#i still write essays even years after I graduate college

[jasontoddiefor]

Yeah sure we’ve all binged a long fic, but have you ever read a WIP and followed someone’s life?

Tidbits of information - (“I graduated today!”) - and small joys (“It’s my birthday!”) and you get to be there to say “This chapter made me cry, happy birthday, thank you for gifting us this”.

I remember reading this fic of someone at the end of high school, older than me then. They seemed infinitely wise, spoke of their future career and getting into the college they wanted. I remember them posting on days they felt like nothing could bring them down - and on days the whole world did and it’s the aftermath of a hospital visit. Cancer, I think it was, their father. I got to the end of the story, I know their father was fine, but also they got to finish their WIP. I graduated three years later than them, still dutifully wrote thank you notes in every comment. I wonder if they remember me, or just the collective of people reading the story as it updates.

Four years ago I was into my first year of university, my first year of figuring out being out in public spaces. I made excuses as to why my name didn’t match my paperwork and read a fic on the train, the same five chapters over and over again for the next years as I thought the story abandoned. It updated this week after such a long hiatus, I left another thank you comment.

There’s an author I love, they update their stories like a clockwork. When they don’t, I check their blog, just to see if their doing alright, not because I feel like they owe me, just to ensure whether I better get out my laptop to write that really detailed university level essay chapter analysis to get them smiling when their day sucked.

And then, once, when I was 17, I read a fic that hadn’t updated in over a decade. I wasn’t even in primary school when it started posting. On the last chapter, I left a comment that, in retrospect, was horribly rambly and most likely full of grammar mistakes. The author replied and though I couldn’t see their face, I thought of them crying. They were married now, had children, and hadn’t thought about this fic in years. They went through their files again, found another half written chapter and an outline. I got two new chapters to read that year.

And then, recently, someone told me they got back into writing original fiction because of my comments. I get to read nearly weekly chapters.

I love binge reading a finished fic, but nothing is ever going to top the feeling of anticipation of waiting for a chapter, the pure joy when someone tells you I was done with this, but you made me think of it again, so this is for you.

Anyway, I think we should romanticize reading WIPs more, growing up alongside the authors writing the stories we love.

[judysxnd]

Hello! Can you write one where Pedro surprises his girlfriend at her masters graduation? (She studied psychology if that has any importance :)) It doesn’t have to be a long one! 🖤

I actually have no idea how the ceremony for the graduation in America is like, I’m French and we don’t get anything when we graduate in college.. I just know how it goes at the end of high school, so my bad if it sounds similar even if in reality it probably isn’t. I actually remembered one that I saw in the show “my wife and kids” (that I love sooooo much), but it’s pretty old so idk if it’s still the same!

Also I’m trying not to use the same pics on my fics, but it’s hard to remember the one I used, and I’m running low 😂

——————————————————————————

Today is a big day. It is your graduation. You’ve been pretty nervous but also extremely excited. There were a few ambiguous feelings forming in your stomach, but all for a good reason. After years of hard work, studying on a passion subject that you always loved and will always be loving: psychology. It’s always been a big part of you, you’ve always been interested in psychology and a lot of people told you that too.

At first you had been very hesitant to go back to college. You had tried a few years back, but it didn’t really work. Also it wasn’t the same degree. You feared it would do the same thing this time. Luckily, you close friends, family and your boyfriend were supporting you. You had a lot of phone calls with your mom, lots of texts with your dad, and it was Pedro who helped you go on campus, to meetings and stuff before actually making the move to go there.

Pedro has been a huge part of your decision. If he hadn’t been here supporting you, you didn’t think you would go through this alone. It’s a big decision, change in situation to go back to college after working and earning money. A lot is aspects change. But Pedro didn’t care, of course he didn’t. He can support you financially, even if you don’t like it. He insisted, said that he was here for you, either emotionally, or financially. That’s why you were so thankful for him.

He also helped you a lot during your studies and researches. Hell he even could graduate with you, that’s how much he helped you. He loves to learn new things, so he remembered and learned a lot of your stuff. For your exams he helped you study until 2am, he helped you correct and edit your essays, he really supported you in every way possible.

That’s why you’re also pretty nervous for you graduation. Because he can’t be here. Unfortunately your graduation happens the same day he films the first part of his latest Gladiator movie, in an entire different country, so he really couldn’t be here. So you had to go through without him, and you didn’t like it. Your parents are going to be here, but it’s not the same without him.

So here you are, waiting in line, surrounded by the other graduates, looking for you parents in the crowd. You knew they were in the front rows, they wanted “the best sits for the best moment”, that’s what your dad said. When you finally found them, you recognized another person next to them. One less person in front of you, still two and it’s your turn. You look again, as you got a step closer, and as unbelievable as it was, Pedro was next to them, smiling and waving at you. Wide eyes, tears forming, there was a feeling of relief when you realized it was him. You blew a few kisses at him. Still one person.

“Y/n Y/l/n” your heart started to beat very fast, your legs were moving by themselves. Next thing you knew, you were on stage, holding your diploma, looking rapidly at the crowd and then at your parents and Pedro with a big smile, before walking on the other side. Your foot barely touch the ground that you ran in Pedro’s arms.

“What are you doing here!!!” You said excitedly, still holding him tight.

“I wanted to surprise you cariño” he said kissing the top of your head. Feeling his touch, smelling him, just little simple things were what you needed. You needed him.

You parted, looking at him with nothing but love.

“I finally did it” you said, showing him the paper you had in your hand. He couldn’t stop smiling either.

“I’m so proud of you princesa, we all knew you could do it” he said, glancing at your parents. You let go of Pedro to hug your parents.

“You worked so hard honey, we are so so proud of you” your mom said, playing with your hair, some tears forming in her eyes.

“Thank you. I couldn’t do it without you guys” you looked at the three persons in front of you.

“All credits to you, we were just supporting you” Pedro added.

“Now we have a free psychologist” your dad joked

“Be careful, it’s not always a good thing” you added, you all laughed.

“How about we go to a nice dinner, so we can celebrate properly?” Pedro asked

“That’s a great idea!” Your mom said.

So you all left, very happily, and had a nice dinner, with a few bottles of champagne. You were surrounded by the people you wanted and you accomplished what you wanted the most. A new chapter is coming for you.

[muffinbeliever]

Introducing: Luna Mae Winchester

Pairing: Spencer Reid x OFC

Word Count: 1710

Warnings: canon-typical violence, brief mention of child abuse, j*hn winchester

A/N: ok so dont hate me please but last week i was struck by sudden inspiration to make an ofc that was a crossover between supernatural and criminal minds and im rly just running w it now... this is her background/introduction that serve as a basis for the fics i'll write for her

Masterlist

about luna:

☽ sam and dean’s younger sister, born on september 20, 1984

☽ (5 years younger than dean, 3 years younger than spencer, and 1 year younger than sam)

☽ height: 5’6 (she had a short mom in comparison to the brothers lol)

☽ hair: dark brown; eyes: dark brown (giving the girl in the gif but not quite)

☽ physically fit, liked to run as a workout and got into yoga in college 

☽ as smart as, if not a little smarter than, sam, but she doesn’t flaunt it 

☽ people like her for her looks but it’s really her mind that is enticing 

☽ generally has a bubbly personality but she is an introvert so it doesn’t really come out unless she’s close with the person or she is really excited

birth

☽ technically the winchesters’ half-sister (bc timeline) but it’s not obvious at all that they’re not full siblings 

☽ john met her mom on a hunt shortly after mary died → luna’s birth was a secret from john until her mom was murdered when luna was only a month old

☽ her mom left john a voicemail before she died telling him about luna because she felt like she was being stalked

☽ by the time john and the boys got there, she was already dead and left luna behind

☽ her mother’s killer was never found.

childhood

☽ the brothers tried their best to give her a normal life, especially dean when he was left in charge while john was away

☽ dean would steal food to feed himself and his siblings, but he would also steal a stuffed animal or toy for luna so she never felt like she was treated differently/worse than the boys 

☽ sam encouraged her to try hard in school because that’s what he also wanted to do, but dean encouraged her because he knew that he never could really do the whole “school thing”

☽ even if dean told sam about what john did on his hunts, the brothers agreed to keep luna in the dark as long as possible so she could have somewhat of a normal, worry-free life 

☽ john had a tendency to get physical when he was really upset (i.e. dean’s wrists when he was sent to that boy’s home) and wouldn’t give luna any special treatment just because she was a girl 

☽ so dean always took the brunt of john’s anger, especially when it came to her, by shifting the blame onto himself and even lying so that she wouldn’t get in trouble

☽ we all knew john was a terrible dad but he was an even worse girl-dad

☽ she found out about monsters/hunting when she was 14 and it scared her a lot but she would still go on hunts because john said so

☽ excelled in her classes and took a lot of sam’s senior classes her junior year because she’s just smart like that

☽ she was devastated when sam left for stanford, not just because she saw how much it broke dean but also because she felt like she would be pushed into the family business even more 

☽ when sam left for school, luna was a senior and john wanted to pull her out of high school before she could graduate because he was worried she would follow sam’s path 

☽ surprise bitch ! dean vehemently refused to side with john and encouraged luna to apply for college anyways

☽ “if a dumbo like sammy can get in, you can get in anywhere”

☽ definitely asked sam for college advice and he read her essays… she got into caltech 

☽ john didn’t speak to her for two weeks after she found out but dean and sam were so proud of their little sister 

