#they dont know about the classes he taught at the community college or the high school

[kerink]

guy who literally cant stop thinking about lubelle seeing cecil as a washed up deadbeat who dragged carlos down when he was vulnerable then baby trapped him, and lubelle and her team pitying carlos and wanting to help him because they miss the man he used to be, but carlos keeps avoiding them pushing them away dragging cecil and his team away from fights, looking at them with sad and tired eyes and asking them to just leave him alone

[theradicalace]

💕 tell us about one of your favorite characters and why you like them!

i see you talk about those funny kids from fnf (talk about lotsa characters itll be fun im interested)

"lotsa characters" you say 👀? alright, you asked for it /lh

this is gonna be decently long, cause it'll be a mix of headcanons (in bold) and other nonsense

so let's start with my personal favorite: pico (my beloved)!

-this orange haired man has rotted my brain entirely.

-oh my GOD i just want him to be happy

-canonically schizophrenic which i actually didn't know until now

-he's totally at least partially latino and can speak spanish change my mind

-he/it pico lives in my head rent free

-he can actually sing really well but usually doesn't around people

-secretly a massive theater kid but shh don't tell anyone he has a reputation to uphold

-taller than blake (bf), the same height as nene, NOT taller than gabby (gf) and darnell

-didn't formally graduate high school for obvious reasons but he did get his GED

-IN A HAPPY POLYAM RELATIONSHIP WITH BLAKE AND GABBY SHH THIS ONE'S CANON IN MY HEART

-they encouraged him to go to therapy

-learned sign language for blake the first time they dated

-taught sign language to gabby

-i think he's genuinely a very responsible gun owner. i normally don't like people who open carry in public but for some reason it doesn't bother me as much this time

-he canonically would have majored in computer science if he went to college i hate that he was robbed of the opportunity

-he goes back to college after he starts dating blake and gabby, at their encouragement

-he graduates top of his class

-he picks up ukelele as a hobby while he's in college because i think it suits him

-canonically wants to be a dj

-successfully becomes a dj as a side gig after graduation

-I SO DESPERATELY WANT HIM TO BE HAPPY

alright this post is gonna literally only be about pico if i don't stop so let's move on

the little beep bop man himself, boyfriend! (i call him blake):

-canonically bi we love that for him

-i know that his name has pretty much been confirmed to literally just be boyfriend but i refuse, i cannot call him that

-for some reason i seem to be the only one who wasn't surprised to find out he was 19

-a lot of people seem to think he was like 15?? i don't see it

-his concept art originally had bright pink hair what a king

-half japanese

-i accept the "miku is his sister" bit as canon it's just cool and fun okay

-the blue hair runs in the family

-he's CONFIRMED to be autistic and adhd i just found out i thought that was just a headcanon of mine but it turn out that i'm right as i always should be

-frequently nonverbal, communicates a lot with sign language

-japanese is his first language

-he learned spanish for pico bc it's pico's first language and LOOK im a sucker for "person learns their partner's first language for them"

-trans (but everyone knew i headcanoned this right? how could i not)

-he's actually the one who broke up with pico the first time around bc fuck those boring ass "pico breaks up with bf to keep him safe/bc he thinks he's not good enough/doesn't deserve him/whatever" hcs and fics, those are boring

-breaking up with pico was hard on him, but he did it because he recognized that pico was not ready for a relationship emotionally with regards to his trauma and everything, and staying would only hurt them both

-he was right, but that didn't make it any easier

-is him being a college dropout canon? i dont remember if that was canon or not

-i think his parents are probably not bad people, but they're the kind of parents who let work come before their kid. they were there, but not really THERE. trying to win him over with gifts and stuff when he just wants to spend time with him

-but they turn themselves around when he gets older and they realize "oh shit we actually weren't there for most of our son's life"

-it doesn't fix everything, obviously, but they put a sincere effort in and adult blake has a much better relationship with his parents than he did when he was younger

-hm maybe i'm projecting my own desires a bit with that last one haha what i didn't say anything

anyway

girlfriend! (i call her gabby):

-once again, it seems like a bunch of people thought she was younger than she is and i don't get it

-lost her SHIT when she found out that blake and miku are siblings

-she's a huge miku fan

-she tried to learn sign language on her own, but really struggled with it until she started getting lessons from pico

-she once dyed her hair blue to match with blake

-most people assume she's the fashionista of the poly trio, but she literally just wears her mom's clothes, shes not the fashionista

-she's also not the "brains of the relationship" like many people seem to think. that's just weird creepy language that i reject.

-SHE'S NOT MANIPULATING BLAKE FUCK OFF

-blake was her first partner, and she knows so little about being human, so when things got... let's say intimate for tumblr's sake, between them she needed a lot of guidance on what was good, what was painful, what walked the fine line inbetween, etc

-i mean, you should having those conversations and communication with your partner about intimacy regardless but especially when they're a demon who's never dated a human

-even outside of the bedroom, blake has taught her a lot about being human, and really helped her grow as a person

-it's growth she COULD have done by herself, sure, but it's a lot easier and faster when someone's helping you through it

-SHE IS ALSO CONFIRMED AUTISTIC AND ADHD EVERYONE SAY THANK YOU PHANTOMARCADE

-her parents homeschooled her

SPEAKING of her parents

the dearests! (i don't have names for them lol):

-lumping them together because i really only have one thing for them and that's that

-they're really not bad people either. they love their daughter to bits, and if they had someone to guide and teach them the way blake did to gabby, they would absolutely come around. they honestly think they're doing what's best for her. obviously this doesn't make it RIGHT, but they do say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

okay moving on

the spooky kids, skid and pump!:

-i'll be real i don't know much about them or their source material

-i just think they're cute

-they stay on good terms with blake and gabby after their appearance in week 2

anyway

senpai, our favorite slender bishonen ;) (i call him seth!):

-HE'S NOT DEAD FUCK YOU

-canonically an entirely different character from spirit, which is good, because idk fuck all abt spirit

-i want him out of that video game right now

-when i tell you this guy gives me such "gay and homophobic" vibes...

-he's also trans

-i accept "monika is his sister" as canon in my heart

and rounding off with...

tankman!:

-i dont know anything about tankman. literally zero.

-HOWEVER.

-he has this line of dialogue

-which implies that he either dyes his hair or at least used to, and has gotten hair dye in his eyes

-i love that for him

-also he's canonically asexual. king.

-like yeah the tweet that confirms it is a little bit mocking but confirmed representation is confirmed representation.

-okay i like tankdad a little bit

-i saw a really good tankdad fic with him apologizing to pico about the school shooting comment because that was genuinely fucked up

-look i just want pico to have a father figure of some sort because his actual (unnamed) father is implied to be a shitty dude who doesnt love him and

-dammit, i'm talking about pico again

-i went back like 6 times to add more stuff to the pico part of this post and now i can't even keep it contained to one section

[ms-demeanor]

After reading your "ultra-long postivity post", now I have kind of a weird feeling because i relate a lot to pretty much everything you said, but i ended up approaching the "not everyone can x" from the opposite side, being the "gifted kid" teachers used to hold everyone to unrealistic standards (that i knew most couldnt achieve in the given timeframes), and now i get frustrated when i dont develop skills immediately, because i have done it before and feel like i should be able to and aaaaaaaaaa

Funny story: when I was a kid my parents had both my sister and I tested for learning and developmental disabilities. This testing included IQ testing.

It identified that we were both “gifted” kids* and that I’m dyslexic.

It totally missed my ADHD, though!

The problem with that is that my parents. Hm.

Okay my parents both grew up in very poor families. VERY poor. And they both wanted to go to college and knew the only way that they could was through scholarships. So they became debaters. They met at a tournament in high school.

Debaters are weird. You need an efficient working memory and strong recall and the ability to think quickly on your feet. Being witty and kind of an asshole are also good traits for debaters. Basically you’ve either gotta be really fuck-off smart to be a competitive debater or you’ve gotta at least *seem* really fuck-off smart.

And my parents were champion debaters at a national level. The Whittier College debate trophy has my mom’s name written directly under Richard goddamn Nixon. My dad was on the USC debate team and competed against Harvard and won. Not only that but he ended up coaching debate for USC and Cal Tech.

So as kids who grew up in extremely poor families and were able to go to college and get middle-class jobs and buy a house because of intellectual ability my parents placed A LOT of importance on intellectual ability.

So that IQ score became a large part of my life.

First we attacked the dyslexia. The approach was basically teaching me a bunch of sight words because sounding out phonics doesn’t work when the letters get screwed up. And because I was *gifted* we did a lot of really BIG sight words.

It took about six months to get me up to speed from “memorizing the pages of a story to match the pictures because I couldn’t read along in class” to “the first book I read on my own was The Hobbit.” I guess that counted as “cured” because that was the last time I got any kind of educational assistance.

At that time I was at a gifted school, a really tiny private school that was also an after-school daycare where we did full-day classes and then did gymnastics and swim from 3-6pm. I also was there over the summer because my parents worked.

So going from “tiny private school where the teacher has you stand up in class to read your failing grade in front of everyone so that she could shame you into performing better” to “fine public school in a suburb wealthy enough to have arts programs” was a major, major change. They did an aptitude test because I was transferring in from a different district and there was much discussion about whether or not to move me directly from the second to the sixth grade.

The district refused, thank fuck.

The public elementary school didn’t *have* a gifted program so it took very little time for me to become the Certified Weird Kid. My third grade teacher had me read aloud to our class for twenty minutes a day. I taught the class the multiplication table.

When it got to be time to go to the junior high school my mom went to a meeting for the school’s gifted kids program. APPARENTLY one of the kid’s dad’s basically said “I don’t understand why you’re wasting school funds on field trips for the stupid kids, the school should spend more of its resources on kids who have a chance of actually meaning something to the world” and my mom decided that while being gifted was important it was less important than making sure I wasn’t exposed to assholes of that caliber on a regular basis.

(thanks mom, I actually do really appreciate that reprieve)

Several teachers pushed me into advanced classes - my math teacher insisted that I take the advanced algebra classes in the seventh and eighth grade.

The GATE kids *WERE* assholes and were extra bonus special assholes to me because math was the only advanced class that I was in. (At my junior high school you had to pick your elective based on what level of classes you were in - to take the GATE classes you HAD to take a music elective; if you took art, drama, shop, or home ec you couldn’t take the smart kid classes. The algebra class was a new, separate addition to the program so *some* of the kids in the “electives for dropouts” program could take algebra. Schools are really fucked up, guys, in case you didn’t know schools are really fucked up and that was BEFORE No Child Left Behind).

I got a C in that algebra class and sat in my room for literally an hour screaming at myself for being such a selfish, distracted idiot that I let myself read my books instead of studying harder for the class. (clearly very healthy, normal twelve-year-old behavior)

When it was time to go to high school my teachers made a united plea to the district to transfer me into honors/IB/AP classes.

The kids in the honors/IB/AP classes continued to be kind of awful to me. I got extremely depressed and basically started doing the lazy-but-brilliant thing of completely ignoring homework or in-class work but performing spectacularly well on tests or essays in the classes that I wasn’t catastrophically failing

I was the only person at the school who got a perfect score on the vocab part of my SAT. I was the only honors kid who hadn’t been in SAT prep classes. There was only one other kid who graduated with the same number of units as I had, we’d outstripped the valedictorian and salutatorian but three classes each. I only applied to one college - I got accepted for painting but my interviewer urged me to move to the writing program and I got accepted for that too.

My financial aid didn’t come through and my dad wasn’t willing to cosign for loans on “an art program at a trade school.”

I got accepted to Pratt Institute on their Writing for Publication track which included an internship with the New York Times for third-year students in the program.

At that point I had a Columbia Scholastic Press award for my work on my high school yearbook.

Let me tell you, the community college that I went to and spent five years variously failing and succeeding at had a fucking *killer* newspaper and magazine when I was there. The local community newspaper that hired me when I was 21 was also much better designed and edited than it had any right to be for the three years I worked there (getting paid a whole eight dollars an hour and sometimes working 20 hours straight to get it in to the printer on time).

When I transferred to the state school I got perfect grades and worked full time and won every contest offered by the school’s English Honors society (which I couldn’t join because I was a transfer student and hadn’t done honors classes my freshman and sophomore years). I started a literary magazine with some friends when I graduated; we published four full issues online before it fell apart.

You know what’s also funny?

Even the food-service job I had to pay my way though the community college I felt terrible about attending was a skills test. I was a barista, so of course for a while I was a competitive barista.

