#but like... why can't you learn library science from a textbook

[aetherograph]

Idk if this is a controversial take but I think you should be able to take a test to prove you have the relevant knowledge for a degree and if you pass the test, you get the degree. They do that for high school, why is college any different?

Like let's not kid ourselves, school is for credentials and literally everything that needs credentials that are entirely just 'do you have this core knowledge' can be dealt with this way. Anything that has practical elements can just have the practical elements as classes you can take piecemeal, like CPR training already is, and then you also have to pass a written test.

There's very little reason we need to stick people in a company town (university campus) and pay them in scrip (grades) and make them buy from the company store (tuition) other than to erect unnecessary and inhumane and unjust barriers to knowledge.

If four years of high school can be expressed in test form, then four years of university can too.

[rafeandonlyrafe]

in the quiet section

words: 1.9k

warnings: 18+ only, established relationship, college!au, smut, p in v sex, semi public sex, caught, unprotected sex

“i didn't even know this part of the library existed.” rafe looks around at the tall bookshelves holding various very large textbooks.

“it's all the polisci books, hence why no one is over here.” you say as you move deeper into the section, to the isolated grouping of tables. you knew you already got lucky convincing your boyfriend to study, you don't want to push your luck by having him get annoyed with other students watching him.

rafe sets his computer bag down and pulls out his laptop, putting his back to the windows so he can keep an eye down the aisles of books, just in case anyone comes wandering by.

“okay.” you sit down next to him, pulling your chair closer. “i know your physics class is hard, but i also suck at physics so i don't know how much help studying im gonna be.”

“just having you here…” rafe trails off. you feel a flush come to your cheeks, rafe always managing to give you butterflies even though you've been together on and off since high school.

“okay.” you clear your throat, knowing you don't really need to be quiet with no one around. only the top floor of the library ever manages to stay silent, all the serious studiers know to immediately take the elevator up. “let's get started on the study guide i got from tiffy.”

your friend had a friend who had a friend who took the same physics class rafe is taking, and of course you convinced them to give you some study materials. it's not like you had to work hard, with rafes reputation on campus being what it is.

rafe nods and turns his attention to the crisp stapled together papers. you work with him through the questions, learning yourself as well for when you have to eventually take the class, wishing you chose a degree that didn't require so much natural science.

your focus shifts between sneaking looks at rafe and helping him, his brow furrowed and jaw hard set as he studies, making him look even more handsome than you thought possible.

“baby-” rafe groans, resorting to a pet name to get your full attention as you blink harshly. “you're distracting me.”

“you're the one being distracting.” you argue back, placing your elbow on the table and resting your chin in your hand, admiring your boyfriend unabashedly now that you've been caught.

“you're the one sitting there with that look on your face.”

“what look?” you hum out, lost in the thought of ripping rafes pants down and-

“that look.” rafe groans. “that fuck me look.”

“well i do want you to fuck me.” you smirk. “i always do.”

“shit.” rafe leans back in his chair, and your eyes naturally move down his defined body, his loose shirt falling into his muscles, his jeans already starting to tent at the crotch.

you move your chair even closer, pressing your lips against rafes jaw. “i want you.”

you place a hand on his thigh, leaving it still for mere seconds before moving up, rubbing over his hardness, feeling ever inch of his length as it grows.

you know he needs relief from pressing against the zipper, undoing the button and pushing the two sides of his jeans further open so you can reach in, gripping his cock over the fabric.

“you're so naughty.” rafe tsks. 

“you're just too hot to resist.” you kiss rafes jaw again, knowing you can't be too obvious above the table, just in case.

your hand moves under the waistband of his boxers, feeling the warmth radiating from his body as your palm presses against his cock, watching with fascination as rafes eyes flutter closed.

“god you can't even go 24 hours without needing me.” rafe smirks, his voice dripping with cockiness.

truth is, it's been less than 12 hours since you spread your legs for rafe last night, moaning and holding back screams as he pumped into you in your shared dorm room, having paid off the university to get you on the married couples floor despite not having a ring on your finger.

you ignore the urge to pull rafes cock out and drop your mouth around him and slurp and suck for anyone to hear.

you stand up suddenly, making rafes body physically jerk as he loses the sensation of your touch.

you move around the table, humming softly to yourself as you make your way down the aisle directly in front of rafe, bending down, feigning looking for a book on the bottom shelf.

you know damn well your short skirt is putting your underwear on display for rafe as you grab a book with one hand while pulling your underwear down with the other, revealing your already wet pussy.

you let your panties fall to the ground as you stand up, book in hand. you snatch them off the ground and make your way back to rafe, whose mouth might as well be watering with the intense look of hunger and need on his face.

you drop the book onto the table, letting it clatter as you stuff your underwear into rafes jean pocket.

