step: making your schedule.

now, during the summer, subtract an hour or an hour and a half to that. because guess what!! you’re a diligent student who’s studying AHEAD and so don’t have deadlines and pressure on you!

rule of thumb for hs students - usually spend 1.5 hours a day on your 2 hardest subjects, 1 hour on your 2 middle subjects, and 0-0.5 hours on your 2 easiest subjects, which averages out to about 6 hours a day. college students, add an hour and subtract two classes. ps i know hs students, you have hw and stuff due the next day and your schedule is super hectic, but make sure you get this studying done. it’ll be so much better in the long run.

now, in the summer, keep the same thing, but make it 4 days a week, instead of all 7

AP world history - 1.5 hours a day = 6 hours a week (you can split it up however you want)

AP econ - 1.5 hours a day = 6 hours a week

AP physics - 1 hour a day = 5 hours a week

Honors English - 1 hour a day = 5 hours a week

AP calc - 0.5 hours a day = 2.5 hours a week

Honors French IV - 0.5 hours a day = 2.5 hours a week

this averages to about 3.5 hours a day, and you can make a schedule for your own specific preferences!

now, to split up the subjects!

3. math

okay, so this is actually a really easy subject to study for

if you know what you’re doing, just get the textbook!! it is as easy as that

the textbook should have the lesson and practice problems

you should go at a pace of 1 lesson every 3 days, just so it has time to sink in

make sure that every two weeks, you go over what you’ve learned

if you don’t understand the topic, just look it up! the internet is a very nice place and it has lots of resources

some good math sites:

desmos is just my love, my life, especially when i’m too lazy to get up to get my graphing calculator

now i know this probably won’t be very helpful to all you smart cookies but art of problem solving is so great! the teacher is so good and i hate videos but these were really good!

cliffsnotes i mean this thing works for everything

wyzant has lots of worksheets - it’s algebra through calculus so lots of range!

PURPLEMATH or my favorite site it explains things so simply and beautifully!!

how could i not include khanacademy (personally, however, i would use other things first, because i have not found it as helpful as other sites, but other people seem to love it a lot)

i have a ton of others, but i figure they should be reserved for a math masterpost or something so message me if you want them!

4. english

sadly, this is kind of the opposite of math, you can’t really do ANYTHING with english

if you know anything about what you’re going to study, i’d say immerse yourself in that

a piece on summer homework~

CHUNK! YOUR! READING! UP!

i cannot tell you how many times i have crammed reading a book into the last few days of break and bombed a test on it

read maybe 2 chapters a day, during the first few weeks of summer

do whatever essay you probably have to write after that

then, on the last 2 weeks of summer, read your book again!! refresh your mind on it!!

hs students - get some upperclassmen friends to tell you what you do in the class. if you really want to get ahead, then take notes on those if you want. personally, i wouldn’t overdo it, but it might help you out during the school year.

college - ask friends who have taken the class! again, don’t really overdo your studying in this class, just because it’s english and for me, i’ve never really studied for english. i’ve just read the book and taken notes – which is really important! i take notes and understand the topic and i have an A+ so it works for me i guess

but if your english is writing or something, i would advise you to practice that. if you take a break from writing, it becomes much too rusty. write your essay for homework if you have it early on, and maybe write another one for practice as school comes closer. just so you don’t lose your touch.

some podcasts about literature

english lit resources

more english lit resources (i like this one better)

5. science

science! the grey area of studying

HS students 

AP - this is easy, because you already know the curriculum, because it has to be according to the AP test

if you want, get the AP book now

because you know, you’ll need it for the test

use the book to study so you know a general overview of all the basics

others - you could stand from looking a bit at the AP book as well, but really, you shouldn’t get it. if you know what subject you’re taking, i recommend you look up your subject and start at square 1 (as should you AP kids!!)

khanacademy, again, is helpful

tbh if i were you, i’d just look at what was going to be on the ap test. i’d check the topics, and i’d start from the fundamentals and work my way up there

basically do the same thing as ap kids but don’t get the book

college students -

now, yours is obviously more advanced.

