So I'm a freshman in HS and a few months back we wrote an essay for the novel Animal Farm. So today she posted the grade for it and she gave me a 50/200 reason being "several sentences/paragraphs are plagiarised." I just ran it through both ai checkers, plagiarism checkers, and chsot got and Gemini. All of them came back 0% written by AI and 7% plagiarized(the plagiarism being the quotes I had to use for evidence which I put in quotation marks) So any advice on what to do here? I can't even show Google doc history because we didn't write it on there, it was on paper and then transfered to Schoology.
Update: I messaged her yesterday with the proof from grammarly and gpt 0. Gpt 0 showed 82% human but that still doesn't prove it was written by AI since AI can't do depe analysis. I even put my essay in chat gpt lol and it came up as written by human lmao. I did do a test run with an AI generated essay on gpt 0 and that came back as 100% AI so at least that shows it's accurate. My best guess is that she thinks it's plagiarized because of the info I put which not a lot of freshmen know because it's from World History.

Hi, I believe that I am remaining anonymous. I have a situation that has plagued me for 5 years. I am a gay man, 21 who fell in love w his high school best friend when I was 16 and he was 14. It started when I was a junior in highschool and he was a freshman. We both did cross country and he immediately made his way to varsity because he was way faster than me. For the two years that we knew each other in HS, everyone hated him because he has a cocky personality, but I was drawn to him. We bonded and had an amazing friendship that accumulated into a relationship by the end of our first year knowing eachother. This was a bit problematic bc his family was hyper religious. To explain more, his church told him that he would die a sinner and forever burn in hell for ever having any feelings for a man. His parents hated me bc we did get in trouble with the XC coaches for skipping practices to hang out together. This was the only time that we could find alone bc I was in AP classes and he was in lower courses. We had a massive fallout during the beginning of his sophomore year and my senior year due to the pressure of peers and their homophobia bc they suspected that we were more than friends. We didnt talk for 4 months until i reached out to him and we became best friends again. I helped him pass his classes in secret and we rekindled our bond. I ended up asking him out (he did the first time) on the same date that we first starte dating, and we were happy for almost 4 months. At that point, I was in college and he was a junior. I visited every weekend and made sure he knew I loved him, but we could not communicate regularly during the week bc of his parents. I had bought him a burner phone so we could talk, but eventually he left me on delivered for 2-3 days on end. At that point I cheated on him and confessed the day after. We worked it out and he said we could work through it. By the end on our almost 6 month relationship he was practically noncommunicative again. I broke up with him bc I did not want to be chasing after someone who talked about liking girls and other ppl when i only wanted him. I apologize bc I can not remember what happened so far ago. I do remember that I was laying in bed during my sophomore year is college. He was a senior in HS at the time. I remember laying in bed while texting him and we broke up 2 weeks before our 6 month anniversary. I had several presents ready for him and dropped them off after we broke up. One of the presents I delivered was a bracelet that showed a picture of us when we first met when you shove a light on it. After the second break up, we didn't have any contact for a year and a half. I was now a junior about to graduate and he had recently been forced out of community college. His parents refused to drive him to the classes that he paid for and he eventually had to drop out. After a few months, they eventually pressured him into the military bc they would not take him to his job interviews and used his joblessness to criticize him and call him useless. He unblocked me around christmas and I send him a text. We agreed to meet up and have been in contact since he turned 18 and I turned 20. Sadly, he moved back in with his parents and they refused to take him to his community classes even though he was paying for them. In the end, they forced him to go to the military and we finally got I touch again. We rekindled our friendship and have been talking since Dec. 2023. We hung out and started being fwb, but he gradually placed more restrictions on our 'relationship'. I put that in quotations to emphasize that we were never a 'thing' but more than friends. It is now May, 2024 and he no longer wants to do anything at all. I have put hours and money, depriving myself of food and simple pleasure to enable us to go to raves and parties together. I do not expect to buy his affection, but a certain part of my mentality tells me that anything I work towards will become true. This is not the case. He has been evidently clear that he does not want a relationship now that he is 18 almost 19. I have just turned 21 and graduated from university. My biggest puzzle is that he has finally accepted himself as bi, but he does not want me. He does not want a relationship and wants us to return to when we were kids and didn't date. I simply can not think of him in any way except my partner. I love him, and I love every part of him. I remember when kids would corner him in the bathroom and intimidate him bc he didn't fit into the ideal of a varsity kid, even tho he was. I remember everything. I remember everything we went through together, including having weapons drawn on us. But as adults, he doesn't want us to be together in any sense except friends. I have tried for months to only e his friend, but when we started talking again in Dec 2023, we quickly became fwb again. We are now 5 months along in our friendship and the conflict has reach a turning point. We recently had a fight in which he said that I made him uncomfortable with the extent that we took things. I simply can not thing of him as anything but my forever partner and he can not see me as anything more than his friend for the time being. I am so confused considering that we have cuddled in my room, in my car, and under the stars. I want to emphasize that we have been together through everything, and I have asked permission before approaching him, but he is not interested in me. He has been evidently clear this last time around that he does not want a relationship, and I have been evidently clear that I do. This is something that created resentment between the two of us, especially since I have seen him make out with other girls at raves and parties. I am asking you guys if you have any advice to a mutual ground that we can meet on bc I can not lose this man. He is my best friend above all else, but I am so in love with him that it creates tension in our friendship. He will not budge and I can not remove him from my heart. There's is an emphasis on the fact that I can not remove him as my first love in my heart, and even though he told me I was his first love, he will not accept anyone as a partner due to his upcoming military service. I will put forth more emphasis on the fact that he does get with girls, but refuses any attachment beyond hookups. This is the hardest part for me and leads to a majority of our arguments. This most recent argument has been the most significant because he stated that I make him uncomfortable when I want to cuddle or hold him while we are in the mountains and looking at the stars. I have done a poor job to explain out dynamic, but I hope that someone has some advice beyond "drop him". I can not leave this man if I tried. I do love him with every fiber of my being, even if it hurts me in the end.

I'm a 26 year old male, going to be 27 later this year. I've only dated two girls in my life.
My first girlfriend, C, moved into my town in 7th grade. We started to "date" around a year later. And by the quotations I mean we were in middle school and we didn't really hang out outside of school. At the end of middle school, we broke up. Over the summer between 8th grade and freshman year of high school, I had a rebound girlfriend.
The rebound girlfriend, M, was a grade below me. I knew she had a crush on me, and a few other people, for a while. Over the summer break we "dated", never really going out on dates, just talking on the phone to each other. We broke it off before I went into high school.
In freshman year, me and C got back together. It helped that we were in band together. I was trumpet and she was color guard/clarinet. We spent a lot of weekends together because of marching band competitions. Throughout high school we got closer and actually went on dates outside of school. I consider this my first real relationship.
Mine and C's relationship continued out of high school, which we graduated in 2016. We decided early on to wait until marriage to have any sort of sexual relations. After high school, I went to college, for a year and dropped out partially due to family issues, and C joined the marines.
She started to have hip problems early on and was put onto light duty for the rest of her time. We decided to marry in December 2019 and I would move out to the base with her. Issues started not too long after we moved out.
January 2020, we got an apartment near the base. February 2020, I tried, and somewhat successfully convinced her to consummate the marriage. She was worried about her hip. The night came and I chickened out. A few days later, I "grew a pair" and asked again if we can try. She said no, cause she was wanting to focus on her early dismissal in April 2020. I, stupidly, tried asking a few more times and kept getting told no. I had some frustrations that led to me not sleeping in bed with her, I slept on the ground cause we had no other furniture in the apartment, aside from a gaming chair. When I refused to get in bed with her, she just rolled her eyes. My frustrations went away and I eventually being to sleep in the bed again. We moved back home early in March 2020.
We moved in with her sister. After about a month, our relationship got better and I asked her if she wanted to try again. She kept refusing, saying she was worried about her sister walking in. Even though her sister stayed in her room, always wore headphones, and never came back to the corner of the house me and C were in. She eventually said that when we move into our own place, she would be open for it. During this time, I kept rotating between sleeping in bed with her and sleeping on the couch, depending on how frustrated I was.
Roughly April/May 2020, we got a camper to move into as a temporary place until our house would be built. I asked her if she would be up to try now and she said, "not until the house was built." I tried to put my frustrations aside, but due to constant rejections, I eventually moved back to her sister's couch.
NOTE: Her sister was next door to her place. Plus, C spent all day at her sister's house, cause that's where the internet was.
For the next few months, that's how it stayed. July 2020, C finally got a house, a small shed she was going to convert into a house by adding two rooms onto it. The bathroom, which became the temporary bedroom, was built first and insulated so C can move into her house, which she did around September 2020.
I again asked her if she was open to try. At this point I almost entirely given up on anything ever happening between us. She changed again saying, "when the house was done." And, due to my frustrations, I said, "So 5 years."
Going into 2021, our relationship got even worse to the point that I was starting to spend more time at my old house, a little over half a mile away, than at hers. In March 2021, after spending almost an entire month at my old house, I came back and she told me to just leave. I happily agreed and my sister helped me gather my stuff.
In a post I did before, I was chosen by my friend to maybe have a threesome with him and his girlfriend in October 2022. Plans fell through and I'm glad it did. The gf had a few screws loose, so I think I dodged a bullet.
My post: https://www.reddit.com/sex/comments/x4886q/my\_friend\_invited\_me\_to\_have\_a\_threesome\_with\_his/
That leads to today, where I'm still a virgin. And, as I told a different friend, "I'm sure I'm going to be a virgin for the foreseeable future, so at least the next five years." It doesn't help that I haven't been interested in getting into a relationship since everything has happened.

Hey everyone!
I'm a college freshman developing a GPT model to enhance academic research. It helps find credible sources, boosting integrity and reducing plagiarism in student papers. I'd love your feedback. Just input your research topic, and the model will suggest relevant academic sources and give you direct quotations. Thanks for your help!
Here's the link: https://chat.openai.com/g/g-Mm6cAhur5-source-finder

So during my freshman year I copied and pasted 3 sentences (unintentionally. this will be explained later) from the source and did not put quotations on them. As a result, I was called in by the professor and she reported me to the academic integrity board for plagiarism. I was summoned to the official hearing and made a statement before the board. I made my case and argued that I admit that my actions are tantamount to plagiarism but this was not intentional. I basically said that yes I did commit plagiarism but this was due to my ignorance and unintentional and this will never happen again. The board accepted my argument that I simply was ignorant and did not intentionally plagiarize. As a result, I received D for the paper and was required to rewrite my paper and write a reflection letter on how not to commit plagiarism again.
And this was not made an official record. It does not appear on my transcript. However, I am going to disclose it.
So, my questions are:

1. How bad would this impact my chances for the admissions? Will law schools look at this as a serious red flag?
2. What would be the best way to address this? I am going to write an addendum obviously. But do you think it is a good idea to add all the emails I had with the committee regarding the process and the result of my sanction and my reflection letter?