“cock out.” you hum.

rafe listens quickly, not usually one to follow yours or anyone else's orders, but he certainly won't push back against this one as he shoves his underwear down to underneath his balls, his cock standing at attention and ready for you.

you step between him and the table, rafes hands coming to grab your hips and stop you from sitting down too quickly. he leans forward and sinks his teeth into your cheeks over your skirt, hard enough to leave a bite mark and have you swallowing a moan.

rafe tugs you down, retaking control of the situation as he pushes you onto his cock in one smooth motion, and this time you can't help the sound that escapes your mouth, a whine of pleasure and pain as your walls are instantly stretched.

“you think you'd be used to me by now.” rafe chuckles in your ear, pushing you forward to rest your elbows against the table.

to anyone walking by, it would look like you were studying while sat on your boyfriends lap, and with your boyfriend being rafe, most people would scurry quickly away, not paying enough attention to realize your hips are moving up and down and rafe is gripping one of your thighs tightly while his other arm is wrapped around your waist.

“shit.” rafe moans quietly. “you're so warm.”

the air whooshing over your behind every time your skirt flounces as you move up and down adds to the shiver that runs down your spine.

“this is why-” you gasp as you sit up a little straighter to make it easier to bounce on his cock, feeling your pussy swallow him in with every movement inwards before gripping like your body doesn't want to be apart when you try to move. “this is why we never get any studying done.”

“because you're a whore for my cock?” rafe chuckles, his voice quiet as footsteps are heard, but they continue up the stairs to a different floor.

“because you always look too fucking good to not let you fuck me.”

rafes hips begin to snap upwards with the compliment. he's never had a problem getting girls, and experimented with other women during your breaks, but nobody moves him the way you do, you're the only one he can stand being with for any time longer than a night, the only one whose opinion he really cares about.

you're no longer being so subtle as your fingers dig into the wood grain of the table as rafes hands grip your hips, helping you move up and down in time to his hips raising up off the chair.

“you're gonna walk out of here filled with my cum.” rafe says, and you can practically hear the smirk on his face, knowing how much he loves marking his territory and leaving his claim on you.

“and you're gonna walk out of here with my wetness covering your cock.” you also smile, just as territorial as rafe is. you knew he was the one for you when no other cock could satisfy you, always wishing it was rafe until you got back together, your very last time apart.

“damn right.” rafe hums, hands fisting and gathering bunches of your skirt up so he can watch your ass as it moves, jiggling every time you sit fully down on his length.

“fuck.” you groan, body drooping forward as the elevator dings. you can hear the doors open as someone gets off on your floor.

you sit up straighter as rafe leans in, letting your skirt fall back around you, hiding the fact that he's inside of you at this very moment.

you listen closely as whoever it is walks down an aisle before getting a book off the shelf. you hope they'll walk away, but instead they continue towards your table until you see a college kid with headphones on you've never seen before.

you hope he'll see the two of you and flee, but he doesn't seem to notice as he sets his bag down on a chair before pulling out the one next to it.

“rafe…” you whisper as you feel his hips start to rock back and forth. “ssss… stop.”

you're not really concerned about a student seeing you, but you really don't want anyone to report you to the library.

“hey, kid.” rafe calls out, making the student jolt in surprise and look up, eyes widening as he realizes who he's looking at, but hopefully not what.

“fuck out of here.” rafe says, and the kid runs away and down the stairs faster than you thought possible.

“such a dick.” you chuckle, immediately beginning to move.

“says the one bouncing on my dick right now.” rafe chuckles. “you wanted him gone too.”

you place your hands on the table, ignoring rafes teasing as he starts to push up into you, putting all the strength you have left in your tired legs into your movements.

rafe reaches around your front and presses two fingertips against your clit, rubbing harshly knowing he can't last much longer and needs to get you there too, wanting to cum together.

