#Pre AP English 9

[dreamdolldeveloper]

back to basics

mostly free resources to help you learn the basics that i've gathered for myself so far that i think are cool

everyday

gcfglobal - about the internet, online safety and for kids, life skills like applying for jobs, career planning, resume writing, online learning, today's skills like 3d printing, photoshop, smartphone basics, microsoft office apps, and mac friendly. they have core skills like reading, math, science, language learning - some topics are sparse so hopefully they keep adding things on. great site to start off on learning.

handsonbanking - learn about finances. after highschool, credit, banking, investing, money management, debt, goal setting, loans, cars, small businesses, military, insurance, retirement, etc.

bbc - learning for all ages. primary to adult. arts, history, science, math, reading, english, french, all the way to functional and vocational skills for adults as well, great site!

education.ket - workplace essential skills

general education

mathsgenie - GCSE revision, grade 1-9, math stages 1-14, provides more resources! completely free.

khan academy - pre-k to college, life skills, test prep (sats, mcat, etc), get ready courses, AP, partner courses like NASA, etc. so much more!

aleks - k-12 + higher ed learning program. adapts to each student.

biology4kids - learn biology

cosmos4kids - learn astronomy basics

chem4kids - learn chemistry

physics4kids - learn physics

numbernut - math basics (arithmetic, fractions and decimals, roots and exponents, prealgebra)

education.ket - primary to adult. includes highschool equivalent test prep, the core skills. they have a free resource library and they sell workbooks. they have one on work-life essentials (high demand career sectors + soft skills)

youtube channels

the organic chemistry tutor

khanacademy

crashcourse

tabletclassmath

2minmaths

kevinmathscience

professor leonard

greenemath

mathantics

3blue1brown

literacy

readworks - reading comprehension, build background knowledge, grow your vocabulary, strengthen strategic reading

chompchomp - grammar knowledge

tutors

not the "free resource" part of this post but sometimes we forget we can be tutored especially as an adult. just because we don't have formal education does not mean we can't get 1:1 teaching! please do you research and don't be afraid to try out different tutors. and remember you're not dumb just because someone's teaching style doesn't match up with your learning style.

cambridge coaching - medical school, mba and business, law school, graduate, college academics, high school and college process, middle school and high school admissions

preply - language tutoring. affordable!

revolutionprep - math, science, english, history, computer science (ap, html/css, java, python c++), foreign languages (german, korean, french, italian, spanish, japanese, chinese, esl)

varsity tutors - k-5 subjects, ap, test prep, languages, math, science & engineering, coding, homeschool, college essays, essay editing, etc

chegg - biology, business, engineering/computer science, math, homework help, textbook support, rent and buying books

learn to be - k-12 subjects

for languages

lingq - app. created by steve kaufmann, a polygot (fluent in 20+ languages) an amazing language learning platform that compiles content in 20+ languages like podcasts, graded readers, story times, vlogs, radio, books, the feature to put in your own books! immersion, comprehensible input.

flexiclasses - option to study abroad, resources to learn, mandarin, cantonese, japanese, vietnamese, korean, italian, russian, taiwanese hokkien, shanghainese.

fluentin3months - bootcamp, consultation available, languages: spanish, french, korean, german, chinese, japanese, russian, italian.

fluenz - spanish immersion both online and in person - intensive.

pimsleur - not tutoring** online learning using apps and their method. up to 50 languages, free trial available.

incase time has passed since i last posted this, check on the original post (not the reblogs) to see if i updated link or added new resources. i think i want to add laguage resources at some point too but until then, happy learning!!

#study #education resources #resources #learning #language learning #math #english languages #languages #japanese #mandarin #arabic #italian #computer science #wed design #coding #codeblr #fluency #online learning #learn #digital learning #education #studyinspo #study resources #educate yourselves #self improvement #mathematics #mathblr #resource

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

They're here!

The geometry workbook is by a different author, and the pre-calc workbook has a different co-author, but all the rest are matching sets.

My plan is to go back to school next year to get a second bachelor's degree in astrophysics, a dream of mine that I abandoned in my freshman year because I was lazy and depressed and burned out. I eventually graduated with a BA in English, which is by far the greatest regret of my life. After 4½ years of doing nothing but complain about it and wallow in what could have been, I decided last month to get my ass in gear and commit to the field I originally intended back in 2014.

It's been 9 years since I graduated high school, and I've forgotten pretty much everything beyond simple geometry and a vague awareness of trigonometric functions (I've retained no calculus whatsoever). If I'm going to pursue astrophysics, I'm not only going to need to relearn all this math, I'm going to need to master it. I can't just eke by with a passing C, I need to know every subject backwards and forwards while blindfolded. I already have the pre-req credits to get into the advanced math and physics classes for the major, I just need to refresh myself. I was able to pass trig and AP calc and physics back when I was a punkass teenager, I'm sure I can do it again now that I actually give a shit.

I procrastinated all throughout May because I didn't know if I had it in me to master seven courses in one year, but the workbooks all arrived this morning and now I'm feeling a lot better about my chances. Flipping through algebra 1, I've encountered nothing but softball questions like "which is bigger, -5 or -2?" and "find coordinate (1,3) on this graph." I have no doubt in my mind that this is going to be an absolute cakewalk. Like riding a bike, it'll all come back to me as I work my way through it. I can knock out algebra 1 in a few days, two weeks tops, but I'm less confident in my latent geometry skills, so the cakewalk will serve mostly to temper myself for the challenges ahead. If I jumped right into the hard parts, I'd get overwhelmed and give up like I my first time around, so I need to start small.

I'll be deriving and integrating in no time!

#math #my plan #algebra #geometry #trigonometry #calculus #trig #precalc #calc #high school #college #university #wish me luck

[blankingbloom]

5/26/24

Dear Angelica (aka future me),

Hey! How are you? Before I start my thousands of questions, let me first say, congratulations on graduating and finishing your senior year of high school!!! this must be a bittersweet moment for you, as I am experiencing this at the moment as a junior watching the grades above me graduate and do senior activities. Graduating is a once in a lifetime moment, not everybody gets to graduate due to unfortunate circumstances, but congratulations! Thank you so much for staying strong, the k-12 system is literally horrible lol. I just wanted to say, I (17 year old Angelica) will forever be within you. I am you, but I want you to have no regrets or wising to be me because “life was so carefree” 💀💀 naw it’s not I’m suffering rn lmfao I have 3 summer classes, a job to juggle and volunteer opportunities to catch up on and college apps 😿 whomp whomp. I so desperately want to be you right now! It may feel insufferable at the moment and you feel lots of bittersweet feelings and loneliness being unleashed from hell (prison) (kleinisd) (kleinhigh); you should know that there is a whole chapter ahead of you and you’ve achieved a milestone! When something ends, a new opportunity arises. I hope you’ll feel better soon, knowing how I feel now will probably affect you 10x deeper (you’ll understand). Highschool for me was no fun adventure; I was barely sociable, barely any friends (like a few ofc I’m not a loser), I felt like I wasn’t on track to be my genuine real self anytime soon, but you have the opportunity to change that through college. I need you to be stronger for me until we get our masters in compsci 💀. Be an academic weapon once more for us plz!! I know you want that so bad. I know our experience wasn’t the best, especially during covid and certain situations, but there is a whole life ahead of us, that is depending on our actions. I trust us to keep it up! BTW Im missing a ton of the 2023 seniors, I can’t believe that it’s real. It low key hurt seeing everyone I had classes with especially in financial math, english, photography, and a&p graduate. It’s so bittersweet it low key hurt my feelings, especially seeing everyone I grew up with who were a grade above me. I don’t want to forget them at all, I want to remember who they are! I never peaked in high school, but I’m never going to see these people again, unless it’s by a rare chance someday, I doubt they would recognize me. I guess I just grew attached. Anyways, I have some questions LOL.

1. What is our plan after graduating Highschool? What college are we going to?

2. Did we end up submitting any of our SAT/ACT scores?

3. What’s your favorite song currently?

4. Are we still dating Ben?

5. Did we make any new friends?

6. What is your college essay about?

7. What made us stronger?

8. How was senior year? Was it any easier taking AP classes? Do we understand pre-calc?

9. Do we still want to take comp sci?

10. What happened to your H‑E‑B job?

11. Did we get any stoles/cords for graduation or not?

12. What was our final Highschool GPA?

13. What’s our class schedule?

14. What do we look like now? Do I still have short hair? Do I still look gay?

15. Can we crochet with greater experience?

16. What’s your biggest worry?

17. Are you happy?

Thank you for reading this!! Respond to my questions soon. Goodbye! I will always be within you.

Sincerely, Angelica

____________________________________________________________

REPLY:

Hi Baby Angelica!