​

Hey guys, this is actually my first time using Reddit, so I don't know how this site works at all, but I just want to let this for myself.
The thing is I don't know what's happening with me, I'm sick of everything. Everything I like and enjoy has been taken away from me. Since I was in freshman year I was a really poor kid, probably the most poor of the whole school. My family barely had money for food, which mostly were terrible in nutrients. I had to wake 4 hours earlier than when school started because I went walking, and my I did wear the same 2 or 3 outfits of clothes for the whole year. Only a pair of shoes, not even good quality. This might sound very cliche, but being this poor today, it's horrible. When I entered sophomore year I said to myself "Fuck this, I'm out", I was sick of being ugly as fuck, of looking like garbage, of eating less than dogs, and obviously being skinny as fuck. I didn't even had social media (during the COVID pandemic) because I didn't want people to see my face, or hear my ugly voice. I started go to the Gym, and everything went better. I used my hate and madness to focus it in the Gym. During Sophomore year, the biggest shit happened... I moved alone with my uncle, I basically had the responsibility of an adult, but with the disadvantage of a teenager since I had to walk again to school, prepare my own breakfast, get good grades, workout, work, walk back to home, prepare my OWN dinner, which mostly I had to pay by myself, clean up everything so my fucking stupid uncle didn't insult me for 1 hour for fucking let a tiny piece of paper in the table. My "girlfriend", which I put in quotation marks because wasn't my girlfriend, but was going to be, left me for my best friend because I didn't have time to go on dates with her or actually seeing her (I did fucking love her, she was near to perfection, but even her wasn't going to wait until each vacations to see me). My family did (and still/ hate me, I caught them a lot of times talking shit about me, yes, fully grown adults talking shit about a hardworking 15 years old. I didn't have friends, I didn't have a cellphone. A lot of nights I used to hit random things because of my rage and depression. I cried, I sobbed, I listened to the hardest fucking métal song I could find to forget, but it didn't work, only one thing worked: The Gym.
I didn't t even have more than 4 month in the Gym, and I did already lifted more than more of the seniors in the the weight room. After only 10 months I benched 245lbs in bench press, 310 for reps in squat, 10 full minutes in plank and 23 stricted pull ups. I went from 126-130 to 160lbs, and looked better than I ever dreamed about. I started gaining respect. I spent all the day waiting until the gym time to come. But this didn't matter. My familiars told me "You look so fat, start eating like a pig, you can't stop cooking for less than an hour." and some others "All that gym and you still look the same, even skinny, stop focusing in the gym and your (diet) and actually do something PRODUCTIVE" that pissed me off. They called me an antisocial because I didn't talk back to them, and made laugh of me, that also pissed me off. They told me I didn't do anything!, that really pissed me off. The Gym was the only thing I'd like. I used to hate eating because I ate too much only so I could bulk up and look better. I spent all my money in creatine, pre-work outs, protein and gym-stuff.
I did still had depression.
After that year, my uncle kicked me out of his house. I moved to my parents house again, filled with shame and pain. Junior is a shit. Today I just finished the first semester of my Junior year. I lost all my gains of the gym because I have not go for nearly the whole semester, all because my family doesn't have money, and I can't work since I actually live across the border of the US and Mexico, (yes I cross the border every single day, only for going to school) so you can imagine how much time I spend only in arriving to school, and back to my house, this is very accurate:
Wake up: 4:30am From house to school: 5:30am-8:30am From school to house: 4:00pm-6:00pm
I'm tired, I'm desperated, I'm frustrated and pissed off. I want to get back to the gym. The last time I lifted , my pr went a lot down, and I hate my physique, I look skinny, and I avoid seeing myself in mirrors and pictures. I still as poor and ugly as my freshmen year, the only difference it's my age, and the fact it has become even harder. I hope I can work during this winter break and get money to the gym and actual food. I sorry I can't show pics of my physique in this moments, but I'm not in the mood. If I get better I will. If my life gets sense again I will. At least all this writing made me feel better.

Too long to read summary: Dallin Oaks was prevaricating and fibbing way back in 1973. (Surprised?)
It was December, 1973, Brigham Young University, 50 years ago this month.
A letter is sent out to all BYU faculty, signed by President Dallin H(arris) Oaks, with instructions that it is to be read out loud to every class prior to finals. Exercising his presidential powers to the fullest, Oaks “authorizes” all professors and class instructors to issue failing grades to any male student whose hair is not in current compliance with hair regulations as then interpreted by the university administration:
The 1973 interpretation as best I can recall: No strand of hair can touch or hang over any part of the male earlobe, nor touch nor hang over the top of the collar of a standard dress shirt (If one was to wear a dress shirt. Wearing a T-shirt theoretically did not gain any additional margin for hair length in back.)
The letter also included a statement reminding students that they had made sacred covenants (apparently when they signed the BYU college application) to comply with these regulations. Noncompliance with the hair rule was condemned as covenant breaking.
I, a young male freshman in my first semester at BYU had not been in strict compliance with my hair cut for a few weeks and would soon be vulnerable to flunking out my first semester if I didn’t go through the repentance process with my barber before finals, just a few days away.
I first encountered Dallin a year earlier at the Arizona State University LDS Institute of Religion in Tempe Arizona. My older sister who was a student at ASU and a faithful participant in Lambda Delta Sigma, a (sort of, but not really) sorority for university Mormon females in those days, had invited me to attend a fireside at the LDS “Institute” in Tempe where the new BYU president was to be the featured speaker. (Dallin was in his second year at BYU)
It was my senior year of high school and I had not yet decided whether to attend BYU or ASU. ASU had a much better and more exciting football team at the time (Danny White was quarterback) with a 9-1 season the year before. But an older friend of mine, who was already attending BYU, claimed that BYU was academically superior to ASU, so I should forget about the excitement of a winning college football team if I wanted to obtain a “quality education.” That sounded good but the opportunity to move out of state (and out of my parents’ house) was a more compelling reason for me.
So, I went and listened to his talk. As I recall, (it’s only been 51 years, and much of what he said was quite forgettable, he talked a lot about what made BYU special. I’m not sure why he thought such a topic was going to be inspiring to an audience of loyal ASU football fans, many of whom didn’t think much of BYU in any case. He talked quite a bit about why the BYU hair code was important. I do have a very clear memory that he quoted counter culture icon of the 60’s Jerry Rubin: ” .. our hair tells people where we stand on Vietnam, Wallace, campus disruption, dope . . . “ etc. This comment seemed a little dated as, by then, George Wallace was pretty much a political has-been, and the American participation in Vietnam was rapidly winding down, and even flag waving pro war country western singers were growing out their hair. It was a non-sequitur to his audience.
But overall, he seemed a cheerful, enthusiastic, if bit annoying sort of guy who liked to brag about his amazing accomplishments, which in his case was running a university that (offending most of his audience) was obviously superior to all other schools. I didn’t necessarily consider his mildly clueless narcissism a deal breaker as I figured that it would be the quality of the classroom professors and subject matter that would be most important in my college experience. I mean, you know, how much difference would the chief administrative bureaucrat make in the actual classroom experience if the professors are well qualified and effective teachers. All Oaks has to do is supervise the accountants and janitors to make sure the staff gets paid on time and the bathrooms don’t smell too bad. The curriculum, professors, and academic quality are pretty much taken care of within the individual college departments. Right?
To help me decide, I visited the campus a few months later and sat in on a few classes relevant to my major interests. I was impressed and excited by the professors that I observed. When I had visited ASU, I didn’t sense the same degree of academic enthusiasm on campus. So, I ended up choosing BYU.
Yes, of course I knew about the “Honor Code” and had to sign off that I would abide by all the rules as part of my application, but as I had never smoked, didn’t like the taste of beer or coffee, and had never even kissed a girl (much less touched a titty), I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. And besides, who ever bothers to read the fine print that pops up requiring agreement to the terms and conditions before installing software apps or signing a college application. Ok, in those days it was just a paper form filled out by pen, but I just figured I’d slide through by mostly complying in a “spirit of the law” sort of way, if not always in strict compliance with all the letters of the law.
So my first semester began with a haircut that would allow me to get into the registration hall (Richards Building if I recall). To register, I had to go around and visit various tables to pull punched computer cards for the classes I wanted to attend that semester. In those days the hair cops were always out in full force during in person registration, assessing the hair worthiness and covenant keeping of every male student entering the registration hall. Also, females could not be wearing jeans. Also, no shorts of any kind by either gender.
Now my hair had never been that long, in fact I often cut it quite short in high school so I wouldn’t have to carry a comb. But mainstream styles were changing and longish hair was no longer just a hippie or rockstar thing. Many bankers, lawyers, and other professionals were now wearing hair styles longer than military crew cuts. But not at BYU. Well actually, even at BYU too. As long as no strands touched or hung over your earlobe or would touch or hang over the collar of a typical dress shirt. It could be as thick on top as you liked with long bangs that hung down in your eyes. Some students pushed the boundaries and thought they could get away with hair a bit longer if it was combed back above and behind the earlobe. And some thought if they just wore a T-shirt, they could push the length in back just a little further without notice by the campus hair patrols (namely the testing center, the Varsity theater, campus sponsored dances, or in some cases a vigilant class instructor.)
While I had been in full compliance at the beginning of the semester, money was tight and I didn’t get a haircut for a couple of months and thusly, in circumstances to be told in another story, I got busted for having hair maybe 1/8 inch over the tops of my earlobes. A notification was sent from the “honor code” office to one of my professors teaching my 101 majors class to get me in line. After some discussion about the correct interpretation of the actual wording of the official hair policy, my professor quickly washed his hands of the matter and suggested I go meet with Brother Curtis in the H.C. office to discuss the official interpretation.
The exact wording in the official honor code publication, as best I remember, said that hair could “not cover the ear.” I interpreted the word “cover” to mean that if any part of the earlobe was visible, justice was satisfied and hair hanging a quarter inch over the top of my earlobe was ok. Well of course it was pointless to argue interpretation with Curtis or any of the other campus enforcers. So I capitulated and went and shelled out $3 for a haircut in the Wilkinson Center barbershop. But during my conversation with Mr. Curtis, he said something that didn’t seem significant at the time but a few weeks later would demonstrate to me for the first time Oak’s propensity to not always tell the uncomfortable truth.
It was one of the reasons Curtis gave to justify the hair policy. I don’t remember his exact words, but I very clearly remember the key points of his comment. Curtis told me that President Oaks had been recently escorting a potential donor on a tour of the campus when this individual noticed a male student with hair a bit too long for the donor’s patriotic sensibilities. The prospect commented that he wasn’t sure if he would want to donate to BYU if the school was going to allow students to wear hair like that. At the time I thought “OK, fair enough, that is one of Oaks responsibilities, to keep the money coming in to cover expenses.” It didn’t seem unreasonable in general that he would be concerned about the university’s image to potential donors.
So back to the letter. Word got around and it quickly received national coverage with much loud laughter and derision in the newspapers and magazines published across the nation in December of 1973. There was also a campus uproar, of sorts. Was it just a quiet grumbling from the loyal opposition? Or was Oaks facing the sort of dreaded Campus Unrest such as he had been personally enmeshed in at the University of Chicago just a few years earlier?
(https://thecore.uchicago.edu/winter2010/which-side.shtml)
The Chicago inquisition was a curious episode in Oaks pre-BYU career. I had not been aware of this event at the time but in retrospect I wonder if this might have had something to do with why he hated long hair on men so much, you know all those hippie rebels at the University of Chicago that he was assigned by the University of Chicago to judge and discipline for an illegal “campus sit-in” during the 60’s. Click the link above for details if interested. But at that time, as a rather naive freshman, I had just assumed he was jealous of those that could grow a full head of hair.
So, while BYU had promoted itself as the one campus in America as a “hotbed of campus rest” during the Vietnam war, other universities across the country had been grappling with the challenges of resolving potentially conflicting ideals of patriotism (interpreted by some as strict obedience to government leaders) against individual moral conscience and ethical responsibility. There had been innumerable public demonstrations and sometimes vandalism related to the opposition to LBJ’s and Nixon’s war policies in Vietnam on many university campuses across the country during the latter half of the 1960’s. But not at BYU. According to an acquaintance of mine that had been present at a campus Forum just a few years before, Oaks predecessor Earnest Wilkinson had obsequiously groveled before then Vice-President Hubert Humphrey that BYU “supported the war in Vietnam.”
While open rebellion had not previously erupted at the Lord’s university, there was enough of an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with his letter that Oaks decided it might be prudent to try and defuse the uproar by having a little folksy fireside chat to discuss the concerns of concerned students. So, a day or so later after his letter had been publicly lampooned from coast to coast, it was announced that President Oaks would be in the Wilkinson Center later that evening to listen to students and answer their questions. The best I can remember, there may have been somewhere between fifty to a hundred interested (mostly male) students that showed up. I cannot recall all of the comments or questions but Oaks managed to remain smiling and appearing good natured and personable throughout the evening. He was adept at remaining poised and calm while facing down what was a bit of a hostile audience. By hostile for BYU, I just mean that people politely but clearly stated disagreement with his letter. The following are some of the points that I do clearly remember.

