Hello! I logged into my FIU account using the following link to update my profile information: https://account.fiu.edu/
I noticed my profile states: "Status: Student Not Enrolled"
I am currently not enrolled in summer or fall courses because I was accepted into FIU's nursing school, which undergoes a different procedure/timeline for class enrollment. Could this be the reason for my "not enrolled" status?
My my.fiu.edu account does state that I am an "active FIU student".
Is this anything to be worried about? Thank you!

Spoiler for the NYT Mini crossword for 6/1!
Clue was “A nurse’s workmate, informally” three letters.
I tried “aid” first, even though the spelling was off. When that didn’t work I tried HHA (home health aide). Then I’m sitting for a hot minute thinking MSW? LPN? BSN? FNP?
…it was doc. 🤦‍♀️ Apologies to my hospice MD… I swear you’re a valuable member of our team!

My mother has always been kind of weird with communicating with me. Anytime I bring up anything exciting in my life I tend to hurt my own feelings because she doesn’t share the same excitement that I do. She has been on Xanax for the past year with a history of taking different anxiety/depression medication. She is a housewife with 5 kids with me being the oldest at 26 and the youngest being 6. She has her good weeks and bad weeks but something she has never been able to do was be happy for me or at least show some sort of emotion toward a huge chapter that is about to happen in my life. I believe the last time she has ever shown excitement for me was when I graduated nursing school, but that road was short lived when I decided I hated it. Since then I just feel like I’m being judged or that I’m just the family disappointment even though I’ve started my own business since then and it’s going really well.
She also doesn’t ever check up on me , call me , or ask me how life is going. Doesn’t ask me anything about my life or cares to even know. I feel like I’m constantly walking on eggshells and trying to initiate conversation but this woman doesn’t start conversation unless I speak first. She lives less than 10 minutes from me and we see eachother every week . I’ve expressed that I feel like the black sheep in the family and my siblings literally treat me the exact same way. It just hurts feeling this way and I wish she would just give me more emotion than just an “oh cool” .
One of my biggest dreams growing up was starting a family and getting married to the person I love . I love the the thought of the big ceremonies and the whole wedding planning process. I want my mother to be apart of it but it’s so hard when she doesn’t even show she cares.

Hi everyone. I’m doing my bachelor studies, 3rd year in Russia. In my current university I have a lot of problems: sexual harassment from the teacher with kids and a husband (I guess this is not OK), teachers trying to make me do their work they getting payed for. Also no original research created, teachers just copy foreign papers and translate it to Russian, then get some extra money for publishing. I have a bad GPA since I started studying for myself and skipped many classes in this uni. I was working, collecting money to then transfer for some programs in Russia that are actually good, in a Top Russian university. But every time I tried to transfer, some problems started to occur. They mostly linked with army since we have a compulsory military service in Russia. I once was ready to transfer as well as the university was ready to accept me, but the draft board stopped me. So I’m still at this uni, but I really wanna study at a place where people are interested in research and education.
I had work exp in different laboratories there, in Russia. My work was mostly connected with Deep Learning and Classical ML methods applied for some tasks. However, for now I have 0 papers (I helped with research in a lab, but they haven’t included my name in the paper and I personally think their research sucks). I’m looking for some bioinformatics program now. I have several courses completed (Molecular Biology and Genetics) a little bit of Kaggle with drug design and EEG analysis also, attended computational neuroscience school. And several projects I created in laboratories I was working in (face verification for laboratories, training system for doctors based on Computer Vision methods and some other).
Do you think I should get a gap year somehow to do some research first or do you think it is still possible to transfer to some good university abroad with my current experience? The problem is that I only have Cambridge FCE B2 passed with merit 4 years ago, some projects, motivation letter. No VISA, anything else. I suppose this is not enough obviously. Do you guys have any advice? We also get much less money in Russia in average for the same work so I have a very limited budget. Could you recommend some universities that might be suitable?

So brief context muna tayo, I'm a (16F) and he/she is (16M) we're a highschool student, currently in Grade 10 (graduated na kami as of now).
so ito na nga nagsimula yun nung nagkaroon ng table skirting competition samin, magkakagroupo kami. Nung mga time na yun hindi ko iniisip or hindi man lang sumagi sa utak ko na magkakagusto ako sakanya, nung pumunta kami sa bahay nung isa naming kaklase para mag practice tina-try niya akong kausapin since hindi pa kami masyadong close and I'm a very introverted person (to the point na inaakala nila na may disability ako kaya hindi ako nagsasalita). he/she din everything he/she could para mapasama ako sa usapan or sa plano nila, wala naman akong sinasabi since maganda naman yung mga designs na sinasuggest nila, and after nun nalaman ko na walking distance lang pala yung bahay nila samin (hinatid ko siya sa bahay nila) and then kinabukasan nagpapasend yung tc namin ng sample ng design na aanohin namin, since malayo yung iba naming ka group nagchat siya sakin and nagpatulong para kaming dalawa nalang gagawa ng sample design, pinuntahan ko siya sa kanil,a and habang gumagawa kami ng sample, kwento siya ng kwento to the point na parang sobrang ramdom na ng topic namin kasi wala na siyang maikwento sakin, which is i found very cute.
After that interaction, napasama na'ko sa circle of friends niya. After a few months, unti unti kong napapansin na lagi kong inaabangan yung mga chats and mga rants niya, and lagi nalang siyang pumapasok sa isip ko(ang corny), lagi ko na ding inaantay yung mga aya niya late night walks namin (since ayaw niya magrant sa chat, gusto niya sa personal), nag start na din akong magcrochet and ibibigay ko sakanya (kunwari extrang gawa ko lang yun, or napapangitan ako kaya ko binibigay sakanya.)
He is very vocal sa mga crush niya na mga lalaki, minsan pag nag night walk kami "nagpopogi hunting" kami, and then one day, nung inaya ko siya mag night walk, napag usapan namin yung gender niya, na meron daw siyang crush na babae, then tinanong ko siya kung gay ba talaga siya or bi, hindi pa din daw siya sure, pero sobrang na a-attract siya sa mga lalaki. After that night, nagbibigay na siya ng mix signals sakin (or nag aassume lang ako?), like nung nagkapartner kami nung "Dress up your dream", sinabi niya na bagay daw since OA daw siya and nonchalant daw ako, and yung pag myday niya ng mga late night walks namin, yung pics ng shadows namin sa. gabi and yung mga pics ng milktea namin, and yung mga "Ice cream dates" daw namin lahat yun mina myday niya and yung binigay niya na crochet na ginawa niya na heart na nilagay niya sa id namin (yung mga tipong pang soft launch talaga)
and one day, nahahalata na nila na gusto ko siya, nagsimula na sila asarin kaming dalawa(jokingly? not sure). Ilang beses na'ko umamin sakayan indirectly (like sign language, spanish) and yung pinabasa ko sa kanya yung notes na sinulat ko, yung mga thoughts ko about sakanya, obvious naman na about sakanya yun (pero walang name na nakalagay) then tinanong niya kung para kanino daw yun, hindi ko nasabi sakanya kasi nahiya na bigla ako, and after that nakikita ko yung mga post niya sa fb na may nagbibigay daw sakanya ng mix signals, nag start ako na mag assume na tungkol sakin yun kasi lahat ng post niya tumutugma sakin, like yung pagbibigay ko sa kanya ng mga handmade gifts tapos magkwekwento ako about sa crush ko which is siya. naging ganun yung set up namin hanggang sa graduation.
Gustong gusto ko na umamin sakanya directly, kasi magkakahiwalay na kami ng schools pero nag aalangan ako na baka masira yung cof namin and yung friendship namin ng dahil dun, and isa pa, lagi niyang kinekwento about sa crushes niya and very vocal siya sa pagiging gay niya, while ako hanggang ngayun, di pa din sure sa gender ko, and isa pa ayoko din naman na ma pressure siya or mailang siya ng dahil lang umamin ako, hindi ko alam kung mas better ba na aamin ako or mag i-istay ako sa pagiging bff niya knowing na i have a hidden feelings for me.