Since you're from the past, I have so so so much to catch you up on. Time flies by when you're consistently stressed out. But don't worry! I will answer your millions of questions first! Then we can actually discuss :)

1. What is our plan after graduating Highschool? What college are we going to?

A: We are doing Computer Engineering! After hours and hours of research, I wanted you to have opportunities in both the computer science and electrical engineering fields. I want you to have a lot of pathways so you can have tons of money and opportunities! We are going to UT Dallas. We got CAPPED from UT Austin and UW-Seattle was way out of our budget sadly. Maybe someday my love :(

2. Did we end up submitting any of our SAT/ACT scores?

A: Hell no, they were too low LMFAO

3. What’s your favorite song currently?

A: Talk by Beabadoobee, Antihero by Taylor Swift, any MSI song

4. Are we still dating Ben?

A: Yes <3

5. Did we make any new friends?

A: YES! We aren't friends with.. those girl(s) anymore. They were bad for you. WE HAVE MORE GENUINE AND KIND FRIENDS!! There is a whole world out there waiting for you. I love my friends.

6. What is your college essay about?

A: Bugs. In the UT Austin essays, we wrote about photography, allergies, tamagotchis, etc.

7. What made us stronger?

A: Learning to adapt, spreading love, reading people, putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations in order to grow. Being with likeminded people!

8. How was senior year? Was it any easier taking AP classes? Do we understand pre-calc?

A: PRE CAL WAS MY MOST HATED SUBJECT. It is so fricking hard I dont think I ever understood the concepts. The AP Classes had lots of work in it but you managed your time fine and it was never that serious anyways (except AP 2D art) that sucked a lot. Senior year was shit im not even gonna lie. I didn't even attend like 98% of the events LOL. Fuck no I am not going back!

9. Do we still want to take comp sci?'

A: Computer Engineering babe dont sweat it

10. What happened to your H‑E‑B job?

A: OUR LAST DAY WAS TODAYYYYYYYY

11. Did we get any stoles/cords for graduation or not?

A: One stole for NHS, one stole for DUDU CREDIT!

12. What was our final Highschool GPA?

A: 4.6/6.0 LMFAOOO

13. What’s our class schedule?

A: -1st period: Late Arrival (Used to be Photography 4)

A: -2nd: AP Art History

A: -3rd: Photojournalism/Office Aide

A: -4th: AP Psychology/Interpersonal Studies

A: -5th: AP 2D Art

A: -6th: AP Pre-Cal (idk how u survived but girl... never again)

A: -7th: Early Release

14. What do we look like now? Do I still have short hair? Do I still look gay?

A: You got the short hair back and we still look gay asf. We have new pink glasses though and they're see through! We still have bangs. Shit load of stretch marks though smh. Im like 115 pounds now.

15. Can we crochet with greater experience?

A: fuck no

16. What’s your biggest worry?

A: If my roommates will like me, I'll feel lonelier, money, If ill be smart enough for college, if my friends now will still want to hang out with me :(

17. Are you happy?

A: I could be happier but I am okay! Not stressed right now :)

[werk4007]

09/07/23 Hii! I’m ree (she/her) and I am a high school student taking the honors track. Some classes I’m in: chemistry, pre calculus, English, French, and AP US history. My first day of school was yesterday, and I’m still working on getting on track w/ schoolwork and hobbies.

I’m creating this as motivation to keep studying and become more productive and efficient (I STRUGGLED with that last year)

Some things about me:

My favorite color is green

I’ve been a Harry Potter fan since I was 9 (I’m anti-TERF though)

I love Six of Crows and I will ship Wesper and Kanej until the day I die.

I play the flute and the piano!!

That’s it!

Ps: did u drink water today?

#studying #studyblr #study blog #study motivation #high school

[xamdsona]

City Heights Academy

School for gifted students ( aka rich students)

8 classes a day, and 4 days a week

( Monday through Thursday)

9 a.m to 4:30 p.m

Grade 8-12

AP and Honors classes are available for all students.

Bully-free and drug-free campus.

Classes include:

Algebra 1      Algebra  2

Geometry      Trigonometry 

Pre-Calc          Calculus

Statistics         AP Algebra

Honors English 8  Honors English 1

Honors English 2   Honors English 3

Honors English 4    AP English

History 1      History 2

Civics           Advanced Civics

Honors History   Ap History

World History

 Science 8    Physical Science

Biology        Chemistry

Physics       Biochemistry

Engineering  Marine Biology

Zoology        Computer science

Art   Art History

Sculpting   Photography

Home EC   P.E

German    French

Spanish     Japanese

Honors German  Honors French

Honor Spanish  Honors Japanese

Ap French      Ap Spanish

Marketing  Business Law

Accounting 1   Accounting 2

Entrepreneurship Business ethics

Economics

Creative Writing  Study hall 

Individual studies

Music   Band

Choir     Music History

Our Facilities

Our Cafeteria can seat up to 500 inside and 100 people outside. It accommodates most common food allergies, vegetarians, vegans, and those with religious restrictions. We have an ice cream machine, a deli, a marketplace so our students can learn about other cultures and economics, and a Club coffee outlet, so we never have to be tired during class.

Our library has 6000+ book titles available on paper or digitally. We always provide our students with the latest scientific journals, novels, audiobooks, encyclopedias, and magazines. We have the most advanced computers and tablets for research purposes

Our stadium has real grass for our football and soccer players, and a track for our tracksters. We also have tennis courts, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a golf course for golf and cross-country, a pool, and a shooting range for archers and sharpshooters. We also have a gym where you can lift weights and run on our elliptical machine. 

We have an excellent greenhouse, orangery, and orchard. In our greenhouse, we grow herbs, vegetables, berries, and flowers. In our orchards, we grow apples, cherries, plums, and peaches. The orangery grows oranges, blood oranges, and grapefruits.

Our auditorium can seat up to 1000 people and has state of a art sound system. Our plays, musicals, and concerts always sell out.

#oc story: It's complicated

[ground-zero-idiocies]

What the Fallout 4 Companions Teach at High School

twist on a classic post! just my opinions.

Cait: Physical Education. It lets her be insanely unhinged and keep a job.

Codsworth: Beginner Mathematics. Arithmetic, Pre-Algebra, and maybe Statistics. He loves his students, who are usually on the younger end (Grades 5, 6, and 7).

Curie: Biology, Chemistry, and Organic Chemistry. She’s a fantastic teacher, too. Always offers extra credit assignments.

Danse: Phys Ed, just like Cait. He’s a huge hardass though, and is a fucking nightmare for his students. Don’t miss a class.

Deacon: Drama!! He’s an amazing drama teacher too. Not enough money in the show’s budget? Sure, he’ll rob FBI headquarters for more!

Desdemona: She also teaches English, with an emphasis on the higher grades. Much like MacCready, she’s an almost absurdly harsh grader, but it’s all for her students’ betterment. And a college recommendation letter from her is unmatched.

Father: He teaches a course in psychology, and the course is ok. The source material is fascinating, but his lectures are often just insanely long ramblings of a nigh-insane old man.

Hancock: Chemistry. He’s an ok teacher, just fine. He wastes a ton of time talking about his Walter White days, but most of his students still pass the class with decent grades.

Gage: History. And he suuuuuuuuucks. No one is passing his class. 50 question true or false where every answer is true except for questions 8, 9, and 11? Absolutely. What a dick.

Jack Cabot: AP Chemistry and AP US history. He’s an expert in both and is an alright teacher, maybe slightly above average. His students usually don’t understand his 1800s slang though.

Longfellow: He’s that gruff history teacher who no one really loves but no one hates, either. He can be really weird and always smells like fish, but he’s an ok teacher. OR AT LEAST HE WOULD BE IF HE DIDN’T KEEP MICROWAVING TUNA SALAD IN THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE!!

MacCready: Woodshop. It’s not a graded class, but he’s hard on his students anyway. It’s not a Gage kind of hard though, he genuinely wants to see them succeed. Most of them end up pretty ok at woodworking by the end of the semester. And hey, he still has all 9 fingers!

Maxson: The bad Elder teaches US history because he refuses to pick up a book and read about any other country. Fuck him.

Nick Valentine: He would teach a Robotics class, obviously. In reality though, he would probably be Principle. He’s fair and just, but isn’t hesitant to suspend students who hurt other people. He’s generally well-liked though.

Piper: Ms. Wright is the school’s best English teacher. She only assigns good books to read, goes on impassioned rants that actually relate to the topic at hand (looking at you, Hancock) and never gives too much homework. She also runs the Journalism elective and works with Deacon on the plays in her spare time. Oh and she’s the one who keeps leaving those passive-aggressive post-it’s to Longfellow about the fish microwaving.

