#I AM THE SECRETARY OF MY SCHOOLS CREATIVE WRITING CLUB | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cupsofsuga · 5 years

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Ask ; so this concept / storyline is from @bangtan-apollo and i recommend for you to check her out if you're still confused about it. basically, would the yandere bts members have a fanclub for YN? if so who would be the president and what are the assigned roles towards each member?

Send me an ask! - X

Thank you for sending me an ask, moonlight!

IDEA CREATED BY @bangtans-apollo !!!

KIM SEOKJIN

━━━ The President! Having the much desired place as your best friend, Jin is the respected President of the “writing” club. But, with the President comes rules, and these rules Jin has created are strict, almost cruel. The one defining rule is, under no circumstances, is anyone allowed to speak to Y/N… Ever. Due to his possessive behavior, Jin never favored the idea of letting these dogs bark and yap around you, so, creating this rule did him a genuine favor. The look on their faces when he announced this rule was hysterical, too (Jimin broke into tears right then and there, Namjoon nearly broke a chair, and Yoongi almost collapsed). As much as the members despise this rule, as well as despising Jin, they must respect him. Any rule broken could bring you to serious, serious consequences.

“Hoseok, if you continue to chirp at me over your time with a single sweater, I’ll have to give you a strike. Don’t test my patience…”

MIN YOONGI

━━━ Club Secretary! With this role, Yoongi has the responsibility to run errands of certain sort, takes notes during meetings and assist to the members needs. As the boys crowd into the café he works at, he makes Namjoon his coffee and Jimin his hot chocolate with one too many sugars included. These notes Yoongi is required to take usually consist of doodles to distract himself from the pit in his stomach when Jin talks about his weekend with you or actual, useful information of facts littered here in there in his rival’s speech. He runs errands to retrieve film after Taehyung had ran out and first aid material when Jungkook bruises and breaks skin on his fists after one of his many temper tantrums. Yoongi fucking despises catering to the members, but if it’s for you, he’d drag himself through hell and crawl back.

“Jimin, we’re gonna run out of stock if you keep fucking hogging the sugars! God… HEY! Don’t touch my notepad! That’s for my eyes only, Jin… I-I’ll send you the weekly report later tomorrow, just don’t invade my privacy, you dick…”

JUNG HOSEOK

━━━ Event Planner! As Hoseok and Jimin are very good friends, they have both been given the responsibility of setting up events. The two boys brainstorm activities for the club, such as quizzes, games, training, studying, but, once in a while they both get distracted and spend the rest of the evening gushing and gawking over your beauty, your soul and small scenarios they create in their head that they blush over at night. But, after Hoseok finally get over his disturbances, he loves to set up events out at parks or in cafés, but, all of the meeting mostly take place in the empty auditorium hours after the drama club has left. When he was first assigned the role as Event Planner, Hoseok once was given full privileges of deciding where locations of their meeting, but lost them when he retrieved the coordinates to your house and Jin caught him lurking in the woods while you and him were watching a movie. Hoseok doesn’t like to speak of that incident, though.

“Ok, ok, ok! We have to focus now…! Oh, god, I just thought about it again! Stop it, Jimin! My heart’s too weak for this!”

KIM NAMJOON

━━━ Financial Manager! With his family’s wealth, Namjoon could buy Taehyung all the cameras he ever desired and Jungkook enough weapons to put him through a war. The idea of spoiling these members wasn’t at all attracting, no! The money in Namjoon’s pocket is practically pleading to be spent on you only, not these lowlives who are deluded enough to think they could possibly have a chance with you. Informing his parents about funding his “after-school club” was easy, as his parents don’t pay attention to their son. Snatching a few bucks from his father wouldn’t do any harm as the man had too much money to even notice a decrease, anyway. Namjoon is smart with his money, too. He won’t waste his money on that ridiculously expensive suit Taehyung wanted to show off to you or that pair of shoes Yoongi wanted to gift you after he heard you gawking over them. The money is strictly only used for the club and… appropriate items.

“Jungkook, I can’t just buy you a Lamborghini, are you deranged!? I don’t care if you want to show off to Y/N, it’s not happening…! My father would go ballistic…”

PARK JIMIN

━━━ Mission Manager! Although his missions can be a bit… childish, the plans can be creative in specific scenarios. From quizzes and activities which come with grand prizes (such as blankets, plushies, more sweaters) to full-on mafia eliminations (like that teacher that Hoseok saw scolding you or that blonde Yoongi saw ranting about her hatred for you). But, the most grand mission is at the very end of the school year. Ace a quiz containing information from the following year about dear Y/N and join the President and Vice President as they tour you around Y/N’ home. Yes! While you spend the day boring yourself to death with textbooks, one lucky member will get to spend the remaining school hours in your bedroom. Sweet Jimin is desperate to get a good grade on this quiz. Wish him luck!

“I-I-I don’t understand! The idea isn’t bad! If we’re quiet, we can totally steal their cat… It takes up too much of their attention, anyway!”

KIM TAEHYUNG

━━━ Vice President! With an extra pair of eyes on your form and nearly a million pictures taken of your day-to-day life, Taehyung nearly knows about you as much of Jin. All of them (especially Jimin on a daily basis) beg and plead for even the smallest hint of how your night was spent. Even from just the simplest of things such as rotting your brain on films or fiddling on your phone till the AM, the members still swoon at the mere mention of you. Taehyung holds privilege of being the Vice President, as he has earned the respected place as Jin’s friend, meaning that one day, Jin could possibly let him hang out with you. The idea is infatuating! The others stare in poorly-hidden envy when Jin, as President, talks about the possibility of letting him see you face-to-face, as it was against club rules for the others. They pray of one day being in his position, but, that’s what you earn as Vice President!

“Yoongi, if you keep trying to smuggle Y/N’s sweatshirts, I’m required to report you to Jin. Remember, three strikes, you’re out! I wouldn’t get on my bad side, if I were you…”

JEON JUNGKOOK

━━━ Security Manager! This gym rat surely has the muscles to protect the members as well as the almighty Y/N. Even though they have Jungkook’s posture as an intimidation factor, outsiders have stepped over the line once or twice and left with bruises and bloody noses (including Taehyung, but, we don’t speak of that). He’s also quite protective of the items he’s “borrowed” from you that are now in his possesion, only letting the rest of the members have a couple seconds touching your stolen hairbrush or sweater that reeks of your sugary-sweet musk. Although his jealousy does bleed through the bandaids at times, he does intend on protecting the members and the club, but, most importantly, he intends on protecting Y/N and making sure no one brings them to any harm. Y/N always comes first, as he says.

“Aye! You’ve had your turn, Namjoon! Let me see the pencil… HEY! You can’t touch that sweater, Jimin! I got it first…”

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hollyscout · 5 years

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Selling Your Student Experience: University Societies and Career Plans

Selling Your Student Experience

Most university students deal with the same two issues when it comes to figuring out what you want to do when you graduate. First, what job do you want, in what sector, in what city, in what role. Second, how you’re even going to get that job. I found student societies incredibly formative in this process; this article outlines why this is the case and how to utilise societies to find out your interests and to apply for graduate jobs.

Finding what you’re interested in

The best thing about societies is that there is something for everyone! You can continue activities you did in school like football, debating or orchestra or you can try something you’ve never heard of or done before like swing dance, Model United Nations or student cinema.

Societies are the perfect place to try new things and develop interests. If you have an idea as to what sector you want to work in, you can pursue that through relevant student societies. There are groups with entrepreneur grants or student think tanks or even opportunities to volunteer as a teaching assistant. Even if you don’t have a clue what to pursue, societies can still help you figure it out, by allowing you to try out different sectors like media, politics, or charity within your university you can see if this is what you want to do after graduation. Importantly, this isn’t limited to societies that are career-focused, the skills you gain from your sports team, or writing club, or pantomime group can make you a more appealing applicant for jobs as well as allow you to find new passions and interests.

When I started my degree I was focused on a future law conversion course and pursuing a legal career. However, because of my involvement with societies, I discovered that I thoroughly enjoy writing for student publications and am considering journalism as a possible career choice due to my participation in different student publications. I was able to not only write for student newspapers but also take on an editorial role. I discovered that media wasn’t all about serious news and political discussion but could enable creativity and discuss issues that were more interesting to me like sex and relationships and books. My commitment to Model United Nations has significantly developed my interests in foreign policy and diplomacy so much so that my dissertation follows this theme and I am planning on studying International Relations for a Master’s Degree. What you can discover through your extra-curricular activities can be just as valuable as the content of your degree, if not more so, as it is based purely on your interests.

How societies will help you get a job

A major obstacle to getting the job you want is not having previous experience, how can you get a job after uni if you need to have years of experience behind you to even get through the door? A little known secret is that you just have to sell your skills right. During your time at university, you have learnt new skills, and grown as a person just because you did this on your campus in a society doesn’t mean it has less value than those who’ve learnt it elsewhere. A mistake university students tend to make is underselling their assets; your week-long work placement may seem the strongest attribute on your CV but that doesn’t mean that your university experience, especially the elements we see as ‘the fun bits’ aren’t valuable too. Make sure you include your participation as a member of activities and certainly as a committee member on your CV. If you took on a committee role in your society you may have learnt administrative skills like organising trips or events as social secretary, or demonstrated excellent written command in weekly emails as secretary, you might have exercised strong leadership as president or excellent recruitment skills as brand ambassador or recruitment officer, or reached out to interesting guest speakers as campaigns and speakers officer, the list truly goes on.

Model United Nations

As a fresher, I vaguely knew what the United Nations was, but didn’t have a clue about Model United Nations. I went to the first session and was horrified to find out that every week these people gathered together to simulate the UN through debating foreign policy as a representative of a country. Public speaking to me was more a daunting compulsory presentation to be forced into, not a hobby. Somehow, I stuck to it, returning every Wednesday to face my fear, taking only three weeks to actually get up and speak. By the end of my first term, I went to my first conference in Germany to do it competitively and managed to spend a whole weekend speaking in a room of almost 100 people, in one of the largest MUN committees I’ve been a part of. I still dislike group presentations, but I’m able to public speak to my heart's desire, confidently and (if I must say so myself) at a high standard.

Developing my public speaking has certainly helped me in interviews but more importantly, it has also increased my confidence to apply for more opportunities, attend networking events and utilise them as well as widen my horizons to benefit my future. Graduate schemes appreciate the skills that MUN nurtures; leadership, organisation, and communication are all vital elements to the perfect candidate for a job, and the best way to learn these is through activities and societies. Employees think that MUN is very impressive, which it is! It not only gives you a long list of skills, but also a strong awareness of global issues. You can use your experience and skills from societies in applications, if a job requires event planning or organisational skills, you can back up your abilities with conference organisation, or duties from a committee role. If you can successfully get the delegate for Saudi Arabia to sign your women’s rights resolution then you can probably handle team meetings! My participation in student societies has certainly been the cause of the majority of my personal growth, my belief in myself and my confidence that I will achieve the goals I set for myself, and I urge any university student to get involved!

Written for The Zig Zag, a career advice platform run by Women In Foreign Policy (WIFP) focussing on the experiences of womxn in the foreign policy sector.

