#high potential development program

[inspireone]

Transformative Leadership Development & Coaching in India

At Inspire One, we offer comprehensive Leadership Development Programs designed to cultivate the next generation of leaders. Our programs focus on enhancing critical skills, driving performance, and fostering growth. Additionally, our Leadership Coaching in India provides personalized coaching to executives, empowering them to unlock their full potential, refine their leadership approach, and inspire their teams. Together, these offerings create a robust framework for effective leadership across all levels of an organization.

[leaderprogram]

Cultivating Leadership Excellence: Strategies for Developing Talent

Organisations must cultivate leadership potential to prosper in today's fast-paced, cutthroat commercial world. Organisations must invest in developing a pipeline of capable and flexible leaders who can stimulate innovation, promote teamwork, and motivate high performance as the nature of work changes. Here, we examine cutting-edge tactics and methods for developing leadership talent, revealing fresh perspectives to optimise potential and establish a climate of leadership excellence.

Strengths-Based Development: 

Conventional methods of developing leaders frequently concentrate on fixing flaws. On the other hand, a strengths-based approach emphasises recognising and utilising people's natural abilities and capabilities. By assisting people in discovering their strengths through tools like StrengthsFinder or CliftonStrengths, organisations may foster leadership potential. Organisations can enhance leadership effectiveness by promoting a sense of fulfilment and engagement among individuals by matching roles and responsibilities with their talents.

Reverse Mentoring: 

Reverse mentoring flips the traditional mentorship by pairing younger or less experienced employees with more senior leaders. This approach facilitates knowledge exchange and mutual learning, as junior employees offer fresh perspectives, technological expertise, and insights into emerging trends, while senior leaders provide guidance, wisdom, and institutional knowledge. Reverse mentoring develops leadership talent and promotes cross-generational collaboration and innovation within the organisation.

Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives: 

Diversity and inclusion are ethical imperatives and drivers of innovation and performance. Organisations can develop leadership talent by fostering diverse and inclusive environments where individuals from different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can thrive. Leadership development programs can incorporate diversity and inclusion training, cultural competence workshops, and initiatives to mitigate bias and promote equitable opportunities for advancement.

Job Rotation and Stretch Assignments: 

Providing leadership talent with opportunities for job rotation and stretch assignments is instrumental in broadening their skill set and perspective. Job rotations allow individuals to gain exposure to different functions, departments, or geographical locations. At the same time, stretch assignments challenge them to take on projects or roles that stretch their capabilities and push them out of their comfort zone. These experiences accelerate learning, promote adaptability, and prepare individuals for leadership roles with greater responsibilities.

Peer Coaching and Support Networks: 

Peer coaching and support networks offer valuable opportunities for leadership talent to learn from their peers, share experiences, and collaborate on solutions to common challenges. Organisations can establish peer coaching programs or affinity groups where individuals can connect, provide feedback, and support one another. These networks foster a sense of camaraderie, promote knowledge sharing, and create a supportive environment for leadership development.

Action Learning Projects: 

Action learning projects provide leadership talent with hands-on experience in tackling real-world business challenges while receiving guidance from mentors or coaches. These projects typically involve cross-functional teams working together to solve complex problems, implement process improvements, or launch new initiatives. Action learning projects encourage collaboration, critical thinking, and innovation, enabling leadership talent to apply theoretical knowledge in practical settings and drive tangible results.

Developing leadership talent is a strategic imperative for organisations seeking to thrive in an increasingly complex and competitive landscape. By adopting innovative approaches such as strengths-based development, reverse mentoring, diversity and inclusion initiatives, job rotation, peer coaching, action learning projects, and emotional intelligence training; organisations can cultivate a pipeline of skilled and adaptable leaders who are equipped to drive success and lead with purpose in the ever-changing world of work.

[reasonsforhope]

"In a historic step toward the first-ever restoration of the tiger population to a nation where they were once extinct, two captive Siberian tigers have been translocated from Anna Paulowna Sanctuary, Netherlands, to the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve in Kazakhstan.

This remarkable event is part of an ambitious program led by the Government of Kazakhstan with support from WWF and the UN Development Program to restore the Ile-Balkhash delta ecosystem and reintroduce tigers to the country and region, where the species has been extinct for over 70 years.

“It is a high priority for Kazakhstan to work on the restoration of rare species. For ecological value it is important that our biodiversity chain is restored. And that the tiger that once lived in this area is reintroduced here,” said Daniyar Turgambayev, Vice-minister of the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Kazakhstan.

In the early 21st century, genetic studies were carried out on bones and furs held in national collections which revealed that the population of tigers living between Iran, southern Russia, Central Asia, and the areas around the Caspian Sea was extremely similar to Siberian tigers.

This led scientists to conclude that Felis vigrata, the former name of the Caspian tiger, was simply the Siberian tiger that developed into a distinct population, but not a new subspecies, over generations of being separated by habitat fragmentation.

Bodhana and Kuma, the male and female tigers, will be housed in a spacious semi-natural enclosure of three hectares [7.4 acres] within the Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve. Any of their offspring will be released into the wild and will become the first tigers to roam Kazakhstan in decades, and potentially the first-ever international tiger reintroduction.

They will play an important role in the establishment of a new tiger population in the region where they had previously been wiped out as a result of excessive hunting.

“Today marks a monumental conservation milestone to bring tigers back to Kazakhstan and Central Asia,” said Stuart Chapman Leader of WWF Tigers Alive. “This tiger translocation is a critical step to not only bring back the big cat to its historic homeland but also to rewild an entire ecosystem.”

Progress towards restoration of the area is already well underway with recovering and reintroduction of critical tiger prey species like the Kulan (Asiatic wild ass), and reforestation of over 120 acres with native trees. Being the apex predator, tigers will play a significant role in sustaining the structure and function of the ecosystem on which both humans and wildlife rely...

“With the launch of the tiger reintroduction program, we have witnessed a significant change—the revival of nature and our village of Karoi,” said Adilbaev Zhasar, the head of the local community group Auyldastar.

“This project not only restores lost ecosystems, but also fills us with pride in participating in a historic process. Because of small grants from WWF, we have the opportunity to do what we love, develop small businesses, and create jobs in the village, which brings joy and confidence in the future.”

From the very beginning, the local community around Ile-Balkhash Nature Reserve has been closely involved in the project. This includes support for improved agricultural techniques and the future development of nature tourism in the area.

The translocation of these tigers is the first of several planned in the coming years, with a goal to build a healthy population of about 50 wild tigers by 2035, starting with this pioneering pair for breeding. This initiative is not only a testament to the resilience of the species but also a powerful example of governments, conservation organizations, and local communities cooperating in wildlife and nature conservation."

-via Good News Network, November 27, 2024

[botanicalsword]

2025 | from 10 Jun ⊹ ˖ ࣪ ☁︎ A Year of Expansion, Opportunities, Growth, Good fortune ‧₊˚

����

10 Jun, 2025 - Jupiter enters Cancer ⊹ ˖ ࣪ ☁︎

This time, Jupiter in strong Cancer - lead to a temporary revival in the real estate market

Jupiter, symbolizing expansion, opportunities, growth, and good fortune, enters the emotionally rich and family-oriented sign of Cancer

Energy will transform into nurturing, protection, a sense of belonging, and emotional connections

Around June 30, 2026 Jupiter will leave Cancer and move into Leo

⁺‧₊˚ ཐི⋆♱⋆ཋྀ ˚₊‧⁺

Aries Rising - Jupiter in your 4th house (home, family, roots)

Favorable for buying a house, moving, or home renovations

Improved family relationships, fostering warmth and support among family members

Enhances emotional security, suitable for healing childhood traumas

Possible indirect assistance from family members in career or financial matters

Taurus Rising - Jupiter in your 3rd house (communication, learning, short trips)

Enhanced communication skills, beneficial for writing, teaching, sales, etc

Improved relationships with siblings, opportunities for mutual growth

Learning new skills with support from sponsors, good luck in exams

Ideal for short-term courses, certificate programs, yielding high returns

Gemini Rising - Jupiter in your 2nd house (money, values)

Increased financial luck, potential for extra income or salary raise

Enhanced financial management skills, increased confidence in values

Favorable for wealth accumulation, especially suitable for long-term savings and investments

Attracts benefactors offering practical support (such as material goods or resources)

Cancer Rising - Jupiter in your 1st house (personal, outward image, development)

brings favorable outcomes

Overall luck improves

the beginning of a new phase in life

Increased popularity, more opportunities for self-expression and expansion

Enhanced confidence, improved physical and mental health

Attracts people who are beneficial for you - starting new projects or transitions

Leo Rising - Jupiter in your 12th house (secrecy, healing, subconscious)

psychological healing, overcoming past troubles

deep insights in religion, mysticism, and spiritual growth

Hidden benefactors support your advancement behind the scenes

beneficial for careers in behind-the-scenes work, healing, or charity

Virgo Rising - Jupiter in your 11th house (social, connections, aspirations)

Expands social circle, connects with influential and resourceful individuals

Friends bring tangible opportunities, fostering mutually beneficial collaborations

Favorable for joining organizations, associations, and achieving long-term goals

Stands out and gains support in group activities

Libra Rising - Jupiter in your 10th house (career, social status)

opportunities for promotion, salary increase, and role expansion

Elevated social status, recognition, and trust

Improved relationships with superiors and authority figures

Ideal for expanding personal brand or venturing into new entrepreneurial directions

Scorpio Rising - Jupiter in your 9th house (higher education, overseas, philosophy)

good for studying abroad, immigration, smooth visa processes

Opportunities for in-depth exploration of philosophy, religion, law, etc.

Good luck in matters related to distant places, foreign affairs

Beneficial for career development in publishing, teaching, or public speaking

Sagittarius Rising - Jupiter in your 8th house (deep resources, partnerships, healing)

Partners and collaborators may experience financial gains, benefiting you as well

Opportunities for inheritance, subsidies, funding, insurance claims, etc.

Emotional and psychological transformations lead to successful healing

Improved intimacy in relationships, fostering a sense of security and trust

Capricorn Rising - Jupiter in your 7th house (partnerships, relationships)

Marriage or romantic relationships stabilize and improve, potentially leading to marriage

Enhanced cooperation, favorable for signing contracts and joint projects

Attracts influential and resourceful partners

good for expanding public relations, legal, or business negotiation endeavors

Aquarius Rising - Jupiter in your 6th house (work, health, daily habits)

Improved work environment, manageable workload, and support from benefactors

Favorable for job hunting, promotions, or transitioning to new positions

Enhanced health, finding suitable treatments or wellness practices

Ideal for lifestyle improvements and establishing healthy habits

Pisces Rising - Jupiter in your 5th house (creativity, romance, children)

significant improvement in love life, opportunities for romance for singles

closer family relationships, good fortune for children

good for artistic pursuits, performances, or creative projects

increased enjoyment, opportunities for travel, leisure, and entertainment

>> Career • work a job or start a business? ✧ Natal Chart Observation >> Career • A Sudden Change - What Happens Next? ✧ Solar Return / Lunar Return >> Career • Indicators for your potential and talents (Part 1) >> Career • Indicators for your potential and talents (Part 2)

>> Back to Masterlist ✧ Explicit Content

Exclusive access : Patreon

[tellltaleacademy-if]

PLAY THE DEMO HERE (30k)

You are an independent trainee trying to survive through a big company's new survival show, Telltale Academy, but things take a dark turn when a mysterious site called GUMIHOCOM, starts leaking the contestants dark secrets, getting them kicked out one by one. They couldn't possibly know what you've done, right?

There is no way they could publish something like that.

You can't know for sure, can you ? The threat claws over your nape. To save yourself and your debut, you have to find out who is behind GUMIHOCOM, or at least get them to leak your fellow contestants secrets before yours !

ᡣ𐭩 Play as female or AFAB non-binary.

ᡣ𐭩 Romance and investigate your fellow contestants.

ᡣ𐭩 Manipulate situations for screen time and popularity.

ᡣ𐭩 Pick songs and concepts for your stage performances.

ᡣ𐭩 Engage in ships and fanservice.

ᡣ𐭩 Sabotage your rivals and bribe staff.

ᡣ𐭩 Choose your skills, strengths and weaknesses as an idol.

ᡣ𐭩 Bite down the memory of that night…..

NYLA SARATHKUMAR (F,21) [ RO ] Daughter of the cyber-security CEO, Nyla is the only contestant that seems chill with potentially being exposed online. Wether she's a wolf in sheep's or a lucky go-lucky goofball, being close to her means safety. And it doesn't hurt that she's just so sweet. Will your affection for her get in the way of your need for survival?

NOH DAMBI (F,21) [ RO ] A lost it-girl, Dambi is an ex-member of a famous girl group who got kicked out for bullying accusations that have since then been " disproven ". Now she turns back to the spotlight for her major comeback, but nobody seems to believe she's truly innocent. She seems so lonely and misunderstood, someone who needs a kind hand. But can you trust your heart to her ?

MACY LEE WALSH (F,20) Being the sister of a well-known Kpop gossip youtuber to the likes of Sojang, Macy knew she was walking into a piranã bowl when she joined Telltale Academy. The most likely culprit, when then leaks start turning up her head is immediately on the market for a high prize. And everyone must be right, right? The apple never falls too far from the tree.

SOAPY (F/M,2X) [ RO ] Your fansite, your knight in shining armor, your stalker? Nobody has ever had your back like your biggest fan. They would do anything for you, even leak other contestants scandalous secrets. Or at the least you hope so.

MA YIFEI [ F, 25 ] - A rich girl and former member of Chinese group SNH48 Yifei would be the epitome of an ideal female idol, if she wasn’t a huge lesbian. For mean girl who’s obsessed with the aesthetics of perfection and femininity, that’s a pretty rough secret to keep, specially when you start to develop feelings for the girls you're supposed to be kicking into the ground .

SABIRA OMAROVA, [ F, 23 ] - A Russian Tatar model who landed herself in this program through a series of unfortunate events, and the object of Yifei’s unrequited obsession. Engage in Love Triangle route where you can be Yifei’s Rebound and romance Sabira at the same time.

TADA EMIKO, [ F, 2X ] - One of the company’s oldest trainee’s and an unbreakable soul that seems to maintain her spark no matter what. A true idol.

KIM AGATHA, [ F, 20 ] - Weird girl central. A former child model and fellow long time trainee at LOVEKRAFT ENTERTAINMENT, she seems to be the CEO’s favorite.

LI MAYUKA, [ F, 22 ] - The life of the party. No filter and no discipline, Mayuka really doesn’t seem like a Kpop trainee, but maybe her rebellious nature is exactly what you need to shield you from the horror of this industry.

[nemisuki]

Metal Love

Robot AU | She was the first successful experiment, created by the government to protect UA students from potential harm. And he was the troublemaker, who needed to be monitored more than others. 