Preston: Mr. Garvey is a well sought-after teacher of civics and economics. He’s not the best in his department, but no one would bat an eye if yo said that he was your favorite teacher. He’s a kind man at heart and it shines through in his teaching.

Strong: Doesn’t work there anymore after kicking a kid in the ass when he fell in Dodgeball. His defense? “WEAK LITTLE MAN NO NEED LEGS.”

X6-88: Advanced (Insane) math. Calculus 2, AP trig, probably teaches grad student-level classes as definitely not mandatory for a decent grade electives. No one likes him, but he’s by far the most efficient teacher in the school, so he slides by. BUT HE’S A TOTAL BITCH. He doesn’t even eat fish, he’s allergic but he microwaves fish and blames it on Longfellow. Don’t get him wrong, Longfellow’s still responsible for like 70% of the fish incidents, but it’s not all him.

Moral of the story: STOP FUCKING MICROWAVING FISH IM GOING TO KILL YOU

#fallout #fallout 4 #fallout 4 companions #tumblr #fnv companions #companion #funny #fish #microwave #stop microwaving fish #short fix #i crave validation from strangers on the internet

[fashionbooksmilano]

Karl Schenker’s Glamorous Images - Karl Schenkers Mondäne Bildwelten

edited by Miriam Halwani

Museum Ludwig, Köln - Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Köln 2016, 208 pages, 24.5 x 30.5 cm, hardcover, English/German,  978-3-96098-020-9

euro 30,00

email if you want to buy :[email protected]

Karl Schenk­er (1886–1954): the “born por­trai­tist of el­e­gant peo­ple,” “a mas­ter of sev­er­al medi­ums,” “s­tage di­rec­tor of wo­m­en’s heads”—the press was en­thu­si­as­tic about the pho­to­graphs that made Karl Schenk­er one of the best-known so­ci­e­ty pho­to­g­ra­phers in the 1910s and ’20s. Ev­ery­body who was any­body had their por­trait tak­en in his Ber­lin stu­dio on the fa­mous Kur­fürs­ten­damm.

Af­ter all, no one made their sub­jects look bet­ter, and there was no greater mas­ter of re­touch­ing. He wrapped ac­tress­es, dancers, and so­ci­e­ty ladies in tulle and furs be­fore tak­ing their pic­ture—or he paint­ed the fur in­to the pic­ture af­ter­wards. As a pho­to­g­ra­pher, il­lus­tra­tor, pain­ter, and for a time even a sculp­tor, Schenk­er ded­i­cat­ed him­self to cre­at­ing beau­ti­ful por­traits of wo­m­en. He made use of ev­ery means of re­touch­ing, but sure­ly al­so the ris­ing cos­met­ic in­dus­try and in some cas­es pre­sum­ab­ly the equal­ly young cos­met­ic surgery. Es­pe­cial­ly wo­m­en be­came formable ma­te­rial, and Schenk­er had one goal above all: beau­ty.

Lit­tle is known about Schenk­er’s life and work. Born in 1886 in Bukov­i­na (Ro­ma­nia), he came to Ber­lin via Lviv and Mu­nich around 1912, where he estab­lished a flour­ish­ing stu­dio. In 1925 he moved to New York for five years, where he main­ly il­lus­trat­ed and paint­ed por­traits un­der the name Karol Schenk­er. Af­ter 1930, back in Ber­lin, his name ap­pears as an ad­ver­tis­ing pho­to­g­ra­pher in mag­azines. But af­ter 1934 the trail goes cold. Fac­ing per­se­cu­tion as a Jew, in 1938 he emi­grat­ed to Lon­don, where he opened a stu­dio on Re­gent Street. He died in Lon­don in 1954.

The Mu­se­um Lud­wig re­cent­ly ac­quired around 100 por­traits and is tak­ing this as an oc­ca­sion to trace Schenk­er’s life and work for the first time and to re­dis­cov­er an un­just­ly for­got­ten artist. Around 250 works will be pre­sent­ed, in­clud­ing in­ter­na­tio­n­al loans: pho­to­graph­ic por­traits of once-fa­mous wo­m­en and men, fashion and wax fig­ure pho­to­graphs, mag­azine cov­ers de­signed by Schenk­er, an orig­i­nal draw­ing, a paint­ing, movie star post­card­s—even col­lecti­ble im­ages from ci­garette pack­ages. To re­dis­cov­er Karl Schenk­er is to re­dis­cov­er a pho­to­g­ra­pher who trans­formed his mod­els in his works in­to the gla­m­orous crea­tures they want­ed to be seen as.

12/03/21

orders to:     [email protected]

ordini a:        [email protected]

twitter:         @fashionbooksmi

instagram:   fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano tumblr:          fashionbooksmilano, designbooksmilano

#Karl Schenker #1900-1945 #Portraits #Society #fashion photography #Photography Monograph #Museum Ludwig #photography exhibition catalogue #Berlin #New York #London #fashion books #fashionbooksmilano

[drjackandmissjo]

it’s nice to have a friend

previous chapter --- Chapter 2 --- next chapter

Feysand masterlist

Tiredness came crushing Feyre down like a boulder. It had been a long day, a long life, and she couldn't wait to get back into her dorm room, snuggle up in her bed and let the world disappear, even if just for a couple of hours. It was what she deserved, having let down everyone in her life with her stubbornness and uneasiness.

Despite the initial rush of relief and euphoria, everything else came rushing back into focus. The loneliness, the stress, the hunger.

Although she was the youngest of her family, she had been the only one willing to work. Her father couldn't move from the bed most days and her sisters were far too proud to get dirty hands in any situation that didn't require spending money, instead of gaining them. Feyre had managed to juggle great grades in all her AP classes in high school as well as two minimum wage jobs, one in a diner as a waitress and the other in a small arts & crafts shop. Since she had been 14, she was the only one bringing an income to the table, to make sure that they had food and a roof over their heads. Their father's small veteran pension didn't suffice anymore as soon as Nesta, her eldest sister, got into their city's most prestigious and expensive university, choosing an economics major, and money became even less when Elain, the second one, was accepted into the same university for their botanical department. Granted, they both managed to archive scholarships, Nesta with her stellar grades and Elain with a cheerleading position. But money had never been easy to begin with and even with those scholarships, Feyre still had to struggle to keep the family afloat.

Both sisters still lived into their childhood home with Feyre and their father, their mother long gone, but both claimed to be far too busy with schoolwork to help their sister economically. Feyre knew she shouldn't resent them, but every time either came to her asking for money for new expensive shoes or to go out with their friends, she couldn't do anything other than swallow the bile and give in to their demands, wondering when would come her turn to be a normal teenager and go out with her nonexistent friends.

When Feyre's time to leave high school came she was faced with a decision: community college, since she couldn't afford the one her sisters went to without selling both her kidneys and a lung, or move away to Velaris, to the other side of Prythian, where the art department offered her a full scholarship after having received her request of admission and a sample of the works she had created during high school. She would still need to work to pay her stay and maintain the nearly perfect grades she had in high school, but she knew she could do it.

As soon as the acceptance letter came alongside the papers for the scholarship, she sat both her sisters down. Nesta had started working in an office, putting in good money with a 9 to 6 routine, but Elain was still on her senior year. Fortunately for Feyre, her eldest sister seemed to understand the situation and all but kicked her out of the house as soon as September rolled around, paying herself for Elain's last year. Feyre didn't ask for anything, and neither sister gave anything.

During the summer Feyre worked still her two usual jobs and began studying for her freshman courses and her sophomores ones as well. She wanted to finish early and so she planned and rescheduled the credit units she had to take each year to be able to finish in 2.5/3 years instead of 4.

On September 1st she had packed her entire life into a couple of suitcases and kissed goodbye to her sisters as she boarded the train for a 12 hours ride to the other side of the country. A plane would've been quicker but also more expensive and she planned on saving the money, old habits dying hard.

" This feels just like leaving for Hogwarts" she had thought as the train began to move out of the station, her sisters still there to wave her goodbye one last time.

She had moved into a dorm room and began working at the library that same day, as soon as her badge began working. "Screw freshman week!" Feyre thought as she shelved books and checked them out for other students. She had heard rumors about what went down in that short period of time and it wasn't truly her cup of tea anyway.

Her roommate was a senior in fashion & merchandise named Alis, bronze skinned with long black curls that framed her face nicely. She helped Feyre settle in and brought her to a few sorority parties in the first month, dragging her despite the younger's complaints about wasted hours. Alis had laughed at that and simply replied "You don't wanna miss too much 'cause you're studying all the time, trust me."

