#When it's literally their JOB on student gov to know these things

[baby-octopus]

i am ...starting to regret joining student gov....

[the-final-sif]

One of the things I think people as a whole don't understand about the internet today is that so much of what's wrong/dangerous/flawed about the internet exists because so much of the internet started as one person's hobby they built in their spare time or as a specific task for a specific function that was just useful/functional enough that literally everyone started using it. There's tons of biases built into the modern internet and some of that is carelessness but a lot of it is... just like. This was invented by a group of grad students fucking around for a few weeks. How the fuck were they supposed to know it'd be become the global standard and that nobody would bother to address or change these things?

Like, the whole reason that the US government gets the ".gov" domain name is because this entire system was invented in the US primarily for use in universities. Under the original system, you had to phone in to talk to the center who owned the list, tell them what name you wanted and then a person would type your name/ip onto the list attached to a nickname much like a phonebook. Then people slowly figured out domains and maintaining domain registries. And then the system became useful enough that more of the US started using it, and then people realized "oh shit, other countries want to use this too, guess we need to figure that out".

The "world wide web" or the thing we all know as the internet (and the reason that every website you visit has www in front), was invented originally by one dude trying to make his own job easier (Tim Berners-Lee). He thought it was pretty cool and shared it, and he was one guy who only spoke English and was just doing what he thought was going to work.

Like, this is a very lighthearted article talking about him, but I think it illustrates the point really well,

Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, has confessed that the // in a web address were actually "unnecessary". He told the Times newspaper that he could easily have designed URLs not to have the forward slashes. "There you go, it seemed like a good idea at the time," he said. He admitted that when he devised the web, almost 20 years ago, he had no idea that the forward slashes in every web address would cause "so much hassle". His light-hearted apology even had a green angle as he accepted that having to add // to every address had wasted time, printing and paper.

via "sorry for the slashs"

We have an entire internet and infrastructure built rather haphazardly but also in such a way that going back and trying to change or fix things either requires an insane amount of work or could render vast swaths of the prior internet inaccessible.

Like, I think everyone here remembers Flash getting shut down and how much of childhood games got wiped off the generally accessible internet and relegated to projects like Flashpoint. It was really hard to see, but Flash was also a project started in 1996 (or 1993 if you count the OG version that turned into flash) that was supposed to be for a limited set of use cases, and not the medium on which major parts of the internet would run. By the time Adobe shut it down, Flash was incredibly dangerous with the constant risks of malware, it was buggy, slow, and there were a million better programs. It had to be killed to make way for better things, but because of how the internet was built, that death came at a pretty high cost.

So if you're ever wondering why it feels like the web is a bunch of dominoes ready to fall down at any time, it's because it is. And it does. And so many people spend so much of their time combating all the problems created by using systems that were never intended to handle everything they are currently handling because the alternative is a task of monstrous undertaking that would almost certainly turn decades of history to dust.

[razberrybi]

hello! this isn’t the most timely of postings, but I want to make a series with stuff I wish I knew before applying for/getting into college. the series will be most helpful to lower-income american students, because that’s my experience!  eventually I’ll have more stuff regarding STEM courses & tips for when you do start college.  everything will be tagged #college help by raz.  I’ll get a link for it up and running on my blog.

first off, probably the ugliest part of the process for me: filing the FAFSA, aka the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.  I wouldn’t be able to go to college without it but the process literally brought me to tears.

if I save just one student some unnecessary frustration, then my job here is done! kal @promethes was my inspiration to do this, she’s running something with a similar purpose in a couple months so if you’re interested keep an eye out for that.

finally, if you’re trying to get into college/are just getting in and have any questions, don’t hesitate to send me an ask! 

if you don’t want to open up the link above to a google doc, the text is available under the cut.

Things to know about the FAFSA:

It opens on October 1st every year.  Be prepared to file it right when it opens, the aid is first come, first served.

If you’re going right into college after high school, that means you should apply on October 1st of your senior year.  

If you missed the deadline, it’s open till June 30th the next year, but do not procrastinate this. Please trust me. Mark October 1st on your calendar, know it like your birthday.  This is free money from the gov, don’t miss out.

You need to file for the FAFSA every year you’re in college, it’s not a one-and-done thing. 

To file, you will need an FSA ID for you AND one of your parents (unless you’re not a dependent.  If you’re living with a parent/legal guardian and they provide more than 50% of your financial support, you’re probably their dependent.  That means they claim you on their taxes & get money back on their return). Make those FSA IDs here. Remember the passwords.

These are separate accounts that you’ll need to actually file the FAFSA.  Also, if you have loans taken out they’ll show up here.

When you’re ready to do the FAFSA, use this official website.  Other websites can charge you.  They might not be secure and definitely won’t be any easier. 

Sometimes, income is complicated or parents aren’t always on top of their taxes.  Thankfully FAFSA wants documents from two years prior, i.e., for the 2020-21 school year they’re asking for 2018 taxes.

Try to check that those are filed away somewhere you can access before the Oct. 1 deadline.  Make sure your parents know the government will pay for your schooling if you do this, and you usually won’t have to give that money back.

If your situation changed and you make a lot less than you did 2 years ago, contact your school’s financial aid office. Sometimes they can help with extra aid.

What documents will you need?

Your social security number

Your driver’s license, if you have one

W-2 forms from 2 years prior, and other records of money earned 

Your (and/or your parents’) Federal income tax return from 2 years prior (form 1040, will be different if you’re in an American territory and not one of the states)

Any untaxed income records form 2 years prior, like payments to deferred pension & savings plans, tax exempt interest & child support

Records of taxable earnings from federal work-study from 2 years ago

Record of grants, scholarships, or fellowship aid that was included in you or your parent’s 2018 adjusted gross income

Any current bank statements

Any current business and investment mortgage info, business/farm records, stocks/bonds info

Documentation that you’re a permanent US resident or other eligible noncitizen

If you’re lucky, all these records will be filed in one spot or easily accessible.  Try to access them early just in case.

If you have an idea what colleges you’re applying to, add them to the FAFSA when prompted.  This will help you know exactly how much money they’re giving you sooner.

Because of the whole “parents not being on top of taxes” thing, I’ve always had to manually put things in instead of clicking the button that lets you manually import the info.

It’s frustrating and takes a while, but you will be able to do it.  Thankfully the FAFSA has been getting better with the help available on the page (you can click an info button and it explains most things). 

Still unsure what something means? Open a new tab on your browser and google it.  You need to answer everything honestly, don’t take chances and take your time.

If you do get to auto-import, I suggest you go through the information manually to double check things if it lets you!  I’ve used a similar tool with a tax-filing service and they can get some things wrong.

There are a couple “optional” sections.  I fill them all out except for the section about assets, which I’ve consistently skipped.  I always get max aid doing this, your mileage may vary.

When you finish, you’ll get a number for your EFC, or expected family contribution--how much they predict your family will have to pay for college.  For example, if that number is 000, you’ll hopefully get maximum aid and your tuition will be paid for.

Sometimes, they can’t give it all in grants (money you don’t have to pay back), so some of the money will be made out to you as subsidized or unsubsidized loans.  If you need them, take out the subsidized loans first, these will not gain interest until your grace period ends, typically 6 months after graduation.

I’ve literally never had success applying for random online scholarships and I applied to a lot of them.  The FAFSA is so important if your family is low-income, those grants cover my entire tuition.  The rest of my college, including room/board and a shitton of fees, is covered by merit scholarships directly from my school.  I go to a large, in-state school, and suggest you stay in state if you can’t get into an out of state college that will 100% pay everything for you.  Those colleges, not coincidentally, are also extremely hard to get into especially if you don’t have connections--think the Ivies, MIT, etc.

I recommend in-state because it’s almost always much cheaper than out of state tuition.  Sometimes colleges have programs that will let you go to another state and pay in-state tuition at their partner school, if you’re desperate to move far look for those programs OR find a farther college in your state keeping in mind how good their program is for the major you’re looking at.

Also, fancy private schools might get you some connections or more famous speakers at events but the quality of your education won’t be much better, if at all. 

Look for scholarships that come directly from the school you like.

Merit scholarships are money your school will give you for having good grades/test scores.  How much money 100% depends on the school. Mine had a program where they had different levels of aid, and they calculated which level you fell into based on your high school GPA, ACT, and SAT scores. It’s worth trying to improve your scores on one of those tests if you know it’ll get you more money.  These scholarships tend to renew every year/semester if you keep your GPA up in college. 

For school-specific questions, contact the school’s financial aid office.  For general questions, contact me! Send an ask to @razberrybi on tumblr.

Finally--if you manage to complete the FAFSA wholly or partially on your own, congratulations!! It’s not an easy feat.  In my experience the FAFSA is literally harder and more frustrating than filing your taxes.  Treat yourself for getting it done!  

[gisellelx]

Hello! Love your blog and i wanna say

Your analysis and your posts in general are always so well researched historically. How do you do that and how can I do it too?