᧔o᧓ || katsuki bakugo x f!reader, no manga spoilers, no nsfw, pure fluff, very dense reader, protective + jealous bkg, aged up to third years, bakusquad mentions, silly moments, bkg has feelings, open ending, 3k word count

“For a robot, she’s pretty cute huh?” 

That's practically the topic of all whispered chatter as Class 3A enters the cafeteria. It made his scowl deepen with disgust. 

The constant focus was always about a “student” among the third years. 

An advanced technology sent in by the Japanese government. 

More specifically, the first successful model. 

Apparently she was scientifically created using human DNA, hence her appearance is nothing unusual. Especially in today's age, where the connection of society and mutant-type quirks, heteromorphs, are so common. 

Though she did have mechanical features regarding her prosthetic arms, built perfectly for combat and defense. 

A perfect soldier - Model #8307. 

Despite being the ideal android, there is one thing she lacked : human emotion

Thus the government sent her to UA High School on a sole mission.

To protect Class 3A til graduation. 

Hoping she’ll develop an understanding on what it means to be human along the way. To have feelings.  

It's notorious all around Japan that since those specific students entered UA, trouble seems to follow them everywhere.   

So after many precautions and examinations, the government sent the model over for a test run. Finding it beneficial for everyone.

Given a scenario where some villains were to attack the school, as coded into her programming, she would alert the authorities and defend until help arrived.

If done well, more of these creations would be produced to enhance the safety of all schools and buildings. Pushing Japan to be the first country with a solid line of defense that requires less human labor and lives to be lost in battle.

It’s been a few months since she first arrived at UA. 

And it’s been a huge success so far.

Through daily interaction, Y/N started to gain more knowledge on emotions, though she’s still a bit lacking in some areas. 

Their classmates scatter around the lunch tables like any other day, eating food as they joke around.

“Hey where's Y/N?” Kirishima asks out loud to the Bakusquad, noticing her usual spot next to the blonde is empty. 

And when no one has an answer, he looks to his friend, “Bakubro where is she?” 

“Hah, how the hell am I supposed to know? I ain’t her damn guardian” Bakugo scoffs with his signature scowl on his face. 

“Oh c’mon! We all know you have a soft spot for her. Plus she’s practically always glued to your hip!” Kaminari chimes in with a smug grin. 

“Shut your trap dunce face!” 

“Woahhh calm down man, I mean it issssss true she follows you around the most” Sero says in a muffled voice, continuing to stuff his face with sushi. 

“Tch, cause of her damn programming” Bakugo reminds them, scanning the cafeteria for any sign of her.

“Oh yeah, she follows him around because he causes the most trouble. But I don’t think that’s the only reason. She seems to like you!” 

The blondes eyes finally spot her near the lunchline, food tray in hand, a blank expression on her face. 

Some guys from another class are surrounding her with curious gazes as they exchange words.

The distance is far too great for his ears to overhear what they’re asking her. 

His stare is completely focused on the people standing closest to the girl. 

“She seems more human now, she even started smiling recently!” 

Bakugo wasn’t paying attention to whatever these idiots were saying. His thoughts shift, thinking about why those extras are acting so friendly with you. 

He can’t blame them honestly. 

A half human-robot would spark his interest as well. 

But it's the way they are eyeing her, causing his fingers to fidget with the chopsticks in his hand, a foreign feeling taking over his whole body. 

“Yeah but mainly with Bakugo!” Kaminari snickers and looks at the blonde, expecting a reaction but is met with nothing. 

Everyone at the table grows silent and their gazes land on the blonde who's seemingly lost in thought. His brows are furrowed and his fingers now gripping the edge of the table to release some tension. 

“Bakubro? You okay man?” 

“Kaminari look what you did!” 

“Ah my bad! Sorry dude-”

In a matter of seconds, Bakugo abruptly jumps up from his seat and starts walking away without another word.

As he was observing the extras, the sight of them beginning to touch her, made him move.

The bakusquad goes into full panic mode, assuming the worst, “Where is he going?!” 

Bakugo couldn’t believe the nerve of these assholes. Touching her as if she was an object. 

It only frustrated him more that they’re taking advantage of her clueless nature. She was just standing there, responding to whatever they were saying, as they continued patting her head. 

He makes it to the group in no time, shoving people away with ease, “Move it extras.” 

The guys are quick to back away from him, giving the man a clear path. Shrinking from the presence of the strong third year, who is notorious for his anger and strength. 

“C’mon idiot, what are you doing?” he reaches her side, giving a stern look while crossing his arms.

She looks up at him as he does, her once blank expression shifting ever so slightly to soften. Some rare human emotions on display just for him, “I was getting lunch.”

He has to avert his gaze for a moment. Attempting to avoid a facial reaction to develop in response to her innocent image, “yeah I know that stupid. I’m asking why you’re wasting your time talking to these extras.”

“They were curious regarding my robotic arms-” 

“Psh damn first years, of course they are. Everyone always is” he mumbles, pure annoyance seeping through his words. 

He takes her lunch tray in his left hand and starts walking back to their table. Glaring along the way at the guys that are roaming around, who are now rushing back to their individual tables from fear.

She follows in his steps without hesitation or asking any questions. As they make it back and sit, Kaminari whistles teasingly, “went to go rescue your girl huh-” 

“Shut it moron!” Bakugos glare intensifies if that's even possible, making Kaminari shut up immediately. Sero and Kirishima simply snicker at the sudden tension between the two. 

“Am I your girl?” She asks while looking at Bakugo with a plain expression. 

It was silent for a moment when she asked that.

Then laughter filled the void of silence, cackles heard all around the table, never finding a dull moment with Y/Ns denseness. 

Everyone was laughing except him. 

“W-What?! No you idiot! Dunce face was just being sarcastic” Bakugo grumbles, his gaze landing on her face. A hint of shyness creeping up on his voice. 

“Oh,” she simply replies and goes back to eating her meal.

“Stupid robot” he mutters, now annoyed towards the lack of reaction. He starts eating his meal with large spoonfuls, tuning out whatever the idiots we’re talking about as they ate.

Reminiscing about all the small moments since she got here.

(∩˃o˂∩) flashbackᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

a/n : the following are all flashbacks at random moments throughout the year in order :) 

“Bakugo Katsuki, Explosion Quirk, Blonde Hair-”

His piercing red eyes drift to the side of his desk, staring the new face down as she practically does a character analysis on him. A scowl immediately took over his once calm expression, “Hah? Back off little robot!”

“I am Model #8307. My name is not little robot” she says with a neutral look, taking in new information regarding his voice and vocabulary choices. 

“Tch, you telling me those scientists or whatever, didn’t even give you a damn name?” 

“I am Model #8307.”

“You have some shitty creators then, what type of assholes call you by your creation number” he scoffs clearly not fond of that decision. 

“Aw bakubro! Are you perhaps feeling bad in her defense?” Kirishima chimes in with a toothy grin.

“Psh as if! I'm just pointing out the obvious. What the hell am I supposed to call her? Her damn serial number?” he says, rolling his eyes with disdain. 

“Hm, maybe we can give her a name! Oh I bet I have some ideas in my notes-” Deku mumbles under his breath, already flipping pages for ideas. 

Bakugo groans and looks at him with a glare, “you’re mumbling again nerd!” 

Despite his complaints, the entire class started shouting out potential names for the new classmate. As they all gather around to chat away, the robot seems to stick close to Bakugo, and he seems to notice.

“Got something to say?” he crosses his arms, giving her a calculating once over. 

“My programming states I must keep an eye on you the most” she says now stepping closer to him. 

“I don’t need a damn babysitter” his jaw begins to clench at her words. Annoyance taking over as she scoots closer. 

Some laughter is heard across the classroom and Deku smiles, “Kacchan looks like you’ll be spending the most time with her, so how about you name her!” 

“This is fucking dumb.”

“Aw c'mon bakubro! She needs a name, and you seem to be her favorite!” Kirishima grins in his direction. 

He stays silent as he processes both the idiots' words seemingly in thought. His red eyes were studying the robot and then all of a sudden he sighs out, “Y/N.”

A collection of ‘Ooos’ were heard around the classroom at his suggestion. 

“What a manly name! Where did you think of that Bakugo?” Kirishima tilts his head with curiosity. 

“Oh I remember! That name was from a children's picture book when we were younger, right Kacchan? The main character was a robot in that as well, it makes sense-” 

“Mumbling,” Bakugo reminds him with a frown and a warning look. 

“Oops sorry kacchan!” Deku quickly covers his mouth and awkwardly smiles. 

“Alrighty then! You hear that? Your name is Y/N from now on” Kirishima says to her while patting the robot's head.

“Are you my new master then?” Y/N asks Bakugo out of nowhere, given he’s the one who named her.

“Kinky~” Kaminari snorts out loud and begins running away as Bakugo lunges at him. 

“Dunce face shut the hell up! And fuck no, you damn robot!”

–⋆ ˚｡⋆୨ ʚɞ ୧⋆ ˚｡⋆–

His red eyes roam through the scantron for any mistakes he could’ve made on the exam. 

Once fully satisfied with his answers, he places his pencil down. Moving the booklet towards the corner of his desk. 

He is about to rest his head down til he hears a voice beside him, “you got one wrong.”

Bakugo almost jumps at the low whisper, his head snapping at his side to find Y/N analyzing his scantron. 

Since she was in charge of protecting the class, she didn’t have to partake in exams or classwork. Her knowledge as an android practically made her a perfect scholar. 

“The hell are you doing?!” he whispers back and looks at the front of the classroom. Taking a sigh of relief to see Erasure Head distracted in his sleeping bag. 

“I am here to help you” she states while pointing at question 13 and repeating her words, insisting to recheck his answer.

“You can’t just waltz around to help! This is a test!” 

“But my mission is to help the students of Class 3A-”

“Ugh it's like I'm talking to damn icy-hot, now scram before Mr.Aizawa thinks I'm cheating!” he waves her off with a scowl.

Bakugo could only facepalm when Kaminari secretly calls Y/N over. Taking the opportunity to cheat as she gives him the answers so casually. 

“What an idiot” he grimaces, looking away to stare at his own exam.

His eyes stay lingering onto the booklet, flipping through the pages to look at question 13. After a moment, he mumbles curses under his breath and looks back to see if Y/N is around. 

Who's practically giving Kaminari all the answers per request.

The grumpy blonde quickly looks back at his own paper, grabbing the erasure, and changing his answer. Once completed he rests his head on the desk and huffs, “dumb robot as if I needed help….”

–⋆ ˚｡⋆୨ ʚɞ ୧⋆ ˚｡⋆–

Bakugo freezes in complete disbelief. Did she just-

“Oi! What the hell are you doing?!” he yells out, trying to pry her hands away but to no use. As if he could best her metal arms in strength at the moment. 

“Todoroki says this is effective to make people more comfortable around you” she states, keeping her arms wrapped around his waist from behind. Clearly an attempt to give him a back hug. 

“He’s the last person you should be getting help from! Now get off me!” 

Everyone that's around the common room collectively laughs at the odd sight. No one could remember a time when anyone had dared to hug Bakugo like that. 

“Keep him still Y/N!” “Everyone attack!” “Y/N is so manly!” “Get him!” 

“Don't even think about it you idiots!” Bakugo screams out with annoyance and hidden embarrassment. Soon enough, everyone starts joining in on the group hug. He groans and puts his frustration somewhere else, tugging on poor Dekus hair, “all of you are dead when I get free!” 

“Agh- kacchan!!”

–⋆ ˚｡⋆୨ ʚɞ ୧⋆ ˚｡⋆–

No umbrella.

His eyebrow twitches with frustration at the sight of rain. Oh how much he hates rain. 

“We can share my umbrella” Y/N says, approaching out of nowhere.

His eyes meet hers with a grumpy look, “You always show up at the weirdest moments you know that?” 

“I am here to-”

“Here to help. Yeah yeah I know, just hurry it up would ya?”

She takes a step outside and opens her umbrella, holding it up so she can reach his height. After a moment, he sighs and takes it from her as they walk together.

It's a calm silence as they head to the dorms.

Y/N's gaze roams around campus, noticing many pairs clinging to one another under their umbrellas. 

So with the new information, she wraps her arm around his bicep.

He tenses at the sudden contact and looks at her direction, “tch what now?” 

Usually he would shove her away but with the rain, he held back. Plus he finds himself growing accustomed to her shenanigans. 

“I am holding your bicep.” 

“You- I know that! But why?” 

“Everyone seems to be doing so.”

His eyebrows furrow and he looks around, spotting nothing but cheesy couples being clingy under their umbrellas.

“Because they are couples you dork, and we aren’t so let go.” 

“Does this mean we just became a couple?” she says, squeezing his bicep for clarity. 

His heart beat increases and he coughs, now looking away with pink ears, “What?! No! It doesn't work like that!”

“Then how do you become one?”

“Agh- ask someone else, stupid!” 

Bakugo shoves the umbrella back in her hand and makes a run for it instead. Rushing back to the dorms in the rain, pink ears and all. What is this feeling?  

(∩˃o˂∩) back to presentᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

He is soon brought back to reality when he hears an unfamiliar voice. His head looked to the side to see some guy talking to Y/N, who seemed to approach as he was distracted, “so what do you say we go on a date hm?”

Bakugos eyes slightly widened at the bold words, his mouth opened to cuss the guy out but she was faster. 

“I decline your offer.”

The extra frowns and tilts his head, “you got a boyfriend or something?”

“Yes I do,” she replies with a polite nod. 

Everyone at the table looks shocked by her response, not expecting such a reply from her. The extra leaves a few moments later, seeming to understand at least. 

“Wow Y/N.. didn’t know you had the guts to lie to someone” Kirishima gives her a proud thumbs up.

“Lie? But I didn’t lie” she says, continuing to calmly eat her lunch.

The guys gasp at her words, not able to believe it. Bakugo freezes in his spot looking at her in disbelief. His heart thumps in his chest as shock fills his body.

“You actually have a boyfriend?! Who?!” Kaminari yells out, curiosity taking over.

“Bakugo of course” she mutters, sipping away at her juice box.

The guys all stare in shock and their eyes dart back and forth between the two. Bakugo almost chokes on air at her response. The fuck? 

Laughter is heard around the table, all used to Y/N's dense nature, it seems she still has some learning to do. 

“Did I say something funny?” she looks around as they all wheeze at her words. Her eyes drift back at Bakugo as she tilts her head. 

He can still hear his heart thumping wildly in his chest. He sighs loudly and shakes his head, “Ignore the idiots and continue eating.”

Y/N nods at his words and goes back to continuing her meal, as does he.

The trio immediately stopped laughing and looked stunned for a moment. Bakugo didn’t react to her words nor corrected her this time. 