“f-fuck.” you whine out, voice turning high pitched. “please. close.” you manage to say.

rafes cock swells inside of you and you can tell that he's not far either as he delivers a few finishing thrusts into your wet pussy before he bursts with a moan of your name, cum pumping into you as his fingers continue at the same pace.

you smack your ass down against his lap as you cum, his cock pushing so far inside of you that you swear he's in your womb.

his fingers play with your pulsing clit as you ride out your highs together until you suddenly become sensitive, having to shove his hand away to keep from crying out.

you are both breathing heavily, you slumped forward against the tabletop while rafe is slack against the back of the chair.

“shit.” rafe chuckles. “i completely forgot everything we just studied.”

you clench your pussy to keep from leaking as you pull off his cock, moving quickly to the seat next to you as your thighs almost immediately give out.

“well.” you lean back, both looking exhausted. “i'm gonna need a while before i can walk, so get back to it.”

rafe redoes his pants and leans forward to look back at the study guide, resigning to his fate as your eyes droop closed.

[cherryredstars]

OH MY GOD REQUESTS ARE OPEN💃🏾💃🏾

gosh cherry i love you and your blog sm it makes my day😭

could i please have a college or highschool au where reader studies subjects like social science and business and literature and he does stem subjects and he at first has like a superiority complex, he doesn’t intend to, but he can’t help it, until he sees the reader like talk about social issues or how she can remember 17 step procedures and shit and he’s like…wow. maybe they can be together and he sees her pretend to teach people to learn and he’s learning stuff from her and it’s wholesome asf

god i don’t know i’m sorry im rambling😭😭 you don’t have to ofc but thank you anyway

and again, love you!!

Thank you, love!!!

He's the smartest person he knows.

It's not narcissistic if it's a fact. He's the top of his major program, already has offers for Ph.D programs nationwide mailed to his door. He's sure to get into any genetics department he wants for grad school. He's the star of the industry-path students. He's just that good, and what's the harm in taking pride in your accomplishments?

But he's never met someone like you before.

Usually he wouldn't care for people like you, with their abstract liberal art degrees in nonsense majors that'll just collect dust in a box in an attic somewhere. But there is something so enduring about you, about everything you do. The way you just know what people are thinking based on the twitch of their fingers and why they think it. The way you're so open to everything in a way that would make his lab buddies laugh with their one-way minds. It amazes him, the way your view is so wide in a way that something like genetics or STEM can't comprehend. In a way they don't allow. There is something so breath-taking about the way your mind has this endless freedom that he can't even grasp. Like a kaleidoscope of colors that are simultaneously beautiful and overwhelming to the senses. Something his factual mind craves.

The first time he had seen you, he was in the library. It isn't a place he would usually go to, but he had to collect some textbooks for his professor in the storage closet. He had gotten in a bit of trouble that day for taking so long, but how could he resist when he had heard the sweet cadence of your voice through the open door of a mini-lecture room. Very few students were in the room, it looked like a side presentation; one of those assignments that forced students to present their ideas on a topic to a group of people to try to captivate them into agreeing with your findings. There was a sort of fiery passion in the way you spoke, a hardened steel in your eyes that showed your resistance to back down. It was... enchanting, siren-like. So much so that he had been forced to sit in one of the empty seats in the back of the room, eyes stuck on you as you paced the front of class and rebutted comments from your peers.

He had no idea what you were talking about, but it still had that overwhelming effect on him. One that had him pressing the surface of his stomach against the hard edge of the lecture tables, his senses honing in to hear every last syllable that departed from your lips. There was this dream-like quality to you, something that consumed the mind and made them listen. A sort of intelligence that he would never know or understand. One that he would spend hours trying to learn if you were the one explaining it. He can't remember how long it took for him to start breathing again when your eyes scanned the room and locked onto him, clear confusion on your face at the random presence of college's most-awarded student. He could feel his heart bursting against his ribs, mouth parting slightly from the honor to be the center of your attention for even a few seconds before you looked away and carried on.

Suddenly, he didn't feel like the smartest person in the world. Not when you left him absolutely stupefied.

[brandwhorestarscream]

Skywarp helping Thundercracker get over his depression by telling him to write fanfiction 🤌🤌🤌 like I’ve never considered it before but it’s now been ingrained in my brain that he’s a fanfic writer bc it’s very in character for him. And now skywards gotta figure out how to get Starscream to feel alive. Who knows how he does it. Is it science? Is fashion? Is it G1 starscreams favourite hobby of being a bastard?