She had met Tamlin at one of those parties. He was a sophomore and member of one of the fraternities around campus and began to hit on Feyre immediately, relentlessly. At first she was flattered, not used to guys giving her attention of any sort if it wasn't for exchanged coursework, but she still maintained herself cold and distant, not sure of how to fit him into her packed schedule. After a few months of incessant flirting, although she had brushed him off several times, she had finally caved in and they began dating. "I knew you'd come around!" he had claimed.

Their first months were incredible. He didn't bother her much nor demand too much time from her, letting her study and work. He filled her up with warmth and with him, for the first time in a long time, she didn't feel alone in the world anymore.

She enjoyed the time she spent with him, but then May came and Finals with it. Feyre couldn't move from the library, remaining there after her shift had ended and studying in one of the booths. She simply didn't have time for anything else. She had to keep all her grades up, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to remain at the university.

That was when things started to go downhill with Tamlin. They fought almost constantly due to his paranoia and her lack of availability, and yet he had chosen the worst possible moment to confess the depth of his feelings to her. They argued about her job at the library, how it was talking too much time from their relationship when it happened. Feyre felt like she was being gutted as he spoke the three words that she had never heard before in her life. "Why do you look like it's the worst thing you've ever heard?" he had demanded harshly when she hadn't replied immediately back. "Because it is" she wanted to say, but instead followed his lead, giving him empty words without meaning, because everything was better than the constant fights.

He became obsessive then, as if her void confession had flipped a switch inside of him, and demanded to know where she was almost every minute of the day.

Thankfully summer came and went, the two months a sweet reprieve as she went back home. She had ended all her compulsory freshman classes and half of the ones she was supposed to take during sophomore year and loosened a little, choosing to focus on making a little more money to be able to live comfortably in Velaris.

Then it was again September. Tamlin had picked her up from the train station and took her to a nice restaurant to make up for the ' lost time' without her during his summer in Europe. Feyre didn't particularly mind, but she also didn't like over the top romantic gestures as much as he did. Still, she kept quiet and enjoyed the nice evening, as he was back into his ' old' self, as he spoke of his travels and the people he had met and the food he had eaten. By the end of the night they didn't have much time to share how she had spent the summer working and being overall plain and boring, but she didn't mind that he hadn't asked, since she hadn't been particularly fond of telling him either.

A new school year meant a new roommate for Feyre, since Alis had graduated that summer, and whatever star was looking over her granted Feyre Morrigan.

Morrigan Gold was a beautiful soul. She was pre-law junior and had a constant real smile on her lips, her long golden hair cascading on her back in soft curls. Her tan skin and kind brown eyes gave her an aura of gentleness that very few possessed. She was truly Feyre's first real friend, not just someone to hang out with or to talk to, but someone she could see easily in her life still 50 years in the future, sipping tea and laughing on a porch, talking about everything and nothing.

"That's how you know someone's gonna stick" Mor had told her one night, coming back from Rita's, their usual club, "you imagine being old on a porch with them!" Feyre had laughed at that, claiming that she wasn't 100% sure of that reality since she couldn't imagine Tamlin ever sitting outside peacefully. That just earned her a pointed stare from the other girl, but neither commented and they changed the topic onto something easier as they stumbled back to their dorm room, completely wasted and happy. The next day brought a wicked hangover and Tamlin, pissed that she had gone out without him and that she had drunk, but Mor, bless her soul, didn't comment either. She just offered Feyre a shoulder to cry on and her comfort, swearing to cut off his balls at her command. The aspiring artist merely laughed at that through her tears, unsure of what she wanted to do herself.

But having Mor as a friend meant also that Feyre had been adopted into her Inner Circle.

Adopted by Amren Drake, the tiny terrifying senior that already had a job for the following year as an associate to teach Ancient Greek.

Adopted by Azriel Nox, Morrigan's adoptive cousins that learnt informatics and coding as if they were his mother tongue.

Adopted by Cassian Nox, Mor's other adoptive cousin that could cook a masterpiece and also ' kick some serious butt' at any given occasion.

And, finally, adopted by Rhysand Nox, Mor's actual cousin of blood. Rhys was an English major, a year older than Feyre, like everyone else in their little family. He was the type of person that one day, without a doubt, would win some prize for the things he wrote, but still had to master the art through higher education first. The only way to describe him was by calling him a 'dreamer who refused to settle into a grey reality'. He was an optimist and one of the most beautiful people Feyre had ever met, both inside and outside. Jet black hair, dark skin and a smile that could knock the socks off of a statue, he was also the most humble and down to earth guy in a mile radius. They had hit it off right away, with innocent platonic flirting and long serious talks. He knew she was with Tamlin and didn't push her boundaries. He saw the world the same way she did and she understood what he meant before he even said it.

Needless to say, when Tamlin found out who she was hanging with, he became even more paranoid than he already was. It wasn't only the fact that she hung out with males that weren't him to set him off. The thing that drove him ballistic was her closeness with Rhysand, his sworn one-sided enemy that had bested him in every class they had shared on their freshman year.

Her best and closest friend in the entire world.

She had been forced choose by Tamlin, before the Christmas break, between him and her friends, and choose to please her boyfriend and started to isolate herself little by little from her group of friends, afraid of what would have happened otherwise. After all, she had no one but Tamlin, right?

But as she came back from the free days spent at home with her sisters and father, she began to realize how lonely she was, how unhappy she had been lately. She had retorted back into her former self, into the girl that only thought about school and work, that didn't have time for friends.

Feyre decided to give their relationship more time, to wait till the finals were over and till everything was back to normal, but things never were normal to begin with.

And so, that cold February day, she cut it off in front of all her classmates and began to feel immediately better.

But now she was once again tired.

#to the stars who queue #feyre #feyre archeron #Feysand #feysand fanfictions #feyre x rhysand #feyre x rhys #feyrhys #ao3 #ao3 link #alternate universe #college/university #modern day #songfic #taylor swift song #it's nice to have a friend #inthaf #friends to lovers #acotar #acomaf #acowar #acofas

[covid-school]

The Student COVID Experience

I followed a YES Prep Southside GIANT for an entire day to see life through the eyes of a student.

At this point in the year, we’ve tried to normalize certain practices and routines, but truth is it’s just not the same. School during C*VID is...weird. I know the teacher and leader side of COVID school and its experience, but I decided to (and kind of had to) engage in a student shadowing activity to see what a student experiences and what first hand thoughts I’d experience. Below is a re-cap and reflection.

A Day in the Life of Angel, an in-person eleventh grade student at YES Prep Southside:

Approximately 8:00 a.m., Angel and I arrive to school. In the car drop-off line, Angel and I both are required to have our temperatures taken.

After we arrive, we stand outside (6 feet a part of course), and wait until 8:30.

The school doors officially open, and we start heading towards the side door where we enter the building. We head towards our classroom where we will spend the rest of our day.

Once in the classroom, Angel and I both sit behind a 4-way plexiglass divider at the long table, she opens her computer to complete her daily health check, which asks her to agree that she hasn’t felt any COVID symptoms or been around a close contact, and she is cleared to stay on campus for the day.

8:30: transition from “Homeroom” time to the first period class. We have physics first, and Mr. Branna is an in-person teacher, so he walks in and we begin to get set up for the day.

Approximately 8:45: we log into Microsoft Teams, and wait for the class call to start. Mr. Branna goes on to teach the lesson for the day. The synchronous part of class goes from 8:45-9:30, and from 9:30-10:10, we have asynchronous time where we are given practice assignments to complete on our own. 

The weird thing about COVID-school is “group work is all virtual.” What I noticed is that students prefer to communicate via chat versus outloud or in-person.

Approximately 10:15: We transition to World History. For this class, Ms. Walker is a hybrid teacher, and she teaches in person and remote students in the same Teams Call. We luckily have the luxury of having her in our physical classroom so if we need something, she can show us without sharing her screen. Sync time in this class is from 10:15-11 am. Async time is from 11-11:45.

11:45: We have Advisory until 12:10 and here, we get school and grade level updates. Angel and I had previously scheduled a virtual college tour that we attended starting at 12:00 p.m. 

Noon: With the permission of Ms. Moss, our AP English teacher, we stay in the virtual college tour until 12:45. At 12:45, we join Ms, Moss’ Teams call, and engage in the lesson until 1:30, when async time starts and goes until 2:10. Ms. Moss spends async time checking in with students about grades and whatever else is going on in students’ lives. [Ms. Moss was a teacher at Southside for the first two founding years for this same class of students; she transitioned to a different school for two years and decided to come back for the founding class’s last two years. The classroom culture is very comfortable despite COVID restrictions.]

2:15: We transition to our last class, Pre-Calculus, where we stay until 3:45. In this class, we work through async time with Mr. Granger because the equations were challenging, and like Ms. Walker, he is a hybrid teacher and has over 45 students to tend to.