Could he…

Almost as if he could read their minds, the blonde sends a glare their way, making them all go back to eating. 

This time, correcting her didn’t even cross his mind. He can see out of the corner of his eyes, the way she scoots closer to him.

But he doesn't say anything this time. 

He knows she's staring at the couple at the other table, observing their actions and taking in the information. She is always so observant.

Out of curiosity, his eyes wander across to the couple, noticing the guy sharing his food.

Bakugo can already feel Y/N's eyes on him. And frankly, it almost makes him want to laugh. 

Silently, he takes a sushi roll off his plate and places it on her tray. Copying the other guy's actions. It’s stupid as hell, but she seems to like it. 

With that action alone, he can see a small rare smile forming on her face as she eats.

Teach her emotions huh? Fine. He can do that. 

As the lunch period went on, he didn’t eat much.

Choosing to share his food with her instead.

But he oddly didn’t feel hungry this time, feeling full off that rare smile she had on her face.

✦ ⎯⎯⋆ ˚｡⋆ ୨ masterlist || taglist || intro || socials ୧⋆ ˚｡⋆⎯⎯ ✦

[mariacallous]

The US Food and Drug Administration has just approved lenacapavir, an injectable form of HIV prevention that is almost 100 percent effective and requires only two doses per year. Science magazine described the medicine the most important scientific advance of 2024.

In clinical trials, lenacapavir proved to be 99.9 percent effective in preventing HIV infection through sexual transmission in people weighing more than 35 kilograms. The drug, an antiretroviral, works not by stimulating an immune response, but by blocking HIV from reproducing during its early stages—specifically, by disrupting the function of the virus’s capsid protein. This happens so long as the body receives injections every six months.

Lenacapavir has already been approved in some countries as a treatment for HIV in people with forms of the virus that are resistant to other treatments. However, prior to this week, its prophylactic use had not been approved anywhere, making the FDA’s decision a significant new development in the fight against the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The drug is not the first medicine that can be taken preemptively to protect against an HIV infection: pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) pills were already available in many countries, including the United States. But these must be taken every day, and ensuring ongoing access to these medicines, and that people actually remember to take them, is a known challenge. It’s hoped the long-lasting effects of lenacapavir will make it easier for people to stay protected against the virus.

According to its creator, Gilead Sciences, lenacapavir will be marketed under the trade name Yeztugo. The company has committed to manufacturing 10 million doses by 2026.

“This is a historic day in the decades-long fight against HIV. Yeztugo is one of the most important scientific breakthroughs of our time and offers a very real opportunity to help end the HIV epidemic,” Daniel O’Day, president and CEO of Gilead, said in a statement on Wednesday.

However, lenacapavir’s price may be a barrier to access. Yeztugo will have an annual list price of $28,218 per person in the US. Winnie Byanyima, executive director of of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), has also flagged in the past that the drug is unaffordable for many people in Africa, where the medicine has the potential to have the biggest impact. Roughly two-thirds of the people living with HIV worldwide live in sub-Saharan Africa.

On Wednesday, Gilead published details of a two-part plan to offer access to lenacapavir “in 120 high-incidence, resource-limited countries, which are primarily low- and lower-middle-income countries.” One step will be “voluntary licensing,” which is where other companies are granted permission to produce and sell generic versions of a patented product in a certain country. Alongside this, the company says it plans “to provide Gilead-supplied product at no profit to Gilead until generic manufacturers are able to fully support demand in voluntary licensing countries.”

[feminist-space]

Excerpts:

"The convenience of instant answers that LLMs provide can encourage passive consumption of information, which may lead to superficial engagement, weakened critical thinking skills, less deep understanding of the materials, and less long-term memory formation [8]. The reduced level of cognitive engagement could also contribute to a decrease in decision-making skills and in turn, foster habits of procrastination and "laziness" in both students and educators [13].

Additionally, due to the instant availability of the response to almost any question, LLMs can possibly make a learning process feel effortless, and prevent users from attempting any independent problem solving. By simplifying the process of obtaining answers, LLMs could decrease student motivation to perform independent research and generate solutions [15]. Lack of mental stimulation could lead to a decrease in cognitive development and negatively impact memory [15]. The use of LLMs can lead to fewer opportunities for direct human-to-human interaction or social learning, which plays a pivotal role in learning and memory formation [16].

Collaborative learning as well as discussions with other peers, colleagues, teachers are critical for the comprehension and retention of learning materials. With the use of LLMs for learning also come privacy and security issues, as well as plagiarism concerns (7]. Yang et al. [17] conducted a study with high school students in a programming course. The experimental group used ChatGPT to assist with learning programming, while the control group was only exposed to traditional teaching methods. The results showed that the experimental group had lower flow experience, self-efficacy, and learning performance compared to the control group.

Academic self-efficacy, a student's belief in their "ability to effectively plan, organize, and execute academic tasks"

', also contributes to how LLMs are used for learning [18]. Students with

low self-efficacy are more inclined to rely on Al, especially when influenced by academic stress

[18]. This leads students to prioritize immediate Al solutions over the development of cognitive and creative skills. Similarly, students with lower confidence in their writing skills, lower

"self-efficacy for writing" (SEWS), tended to use ChatGPT more extensively, while higher-efficacy students were more selective in Al reliance [19]. We refer the reader to the meta-analysis [20] on the effect of ChatGPT on students' learning performance, learning perception, and higher-order thinking."

"Recent empirical studies reveal concerning patterns in how LLM-powered conversational search systems exacerbate selective exposure compared to conventional search methods. Participants engaged in more biased information querying with LLM-powered conversational search, and an opinionated LLM reinforcing their views exacerbated this bias [63]. This occurs because LLMS are in essence "next token predictors" that optimize for most probable outputs, and thus can potentially be more inclined to provide consonant information than traditional information system algorithms [63]. The conversational nature of LLM interactions compounds this effect, as users can engage in multi-turn conversations that progressively narrow their information exposure. In LLM systems, the synthesis of information from multiple sources may appear to provide diverse perspectives but can actually reinforce existing biases through algorithmic selection and presentation mechanisms.

The implications for educational environments are particularly significant, as echo chambers can fundamentally compromise the development of critical thinking skills that form the foundation of quality academic discourse. When students rely on search systems or language models that systematically filter information to align with their existing viewpoints, they might miss opportunities to engage with challenging perspectives that would strengthen their analytical capabilities and broaden their intellectual horizons. Furthermore, the sophisticated nature of these algorithmic biases means that a lot of users often remain unaware of the information gaps in their research, leading to overconfident conclusions based on incomplete evidence. This creates a cascade effect where poorly informed arguments become normalized in academic and other settings, ultimately degrading the standards of scholarly debate and undermining the educational mission of fostering independent, evidence-based reasoning."

"In summary, the Brain-only group's connectivity suggests a state of increased internal coordination, engaging memory and creative thinking (manifested as theta and delta coherence across cortical regions). The Engine group, while still cognitively active, showed a tendency toward more focal connectivity associated with handling external information (e.g. beta band links to visual-parietal areas) and comparatively less activation of the brain's long-range memory circuits. These findings are in line with literature: tasks requiring internal memory amplify low-frequency brain synchrony in frontoparietal networks [77], whereas outsourcing information (via internet search) can reduce the load on these networks and alter attentional dynamics. Notably, prior studies have found that practicing internet search can reduce activation in memory-related brain areas [831, which dovetails with our observation of weaker connectivity in those regions for Search Engine group. Conversely, the richer connectivity of Brain-only group may reflect a cognitive state akin to that of high performers in creative or memory tasks, for instance, high creativity has been associated with increased fronto-occipital theta connectivity and intra-hemispheric synchronization in frontal-temporal circuits [81], patterns we see echoed in the Brain-only condition."

"This correlation between neural connectivity and behavioral quoting failure in LLM group's participants offers evidence that:

1. Early Al reliance may result in shallow encoding.

LLM group's poor recall and incorrect quoting is a possible indicator that their earlier essays were not internally integrated, likely due to outsourced cognitive processing to the LLM.

2. Withholding LLM tools during early stages might support memory formation.

Brain-only group's stronger behavioral recall, supported by more robust EEG connectivity, suggests that initial unaided effort promoted durable memory traces, enabling more effective reactivation even when LLM tools were introduced later.

Metacognitive engagement is higher in the Brain-to-LLM group.

Brain-only group might have mentally compared their past unaided efforts with tool-generated suggestions (as supported by their comments during the interviews), engaging in self-reflection and elaborative rehearsal, a process linked to executive control and semantic integration, as seen in their EEG profile.

The significant gap in quoting accuracy between reassigned LLM and Brain-only groups was not merely a behavioral artifact; it is mirrored in the structure and strength of their neural connectivity. The LLM-to-Brain group's early dependence on LLM tools appeared to have impaired long-term semantic retention and contextual memory, limiting their ability to reconstruct content without assistance. In contrast, Brain-to-LLM participants could leverage tools more strategically, resulting in stronger performance and more cohesive neural signatures."

[blackstarlineage]

Lack of Focus on Cooperative Economics and Collective Wealth: A Garveyite Perspective

Introduction: The Economic Divide That Keeps Black People Dependent

One of the greatest weaknesses in the Black world today is the failure to prioritize cooperative economics and collective wealth-building. Despite immense economic potential, Black communities remain economically fragmented, allowing wealth to be extracted by non-Black entities while Black businesses struggle.

From a Garveyite perspective, this is not accidental—it is a deliberate legacy of colonialism and slavery, designed to:

Keep Black people financially dependent on white-controlled economic systems.

Encourage individualism over collective wealth-building, preventing economic power.

Ensure that Black dollars circulate in non-Black communities while Black businesses remain underfunded.

If Black people do not shift from individualistic consumerism to cooperative economic strategies, they will remain financially powerless—and a people without economic power will always be controlled by those who have it.

1. The Historical Roots of Black Economic Fragmentation

A. The Destruction of Pre-Colonial African Cooperative Economic Systems

Before European colonization, African societies operated on collective wealth and community-based economies where:

Wealth was distributed through extended families and clan structures.

Trade and agriculture were communal, ensuring everyone had economic stability.

Economic growth was tied to the prosperity of the entire community, not just individuals.

Example: The Igbo, Akan, and Zulu people had well-developed cooperative economic systems that ensured long-term wealth sustainability.

Key Takeaway: African societies once thrived on collective economic principles—colonization disrupted these systems.

B. The Legacy of Slavery and the Destruction of Black Wealth-Building

During slavery, Black people were:

Kept from owning businesses, land, or property.

Forced to depend on white economies for survival.

Taught to value individual success over group advancement, breaking communal ties.

Example: Even after emancipation, Black people were denied land ownership (e.g., the failure of "40 acres and a mule"), keeping them financially dependent.

Key Takeaway: Slavery conditioned Black people to focus on survival rather than wealth-building—this mindset persists today.

C. The Targeted Destruction of Black Economic Success

When Black communities successfully practiced cooperative economics, they were often attacked and destroyed by white supremacy.

Examples include:

The Tulsa Race Massacre (1921), where Black Wall Street was burned to the ground.

The destruction of thriving Black towns like Rosewood, Florida (1923).

Government-led attacks on Black economic independence, such as COINTELPRO’s targeting of Black-owned businesses.

Example: The U.S. government actively worked to destroy the Black Panther Party’s economic programs, such as free breakfast and community banking initiatives.

Key Takeaway: Black cooperative economic movements have historically been targeted because economic independence threatens white supremacy.

2. The Modern Consequences of Neglecting Cooperative Economics

A. The Failure of Black Dollars to Circulate Within Black Communities

Studies show that:

The Black dollar circulates for only 6 hours within the Black community before leaving.

By contrast, in white, Asian, and Jewish communities, money circulates for weeks or months.

Black consumers spend heavily, but most of that money goes to non-Black businesses.

Example: Black people spend billions on designer brands like Gucci and Louis Vuitton, but Black-owned businesses struggle to get basic funding.

Key Takeaway: If Black people do not keep their wealth circulating within their own communities, they will never achieve collective economic power.

B. Dependence on Non-Black Financial Institutions

Because Black people do not control their own banks and financial institutions, they suffer from:

Higher loan rejection rates.

Unfair lending practices that keep Black entrepreneurs underfunded.

Lack of access to capital, keeping businesses small and underdeveloped.

Example: Black businesses receive far fewer loans and at much higher interest rates than white-owned businesses, making it harder to scale.

Key Takeaway: Without Black-owned banks and cooperative financial systems, Black people will always be economically vulnerable.

C. The Economic Divide Between Wealthy Black Individuals and the Black Masses

Because Black millionaires and billionaires often do not reinvest in the community, we see:

A few highly successful individuals, but no strong Black economic infrastructure.

A celebrity culture that promotes individual luxury spending over economic reinvestment.

A lack of mentorship and capital-sharing between Black elites and struggling Black entrepreneurs.

Example: While Black celebrities like Jay-Z and Rihanna are billionaires, most of the Black population remains financially struggling because wealth is not being collectively shared.

Key Takeaway: Black economic progress must be collective, not just individual.

3. The Garveyite Solution: Restoring Cooperative Economics in the Black World

A. Building Black-Owned Banks and Financial Cooperatives

Black people must:

Create community-owned credit unions and banking systems.

Invest in Black-owned financial institutions instead of using white-owned banks.

Develop cooperative lending programs where Black businesses fund each other.

Example: Marcus Garvey’s Negro Factories Corporation and Black Star Line were designed to create a global Black economy independent of white control.

Key Takeaway: A race that does not control its financial systems will always be economically dependent.

B. Supporting Black Businesses First

Black consumers must:

Buy from Black-owned businesses before spending money elsewhere.

Encourage group economics by pooling resources for community investment.

Create business directories to help Black consumers find Black-owned businesses.

Example: The "Buy Black" movement encourages Black consumers to spend within their community before giving their money to non-Black businesses.

Key Takeaway: Cooperative economics requires collective spending discipline.

C. Developing Pan-African Trade Networks

Black nations and businesses must:

Trade more with each other instead of relying on European, Chinese, or American markets.

Establish a Pan-African currency and banking system.

Build supply chains controlled by Black people, from production to retail.

Example: The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a step toward African economic unity but must be expanded and fully utilized.

Key Takeaway: If Black economies depend on foreign trade, they will always be subject to foreign control.

D. Teaching Cooperative Economics in Black Schools and Communities

Black educational institutions must:

Teach financial literacy and cooperative economic principles from an early age.

Encourage young Black entrepreneurs and investors.

Develop training programs for business ownership and group economics.

Example: Schools in Black communities should teach about successful Black economic models like the Garvey movement, Black Wall Street, and Pan-African trade networks.

Key Takeaway: If the next generation is not taught economic self-sufficiency, Black communities will continue to struggle.