It’s probably not that…

I'm glad you asked! I think we've got a pretty great idea for what he does for Starscream

So, Vos is a flying city, right? It's way, waaay up in the atmosphere, barely a gleaming speck when viewed from the ground, and it has no set day or night cycle due to it constantly moving independently of Cybertron's rotation. As a result, though the acid rains they produce nourish the vast crystal flora on the planet beneath them, Vos is entirely barren. It's environment is entirely unfit for crystals and they can't thrive, bleeding their color til they turn gray and shattering to dust within mere hours. Because of this, most Vosians have never even seen a real crystal flower before.

This is where Skywarp comes in. Starscream can only pursue his love of science, of exploration, of the unknown in the palace's vast library. This sort of thing would put Skywarp to sleep, but there's always fire in the prince's optics when he's glued to a textbook or meticulously scanning through advanced theories, and it's clear he's boundlessly curious. He'd love to do some proper hands on science, but it's not necessary for his future as the Winglord to know advanced physics or xenobiology, so the current ruling trine wouldn't approve. In a perfect world, Skywarp would love to see a laboratory space installed in the palace, but seeing as that's not going to happen anytime soon, he sets his sights elsewhere

The idea comes to him after a portrait catches his eye in the halls while he's escorting the prince and his fiance. It's a beautiful painting, lovingly crafted and flawless perfection down to the tiniest detail. It depicts Starscream's carrier, visibly sparked, his chassis glowing softly with the life he carries and belly perfectly round. He's seated in his throne, a regal, serene smile on his face, posture perfect and arms tenderly cradling the swell of his midsection. It was a commemorative painting to celebrate the Winglord's first concieved children, but that's not what garners his attention. No, it's the background: the second Lord of Vos is surrounded by glistening white crystal flowers, reflecting light in rainbow dapples. They're gleaming and glittering and only serve to make him glow with a heavenly backlight.

He asks Starscream if those were real flowers, and he responds that of course they were. It may have been before his birth but he knows perfectly well that his sire would never spring for anything less than the real deal. Skywarp asks if he's ever seen a crystal flower before, and Star kind of sighs, rolling his optics and shaking his helm. Of course he hasn't.

And that prompts Skywarp to suggest that maybe he should.

Starscream scoffs because that's ludicrous. Importing flowers has an asanine price tag, and they shatter within mere megacycles. The dust gets everywhere. He's seen pictures, that's plenty.

But Skywarp jumps in, insistent, "No, I mean, you should grow your own!"

Starscream barks a single, bitter laugh, because surely he must be insane. Crystal flowers dont grow in Vos, it's impossible!

...wait.

Is it impossible?

Skywarp can practically see the gears turning in his head, and goes in for the kill.

He suggests that Starscream experiment. Research. Learn. He's read plenty of books on botany, right? Sorted through academic papers and knows Vos's atmosphere extremely well. If anyone could figure out a way, it would probably be him. Crystal gardens are a common sight amongst the houses of grounders nobility; why should they have anything the seekers don't?

It takes him a long time, a lot of trial and error and a lot of research, combing digital foreign libraries and maybe even writing to botany professors from Praxus or Crystal City. Starscream noticeably changes, becoming brighter and more exuberant now that he has a hobby he truly enjoys. The shelves in his room start filling up with various pots of ground metal soil from the surface, full of seeds and withered half-sprouts, and he's always got his face in a notebook, scribbling away new theories and notes and recording data, tweaking his hypotheses and trying everything he can think of. Thundercracker is always nearby reading his latest romance novel or writing his own fantastical ideas down, and Skywarp is always there too, watching over them and thoroughly enjoying just how happy they look.

And sometimes 🤭 multiple nights a week, Skywarp takes him down to Cybertron. Checking out the gardens and wild fields of flowers around Praxus, maybe even wandering through the delicate forests surrounding Crystal City. Star takes samples and observes them with intense scrutiny, and buys hundreds upon thousands of seeds for his experiments. Skywarp has never seen him so happy, so excited, when his first crystal seed sprouts.