3:40: we start to sanitize our work stations with cleaning and sanitizing wipes, and sanitize our hands. We wait behind our seats to be dismissed. At 3:45 when they dismiss the walkers, we head to the gym where we must have our temperatures taken again. After that, Angel completes an additional health check that clears her for volleyball practice.

At this point, I end my shadowing and reflect on my day as a student of the founding class at Southside. These were the realities...

1. COVID school is LONG.

Students are used to days that are packed with about 6 classes that they physically move to and from. During COVID school, even moving from seat to seat is strictly prohibited. Around lunch, I could see them starting to lose steam. I found this interesting as I also tend to feel more tired in my last two classes. Because of this, it was easier to empathize with them.

2. COVID school is something we STILL have to get used to.

Students still need reminders of routines and procedures such as staying behind their own plexiglass, not sharing food or any materials, not entering other classrooms that are not assigned to their specific cohorts, etc. Although we have been living in this COVID world for over a year, students are transitioning in and out of physical classrooms every day and it causes the sense of normalcy to be almost non-existent.

3. Students need more opportunities to interact! 

I noticed that one of the only times students were given the opportunity to interact with each other is when they were having lunch or in some async portions of class. Because of that, engagement was low and during “group” work, students weren’t comfortable interacting with students who they have been in classes with since they were in 6th grade!

When I think of ways I would try and combat these issues as a school leader, first I thought about why the issues are pressing. The main thing that stuck out to me is how crucial character development is for these students! Being eleventh graders means students have one year until they enter post-secondary classrooms or the work force and there are some skills that are mandatory to be successful in those places. One of those skills is social interaction that doesn’t come from a screen. This generation already focuses so heavily on technology and being behind their phones, that I would implement group work at individual work tables. Your table would become your “working group,” and you would verbally collaborate on assignments, discussions, projects and classwork. This not only ensures the growth in development, but gives students a real taste of what the workforce and classrooms will be for them in the near future.

Second, I would make sure my staff understood the importance of empathy and expressing that to students. I asked Angel at the end of our day together how she felt about school and she said she was very tired and drained from the day’s activities every day. I told her even though I’m teaching all day, I feel the same way because its exhausting to watch students struggle and become tired behind their screens in class after class. When I said I feel the same way, I could see Angel’s smile through her mask and she said “wow JW, I didn’t think teachers got tired because at least you guys get to move around from room to room. And while that could be true, overall, this experience has been tiresome for ALL and students need to know they are not alone. 

The last thing I would do as a leader, and plan to do before the year is over just as a temperature check is create an assessment that analyzes what realistic suggestions students have for “COVID school.” For example, maybe students could have the opportunity to move seats and sit with friends in their cohort classrooms during lunch as long as they sanitize them upon moving. Small changes like this could help increase energy levels which will lead to higher engagement and participation.

Overall, I was inspired by the tenacity Angel shows by showing up to COVID school every day. While she did express some of her concerns, she also pushes through and helped me realize some pivots I can suggest for my campus in order for us to finish these last six weeks strongly. Thanks Angel :)

[ifdragonscouldtalk]

I never realized how much I wasn’t bad at math but was assumed to be bad at math because it took more time and different methods for me to understand than other people until I took Calc I in college

For those that don’t know I go to a pretty prestigious liberal arts/sciences college on the east coast and Calc I or Stats I are required for graduation from ANY individual (yeah, even me, an English major). For literal years I had been struggling with math. The last time I had felt confident in math, it was in middle school when I first took Algebra, which I aced thanks to a lovely actress and mathematician called Danica McKellar. She wrote math books specifically targeted towards preteen girls struggling with math, and I absolutely adored those books even though they were math and I had always struggled with math.

I actually enjoyed doing math that year, I loved her explanations which made the math seem so easy and simple, and she had a lot of really uplifting quotes and advice for girls too! The reason I needed her books, however, was because they had placed me in the wrong math class -- instead of pre-algebra they had placed me in the one below it, and when my parents found out they were really pissed because i was a “gifted” child, so the school said said “well, she needs to learn pre-algebra over the summer” and my parents were like “consider it done”. And sucks to be the school, because I aced that fucking class.

Only math class I ever aced.

I had taken AP Stats my senior year of high school, and if I had taken the AP test for that I would’ve been able to skip the college Calc. If I had taken the test. I was so incredibly lost in that class -- and not just me, the valedictorian and salutatorian were in my class and they struggled -- that I seriously thought I was going to get a D or F in it. I’ve failed (like, 54% FAILED) math tests before, but never the entire class, and I had done early acceptance to my college. The stipulation on early acceptance is that your GPA doesn’t drop and you don’t get lower than a C grade in any class, and a C was pushing it, and I’ve been hovering at 76 the entire class. (Note, the grading system in my county is an 8-point based system, meaning you needed at 92 to have an A.) I called my college, panicking that they were going to kick me out, and explained that my teacher was really bad and I could give them testimonials from the other students in the class, but to please not kick me out that I was really trying. The person in the admissions office who I spoke to asked me which school I went to and then replied “Oh yeah, we’ve heard about your teacher, you’re fine.” Not exactly what my high school wanted to hear.

So the high school ended up letting a bunch of us drop the AP test, something they’d never done for any previous AP test, and refunded us. I decided in college that even the idea of taking stats again gave me so much panic that I wouldn’t take it, and I had done alright in Calculus, so that’s what I ended up taking, second semester of my freshman year with one of my friends who also struggled with math.

And that class changed my perspective so much.

Math in high school drove me to insanity. Hours long sobbing fits, panic attacks, depressive episodes, tearing up my homework and screaming into my textbooks. I was expecting something along those lines for college, because it was supposed to be even harder. Me and my friend walked into class the first day, both terrified because we remembered Literally Nothing from high school math, and our professor, a self-professed introvert and a very shy and kind woman, was insanely patient. Calc I, at least the section we took, was really for the liberal arts majors who just Did Not do math. She said she had never planned on teaching, had only been doing it for a couple years, but really enjoyed it.

Even when we asked stupid questions, she tried insanely hard to understand where we were coming from. If we were having trouble verbalizing what we were confused about, she never pushed us to go faster, she gave us the time to work out what we were trying to say, often ending up with us answering our own question. If we were confused, she was very good at explaining the concepts in a different way. She gave us big-picture ideas, what the formulas could be used for, but never tried to push us into thinking we might use these in our every day -- she flat out said we probably wouldn’t, but they were good to know anyway!

And we asked stupid questions. Like stupid questions in the sense of almost-every-one-of-us-couldn’t-add-4-and-9 stupid questions. But she never ever gave any indication of judgement for that fact. Sometimes we would confuse her -- how did they get 12 from 4 and 9? -- but never once did she get annoyed when we didn’t understand. And we didn’t understand a lot! We literally spent two class periods on one concept she expected to take twenty minutes, and she never got mad or tried to rush us along. Our questions were ALWAYS answered.

Not saying the class wasn’t hard, because it was. My friend and I would spend an hour every single day sitting at my desk, slaving over the work, my dad (a math major) on the phone trying to help us. We both got Bs in that class, and we were so overjoyed.

I don’t think I had a point to this post, but if I did, it would be math should be patient. Not everyone understands Shakespeare when they first try to read it, and not everyone understands math when it’s first explained. The idea that everyone should understand a concept when its explained the same way to every person is asinine. Not everyone learns the same way, and I know so many people who have gone into huge spirals over math. That’s not how it should be.

So many people don’t go into STEM because of the math portion. Because we’re afraid of it. But in a workplace, we have the time to double check and to ask questions and to try and understand, in a way that school never lets us.