So I wanted to answer this with care and time and thoughtfully. I hope this answer will be good not just for you but will be worth reblogging for anyone who wants to think about how you develop good researching skills more generally. Because ultimately getting good at making sense of the world isn’t just about writing or just about fic or just about academia; it’s about being a good citizen of the world.  The short answer to this question, up front: I’ve gotten good at research because it’s my actual job! I’m a professor and not even a new one really anymore; I have a book of research coming out later this year which still feels really weird to say. I happen to know how old you are because we’ve chatted so don’t forget to put into perspective that before you started formal schooling I had already written my first 50+ page research work. I’ve been at this seriously for almost two decades now. However, there are some fundamental ways that professional researchers go about thinking about everything, whether it’s something as inconsequential as fic or as monumental as the stuff going on in the U.S. right now that I think are a little different, and they’re replicable in useful ways. So here’s three things that matter.  Get curious. This actually is pretty easy for fanfic writers because we already have something we’re curious about--whatever fandom(s) we’re in. But curiosity isn’t just about the spark; it’s also about getting interested in making connections between different kinds of things. When you encounter any given piece of information, the first thing you should start thinking about is “how does this piece of information fit in with everything else I already know” which will lead you to “how does it contradict what I already know” and “what else do I need to know to understand how this fits?” This leads you down really interesting rabbit holes.  An example from fic/tumblr answers: A witch hunting Anglican really doesn’t map on to what I know of Anglicans/Episcopalians in present-day. So then I start to ask, “Okay. What was actually going on in the church in the 1640s?” I’m going to mesh it with some of my own knowledge: I know the protestant reformation happened a hundred years earlier, but I don’t know a ton about what happened after, except that the Puritans arrived in New England eh, about that time. So I go down the rabbit hole of finding out about the church in the 1640s. At some point there I’m going to run across some of the secular history: that the 1640s was the English Civil War. Okay, what was the Civil War about? Who won? How long were they in control? Questions beget questions and true, at some point, you have to decide when to stop if it’s for writing. But honestly, if you’re curious, you probably won’t stop thinking about it even if you’ve found out enough to answer the thing you want to answer. Because you’ll 

Develop a lens. The thing you’re interested in becomes the way you start to see the world. Start relating everything to the thing you are trying to find out more about. Notice when you’re getting more information about that thing or when something would matter to that thing. I have an assignment I give my students where they have to write four short assignments relating stuff they see about language use to the things they’re learning in class. It’s partially to teach them about the concepts they’re learning, and partially to teach them about writing, but it’s mostly to accustom them to viewing the world through the lens I’m teaching them. It’s to help them get curious about why one barista’s tone sounds friendly and the other’s doesn’t even though the say the exact same thing. It’s mutually reinforcing: the lens begets curiosity and curiosity begets the development of the lens. If I encounter a fact, a piece of history, a moment in time, an old song, there’s a little piece of my brain after 11 years of writing Twific that is always asking “Where were the Cullens?” I have headcanons for days about how each of them, especially Carlisle, would’ve dealt with any individual moment in history. When I sing an old hymn in church I sometimes look down at the date in the hymnal to find out if it’s one Carlisle would’ve sung as a human. I’m always working through this lens, and that means I’m always adding to the knowledge. 

Finally, source well. Especially for something as fanciful as fic, there’s not a lot of reason to dive deep into academic tomes (although I have; I am a fucking nerd. See above re: my work.) But dive deeper than the first page of google. Read the first Wikipedia page you come to, but then read a couple of the pages it links to! If the English Civil War has to do with Cromwell and it established the Protectorate, and those things are linked? Well, read those, too! And then you might need to cross-reference--okay, now I know what the Protectorate was, and I’ve decided from that original go-round that Carlisle’s dad was probably a Puritan, not really an Anglican, so...what was the relationship of Puritans to the Protectorate? I’m going to next throw that into google. And I’m looking for high-quality sources: magazines, university websites, things that end with .edu or .gov. I’m clicking on the “about” to find out who wrote the thing and how much of an expert they are. If they say something that no one else has said and I can’t find anything that tells me they’re an expert in this? I’m going to disregard that info and move on. This is applicable to way more than just fic--this is about figuring out that as much as I go YEAH YEAH YEAH at some hyper-partisan trash website that fits my political view, I need to step back and consider where it’s coming from, who the author is, and how much they know.  The more you’ve sourced, the easier this gets. My knowledge on Carlisle’s history goes deep, I fell in love with him and only him when I read the series. I have read about popular culture when he was growing up, I have read histories of the English Church, I have spent time thinking about and being fascinated by the history of the development of medical knowledge and medical schools. I didn’t go to the Eye or Big Ben when I happened to be in London; I went to the City Museum and wandered around the part of the city where I imagine he lived, looking for things which have survived since the 17th century and taking note of things which are new to think about what Carlisle would think about them (he is very un-fond of the Gherkin.) I literally spent a day and a half looking at London through Carlisle’s eyes. Because I’m curious; because I have a lens; and because I’m going to grab good sources whenever I have them.  That is a SUPER long post. But I hope it’s helpful. When it comes to writing, the richer your knowledge, the more likely you are to drop the right detail which places your reader and makes them buy into everything else in the world. I remember reading a fic which took place in my hometown and the author had one of the Cullens flying in their private jet. In my hometown, a mid-sized city in the midwest, there is a commercial international airport, but there is also a smaller airfield which handles much of the private air traffic. That author had that Cullen plane take off from the smaller airfield. I don’t know if she is also from my hometown, but she got that detail right, and it signaled that I could trust the rest of her storytelling.  So. It’s worth it: to be a good writer, to be a good researcher, and just to be good at understanding the world. I hope that helps and sorry for the word vomit. Professors write a lot, too. 

[portugalnet]

portugal is lucky. this stupid country is lucky that it's naturally beautiful and it's lucky that we have a ton of history because we don't propel anything. this country is lucky that it can afford to be as careless and laidback about how it takes care of its culture. it’s lucky that it can afford to spend years/decades doing the same old things or nothing at all without any serious consequences. even when it comes to tourism - that’s considerate the thing that keeps us afloat - it's rare to see actual innovation, good investments, or good projects being put into action. everything drags and drags and drags and drags (unless the people investing have money/tachos, then you can do whatever the hell you want even if it’s technically illegal. we don't talk, in a serious manner, about how corrupt this country really is.) ‘it takes time for projects to take off’‘ ‘bureaucracy in this country is a nightmare’ etc etc and you know who can change that? those in positions of power, if they don’t it’s bc they don’t want to.  

and i hate - i really do hate - making these comparisons because in a way they aren’t fair, but it’s the best way i can explain this especially since culture/tourism is my line of study and work. it’s impossible not to look at countries like england and see how they put in the work to turn anything of historical relevance into a point of interest (and, usually, consequently, a tourism hot-spot - even if it’s the middle of god damn nowhere). england takes advantage of what it has and works with it. it’s a million times frustrating seeing what england does and say “please, please we can look at what they do and try to do it here too, please we don’t have to just rely on people visiting once we can keep them interested we have so much to show and to give please” and essentially all people care about is 1) how fast can it make money and 2) will it be a lot of work. i’ve come across 3 ideas for a jewish museum in évora, i’ve been told it’ll never happen because évora simply can’t be bothered to make it happen.

i once, at a job, expressed my eagerness to do things right and come up with maybe different solutions to a certain problem. one of my co-workers laughed and said, verbatim, “don’t worry that’ll pass”. i was stunned and felt ashamed for a second, then that shame became rage. i wanted to yell at her that i hope it won’t, i hope i never turn out to be someone like her - uncaring and defeated, just wanting to do the very least because the very least is acceptable and works fine so why attempt to do anything else at all.

studying culture, being asked by people to come up with projects, and then hearing PROFESSORS say "don't bother no one will want to put in the work just do something more simple" happened more than once. and this is when professors bother to kind of teach, but i’ve also had professors who wanted ~innovation~ but then explained jack shit and didn’t even point you in any direction - they just wanted students to have magically good ideas they could latch on to.

in portugal you have houses of famous poets and people who are literal national heroes falling apart and being considered good hostel/airbnb investment.  the jewish museum in alfama? i’m convinced i’ll die before it materializes. culture is RIGHT THERE and we don’t care and a very ugly and bitter part of me sometimes hopes we will experience the consequences of it.

after everything i’ve studied and read (and aware that there’s still much i need to learn), i can only conclude that when it comes to culture portugal doesn’t care. it doesn’t care about honoring it, preserving it, sharing it well, or propelling it.  

taking care of culture takes a lot of work. from the people who clean up museum rooms to those who organize big events or figure out budgets and everything in between. working in anything remotely related to culture is already a generally ungrateful and frustrating job, but in this country i’m convince and it sucks the will to live out of people. it pays like shit, exploration is through the roof, there’s no motivation from most coworkers, politicians don’t care... then why? why should i or any other care about x museum staying open when they can barely pay their staff? why should i care about preserving the memory of x poet or important person when the gov itself can’t be assed to make a house-museum for them? if the people who are supposed to at least help champion their countries own culture don’t, why should i waste my life frustrated over it? why should i actually pay attention when those in positions of power talk about championing culture when they suffocate it and seem to only want culture to be centered in litoral areas while in the same sentence stress how much “we” need to care more about in interior of the country? who the fuck is “we”? you, sitting in gov, have power, i don’t. why should i care? because of heritage? tourists? fuck it. burn it all to the ground, turn the interior of the country into a wasteland, maybe THEN when it’s all gone people will actually care.

i’m tired. i’m so tired. i genuinely hate that i care so much about all of this. i sit at the table with people who casually enjoy culture during holidays or occasionally on weekends instead of worrying about the logistics of it and they never understand where i’m coming from - not unless it’s to complain that “why doesn’t portugal have x like that other country?”. it’s taking years out of my life and it’s impossible to discuss it with a lot of people because they, deep down, don’t care and can’t be bothered either.

[hhemeraa-a]

Update / Haitus

I’ve been a ghost the last two weeks and I know that my last post was very succinct - which I had to delete because apparently porn blogs started reblogging it for some reason????????? And I’m just?? not in the place to deal with that.

I really hope to get back into a place where I can be here again, I know before I said I was on discord but I’ve had zero (zero) time to do literally anything else other than deal with my current situation so I’m barely even there. I do read all of your messages and I’m really sorry I haven’t responded. 