Read it on their website here.

#article #career advice #girl boss guide #girls boss #women in foreign policy #articles #hollyscout #model un #model united nations #graduate jobs #graduate schemes

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fitzroymapletree · 7 years

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Have you ever thought of writing a story or a fic? If you have, what would it be about? Would you have any inspirations?

aaaaa i have a lotta messages that im not rly feelin like answering cuz im anxious fuk but THIS one im feelin hoo boy,, also im gonna assume this means taz-related fics cuz if we mean all fics then hi ive been writing them since literal 4th grade (percy jackson fanfic before i knew was fics even were,, rip me)

actually yea i have thought of/started some TAZ fics!! i didnt get far in the few i started but theyre still sitting in my google docs so who knows. maybe ill finish them one day. anyways i have a lot fleeting ideas but there r only 2 that rly stick out to me (one of them is a canon-divergent lucas/magnus fic ive posted about before where pre-crystal kingdom taako dies somehow n leaves ango in magnus’ custody n mags wants some education for the boy but doesnt wanna send him off-base so lucretia is like ‘hey theres a science miller boy here that could help out’ n they meet n eventually bond n move past the traumas of deaths past n cope together n fall in gentle love n its good n pure. the other is just of carey, killian, angus, and no-3113′s experience in camp goodfriend ngl)

also i have so many original stories im gonna rant about them a lot under the readmore

the first multi-chapter non-fic story i wrote was in 6th grade where this chubby black girl named Ariette goes to hang out w her internet friend Robyn for the summer n they find a mermaid on the beach and they take her back to Robyn’s house n they keep her in his bathtub…her name is K’loshekh Haddok Sheik McCarppal the Third and she was half-longhorn cowfish (this story is the reason why theyre my fave kind of fish!!) and at first Ariette is opposed to have K’loshekh around but they eventually fall in Gay Gay Love and then K’loshekh has to leave cuz she cant live in the fuckn bathtub forever + ariette has to return to her own state n its tragic oh noooo

there was this mediocre story i had in 7th grade where it was supposed to be a parody of love triangles where theres this girl named Juniper Yun Lee n shes got these two friends Miles and Beckett n at first u think Miles n Beckett are Super Straight n like her but shes aro n not interested n it turns out theyre gay for each other n YES this was inspired by that one popular tumblr post,,,,,,the characters n plot were p decent but the actual writing was TRASH n i refuse to go in that google doc to this day

i had this story that i liked a lot in 8th grade that i loved loved loved to death (and i still luv) called Under Our Sugarfrosted Skies where a right-brain transboy artist named Caden Faye meets this hardworking left-brain chef named Leo King and they fall in love p fast n its just them bein gay,,,, theres a lot of b-plot,,,,,and a lot of side characters like Caden’s cool-ass older brother who lives w him n took him in after their parents ditched Caden cuz of his transness n hes a multilingual photographer n they own a cat named Potato (Po for short), and a bipolar tall writer chick named Madelyn Powers whos cousins w Leo n she has heterochromia iridium (one green eye, one brown eye), her n leo live together too n shes friends w Hudson since high school n her n hudson are the reason why caden n leo even meet,,,,,,n idk, like leo n caden were just my Signature Gay Couple™ way back when but i drew them more than i wrote about them tbh so i gave up on that story but i luv it to death tbh

in 9th grade i had this weird story (also inspired by a popular tumblr post) where a college student joined this league of supervillains cuz the leaders were her teachers n she needed extra credit and she ends up being gay for her properly-aged superhero nemesis who is also apart of a league led by college teachers,,,,,the main character was a latino girl who named herself Comet cuz it was a first-person POV n she refused to give her real name away, the leader of the supervillains was a cold, stern black woman who turned villain cuz the heroes couldnt save her beloved 9year old daughter,,,,the leader of the superheroes is an autistic asian lady who loves water and she ends up being gay w the stern black lady,,,,,,,,the nemesis is a blonde super-optimistic sunshine girl w a pixie cut,,,,,theyre all adorable n My Actual Children

early 10th grade i had this story that ive put on hiatus but plan to return to soon,,,its about a senator whos expelled from her job n divorced not too long after that (both for whatever reason i still have yet to decide) so shes left on the streets jobless n homeless. luckily, after a couple months of living on her own, she finds out that her hipster brother that she hasnt rly been in contact w for the past however many years is willing to keep her under his roof for as long as it takes for her to get back on her feet so she makes her way to his small countryside town n lives there for a lil while. she picks up a job as a librarians assistant while she lives there n learns to chill out since she was so uptight n stressed out all the time before, she just kinda unwinds n finally learns who she is as a person since she put that off for so many years. theres also OF COURSE a super gay b-plot where theres this kid named Jonah whos always visiting the library to check out academic books n junk and also theres this rly eccentric woman named Atlas who works at the local coffeeshop that the ex-senator visits on her lunch break. the ex-senator starts striking up a convo w Jonah n they soon become unlikely pals n she finds out that Atlas!! is jonahs mom!! n her n atlas also end up bein gay for one another n also jonah is aro

NOW WE REACH MY CURRENT STORY WHICH I AM?? OBSESSED W??? ik yall stopped reading this post 50k words ago but i have a blog dedicated to it!! shoutout to that blog @virtuefall and, of course, its called Virtue Fall,,,,its basically me dipping my toe in the waters of Fantasy stories cuz of TAZ.. it started out as a completely different story but morphed itself into the Beauty™ that it is atm..spoilers ahead in case any of yall actually do end up reading it idk but its about this middle-aged half-elf woman named Belyeras Chandler whose children get stolen n she embarks on a quest to find them n along the way she picks up a rad-ass squad that becomes her family (an eccentric female orc named Oghash who has trust issues, pacifist tendencies, and some rad-ass clothes; a pair of twin human detectives named Lucan n Luusi, one of which is awkward n self-conscious n a warrior, the other is a charismatic, silver-tongued, deceiving, anxious, chronic-lying wizard; a bounty hunter drow sorcerer named Selakiir who only loves money n cryptids [n later on, lucan]) and basically spoiler alert selakiirs target that hes after is the head of a cult n guess what? that cult is the same one that stole belyeras’ children n theres this big showdown n BIG SPOILERS AHEAD luusi dies along the way, belyeras’ children are killed to summon a god to their plane of existence but their plane isnt meant to have a god in it so reality starts to tear itself apart and selakiirs apart of a destined bloodline so This is His Moment and he rescues everybdoy by somehow repairing reality itself in that moment when no one else could……lucan leaves the scene once everything calms down, blaming belyeras for the death of his sister, and he n selakiir eventually fall in love and get married. belyeras refuses to let oghash go on any more dangerous adventures so they move in together and are platonic soulmates until one of them dies. ALSO literally everybody has a tragic backstory yikes belyeras had an alcoholic ex-wife, oghash grew up w suuuuuuper over-controlling parents n heavy expectations n social norms that she couldnt live up to cuz of her pacifistic tendencies so she stole a portion of her parents money n ran far far away, luusi was the least fave child cuz shes suuuuuuuuuuuuuuper awkward so her parents felt uncomfortable having her represent the family/continue the bloodline so they loved lucan more n neglected luusi which led to major insecurity issues n competitiveness in luusi n there had been high high expectations for lucan so hes accustomed to major anxiety and lying/acting/supression n internalizing emotions, selakiir was sent away from the underdark to a public school in a decent land so he faced major discrimination as the literal only dark creature in the school……Yikes

#I LITERALLY WANT TO MAJOR IN CREATIVE WRITING N BE A WRITER WHEN I GET OLDER #I GOT THE HIGHEST GRADE IN MY CLASS FOR ENGLISH MIDTERMS/FINALS/SOLS FOR THE PAST COUPLE YEARS #I HAVE WON MULTIPLE WRITING CONTESTS JUST IN THE PAST YEAR ALONE #I AM THE SECRETARY OF MY SCHOOLS CREATIVE WRITING CLUB #U HAVE ASKED THE RIGHT PERSON BUDDY #UNLESS U DONT WANT A HUGE POST RANTING ABOUT STORIES THEN U ASKED THE WRONG PERSON #jay answers #Anonymous

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deliciousandfunthing · 4 years

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#30dayswritingchallenge

Day 1.

List 10 things that make you happy

1. Good food

It's always easy to change a bad day into a good one with something delicious and heartwarming. I always love eating and having a good food is definitely an instant mood-booster for any types of day for me LOL

2. Walking in nature

Walking on its own has always been my favourite activity to be honest. Just by taking a walk somewhere close or even a long walk in a busy road still have a certain effect on my mood. Though especially walking in nature is beyond refreshing. It clears my mind and get me excited about life even when I wasn't feeling it.

3. Carpool karaoke

Actually, I should just say singin in the car lol, cause it's literally just singing to my jam in a car so very loudly. It's a simple thing that I can easily do while I'm driving home from work or even driving to just anywhere really, but sometimes it's even more fun when I did it together with other people on a roadtrip or a long drive somewhere. Cause you know, when you're in a car you can feel like you're really in that small space alone and no one would be able to see or hear what you do and say which is kinda reassuring for me. I feel safe and served with a quality me or together time haha

4. Adventure

Hmm, I had to think for quite sometime to know how to word this actually and probably adventure still doesn't describe it haha! To be going out somewhere either with someone or by myself having to experience new things and do something meaningful or exciting is how I describe this, that's why maybe an adventure is how I might call it. It doesn't have to be a grand trip to somewhere far away, it can just be going to a museum, or a workshop, or just doing something simple we have never did together. That's enough to make me ecstatic for a long time !

5. Crafting

I'm not really a creative person or an expert in arts and crafts but to be crafting something and enjoying the end results is always wonderful! That's why I love making something by hand for other people like letters, customised stuffs, etc. and also decorating my room with things that I made myself.

6. Plants

I love gardening! Even though I haven't really done any gardening for awhile now cause I used to just do it with my grandmother and also there's a community I went to in high school, but now I don't really have a garden or people to do it with who can teach me about it. Again, I'm not an expert but I just enjoy doing it. That's also why I always have succulents or small pot of plants in my room everywhere I go (since I'm practically a nomad now).

7. Stargazing

Maybe you'll think it's lame 😜, but I always have been interested in stars, the sky, and everything beyond that. When a little girl was asked what she wants to be in the future, most of them during my time always said a doctor or a teacher while here I am saying I want to be a pilot or an astronaut haha! If I can be so sure about it and has nothing bothering or stopping me I might be still working towards the dream of becoming an astronaut or something similar in that industry lol, but for now just being a common stargazer is enough to make me happy.

8. Initiating change or leading a successful project

This is me being my most ambitious self haha! I love love love love the feeling of having been successfully lead a group in achieving something. I realised that not long ago as I looked back and my most memorable experience was being a president of an english club and be remembered by the people I worked with due to our great achievements during that time, also being a secretary and worked hard for an event that finally was a success. Then also leading my group at uni and received a splendid feedback. I love that my hardwork isn't just affecting me but also others who may or may not have worked alongside me.