☽ dean drove her out to california and helped her move into her dorm while john was helping out another hunter 

meeting spencer reid

☽ double majored in psychology and philosophy at caltech, which was where she met spencer

☽ fun fact, her degree in philosophy was one of the biggest reasons why Spencer went back to school to get a bachelor’s in philosophy → she inspired him :(

☽ spencer was 21, finishing his bachelor’s in psychology and he ta’d for her human memory class (a real class at caltech lol i did my research)

☽ even though his degree wasn’t complete yet, the professor obviously thought he was smart enough to be the primary ta/reader for the class… he even guest lectured the eidetic memory unit 

☽ a lot of students in the class found him really annoying/hated him because he was a harsh grader 

☽ he gave luna a b- on her first essay but she went to his office hours to discuss her grade and after speaking with her (and lowk getting seduced by her beauty and intelligence) he let her rewrite the paper for a better grade as long as she didn’t tell anyone 

☽ she got an a- 

☽ she invited him to dinner as a thank you but he didn’t think that was appropriate so they got coffee instead 

☽ he complimented her rewritten version and they ended up missing the class because they were so caught up in chatting about her work

☽ turned into a coffee tradition before class; they would meet up but only talked about class material/readings

☽ because the class only met once a week though, they only hung out for about two months before the semester was coming to an end 

☽ she invited him out to dinner again at the end of the semester, and this time he accepted because he liked her company 

☽ they became close friends (he didn’t really have anyone else)

☽ he was lowk appalled when he found out she had a fake id (it’s spencer lol) but really just wanted her to be safe especially when she was drinking

☽ she took him to a party once but he hated it so they left shortly after arriving and got a bottle of wine instead and drank at his place 

☽ her friends thought he was a little weird at first but she had him over a lot for movie nights/hanging out and they saw how well they complimented each other 

dating spencer reid

☽ started dating towards the end of her freshman year after she drunk called him and told him she liked him

☽ they had cutesy dates where they either do work/read together or they’ll go to a bookstore or museum 

☽ she loved listening to him ramble off random facts about things they see out and about

☽ dean was so shocked and flabbergasted when she told him about spencer, he stole a car to drive to california to meet him 

☽ at first dean thought it was a power-trip thing of an older guy/younger girl once he actually met spencer and realized he really wasn’t like other guys™ they got along well

☽ spencer graduated that year and was recruited to the fbi so he had to move to virginia but him and luna spent the summer together before he had to go/she started her next year

☽ they did long distance for two years but it was really difficult towards the end 

☽ they had a mutual break up but they still loved each other

post-college hunting 

☽ dean and sam waited for her to graduate before pulling her back in (1 year after dean told sam john was on a hunting trip)

☽ she always felt a pang in her heart whenever they impersonated fbi because it reminded her of spencer

☽ she considered reaching out to him, especially when they were in/near virginia but then she saw him in a tabloid kissing lila archer in the pool and she was heartbroken because he moved on 

☽ she threw herself into hunting and staying with her brothers 

☽ spencer saw dean on the tv during “Nightshifter” (spn) and had garcia look up his record; he was shocked and confused when he realized that the three of you were on the fbi wanted list 

☽ two weeks later, spencer was abducted in “Revelations” (cm) and had bigger problems to deal with than his criminal ex-girlfriend 

☽ a year later, garcia told him that she died after hendrickson faked everyone’s death in “Jes in Bello” (spn) and he regretted never reaching out  

reuniting with spencer

☽ it happened in “Demonology” (cm)/“Death Takes a Holiday” (spn) while the brothers were looking for reapers 

☽ she took on the case because it seemed to be demons and ended up running into spencer at the hospital when they both tried to interview the same witness 

☽ spencer was shocked to see her (she was supposed to be dead ???)

☽ she tried talking to him but he didn’t want the rest of the team to make the connection of her crimes and put her in danger so he said no (also he was lowk mad)

☽ she bought him coffee and they talked… she gave him the monster talk and they worked it out 

☽ BUT she had to go back to her brothers and he was still in the fbi so they only exchanged numbers and nothing more 

☽ she told her brothers when they got back and at first they were a little mad but then they realized that spencer is actually protecting her (and them) and they leave it be 

☽ sometimes her and spencer texted but it was really rare and mostly just to see which cases were monster-related or psychopath-related so they didn’t have crossover

☽ spencer discovered the supernatural books and read them ALL and i mean ALLLLLL

☽ it allowed him to catch up with their years apart and he realized why she was wanted as a criminal

☽ (he especially liked the chapters that he was in) and since it was written based off her inner monologue, he realized how much she loved (and still loves) him

☽ “The Eyes Have It” (cm) where an unsub seemed to be taking people’s eyes turned out some of the victims were actually due to an angel burning them and spencer and her work together to investigate/hunt, rekindling their relationship 

☽ (they got drunk and hooked up) and they ended up getting back together afterward

☽ it was even harder to date this time because of distance and crimes ofc, but they worked at it every day and finally made it work

☽ at one point i’d like to believe that the bau eventually catches luna’s mom’s killer

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

I've been listless for too long, wasting my life by following the path of least resistance, but I've decided to take initiative and go back to school to get a degree that isn't worth less than the cardstock it's printed on.

Math was my passion growing up. It was fun and exciting to me, like solving a puzzle, and I wanted to be an unspecified brand of Scientist™ someday; my mom wanted me to be a mechanical engineer like my grampa. She decided my natural aptitude for math wasn't fast enough for her liking, so she skipped me ahead from algebra straight to AP calculus without geometry or trigonometry. I was completely out of my element, miles behind every other student, so she made me take two year-long homeschool courses in one month to help me catch up before I flunked out. It didn't help, it just made my existing course load even harder. I was burned out and I barely coasted by with a C- and a newfound hatred of math.

I never managed to grok calculus, and promptly forgot everything about it the second I graduated. When I learned that the major my mom wanted me to take in college would require more calculus and physics, I said fuck that and settled for something easy. I bounced around for my first two years, got my AA, and finally chose to pursue English (the greatest mistake of my life) because I had vague ideas of becoming an author, but my university had a shitty English department that didn't teach me anything. All they offered were glorified high school courses, "read a book, write an essay, take a multiple choice test, repeat. Congratulations you're an English major." I never learned grammar or style, I still don't know how to punctuate certain clauses, I completely wasted my final two years taking the most bare bones credits I needed to get a degree with no real goal after graduating. I went to college because it was expected of me, but my plan evaporated in high school because my mom pushed me too hard and even though I passed all my classes I feel like I failed miserably.

I want to go back. I want to retake the high school math I missed in my own time then reapply to my alma mater for another bachelor's program. I want to go into astronomy/astrophysics because all the science classes I took as electives in school were as fun and exciting as I'd hoped they would be, and I remembered that I loved to learn. I want to go back and try again with a real goal this time, to major in astrophysics so I could get a job, a career, doing what I'm good at and enjoy. It's not going to be easy, but I've been taking it easy my entire adult life and I'm trapped in my home town working as a cashier at a side-of-the-highway tourist trap motel at 26. I need to apply myself. I need to live up to the potential I had in high school. I need to go to the moon in this d'cade and do the otha things, not because they are easy, but because they are hahd!

Astronomy and earth/space science were my favorite classes in college, but I never took any beyond the 1000 level, and the suggested semester plan for a BS in astrophysics requires advanced 3000 and 4000 level calc, physics, mechanics, quantum mechanics, electromagnetism, optics, stats, and differential equations to name a few, so I have my work cut out for me. I need to buy some textbooks this summer and relearn prerequisite math before I can even hope to jump into this field. I'm not gonna enjoy it, it's not gonna be fun and exciting all the way, I'm gonna wanna give up, but I need to prove that I'm capable. I need to push myself to do what I don't want to do. I don't need to be a savant, I just need to pass. Cs get degrees. My little sisters are in college now, and both of them are taking a relaxed schedule, part time credits, only a couple classes per semester, however long it takes. The full astrophysics major requires 120 credits, but only 62 are critical, the other 58 are gen ed, and I already have my BA so I can skip those. 62 credits is 2 years of full time work (year and a half if I take a summer semester, though that's four months of work in half the time, so I'd once again risk burnout), but I could bang it out as a part-timer in 3 or 4 years. Hell, if I went back full time I could take a bunch of fun gen ed classes for a minor, or even a double major, but I'm getting WAY ahead of myself.

Start small.

I need to brush up on

Algebra 1

Geometry

Algebra 2

Trigonometry/Pre-Calc

Calculus

It's too late to apply for fall semester this year, and I wouldn't want to anyway because 5 high school math classes are a lot to get through in 3 months. They don't allow spring applications either, so the earliest I could start is fall 2024, 10 years after I started college in the first place. That gives me over a year to master the maths I missed. That's plenty of time! I'm fairly competent in algebra and geometry, so I'd only need to relearn trig and calc.

This is doable.

It's never too late to start over.

[inspired-aspiring-artist]

Youre so coolio !!!

Uh uh uhm do you,, can i learn about your headcanons for your sillies (the dca) or or even funcacts abotut yururpself !!!/nf

This has been sitting in my ask box for far too long

Thanks for sending me asks! Also you’re coolio too!

I’m still cooking my dca headcanons tbh, I have a fanfic idea bouncing around my skull but idk if anyone would actually want to read it, and I’ve never written fanfic before. If you want to learn more, please send an ask cause I’d love to yap about it :3.