I disappointed my parents a lot. I heard a lot of “we know you’re better than this.” I got told I was too smart to be screwing up this bad. I mentioned it a couple weeks ago but my results from that IQ test got compared to my sister’s and that was the justification for holding me to a higher standard. “You’re measurably brilliant, why aren’t you acting like it?”

Here lies the corpse of a gifted kid. Look on my works ye might and despair.

I am the perfect picture of a twice exceptional gifted kid and the reason I wrote all of this out is to tell you one thing:

“Gifted Kid” is a label that someone applied to you, it has nothing to do with who and what you ARE.

It’s very, very unfair that the adults in your life used you that way. I have an exceptionally terrible memory of being singled out as the only one who passed the first test in my IB World History class; “Why is Alli the only one of all of you who is writing at grade level? You’re supposed to be the smartest kids in the school, why did you all fail?”

That’s awful for the kids around you, that’s awful for you. It doesn’t do anybody any favors if people around you are being informed that you’re setting the curve they’ll be judged against. And it really, really doesn’t do YOU any favors because it doesn’t take long *at all* for your brain to learn that that’s all you’re good for. If you aren’t the best at a thing then what’s the point, you HAVE to be best because they already SAID you were best and if you aren’t then all these other people hate you for setting a standard that even you can’t keep up with.

You end up competing with past versions of yourself and focusing on those things that make the grownups in your life praise you because the grownups in your life has praised you in such a way that it’s turned all the other kids against you.

You know who bullied the fuck out of me? The kids I taught the times tables to, the kids I read to for half an hour a day.

Those kids were MEAN to me but the teacher who told me to read Boxcar Kids to the class after lunch everyday was NICE and she told me not to worry, they were just jealous and I should be proud of my gifts.

“Anon did this in three minutes. What’s taking the rest of you so long?” - what a terrible weight to put on a child. You’re right. Not everyone can do everything.

Fucking hell.

Adults what the everloving shit is wrong with us? Please don’t treat kids like that.

Okay.

Okay.

But here’s the other thing:

If there’s any time in your life that it’s easy to acquire skills with no apparent effort it’s when you’re a child surrounded by a support system that is engaged in making sure that you can acquire those skills.

It took three adults, two dictionaries, and several hours a day to teach me enough sight-words to throw me into “look at baby genius*” territory but from my perspective as a little kid I was just reading cool stories.

I spent four hours a day in the yearbook room and ditched and failed other classes so that I could work on the yearbook. I collected hundreds of magazines to get an eye for layout. But from my perspective as a teenager it was a fun activity that I did with the closest thing I had to friends.

I’m sure that there are some skills that you had a natural aptitude for, some things that came naturally. But I’m also sure that you didn’t learn those skills with no effort, it’s just that now as an adult with a life and other shit going on it takes more effort to learn to do things.

In all likelihood you weren’t a savant who did everything perfectly the first time you tried. It just seems that way because even really smart kids don’t know when they’re bad at things and are mostly being compared against other kids (with the few rare exceptions of music prodigies or math prodigies or those kids who end up in science grad programs at 12 and boy howdy do I think there’s a whole other can of worms when it comes to the way child prodigies* interact with the world).

You wanna know what probably saved my life in the last few years?

That “anti-capitalist love notes” tumblr post.

You are worth more than your productivity.

You are worth more than your productivity.

You are worth more than your productivity.

I was actually kind of offended the first time I saw that post on my dash. “No I’m not,” I thought. “You’re only worth what you can do, everyone knows that. People care about what you do for them.”

And why the hell would I think anything else? That’s what I’d learned for pretty much my whole life.

It took me a really long time to understand that I was wrong. I matter outside of what I can do for people or how well I perform. I matter more than being able to perfectly recite poetry from memory or do calculations on command or sit down at a piano and play a piece I’ve never played by sight-reading it.

And you matter outside of that too. You’re more than your performance, you’re better than being gifted. There are people who love you for the way you make them laugh and how you listen to their stories and for the simple joy of your presence.

It’s nice to be clever, it’s handy in a lot of situations even if it does come with a lot of baggage for some people.

But god damn, it’s important to be kind.

* Personally I have issues with the way that society constructs the concepts of giftedness, genius, and prodigies. There are a lot of “gifted” kids who were the kids who scored in the top 5% of their class in school but there are also gifted kids who were doing high-level math or reading novels as toddlers; there are prodigies who showed an aptitude for music young and who were then schooled in that instrument to the exclusion of all other activities (and I bet there are a fair number of kids who might be considered prodigies if they were trained to play flute for nine hours a day and didn’t have friends but thankfully we don’t *do* that to very many people - side note, ask me my opinion about olympic athletes some time). Words like “genius” and “gifted” are very nearly meaningless and almost *never* accurately reflect skills proficiency or long-term success or are reflected in income or respect. People think that geniuses are hypercompetent robots with their shit together but literally every adult I know with a genius-level IQ is some variety or other of total fucking tire fire.

[asocier]

education headcanons: a guide*

          a lot of these headcanons aren’t set in stone due to the fact i’m just ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ about some muse’s specific education path, but i thought it’d be helpful to lay out some basics i’ve never explicitly expressed on this blog for the sake of reference and access! 

          after completing high school, alison enrolled in an arts program at a local university but only completed one full semester before withdrawing due to unforeseen financial difficulties. ever since, alison has not returned to school formally, though she continues to hone in her sewing, artistic, and designing skills via workshops offered to the public taught by some professionals in the fields she’s interested in. as such, her learning is a bit unstructured and scattered, but it’s more manageable for her and her current position in her career. likewise, the veterans of her workplace take alison under their wing and show her a lot about the fashion industry, and alison’s aunt teaches alison about some of the business aspects of running a company. you could say, then, that alison’s schooling is very immersive. if asked whether she’ll ever return to school in the future, assuming she can afford it, alison is very ambivalent. she’s more likely to pursue an official degree if she sees a real need to, though with how things are going, she doesn’t seem to have that need.

          leah graduated high school with high honors and ranked within the top ten of her class. she currently attends a large university and is pursing a bachelor’s of science in psychology. because of the type of degree she is pursing, leah has to take a wide range of required general education classes, even if they seem to not quite align with her psychology major. she’s canonically only in her second year of school, and after graduation, she intends to go on to get a master’s in educational psychology ( which is different from school psychology btw! ) so that she can work with children in the school system in the future. 

          in some timelines i’ve plotted with mutuals, leah actually continues with her psychology studies and goes on to get a phd and also remains very involved in academia such that she actually is a university professor, so this is an alternate route for leah’s future too!! it’s more likely that leah would be heavily involved in research rather than providing services to the public if she takes on this route, but a person’s path is rarely straightforward so it’s possible she does a bit of everything tbh. 

          emile knew from the get-go that he’d stick with community college right after high school. he told a lot of people that he was going to follow his father’s footsteps and be a lawyer, but deep down, he wasn’t really sure if that was something he’d actually enjoy. still, emile remains on that path for a bit, completing the necessary associate’s degree that will allow him to grasp the basics to be a legal assistant, and that’s kind of where he’s at right now in terms of career and education. he knows he wants to go back to school, and his he’s learning towards a history degree, but the question is always what do i even do with that, so you can imagine his reservation. also — money. 

          grace is still very young, so her path is very flexible, but i definitely headcanon that she completes high school as either valedictorian or salutatorian ( assuming everything goes well for her because, you know, colleges don’t like academic dishonesty ), gets into a really prestigious university, and just knocks it out of the ball park with her time in university both academic and extra-curricular wise. i’m not really sure what sort of degree grace would pursue, but i could see her studying music and trying her hand at composing. it’s also likely that grace studies economics or business since i like to imagine that after university, or maybe even during it, she gets involved in a start up company of some sort or just really involved in business in general. grace is out to be a ceo so watch out!

          i dont talk about cedric’s education a lot, but i actually do have a solid headcanon that he’s a business major. his university days were like kind of what you’d imagine for a rich white boy — he sailed through his classes and partied a lot along he way, and of course, because of who he was, he was practically untouchable, unfalliable, even though we all know that’s not true. but yeah, in canon, i guess you could say cedric has been out of school for a few years now and is definitely doing a lot of business owning seeing as how, while a bartender, he still co-owns the bar he works in and is trying to start his own business as well. 

         idk what the fuck nate does honestly, but i imagine it’s not a lot of schooling. if he did go to university, it’s because cedric was paying for it, or, it’s that the two boys lived together while cedric was in university, so nate got access to the social side of uni without actually doing the uni work. i kind of doubt that nate formally attended university after high school, and it’s probably more likely that he went to community college for a few classes to get by, but seeing as how he has terrible work ethic, it’s likely he doesn’t complete a formal degree. still, i imagine nate can really focus in non-traditional classroom setting, and by that, i mean like, online classes. so you can imagine how much he actually thrives when taking online classes for subjects he’s actually interested in, so i feel like he’d be a fan of skillshare and sites like that that make knowledge more accessible even if it is a subscription. that’s probably how nate manages to develop his craft despite being a lazy bum at home honestly. 

          my boi aito actually hated school when he was in high school surprisingly enough. it was during high school did he develop a big “fuck you” attitude to figures of authority in his school, but he mellowed out a lot in university once he got to experience a bit more freedom in classes and pathways. aito did well in high school though, following a similar path as leah and graduating at the top of his class, which confused a lot of people because he wasn’t even in class for the most part. but anyway, in university, aito is an engineering student, but he also took a lot of classes in computer science and astronomy for the fun of it. 

          he does go on to get a master’s, and similar to leah, he does have a potential route where he gets really involved in academia and becomes a professor who teaches physics and astronomy classes while conduction his own research. dare i say aito would ever combine these two subjects and deepen his study in astrophysics instead of engineering if he ever had the chance to??? potentially!! honestly, aito is such a flexible muse when it comes to academics because i swear, he just wants to learn everything. the sky’s the limit with him, tbh. 

[skies-diary]

The more I think about it, the more I think we should stop sending our children to school past grade 5.

More under the cut. TW for suicide mention, mental illness, gun violence mention, and assault mention.

Of course education is important, but schools dont really educate; not anymore. At least, "higher learning" like middle / high school and college don't. I can think of only two classes in grades 6-12 that I've ever used in my day to day life, and those were sex ed (which was comprehensive for me, but which many schools in the US arent even allowed to have on the syllabus) and home economics. The rest were really just full of meaningless facts that I was forced to memorize and that I likely won't remember by ten years after graduation.

It's not that I think people should be uneducated. It's that as early as 100 years ago, people wouldn't send children to school before they were six years old, and now preschools start enrollment at six weeks old. Its that I learned very little in my teenage years that I would ever use in my adult life. Its that school contributed to my depression and anxiety that started at age 11 when I was in sixth grade, and that I'm still struggling with today.

More than anything else, though, while elementary school taught to read and write and made learning a part of life, sixth grade and up made me hate learning. It taught me that learning is a chore to finish and be done with so you can do "fun things". It taught me that if you can't get something right on the first try, you're bad at it and theres no point trying. More than trying to get me ready to choose my own path in life, school was focused on three things; fidelity to country, unconditional respect and obedience to authority, and capitalism training.

Fidelity to country: Every single day started with the pledge of allegiance. Some kids didnt stand for it, and I wish I'd been one of them. On veterans day my senior year, our first hour teacher told the class that any students that didnt stand for the pledge that day would be sent to the office for "disciplinary action". After the pledge, the whole class was escorted down the hall to the room of a teacher who was also a veteran, and we all had to stand in a line to shake his hand and thank him for his service. At age 17, I didn't think that was too strange. At age 23, having lived through Trump's presidency and seen what nationalism and extremism looks like more clearly, I find it much more off-putting than before.

Unconditional respect for authority: For me, this really started in second grade. After first grade, I was transferred to a new school which was poorly managed. The school was understaffed and overcrowded, classrooms were wildly out of ratio and teachers were overwhelmed. My brother, in kindergarten, hardly knew how to spell his name by the end of the year, and that's only because he had extra-curricular support.

The school avoided any and all accountability by having a policy of "the teacher is always right", therefore placing all responsibility on the students for any learning difficulties they encountered. The school board thankfully let my siblings and I transfer to a more competent and less crowded school after I was physically assulted by another student (a boy from another class who tried to suffocate me), and my parents threatened a lawsuit against the district.

The expectation for unfailing respect was amplified in high and middle school, from the constant police presence in schools to the draconian dress code regulations to teachers who treated their profession like a power trip. I did have a lot of good teachers, but others acted like being a teacher gave them license to act like a drill sergeant.

