#i'm about to start taking my professor's advice and just. reach out to people directly djdbcncndf

[illdothehotvoice]

Anyways I've said it before and I'll say it again.

Hi! I'm an artist who has an interest in character design and working in video games. If anyone wants to reach out to me to work on their indie projects feel free to dm me ^^ I'm also willing to do illustration work fjxbxbxbdndndf

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

Tips For Kids Starting College

Intro classes have more homework and studying, higher level classes have more essays or projects.

Don't be someone you're not. Don't act in a way you feel like you have to act because that's the "Character" people know. College is full of people who speak your freak. Be the person you want to be and like will attract like.

If you have issues with your roommate, just be open about it. Don't bottle it up, or you'll explode sooner or later.

Come up with a "safe word" for your dorm room that you and your roommate can discreetly use to be like "Hey, I don't like this situation, can something please change". My roommate and I used "Cinnamon". If one of us had guests over the other found annoying or we wanted to sleep or whatever, we'd just work the word in. "Do we still have cinnamon toast crunch left?" And the other would just be like "Hey, let's move to the lounge!"

Take dumb classes. My uni had a whole course built around vampires in medieval literature spanning various countries. Dumb classes are a treat.

If you want to study abroad, look at your Uni page and also the page of the Uni you want to study at. Applying directly to the Uni overseas for a program can save massive money. My study abroad at Yonsei in South Korea would have been $15k, but it was $0.00 and they paid ME to come over(even paid back the airfare). The Unis already had credit share agreements, so it was simple and easy.

Do not say "I'm technically a sophomore because of AP credits." You will immediately see eyes rolling. Everyone has AP credits, chill.

Most textbooks are available in the library, and a hand scanner is cheaper than actually buying the books.

Chat with your advisor. Don't just ignore them until there is a problem, visit them once a semester just to make sure you don't get any surprises. Just a little "How am I doing?" Let them know your goals and career goals and they can recommend stuff.

If you're struggling, reach out to your professor. In my experience, they're usually really willing to chat and have a lot of advice on how to handle stuff you're not clear about. Topics or elements of the lectures- these are people who are passionate about the topic, they will be willing to chat if you say specifically what you're struggling with (don't just hit them with "I don't get it").

[hraishin]

prompt: "yeah i'm not sure about marriage" bits and pieces of a conversation cause a misunderstanding

First of all, thank you for this prompt love! It was really fun to make shwnwhjssh I ended turning it into some kind of fluff in the end and I hope you like this either way. Second of all, hopefully you like Cherik cause my brain went directly to them with this ha

Erik really never liked to eavesdrop on anything, he respected people's privacy as if it was some kind of unspoken law of his, and he didn't listen to conversations behind doors, didn't matter how interesting those conversations were — even in public places he tended to shut off any conversation around him so he wouldn't listen to things he didn't need to and because he also wasn't a fan of hearing the stupid things that came out of other people's mouths. And yet, there Erik was, outside Charles' study with his ear glued to the door as his boyfriend and Raven talked inside of it. All because of one loose phrase he had heard coming from inside the room, coming to him through the parted door.

"I'm not sure about marriage."

It had came from Charles' mouth, Charles' voice saying those words, and suddenly Erik couldn't just walk away or shut it out so he wouldn't be nosy, because something in those words made him feel nervous, made his stomach twist in an unpleasant way, and he decided that he needed to hear the rest of it.

"He's good to me but he's not what I want." Charles' voice said again, and Erik felt his stomach twist even more and some heavy weight being put on his chest, pressing down as if it wanted to crush it. "At least not all that I want, and I'm pretty sure I'm not all he wants either."

Erik's breathing stopped for a while as he started to think about what Charles had said, missing a few other words being uttered both by Raven and Charles. Of course Charles was all Erik wanted, he didn't understand how Charles could think otherwise when he made it clear everyday that Charles was all Erik would ever want and need — had he made it clear? Perhaps not, if Charles were saying those things —, but it stung deep to know Erik was not enough for Charles when he was so sure…

"There's just something about Logan. I love him as well, and I know he loves me back, but the two of them just fight over and over again, it makes me wonder if I'm reading everything right, which is ironic for a telepath like myself."