9. Writing a journal or putting my feelings into words.

The reason I have never get tired of Tumblr and always have a notebook to write random stuff is cause I really love writing my feelings and to share them too. The difference with Tumblr is that not many people I know are using it, so it's fun and free for me to say whatever I want and still feels like I have shared it with others. While notebook is a place I would really pour everything into, Tumblr is a friend I can trust with anything I have in mind whether it's emotions or something interesting to me. Writing always makes me feel good about myself and that's just gold!

10. Having a conversation

Another thing very close to my personality is being happy just by talking to people and having a conversation. I always feel energised after having a great talk with someone, even if it is just a simple chat about something that isn't even matter. Thus, everytime I get to have a real conversation or easily discuss something with someone, I would be really really happy and try to keep a close relationship. I really can't live alone, can I? 😅

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naizamayg · 7 years

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forty-eight letters to the moon

Some say if you live in outer space you don’t grow old as fast as people do on earth. That’s why I want to send these letters to the moon, so these words, these feelings and these memories would hopefully last longer than our time on earth. Dear Joshua, thank you for being the most responsible/most concerned student in our class. We sometimes tease you about it but we actually really admire that about you. Not everyone can speak up for what’s right, not everyone is as brave as you. Dear Cj, you’ve changed a lot but I’m not saying it in a negative way. We all change and that’s just normal. You changed in some negative ways but in positive ways also. You still get mad easily (to others) but atleast you don’t get mad at me that easily now hahaha, but that’s who you are. That made you the CJ in our room. Hope to see that scowl on your face gone the next time we see each other in years time. I hope you find your peace within. Dear Kenneth, You’re probably one of the most creative person i’ve met. You can make anything from scrap into art. You make wonderful stories and films that is not just a classroom pride but a school wide pride. You make a lot of us laugh in a daily basis, though sometimes you go overboard but I’m cool with it since I’m not easily offended but remember, it might affect others. I don’t know anything about you besides this joke-generating-out-of-the-box-minded person you are. Someday I wish to know about who you really are because ik everyone is more than what they show in class. Dear Ronnie, The ever late secretary hahaha just kidding. You have an incredible way to express words you read and I was amazed by our readers’ theatre performance on how you stole the spotlight. You should try and apply as a radio broadcaster in your school next year and join orations or declamations. Don’t be afraid of the thought of losing or no one supporting you. I would always be there somewhere in the crowd cheering for you. Dear Laurence, You have a reputation of having cold heart in our room. IDK if this is just a front or this is just really you but sometimes in rare occasions I can feel that your heart warms up. That sometimes you laugh too hard, smile too wide and give too much and I notice it and I think that’s the better version of Laurence that everyone might not see but I see it and I hope you try and show that to other people more often. Dear Aaron, I’m not gonna live happily if I dont get this out of my chest, Aaron sorry. Talking about you behind your back, not believing some words you say and just being rude to you. You probably noticed by now, you’re a smart observer anyway but I also want to say that some of us think you’re sometimes too arrogant they’re not wrong tho but sometimes you are someone who is nice to talk to especially relating to anime we have some bad sides in us and you can’t help that people would think and talk about your bad sides and ik it sounds ugly but it’s the truth again I’m sorry if I ever hurt you in some way bc ik you have never hurt me. Dear Freidrich, The only thing that pops up in my head is LASHES. I lowkey wanna steal them lol. Anyway, you’re a really good and smart person I still can’t believe you perfected the individual quiz bee during high school day. Isa kang tunay na #nofear. Dear Karlos, I remember you as the quiet smart boy in the class back in elementary and you still are. I hope you speak up sometimes bc ik you have a lot of ideas and stories to tell but maybe I’m just not there in times you do tell them. You’re sometimes made fun of in your group of friends and not gonna lie, I sometimes laugh with them but idk if you get hurt when they do or not but if you do I’m sorry and I hope you tell them when they say too much and that you feel suffocated if they do that. Dear Daryll, You are such a comfortable person to be with that’s probably bc you’re a Sagittarius. You always smile when people get mad at you and I find that very funny yet admirable how can you be so strong to not even lose your smile when people downgrade you. I hope to see that smile again it’s such a refreshing image and I hope you never let anyone make you falter that smile. Dear Harvey, I wrote this after the mapeh periodic test and after knowing my results in research and idk why in those moments you were there??? Idk but yeah I didn’t review anything about mapeh but you helped me and when I was upset (even tho i was smiling shonga ko) bc of my grade in research you were brave enough to tell me you have a lower grade than me idk if it was to comfort me but thank you. Dear Emil, you are probably the most “friendly” person I have met but I’m not bothered of how touchy you get bc I honestly don’t care hahahaha. But it just shows that you’re a comfortable, nice companion. Dear Ryan, I honestly don’t know what to write to feel or to say or what kind of friendship we have. We fight about the most nonsensical things but also don’t hate each other. Sorry if sometimes I joke too much to the point (if ever) that i hurt you. It’s not intentional I promise. It’s just probably bc we have a clashing immature personalities. Dear Jonard, I only knew you for a year but I felt really close to you we both like haikyuu and volleyball so ig it wasn’t hard to approach you and you being my table mate was a plus. I miss being your table mate btw but it’s your decision to sit wherever you want hahaha. Dear johnroe, keep writing and writing you’re amazing really you’ve proven that writing is a form of art and I admire that just do what you love and surround yourself with positivity. Dear felmar, you are so talented, smart and kind you have a big heart and an open mind and thank you for being you. We need more people like you in the class to avoid fights and misunderstandings you’re really the Mr. President of the anti-bullying club Dear Whesley, you have a short temper probably shorter than me (get it?) And a selfish attitude (sometimes) but even tho you’re not the kindest person, I don’t think you deserve to be disrespected to the point of not cheking your papers on tests but I hope you don’t plot revenges. It would only grow hatred on you. Try to be nicer and thank you for teaching me how to play chess hahaha. Dear Timi, sometimes you’re too impractical and it ruins you but you have a good heart who desires to help others and I think that’s enough thank you for taking care of us Mr. President. Dear Yran, I was once a crybaby (still think I am even tho I rarely cry) but I know how wonderful it feels after crying after letting it all out and I just want to say just be a cry baby all you want. Don’t listen to what other people tell you or to what they will think about you. Let yourself cry let yourself feel, let yourself be human. Dear Darylle, you are 1/3 of a whole I admire your friendship with Precious and Karen and I seriously hope you guys won’t drift apart because in my perspective you guys are genuinely happy together. Dear Kryssha, I hope to be with you in a BTS concert someday hahaha. You’ll met them soon and you’re a really good dancer. You should try and show it more and don’t be shy. Dear Judee, you’re quite confusing but I like being confused anyway. Hehe idk you have this feel of weirdness that I actually think it’s normal bc you’re Judee. Though you’re sometimes shallow, I know you have a very deep mind and have great ideas. Dear Janae, I dont know how it ended and how we pretend it never happened but all I know is that thank you and sorry because I couldn’t be there when I know you would’ve been for me. Dear Buena, I’m still thankful for your blog and will always am it’s nice to know how other people see me hahaha. I want to hear you sing more and have more confidence. You’re unique in your own way. I just realized (bc of laurence’s blog) that you really have the same expression to everything hahaha. Dear Angelica, You’re so modest and nice i don’t know a lot about you but i hope you keep your smile always and penge naman height:(( Dear Karen, you are a 1/3 of a whole and a beautiful morena. Embrace your beauty and always keep your head up. Stay as a happy person with precious and darylle. Dear Julia, thank you for teaching me how to dance bboom bboom hahaha. You’re also a great dancer and have confidence also keep smiling with your cute pangil. Dear angelica, an innocent soul with a contagious laugh I don’t know your story. I don’t know your deepest secrets but i know you have them bc I was once you I still am someone waiting for life’s trick to break me down to pieces. Dear salve, look at the stars tonight, breathe in, breathe out. Watch some kdramas. Dream about something, anything. Imagine a life where happiness is limitless. You are so strong for holding on for this long and I want you to be stronger. I need you to be stronger, because one day you’ll look at the stars again, you’ll breathe in and breathe out again, you’ll watch some kdramas again and dream about something, anything again, but you won’t imagine a life where happiness is limitless because you will live it. Dear christelle, i still remember when we used to be bffs and I was really happy being your friend back then but idk what happened we just ended things but ik we ended it in a good terms sometimes being with someone for too long is tiring and I’m sorry if I didn’t hold your hand longer. I’ll always remember you and Kim as my first bffs B! F! F! Hahaha I hope you still remember this chant we had. Dear Kristel, sorry if sometimes I’m too rude or if you feel I neglect you. I don’t hate you , I actually like you but whenever you approach me, I would either be in a bad mood or hungry hahahaha, so I kinda get annoyed at times but you still smile at me whenever I do and I feel really bad. I hope you reach your dreams of being a fashion designer and your love life would be prosperous (oyiiiiiii~~~) Dear jeanelle, you are probably the nicest person i’ve met. I know you have struggles and problems of your own but you always kept quiet about it so you won’t worry anyone but I hope you do tell about them because it’s bad to bottle it all inside. Thank you for being my seat (cheat) mate hahaha and sorry if I ever gave you a wrong answer in a test hahaha. Dear editha, a kind and strong heart you have. I like how you stand up for yourself and how you stand up for others thank you for being a reason for me to be stronger. I really want to have a heart like yours. Micah, I think you’re more chill than me. You go to school just when you feel like it but still have high grades isa kang #nofear pt.2 hahaha I hope you hold on salve’s hand a little bit longer she needs you and if you ever need someone i’ll always offer my hand. Nina, i know how it feels when you think you’re worth less than someone just because of your weight but I never thought that you were any less than anyone then and now. I admire your determination to lose weight but you’re beautiful in any form though your words come of harsh ik you just want the best for them but please keep in mind that karissa may have this reputation of being a strong kalog girl she’s also so fragile. Karissa, hey little sunshine. Hold up, okay? I know no one knows and that no one blinks an eye just because you aren’t showing it or you aren’t suffering as much to the pint of falling to this endless pit but it’s not like that you don’t have to be collapsing for people to notice and to give a hand. They should’ve come closer to hear what you’re saying not for you to repeat and change what you said. Kath, I want you to be kath. I want you to not be compared to your brother. I know how hard it is to have a big brother. Parents will always think of them first and tbh who cares about what they think do things for yourself okay and loosen up a bit and smile more. Shany, you’re so hung up with this guy which I always tell you, he’s not good for you but maybe it’s your happiness waiting for him for so long to chat you back. That maybe he is your happiness so I’m sorry for being insensitive that time I just want to say to think of yourself first and to choose what would make you happier we’re still young there’s still so many faces to meet, hearts to connect and smiles to smile with. Kezia, i know how you want to change the way you look but I honestly think you look fine. I respect how you think about yourself but I just want you to know that whatever you look like it’s the best version of you. Ayra, you have this aura around you that makes me feel at ease. I just know that whatever I say you wouldn’t judge me and you know my kind of humor so I’m happy joking around with you. Thank you for everything. Precious, you are a 1/3 of a whole I find it so funny how you darylle and karen bicker hahaha. I hope you guys always stay together and I hope you will always have that smile in your face. Jemarie, I really like how you draw. You’re an amazing artist tho I’m sad that you wouldn’t pursue it in the future, being a doctor who saves lives is good too. Thank you for all the answers you shared hahaha Katreena, you are such a kind innocent soul that whenever I see you down or upset it makes me sad too. Thank you for opening up to me and telling me your problems that time. Thank you for trusting me enough to ask me what decision you would make and that is to be happy. I hope you’re finally happy and will always be. Joanna, thank you for making me look tall hahaha. Just kidding you’re so cute whenever you dress up and i find your fashion sense really good. Andrew, I have been your classmate for so long to know your capabilities. It is very clear that you are smart person and you never smile at pictures to make it seem like you’re not emotional at all. You’re the one who is most affected about our moving up and I know you are concerned about your weight too and it’s completely okay to feel these things. No one will judge you, but remember to still take care of yourself. Saka wag mo nang i-break si ABCD, kawawa naman. Dear sam, thank you really I’m so thankful for you. You were such a huge twist of fate for me. When I first sat beside you I thought you hated me because i got promoted. But then when you talked to me we just suddenly clicked and was transported to a world where only the two of us exist. You once told me I was a person who doesn’t stay and I know that because i never had a strong grip on anything and I’m a very clueless, insensitive, shallow-hearted person yet you’re the only one who saw it (and maybe abcd too) and thank you for knowing who the real me is. Sorry because i won’t stay and that it might look like i’ll just forget about it but I won’t, I promise so don’t be surprised when one day at 3 am I text/chat you about random things or about my dream last night. Dear grace, I’m sorry at times that I “bully” you just for a laugh, it seems as though you are unaffected which sometimes makes me have the urge to make fun of you sometimes. But you are probably one of the most self-conscious people I know, and whenever you are told that what you’re doing is negative, you stop doing the thing entirely. But thank you for still understanding me and supporting me and accompanying me when the Hi-Y club advisers asks me to go to the library. Sorry if you always do or give things to me but I would sometimes not reciprocate it. Sorry for being the receiving end. I’m so thankful to you. You’re a part of who I am right now and who I will be. I hope someday we’ll be both able to sleep with peace, knowing our moms are sleeping and will wake up tomorrow and if things wont go in our way, I’ll always be there okay? and I hope you are too because I would really need you if it does happen. ps. One day, i’ll pay you back for all my utangs, kahit nasa ULST na ako at may chance akong tumakas. Dear Abcd, Thank you for everything. You will always be the first one i’ll talk to whenever I find something funny. You’ve influenced me so much. I became matured, more responsible and idk if you know this but I stopped crying because of you. I’m not saying it in a negative way hahaha what I mean is you made me stronger and unconsciously gave me a rope to help me climb. You didn’t gave me your hand because you wanted me to do it myself, because that’s the most important thing in everything. Always do things yourself for yourself. You taught me this so now that you’re the one who is drowning I honestly don’t know what to do. I’m always this clueless whenever it’s not about me. But please promise me, please promise yourself that you’ll swim as hard as the currents hit you and you’ll someday meet me in the shore. We all don’t know what we want or what to do don’t pressure yourself. We’re all as confused as you. Let’s all be lost while we are young. ps. Be happy :) Dear Naiza, I hope you would stop being so difficult and stop being so half hearted to everything. To studies, to your friends, to your family and to yourself. You don’t like to admit it but you’re so selfish and sometimes insensitive. You only show this version of you that would look great. The version of you who is always happy, who doesn’t have any problems. You even cover up your problems by saying positive things about your life. You’re the biggest liar I know. I wish you would also stop getting annoyed easily and being too dependent. Stop acting like you care when you honestly don’t, but you know you have to care because you have to be a good person right? but you’re not. It’s really scary how different you are from school, at home, at the internet or at your bed during 3 am. At school you’re this out going person, at home you’re this ignorant person who doesn’t know what her family feels, at the internet you’re so bitchy and rude, at 3 am you’re the most vulnerable person anyone can be. Someday I hope you find who you really are because i’m done with you lying.