Fun facts about me:

I grew up on Kauai (the Hawaiian island)

I keep my hair pink irl (it’s been pink for 5 years now with only a few weeks going back to nonpink before I get it repinked)

I used to have a pet axolotl named Alexander Jacob Thunderberkin Kippensquire, or Kip for short (I had to rehome him when I left for college)

I had a retinal detachment in my left eye when I was 16 which could have left me blind if I didn’t get emergency surgery on Oahu (I had to fly to a different island) . When I woke up after surgery, my mom asked me how I was and I told her “I’m all right now!” When I was still recovering from surgery I had to keep my left eye covered (for about a year) so I put a winking eyelash embroidery sticker over my left glasses lens and medical tape on the inside. Somehow being monocular made it easier to draw (but not to walk, cause no depth perception!) so I really improved my art in that year. I ended up getting the artist award in my graduating class in high school and I used my experience to write a great college entrance essay so some good did come out of it. To this day my peripheral vision in my left eye is bad and I frequently get waves of floaters which block out my vision in that eye. Also now my left pupil is smaller than the right one so I have to let any doctors know that my eyes are just like that and I don’t have a concussion.

I am a direct descendent to one of the more famous taxidermists (they are named on the Wikipedia taxidermy page), they did a lot of taxidermy for museums and also did sculptures and statuettes of animals. Some of their work is still on display at the Denver museum of natural history, and there are statuettes that are family heirlooms (we have one of a leopard on the hunt)

Thanks again for the ask! I’ll answer them quicker I promise :3

[melodraca]

Hey! I saw in one of your posts, in the tags, that you were an English major. I'm going to college soon, and I was wondering if you had any advice on picking out your major. What do you like about majoring in English, and what exactly do English majors do? Thank you!

First of all, congrats! That's really exciting! I really hope you enjoy your time in college! Second, this is gonna be a bit long, so I apologize in advance o7

I'm honestly not sure how helpful this is, but for the longest time I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I actually enrolled in university as a mature student a good 5-ish years after I graduated high school. I was so tired of school-related stress (and the way that the public school system functioned in general) that I was honestly considering not even going to post-secondary. I bounced between different potential majors, although I couldn't help but feel tired just thinking about them, like I would be going to school out of obligation or societal expectation rather than genuine passion.

When I came back around to the idea years later, I started poking around my local university's website. As I was going through, reading everything over, and clicking through different subjects, I realized that I was actually really feeling excited about school for the first time... pretty much ever. Because I realized that I had the chance to do things at my own pace, with a focus on subjects that I actually liked, rather than what my family expected would get me a traditionally "good job."

I narrowed my major down to a choice between English and creative writing, but I ultimately went with English. As much as I love creative writing, I prefer doing it as a hobby. It's the same with art for me: getting too serious with it made me feel less passionate and creative (to be fair though, I did take two first year creative writing classes as electives and I am genuinely proud of the stuff I wrote for them!)

With English, I could do my favourite thing in the world: overthinking literature and talking ad nauseam about the media I like. I love rambling, and writing essays is pretty much just organized info-dumping. I also wanted to learn more about history and culture, especially the way that they influence and are influenced by the works of literature, film, etc. of the times. In my experience so far, English classes have mostly consisted of reading or watching a bunch of texts, analyzing them & picking them apart, discussing said texts with my peers, and comparing/contextualizing them with each other. It's way more fun for me than it probably sounds to most people haha

Side note: I'm also taking biology as a minor (specifically with a focus on zoology because I love animals). The contrast between using the more creative and writerly side of my brain, and the more logical sciencey and side works well for me.

I'm still not super career focused, though I have certainly thought about it. I'm on disability support right now, so thankfully I'm fortunate enough to not need to juggle work and school. Ideally, I would love it if my degree landed me a stable job that doesn't make me feel miserable or put the same strain on me that retail and food service do. But I'm kinda just going with the flow for now.

Anyways, that's all to say: look over all of your options and narrow it down to the ones that draw your interest and passion the most. Consider what you want out of school, explore the potential career options that each subject could bring if that's your goal, and generally go with what makes you feel the best.

I know most schools have exploratory courses and academic advisors that can help you figure out what you want to do, so I would definitely look into that! Oh, and look into the required classes for each subject too! It personally helped me organize and prepare for everything I would need to do so that I was less blind-sighted by, as an example, my mandatory statistics class for my biology minor (I'm DEFINITELY not a math person)

Good luck, and I'm sorry again for how long this got! I wish you the best :D

[willcodehtmlforfood]

The quickest way to second-guess a decision to major in English is this: have an extended family full of Salvadoran immigrants and pragmatic midwesterners. The ability to recite Chaucer in the original Middle English was unlikely to land me a job that would pay off my student loans and help me save for retirement, they suggested when I was a college freshman still figuring out my future. I stuck with English, but when my B.A. eventually spat me out into the thick of the Great Recession, I worried that they’d been right.

After all, computer-science degrees, and certainly not English, have long been sold to college students as among the safest paths toward 21st-century job security. Coding jobs are plentiful across industries, and the pay is good—even after the tech layoffs of the past year. The average starting salary for someone with a computer-science degree is significantly higher than that of a mid-career English graduate, according to the Federal Reserve; at Google, an entry-level software engineer reportedly makes $184,000, and that doesn’t include the free meals, massages, and other perks. Perhaps nothing has defined higher education over the past two decades more than the rise of computer science and STEM. Since 2016, enrollment in undergraduate computer-science programs has increased nearly 49 percent. Meanwhile, humanities enrollments across the United States have withered at a clip—in some cases, shrinking entire departments to nonexistence.

But that was before the age of generative AI. ChatGPT and other chatbots can do more than compose full essays in an instant; they can also write lines of code in any number of programming languages. You can’t just type make me a video game into ChatGPT and get something that’s playable on the other end, but many programmers have now developed rudimentary smartphone apps coded by AI. In the ultimate irony, software engineers helped create AI, and now they are the American workers who think it will have the biggest impact on their livelihoods, according to a new survey from Pew Research Center. So much for learning to code.

ChatGPT cannot yet write a better essay than a human author can, nor can it code better than a garden-variety developer, but something has changed even in the 10 months since its introduction. Coders are now using AI as a sort of souped-up Clippy to accelerate the more routine parts of their job, such as debugging lines of code. In one study, software developers with access to GitHub’s Copilot chatbot were able to finish a coding task 56 percent faster than those who did it solo. In 10 years, or maybe five, coding bots may be able to do so much more.

People will still get jobs, though they may not be as lucrative, says Matt Welsh, a former Harvard computer-science professor and entrepreneur. He hypothesizes that automation will lower the barrier to entry into the field: More people might get more jobs in software, guiding the machines toward ever-faster production. This development could make highly skilled developers even more essential in the tech ecosystem. But Welsh also says that an expanded talent pool “may change the economics of the situation,” possibly leading to lower pay and diminished job security.

If mid-career developers have to fret about what automation might soon do to their job, students are in the especially tough spot of anticipating the long-term implications before they even start their career. “The question of what it will look like for a student to go through an undergraduate program in computer science, graduate with that degree, and go on into the industry … That is something I do worry about,” Timothy Richards, a computer-science professor at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, told me. Not only do teachers like Richards have to wrestle with just how worthwhile learning to code is anymore, but even teaching students to code has become a tougher task. ChatGPT and other chatbots can handle some of the basic tasks in any introductory class, such as finding problems with blocks of code. Some students might habitually use ChatGPT to cheat on their assignments, eventually collecting their diploma without having learned how to do the work themselves.

Richards has already started to tweak his approach. He now tells his introductory-programming students to use AI the way a math student would use a calculator, asking that they disclose the exact prompts they fed into the machine, and explain their reasoning. Instead of taking assignments home, Richards’s students now do the bulk of their work in the classroom, under his supervision. “I don’t think we can really teach students in the way that we’ve been teaching them for a long time, at least not in computer science,” he said.

Fiddling with the computer-science curriculum still might not be enough to maintain coding’s spot at the top of the higher-education hierarchy. “Prompt engineering,” which entails feeding phrases to large language models to make their responses more human-sounding, has already surfaced as a lucrative job option—and one perhaps better suited to English majors than computer-science grads. “Machines can’t be creative; at best, they’re very elaborate derivatives,” says Ben Royce, an AI lecturer at Columbia University. Chatbots don’t know what to do with a novel coding problem. They sputter and choke. They make stuff up. As AI becomes more sophisticated and better able to code, programmers may be tasked with leaning into the parts of their job that draw on conceptual ingenuity as opposed to sheer technical know-how. Those who are able to think more entrepreneurially—the tinkerers and the question-askers—will be the ones who tend to be almost immune to automation in the workforce.

The potential decline of “learn to code” doesn’t mean that the technologists are doomed to become the authors of their own obsolescence, nor that the English majors were right all along (I wish). Rather, the turmoil presented by AI could signal that exactly what students decide to major in is less important than an ability to think conceptually about the various problems that technology could help us solve. The next great Silicon Valley juggernaut might be seeded by a humanities grad with no coding expertise or a computer-science grad with lots of it. After all, the discipline has always been about more than just learning the ropes of Python and C++. Identifying patterns and piecing them together is its essence.