Capitalism training: this is very different than career training. Career training would have taught us marketable, useful skills. Rather, my school district got us ready for the workforce by having us sit at a desk for eight hours a day, delegating us tasks to be completed in a set amount of time, or we'd have life-altering repercussions. We were young adults who had little to no say in how we spent our day to day lives. I feel like these things contributed a lot to spending my teenaged years feeling like I had no direction in life; a feeling that persists in adulthood and has caused me untold distress, from difficulty in career choice to suicidal ideation.

As a teen, I didn't really understand the point of it all. However, it seems fairly obvious as an adult. School was training for corporate life. Modern American schools are turning out kids who have very few life skills, who are primed to sit at a desk for 8 hours, completing largely meaningless tasks and putting up with bullshit from authority figures whom they know better than to question.

In my personal experience, everything past grade 5 had nothing to do with education; rather, it was a nearly decade-long indoctrination ritual to prepare children to take their place as an employee and "contribute to society" under Late Stage Capitalism. It's framed as a necessary part of life, but the truth is that historically, parents, extended family and community were the forces that educated children. They taught them the life skills useful to their time and culture. Today, for example, technological literacy is needed, but a Native American child in 1500 would have learned how to hunt, how to mend, and how to build shelter. A child in 4000 BC Egypt would have likely learned to grown plants in the Nile Delta and care for farm animals.

Learning is a part of life. Human brains are supercomputers that can recognize patterns like nothing else in the world. No teacher has to sit down a typically developing child and teach them to speak; they learn through daily life. Humans didn't learn to make fire in lecture hall. We're naturally curious and eager to learn as children, but after going through school, very few adults retain this enthusiasm.

I used to be able to read three novels in an afternoon. Now I struggle to finish a chapter. This shift did not come about until age 11, the same year I entered middle school.

Children go to school now because there is rarely any other choice. In most American families, both parents work, and if a child is in a single-parent household, it's even less likely they have a stay-at-home parent. This symptom of Late Stage Capitalism (parental absense) causes children to grow into adults indoctrinated into the system, which is causatious of Late Stage Capitalism. It's a cycle that can be hard to break.

But we have to do something. Education reform, finding a way to homeschool / educate through community, or even just stop having kids. I haven't had any children yet because I dont want to raise my babies to be corporate slaves for the Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk of their generation.

Because as it stands right now, America's schoolchildren that aren't gunned down by angry white men are coming out the other side of graduation depressed, directionless, and with one of the highest suicide rates (second leading cause of death for Gen Z) in human history.

What American schools are doing isn't just not working, it's purposefully malicious. We need to change.

[vanillastudies]

glory-of-the-snow :)

what are 10 things that make you happy/you’re grateful to have in your life?

I love this question it’s so wholesome :) feeling in a grateful mood so be prepared for some long responses lol

1. My cello and playing the cello - and by extension listening to it - really brings me a lot of joy and i’m super grateful to be able to have the one that i have and to be able to play it. honestly? dont know what i’d do without it

2. a bit adding onto that, i’m super grateful to my cello teacher, he is an amazing man and even tho he has a daughter my age i feel like i can call him a friend.

3. now that’s making me thing of my other high school teachers, they’re pretty awesome too and even if they’re not in my life anymore i’m super grateful to them and many really made a positive impact on my life.

4. im really happy that our school has a student sustainability center? they do a lot of stuff both to help save the environment on a local level, and to incorporate environmental justice thru events like free produce on tuesdays and grad gown shares and free reusable coffee mug rentals? idk it’s just amazing and i cant wait to get involved and help out w it

5. my friends! specifically the friends i’ve made at uo! they’re such a different breed of people that ive never interacted with before (weird but trust me on this lol) and honestly hanging out with them makes me feel alive

6. i’m also grateful to all the friends i had in high school, whether we’re still friends or not, bc they also taught me a lot and some of them helped me thru some hard times

7. my church community!! grateful to them and happy to have them in my life; probably one of the best parts about high school was my youth group

8. i know that social media can get a bad rap and even young people who use it say it can be toxic but honestly i’m happy to have it? whether it’s the unhealthy escape from reality way or it’s the social media made me woke kinda way, or its the i found out about some of my biggest passions and most fun hobbies like bullet journaling kind of way. 

9. this is a really small thing but sometimes the little things in life count the most right? i love walking to class on my beautiful campus, especially on a sunny day. even on deary days my college campus continuously makes me happy

10. my dog!! i miss him so much but i love him!! 

thank you for the ask! i kinda really needed this lol

flower asks!

[fredenglish]

Hello, #FeatureFriday friends! It’s been a while, but we’re back for an interview with Iclal Vanwesenbeeck: English professor, translator, and world traveler! We talked to her about her time with the department, how her experiences around the world have affected her, and the study abroad program to Iceland that she’s gearing up for. (Admissions are still open!)

1) What do you think the most rewarding part of your time as a professor at SUNY Fredonia has been?

My students. I’ve gotten to know so many beautiful minds. I’ve had the privilege of mentoring students. That’s been the most rewarding part of my life teaching here or anywhere. And I think they have helped me as much as I’ve helped them! 

I have a sense of what I want to teach that semester but it just so happens that the minute you step foot in the classroom, and you see in front of you people with emotions and thoughts and hopes and ideas,  you have to be open-minded and compassionate. And I think in some ways I find my teaching rewarding because I never compromise that. I was always someone who took an interest in students’ wellbeing, who was curious about what they thought, and never tyrannical about “Oh, I’m going to teach you this!” And now, ten years, twelve years later, I still have students who contact me, drive up to have coffee with me, invite me to their weddings. I’m happy!

2) Which of the courses that you have taught do you think students connected the most with? Which do you think you connect the most with?

My favorite subjects to teach are war and love. And I have to say, even though I sometimes hesitate teaching it, love and war in the context of Middle Eastern literature has been an intriguing experience for me as much as it has been for the students. I’ve done some interesting work where, for example, I had US veterans, US veteran writers visit my class. And we read about the Iraq War from the perspective of Iraqis, refugees. And I have to say, in the classes I teach, I have students that have those eureka moments, but never so much as in Middle Eastern lit. Because it’s a generational thing, they’ve grown up with an image of the Middle East. They’ve heard about the Iraq War, they have family members who have fought or  deployed. And it’s been a part of their lives. But for some reason I think, for more than half of my students, that hadn’t been rendered visible. Just how much the Middle East has been a part of their lives, in the post-Cold War era.

So, to render that, to make that appear to students and to ask them to echo an ongoing discourse, and invite them to be a part of the dialogue? That has been intriguing for me. And I applied some of what I do in love, romance literature, and taught exclusively love stories from Middle Eastern lit in order to de-center this idea that Middle Eastern people don’t love, don’t laugh.

That’s a very wordy way of saying: war and love. War stories and love stories.

3) What advice do you have for prospective and/or current English students?

Let’s see… [Pause] I’m not good at giving advice! But I would say to be open minded. Everyone already has something they want to study and yet I see college as an opportunity to also reach out to distant shores. So maybe learn a new language, maybe they want to study literature at Oxford for a year. Aim high, and be idealistic.

4) A big potion of your work as an academic revolves around the translation of historical works. What do you think brought you to have such an interest in translation?

Oh, thank you for that question! Um, personal reasons. And curiosity. And also, my belief in peace, and peacemaking. The reason why I translate the works of some of the American veteran writers, for example, is because I want them to be read in other languages, I want their stories to be told in other languages. Because we need that polyphony to understand war. And it is, I believe, only possible through translation otherwise you have that barrier, since you can’t be face-to-face all the time with everybody who has experienced war. Those stories have to migrate. And I don’t think there’s any other way besides translation.

As I migrate between languages and I travel, sometimes I feel homesick for my native tongue. And that makes me want to sit down and translate, to use that vocabulary. Sometimes I just spend an hour looking through a dictionary, just to see if I will catch a word that I would like to remember. That is important in life, and… [Pause] it helps me. 

5) You’ve travelled quite a bit throughout your life. How do you think your experience of travel has affected you as both a person and as an academic?

I was born in Turkey, and I was raised in Turkey. And I came to the US for my graduate degree program. And I stayed here. And in the meantime, yes, I travel often. And it so happens that my life is an intersection of three cultures and three countries and three languages: Belgium, Turkey, and the United States.

So being in Belgium, or in Ghana, or in Russia or in Iceland… I don’t see those countries as entities with borders that then determine how I should act or interact with people. When I travel, I like connecting with people and landscapes. That’s what I’m interested in the most when I travel.

But I also want to refer back to a Renaissance philosopher that I adore, Montaigne. Something he wrote, has always stuck with me: “The very act of rubbing your head against the head of others.” That you become wise as you travel. I’ve seen in the past that that is not true for all people; in fact, a critical mass of people that I see when I travel are only interested in living somebody else’s Instagram page. They want the same pictures, the same selfies, the same food. 

But for me? It has almost become a lifestyle. And I don’t see how I could give it up.

6) You’re the faculty leader of the Iceland study program. What is it about Iceland that you think makes it such a good location to study abroad?

Iceland is a sub-arctic island. It is quite remote from many locations. It is a country of 350,000 people, most people live around the capital city, so the island is not homogeneously populated. To me, it is a country that brings together modernity and tradition. In terms of landscape, it brings together  extreme urban architecture and beautiful pastoral scenery. On one hand, it has these most progressive laws towards the LGBT+ community and pay equality. On the other hand, it has a committee for baby names. Certain names aren’t allowed for babies. It’s a country that doesn’t have, from what I can say from my own research, a single stolen item in their museums. Not a single item that’s been questionably curated or smuggled. And in terms of problem-solving, and democracy, and lifestyles, it is a country that can help students do comparative analyses. 

In terms of environmental issues, in terms of equality, we have, I think, a subset of global issues that we face. If you go to Bangladesh, you will see them dealing with water pollution. In Flint, Michigan, they deal with water pollution. So we have a subset of global issues anyway. But everybody seems to find different solutions to these problems. And it seems to me that Iceland, maybe because they are a small country, maybe because of the way that their democracy and politics work, maybe because of the culture, their decision making and their problem-solving may help students analyze their own. It’s for that reason that I think that Iceland is a near-perfect place for the students to go to tackle the issues that they have studied in the classroom, and heard about for all of their young adult lives.

One example: my generation did not read about glaciers in the newspaper every two days. Your generation, almost every week there is news about glaciers. They’ve become a part of our political and environmental issues. And we have a glacier hike on the Iceland trip for students — with very responsible behavior [towards environmental impact] — to see the glacier, and understand their life cycle, and what they mean for the planet, and understand that when glaciers melt in the Arctic, we feel it in the Mediterranean. Our world, as Jacques Cousteau said: “Everything is connected.” To get these insights, you have to travel. You have to develop perspective.

For aesthetic reasons, too, Iceland is a special place to study. It’s a breathtaking country. Arresting scenery. Captivating. If you have a poet or a painter in you, it comes out in Iceland. You cannot be indifferent to the Icelandic landscape. And every time we go, from the moment we get on the airport bus, to the second we depart, students are captivated.

7) Finally: what would you say is the most important lesson that literature can teach us?

[Long pause] It hasn’t taught me any lessons. Because, then we have to see literature as almost being didactic all the time. I had questions. And literature has helped me understand my own questions and listen to how others have asked similar questions. You may not feel like you need to read in your twenties, but I bet in your fifties you will feel that urge to read. For anybody who wants to understand existence, it’s there for you.  It takes away your loneliness. It hears your questions, and it gives you more questions. For anybody who wants to understand existence, it’s there for you.

[This interview has been edited and condensed for length, with input from the subject]

[hypoetics]

Hmmm, ive been feeling downtrodden this past year and some change now

Infamous for my short comings it feels

Its never really been positive per say...

My mother had an unconventional upbringing being the child of a 16 year old in the late 70s of new orleans of louisiana

So she was rasied by her great grandma and her daughter

And those guys made it through THE great depression

So...it different

Never the less not very supportive

...she never learned to love in those ways

She probably took a lot of her anger she had about men on me when i was younger

Cant blame her i guess(literally...its to late)

She never wanted me to be anything other than a military man(i was born on a military base in watertien, ny)

And kind if put herself in denial about my sister being who they were

Amd i can literally count on my hand and the amount if times ive seen my dad since 2008

I never had a support structure

I was always the kne spuring other on

I live that shit

Taught my best friend to dance

Me and my highschool gf devolved into an old married couple before i knew it

Extended family has stolen from me, thrown me away, or never knew i existed

I like to think i was losing my mind when i ran away...

I couldnt even bring myself to ask anyone for help i felt so worthless

I could have pleaded...