1. One person asked why long hair was considered a problem (much less a sin?) since Jesus had long hair. Oaks response: “How do you know Jesus had long hair?” He indulgently smiled, trying not to laugh. That was it. No other explanation or evidence presented that Jesus’ haircut would have been in compliance with current BYU policies. Maybe not exactly a fib, but no hesitation in redirecting the conversation from a question he didn’t want to answer.
   
2. One individual expressed his concern that the letter had equated the words “Sacred Covenants” with the signature on the college application in which the applicant agrees to comply with the Honor Code. The student, clearly moved by the spirit to rebuke with kindness, emotionally yet politely expressed his fervent belief that the word covenant should only be applied to promises made specifically and directly to God (presumably at baptism or in the temple), not a university application. Dallin’s response: emphatic apologetic body language and verbal backtracking that of course, the speaker was right, Oaks agreed he should not have used the word “covenant” in this case. This was the only time I have ever heard Oaks apologize for anything.
   

Typical for him, he didn’t mean what he said. It appeared that he backtracked on this point when he wrote (at least part of) the new prophet Spencer Kimball’s talk for his first BYU devotional to the student body the next September 1974. I don’t know for sure that Oaks wrote all of it, but his fingerprints were all over it. Much to my surprise, Kimball reads the same Jerry Rubin quote on hair that Oaks had read in his talk at ASU almost two years earlier. Kimball admonished all students that in coming to BYU they had made “sacred covenants” to comply with all the campus rules. So, it seems “sacred covenants” do apply after all to written agreements with institutions as well as Temple ordinances. Anyone can change their mind so maybe fib is too strong of a word, but I took it as early evidence of Oaks' duplicitous tendencies.

1. And for me, the more significant question asked at the time was: “Is this hair policy just to placate the university’s donors?” Again, Oaks emphatically in body language and words stated that he would never enforce such a policy just to get money for the university. Wait, What? That wasn’t what Curtis had told me just a few weeks earlier. Reread the paragraph above regarding my conversations with Curtis. Which one would you suppose was telling fibs?

Well the semester may have begun with a tentative respect for the office of the university President, but the hair flunking letter pretty much ended the honeymoon.
I lost all respect for Oaks during my freshman year at BYU. I learned that Oaks was willing to lie and act rather petty about inconsequential matters such as men’s hair length. In the following months, I saw further evidence of his character that was more damning in my mind than just a petty rule about the length of a man’s hair. But that will be another story to follow.
Even in the years after he was called as an Apostle and I was doing my best to faithfully serve in Young Men’s, Bishoprics, and High Councils, I never again had any respect for him or the offices that he held.
I know this was a long post for Reddit, but I thought some of the details might be interesting to those who attended BYU during Oak’s reign. Many of the quotations are paraphrased based on what I can remember. If anyone who was there at the time has more accurate memories, I would welcome the clarifications.

Ok so I F(16) started talking to this guy M(16) we’ll call him Tim for the story. Me and Tim “met” (in quotations bc we’ve known eachother since freshman year we’re now juniors but we never talked before this) at homecoming. The following week I dm him saying I liked him. I had just gotten out of a 13 month relationship the other day like I was still in the relationship during hoco but already wanted to break up. Anyways so me and Tim have been talking/dating for about 2 months now. My idea of dating is just that dating he’s not my bf but to him and especially his friends he is my bf. Everyone at school thinks he’s my bf, which I don’t like. Now this guy really likes me, he’s actually liked me since freshman year, and tbh I think he’s chill and all but I’m not like obsessed with him so I just want to keep things the way they are. I would say I’m not fully ready for a relationship or ever have been as I have a past of cheating. I want to do relationship things with this guy like go on dates but I don’t want to be his gf and I haven’t told him this yet but I really don’t know how to. His parents want to meet me and honestly he’s a great guy but I don’t want to meet them this isn’t anything serious it’s just for fun yk and I want everyone to know that especially him. Am I in the wrong I don’t think I am but I would like to know a second opinion.

Ok so I F(16) started talking to this guy M(16) we’ll call him Tim for the story. Me and Tim “met” (in quotations bc we’ve known eachother since freshman year we’re now juniors but we never talked before this) at homecoming. The following week I dm him saying I liked him. I had just gotten out of a 13 month relationship the other day like I was still in the relationship during hoco but already wanted to break up. Anyways so me and Tim have been talking/dating for about 2 months now. My idea of dating is just that dating he’s not my bf but to him and especially his friends he is my bf. Everyone at school thinks he’s my bf, which I don’t like. Now this guy really likes me, he’s actually liked me since freshman year, and tbh I think he’s chill and all but I’m not like obsessed with him so I just want to keep things the way they are. I would say I’m not fully ready for a relationship or ever have been as I have a past of cheating. I want to do relationship things with this guy like go on dates but I don’t want to be his gf and I haven’t told him this yet but I really don’t know how to. His parents want to meet me and honestly he’s a great guy but I don’t want to meet them this isn’t anything serious it’s just for fun yk and I want everyone to know that especially him. Am I in the wrong I don’t think I am but I would like to know a second opinion.

Ok so I F(16) started talking to this guy M(16) we’ll call him Tim for the story. Me and Tim “met” (in quotations bc we’ve known eachother since freshman year we’re now juniors but we never talked before this) at homecoming. The following week I dm him saying I liked him. I had just gotten out of a 13 month relationship the other day like I was still in the relationship during hoco but already wanted to break up. Anyways so me and Tim have been talking/dating for about 2 months now. My idea of dating is just that dating he’s not my bf but to him and especially his friends he is my bf. Everyone at school thinks he’s my bf, which I don’t like. Now this guy really likes me, he’s actually liked me since freshman year, and tbh I think he’s chill and all but I’m not like obsessed with him so I just want to keep things the way they are. I would say I’m not fully ready for a relationship or ever have been as I have a past of cheating. I want to do relationship things with this guy like go on dates but I don’t want to be his gf and I haven’t told him this yet but I really don’t know how to. His parents want to meet me and honestly he’s a great guy but I don’t want to meet them this isn’t anything serious it’s just for fun yk and I want everyone to know that especially him. Am I in the wrong I don’t think I am but I would like to know a second opinion.

Hi All!
I wanted to share my journey with you all. I tend to keep pretty quiet about this stuff but seems silly considering it could help others who have struggled too.
I was born with unilateral right side clubfoot. After being adopted at 3 months old, I had both surgery and casting to “correct.” I say “correct” in quotations because one bad tired foot day (usually caused by the prior days activity if it’s way outside my usual threshold) and it lovesssss to hurt me 🫠…..
I weighted over 200 pounds by freshman year of college and couldn’t walk around Boston with my friends without pain. I ended up losing 80 pounds, finding fitness, and changing my life! Lifting empowered me to feel so much better about my foot and I also reduced my pain by increasing my activity tolerance.
I went back to school after my career in fitness to become a physical therapist to see if I could learn more about my foot but also to help people. I just graduated 🥰! And am able to tolerate full 8-10 hour days working on my feet (I’m in neuro rehab so in addition to being heavily on my feet, I am often catching, lifting, facilitating gait, etc for my patients as well.) I never thought that would be possible for me before, but I’ve learned a lot in PT school that has helped me!
I now am privileged to help people with virtual physical therapy and personal training appointments, writing customized home exercise programs, and am a certified nutrition coach for working remotely/virtually with my clients.
Now that school things are done, I am going to be performing my own little studies on myself regarding exercise tolerance for the person with clubfoot. The research is heavily lacking (in my opinion) on positive outcomes for adults and how to safely progressively overload the clubfoot to increase activity tolerance and reduce pain. I will share if I come up with anything worthwhile!
If anyone is looking for a virtual coach, trainer, PT, nutrition coach, buddy, etc feel free to reach out to me! I have 8 years experience in the industry, a true love for the kind of one on one wellness work, and I’d love to add more clients I can relate to into my coaching space and do something I am passionate about.

Hi, this is Heidi. I'm in my freshman year at high school and I am taking French. I wish they offered German but they don't. So I am learning with Duolingo and my parents got me a private tutor. But I think I learned the most here. Right now I am hanging with Big Sis Xi. My mom and I are in Vienna but tomorrow we go back home.
So Xi is showing me how she puts up a Nena post. We go one stanza at a time. Today we are doing stanza two. Here it is:

Schlechte Zeiten / Können auch mir den Kopf verdrehn (screw) / Jetzt will ich wieder mal / Die Sonne sehn / Ich suche und ich finde / Kein Bild von dir / Anders halt ich das nicht aus (bear)

It should be sehen and verdrehen but the Germans can be lazy just like us and leave stuff out.
I think you guys are far more advanced than me because I am just a beginner in German. Xi explained to me the difference between A1 and A2. I am definitely A1 but this site is for advanced beginners and intermediary. So Xi wants us to look at just two words. Verdrehen and Aushalten.
I never realized that how much work goes into researching each post. First thing Xi does is Google the new vocabulary word. A lot of definitions pop up. She then decides which one explains the word best. Also which one would help the readers remember it the best. Writing it out is not as simple as it looks people because you have to learn a coding language called Markup to make up links and italics.
So this is what we came up with. We Googled Verdrehen. Different dictionaries showed some different stuff. Cambridge said it means twist, distort, or contort. We both think these words don't quite fit with the line. Next we tried a dictionary called Wiktionary that also adds wrest or misrepresent. Maybe. Next Xi suggested I check out PONS. It adds screw or screw around. (I'm not that naive, I can deal with that word). That's the translation she had used on Monday and I agree it is best.
Now we are going to look at the word Aushalten. Xi talked to me about separable verbs in which the root comes in the middle of the sentence but for whatever strange reason the preposition hangs at the end. Okay I can deal with it. "This is the way" as the Mandalorian says. But I don't see how heads can figure it out. You hear one part of the word and have to wait until the end of the sentence to find out what it means? Weird! Langenscheidt says Aushalten means to endure, withstand, or stand. That fits perfectly so I don't think there is any reason to check another dictionary.
We were going to pretty this up by adding italics and quotation marks but we ran out of time. Heinz came back from his job and we are going to order Turkish take out food.
Like I said this is hard work. I am going to appreciate these posts much more! But I see why people like doing it. You learn a lot more too.

Mom and I are happy, healthy, and safe! I just wanted to share some of the horrible things my father has done because I’ve never told anyone before.
For context: my father (50m) and I (21f) have not spoken to or seen each other in about 2 years. I’m pretty sure my dad is bipolar but has not yet been formally diagnosed. I’ve researched a bit about it to better understand him, and I’ve read that it comes along with anger and irritability. However, my father goes beyond anger and when he gets mad, he gets violent to the highest degree.
A few weeks before I was set to move into my college dorm my freshman year, I was sleeping in my bed in my room upstairs in the morning. I was woken up by my mothers screams downstairs. I called the cops. I’ve never done that before. Long story short, cops couldn’t do anything because I wasn’t a minor when it happened (I was 18). My dad “disowned me” because I took my moms side over his. I put those in quotations only because he’s threatened stuff like this before with me, but always apologized within a few days. After the cops left, he called his friend on the phone and chuckled when he admitted he almost killed my mom.
Fast forward to now. I guess I’m writing this post because my dads birthday was last week. I haven’t seen or talked to him in years, but my mom urged me to text him happy birthday. Reluctantly, I agreed. He basically texted me that we’re never going to see each other again. My birthday was this week and he never texted happy birthday. I know it’s silly, but he’s always wished me happy birthday every year. I now realize today that I am going to fully cut my father out of my life. No texting him on Christmas or birthdays, nothing.
Mom and I argue sometimes when the time comes for big holidays such as Christmas or birthdays. No matter the situation between my parents, my mom always wanted me to have a relationship with my dad and never bad mouthed him. I definitely don’t blame her for sticking with him all these years, but I guess I do blame her for making me to hang out with him and talk to him when I’m ashamed to be related to him. Before I called the cops on him, she made me promise her to never tell anyone about our situation (not my grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc.). My mom has come around, so thankfully she fully supports me in my decision to cut my father out of my life.
I realize that after all of these years that not only was he physically abusive to mom, but emotionally abusive to me. He’s a narcissist. He always used to tell me he loves me and is the best thing to happen to him. But then I realize the other instances where he tries to hug me but I physically recoil because I remember everything he’s ever said and done. I don’t think I’ve given him a hug in my entire life where I’ve actually wanted to do it, and that’s no good when my father is someone who always wants a hug or kiss from me. Then he gets angry at me and calls me a brat, entitled, and selfish. I can’t recall the number of times where I’ve done something to upset him and he threatens to never come to any of my graduations, wedding, or birth of my baby (this was his favorite thing to say when I’ve upset him). Or when he had neck surgery after his motorcycle accident and I had to take his temperature with a thermometer. Admittedly, this was not the best timing but I put my fingers on his neck instead of the thermometer to try to be funny. He was already irritated and he told me I would never be a good doctor (has been my dream since I was younger). You get the gist.
My parents divorced when I was 10 but we still lived together under the same roof because his job doesn’t pay well and he doesn’t like to be alone. My mom was too generous and allowed him to live in our house rent free, she paid for groceries, she paid for his truck and motorcycle. All he had to do sometimes was clean the bathrooms and mow the lawn. Before the incident, he had been getting increasingly more angry with us both and snapped. He complained that we make him mow the lawn in the heat of the summer and we don’t even bother to come outside to give him a bottle of water. That’s just the kind of man he is. So I don’t forget to mention, another reason he may have been living with us is because his baby mama filed a restraining order against him for hitting her too. What a peach.
Not only did mom and I get out of that house that has trapped us for 20 or so years, but my dad has gained somewhat of a conscience (mostly with moms insistence) and has begun to pay my mom back the money that she spent on him. While I haven’t spoken to my dad in years and I will likely never see him again, I have to admit it was one of the toughest but best decisions I’ll ever make in my life (this is coming from one of the most indecisive people ever). I graduate college next month and I’ll be excited to see my mom’s side of the family support me.