A lot of people had or have questions and wanted to know how I am, etc etc so under the cut will be a quick explanation of my absence and everything that’s happened within the last few weeks.

As some of you know, I am a Peace Corps volunteer servicing in China. I had been serving as a university English teacher for the last near 2 years. This was a very very very important and huge opportunity for me. 

Years ago when I was in college, my Mom was taking student loans out in my name while I was living with her. I went from having $54k in student debt (which is a lot already) to having about $108k in student debt in private loans. She shirked all responsibility on me, I had to graduate college early with a degree in something that I had credits in (International Studies with a focus on Chinese language and history), I was homeless for a while working random jobs, trying to join the Marine Officer program, etc etc -- needless to say, things were really really messy for a few years there. I ended up getting a really nice job for a logistics company getting paid about 2200 a month, but I was paying about 1600 a month in student loans. I had a lot of support from a friend who let me live with her and to this day I literally cannot thank her enough for everything she provided to me while I was suffering through all of this. 

After working that soul sucking job for nearly 4 years, I took a chance and applied for Peace Corps because it was an opportunity to finally make it to China. I was supposed to study abroad in college, but when my mother maxed out my debt, it was no longer feasible. I never thought I was going to get in because I had been out of school for years at that point, I had never taught English before besides 1-on-1s during college and I kind of thought I was too old???  

BUT LOW AND BEHOLD I GOT IN.  This shit meant everything to me. I was finally going to study abroad, I was finally going to have a chance to use my degree, I was finally going to have the chance to learn a language, I had an opportunity to have a complete career change. 

It was so incredibly hard though. I worked my ass off during training, I worked really really hard to integrate into my site, but if anyone has ever heard any of my horror stories of being the only foreigner in the middle of south east China, you’ll understand that it’s not always fun 😅 I even had a whole mental break down and had to be sent back to the States for 45 days so I could stop stressing, but I got my ass right back on that plane and came to finish the job I started. The low were low, but the highs were so incredibly high that it made up for every bad moment.

This program meant everything to me.  My first semester sucked ass, it was harder than I ever thought it would be. My second semester was so much better, my third semester I was over loaded with about 450+ students and 8 classes, but I was finally getting the hang of the language, the school, the people, and I had gotten the ‘ok’ from my school to work there as a full time teacher once my Peace Corps contract was finished. This?? Was such an opportunity?? I literally had started making the moves to start a life here -- at least temporarily. Work at my school as contracted teacher for a year, pass the HSK Chinese language test above a 4, use the money to find a better job in Taiwan -- there was a whole plan. 

Every year, Peace Corps meets for 1-2 weeks for In Service Training. We met from Jan. 12 - 17. Usually it’s just to reconnect and make sure all the volunteers are doing their jobs, medical check ups, etc etc etc. It’s a good time to see how other volunteers are doing. 

Jan. 17th we were formally told that the Peace Corps China program was being closed. After 2020, there would no longer be any new volunteers and that we needed to start preparing our schools for the transition. They called it a graduation, but we all knew it was a political move. For five hours, a room of 200 people ripped into the US PC HQ staff as to why they were “”graduating”” the program. They said it was because the budget didn’t call for it and that China no longer needed volunteers in their schools. Which is a lie. Tensions were already really really high, the answers kept gettin more vague, and we finally flat out asked if this was a political decision to remove Peace Corps from China. 

We didn’t get an answer. 

Needless to say, all the volunteers are livid. The information spread like wild fire to all of the schools and volunteers were faced with having to be the representative of a shitty political decision. It was extremely difficult to have to face students and try to explain that Americans don’t hate them when the political system there does. 

Chinese New Year was from Jan 25th - Jan 27th this year. I lived in Chongqing city in the Chongqing province/municipality, a city that has about 32 million people in it. During this time, the city becomes a ghost town due to the holiday being similar to Christmas/Thanksgiving where everyone goes back to their hometowns to be with family. All the shops close and for foreigners it can be difficult to find food because everything isn’t open lol. 

However on Jan. 25th was when news about the corona virus started getting around. It wasn’t very big, but the news was starting to spread. The Hubei province touches Chongqing province, so whispers were starting to come through and most information volunteers got were through foreign sources, but even my Chinese friends were telling me that I shouldn’t go out or if I do, I need to be sure to wear a mask. 

Sunday Jan. 26th, notices are starting to go up on store fronts saying that they are required by law to be closed, but I managed to find a place that was still open. News about the virus is starting to gain traction and more and more information about what is happening in Wuhan is starting to spread. My friend who is staying with me who lives in a small town near the border of Hubei (where Wuhan is placed) gets a call from his school telling him that it is safer for him to not come back to site. We are starting to hear that small towns are shutting down travel in and out, bus systems are starting to shut down and certain areas in the city are no longer allowing taxi or Didi (Chinese Uber)  services. 

Monday Jan. 27th, my friend leaves because all train and bus tickets out of the city were being canceled. My city was slowly starting to quarantine everyone. I live on campus, and when I tried to return after walking my friend to the metro, security took my temperature (with those neat little temp guns) and then wouldn’t let me in because they thought I was too warm. After arguing with them in my broken Chinese and convinced them that I lived there, they finally let me back on campus. They told me that no cars or people are allowed to go in and out anymore. 

I lived near city center and it was obvious that the government was slowly locking everyone away to try and prevent the spread, but it was so eerie and apocalyptic. We had been receiving emails from the PCChina director giving us daily updates that were inching towards the idea that all volunteers were going to be ‘consolidated’, so everyone just needed to be prepared. 

Tuesday Jan. 28th, the notice went out that the volunteers were being ‘consolidated’ to Thailand because China made it illegal for any group of 4 or more people to be together. We were only allowed 1 check in bag and we weren’t sure if we were ever going to be allowed to come back into country. People who were not at their sites were not allowed to go back to their sites. Wherever a volunteer was in that moment that we got the notice was required to get their ticket to Bangkok and leave immediately. I had to pack 2 years of my life up into a single suitcase not knowing if I was ever going to come back. 

Wednesday Jan 29th, I was on a plane and landed in Bangkok. I am a safety warden of my province and the first warden to arrive so I was in charge of all safety until staff arrived. 

But after that, things were very much in the air. We had no idea what was going to happen and every day things just got weirder and more serious and we didn’t know if at all we were going to be able to go back. We speculated a lot, as the news got worse and worse and worse. By Friday, all USA government employees were told to evacuate. No gov employee is allowed to enter China until the travel restrictions were let up, which meant that many PCChina staff - if they were to leave, would be allowed back in until China decided that it was safe enough or... if they wanted them back. 

Sunday, Feb. 2nd, all the volunteers who were at the hotel had a skype meeting with the head of the PCChina program and were told that due to the severity of the situation, all currently serving China volunteers would be forced to COS (Close of Service) by Thursday. The program was ending and we would all be sent back to our respective homes between Wednesday and Thursday. 

When I say it was the shittiest delivery of news imaginable, I cannot even put it into words. After we were all told that we could no longer return to China, we had lost our jobs, and couldn’t even say goodbye to anyone; HQ Staff had the balls to tell us that in order to get our final service allowance, we were still required to fill out paperwork and that we shouldn’t be sad. We should be happy we served at all. 

They gave no time for mourning, many of us put two years of our lives on hold to do this program, some of us don’t even have homes to go back too and they want us to make decisions in 4 days. After Thursday, they will no longer provide any assistance with travel, we do not get health insurance, the moment we COS, PC shrugs off complete responsibility of over 100+ volunteers. 

I have been so busy filling out paperwork and I have been so incredibly angry and sad and resentful that the only person I’ve told is my Dad. Returning to the USA isn’t really an option and the plan I had set into motion is now nonexistent because I’m no longer allowed in the country I gave two years of my life to until they decide that this virus has been resolved. 

I have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out where I’m going to live, what job I’m going to have, how I can get a cellphone plan, where I can go because I’m being quarantined for having been in China within the last 14 days, how to manage the money I’m getting -- everything has been changing so rapidly that I still don’t know where I’m going to be by Friday since Peace Corps is only paying for the hotel up until then. 

I promise I’m not ignoring any of you, I really really want to be in a place where I can RP and chat with y’all, but life for me right now is moving so fucking fast and I have to make so many decisions that will affect my future that I literally have not stopped going since Sunday night. 

I still stand by my last message: I really appreciate all the messages you guys have been sending me. I do read them. I just don’t want to talk. I don’t have the emotional capacity to and I haven’t even been given time to just... process and be mad. 

I promise I’ll be back, just give me some time. 

[sillyfudgemonkeys]

why is art boi yusuke in the bottom tiers? ;_;

Ah I can answer this one kinda faster than the other’s.....(also sorry anon seems like you like him but I’m gonna rip into him a little orz not too much but yeah)

So most of the time I forget he’s there (good job P5), but when I think about him I really don’t like him, he can be mean (or as the fandom says “savage”), he’s not really needed, and his introduction is bad. Him blackmailing Anne to strip is disgusting, not only is it cause he’s roundabout punishing Anne (who is there trying to help him model, and is the one person in the room he doesn’t seem angry with like?????). It’s also illegal, he loses any moral high ground the second he blackmails them, and instead he becomes the criminal (or both parties are, cause they are trespassing cause he revoked his invitation). 

I remember he an be pretty “savage” at times and it’s not funny, just makes me not want to be associated with him. 