this is why i call science the ‘grey area’ of studying

because tbh, here, it depends on your major

if you’re a STEM major, you’re probably spending your summer at labs and research, and are already getting the involvement you need

this is where you probably need a buddy to bounce ideas off of, maybe you two could talk and discuss science things

on the other hand, if you’re a political science major, you’re probably only taking a science class for your requirement. so maybe you’re talking like gen chem or something, i’m not really sure, or physics101. lit just brush up on what you learned in high school. the rest of the studying can take place over the summer for you

basically for you guys, brush up on what you learned before. MAKE SURE NOT TO FORGET!!!

also, i studied physics this year and have a lot of websites, loved this one

6. history

this is taking up a monstrous size so i’m going to try to cut this down now

also did i say math was the easiest to study!! i meant HISTORY!!

(except for you history majors, i have no idea what goes in in those deep dark caverns that you have class in)

so for me, i find this the easiest to STUDY for, not the easiest to learn

the reason for this, is because all of your lessons should be on the internet! history is encoded in everything, and so, if you know what your class is about, you should be able to find it somewhere on the internet

literally just go through what you think you have to know, especially since you know what your class is about

i would say to spend 2-3 weeks on one topic: for example, the cold war

spend 1-2 weeks learning the important events, remembering those things

and then the fun part!! spend 1-2 weeks making connections!

MAKE CONNECTIONS TO WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED PREVIOUSLY. EVERYTHING IN HISTORY IS CONNECTED. THIS IS GOOD BECAUSE YOU WILL REMEMBER WHAT YOU LEARNED LAST YEAR AND WHAT YOU WILL LEARN THIS YEAR.

have fun with this site

7. language

ok ok again language majors, you guys are in a whole other ballpark

but for those of you who aren’t language majors, i would literally just advise duolingo.

just practice your language!

with my example, i would do duolingo for french. and maybe, i’d ask a friend if we could practice our french. hopefully they don’t think i’m odd and then we can practice like that!

be creative!! just make sure you don’t forget because that puts you back months

8. general

alright you guys! almost at the end of this crazy long masterpost

try to study outside of your house as much as possible. the weather is warm! the days are long! go outside, or if you’re like me and hate the outdoors, go to the library or something! don’t spend your days cooped up in a house

spend time with your friends! especially for things like science, it is important to discuss ideas and gather in groups. now, you definitely need to have fun, but it’s always good to study together

limit your studying, kay?

have fun this summer guys!!!! props to you if you made it this far and i hope you enjoyed this masterpost <3

other masterposts:

math

the procrastinator’s guide to procrastination

school survival guide

achievable tips for the average student

[realtalk-princeton]

An additional perspective on the physics major

Marty answered a question awhile back about the physics major, and another physics major who also happens to be a RCA realized that some of his/her frosh got a bit nervous about the major, so he/she also wanted to share some perspectives on the major. Here’s the link to Marty’s answer:

https://realtalk-princeton.tumblr.com/post/186555703749/marty-downsides-of-physics

Here are the RCA’s thoughts:

I really appreciated Marty’s broader statement about choosing majors that cater to your likes and dislikes rather than thinking of the “pros” and “cons” of each, but was surprised to then see it preceded by saying the physics major has many downsides. I do not believe this at all. The physics major is certainly one of the tougher tracks at Princeton, but also one of the most rewarding, and I would not necessarily call more pset hours or tougher material a “downside” if the field is something you are interested in.

To clarify, this is not a (total) rebuttal of Marty’s description. I found much of the description to be fair and unbiased, and plenty agreeable, but would like to offer a more positive connotation to what I found a somewhat negative review, to help others review the department and make a decision for themselves (I am a PHY major, and an RCA, and after hearing some expressions of concerns from zees who were originally excited about the PHY major after reading Marty’s review, hope to provide another perspective). I’ll also break it up similar to Marty:

Difficulty: pretty much what Marty said. I find physics much, much, easier than any humanities major, but that isn’t to say physics isn’t difficult—it is Princeton, after all. “It’s also important to keep in mind that it’s easier to do 20 hours of work that you want to do than 5 hours of work that you don’t.” It’s about the skillset you have and what you want to learn about. But you won’t see every pset taking 20 hours. I’ve done some in as little as 2, and as many as 24+, but that’s also pretty standard across Princeton’s concentrations.