Basically a rant lmfao. I don't know whether to laugh or cry, but here we go
Last month, my(22F) girlfriend(22F) - we'll call her Alice - of nearly five years asked me out on a date. I didn't think too much of this, but I was still pretty excited since 9/10 times I'm the one who initiates dates.
Context: We went to high school together, 'got together' senior year, decided to go to the same university, didn't dorm together but did get an apartment together sophomore year. We don't share a room all the time, but we regularly cuddle and tend to fall asleep in my room and we kiss here and there. We don't have sex, which I was and still would be completely fine with since I figured she didn't have any interest in it. We have two cats. Alice is upbeat and talkative, but has notoriously bad self-esteem.
Alice seemed pretty nervous asking me out on a date, but I thought it was because it was her first time asking me out in a traditional date setting instead of the other way around. I say traditional because she asks me to grab lunch or go out shopping or on her usual walks together, but not something preplanned by over a week to somewhere like a sit-down restaurant. I still think of all of those as dates, and I love when she takes me grocery shopping because it's one of my favorite activities to do together.
Anyway, we were driving to the restaurant and I noticed that she was looking really pale. I asked her if she was okay, to which she (very tensely) said yes and turned on the radio. She drives us the majority of the time since I'm honestly a little scared of it after being in a car accident when I had my learners permit. I asked if she was sure and she said, and I quote, 'I'm just kind of nervous since it's our first date.'
I laughed a little. First date? Of course this wasn't our first date, we were dating for almost five years- how was this our first date? I thought she was just playing around so I said something like 'uh-huh, totally first date jitters, princesse'
And when I tell you she looked annoyed at me, I mean it. Alice was not amused. I figured she was just in a bad mood and if she wanted to tell me about it, she'd do it on her own time. I wanted to enjoy our date, so I dropped it.
We sat down and started chatting, but she was still quieter than usual. She was fidgeting with stuff, not making eye contact, etc. Whenever I asked about it or tried to prompt more conversation because honestly I was getting a little worried - usually Alice is very upbeat and way more talkative than me - she kept circling around to or mentioning it being our 'first date' and wanting everything to go perfectly.
We left the restaurant eventually. I skipped past dessert and suggested picking something up in a drive through and just going home. She looked so nervous I genuinely thought she was going to throw up and at that point I thought maybe she was sick or something. Finally, after asking again in the parking lot, this time if she was feeling sick, she exploded, asking if I was annoyed or if I hated her or if I regretted going out with her. She was saying stuff like how she thought I was going to move out and take the cats and, and, and.
I honestly had no idea what to say so I just held her face and asked her what the hell she was talking about.
You've probably guessed it from the quotations, the mentions of her calling it our first date, etc., that I heard her say, from her mouth, my precious, lovely, amazing girlfriend, that 'you're probably just going to go date someone else and i ruined my chance.'
She was genuinely freaking out, and honestly so was I the more she explained.
The confession back in high school? Where I told her 'I love you'? She thought it was me calling her my best friend. The apartment? 'Oh well it makes sense to move in together since we're so close'. The kissing? 'You're French, so I thought....' (she didn't explain that one fully- I still need to ask her about that, because I am French, but I guarantee she's never seen me kiss a single person other than her).
I told her I thought she was ace, so I never pushed sex. She was a little mind-blown by that one, but she said that all of our dates were, in her mind, friendly outings between a couple of besties.
She said that she's been in love with me since we were 20 and pining since freshman year of university. She thought that whenever I said I was going out with someone from work, I was saying as like a 'wink-wonk' for me going out on a date. It was just lunch here and there.
It sounds a little funny looking back, but honestly my heart broke a tiny bit, because I thought we were on the same page for five years of our lives. I mean,,, I want to propose to her in two years or so when we were both out of university.
Well, today was our almost one month and officially not our five year anniversary that I was really looking forward to. Apparently. I love her with all of my heart, but I genuinely did not think the useless lesbian label would apply to both of us so accurately.
It sounds so fake. Like I genuinely expected her to go 'April Fools!' yesterday and say it was an elaborate joke. I mean, if nothing else, she's not asexual and we officially have a guest room, so there's something. I feel a little like we broke up and got back together in the span of one night so even now I'm still having mixed feelings and emotional whiplash. I feel like I should've figured it out but I'm looking back and I genuinely only see us being in a relationship. Alice is doing the same, putting the pieces together. We're laughing and crying a lot over the misunderstandings and missed time, but I did get pampered quite a bit today so I'm doing better than I thought I would.
Anywho, thoughts?
​
Edit: grammar

"Chrissy Teigen referred to Donald Trump as a 'pussy-ass bitch.'" - Former Twitter Safety Policy Team Senior Advisor Anika Collier Navaroli, testifying before the House Oversight Committee about Twitter’s relationship with the former president, putting some all-time quotations on the official record

Berate Of The Union

Correction: Yesterday’s newsletter described “Biden’s first State of the Union” address. It was meant to have read: “Biden’s first State of the Union in the 118th Congress.” The address was the president’s second State of the Union.
President Biden’s second State of the Union address, like his first two years in office, exceeded our expectations. And was unlike any we’ve ever seen.

• Expectations for President Biden were tempered going into Tuesday night in part due to the incredibly difficult circumstances he faces (a severely divided national electorate, and a batshit opposition party that includes multiple members who showed up for the SOTU prepared to scream at him all night). Biden and his speechwriters made the wise decision to forgo calls for unity in favor of an approach that puts Republicans on the hind foot for opposing the kind of America most Americans want to live in. The rallying cry, which he repeated throughout the address, was “finish the job!”: a tacit jab at Republican officials who stand in the way of essentially all progress
  
• The speech was not without its snags. Biden stumbled over his words early in the speech several times, but recovered quickly and was more or less always able to land his point. Despite House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s insistence that this state of the union would be “respectful,” his caucus was borderline uncontrollable, audibly heckling the president at several points during the address, prompting McCarthy to shush them. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) was particularly animated while dressed as Cruella de Nordstrom Rack, repeatedly shouting “Liar!” at Biden, including when he correctly noted that some members of the Republican Party want Medicare and Social Security to expire.
  
• A word on this: Biden responded by engaging directly with his hecklers. He even got them to applaud Medicare and Social Security and promise not to gut it. And some news outlets have thus portrayed the exchange over those programs, as “negotiating in real-time” with hostage takers, over the debt limit. But that’s not exactly what happened. McCarthy had already taken both programs off the table for budget cuts in his debt ceiling extortion scheme, so Republicans didn’t really concede anything. And Biden didn’t implicitly or explicitly agree to negotiate with a gun to his head over the rest of the budget. They booed because they hate when anyone accurately describes the substance of their agenda. Social Security and Medicare may be off the table for now, but Republicans still support privatizing or phasing out both programs, and the assertion that they “conceded” something to Biden in “negotiations” over the debt limit implies that Biden has agrees that huge cuts to other vital services are still fair game as ransoms to the GOP.
  

The State of the Union deteriorating into the British House of Commons With More Spray Tan was chaotic to be sure, but it also seemed to energize Biden.

• Biden was most successful when he recapped what his administration has already delivered, including laws and regulations that will bring manufacturing back to the United States, lower health-care costs for seniors, higher taxes for corporations and a resurgence of unionization. And he was most moving, perhaps unexpectedly, when he spoke about police reform and public safety. He directly addressed the parents of Tyre Nichols, who attended as guests, and deftly expressed the unimaginable pain of parents who have lost children, without feeling compelled to balance that out with “tough on crime” rhetoric. It was a marked improvement on the topic from last year’s speech. He underscored an often-overlooked point that the basis of public safety is public trust, and that trust is deeply broken in many communities across the country.
  
• Disgraced former president Donald Trump’s former press secretary/nepotism Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR) delivered the Republican Party’s official response to the State of the Union, and we probably don’t have to say much more than that. It’s actually kind of breathtaking how boring she is as a public speaker when she has had multiple roles in which that’s the whole job. She decried “left-wing culture war” (very “I know you are, but what am I?”) and said that the dividing line in America is no longer between right and left, “it’s between normal and crazy” (true, but the other way around, which is why Republicans keep losing elections). Hilariously, she highlighted her own “record” since becoming governor: banning critical race theory, repealing pandemic public-health orders, and preventing the state from using terms like “Latinx.” The thread connecting all of those “accomplishments” is that they are totally substance-free, Fox News-inspired right-wing culture war offensives which will do absolutely nothing to improve the lives of average people in her state.
  

The divide between the Democratic and Republican speeches was stark. One party offered meaningful ideas and solutions to help the material conditions of millions of people and make this country a more equitable place to live, and the other party offered banning the term “Latinx.” The choice is yours, America!

Under The Radar

The Mississippi House of Representatives, which is currently dominated by a White, Republican supermajority, voted to create a separate court system and an expanded police force within Jackson, MS, the Blackest city in America. Should House Bill 1020 become law, the White Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court would appoint two judges to oversee a new district within Jackson, and that district just so happens to include all of the city’s majority-White neighborhoods. The White state public-safety commissioner would oversee the expansion of the Capitol Police force, currently headed by a White police chief. Over the past 30 years, the White Republican supermajority in the state legislature has continually redrawn districts to ensure it can pass any bill without a single Democratic vote. All Mississippi House Republicans are White, and most House Democrats are Black. Republicans touted the bill as a way to “make Jackson safer,” a common and unbelievably patronizing refrain used by White conservatives as they disenfranchise Black constituents.

What Else?

The death toll from a 7.8 magnitude earthquake and subsequent aftershocks in Turkey and Syria has risen to a staggering 12,000 as rescue efforts continue.
A city bus in Montreal, Canada, crashed into a daycare center, leaving two children dead and six injured. The bus driver was arrested and charged with homicide and careless driving.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is traveling through various European Union countries (and the U.K. smh Brexit…) this week on a tour of requests for additional arms for his country’s troops as they continue their fight for liberation from Russia.
Taking her on more official state business, North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un seems to be signaling that his daughter, currently middle-school aged, will be his successor. New nepo baby just dropped!!
Ukrainian tennis player and Olympic medalist Elina Svitolina has called for a total ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes from the 2024 Paris Games.
New Zealand authorities reported today that they found more than three tons of cocaine floating in the Pacific Ocean after it was dropped there by an international drug ring. In other news, What A Day will be off tomorrow on a boat in the south pacific.
In a House Oversight Committee show-trial hearing Republicans convened to “prove” Twitter conspired against Donald Trump and other conservatives, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) got Twitter’s former senior safety advisor to admit on the record that Twitter actually changed its own policy regarding certain kinds of hate speech after disgraced former President Trump violated it, effectively blowing up the entire premise of the sham investigation alleging “anti-right-wing bias.”
In the same hearing, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) complained about Twitter having barred anti-vaxx rhetoric from a few fringe doctors contradicting the medical consensus and guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control. She then went on a bizarre tirade about regretting having received the vaccine. I would say “Republicans are not sending their best,” but I think the sad truth is that they actually are!