But i didnt

Became a second class citizen when i went back to pick some stuff up from a friend and found out he tossed my social and birth cert into the trash, along with whatever else...his mom didnt think i was very thank for that one night of kindness they gave me

I spent a while after that sleeping where i felt safe, the back of empty dumpster, playgrounds, running tracks, unfinished houses

Before i met a friend outside of a smoke shop

It was great, i was working at freebirds at the time and i ended up staying with them for a while

I fell head over heels for someone so hard one night on acid

She was reciting the chocolate bit from spongebob

PERFECTLY

and it sent me to thr moon lmao

I was playing fez on the laptop underneath the playground we were hanging at

And everything felt right for a while

Before i realized im living in a drug den, looked like trash, and it was my first time doing drugs like these

Its what tributed to my last relationship going belly up to

We had a few moments

Lol there was this one time i was playing music before she got off and this one song by coiyuki that chanted "i love you" for kike 30secs started playing

And i reacted lol

Nothing was even happening and i just felt embarrased

There was another time i called her to let me into the store so we could talk before she got off...she couldnt so we sat on the floor on either side of the door for a little bit

She was definitely the one that got away

We both played uke, had great assests...idk we just fit together

She's the only person ive ever drawn something for with my emotions and given it too

I can only hope its still on her wall

We ended up going our separate ways after i had gotten further into drugs

She had some success on stage with her instrument

And honestly the most beautiful soul ive ever had the pleasure of meeting

Last time i checked she's deeply in lesbians with someone

And thats cool, as long as shes happy ya know

I dont talk about things i was doing while i was an addict though

Although for the most part i was still just as rad i usually...just fucking warped

But its nothing i want to brag...let alone talk about

But it wasnt pretty

A bunch of boys addicted to drugs is not a healthy situation at all

I dont even remember eating...

After that went belly up i had a friend take me in

And basicly allowed him to treat me however

Not that he was a terrible person or anything

I just let him be dominant over me for the sske of a place to stay

Which now that im coming back into my stride

Gave me some submissive habits that are gonna be tough to break healthily with the way my presence makes others feel

We had a common trauma that we bonded over

Which one one hand is the reason i think of that one chick from high school they i do still...

Basicly his live went unrequited

And mine well...idk

I just wanted to try and fix it for him

But long story short he wasnt capable

Same with me

I mean wheat done is done and everything is in the place it settled in

But watching someone go from the happy go lucky young adult

To regressing to the mind set he was in when he was happy with this person thinking she stilled liked him

Its either he realized she never did or he doesnt want to go back.

But it fucked me up

Which left me to want her more over the years

Because she's the only one i was aware of then that could without a doubt make me happy

Going against me cultivating a sense if self worth after the way that relationship ended, being disowned by my granddad iver some mail order whore, and being labeled as an undesirable in the community i was living in after some drug shenanigans everyone around me was involved in

I chalk it up to something to fixate on these days

But idk i hope im able to keep that person in my life forever

Even if our paths are diverging

I dont think i would have made it without him

After all that bs the house i was living in after moving out of there for a while

Although i did cuck my landlord on the couch after a party once

I wasnt even fucking the same

It was my first time with someone that moaned

And it was so hot at first, but she was so loud, the first time she would have woken up my land lord, the second time the door was broken to the garage and therr was a room full of people just on the other side, and the third time a house of people called me a rapist.

Which scared the shit out of me

Thinking back i should have just covered he mouth or told her to stfu you or something...would have been hot...so hot

But thay really messed with thr way i deal with women now....

Led me to not trust a lot of situations

And im hoooot so i should...:(

Idk :/

Basicly disappeared for s while after that

Had a couple good semesters at college

Which left me feeling on top of the world with an art bubble ready to pop

And then the world went to shit and i decided to do some cocky shit i regretted for a little bit but like...time and shit ya know

Oh yeah and obligatorily being ostracized from my community because i have different tastes in life style...that never gets old

Idk...i feel like the worst is finally over with

[bangtan-spells]

Jungkook Scenario: Unexpectedly You.

Request: BadBoy Jungkook (Highschool AU) fluff of where he likes the reader (good girl) and he softens up for her? + Hello there,i dont know if this request will make it or not but if it does,i want to request a fluff College!au with jungkook or yoongi where y/n is a self taught pianist and jungkook or yoongi is a sport major saw y/n when she was performing for the university's events

Genre: Fluff.

You knew you were nervous, your legs were shaking, your hands were shaking, in your head a thousand thoughts on how everything could go wrong as fast as wind, you knew how important this event was for you, not only because you would be exposing your talent and skill before the whole campus, or because in the crowd there could be a potencial sponsor, you were nervous because this could be the start of something new in your life, whatever that might be. You had always believed that it was in occasions when people were most afraid to fail, when they were nervous, fearful or hopeful of the outcome of events when life decided to give a turn and then everything wasn’t the same anymore.

For this occasion you had chosen a pretty light but still elegant short dress in white, it had some lace applications that made it look romantic but chic, as for your hair you had let it down with soft curls that were near gone. The piano had been set on the stage by a group on the music department that volunteered for the logistics of the performers this afternoon, you went there, watching the crowd turning to the stage when they saw someone was getting on it. The festival was outdoors, with a stage being in a central area surrounded by all the stand up commerce of productos made by the students.

The long piano was beautiful, they had polished it until it shone and it reflected your face. The music sheet was already there, but you didn’t need it as you knew this song by heart. You were still nervous, your heart beating faster and your breathing unsteady, but you gave a big inhalation and stretched your hands, focusing on the instrument, the thing you loved most. The piano and the music you could create with it.

Jungkook could say he liked the exhibition festivals, he enjoyed walking around without doing anything in particular watching anything and everything, he also enjoyed all the free things girls would serve him, not that he asked but he wasn’t refusing any either. Jungkook knew of a certain girl that would give him the biggest ration of chicken wings for free, if he insinuated the slightness thing to her, she was pretty so Jungkook didn’t mind. He was walking only with his friend Taehyung, since Jimin and Hoseok had went who knows where, so they strolled around the perimeter, checking out the stands, if there was anything worth their while. The sound of the microphone made Jungkook turn for a second, one of the hosts of the event, a communication major must likely, was making the announcement of the next performer. 

-A self taught pianist?- Taehyung snorted making Jungkook laugh. -Put those chicken wings on hold, this will be good, and wow- Taehyung whistled when you walked to the piano. -Miss sunshine is fine, but would she blow our tympani?-

Jungkook snickered his eyes examining you. You were indeed pretty, but he had his doubts about that self taught skill. Either way he stopped completely waiting until you started your performance, watching as you stretched your fingers and prepared yourself. You must had long slender fingers, or so they say about pianists.

-Come on- Taehyung pressed getting impatient.

Jungkook nudged at him and shushed. -Shut up man, watch-

The performance started, a low tune at first but then all of the sudden it went faster, almost merrier, making Jungkook wide his eyes.

-Girl can play- Taehyung whispered nodding.

Jungkook nodded but his eyes remained on you, the way your hands moved across that piano, how you were so immersed on your art you had your eyes closed and didn’t notice all the audience staring at you, how you didn’t need to read the music sheet. The movements were grateful and vigorous, gentle but it translated into a strong performance. Jungkook hadn’t even caught your name right when the host announced it but he noted to find our later. Right now he was hypnotized.

The festival was a success, your performance had been well loved by everyone, so much you had received offers from sponsors that could grant you scholarships in exchange of your talent, music was expensive, even if you had been self taught until now, but if you wanted any future on it you knew you’d have to step up and learn more.

Now you had to go back to the routine, particularly you liked wednesdays, it was midweek and you felt hopeful for the weekend, and also you only had a class that day so it was a bonus. You had to go all the way to the third floor of Humanites building so you were walking slowly to postpone the climb as much as you could, but then you heard something that grabbed your attention. It wasn’t odd to see intimidation in the hallways, the popular cliques always made their way, like in high school the campus had a hierarchy, although less evident than high school but it was still there. You saw the group of guys, all of them good looking, all of them overly confident,  laughing at another group who passed by them, they knew the other group, by the looks of it Science majors, wouldn’t be bothering retaliating, but it made you frown just the same.

-Grow up- you scolded when you passed past them.

They whistled amused with your attitude, you turned a bit flustered but you wanted to give them a glare. But as you were doing that one of them was quieting down the others as if he was annoyed they were teasing you. 

Out of all of them, at first sight he was the tallest and the most handsome, you usually paid a attention to a bit more than looks but this guy was attractive, although probably a douch.

-Wait isn’t she miss sunshine, the pianist?- one of them asked making you stay in place, of course they had seen your performance, suddenly you felt self conscious about it but you couldn’t find the way to tell your legs to move and just not waste your time with these guys.

-Shut up- the same guy said and then he looked at you, oh he was indeed attractive, but you refused to consider him nothing more than a bully. -Go, Y/N-

It impressed you how he even knew your name but as the group was howling now teasing him because he had defended you you decided it was better to save your dignity and go away before they got the wrong idea and thought you knew him or something of the sort.

It was like something had snapped in your routine after that, because from that day onwards you seemed to encounter with the same group of guys everywhere. They were in the food court the same time you happened to go to grab a quick lunch, they were at the north gate of the campus, the ones you frequented the most since you could get home sooner going from there, you even found two of them in one of your classes, different ones, but you hadn’t noticed them before, how?

 But neither of those two were the one who had spoken for you the other day, you still didn’t know his name, but you did notice he looked at you whenever you’d bump into each other. Neither of them teased you anymore, at first you had thought it must be a prank from this group and that they were somewhat chasing you, but then you felt dumb when you found out it wasn’t like that. As none of them said anything to you or even looked at you inappropriately, well, that if you didn’t count the way that black haired guy stared at you. Like he was interested, and honestly you didn’t know what to feel about that.

It wasn’t until next wednesday when the black haired guy talked to you. You found him at the same place he had been laughing about the science guys last week. He was standing against the wall in a relaxed posture, you noticed him even from a distance, the girls walking around stared at him, the guys walked faster, he was unbothered but still there was the ghost of a smirk on his lips, like he did enjoy the reactions after all. This guy was trouble.

You propped your head up and tried to not look at his direction as you were approaching him, but just when you were on the closest point your eyes diverted from the stairs, your objective, and went to him who wasn’t longer by the wall and instead was taking steps towards you.

Biting your lip to hide a sudden yelp of pure nerves you pressed your pace but he said your name.

-Y/N, wait!- 

You stopped walking after your heard him, scolding yourself mentally you turned to him, putting on a frown to hide your nerves. 

-Wow- he lifted his hands and smiled like he was harmless, you really doubted that, even if he had a great smile.

Jungkook realized he was nervous when he saw that frown remained in your face, he really wanted to talk to you, but apparently you disproved of him. It was all because of the guys and his constant teasing and laughing at everything that moved, he had to admit it was fun, but it was immature. You seemed like the type of girl who was above all that, a good girl, you weren’t exactly the type Jungkook would linger around, but since he had seen you on stage on the festival he couldn’t get you out of his mind. 

He had thought that maybe he could use his trademark moves on you to swoon you, but he wasn’t so sure of what he got anymore, you wouldn’t fall for that.

-Yes? I’m in hurry if you don’t mind…- you said trying to sound tough but your voice came out more shy and soft than fearless. 

He was a bit taken aback when you spoke, you didn’t know why he just kept staring at you, then he cleared his throat and again his mouth sported a little smirk. -It’s nice to meet you, I’m Jeon Jungkook-

Now you were taken aback, you weren’t expecting him to introduce himself in plain hallway, you had thought he would say something else but then he said that and of course your main instinct was to introduce yourself back. -I’m Y/N, nice to meet you- damn your good manners.

-I saw you at the festival- he admitted with more confidence. -I thought since we have been seeing each other all these days It was only proper if I talked to you-

You actually laughed at that. -Why?-

-Why?- he asked back as if he didn’t expect you to demand an explanation. -Well, because it is the right thing to do, and I like to do the right thing-

-What a good boy- you smiled again, and then reprimanded yourself, had you just blatantly flirted with the trouble guy? You had to end this conversation as soon as possible, this guy caused in you some weird things and you barely knew him to not say you didn’t know him at all.

Jungkook licked his lips and put both hands on his head for a second like he hadn’t expected that and he didn’t know what to say for a moment, so you started to walk away. -Wait!- he called and you turned your head to him. 

-I need to go-

-I just wanted to say about the other day, it isn’t like that, you know how it it is between guys, it is kind of stupid but we treat each other like that-

You frowned a little, that sounded right since sometimes dynamics between guys were just plain weird. -I really need to go-

-It’s ok but… maybe you can come see me, come tomorrow at the end of the afternoon, I’ll be by the indoors pools-

See him? This guy was really something, you didn’t know what to say so you just waved at him and kept on walking pushing yourself to not stare back to prove if he was there watching you go or not.