Conclusion: Will Black People Choose Economic Power or Continued Dependence?

Marcus Garvey said:

"The greatest weapon used against the Negro is disorganization."

Will Black people continue making other communities rich, or start building their own economic institutions?

Will we invest in cooperative economics, or keep focusing on individual success?

Will we create financial institutions, or remain dependent on those who have historically oppressed us?

The Choice is Ours. The Time is Now.

[kbandtrash]

Less Than Three (Hongjoong x Reader)

~Rachel~

@sorryimananti-romantic hahaha remember how I said I was the slowest writer ever? Apparently that's not true because it only took me a month and a half to write this. I need help

Content: fluff, a whole lot of delusional one-sided pining (the cute kind though) (from him), silly middle school antics from both teachers and students, betting, friends to lovers

Summary: Kim Hongjoong teaches middle school math and finds himself absolutely smitten with you, the math department's newest hire. You're the last person to find out.

Note: This is set in an American-style middle school because that's where my teaching experiences have been and I figured my best work would come out of the system I'm most familiar with

Word Count: 11.5k

Why did Hongjoong choose middle school?

He asks himself this question every day as well

If he wanted to be a math teacher, high school was clearly a better option

But no he had started out in a middle school, promising to take a high school position as soon as one opened up

And now he was actively avoiding high school principals that wanted to recruit him

Is it because he found out the math is easier to explain and the kids really aren’t that bad?

Yeah sure

But this year he had another reason to stay

See his math department had a position open up this summer and as he got to take part in interviews to select a new hire

He fell in love

Now that was not the whole reason he advocated to hire you

In fact your credentials as a math teacher

The places you had taught before

Your praxis exam scores

Your recommendation letters

The professional development programs you were a part of

Test scores from your previous classes

The way you understood math

And especially the way you believed that every student had the potential to pass your class

All of these made you the obvious choice and everyone else agreed

But he was struck several times with Cupid’s arrows throughout the interview and that absolutely did not hurt his opinion of you as a potential colleague

On this particular morning his excuse to talk to you before classes started for the day was a test for your 7th graders

Which they would be taking next Friday

Your feedback always ended up being valuable anyway so there was no need for this to be an “excuse” but it got to be one anyway

You were typing something up when he knocked on the open door to your classroom to announce his presence

You finished typing your sentence before you looked up, and when you saw Hongjoong leaning against the door frame with some papers in his hand, you greeted him with a smile and a wave

He wondered if it would look unprofessional if he grew out his hair to cover his ears

You looked gorgeous today (every day) and he knew there was no stopping his ears from turning bright red

“I have the unit tests for 7th,” he said, stealing a chair from a desk to sit backwards on while he talked to you

“Oh good!” you replied. “I’ll take a look at those and get them back to you by lunch”

Buy lunch he thought

That sounded like an excellent idea

He should buy you lunch

He didn’t say that though

“Works for me. How was your weekend?”

And he stalled and stalled and stalled until the first bell rang and he had to get out to hall duty

At lunch he walked in again while you were putting in assignment scores and munching on some pretzel sticks

“I made a key for that new assignment we decided to add for 8th grade. Can you check answers if you get the time?”

His heart did a little flip as you covered your mouth with your hand while you finished chewing

How could you be so graceful and polite?

And your hands were so pretty wow

“Yes just as soon as I finish putting these in. And—” you turned your chair around and grabbed something from behind you— “here are the 7th tests from this morning. I added a couple notes on the integer operations review questions, but other than that, I think they’re great”

He unfortunately did need to go and eat his own lunch and fulfill other teacherly lunchtime duties so he couldn’t stall as much as this morning

But he read your notes on the way back to his classroom

And boy he could have lived in your handwriting

The pen that you used was the perfect instrument to capture every letter, every dot, every loop in a way that encapsulated your personality

And as soon as he caught himself thinking that he knew he needed to ask the home ec teacher to smack him over the head with a frying pan because wowie

He would need professional help in order to date you like a normal person at this point

Anyway he was practically skipping back after lunch because he came up with another question to ask you

There were students there so instead of using your first name he caught your attention by calling you Miss (L/N)

Which for some reason gives him more butterflies than calling you normally

This time luckily instead of giving you a new task it was a task he could do for you

“How many copies of the activity page should I put you down for?”

“Ooh good question”

You put your finger over your lips as you counted on your other hand and he had to actively look away and think about other things

There were students present after all

“Which classes are you doing it with?” you ended up asking

He used the opportunity to set a hand down on your desk and lean forward in a cool pose

“I’m making the eighth graders do it but it’s extra credit for the seventh”

“That sounds like a good plan to me. So sixty for the eighth graders and then how many do you think I would need if it’s optional?”

Oh boy he loved it when you asked for advice

It gave him the chance to look cool and smart and he always got to play it off as the humble senior teacher

“I do half just to be safe. Plus then you have extra if you want to do it again later in the year or even next year”

And then your face did that thing it did when you liked a suggestion he gave

Your face lit up with your eyebrows raised and your mouth in a little “ooh”

There were students around there were students around

“Okay then sixty for the eighth graders and forty-five for seventh. A hundred and five?”

He scribbled the number down on the copy request form

“Excellent. I’ll run this down then”

He gave you a smile and a wave as he went to attend to his own class

Which you returned

And he was sure his heart would never physically recover from the stress it was under this year

You didn’t need to know that you were the only other teacher he was sharing this particular activity page with

He would give it to the other teachers if they asked him for it but he wasn’t going to go out of his way for this one because it was kind of silly and short

But he would do anything to make your first year at a new school just a little bit easier

Back in his classroom he tried to get class started when one of his eighth graders had the audacity to raise his hand and say the following:

“You just walked back from Miss (L/N)’s class huh?”

Mr. Kim squinted suspiciously at the student

“Yeah…why”

“You’re way nicer when you go to her class before our class starts”

Before he had any time to figure out what that meant, the class exploded in giggles and shouts of agreement

“Yeah you smile a lot more this year than you did last year” a girl who had had his class the previous year as well agreed

And then from the back corner

One of the notorious trouble makers stood up

Pointed his finger up at poor Mr. Kim, who was now considering taking a high school position again

And shouted “Mr. Kim has a crush on Miss (L/N)!!!”

There was no longer any hope for this class

Exponent rules? Down the drain

Hongjoong was now a laughingstock

Irredeemable in front of a bunch of 13-14 year olds

So he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, lips pursed, and his eyes dangerously blank

It wasn’t long before kids started shushing each other

Even once they were quiet, he held their attention for a second longer

“If you have two to the fourth times two to the third, what’s the product?” he asked clearly, writing the problem on the whiteboard in new black marker

Not addressing the issue would not stem the tide of curious teenagers for long but it would have to be a band-aid solution until he figured out how to do this properly

Because he couldn’t allow rumors to spread that he liked you because firstly unprofessional and secondly what if you heard them and thought he was weird

But he couldn’t lie and allow rumors to spread that he definitely didn’t have a crush on you because firstly. unprofessional kids don’t need to know about that stuff

Like they think they’re all mature and old enough to date when they can’t even drive yet like can you imagine as a teenager asking your mom to drive you to your date with your girlfriend. Embarrassing

BUT SECONDLY

What if you heard the rumors and maybe you did like him back and it crushed your heart to hear that he didn’t like you

While the kids were working on their assignment and he was working on his computer he decided the best way to explain this to them

If they ever brought it up again

Was that they’re always in a better mood when they get to talk to their friends, right?

You’re a good friend and it’s fun working with you

The other math teachers are fun too but you’re close to his age so it makes sense that you would be closer

Yep

Good explanation Mr. Kim

Literally just one day later the kids bring it up again and they do not buy his explanation

They don’t even pretend to because their brains are not developed enough to have that kind of social tact

And the rumor doesn’t exactly spread like wildfire around the school but everyone knows about it you know what I mean

Except you actually

You’re usually very aware of everything going on in your classroom but somehow this particular subject escaped your attention

You learned early on that for some reason kids don’t have shame anymore in spilling their guts to the classroom about what they’re gossiping about

So the usual “if you can’t wait to tell your friend later then tell the whole class now” classroom management tactic is now useless

So you didn’t do that instead you just asked them which problem they’re helping their friend with and if they’re not helping their friend with math then they should get back on task

You didn’t think that any middle school level gossip could actually be that interesting anyway so yeah you had no idea that kids were shipping the teachers

And you didn’t want to know

So you stayed blissfully ignorant

While Hongjoong was lowkey agonizing over it

Now you and Hongjoong tend to eat lunch in your own classrooms rather than the staff lounge

Because why use up any more social energy than necessary right

But there is a vending machine in the staff room and Hongjoong was craving something sweet one day

And when he walked in the other teachers in there suddenly went awkwardly silent

And he knew

They were talking about him

Yeah he should take a high school position next year

Two of the younger teachers, Jung Wooyoung from the history department and Choi San from the phys ed department, broke the silence giggling to each other

“Sorry Hongjoong” San apologized “the kids are just hilarious these days. They’re so excited about you and (Y/N) it’s adorable”

Hongjoong gave them a look

“Adorable?”

“Well firstly you” Wooyoung pointed out “I never thought I’d see you fall head over heels but I totally get it. She’s super cool”

“And secondly the kids” San continued “any time you guys are talking in the hall I have all of the girls talking about it during warm ups. The boys all think of you as their role model when it comes to liking a girl”

“That reminds me!” Wooyoung interrupted “I actually did have a boy confess to a girl in my class the other day and you wanna know what he told her??”

Hongjoong’s eyebrows furrowed in a glare, absolutely sure that his reputation was never going to recover

“He said ‘I like you more than Mr. Kim likes Miss (L/N)’”

The teachers tried to tone down their laughter out of respect

Hongjoong wanted to leave immediately but this stupid vending machine was having issues

“And then you know what she said back?”

Wooyoung was having trouble holding himself together

His eyes were shining a little with tears of laughter

“She said ‘That’s impossible. No one can like anyone more than Mr. Kim likes Miss (L/N)’”

The other teachers could not hold it back anymore

The vending machine finally gave Hongjoong his candy bar

(Plus the extra one he bought for you)

So he made his way swiftly back towards the door

“Oh no no wait” Wooyoung called after him

“Tests to grade” Hongjoong lied simply

“No come on you have to hear this”

Hongjoong stopped at the door, fighting the urge to classroom manage his coworkers

He looked back both unimpressed and expectant at the same time

“Okay everyone raise your hands if you betted on before Christmas break” Wooyoung called out

Some of the teachers looked at him like he had just asked out a widow at her husband’s funeral

But they raised their hands sheepishly anyway

“Great yes and after Christmas break?”

The other half raised their hands, most of them looking like they wished that had eaten lunch in their own classrooms

“These are bets on when you’re going to ask her out” Wooyoung explained cheerfully

“Wasn’t someone also trying to get bets going on whether you would confess first or she would notice first?” San asked

“That was also me” Wooyoung said with a grin

The lounge door opened again and in walked the principal and one of the vice principals

Hongjoong thought this was finally the end to this stupid conversation

But no

“Oh Hongjoong!” the principal greeted him with a pat on the arm “I’ve got $50 on you dating before Christmas. Don’t let me down”

Waiting until the end of the school year to take a new position would simply not be soon enough

Hongjoong needed to find a new job or retire within the month

But then on the way back to his classroom he remembered he had an extra candy bar for you

So he made a detour

But what greeted him was a closed door with the window on the door covered

He hadn’t ever seen your door shut like this before so he wasn’t sure what it meant exactly

Maybe you went out to lunch today?

Then he could just nab one of your sticky notes and leave the candy bar on your desk with a positive message

He would rather give it to you himself, but the idea of you finding the candy bar on your desk later made his chest feel all warm and cozy so it was fine

Your door was unlocked, so he pulled it open just enough so he could see inside

And you were in there actually

Slumped in your desk chair with your head in your hands

Oh

Oh no

Hongjoong had been there before

Every teacher had been there before

The work of a teacher isn’t as easy as most people would like to believe

Especially for middle school, and even more so for math, it takes someone with unending patience and courage to help kids learn every day

And some days that patience and courage runs a little thinner than other days

Even experienced teachers wonder from time to time if it’s worth the soul that they give to their classes

The classes that seem sometimes not to notice one way or the other if you’re teaching or not

You hadn’t noticed that you weren’t quite alone anymore, so that left Hongjoong with a choice to make

Did he let you have this moment to yourself?

Or did he try to help you through it?

He closed the door as softly as he could

And then he gave a little knock to give you some privacy and some time to gather yourself

Then he opened the door and stepped halfway through

“The vending machine spat out two candy bars instead of one” he lied with a grin, holding up the extra candy bar and wiggling it between his fingers

You had sat up and were resting your chin on your hand curiously

But there was definitely a downtrodden aura about you that he couldn’t miss

“That’s pretty lucky,” you replied

He took that as permission to enter and on his way to your desk he snagged his usual chair to sit backwards on

“How’s today going so far?” he asked as if he knew nothing, setting the candy bar down on top of your closed computer

“Oh, you know,” you sighed

He chuckled, opening his candy bar, not making eye contact with you to relieve some pressure for you to keep up an act

“That good, huh?”

You laughed in return

“Just got my butt kicked by a bunch of seventh graders, so yeah, it’s kind of whatever right now”

Ah the teacher equivalent of “I want to quit my job and hide in my bed for the rest of my life”

“Oh, yep, I’ve been there more than once” he said with a nod “and sometimes there’s really nothing you could have done better, you know? Kids are just like that sometimes. It makes me glad I’m not an elementary school teacher”

“Oh my word yes” you agreed, finally picking up the candy bar “at least I can kick these gremlins out after 45 minutes and I don’t have to see them again until the next day. I can’t imagine being with the same class all day”

Did Hongjoong end up squandering his entire eating time just to talk with you and make sure you felt better?

Yes

He would have to sneak bites of his sandwich in between activities during his afternoon classes

But like it wasn’t the first time he’d had to do that and heaven knew it wouldn’t be the last

At least he had a good reason today instead of something stupid like he was lost in the test grading sauce and forgot to eat

He proceeded to get his butt kicked by his afternoon classes because he couldn’t wipe his lovefool smile off his face

But it was okay because once again it wasn’t the first time and heaven knew it wouldn’t be the last

Not long after came the hallowed and hated teacher inservice day

Professional development day

Both a huge waste of time and a relaxing little work day

The administrators usually planned a series of workshops for the morning that all looked. well. kind of stupid but it was all planned with good intention

Then it was lunch time

And then after that you had until the end of contract hours to do whatever pretty much

The math department liked to go to lunch together and then have a really productive planning meeting until people got bored and then it was individual prep time pretty much

Mostly it was just kinda nice to be at school without kids there

This year was no exception to all of this

But Mr. Principal had $50 on the line and decided to play matchmaker about it

For each of the workshops the teachers were split into groups

And you and Hongjoong had been placed together every single time

Somehow you genuinely thought it was just good luck

Hongjoong was hyperaware of every other teacher looking and pointing and giggling and you were so peacefully oblivious to it

The first workshop was about medical emergency training, specifically training teachers in case of allergy or diabetic emergencies

As soon as the nurse finished with the epipen instructions you leaned over to Hongjoong and whispered “like this?” 