Erik didn't even take notice of how Charles' words sounded flat, as if there was no deeper emotions attached to them, because all of the sudden he felt desperate, picking only the details that he wanted to focus on. So Charles loved Logan. Charles loved Logan and Erik, because Erik was not enough. He thought about what he could do about it, the best course of action now that he knew it, and he wondered if fighting for Charles' love was a good option, if proving that he was enough for Charles would change something, or if just letting Charles and Logan be together would be better, less of a heartbreak if it was Erik's decision to leave — at least that was what he told himself.

He didn't even know that Logan loved Charles, it had never crossed his mind as a possibility. They were friends, yes; Charles had helped Logan out in the past and they grew close, to the point where Logan would so anything to keep Charles safe — something that Erik appreciated on the mutant, since his main objective was also to keep Charles safe and sound. Now, he wondered when it all happened, when they fell in love and Erik was suddenly not enough. Charles had said that Erik and Logan would fight, but that wasn't really true, was it? Yes, Erik liked bickering with the short tempered man and sometimes they would push each other around, but they never really fought for real, unless Logan's opinion on their bickering was different from Erik's all this time. which only made him feel stupid. Clearly he didn't know how to read people.

"If he asks me to marry him, I don't know what I'll do." Charles continued, taking a moment to sigh, and Erik clenched his jaw. He sounded truly distressed then with that sigh. "I don't think I can say yes. Not when Logan is here and not when I know I love the two men and couldn't bear living without one of them."

If he was honest, Erik hadn't even thought about asking Charles to marry him. They had dated for years now, shared a room and were closer than Erik had ever been with anyone he dated before the other mutant, but he never once thought about officializing it, mostly because he already felt like he and Charles were married even if they didn't wear the bands — even the kids at the school thought that Professor Xavier and Mr. Lehnsherr were a married couple. And yet, now he had an answer to a question that he didn't even ask: Charles probably would say no to him because he loved someone else. Because he wanted both him and Logan at the same time.

Some part of him wanted to leave and make the choice for Charles, to let him stay with Logan instead of sticking around, but he felt his heart hurting at the idea of leaving the other man behind, handing him over to someone else when Charles still loved him for all that he said, because, in the end, Erik loved Charles more than anything or anyone. Maybe he could live with it, with sharing Charles' love, even if the idea hurt him. Maybe it would hurt less than losing the man he loved. 

He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't even notice when the door fully opened to reveal him standing there, Raven holding the doorknob as she looked at Erik with her eyebrows raised, yellow eyes staring at him with curiosity. Behind his desk, Charles had a frown that seemed very relaxed for someone who had just found out that Erik had heard the whole conversation as he held his phone in his hand. That seemed to hurt somewhat more, the fact that Charles didn't care, even if part of his mind told him that there was something that wasn't making sense there. 

"Are you listening to our conversation behind the door, Lehnsherr? I thought I heard something by the door, and here you are." Raven asked, just as relaxed as Charles. "How much did you hear? Maybe you can help us."

"Everything." Erik's voice was weak, making Charles frown more, and suddenly there was the feeling of the telepath inside of his mind, trying to find out what was wrong, worry for Erik reaching his mind as Charles looked. He saw the moment Charles' eyes widened, pursing his lips as he waited for the telepath to say something about it. All Charles did was shake his head and grunt slightly.

"Not everything apparently."

Charles' voice sounded a little louder now, as if he was demanding Erik's full attention, mind brushing against Erik's and giving a simpler order, to focus, that Erik quickly complied. The telepath raised the phone he was holding, eyes going to the screen.

"'I can't talk much more, Scott is coming back with Logan and I don't want them to see this conversation by accident. Sorry for dropping this on you, Charles'. To which I responded with 'May I tell this to Raven since she already knows about this thing between the three of you so you can have more than one opinion on the matter?' and got a positive reply." his voice had that same flat tone from before when he read what Erik could only assume was a text, making Erik frown and keep his eyes locked on the telepath for a while more as Charles' blue eyes rose up to look back at Erik. "Jean sent those earlier, asking for advice from me."

It took a moment for Erik to understand what Charles had just said, and then a moment more, where he only stood there looking at Charles with some kind of a vague expression as his mind tried to connect every dot — and Charles seemed to realize that, probably watching the development of that in Erik's mind first hand.