The next day you spend restless, all day you could only think if you should go to the pool or not. He was attractive yes, but he was surely a player, did he see in you an easy target? You didn’t want to think that, you didn’t see yourself as an easy girl and you neither were one. 

Jungkook was his name. He had said he had seen you at the festival, had he watched all your performance? Was he into music? You were curious to know about it but you were also hesitant as to which were his true intentions, guys like Jungkook were known to be trouble, guys with smile like his, eyes like his, so attractive and alluring.Why go out of his way to talk to you, a stranger. And he had said he wanted to talk, he meant he wanted to get to know you or had that been an excuse.

You had many thoughts in your mind through the day and as if it was destiny that thursday you had just two classes, one early in the morning and the other at mid afternoon, so technically you were in campus already.

You could go there and see what he wanted, find out if he was just another guy looking for just sex or he genuinely wanted to get to know you. You bit your lip, you were being stupid, you had only talked with the guy once, or one and a half times and you were thinking all these things.

The indoors pools had their separate building, it had been a donation of some benefactor or such was was everyone told when asked why they were in an individual building. It was quite a walk there but it served you well to ease your nerves. This wasn’t a sex date or anything, but you had never gone to meet a guy before, so you felt awkward, usually guys would pick you up to go to dates, but he had asked you to go see him. 

-Surely an idiot- you sighed when you reached the building, still giving it a chance.

The building wasn’t completely alone but the place where the pools were was, except for one swimmer in the pool. You thought if maybe this had been a joke of Jungkook, but then you went more into the room watching the guy swimming in what you thought was freestyle. You sat by some benches and looked at him doing laps, his velocity showed his strength, he had a wonderful back that was for sure. If this was really him… You shook your head but smiled, if this was really him he had invited to see him like this, then either he wanted to impress you or to boast about himself. The latter made you want to scowl but the former made you even more confused.

Your eyes followed the swimmer as he changed course and now he was swimming straight towards you, which confirmed he was indeed Jungkook. He inhaled deeply and placed his hands on the edge of the pool, pulling himself up with the strength of his arms and back. You stared at him, how he took off the goggles and the cap, exposing himself entirely. You couldn’t stop staring, his more than well built body covered by the swimming suit, it was a mid thigh one, but the extra fabric clung to his body like a second skin and you had him in front of you, even if he was covered the muscles of his arms and abdomen were pretty obvious, and below that more than so, but you forced to keep your eyes up until you saw his smirk and you turned your head.

-You came-

-Did you have to get out from here?-

Jungkook shrugged walking closer to you. -My towel is here- 

You looked at your side and indeed, in the floor there was a duffle bag from where he took out a white towel.

-Oh- you were red to the ears and you didn’t want to look at him but he sat beside you and you just turned to him to see him with a smile this time, a genuine one in place of the smirk.

-I thought that since I have already seen some of your skills you could come by and watch mine, now we are even-

You nodded, that made sense. You felt shy, maybe because he was too close, wet and without much clothes, or maybe because this supposed bad boy wasn’t just that. -You are good-

Jungkook breathed deeply with pride, he was feeling too good with your compliment. He knew inviting you here was a high bet, he had thought you wouldn’t come but then when he saw you from the pool he had forced himself to do better so you would see him, and it had paid of. He had never felt so proud for impressing a girl before. 

-You are pretty good too, a pianist- you nodded looking down for a moment to then go back to his eyes. -Can I see your hands?-The question made you look down again at your own hands, like wondering what they had of special and Jungkook thought it was the cutest thing he had ever seen. -I’m curious about an artist’s hands, sorry if that’s weird-

Slowly you extended one to him, Jungkook touched it light holding it with his own carefully, it wasn’t too small or too big, long fingers, short nails and soft skin. You were blushing to your ears and Jungkook thought he might be blushing too.

He let go of your hand and looked up before running a hand over his eyes. -Sorry if that was too much-

You were touching your hand, your nerves tingling all over because he had touched you, and he seemed so fascinated it made you more curious about him, he had already apologized twice, which told you this supposed overconfident guy was perhaps a bit selfconcious. -It’s ok, I mean, I don’t think its anything special-

-They are pretty, your hands- he confessed when he took his hands away from his face and he was blushing a little.

-Thanks- you said softly, too shy to think of anything else.

-So, Y/N, what are you doing after this?-

You shrugged, you had forgotten everything you had to do in life for a moment. -Eat?-

-How about if we do it together?- he asked and then cursed lowly. -Eating, I meant, don’t misunderstand, how about you and me, going eating after this-

You giggled at his little outburst that had been kind of cute, Jungkook was really hot and handsome, but discovering he could be cute like this made you smile. You were just going to eat with him, if you didn’t like him then you could go, but for now you wanted to see what else could you discover about this confusing bad boy Jeon Jungkook. -I’ll be ok with that-

[cheswirls]

a quick sum-up of che’s future career plans, bc reasons

im halfway through the dive!! anime show that came out this summer season, and i’m having a lot of thoughts, and plus i finished going through all the footage i missed today of skate america while i was at a bball game, and it’s made me realize different things i guess? 

it might be mid-long length so its going under a cut, but to gain intereststart off, this is all about my desire to be an athletic trainer for the usa olympic center at colorado springs, co !

ive been an at(now when you see that abb. you know what it means hah!! not assistant teacher hmm) student since my freshman year of high school, and i’ve loved it a whole bunch. back then i was set on going to columbia U for their writing program, and i wanted to major in graphic design afterwards/during/it wasnt super planned out i was a fr. i didnt know what bfa or mfa stood for yet. it wasnt until end of sophomore year than i thought about being an at for realsies.

but i also still loved gd. so there was a confliction there.

junior year i took a break from working volleyball in the fall and did my one and only year of football and it was terrible primarily bc the team i worked with didnt know how to function as a group and half the group were selfless bitch whores but like thats another storyyy, secondly bc i jus really discovered i didnt care abt football at all. it was mostly for the experience and i gained it and i liked it bc i hung out w a lot of people from helping out w varsity (i was one of two our of the five juniors that had been there since my fr year and was only on jv bc it was my first year w football, but one of the seniors had to work a bunch so when they needed an extra person i was the one w the most experience so i was w them a lot,) point was it was fun!!! and you have fun w ppl you like that you dont work w all the time and i shouldnt say fun bc lots of times it was awful,

basically! it was fun being w the varsity trainers which were the seniors and the other junior that had been around since fr year. volleyball was fun but it had always been a one-at-student-per-team sport , so it was different jus being w other ats that shared the same team and not the same sport(which in the us is made up of at least three different teams, a fr,jv,and varsity). it was a more open environment and so it inspired a lot of talk with the at grad students we had that semester (we got 3-4 every semester in a partnership w the D1 uni in town, it was always cool to hear stories from them!) and anyway i remember talking w a couple of the grads one practice and we were discussing all the different occupations athletic trainers could have, and what they wanted to work with in the future, and the topic veered towards professional sports and the olympics.

i thought it was really cool when we were talking about it, and then we got busy and it flew out of my mind. i dont remember when it came back and became a focus, but sometime before my senior year, i had decided i wanted to work at the olympic level.

real quick i mentioned gd and the struggle, so to bring that into focus, my junior year i took a whole bunch of different tech classes (gd&i, compsci, webtech) and in one of those, i had the opportunity to go to a ... i cant remember what the term was for it, but it was kinda an event for gd students and it had a little competition and stuff, and it was really fun! nd you got a lot of info abt the community college hosting it and i learned their program was really good, so the gd versus at internal struggle continued, and i remember talking to my sponsor teacher (she actually taught all three of my tech classes that year aaa i loved her) about how i didnt know what to do and shit and i dunno what she told me but like, i think she was trying to be encouraging but she basically said it was up to me, like she didnt try and nod me into a direction, that i can recall.

so SOMEHOW bc i honestly cannot remember, by senior year i’ve decided that im gonna jus fuck it and pick BOTH and double major in gd and athletic training. AND i had it all planned out, where i was gonna get a degree in gd and open up an online business, and then go into a masters program for at and then enter into the olympic field. 

by this point creative writing is still cool and a great hobby but i couldnt possibly double major AND have a minor that’d be too much. id still love to take a cw course tho one day.

basically a buncha crazy stuff happened that first semester but by winter break i had an acceptance letter to a uni a couple hours north of home with a good accredited undergrad program (accredited basically means you graduate w a masters in four years so its fasttracked which woulda been great but uh..) and by the time i found out that next semester that they were doing away with the accredited program i was already too emotionally invested to consider panic-switching(panic bc it was february and id already been admitted hah...) but i decided it’d be okay. basically if you dont remember/werent around one of my school’s head ats died in a car crash died around early october ‘16. she went to undergrad where i go now, and i’d talked to her about it september that semester wondering if she knew anything abt their program and uh surprise, she’d done the same program small world. after the funeral in november and a ton of thought i applied there. (november was.. crazy in general last year. rly crazy)

may was when i started adding on sports to the future olympics job, bc i started thinking about it and after finally getting a friend to watch yuri on ice, he started making his was through all of sochi’s figure skating stuff, and then the 2010 vancouver olympics, and i decided i wanted to recap a bit on that too.

the 2010 olympics was really my first experience with figure skating. i’m a west texas gal and so theres not a lot out here to get exposed to, so seeing these best-of-the-best class sports was fun, and the earliest experience i can remember of such. i was in fifth grade so i dont remember a ton, but i do remember being captivated by korea’s yuna kim, who won gold that year in fs. shes an fs legend at this point, so if you’re into figure skating and don’t know who she is, go look her up. you wont be disappointed.

in 2012 was the london olympics. i remember a lot from it, like watching the opening ceremony with my parents and seeing the queen jump out of a helicoptor(which is like,, still cool to this day wow) and being fascinated my michael phelps and all the swimming he did so grandly. it was also my first real exposure to diving. the oldest i could recall anything abt the sport was at a pizza hut somewhere.. in town i think, and i was w my best friend at the time and my mom was there so i think maybe we were on the way back from the lake??? sounds right, i think. and we were talking abt how i always held my nose when i went underwater bc i didnt know how to not get water all up my nostrils and be underwter(and i still dont to this day aha) and she mentioned like, joining a diving team would be cool! would help me get over it and all! and i like recalling it dunno what she was talking abt bc we lived in dirt city nothing so i highly doubt there was or is any sort of diving sport happening. swimming, yeah maybe, there were lessons at pools and bodyworks areas around town, competitive teams im not sure tho, but not diving like at all so??? dunno.

so my next and technically first real experience with it was watching the london olympics. and i thought, wow, this is so neat!! i watched from that one day like the opening events, and i think i was old enough to search online like yea i had a laptop by then so i looked up the schedule for the things i wanted to see most of, and i ended up watching i think most of the diving events (i missed a couple for.. archery, i think? maybe?) and absolutely loving it. iunno what it was, maybe something i never thought i could do?(bc not hold my nose?? while i dove???????? scaryy) but i enjoyed it a bunch.

i was older when sochi was a thing, my 8th grade year. i was able to appreciate things a lot more. when i tuned into events, tony hawk and snowboarding were the main focus, but figure skating was on a lot as well. i had a tv in my room by that point, so if i didnt like what was playing on the main tv, i could go watch another event. i learned a lot of names and faces through that, and so while my bff was watching it our senior year if i was with him id point out skaters and their nationalities and stuff, like yuzuru hanyus always been a modern day household name w figure skating, but i leanred abt him BECAUSE of the sochi olympics, and he was one of the ones i’ve never forgotten. i really really liked it, so much that i watched worlds after, and around the same time my fr year, i tuned in to just the worlds championship again. i didn’t pick up trying to watch grand prix(which is their regular season, for those unaware) season until my junior year, and most of it was day-or-two-late videos from youtube, since the ice channel i think it a paid-for thing (i still dont know much abt it hah) and nothing was on tv otherwise, aside from the skate america event. but since that first time after sochi, ive always been around watching worlds fs near the beg of each year. i’d familiarized myself by senior year with the fs world, and actually,

early (i think march?) of my junior year, i searched up trying to find a figure skating anime at the time. and what did i find?? ginban, the only figure skating anime at the time. i watched like maybe all of one episode, it was abt a girl who shared her body w the ghost of a former figure skater while she was competing in events, and it was.. okay? lackluster, in the animation dept, but it was a 2005 show so.. yeah.