So brief context muna tayo, I'm a (16F) and he/she is (16M) we're a highschool student, currently in Grade 10 (graduated na kami as of now).
so ito na nga nagsimula yun nung nagkaroon ng table skirting competition samin, magkakagroupo kami. Nung mga time na yun hindi ko iniisip or hindi man lang sumagi sa utak ko na magkakagusto ako sakanya, nung pumunta kami sa bahay nung isa naming kaklase para mag practice tina-try niya akong kausapin since hindi pa kami masyadong close and I'm a very introverted person (to the point na inaakala nila na may disability ako kaya hindi ako nagsasalita). he/she din everything he/she could para mapasama ako sa usapan or sa plano nila, wala naman akong sinasabi since maganda naman yung mga designs na sinasuggest nila, and after nun nalaman ko na walking distance lang pala yung bahay nila samin (hinatid ko siya sa bahay nila) and then kinabukasan nagpapasend yung tc namin ng sample ng design na aanohin namin, since malayo yung iba naming ka group nagchat siya sakin and nagpatulong para kaming dalawa nalang gagawa ng sample design, pinuntahan ko siya sa kanil,a and habang gumagawa kami ng sample, kwento siya ng kwento to the point na parang sobrang ramdom na ng topic namin kasi wala na siyang maikwento sakin, which is i found very cute.
After that interaction, napasama na'ko sa circle of friends niya. After a few months, unti unti kong napapansin na lagi kong inaabangan yung mga chats and mga rants niya, and lagi nalang siyang pumapasok sa isip ko(ang corny), lagi ko na ding inaantay yung mga aya niya late night walks namin (since ayaw niya magrant sa chat, gusto niya sa personal), nag start na din akong magcrochet and ibibigay ko sakanya (kunwari extrang gawa ko lang yun, or napapangitan ako kaya ko binibigay sakanya.)
He is very vocal sa mga crush niya na mga lalaki, minsan pag nag night walk kami "nagpopogi hunting" kami, and then one day, nung inaya ko siya mag night walk, napag usapan namin yung gender niya, na meron daw siyang crush na babae, then tinanong ko siya kung gay ba talaga siya or bi, hindi pa din daw siya sure, pero sobrang na a-attract siya sa mga lalaki. After that night, nagbibigay na siya ng mix signals sakin (or nag aassume lang ako?), like nung nagkapartner kami nung "Dress up your dream", sinabi niya na bagay daw since OA daw siya and nonchalant daw ako, and yung pag myday niya ng mga late night walks namin, yung pics ng shadows namin sa. gabi and yung mga pics ng milktea namin, and yung mga "Ice cream dates" daw namin lahat yun mina myday niya and yung binigay niya na crochet na ginawa niya na heart na nilagay niya sa id namin (yung mga tipong pang soft launch talaga)
and one day, nahahalata na nila na gusto ko siya, nagsimula na sila asarin kaming dalawa(jokingly? not sure). Ilang beses na'ko umamin sakayan indirectly (like sign language, spanish) and yung pinabasa ko sa kanya yung notes na sinulat ko, yung mga thoughts ko about sakanya, obvious naman na about sakanya yun (pero walang name na nakalagay) then tinanong niya kung para kanino daw yun, hindi ko nasabi sakanya kasi nahiya na bigla ako, and after that nakikita ko yung mga post niya sa fb na may nagbibigay daw sakanya ng mix signals, nag start ako na mag assume na tungkol sakin yun kasi lahat ng post niya tumutugma sakin, like yung pagbibigay ko sa kanya ng mga handmade gifts tapos magkwekwento ako about sa crush ko which is siya. naging ganun yung set up namin hanggang sa graduation.
Gustong gusto ko na umamin sakanya directly, kasi magkakahiwalay na kami ng schools pero nag aalangan ako na baka masira yung cof namin and yung friendship namin ng dahil dun, and isa pa, lagi niyang kinekwento about sa crushes niya and very vocal siya sa pagiging gay niya, while ako hanggang ngayun, di pa din sure sa gender ko, and isa pa ayoko din naman na ma pressure siya or mailang siya ng dahil lang umamin ako, hindi ko alam kung mas better ba na aamin ako or mag i-istay ako sa pagiging bff niya knowing na i have a hidden feelings for me.
I'm posting this because i just want to let off of my chest, since wala akong mapagkwentuhan regarding dito kasi parehas kami ng cof

Do you love writing letters and snail mail? Packing envelopes full of stickers and goodies to send to friends? Just love to send care packages or post cards from your travels, or share photos and drawings? Swatches of your favorite inks, samples from your rubber stamps, and more?
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(Apologies if some of the medical terms aren't completely correct, English is not my first language)
I (18f) was diagnosed with a ewing sarcoma with multiple metastases in my spine. I had been suffering from extreme pains that came and went in my right hip for almost 3 months, when a biopsy finally revealed that I had cancer. The doctors, nurses, and care team have been very lovely and helpful throughout it all. I get to stay at the Princess Maxima Center which is one of the best places to be if you have cancer (or so I've heard at least). I can't go to school since the chemo is very harsh and I'm just exhausted all the time. My pain went away very fast after starting chemo so it seems that for now the tumor is reacting well to the treatment.
Despite this all I'm thinking about lately has been death. My odds are a bit shit. I've looked at multiple sources for 5 year survival rates and talked to my doctor about it, and generally it seems to be between the 30 and 35%. Obviously that doesn't mean I'm automatically going to die, but even then, because of treatments my life is going to be on hold at least the next 9 months, and if that all goes well I have to live in fear for the cancer coming back for years. That just barely seems like a life at all. All of my friends are worrying about university and exams, and I'm stuck at home in pain from chemo side effects.
I'm honestly convinced that I'm going to die from this. I don't tell anyone about it because it seems nonsensical, since I've barely even started treatment, but I feel like if I somehow managed to get this stupid cancer, my luck isn't very good in the first place.
I came to this subreddit maybe hoping to hear from other people who got cancer at a young age, or who have it right now, or maybe people who already beat it and can cheer me up a bit. Idk

Can anyone suggest club names? Me and a few of my friends re looking to start a school club dedicated to helping people in need. We will help orphans, people in nursing homes and teaching kids language

Hi everyone. I’m doing my bachelor studies, 3rd year in Russia. In my current university I have a lot of problems: sexual harassment from the teacher with kids and a husband (I guess this is not OK), teachers trying to make me do their work they getting payed for. Also no original research created, teachers just copy foreign papers and translate it to Russian, then get some extra money for publishing. I have a bad GPA since I started studying for myself and skipped many classes in this uni. I was working, collecting money to then transfer for some programs in Russia that are actually good, in a Top Russian university. But every time I tried to transfer, some problems started to occur. They mostly linked with army since we have a compulsory military service in Russia. I once was ready to transfer as well as the university was ready to accept me, but the draft board stopped me. So I’m still at this uni, but I really wanna study at a place where people are interested in research and education.
I had work exp in different laboratories there, in Russia. My work was mostly connected with Deep Learning and Classical ML methods applied for some tasks. However, for now I have 0 papers (I helped with research in a lab, but they haven’t included my name in the paper and I personally think their research sucks). I’m looking for some bioinformatics program now. I have several courses completed (Molecular Biology and Genetics) a little bit of Kaggle with drug design and EEG analysis also, attended computational neuroscience school. And several projects I created in laboratories I was working in (face verification for laboratories, training system for doctors based on Computer Vision methods and some other).
Do you think I should get a gap year somehow to do some research first or do you think it is still possible to transfer to some good university abroad with my current experience? The problem is that I only have Cambridge FCE B2 passed with merit 4 years ago, some projects, motivation letter. No VISA, anything else. I suppose this is not enough obviously. Do you guys have any advice? We also get much less money in Russia in average for the same work so I have a very limited budget. Could you recommend some universities that might be suitable?