I think I absolutely would’ve adored math and probably would’ve gone into Bio, if only someone had taken the time to understand that I didn’t.

tl;dr High school math, and especially with those standards of learning implemented, literally destroys students who otherwise just need a helping hand, not a bad grade

#long post #sorry lmao #dragon life #math

[leianneyap]

I am Lei Anne M. Yap, 17 years old, My Birthday is on July 24,2003.  My name comes from the meteor garden character named Hua Ze Lei. I love joining school organization since junior high school (p.s im not bragging anyone, i’m just sharing something about myself because i’m proud of what i’ve done during jhs), When i was still a Grade 7 student, i was a level representative for English Club and that’s the time i feel interested to join school organization. Grade 8, i’m an officer to english club, Grade 9 i’m the president of Filipino-AP club,Auditor of Math Club and Level Representative of English Club and Grade 10, it’s a honor to be part of student council and Technology Club President. Last year, Gr11 i apply for a position to SSSC, i pass the interview but i didn’t won and that’s okay because in life, not everytime we win :)) Blackpink is my favorite girl group. My bias is Roseanne (Rosé) and my bias wrecker is Kim Jisoo. My favorite song of blackpink is Don’t know what to do. My hobby is doing some calligraphy because it enhance my handwriting 🤣 I also love wattpad, My favorite story is He’s into her written by: Maxinejiji. I want to pursue BS Psychology and this course will also serve as my pre-law course because i’m thinking if i should proceed to law school after graduating in college but I’m dreaming to be a Psychologist someday and earn money, so if i’ve given a chance to continue my dream, i can go to law school and be a psychologist and lawyer at the same time ❤

#MIL HUMSS1205

[newstfionline]

Headlines

American tourists face bans and restrictions across the world amid pandemic (Yahoo) The reputation and prestige once associated with a passport from the United States have suffered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. For Americans right now, traveling is harder than ever before—they aren’t welcome in the majority of the world’s countries because of the U.S. response to the outbreak. As a result, the U.S. passport ranking has fallen 50% in the last year, down from the no. 3 spot to the no. 19 spot in the Passport Index. “The American passport was always in the top five passports over the last five years,” Armand Arton, founder of Passport Index, told Yahoo Money. Pre-pandemic, an American passport holder could access 70% of the world’s countries without a visa. Arton said the “only reason” for America’s sudden fall from grace was the coronavirus. “It is not foreign policy,” he said. “It is not the visa restrictions. It is really the temporary limitation of travel of U.S. citizens, based on the fact that the rest of the world doesn’t want U.S. citizens coming to their countries.”

Millennials and younger are new US majority (AP) Sorry, boomers. Millennials and their younger siblings and children now make up a majority of the U.S. population. A new analysis by the Brookings Institution shows that 50.7% of U.S. residents were under age 40, as of July 2019. The Brookings’ analysis of population estimates released this summer by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that the combined millennial, Generation Z and younger generations numbered 166 million people. The combined Generation X, baby boomer, and older cohorts represented 162 million U.S. residents. Millennials typically are defined as being born between 1981 and 1996. Baby boomers, long considered a primary driver of demographic and social change in the U.S. because of their large numbers, were born between the end of World War II and the arrival of the Beatles in the U.S. in 1964.

The Pandemic Workday Is 48 Minutes Longer and Has More Meetings (Bloomberg) We log longer hours. We attend more meetings with more people. And, we send more emails. From New York City to Tel Aviv, the telecommuting revolution has meant a lot more work, according to a study of 3.1 million people at more than 21,000 companies across 16 cities in North America, Europe and the Middle East. The researchers compared employee behavior over two 8 week periods before and after Covid-19 lockdowns. Looking at email and meeting meta-data, the group calculated the workday lasted 48.5 minutes longer, the number of meetings increased about 13% and people sent an average of 1.4 more emails per day to their colleagues. During the two month time frame, there was one part of working that did improve: Those additional meetings were shorter, according to the analysis by researchers at Harvard Business School and New York University.

Pandemic Is Changing the Military, From Boot Camp to Office Work (Bloomberg) The U.S. military is finding its footing and changing how it operates as cases of the coronavirus keep rising. The services have been forced to continue widespread use of quarantines and to rethink future training, deploying, and day-to-day work. The virus curve has shot up from 10,462 cumulative cases in early June to 37,824 total cases by late July, according to the Defense Department. The figure includes more than 14,300 current infections among active-duty troops, as well as total cases reported among civilian workers, dependents and contractors since the pandemic began.

Seeking refuge in US, children fleeing danger are expelled (AP) When officers led them out of a detention facility near the U.S.-Mexico border and onto a bus last month, the 12-year-old from Honduras and his 9-year-old sister believed they were going to a shelter so they could be reunited with their mother in the Midwest. They had been told to sign a paper they thought would tell the shelter they didn’t have the coronavirus, the boy said. The form was in English, a language he and his sister don’t speak. The only thing he recognized was the letters “COVID.” Instead, the bus drove five hours to an airport where the children were told to board a plane. “They lied to us,” he said. “They didn’t tell us we were going back to Honduras.” More than 2,000 unaccompanied children have been expelled since March under an emergency declaration enacted by the Trump administration, which has cited the coronavirus in refusing to provide them protections under federal anti-trafficking and asylum laws. Lawyers and advocates have sharply criticized the administration for using the global pandemic as a pretext to deport children to places of danger. No U.S. agents looked at the video the boy had saved on his cellphone showing a hooded man holding a rifle, saying his name, and threatening to kill him and his sister, weeks after the uncle caring for them was shot dead in June. And even though they were expelled under an emergency declaration citing the virus, they were never tested for COVID-19, the boy said.

Coronavirus surprise: Remittances to Mexico rise during pandemic (Washington Post) It was an intuitive prediction, supported by virtually every expert who had studied the subject: As the coronavirus pandemic caused the global economy to tumble, remittances to Mexico and Central America would crash. It turns out the forecast was wrong. Instead of collapsing, remittances to Mexico were up year-over-year in five of the first six months of 2020. In June, payments to El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras also increased compared to the same period in 2019, after a dip earlier this year. In March, the month the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, remittances to Mexico topped $4 billion—a record. Across the United States, migrants and the children of migrants say they have prioritized sending money to family in Mexico and Central America during the pandemic.

Economy tanking, Cuba launches some long-delayed reforms (AP) With its airports closed to commercial flights and its economy tanking, Cuba has launched the first in a series of long-promised reforms meant to bolster the country’s struggling private sector. The island’s thousands of restaurants, bed-and-breakfasts, auto mechanics and dozens of other types of private businesses have operated for years without the ability to import, export or buy supplies in wholesale markets. While the communist government began allowing widespread private enterprise a decade ago, it maintained a state monopoly on imports, exports and wholesale transactions. As a result, the country’s roughly 613,000 private business owners have been forced to compete for scarce goods in Cuba’s understocked retail outlets or buy on the black market. That has limited the private sector’s growth and made entrepreneurs a constant target of criminal investigation. With the essential tourism business cut off by the novel coronavirus and the government running desperately low on hard currency, the government last month announced that it would allow private restaurants to buy wholesale for the first time. Ministers also announced that private businesspeople could sign contracts to import and export goods through dozens of state-run companies with import/export licenses.

Former Colombian president placed under house arrest (Economist) Colombia’s Supreme Court ordered that Álvaro Uribe, a conservative former president, be placed under house arrest. It is examining whether Mr Uribe had tried to tamper with witnesses in an investigation that he instigated against a left-wing senator. Mr Uribe, the mentor of Colombia’s current president, Iván Duque, is the first sitting or former president since the 1950s to be detained.

Emergency lockdown in Scotland (Foreign Policy) Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon moved quickly to impose a partial lockdown in the city of Aberdeen on Wednesday, after 54 new cases of COVID-19 were reported. The outbreak was linked to a bar, leading Sturgeon to close all pubs in the city and impose a ban on all non-essential travel. Sturgeon told reporters that the lockdown was a necessary measure. “We need to take decisive action now in order to prevent a larger outbreak and further harm later on,” she said.

Closed for vacation: France faces new virus testing troubles (AP) With virus cases rising anew, France is struggling to administer enough tests to keep up with demand. One reason: Many testing labs are closed so that their staff can take summer vacation, just as signs of a second wave are building. Testing troubles have plagued the U.S. and other countries too. But France’s August ritual of fleeing cities for weeks of holiday rest on seashores, mountainsides or grandma’s country house is an added tangle. “Closed for vacation” signs dangle from door after door across Paris this month, from bakeries to shoe shops and iconic cafes. Doctor’s offices and labs are no exception. Their staff need a rest more than ever this difficult year. But this August, socially distanced lines snake outside the scattered Paris labs that remain open, from the Left Bank to the city’s northern canals. Trying to get a test appointment can take a week or more. So can getting results.

Pakistan stands behind Kashmir (Foreign Policy) On the first anniversary of the Indian government’s decision to revoke Kashmir’s special autonomous status, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan heaped criticism on his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, and reiterated his support for Kashmiri self-determination. In a statement, Khan called Indian activity in the region since the move a “crime against humanity,” and in a subsequent address to the legislative assembly, he said Modi has been “exposed in the world.” One year later, the region is still saturated with troops, communications are slow, and arrests are a routine part of daily life.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (Foreign Policy) Anti-government protests took place in Thailand earlier this week as demands for limits on the power of the monarchy grow. Due to strict laws forbidding criticism of royals, the demonstrations featured a happy twist. Many of the 200 activists showed up dressed as Harry Potter and other characters from the popular book and film series in an effort to draw parallels between their fight against the government and Harry Potter’s battle against the totalitarianism of Lord Voldemort.