I don’t like his CoOp, it falls into the “just go to Mementos and talk to the shadow????? See if they cool????” like ignoring what we know about P4 (that shadows will lie at times), doesn’t seem to be P5 kids’ mentality so really what’s stopping them. And in vanilla I remember how the old guy literally gave Yusuke a proposition that not only gave Yusuke stability but also gave him freedom so that he wasn’t just motivated by money and.....Yusuke declines it? Because......he and Atlus are dumb? I know they are going for “integrity over money” or whatever BS, but how about you make it so it’s not a literal deal that’s freaking meets his needs and demands? It’s really frustrating because it feels like they just want to keep him starving/poor.....which leads to

I hate that he’s starving all the time as the joke. Say what you want about Aki and Chie’s protein and meat craze, at least the joke is because it’s something like LIKE! Yusuke sure does not like being hungry (and it doesn’t matter if you make him curry everyday, he’ll still be hungry). It’s really annoying, esp because it’s associated with his poor spending habits which......I don’t know how he gets himself into this hole he has a scholarship.......I did some research about 2 years ago, and any art supplies should be funded by that school if they like it so much (cause they’ll def fund the art club). Food wise between the scholarship and possibly money from the gov (due to him being an orphan).....she SHOULDN’T be struggling this bad. To top it off Madarame not putting some money aside while he’s having a change of heart is also kinda BS, guy’s literally thinking about how he harmed his old students and wants to right his wrongs, and he doesn’t think of paying them the money he owes them? So he def shouldn’t have to worry about money, esp if it’s framed as Madarame giving him the money he was owed.

Another reason I don’t like the starving joke (not Yusuke’s fault, it’s Atlus’), is that, ESPECIALLY IF, him starving himself is due to him being so focused which is something probably picked up from Mada.......that’s not funny.....it’s worrying, why are we making a joke about that Atlus? Why? The hell treat him with more respect that that. >:O (hell treat all your chars with more respect than that!)

The last reason is....we don’t need Yusuke. The most he brings to the table is his ice powers which is just a gameplay mechanic. He’s not needed for the story except help making calling cards but like????? (Futaba is  more justified than him tbh, and when this is a game that’s designed for chars to have roles they need to fulfill....and artist isn’t one of them). What are we going to use his art abilities for post Mada? They have to go out of their way to use him “Oh I drew down the license plate!” ......I could write down the license plate too it doesn’t take art skills. If it’s about identifying the car then use your freaking phone, which WE KNOW WE HAVE AT LEAST ONE WITH US cause Mako’s on the other end. Then the Yakuza in Shido’s dungeon, wow really helped us there Yusuke-oh wait you insulted them....haha classic savage Yusuke. :’D *pushes him over the boat railing* >:( All those things are BS, iirc only Anne/Haru really get the invite without fighting (we’re still forced to fight too cause reasons), but why have a “oh look a highlight moment of their skills” if they’re just gonna have to take it by force? So stupid. >.> 

[hey-im-trash-and-better-than-you]

some thoughts from a highschooler about the school situation rn

I REALLY hope that grades this year (or at least second semester) are not going to be held against students, whether that be colleges or employers agree to disregard this timeframe (which I believe some major universities are doing) or schools agree to bump up grades or whatever.

I do realize that this could be a controversial topic because it kind of feels like when you study your ass off for a test but everyone passes anyways just because of the curve, but I think this situation is a little more drastic

I am genuinely concerned because I am failing a class and on the verge of failing another, and I am ok enough with that fact to admit it and admit that I may be a bit biased in this opinion, but the problem with me isn’t that I’m failing, it’s the fact that I'm failing and may not have the time to redeem myself. I have literally never failed a class before in my life but I’m legitimately terrified because as far as I know, I haven’t been getting graded for my online assignments and I’m not able to fix my grades from this past grading period because of all that’s happening and I’m not able to go to school. 

This also scares me for the future as I’m sure it scares many other students. I’m in IB and my friends are like literally geniuses and even they are failing classes just because of the fact that we have the stress of being in what's basically an international emergency + trying to keep our grades afloat, not to mention this has never really happened at my school, and as a result, none of the teachers really have any idea what they’re doing. Our main concern is that because of all of this, our transcripts are going to look like shit when it comes time for us to start applying to college, and I have many friends who have already been accepted into their dream schools and are afraid that their acceptance will be pulled away due to the drop in their grades. This also goes with scholarships, I'm betting my whole future right now on the fact that I can get a merit scholarship to the college I want because if I can’t manage that, I won’t be able to go. 

If schools decide to still have these grades count i genuinely doubt I’ll be able to get into half of the colleges I plan on applying to, solely because I’ll have the weight of failing two classes (which btw are core classes which I would have to retake at a lower level only making my transcript look worse) and having low grades in the rest.

I know that many places are doing things to help the situation, like college board cutting down AP exams to certain units and making them shorter (which THANK GOD is happening because it would’ve been hell otherwise) because students still have a desire to take them and still receive the credit, as well as many states canceling or waiving standardized testing requirements (like I live in Texas and STAAR and EOC’s have been canceled) 

but we haven’t heard anything about grades, which is arguably more important than most of these tests when it comes to college. If these grades are counted, we could potentially be having a whole wave of students not being able to get into the colleges they want or getting jobs they want simply because they happened to be in school during a situation that was simply out of their control.

I highly doubt they will count these grades, but if they do I will personally write a letter to gov. Abbott and complain, this letter probably would never get read, but it would make me feel better I guess.

anyways that's my thoughts on the matter, feel free to add or disagree

[ithinkthingsaboutstuff]

The good, the bad and the reality (personal)

or the worst 11 weeks of my life.

first off i’ll start by saying this a personal story i don’t normally make these and this is a long one so i will put it under the cut. this is about 11 weeks i had last year, 

 TL;DR: I (21) was bullied and berated by a fully grown women (28) who then tried to have me fail the protect i put together and the tutor took her side. 

I am writing this in retrospect a exactly year after the events. I am doing this to share my experience with you all and to reflect on it as well. I fell that this story may help someone even if that person is just myself.  

now this all happened last year (2018) and i will give you some background into my situation going into these 11 weeks. 

1, i was made redundant so i was unemployed   

2, i could not get any fiances help from the gov because of a law in my country that i a 21 yr adult needed my parents to hand over there tax info which they could not do (due to reasons i will not share here.)

3, I live an hour away from my uni so i need a car which i did have but it got a 30 centimetre crack over the drive side windshield and would cost $600 to fix (it was like that for 8 weeks or so)

4, if i was not living with my parents then i would have been homeless

5, i was and still am a full time student

6, one of my family members i’ll call them T, was having problems so my mother and i ended up looking after there kids a few days a week.

7, My phone got broken two days into semester and i was without one for 6 weeks 

OK 

so at my uni i did a course and basically it was a film production, we had a group and we had to make a film from post-production to complete film

I was the writer and director, I would like to note that the group elected and voted how got what role (there was 4 of us) i was picked to be the writer and director because i had a direction (see what i did there) to take the film. 

the first 2 members of the group where an editor (someone i had seen around before) and a Cinematographer (who was very nice) but they did not care to much about the ‘story’ of the film they just wanted to get into the job and have fun with it and i understood that and was fine with it. 

so i had all the creative control over this production so i was nervous i had never had this much control over anything before but i told my self i would not let that go to my head.    

the whole course was 13 weeks long so the first week was getting in groups so 12 weeks to make the film from post to complete.

now the producer was the women who made me write this, who decide that i was not to be treated like a person for the weeks to follow and has taken up more time in my life then she would ever deserve to. she has tested my resolve as a human being and made me question a lot of things about myself and the things i believe and would still like to.

her name was Luise, normally i would not use her real name but this bitch is not Voldemort and i’m not scared of her and if she by some way finds this then i hope she listens.

Now, the first 2 weeks should have made me pull the plug but retrospect being was it is. in the first to weeks i had made

1, a character list complete with descriptions

2, a story outline 

3, location list 

4, we as a group made a meet up time and what we had to do and complete ect

5, 3 pages of script

i had the chance to see her in another class we had the day before we talked for and i am not kidding 3 hours (not just about the film, and we had 2 mutual friends there)  but i made it a point to sit her down and show her what i had done because at this point in production i was the only one who could and i asked her many times if she had any questions or ideas to add to anything and everything i had done to that point,

the next day when we where in our group she made it look as if she had never seen anything i had shown her like her life depended on it.  this would not have been to bad if she did not go one to say 

‘I thought we were all going to work one the script, not just one person.’

and as the WRITER and director i had to explain to her that well i was going to talk to everyone and get advice and opinions but I was the one who had to make to choices and I was the one who was to be writing the script.

she got more mad and said things like ‘but this is a group, why do we have to do your idea.’

then i explained again, that I was chosen to be the writer and director because i had this script idea that she liked but one week ago. she then throw a bigger fit and i just shrugged and said fine so i put away all the printed (yes printed) work i had done to show everyone away and pulled out a pen and paper and said something like 

‘so what you like to do lets workshop something now and i’ll work on that.’

she then sat there and looked like i had just hit her with a rotting fish and said 

‘I don’t know’

‘ok, what genre would you like to look at?’

‘i don’t know.’

‘ok fine, what kind of story do you want to tell?, action, romance, comedy.’

‘I don’t know.’

‘fine, do you have any ideas you would like to share like a location or scene idea or like dialog beat, anything,’

nothing, she had spent an hour or so (again literally) talking about how she didn’t get any input and then when given the opportunity had nothing to give.

that was the first of many conversations like that.

in the second week, i had finished a 15 page script 2 days before class (which i emailed, so i had written 12 pages in 5 days), on the day I printed out the 15 pages and headed to class. when i walked in i found her sitting at a table and walked over to her and before i had a chance to say hello she said words i have not forgotten and never will

“this is pathetic, I can’t believe you, this is high school grade, disgraceful.”

now i was surprised to say the lest and i took a breath and somehow said calmly (i still don’t know why i was so claim about it?)