Psets/HW: For the most part, problems will be pulled from textbooks, with a couple written by the professors or pulled from graduate entrance exams. You’ll tend to get one (or two) problem(s) that is blatant application of what is covered in class (i.e. “plug and chug”). You’ll also get some problems (idk, 3-4?) about the current topic that require a little more thinking (a little more being as little as 15 min if you have your eureka moment, and hours if not, but that’s what working in groups is for), so that you’re not just learning to regurgitate what is provided in lecture, but instead how to actually use these skills when you enter the real world…because you can be sure that the complex real-world physics you do outside the classroom isn’t going to have a pretty answer, or even one defined way of solving it, so the department is going to throw a few curveballs because there is no other way to help students practice for that sort of situation. These definitely don’t involve deriving “new math” or starting from scratch, or (as Marty put it), you certainly aren’t “lacking the necessary information”… professors cannot test you on something they haven’t taught. Instead of seeing a problem and thinking you haven’t been provided the tools to solve it, you ALREADY have all the tools you need to solve it, you just need to figure out how to use them the right way (and that is not always something that can be taught, and must sometimes be experienced to be learned. This is where many of the longer hours on physics psets come from). There is the occasional (I can think of maybe 2 or 3 up through the end of junior year) problems where the professor mistakenly assigns something where some information is truly “missing” on the student’s behalf, and when the students speak up about it, the problem is excised or compensated for in the grading. Department is also pretty decent with normalizing (they’ll do so at the end of the semester at once, rather than per test or per assignment, so seeing grades below B- is quite uncommon, but you’ll really have to crunch to get an A as opposed to an A- or B+).

Difficult times and Department: I’ll use this as a convenient segue. On those few problems where you’re struggling or your group is struggling and just can’t make any progress, I think the physics department is actually one of the BEST departments in this school for helping you overcome your current obstacle. There are always people in the department (yes, even at 2am, some follow more studentile schedules than we do) and unless you’re taking a senior elective or graduate course, 95%+ of the people in the department are equipped to help you with where you’re stuck, and will gladly do so. It just requires being proactive on your part to either 1) email someone for help, 2) set up a meeting, or 3) literally drop in to their offices unannounced, which are all a miniscule amount of effort (and yet, many still do not). This is what makes the Princeton physics department one of the best in the world, matched only by those of schools like Oxford or Cambridge – the level of undergraduate attention. Not all physics professors in Princeton to research, and NONE are allowed to do only research. Your lectures may not be too different from what you’d see in some other schools, but you now have access to some of the top people in the world in this field, and another major difference is they WANT to help you (with maybe a few notable exceptions, but every group has their bad apples). It is your choice/prerogative whether you want to make use of this resource to its full capacity, or not at all and treat the department like you would any other teaching group in high school. Talk to them about their class, their work, their lives, ask about what you can help them with (which is how I found my two JP projects), take them to dinner, and do all of these again. It is a privilege to even have the ability to do these things, and you will never TRULY struggle (or wither and die) in the department as long as you do. I don’t see this in other Princeton departments.

The Material: I agree with Marty that most of what you learn is not the stuff that people get excited about. We just aren’t that smart or experienced yet, you will spend all 4 years at Princeton merely building the tools to put in a toolbox, rather than using them, because there is just that much physics needed to start making exciting progress nowadays. Like Marty said, physics is very different than pop science videos, but that doesn’t have to mean the excitement can’t be found. You should look for the connections in how things from your different classes over weeks and semesters work together (and I agree this can get very hard when you’re stressing over short-term pset or exam performance). I also agree that you lose it if you don’t use it—I too have embarrassingly stumbled on the basics when push comes to shove, but for the most part people within the field understand this point too. Most everyone is making sure you understand concepts, how things link together, and how to approach problems rather than that you have an encyclopedic knowledge of equations and facts.