Survivors mark 75th anniversary of world’s 1st atomic attack (AP) HIROSHIMA, Japan—Survivors of the world’s first atomic bombing gathered in diminished numbers near an iconic, blasted dome Thursday to mark the attack’s 75th anniversary, many of them urging the world, and their own government, to do more to ban nuclear weapons. An upsurge of coronavirus cases in Japan meant a much smaller than normal turnout, but the bombing survivors’ message was more urgent than ever. As their numbers dwindle—their average age is about 83—many nations have bolstered or maintained their nuclear arsenals, and their own government refuses to sign a nuclear weapons ban treaty. The United States dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, destroying the city and killing 140,000 people. The United States dropped a second bomb three days later on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000. Japan surrendered Aug. 15, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression in Asia. But the decades since have seen the weapons stockpiling of the Cold War and a nuclear standoff among nations that continues to this day.

As Smoke Clears in Beirut, Shock Turns to Anger (NYT) Since an orphaned shipment of highly explosive chemicals arrived at the port of Beirut in 2013, Lebanese officials treated it the way they have dealt with the country’s lack of electricity, poisonous tap water and overflowing garbage: by bickering and hoping the problem might solve itself. But the 2,750 tons of high-density ammonium nitrate combusted Tuesday, officials said, unleashing a shock wave on the Lebanese capital that gutted landmark buildings, killed 135 people, wounded at least 5,000 and rendered hundreds of thousands of residents homeless. Beirut’s governor said the damage extended over half of the city, estimating it at $3 billion. The government has vowed to investigate the blast and hold those responsible to account. But as residents waded through the warlike destruction on Wednesday to salvage what they could from their homes and businesses, many saw the explosion as the culmination of years of mismanagement and neglect by the country’s politicians. And with the country already deep in the throes of a major economic crisis, residents had no idea how they would afford to rebuild. Because of the financial crisis, banks have placed strict limits on cash withdrawals to prevent runs.

U.S. eyes Saudi nuclear program (NYT) American intelligence agencies are scrutinizing efforts by Saudi Arabia, working with China, to build up its ability to produce nuclear fuel. A classified analysis has raised alarms that doing so could be a cover to process uranium and move toward development of a weapon, U.S. officials told The Times. American officials have searched for decades for evidence that the Saudis are moving toward a nuclear weapon, and the kingdom has made no secret of its determination to keep pace with Iran. But the spy agencies have been reluctant to warn of progress, for fear of repeating the colossal intelligence mistake that led to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.

#headlines #news

[seminalstudy]

Hi everyone! I’m currently in the process of transferring to a new university and one of the biggest parts of that has been planning out and scheduling which classes to take my first semester, in hopes that I can graduate at the same time as people my age :’) As someone who’s planned how to graduate in three years not once but twice now, I figured I could share my experience and/or advice with anyone looking to maximize their college academics!

1. Establish a timeline: Ask yourself how many years you’re giving yourself to complete your degree as this will help you figure out how heavy your course loads will have to be to graduate at your expected time (this could be anywhere from 2 years to 5 or more). At my first college, I planned to graduate in three years in order to save money and because the school had easier academics, so I was confident I could handle the extra work. My new plan to graduate in three years is so I can graduate with other students my age, set your goal!

2. Now that you’ve established a broad timeline, it’s time to start looking at potential majors/minors and career tracks: Hopefully, this is something you’ve started looking at before applying to college, but don’t worry - it’s not too late! As someone going into college with the knowledge that I’d be taking out max loans each year, I tried to figure out what I wanted to do early on so I could maximize my credits ie take as many required classes as possible and not ‘waste’ credits on classes that wouldn’t really contribute to my degree (ofc I ended up changing my mind 3/4 of the way thru the year but that’s life). I narrowed my options down to 3 or 4 majors and managed to eliminate 2 of them pretty early on.

3. With at least one track in mind, research all the requirements to earn a degree in that area: Universities often have “general education requirements” regardless of your major, so you take classes in multiple disciplines and broaden your perspective. Course catalogs/general bulletins/college websites are where you can find info about your gen-eds and major-specific required courses. It’s really helpful to map this out by hand or in a spreadsheet program (I did it both by hand and with Excel to stay uber-organized). This is also where you can narrow down the majors you’re interested in by looking at the required courses and course descriptions. I considered a Data Analytics major early on, but after seeing how much coding was required (not a strong suit or interest for me) I could comfortably eliminate it.

4. Reach out to your advisor/navigator/registrar to clarify any questions: If you’re confused by any of the requirements for your major/gen-eds, talk to someone at the university. I feel bad for the numerous advisors I’ve had because I pestered them with questions so I could have a complete understanding of everything - it really helps in the scheduling process and I’ve never had a staff or faculty member be irritated by the questions - they love to help (plus it shows initiative and starts forming connections which is A+). Seriously, reach out if you’re confused, don’t just sit in the dark!

5. Map out required courses and pre-requisites: This is where Excel or Google Sheets can be your best friend - they make it really easy to keep track of what needs to be taken when. Some courses require a certain academic standing (sophomore, junior, senior) for you to take them, others require you to take several classes before you can register for it. Certain progressions of classes can really limit what your schedule looks like, so this step is incredibly important (and somewhat time-consuming).  

6. Generate a slightly less vague timeline: Based on pre-requisites and required class standings, begin to assign classes to fall and spring semesters. Let’s say you have to complete a senior capstone in order to graduate, and you can only take it senior year, write it into the timeline. Maybe you need to take Math123 and Math124 for your major, but Math124 requires you to complete Math123 first. Place 123 into a semester and 124 in the semester following that. This doesn’t have to be exact, but it’s good to be aware of what your future schedule will look like, and what classes you need to take sooner rather than later (this is also time-consuming because you’ll find numerous variations in potential schedules). 

7. Determine the courseload you’ll need to take: Some people luck out and have lots of AP/IB or like credits that will transfer into real college credit, helping to eliminate the number of classes you have to take (I was not such a person). You’ll generally receive a credit evaluation during the summer before the first semester so you can plan accordingly. Most advisors recommend taking 15-17 credits, but if you need to take more so you can graduate faster or less so you’re not overwhelmed, do what you need. I ended up taking the max credits allowed then over that, but that’s only because I was pushing so hard to graduate faster. This kind of ties into the last step, but you also need to evaluate your personal strengths and weaknesses.

8. Determine the courses that will maximize your first semester: Fun fact, your major requirements can often double-dip and count for your general education requirements too! Look at the pre-reqs for your higher-level classes and try to choose those that will open up the most classes, see which of your major required classes could count for gen-eds, such as humanities or science courses. If you’re between a few majors, look for classes that a required for them. For me, I was between a Business Administration or Sustainable Business major, so many of the requirements were the same. I took classes that could count for both, but if I wanted to go one way or the other, I wouldn’t be screwed over.

9. Try to balance the courses you NEED to take with those you WANT to take: I’m a humanities kind of gal (science has not been mon ami in the past) but both of my colleges require science and math classes. So, when I have to take a math and science course simultaneously, I try to add in some of the subjects I’m stronger in (history, english, etc) so that my GPA wouldn’t die. If you’re fortunate enough that affording college isn’t a concern, I’d personally say take as many courses that interest you as possible, but when financing a higher level education is more of an issue, complete your requirements but leave some space to explore your interests.

10. With a handful of courses in mind, look at actually scheduling your classes: With online registration, you can generally look at which classes are full, what times are available, etc. Are you really, definitely, for sure a morning person who can handle that 8am? Do you need a definite break for lunch? Will you be more productive in the mornings or evenings? Are there multiple profs for the class and does one have better ratings than the other? (ratemyprofessor.com is a lifesaver) Is there enough time outside of class to study/do extracurriculars/have a social life? Sometimes you’ll really need to take a class and it’ll be at some ungodly hour, but sometimes you gotta suck it up. Try not to overload one day with classes and make sure there’s enough time between classes to get to your next class, especially if your school has a large campus. This part is really based on personal preference, so enjoy it!

11. Give yourself time to do all of this: Especially for a first-year college student, there’s a lot already happening, and the opportunities are endless. It takes a lot of time to thoroughly research. This is a big process if you really care about being organized, and it can set you up for great success in college! All of these steps are really tied together but you’ll need more than one day (I took several weeks lol) to plan out a college career.

12. It gets easier: After doing this for just two semesters, I was much more comfortable making these big choices. For my new university, I managed to accomplish this in only a few days, but I was already familiar with the major I’m pursuing and how to lay everything out. For those of you continuing in college, consider mapping our the rest of your time if you haven’t already, and keep track of the courses you’ve taken and still need to take! This way, you won’t be thrown any loops when graduation comes.