In that way, the answer to the question of what happens next in higher education may lie in what the machines can’t do. Royce pointed me toward Moravec’s paradox, the observation that AI shines at high-level reasoning and the kinds of skills that are generally considered to reflect cognitive aptitude (think: playing chess), but fumbles with the basic ones. The curiosity-driven instincts that have always been at the root of how humans create things are not just sticking around in an AI world; they are now more important than ever. Thankfully, students have plenty of ways to get there.

[oh-negative]

Un named hellsing fic part one

Greetings mortals, hear a first taste (ahaha..) of a fic we started on…let’s us know what you think or if you’d like to see us add on! We have great ideas for the plot but we’re still pretty rusty…it’s been a while,enjoy!

……………………………..

As a kid you loved reading, both fantasy and non fiction, anything to escapes into another world outside of your own.

It didn't matter if you were learning about the infinite galaxy's light years away, historical figures of yore, or even magical worlds filled with adventurers and princesses to be rescued from the furthest roomed tucked away in the highest tower....

But your favorite was the supernatural. Nocturnal creatures who danced with shadows,beasts who transversed in the full moon or phantoms who haunted empty halls of abandoned cathedrals.

So it was no supervise you chose to study folklore, despite being the top of your graduating class. Unfortunately that wouldn't have flyed under the roof of your parents,who would be funding your time in secondary education,so you spent your college years bent over bio engendering textbooks,essays on organic chemistry and genomics only to balance them out with your secondary course of study; folklore and mythology.

    Your parents, though less the thrilled about your minor courses- not seeing them as practical- just learned to drop the subject after a while....after all how can they continually bug you about it if your status on deans list never seemed to budge. Mom still would occusually fret over the extra work load distracting you from your other classes,But you insisted you knew what you were doing, and once you got you first big girl job, neither could have been prouder. It took a couple years after graduation to land it, in the mean time working as an intern in a biotech company doing mainly intern related work- but you made it. 

Your hard work paid off and you were given the opportunity of a lifetime to work across the pond,..England to be exact. 

Looks like those secondary courses paid off. Your academic writings on the biology of the undead & how they could help cure viruses landed on the right desk - somehow you knew your pandemic ramblings were well justified after all.

               It's been seven years since you made the long, and far, move to north London to serve as the leading specialist of the bio-science of the supernatural & undead at the renowned protectors of his majesty & London itself;

                                                                          Hellsing.

   CHAPTER ONE: 

                    North France; 1:00 AM 2030

It took everything in you to control the eye twitching,brain numbing prodding being spoken before you, after all you did promise Integra you would be on your best, and certainly not sarcastic, behavior. But truth be told you knew even some promises had to be broken in order to get what you wanted...and right now what you wanted most was for the three older gentleman seated at the oval table before you to stop talking, agree to your request, so you could go back home and possibly sleep on the way there.

Ever since the pandemic of 2020 one of your main areas of study was how to possibly save lives with the use of supernatural DNA. For you it wasn't about politics,eugenics, or increasing the human lifespan- it was about saving lives, But of course in the wrong hands that could absolutely be the case. But no matter how serious the whole matter was you could almost feel your eyelids threaten to close for a second,before you had to re-explain yourself to axis powers who never seem to age out of their political standing...sometimes you wondered if you should be studying them instead of the things that go bump in the night.  You clear your voice to speak up over the men once more, who have started chatting amongst themselves while you zoned out briefly...

     " sir, with all due respect, I feel like our division at Hellsing is really on to something, the only problem is...we have no one to test...most supernatural creatures- ..mainly of the the vampiric persuasion immediately turn to dust and iron when killed or exposed to direct sunlight. Our bio-science fraction have proposed a idea that I think will help us further the possibilities of pursuing test subjects " 

Now that the eyes have all fallen back on you, you feel your posture stiffen and all of a sudden you understand why Integra always went around in her studious apparel-..confidence, and for a brief moment you wish you'd have waited for her availability to allow her to come with you..until you remember the type of anxiety induced headaches she can cause with her presence.

A man you knew as France's security for NATO urges you to continue,eyes sternly fixed on you, the others follow suite waiting for you to continue

" yes miss y/l/n/h please continue...surely you're not considering testing humans ...are you?"

" no sir" you clear your throat " it's a little bit more difficult,like I said it's pretty much impossible to get a sample of the undead without endangering myself or others, the samples I do have are not enough,not nearly pure enough. My prospect is this.....by now we know the catacombs all over the world - including the ones here in Paris- have had undead remains found perfectly preserved. That's no coincidence. I believe through the text we have obtained in our field of study that we could find remains that have not been destroyed to use as possible testing subjects."

You watch jaws drop over what you have considered to be the least invasive thing humans have done for the sake of "saving lives" since antiquity and can't help but to wear your smugness bluntly in the face of their surprise.

"Your wish to …transverse the catacombs?!"

" precisely "

You extend your hand, the manilla folders holding your months worth of research across the table, as you watch the prime minister's facial expression briefly resemble that of a child who just tasted a lemon for the first time.

Hours pass, in that time you have defended your credentials at least a half a dozen times, sworn to the country of France, England and the United States that you're not bat shit insane, and eventually folded to a group call back to fletchley to have your boss back you up. You really didn't want to have it come down to that, as it was your first time dealing with a conference by yourself, but hey, when your boss saved London and,essentially the world, from an undead super army of nazis, she makes a good trump card. You would just have to prepare for the verbal lashing for interrupting her own meeting when you arrived back to London.

Some hours later in north London

You felt exhausted by the time you and  the security guard who accompanied you to France returned to the Hellsing manor. No matter how fast the private jets were, it always found a way of draining you. The sun was well past the horizon by the time you got into the entrance, saying your goodnights to the security guard before starting the trek to the corner of the manor that housed your own dwellings. Briefly you consider going to your work space located in the basement, but thought against it. Knowing a certain draculina would be waiting to chastise you on your priorities. Surely she already knew of your safe arrival.

An elevator ride later to the upper floor where the personal chambers were and a long walk down a corridor before you couldn't help but to let out the longest, draining sigh as you opened the door to your quarters.

You looked down at your phone. Dead. No doubt there was probably some questionable text messages from boss lady as well as some emails that could use your attention- but after a long day of arguing your years worth of education in order to get the grant and support from a bunch of crotchety old  men,your were exhausted and decided it would be a problem for the morning,as you set it on the charger dock at your bedside table.

It was all you could do to kick off your shoes and slip off your jacket before plopping into your bed and immediately succumbing to the day's events,sleep consuming you almost immediately. Apparently a shower would have to wait as well.

You fall into such a deep slumber,the kind where it knocks the sense of time out of you,wrapping you in an unconscious blanket of blackness. With slumber falling on you so heavily you didn't so much as twitch when the sound of bullets being discharged from a pistol rang out into the night during the wee hours of the morning,alerting the residents of hellsing to an intruder.

[eddiemunsonsdrug]

Four Tolls Part II [Eddie Munson x OC/Reader]

part i

Summary: Dustin's sister was making her own path, going to college, leaving Hawkins behind. But when headaches begin to haunt her daily life and the voices in her head get stronger she needs to check on her brother. When she hears the boy she tutored years ago is facing allegations of murder, she starts a new path. Back to Hawkins

Pairing: so I gave the reader a name as I didn't want to write Y/N for this, but other than that it is a reader insert

Words: 2318

A/N: Thank you to everyone who read my last chapter I hope you continue to enjoy this series as much as I'm enjoying writing it. Let me know if you want to be tagged or whatever

Warnings: blacking out, Vecna appearance, pill taking (Tylenol), grammar and spelling I'm sure.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You packed the previous night, you had miss the rest of your classes but were uncaring at the thought of missing some study tools.

The next morning was brisk and bit into your face as you stuffed your car with the remaining clothes you would require for a trip home, plus some laundry you had put off doing. Might as well use moms washing machine when you’re home.

After a quick goodbye to a confused and concerned Nicole, you hit the road. You knew you’d be in Hawkins before the afternoon but the quicker you got home the better, you’d be able to see Dustin and ask him about Eddie.

Once you hit the highway your mind wandered at the thought of the Eddie Munson. You hadn’t thought of him for years, but you remembered tutoring him. The two of you spent endless nights in the public library as  seniors.

You remembered him approaching you about halfway through the year asking, no- begging for you to help him study. He claimed this was going to be his year, that he was going to graduate. You took his words as a joke, he was a senior, of course he was going to graduate.

His hair was beginning to reach behind his ears, his ear pierced to hell, and his hands were always ring clad as he fiddled with them while you went over your English course work.

“Eddie, are you even listening?” You asked, you had looked up from the book you were getting him to read for his final essay exam. His eyes were practically glazed over with boredom. “Huh?” he shook his head wildly as he tipped back in is chair, almost losing balance at the sound of your voice.

 You gripped his chair and pulled it back before you frowned. “Why can’t you ever be less dramatic.” He shrugged in his oversized jean jacket. “Gotta live life to its fullest, why not make a spectacle of myself.” He smirked as you shook your head.

“Speaking of which are we almost done?” He questioned bored out of his mind. “This isn’t exactly me thriving.” He motioned around the library before resting his head on the back of the chair. “I’ve got band practice.” You let out a long sigh, you knew this would go nowhere. “Sure.” You muttered as you shoved the book over towards him. “Try to read at least some of this.” Now you were the one begging, he shoved it into his jacket before standing. “Great, see you Henderson.” He smiled before jogging out the door.

You knew he never read any of that book, and you were disappointed when graduation came and Munsons name was mysteriously skipped. You had always cheered him on in your head when he actually made it to a class.