I would never normally turn to Reddit but I’ve reached the end of my tether. I’m an ex-nurse so medically, I’m good - I don’t need medical advice, more an outlet to rant and get some support. If you have nothing nice to say, please don’t bother; my mental health is incredibly fragile right now.
I’m 34 next month, and I started my period for the first time at 8 years old (it was apparently triggered by CSA).
From the moment it started until now, it has been HORRIFIC. Waking up in pools of blood, barely able to leave the house without bleeding everywhere - never been able to wear skirts, shorts, or anything white. There’s never been a pattern, some periods would last for 3 months, sometimes it would disappear for a year.
I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2017 and was put on metformin. This did nothing to help.
In 2018, I had weight loss surgery as my bmi was (and still is) out of range for IVF. I have had 11 miscarriages - 4 of them were when my weight exceeded 28 stone, 5 were when my weight was at 18 stone, 2 at 16 stone, and 4 when my weight increased slightly.
I have been tested for natural killer cells, I’ve been tested for thrombocytopenia, I’ve been tested for EVERYTHING - nothing has come up except a dodgy thyroid (which I’m on medication to fix).
Anyway, after my surgery, my periods relaxed a bit and I started having one every three months or so which lasted about 3 weeks. Everything was okay until - and I am NOT anti-vax in the slightest! - I had my astrazeneca jab on 6.2.21 - literalky a day later, i bled until 12.6.23. I bled, heavily, every single day for over two years.
I was referred to gynaecology in March 21 and rhey didnt see me until August 22 when I was blue-lighted to a&e with severe iron-deficiency (iron levels 2) where they did a biopsy and a scan. The scan showed thickened endometrium and the biopsy was normal.
I ended up in hospital with an adrenal crisis and the bleeding still wouldnt stop. They gave me tranexamic acid, mefanamic acid, norethisterone - absolutely NOTHING would stop the bleeding. Eventually they discharged me and sent for an emergency iron infusion.
Fast forward a few months and the same thing happens again. Back to hospital, another iron infusion, still no medication would work. They did another biopsy - nothing.
This happened again every few months for about a year which takes us up to last June when I had another biopsy which came back showing “endometrial hyperplasia” but I received a letter from the specialist who said everything was normal. I tried to clarify with them but they weren’t sure what was going on. So I asked for a second opinion at a different hospital.
The new hospital did a biopsy which came back normal (this was Feb 24). After the biopsy, I stopped bleeding. It finally stopped! Until March came along and then I started bleeding AGAIN - I am STILL bleeding now. I’m off for another iron infusion at 2:30 today because my iron stores have dropped to 2 again and I’m at my wits end.
I’ve had 7 iron infusions in 2 years, no medication helps, no dietary changes help, no vitamin, mineral or nutritional deficiencies are documented. I eat very healthily, I exercise and I do everything I can to support my hormonal health (naturally, no additional supplementation aside from folic acid and folate).
I’m booked in to have the mirena coil fitted (again) at the end of June (apparently no sooner slots) but I’m losing the will to live. I genuinely cannot continue waking up like this day after day. I haven’t been able to work for four years because this is overruling my life.
They won’t do a hysterectomy “in case” I want to have children, they won’t investigate for endometriosis because I have “too much scar tissue” and they won’t check my egg quality because my BMI is just over 35. I’m working to lose weight (even though I lost 12 stone through weight loss surgery) but my body has plateaued and I can’t seem to lose anymore. My endocrinologist is scratching his head, I’m at a loss, and I’m genuinely fearful that if this continues much longer, I might end up taking drastic action.

This might be long and might be incoherent, but this is the first time I feel like I have actually found a safe space to unload all of this and I haven’t done that before so bear with me.
I am married with 3 kids. My twin is married with 2 kids. I know that reunion is not possible. He lives states away, we have been no contact for 12 years - and that is what is so freaking frustrating. It has been 12 YEARS. And, we were teenagers when we met. Shouldn’t I have grown out of these feelings?
I met my TF in high school. I was in a relationship with my now husband when we met. I honestly made it no secret I was in love with my twin, even with having a boyfriend. My twin made it no secret he was in love with me, too.
He ended up moving back to the state he had recently moved to my town from, and I wrote him this long letter telling him how much I love him, but I honestly couldn’t bring myself to leave my boyfriend. He truly made me believe if I left, he would kill himself. And I couldn’t do that. He was also a good boyfriend, sweet and funny. How could I do that to him, right?
Well, me and my twin kept in contact for a little while after he left, but my boyfriend hated it and I was so afraid of what he would do. He became good friends with my family, and my mom told me I needed to stop talking to my twin because of my boyfriend. I’m 15 years old at this time, so I listened to her because I mean I couldn’t really think for myself and I was confused.
Now I am married to that boyfriend, and my twin is in another state married to his wife.
A lot of the times, I can try and convince myself I am happy the way things are. My husband is sweet, he’s kind, he’s a good dad, and we genuinely enjoy each others company. I can’t imagine ever hurting him or my kids. And I’d never ever ask my twin to hurt his wife and kids either (especially because, like I said, haven’t talked in 12 years)
But still, everyday I find myself hoping and praying that I’ll run into him somehow. That he’ll have come back to visit (my hometown where I still live is also his hometown, he had moved and then came back and then moved again) and we will bump into each other on the street. I find myself wishing I could hold him in my arms just once. That I could talk to him, hear his voice just once. He consumes my mind, and I feel like it’s driving me crazy.
I try to convince myself that I’m actually just in some kind of spiritual psychosis, and that this whole concept is just bull and I am just trying to find a way to excuse my confusing feelings toward him as a way to try and lessen the guilt that I feel for having them. I see synchronicities of 777, 444, 1111, 222 every single day, multiple times a day. That really isn’t helping me AT ALL either.
How on earth do I let go? How do I move on? I don’t want to miss him like this anymore. I am tired of craving something I absolutely cannot have. I’m 27 years old, I haven’t seen him since I was 15. So why haven’t I grown out of the feelings? Why can’t I forget him after 12 years of absolutely no contact? It hurts so much. And I don’t think he believes in the concept of twin flames. I’m almost certain this is a completely one sided feeling, hence why I want to make myself truly believe this is just spiritual psychosis.
Still, everyday I whisper to myself “I love my husband…but he will never be HIM”.
I don’t want to hurt like this anymore.