‘didn’t like the script?’   

 she looked like a deer and headlights 

‘what script?’

‘the one i sent two days ago.’

she backed down so fast saying, ‘no’ in a small but annoyed voice like it was somehow my fault she didn’t check her emails. so i went into my bag and gave here the complete script she then read. she nothing for the rest of the class.

now i will skip a few weeks but the highlights are these

1, she never came on time (she lived on campus)

2, she was in change of the equipment (cameras, lights, mics ect) she never got the right stuff i asked for e.g i wanted 2 mics so the actors could each have one so we did have to film a shot 4 times.

3, i asked her every week if she needed help collecting or carrying the equipment she said no, but later went on a big fit about how i never helped with anything

4, she did not tell me the Main actor pulled out until the night before the first shooting day.

5, she broke my personal propriety (i have a film clack broad, that my mother bought me when i got into uni for film study's) she did not say sorry or even tell me until i found out myself and called it a ‘cheap peace of shit’  

6, she would try to undercut me in front of everyone when i was doing ‘her job’ (she was not listen to me and when i went to correct the mistake she got mad and got on her high horse about how i made things about me.) 

7, and this was the biggest thing she and i would have weekly meetings and she took that as a opportunely to try and harass me, 

she would say ‘your a bad director, you never give me anything to do, you take my jobs ect.’

when ever i asked her for examples of my horrible mistreatment of her she would replay with and i’m quoting 

“I shouldn’t have to tell you should just know.”

 or when i asked her what she would like me to do or behaviours she would like me to change or what was making her so uncomfortable she said

“All of it, it’s all just unacceptable.” (again quoting)

again no examples, and since i am not a crazy person who is going to change every bit of my personally from the word of a disgruntled women how gave me nothing to work with i asked everyone else working on the production (editor, actors, camera man etc) privately if i was being interpenetrate and surprise surprise no else had a problem (in fact one of my actors said i was the most professional director they had worked with) 

8, and this on came closes to breaking me, she only ever gave me one example of a thing that upset her as she knew it was the one thing i could not defend myself in,  you see i have dyslexia 

therefore sending emails back and forth is a challenge for me and they do tend to come off harsher or blunter then i mean them to be.

so when i explained this she really went to town on it.

‘I don’t care you shouldn’t talk to me like that.’

‘It doesn't matter, your dyslexia doesn't matter your doing it on purpose.’

‘your just rude it’s no excuse’

i ended up having to cut the meets short.

now you must be wondering. why didn’t go to my other team mates? why didn’t i go to the tutor or talk to someone? 

the short answer is i did. 

my other team mates the editor was for lack of a better term apathetic he did not want to get into any ‘drama’ and would really only shrug at the situation.

my Cinematographer unfortunately had his grandmother pass away in the middle of all of this and was grieving for her so for the most part he was out of it. (he still did all his work and i think he had a really good time filming i think it helped his grieving process)   

i did try and talk to my family but as i said,  “T” was having a bit of crisis so most of the emotional energy was going to them.

and i mainly vented to my friends at uni which was nice but they had not advice for me.

now this brings me to the Tutor, 

the authority in this situation in about week 7 of all this nonsense i had sent her an email to talk about problems i was having (again email is hard for me to express myself in)  we were meant to be having a classes check in every week (previously, the class time) but she cancelled 2 or 3 of them by this point (the day of i might add) so i arranged a meeting with them, which they cancelled so i made another meeting for next week, which they cancelled again, you see the pattern.

so on the last day of filming i sent her another email 

one with sentences like ‘At the end of my rope” and ‘can’t take this anymore.’ and ‘has been antagonising me’ and ‘can’t take this behaviour anymore.’

she answered me a week and a half later with basically 

‘sorry it took so long, is the work done? i can meet you next week.’

 so that’s how much they cared.  

it took i think 3 weeks from my first connect with them to finally meet up, but it was too late by then, you see there was finally an incident between me and Luise

now i am not excusing or condoning my behaviour in this but as you can tell it had been a long time coming. 11 weeks, it took 11 weeks for me to break.

as i said we had finished filming but we meet up to see how the editor was going and if we needed re shoots (we did) i went to organise them with Luise and she ignored me. and i don’t mean she looked off into the distance or was distracted she straight up walked away from me like i did not exist, she sat down to get lunch and i don’t remember this part all that well but we ended up walking again and we were next to the car parks and i just remember saying 

“i don’t know what you want from me.”

I then fell to the ground crying and i mean in a ball, hands in my hair crying wailing and shaking, I have no idea how long this went on for but a very nice lady (she was about 60 ish) a stranger to me knelled down and rubbed my back until i was able to stand she and another kind man (a former nurse) helped me up to my feet and Luise was standing there looking at her nails (out of awkwardness as people were staring) after i had taken a few breaths and most people turned there backs and left. I looked to Luise to have acknowledgement as one human being to another and to maybe have some god damn empathy form one person to another. But instead 

She roll her eyes at me and walked away, quickly. 

I am not proud of this next part but i do not regret it. 

I then in all my wisdom screamed the words “are you fucking kidding me.” I then begin to yell and follow her for about 15 mins or so, about everything she had done to me up until that point. until we reached student housing (for the recorded i had no idea where it was until this point)

again my memory on this one is messy but i do remember her saying she never like my script and my ideas and i remember saying ‘I never needed you to like it i just needed you to be an adult and if you had a problem to talk to me,’

and when we got to a big gate that only residents could access she then run in quickly and slammed it behind her and then gave me a very condescending ‘Just clam down’ 

again in all my wisdom i yelled ‘Bitch i will claim this fence”

she looked scared or that lightly jogged out of sight. but i walked it off instead. so after that i called my mum and she calmed me down more. i then emailed the tutor again explaining what just happened including the parts where i was in the wrong (note i stated that i “had a breakdown on the side of the road” in the email)

this was a Friday and she got back to me to meet on the Monday (note that all she said was don’t talk to Luise again and is the film complete, meet me on Monday.) that week end i made a list of this Luise had said what i had said and so on. printed of emails and got ready to just explain everything the good and the bad.

so i got there early with my binder (yes binder) of stuff to go through she then rolled up 15 mins late to her own office, I then went to tell her everything and it when like this 

‘I know you have heard about what happened between be and Luise I want to explain everything that happened.’

she then raised her hand at me to stop and said

‘don’t tell me about it i can’t take sides’

i was confused but she said she had already spoken to Lusie so hearing my side would do something I honesty can’t remember i was to shocked.

she went on to have me explain where the project was at and to not re shoot the scenes and she sent a group email to that effect. 10 mins i had spent weeks trying to talk to this women and she gave me 10 mins of her time and told me that way that, and honesty i was so emotionally tried i just when with it at that point.     

then two day later i got an uni official email for the Tutor and to paraphrase it said that 

1, Luise had come to her earlier told her about what happen

2, she then helped Luise go to the student offences where they where going to put out a official warning against me (she did not go through with it but it is on file)

3, if i where to go near her again there would be trouble and that i would most likely be me failed from the course (my project)

4, the real reason she never had any intention for hearing my side was because as i had already admitted in my emails that i had done what Luise said and the Tutor did not care about the context as she would have to have done an investigation and this was easier for her to do 

5,there was a condescending final line about how ‘groups work is hard, talk to someone who’s not me.’

 6, this was the first time I had ever revised any numbers or info for other people how could have helped me (e.g concealers, student advisers to help me with law and record keeping, the HR department,)   

so I had another melt down after reading this email form someone i tried to reach out to for so long only to stab me in the back and not out of hate or spite but simply because it was easier for her to do so, easier to believe a shallow truth then a harsh reality. 

now to skip a little a head i ended up going to the student HR (that is separate from the uni) and they listened to me and they helped me book a concealer and they got a copy of my new binder, they contacted the head of the teachers HR department at the uni and she talked to the Tutor and there is not official mark on her record but if something like this happens again they can use the binder of stuff i got on my Tutor the emails notes from the meets ect. if something like this happens again. so silver lining I guess.

now with all my ranting a raving you must be wondering what the point of my little confession is, a year later no less.

the truth is i hear a lot of story’s about this sort of thing and there’s always the What i should have done moments and for me that is part of the problem i did everything “right”  I tried to talk it out like adults, I talked about how i felt to people round me, i asked help form when i felt like there was nothing more i could do and i set the record straight from the lies and had evidence to support it, then i searched for professional mental help when that was needed. 

But none of this did anything to change that the women who harassed me emotional and mentally for 11 weeks got off with not even a talking to. nothing after the fact can change those 11 weeks, only how i feel about it..so her i sit a year later and i feel better, I don’t feel it crying all the time now. I don’t get a stabbing pain of fear when i walk around campus anymore and i don’t feel the need to go around the building the tutors office is in anymore. 

