#finished all four piqs

[citrusytea]

FINALLY DONE! 😭 so happy. I feel kind of relieved.

[mayhem-neverending]

As the Pendulum Swings

Part III

Word Count: 2,440

Warnings: none

You flopped yourself down on your freshly made bed. All of your things were officially put up and incense burned on the windowsill. A sense of accomplishment seeped into your fatigued form, not only for accomplishing the task, but for finding a permanent home for the year.

A groan escaped you as you stretched your limbs and then once again fell limp against the surprisingly comfortable bed. You watched the incense smoke gently curl in the air and lost yourself in thought. The last twenty-four hours had been a whirlwind. Learning there was a world of Curses and Jujutsu definitely threw you for a loop, but becoming a teacher for sorcerers? That was the cherry on top.

It was lucky that you were aware of the existence of things beyond the ordinary prior - otherwise you might have truly gone into shock at the discovery of this world. Your interest in quantum physics and spirituality had led you to be open to all sorts of possibilities; you had to be when you understood that anything was possible in the infinite quantum field. Well, understood was a strong word. Intellectualized would have been more appropriate before you had studied in Central America. For two years you studied and practiced Ligera. Ligera is the energy of creation or, more technically said, the energy/waves that make up existence. Using Ligera is tapping into the energy that exists as a potential in the quantum realm. It is a female dominated practice, so you learned a lot about healing, transmutation in general, and the last thing before you left was creating things out of 'nothing'.

The rumbling of your stomach broke your reverie. It was only then that you realized you hadn’t eaten a single thing that day. You slowly rolled yourself off the bed and considered whether it would be better to get groceries or just eat out again.

You continued the debate the entire way down the front steps and down the street. The hustle and bustle of the city had increased from the morning, with a multitude of people carrying shopping bags and grocery sacks passing you on the sidewalk. You were looking at a particularly colorful bag someone was carrying when you bumped straight into someone.

You grunted at the impact. Looking up, you immediately opened your mouth to apologize to the stranger, but your breath caught in your throat. One of the most handsome men you had ever laid eyes on was tiredly looking down at you. He had long silky black hair and caramel brown eyes under thick black lashes. He barely glanced at you, a quick apology falling from his lips before he sidestepped you and walked off.

You stood stunned and blocked foot traffic for much longer than appropriate. Eventually someone bumped against your shoulder and you were pushed into moving forward again. The image of the man danced in the forefront of your mind as you mindlessly entered through one of the shop doors with a crowd of people.

It was a grocery store, as luck would have it. Picking up a basket, you pushed the handsome man out of your head and did your best to pick up some essentials and a few things to make dinner. It was already nearing six when you started checking out, so you hurried along, not wanting to make your stomach wait any longer than it had to.

Arms laden with paper bags, you made the trek back up the massive staircase. Your calves burned and you were starting to feel lightheaded from lack of food, but you pushed through. By the time you were putting groceries away in the common room kitchenette, you felt ready to collapse. You did what was easiest, which was some homemade ramen with egg (noodles bought specifically for this occasion).

When it was finished, you took a seat at the large table and dug in. The sun was setting outside the window, bathing the room in an orange glow. You gazed out at the slow moving clouds for a few minutes, basking in the calm, quiet room while you filled your belly. The sound of voices down the hall piqued your interest, and you glanced at the doorway.

You heard two sets of footsteps heading in your direction. In case they passed by, you tore your eyes away from the door and focused your attention on your food. It was actually quite good, despite your haste. You slurped up a few noodles at the same time a familiar head of white hair appeared in the doorway.

“There you are,” Gojo called out with a grin, his full body coming into view.

“Hey,” you said after you finished your bite.

Another figure appeared behind him as Gojo waltzed into the room like he owned the place. “I want to introduce you to Geto, now that he’s back from his mission,”

The figure stepped up beside Gojo and your eyes widened as you choked on your own spit, a coughing fit ensuing. It was the handsome man you had run into earlier, who was now eyeing you with mild concern. Gojo mirrored his expression before his lips pulled up on one side. “Your cooking tastes that bad?”