I also blatantly disagree that physics majors have to take a lot of classes. We have very few classes we actually have to take (I think 8?) and a few more (I think 4?) that are departmental prerequisites that can be skipped (if you’re lucky or wicked smart) or cross-satisfied with other similar classes you’re interested in, if you’re willing to go into the department and talk about it (again, this goes with the engaging the department to its fullest extent and being proactive, like was said above). We have so much room for electives that I could have been a double major if Princeton allowed it.

Marty covers mental health, undergraduate groups, and independent work very well, so I won’t keep blabbing on it. Physics is great about being open with hardship, and there are definitely times that everyone feels like they’re a dummy. Don’t get caught up in those moments, and appreciate what you learned from them afterwards. Use the opportunity to work with all the other kids that are interested in the topic like you, make new friends, and learn together. It can even be fun (sometimes) and misery is mitigated in company – some of my best friends here are people I started with studying and working with, and our relationship is now based very little off that though we still do so.

I also disagree strongly with Marty’s final paragraph. I don’t recommend shying away from physics, I’d recommend trying it if you’re interested and doing it if that’s what you want to do (if you’re doing it because that’s what you think smart people do, that’s a different matter). It keeps so many doors open for post-college plans, I’ve worked in CS, ORFE, data analysis, defense, non-academic research, and research jobs, and all of them hire physicists post-college. So “not like it’ll do you a lot of good for post college plans” is a very warped view.

So basically my main takeaway is the department is going to be what you put into it. Go in with a positive attitude and be excited about what it can offer, and use this to be proactive and you’ll likely do just fine in the department (and even, dareisay, like it, from time to time?) I’m with Marty for saying if this writing doesn’t appeal to you, you probably won’t want to be a physics major, but don’t be afraid to be one just because of some longer pset hours or whatever you hear floating around (I find it a rule of thumb that many PHY, and Princeton students in general, love to complain, I know I do, so take a lot of it with a grain of salt. Their experience will not be yours, only you can determine that). Reach out to the contributors if you’d like to talk to me about this too, I’d be happy to talk. And please read both my and Marty’s reviews, as I’ve written this to be in tandem with Marty’s. Thanks.

If any readers want to talk about physics, the writer who wrote this bit is willing to be connected.

Response from Marty:

This is really great and I’m glad it’s here, but I definitely didn’t mean my post to be an overall negative review of the department. The question explicitly asked about downsides, so I wrote about that, but I could’ve written an equally long post about upsides. Sorry if anyone was discouraged by what I wrote. It also seems like this rebuttal misunderstood some of the points I made, so apologies for anyone who was misled. 

[the-yearning-astronaut]

Somehow I managed to get through my exam in 3.75 hrs instead of the usual 5-6.... And I was able to answer all questions and their parts. My professor allows 100 attempts per question and we are immediately informed if what we have entered is correct or not and I was able to get 100%. *Lays down* one problem alone took me close to half the time to figure out because the Integration bounds were AWFUL and the integral itself was ugly af and I ended up slapping it into wolfram to do it for me.

Anyway I'm done with that and we don't have hw rn so I'm not doing ANYTHING math or physics related for the rest of the day. Instead I'm gonna work on my reading assignment because I have an essay due this weekend...

AHHHHHH. bigass midterm tomorrow. I'm NOT looking forward to it.

We have the full 2hr class time to work on it. Because very few students actually finish in 2hrs my professor grants everyone 1 extra hour. My accommodations allows me double time on exams. I've never finished one of his exams in under 5hrs. They are three questions long.