It's after months of work and trial and error, but miraculously, it finally happens: a shy little blue crystal sprig, poking out of it's pot by less than a pinkie's width, but it's there! Starscream is overjoyed, mumbling to himself a mile a minute and rushing to triple check the sample ID and write everything down, as well as begin mass replicating that batch to see if they can get more to grow! He's smiling so widely it looks like his cheeks may become sore, and his wings are fluttering behind him, actually fluttering, he's so pleased with himself. Skywarp lends a hand preparing more pots and flower boxes, and when Thundercracker arrives he congratulates his fiance wholeheartedly. Maybe his endeavor even inspires the blue seeker to write some more 🤭 it may not have been the chemistry lab work ups Starscream used to dream of, but the thrill of scientific experimentation and discovery feels just as good as he thought it would, and for the first time in a long time... he truly feels happy. Content. Fulfilled. And it's all thanks to this lovely courtesan. That night Skywarp puts on the best show he can, and who knows? Maybe someday, he'll be able to dance for them with petals falling from the sky 💖

[miraculous-lesbeans]

If you're looking for something you haven't seen on this list yet, check these sources:

Open Source Textbooks:

That website has free, open source textbooks about science (including bio, chem, physics, anatomy, astronomy, psych and sociology, etc) business/economics, world history, and math. My college bio professor used their textbooks, and I thought they were pretty clear and concise. Most science and business subjects also have a variety of levels of difficulty, so you can get into the nitty gritty details as much as you want to (or not). Most of the textbook links in this post link here, so check out the rest of their library.

Khan Academy:

They have a ton of full courses on every basic school subject with lecture videos, readings, and quizzes at the high school / college intro level. (Plus math from elementary school and science from middle school). They also have coding, financial literacy, and pixar animation.

Crash Course:

Quick video lectures about most school subjects with helpful animations and a few jokes to really stick things in your memory in the shortest time possible. If they talk too fast for you, you can reduce the playback speed on youtube under settings.

Learning to Cook:

The previously mentioned flavor bootcamp also has a website, and a podcast. The bootcamp does seem to be the best place to start, though.

Good Eats:

Good primer on the basic science of cooking. My mom, who left her parents' house not knowing how to cook, swears by this show. She was also an award winning professional baker for many years, so like I'd trust her.

Available free on youtube from the creators here and here.

America's Test Kitchen:

Recipes for all sorts of things, with some of the science behind them explained. They do more explanation for their more basic tutorial recipes, but some do get a bit more complicated than I'd recommend to absolute beginners. A lot of their website is for subscribers only, which is why I would focus on their youtube channel. You can check the transcript to put together a written recipe. Their cookbooks are best for intermediate cooks who want to understand the why behind a recipe, as most of their recipes are on the complicated side.

I'd specifically recommend this video about learning to read a recipe, which is an important first step if you want to dive right into cooking dinner tonight.

Haven's Kitchen:

I actually found this group from their cookbook, The Haven's Kitchen Cooking School, which I'd recommend if you have access to it. It has a good structure to it, and explains basic recipes in a way I was confident following. Their website also has a few basic cooking technique videos up for free.

I'd also recommend Baker Bettie's Better Baking Book, because it handles basic techniques and master recipes very clearly. (It doesn't provide resources for gluten free baking, but one book can't do everything well.)

Finally:

Your local library's webpage will probably have a ton of different resources. Mine has a free movie streaming service, a language learning website, a connection to libby (a free online library you can use with your library card), various academic databases, and more.

Want to learn something new in 2022??

Absolute beginner adult ballet series (fabulous beginning teacher)

40 piano lessons for beginners (some of the best explanations for piano I’ve ever seen)

Excellent basic crochet video series

Basic knitting (probably the best how to knit video out there)

Pre-Free Figure Skate Levels A-D guides and practice activities (each video builds up with exercises to the actual moves!)

How to draw character faces video (very funny, surprisingly instructive?)

Another drawing character faces video

Literally my favorite art pose hack

Tutorial of how to make a whole ass Stardew Valley esque farming game in Gamemaker Studios 2??

Introduction to flying small aircrafts

French/Dutch/Fishtail braiding

Playing the guitar for beginners (well paced and excellent instructor)

Playing the violin for beginners (really good practical tips mixed in)

Color theory in digital art (not of the children’s hospital variety)

Retake classes you hated but now there’s zero stakes:

Calculus 1 (full semester class)

Learn basic statistics (free textbook)

Introduction to college physics (free textbook)

Introduction to accounting (free textbook)

Learn a language:

Ancient Greek

Latin

Spanish

German

Japanese (grammar guide) (for dummies)

French

Russian (pretty good cyrillic guide!)