Charles didn't love Logan and Erik, Charles only loved Erik. Jean was the one who loved both Scott and Logan, not Charles. And Logan didn't love Charles. Logan loved Jean — and maybe Scott? That was slightly unclear still, but he assumed it either way. Charles was Erik's. Charles wouldn't leave Erik.

Suddenly, he felt the conclusion settle in his mind and annoyance came right after that. This was exactly why Erik didn't like to eavesdrop on anything, to catch loose information and make assumptions without knowing the full story.

Next to Erik, Raven was looking at him with her brow furrowed, yellow eyes going from Erik to Charles as if she understood that there was something happening but couldn't figure out what.

"Well," Erik finally said, voice hesitant as Charles raised an eyebrow at him. "she should talk to both of them."

"She surely should. Talking does solve a lot of misunderstandings, doesn't it?" Erik pursed his lips at that, cheeks blushing despite himself, and he noticed a small amused smile start to appear in Charles' lips. "Raven, can you leave me and my idiot boyfriend alone for a second? We can text Jean later, she must be busy with her mission right now either way."

"Sure thing." the woman answered, gesturing goodbye and leaving the room, closing the door behind her and leaving Erik and Charles alone.

"Seriously, Erik?"

"I just-" he stuttered for a moment, sighing once he couldn't find a good explanation, walking towards the chair right across the desk from Charles. "Sorry. I didn't mean to listen all of that, I just heard you saying something about marriage and curiosity got the best of me."

"You really thought I would want someone else?"

"...Would you?"

"No!"

"Alright." Charles chuckled at that, looking both amused and in disbelief of Erik's assumptions. "But Charles?"

"Yes, love?"

"Would you marry me?"

Charles choked on his words for a moment, eyes widening and body moving slightly on his wheelchair as Erik only looked across the desk to his boyfriend. Erik saw the moment some kind of pleased and hopeful spark crossed the blue of Charles' eyes, and Erik couldn't help but to smile softly at it.

"Ask nicely and who knows…" but Erik already knew the answer to a question that he would definitely ask sometime soon.

[cancerbiophd]

hello! i was looking through your career stories tag and was inspired to ask for some advice of my own. lately i've been feeling very lost in undergrad. in high school, i was super successful, had goals and stuck to them, and had a path in mind. however, i ended up revising that plan a million times, and now i feel super behind in comparison to my peers. i feel like i lack a ton of skills and that i'm not where i should be (1/2)

(2/2) do you have any advice? and do you/your followers have any stories about people who were successful, got stuck in a rut, but found their way back? i keep reading stories about people who didn’t do well in school then found a successful career, but i never hear about people who were successful in school, got lost, then recovered, and it makes me wonder if there’s hope for me

Hi anon! (Thanks for sending in that 2nd part again after tumblr ate it the first time round)

I fee like I took a similar path to you, and before I launch into my story, here’s my advice on some things you can try:

Break the bad habit of comparing oneself to others. We are all unique, with unique pasts, presents, and futures. To compare two people’s achievements or lack of achievements is unfair. That’s giving an experimental treatment to a sick person and another to someone already healthy and then comparing the results directly to each other. Not a good scientific study huh. Well, we should look at our lives like that too. It’ll take time and practice and a lot of active thinking, but let’s all try our hardest not to compare ourselves to others. We are all carving out our own paths. 

Talk to others with experience and get their insight. Talk to your professors, your counselors, your parents, your parents’ friends, and even older students (like me!). Ask them for advice. Ask them what opportunities you have. Ask them what career choices one can make with your interests and goals. Basically, broaden your knowledge of what’s out there in the world so you can find a niche to fit in. I really wish I had done this because I was very myopic in that “interest in biomedicine” = “clinical doctor or bust!”. I didn’t know that I could go to grad school to study cancer research and then go work in a biotech company (my current path and goal). 

Once you find a career path that interests you, try to experience what “a day in the life of” is like. Because something that sounds great on paper may not be a good fit in person, and vice versa. Options for this include: volunteering, internships, entry-level jobs, shadowing, informational interviews (where you talk to someone in the field in a casual setting and ask them what their job is like), and well-rounded research. Doing things like working in the field or even shadowing also gives you the benefit of learning transferrable skills that could help you on your next step. And that brings me to:

Take a gap year (or a few) if you feel like you need it, especially if you need to gain more experience in a certain field. It’s also a great way to give your body and mind a well-deserved break after decades of school! I took a gap year (well, 2.5 years) to work and get lab experience and it was the best. 