Be Smarter

Corporations have always had a way of squashing progressive policies, and in few states is that more readily apparent than California. In the past two weeks, fast-food companies in the state have collected enough signatures to force a referendum on a law to increase wages for restaurant workers, and oil companies successfully got a measure to qualify for the ballot that would overturn an environmental-safety law that would ban new drilling projects near homes and schools. In 2018, California’s multibillion dollar real-estate industry spent over $75 million to kill Proposition 10, a measure that would have expanded rent control in the state. In 2020, Uber, Lyft, Postmates, and other “gig economy” giants spent over $200 million to pass Proposition 22, allowing such companies to keep treating their workers as “independent contractors” rather than employees entitled to benefits. In all such cases, corporations with bottomless pockets are able to spread as much disinformation as they want and essentially write their own laws. With the two latest corporate-backed referendums, good-government groups, environmentalists, and labor unions are alleging that corporations are abusing the democratic process and intentionally misleading voters into signing petitions. There’s little recourse for misleading voters under California state law, and until comprehensive campaign-finance reform comes to pass, corporations will continue to play a determinant role in legislation at all levels of government.

What A Sponsor

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Light At The End Of The Email

Lebron James surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabar to become the new all-time leading scorer in NBA history with a staggering 38,388 career points.
In a tense exchange before last night’s State of the Union address, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) reportedly told freshman Rep. George Santos (R-NY) “You don’t belong here.” We disagree with him about basically everything else but credit where credit is due, Mitt!

Enjoy

Sunrise Movement 🌅 on Twitter: "same energy"

Hello! I’m a freshman in high school and I go to the top ranked public high school in the US, so naturally, I’m surrounded by a ton of fellow overachievers all the time. Lately, I’ve been struggling to cope with the prejudices of my peers. For some explanation: the student environment at my school is notoriously toxic and if you don’t follow the path that everybody else is taking (i.e. a ton of APs, advanced math courses, summer courses, etc.), you will be put down by your peers, often in subtle but extremely passive aggressive ways. I’ve been experiencing this lately regarding the math course that I am taking. At this school, if you didn’t take geometry before you began your freshman year, you are considered “dumb” and “behind” (I use quotations because these are things my supposed friends have told me or have said about their friends in front of me). All of my peers are taking algebra 2 or pre-calculus, so I feel like the odd one out. Not to mention, all of the geometry classes are very small, adding to that sense of growing shame within me. I could have taken geometry before 9th grade, but I was occupied during the summer before this school year with a music camp, and I was never pushed to take higher level math courses in middle school since I was always told by my parents that I just “don’t have a math brain.” I want to blame my lack of academic advising (I’m one of the few kids within my peer group who didn’t have a prep-academy to prepare me for this school, as you have to apply to attend, and I’ve never had any academic/college advisors as a few of my friends have) but I’m inclined to blame myself for my lack of planning and foresight. It’s not like I will not graduate if I take geometry in my freshman year, but it’s extremely socially unacceptable in this school. To add to that, people (outside of this school and within it) generally tend to equate a lack of mathematical ability to a lack of intelligence and somehow my peers turned this ideology into “if you didn’t get ahead in your math courses before freshman year, you must just be stupid!” I apologize for the long post, but I would really like assistance with putting this situation into perspective. My parents have told me that these people’s judgements are just ways for them to feel better about themselves by putting others down and that all that matters is that you’re a good person, that you’re doing well in school in terms of your grades, and that all that matters is that you end up at a good college after high school (which, for me, is the ultimate goal for these next four years). I would really appreciate your response!

At the beginning of the pandemic i had a dream that a zombie-like, 28 Days Later style virus was upon us. The first part of the dream was a typical zombie-type movie with lots of different characters. But the last part focused on life after the vaccine, which didn't actually cure the infected, but did force the virus into dormancy - or viral latency.
Previously perceived "zombies" appeared normal after receiving their vaccination series, except that the desire to consume fresh human flesh never left. It was like an addiction, and all kinds of treatments, treatment facilities, holistic remedies, medications, etc., popped up all over the world, along with support groups, like FEA.
The dream ended when i was watching TV at home, life returning to normal, flipping through channels because apparently i had cable, when i saw breaking news of a politician who'd secretly been a flesh eater being arrested after having been caught taking part in black market flesh eating sex parties. It's just the way the world was now.
The dream stuck with me, so i decided to start writing some short short stories based on it. Like one page or less stories. Just snippets that could be read within a few minutes, and would feed my need for more "zombie" content. Even though, yes, i know, they aren't real zombies. That's why quotations.
So here we are.
Flesh Eaters Anonymous, Parts 1 & 2
No one knows how it started. We weren't told where it came from or how it spread. Soon after the outbreak was the story of the hour, all the local news channels were down.
1.
Eli hid in his basement.
He always thought he'd go upstairs to the roof where his pilot buddy, Trent, would pick him up in his Aero AT-3. They'd fly to the lonely mountain in Utah Trent's ex-girlfriend's doomsday prepper family owned the eastern facing side of. They'd live off barrels of goods buried in the ground and defend their territory using the family's secret armory.
By the time Eli heard about the outbreak and called Trent, the lines were jammed. He spent too long packing too many things he wouldn't have actually needed before running up the stairs to the roof. Even up there where the signal was always clear, he couldn't get through. No matter who he dialed, the result was the same: three beeps before disconnecting.
Eli was certain Trent remembered their plan and decided to wait for him to come to his rescue. It never occurred to him that an airplane, even a small one, is not a helicopter. Therefore, it was unlikely to successfully land or take off from his building's rooftop. But what could he say? Adrenaline didn't make for the clearest thinking, and they'd never actually discussed the pick up spot in their drunken "in case of zombie emergency" protocol rants. But even when Eli realized his folly, he figured at the very least he'd see Trent overhead and they could potentially signal to each other, or at the very very least see where he was planning on landing and try to get there.
From the roof, Eli heard chaos erupt in the city streets. Screaming and crying and shouting. Breaking glass. Gunshots. The occasional sound of cars colliding. As the minutes ticked away, Eli had doubts.
What if Trent forgot? Or what if he left without him? Trent was not the most reliable guy under normal circumstances. He was kind of a dick. That plane only had two seats. He probably filled Eli's with a girl he'd met the night before. Or extra stuff he always claimed he would be better off without. Or what if he'd already flown by and when Eli didn't see him, just kept on going? What was Eli doing thinking he could count on him? This was freshman year all over again. Eli had learned the hard way once before. This was not a lesson that bore repeating.
Eli grabbed his bags and ran back down the stairs. He had a Harley in the garage. He just needed his gear. And he was so close, just a few doors away from his own, when down the hall, a straight shot to the lobby, stood the hulking, blood dripping, eye bulging realization that his building had been breached.
Eli stood for a moment facing his opponent, the midday sun shining in his eyes. When two more wandered in off the street, he barely had the chance to catch his breath before the race began. The three of them charged after Eli like wolves on a rabbit, raging down the hall. Somehow their hunger made them faster. Stronger. Louder. Eli knew they were gaining on him.
Calling for help, Eli ran back the way he'd come, banging against his neighbor's doors as he bolted past them, not daring to stop and see if anyone would answer. Eli ran back up one flight of stairs, which they skipped two or three at a time with ease, leading him to the belief that he would never make it back to the roof. What would he do up there anyway? Jump off? On the second floor he burst out of the stairwell and made his way down the hall, flinging his bags behind him. Reaching the other side of the building, he tumbled down the flight of stairs in the front end, which, back on the first floor, dumped him into the lobby.
A man and a woman standing at the main entrance sniffed the air in an animalistic manner. That, combined with their bulging veins and eyes, tipped Eli off to their state of infection. Fortunately for Eli, they only saw him as he sprinted past. Unfortunately for Eli, they caught on in time to join the other three already in pursuit. Not having the slightest idea where to go, Eli shoved his way through the door leading down to the basement, tried to lock it, failed, somersaulted down the stairs through the basement door, and got up just in time to slam it, bolt it and listen to one resounding thud after another as his pursuers tumbled into it.
Eli turned on the light. He was alone. Beneath the concrete walls his phone received no signal. The light flickered, but the only sounds he heard were the cries, moans, scratching and pounding of five men and women who wanted nothing more than to tear his flesh from his body, and eat it.
Everyone had a plan. Everyone knew what zombies were. Everyone thought about what they would do to survive, and everyone thought they had it right.
2.
Miguel grew up in the country. His family still lived in the remodeled farmhouse surrounded by twenty acres of open pasture and one hundred and sixty of dense woodland. In an apocalyptic event, Miguel was going to leave all his earthly possessions behind, get in his truck and drive straight home.
When Miguel saw a little girl at the local superstore jump into the basket of a man in a motorized wheelchair and go straight for his jugular while he flailed his arms around and his cart made donuts in the soup aisle, Miguel knew it was time to go home.
As he turned to walk away, a woman screamed: Someone help him! :and two customers and an employee rushed to the man's aid. Miguel himself made an attempt to help.
As people brushed passed him, he said: I wouldn't do that.
No one listened.
On his way to the door, Miguel heard growing chaos behind him, leading him to think this was a virus that spread quickly. As more people ran toward the commotion, Miguel again made the effort to assist.

 You might want to take this opportunity to leave :said Miguel, as he grabbed the cart of a single mother distracted by the horror and dropped his basket inside. I wouldn't go back there if i were you :Miguel said, as he swiped his arm along a shelf at the end of an aisle, collecting over a dozen boxes of Cheerios. It would behoove you to go the other way :he offered, knocking into his cart a display of instant rice. If i were you i would head this-a-way :Miguel suggested, gathering several cans of corn and beans. 

In the couple minutes it took Miguel to reach the exit, he had successfully cleared almost a dozen aisle ends, and the majority of customers and employees were consuming each other at the back of the store. Miguel pushed his bounty out the door, ignoring the alarm that went off when the security tag on a pink onesie at the bottom of the cart set off the theft detectors, walked over to his truck, opened the gate, lifted the shopping cart up and into the truck bed with some effort, closed the gate, lit a cigarette, and slid into the cab. As he started the engine, he smiled at the full gas tank.
Miguel drove over three hours out to the country, the tank close to empty as he pulled up to the house. He had tried calling home while on the road, but he couldn't get through. The house was effectively in the middle of nowhere, the nearest neighbors over ten miles away. Driving to town took almost half an hour on the country roads. It wasn't perfect, a time would surely come when they would have to defend themselves. Eventually they may even have to leave. But for now, it was the best place he knew.
Hopping out of the truck, Miguel was surprised when no one came to greet him. Not even the dog was barking. He wondered for a moment if they had left without him, but the cars were there. And his parents would never leave, not with the chance of their children coming home. Cautiously, Miguel made his way to the porch.

 Hola? :he called out: Mama?... Dad?... 

He stood at the door for a moment, listening. The house was eerily quiet. Letting himself in, Miguel searched the place like a television cop on a primetime show, only he didn't have a gun. But his father did. Somewhere.

 Hello? :Miguel called out again, searching a desk drawer for his father's revolver. Necha! :he tried calling the dog: Necha! Here girl! Necha, come! 