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themarginalartist · 7 years

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How long have you been interested in writing stories, especially fan fiction?

Umm... Well... I’ve always made up stories... It’s how I used to play with my brothers when we were younger. Polly Pockets and Transformers and Barbies and Legos and just, we’d make stuff up.

But I think what really was the catalyst was back in high school I got “dragged” into the writing club that we had. At the time it was just me hanging out with my friends after school. But as the holiday season approached we had a secret Santa story exchange. You put your name and a story prompt down and then it went into a hat and you pulled someone out.

Keep in mind I had literally never written anything at that point, not a single fan fic, not a single short story, I was literally like the one person just there to chat. (Well... There were some outline attempts that never went anywhere). So I wrote the prompt. And then we put them in a pile, everyone grabbed their gift, and read them out loud. Now when they got to the one I wrote there were some like gasps cause the prompt was pretty cute: Love and noodles. And then there was a guessing game, figure out who wrote your prompt thing

No one thought it was me.

1) Cause I hadn’t written anything before lol

and 2) Cause it just wasn’t obvious pffft

After that I got a little more comfortable. Plus my friend group was interested in mostly the same stuff so I tried my hand at fanfiction.

I stopped writing after my senior year of high school was over.

After Bendy and the Ink Machine came out, I don’t know what possessed me, but I wrote a small fic for the Toon Henry AU, then Sweet Dreams for the Devil happened... I didn’t think I was going to continue anything, just hide back in the shadows and stuff...

Obviously that didn’t happen lol

And here we are now... It’s just really enjoyable to get my thoughts down on paper... And I know I’m not the best and that sometimes I do things that coulda be written better and all that... But I dunno... It’s just nice...

Especially after everyone’s kind words and reviews and comments... It’s why I continued writing fics partly, not only is it for me, but I saw the excitement of others and it made me want to continue lol

But yeah...

Oh and here’s the secret santa if you’re curious

About once every week I head over to my favorite café off of the main drag in Seattle to order lunch. It normally is pretty empty and most people keep to themselves. The menu has a large variety of dishes from about every type of cuisine imaginable. Unfortunately I had to go back to the drudgery of work in two hours but I didn’t mind that too much. I was having a bit of a tough time deciding what I wanted, when a voice from behind me said;

“The pho is really good here if you haven’t tried it already.” I turned around to see who had said that. And that’s when my heart skipped a beat. He had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes that had a mischievous shine to them that suggested a creative side. Something that I have always liked. His hoodie was black with a band logo on it that I had never heard of and he had on brilliant red Converses as well.

“I haven’t had the pho before, thanks for the suggestion” I almost stuttered in reply. I ordered the pho and sat down at a window seat and waited to be served. But then the guy from the line sat down across from me! I didn’t quite know what to say, I mean yeah he was really cute, but I had just met him!

“So what do you do for a living?” He started up the conversation.

“Umm, I’m currently a secretary for the CEO of Dreams Come True, the company that helps people surprise loved ones with things like vacations, dream homes, etc.”

“Interesting, but don’t you find it boring to be confined by just being a secretary?”

“A little bit, but it gives me the free time that I want and it pays the bills. And what about you?” Now that I had told him a little bit about myself I wanted to know more about this mystery guy.

“I work for an animation studio; we tend to work with bigger companies like DreamWorks. I work mostly on story boarding for the companies.” Just as I was about to ask him another question, the waiter came over with my pho and he had another bowl for Mr. Mystery.

“I don’t think I caught your name.” wanting to at least have that before beginning my meal.

“My name is Daniel; most people just call me Danny though. And what’s your name?”

“Arianna, I am afraid I don’t have a nickname though.” I started to eat my lunch. My eyes suddenly lit up. “Oh wow! You were right this is really amazing!”

“I’m glad that you like it.” He smiled back beginning to eat his own lunch as well. We sat there and chatted for what seemed like an hour, our pho was pretty much gone. I realized that I needed to pack up and head back to work.

“Sorry to cut this short but I have to get back to work.” I started to gather my things up around me.

“Arianna” he started up, “do you think that we could do this again sometime?” glancing back my way. I didn’t know exactly what to say. Danny was amazing, and I had never felt this giddy about any guy that I had met.

“I’d like that.”

“Here’s my email. Send me a message when you get another lunch off.” He passed me a piece of paper. I thanked him and went to the counter to pay my bill. I left and went back to the office to endure the rest of the day.

I couldn’t stop thinking about him though. So I looked at the piece of paper that he had given me. I was taken by surprise though. On the slip there was a little bowl of noodles with a little face on it by the address. But what had really caught my attention was the fact that the little bowl of noodles had a speech bubble which said;

“I’m free on Thursday for lunch; send me a note if you can do it. See you back at the café.”

#answers #my writing

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joie-university-rp · 4 years

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Dear ISAAC THOMPSON,

It is with great pleasure we invite you admission to Joie University! Welcome to the Thunderclap family!

Congratulations, TAYLOR! Please be sure to check the New Members’ Checklist and send in your character’s account within 24 hours from now. We cannot wait to see all that you will bring to this roleplay! We love you already!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias; preferred pronouns: Taylor, He/Him

Age, Timezone: 23, EST

Activity, short explanation: 7/10 - I’m as active as I can be.

Ships: Isaac/Chemistry

Anti-Ships: Isaac/Forced

Triggers: RFP

Preferred photo for Character’s ID (please give a link): https://pin.it/65SYn0W

Anything else:

IC INFORMATION:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): Isaac Daehyun Thompson

FC: Lee Taeyong

Age/Year at University (Freshman [1st Year], Sophomore, Junior, Senior, or Graduate Student): 20 Freshman

Birth date: October 31st, 1999

Hometown (please be sure to check the hometowns listed for characters your muse is related to!): Tampa, Florida

Gender/Pronouns: Cismale, He/Him

Sexuality: Bisexual

Major(s): Song Writing

Minor(s) [optional]: Creative Writing

Housing request (remember, only the president of a Greek Organization is required to live at a Greek House to be in it!): Beiste Dormitory

Greek Life Affiliation [optional] (Please be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, pledge educator, etc.] or if your character is not yet a member, but plans to rush):

CHARACTER PROFILE:

[At least] 3 Headcanons for your character: • Isaac was adopted at the young age of two from South Korea by a family who lived in Tampa, Florida. When he was adopted, his parents gave him a new first name and changed his birth name to his middle name to leave him with a sense of his roots but also to give him something that they hoped would help him transition to his new life in America a little easier - especially when it came time for Isaac to go to school. • Isaac won’t admit it, but he’s often struggled with feeling as if he doesn’t quite fit in anywhere. He’s always sort of felt like he’s neither this nor that about everything. He’s truly searching for his place in the world at this point in his life and he’s hoping Joie University will help him find it. • He’s always been into rapping and making the tracks to go along with it. It took some convincing his parents but eventually they gave in to getting him the equipment necessary for him to produce his own songs all throughout his high school years. He’s hoping college will help him further his ability to write and produce music and potentially lead into a future career for himself.

STUDENT CENSUS SURVEY:

(Please answer the following questions IN CHARACTER. Responses can be as long or short as you see fit!)