You glared at him and his smile widened. You got yourself under control and cleared your throat. “Sorry about that,”

“No worries. Uh, Geto Suguru,” his voice was smooth as honey, eyes giving you a quick once over.

“L/n Y/n,” Your cheeks heated at his attention.

You held out your hand and he politely shook it. He didn’t show any sign of recognition, and for that you were glad. You would hate for his first impression to be of you smacking into him and gawking at him in public like an idiot.

Gojo settled himself in the empty seat beside you and leaned over to inspect your bowl. Geto looked at him and then made eye contact with you, shaking his head a little at the man’s antics. You shared a small smile with him. Gojo continued to be nosy, and you were sure he was about to steal the chopsticks from your hand had his friend not given him a pointed look.

"Would you like to have some?" You asked Gojo, who was still in your space.

"Can I?" He asked nicely, like he wasn't just being covertly pushy.

You handed the chopsticks over to him and pushed the bowl so it was more within his reach. You had a feeling this man would eat right over your shoulder otherwise. You didn't think his lack of physical boundary was necessarily a bad thing so far, but that also could have been because he was attractive and his energy told you he was a decent guy.

He slurped up some noodles and a brow shot up into his hairline. He hesitated, looking at you under his blindfold before going in for an even heartier slurp. You knew that eating loudly was a sign of respect and enjoyment, but that was something that would take time to get used to. You snuck a glance back at Geto, who was eyeing Gojo with exasperation.

"Satoru, give her her food back,"

Gojo grumbled and started to push the bowl back over before he quickly stole one more bite, as if he were trying to be sneaky. You huffed a surprised laugh at the man, who swallowed his bite and grinned brilliantly at you. Geto rolled his eyes. "That was actually really good,"

"Was it?" you asked with a chuckle, taking the chopsticks from him.

Geto crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at Gojo. He asked, "Do you just like Japanese food, or did you learn how to cook it for a specific reason?"

"Both," you said, happy he was joining the conversation as butterflies erupted in your stomach. You tamped them down. "I've always enjoyed it, but I decided to really learn how to do it once I decided to move here. I like being able to cook well so I don't have to go out all the time. Plus, you never know if you'll end up meeting someone, so it's always good to be prepared to impress them, right?"

His eyebrow raised and his lips quirked up. His eye briefly slid over to Gojo. "That's an interesting way of looking at things,"

He readjusted himself in his chair. "What if that person has a personal chef or something?"

Gojo shot him a dirty look with his eyes while the rest of his expression remained impassive. Your eyebrows raised and you smiled. "I'd have to admit defeat, I guess. Or use my other spectacular qualities to win them over."

Geto hummed, looking at you with mild amusement.

“Well, it was nice meeting you. If you ever need help with anything, I’m just a few doors down,” He smiled politely and raised a hand before getting up and turning on his heel to head towards the door.

“Wait, what?” Gojo said, climbing out of his chair.

“I’m tired, Gojo. I had a long mission today. I’m heading to bed,” Geto sighed, not bothering to turn around.

“C’mon, Suguru,” Gojo whined, following him out the door.

You listened to their voices fade and continued eating slowly, heat still burning your cheeks. You really wished you had been able to shower and look more presentable before Gojo decided to bring his handsome friend around to meet you. You let yourself feel embarrassed for a few short minutes before reasoning with yourself that it didn’t matter anyway. You weren’t at the school for relationships, nor were you anywhere near his league. As long as you did your job well and could be a good coworker, that was all that counted.

You did your dishes and headed back to your room, exhaustion creeping in from the exertion of your move. You were slow to undress in the bathroom, especially with the ache that was already setting in your calves. You hopped in the shower, washed the sweat and dirt from your body, then curled into bed and drifted off.

Late the next morning you woke from a series of vivid dreams. Every time you tried to recall them, they slipped right through your fingers and it left you feeling discombobulated. It felt like you had received an important message or something, and only the feeling remained when you tried harder to remember.