To be clear i never hated Luise i still don’t, but to be honest at worst i always found her to be pitiful I mean a grown women in 3rd year uni who could not take responsibility for her own actions and was unable to have even the smallest amount of empathy for a fellow human being is the most pathetic thing i have ever seen (in person anyway)             

she has unintentionally made me come to terms with my own ideals and made me ask myself am i really an optimist or have i never had a reason not to be? I can so far say that yes i am still an optimist. but the reality is life goes on nothing in those 11 weeks made me less of a person despite every effect to make to that feel way in fact maybe one day it may make me a stronger person but i don’t see that happening at the moment. but not to sugarcoat things, I got bitter really bitter and had to shut some doors on ‘T’ i could not deal with their crisis and had to start shutting her out i still had the kids with my mother and i was physically there but i emotionally exited and am only now really trying to emotionally involve my self with them again.

so the point is i have a long way to go, and i am not going to be shy about the bad stuff i have done, because that is counterproductive, pointless and what Luise did. 

so i want to be better then that, I need to be better then that.

thanks for sticking it out here’s a gif

[vergess]

Do NOT blame the people living in Florida, you condescending weirdo. I'm going to assume you're being an ass because while you're aware that Floridian schools don't teach reading, and only 39% of adults under 25 are literate at an adult level in the state, you're somehow blindly ignorant of the GODDAMN ELECTORAL SUPPRESSION.

Now, instead of bullying Floridians with useless insults and shrugging about their powerlessness, here's some ACTUAL ADVICE.

1) If you can, teach your child to read yourself. Schools in the US effectively stopped teaching reading 30 years ago, leaving students to teach themselves. For the 30-40% of students who cannot self teach, this means they NEVER LEARN TO READ. They may eventually teach themselves basic words, but understanding long passages and learning the information in them (aka reading) will remain outside their reach.

The good news is, with basic literacy training, even illiterate adults can learn to read in a year or two. Kids are sometimes faster, sometimes slower, but generally will take between 6 months and 3 years to learn.

If you don't have time, skill, money, etc for this training, don't worry:

2) Take your kids to the local library. The librarians there won't be able to teach your kid to read, but WILL be able to tell you about reading classes. Many times, those classes are held for free at the library or community center.

For younger kids, that may look like storytime circles and alphabet sing alongs, but rest assured: that shit is CRITICAL for actually learning to read.

3) Call DeSantis's office every day. Yep! Every day! Here's your script tobrecite to the poor intern who answers your call:

Hello, my name is (name). I'm a voter here in Florida. I am calling to voice my opposition to HB 1467.

Although I supported Gov DeSantis's campaign, I will be voting for his Democratic opponent in the future. Banning books is unacceptable. Damaging out children's ability to read for the rest of their lives as part of a book ban is even worse.

Thank you for your time.

Every day. (Or, as many as you possibly can).

Encourage everyone you know to call, too. Make it numerically clear to his staff that this book ban will ruin the man's chances of being governor or president ever again.

4) Give your kid both support and freedom in their reading choices.

Especially if they are learning to read late, the most important thing you can do is make reading SAFE and FUN. Illiterate kids have a lot of trauma and shame when they realize they're behind their peers.

It's our responsibility as adults to help untangle that trauma, and be a safe, kind touchstone in a world where COPS STEAL EVERY BOOK IN SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

Because this doesn't just impact books in classrooms.

Entire libraries are being stripped bare.

(Link isn't working for some reason but: https://twitter.com/JagsFanBrian/status/1618977880696041474 )

5) RUN FOR YOUR LOCAL SCHOOLBOARD

There are nearly no eligibility requirements, and these positions often run unopposed with whatever bigoted sack of shit decided to use public schools as propaganda. Literally just having more candidates (and thus more scrutiny) on school board electionss can make a SHOCKING difference very quickly.

And if you win, congrats: now you have the power to help protect kids in your district from this dumb shit.

6) Support your area teachers.

Write letters to local papers praising them for fighting to educate kids under circumstances that would make 1930s Nazis proud and envious.

Contact the local teachers' Union branch and ask what support they need to help fight this. Do anything you can to let teachers know that you are on their side, and you will stand with them against fascism.

Even just compliments to teachers can make a huge difference in morale.

Do anything you can, and do it loudly and often.

Teaching is already an underpaid job with a horrific mortality rate due to the unrestrained gun violence and COVID in the US.

This only adds to that horror.

Now more than ever we need teachers who care about their students' welfare.

Now more than ever, caring is being punished.

ETA: Corrected the young adult literacy rate in FL. I had accidentally cited the US's overall rate (45%), rather than Florida's rate (39%).

I don't Think ive seen anyone on here talking abt some US states forcing teachers to remove all books from their classrooms and force them to only have pre-vetted books available or else face possible JAIL TIME ???

[peterpa1ker]

Freshmen Advice

work as hard as you can but also take mental breaks when needed. Your grades in high school are important if you’re going to college!

join activities. I regret not joining anything in High School

go to school sporting events

go to homecoming and other events of the sort

cheer at pep rally’s. It isn’t cool to not cheer

you won’t keep all the same friends you had in middle school.

- also you’ll gain friends that you never thought you would have

- take a foreign language class! It looks good when applying to college/jobs and if you study a certain thing (like in the department of science) knowing a little bit of a language will give you a head start

- start applying for scholarships. Some of them let you apply as young as 13!!- read and write down as much as possible

- start studying for your ACT now! The scores do matter! I wish somebody told me start studying my freshmen year rather then waiting a month until my date my junior year

- electives are important! Take ones that might help with your future career

- start looking at colleges and requesting information

- respect the upperclassmen, but also know to not let them treat you like crap

- no matter what movies tell you, popularity is NOTHING in HS as it was in MS. Literally everybody talks to each other and helps each other

- please don’t stand in the middle of the hallway

- also please don’t block people’s lockers- respect the dress code. You’re tired of getting yelled at and teachers are tired of yelling at you. Sometimes it does go too far but MOST of the time it is preparing you for a job where you need to dress appropriately.

- look good for your yearbook photos. You’ll regret it (aka me wearing a MCR shirt my sophomore year)

- look over your schedule a lot so by the first day of school you know exactly where your classes are and when you have each class

- don’t show up late. It’s annoying to the teacher and to the rest of the class if you disrupt the class without a note

- don’t buy too many school supplies or your locker will get bombarded

- get enough sleep. It isn’t healthy to go to school on hardly any sleep and it’s harder to learn

- one test grade doesn’t determine your future but don’t make it a habit

- yes it’s great to join stuff but don’t join too much! Remember if you don’t make time for studying you will not be able to play your sport if you’re failing!!!

- don’t walk slow but also don’t run in the hallways!

- ask questions if you don’t understand something

- email teachers when you need help outside of class! That’s what they are there for!!

- if your teacher didn’t sign you up for an AP course you can still take it! Most schools will let you take it if your parents approve but remember, if you fail that is on you, not the teacher

- develop a good relationship with all your teachers! Don’t treat them like crap because you’ll be coming to them for job, scholarship, or college recommendation letters!

- don’t take blow off classes. If they aren’t what you’re interested in or if it won’t help you in the long run, why take it?

- always have paper and a pencil/pen. It isn’t the teachers job or another students job to provide you with that. Forgetting it or running out does happen, but don’t make it a habit

- don’t be shy if you need a tutor. Most teachers are glad to give up lunch or help you during a planning period. Some may even come in early or stay late to help you

- keep a snack on you. Most teachers will let you eat/drink in class if you don’t make a mess and don’t distract others

- enjoy high school because it’ll be over in a blink of an eye and all of a sudden you’ll be in your gap and gown, staring at your friends wondering where all the time has gone

- make sure to have at least one study hall!

- don’t try to fit in with everyone. It’ll just make you look desperate for attention. Just be yourself

- we all joke about waiting to the last minute to do things but a lot of us work best that way and will put in our best work. If you’re not putting your best work in that way then do not do that.

- say no. You’re not forced to do anything you don’t want to * does not apply to that assignment you don’t want to do, you have to do that

- don’t sacrifice your grades for a social life. Your friends in HS won’t always be around but your grades will be what will help you in the future

- that senior does not love you. Honestly if they’re talking to you, run. It’s disgusting. You’re what 14/15? They’re 17/18/19. That isn’t healthy or cute and they just want you for sex. Age does matter but once you’re older, (20) it doesn’t matter

- please shower. And wear deodorant. It’s gross and during the summer it is even worse- don’t stress. It isn’t scary at all.

- don’t let anybody force you to have sex, drink, smoke. Whatever it is. No means no- if you run out of a pad/tampon ask a girl, any girl. They’ll help you out or just go to the nurse. They’ll have some

- don’t worry about not being asked to dances, go with friends. I had a date to my junior prom and that was it. It’s sad st first but once you get there it’s great to just be going with friends

- remember you don’t need an expensive dress for homecoming/prom. If you can’t afford an expensive one, don’t worry. Get what you or your parents can afford- do spirit week. It isn’t cool to not do it

- sparknotes, quizlet, and kahoot will get you through these four years

- READ THE FUCKING BOOK. It isn’t cute to look stupid and not know what’s going on and if you don’t understand it, ask for help

- have a buddy to copy notes from if you’re sick or missing class and repay them with the same

- don’t use Wikipedia for a research paper

- use .gov and .edu for your research and make sure you look at the dates because it could be wrong and could have updated info!!

- if you’re aloud to pick the topic of your essay, pick something you’re passionate about

[ericvick]

Entire re-opening, close to mask mandate moved up to May 29

In no way brain Aug. 1. The Saturday of Memorial Working day weekend — May 29 — is the new goal date for the finish of almost all remaining Covid-19 limits in Massachusetts.

By that date, which is far more than two months in advance of the timetable declared much less than 3 months ago, Massachusetts intends to lift its pandemic limitations, though masks will nevertheless be needed in specific configurations like transportation, in universities, and at overall health care amenities.

Moreover, the state of emergency that has been in location considering that March 10, 2020 will be lifted on June 15, Gov. Baker announced late Monday early morning. At a afterwards press meeting, Boston Mayor Kim Janey— mentioned that Boston would stick to fit and line up with the statewide timetable considering the fact that Boston’s COVID-19 traits “continue to shift in the correct way.”