What made you want to attend Joie University? It was one of the colleges that kept popping up everytime I tried looking at colleges around America and eventually I decided why not Joie?

What are at least 3 positive or neutral and at least 3 negative traits that you believe you possess? I’m generous, ambitious, and observant. However I can also be a little guarded, impatient, and skeptical.

Which of your traits do you value most? My generousity.

How can that trait benefit the University (or its student body) as a whole? If someone needs something and I can help them out, I’m going to help them no doubt.

What do you hope to gain from your experience at JU? A sense of self and a better knowledge of who I am as a person.

What is a quote or song lyric that describes you? The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.

#Accepted

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mykidsgay · 7 years

Text

How Do I Talk to My Students and Co-Workers About Trump?

"I'm a middle school teacher in a suburban, mostly white area. I am "out" on a need-to-know basis, but everyone is very supportive and accepting. Everything that has been going on politically since the election has had a profound effect on me personally, and I have been struggling with how, or if I should even try, to talk about this stuff with co-workers and students. Any ideas on an appropriate way to bring it up?"

Question Submitted Anonymously Answered by Sara Kost

—

Sara Says:

Hello, fellow teacher.

Thank you for your question! I completely understand and share the same feelings around how this election and the resulting current Administration has affected us as queer teachers. I know for me personally, I’m lucky to have found comfort and solidarity with colleagues at work. I’ve also found a place to detach from the emotional stress of the news and just be in the moment with my students.

Many people in the education profession are feeling frustrated, sad, and fearful every time a new news report comes out. With the confirmation of Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education (*shudders*), the rollback of protections for trans+ students, and the overall political climate as of late, we educators have a lot to be stressed about. We want to advocate for ourselves, our profession, and our students. We want to scream from the roof of our schools about how important free, public education really is to our country and our society. But most of all, we want to share our thoughts and feelings with our co-workers and students.

Talking with co-workers and talking with students are two very different situations, so let’s tackle co-workers first. Depending on how friendly you are with your co-workers, there have probably been times where you’ve had the opportunity to talk with them about a wide variety of topics. Lunchtime conversation topics in the teacher’s lounge may vary from personal life, to students, to curriculum, to current events and politics, to cool deals at Target, and more! Whenever current events and politics come up, you can absolutely add your opinion to the conversation. Of course, time and place matter. Talking politics while on hallway duty or bus duty or during a team meeting might not be the best time. Before school, after school, or during lunch when students aren’t around would be appropriate times to chat with co-workers about the state of our union.

You may find that your co-workers have differing opinions from you, or you may find that you share similar values. Respect your co-workers differing opinions, while challenging racism, sexism, homophobia, and overt falsehoods. One easy way to do this is by asking where your co-workers are getting their information from. Fact checking and exposing fake news is easy to do, and it’s one way to remind your co-workers that, as teachers, we need to be able to think critically about the news we are getting. Of course it’s important to teach students how to fact check, but it’s just as important for adults to do the same!

Additionally, you can steer your conversation topics to how current events have affected your students, students’ families, and their community, which may feel more relevant than broader election topics. You can ask how the election has affected your co-workers and their families, and you can also bring up how the election has affected you personally as a queer person. As we found out during the fight for same-sex marriage, knowing someone who is gay or lesbian affects how people view LGBT issues and, in turn, can affect how people vote. The more out, open, and honest we can be with our families and friends, the more likely they are to think about us when they go vote. Making that connection between their own lives and our lives is important because it humanizes us.

In addition, have you thought about checking in with your union or becoming a union steward for your building? Public education is a target of the current Administration; Rallying your co-workers around cuts to Education, either federally or in your state, is a good way to build coalition and community around resistance. Find like-minded staff in your building, and plan a time to meet up after school to write or call your representatives. Your resistance can and should be multidimensional and intersectional, and focusing on Education issues as well as LGBTQ+ issues is a great way to validate two very important parts of your identity.

As far as bringing up current political events with your students, there are a few things to consider. First, did your District or Admin provide any guidelines from which to work? For example, my District and Admin team sent out a few different emails right after the election with guidelines and tips to have these tough conversations with students. See if there’s a framework or any considerations your superiors have laid out for you first. Tread carefully: politics in the classroom can get and has gotten teachers in trouble.

With that in mind, some small ways you can show your support for your students might be to wear a safety pin, a rainbow pin, or another small token as a non-verbal signal that you are a safe and supporting adult in the building. You could also put up a safe space sticker or poster in your classroom, put up posters of diverse important people for your subject area, or make a poster with any number of supportive quotes that are going around social media right now, like #RESIST. I saw a quote from a teacher on the internet a while ago that started out “Dear Undocumented Students… Dear Black Students… Dear Muslim Students…” which I really liked.

You could also try to incorporate these topics into the curriculum! This may look different depending on what subject you teach. For example, current events in Social Studies are easy to fit in. Reading news articles, practicing non-fiction reading, and examining fallacy in arguments is good for English Language Arts. A Fine Arts class can examine forms of protest art. A Math class could look at the Elector count or the budget. There are ways to be creative and work these topics into your classroom, regardless of what subject you teach.

If your school permits it, you might also think about starting an after-school club for community service to turn your student’s post-election energy into action. The club doesn’t need to have a partisan lean to address important topics. Your students can design community service projects for local community problems, learn about community issues, and feel like they can change the world one small step at a time.

I believe the most important thing to help youth feel less frightened and more powerful is to encourage them to take action. As a community, LGBTQ+ people have been traumatized by the aftermath of the 2016 election, along with many other marginalized communities. Every day we reexperience some of that trauma anew with whatever recent screwed up thing is in the headlines now. It’s exhausting. Depending on the amount of energy you already spend in your daily life outside of school, it may feel good to spend some energy on your students, encouraging them to write letters to the editor, organizing an after-school community service/action club, or helping them find resources or information about participating in the political process at their age. Good luck!

***

Click here to read about our brilliant contributors!

#my kid is gay #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #teachers #lgbt teachers #election #election 2016 #post election #sara kost #teacher advice

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lovebooksgroup · 7 years

Text

I am very proud to have been Blogger in Residence at Chasing Time Writing Retreats in October. I am delighted that I will be continuing my residency in November too. Below is information about the super team behind Chasing Time Writing Retreats and about the fabulous writing retreats themselves.

TURN BACK TIME

Date: 4pm Friday 3rd of November 2017 to 2pm Sunday 5th of November 2017

Noir is the new black! Our November retreat aims to lift the (coffin) lid on what makes a dastardly dark tale! What is Gothic and how can we use its conventions to enhance our writing? Sandra Ireland, author of gritty noir thriller ‘Beneath the Skin’, will be leading a series of workshops on character, setting and suspense, while the gloriously Gothic venue will provide you with lots of inspiration. What better way to wile away a dark November weekend?

Friday evening.

Over supper and drinks in the bar, we’ll discuss our favourite paranormal authors and ghost stories/films. What sort of tale would you like to produce at Rosely?

Saturday

After breakfast, we’ll have a limbering up exercise before the main workshop:

Setting as character: How to breathe life into your landscapes.

The afternoon will be set aside for private writing time, and pre-arranged one-to-one sessions. Our evening meal will be followed by drinks in the bar and a chance to share your work around a roaring fire.

Sleep well!

Sunday

What did you dream about? Write it all down the moment you wake- we’ll be using this as inspiration after breakfast.

Today’s workshop will be:

Character: How to make your antagonist thoroughly likeable.

Lunch, and another chance to share your work, and to discuss how you can take your writing plans forward.

Booking information: Two nights fully catered accommodation Price for single occupancy: £275 Price based on sharing a twin room – £250 Deposit of £100 payable on booking

Book Now

The Chasing Time Writers Retreat Super Team

Sandra Ireland is the author of Beneath the Skin, a psychological thriller published by Polygon. The Bone Harp, a modern gothic tale with a mythical twist, is her second novel and will be out next Spring. Her poetry, inspired by the East Coast landscape, has been widely published in anthologies, including Seagate III (Dundee), and Furies (For Book’s Sake). She is the 2017 winner of the Dorothy Dunbar Trophy for Poetry, awarded by the Scottish Association of Writers. Sandra is Secretary of Angus Writers’ Circle and Writer-in-Residence at NTS Barry Mill, Angus, where she is currently researching mill-related folklore for a forthcoming non-fiction work. She has many years of experience in facilitating creative writing workshops in various settings, including the local community, Continuing Education, in schools and in healthcare. From Autumn 2017, Sandra will be teaching creative writing at the University of Dundee.

Elizabeth Frattaroli is an award-winning writer for children and young adults. Her first children’s novel, Pathfinder 13, won the 2016 T.C. Farries Trophy at the Scottish Association of Writers annual conference, and she has previously been shortlisted for The Greenhouse Funny Prize Award with one of her picture book texts. She has also written short stories which have been published in several magazines, such as the My Weekly Fiction Special. She is currently working on a young adult novel, Sixteen Again, which is a modern day Sleeping Beauty story with a Faustian twist. Elizabeth is Vice President of The Angus Writers’ Circle, as well as the club’s representative for the Scottish Association of Writers, and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She also delivers creative writing workshops to pupils in her local primary school.

Dawn Geddes is a freelance journalist and author. She writes for a number of publications including The Scots Magazine, Daily Record, Gurgle.com, Scottish Field, MADE magazine, Scottish Wedding Directory, The Courier, No 1, Living Magazine and Scotland Now. Dawn writes dark fiction and has had a number of her short stories published in magazines such as Take A Break Fiction Feast. Her first novel, The Worry Dolls, led to her being represented by the Sophie Hicks Agency in London earlier this year. She is currently working on her second novel, Linger, which is a ghost story for young adults.

Dawn says: “I find Rosely House Hotel to be an incredibly inspirational setting. Its unique gothic beauty helped sow the seeds of my first novel and I’m really looking forward to introducing fellow writers to the hotel, and providing them with the time and space they need to create.”

Rosely Country House Hotel

Built in the 1840s, Rosely has a relaxed country house atmosphere with many quirky and original features, which are sure to inspire our writing guests. Set in four acres of land in the heart of Angus, the hotel is only five minutes drive away from the centre of historic Arbroath and half an hour from the city of Dundee with easy access to public transport links. Rosely Country House Hotel offers comfortable spacious rooms with tea and coffee making facilities, ample car parking in a glorious gothic setting.

You can read Love Books Groups writing retreat reviews below.

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All opinions of the writing retreats are our own.

Chasing Time Writers Retreats ~ Meet The Team & Booking Info @ChasingTimeScot I am very proud to have been Blogger in Residence at Chasing Time Writing Retreats in October.

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withinthegrey-blog · 8 years

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An article exploring my decision to leave Durham University

I left University and we should stop saying that I dropped out.