Silence. In the desk he found the .38 special and on the shelf above, a half empty box of rounds. He loaded the revolver and having completed his search of the house, went out back to look for his family. From the backyard, he faced the open fields and called for his mother, his father, his sister, and the dog. But there was nothing. He waited for his other sister and his brothers to arrive, as they may have had the same idea he'd had, but no one came.
As the sun lowered over the hills he discovered the house had no power. He tried cranking up the generator, but it wouldn't start and he couldn't find the source of the problem in the growing dark. Sitting in the kitchen by the fireplace, which crackled and glowed with fresh flame, Miguel sat with an old lantern and a handful of candles, stared out across the pastures to the edge of the woods, and waited.
Parts 3 - 6: https://www.reddit.com/zombies/comments/10rghol/fea_flesh_eaters_anonymous_pts_36/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

TW: mention of sex, age play (?)

I (F22) wouldn't call myself a little or age regressor necessarily, but I think it's mainly due to the fact that I never really fully "felt" like I was fully in that headspace. I think at times, I act younger or cuter depending on the situation or the people I'm with. I didn't realize it until recently, but the pitch of my voice fluctuates from normal to high. It feels like when I am with my siblings (I am the oldest out of three), my voice is "normal" or maybe even "lower," but when I'm with my current friends in university, I speak in a higher voice more often. I think this could be because we're all relatively the same age, and I feel safe enough where it feels like I can relax and be myself around them.
I first stumbled upon age regression and things like little space a couple years ago when I was a freshman in university. I remember trying to save some time to watch some shows while eating some frozen yogurt with a baby spoon as a way to relax and "feel small." Sometimes I would imagine that someone else was feeding me while we watched shows, but oftentimes I would feel even more alone if I thought about it too much. That was as far as it really went. It wasn't until COVID happened, and the university switched to online schooling where it felt like I was "regressing" as a way to cope or maybe deal with the stress and anxiety. (Disclaimer: I used quotations around regressing because I'm not really sure if I would call it that for myself.) Speaking and having my camera on really stressed me out, so I would often times hold my stuffed animal under my desk and continuously pet her ears, face, etc. as a way to self-soothe I think. Sometimes when I was really stressed, I would just go in my bed and clutch my stuffed animal for as long as I needed to. I had a roommate that was very nice, and she seemed to notice that I was going through something, she also pointed out that at times like this, I would verge on the non-verbal side of things, or just simply yes, no, and head nods. That was the full year of transitioning to online school for COVID, so those tendencies are still there, but not as frequent or obvious.
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I am currently in a different country, studying abroad for half a year and it has been a wonderful experience. However, it is also relatively lonely for me. It's hard for me to make friends, and it's even harder for me to open up to people, so I don't currently have close relationships to anyone here during my study abroad. One thing I should mention was that I did not grow up with physical or emotional affection from my parents. I was always jealous of seeing other people expressing and showing intimacy with their parents so easily and happily. Since my parental figures were not very expressive with their emotions, I did not express my feelings to them, either. I would describe our relationship to be relatively distant. Something about my close friends back home was that they made me feel comfortable with touch, and now since I know how nice it can be, it is something I want. However, I can't really get that here during my study abroad. It is currently close to finals season, and I just felt like I was on edge. I have a class where it is just me and the professor, and it scares me sometimes because she corrects me when I am wrong (which is fairly often). However, when I'm feeling on edge, it just makes me feel really bad, like I let her down or like I'm stupid, it feels like she's yelling at me and I'm in trouble (I know this isn't the case, but it feels like that). On days like this, I don't want to talk or converse with anyone because it feels like I don't have the mental capacity or energy to do so. Authority figures or older adults make me more nervous than usual, as well. It also could be undiagnosed anxiety, but I started to wear rings when I'm feeling particularly stressed or out of it, so I could have something to fidget with quietly. I also noticed that when I'm really stressed or tense, I do things like wrapping my arms around myself, rubbing my chest, or leaving my hand on my chest.
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I understand that reading fanfiction should not be the only source of information. I read agere ff and age play ff because it is something I like to read and know more about, but also because it is a want for myself. Reading certain things made me realize how much I wanted those things for myself. For example, just the act of cuddling and someone petting my head, telling me sweet words just sounds and feels so nice. The thought of putting my head on someone's lap while they play with my hair feels and sounds so nice, too. There have been times where I was sitting on the ground, packing my bag by my bed where I would imagine putting my head onto their lap, with the person telling me to relax. I would sometimes drink water out of a cup and randomly think about how nice it would be if someone were to help me drink and eat. For both instances, I just feel a wave of sadness and loneliness to the point where I could cry, so I try my best to ignore what I'm imagining and wanting.
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I am aware that the differences of age regression and age play have been discussed, but I am unsure what all of this means for me. Do I actually age regress? Or does it resemble closer to age play or something else? I am unsure if it could be the result of something like being touch starved or some undiagnosed anxiety disorder, but I would like some help on what it is that I feel, what to call it, and what I can do to remedy or fix it. Something I would like to add is that these feelings I described here are not sexual at all. I feel like if I were to have a partner that I trust, I would be open or consider it an option since I have entertained the idea of it before. However, 95% of the time when I am feeling this way, it is not sexual at all. If what I have mentioned makes me an age regressor, I feel like it would be awhile for me to fully "feel" like one if I'm on my own and if 99% of the time, it is triggered by anxiety or stress. Sorry if this whole post was just word vomit and if it was hard to follow, btw.
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(Disclaimer: I normally don't use reddit, so please correct me if I should tag this in a different way. I'm also new to age regression, so please correct me if anything I said was wrong)

Hi there! I want similar books with this dynamics. I've read one book recommended by a user here (The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen) and that's exactly what I want. College setting romance with 'age gap' (barely, only 1 to 3 (4 maybe ok) years please, don't want it to be creepy). I know this is probably too specific but I hope I find another gem. PS: The case with {The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen} which is kind of the plot of the book is that the MMC is a virgin but that's not what I seek (not that I mind if theres another virgin MMC/non virgin FMC) I just want the usual age gap dynamics in college romance books to be reversed.Thank you! 🫶🏼
Edit: Addition. I just wanna say yes I used quotation marks for "age gap" because it's not really age gap and I understand that, however that's what I seek yes it's nothing I get it 💁🏽‍♀️, but again that's what I seek. How many you found freshman FMC and older MMC say junior or something and how many do you find the reverse or it? Exactly, lol. And I specified the age because who's in college/undergrad having 10 years age gap except maybe grad students or older? Undergrad is probably consist of 17-25 (mostly 18-23, depends when thet enter college) 🤷🏽‍♀️

WARNING: This is an EXTREMELY LONG post with background information first and then my problem(s) at the bottom
WILL CONTINUE TO EDIT/ADD INFO
I am aware that this post is unbelievable length. Somehow, despite being several pages long, this is just some of the story/information I felt was necessary. The reason that this post is so long is that I have included extremely detailed information as the situation is quite unusual given the circumstances (calm temperament, at least 3 previous homes, etc) and is rooted in deep-seated trauma from my old bunny (link included)
Not only did I describe the special circumstances which I adopted Rose in but I also gave a list of the Q&A I asked KT, the girl I got Rose from, which is also crucial in the interactions and concerns that I have.
If you couldn't tell from the ungodly amount of rambling, I am more than panicked and desperately want to be able to paint a clear enough picture that I am able to receive genuine feedback and opinions. Despite only having Rose for around 3 weeks at the time of writing this, I have had 3 full breakdowns that involved calling my mom and becoming so distressed that I felt physically ill: the day before the 1 week mark of having Rose, on the actual 1 week anniversary day, and then a few days later. And I am highly skeptical that all of my concerns are simply "new pet parent nerves" and my combination ADHD/Anxiety.
After trying a new setup yesterday and waking up this morning not seeing Rose in her crate I freaked out. I flipped her litter pan upside down so it would be a hide (prior to a few days ago she did NOT have a hide) and when I woke up, didn't see Rose, and didn't hear noise from inside the hide my immediate reaction was that she had died.
As if that wasn't bad enough, when I came back from my classes the same thing happened. Rose was silent under the hide and my first reaction was that this time for sure she had died. I remember my panicked thought process because of how disturbing it was—my attempt to rationalize/cope in the 5 seconds it took me to assume Rose died was by telling myself that if she truly had died, rigor mortis would have set in and her stiffened limbs would have moved/disturbed the hide.
Kinda ironic that something meant to relieve stress and anxiety is causing it.
I have been and still am in constant contact with KT. I have gotten her input on the situation but she seemed to also be at a loss since KT has never experienced the behaviors that Rose is exhibiting; both when Rose was rehomed to her house and adjusting to after she was comfortable at KT's house. KT gave me sort of a "1 month trial" which spurred me to rush filing out forms that allow her to be in the dorms. But KT agrees that 1 month is not at all enough time to decide if this is a good fit since it can take several months and even years to build a relationship.
KT did say that she was surprised! It took KT around a month until Rose flopped down next to her while it happened on the 3rd or 4th day for me. I think this is a good sign but I am getting so many mixed signals that I am more concerned for Rose's health than anything. Progress seemed to be positive for the first week but afterward went downhill. KT said maybe after the first week Rose is realizing that this isn't some kind of babysitting case—especially considering that during the first week of having Rose, KT came over 2 times (not including the initial dropoff) which could've made Rose believe this was temporary. It was around this 1 week mark that Rose started turning her back to me regularly. One time when I was coming back from the bathroom I caught Rose laying down but after she saw me she immediately sat up and turned her back to me!
Best case scenario, these concerns are entirely normal and the behaviors exhibited are to be expected given all of the unique circumstances, Rose is 100% healthy, and I was just experiencing the period of new pet ownership where you freak out over a sneeze.
I have been really trying to allow Rose to become familiar with me. I almost always open the crate doors when I am in my room and have laid on the ground close enough that Rose could come over if she wants. But for some reason after the first few days where she seemed more comfortable venturing out and towards me (very confusing progression...regression?) Rose has not ventured out. In fact, the first few days were the only point in time where I could sit next to the crate and Rose would jump in and out of the cage, sniffing around me and even flopping near me. Now she sits completely still and only potentially moves if I go to the complete other side of the room or leave.
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Content Summary:
First, I listed all of the relevant information that I asked for and received answers to. This background information includes how I adopted Rose, our first meeting, the first few interactions and days, and other information that is crucial to "understand/analyze/justify" the concerns I have.
Second, I listed the concerns that I have. I would like some opinions and advice on if these concerns/behaviors/etc are "typical" or if they are "atypical" but considering the circumstances, these behaviors might be explained/warranted or if they are completely concerning behaviors
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General Background Information:
At the time of writing this, I have had Rose for around 3 weeks. I received Rose on October 30th and it is currently November 14th.
About 2 weeks prior to all of this, a friend that I grew up knowing and was like an older sibling/parental figure committed suicide. I'm freshman in college and somebody posted that they were rehoming 2 rabbits, completely free including supplies. I contacted the owner and we managed to figure out a plan. I essentially registered Rose, the bunny, as an ESA, or emotional support animal in order to keep her in the residence hall.

I initially wanted to bring my cat from home to be my ESA but was afraid of how she would cope with the transition. And yes, I am aware that I should have at least tried bringing my cat to test and see if she could at all adapt. But I was more worried about her well-being: extremely sensitive, not doing well with car rides, going from a whole house to being confined to one room, separation from our 3 other cats, and the fact that she was in and survived when my house had a fire, wearing a tiny oxygen mask from the firefighters and spending a few days in the oxygen chamber at the animal hospital. Oh, and the fact that she somehow hitched a ride in the moving truck returning the rental furniture we were using and spent a week in a warehouse in a completely different city.