Besides that, you had a nice, slow morning. A heavy stream of rain poured outside, occasionally spattered with the low rumble of distant thunder. You ambled around the common room in a tank top and pajama pants, steaming coffee in hand. You made a small breakfast for yourself while you listened to the rain hit the large windows.

You settled onto one of the couches facing the window with your coffee after you had eaten your breakfast and let out a contented sigh. The couch sunk under your weight, like it had seen a few years of use. You wondered about the history of the school and jujutsu in general while your eyes trailed rain droplets as they glided down the window pane.

Quiet footsteps entering the room broke you from your reverie. You looked over the top of the couch to catch Geto with sleep-moussed hair and tired eyes walking in. You mentally griped about how unfair it was to be that attractive in the morning before uttering a soft, “Good morning,”

His head whipped in your direction, his body tensing. Once his eyes found yours, however, he relaxed. A sheepish smile replaced his previously alarmed expression and he waved to you. “Good morning,”

Your eyes followed him as he shuffled over to the fridge. He tucked some loose strands behind his ear as he bent over to look through the contents. The fridge had been sparse before you stocked it the day before, and you had moved it all to one side, not wanting to step on your new coworker’s toes by mixing their things with your own.

He closed the door to the fridge without taking anything out and you turned your attention back to the window and your coffee before he could catch you staring. You took a long sip. Geto cleared his throat and you glanced over at him. He was already looking at you, and when he saw he had your attention he pointed to the half filled coffee pot.

“Could I?”

You nodded. “Sure,”

He poured himself a cup and hesitated between taking a seat on the couch and heading back out the door. Eventually he chose to sit on a couch next to yours. He faced the mounted TV while your couch was at an angle, so you were seated facing him. The two of you sat in a comfortable silence, the rain adding a layer of ambiance in the background.

You thought of a couple things to ask him, but when you went to speak it felt wrong to break the silence, so you kept your mouth shut and sipped your coffee. You eventually got up to refill your mug, and when you re-situated yourself on the couch, Geto was the one to speak.

“I think it’ll be nice having you here,”

Your eyes flickered over to him, but he was staring into his coffee mug, slowly swishing it around in a circular motion. He continued, “Having a normal class should help the first years transition smoother,”

He finally looked over at you, his keen brown eyes studying your expression. His brows furrowed a bit and he took another sip of his coffee. “If you don’t mind my asking, why are you here?”

His tone was soft, but you couldn’t help the way your stomach flipped. You tilted your head a bit to the side. “Like, in Japan? Or at this school? Or?”

“At the school,”

“Well, uh, when the junior high I was teaching at was destroyed, I lost my job. I can’t stay in Japan if I lose my work permit, so when this job fell in my lap, I took it. And… I’m curious about -” you waved your hand in a circular motion “- this world. I’m not the type of person to experience something like what happened at the school and then go back to my life exactly how it was,”

You saw the hint of a smile tilt the corner of his lips. He looked at you out of the corner of his eye. “Be careful here; curiosity killed the cat,”

A sly smile curved your lips. “Don’t worry, as the saying goes: satisfaction brought it back,”

[thebestucollegeadmissions]

Writing Tips! Applying to the University of California colleges?

Three Things You Must Know to Write Your UC Personal Insight Questions

Students from across the country are finishing up their applications to the colleges in the University of California system, known as “The UCs” for short.

If you are planning to submit a UC application, or thinking of doing so down the road, here are three key things to know about how these essays are different from everything else you write in the college admissions process:

The UC system is comprised of 9 undergraduate campuses:

UC Berkeley UC Davis UC Irvine UCLA UC Merced UC Riverside UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Cruz UC San Diego

Each of these campuses has its own admission review process, and acceptance rate, but they all use the same application system-wide. The UCs are one of a handful of systems in the country where a student cannot apply with the Common App. Because the application is demanding, it makes sense for applicants to apply to at least a few of the campuses if they are committed to the application.