It is a winter night in 2002, Seth Berkowitz's found himself craving something sweet and comforting amid the late-night video game sessions and pizza deliveries. As the snow fell outside, an idea took root – a business that could deliver warm cookies until the late hours of the morning.
So he starts with $150 worth of baking supplies, and spent his summer perfecting classic cookie recipes, enlisting feedback from friends and his wife, who coined the catchy name "Insomnia Cookies."
By junior year, he was ready to bake and deliver from his college house. Adorning dorm halls with flyers and offering flavor samples like Classic Chunk, Mint Chocolate, Peanut Butter, Oatmeal Raisin, and M&M cookies.
Though initial orders trickled in, a front-page article in the school newspaper sparked a surge, propelling Insomnia Cookies from a mere three orders a night to a staggering 80.
Seth, the sole baker and delivery person, found himself overwhelmed yet exhilarated by the unexpected success, netting $10,000 by the end of the semester.
Therefore he continued refining his operations, establishing a website for orders and eventually relocating production to a commissary kitchen off-campus. Joined by co-founder Jared Barnett, Insomnia Cookies expanded its delivery zones, reaching campuses beyond UPenn's borders.
A proven business model, Seth thought about expanding Insomnia Cookies by strategically opening storefronts outside of Philadelphia near college towns.
With a $10,000 profit from his first semester and funds from angel investors, Seth opens up Insomnia's inaugural storefront in Syracuse, New York, just a week before his college graduation.
From there, more strategic expansion followed, with new locations planted near college campuses.
However, the road to success was paved with challenges. The financial crisis of 2008 nearly derailed Insomnia's trajectory, forcing Seth to downsize and take on multiple roles himself.
Until the advent of the iPhone and the growing appetite for late-night convenience proved to be another strategic cause for Insomnia's meteoric rise. As delivery apps such as DoorDash and GrubHub started to take place in the market.
From 2012 to 2018, the company experienced its fastest growth, opening 125 new stores and establishing a robust corporate team.
In 2018, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts acquired a majority stake in Insomnia for $140 million, a testament to the brand's growing success. Insomnia continued to flourish, raising an additional $4.5 million to fuel its expansion.
From humble beginnings in a college dorm kitchen, Insomnia Cookies now generates over $200 million a year with over 260 locations across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
All from a crave of a late night cookie.
Full article here or case studies

Hi all. I am an undergraduate in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, graduating this July. I have enrolled for a Masters in Computer Engineering in the USA. I hope to apply for internships eventually.
I am very interested in FPGA and Embedded Systems Design. Could you critique my resume, any advice/critique is appreciated.
Any suggestions on potential projects would also be helpful since my resume is okayish.
https://preview.redd.it/acj51e961y3d1.png?width=769&format=png&auto=webp&s=cef6d28fc12ca062f8fa1421aa179ce78dffe16b

Please post your questions about vet school, vet tech/nursing school, how to get in etc in this monthly thread.

TLDR: Nannying is a very hard job. There would probably be a lot more nannies who work as hard as one needs to do this job well if the pay matched the value and difficulty of the work.
I’ve been pretty active in this sub lately because I’ve been feeling unhappy at my job and it helps to have a community. I wrote this a while ago and have been nervous to post it but I think it’s important. I saw a post in nannyemployers asking where all of the “good” nannies have gone and this was the response I was writing until I realised the replies were to be from NP only.. I would post in the nanny employers sub if I weren’t terrified of the response. I know I’m singing to the choir here and I know saying it out loud doesn’t change much. But I am so, so angry, so imma just send it.
As a nanny who has two college degrees, practices Montessori, Reggio Emilia, and RIE, and as someone who has always loved and wanted to work with kids, there simply is not enough money in this career path to stick to it. I personally simply cannot rationalise doing the amount of physical and emotional work that is required for me to do this job as well as I want to for the typical pay, even though I absolutely love it.
For my background, experience, and approach, I am in a severely underpaid position (even when disregarding my qualifications it would still be severely underpaid.) Because of my personal and financial situation at the time of my job search, I did not have the luxury to wait for a unicorn family to offer me the salary I was looking for. I found a family that was a good fit and accepted the position even though I felt it was very much underpaid. I am now in a position where I am continuously battling wanting to work as hard as I can for these kids and this family, and realising I can’t break my back for them while being this underpaid (I mean I literally threw my back out during this job). I’m not someone who breaks a commitment easily but I guess I could move from family to family, waiting to find one who is able to financially respect the value of this work, or I could stick it out and get $2/hr raises every year, but I can’t wait 10 years to finally get close to being paid what I know a proper nanny is worth. Yes there certainly are some nanny employers who properly respect this work and are able to financially meet it’s value, but in my experience they are few and far between. I have found that the overwhelming majority of nannies are severely underpaid and overworked.
Nannies are asked to have flexible schedules, work long hours, take on a laundry list of responsibilities, develop personal emotional relationships with children that aren’t theirs while keeping a professional distance, pay for and organise their own continued training, be emotionally and socially engaged with children all day long, and more. But above all, the most important aspect of nannying is managing our stress is such a way that allows us to stay in an executive state of functioning all day every single day. People deeply underestimate and undervalue the amount of hard and constant work it takes to keep oneself in an executive state of functioning day in and day out, especially in a high stress position where you are helping other people regulate their bodies all day on top of yours, AND are constantly sick and tired and being pushed and tested. I think that this ability is what makes the difference in a “good” nanny and is often the most overlooked, misunderstood, and undervalued aspect of the job responsibilities.
I want to be a good nanny, it’s my dream job to be the best nanny there is, and I used to think that I could accept being in an undervalued role because “it takes a village” and I wanted to do my part and this was my passion. But it doesn’t feel good to be undervalued financially and socially, in fact it feels really really bad, and this is why I will no longer be pursuing a career as a nanny. Even if I found my unicorn position, it wouldn’t change the fact that the overwhelming majority of my nanny peers are still underpaid and undervalued, and that doesn’t feel good. It makes me want to leave, and I think all of the other underpaid nannies should leave too. (We need a union or something, is this a thing?)
The market is oversaturated and undervalued. Not everyone needs a nanny now that quarantine is over (a full-time nanny, not babysitter or after school care). I have both worked at a preschool and as a nanny and I have found that a setting with multiple children of similar age is far better developmentally for a child than spending most of their time with a single adult and a sibling or two, even for young babies. I think a healthy mix of a daycare setting and family time at home is probably best but can be the most difficult to achieve with the current work culture. This is no one’s fault, the overworking culture is a burden of late stage capitalism that we all face. However, it is the burden of the parents to solve their work/life balance. This is a very big part of what one signs up for when becoming a parent. It is not the burden of the nanny to work more for less or the children to miss being with their parents (I’d say two doctor NP are pretty much the only ones who’d get a pass here).
It’s no one person’s fault that nannies are financially undervalued, the value of personal childcare and domestic work has a long saturated history fraught with misogyny and racism. Have you compared the average wage of a plumber (male dominated domestic work) to that of a nanny (female dominated domestic work)? And don’t tell me plumbing requires more training or is harder than nannying, I assure you they are of comparable difficulty especially considering there’s no step by step instructions on YouTube for nannying. (And if you do consider plumbing to be that much hard than nannying, what do you think gives you that perception? I mean as a parent, one should know that nannying absolutely is not just playing with kids all day, even if that’s all you ask your nanny to do. What subconscious bias could be giving you the perception that bringing up children is less difficult and of less value than screwing pipes together? Have you taken a race or gender studies class? Have you seen The Help? Don’t answer, just think.)
Plumbers make average $28/hr in the states, mechanics $26, for nannies it’s $20 (and that’s being generous). That’s a ¢70 on the dollar comparison. It is time we all realise that nannying is an underpaid and undervalued role and work to change that. If the wage being offered across the board better matched the value of the work, I think one would find a lot more serious nannies and a lot more current nannies taking the job more seriously.
I didn’t get it at first, why so many nannies at the park seemed so burnt out and disinterested in the kids. Oh boy do I get it now. I want nothing more than to do my best in this role, but in the past few months after nearly being stiffed by NP, not receiving a bonus from them when I really thought I would, and overall realising I am being taken advantage of and am a human mine to them, I have realised that I can no longer put my all into this job for my own health and sanity. Being properly compensated is the primary motivating aspect of all work especially in the society we are a part of. After loosing my sense of respect from NP, I’ve lost most of the non-financial motivation I started out with and am left with what little motivation my petite pay check gives me, and the kids can tell.
Since my fallout with NP, I have pulled back emotionally from the kids. I’m not mean and I am still doing every responsibility in my contract to the letter (and then some still), but I am no longer as emotionally available to them as I was. I am shorter and more curt with them, I don’t take as much time with them to sit and talk about every feeling they have, and I’m not working as hard to help them break the bad habits NP give them that NP specifically ask me to break (one example - NP want NK to walk everywhere with me but then always use the stroller with NP and every time we go out it’s a fight to use the stroller or not. Guess who’s been using the stroller far more often lately). Anyway, the past week my NK 3f has been quietly crying before her nap and I’m sure it’s because she’s felt me pull away from her. It’s breaking my heart and I’ve been trying to give her extra cuddles, but I have to protect myself first now. This is a job and these aren’t my kids and I can no longer rationalise putting them first emotionally especially considering I am burnt TF out, torn down, and left feeling used up and tossed aside without any recognition or proper thanks from NP.
I don’t know what the perfect number is, the number I would say many NP would probably think is too high, and maybe they’re not looking for a nanny who works as hard as I and others do. But I can tell you that $17/hr before taxes in a VHCOL area does not even come close to close. I think we can all easily recognise that the financial value of this job needs to better match the value of the work, in general and across the board. We’re talking about the people caring for and raising the future generations here, I mean how is this not the most coveted role in our society?
This is my Roman Empire and I will die on this hill every. single. time.