[bro-study]

let me tell u about my ib ride

y’all it’s my last year in college and i got some things to say! (its a long read lol)

so in hs i was like they hella advanced kid (took honors classes since freshman year) i was basically ib bound the moment i stepped into hs.

honestly nothing...and i mean nothing prepares you for ib (not even college lol).

ib was like 2 years of punishment endured by sisyphus (rolling a stone up a hill and watching it go back down, yes i read it in ib english lol am i sensing foreshadowing???). 

junior year (3rd year of high school) i was like i belong here in ib like i took honors and i know i’m smart. thinking of how well i did in my honors classes i was like this is going to be easy just a little work (lol was i dead wrong).

i remember my first day of FULL ib, it was like i was going to college (at least what i thought was college) honestly, and sitting in my ib english class and being like wow everyone here is at my level or higher.

the first year of ib english, for me ruined my self esteem like hella bad. the first paper i wrote i was told that i “did not get the assignment and on top of that my writing was not at the ib level” and from that day on i constantly felt stupid. like wow do i belong here? why am i here? every assignment i would get back asking me if i did the reading or that i did not understand (btw i did do the reading ms. h!) the nights i spent crying while writing a paper about the themes of a book were honestly my lowest point in life (like honestly i have not felt more useless than that time in my life). But no matter how many tears i shed, no matter how many nights i stayed up i still continued to turn in papers and again get the same results (except like when we had to write that huge paper comparing two books and their themes my teacher was like wow okay i see you lol). 

basically writing is not my strong point for ib but good enough to get A’s in business research classes in college lol. 

do not get me started on ib history (okay imma talk about it). i kind of blame the teacher for making me hate history (i never took a history class in my high school prior to ib we had to take economics and government). it was in the morning and i just felt like wtf i do not understand anything she would talk and talk but none of made sense, the text is so bland and im lost all the time (we took quizzes every day for the chapter reading, which i didn’t do bc i was of course doing other hw lol and i would get 0/10 or 3/10 and i would walk out of class feeling like the dumbest person in the world). i remember talking to her and she told me that maybe ib history should be dropped (like wtf)

so, basically here i’m bad a quizzes but let me tell you about the great depression and its economic impacts.

the one class i enjoyed was ib bio (i was actually pretty good like i got an A my first term like WHAT!!!) and i liked it because i guess in a way my teacher was kind of an asshole that i did not want to be on her bad side so i tried hella hard.

chemistry, not bio, will have special place in my heart (shout out to my soph. chem teacher who was my ib bio HL teacher and who told me i should have taken ib chem instead of bio lol). btw i can not tell you how periods effect the human body even though we spent a whole month learning about it.

anyways the first year of ib (i also took ib math, ib physics [okay honestly i’m still pissed my school made me take ib physics instead of ib art but that another story], ib japanese (ha! a mess truly) and ib tok) i was destroyed like i was an emotional mess my family noticed it and my friends (those that did not leave me bc i would ditch most to go to the library instead of hanging out with them [shout out to the librarian for letting me stay during lunch to do my hw!]) noticed i was not myself. I had bags under my eyes like i looked worn out like really bad. 

and yet after all that i was in full ib my senior year of hs, had i learned nothing?? (lol i didn’t until i took ib physics that is were i draw the line!!)

but thats how all ib kids look right? they complain about having no hours of sleep and have their jumbo cups of coffee? you know the ones that walk in packs talking about how photosynthesis works and the ones that stand outside the library studying in groups waiting to take “that test” in spring.

no, it should not be normalized that kids (YES KIDS, I KNOW HOW MUCH YALL WANNA GROW UP) should have 0 sleep and be expected to do everything colleges want (ok honestly go to a community college save money and transfer over). 

i learned something, college (yes even them “hard” majors) is nothing like ib (even my sis who did partial ib said her private college was easier than ib lol). but let me tell you something, ib taught me my limits and taught me when i know its too much, it also taught me (this is the dark side of ib lol) how to bullshit a paper in a way that teachers are impressed. 

it kind of desensitized me in a way, like nothing seems as stressful as my years in ib, literally nothing (not even my exam that is in 7 hours that i have yet to study for).

anyways for you ib kids out there: YOUR SLEEP, YOUR HEALTH, YOUR HAPPINESS IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN GETTING A 7 ON YOUR IB TEST. LEARN TO SAY NO, LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF, AND LEARN THAT YOU WILL SURVIVE EVEN IF YOU GET A 1.

(lol i got a 2 on my ib japanese exam and look at me, i’m doing fine and btw i have not touched or talked japanese since graduating hs Bp)