Read on for our advice to tackle the UC application essays, called Personal Insight Questions (PIQs):

1. Understand how applications are evaluated.

The UCs are transparent about the criteria they use when evaluating applications. So transparent, in fact, that you can readily access the list of the 13 points of comprehensive review on the UC website. Carefully review these criteria, as the UC admissions office is telling you exactly what they are looking for when evaluating your application.

2. Choose Your Prompts Carefully & Think Differently.

The UCs offer applicants eight writing prompts called Personal Insight Questions or PIQs. Students are asked to choose four of the eight prompts to respond to in 350 words or less. Review all the options, and choose your PIQs thoughtfully. These are not like other college personal essays or supplements, where your reader may be looking for you to write the most nuanced, attention-grabbing, artful, or deeply vulnerable response. Instead, UC application readers are looking for evidence of the 13 criteria they use in evaluating applications.

Note that the UCs expressly state that the PIQs are a chance to showcase your “accomplishments, talents, interests, and experiences.” Choose the PIQs that enable you to best bring to light evidence of your experiences and accomplishments that align to the 13 points of comprehensive review.

3. Gather Your Evidence & Review for Alignment to the 13 Points of Review.

As you write your responses, refer to the 13 points of comprehensive review. Your response should showcase examples, evidence, and details that align to these 13 points. This might include how you have engaged your interests inside and outside the classroom, special projects you have taken initiative to pursue, evidence of your contributions as a leader, or detailed examples of ways you have faced and overcome challenges. They are not looking for you to share your best stories or reflections, to tell them about your hopes for the future, or to describe why you love certain UC campuses. Once you have drafted, give yourself a review or ask a trusted person to review your essays. If you can highlight evidence that aligns to and provides examples of the 13 points of review, you know you are hitting the mark. No student will have alignment to all 13 points, but look to maximize the evidence you are sharing that supports the points of comprehensive review that you can highlight.

BONUS:

Need help with other college supplemental essays?

If you’d like to learn how to speak powerfully about the three questions we think every application should answer, and our framework for crafting powerhouse supplements, these tools are available!

TBU Members, you already have access to all of the tools:

Watch our webinar: Decoding Supplemental Essays, download our Guided Reflection Tool and College Writing Document right in your TBU Member Resource Library.

Not yet a member? Easy! Join us today to gain access to these and hundreds of additional resources. With a monthly or annual membership you’ll receive access to our live webinars, monthly newsletters, and extensive online resource library: packed with tools, videos, workshops, and insights to take the overwhelm out of the college process.

[hua-fei-hua]

good part about being the editor friend: help friends get good grades on their essays

less good part about being the editor friend: read 10,000 personal essays in three days and be abjectly horrified at friends' personal writing skills

[themotorsportblog]

FRIDAY REFLECTION – 2020 BELGIAN GRAND PRIX

A summary of today’s F1, F2 and F3 action from the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps saw plenty of surprises across all three categories.

FORMULA 1 – FP1: VALTTERI BOTTAS FP2: MAX VERSTAPPEN

FP1 saw Mercedes lead the way as the top four cars; Bottas, Hamilton, Verstappen and Perez were separated by no more than 0.150s, as the Silver Arrows discovered they didn’t have as much of an advantage as they’d first anticipated.

In stark contrast, Ferrari had another miserable session, with Charles Leclerc 14th and Sebastian Vettel only 15th, as the Scuderia’s engine disadvantage became woefully clear, with all the Ferrari powered cars at the wrong end of the field.

Haas, who are also powered by Ferrari, had both cars suffer from engine issues, meaning both of their drivers failed to set a time and weren’t seen until late on in FP2.

FP1 RESULT: BOT, HAM, VER, PER, STR, ALB, OCO, SAI, RIC, NOR, KVY, GAS, RAI, LEC, VET, LAT, RUS                             MAG, GRO & GIO – NO TIME SET

FP2 saw Hamilton beaten by Verstappen almost immediately, whilst Lance Stroll initially had the upper hand on his team mate behind, but Sebastian Vettel in the Ferrari was nowhere again, down in P16.