After graduation you never saw him again. During your second year in college you heard from Dustin excitedly through the phone that he had met the coolest guy, he was his DM, he had taken him under his wing, he was Eddie Munson.

You were happy to hear about Dustin being taken care of in high school, you were always worried about how he was being treated. But you were also taken by surprise and upset to hear Eddie was still in school, still a senior, still not graduated.

You knew he was absolutely harmless though; his tough exterior was just something he had built up under the name of freak. If anyone took the time to get to know him, they would immediately know the nicest person they would ever meet.

You also knew the murder wasn’t something that just happened in Hawkins, not from a human at least. After the fires from the previous year at the mall, you had grilled Dustin about it till he told you everything he knew from his side and some of what he knew from Elevens.

Normal crimes didn’t just happen in Hawkins.

A sharp pain in your brain had you shaking your head and you snapped back to reality. The familiar dinging of your car reminded you that you meant to get gas earlier.

You pulled off to the nearest gas station the smell of gas made your head pound almost making you sick, quickly paying you took the change to the payphone, once again dialing home.

“Hello?” Your moms voice came rather quickly this time. “Hey mom, I just wanted to let you know I’m on my way home.” You heard her sharp gasp. “Really?! What for?” she asked, glee filling her voice. “Well, um, its spring break and I’ve missed you guys.” Your mother squealed slightly shooting a sharp pain to your skull and down your neck. “Oh I can’t wait to see you sweetie. I’ll get your room all set up, when are you due?”

You looked down at your watch. “Bout two hours.” You bit your lip and shut your eyes nervously. “Is Dustin home yet?” you asked though you already knew the answer. “No, he slept at Mikes house, I thought Mike was out of town though. I don’t know I can barely keep up with that boy.” You chuckled at your mom’s obliviousness, how she still didn’t know all of the shit Dustin and you got into you’ll never know. “Okay, I’ll see you in a bit.”

She quickly said goodbye and you hung up. Once in the car you popped a few pills and hit the road once more.

--

You pulled up to your house parking in the driveway. After grabbing a few bags you made your way into your house. “Mom? Dustin?” You called out, there was no answer though. You felt a bit nervous till you found a note saying your mom had gone into work and that she would see you later that night.

Sighing you almost felt relieved as you didn’t want to waste too much time having to catch up with your mother. You dropped your bags on the ground of your room and sat on your bed. You don’t know how much of your room had to be ‘done up’, it didn’t look like anything had changed since you left two years ago.

Before you could rise from your bed you heard the front door swing open with a loud thud. “Olivia? Olivia!?” You heard your brothers voice call from the front door, you ran from your room to the front of the house. “Dustin! Thank God.” You rushed over to embrace him, the antique grandfather clock in the corner of the room rang out four times, though it didn’t feel like 4 o’clock, you could have sworn it was only 10 AM. “What are you doing here?” He asked as he pulled from your hug, his eyes were searching you for an answer. “I heard about what happened with Eddie and just felt like I needed to be here.” You responded, your heart lifting as you saw him clearly.

He was still so young looking, still needed you to protect him. “What? That’s what brought you here?” he questioned his voice almost deadpanned. You raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, of course. I know nothing normal happens in Hawkins.” You replied attempting to joke. Dustin stepped back to look you over. “He brought you here, but not me?” He seemed mad, you couldn’t understand why, Dustin was always very understanding. “Not me?” You cocked your head; did he hear about your nightmare somehow? “No Dust-“ His fists clenched. “Not last year when we were dealing with the Mind Flayer?”

Your stomach churned at the accusation. “What? Dustin-“

“After all we went through, after I almost died?” The blood rushed from your face. “No. because I mean nothing to you, don’t I?” He shouted at you, the house went dark at his anger, and you felt dizzy. “N-no of course you mean everything to me.”

“Then why didn’t you come back last year!? When we all needed you!?” Your head felt heavy as you tried to speak. “Dustin-“ Nausea overtook your body. “You weren’t there, you were never there!? When Billy died, when Steve got captured by Russians, when Hopper was killed!!” Your mouth went dry as Dustin faded into something grotesque and veiny. “Wha-whats happening?” Your knees felt locked as your body began to feel its flight or fight response. “All you care about is yourself, leaving your brother alone to fend for himself.” His voice was no longer recognizable. Tears began to blur your eyeline, though this thing was no longer Dustin you felt the need to explain yourself to him.

When you opened your mouth to speak you felt your throat choke, your mind going numb, you were close to blacking out. Not again, you prayed. You looked down at yourself to see something slowly wrapping around your throat. “P-please.” You croaked out before your eyes shut.

--

Your eyes snapped open; you were back on your bed. You instinctively placed a hand on your throat as you took in gasping breaths. Your body was shivering, though a thin layer of sweat sat on your skin. You searched around the room, the bright sun shone in from the windows and the clock on your nightstand displayed it was 10:30. Your head shot forward as you attempted to calm your heart unsure of what that was. Another nightmare? Had you fallen asleep by accident?

You stayed seated for a few more minutes as you tried to brush off what had happened as a weird daydream that engulfed your thoughts, before grabbing and changing into some new clothes and walking out the door.

After getting back into your car you headed off to the Wheeler house. You knew it was basically a safe haven for the kids at this point. Where they hid Eleven, where they played D&D, where they talked about everything, they needed to talk about to each other.

You pulled into a spot on the street in front of the house you had spent some much time in, in the past. A quick shot of nerves hit you as a flash of memories filled your brain. Shaking your head almost violently, willing away the spine-tingling thoughts. You pushed yourself out of your car and to the front door, you hesitated before knocking, it felt weird to knock.

Mikes father opened the door, Holly close behind him gripping her teddy bear. “Olivia? Well you’re the last person I expected to be here.” For the first time in a while a genuine smile spread across your face. “Hello Mr. Wheeler.” He moved aside to allow you into the house. “Is my brother here?” Holly continued to hide behind her father’s legs as she watched you with close eyes. “You bet, basically got a whole crew asleep in the basement.” You gave him a quick nod before giving Holly a small finger wave as you made your way to the basement door.

As the door swung open you could here the chattering of a few people down in the basement. Your footsteps were heavy as you made your way to the bottom. When you hit the end of the stairs Max pushed past you and rushed upstairs, your eyes followed her till she disappeared. The talking had come to an abrupt stop. “Olivia?” You turned your head, your eyes immediately landing on Dustin, it felt almost dramatic as you made your way past the bodies and pulled him into a hug. “Dustin.” You choked out, all too emotionally for everyone around you to hear.

The hug went for a few moments before he pulled back. “What are you doing here?” A cold shiver ran down your spine, was this real or another nightmare? You could feel all eyes on you as you scanned around the room, Steve, Nancy, and Lucas were all in disbelief. There was another face she looked utterly lost as to who you were.

“I, uh, can’t explain it. I just needed to come home.” You huffed out as you finally looked back towards him, a huge sigh of relief escaped your lips. “I’m so happy you’re here, I’ve been calling home for two days.” You hugged him once more as he desperately tried to break free from your embrace.

“Wait, Henderson has a sister?” You heard the stranger whisper. “Uh, yeah.” Steve confirmed. You couldn’t stop the pink from spreading across your face as you finally let go of your little brother. “H-Hey guys.” Steve gave you a weak wave, Lucas smiled brightly at you and Nancy waited a moment before wrapping her arms around you. “Thank god you’re here.” She murmured before pulling back to look at you. “We need all the help we can get.”

After a moment and some introductions for Robin you sat on the couch. “Right.” Dustin said. “You probably have some questions.” You nodded as the other continued to watch you. “Yeah, right. Where’s Eddie?” You looked around the room like he would be hiding under the same table Eleven used to. “Wait, how do you know about that?” Steve asked from the armchair across from you. You glanced at him; you hadn’t seen him in years. You were always surprised to not see him join your college eventually. He still looked the same but last you heard yet again from Dustin,  he was working at Family Video and before that an ice cream place in the mall.

“My mom mentioned he was in the news.” You told him before breaking eye contact. “He’s safe.” Robin said to answer your question. “Where?” you felt a twinge inside of you, feeling a sense of urgency with Eddie, you wanted to see him. Dustin looked at the group before back at you. “Olivia, just- he’s safe.” You nodded closing your eyes, your head pounded weakly at the side of your skull.

“So what are we dealing with this time?”

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Midge steps into the diner and grins at Luke as he settles a mug in front of her and fills it with coffee. “Morning, Luke.” 

“Morning, Midge,” he responds. “Know what you want?” 

“Toast, extra butter, fruit bowl,” she tells him. “And to take Jess back to New York with Lenny and I for the summer.” 

Luke freezes. 

“Hear me out,” she says quickly. “Look, Lorelai and Rory are leaving for Europe today. He’s graduated high school, and he’s been through a shit ton of insanity over the last year.” 

“Midge-” 

“You have Caesar, and I heard you hired on Lane,” Midge goes on. “You don’t need the help. Walmart can live without him. A few months in the big kid pond would do him some good, don’t you think?” 

Luke sighs heavily. “He’s...he’s eighteen. If he wants to leave, I guess...he’s gonna leave. He’s Jess, he does whatever he wants anyways.” 

Midge gives him an understanding look. “And wouldn’t it be nice to have a proper forwarding address and phone number to use to check in on him? Instead of him losing his shit completely and chasing his asshole father across the country?”

“He wouldn’t do that,” Luke snaps. 