“That’s what depression does”, A friend had told me during my last night at university she went on to explain, “It knocks on your door one day, comes in with little to no permission, and sits down on your bed.” And as she said this I could see it sat beside me in my Durham University dorm room. It was dark and caving and staring me in the face and despite my usually good social and hostess skills I refused to acknowledge it’s presence. It was an unwanted house guest that I pretended did not exist for the best part of a year and then continued to ignore throughout the hardest seven weeks of my life. I had worked extremely hard to get into Durham university in the same way that everyone who ends up getting a place does. Durham is difficult to get into on many levels in that it’s difficult to get an offer and then the entry grades are difficult to gain and so I had done well. I cried when I got in, because despite everyone’s unflinching certainty that I would get in I never contemplated it. Academia has never been my strong point and so the idea of going to university, never mind a good one, seemed like some distant future meant for someone else but not for me. But I got in. I got one grade lower than the entry grades and was met with shock from peers that despite this had still managed to get in to Durham and so I felt compelled to go. In truth, I was perhaps feeling a bit sorry for myself and claiming that ‘I had never really had anything this good and so now that I had gotten it I should take it’. I was wrong, of course. I was wrong because most of the things in my life are good. My parents earn a good amount of money and they are lovely, we have a nice roof over our heads and I’d spent most of my life in good schools. Then again, probably what I should have been most thankful for, probably the best thing I had, was that I was above average at some stuff. I was above average at drama and creative writing and ballet and writing songs. I was terrible at maths and physics and had to bend over backwards in order to achieve good grades in both my GCSE’s and A levels and I would say that I am not very good at all at remaining consistently happy, especially these days. But I went to Durham because despite my hard work not quite being enough they had still let me in and so I trotted off with my new duvet cover and a collection of night out outfits that I never ended up using. I went because I hoped and prayed that it would be good or even just okay. I was willing for it to be just alright. I wasn’t willing for it to be something that I had to ‘get through’ which was what it turned into. Freshers was awful, the second week was promising, the third was okay but by week four I was exhausted. I was exhausted with faking that I was having ‘the best time ever’ because after all I was meant to be having ‘the best time ever; I was so tired that I didn’t even hesitate: I got straight on a train home, without telling my parents and arrived in Leeds train station feeling a euphoria I don’t think I will ever ever feel again. I’ve never really liked Leeds that much but now every time I go I am filled with gratitude for it’s mere existence. Seeing the familiar train station through the small rectangular window calmed me and (being the dramatic person that I am) I wrote down ‘I feel like I haven’t been breathing for four weeks and I’ve just come up for air.’ It was during this first trip home that I truly realised how ill I was and I mean that in more ways than one. The glimpse of Leeds made me see how anxiety had consumed me for the past four weeks but it was the look in my best friends eyes and the picture she took of me to put on our A level drama class group chat that had the caption ‘Roisin’s run away from uni’ that made me see how thin I’d gotten. I had realised how ill I felt but I was staring at the shocking evidence of how ill I looked. Despite this I returned to university on Sunday night and even now writing the words ‘i returned to university’ still fills me with the sensation that I might vomit or cry for the rest of the day. I returned with a new found energy and an absolute determination that I would make it all work out. I came back the next Saturday morning. I barely spoke while at home and when I did I cried. I told my parents I wanted to drop out and that I was terrified about how ill I was feeling. And then half an hour later I’d stand staring at myself and tell myself to pull it together because everyone else could do it so why couldn’t I? I went back on Sunday evening and did it all again. I would highlight this week. Week 6 , as where things completely fell apart. During week 4 I realised how ill I was. During week 5 I began to worry that not only did I feel very mentally ill but also that I couldn’t remember when I didn’t feel this way. And during week 6 I completely lost my mind. A while back I had to explain all of this to a friend and I drew three boxes for her and explained that there was a surface brain that I used to have and then there was a deeper brain that was full of anxiety and then there was a third brain that was completely delusional and insane. I was submerged in this third brain for my last two weeks but it was definitely the most terrifying when it began in Week 6. I experienced what I know now as extreme depersonalisation as I walked to lectures thinking I was dreaming or that if I closed my eyes even for a second I would fall back to sleep and then during one morning walk with two of my close friends at university they paused their conversation as one of them looked at me and said, “You look so worried.” I told her I was just thinking. I wasn’t just thinking. I was thinking ‘I am going insane’. And honestly that is what it felt like. I honestly thought I was going insane. I went clubbing and stayed up late in week 6 and whether this helped or not during both instances I spent the nights wondering why while everyone was laughing and cheering I was feeling absolutely nothing. The first four weeks I felt so much and I wished it would all turn off and then in Week 6 it did. That was the strangest thing about this ‘insanity’ it was so all consuming and yet I was feeling nothing. I guess that’s why people describe it as a kind of darkness because there is quite literally nothing there and yet you feel surrounded and trapped. Week 7. I went to go and see quite possibly the worst counsellor I’ve ever spoken too and I checked my bank balance only to have the dawning realisation that I was paying 9 grand to be depressed when I could be depressed at home for free. Week 7 I didn’t even make it through Friday. I told my best friend at College and her room mate that I was leaving on Thursday evening and the next day I got up praying I would want to stay and yet I didn’t. I broke down in tears in front of my department secretary and only caught air when the head of administrations said in a very casual way ‘you can just leave.’ That night I spoke to one of my friends, who had been incredibly mental health aware during our first 7 weeks, how I was feeling and she was the first person to tell me to my face that all of this could be depression. I left that night and I didn’t go back. I came home. Got a terrible job. Got more depressed. Left the job. Sat around smiling through christmas. Saw all my friends and tried not to feel like a complete failure and cried to my mum a lot. Things didn’t really get much better. Things remained pretty crap for a while but I left during November and it’s January now. A lot of people have said a lot of things about me dropping out. I won’t repeat any of it for their sake. At this point, when people ask why I joke that I left because the food was so awful in my catered accommodation and people stare at me confused and then I explain I got depressed and at the point people would rather I’d stuck with the food. A lot of people probably think I just didn’t make any friends or that I stayed in my room too much and that’s fine because the people who matter know the truth and they were on the other end of the phone while I sat in a field crying or they were sat across from me during coffee meet ups where I explained that I never want to feel all that I felt ever again. I’m going to be extremely dramatic now but what I’m about to say feels true: University took something from me that I don’t think I will ever get back and I’m only just learning how to continue living with it’s absence. It took from me my want to be here. My need to be here. My fight and fire and insistence to be here. I lasted seven weeks which most people would say isn’t long enough but those people didn’t do what I did and those people didn’t see what I saw. I met some incredible people and I met some not so great ones. I met some sympathetic people and some who just made comments about how I needed to eat more. And now I’m back home. I am a classic eighteen year old sponging off mum and dad. And despite going completely mad during my last university escapade I have reapplied for the next academic year. Admittedly to do drama. To do something creative and to actually do something I am good at it, a novel idea I know. I might go or I might not and it will depend completely on how I feel. In the meantime I’m working in retail and loving it and writing a novel that I have some how not mentioned yet in this article which is a miracle because I’ve been talking about it since I was twelve. So I left. I didn’t drop out. I didn’t drop anything at all. I wasn’t pushed out the door by my depression nor is anyone who leaves. People leave because they want too. Because they see that maybe, despite societies vast and insistent claims, they might be happier not at university. So to anyone who is thinking about leaving university my honest advice: If you want too then do. I don’t regret it and it was one of the best decisions of my life but mainly it was maybe the only decision of my life that was completely and selfishly about me. So this next year I guess I will just continue being sad some times and then having dawning realisations as Kylie Jenner said, “2016 is the year of realising stuff” and I will continue to realise stuff through to 2017. Thanks Kylie.

#article #spilled ink #spilled thoughts #spilled words #writing #university #durham #durham university #depression #mental health #mental illness #drop out of school #anxiet #panic attack

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life-in-every-limb · 5 years

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John and I were married thirty years ago today, at 12:30 p.m. to be precise. To celebrate our anniversary and to reflect on what all those years have meant, I am sharing one picture from each year, with commentary.

August 12, 1989, as we emerged from Immaculate Conception Church in downtown Knoxville, immediately after the ceremony. Like any newly married couple, we were starting a journey that we couldn’t have imagined or predicted. We were 23 and 22 when this picture was taken.

April 1990, at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C. John and I met at Georgetown University, and lived in Alexandria, Virginia just outside D.C. for most of our first year of marriage. John, who graduated in 1988, was already working as a Federal Investigator and I found a job as Secretary of Georgetown’s Department of History.

Fall 1991. A lot happened in a year and a half! We learned we were expecting our first baby. We decided to move to Knoxville to establish residency so John could attend the University of Tennessee College of Law. We left good jobs in D.C. for no jobs in Knoxville and settled into a two-bedroom apartment, I found a job as Secretary of the Liberal Arts Advising Center. John worked in the UT Traffic Office by day and sold shoes at Proffitt’s (a local, now defunct department store) by night. Emily was born in February 1991, and John started law school later that year. We have never regretted this decision.

February 16, 1992, dressed to go out to celebrate our 5th dating anniversary. We still celebrate that day every year. At this point we were living on a combination of student loans and part-time jobs. John was making fundraising phone calls for Tennessee Right to Life and I was the Foster Care Promotional Coordinator for Sertoma Learning Center. Later that year John started working as a law clerk. Childcare for Emily was cobbled together: my little sister watched her all summer, my grandmother helped once my sister was back in school, I brought her with me when possible, and she spent one day a week in a Parents Day Out downtown. I hated having to leave her.

July 1993, New Orleans, where we were taking part in Katrice and Rico’s wedding. Katrice was one of my best friends in high school. She and Rico are godparents to our oldest son, and we celebrated their son’s college graduation with them earlier this month. What I remember about this day is that I was hot and miserable and suffering from morning sickness. John was getting ready to start his third year of law school and I was preparing to return to grad school and my Graduate Assistant position in the College of Liberal Arts.

May 1994, John’s graduation from law school! I love this picture. We were very popular in law school because students with babies were rare and ours were spoiled by all our friends. Jake was three months old when John graduated. And he was four months old when we found out we were expecting another baby, just days before John took the bar exam. Thankfully he passed and landed a job in Oak Ridge reviewing OSHA regulations shortly afterwards. I was able to quit my job and have never worked outside the home since.

Easter 1995, a classic picture and one of my favorites of all time. Teddy arrived when Jake was 12.5 months old. He had only learned to walk about two weeks earlier. Two babies at once were a lot to handle and most of that first year is a blur.

Christmas 1996. We still had two babies in diapers (and two cribs!) but we also had our first house! A year in a dreadful two-and-a-half bedroom apartment after Teddy arrived spurred us onward to home ownership and we loved our sweet 1940s house in South Knoxville.

Halloween 1997. The kids were two, three, and six. They spent most of their time outside, and I spent a lot of time outside as well, having discovered a love of gardening. By now John had his own solo practice, and I did (and still do) very part-time grant writing and editing for my mother’s non-profit organizing work.

February 4, 1998, John’s 32nd and Emily’s 7th birthday celebration. Looking back now, those years of being overwhelmed by the needs of little kids seem like the golden years. It was hard, but it was simpler.

February 1999. The date is a guess, but this was taken at a restaurant at what was probably a birthday celebration and we have four of those at this time every year. I make a lot of cakes for awhile!

January 2000, dressed for church. Teddy’s hat came from a New Year’s Eve celebration John and I had attended at Club LeConte.