Hi I just came across a novel, chosen by the moon novel by izabella W. Its on pay by chapter websites, I've opened and read a few chapters but I can't seem to find any free version or chapter version anywhere. Please help. If anyone has read it I'm willing to take spoilers. Here's the advert I found below of it on Facebook.
Lycanthrope species is a disgusting race. And I, Delan Riley, am nothing more than a human scum in their eyes never expected those species would turn my world upside down. Since when the lycans managed to penetrate our town, like in the early 1900's we have a hierarchy, upper class = the lycans, middle class = mated humans, and lower class = the normal humans, who were basically considered scum. I endured their torment day after day, vowing to run away from them one day, until that day came and everything changed.
Dylan POV "Humans," I scowled at the principal's words from tannoy. "The Alpha twins will be celebrating their birthday tomorrow, as such, festivities are in order." Oh great, the Alphas twin children. Adrian and Arya are the worst lycans alive. I swear just because they are the alphas kids they literally get away with everything. If their birthday is tomorrow, then the wolves are going to be worse than ever. "All students will be present to greet them, two lines will be made, with humans on the left and the lycanthrope on the right. Any mated human will be at the front of the line for their year, you will all also be in order of your school year. That is all." Chat broke out the minute the tannoy was finished. "We haven't had a school gathering since the alpha king visited three years ago, before his sons coronation." Nick was right, the last time we all gathered like that was for the king and queens visit, when he decided to let the world know that he was to renounce his title to his only child, son Josh. "That sick bestard, he wants to make sure everyone is there so those idiot twins can find their mates." Yes I was mad, my fists connected with the table in front of me once more as I thought about how disgusting the situation was. You see the twins will be turning 17, so it's very possible someone in our school could be their mate, finding a mate is sacred to a wolf, the minute they say that one word your fate is sealed. They will turn your mind, morph you into being a lover of their kind, and then you'll give in.

That won't happen to me, I'm growing old to see the world as it once was, and I'm going to choose who I'll be with. No one will take that dream away from me.