“I heard he and Lenny talking about it the other night,” Midge tells him gently. “He’s confused. He doesn’t know what to do. The man walked in, told him who he was and then ran away. What’s anyone supposed to do with that?” 

“Leave it alone,” Luke tells her. 

“When has that kid ever left anything alone in his whole fucking life?” Midge asks.

Luke gives another heavy sigh and nods. “Yeah. Yeah. Okay. If Jess wants to go back to the city with you and Lenny, then I guess...yeah.”  

Midge smiles at him. “I promise you will get regular updates. You’re welcome to come visit any time, and Lenny will drag him kicking and screaming down here to visit.” 

“When do you guys leave?” Luke asks.

“Couple days,” Midge tells him.

“You ask him yet?” 

Midge nods. “Lenny did. They’ve been talking about him applying for a couple of internships in the city. Stretch some non-food service and retail-related muscles.” 

Luke nods back and she can see in his face that he’s on board. “Okay. Okay.” 

***** 

“So yeah, I’ll be in New York, at least for the summer,” Jess explains as he watches Rory do her last minute packing. 

She grins at him. “Then I will send all postcards to Midge and Lenny’s brownstone.” 

He nods. “Sounds...sounds good.” 

Rory frowns and sits next to him on the edge of the bed. “What’s wrong?” 

Jess shrugs. “I don’t know. I just- was talking to Lenny, talking about what happened with my dad, and I thought about going after the guy. Trying to have a real conversation.” 

She frowns and takes his hand. “You could start with looking up his phone number. Seeing if he’ll talk to you that way.” 

“That’s probably more practical,” he admits sheepishly. 

Rory purses her lips. “And keeps you reachable for when I come home and want to see you, so really, this is just me being a little selfish, but also? Running to California to confront someone who couldn’t even finish a cup of coffee in silence? It sounds really stressful.” 

“It is stressful,” Jess agrees. “So I’ll be in New York, and then I guess...I don’t know.” 

“There’s still college,” Rory suggests.

He snorts. “Sure there is.” 

She narrows her eyes at him. “Lenny said your last report card was all b’s. What were your SAT scores like?” 

“I don’t know, I didn’t look.” 

“You did so.” 

“Rory.” 

She waits expectantly. 

He sighs heavily. “650 for math...750 for English...” 

She stares, her eyes going wide in shock. 

Jess doesn’t respond. 

“You-” she stops, still in shock. “Jess, that’s- a fourteen-hundred total score.” 

“So, whatever.” 

She lifts her pillow and hits him with it.

“Ow!” 

“That’s an amazing score! You write a good essay, you could get into a good school!” 

“I’m bad at school!”  

“You are not, you just don’t like it!” 

“Making me bad at it!” 

“If I didn’t love you so much, I’d kick you right in the butt!” 

Lorelai knocks on the door then, peaking in. “Uh...everything okay in here?” 

Rory gets to her feet, incensed. “He got a fourteen-hundred on his SAT’s!” 

“Stop telling people!” 

Lorelai blinks. “Okay. I’m- I’m gonna finish packing, you two are obviously having a very bizarre fight here.” 

“He could get into college with that score!” Rory cries as Lorelai wanders off. “Not ivy league but a good school!” 

Jess groans. “Okay. I love you. I hope you have an amazing.” 

“You’re leaving?” Rory pouts. 

“No, you are, soon, for Europe,” he reminds her. “I’m just gonna go to the diner.” 

Rory sighs as he gets to his feet, and she loops her arms around him, kissing him thoroughly. 

He smiles against her lips. “We can’t have sex right now, you have to pack, and the door is open.” 

“Shush,” she orders, kissing him again.

When they part, she purses her lips again. “I hope New York is good.” 

Jess nods. “Thanks. Call me when you get back and I’ll drive back into town. Help you pack for college.” 

Rory smiles, but doesn’t let him go.

“If you don’t let me leave, you’ll miss your flight,” he reminds her. 

She pouts. “I know, but...I don’t know. I’m going to miss you so much.” 

“You won’t think that much about me, you’ll be surrounded by all the history.” 

“Yes, I will,” Rory tells him honestly. 

Jess gazes at her and nods, leaning in and kissing her one more time. “I’ll be on the lookout for my postcards.” 

She smiles and steals one final kiss, before she lets him head out.

“Bye, Lorelai! Don’t piss off Europe!” 

“Bye, Jess! Try not to get arrested like a moron!” 

The door closes and Rory sighs heavily.

[officialbabayaga]

heyyy i saw your tags on the college post about taking seven years to finish undergrad and i was wondering if you could talk about how you got from there to law school? i’m still struggling to finish my last year of undergrad and as someone who’s always conceptualized myself as academically successful and has watched all my friends do this seemingly with ease it’s been a rough time, and i’ve been worried i won’t be able to get into grad schools given that i’m gonna graduate in more than four years. anyway if this isn’t something you want to talk about that is so valid and know that just by mentioning it i’m feeling less alone so thank you!

Oh no worries I’m happy to talk about it! I feel like “nontraditional” academic journeys are never really acknowledged enough, to be honest. What I want you to know right from the start is that I got really lucky with the opportunities that I was given, but I also put the work in to follow through.

I’ll skim over the gory details but I did… terribly in undergrad. It wasn’t because I couldn’t intellectually keep up with my classes, mental illness was eating my brain and I just couldn’t function at the level I needed to. BUT I finally graduated with a 2.7 GPA, and was lucky enough to have made a good enough impression at a summer internship that they hired me full time immediately after I graduated. That was a HUGE hurdle, especially because my bachelor’s is in biology, and jobs with a bio degree but no graduate school are really hard to come by.

Now what helped me the most was that I “paid my dues.” I worked my way up from a research assistant to, eventually, a senior research associate after 4 years of incredibly hard work. Even though my undergrad transcript was a pile of shit, I showed through my career that I could do really good work. I did overtime and took on extra projects so I could get my research published and I did everything I could to go to conferences and (unfortunately) network as much as possible.

(digression - my favorite professor once said that networking seems pointless at the time, because you’re not going to see the payoff for another 5 years. that helped put it in perspective for me. basically my networking tips are to just be NICE and HELPFUL when you meet people, especially in a professional context but literally if you just live your life that way and actually talk to people at boring events you’re basically good to go)

graduate schools don’t only take your undergraduate performance into account. Even with my shitty grades, I had put the work in for 4 years at a job that allowed me to really expand my CV. this was a lot of effort, but it was also a LOT of luck. it’s hard to find jobs that actually allow you to move up the ladder but it’s so worth it when you find one. even if it seems thankless and awful at the time, DON’T just give up and settle somewhere that will never promote you or give you opportunities to progress. show through a few years after undergrad that you can work hard and succeed, even if it was professionally and not academically.

Also, since I knew my grades sucked, I wanted to tip the scales even more in my favor. For about 4 months I spent every weekend slamming a vietnamese iced coffee to simulate a panic attack and take khan academy full lsat practice tests. This may not be an advisable way to study, but I have an anxiety disorder and I knew I’d be a fucking mess for the actual test so I made myself get used to it before it actually happened.

a killer admissions essay and really good letters of recommendation are so helpful, too. I didn’t have any professors I could ask for letters, so I got my lab director and the ceo of the company I worked for to write two for me, because we were on really good terms.

and I think that’s about it? it was a big mix of luck and hard work, and for me, the end result was getting accepted to law school 5 days after i applied :) but i was rejected from one school and waitlisted for another so it’s important to remember that the places you’re applying to could have extremely different criteria for what they’re looking for in students.

I wish you the best of luck!! It can be so tough but if you haven’t shown your best work in undergrad, you’re never out of chances to prove that you’ve grown enough to get back into academia. also in my experience, generally, law students who have real-world job experience do better than the ones who are coming straight from undergrad! because it IS a job, and learning professionalism and self-direction before getting into it makes a whole lot of difference.

[caffeinejournalist23]

Suburban Nightmare The Scariest Part About Moving to the Suburbs is the Fear of Having to Move Back to the Hood

I grew up in the "hood" of Northwest Ohio and throughout my childhood I was repeatedly told by teachers and social workers "you have to have a college degree." To survive, to live a good life, or to go on vacation once a year, they never specified why we needed to have one - the adults just told us this from the third grade onward in a tone that was serious and haunted us as we clawed our way to high school graduation. Well I moved to the suburbs to pursue a college education, received my Bachelor of Arts, but then wound up jobless for the first 2.5 months after graduating, fearing that I may have to return to the life I thought I left behind in the hood.

This is what it was like.

Part 1/3: Restless

The first few days were not too bad.

I finished school on a Tuesday and had the graduation ceremony the following Saturday. Though I was anxious to begin working full time again after taking almost a month off to focus on school, I forced myself to appreciate having a few days to catch my breath after completing the toughest semester of my undergrad career - under the assumption that my boss would call me back to give me my schedule as promised.

But they never called me back.

I texted. I called. I emailed. Nothing.

I reached a supervisor in my department who promised they would make sure my employer called me once they returned from vacation, but the supervisor also warned me "if you get a new opportunity, take it, because I'm not sure what [they] are planning with you."

I texted. I called. I emailed - for weeks.

Still nothing.

Feeling scorned, neglected as an employee, and painfully confused, I knew I shouldn't go back; not only was I completely ghosted, but this happened on top of several occasions prior when I was not paid on time, not paid the proper amount, and even scammed by a company hacker. And I knew I didn't deserve the shame of going back to a place begging for employment where I had already been so mistreated.