so after that i was like kk that wasnt good lets find another. and i didnt. not yet, anyway. instead, i found an announcement for violet evergarden’s animated adaptation, and yuri on ice, a realistic adaptation of the sport of figure skating. thats bolded bc its important. i found that shit abt yoi before it even had a promo poster, certainly before the pv came around that got everyone hyped up. i found it bc i was looking for figure skating in the first place. in fact, i think when the pv came out and got popular, i didnt even relate it to the upcoming fs anime i’d read about previously. it took me a bit to connect the dots. 

watching yuri on ice at the same time as the gp 2016 season was surreal, but really interesting. i got my bff into it before the second to last episode came out, and i only remember that bc he finally showed any interest when he found something on twitter abt it being gay (newsflash/// hes gay, and before yoi his fav show was no6 bc that was as close as it got. he still rly likes it, we both do, but his solid favc is now definitely yoi. representation matters and all) and was like well now i HAVE to watch it and i was all yes it ends soon so pls. and he watched it twice in a weekend, and thrice before the finale came out, and then a few more times after that, iunno how many times but certainly more thn i have(i went back after the .. maybe ep 10? w/e ending had the after party reveal that changed everything, so i went back to analyze everything before the next ep) and between the week of 11 and finale 12, he started watching the sochi fs competition, and then the 2010 after the show ended w ep 12. 

seeing this great fs show and getting a friend into the world of figure skating really renewed my love for it all. before the semester went out i went back and watched the reruns of the sochi fs stuff. and by may i’d decided i wanted to cosider that to be the sport i worked with.

with diving, it took a similar twist. in the form of the rio 16 olympics. i was all over that shit, i downloaded an nbc app on my phone so i could watch events live while i traveled with volleyball to a tournament in dallas and while i was at practice w them at home and generally jus away from the house and a tv. i planned that shit out had a schedule and everything for what i was watching live, and a lot of it was swimming, but a whoooole lot of live stuff was the diving. 

in the hotel room in dallas the tv would always be on to w/e olympics events were airing at the time, either track or diving tho, one or the other, or recaps. quite a few girls ended up in the room in the evening and we’d all do stuff and watch in passing at the same time, and it was suuuuuper fun. watching the chinese women perform flawlessly and walk away w all the gold was fun, but finding a good commentator to actually say such was a disheartening challenge( one of the most memorable moments w live commentary that year was hearing a woman say of one of the chinese ladies that she’d done better before, after they revealed her personal best score ever like rly cmon be unbiased and jus passionate abt the sport youre covering pls.

ive always been super fond of the diving scene. it may not be as much as fs, but honestly, i wish i grew up in an area w a diving team now, or wish i could try it out now, bc thats how much fun it seems. i still wanna go up to the big city like 30min away from uni and learn to ice skate in the civic center there, but hands down if i had to pick a sport to join tomorrow or die i’d pick diving. 

so also by may, and throughout the culmination of senior year, diving was the second sport on the olympic to-train-for list. you get a five-year contract w the olympics, now i think it’s usa as a whole and i think its by center so say, if i get a job in colorado springs i cant apply in another five years to chula vista or even like lake placid, but iunno for sure. the five-year thing is involved somehow bc i’ve heard it from a physical therapist and trainer-that-works-in-a-sports-med-clinic duo in one body named sarah, who’s been contracted out from the clinic by my high school since junior year also, bc she knows people who’ve worked w the olympics, and then another from church that worked w olympics that knows my family uh iunno how well but i know of him, i think he also works in the clinic as some sort of on-hand surgeon but a diff person than who sarah knew. so its five years somehow and then i’ll take my bfa in gd and open my online business and do that from a studio at home and look after my owl/cat pet combo.

since may, it had been ‘olympics, with either figure skating or diving’. and it stayed that for a long time. now, since a couple weeks ago, and this is again while gp season is happening for fs, its diving. i wanna work w the usa olympic diving team as their team athletic trainer, and i cant do it this summer bc i have to have completed two years of uni, instead of a certain standing, like be a junior, but so NEXT summer, before my senior year of uni, (i came in a sopho so 6 sem only ah) i’m applying for an internship at the center in colorado springs, and that’s the team i hope i work with. 

now i tell people, diving, but if i get offered figure skating, i’ll take it, but diving is the goal now. if i love it and wanna continue professionally, great, i can do that and have an online gd shop. and if i decide i want something different? i’ll work olympics and then join w a professional-level figure skating i actually dunno how it works. coach, and their skater in turn. coach, with multiple skaters under them. a culmination of diff usa skaters. w/e, something in the professional fs world.

and thats uh, thats it! dive has been so much fun to watch, and i realize i talk a lot on here about working w basketball and being an at student in general and the vast majority have no idea what i mean, so hopefully this clarifies. thank you!!

[jobsinthefuture-blog]

Online Learning Vs. Traditional College Education - 2017

New Post has been published on http://jobsinthefuture.com/index.php/2017/11/13/online-learning-vs-traditional-classroom-education/

Online Learning Vs. Traditional College Education - 2017

I have seven years of traditional college education, over two years of online education, and I am passionate on writing about the subject of education and job opportunities in the present and future.

I want to take a moment to help you define the benefits of each and what will be best for you. You are going to be entering college/online education for the first time or you are looking for a career change, which educational resource is right for you?

When I entered college it was the obvious choice. You graduate high school enrolled at a community college or private university and after you graduated, BAM, you received a job.

But that was when I entered college. By the time I walked across the stage four years later I was overwhelmed by the shift in the job market, and the exponential rate of online connectivity. What I mean by online connectivity was the ability for people all over the world to compete for the jobs I wanted. When I entered college I never imagined fighting for a Job in Orlando, FL. with someone who lived in Ontario Canada, but this was the reality I faced.

I lost… what happened?

That guy had more talent! Oh and the kicker, I found out he never went to college!

So what did I do? I went back to college, ironic right? Well, honestly I had no options. I couldn’t find a job, because of my lack of skills (due to my lack of motivation). I knew I needed to get better and work harder.

When I first entered college at 16 years old I viewed it as a season of exploration where I could find myself, experience a variety of subjects, and develop graphic design skills along the way.

When going to college my priority was not actually the degree listed on my transcript, but a myriad of other sub-reasons. Many Americans have this view on a four year college education. Honestly it is one of the main reasons my parents sent me. They wanted me to lean how to network, communicate with people, and build relationships.

If I would earn a four year degree that was considered icing on the cake. To clarify, my education did not cost $30-$50k per year. I received an affordable education for $45k for all four years. During my college experience I developed a deep enjoyment of graphic design, went on to get my Master of Fine Arts degree and now work in the industry as Director Graphic Design at a non-profit agency.

My four year degree + three masters degree worked out very well for me, and I am grateful to have received the knowledge I now have through my education.

But, looking back…Would I have done it differently? Yes! Hines site is always 20/20.

College gave me an incredible work ethic. I went in with very little discipline. I was a classic case of ADHD. Always on the move, tons of friends, extended dinners (avoiding my class work), and I have a passion for cycling. I would often escape my required assignments to take multiple hour cycling trips into our downtown. I enjoyed riding, but what I did not realize at the time is this was taking away from my main reason of attending college, develop my skills as a graphic design.

By the 3rd year of my education I started to settle down and dig deep in my learning. This is something I wish I would have done from the beginning. I gained a lot of skills in my final two years, but upon graduation it was still not enough to have prepared me for a professional career. This is why I stayed on for my masters degree (my own lack of preparation extended my college days).

I tell you this, because I would like to help define the best avenue for you to choose.

Traditional Education Vs. Online Education

Traditional College taught me how to work hard and turn in my projects on time. I also didn’t realize the practice of deliberate practice, a concept I picked up while reading So Good They Can’t Ignore You, by Cal Newport. I needed college to teach me self discipline in the area of study and focus in the academic and artistic realm.

From age 9 – 15 I trained and became a professional athlete. I was a professional athlete for three years before deciding to move onto advance my knowledge in the field of graphic design.

I had no issue disciplining myself in physical situations, but I lacked key mental abilities.

Traditional College Taught me:

Focus

Critical Thinking

Self Discipline

Turn work in on time

how to interact in a classroom environment

Graphic Design Software and It’s Proper Use

But this can be learned online today.

Traditional College would be an excellent fit for you if, like me, you lack self discipline, focus, and need to be guided and pushed to finish you work.

Traditional college would fit you well if you need deadlines, milestones, and penalties for not finishing your work on time. If you need to be motivated by an external force (teacher) to complete your work and develop your skills.

Traditional college was a platform for me to strengthen my communication skills. I had numerous classes in my roster requiring me to give presentations for my design campaigns. This helped me develop the ability to explain my ideas. Knowing why you made critical design decisions is important. I was able to take what I learned by simply talking through the design process and apply those insights into my proceeding projects.

Online College/Courses: I am quite busy, as I am sure you are as well. I wanted to learn new skills and grow as a designer, but time is short. WordPress web design, app development, HTML5, CSS3, and design trends of the future are all topics I wanted to become in expert on. For a while I picked up some books, I asked some design friends if I could sit with them while they worked, I even watched a load of youtube videos.

BUT, I found that this strategy was far to disheveled. I needed a process in order to hone each of these skills in a professional manner so that when the challenges of design were placed before me I would have the professional knowledge and ability to scale the mountain, design the product, build the app, launch the website.

The Benefits of Online College/Courses

Learn at an my own pace. (fast and efficient)

Taught by experts in the field.

people who are using these skills to make some of the best designs in the world.

The cost of online education is incredibly affordable (even compare to a community college)

I am able to immediately apply what I learn at my workplace.

I have been able to take on a more diverse set of clients.

I have increased my value and therefore increased my monthly income!

Certifications to place on your resume for job opportunities.

To me there is nothing more fulfilling than putting my skills to the test. I have been able to get client work that I never thought possible before starting my online education.

  I thoroughly enjoyed my brick and mortar college education, but I have learned more skills in the past 2 years that have given me the ability to increase my monthly income and produce more valuable work. 

The goal of learning new skills is to bring value to the market place. When you increase the value you bring, you become indispensable to your clients. Education is not about a piece of paper or a title. Education is about developing skills that will set you apart and give you the ability to rise above the competitive market.

The Conclusion of Online Vs Traditional

Before I reveal my conclusion on the matter I want you to consider why you are wanting to go to college whether online or in-person (and when I say “go to college” I mean develop skills). 

  Do you believe that you need to be college certified to get a good job, obtain job security, a solid retirement, and happily ever after….  unfortunately this is not the case anymore. There is no perfect solid job. The job market is in constant flux. Companies are constantly searching for new talent to embody the ever changing needs arising in the world. Only 10 years ago (2007) we were still going to the yellow pages to find the best local deli, or listening to the radio to hear our favorite music. 

You have to be constantly developing your skills and honing your craft in order to bring value to market. 

Online education is the best way to develop your skills. Ultimately I want to receive the best and most current information to develop my skills. I don’t want to be learning last years SEO tactics, or archaic chemo therapy treatments. I want to be on the cutting edge of my craft. Learning from experts in the field and getting their insights on the dos and donts of the market. Online education is the perfect blend of foundational skill development and real world application.

My goal here at Jobs in the Future is to help you on the path to successful skill development that will get you the job you are striving after!

You will find a great deal of resources to select the online educational tools.

Find our Resources Page Here

Perhaps you know that you need to step out into a new career. You know that the future of work is uncertain. You want to develop skills that will make you valuable and desired as an individual in the workforce both now and in the future. Well we have you covered.

Download a copy of The Ultimate Guide to Future Proof Your Career. An Invaluable resource to ensure that you are able to secure Job now and in the Future!

You will receive resources and guidance on the industries that are waiting for people with skills to make an entry into the industry, educational resources to develop skills, and projections about the future potential of the industry.

Click Here to Download the Ultimate Guide Now!