“Because of this development, I am generating the determination to align with the commonwealth of Massachusetts and raise the COVID constraints on Could 29,” Janey said. “But permit me be very clear: our fight from COVID is not around. Reopening our town will only operate if we all proceed to do our portion to struggle the pandemic.”

At former junctures in the year-long gradual reopening procedure, Boston opted to move slower and hold constraints in spot for a longer time than the condition. Janey stated on April 27 that the state’s premier city would lag about 3 months at the rear of Gov. Charlie Baker’s reopening timetable, but she explained Monday that “we have extra than a thirty day period of data exhibiting that circumstances are very low and continue to be lower in excess of time.”

Boston Chief of Health and fitness and Human Solutions Marty Martinez claimed Boston recorded an average of 63 new scenarios for every day as of Could 11, whilst the city’s positivity rate dropped to 2.1 p.c and was no greater than 4.3 percent in any single neighborhood.

Previous 7 days, he stated, there ended up much less than 65 COVID-good sufferers in town hospitals. “We have not observed these reduced numbers in over a calendar year,” Martinez explained. “It is distinct that vaccines are doing the job to continue to keep individuals from developing serious cases of COVID and decreasing unfold of the virus.”

The announcements signify a sizeable milestone in the state’s fight from the coronavirus that has fueled a global pandemic and upended practically all areas of human lifetime since the begin of 2020. But the governor built apparent that the finish of govt-mandated limitations does not always indicate the conclusion of the general public health threat.

“Covid is a minimal bit like, you know, Michael Myers,” Baker claimed, referring to the horror movie franchise character with a knack for surviving to make it into but a different sequel. “We have created incredible development and which is why we are able to do what we’re accomplishing below and what we’re proposing below nowadays … the individuals of Massachusetts have established the commonwealth up to be effective likely ahead from right here, but certainly this is anything we’re all likely to have to continue on to pay back consideration to and we will.”

Speaking at the Point out House, Baker explained the new reopening timeline — May well 29 was at first likely to be the following, but not closing, step toward a extra entire reopening — has been produced doable by an hard work that has the condition in line to meet its goal of vaccinating 4.1 million citizens by the 1st week of June.

“Massachusetts is effectively battling back in its marketing campaign in opposition to the virus,” Baker stated. “Nearly each and every university student in the point out is back again in the classroom and we have reopened virtually each individual industry. We’re safer, smarter, and superior outfitted in this struggle than at any time considering the fact that it commenced.”

New conditions are down 89 p.c because Jan. 8 and hospitalizations are down 88 p.c considering that Jan. 1, Baker’s business mentioned. The state’s optimistic exam level has fallen from 8.7 % on Jan. 1 to an even 1 percent as of Sunday.

Given that Baker very last laid out a reopening timeline on April 27, the ordinary of daily new situations is down 65 per cent, the typical hospitalization stage has declined 39 percent, and the typical everyday selection of deaths has fallen by about 45 percent.

Principles started off to alter on Tuesday in the Bay Point out. Productive May 18, steerage for youth and novice sporting activities was up to date to allow young ones less than the age of 18 to enjoy outdoor sports without obtaining to wear a mask and to allow young ones at university or kid care to go mask-totally free when outdoor for things to do like recess. Schoolkids will also be authorized to share classroom merchandise once again.

On Could 29, all industries will be permitted to open up to 100 percent potential, accumulating limits will be rescinded and, with the exception of confront-covering prerequisites for certain configurations, all condition-mandated Covid-19 restrictions will be lifted. Non-vaccinated people today will be encouraged to continue on donning encounter masks and to keep on distancing in most settings, but a new advisory will recommend that vaccinated people no lengthier will need to put on a facial area masking or social length indoors or outdoor apart from for in specific circumstances.

“After far more than a year of constraints, protocols, and tips, a entire Massachusetts reopening is magnificent news for smaller firms,” Nationwide Federation of Independent Corporations Point out Director Christopher Carlozzi claimed just after Baker’s announcement. “Now the real get the job done starts to mend a battered smaller company economic system and convey residents of the commonwealth back again into the place of work.”

Merchants Affiliation of Massachusetts President Jon Hurst said Baker’s announcement “sends a crystal clear message about the significance of financial expenditure and restoration now that we have accomplished what we required to do to be secure. With our vaccinations, we are all now evidently safe and sound to store, dine, entertain, vacation, and return to operate.”

But he also asked that buyers, quite a few of whom are as eager to get back to their regular procuring and dining styles as the companies are to welcome them back, be “patient and considerate as federal government mandates turn into person possibilities.”

“In the times to arrive, companies will have selections to make on masks and occupancy concentrations, and as perfectly as enhanced staffing desires for their institutions,” he explained.

Alluding to the chance that some metropolitan areas and towns could not go alongside with Baker’s new timeline, Hurst additional, “We also strongly urge municipal officials to fully grasp the need for regularity in coverage and community messaging, and to steer clear of perplexing our shoppers and modest enterprises with conflicting local plan.”

As with each individual other move in the state’s reopening work, municipalities are free of charge to go slower than the point out. Boston and Somerville, in certain, have commonly adopted modified variations of the state’s reopening techniques and have been much more cautious in their have returns to usual.

Baker reiterated Monday that “communities that don’t want to go as aggressively or as considerably as we’re proposing to go” can make whatsoever choices they experience are proper “and we will assistance that.”

Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy, who led the administration’s economic reopening advisory group with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, stated the 12 times until eventually May possibly 29 are intended to give organization owners and communities that are ready to reopen “time to approach for a return to regular, and to make changes to their actual physical spaces, and to modify their staffing ranges.”

“Kindness, knowing, and regard will go a extended way in these coming weeks,” Kennealy said.

Carlozzi, the point out director of NFIB, said corporations also face “major staffing challenges” as they put together for consumers to return in greater figures this summer season.

“A real indicator of a return to normalcy will be the many ‘help wanted’ signals currently being eradicated from storefront windows,” he stated.

Even though most Massachusetts people will likely circle May well 29 as the milestone date on their calendars, the June 15 expiration of Baker’s state of crisis declaration is just as major to those people who closely stick to point out federal government. Baker declared a point out of crisis on March 10, 2020 to offer with the coronavirus that was just beginning to surge across the planet and his administration’s restrictions, recommendations, and executive orders have shaded approximately all elements of daily life in the Bay Point out considering the fact that then.

“The lifting of the governor’s orders underneath the Chilly War period Civil Protection Act could not come a working day faster. For just about 421 times, plenty of corporations and people have experienced their rights and freedoms totally ignored,” Paul Craney, spokesperson for MassFiscal, reported, although Monday was the 434th day less than Baker’s condition of emergency.

MassFiscal has supported the New Civil Liberties Alliance as it pursued legal avenues to overturn many of Baker’s executive orders, arguing that the Republican governor overstepped his authority.

“A performing democracy are not able to survive below a temporary point out of emergency that is extended like we endured … Massachusetts really should never at any time go as a result of this again,” Craney explained.

For the duration of Monday’s push convention to announce the previous reopening phase, the lieutenant governor pointed out that it was literally a 12 months in the producing.

“May 18 of 2020 was the day that we arrived to this area and introduced the to start with stage of our reopening approach. And in this article we are, virtually to the day, a year later on with a full reopening,” Polito claimed Monday. “It would not have transpired with out all of you functioning so tough alongside this training course and alongside this journey.”

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[martinaphillips]

My Apologies to Year’s Past

It’s around this time where people always complain how the year sucked.  With 2020 though, an expectation has to be made, because it actually sucked – like huge balls, the biggest you can imagine!  I think we all learned that all of us took a lot for granted.  I believe it is only appropriate to apologize to the past years that I thought were dog shit.  After 2020 I don’t think I was being too fair in the past.  Let me begin to explain my shitty years.  

Now I know everyone is going to say 2016.  It was the start of Trump and all those celebrities died; it goes without saying. If 2020 did not happen like it did, we’d all still hate that year.  Actually my 2016 hasn’t too bad, for the most part, I did get a new job that I liked – the world was starting to become crazier though.  But 2014, let me tell ya, that year was terrible.  It started looking promising, I attended what I thought would be the greatest New Years party ever to take place, but instead I had a hangover for a year. I definitely blacked out, so I’m not sure what all I drank. I woke up next to empty bottles of gasoline; whatever happened wasn’t pretty.  Perhaps I should have went to a doctor; internally I was afraid I had tumor or something.  I suffered through my wrenched senior year and was unemployed for months.  Then the next New Years party I drank gallons of water, which proved to be good luck for the year I was the most hydrated ever in.

Then in 2010 welcomed my dreaded AP Gov class.  The teacher was Mrs. Sloth, which gave the cute animal a bad name.  She was more associated with the mortal sin.  Mrs. Sloth literally looked like the Wicked Witch of the West, green skin and all and was so mean she’d throw erasers at us if we got something incorrect.  Her class was so back breaking.  There was so much homework to do, so much reading, and the tests were nauseating.  She showed no sympathy – no retakes, if you were sick on test day that was on you.  Students seek therapy because of the class.  It drove me crazy. I buried myself in government.  Along with the other classes, that were less intense, I never slept.  The class did teach me that the government blows. Looking back it make sense a class about it would too.   On the AP exam I got a 4.  Technically, the year ended with a crowning achievement.  I will still never forget how much time that witch took from me.