So the job search began.

Part time. Part-time remote. Entry level. Entry level temporary. Full-time summer. Freelance. Temporary full-time summer.

The amount of key terms I came up with to expand my search for jobs ought to have earned me a certificate in SEO optimization. Within a matter of weeks I had easily applied for hundreds of jobs; some remote, some on-site, some part-time, some full-time, some freelance, some temporary.

Job applications had just one line to mention my education - school, degree, and major; I have a degree in English and Digital Media Studies. I could generalize my degree to a Bachelor's in digital communications. I minored in criminal and social justice. I took a digital photography class. I've completed course service-learning hours and internships with a variety of non-profits. I took an HTML coding class. I wrote a parody of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. I graduated with a 3.6 GPA. I got an A+ in a digital journalism class. I wrote a 20+ page essay for my capstone that I plan to expand into a book. My second capstone was a documentary I could submit to a film festival. These extra points of academic accomplishment were bullet-listed in applications where there was a degree description space, otherwise these were only recognized and respected in my LinkedIn profile.

There wasn't enough space in the education history line to explain all of the challenges I surpassed or all of the awesome awards and accomplishments I earned while getting the degree to write in my education history. I started a student org focused on newscasting. I was the VP of our Black Student Union for 2 years and spoke on behalf of the union at a peaceful protest following the death of George Floyd. I won recognition for Student Org of the Year - twice in a row. I became the student manager of the student engagement department. I was an active member of the Latino Student Union for over 3 years. I petitioned for a town-hall meeting for students and faculty to better our DEI awareness across campus. I was invited to a one-on-one meeting with the university president. I advocated for PRISM and LGBTQ+ acceptance across our campus. I hosted and evaluated numerous surveys to better serve our campus community. I participated in a plethora of volunteer opportunities and campus events. I was an orientation leader. I was an RA. I served as a mentor to underclassmen. My name consistently appeared on the Dean's List.

Suddenly it seemed like my degree did not carry much value. Few job postings prioritized candidates with my degree type - "digital communications but a degree in marketing preferred." It's like they wanted the skills earned from my degree as part of the job description, not the qualifications. Most job postings didn't seem to value my degree at all: "remote communications strategist - degree in journalism or other related field a plus, not a requirement." I had slaved for four years; four years of 18 - 21 credit hour semesters while spear-heading a student org and working anywhere from 2 to 4 jobs at a time, and some trauma healing/family drama because the Universe likes to keep herself entertained I guess. I was the first in my family for over 4 generations to earn a college degree. I took out tens of thousands in student loans. I went to an exam on 4 hours of sleep. I closed work at 1am and went to class the next morning at 8. I had nervous breakdowns and still got my 8-page essays turned in by 11:59pm.

But none of that seemed to matter. In the eyes of employers, overcoming all of those obstacles and challenges did not reflect how I was a good candidate for their position.

The only thing employers seemed to really take into consideration was previous work experience; that shouldn't have been a problem for me, as my resume was rich with experience by having to work to pay for school anyway. I'm a previous graphic designer. I was an intern for a local newspaper. I was a full-time social media manager for one summer. I have various experience mentoring kids/students ages 14 through 19. I was a shift leader at Family Video before the pandemic made us close all our stores. I was a remote political journalist during the 2022 midterms. I've been a coffee barista and was promoted to opening shift leader after my first 30 days. I coordinated a friend's wedding. I became a freelance state manager for a remote election reporting company. I managed the student engagement department and adapted our traditional events to a virtual medium. I've filed parking permits and incident reports. I've painted yard signs. I've hosted people to their dining seats. I've supervised. I've lead. I've delegated. I've supported. I've created. And I've always worked so so hard because in any and every job I could not sleep at night unless I did my best.

The few jobs I did hear back from said they chose "a better candidate" - aka someone with more experience. Either places are preferring to hire older people who have had the chance to garner more experience after college, or getting a college degree is redundant - and that notion of my hard work, discipline, and financial sacrifices from the past four years amounting to arbitrary value was what really started to freak me out.

The college dorm I was escaping homelessness in started looking like a haunted house; the frustration and hopelessness was written in the walls. My life started getting scary. Had my hopes and dreams been built on a lie? Was college just a deferment of the demise set for me by being born and raised in poverty?

The vacancy of my roommate's absence was soon followed by my own absence of income, food, and purpose. No meal plan. No job. No savings. No fail safe. No side hustle.

And no idea what to do next.

[rickmoya]

the books I read in 2022

Picture Me Gone, Meg Rossoff

Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng

William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Mean Girls, Ian Doescher

Food as Communication, Communication as Food, ed. Janet Cramer, Carlinta Greene and Lynn Walters (1)

How To Live With Your Teenager, Peter Buntman and Eleanor Saris (2)

Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison, Brandon Mull

Good Omens, Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

Channel of Peace, Kevin Tuerff (3)

Hatchet, Gary Paulsen

The Pigman, Paul Zindel

Fish in a Tree, Lynda Mullaly Hunt

The Midnight Library, Matt Haig

The Hunger Pains, The Harvard Lampoon (4)

Good Eats: The Final Years, Alton Brown

Dragonwatch, Brandon Mull

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace

Big Fish, Daniel Wallace

Because Internet, Gretchen McCulloch

Dragonwatch: Wrath of the Dragon King, Brandon Mull (5)

You Can Date Boys When You’re Forty, Dave Barry

italics: read it before bold: read it to my kid in bed struck: unfinished

Woof. Bad year for reading. I don’t even have a good explanation for why my numbers dropped so precipitously from previous years. Perhaps continued struggle with the to-read shelf and what it signifies. It got even bigger this year, as my intentions eclipsed my performance. I know I was busier with school, going back in person and taking on more classes. But still. This is pitiful.

This year’s only goal: clear that fucking shelf. (28.) If I can read more than that, it’s a bonus.

NOTES

This is a collection of essays given to me when I finished my master’s. I finally got to it this year, and chipped my way through it while waiting in the car for kids to be done with activities. As mentioned above, it took most of the year.

I bought this book as part of a $2-a-bag library clear-out sale not long after graduating from college. Not grad school — undergrad. At the time, I think I was looking for ideas on how to be a good teacher, or to maintain a connection with youth for my writing. Like ... why do I still have it? But the 1980s discussion of how to have open and trusting communication was still surprisingly valid.

True story about being on a plane that was diverted to Gander, Newfoundland, because of 9/11 attacks. I had to read it before we went to see Come From Away (spousal assignment of sorts).

I found this in an Airbnb in San Diego on our summer vacation. It’s a parody of The Hunger Games and is as stupid as it sounds.

Really starting to get sick of this universe, just in time for my son to get the next book in the series for Christmas/birthday. I didn’t realize how much was left to go when I posted this initially, but we’re more than 2/3rds through and will finish so I’m still putting a number on it/not counting it for 2023.

[i-can-be-king-again]

the most BS thing i've been told in the 7 years of college is my teachers (english and science classes) always told us that we have to write all of the citations in academic papers or essays by ourselves because most websites write them wrong. It's sort of true, but they all fail to mention that microsoft word has a feature that makes citations for you in 12 different styles, even ones i've never heard of. And i had to learn about that shit a year after I graduated while getting a microsoft office certification. Knowing that would have saved me so much headache and time. It still makes me angry lol

[scoopstrooptm]

HC: robin + potential career paths!

            so I really want to talk about this because unfortunately I feel like it’s made very unclear by canon exactly what Robin’s plans are for the future, despite the fact that she is in her senior year in season 4 just like Nancy and Jonathan. we hear that Eddie plans to finally graduate in ‘86, we know that Nancy and Jonathan have that tension over which colleges they plan to go to after they graduate, but what of Robin? 

            this is obviously a sign in itself that I think Robin doesn’t really know what she wants to do with her life in terms of a career: she is not driven or ambitious in the same way that Nancy is, to make an obvious comparison between both girls, and her character is not centred on her future but on her present, working with Steve at Family Video, and her relationships ( i.e. her crush on Vickie ). but it is important not to forget that despite her neuro-divergent coding, particularly in s4, she is still very intelligent! she cracked the Russian code in s3, she can speak four languages ( and we know from Rebel Robin that she took the time to learn those languages herself, outside of the school curriculum, which I will come back to in a moment ), she has very engaged and sophisticated discussions with her English teacher, Mr. Hauser, in the Rebel Robin podcast about works of classic literature like Frankenstein and 1984, and she is said in the book to be a student who coasts along with good grades in her sophomore year but fears putting the effort in to become known as an overachiever and therefore stand out from the crowd ( something which I’m sure she fixes going forward into her junior and senior year once she becomes more comfortable in her own skin ).