And stabbed him with the fake epipen right in the thigh

Hongjoong swore he was going to die right then and there because why was that so attractive???

“Four…five…six…seven…eight…” you counted out, holding the epipen in place for the full ten seconds

And like a good patient he sat like a statue because his circuits were absolutely fried

You glanced up at his face and your expression immediately dropped

You checked the epipen all over to make sure it was just a trainer

(It was)

“Hongjoong are you okay?? Your face is all red did I do something wrong?” you worried

He unfroze and tried to undo the damage of his Little Moment but the nurse was already over at the table taking a closer look at him after dismissing the rest of the teachers to practice

She looked at you and then at Hongjoong and then at you again and back at Hongjoong and a funny look of understanding came over her face

“Are you Mr. Kim the math teacher” she asked

He nodded awkwardly

“And are you Miss (L/N) the math teacher” she asked

“Yes?” you answered

She patted Hongjoong on the shoulder

“He’ll be fine in a minute or so” she reassured you, glancing up and away somewhere else

You both followed her gaze over to the principal, who gave her a bright smile and a thumbs up

Which looked innocuous enough to the untrained eye

But to Hongjoong this was just another in a long list of embarrassments

The principal had told the guest workshop speakers about him

And he had been spotted that easily

After that was administration-provided snack time

Hongjoong offered to grab sodas if you would grab chips and stuff

And at the soda table he was greeted by Wooyoung and San, who called him affectionately Mr. Traffic Light

Hongjoong resisted the urge to react publicly

Even though there were no children around he refused to allow himself to be caught cursing them out

But he brainstormed violently about the ways he could get back at them without getting caught

Truly his middle school teacher powers of ignoring were activated because those two were practically dancing around him trading one-liner after one-liner and Hongjoong paid them no mind

Until he realized they were following him back to the table where he was sitting with you

He did not need them teasing him around you so he tried to shoo them off

But Wooyoung gleefully turned his attention up to the projector screen where the groupings for the next workshop were displayed

Truly your presence was the only saving grace this day had to offer

They were in this group with you two

The computer teacher/school tech support guy was leading this workshop and he was showcasing how one might use ai in their classroom

And all four of you were totally zoned out because firstly ai in a math classroom?? For what

Chat bots are notoriously bad at math

Ai in San’s gymnasium? Once again no practical application

And Wooyoung honestly just wasn’t that interested because none of you were listening so he didn’t feel like he had to either

So he decided flirting with you was more fun

Just to make Hongjoong mad

But for all of his whispered pick up lines and compliments you had approximately the same response as to this ai workshop:

Playing gamepigeon with Hongjoong under the table

(Which Hongjoong had initiated by the way)

(And you had perpetuated after destroying him at the mini golf game)

Aka you ignored Wooyoung pretty well

So Hongjoong got to glare over at him with the peace of mind that your attention was fully his right then

San tapped your shoulder and asked for your number

Which you gave him a little too easily for Hongjoong’s continued peace of mind

But then San just made a group chat for the four of you to play uno together for the remainder of the workshop

So Hongjoong decided that actually this setup wasn’t so bad

The last workshop was unfortunately much more important so the four of you couldn’t continue slacking off

The principal was running this one and it was genuinely for the betterment of the school environment

Plus San and Wooyoung were sent off to other groups

So it was the two of you and a few other senior teachers that were going to have a discussion about one of the behavior initiatives that the school was trying out

You were the only two math teachers in the group, so when the principal passed out data that had been collected about this behavior initiative, the other teachers sort of automatically passed the papers to you

(And the science teachers in the group but that’s irrelevant)

There was only one copy of each dataset, so that meant you got to share

And that meant that you got to scoot your chairs close together to look at the paper at the same time

And even better the text was kind of small so you had to bring the papers close to your faces to read them

So the two of you were shoulder to shoulder

Practically cheek to cheek, your heads almost touching

To read this data and explain it to the less number-savvy teachers

Today was actually pretty fantastic so far, Hongjoong thought

He also wondered if you could physically feel the heat coming off of his face but that was not something he was going to let bother him right then

He was going to live in the moment

And perhaps thank the principal later

After a surprisingly productive and insightful discussion

It was finally ~lunch time~

The math department gathered up in the department head’s classroom to decide which of the nearby restaurants to choose to go to

And no one could agree

Not a single person was feeling like eating the same thing

Except Hongjoong he was agreeing with whatever you said

Not just because he wanted you to have your way but because whatever you said sounded good to him too

Maybe it sounded good because you said it but nonetheless

And then the department head said the following fateful words:

“How about you two just go ahead and we’ll try to decide on something for the rest of us

Hongjoong was suspicious right then and there that this was a setup

The department head probably had money on Before Christmas

But Hongjoong was absolutely not going to let this opportunity slip through his fingers

“I’m cool with that” you answered before Hongjoong could gather his thoughts enough to say anything

Then you turned to him

“I need to go grab my purse from my classroom. Do you need anything from yours?”

“Oh, yeah, just my wallet” he answered totally on autopilot

You stopped by your classroom first and then his since his was closer to the front of the school

He was so excited to finally realize that dream of his from a few weeks back

He was gonna buy you lunch

And not only that it was just the two of you going out to lunch

It didn’t matter that this wasn’t a date

Or that technically you were just gonna buy food and eat it back at school

It was special to him to go somewhere with just you 

That wasn’t school

Seriously he was so happy he couldn’t stop smiling when he told the cashier that your orders were together and he was going to pay

You kinda elbowed him and told him he didn’t have to do that

But he just shrugged and turned his smile on you

“But I wanted to” he replied

You accepted that

“It’s on me next time” you promised

And oh man he could have died right there he felt so complete

Except if he died then there would be no next time

But you were saying next time and it made him think that wow yeah this would happen again

You meant if it ever happened again but he was determined that it was a certain for the future

Because even if it didn’t happen by chance then he would make it happen himself

When you got back to the school the rest of the math department was gone so you started eating without them

And that was a magical moment of peace too

Just the two of you

No one around to tease Hongjoong

He could almost pretend you were just normal friends and he wasn’t head over heels for you

Then the rest of the department came back and they all had food from the same restaurant

So Hongjoong had been right to be suspicious earlier

It was most definitely a setup to get the two of you by yourselves

And he liked it so he wasn’t going to complain about it

Even though it was embarrassing

Well as fun as professional development day ended up being

Parent teacher conferences were not

Hongjoong was looking forward to more Mr. Principal shenanigans

Like maybe when all the teachers were in the gym yours and his table could be next to each other

And he could talk to you when neither of you had any parents

And when the night was wrapping up

And he could walk you out to your car because it was dark

And maybe treat you to dinner because the school-provided food wasn’t usually that great

But no

None of that could happen

Because someone had decided to have teachers stay in their classrooms for conferences this year

The parents would have the wonderful opportunity to get lost in their child’s school trying to find all of their classes

What a joke

They were probably going to get so many complaints they would switch it back to normal next semester

But the one time Hongjoong was looking forward to parent teacher conferences

Of course

Was the one time they had to switch it up

The one silver lining in this was the teachers complaining about it together

Hongjoong’s favorite email he had ever received was now from Wooyoung

Who was replying to the email notifying teachers of the different setup this year but just to Hongjoong

In all lowercase:

“hey loverboy u see this crap

math teacher romancephobic fr smh”

And then with his full professional email signature at the bottom

This precious email was moved to Hongjoong’s funny emails folder, which was usually reserved for unhinged student emails

He did not reply to it

San and the other phys ed teachers were joking about how nice it would be to have the gym to themselves for once but they were in agreement that this probably wouldn’t last

Of course the math department had tests scheduled across all the grades right before conferences

Which of course left everyone grading like crazy

And of course the kids trashed the classrooms the day before

And of course the head janitor ended up getting sick

So it was up to the teachers to make sure their classrooms didn’t look like trash

Even though they had 150+ tests to grade and a pile of late work to grade

And they had 24 hours (7 of which were going to be spent teaching, and hopefully 7-8 would be spent sleeping) to make this all work before parents started showing up at 4 o’clock tomorrow afternoon

What a time this was going to be

So Hongjoong picked up his pile of tests and went to your classroom

Predictably you were grading tests

He stole a student desk and moved it close to your desk

“Which tests are you working on?” he asked

“Eighth” you replied, not looking up from the test you were currently grading

“How does this sound” he began “I’ll take your seventh and you take my eighth so we don’t have to switch answer keys?”

Still barely looking up, you handed him three binder-clipped stacks of paper

“As long as you don’t mind working to music” you replied, your eyebrows raising as a little smile played on your lips

He took your tests and handed you his eighth grade tests

(This worked out nicely as you both had three classes of seventh and two classes of eighth. He was tricking you into letting him take the heavier load ohoho so sneaky)

(He was just lucky you were grading eighth instead of seventh first)

“Don’t mind?” he snickered, uncapping his favorite felt-tip grading pen “I’d prefer it”

And that’s how speed grading turned into karaoke

Grading went almost certainly slower than it would have if you had worked alone but it was way more fun this way

Of course he ended up with sixty some more tests to grade than you

So when you finished you left for a bit and came back with snacks

As well as his pile of late work

He tried to protest but no no

“You’re not nearly as sneaky as you think you are Mr. Kim” you teased him “You thought you could fool a math teacher into thinking we had an equal workload here?”

“That wasn’t the point” he whined, trying to put the cap back on his pen and inking his finger instead

“Then what was the point?”

I love you that’s the point

But what was the point actually

What was a point he could believably tell you without giving himself away

“Just…because” he said convincingly, shrugging his shoulders and settling back into his tests “You look stressed these days. Wanted to do something nice I guess”

You brandished his late work stack again

“So I’m going to do something nice too”

Yeah he probably wouldn’t ever feel this way about anyone ever again

For him at this point it was you or nothing

But the problem was he was willing to let it be nothing for far too long

He would never make a single move unless he knew you were okay with it

Because if he and his stupid heart ruined whatever you had going now then it would really be nothing

He wouldn’t give up the something he still had

He was like a curve approaching an asymptote

He could get infinitely close, but he would never actually touch you

After settling your gradebooks for tomorrow you started by picking up your classroom together

This did go faster with music by the way

And then you picked up his classroom together

And then he realized Hongjoong realized he could have his wish

The one about walking you out to your car and taking you out to dinner

Walking you out was easy but taking you out was another story

He would have to suggest it himself

A little known fact about teachers is that they became teachers because they don’t know how/don’t want to talk with other adults

Kids don’t judge you if something comes out of your mouth a little different than you meant it

Other adults are mean and judge you over silly things

This unfortunately meant that he didn’t know how to ask you to go to dinner with him without making it sound like a date

He was kinda just hoping a lil Kdrama moment would happen and one of your stomachs would rumble really loud so he could laugh it off and say you should go eat together

But you got closer and closer to your car and no tummy rumbling

You got to your car and no tummy rumbling

You opened your door and said goodbye and still no tummy rumbling

“Wait!!!”

He could have slapped his own mouth

You were a little startled but it stopped you from getting in your car

“Hmm?”

“Just uh…it’s kinda late and snacks are great but they’re not that filling…so do you wanna um…” he trailed off and did not finish his thought

“Wanna what?” you asked

Big boy pants Hongjoong come on

“Go grab dinner? Or something?” he finally spat out

He must not have seen your face light up in the dark

“No pressure” he added when you didn’t answer within 0.05 seconds

“No that sounds great! I was thinking of grabbing something on the way home anyway and it would be way more fun to do it with someone else” you accepted

He let you pick the place again and you drove separately because after you would be going in different directions

But it ended up being a nice little fast casual restaurant

And it didn’t feel like a date really but it kinda felt like a date but no it didn’t

It just ended up being a comfortable little outing between friends

Hongjoong knew he couldn’t stop smiling

And he wondered if you already knew how he felt about you

He was sure he didn’t smile like this at anyone else

And you were many things but dense couldn’t possibly be one of them

He knew he was the opposite of subtle

But if you were willing to spend time with him like this then that meant he didn’t make you uncomfortable

Honestly he was so used to the way you made him feel at this point that loving you from afar felt like second nature

Being friends with you was enough if he could keep loving you like this

The waiter came by and asked if it was one check or two

And Hongjoong was fully prepared to pay once again

But you beat him to it

You were already prepared with your card and everything

“I owe you for last time, remember?” you told him with a cheeky grin

He shook his head

“You don’t owe me anything”

“Well then next time it’s on you”

Hongjoong started to smile again

“Next time?”

“Well, yeah” you said with a shrug, now a little bashful “This was fun. We should keep doing it”

“It is fun” he agreed with a laugh “It’s nice to hang out with people outside of school for once”

You laughed at that

“Oh boy tell me about it. Nobody told me that teaching would ruin my social life”

And things just kind of continued like that for a while

Before you had come to the school, Hongjoong had lowkey felt like he was kind of going nowhere with his life

Any time he spent at school outside of his contract hours felt like an infringement on his personal time

Or not even at school, just away from home

He had been hoping that taking a high school position would give him back a little bit of the passion for teaching that he was losing

He hadn’t even been teaching that long it’s just that the profession really is like that

Indescribably rewarding and incredibly draining all at the same time

(Especially these days. Sometimes you really wonder if it’s worth it)

But having something to look forward to every day besides a favorite class ended up being what he needed to love his job wholeheartedly again

It wasn’t just you he had fallen in love with

He had also found new friends in an unlikely place

The math department was like family and he enjoyed their company dearly

But that weirdo phys ed teacher and obnoxious history teacher had turned into excellent friends frighteningly fast

Sometimes they joined you and Hongjoong on your dinner outings

And honestly it was such a blast

An amendment to my previous statement about teachers being teachers because they don’t like talking to other adults:

Other teachers often do not count as other adults

Sometimes they do when you have to have grown up conversations

But gossiping about students does not count as grown up conversation

There were some eighth graders that all four of you had

Hongjoong not currently but he’d had them for previous classes and they were now in your class

Was it a little embarrassing as 20 somethings to have your main source of gossip be preteens?