In 2005, in middle school I got my braces.  It did not compliment my glasses as much as you’d think it would have.  It felt like I was on the road to being a nerd.  Avoiding any sparkles from my mouth it kept it closed for the entire year.  That’s right, I did not smile for an entire year. It did not help I got rubber bands add in that same year.  I could not even open my mouth all the way.  Then taking them out to eat was embarrassing and disgusting. It felt like the b beginning stages of wiring my mouth shut.  I also avoided looking into mirrors. I did it once that year and the mirror broke. The superstition is that is seven years bad luck, but the following years where my classmates also got braces turned out not to be so bad.  Perhaps that is how you make a good year.

1999, I was in elementary school, there was a girl in my class who on the playground asked if I wanted to be her girlfriend.  We were adolescent, we did not fully understand the complexity of romantic relationships, I said year though. After I told everyone that girl was my girlfriend.  Then she responded by publicly denying it.  That actually prepared me for the future when me and my exes, both refused to acknowledge each other’s existence. All my other classmates made fun of him for thinking she’d be my girlfriend.  Back when I was young when I got embarrassed, I did this thing where I kinda peed myself – so I peed myself and my mom had to come to the school and drop me off new clothes.  This event I had to be reminded of every year of elementary school.  The late 90s, early 2000s were not the best years, to be honest.

All that being said,  2020 still was worse than any of those years. In those years at least there was still certainty. This year I lost my job, worried about my safety, lost friends, and was never sure if things were going to be okay.  The year did not just suck for me personally, but the entire world.  My apologies to all the years I said sucked.  I never realized how grateful I should have been.

[swampraven]

So like, just when things were starting to look up again –– the foundation of all my problems just, re-establishes itself stronger than before (finances). 

It’s looking like I won’t get back into college, which means no government student support, and no band office support. Anyone who knows my situation a little knows my band office was my main support for school and they paid my rent and other living expenses but only if I’m full-time. The gov aid I sought out is roughly the same, but since I won’t be getting into college again I won’t be receiving that. 

On top of losing sponsorships & possible gov funding, I’ve lost my job. I have no fucking income, no job, not even going to school, I’ve literally lost everything, I’m a thousand $$ in debt, and owe my mom $500 because she had to chip in already to cover my rent for February on the notion I’d be continuing school and receiving funding and could eventually pay her back. 

But, nay. Alas I have nothing. 

Absolutely nothing.

[kanaiicun]

You can Ignore this :)

Okay so I'm just gonna write down everything that is currently swamping my mind right now to just help me get out of this stupid anxiety attack. Nothing I write will be in anger towards anyone or anything. I just need to decompress.

There are so many things I need closure on from some people. Why'd one person ignore me for a year, even when I attempted day after day to make things better? Why'd another think it would be okay for them to just manipulate my relationship with my best friend then expect me to be okay with them after she and I almost didn't make up? WHY DOES MY GOV TEACHER THINK I AM CAPABLE OF REMEMBERING A CRAP TON OF PEOPLE AND THEIR JOBS IN CONGRESS RIGHT NOW?????

Why do couples feel the need to tell the other person their whereabouts at all times? Like you aren't living together and let's be real it's a high school relationship. You probably won't last past the first semester of college so why even bother in the first place? If you were married and had kids and lived together that would make sense but like give each other some breathing room.

Relationships: when it is acceptable to stalk and be stalked.

Okay so I like someone and WHAT DO??? I wanna wait til college to try a relationship but like agh this guy is so great, but it wouldn't last. But this guy is sooo great. NO. WAIT TIL COLLEGE. I don't wanna. Help?!??

WHY. CANT. PEOPLE. BE. RESPONSIBLE. AND JUST. DO. WHAT. THEY. SAID. THEY. WOULD. DO?!?!!!!

I've had to pick up this persons slack for the past year and a half and I'm like dude just freaking quit already. You think you are much better at this than you are and your douchy ways are really hindering everyone else. Agh.

GOVERNMENT CLASS. AGAIN.

Everyone is bitching about my English class being "a waste of time" but it's the only class I look foreword to and I've actually gained something out of it.

I stg the next time someone is like "we never fucking do anything in here I'm wasting my time" WHILST WE ARE IN CLASS MIND YOU, imma throw something. Like I'm sorry that your FIVE STUDYHALLS apparently aren't a waste of time?? You don't complain about that but when our teacher teaches us [how to succeed in business without really trying] (musical reference) you're like Oh FuCK wHY aM I iN hERe tHis Is SuCH a WaSte oF mY tImE. Like BITCH. She doesn't have to teach us about resumes and cover letters and eventually taxes and stuff. SHE IS DOING THAT SO WE WILL BE PREPARED FOR LIFE. not just prepared for college but for LIFE as well. "I don't need to know how to write creatively" so what?! It's still helpful to your writing and comprehension skills. You. Are. Going. To. College. To. Learn. How. To. Do. This. Stuff. Chill the fuck out. You know how to fucking write. You took 3 years worth of collegiate level writing courses. This is just not an essay for once in your life. Stop bitching about our teacher you little cunt. You want her job? Do you want to be teaching this class for us because you will NEVER be able to teach this to anyone as well as she is. So fuck you for not giving our teacher the credit she deserves you piece of shit student. (I don't really mean that I'm just agh right now so take all of this with a grain of salt).

I really want to sit with my best friend on the bus to Disney but our director likely won't let me because I am sexually a boy (lol um hey bitch I'm n/b and GAY. SHES ALSO PRETTY GAY).

Also, to the two of you who told me you won't even try to use the correct pronouns for me, that fucking hurt. A lot. It wasn't funny. It's just rude and literally not asking much of you at all. JUST USE THEY THEM AND THEIR. like I think about you two just laughing and being like "lol sorry I'm probably never gonna call you non-binary. Like you can introduce yourself however you want to in college but not here." Fuck you. That was such a horrible thing to say to me. That hurts me so much. I at least have two friends who are trying to use the correct pronouns. And to you two, Nat and Leah, I am so appreciative of you. But to the other two of you, don't expect me to be friends with you in college. Because to you, I apparently can't be non-binary because YOU ARE TOO FUCKING LAZY TO SWITCH OUT A FUCKING PRONOUN. you are literally such assholes. I love you both but how about you swallow your pride and actually care to think about someone besides yourself? It's ONE FUCKING PRONOUN. don't be a lazy douche. You are both being lazy douches about this and fuck you. (That's not me being agh. I'm seriously so hurt by you both and I mean what I said to you).

The United States.

Just why.

Like why are y'all proud of this country? The only good that has come out of it are doctors, music, and Hollywood. In terms of human relations since I've been alive, The Us has really fucked over a lot of people.

Where is the free education?

The free health care?

AAAAANNND YOU. WHERE THE HELL DO WE STAND? SOMEDAYS YOU IGNORE ME AND OTHERS YOU ARE ALL CHIPPER. WHICH IS IT??

Thank you for your time. My heart rate is still up but I'm breathing normally now at least so yay for that??

[thisnerdsadventures]

year 2.... already?

idk how but im a sophomore and all the frosh are here

jaden smith was here today. he was apparently in 3.091. i know that they had small goodie bags last year to add to the class material, but i’m not quite sure what giving the students a jaden smith appearance adds.

anyways here is what i’m doing this semester!

classes:

6.009 - fundamentals of programming: seems like just a lot of coding in python for various applications. just finished a lab on image processing, and so far it seems manageable, but then again 6.006 hasn’t started yet and i’m assuming this was just a starter lab that probably will not be as bad as the future labs. The class seems pretty independent such that most of the class will be focused on just completing the labs, which is pretty chill. The class only meets a couple times officially every week, so that’s also a plus.

6.006- intro to algorithms: i’ve heard so much about this class and i’m kinda scared, but everyone I know has gotten through it somehow. just bought my knockoff paperback version of the book, and so far the first couple lectures have been ok. (I’m gonna get the first pset tomorrow and my life is going to go downhill fast but thats all right.) the first lecture was pretty intimidating actually, our prof said something about recurrences and i had no idea what a recurrence was, but i went home and looked it up in my book and understood it all right. this class will probably be my hardest class for the semester, and it hasn’t quite started yet, so i’ve found myself with some free time to write this post the day before the first pset releases.

6.036 - intro to machine learning: i’ve been pretty into machine learning since my urop ended this summer, so i’m pretty excited to learn more. Not a huge fan of the class structure since theyre teaching it flipped classroom style this semester (read/watch lectures at home, then come to class and do problems). Personally, I’d rather go to class for a lecture than literally sitting in a room doing homework when I could do that in my dorm room on my bed, but I see how it might be better for some people. Still, I think the content is really exciting and I think i’m doing well in the class so far. Thank god I had my research project over the summer because i got to experiment already with numpy and understand the high level point of machine learning (for instance, what the training and test data are, stuff like that).

intro to world music - taking this class for my HASS and CI-H, but it seems like a cool class. unfortunately i had to drop my other class because the first day of harmony and counterpoint II gave me serious anxiety and i couldn’t get into h & c I after reg. but apparently in this class we get to play various instruments and we’re also required to go see other world music performances, and it sounds like a load of fun! i’m also looking forward to writing about something else other than literature because i feel like i’ve done that all my life

other things:

still doing my job with the science fair and seeing if i can find a urop before direct funding deadline r i p. i’m trying to find something in comp bio, but we’ll see how that goes

i also applied for code for good and techx! chances i get into techx?! probably slim! but thats ok! i’m also doing house gov stuff and quidditch still. not doing adt dance this semester bc i missed auditions, but i’ll get back on that next semester def. i’m also going to be applying to a lot of internships and hopefully career fair will be fruitful, otherwise you’ll see me back on here posting deep stuff about imposter syndrome because that’s what happens here! [screams internally]

eh heh things are going ok i suppose. i just hope i find a urop. and an internship. [screams more]