Do not give yourself a timeline. This sounds… counter-intuitive, but what I mean is: do not set goals like “dream job at age 30!!” “a house at age 31!!” because they may be a) unrealistic, and b) could set us up for disappointment. Also, we need to realize that we don’t know what the future will bring, and that it’s also ok to take one’s time. We’re all gonna live until we’re 70-80 anyway right? So let’s just take things one step at a time. We’ll set goals and work towards them, yes, but let’s not set deadlines for ourselves. We’ve had enough deadlines in school already! 

Don’t give up. Things will be ok. I know it’s not.. super helpful for me to say this, but it’s a real point to make. No matter what happens, keep trying. We can’t reach the light at the end of the tunnel if we stop walking forward, yeah? 

I hope those points are helpful. If you’d like more detail, or have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me!

Alright, now to my story, because I feel like I may have gone through the same thing you��re going through right now, so I want to let you know that times may get tough like it did for me, but if you keep going and trying, things will eventually be ok:

Just like you, I was pretty darn successful in high school, also did well in college (like good grades, had goals and met them, etc). I always knew my path was going to lead me somewhere amazing, because that’s how I was brought up my entire life. Then I got stuck in a rut because my original plan A (med school) turned out to not be right for me, and then plan B also turned out not right either (pharmacy school), and then I got straight out rejected from plan C (physician assistant school). I even had to change my major 3 times because of my change of plans (well, one change was because the US recession hit and my college had to cut my original program ugh), so I had to really cram my classes into the summer. I graduated college with a degree that wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to (B.S. in Microbiology, and jobs were still hard to find because of the recession, and basically nowhere to go. I had no job and had no idea what to do (or what I really wanted, really). So I moved back home with a feeling of emptiness that no end in sight. 

My plan was basically to find a job that would open doors for me in the biomedical field. I even got my pharmacy tech license, and I was applying to receptionist positions at clinics. It got to a point where I was so desperate I interviewed to be someone’s personal assistant and they were like “you are way too qualified for this I can’t hire you”. 

And I was so confused as to how I could’ve ended up on the wrong path. I mean, I knew what I did wrong (I didn’t do those point of advice I gave earlier because I didn’t know I had to do them). But I didn’t know how it went so wrong. How did I go from straight A/B’s and proactive student leader in a bunch of clubs to unemployed with no concrete plan in sight? I was bright. I was a hard worker. A fast learner. I knew I could be good at anything I did. This rut I was in wasn’t really supposed to happen. And all the while my friends were going to grad/med school or starting successful careers–a fact my narcissistic and emotionally abusive mother would remind me of every. waking. moment. She would scream at me every day that I was an embarrassment, a disappointment, a “poor investment”, etc. The look of pure hatred she would give me–I have never seen that on another person’s face ever. I couldn’t even see my friends because she essentially put me on house arrest as “punishment”. 

It really was absolute hell. I was cleaning some old storage boxes recently and I found my old diary from that time, and inside was a note. It was a note of despair and resentment and an ending that may have happened… I don’t remember how I got the strength to keep going, but I think I had conjured up the slightest sliver of hope that night, put down my pen, closed the journal, and went to bed. 

So, I kept at it. I studied for the GRE, I looked up grad school programs, and I kept applying to jobs in the biomedical field. I got picked up by a temp agency that was hiring out contract workers to local science companies, and even interviewed for a few available positions. Things were looking a bit better. 

Then I saw a job ad on craigslist looking for a research tech at a lab at my old college. I applied, interviewed, and was turned down. Bummer. Then my mother (in a rare moment of helpfulness) asked a friend of a friend who was a PI in a research institute in Florida if they wanted a totally free unpaid intern. I had a skype interview and they accepted, and I was getting ready to move halfway across the country to be a volunteer with a Bachelor’s degree when I got an email from another new PI at my old college. She had gotten my application from the first PI who I had interviewed with and wanted to meet to see if I could be her research tech. And then literally a week before I was supposed to move to Florida that PI told me she wanted to hire me. Oh thank god. I had graduated in May, and got hired at this position in October. Even though it was only 5 months, it felt like forever for me to finally find my way out of the dark cave and back into the light. 