           I think Robin’s issue, and why she is noticeably bright but no mention is made of college plans by her or others in s4, is that she doesn’t like working or learning within the rigid education system. she talks to Mr. Hauser a lot in the podcast about reading books outside of the syllabus, as I said above she makes the decision to learn different languages in her own time because Hawkins doesn’t offer any foreign language provision. in Rebel Robin in particular, I think she sees the education system as just an extension of the Hawkins monster --- something that swallows people up in this town and turns them into small-minded sheep that follow the crowd and don’t challenge or question the world around them. she doesn’t see any challenge in the school curriculum that is offered and, more importantly, she doesn’t see herself represented in anything that she learns --- where is the small town lesbian in her English literature texts? where is the history of the LGBT+ movement and the Stonewall riots in her history lessons? these are all things that bother her and frustrate her about her school education.

            academic study also doesn’t necessarily suit her or her learning style either: Robin is someone who is fiercely motivated when she is focused on or learning about something she enjoys or finds interesting. the education system is not necessarily friendly to this idea: even at college / university level, there is still an element of having to read and study what is on the syllabus, even though Robin would no doubt find greater freedom for example in pursuing a humanities-based subject and being able to write essays on what she finds interesting about a particular novel or subject.

            so when it comes to advancing to college level study, I think Robin would have to weigh up the limitations of continuing with a rigid education structure, with the most obvious benefit of her of going to college: getting out of Hawkins. applying to a college out of state and making that move is the easiest way for her to leave ( she just has to ensure that both she and Steve have the money that Steve could come with her, because she would never leave without him ), and being in a university environment away from Hawkins in a big city gives her the chance to broaden her horizons while still having the safety net of being a part of a college community.

           there is also her mom, who as we know puts a lot of pressure on Robin within her canon, and I think she would push for Robin to go to college in order to secure a future for herself regardless of what Robin actually wanted. with this pressure and the benefits of leaving Hawkins to an out of state college, I do think Robin would likely go to college post-canon and had likely filled in her applications and was waiting for her acceptance letter in the same way that Nancy and Jonathan were. whether she could actually settle on a major to study or stick out college for the long term is debatable in my opinion: I think this all depends on whether Robin is able to figure out what she wants to do and what she is most passionate about while there. otherwise I could just see her going through the motions, much like she did at school, until a better opportunity that wasn’t academic-based came up and actually gave her practical experience and a chance to learn something she felt strongly about. 

           once she gets to the city, too, I can see her horizons and potential for herself opening up to the point where, unless she needed a college education to attain a certain career path she’d set her sights on, strict education would probably no longer be necessary for her. college could therefore just function as a springboard for Robin to something better.

            but what would this something better be? I have a few ideas for what I believe Robin would enjoy or be good at, but obviously this is subject to change or revision depending on where she lands at the very end of the show:

private investigator:

                this is the career path I could see most suiting Robin at this point in time. Robin threw herself into the Russian espionage plot in s3 and really enjoyed getting to apply her mind to something that required her to make connections and figure things out. she not only was able to translate the Russian code despite not actually knowing or speaking the language, but she was also resourceful enough to seek out the blueprints for Starcourt Mall to allow the Scoops Troop a safe way in through the vents. then in s4 she was paired with Nancy which allowed Robin to continue with her love of problem-solving and thinking outside of the box as they investigated the Victor Creel lead. Robin was the one who persevered with the Weekly Watcher reel even when Nancy dismissed it; Robin was the quick-thinker who spoke up in her passionate rant to grant the two of them access to Creel’s cell; Robin was the one who made the connection between the music Victor was listening to at the time of being trapped in his son’s trance, and how he survived the encounter, and was ultimately the one to save Max. 

           Robin enjoys problem solving, has a very Sherlockian approach that can be unorthodox at times but always works, and contributes so much to the brains of the Hawkins group. being a private investigator who works on a contract basis also gives her the chance to help others in need too, particularly those who might have been let down by the authorities, and the freedom to work when she wants to. she would be self-employed and I think that would suit her a lot better than to answer to a superior.

tour guide:

             this is more of a stop-gap job role, perhaps a job that she gets once she’s out living in a big city and working towards something more, but is something that I equally think Robin would enjoy. we know Robin loves languages and loves soaking up culture: she could take on this role once she’s established in a big city like NYC or Chicago to help show tourists around, and with the ability to speak several foreign languages she would be a huge asset to that role too and could relate to others in their own tongues. this also would help her meet new people from all walks of life and different countries around the world. alternatively, if Robin was to realise her dreams of visiting or even moving to Europe, she could take on a similar sort of role there.

forensic psychologist:

              this is more of a niche job role that would likely involve a college education and further training, but I always think back to her rant to the asylum director and how much conviction she puts into the line “and learn a little bit more about how his twisted, but let’s face it, totally fascinating mind works.” combine that with Robin’s offhand comment earlier in the season that “serial killers stalk their victims before they strike” and I think it’s clear that her rant was not completely an act. it was based in a lot of truth: I think Robin does find the minds of killers and psychopaths and of those who are not the “norm” fascinating in terms of how these people tick, and it relates to the idea that in order to solve a crime or find a killer, you have to understand how the killer or criminal’s mind works first. Robin no doubt watches a lot of true crime documentaries and would read a lot of Weekly Watcher esque articles, so I think she would enjoy a career that was focused on the psychology of those who had committed criminal offences and then aiding with rehabilitation, once again being able to help people and make a difference.

location manager or other role related to film:

             last but not least, this role would combine two of Robin’s interests: film and travel. I could personally see Robin taking on a variety of roles within the film industry ( purely behind the camera though, I don’t think she would ever want to be on camera ), and maybe even becoming a hot shot indie film director one day, but being a location manager would combine that love of film ( since it was clearly Robin’s idea to apply to Family Video, not Steve’s lmao ), with her desire to travel. she would get to travel the world locating ideal sets for the films she was working on and then get to negotiate contracts for the terms of the shoot.

bonus shout out: music industry

              okay I want to talk about a potential career for Robin within the music industry too because obviously Robin has been in marching band for many years and it tends to be a popular fanon choice for her ( especially as she is so often grouped into whatever the boys are doing in classic fandom fashion of prioritising the white male fave ship ), however I am not sure how comfortable Robin would be in a performing capacity as part of a band. marching band is how Robin defines herself while at school but I don’t think music is as much of a passion to her as something like film or travel or literature. in her sophomore year and during Rebel Robin, she doesn’t really own any music tapes whatsoever, preferring her language tapes instead, and only really develops her own music preferences after the events of the novel. she has the knowledge of musical theory that would help within this career sector, but I think Robin is much more suited to a background or supporting role ( i.e. as a manager or creative mind / lyricist / music composer behind the scenes ) than she is to be up on stage in the spotlight.

[sa7abnews]

I'm a Yale graduate but can't afford to live on my own, so I share an apartment with my mom. I have no plans to move out.

New Post has been published on https://sa7ab.info/2024/08/11/im-a-yale-graduate-but-cant-afford-to-live-on-my-own-so-i-share-an-apartment-with-my-mom-i-have-no-plans-to-move-out-2/

I'm a Yale graduate but can't afford to live on my own, so I share an apartment with my mom. I have no plans to move out.

The author, left, loves living with her mom, right.Courtesy of Mia TsangAfter graduating college, I couldn't find a full-time job, so I moved into my mother's apartment.Multigenerational living is heavily stigmatized in American culture but valued in my family.My mother's support has allowed me to thrive, and our relationship has never been stronger.In May 2021, I prepared to graduate from Yale University with a degree in molecular biology. Instead of pride in my accomplishment or excitement to finally enter adulthood, I was filled with dread.I had applied to over 60 job openings throughout my senior year but could not secure a full-time position in any field — let alone the highly specialized field for which I'd been trained. I had no job or plan, so two days after my graduation ceremony, I moved into my mother's rent-stabilized two-bedroom apartment in Queens.For the first summer I lived in New York, I worked odd jobs like babysitting, teaching short-term writing workshops, and editing high schoolers' college essays. I revised my résumé and sent out a job application every day. I've always been passionate about writing, so I expanded my range to include literary and publishing jobs. No bites.The salary ranges for every entry-level position I applied for were well below what I would need to live in New York City without my parents' help. Even with a full-time job, I wouldn't be able to afford to move out. But I ended up right where I needed to be.My mom welcomed me back home after graduationMy mother immigrated to the US from Ecuador when she was 8 years old, and my father from Mexico when he was 9. The three of us are incredibly close. I was raised in Rhinebeck, a small town in the Hudson Valley, which is predominantly white.Our family's cultural values constantly clashed with those of my peers' families, especially regarding multigenerational living. My friends' parents constantly emphasized to them that "the minute you turn 18, you're out."Those families seem to represent the norm around the US. In 2022, the Pew Research Center found that only 13% of non-Hispanic white Americans live in multigenerational households, compared to 26% of Hispanic and Black Americans.In contrast, throughout my life, my parents made it clear that if I ever needed to live with them again after college, no matter the reason, they would welcome me with open arms. My father has always said, "We're not just a family. We're a team. Whatever you want to do, we will support you in any way we can."My family's culture normalizes multigenerational living, so I felt comfortable moving in with my mother.I love living with my mother and have no plans to leaveSix months after graduating, I finally got a 15-hour-a-week position as a marketing assistant at a literary nonprofit. My mother was thrilled I had found a job I was passionate about and over the moon that I would have to keep living with her.Overall, it's been better than I could've imagined. We eat dinner together most weeknights and then watch an episode or two of whatever TV show we're binging together. On weekends, we go to the beach or concerts in the East Village. We even went to Queens Pride together for the first time.This time together has only brought us closer together, and our relationship has never been stronger than it is now. I am grateful for this time we have together.I still work for the same nonprofit. Though my hours and pay rate have increased, I am still not full-time, but I'm fine with that. I love the work I do and the people I do it with. That means I will be living with my mother for the foreseeable future, and I am OK with that. Not having to worry about making New York City rent allows me to save most of my income.I use the extra hours in my day to write. It's paid off: My first book will come out next February, and I couldn't have done any of it without my mother's support.