Yeah but oh man there is nothing like finding out which of your students are lying to their other teachers about the work they need to do

Or what they’re like in other classes

(You and Hongjoong, and sometimes Wooyoung, tended to have very different opinions about some students than San did so it was double fascinating)

Who they’re friends with outside of your class

Or crushes they have on each other

Basically if you spend every day around preteens you gossip like them too

It was now November and starting to get uncomfortably cold outside

So San had offered his home as a little gathering space for you all to order food and hang out

It was almost like a little Friendsgiving

“Any of you have (male student name, obnoxious connotation)?” Wooyoung asked, taking a sip of his soda

You immediately scoffed

“I’m about to write an email home about that kid”

Hongjoong was surprised

Annoying kids existed in every class but you usually had something nice to say about them at first at least before you got into the bad behavior

He hadn’t had this particular student but he was intrigued as to why he annoyed you so much

Wooyoung and San also both looked surprised

“He’s great in gym—like cooperative, doesn’t do stupid stuff too often—” San said “but that doesn’t usually mean anything about how they are in math class”

“No he’s great in history too” Wooyoung added “finishes all his work on time, helps his friends with theirs if he finishes”

Your eye might have twitched a little bit

You let out an unamused laugh and crossed your arms over your chest

Hongjoong was fascinated and quite enamored with this new side of you

“If he has time to help his friends then he should be working on the seven late assignments I’ve been reminding him about. He hasn’t turned in anything for two weeks”

Wooyoung gasped and covered his mouth

“You’re joking”

“I’ve talked to him about it twice and I warned him if I had to remind him a third time then I would email his parents” you said, shaking your head “Like I asked him if he’s understanding the material, if he’s got something going on at home, if he needs some help, and he’s giving me nothing to go off of”

Wooyoung smiled devilishly

“He’s been lying to me, then. I ask him every day if he has other classes to do stuff for and he says no. I will absolutely be getting on him about that”

San shook his head

“Teenagers” he sighed

Everyone nodded and repeated what he’d said

“Teenagers.”

After a moment of silence, Hongjoong spoke up

“How about (female student name, pleasant connotation)?”

The mood lifted immediately and everyone gave their own version of the word “aww”

“She is the highlight of my whole day” you said

“Seriously she’s so polite and she tries so hard even when she’s having a hard time” Wooyoung agreed

“Super athletic too” San added

“Ooh and (male student name, pleasant connotation)?” you said to another chorus of agreement “He’s kind of a punk sometimes but he’s another one that always does his best”

Hongjoong smiled

Complaining was fun, but he loved the light in your eyes when you talked about the parts of the job that you loved

Anyway as I said it was November and the Before Christmas faction of teachers was starting to get nervous because there was no sign of anything happening

They saw you walk out together more than usual but they didn’t know that you were meeting up outside of school and stuff

The kids were also more riled up about it than usual

To the point where Hongjoong wondered if the other teachers were inciting chaos on purpose

It was getting bad enough that one of his classes almost failed a test across the board—on a unit about rounding and converting fractions to decimals of all things

As in the easiest math ever

So Mr. Kim had to resort to drastic measures

At the beginning of all his classes, he drew a box on the edge of the whiteboard

“This is the nonsense box” he explained with a teacherly smile

That is to say frustrated but still filled with love for his students

“Every time one of you is talking about anything that is not related to class, a tally mark goes in the box. Each tally mark represents an extra fifteen seconds you get to sit in your seat after the bell rings”

A chorus of protest arose

“I don’t want to hear it” Mr. Kim shook his head “How many of you are planning on retaking last Friday’s test?”

About half of the hands in the room came up sheepishly

“Exactly. It’s because we’re constantly off topic that no one is able to listen and learn in here. We can do better, okay?”

And then immediately from the back of the room

“Ooh, Miss (L/N) just passed in the hall!!!”

And chorus of “Ooooooh”

Whether it was true or not, Hongjoong was happy to draw his first tally mark without a word

Just that same teacherly smile

Another round of protest came and he drew another one

After the third tally mark, they shut up

“Good. Let’s talk about coefficients. Has anyone heard that word before?”

Once again I will say it was November

And the month after November is December

And December is the month of Christmas

Not just Christmas break

But Christmas itself

And that meant that Hongjoong now

After coming back from a brief Thanksgiving break

Had only a few weeks to find you a Christmas present

Now he wasn’t thoughtless like this wasn’t the first time it had crossed his mind

It had just stressed him out wondering if he would have the guts to confess his feelings for you or if he would be outed somehow first

Plus in case y’all didn’t know teaching (especially teaching around the holidays) is stressful

He just imagined Christmas as this far off date that was too good to ever come

And so he hadn’t even had time to think about what to get you

Something for your classroom?

Something for your home?

A cute accessory?

A fun math shirt?

Not a gift card though that was far too impersonal

Nothing seemed good enough for you

If he were to deliver his feelings with a gift like any of these, it felt insufficient

Most lunches the last bit of November and the first week of December

(If not spent pestering you)

He spent fretting over his Amazon cart with his head in his hands

And then the most unfortunate miracle occurred

The heaters toward the math hall decided working at full capacity was a waste of tax dollars

And the weather was shaping up to be quite uncomfortable

Everyone started to bring blankets and stuff but it was never quite enough

Your classroom was especially cold, since it was the farthest down the hall

So Hongjoong was gifted an opportunity

He went and found one of those soft and cozy electric blankets

In a color he assumed to be your favorite considering how much you wore it and how many of the little trinkets around your classroom were that color

And he packaged it like he had meant to give it to you for Christmas anyway

Then he brought it for you the next day

You were sitting at your desk in your full winter outdoor gear with a blanket that did look cozy but thankfully was not electric

And your teeth were practically chattering as you waved hello

He still hadn’t taken off his coat or his gloves either actually

He set the present on your desk

“I was saving this for Christmas but I think you might need it more now” he told you with a grin

Your curiosity was suddenly piqued

You opened the gift cautiously, glancing up at him every few seconds

But as soon as you felt the material of the blanket, you perked up

And upon discovering that it was electric you could have cried

“I haven’t been able to feel my fingers since last week” you told him gratefully “Seriously I was trying to figure out how many space heaters I would need to buy to survive the winter”

“The department head has one in her classroom” he said “If you grab your old blanket and your laptop then you can let your new blanket heat up here while we hang out over there”

What a beautiful suggestion

The department head raised her eyebrow at the two of you coming in with blankets

But she smiled too when she saw you settling down in front of her heater

“Don’t tell anyone” she said “but sometimes I take a nap over there during lunch”

“Oh I see exactly why” you agreed, sitting cross-legged and setting your computer in your lap “I can literally feel my bones thawing out”

Hongjoong settled down a respectable distance from you

But he thought someone else was pranking him when he felt a blanket drape over his shoulders

He looked around, startled, and then he realized it was the other side of your blanket

You had thrown your blanket over him to share, even though he had one of his own

And now you were pulling his arm to get him to scoot closer to you

Was this a dream??

He would not be happy if his alarm rang

But no it was real and he happily obliged

You were sitting shoulder to shoulder again

Just like at the professional development workshop

Except this time it was so warm and cozy and there was definitely a much less professional vibe

The department head raised her eyebrow at you once again

But Hongjoong was way too enamored with your shy smile to notice

After just a few minutes in this cozy little haven

Your time was unfortunately cut short

Not by students arriving to school

But by Wooyoung poking his head into the classroom

“Oh I’ve been looking everywhere for you guys”

He stepped into the classroom and greeted its owner accordingly

She nodded as if to allow him permission to enter

“They have hot chocolate down in the teachers lounge” Wooyoung informed them “I figured you icicles back here in the freezer rooms would want some but it looks like you were hiding a—” he looked down at the two of you skeptically “campfire back here”

Wooyoung clearly thought he meant something by that but no one else knew what he was trying to say

So his last comment went ignored

“Do you want hot chocolate?” Hongjoong asked you “I can go get some for us”

“No it’s okay I’ll go with you” 

Oh Wooyoung saw exactly what was going on here

Hongjoong did not

Hongjoong was a little confused—was his help becoming an awkward burden to you?

While Wooyoung saw the truth

You just wanted the excuse to walk with him

Now Wooyoung had two choices

He could step back and let you two walk down together, maybe say something to speed this math teacher romance along

Or he could third wheel

And who was Wooyoung if he didn’t pass up the chance to annoy?

Plus he had taken an oath once he started collecting bets that he wouldn’t try to swing the competition one way or another

And since telling you about the hot chocolate while you were together felt like pushing the competition faster, it felt right to pull it back a bit by getting in between you for a few minutes

So he offered hands to both of you to help you off the floor

“Let’s all go together then” he said “You should also find out if your campsite director wants any”

“Campsite director?” Hongjoong asked, shutting his computer

You also closed your computer and set it aside, looking around to figure out who Wooyoung was talking about

“Your gracious host this morning” he clarified, giving the department head a charming little wave

You both took Wooyoung’s hands at the same time and almost pulled him down with you in the process of standing up

As you straightened your pants, you asked the department head if she wanted you to bring her back any hot chocolate, to which she responded yes please

Wooyoung insisted on walking in the middle

And Hongjoong wondered if all of the patience he had acquired as a middle school teacher was going to be spent on not wringing this guy’s neck this morning

Fortunately Mr. Jung acted enough like one of Mr. Kim’s students that he was able to pretend he was one and just let it go

Unfortunately by the time they got back to the department head’s classroom kids were starting to show up so that was the end of artificial campfire cuddle time

But there was a silent agreement as you picked up your blankets and computers that you would be doing this again sometime

The first few weeks of December didn’t necessarily fly by but they did go by quickly in hindsight if that makes sense

And before everyone knew it

Christmas break was upon you

And there was no further progression of the math department couple

The Before Christmas teachers had gotten antsier and antsier right up until the day before break started

But thankfully no one had been worried enough to interfere

Hongjoong decided to stay in his classroom that day

(As if he didn’t stay in his classroom every day)

Because people had been giving him disappointed looks all over the school and he was tired of it

Even the principal had made a trip to Hongjoong’s classroom the Friday afternoon before everyone left

Just to tell him how disappointed he was that he hadn’t had the guts to make a move even when he knew the principal’s precious money was on the line

And ask him if you were secretly dating already and just didn’t want to make a big deal about it

But ultimately to wish him luck and a nice break

A few minutes after he left, you popped into his classroom

You had your bag and your coat and it looked like you were ready to head home

“Are you so ready to get out of here?” you asked

He stopped immediately in the middle of his task and slammed his laptop shut

Contract hours had ended a whole minute ago and he had wasted a whole minute still doing work? On break?

“Say no more” he said, standing up and putting his coat on “We should have left five minutes ago”

“Wholeheartedly agree” you replied “I would have but the principal visited me and I felt like I had to look like I was doing something”

Hongjoong froze

The principal had visited you too?

Why?

For what purpose?

Betting purposes?

This technically didn’t still count as Before Christmas Break right?

“That’s weird haha he came and visited me too, like ten minutes ago” he said with the normalest most unbothered tone he could manage

(He tried)

(His voice was not quite an octave higher than usual)

(Which is considerable improvement since it’s usually an octave and a half)

“Maybe he’s just making rounds” you said with a shrug “It’s nice to see how much he cares about this school. Definitely one of the better principals I’ve worked with”

Hongjoong relaxed perhaps too visibly

“Yeah if you need a guy to have your back he’s got it no question”

“Anyway if you don’t have any plans for the day after Christmas you should spend it with me”

If Hongjoong had been drinking something he would have choked

Even if he’d had plans in the first place he would have canceled them for you

“My day is wide open” he said “As is almost all of my break”

You smiled and his stomach did a flip

He wondered if it was ever going to stop doing that

He hoped not

“Mine too. If you’re bored, you can probably text me and I won’t be doing anything”

Was it cringe that he was now looking for technically his second Christmas present for you?

Yeah maybe but that was his lifestyle now

To quote N.Flying’s Lovefool “if they call me a lovefool it’s okay as long as it’s for your sake”

Even if you didn’t see him that way that was A-Okay

Anyway he found some cute little math-themed trinkets like pi earrings and a right triangle pin that said “I’m always right”

Because actually who are math teachers if they don’t like puns

And the morning after Christmas Day he wrapped them up all nice for you

And he got ready to meet you at a little restaurant you now frequented together

But this was actually like the first time he was meeting you on a whole day off so he had to figure out how to dress not like a teacher but still kinda nice

He had no idea

All of his pants were teacher pants

His shirts? All teacher shirts

He was way too good at dressing for his job

So he wore jeans instead of his usual khakis and hoped that was different enough?

He also layered one of his graph paper teacher shirts with a plain t-shirt underneath and didn’t button it up

He looked himself up and down in his mirror, trying different poses to make sure he looked like a Normal Guy

In the end he decided his hair was the only issue

He only knew how to style it in a teacherly fashion

And leaving it unstyled wasn’t an option

So he looked up some tutorials on some easy styles but he just could not see himself as anything other than a math teacher

So he gave up and just prayed that he looked okay

You looked perfect of course

The difference was subtle in theory but the way you dressed, the way you did your hair and makeup, it made for a world of difference

Oh you looked so gorgeous he was never going to get over it

Your eyes practically sparkled when you met him out front and man he thought before that he couldn’t be more in love with you but he was wrong

You did seem a little more awkward today than usual and he couldn’t figure out why

Like you almost seemed nervous

What for? It was just him

You got your food and he suddenly remembered the gifts in his pocket

“Oh!” he exclaimed, pulling them out “I know I gave you the blanket a few weeks ago but I found these and I knew you had to have them. Merry double Christmas?”

You covered your mouth to hide your laughter and your bite of food

“That’s so funny because I found something for you too”

And you pulled a little package out of your bag

Down bad wasn’t even a good descriptor anymore and neither was head over heels like there had to be a stronger silly description of being in love and if there wasn’t it would have to be invented for him

You had found him a shirt that said “Math is hard. So is life. Get over it.”

(Tbh an actual shirt that I own)

And he promised you he would be wearing it the day you all got back from break

As for his silly little gifts you adored them

You put the pi earrings in immediately and started brainstorming what do do with the other things out loud

He could not have been happier with himself

And then you caught him staring at you

You paused in your excited little ramblings

He sat up a little straighter, wondering what to say next

But you smiled and looked down at your plate

“You’re pretty cute, you know that?” you told him, unable to meet his eyes for more than a second

In front of you, his first instinct was to deny the possibility and he followed it without thinking

“Eh, no I’m not—not in comparison to you, anyway”

Hmm if he wanted to keep his feelings secret then that was not the thing to say

But you deserved to know it

Not just cute but beautiful

Heartstoppingly so

You took the compliment well anyway

“Have you ever thought…” you began, trailing off

You watched him as he waited for you to continue, his eyes wide and curious

“Never mind” you dismissed with a casual wave of your hand

“No hey what were you going to say?” he asked

“Nothing I just had a weird thought for a second”

“No no come on! You know I wouldn’t judge you for anything”

You hesitated again and he could see that same nervousness he’d noticed before

“Have you ever thought…I don’t know” you put your elbows up on the table “of us as more than friends? Like dating maybe?”