Once dinner was finished, I just wanted to sleep. I'd had a very long tiring day, I quickly sat down on a small stool my mother kept in the storage closet and removed my shirt while my brother Freddy sat at the table to do his simple homework. It wasn't long before my mother came in with a large bowl of warm salt water and some cotton, this was going to sting I just knew it. She was here to help me with the wounds caused by wolves yesterday. She slowly began to unwrap the bandage from around my torso and slowed down drastically when it came to the final layer, I felt it peel off every wound and my fists clenched in pain. "Jesus!" I heard my mom exclaim once the dressing was completely removed. The air on my back was nice though and I sighed as my arm covered my once again exposed brests. "This is more than 15!" I began to hear sniffles coming from her and sighed turning round to look at her face, only to notice tears streaming down it. "Mom I'm fine, it's alright." She shook her head. "It's not alright, I'm your mother I shouldn't let these things happen. I'm so sorry. Your father would have..." here she goes again. Every single time something happened she'd always bring up dad, it really annoyed me because no matter how much we all wish he was here, he just isn't. My father was kiled by THEIR kind, almost 5 years ago when they actually managed to take over. When the lycans managed to penetrate our town my father rose up with some people from the neighborhood, to defend our livelihood, it was futile to say the least. We lost many people and I watched as my dad was ripped apart by two fully shifted wolves, I ended up shoting him to stop his suffering before they dragged me to the courtyard, i was the person to receive the first lashing of the town when I was 12! The wolves have been pretty strict with me since that day. "Stop being stvpid!" Was I harsh? Definitely! Did she need to hear it again, absolutely. "Dad is dead, we don't know what he'd do because he never knew this life. He never knew this world." I know what he'd have done, most likely attacked the guy who held the whip and got himself kiled in the process. "The best thing you can do for me, is stop crying and help me, next time don't insist on helping if you can't handle it." She began to wash my open wounds with the warm salt water causing loud winces to leave me, I knew it was necessary to prevent infection, but my god it hurt like a betch. "Some of these are really deep Dylan!" She sniffed again and my eyes rolled in my head. "I told you, I'm fine, just wrap me back up so I can get to bed." My mom was obviously more impacted by my injuries than I was, I suppose that always the case though. When it's happening to you, you've just got to get through it but when it's happening to someone you love, you just want to take their pain away. She quickly placed a fresh bandage around my waist and chest and wrapped it tightly for compression. The bowl of water that was used was now red in color, I guess from the blood my back was dripping with. "Can you keep your head down please? At least just this week. You can't take any more lashings." I simply nodded before standing up away from the stool, I walked over to Freddie and ruffled his hair in affection. "Good night squirt." He giggled and fixed his hair slightly. "Night Dilly." I smiled walking upstairs to my little bedroom, as soon as I was inside i shut the door and flopped down on to my bed on my stomach and I took a minute to cry to myself at the pain in my back, what my mom did was important but it hurt, not that I'd ever tell her. My hand covered my mouth quickly to muffle any noise I might be making. I couldn't tell anyone, I had to be strong because more and more people were crumpling these days, and my mom would break if she knew how much I was suffering. Sleep followed me shortly after, she was right though about me needing to keep my head down for the time being, I could not take another lashing! After a long night and an even longer morning, we were all finally stood in the hallway at school waiting for the twins to arrive. "Mine!" Everyone that was stood in the hallway tensed up, as we were seniors, me and Nick were stood towards the very back of the human line. All the mated people were situated directly opposite their wolf mates in their years. We stayed silent and still as Arya walked down the hall and stopped directly in front of Nick. His eyes widened in fear, unsure of wether to look up or keep his head lowered. "Look me in the eye, mate." He glanced at me slightly as if asking what he should do. "I said, look me in the eye." He slowly moved his eye line up to look at her face. I took a glance myself to see her eyes pitch black with lust. "I... can't... I mean... erm." Before he was able to mutter anything else, two wolves from opposite, grabbed him out of the line and dragged him behind Arya. "Hey!" My head shot up before I could stop myself. My mouth also forgot its place as I jumped out of line. Everyone's head shot to me as my eyes widened in realization at what I'd done. Adrian, the other twin, walked up to me before punching me right in the stomach, I doubled over instantly. Feeling the sting in my slightly healed back. "I know you... You were publicly flogged only two days ago." God I hate this guy. "I also have it on good authority, that you openly spoke out against our rules and regulations in yesterday's class." My head shot down the line slightly to see Erin, looking a little frightened, her mate, the beta to be was looking at her, nodding his head in reassurance. "You traitor, you grassed on your own kind?" I yelled at her before feeling a fist connect with my cheek. My head whipped to the side from the force, while my class members gasped. I'm so done with this treatment, right then, I wasn't in charge of my actions. My fists curled up and my stance became a lot more defensive. My head snapped up to the alpha to be, and I looked him in the eye. "You don't know the meaning of the word disrespect." I suddenly hurled my fist towards his head, which he easily dodged, but my foot came up and kicked him instead. He stumbled backwards from the force with wide eyes. "You... you Actually hit me!" He didn't even sound annoyed, more shocked. Everyone in the hallway was watching, waiting for the alpha to do something but instead he simply stood up straight, regaining his composure. "I think everyone should get back to class." He began to walk away, following his sister when I called him back. "What about Nick?!" "Simple, He's my sisters mate. He now belongs to her." Argh, he's not an object. "He's not her property." A chuckle left his mouth, before turning his back to me again. "All humans are property." A short while later everyone made it to science class, our teacher Mrs Mathews is mated to the lycans pack doctor, she also now has a four and two year old with him. She was one of the first humans to be cohered into a false relationship. "What were you thinking young lady?" I rolled my head at her before looking at the empty seat next to mine. Nick was with that stvpid wolf girl right now. Being changed, I'm so angry it's ridiculous. "I was thinking, this guy is being a prick. Did you hear him? 'All humans are property.' It's bull shet." I looked up and the whole class looked at me like I had three heads. Talking shet about wolves is one thing, but talking about an alpha is punishable by death, attacking an alpha is an even worse offense. There was then a knock at the door and in walked Erin and her band of mated bestards. "Sorry we're late Mrs." "Erin, how are things between you and bata Monroe?" She blushed, the traitor actually blushed at the mention of his name. "He spoke to me last night about trying for a baby. We need a good strong boy to take over as beta." I scoffed looking at her as she took her seat. "You guys are actually pathetic, why can't it be a girl? Those mutts are basically Neanderthals" I voiced my opinion and saw all the shocked faces around me. Calling the lycans mutts, is the same as them calling us scum. After lesson had ended the entire school was called into the hall for assembly. This is where any human who has been found to have broken the rules were punished, usually 10 lashings were goven out or something similar. "Welcome to the school assembly, congratulations to the alpha twins for finding both your mates. Now on to the business at hand, as the 5 year anniversary of the new world is coming up, we have been informed that the alpha king will be visiting our district next week, this is very exciting news. We want you all to look your absolute best, she wolves and mated females will wear exemplary dresses made by seamstress. Male wolves and mated men will wear tailored suits. Anyone who doesn't comply will be reprimanded." The Alpha King?! No one has met him yet, he took over the throne three years ago when he turned 18. He really didn't make any appearances though, great, this month is going to be a nightmare. "As for the humans, you will be given a new uniform to wear for the visit, these are to be neatly ironed and worn to the highest standard. As for the following humans, based on your attitude this past week, you will be coming to the front and facing punishment. Tony summerset?!" Tony's head shot up as he looked around, he was in the year below but he shared my views when it came to the lycans. He slowly walked up to the front of assembly, almost instantly his top was t0rn in two and he received 10 lashings. A girl named Kara was next and she too received 10 lashings. A few more people went up slowly accepting their fate then suddenly my name was called. "Dylan Riley." Inside I was terrified but I simply shrugged my shoulders, I guess I did kind of expect this. Although I'm not sure if my back can take any more damage. "You attacked an alpha, correct!" His eyes bored into mine as I bowed my head submitting to his authority. "Technically, no." Everyone in the school gym looked on in fear, as my head moved to the front row of the wolf side. Adrian sat, with a werewolf girl in the year below, her name was Jana, I guess he found his mate. Nick and Arya were no where to be seen though. Adrian gave me a shrug as if to say he didn't tell, before smirking at my comment. "He hasn't officially taken the alpha title yet, so he's just..." i looked at the principle and noticed his eyes black and his claws out, he was in what lycans call a half shift, triggered when the subject has become angered. He turned to two security wolves and gave them a nod, Almost immediately i was forced onto my knees, my arm was slammed on a table and held in place by one wolf, while my body was held in place by the other. "Ok, I don't think this is needed, I have alpha blood, a stvpid human girl can't hurt me." My head snapped to Adrian who had stood up in front of the school to stop what was happening. "Nevertheless, humans need to know their place." With that the pressure on my arm increased as our principals hand pulled my sleeve up before a long claw punctured my skin. The searing pain shoting from the fresh wound had my eyes scrunched and my fist clenched, I bit the inside of my cheek hard instantly tasting blood, however no sound left my mouth. He continued to write, using my skin as a canvas and his claws as a marker, it went on forever, my vision blurred slightly at one point as I turned my head away. After minutes of torture, he was done and the pressure on my arm eased, instantly I snatched my arm away, hissing through my teeth at the pain. I was about to scurry off stage, when I was roughly grabbed yet again, my arm being held in the air by the principal while my feet were inches off the floor, blood dripped from the wound and the pattern he had made was on show for everyone to see. Loads of people gasped, even the wolves looked slightly horrified at what had happened. "This is what happens when a human decides to speak out. I can promise, anyone who so much as says one word about our way of life, will have the same punishment." My arm was starting to seriously ache from being held in the air for so long, and the lack of blood flow to my suspended arm was causing me pins and needles, still I refused to make a sound. I held the tears back and I bit my cheek harder causing more blood to fill my mouth. "That's enough Bradley!" Adrian growled, he was still stood up and looking at the scene in front of him. His eyes hard as he stared at the principal a low warning growl erupted from his chest which had the head teacher gulping, he quickly let go of my arm causing me to crash to the floor. A small cry left my mouth as I hit the hard floor. Immediately I scrambled away, my foot just missed the high step leading to the stage and I fell, waiting for the impact of the ground, but it never came. Two strong arms wrapped around me catching my weak body causing me to look up, my eyes widened as I noticed Adrian had caught my falling form. "This isn't part of the human punishment program!" Adrian growled causing me to tense in his grip, I pushed him away from me before fixing my uniform top. The room was deadly silent, taking in the scene in front of them, while I stole a glance at my forearm. Carved into my skin by his devastating claws were two words, words that would most definitely scar my body for life. 'Human scum' "Lessons must be learned, she received lashing merely two days ago, and clearly it had no effect on her." Another growl left Adrian's chest as he stepped on to the stage, I wasn't bothered though, you would think I'd be ashamed but I simply smiled slightly. I fixed my sleeve a little so it wouldn't rub on the fresh wound before speaking. "It doesn't matter," the whole room looked at me shocked by my attitude. "I would rather be labeled human scum, than have any resemblance to your kind. I'm proud of what I am, how many of you can say that?" After my amazing little speech, I walked right down the middle between the humans and lycans and out the door. No more compliance, I'm going to get away with as much as I can without getting into too much bother. There will come a day when the lycans power will fizzle out. When it does I'll be ready, I'll be waiting for the day we take our world back. As for the best part about my plan...