March 2001. And then there were four! The arrival of William was exciting but rough, as I had postpartum hypertension and had to remain in bed for about a month after he was born, with ten-year-old Emily taking care of her brothers when John was at work. We were beginning to be very cramped in our 1400 square foot house and our Mercury Sable. Both were replaced later in the year.

Christmas 2002. When the big kids were little, every December meant a trip to the portrait studio for Christmas pictures to insert in our Christmas cards. By this time I was taking a roll of film with my own camera and then sending triple prints. The closest family members got the worst pictures! Here the kids are standing in front of the house where we had lived for just over a year, a 3000 square foot Queen Anne Victorian built in 1889, in a non-gentrified but walkable neighborhood just a couple of miles from John’s office downtown.

August 2003, the big kids’ first day of school. It was the last year they would all attend St. Joseph School together. Jake was in third grade, Teddy in second, and Emily in sixth, but Jake and Teddy were both homeschooled for their fourth grade year.

November 2004, Lorelei’s first trip to church. We didn’t know it then, but she would be our last baby and the last family member to get to wear John’s heirloom baby dress.

Christmas 2005 marked the end of a hard year that included periods of unemployment, financial difficulties, and John’s hospitalization. Looking back now I can see that it was the only beginning of the most difficult period in our family’s life so far.

September 2006, celebrating my mother’s birthday. This photo includes Ella and Zachary, my sister Anne’s children. Ella is 17 months younger than William and Zachy is 17 months older, and they grew up playing together.

Spring 2007. William is wearing his St. Joseph School uniform. Kindergarten was his only year in Catholic school. He spent the next year at the public school down the street, then was homeschooled for several years while I struggled to figure out why he wasn’t as easy to teach as Jake and Teddy had been. We called the back stairs in our kitchen the “snack steps” because that’s where I would sit the little kids to eat something while I was cooking. You can see evidence in this picture that our old house was starting to crumble a bit.

May 2008, Jake’s graduation from 8th grade, taken next to Holy Ghost Church. We were all smiles, and very proud of Jake who graduated with straight A’s and won some academic awards, but I was putting on a brave face. The day before this I was in the hospital undergoing outpatient surgery after having miscarried our last baby.

November 2009. I’m not sure who snapped this picture of John and me the afternoon of our move into a new home. It wasn’t a happy move, springing from financial necessity of being upside-down on the mortgage of our disintegrating but much-loved Victorian home. But I love that the picture shows us supporting each other.

May 2010, Jake’s first prom. I love this picture for the personality it shows, but also because it was a bright spot in an otherwise difficult stretch where John and Jake (who have a great relationship now) did not get along well at all. Something else noteworthy about 2010 is that it is when I became John’s legal assistant, working from home to run his office.

September 6, 2011. Our rental house had just burned down and we lost almost every material possession. Thanks to the overwhelming kindness of our family and community, we were able to move into the home in which we still live three weeks later.

Fall 2012, Senior Night. John and I are not athletic, and our kids showed no interest in sports until Teddy wanted to play football in 8th grade. It was all new and exciting to us and we thoroughly enjoyed those few years as football parents.

May 2013, Emily’s college graduation. Emily attended Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama, graduating with a degree in Creative Writing. We thoroughly enjoyed our many visits to Mobile, where my mother’s family has roots, especially the seafood! Just a couple of months later, we sent another kid off to college as Teddy began his freshman year at the University of Notre Dame.

August 12, 2014, a 25th anniversary selfie. This was taken at Club LeConte, a fancy restaurant on the 27th floor of Knoxville’s tallest building.

July 2015, in a Chicago skyscraper more deserving of the name. We were in town to attend a wedding and to visit Teddy, who was doing a summer internship there.

March 2016, a Spring Break trip to Chattanooga. Traveling was starting to get easier. On our last family trip with all five kids, we had to take two cars and book three motel rooms.

May 2017, Teddy’s graduation from Notre Dame.

March 24, 2018, our first wedding. Jake and Jessica were married at Frozen Head State Park. Six months later, they moved to Nashville.

July 2019, our first cruise. We sailed on Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas to Bermuda, in honor of our upcoming anniversary. I haven’t blogged about the cruise but I plan to. It was wonderful and we deserved it.

“[Love] is the unity that binds us all together, that makes this earth a family, and all men brothers and the sons of God.” ~ Thomas Wolfe

The post Thirty Years: A Marriage in Pictures appeared first on Life in Every Limb.

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oselatra · 6 years

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Visionary Arkansans 2018: Stacey McAdoo

Transformative teacher.

Long before Stacey McAdoo was a communications teacher at Little Rock's Central High School — let alone the 2019 Arkansas Teacher of the Year — she was a poet. In the mid-'90s, having just graduated from Hall High School, she and her future husband, Leron, began self-publishing a magazine intended to serve as a platform for fellow creatives, especially people of color. They put out a call for submissions, cut-and-pasted together their book by hand and were soon running off copies at a 24-hour Kinkos. They dubbed it "The Writeous."

"When you talk about underrepresented people, one of the things we are underrepresented in is media, and the ability to tell our story," McAdoo said. "A lot of poets wanted to have a place to share their voice, and we filled that niche."

"Fast forward: When I became an educator, I took that same concept and brought it to the classroom," she said. "So I am now the founder and sponsor of the Writeous Poetry Club ... and the Writeous has transformed from a magazine to a youth-oriented poetry collective."

Since McAdoo started the club in 2002 — her first year at Central and her first year teaching — at least 50 students have participated each year, writing and performing original material at open mics, concerts and on "The Writeous Hour," a radio show she co-produces on local station KWCP-FM, 98.9. Kids learn new skills, build creative projects of their own and travel to other cities. "We also do workshops around Arkansas and the country, teaching other people, other youth, how to use and find their voice," she said. (Leron, who's better known around town as the multitalented performer, writer and artist Ron Mc, remains an integral part of "The Writeous.")

The state's teacher of the year is a product of the Little Rock School District. McAdoo grew up in Southwest Little Rock, where she attended Baseline Elementary and Cloverdale Elementary, then went on to Henderson Middle School and Hall. McAdoo received a B.A. in professional and technical writing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

Though she always knew she wanted to be a teacher, she brushed those thoughts aside after graduating. The teaching profession was losing the esteem it had once enjoyed in society, McAdoo said; the message she received from her peers and community was that the classroom wasn't the place for her. Instead, she found a comfortable job at Alltel as an administrative assistant and started a family.

Then, her brother died in a car accident, "and I realized then that life was too short for me to not do what I felt I was supposed to do," McAdoo said. "I quit my job, cut my hair off, and enrolled in ... a master's program [at UA Monticello]." As a first-year teacher, she said, she saw a drop in both pay and health benefits compared to her secretarial job at Alltel.

McAdoo arrived at Central the same year as its principal, Nancy Rousseau. She's been teaching communications at the school ever since. She's also taught AVID, or Advancement Via Individual Determination, a college-readiness program for students who are typically the first in their families to go to college since 2007. "I'm their teacher 9th-12th grade," she said. The purpose of AVID is to equip students with the "soft skills" they need to navigate adult life and "discover the hidden curriculum" in college and beyond. "We, as in society, basically operate from a middle-class white person's perspective, and we assume everyone's experience matches that," she said.

As Teacher of the Year, McAdoo will receive a $14,000 award sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation. Beginning in July 2019, she'll spend a sabbatical year of service traveling the state and the nation, speaking with teachers and doing professional development. McAdoo will also have a nonvoting seat on the state Board of Education — the body that took over the Little Rock School District in 2015 and has controlled it for the last four years.

McAdoo said she "has a lot of thoughts" about education policy and the LRSD, but she's not yet sure how she'll leverage her newfound status. "I'm just looking and trying to see where my place is," she said. Was she surprised to be selected for the honor? McAdoo laughed. "In light of who I am, and in light of today's climate — yeah, it's real interesting!" she said.

In general, McAdoo isn't shy about expressing her views. Sixteen years ago, as a newly minted teacher, she was skeptical of the emphasis placed on standardized testing by No Child Left Behind, the federal education law. She recalls saying as much to Rousseau during her first interview. Today, she said, "I still think standardized testing is — the word I want to use is 'wack.' ... Because there's no standard child. The whole premise of testing students to whatever this norm is, it's ridiculous." In her classroom, she said, "I close my door and I've done what I thought was best for the children. I teach pretty much the way I wish I had been taught — and/or the way that I think my biological children need." (She and Ron have a daughter who's now a senior at Central and a son who attends Tennessee State University; her daughter is an accomplished poet in her own right.)

Though she's proud of her work in the classroom, McAdoo considers the Writeous Poetry Club her "most valuable contribution ... to society" because it takes a group of kids and "helps validate them as thinkers."

"My platform as Teacher of the Year is using passion and poetry to close the opportunity gap," she said. "You have a core group of students, for the most part from inner-city Little Rock ... spending their time sitting around writing and re-writing and practicing. That's how you transform not just education, but a city."

Visionary Arkansans 2018: Stacey McAdoo

#Visionary Arkansans 2018: Stacey McAdoo

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heckyeahlucilleballilovelucy · 7 years

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Safe Nomad (7). Anthony Galli, USA. “Failure is not an option.”

It is very unlikely for someone aged 26 to have such thing as a “biography”. And by that I don’t mean the timeline of being born, going to school, getting a job, and partying in Ibiza or Cancun once. No. I mean it in the sense of “a life story worth telling”. Anthony Galli does have such a story and at the time of my writing this piece – some two months after I met him in Siem Reap, Cambodia – his story is still probably evolving at the same breakneck speed as always.

He was a bad student in primary school. Then he developed an attraction for history and language, two subjects in which he excelled during high school. Then he went to study Political Science. Worked for a state senator, and also a state assemblyman and at the age of 21 he even ran for local office.

Right after University, he bought an RV (Recreation Vehicle or camper van) and spent the next couple of years like a hobo, roaming across the US while making money out of temporary jobs and poker tournaments. He used this time to learn coding so he could develop an online app he had in mind. (We will get back to that later.)

When he reached the bottom of his pocket, he devised a bold plan: he would sell his vehicle and move to Asia, where the lower cost of living would give him a “longer runway” to take his project off the ground. He did as planned and for the last few months has lived, learned and worked in Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam (he moved to Ho Chi Minh just a few days ago).

Around the grapevines of Angkor Hub, the adorable and welcoming co-working space in Siem Reap, the rumor had it that Anthony would one day become a great personality of American politics. And while some may see this as over the top, one should not judge Anthony’s future by his young age or elephant-print pants; he’s got what it takes to follow the footsteps of his favorite American heroes Jefferson and Lincoln. He’s got the will, the knowledge, and – last but not least – the looks.

If this prophecy is ever proven right and this young man is a Governor, Secretary of State or even The President of the United States, remember where you saw him first: this blog.

“Bad boy Anthony”

Anthony was a bad student and a troublemaker during his early years and not because he did not want to study, but because nothing was motivating him enough to do so.