Once again he was going to be very upset if his alarm clock went off now

But even if this was a dream, there was no harm in saying it out loud

“Every day since the day I met you” he answered honestly

You blinked like you didn’t believe him

“You’d better not be joking because I mean this like I’m risking our whole professional relationship here—”

And then he realized

You literally had no idea about him

Genuinely no clue that the whole school knew exactly how you had him wrapped around your finger

Except you

“—on the slightest chance that you might feel the same way—”

“Hey” he stopped you softly “I would never joke about how I feel about you”

Embarrassment began to set in for both of you

“Seriously,” he said, holding back a laugh, “you can ask any of my students, any of the teachers. I think you were the last one to find out that I have a massive crush on you”

“Oh no you’re kidding!” you exclaimed, your hands coming up to hide your face

“I really wish I were—Wooyoung has two rounds of bets going with the teachers about when and how we would end up dating. It’s just about me though—I don’t think anyone else knew about you”

You buried your face further in your hands

“That is so embarrassing” you whined “Seriously I might kill Wooyoung when we get back from break”

“I’ll help you” he promised

You ended up deciding to tell the other teachers on account of the bets they had placed on you

But you asked them not to tell the kids

Hongjoong was comfortable dealing with them at this point and he didn’t see the point in subjecting you to the attention he got about it

Speaking of the bets

No one won any of them technically

The two categories were before/after Christmas break and you notice/he confesses

And since you confessed during Christmas break well

As tempting as it would have been to say that you two deserved the money

(Especially on those teacher salaries)

You just made Wooyoung give it back to everyone who had put money down

And honestly? Very little about your at school dynamic changed

The kids still teased Hongjoong every day about his obvious soft spot for you

But he didn’t care because he knew better than they did anyway

You did actually start to notice now that kids were gossiping about you and Hongjoong

And it was really funny actually

Especially when he stopped by your classroom and the kids went dead silent watching you

Or when you left his classroom and you heard the kids explode with their weirdo little preteen comments from just outside in the hallway

Wooyoung insisted on telling you about every time you were mentioned in his classroom

This included the story about the girl rejecting a boy because quote no one can like anyone as much as Mr. Kim likes Miss (L/N) enquote

And you about died from laughter and embarrassment

Because how had you missed every single sign thrown your way??

It was so obvious now that you were dating him and you knew why he spent as much time as physically and contractually possible in your classroom

Because like I said very little about your at school dynamic changed

He still treated you almost exactly the same way

Except now if you were having a bad day he could hug you and kiss you on the head and tell you that everything would be okay and you were a good teacher

And if he got cold he could come to your classroom and have you sit on his lap while you shared your blanket

You were very very careful with any displays of affection by the way like it was only behind a locked door that you would even dare

Because firstly unprofessional

A literal breach of the code of ethics more likely than not

And secondly what if the kids saw you???

The other teachers were whatever like you didn’t really want them to walk in on you either but at least they were other adults

But the kids??? 

There were already too many rumors flying around the school about you and they did not need a even whispering of confirmation

The end of that came of course when you got engaged like a year or so later idk and you showed up to school with a ring on your finger and the kids went wild

“Mr. Kim she has a ring!!!”

“Mr. Kim what are you going to do?? She’s gonna get married!!”

“Mr. Kim you must be heartbroken”

You had prepared for this together

You had known it was coming so you knew you had to be ready for the chaos it was going to cause

So you had decided that he would also start wearing a ring to match even before the wedding

So to all his very concerned students he got to hold up his hand and say in the coolest most chic manner possible

“And who do you think gave her the ring huh?”

It was like setting off a nuclear bomb of middle school gossip but it was so worth it

Anyway breaking the chronological flow going back in time because this needed to be the last scene

The cutest change with your at school dynamic now that you were dating was now you could exchange secret messages on sticky notes with the papers you traded

He started it by handing you a test key to check with a sticky note on the top that you assumed was a label for what the test was

But on closer inspection it was a pickup line

“The limit of my love for you is like the limit of 1/x as it approaches 0; it doesn’t exist”

So you wrote back on the same sticky note “well mine is like 1/x^2 and it approaches infinity so there” and handed it back to him once you checked his key

Not to be outdone he wrote you a new note

“Girl are you a 30° angle inscribed in a circle because you’re acute-y pi”

Oh that one was bad

You had to give him something worse

“If we’re both math teachers, how come we have so much chemistry?”

You handed him that one in between classes

And as he read it he had to disguise his sudden laughter as a cough because there were kids around and they didn’t need to be curious about what he was laughing at

His next sticky note had a crease down the middle horizontally

128√e980

You recognized it immediately but you folded it in half to reveal the secret message anyway

“I love you”

So you gave him back “I hope you like fractions because you’re my other half”

You stored all these away in a little file on your computer titled “Valentine’s Day Math Jokes”

Maybe for some future Valentine’s Day activity

But mostly just to keep them all somewhere safe where you could look at them any time you wanted

Without some kid being like “oooh Miss (L/N) whatcha lookin at”

Your favorite note from him was about as simple and dorky as they came

Much like Hongjoong himself actually

Simplify 2x+6i<2(x+9u)

First you distributed the 2 on the right

2x+6i<2x+18u

Then since there was a 2x on both sides, you could subtract them and cancel them

6i<18u

Then divide by 6

And the answer made you smile every time

i<3u

(so I know how I wrote this so fast actually. I just have a goal to write 250+ words every day and uh pretty much every day of the month of January ended up dedicated to this one. Someone said Math Teacher Hongjoong and I (graduated in December with a math teaching degree, student taught in a middle school for 4 months) went feral over it whoops)

Masterlist

[leaderprogram]

WHAT ARE HIGH POTENTIAL EMPLOYEE PROGRAMS AND WHY ARE THEY USEFUL?

Businesses are coaching and inspiring the next era of leaders via high potential employee programs. High workable programs, also known as high potential leader programs, have become a growing vogue to encourage the next era of leaders. Research suggests that companies with robust management have thirteen more chances of outperforming their competition. This shows the want for subsequent technology management to reach certainty for an organization’s future. However, just 15% of corporations find out about having such programs. Let’s understand high potential programs in more depth to understand their significance in the contemporary corporate world.

[reasonsforhope]

"Seven federal agencies are partnering to implement President Biden’s American Climate Corps, announcing this week they would work together to recruit 20,000 young Americans and fulfill the administration's vision for the new program. 

The goals spelled out in the memorandum of understanding include comprehensively tackling climate change, creating partnerships throughout various levels of government and the private sector, building a diverse corps and serving all American communities.

The agencies—which included the departments of Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Labor and Energy, as well the Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps—also vowed to ensure a “range of compensation and benefits” that open the positions up to a wider array of individuals and to create pathways to “high-quality employment.”  

Leaders from each of the seven agencies will form an executive committee for the Climate Corps, which Biden established in September, that will coordinate efforts with an accompanying working group. They will create the standards for ACC programs, set compensation guidelines and minimum terms of service, develop recruitment strategies, launch a centralized website and establish performance goals and objectives. The ACC groups will, beginning in January, hold listening sessions with potential applicants, labor unions, state and local governments, educational institutions and other stakeholders. 

The working group will also review all federal statutes and hiring authorities to remove any barriers to onboarding for the corps and standardize the practices across all participating agencies. Benefits for corps members will include housing, transportation, health care, child care, educational credit, scholarships and student loan forgiveness, stipends and non-financial services.

As part of the goal of the ACC, agencies will develop the corps so they can transition to “high-quality, family-sustaining careers with mobility potential” in the federal or other sectors. AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith said the initiative would prepare young people for “good-paying union jobs.”��

Within three weeks of rolling out the ACC, EPA said more than 40,000 people—mostly in the 18-35 age range—expressed interest in joining the corps. The administration set an ambitious goal for getting the program underway, aiming to establish the corps’ first cohort in the summer of 2024. 

The corps members will work in roles related to ecosystem restoration and conservation, reforestation, waterway protection, recycling, energy conservation, clean energy deployment, disaster preparedness and recovery, fire resilience, resilient recreation infrastructure, research and outreach. The administration will look to ensure 40% of the climate-related investments flow to disadvantaged communities as part of its Justice40 initiative.  

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the MOU would allow the ACC to “work across the federal family” to push public projects focused on environmental justice and clean energy. 

“The Climate Corps represents a significant step forward in engaging and nurturing young leaders who are passionate about climate action, furthering our journey towards a sustainable and equitable future,” Regan said. 

The ACC’s executive committee will hold its first meeting within the next 30 days. It will draw support from a new climate hub within AmeriCorps, as well as any staffing the agency heads designate."

-via Government Executive, December 20, 2023

-

This news comes with your regularly scheduled reminder that WE GOT THE AMERICAN CLIMATE CORPS ESTABLISHED LAST YEAR and basically no one know about/remembers it!!! Also if you want more info about the Climate Corps, inc. how to join, you can sign up to get updates here.

[utkuerdemozerblog]

UTKU ERDEM OZER (4)

Welcome to a transformative journey towards optimal health and wellness with our cutting-edge services at https://www.utkuerdemozer.com/en. Whether you're grappling with Piriformis Syndrome, navigating the challenges of Kienböck’s Disease, or recovering from a Pectoralis Major tear, our dedicated team is here to provide targeted solutions tailored to your specific needs. Our holistic approach ensures that we address not only the symptoms but also the root causes of your discomfort.

Piriformis Syndrome

Piriformis syndrome is a condition that occurs when the piriformis muscle, located deep in the buttock, spasms and causes pain in the buttocks. This muscle can irritate the nearby sciatic nerve, leading to discomfort that radiates down the leg. Symptoms can vary from mild to severe and may include tingling, numbness, and pain, significantly impacting daily activities and mobility.

Understanding the unique aspects and effects of piriformis syndrome is crucial for effective management. Many individuals with this condition find relief through a variety of treatments, including physical therapy, stretching exercises, and targeted massage. Incorporating these practices into your routine can enhance flexibility, strength, and overall quality of life.

Seek professional guidance to address your specific symptoms. Our specialized services can help you navigate the complexities of piriformis syndrome and develop a personalized treatment plan. Don't let pain hold you back—take the first step toward recovery today!

Kienböck’s Disease

Kienböck’s disease is a debilitating condition that affects the lunate bone in the wrist, resulting in a gradual loss of blood supply. This condition often leads to avascular necrosis, where the bone tissue dies due to insufficient blood flow. Early diagnosis and intervention are crucial, as they can significantly influence the treatment outcome and speed up the recovery process.

Key Symptoms

Wrist pain that worsens with activity

Swelling in the wrist area

Decreased range of motion

Stiffness in the wrist

Difficulty gripping or lifting objects

Benefits of Early Detection and Treatment

Identifying Kienböck’s disease in its initial stages enables quicker treatment options. Effective management may include rest, splinting, and physical therapy, which can alleviate symptoms and improve functionality. In more severe cases, surgical interventions may be required to restore blood flow to the lunate bone, ultimately influencing long-term outcomes positively.

Why Choose Us for Treatment?

At Utku Erdemozer, we specialize in diagnosing and treating orthopedic conditions, including Kienböck’s disease. Our expert team employs advanced imaging techniques and personalized treatment plans to ensure every patient receives the highest level of care. Don’t let wrist pain disrupt your life—schedule a consultation with us today!

Pectoralis Major Tear

A pectoralis major tear is a serious injury that can significantly impact your strength and mobility. This injury often occurs during high-intensity activities like weightlifting, particularly when performing bench presses or explosive sports movements. When you experience a tear, it can lead to acute pain, weakness in the affected arm, and difficulty in performing daily tasks.

One of the key benefits of early diagnosis and intervention is the potential for a quicker recovery. At our clinic, we specialize in a comprehensive approach, integrating both rehabilitation and surgical options to address a pectoralis major tear effectively. Our team is dedicated to returning you to your active lifestyle as safely and efficiently as possible.

Understanding the importance of tailored rehabilitation programs can also greatly enhance your recovery process. We prioritize individualized treatment plans that focus on restoring strength and function while minimizing the risk of re-injury. This approach ensures that you receive the specific care necessary to support your healing journey.

If you suspect you've sustained a pectoralis major tear, don't hesitate to consult our experts. Early intervention can make a significant difference in your long-term outcomes. Reach out to us today to schedule a consultation and take the first step towards regaining your strength.

[sexymemecoin]

The Emergence of NFTs: Transforming Digital Ownership and Creativity

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have revolutionized the way we think about digital ownership, art, and collectibles. By leveraging blockchain technology, NFTs provide a way to create, buy, sell, and own unique digital assets with verifiable provenance and scarcity. This article explores the world of NFTs, their impact on various industries, key benefits and challenges, and notable projects, including a brief mention of Sexy Meme Coin.

What Are NFTs?

NFTs, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are unique digital assets that represent ownership of a specific item or piece of content, such as art, music, videos, virtual real estate, and more. Unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum, which are fungible and can be exchanged on a one-to-one basis, NFTs are indivisible and unique. Each NFT is recorded on a blockchain, ensuring transparency, security, and verifiability of ownership.

The Rise of NFTs

NFTs gained mainstream attention in 2021 when digital artist Beeple sold an NFT artwork for $69 million at Christie's auction house. This landmark event highlighted the potential of NFTs to transform the art world by providing artists with new revenue streams and collectors with verifiable digital ownership.

Since then, NFTs have exploded in popularity, with various industries exploring their potential applications. From gaming and music to real estate and fashion, NFTs are creating new opportunities for creators, businesses, and investors.

Key Benefits of NFTs

Digital Ownership: NFTs provide a way to establish true digital ownership of assets. Each NFT is unique and can be traced back to its original creator, ensuring authenticity and provenance. This is particularly valuable in the art and collectibles market, where forgery and fraud are significant concerns.

Monetization for Creators: NFTs enable creators to monetize their digital content directly. Artists, musicians, and other content creators can sell their work as NFTs, earning revenue without relying on intermediaries. Additionally, smart contracts can be programmed to provide creators with royalties each time their NFT is resold, ensuring ongoing income.

Interoperability: NFTs can be used across different platforms and ecosystems, allowing for interoperability in the digital world. For example, NFTs representing in-game items can be traded or used across multiple games and virtual worlds, enhancing their utility and value.

Scarcity and Collectibility: NFTs introduce scarcity into the digital realm by creating limited editions or one-of-a-kind items. This scarcity drives the collectibility of NFTs, similar to physical collectibles like rare coins or trading cards.

Challenges Facing NFTs

Environmental Impact: The creation and trading of NFTs, especially on energy-intensive blockchains like Ethereum, have raised concerns about their environmental impact. Efforts are being made to develop more sustainable blockchain solutions, such as Ethereum's transition to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.