No one can stop me.

"Ouch, not so hard." I seethed as the school nurse cleaned my new wound with antiseptic. "If you had of just kept your mouth shut, this wouldn't have happened." I turned to my right looking out the window at the few clouds that were floating in the blue sky. "Like I said, I'm proud to be human, and now everyone knows what I am." I clenched my fist together as the nurse began wrapping a bandage around my forearm. It had been a good few hours since the incident in the hall, and I had been forced to come to the nurces office after I had tried to clean my wound by splashing it with water from the tap, it also refused to stop bleeding. "You are impossible. Can you please just try and stay out of trouble? For one day, that's all I ask." Our school nurse is a wolf, she's one of them. However she hates the way they treat us mere humans, she thinks we should all just live in peace with equal rights. Like that would ever happen. "All I've done is stay out of trouble, but you are just going to humiliate me anyway, so what's the actual point?" "The pack were discussing a public execution, Dylan. You need to walk on egg shells from now on, not just for you but for your family as well." No ones been publicly executed in over 4 months, I'm flattered they're considering it. They only execute people who they believe are the biggest problems to society. "Well then... I'm flattered." I chuckled, before looking at the patch job. 'Huh, not too shabby.' I quickly stood up from the human nursing station and pulled the sleeve of my shirt down covering the evidence of ever being hurt. "This is serious!" I just gave her a blank look before leaving the room. On the way out I heard her call back to me. "Please just think about it." I gave a clipped nod as I walked away wondering how I'm going to tell my mom about this. Later in the evening... "Dilly why you say that?" Freddie looked up at me with a mouth full of bread. "Don't speak with your mouthful!" My mom scolded him as a bashful blush made its way to his cheeks. "Sowwy mommy." His reply was muffled as he swallowed the last chunk of food. "I said it Freddie, because it's the truth. The wolf race are a pathetic excuse for..." my mom cut me off with an extremely stern look. "Dylan! They have ears everywhere, one more word out of you and it's your room." I scowled, my hatred for the Lycan kind growing stronger as each day passes. "What more can they do to me, lash me? Beat me? Brand me? They've ran out of options." I stated slamming my hands down, then severely regretting it as sharp pain shot though my wound. "What was that?" My head shot to regard my mothers worried expression. Her eyebrows were raised and her eyes were dull and judging as she looked at me. "Nothing, it was nothing." I quickly took my plate in my hand and began to walk to the kitchen. "I'm not really hungry, and I have homework to do!" My mom caught hold of my forearm causing me to drop my plate suddenly, I watched it slowly fall before shattering on the floor. I retracted my arm quickly and turned to Freddie. "Stay there and don't move until it's cleaned up ok sport?" He just nodded with wide eyes, I turned back to my mom and noticed her curious stare on my arm. Her grip shifted to the other side as she turned it around before pulling my sleeve up. The bandage was showing and a bit of blood was seeping though after the wound had been disturbed. "What the hel happened?" My moms eyes widened as she began to fumble with the bandage. Before she could unravel any of it I snatched my arm away. "I had an accident at school. No big." I began to gather the large pieces of the broken plate up ready to put them in the bin. "What did you do Dylan?" She looked at me with pure worry and only then did I realize what the wound must look like to someone who didn't know. "For gods sake! I didn't do it to myself! I got publicly punished at the assembly alright? It's no big deal." Her face dropped instantly and she stepped towards me, causing me to step backwards. "Mom, I'm ok. So back off will you." "What did you do? I've never known them to cut someone's arm as a punishment." Her shock and accusation was evident in her voice and I sighed heavily. "I spoke against the alphas son." I may have hit him too, but I wasn't going to divulge that part to her. "It's not one big cut, mom, it's a brand, 'human scum' carved onto my arm." "They've branded you now too?!" My eyes rolled at her hurt tone as I went to get the dustpan and brush. "You're so much like your father." A sigh left her mouth as she spoke, running a hand through her hair, while I quickly swept up the little pieces of the broken plate. "You've had a new uniform delivered. It's laid out on your bed. Dylan, Please just try and stay respectful in the future, I don't want my daughter to be completely mutilated. Although you're not far off." "Gee, Thanks." I then walked over to my little brother Freddy before blowing a kiss into his neck and hearing him giggle. "So sport, how's school going?" "It's ok." He shrugged before going back to coloring a dinosaur picture in. "Well that's good, stay out of trouble, ok little man?" Heading upstairs and into my room, my thoughts wandered to the permanent graffiti scar very slowly healing on my arm. Disgusting beasts. Think they own the world because they're faster, stronger and can shift. Pah. If you ask me they are not all that.

The second I walked into my room my mouth dropped open. On my bed was some grey pants laid out neatly, which wasn't the surprising part, no, what shocked me was the grey high neck no sleeved button down shirt, every single set of uniform had sleeves except this one. They've done this on purpose those, mutts. They want the world to see my arm and know what a disgusting creature I am. They want the world to know that I, Dylan Riley, am nothing more than 'human scum'.