[intexda]

[long vent post] The annoying part of my brain is the fact that i can go to college for 4 years and most of what my brain has retained of it is shitty alt right interactions. I have retained none of the hvac i studied for but my brain is fucking ready to have imaginary words with a bunch of people i met in college.

It doesn't help that the hvac classes i attended were full of these people to a distracting degree. It especially doesn't help that i wasn't that interested in HVAC to begin with. I went to try and start a career that never panned out because it's the kind of thing where you need money to make money and the courses ran like they were for people who were already familiar with it, which left me lagging behind a lot.

Meanwhile the entire time my teacher interrupted the lessons for right wing conspiracy theories like "Why do EPA employees use chlorine in their pools when it's bad for the ozone layer?" Which is a fine question if you intend to learn from it but this was clearly not that.

He also went on a lot of rants about kids these days not finding old comedy funny but not realizing it wasn't rodney dangerfield they have issues with.

There was also the electrician classes where i just met quite a few people who came to learn a trade so they could shit on fast food workers. Some of which had very specific feelings towards middle east countries and made it well known. (They involved nukes)

The teacher also told me to move to china since i wanted to improve the US, and got offended when i started wearing a mask during the start of the covid pandemic. (They closed school early and finally let me graduate my 2 year course after 4 years during that)

The only thing I really got out of college was a desire to be a library worker, an hvac diploma I can't really make use of unless i go to a better school, an associates in applied science, and a lot of pent up stress and imaginary arguments.

On the plus side the government paid for my schooling so at least I'm not drowning in fucking debt. (I'm just drowning in a lot of textbooks I don't know what to do with)

[bumblebeebats]

Hi I would love to hear more space facts. The post about the solar kites was amazing! I studied astrophysics in college and they never bothered to mention those in ANY textbook. Where do you learn your facts?

Ty!!! So i gotta admit, most of my fun facts honestly come from the fact that i was homeschooled and spent my entire teenhood reading almost the entirety of my library's science history section lmao. Unfortunately, I also have ADHD so I forget like 90% of what I read as soon as I finish it, but I'm still left with approximate knowledge of many things. As far as cool-fact-finding goes, I highly recommend reading the most niche popular science books you can find - I want to say that I first heard about solar sails from a little book on exoplanets, though I can't remember which one.

Here's another cool fact just for fun, from my brief stint as an aerospace student: did you know planes can have forward swept wings?? (i.e. wings that look like they're on backwards?)

There are actually a lot of advantages to forward swept wings over regular straight or swept wings, as they have a higher lift/drag ratio (meaning they're more efficient and use less fuel) and they're harder to stall. (Stalling in an aircraft is very serious, and happens when the 'angle of attack' (i.e. usually the angle of the plane relative to the ground) is too high. This messes up the airflow around the wing, causing it to lose lift and potentially fall out the sky.)

The reason why you don't see forward-swept wings everywhere though is that at high speeds they become very unstable, and the force of the wind against the outermost tips can cause them to bend or straight up snap off 😬 So you'll only see them on experimental planes for now, or ones that only need to travel at low speeds.

There are also VARIABLE sweep wings, which can change the angle of their wings (sometimes even mid-flight!!) There was a lot of research into these after WWII but not so much anymore, as they're super bulky and complex and the reduction of drag most of the time simply isn't worth it. But still, cool as hell!!

[fiendish-insanity-in-the-written]

interesting. no home-made meals in archer residence. how about gifts ? what would she consider a meaningful gift ?

Clare frowned, letting out a silent grunt.

"No homemade meals...what do you mean 'no homemade meals'...you boil some pasta, you put some canned sauce on top inside your HOME, and that is a meal made at home, therefore...it is, if I may say so, HOME-MADE."

(Don't argue with her, it is not worth it. Her pride precedes her logic at times.)

Also, this next question gave me a great idea for her canon history! So it will be a bit detailed.

Material things were never overly important to her, although the act of giving itself she appreciates in silence. Her appreciations will most likely not be voiced, but be sure she will make a memory note that you gifted her with something, and she will return the favor when she gets the chance. However, there are a few things that her pride can't silence , and her admiration and gratitude comes to light. One of those things are - books.