While this was a decision that I made pretty quickly (around 1-2 weeks), I made sure to ask for any and all information. I made a Google Doc with all of my questions that I had, the document is around 8 pages of questions, and had KT (the girl rehoming Rose) answer them before taking a few days to consider.
From what KT said, she is rehoming her rabbits because Rose (the rabbit I currently have) was being harassed by the other rabbit, who is nicknamed Chad. KT says that Chad never directly attacked Rose but made it apparent that she had a problem with her.
I also want to note that I DID previously own a rabbit but my care was not the best and I live with that guilt to this day. In some way, I feel like I am subconsciously trying to "make up" for what happened to my former bun. I made a post about it, which I have included as I feel that it is a large factor of why I impulsively reached out for Rose.
Link: https://www.reddit.com/Rabbits/comments/jvll8g/guilt_of_being_a_bad_rabbit_owne?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
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FIRST MEETING & OTHER INTERACTIONS:
Within seconds of first seeing/meeting Rose in person I noticed that she is incredibly calm: despite being transported in a car for around an hour and a half she was curiously poking her head out of the box. While KT and I were setting up her supplies in my dorm, I was holding the box with Rose inside on my lap and she laid/sprawled down after a few minutes of arriving in my dorm. KT was correct when she said that Rose appeared to be very intelligent for a rabbit and very well-socialized. Rose immediately poked her head toward my hand whenever I presented it to her or it was where she could reach. She was slightly trembling but readily accepted pets, was displaying at least some signs of comfort such as grooming and laying/flopping down, and was eating and drinking in addition to accepting treats from my hand.
While I know that you should generally leave a rabbit alone/ignore them for the first 24 hours, KT acknowledged that Rose seemed to be content and said that I could potentially interact with her in small increments.
I did pick her up to take her out of her crate a few hours after KT first dropped her off at my dorm to allow her to explore. The entire time KT was setting up Rose's things in my room, she picked Rose up I want to say 2-3 times to relocate her to the newly placed item. I set Rose on top of the towel that was on the ground in front of her crate and almost instantly she started sniffing the entire perimeter of the towel. She sniffed and poked the crate door as well but avoided walking off of the towel and onto the hardwood floor. Rose then jumped back into her crate, hopped from the litter box and litter pan that was intended for her to just chill in, and then hopped back out of the crate and onto the towel before sniffing and repeating this process a few times. Rose seemed curious about the hardwood floor but because it was "below" the towel, I figured she might not know if it was accessible. Plus the fact that KT said that Rose was only on carpet while she owned her. After placing Rose on the hardwood floor she panicked and clumsily ran back onto the towel that her crate is on and back into her crate.
BUT I feel like it is good to mention that after the hardwood floor event, I just sat on the floor next to the crate. The crate door was open and I was sitting far enough that the crate door could open between the space but was close enough to the towel that Rose could hop onto the towel and come near me if she wanted. She seemed like she gained a little confidence after running her towel and crate circuits and quickly came to investigate. She sniffed me cautiously a few times before moving to the other end of the towel (still OUT of the crate) and flopping down.
The next day, I was petting her and I'm guessing that my finger accidentally brushed under her chin. It was honestly way too fast for me to register. I was petting her forehead when suddenly she growled and lunged. She didn't do anything like biting/nipping/scratching my hand, only lunging as a warning. I was (and still kinda am) panicked that this interaction that occurred less than 24 hours after our first meeting ruined any chance of bonding and building a relationship with Rose. Scared that I had destroyed any chance of gaining Rose's trust, I left her alone. Of course, I then spent the entire rest of the evening worrying and frantically googling if I had caused irreversible damage.
Though it should be common sense, I did not remove Rose from her crate in order to clean, refill water and food, add hay and litter, etc. because 1) I was terrified to pick her up in case it created a sense of distrust between us. Especially after she had given me a warning growl and lunge that legitimately startled me to the point where I flinched quite hard and 2) KT never mentioned if I should remove her before maintenance nor that she always took Rose out before changing things.
The day after the lunging incident, this day being the 2nd full day that Rose was in my care, I went to clean her litter, change her food and water, clean/refill hay, etc. I was slightly worried since I believe(d) that I f*cked up the night before but I can't say that I was too surprised when she once again growled and lunged when I tried to put new hay in her litter box.
Even after all of this, directly after the lunging incidents, she would still immediately shove her head toward my hand, sniff, and upon realizing I did not have food, she'd move on.
Her posture during the first few days was a mix between alert, curious, maybe afraid? I checked several sites and tried to figure things out by comparing Rose's body language/posture with pictures/diagrams/charts of what different rabbit postures look like and what they mean. She was bunched up while sitting and rigid to the point where I frantically searched for whether or not abnormal behavior that might seem like GI Stasis symptoms are common with rabbits that had been rehomed several times but only found results for how to rehome your rabbit.
The first week she was sitting slightly hunched, hence why I thought GI stasis, but seemed more or less okay: hunched but not leaning weight to specific area like GI stasis, ears either straight up or resting at angle (sometimes flat on back spread apart). And I understand that the first days were bound to be scary and difficult regardless of how unbelievably calm Rose is. Despite all of this, she was laying flopped in her box a majority of the time
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CURRENT LIVING SITUATION:
I am contractually obligated to live in the on campus residence halls for 2 years but next year I plan to move into the residence hall that corresponds with my major. I was placed in the art and theater LLC because of my ex-roommate's major but I now have the option to move to the much less chaotic STEM majors LLC next year, which might improve these behaviors.
After I complete my contracted 2 years in the residence halls I plan to rent a campus apartment or house which would upgrade Rose from a single dorm room to multiple rooms and plenty of space for her to free-roam.
Rose currently does not have the ability to free-roam in my dorm room. After Thanksgiving break I am going to bring back my carpet so that I can give her more space and see if that consequently "solves" some of the behavior concerns/problems.
My dorm is in the art and theater residence hall and I currently do not have a roommate. KT provided me with a dog crate and around 10 xpen panels (but only 3 connectors). Because Rose was mainly free-roamed, I initially wanted/planned for her to have access to my entire room. BUT the floors are hardwood and KT said that Rose normally only encountered carpeted flooring at her house. I cut and flattened a large box in the hopes that she would be able to at least walk on that so she would have more space but she doesn't seem to like it. Rose was only on the hardwood floor once and immediately scrambled to get back in her crate but struggled to gain traction. The same seems to apply for the cardboard, Rose has difficulty gaining traction, although it seems slightly better than the hardwood. I have 3 spare bath towels sized Large that I placed on the floor. The first towel is underneath her crate so it doesn't slip around. The second towel is in front of her crate to where she can jump onto it. Unfortunately it slips from under the first towel's edge and exposes the hardwood floor where Rose lands upon exiting her crate. I tried to use the third towel but this towel would shed a lot while I used it to shower and Rose appeared to immediately chew/eat/pull the threads so I took it away. She doesn't display this behavior with the other towels.
KT said that Rose was on low pile carpet at her house, so I ordered one last week. She cautioned me against using what she called "extra plush/soft/fluffy bedding" such as blankets, pet beds, etc as Rose would tend to use the item as a place to poop & pee. The carpet was supposed to arrive 2 days ago on Saturday at my dorm but it, along with the toys and treats I ordered, were sent to my actual house. Because I am required to be off campus during Thanksgiving break, my mom and I agreed that it would be easier to just bring the carpet and other supplies back with me after break. After all, break is in 9 days (November 23rd) but I am planning to leave on the 22nd at around 9pm due to work and the 2 and a half hour drive home.
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Now for Rose. On the Google Doc that I posted questions on, I received these replies from KT (the previous owner) about what Rose was like in her care. I am including the Q&As that I feel are important to the post itself. Quotation marks indicate KT's exact response on the Google Doc (I have it pulled up).

• Rose's Background
  • KT said that she first received Rose around the first few days of December 2020
  • She received Rose after her mom picked Rose up from the previous owner's house
  • Rose "seemed to have been socialized with other owners" based on KT's assumptions
  • KT says that Rose has been through a couple different homes. While she never gave an exact number, KT did mention that it is assumed that she was released into the wild and lived outside for an unidentified amount of time ("at least a week") as that was how the owner KT got Rose from found her
  • It took Rose around 4 months to become fully adjusted to KT's home
  • While living with KT, Rose was completely free-roam but when Chad (the territorial bun that KT says was adopted last winter, which would've been winter 2021) arrived Rose switched to being "periodically" free-roamed
  • Rose got along fine with everyone, especially KT's oldeelderly/senior cat, who would apparently bathe Rose. KT described the relationship between the two as "parental" or "friendship". Rose was never afraid or scared.
  • Chad, the territorial bunny, hated Rose and KT said that she would occasionally stomp her feet in her cage at night while Rose "does nothing at night"
  • Chad tried to kick Rose when they were first introduced but Rose just snarled
  • Rose's free-roaming (I asked how frequently she was free roamed and how long she usually spent out of her cage)
    • B.C. (before Chad), Rose was free-roamed daily
    • A.C. (after Chad), Rose was free roamed weekly with "1 hour at minimum per week"
• Personality / Behavior
  • Every answer that KT gave reiterated that Rose is immensely calm and tolerant
    • KT's 7y/o nephew would "scream and jump frantically around when first introduced him to Rose. Rose didn't attack nor did she seem sad"
    • One of KT's friends accidentally poked Rose's eye when trying to pet her and Rose "did not retaliate" and "just went back to her cage and did her normal rabbit stuff"
  • Rose has interacted with many age groups of KT's family, she said the age range was from 7-90 years old
  • KT said that if Rose can sunbathe, she will lay there for hours "being content and show it. I have found she will show it, but unless she seeks you, then it's best to let her be independent self/assertive/confident self"
  • I asked about if she could handle being alone for a couple hours while I am attending classes and KT said "yes, as long as Rose is comfortable and content at that point"
  • KT DID say that in the start, Rose might try to bite or chew things and if she's having territorial issues, KT used an example of another animal's scent being somewhere, then she might poop but once content, she normally sniffs to investigate. KT said that Rose "knows there's no need to bite or damage things unless given to her like treats"
  • I asked what signs of comfort/contentedness Rose has displayed while KT has owned her and of the few examples I provided, KT said that except for purring, Rose has displayed binkying, sprawling, and grooming
    • She specified that Rose "binkyed when her cat was usually there or she was near the fridge for fresh/cold food"
  • KT said that Rose should be content resting on my lap while I am working "as long as she is comfortable and doesn't need anything"
  • A VERY IMPORTANT point I asked about was Rose's sensitivity to noise—a college residence hall, especially the one for art/theater majors, is prone to all kinds of disruptive, loud, and unexpected noise like fire alarms, yelling, thudding, etc
    • The residence hall that I am currently in is quite loud, especially in comparison to the hall I plan to move into for next year. My classmates that are in the STEM residence hall were shocked when I described what the art and theater dorms are like. The common theme is that the art and theater kids definitely live up to the stereotype: loud, disruptive, and chaotic; while the STEM kids are introverted nerds who avoid being in the same room as another person like the plague. My friend told me that the STEM residence hall always seems empty because nobody ever goes in the common areas or study rooms and that if there is someone in a room, there is only ever one person in a room because not only do the residents work quietly or in silence but they work alone. My dorm room is on the highest floor, the 8th, and I regularly hear several thuds, thumps, slams, and bangs, I once heard sawing! And right around peak quiet hours (10:30-11:30pm) is when people start thundering up and down the hallway. Luckily the fire alarm hasn't gone off yet and we haven't had to evacuate at all. We do have tornado warning sirens that are tested every Friday at a designated time though. If the noise is at all a factor in Rose's behavior, then I feel that the move to the STEM building and then an apartment or house would be helpful.
  • KT said that Chad would sometimes thump in aggression to Rose at night, but she never heard Rose's response
• Diet
  • Daily hay, vegetables (greens) and fruit twice a week at most, some pellets (around a handful)
• Eating Behavior
  • KT said that the amount of food she fed Rose was usually gone by the end of the day—important for the loss of hay appetite later
  • Also said that Rose seems to have gotten "equally bored of greens"
  • After being given a feeding schedule, Rose is a consistent eater
  • KT said that if the rabbits are already in/near their box for feeding times, the hay was placed next to their box in their cage/pen
  • !!! She has never seen Rose or Chad "throw or 'play' with their food so it stays where it is" and the only time the hay, pellets, greens, etc is moved is if the hay is "too close to their pathway of hopping along"
• Litter
  • Cat litter box & a high back litter pan
  • Carefresh small pet paper bedding
  • Pee pads
  • Hay in litter box
  • KT said that Rose is very well litter trained with little to no accidents; she did say that the only time Rose doesn't use the litter box is when she is "emotionally frightened or other negative emotions"
  • Rose did "mark her territory" in KT's house when Chad the other bun was adopted and they would free-roam separately but KT said "she is now trained to not go in my house despite the other rabbit's scent"
  • When I asked about getting a covered/hooded litterbox, KT said that she was unsure how Rose would respond to it. Her previous owner had a pink pet house. KT also said that although Rose "has never chewed on anything", she would still be cautious since she could jump out of something
    • KT said that she does think that she did litter-train Rose since she did tend to go to the bathroom around the pink pet house that the previous owner gave KT. She said that Rose had a litter box inside of her pet house and did use that but also went in her pet house
  • The blue cat litter box was used as Rose's litter tray
  • The green high back litter pan was a resting area
  • KT said that Rose was generally free roam and would only go into her cage for food/water or to go to the bathroom
  • There was never any issues with incorrect usage of the box/pan nor any issues with the contents of the litter box
  • I asked about how frequently Rose makes messes outside of the litter box. KT said that when she first got her, it was originally "for a few days" or "whenever possible" and then it "slowly lessened by 50% by a week" until it eventually stopped entirely
  • KT said that Rose was not throwing litter or hay around "out of madness"