[yande-re-blog1]

hey your success with college is super inspiring along with your writing goals! u don't have to answer this but I was just wondering if u have any motivational advice for starting college? I graduated high school two years ago and have been struggling a lot mentally and continuing school just seems financially impossible and so so hard but..I wanna get there I just don't know how. anyways..you're super inspiring and I'm really proud of you!

hey, thanks so much! i really appreciate it!

i think the biggest thing to remember is that college is absolutely not for everyone. if you dont feel that college is for you, there is no shame at all in dropping out or not going anymore. my boyfriend was under the impression that you absolutely had to go to college, and it made him so depressed that he was suicidal by the time he finally dropped out. hes much happier now, and he works as a manager at a restaurant. college is not for everyone, and i think that thats something that needs to be taught in schools more often, because it’s something that’s incredibly important.

that being said, i do think that it’s worth a try for people, and that’s why community colleges exist. another huge thing is that there’s no shame in going to community college. CCs are great. going to community college essentially saved me academically. i went to one of the best community colleges and it was still a tenth of the price of my university. the professors there are great, and i would highly recommend going to a community college and then transferring to a university or four year school. it’s the best thing to do financially, especially if you feel that college might be overwhelming for you. it’s a good way to try it out and see if college is for you or not.

another thing that people dont tell you is that college is nothing like high school makes it out to be. in my experience, college has been so much better and even easier than high school, and part of that is because you can tailor your class schedule to what interests you and the level of difficulty you want to go to. for example, as i mentioned in my other post dealing with school, i hate math. it’s always been incredibly difficult for me because im dyslexic and autistic. in high school, there’s like 2 math classes you can choose from. in college, there’s way more. i ended up taking a math class that primarily just dealt with logic, the type of easy math used in programming, and i excelled in it because it was something i was actually interested in. right now, im taking a stats class specifically geared towards psychology students, and it’s actually interesting because again, it’s what im interested in. theres so much choice in college, and your advisor is very good about working with you to accommodate your interests. since you’re doing things that you’re interested in, it’s also way easier than classes at the high school level.

also, if you dont know what you want to do, thats totally fine, too. i wanted to be a neurologist when i entered school, and now im a third year psych student. it’s alright if you dont know what you want to do, because part of the purpose of college is to help you figure it out. not one person i know knew exactly what they wanted to do when they entered college, and ive met a lot of people in the two colleges ive been in.

lastly, college is a great resource and all colleges will help you out with more than just school. many have great and fantastic advisors who will help you through uncertainty and all colleges ive ever heard of have counseling departments for students going through a hard time. the university im at right now offers so many opportunities, from help finding jobs to transportation to medical and housing help to even paid internships. my biggest advice to you would be to meet with an advisor and begin to talk about things, because they’re specifically trained to help you with your uncertainty.

anyways, i hope this all helps and feel free to send in more questions if there’s anything else i can do!

[scorpioslut-blog1]

Stupid social media

It’s probably been a year... two years... who knows? I’m still at college or whatever, oversharing with pseudo anonymity on tumblr, incapable of journaling like normal or dedicated depressed emo art hoes have been doing for centuries... 

Anyways, I guess I went off social media mostly for the first time in my life... temporarily deactivated twitter (until christmas) and instagram (until further notice), still have my finsta which i'm sworn off of, my spam ~aesthetic~ account which literally keeps me going, my art acct which is sort of stagnant as the moment as i dive into my new hobby/class mandated photography obsession, and my new food diary instagram which is pretty lame and literally just for me to reflect on eating habits. oh i'm on adderall right now. which i looove... it just feels good, ur mind feels good, u think hard but like i feel like i could write a novel, clean my room, text everyone i need to catch up with, or i dont know, write on tumblr like a teenager (i’m 21 fucking years old now). Anyway I’ve been thinking a lot recently about anger.... anger as a coping mechanism, justified anger, repressed anger, anger at yourself, hatred for yourself. anger that is productive and unproductive. at cal, anger at white people, at men, at the world, at people. i’m also thinking a lot about paul, the founder of the palestine decal that i’m taking. and how he spoke to our class on tuesday and explained how israelis, like 18 year olds in the IDF, are taught to hate, are conditioned to hate--not even hate--dehumanize. like how by the time an israeli teenager turns 18 they have already been trained for the military--not physically, but psychologically--to see palestinians as less than human. he frames settler colonialism and israeli occupation of palestine as not an ethnic conflict, not ideological, not religious, or cultural--but about LAND. israelis are murdering, dispelling, bombing, etc. palestinians for the cold, painfully simple reason that they are on land that israel wants. it is not because israelis hate palestinians. while that may be true for many individuals, in which israelis may be racist or islamophobic or for whatever reason hate palestinians or see them as less than, that thought process is a result of government conditioning and hegemony. while america is, in some ways, its own unique case study of cultural, religious, ethnic, social, economic “diversity”, paul also said that we’re all the same. in that, there is nothing unique about the palestine/israel instance compared to, say, the british in south africa. or in india. or australia. or the US in the americas or hawaii or the caribbean. there is nothing unique about palestine/israel, except that their colonization was put in a historical context so close to our current timeframe that we are forced to analyze it as if it were an anomaly. but that’s besides the point. anyway, anger. and hate. in america, it made me think a lot about two communities i was somewhat a part of, whether i felt like it or not---percussionville and berkeley. and how similar they are, and how different i feel in both. back home, i was so angry. i was soooo angry. angry at my parents for putting me there, angry at the people i went to school with, angry at admin, at my teachers, at my peers, at boys, at girls, at white people, at the government, just angry. and i stayed angry in college. i removed myself from that environment but still it haunted me. i never let go of that anger, it blinded me, i couldnt even allow myself to process those four years. and i was still so colonized and following a series of unfortunate events, or fate, or my own hypocrisy or internalized white supremacy, i was surrounded by all white friends, while still trying to understand my own relationship to whiteness, how i was similar to my white friends but also how they could never understand. so i was just blindly angry at white people--and after i stopped being friends with them, anger was almost how i coped. and the poc friends i found myself building relationships with shared this anger, encouraged it. they were angry too, for different reasons but also the same, in different contexts, different levels of anger, manifestations, outbursts, and copings. it was easy to hate these individual white people. before, it was easy for me to hate the idea of white people. in high school i hated white people, but i was always surrounded by them, friends with them because there were no other options really. i mean, i was literally living in it. people here don’t get that, i think, except other poc who really were that heavily immersed in that. like i didnt have a choice. isolation is hard. i spent a lot of high school alone, of course, but i'm a social creature no matter how hard i try and fight it. and this summer i think the idea of hating individual white people for the ways in which they wronged you was almost glorified. and i understand that people are angry. but our anger is all different. i can never even begin to understand the anger of a Black person, especially a Black woman, or a woman who has been sexualized constantly for her beauty, objectified and harassed her whole life, or someone who is currently decolonizing and realizing how much they had ignored or allowed their whole lives... these are just examples of people i think about when i try to think about others’ anger. but my anger is my own. i experience it in my own ways; i have been angry my whole life. i think i came out of the womb angry. i've always just been an angry person, and been suppressing it my whole life. that resulted in me mostly being angry at myself my whole life. and the world. i've had healthy anger, misplaced anger, toxic anger, unjustified anger, genetic anger. and i truly believe that healing is knowing how to cope with this lifelong anger, anguish, sadness. i was angry this summer. i was angry because it seemed like the only way to cope, to be angry at the people who i had failed to set boundaries with, people i had hurt, people who had hurt and confused me. angry at white people, men, starting drunken fights at parties, outside bars... 

anyway, that was a huuuge tangent but my point is. in relation to the palestine decal guy, paul. he’s a few years older than us, and he was clearly still angry as well. angry at the university, for starters, angry at hypocrisy. but the surprising thing to me was that he did not seem angry at israelis. which is a good thing. and he has every right to be angry, to hate the 18 year old IDF soldier, despite the fact that this might be all they’ve ever known, despite the fact that hate is taught, despite the fact that there might not be anything to make that soldier change, or to change how they see paul. but he wasn’t angry. he didn’t blame individuals. he said this was structural, that zionism was not judaism, despite the constant conflation of the two, especially at cal, especially with people who sit in the same classrooms as us every day. it’s easy to be angry. i’ve been angry at so many people. and i have always accepted that i am flawed, i hurt others, people are angry at me. but i don’t know. i don’t know how it is productive for me to be angry. most recently i got angry at felix. and i definitely am still frustrated by him and don’t think it’s even worth talking about at the moment, or that i have the capacity, but i don’t want to be angry at him. i love him, miss him, wish him the best. just texted him that i miss him actually. anyway, on anger--i tried to make him hold my anger, and just sort of lashed out on him over text. which isnt really productive. at the time i was going through a lot with other people, and i think i was so frustrated with always being painted the bad guy that i wanted someone else to hold my anger. i have held others’ anger, and tried to understand it, so i guess i just wanted someone to do the same for me. it did feel good to yell at him honestly. but anyway. back to my point. 

i think about where i'm from, where i grew up, and i have to claim it. i’ve been so angry for the past two years, running away from that place and everything about it. coming to a place that seemed so drastically different at first, but eventually realizing that everywhere is, in many ways, the same. like paul said. i can’t be angry at felix, even if it’s warranted, even if my friends applaud me on the text i sent him. i mean i can. i can be angry at my old friends. but i dont know. i just am so so tired. i'm old. i'm 21. 

[hudsonespie]

10 Things Maritime Academies Don’t Teach

As Benjamin Franklin said – “TELL ME AND I FORGET. TEACH ME AND I REMEMBER. INVOLVE ME AND I LEARN.”

For a professional at any stage in career life, learning is a continuous process.

However, what we learn in the colleges and academy form the base of everything in the future.

Maritime colleges play a crucial role in a seafarer’s life as he/she learns all the “life at sea” skills there.

Unfortunately, not all the maritime colleges and universities teach students the important skills needed in the “Real World”.

There is a vast gap between what the students are taught in the Maritime academies and what’s needed for a successful tenure at sea.

But not all seafarers are aware of it.

Maritime institutes, along with the theoretical knowledge must also introduce soft skills, which would make students ready to face unwanted situations and to succeed in life in general.

Related Read: Maritime Training System In India Needs Urgent Reforms And Changes

1. Time Management

Time management may be defined as utilizing the time effectively and productively.

This is something very critical and imperative onboard.

Some people don’t exercise this due to lack of interest or knowledge and things/situations get out of their hand sooner or later.

Photograph by Jr.Engineer Divya Raj

Maritime institutes don’t focus on teaching this part of the professional life onboard, and this is something which is never talked about in maritime academies.

In the maritime world where there is always various kind of pressures from all around, i.e., commercial or work-related, it is imperative to manage one’s time and not just stumble on the tasks you get.

We too have people onboard who well plan their jobs and stay happier giving results on time or accomplishing their jobs with good results. Life onboard for them who exercise proper time management is always high on the hog.

Related Read: How to Stay Fit and Focused on Ships?

2. Task Prioritization

Prioritization is something which helps you to decide relative importance or urgency of things.

It helps you to analyse your jobs and grade them in a sequence of importance so that you can anchor your energy and concentration on the things that matter. It is something that can show your strength of handling multiple tasks in your professional life.

As you keep escalating in your rank, task prioritization will matter the most and will help you at all times.

Related Read: 10 Professional Mistakes Seafarers Should Never Make Onboard Ships

3. Adaptability

To cope up with the advancements in various things in the shipping industry, including the changes in the maritime laws and convention, it is essential to stay updated all the time.

The competency level required for any job onboard is changing rapidly along with the technology.

Even though so much around us has changed, in Maritime institutes still the same things are taught which were being taught a decade earlier.

It is foremost essential to be with the flow of the current to sustain in a highly competitive market.

4. Balancing Social and Professional Life

Many people say for mariners, it’s challenging to maintain a proper balance between Professional and Social life. This difficulty is only with the seafarers who wholeheartedly focus on work to escalate their career leaving no time for their friends and families.

Related Read: 10 Ways to Ensure WellBeing Of Seafarers At Sea

However, many seafarers do not know how to handle their careers and social life. Though it is essential to focus on work, it is equally important to finding a perfect and healthy balance between the two.

Officer with Chief cook and OS.

5. Financial management

As a seafarer, it is essential to manage your finances/money to ensure yours and your family’s financial wellbeing at all times and at times of critical situations. We have to be prepared for the day when we will not be able to work.

Consider the below as 3 essential tips for your financial planning:

Personal Medical, health, and Life insurance

Do not overspend

Savings and Investments

Many of us choose this profession for money.

We all want to earn as much money as possible, and we work too hard to earn. It’s therefore very important to manage your finance.

6. Cyber Security

Being connected with friends, family and the world via the internet is now a necessity. However, with the technological advancements, shipping companies are providing internet facilities to its crew onboard to make them feel connected to the family and the world.

With the power of technology also comes the risk of using it. MAERSK fell victim to a major cyber-attack caused by the Not Petya malware, leading to a loss of approx. USD 300 million.

Related Read: Download New FREE Guide – Cybersecurity For Seafarers

As a budding seafarer, the maritime institutes can play a vital role in teaching social media usage and cyber security when at sea, which will not only save shipping companies from such financial cyber-attacks but also save the crew from maritime pirates.

7. Dealing With People With Different Nationalities

Going on the ship for the first time and finding oneself among a bunch of other nationals is very common.

However, we have our percipience how a particular nationality behaves, without knowing the facts accurately.

Photograph by Captain Manish Nayyar

For e.g., many nationalities do not appreciate loud communication or pointing fingers while communication, which may make the situation sore.