Bottas then looked to get his own back during the quali simulations, only to be beaten by Hamilton, then by Alex Albon for P2, then Perez for P3, then Ricciardo went quickest of anyone, before Verstappen finally topped the time sheets once more.

The tight pack clearly showing how vulnerable Mercedes are, whilst there were lots of positives for Renault too, with Esteban Ocon showing good pace and Daniel Ricciardo ending the session P2. However, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the Enstone-based outfit, with Ricciardo pulling over on the Kemmel Straight with what looked like a Hydraulics problem.

FP2 RESULT: VER, RIC, HAM, ALB, PER, BOT, NOR, OCO, SAI, GAS, STR, KVY, GIO, RAI, LEC, RUS, VET, LAT, GRO, MAG

FORMULA 2 – QUALIFYING: TSUNODA TAKES POLE

F2 had a dramatic day, that saw Dan Ticktum miss practice thanks to an inconclusive test, but returned a negative one ahead of qualifying, whilst the other DAMS car saw a return to action on a Grand Prix weekend for Juri Vips, however it didn’t last long, he stopped on the entry of Malmedy on his first lap out of the pits in qualifying – meaning he will start from the back of the pack for his first ever race in the category.

He didn’t bring out the red flag, thanks to some quick marshalling, however minutes later the session came to a halt thanks to Guilherme Samaia’s Campos car catching fire, ending his session, but thanks to Vips’ misfortune he will start one place higher than he usually does – maybe he should take a tactical engine fire more often.

The session resumed with 20 minutes on the clock, and Callum Ilott was the first car out of pits and he initially saw off the challenge from Robert Shwartzman to take provisional pole, however it didn’t last and he fell down the order to end the session P12.

Yuki Tsunoda then went quickest, only to be beaten by Nikita Mazepin on the second runs, but the Carlin found even more pace to retake pole, whilst MP had another great session: with Matsushita in P3 and Drugovich in P5.

Marcus Armstrong also looked to be back in a good place, finishing the session in P13 and outqualifying his team mate Christian Lundgaard, who’s down in P18.

QUALI RESULT: TSU, MAZ, MAT, SHW, DRU, ZHO, SCH, DEL, DAR       PIQ, ILO, ARM, TIC, NIS, SAT, AIT, LUN, MAR, ALE, SAM, VIP

F3 – QUALIFYING: LUCKY LIRIM TAKES POLE

Lirim Zendeli will start tomorrow’s F3 Feature Race from pole position, after rain curtailed the qualifying session early, hampering the title challenging Prema drivers.

Jack Doohan initially went fastest for HWA, only to be beaten by the aforementioned Zendeli, just moments before Michael Belov brought out the red flags, with the Russian rookie spinning off into the barriers on the exit of Pouhon, ruining the flying laps for pretty much all of the field.

The session resumed and was largely featureless, with Logan Sargeant only P4 after his first run and Oscar Piastri down in P8, unfortunately for either of those drivers, they wouldn’t get another crack at it, with rain falling at Rivage, meaning those that attempted extra laps, failed to find any time.

Andreas Estner, who replaces Sophia Floersch at Campos for this round, was a respectable P20, whilst Pierre Louis Chovet, in for Max Fewtrell, was P27 for Hitech, whilst David Schumacher, who has traded Charouz for Carlin, beat both of his new team mates and will start from P22.

The cars behind Chovet, namely: Viscaal, Hauger and Belov, will have to get the stewards permission to race tomorrow, having qualified outside of the 107% time, but having all shown decent pace in practice they shouldn’t face a problem.

QUALI RES: ZEN, POU, SMO, SAR, BEC, VER, LAW, PIA, VES, PER                      CAL, HUG, DOO, NAN, FIT, FER, MAL, FRA, DUN, EST                       WIL, SCH, NOV, STA, DAS, DEL, CHO, VIS, HAU, BEL