This PI did research on cancer biomarkers. Working in her lab was one of the best things to ever happen to me: I got the lab experience I was missing, I found a love for cancer research in particular, I applied for (and got into) grad school to study Cancer Biology, and I met a coworker who eventually became my husband (and you betcha we invited the PI to our wedding and asked her to give a speech lol). 

I graduate (hopefully) next semester with my PhD in Cancer Biology, and my husband and I plan on moving to Seattle (a biotech hub) afterwards. I plan on getting a post-doc position at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, then a scientist position at a local biotech company, and then see where that takes me. Life is good now. Things really did turn out ok. 

I’m so glad I never gave up. 

And I hope you won’t give up either, anon. I pray you don’t have to go through anything as tough but! Yes there’s still hope for you! There is always hope

[agathasblackheart]

Warning: this ask contains unsolicited advice about college and financial aid. The user writing this ask is unaware of your knowledge of how financial aid, loans, advisors, and the politics of universities work so they are assuming you know very little. If advice is not desired from this stoned former college student that would fist fight God for fun and Definitely stab a shitty professor in the kidney for disrespecting my people, please feel free to delete without even reading. You have been warned.

I did go through the student loan song and dance a painful amount in college and I helped several friends decipher theirs. If I'm reading your post right, you got it right on the money (lol) about the sub vs unsub loans, with sub not developing interest until post graduation and unsub starting to gather interest from the moment you take it out. If you wind up needing more money, you can look into a parent plus loan if you have a parent who can sign for it. Parent plus loans are loans your parents take out For Your School to help bridge any gap left between financial aid and your due balance. If you Cant get a parent to do this...there's more than one way to cuddle a kitty.

The whole mess is stupidly confusing, I know, but I recommend emailing your advisor if you need help OR email financial aid department. FA can be pretty useless a lot of the time but its good to be able to say "I already checked with financial aid and they didn't help me At All" when talking with an advisor or professor for help deciphering it all. Since I have done the *email advisor* *gets told to email FA* *emails FA* *gets told to email advisor* *emails advisor and actually gets advice now* before. If you don't have an advisor yet or don't know who they are, email a secretary in the department your major is in or just anyone in the department you can find and say something along the lines of "hey, I'm sorry for bothering you, I know your time is valuable and I appreciate you reading this and any help you can give me but I am totally lost and confused. *insert details of problem here* Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated but I understand with the upcoming semester if you're unable to. If so, could you please point me in the direction of someone who could help me?" As long as you thank the profs for their time and are grateful, they normally will help however they can or point you to someone who can help more. Advisors are there to help you so seriously don't hesitate to shoot them an email. If your advisor is useless, ask to change advisors. You can either ask your advisor this directly if you're feeling bold or just ask their boss/department head. I know people that straight up asked their favorite prof "hey, can you be, like, my advisor? My current one isn't helping me reach my goals" And the prof was just like "sure, I guess, lol" in return.

All emails Should be easily found on the school website under professor profiles for the department. If not...find one email in the department and email them, asking for help and more addresses.

I hope this totally unsolicited advice helped a bit and wasn't a total waste of your time. I wont blame you if you just delete it since I know you didn't Ask for advice but I saw your post and I know a little about student loans and wanted to share what I thought might help. Good luck!

Thank you so much for the help!! I appreciate any and all advice provided to me when I come to tumblr and use it like a diary 😂 but truly this was helpful just to confirm I was understanding correctly and learning about the parent plus loans. I don’t need that one thankfully, though I will probably have to be taking subsidized and unsubsidized loans to get all the aid I need. Plus I doubt either of my parents would even be able to get that kind of loan for me. Their credit is terrible 😂

I do have an advisor and he seems like a pretty cool guy. So he’s already helping me with some other stuff right now, but I’m definitely reaching out to the financial aid office for more info and assistance but if they tell me I’m SOL I have an appointment with my advisor soon so i can just bother him 😂😂

But I enjoy unsolicited advice when it’s things Im not educated in, so thank you random citizen!