Related Read: 6 Ways to Improve Interpersonal Relationship among Seafarers on board Ships

There are a handful of nations which are dominating the maritime industry and teaching the students about the culture, communication practices, and behaviours, in brief, will help them improve the inter-personnel relationships at sea which will ultimately make a successful team on ship.

8. Life Beyond Sea

If you are an experienced seafarer, you must have met someone who is planning to move ashore (or it might be you) after a long (or a brief) stint at sea.

With the qualification a marine engineer or a deck officer holds, there are different shore jobs which can be opted for.

However, seafarers are always in a dilemma about what kind of shore job they will get if they want to quit life at sea or settle ashore in the same industry. The maritime institutes can bridge this knowledge gap by providing a few essential lectures or classes at the end of the course.

Related Read: How Not To Choke When Making The Transition From Ship To Shore

9. Inter-communication Between Departments

Many institutes provide both nautical science and marine engineering courses on one campus. A ship runs safely and on time due to the teamwork of deck and engine department.

Related Read: 10 Situations Wherein Engine and Deck Officers Must Maintain Efficient Communication

This teamwork can be practised right from the institution level where the MTI can arrange intercommunication classes between navigation and engineering departments, improving the operational awareness.

10. Digital Disruption In The Industry

Digital changes in the shipping industry are often and highly advanced.

Credits: kevin huges /wikipedia.org

From electronic engine to autonomous ships, the industry is adapting to automation at a pace higher than what is taught in the maritime academies.

For seafarers, there is no other alternative but to adapt to the changes as they come.

To make it a gradual adaptation (which will help them learn the process), additional automation and machine learning courses should be provided by the maritime academies, explaining how the seafarers will need to work in co-operation with the Remote Operating Centres (ROC) in the near future.

Related Read: Can Futuristic Unmanned Cargo Ships Sail Without Seafarers?

This is to ensure that future technologies are not disruptive but further help in the overall advancements for decades.

Over to you..

Do you know about any other things that maritime academies don’t teach?

Let’s know in the comments below.

Disclaimer: The authors’ views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of Marine Insight. Data and charts, if used, in the article have been sourced from available information and have not been authenticated by any statutory authority. The author and Marine Insight do not claim it to be accurate nor accept any responsibility for the same. The views constitute only the opinions and do not constitute any guidelines or recommendation on any course of action to be followed by the reader.

The article or images cannot be reproduced, copied, shared or used in any form without the permission of the author and Marine Insight. 

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[natekekelik-blog]

blog 6

Nate Kekelik

Professor Barber

Interpersonal communication  

5 may 2019

I was able to relate to the term convergence in many ways. I adapt my speech style in every single form of communication. The most common situations i notice it in is with family, my friends, and school. When im with my family i have to use a style to speaking that will not offend anyone. I usually avoid saying bad words, don't make unnecessary jokes, and use a good tone that is respectful to everyone. This all helps keep the conversation climate fun and interactive for everyone. This, however, is not the case when i am with friends. When i am with friends i do not worry about monnorating what i say as much as i do with my family. Although i do try and focus more on the climate of the interactions. What i mean is that ill make jokes, curse, and use sarcastic tones but with respect to that individual. It usually becomes clear when someone goes too far or says the wrong things. Everyone just takes note of that and carries on. On the other hand, with my best friends, we are all just open with each other. We dont take alot of considerations when speaking. It is more of a free for all roasting each other and whatnot. Its all in good fun as we are all close and don't really what was said. Finally, school is the last major speech convergence i've noticed. When in class, unless i have a close friend, i will not really talk much; mainly because i was taught that the class room was not a place to be social. When i do, it is usually small talk about a recent test or upcoming projects. These different speech styles are all important as they are my unique ways of communicating.

I also noticed that nonverbal communication is another major part of my life. It is everywhere i go. I did not realize till after reading this chapter how common this type of communication was in my daily life. Whether it's during soccer, with friends, or even just walking down the street, nonverbal actions can say alot. When i am walking and i just had a bad day, i will most likely be slouching and have my head down. But on a good day, ill be strutting while looking up. It is such a important communication that even strangers can pick up on my mood even if i have never talked to the before. During soccer this can be a huge team factor. If i have a bad attitude it will probably show with my nonverbals. This could contribute to other teammates feeling the game is hopeless and that we are going to lose. Another example would be if i am making a run looking for a pass, and my teammate loses the ball, i could throw my hands in the air to show i am not happy with his mistake. That would not be positive as it could also provoke other teammates to get frustrated. On the other hand, if we as a team have good momentum, and come close to scoring, i could clap my hands to give the team a positive message to keep working hard.

Paralanguage is not as common as i feel i should make it in daily life. Emphasizing specific words in a statement could be really helpful when expressing my feelings. It could describe my true thoughts on a situation a lot more clearly. I could say something as bland as “i really like your shirt”. The receiver will get the message and feel good. But if i were to stress the “REALLY” when saying it to them, the receiver will definitely be able to tell that i honestly meant it. It is a good way to prevent miscommunications and express deeper emotions.

I noticed how much of an impact haptics make when communicating a message. In soccer, when someone gets subbed off the field, giving them a high five or fist bump will indicate that i think they did a good job. Giving contact is a good way to provide a deeper meaningful message. Same for the negative message. Just saying they need to work harder will not always be the most impactful. If the coach then grabs ones arm and then squeezes is, it stresses his importance. Outside of soccer, this can help improve romantic relationships. A simple kiss while fighting was always the right thing to do when me and my ex were in a disagreement. It would assure her that i still cared even though we did not see eye to eye.

Physical space is probably the most important and relatable term we learned about. There has to be a distinction between family, friends, and lovers of how close to get. I cannot stand when someone i just meet starts getting too close to me. I do not know them like that and when they put their arm around me like we are friends makes my blood boil. I guess it is fare to say that everyone is different and has their own opinions about personal space. I feel it is common for everyone to get uncomfortable when strangers do not know the social distance. Intimate distance is the only relationship that i feel comfortable with being close to. Even with close friends or personal distances i hate when people get in my space. Social distance is the most common that i personally feel like i encounter on the daily. when i go to the store or eat at a restaurant this is the space i feel most comfortable with. It is a respectable distance that does not invade on either parties territory. Finally, after learning about public distance, i realize that has been a huge part of schools. Teachers who lecture are always at this distance in order to one, include the large amounts of people, and two, to avoid any dialogue. After learning about this i began to think back and realize how true this was. I had a lot of different teaching styles throughout high school, and now college. Each one of them where either standing close, or at a further distance depending on their specific style. The ones who just wanted to use powerpoints and lecture the whole times were often further away and did not ask a lot of questions. The other teachers would stand closer and often provide a variety of activities. Most times this involved a lot of participation and interactions.

Chronemics is also part of everyday life. The major responsibilities that come with our cultures chronemics that are in my control is how fast i respond to my parents, coaches, or friends text messages. If i respond right away to a friend they might get the impression that i am bored and have absolutely nothing else to do. But, if i were to respond immediately to my coach, he might see it as me being responsible and making sure i get business taken care of. Chronemics can be a huge impact of what people think of me. I never realized that until now as i would usually just respond or get back to someone when i get a chance. By being on time, or not, it can greatly change the way one thinks of me. The final example i can relate back to my life is with soccer. If my coach texts me and tells me to bring cones, pennies, and balls to practice, i could either see it and bring the equipment, or respond to let him know i saw his text on time.

[edivupage]

How Effective Teachers Motivate Their Students and Make Learning Fun

If you have been following my work, you know I spent 7 years a K-12 teacher and 7 years as a university professor, eventually becoming the dean of a school of education. As a teacher, I was passionate about helping students reach their academic potential and become productive citizens. As a professor and education dean, I was devoted to developing the next generation of teachers and education administrators. For the last two and a half years, I have been an education entrepreneur, launching an education company, Lynch Educational Consulting, which also manages the following web properties: The Edvocate, The Tech Edvocate, and Edupedia.

However, I often miss being in the classroom, and when I do, I usually channel this energy in an article, resource, or project that will benefit educators everywhere. This time I decided to create a series of case studies that are meant to help pre-service teachers get a glimpse into the problems and issues that they will encounter in the field. These case studies will also give them a chance to reflect on how they can use each scenario to inform their own practice. Let’s get started.

One of the hardest things for teachers to do is to make their students feel excited about learning. For some teachers, this comes naturally, and others must work at. To give you an idea of how effective teachers motivate students and make learning fun, read the case study below, entitled “Mr. Braxton’s Algebra Class.” Afterward, reflect on to the questions below, using your thoughts to shape your own practice.

What are some of the things Mr. Braxton does to boost enthusiasm in his class?

Mr. Braxton’s philosophy seems to be summed up in the following quote: “If you make it fun, make it personal, and let them know they are included, it will always stick with them.” Think about the subject area you intend to teach. What are three ways you could make the material fun and personal?

Though Mr. Braxton’s class is fun and full of energy, he also has strict boundaries. Name two of these.

Mr. Braxton’s Algebra Class

Factions are fun, ladies and gentlemen! You’ve got to believe me! Don’t be scared of them!” Mr. Braxton exclaimed, as if he was asking the class to buy tickets to Disneyland. The class was reviewing for a comprehensive midterm exam.

“You always say that Mr. B,” JP told him, “but I gotta tell ya—this review is killer!”

“Stand up beside your desks. It’s time to do some math aerobics! Come on now! Parallel lines and count with natural numbers! Five, six, seven, eight . . . and one. . . .”

The class members extended both arms out in front of them and then above their heads, modeling parallel lines with their arms. They continued to count using natural numbers as they waited for his next command.

Mr. Braxton was an energetic and enthusiastic teacher with high test scores. Seventy-five percent of the students who took the required math courses from him went on to take the optional, advanced-level math courses. This was because of Mr. Braxton’s communal learning environment and zeal for what he taught.

“X squared!” he shouted as he threw his hands up in a U-shape. The entire class quickly mimicked his hand movements.

But Mr. Braxton’s class was not all fun and games. He had very high expectations of every student. He assigned homework every night to reinforce the day’s skills, he didn’t allow any talking or off-task work during class time, and if you showed up to class without your supplies, you would be in detention—there were no second chances and no exceptions!

“Oh, come on, Jamal!” he coaxed after class one day. “You have to take Advanced Math next semester! It will just prepare you that much more for college. Please? For me?”

“Well, okay,” Jamal smiled. “But only for you, Mr. B!”

The students were willing not only to work harder for Mr. Braxton, but also to take entire classes just to please him. He showed that he cared in everything he did, from his high expectations of their work to what was going on with their grandmother to college plans, and even if they would be at the ball game Friday night. And you’d better believe that he would be there, cheering on his students and encouraging them in every way he could.

“Okay, ladies and gentleman. The school talent show is coming up on Friday, and I want our class to be in it! I want to prove to the school that math can be fun! So, anyone have any suggestions?” Mr. Braxton asked after an afterschool homework session one day. His homework sessions were optional, but almost everyone in the class stayed late to do their homework.

“Math aerobics!” Shelia suggested. “We could teach the entire school!”

“Good idea, Sheila. I’m a little concerned that may be too advanced for the freshmen, though.”

“Let’s sing the quadratic equation song!” Lance exclaimed.

“Now we’re talking!” Mr. Braxton agreed. “We want it to be over-the-top exciting, though, to increase our chances of winning. So, what else could we do to really make this song pop?”

“Let’s get each class to sing it in rounds!” Rebecca suggested. “We could sing it the first time, and then get each group to join in.”

“I love how you think!”

“I know! Let’s write the formula on a gigantic roll of paper, and on the last round while everyone sings in unison, someone can dash out and unroll it across the entire stage for everyone to see,” suggested Paul.

“I love it! That’s what we’ll do,” Mr. Braxton laughed. “We’ll meet after school tomorrow to practice and design the banner.”

On Friday, the whole school watched as Mr. Braxton’s Advanced Math class took the stage to sing, “X equals negative b plus or minus square root, B squared minus 4ac divided by 2a,” to the tune of Row, Row, Row Your Boat. The crowd went wild as Kevin ran across the stage unraveling the banner. And they ended up taking third place in the talent show!

“How in the world do you think we won with all the ‘real’ talent that performed?” asked Kristy.

“If you make it fun, make it personal, and let them know they are included,” Mr. Braxton said, “it will always stick with them. You become memorable, and when it comes time to vote for the talent, the judges think of you. The same holds true for math, my dear. None of you will ever forget the quadratic equation.”

“And we’ll always remember you, too,” said Jared as he reached out to give his teacher a fist bump.

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