​
If you reached this point, thank you so much! I am now going to describe/explain the concerns/issues/problems that I am worried about. Luckily, almost all of them are a concern that I have based on KT's Q&A above.
I am unsure of how to format this portion containing the behaviors, events, issues, etc that I am worried about so I am going to use my default format for everything: bullet points (categorized)
Issues/Problems/Concerns/etc

• Consistent concerns (started on the first day/week and still happening) (especially things that Rose never did with previous owner KT)
  • Litter Problems
    • Background Info: Rose's cage is a medium dog crate and when KT arranged it on the first day she placed the blue cat litter box, green high back litter pan (about half the size of the blue litter box), and food/water dish tray. KT crammed these all into the crate, having to maneuver and force the items to fit. The only space that Rose could occupy in the crate was the blue cat litter box and the green litter pan next to it. Both the blue litterbox and the green litter pan had a pee pad lining the bottom with carefresh small pet paper bedding and hay on top of it. I have read that using the same substrate for both the litter and bed can cause accidents and confusion for the rabbit on where to use the bathroom but this was never a problem for KT. KT said that the blue cat litter box is the one that Rose is supposed to/has been consistently using as a litter box while the green high back litter pan was like a bed or rest area.
    • Rose swapped litter box and pan function—she was resting in the blue litter box and pooping/peeing in the green litter pan. After talking to KT we think that Rose swapped functions because the crate only allowed for her to sit in either the larger blue litter box meant for cats or the green litter pan specifically made for small animals so she'd obviously switch functions in order to have the larger area to rest. Although there wasn't any room for Rose to go anywhere other than the two litter areas, she did not make a mess outside of the litter and while she did still dig, she didn't throw/fling the litter and hay out. Because Rose was using the green litter pan to relieve herself, I followed KT's advice and moved the blue litter box from inside of the crate to outside. This opened up the majority of the crate. I assumed that Rose would continue to use the green litter pan as the bathroom and would utilize the bottom of the crate as a rest area where she could fully lay down and stretch, get some exercise, and not be forced to either be in one litter box or the other. NOPE! When I woke up that morning I discovered that Rose had instead decided to use the green litter pan as a bed once again and pooped/peed on the crate flooopen space that I thought she'd prefer. I rearranged the crate layout again, switching the position of both litter boxes so that now the green litter pan was outside of the crate and the blue litter box was inside the crate. Rose still had open crate floor space but not as much as she had when it was just the green pan. Even though she was still digging and chucking out bedding/hay, her poop and pee were mostly kept in the blue litter box save for some poop being flung out with the bedding but I don't think she was purposely going outside of the box like before.
    • Cecotropes? Are they supposed to be visible? I saw a small cluster of cecotropes when I was rearranging the crate for the first time (mentioned above) and today after lifting up the green litter pan flipped upside down to function as a hide.
    • EATING/CHEWING PEE PAD & CAREFRESH PAPER BEDDING!!! Rose NEVER did this while living with KT. I do not know for certain if Rose is just chewing/nibbling on the carefresh paper bedding or if she is actually swallowing/ingesting it but it is still bad. Also, Rose has 2 hanging chew toys, hay, and some chew sticks that she doesn't use—she actually threw one of the hanging chew toys away from her when I set it on the ground next to her. But the biggest concern is that she is at the very least most definitely putting the pee pad in her mouth. I told KT this and she was shocked. In order to reach the pee pad, Rose digs through the bedding and hay. KT said that the holes in the pee pad might be from Rose just ripping it while digging but she was ducking her head down and chewing the pad. KT then proposed that maybe the holes in the pee pad were just from her chewing it and that Rose was not actually swallowing the pieces but I was unable to find any scraps/bits/shreds that indicate Rose chewing the pee pad but spitting it out and not swallowing it. In fact, some of the holes in the pad went through the blue plastic lining! I tried adding more bedding, hiding/securing the pee pad under bedding, only putting paper bedding over the pee pad, and only putting hay over the pee pad to no avail. Rose would still dig, chew, and eat the pee pad so I ultimately removed it completely.
    • Digging in litter and throwing it out (carefresh paper bedding + hay). I tried different combinations and CURRENTLY have a shallow layer of carefresh paper bedding with a pile of hay underneath the mounted wooden hay rack feeder since I have no idea if Rose knows how to use/is using the hay rack but more importantly if she is even eating hay at all! Rose still digs but does not seem to push the contents out of the litter box. And when she digs all that happens is that the plastic bottom of the blue cat litter box is revealed—no tasty pee pad. I do still find a few droppings outside of the litter box. The droppings that I do find on the crate floor are usually accompanied with some pieces of carefresh bedding, which makes me think that Rose just flung the bedding, and the attached poop, while digging rather than making a conscious effort to poop on the ground.
• Behavior shift (especially after 1st week)
  • POSTURE / BODY LANGUAGE
    • As I mentioned before, this body language and posture has been consistent throughout the entire time (3 weeks) I have had Rose. Sitting somewhat hunched but not to the point where it seems like shifting weight or being in pain (GI stasis?), ears usually at a 45° angle, resting against/on back with each ear apart from the other, ears straight up. Whenever I walk into the room Rose immediately assumes this position—I have walked in while she was sprawled and she instantly sat like this. I honestly can't tell if she is afraid or not when she does this, her eyes are trained on my but they don't seem to "bulge" like how I'd assume they would if she was terrified. When she is positioned like this she looks scared by allows me to pet her forehead without growling, lunging, and flinching...she just watches me carefully. And if I present my hand to her she "unbunches" to sniff before realizing that I have wasted her time and do not have treats and going back to being a bump.
    • CONTRADICTORY/MIXED SIGNALS: Exact examples include Rose sitting/crouching/being in a position that is close to one of fear or pain (GI stasis) with a somewhat hunched posture but ear positioning that supposedly indicates curiosity, alertness, relaxed, etc. I can't tell the difference between some of her ear positions as she has slightly crooked/misshapen ears that KT thought was a chunk missing, presumably from Rose's time "in the wild". When I enter the room or even move/talk, Rose seems to stiffen up and default to the semi-hunched sit. Her eyes are wide and she is definitely tracking my every movement but she allows me to pet her, not showing any signs of aggression or moving and just sits in the same position watching closely with big eyes. And her "stiffening" up and letting me pet her might be due to fear, especially how she watches me with wide eyes...except that if I extend my hand within her reach she usually sniffs without hesitation.
• Diet & Appetite
  • Rose doesn't seem to be eating hay
    • How do I know if Rose is eating hay?! KT gave me a large trash bag filled with hay. I am close to halfway done with the bag. I tried to close the bag by pulling the drawstrings but they snapped. Now I twist the trash bag to try and cover the opening but the bag is puffed up with air. The mounted hay rack doesn't appear to be used and I don't bother putting more hay since the hay already inside the feeder is never eaten. I bought a fresh bag of Kaytee brand timothy hay at the store a few days before Rose moved in. I haven't opened the new bag since I was planning to use it after the hay KT gave me was gone. Should I try the fresh bag of timothy hay instead? Did the air exposure ruin the hay in the trash bag?
    • For the first few days to week that I had Rose I couldn't say exactly how much hay she was eating but I did see her chewing on hay during that timeframe as well as being able to hear her chewing. Even during this time when I was sure that she was at least eating some hay she seemed to have the same reaction that she currently does when I would change out the hay, just not as severe as it is right now.
    • When I change her hay, I put hay inside of her litter box as both bedding and a pile toward the opposite end where she could eat while pooping and she'd sniff my hand and the hay, I'd put it down, and she'd move it. Rose has rearranged the hay by flattening it or spreading it out, she has completely removed the new hay, along with the paper bedding, from the box by digging (most common/digs a lot) or by pushing it out with her snout.
    • Last week I attached a wooden hay rack feeder above her litter box. Again, I am unable to know exactly if Rose is eating from the hay rack but I have not personally seen her actively seeking out the hay feeder and eating from it. There was a point where I thought that some of the pieces of hay sticking out of the bars might have been moved but that could have also been my doing or her bumping against it.
    • She has actually growled a few times while I have been refilling her hay and has lunged/batted my hands with her front paws (not boxing) once or twice keeping in mind that this was BEFORE I removed her from the crate in order to clean, feed, etc and therefore done while she was sitting in the litter box, usually right near my hand sniffing and checking out the action.
    • When I first noticed Rose ignoring her hay I was able to get her to eat greens and sometimes pellets. To try and coax her to continue eating greens I fed her baby carrot shreds that you would get on a salad. Now she appears to not eat her hay, greens, or pellets. In a last ditch effort I tried some treats. She ate half but refused when I offered the treat again. Now I don't even know if she will eat treats! I'm scared it could become GI stasis!
    • POTENTIAL CAUSES: I have been racking my brain trying to think of why Rose appears to not be eating hay. At the beginning of the post I mentioned that the hay KT gave me was in a plastic trash bag, I broke the drawstrings, and the hay inside is exposed to the air. I had bought a bag of Kaytee timothy hay a few days prior to Rose's arrival. Did the air exposure ruin the hay in the trash bag and/or make it unappealing to eat? Should I open the new bag of timothy hay? I have been giving her pellets but KT said that Rose paces herself with eating pellets and the pellets that KT put in the bowl the day Rose was moved in lasted for a solid few days. I have been giving Rose vegetables (spinach, collard greens, leafy greens) every day since I got her. KT did mention that she had been feeding Rose vegetables (greens) 2 times a week at most and that Rose is easily bored of greens. I thought that maybe since she only occasionally got greens, she stuffed herself with the leafy greens. Except the first week period was when I knew she was eating some hay from being able to feed her hay, seeing her eat it, and hearing the crunching. If she is easily bored of leafy greens, that might explain why now the food dish (small handful of pellets + collards) seems untouched. But I'd expect her to replace eating the leaves and pellets with hay, but I don't think she has.

The reason I put friend in quotations is because he’s just someone I talk to, really. I (15f) met a guy in my freshman year of high school (14m) who I talked to on the first day and have talked to since. I quickly realized I didn’t like him. He’s autistic and I have ADHD and mild autism, but that isn’t the issue. He has an (from what he’s told me) abusive home life, as his family is anti-lgbtq. He refers to any minor inconvenience as trauma, he does this thing where he’ll blurt out impulsive thoughts and just as quickly apologize for them. I get it, I have those thoughts too, but I don’t go parading them around and wearing them like they’re my only personality trait. His whole personality is trauma and bad humor. We don’t share many words between ourselves and don’t have a lot of shared interests but, despite all this, I still feel guilty to cut off our maybe friendship (we’re not even friends, technically!! We just MEET UP at lunch and don’t talk, it’s annoying!)

I have “been in school” for the last 3 years. I put quotations because this is my first semester in person. I did not pay attention to any of my classes I took online so basically I am a freshman put into year 3 of engineering classes. I have no college math background or science background. I’m only 1 week into the semester and am completely lost. What can I do to catch up to what I’m learning right now in my classes?