Giving someone a book, in her opinion, is like giving a piece of your soul or spiritual food for the one you are gifting. Beauty of the written word never left her indifferent.

One of the reasons why she cherishes the ink on paper so much, is because those things with hard covers and imaginary world between their pages were a big part of her childhood and a best way of escaping her cruel reality.

Loneliness, hunger, abuse, confusion... everything was cured with written stories or science textbooks. From the moment she learned how to read, the passion for books began.

Clare would often sit in the dark corner next to her bed, in case her mother dearest decided to come in and unleash her anger on her favorite punching bag, so Clare has enough time to push the book under the bed and prevent Elise from destroying it, since they often were not Clare's books but she borrowed them in the school's library, and read her misery away.

She got attached to the reading and books so much, that whenever her tiny hands would collect enough money, she would buy herself a book. It did not happen often, maybe once a year. She did not receive no allowance, so the money she earned helping the neighbors out, she would save and wait for an opportunity to go to her favorite place, the bookshop.

She still has these few books she bought, along with the notes she made while reading the borrowed ones. The thing was, the biology and science textbooks were pricey, and she never had enough to buy herself one. Even more, once when Elise almost destroyed it when she decided that Clare takes too much space with her things ( and Clare had a bed, some clothes, night lamp, old desk and her notebooks) and she wanted to use her room as a half storage, she grabbed the borrowed book, and threw it in the trash. Luckily, Clare managed to save it, returning it in good condition, but since then, she read those books outside her house and made notes. She transcribed the most interesting parts and held it in her own books later.

However, it took much time, and she found it all to be important, so she, again when the situation allowed, would print those pages, and collect them like that.

To sum it up.. one of Clare Archer's weak spots are books. Her respect for a person that gifts her with one, will double up, and she will never forget that.

[aetherograph]

Ok I don't think you understand what I'm saying. I'm not talking about getting a degree based on "life experience". I'm not talking about that issue at all. I am talking about wanting to get credentials for something when you know and can't tolerate what a fucking scam four-year schools are, because they are EXACTLY like public high school, and you can take a test to prove you know everything a high school graduate should know, and they send you a high school diploma. This facilitates INDEPENDENT STUDY, which lowers the barrier. College should do this also.

"resume, examples, references, etc" some people (hi) literally don't have any of that, that's why I made the post. It's not about that. It's about I should be able to do INDEPENDENT STUDY and take an exam when I feel like I'm done learning what's on that exam, and if I pass the exam then boom! Degree!

I'm thinking about degrees like Library Science, Biology, etc. Degrees that are literally just a body of knowledge, with no practical skills. THOSE should be ones where you can take an exam that contains all the knowledge you're supposed to have. I'm not talking about trades. Trades and the practical side of medical should still have classes to train the practical skills so you know how to do them safely and well. But math, science, history, stuff that's just a body of knowledge? You're literally just doing exams to prove you know that knowledge for four years PLUS dealing with bullshit from teachers and admin and the university bleeding you dry. It's bullshit. Cut the bullshit. Let people study independently for a qualification test and if they pass then boom! They have a Library Science degree now, because they have proven they know what that degree indicates they know.

I have my high school diploma from the STATE of CALIFORNIA, not any particular school, because I took the CHSPE (California High School Proficiency Exam), proved I had the knowledge, and graduated at 17 so I wouldn't have to worry about school while recovering from the MAJOR SURGERY I had to have that year. After that, the four years of dealing with massive amounts of bullshit that a university demands REALLY look like a scam, especially if you're from non-grading pedagogy.

Grades are scrip. Universities are company towns. It is patently a scam that you have to 'earn credits'. You should be able to take a test.

Furthermore, the textbooks should be much easier to track down.

Idk if this is a controversial take but I think you should be able to take a test to prove you have the relevant knowledge for a degree and if you pass the test, you get the degree. They do that for high school, why is college any different?

Like let's not kid ourselves, school is for credentials and literally everything that needs credentials that are entirely just 'do you have this core knowledge' can be dealt with this way. Anything that has practical elements can just have the practical elements as classes you can take piecemeal, like CPR training already is, and then you also have to pass a written test.

There's very little reason we need to stick people in a company town (university campus) and pay them in scrip (grades) and make them buy from the company store (tuition) other than to erect unnecessary and inhumane and unjust barriers to knowledge.

If four years of high school can be expressed in test form, then four years of university can too.