“If I’m passionate about something, I will put all my energy into it. But in primary school I found nothing attractive enough to be worth the effort. Just later, in high school, I discovered history and was amazed by the biographies of great historical figures. Even then, I was a top student in History and English and bottom of the class in Math and Science. That’s how I am: either fully committed or not giving a damn.”

His high grades eased his entry to the Political Science Department at the Binghamton University in upstate New York. Then one day he had this idea about a productivity app that could empower people to get the most out of their lives. He took it to some programmer friends, proposing that they split the ownership and profits evenly. They turned him down.

“They said they had better offers from the likes of Google or Facebook and they wouldn’t split 50-50 with me on an idea which they would work alone on, since I did not know anything about programming. I heard that a lot – that my idea was worthless and that the execution was everything.”

Passionate about his idea, he joined a tech club to learn how to code and develop the app by himself. George Washington would have done the same.

Live to Challenge

Anthony’s online app, called Live to Challenge, is a habit and goal tracker. Users create habits and goals and track them to completion. It’s also a social platform where one can set goals together with friends and helps people achieve more in life than they would do otherwise.

“Besides history and politics, I was passionate about self-improvement books and blogs. I’ve found all the information really helpful, but I felt that there was no good app out there to help implement the advice. You read, you say wow, this is great, I’m gonna do it, then you completely forget about it.

I think the more people use my app the better they will become so I want as many people as possible to sign up for it. Once the app gets bigger I can turn it into a business with real employees, I would like to build it into a big tech business to help as many people as possible to build a life around it.

I am willing to give everything it takes to make this successful because there comes a time when you have invested so much in something that failure is not an option.”

Anthony’s life philosophy: how to be hugely successful in the future.

“In today’s economy everything is about skills. People in their 20s should focus on developing their skills. Many millennials were like once I finish college I am going for the best paying job.

This best paying job could be a bartender, for example, because you make good money in tips. That’s a good job if you’re twenty-something, but how are you going to position yourself through your 40s and 50s?

I followed a different strategy; I worked less so I could learn more and therefore better position myself to be hugely successful in the future.

What I do now is a stepping stone, part of my guiding philosophy which is all about empowering the individual, specifically empowering people to live better lives.”

How technology unleashes creativity

“We had an industrial revolution that turned people from using their muscles to using their bodies as a whole and now we turn to an economy focused on using the mind. Everything is going to be more creative in nature; whatever idea you have, the technology offers the possibility to make it a reality. Creativity will be highly encouraged and empowered.

Technology allows me to turn my vision into reality, I can focus more on my vision than selling it as I would have had to 10 years ago. Nowadays I can do a lot more by myself.

Technology has always given a lot of people freedom and will continue to do so because now freeing the mind is possible in ways never seen before.”

Doing his thing, feeling protected

“I don’t recommend the digital nomad lifestyle to everyone because it’s risky living abroad on savings to build a business.

In my case, my desire for success is greater than my fear of failure.

Some want security from work and derive their meaning from other pursuits, like family, recreation, hobbies, church or philanthropy. That’s more of a working to live philosophy.

I live to work. I spend most of my time working, but it’s out of passion and dedication and it makes me feel good. I know my work has a lot of meaning. When I wake up in the morning I’m more like I can’t wait to work! There is excitement, there is something I have in mind and I want it accomplished. I feel my best when I know I’ve accomplished something. Every day I’m looking to accomplish something and if I don’t, I feel like I’ve failed.

Life is not about living quietly by the beach. For me, as crazy as it sounds, life is about making the world better because you were here.”

He did not blink when he said that.

from HOTforSecurity http://ift.tt/2w2GDMd

#HOTforSecurity

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joie-university-rp · 5 years

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Dear KARA MENKINS,

It is with great pleasure we invite you admission to Joie University! Welcome to the Thunderclap family!

Congratulations, KRISTINA! Please be sure to check the New Members’ Checklist and send in your character’s account within 24 hours from now. We cannot wait to see all that you will bring to this roleplay! We love you already!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias; preferred pronouns: Kristina, she/her

Age, Timezone: 29, CST

Activity, short explanation: I am usually on if I am not a work or those rare ocassions that I have a life

Ships: Chemistry

Anti-Ships: No chemistry, forced

Triggers: RFP

Preferred photo for Character’s ID (please give a link):

Anything else:

IC INFORMATION:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): Kara Hazel Menkins

FC: Katie Stevens

Age/Year at University: 22/Senior

Birth date: October 1

Hometown (please be sure to check the hometowns listed for characters your muse is related to!): Dallas, TX

Gender/Pronouns: Female, she/her

Sexuality: Bisexual

Major(s): Journalism

Minor(s) [optional]: Songwriting

Housing request (remember, only the president of a Greek Organization is required to live at a Greek House to be in it!): Sylvester Apartment 243

Extracurriculars (Click here for the list. Be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, secretary, etc.] If something isn’t listed, please put it here and we will add it to the masterlist!): LGBT+ Association(Vice-president), Glee Club, Joie Newspaper(Editor-in-chief), Yearbook committee, I’m All Ears, Peer Listening Group

Greek Life Affiliation [optional] (Please be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, pledge educator, etc.] or if your character is not yet a member, but plans to rush):

CHARACTER PROFILE:

Kara spent the first few years of her life barely seeing her dad. She was never one to shy away from questioning her mom why her dad was never around, even if the answer was always the same ‘he was away being a big time recruiter’. When he did return when she was five and of course, asked him. He said the same thing their mom did, and being the small child she was and just wanting to believe it wasn’t anything more, she believed him. After that she became a total daddy’s girl and always wanted to spend time with him to make up for the lost 5 years. At least up until when she was 13 when she began to question things even more. She put some distance between them and lost her trust in her dad, just from the gut feeling her dad had been lying to her and Cole their whole lives. She won’t say her dad treated her and her brother badly, she just can’t trust someone absent for such a long period of time and use an excuse that sounds flimsy but she felt it was useless asking again because she was sure the same lie would be told every time.

Like her brother, Kara was a bit of an overachiever. She joined as many clubs as she could in school and would cry if she made less than an A on anything in school. She was never athletic so while she wanted to play a sport to impress their famous recruiter dad, it was just never something she could do so she gave up on that. She got into writing instead, realizing that was her real gift.

Kara was a little bit of an attention hog, at least as a small child(although that didn’t fully go away as she got older). Rumor has it, or as her mom told her, she threw a fit when Cole was born just a few days after her second birthday because she didn’t want to share her birthday season or attention with him. She ended up growing close to him, but even then she was happier when the attention was on her. Even when they did little musical performances for the family, she tried to make sure the spotlight was on her. Didn’t always succeed considering her brother was more talented than her but that didn’t stop her from trying.

STUDENT CENSUS SURVEY:

(Please answer the following questions IN CHARACTER. Responses can be as long or short as you see fit!)

What made you want to attend Joie University?It seemed like a great school with a great writing program and lots of extra curricular activities.

What are at least 3 positive or neutral and at least 3 negative traits that you believe you possess? Positive: Hardworking, kind, logical Negative: Stubborn, Envious, Hesitant

Which of your traits do you value most? I value the fact that I am logical and hardworking, and even if it is a negative trait, I value the fact that I am hesitant, it keeps me from being disappointed and hurt by other people.

How can that trait benefit the University (or its student body) as a whole?I don’t know how it would value the student body but I believe me being hardworking and kind could possibly bring good things to the school if I try hard enough.

What do you hope to gain from your experience at JU? I hope to gain even more knowledge of my writing abilities to help me become the best journalist I could be after I graduate.

What is a quote or song lyric that describes you? ““And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

#Accepted

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joie-university-rp · 5 years

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Dear, SOMER RAINAULT,

It is with great pleasure we invite you admission to Joie University! Welcome to the Thunderclap family!

–

Congratulations, PANYA/NAIENKO! Please be sure to check the New Members’ Checklist and send in your character’s account within 24 hours from now. We cannot wait to see all that you will bring to this roleplay! We love you already!

OOC INFORMATION:

Name/Alias; preferred pronouns: Panya/Naienko, she/her

Age, Timezone: 38, Central US

Activity, short explanation: activity will probably spike every two to three days; I’m currently job hunting and therefore will probably have higher activity for a few weeks before settling into a steady schedule.

Ships: -shrug- not picky.

Anti-Ships: n/a

Triggers: RFP

Preferred photo for Character’s ID (please give a link): https://66.media.tumblr.com/83deb61f023e46afd05185060a910722/tumblr_p5i4yizzjS1vjilajo1_400.jpg

Anything else: I just want to tell stories with Somer

IC INFORMATION:

Full Name (First, Middle, Last): Somer Michael Rainault

FC: Tanner Patrick

Age/Year at University (Freshman [1st Year], Sophomore, Junior, Senior, or Graduate Student): 20/Sophomore

Birth date: Aug 17

Hometown (please be sure to check the hometowns listed for characters your muse is related to!): Nashville, TN

Gender/Pronouns: male / he/him

Sexuality: bi (closeted)

Major(s): English/Creative Writing

Minor(s) [optional]: Philosophy

Housing request (remember, only the president of a Greek Organization is required to live at a Greek House to be in it!): Schuester 107

Extracurriculars (Click here for the list. Be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, secretary, etc.] If something isn’t listed, please put it here and we will add it to the masterlist!): swim team. If there was a book club or philosophy club he would join it, and is thinking about starting one.

Greek Life Affiliation [optional] (Please be sure to specify any executive board positions [i.e. president, pledge educator, etc.] or if your character is not yet a member, but plans to rush): n/a

CHARACTER PROFILE:

[At least] 3 Headcanons for your character: Somer is a quiet, studious kind of guy, who is only just now discovering his interest in men as well as women. He likes to read a lot of science fiction or fantasy, and dreams of being a published writer. He also watches the same kind of shows, and movies, and has been known to dress up as Iron Man or Captain America for Hallowe'en. He hates cold weather, and revels in the sunshine, and can be found outside pretty much any time the sun is shining and it’s above 70F.

STUDENT CENSUS SURVEY:

(Please answer the following questions IN CHARACTER. Responses can be as long or short as you see fit!)

What made you want to attend Joie University? There aren’t that many schools who offer a major in Creative Writing. My mom has always been deeply involved in my life, and I wanted to go somewhere a bit farther away to discover who I am.

What are at least 3 positive or neutral and at least 3 negative traits that you believe you possess? I’m very quick and smart. I’m friendly and caring. I try to put others’ needs and desires before my own. I have a short temper, and I don’t deal well with deliberate ignorance. I’m shy and not at all outgoing. I don’t think highly of myself at all.

Which of your traits do you value most? How much I care about other people, even people I’ve never met.

How can that trait benefit the University (or its student body) as a whole? I expect to help my classmates master the material we’re taught, and encourage them no matter what their skill level is.

What do you hope to gain from your experience at JU? I want to learn who I am out from under all the expectations and ingrained attitudes I faced at home. I want to become a skilled writer, and I want to make actual friends for life. It would be nice to meet someone special, but I don’t really expect that.

What is a quote or song lyric that describes you? “Kind people are not born that way, they do not stumble into it, kind people are forged in fire and darkness and imploding stars…they have steel cores. Throw a punch and you’re going to break your hand.”

#accepted

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