Market Volatility: The NFT market is highly speculative and can be volatile. Prices for NFTs can fluctuate significantly based on trends, demand, and market sentiment. This volatility poses risks for both creators and investors.

Intellectual Property Issues: NFTs can raise complex intellectual property issues, particularly when it comes to verifying the rightful owner or creator of the digital content. Ensuring that NFTs are legally compliant and respect intellectual property rights is crucial.

Access and Inclusivity: The high costs associated with minting and purchasing NFTs can limit accessibility for some creators and collectors. Reducing these barriers is essential for fostering a more inclusive NFT ecosystem.

Notable NFT Projects

CryptoPunks: CryptoPunks are one of the earliest and most iconic NFT projects. Created by Larva Labs, CryptoPunks are 10,000 unique 24x24 pixel art characters that have become highly sought-after collectibles.

Bored Ape Yacht Club: Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) is a popular NFT collection featuring 10,000 unique hand-drawn ape avatars. Owners of these NFTs gain access to exclusive events and benefits, creating a strong community around the project.

Decentraland: Decentraland is a virtual world where users can buy, sell, and develop virtual real estate as NFTs. This platform allows for the creation of virtual experiences, games, and social spaces, showcasing the potential of NFTs in the metaverse.

NBA Top Shot: NBA Top Shot is a platform that allows users to buy, sell, and trade officially licensed NBA collectible highlights. These video clips, known as "moments," are sold as NFTs and have become popular among sports fans and collectors.

Sexy Meme Coin (SXYM): Sexy Meme Coin integrates NFTs into its platform, offering a decentralized marketplace where users can buy, sell, and trade memes as NFTs. This unique approach combines humor and finance, adding a distinct flavor to the NFT landscape. Learn more about Sexy Meme Coin at Sexy Meme Coin.

The Future of NFTs

The future of NFTs is bright, with continuous innovation and expanding use cases. As technology advances and more industries explore the potential of NFTs, we can expect to see new applications and opportunities emerge. From virtual fashion and digital identities to decentralized finance (DeFi) and beyond, NFTs are poised to reshape various aspects of our digital lives.

Efforts to address environmental concerns, improve accessibility, and ensure legal compliance will be crucial for the sustainable growth of the NFT ecosystem. Collaboration between creators, platforms, and regulators will help build a more robust and inclusive market.

Conclusion

NFTs have ushered in a new era of digital ownership, creativity, and innovation. By providing verifiable ownership and provenance, NFTs are transforming industries ranging from art and entertainment to gaming and virtual real estate. While challenges remain, the potential benefits of NFTs and their ability to empower creators and engage communities make them a significant force in the digital economy.

For those interested in the playful and innovative side of the NFT market, Sexy Meme Coin offers a unique and entertaining platform. Visit Sexy Meme Coin to explore this exciting project and join the community.

[theglowsociety]

Why More Black Women Are Entering the STEM Field & Why It Matters

Black women are breaking barriers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) like never before, stepping into fields that have historically lacked diversity. While STEM careers offer high salaries, innovation, and job security, the push for Black women in these spaces is about more than just representation—it’s about creating generational wealth, closing opportunity gaps, and ensuring our voices shape the future of technology, medicine, and science.

Why Black Women Are Choosing STEM:

1. High Earning Potential & Job Security – STEM careers often come with six-figure salaries and strong career growth.

2. Innovation & Impact – From medical breakthroughs to tech advancements, Black women are making history in fields that shape society.

3. Representation Matters – Seeing Black women succeed in STEM inspires the next generation to pursue these careers.

4. Closing the Opportunity Gap – More scholarships, mentorship programs, and initiatives are making STEM more accessible.

5. Entrepreneurial Freedom – Many Black women in STEM are starting their own businesses, consulting firms, and tech startups.

How to Enter the STEM Field:

• Education & Training: Look into STEM-focused degrees, boot camps, and certifications.

• Networking & Mentorship: Join organizations like Black Girls Code, NSBE, or STEM Noire for guidance.

• Internships & Scholarships: Take advantage of programs designed to support Black women in STEM.

• Build Skills & Confidence: Develop coding, engineering, or research skills through online courses and hands-on projects.

Black women belong in STEM, and the more we step into these fields, the more we change the future. The time is now—let’s innovate, lead, and break ceilings together.

[whirlpool-blogs]

How NHL Draft prospect Will Smith’s family optimized his hockey potential, ‘48 eggs at a time’

LEXINGTON, Mass. — By dinnertime, for much of September and October of 2021, discouragement and exhaustion made Will Smith slump at the kitchen table.

Smith and his Under-17 U.S. National Team Development Program teammates lost nine of their first 10 games in 2021-22. There was the 8-1 hammering against Youngstown (USHL). The 6-0 setback to Madison (USHL). The Michigan-to-Louisiana bus ride that preceded back-to-back losses to Shreveport (NAHL).

It wasn’t just that. Smith was grinding through practices and two-hour weightlifting sessions at USA Hockey Arena in Plymouth, Mich. While his friends at St. Sebastian’s School were on campus in Needham, Mass., the 16-year-old was taking online classes at the arena with his teammates. The native of Lexington, a Boston suburb, was adjusting to life in Novi, about 15 minutes away from the rink.

It helped that teammates and fellow Massachusetts boys Will Vote (Arlington) and Ryan Leonard (Amherst), usually in similar states of physical and mental weariness, shared Smith’s table as his housemates. 

The three friends replenished with chicken and steak cooked by Colleen Smith, Will’s mother. At 9 p.m., they would top off with Colleen’s recovery shakes, which followed U.S. NTDP director of sports science Brian Galivan’s recipe: almond milk, protein powder, Greek yogurt, blueberries, spinach, hemp seeds, flax seeds and chia seeds.

When Smith, Vote and Leonard were ready for bed, each retired to his room. Even though Lexington was 700 miles away, Smith was literally in his family home.

Natural talent

Smith is a 6-foot, 180-pound center. For the upcoming 2023 NHL Draft, he is No. 3 on NHL Central Scouting’s list of North American skaters after Connor Bedard and Adam Fantilli. The offensive dynamo’s 191 points over two seasons places him second in U.S. NTDP history after Jack Hughes(228), ahead of previous program prodigies such as Patrick Kane and Auston Matthews.

Smith originally committed to Northeastern when he was 14 years old. NCAA rules have changed since then. Schools must wait until August prior to a player’s junior year before making their offers.

Smith will be a freshman at Boston College this fall. He will be the 14th family member to attend BC. His Chestnut Hill residence may not last very long.

It goes without saying, then, that Smith has always had a hockey knack, ever since he first hit the ice at 4 years old.

“Pretty early, I knew he was good,” father Bill Smith said of his son, the younger of his two children (daughter Grace will be a BC senior). “I could tell he could play. He was always one of the top kids on the team. He was always producing. He loved the big moments.”

Bill played baseball at Lexington High School and Worcester Academy. Colleen was a swimmer at Creighton University. Neither played hockey. As proof of that, Bill likes to tell the story of how he and Will once prepared at a local rink for the Brick Tournament, the annual summer showcase in Edmonton.

As father and son stepped onto the ice, Bill hit the deck. He got up. He fell again. Leaving your skate guards on will do that to you.

A fellow skater rushed to check on Bill. It was ex-NHLer Freddy Meyer.

To become a possible top-five NHL draft pick, though, requires more than natural talent. For nine seasons, Smith played for the Junior Eagles, one of the Boston area’s strongest minor hockey programs. Montreal general manager Kent Hughes, then an agent, was one of Smith’s coaches. At St. Sebastian’s, Smith played for former Harvard assistant coach Sean McCann. Smith’s teammates included future BC commits Nolan Joyce and Tim Delay.

The family traveled regularly for Smith’s games: Connecticut for showdowns against Mid-Fairfield; Tampa, Fla., for Eagles tournaments; Waterloo, Quebec, for the annual peewee extravaganza.

All of this would advance to a different tier in 2021 when Smith made the U.S. NTDP. 

“The Program,” as it is known, is the premier destination for 16- and 17-year-old American players. Eight of the NHL’s top 10 U.S.-born scorers in 2022-23 (Matthew Tkachuk, Jack Hughes, Tage Thompson, Clayton Keller, Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, J.T. Miller, Alex Tuch) are alums. NHL coaches Greg Cronin, Don Granato and David Quinn coached at the program. Dan Muse, who would be Smith’s coach, was hired this week as an assistant by the Rangers.

Attendance, equipment, education and travel are free. But the U.S. NTDP is not for every 16-year-old. 

The competition is older. Training is intense. Pressure is high. Homesickness can set in. Rigor is the keyword to describe the culture.

“They make it really hard,” Bill Smith said of the U17 introductory year. “It’s like boot camp.”

The Smiths recognized the magnitude of the opportunity. They heard the line that Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, a U.S. NTDP parent (son Ryan played in 2019-20 and 2020-21), used to say: “There’s no better place in America to develop, Monday through Thursday, than the program.”

They believed an on-site support system would maximize what their son would get out of his residency. 

It just so happened that Bill Smith was a professional.

Will Smith at the 2023 BioSteel All-American hockey game. (Mike Mulholland / Getty Images)

Making the move

Until the recent sale of his business, Bill Smith was a principal at Boyd/Smith, a Boston real estate firm that specializes in luxury housing and commercial properties. His father, who was also named Bill, founded the company. 

Boyd/Smith’s headquarters is on Massachusetts Ave., a slap shot away from Northeastern’s Matthews Arena. When he was younger, Will’s summer duties included tending the grounds and servicing the air conditioning at Boyd/Smith’s building.

The man with real estate in his blood, then, knew better than most that buying a house in Michigan would serve his family well.

It used to be that most, if not all, U.S. NTDP players lived with billet families. The shift toward remote work has helped to encourage some parents with the means to rent or buy Michigan property and live with their children. 

Colleen felt that being with Will would ease his transition. Bill knew that buying would be better than renting.

“I’ve been doing this my entire life,” Bill Smith said. “You can go out there and rent, and spend $3,500 or $4,000 a month. After two years, it’s basically money all down the drain. I felt like the market was pretty strong and we could buy a place out there. Our goal, in two years, all we cared about was that we just break even.”

The Smiths looked in Plymouth. Through a family connection, they learned of a five-bedroom house in Novi with a finished basement. The Smiths completed the transaction in 2021. The Vote and Leonard families were on board.

Colleen Smith and Deb Childs, Vote’s mother, came up with a plan. Each would spend two weeks per month in Novi to watch over the three boys.

At first, it was harder than they expected.

‘If you’re not cooking, you’re shopping’

The way Colleen Smith remembers the early days of 2021-22, the U17s had to change in the hallways of USA Hockey Arena. A month passed before Muse and his staff determined the players had earned the right to their dressing room.

On the ice, Muse rolled his lines against NAHL and USHL competition. Development, not winning, was the priority. All of a sudden, 16-year-olds used to collecting trophies and being the best players on the ice were losing — badly, at that.

At the same time, Colleen Smith was adjusting to her own life away from home. During her two-week Novi segments, Smith cooked eight steaks at dinner instead of three, saving the rest to slice up for the boys to take to the rink for lunch the next day. She bought 48 eggs at a time instead of a dozen. 

“If you’re not cooking, you’re shopping for the food you’re going to cook,” Smith said. “It just continues. Then you think, ‘You just spent $500 at Costco and it’s gone in two days.’ You’re thinking, ‘Where did it go?'”

Meanwhile, Bill Smith was regularly home alone in Lexington. Colleen, Will and Rigs, the Smiths’ energetic white Cavachon, were in Michigan. Grace was at BC. 

Smith became a regular on Delta’s Boston-Detroit leg to attend Will’s games. For one game, Bill cut it so close that Colleen booked his flight while he was driving to Logan Airport.

Smith and his teammates, though, turned a corner before Thanksgiving of 2021. They traveled to Finland for their first international tournament. The Americans won all four games. 

A month later, they won two of three games in Slovakia. Their performance against their age group gave the Americans confidence.

Smith was on his way to scoring 37 points in 35 games. He and his teammates were playing well against their age group in international competition. 

Colleen Smith and Childs found their rhythm, guided by the five-color-coded spreadsheet that mapped out everyone’s flights and house schedules. At the end of a two-week shift, when it came time for Colleen to return to Lexington, she would drive the car they shared to Detroit International Airport, take a picture of where she parked and send the location to Childs. Once Childs landed, she would find the car and drive to Novi. Sometimes they passed each other in the airport.

“Having the house, it was instrumental in the whole story and how it ended,” Colleen Smith said. “Having that whole living situation with Deb and I there, easing the burden of anything else. They really just had to focus on their health, playing hockey, getting their studies done. That was the main focus of being there.”

What’s next?

Sometime last season, when Will Smith and the U18s were playing against a college team, it struck Bill Smith how much his son was growing. During the national anthem, all the players removed their helmets. Most of Smith’s college opponents had beards. Some of them were bald.

Butting heads with older players hardened Smith in 2022-23. He scored 51 goals and 127 points in 60 games. At the U18 World Championship in Switzerland, Smith helped the Americans win gold by scoring 20 points in seven games. His parents were there, just like they had been in Finland and Germany for other tournaments.

This fall, Smith will be joined by five U.S. NTDP teammates at BC: Vote, Leonard, Drew Fortescue, Aram Minnetian and Gabe Perreault.

Smith projects to be a No. 1 NHL center. Come the first round, he could be reunited with Hughes, his former junior coach, in Montreal. The Canadiens own the fifth pick.

Smith missed out on a normal high school experience. He gained hockey and life perspective, though, he would not have gotten at home.

“Prep hockey’s good. But it’s seasonal,” Bill Smith said. “You’re not going to get the development you’re going to get when it’s basically 24/7 hockey. You’re playing the best of the best every day. You’re getting trained by unbelievable trainers who are there full-time. I remember a couple boys said when they got out there, they didn’t realize that everybody in that facility — from the trainers to the equipment managers to the coaches — they’re all there for them. It’s like, ‘Wow, these people, their jobs, everything — they’re there for us.'”

The Smiths have since sold the Novi house. They bought a place in Harwich on Cape Cod. For Will, this new home will help him catch his breath away from hockey, not get closer to it.

But even if Smith’s U.S. NTDP experience is over, its imprint on his family will not go away.

“When are you ever going to have this experience with your 17-, 18-year-old son in this unbelievably exciting (situation)?” Colleen Smith asked. “And be experiencing it with them, not just from afar. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing that we’ll never forget.”

The Smiths recently attended orientation at BC. They saw Vote and Leonard. Both gave Colleen a hug. She feels like she has two more sons.

Bill Smith recalled sending a boy away to Michigan two years ago. Will Smith came home this spring as a man. What happens next is up to him.