During the last week, I've been horrible, in class I've been loud in voicing my views, I've insulted at least everyone to some degree, I didn't care about the consequences, and I certainly didn't think about them. I haven't seen Nick at all since he was claimed, and to make matters worse today was the royal visit. Oh yes, werewolves and mated humans alike were spending every waking minute preparing themselves to meet his royal majesty, king of the wolves. Unclaimed Humans however would rather stick pins in their eyes. "Dylan, get down now... you're going to be late." She was right, I was dawdling this morning, I really couldn't be bothered today, I gave myself one last look in the small mirror and sighed when my eyes met my newly uncovered brand. It had bad bruising around the letters, and was still extremely tender to touch, it was definitely healing now though. I made my way down the stairs and came face to face with my mother who was seeing to Freddie, she was helping my brother get his coat on when she turned to me. "You ready sport?" Freddie nodded his little head at me and smiled while I quickly slid my shoes on. "Just Remember, the alpha is bad enough, Dylan, please, please don't do anything to anger the king." My mother stopped us from walking out the door to tell me something she had been telling me continuously for the last couple of days, it was almost as if the entire human population of our district was expecting me to do something stvpid. "Try and have a good day." I rolled my eyes but nodded, even I know not to push the king, he could kil me in the hallway like it was nothing. In fact I plan on staying out of his way for the entirety of the day. "We will see you tonight mom." I stated before me and my brother began our walk to school, his little hand clutched my own tightly as we went. Usually Nick would be with us, as he lives next door, well he used to, now he's residing in the main pack house. I quickly dropped Freddie off at his school and watched him get the wolfsbane neutralizer before walking into him building giving me a small wave before he went in. With my new scar on complete show, and my figure being complimented by the skin tight shirt I was wearing, I sauntered down the street to school, I gave my name and year in and took the wolf's bane neutralizer injection with no problems at all. It was finally getting into school that the problem occurred. Walking through the halls I was met by many looks, some of pity some of disgust. You see every single non mated human in the school was wearing a long sleeved version of the uniform I was given. All the Wolves and mated couples were scattered around in fancy floor length dresses or tailored suits. As I turned the corner I noticed a couple, now this couple happened to catch my eye the most out of all of them because it consisted of Arya and Nick, eating each other's faces off. "What the hel!" Nicks head shot to me as his eyes widened. He too was dressed in a tailored suit, a navy blue tie hung on his neck to match Aryas dress. Why was this happening all the time? It's always my friends that get completely brain washed. I shook my head in disbelief before turning my back on him. I heard his fast footsteps behind me as I rounded the corner. "Dylan?!" He ran right in front of me, stopping me in my tracks, making me drop my bag off my shoulder and almost causing me to bump into him. "Let me just explain..." "Has she marked you?" I mean you could almost see it in his eyes, she had marked him, and knowing the way life goes he's probably even mated with her. "Actually... Don't even answer that." I aggressively picked my bag up off of the floor and stormed off down the hall. "Dylan, just listen to me, Erin was right, it's so hard to resist your soulmate, and Arya is actually ok once you get to know her." I just kept walking, he caught up to me walking beside me but it didn't matter, I completely ignored everything and everyone. 'I'm so not in the mood today' getting into class was good though, I said hello to Mr Foley and took my usual seat. Nick sighed then took his bag off ready to sit next to me, but I snapped before he had the chance. "Traitors and mated idiots sit on that side of the room." I didn't look him in the eye as I pointed to a seat right at the front of the classroom on the opposite side. His eyes widened as he turned his attention back to me. "You can't be serious Dylan." I gave him a blank look before grabbing my book out of my backpack, I placed it on the desk then began to write the date on the top line. "I've sat in this seat for as long as I can remember." I ignored him, his voice sounded sad and shocked. "Dylan? Wait! What is that?!" Before I could react Nick had grabbed hold of my branded arm and turned it to see the letters. "Oh my God! What happened?" I snatched my arm away from him and shrugged as I continued to write in my book before grabbing my water bottle out of my bag. "The principal happened, it was my punishment for speaking out against Adrian and Arya. I wear it with pride." He just held a complete look of disbelief. "You spoke out against them?" I shrugged, what did he think I'd do. "It's no secret that I despise this stvpid new world and the mutts that control it. You were my friend, I wasn't going to let them just take you without saying something, although that is exactly what you seem to have done. Enjoy the view from your new seat!" "Don't be like that, Dylan, I'm your best friend, I'm sorry about your arm, but..." my eyes rolled inside my head at my friends words. "Anything with the word 'but' in, isn't an apology, it's a rationalization." I took a drink of water from my bottle and kept my eyes facing forward, ignoring his every attempt to try and talk to me. "Dylan?.. Dylan?... Do you know what? Erin is right, if you push us all away you won't have any friends left." He huffed before walking over to the empty seat and sitting down, I could feel him glancing up at me every now and again but I didn't respond. "Good morning class, please settle down." He looked at me then at Nick and frowned, we've never sat apart, we were friends before the new world even began. I just shook my head telling him to forget it. "So... as you know the king will be arriving in a short while, but until then lessons will go on as normal." Its funny seeing teachers in the same uniform your wearing, mr Foley and his wife are the coolest. Human teachers and doctors only have slightly more respect than we do. Because of Mr Foley's status him and his wife have better access to food and drink, Mrs Foley is cool, sometimes she even makes sure mr Foley brings some in for me. Ya know, coz I'm their favorite student. It's not in a weird way, it's just they were friends of the family before the new wold took effect. Mr Foley and my dad were buddies from high school, so it goes without sayin really. "All the mated humans will be at the front of each years line again, after that you will all be placed in status, Nick, as your mated to Alpha Arya, you'll be at the front of your line. Dylan as you have been branded..." his voice trailed off as he looked at me. "Yeah yeah, I'll be at the back of the line behind everyone. I get it." I huffed, moving my sight towards the window once more. "I am sorry." I turned to face Mr Foley again, he looked genuinely upset and that look of pity wasn't something I wanted to see. I gave him a clipped nod then turned away again. "Anyway, on to the subject matter, 'Of Mice and Men, page 64, Nick why don't you start us off with the reading."

"Of course sir." Nick began reading the book but I switched off, today is going to be a long day. After almost an hour and a half of reading comprehension, the bell chimed signaling lunch. I shot up and out of the classroom before anyone could say anything. Today, I was avoiding drama like the plague.

I wandered the corridors straight to the lunch hall. All the people I would normally hang out with we're all mated so I grabbed my lunch quickly, and sat down at the end of the human table. Let me lay the lunch hall out for you. On one side of the room you have two long rows of tables, with simple benches that make it look like prison, on the other side of the room you have multiple round tables with fancy chairs. Yup you get it. The humans sit at the prison tables and the wolves and traitors sit on the fancy tables, they get fancy food, fancy drink and most importantly they get pudding. what I would give to have some pudding. "Dylan can we just talk?" Nick quickly took the spot next to me as he set his lunch tray down. I looked at his food which had been placed on a ceramic, circular white plate. God that looked good. I sighed knowing he was going to talk anyway. "Fine, you have two minutes." I used my fork to take a bit of pasta off his plate and shoved it into my mouth. God that was good. "After I left school, I was taken to the pack house with Arya, and I really got to know her. It took a few days for me to finally accept being with her, but ever since life has been ok, and the sax... well that's a whole other story." Eww, I didn't need that mental image in my head. "I'm glad your happy." I stated before deciding I had no appetite. His face held shock before he sighed in relief. "That means a lot Dylan, I mean you know that your opinion matters to me." I cut him off before he could say anything else. "I said I was glad your happy. I didn't say I approved of what you've done. You've basically turned into one of THEM, I can't ever forgive you for that." He looked hurt, but I couldn't care less about his feelings. He placed his hand gently on my arm and went to open his mouth when a growl sounded out. All heads whipped to where it came from, Arya was stood holding a glass of soda and a plate, she was looking right at me and Nick and I would totally be dead if looks could kil. Nick quickly retracted his hand, his whole face fell and you could see sorrow flood his irises. "You sit with me now, get away from that, that... scum!" Wow, Nick was such a lucky guy. NOT. "You heard her. Get away from me, go sit with your new friends. I'm happy for you, and I understand where your coming from, but don't come up to me again and pretend you didn't betray your own kind. Don't pretend you didn't betray me." I shoved a little bit of food into my mouth before standing up and walking out of the cafeteria, leaving my tray on the table. I was walking through the hallway to the classroom, you see I decided to spend lunch with Mr Foley in his room, when I happened to hear voices in the corridor. "Is it wise for her to actually be present when the king arrives? Surely she could be placed in the dungeons, it might actually teach her some respect?" My principal was speaking to the alpha of our district, huh, if I stayed and listened do you think they'd notice, maybe they could smell me?! "Everyone is to be present, if the Riley girl does one thing out of line she will be dealt with severely, child or not. That girl has been a blight to the district since day one, she's dangerous, if she puts one hair out of place I will personally break her into submission." Oh shet, they were talking about me specifically, and they mentioned the dungeon, that's not been used in months. Normally I would have listened in more but something about the entire situation didn't sit right with me, all of a sudden, I was on edge, and simply wasn't interested in the slightest in hearing how my misery was to be enhanced. I backed up slightly before turning around and bumping head first into one of the hottest man I had ever seen. I lost my balance immediately and fell straight on to the floor letting out a small grumble in the process. His eyebrows knitted together quickly and his breath hitched in his throat as he looked upon my fallen state and gasped. "Mate!" He whispered, his eyes fixated on mine. Now, I had seen and heard that many times to know what that means, I gasped before taking a step back. 'No, no, no, no, no. This can not be happening.' He growled slightly before stepping towards me. Oh Shet!