Disclaimer: This advice is based purely off my own U.S. college experience which is undoubtedly very different from others! Ultimately, pursuing a higher-level education is your own personal journey, and do what you need to do to find success, this is just me trying to help out others!

If you have any questions about any of this, want to talk scheduling with me, or see my schedule planning notes and spreadsheets, just message me, I’m always willing to talk and even more willing to make friends!

-B

#college #university #universi-tea #universi tea #study #studying #studyspo #studyblr #college tips #masterlist #masterpost #planning #bullet journal #bujo #planner #advice #my post #study inspo #elkstudies #emmastudies #organization #organize #txt

[shiyonasan]

Just finished the main story for Atelier Ryza. Here are my thoughts on the game. (Full thoughts in the “Keep Reading” link.)

This is my first foray into the Atelier series, and I must say that I'm impressed with how much is packed into this game. There's a lot of features in the game to help you gather items and craft new items. 

The crafting system is surprisingly easy to use. It's basically a chain system that requires gathering a certain number of a specific type of item for each segment before moving on to the next segment. I was worried how difficult it would be, but I caught on pretty quickly. 

There's also a fast-forward auto-fill option in the crafting to help you craft items faster if you want to craft items in a hurry. There's so much more to the crafting system in this game, but I'll leave it to you to see what those are since there's so much. 

The battle system is also pretty nice. It's a turn-based combat system similar to the early 3D Final Fantasys, but it has it's own nuances, such as the core charge system for using items, action points (AP) system, and minor tactical positioning. 

The core charge system was the only thing I didn't care for that much at first, but after realizing that it allows for items to be used more than once, I liked it. It's better than having to restock healing items over and over again. 

Although you can buy weapons, healing items, and armor in the game, you can also craft items with items you already have. There so many options as to how to customize your party in this game. 

I love the main cast of characters in this game. All 6 are so good and each bring their own flair to the group. The character designs are nice as well (though Lent's outfit bothers me a bit). Plus, you can buy new costumes through DLC to change their look. 

If there is one big gripe I have with this game, it's the cost of the DLC. I will probably get the season pass in the near future, but it's ridiculous to spend nearly as much as the cost of another game to buy it. 

Plus, there's some bonus content locked behind pre-orders and the digital deluxe version of the game, which doesn't make sense to me business wise. Couldn't you just allow the player to buy everything together and make more of a profit? I don't understand why Koei Tecmo did this. 

A nitpick I have with this game too is the placement of some of the invisible walls. It looks like you should be able to walk to certain areas, but can't. Perhaps I'm spoiled by Xenoblade, but I feel like I should be able to walk and jump on just about anything.

The areas in this game feel a tad bit small, but I think that's a goodchoice considering you'll be gathering items primarily in this game, as well as defeating enemies. Having areas as large as Xenoblade's would not work for this game at all.

The graphics are really good, but I do which the characters were a little more expressive. Also, the lighting in the night areas is a bit off. Otherwise, the character models are nice and the environments are very pleasing to the eye.

The OST is really nice: a good blend of chill and cute, sometimes mixed with rocking tunes to fit the mood of whatever you're doing. The Atelier series has a great unique OST sound to it, and Ryza is no exception. 

The main story of the game is very good. It's not super drama filled and angsty like many other JRPGs, but it doesn't need to be. It has it's moments of seriousness, but it's very laid back. If you're looking for a JRPG with a chill story, look no further than Atelier Ryza. 

The Japanese only audio with English subs didn't bother me, as I usually like the original audio for these type of games anyway. Be aware if you buy Atelier Ryza that it's not packaged with an English dub. 

Overall, I loved this game. It has a couple glaring flaws, but the rest of the game makes up for it. I'll be playing the DLC down the line, but I need a bit of a break from this game. I give Atelier Ryza a 9 out of 10. 

I'd totally be down for playing another Atelier game in the near future. My first choice would probably be the Dusk trilogy which is releasing this month (January 2020) on the Switch eShop. Fortunately it does come packaged with most of the DLC.

#atelier ryza #shiyo's atelier ryza playthrough

[bigfootstationeryy]

Bri’s Studyblr introduction

I MOVED THIS ACCOUNT TO @bigfootstationery !

this is my old blog that i no longer intend on using because it is a sideblog. If you’re interested in following me just note that this is technically a dead account, and I am no longer active on it. Thank you !

Very quickly i would love to thank @babirousa for my profile picture. The tiny bigfoot is absolutely adorable, and @forheksed for the photo i’m using for this post. I love how calming and beautiful your art is. 🌿

➭ About me

My name is Bri !

Im 15, my birthday is 12/9/03

I’m in the slytherin house 🐍😌

I have the Sagittarius zodiac sign

INFJ-A personality type

My dream job is to be a dermatologist

I live in the state of Washington 🌲

Im a lesbian ⛄️ i lov girls

➭ My interests & favorites

I love healthy foods, especially fruites and avocados 🥺🥑

I love paiting! My current WIP is Boys Who Cry from SpongeBob. Ive also painted my friends phonecase and my backpack.

My favorite season is fall. Halloween is my favorite holliday.

I love watching stationery videos on youtube, but im also a sucker for minecraft playthroughs and speedbuilds tbh

I love both tea and coffee. I’m always drinking one or the other

I really really love bigfoot. He’s the living icon for fake it ‘til you make it, and its a phrase i live by. I also love the forest/nature aesthetic that comes along with bigfoot, if you couldnt tell.

I’m LOVE big hoodies and i’m always in one. (pacific northwest tings)

I honestly love getting asked questions, so if you ever wanna pop into my asks I’ll always answer pretty quickly.

➭ My schedule 2019-2020

Medical Interventions (science and CTE credit)

World History Honors (history credit)

Geometry (math credit)

Spanish 103 (language credit, also counts for potential college credits if i pass !)

Cermaics (fine arts credit)

Pre AP English 10 (english credit)

I’m kinda nervous about my schedule this year because ive never taken this many advanced classes, but last year was SO easy.. so i have some faith yknow.

➭ Why i’m creating this blog

I’ve definitely been following a few studyblr blogs on my main for awhile and I absolutely love the community and the beautiful productivity that comes out of it. I didnt start one of my freshman year and once i started to consider it i thought it would be kinda odd to start in the middle of the schoolyear, so i’ve been waiting a few months to start and i’m so excited.

I would love if this blog kinda held me accountable in a way, and motivated me and kept me on the grind. I would love to be apart of this amazing community and help to motivate and inspire others. Hopefully i can provide some tips and spread love and motivation within the community. 🌻🌿

Bye for now, and i’ll make sure to update when school starts in 2 weeks !

➭ Studyblrs that have inspired me 🌱💐

@studyblr @tiffstudies @pianoandstudy @studious-simplicity @elkstudies @theorganisedstudent @universi-tea @studyign @studytherin @journalsanctuary @successe-s @studiousminds @studyingnic @noorstudy @way-to-study @kathistudies @peepstudies @janetstudies @caroline-studying @laenotes @sprouht-studies @howlsmovingdesk @scholarly @aescademic @sorcererstudies @acad3mic @tacostudy @studyingstuffwithem @siirenstudies

#this was my very first post i hope its okey #reblogs and likes are welcomes ! #studyspiration #studyinspo #studyblr #whatsonmydesk #study motivation #studyspo #study blog #study tips #study notes #study #studygram #introduction

[violentlydefending]

.

#sdffghdfgfkl #god i just hate myself #eviscerate me #fuccck i always procrastinate my school work #my compsci mark dropped two fucking percent thanks to me fucking up the test!! two fucking percent fuck and i was actually managing to #keep up 94s in all my classes this semester #but my bio mark'll definitely drop too #i was considering taking ap bio next year #since i'm pretty sure there's only one ap bio teacher at my school and i have him now and he's cool #but like... i'm already too stupid for pre-ap so idk #pre-ap physics kinda stinks for me too #one quiz dropped me 9 percent when i got only one question wrong #i hate when that happens #but i'm p sure the ap physics teacher is an easier marker so i should probably stick with it #but i'm just!!! so stupid!! #fuck!!!! #i'm so fucking stupid!!!!! #i need to finish reading my isu book for english too #but it's so boring!!! #why did i fucking choose that book!? it doesn't even have a sparksnotes fuck #uuughh and the ap exams are coming up in like a month.. i am absolutely terrified #i only have ap english but like??? i'm definitely gonna fuck that shit up #uuuuuggghhhhh and i'm.. like.. procrastinating on my hobbies?? #i really love drawing but not only do i improve such a negligible amount over long periods of time.. i just plain suck #i've been art-blocked for freaking weeks it suckkksss #fuck i hate myself so much just strike me down now fuck #negative