I don’t really know how to cope with this. His coming home anniversary was yesterday. 13. That’s how old he is, and that’s how old I was when we first got him. Best dog ever. But I guess everyone says that.
He’s been slowly going paralyzed and last night got to the point there’s no amount of trying that could get him up. He eventually was able to move around for a bit today. But I know it’s time. I’m avoiding describing my love for him. That will push me over the edge. Just know as I describe logistics that is a key factor that hurts too much to detail.
Before he was struggling last night I was already stressing about the potential of a meltdown. School spring semester ended. I think for most people that would be a break. For me, I now feel pressure to socialize and maintain relationships on top of working more hours of a really high-masking job. Been stressing the past 3 days about calling a classmate back just to have a casual conversation. It’s been so long since I’ve had the kinds of meltdowns I used to. December 3rd 2019 was the last big one. May 2022 wasn’t the worst but still almost killed me. I’m terrified of losing everything I’ve built up this past year.
People say “feel your emotions, let them all out”. But I can’t afford the fallout of a meltdown right now. Y’all know. It’s not just crying for a day and moving on. It wrecks my mind and body. I’m already on the verge of a burnout, the last of which took me several years to recover from. I can’t miss any more days of my choir without getting kicked out, I have a summer course I need to keep up with, I NEED to earn as much money as possible over the summer because I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to work fall semester. And those are all things I enjoy and love. There will be a lot more to “get over” losing if I go Super Saiyan.
I have until Wednesday to prepare (unless he gets worse and we need to do it immediately). Work Monday, School/Therapy/Choir Tuesday. Already stressed about therapy bc my school is gutting the program to rent out to some better help rip off with no services in-between so I’ll have nothing after next week. That situation is a shitshow, already was likely to send me into a meltdown before this.
I just don’t know what the fuck to do. For other people who have been in the same situation, how’d you cope without getting your life derailed? Maybe ideas on how to cut corners energy-expending wise? Do I HAVE to watch him die? Seems like everything I read says I’ll be a horrible person and hate myself forever if I don’t, but genuinely I don’t think I could mentally withstand seeing the life go from his body. I was wanting to leave in-between the first and second shot, is that “enough”?
I know I’m going to cry and freak out, accepted that. Should probably plan to make it through an anxiety attack. I want to prevent a full ass fucking meltdown. That’s what I can’t afford.
Any strategic advice is appreciated. Thank you.

Hey, has anyone completed their final year of university from abroad?
My situation is that I'm in my 3rd year of university out of 4. I have been an exchange student abroad for a year and don't want to return to my home university, because I have made a life here, it feels like my home, I met my boyfriend here and I have a work permit and a job. I don't want to drop out of university, as I only have 1 more year to complete, so this is the next best option...
I don't think it's a good idea to tell my university my location (as its not in the UK), so I'm planning on saying I'll be studying from a distance at my family home in the UK and making the to journey to university for exams. My lectures are recorded, and I will speak to my lecturers about trying to record seminars or joining from a distance. My university didn't check my attendance all year, so I think I could get away with being in a different country.
I don't want to be fraudulent, so I'm wondering if anyone has done this? How does this work for student loan?
The student finance says you're eligible for funding if you normally live in the UK, which I usually do.
I'm worried that the university will kick me if they somehow find out I'm abroad... Is this a possibility? Surely I could hypothetically just be on holiday and journey to and from my location...

Hi everyone! I'm a rising senior and trying to plan out how far in advance certain application materials should be completed. Two of the programs I'm applying to, Emory and UGA, have priority deadlines of January 5th. My current university will post fall semester grades on December 17 and I have been debating whether to submit my application after those are finalized or be on the safer side and submit about 4 weeks in advance. All advice is helpful.

Hey, has anyone completed their final year of university from abroad?
My situation is that I'm in my 3rd year of university out of 4. I have been an exchange student abroad for a year and don't want to return to my home university, because I have made a life here, it feels like my home, I met my boyfriend here and I have a work permit and a job. I don't want to drop out of university, as I only have 1 more year to complete, so this is the next best option...
I don't think it's a good idea to tell my university my location (as its not in the UK), so I'm planning on saying I'll be studying from a distance at my family home in the UK and making the to journey to university for exams. My lectures are recorded, and I will speak to my lecturers about trying to record seminars or joining from a distance. My university didn't check my attendance all year, so I think I could get away with being in a different country.
I don't want to be fraudulent, so I'm wondering if anyone has done this? How does this work for student loan?
The student finance says you're eligible for funding if you normally live in the UK, which I usually do.
I'm worried that the university will kick me if they somehow find out I'm abroad... Is this a possibility? Surely I could hypothetically just be on holiday and journey to and from my location...

Just another after 10 pm thought. I really just want to get this off my chest. What if tinuloy ko mag-law school? (WARNING: Long read)
Almost 1 year na since my graduation. Most of my blockmates from college are done with their final exams in law school. I wish them nothing, but success and happiness. Hopefully, they'll all be regular 2nd year law students next school year.
Ngunit minsan may mga gabi kung saan ako'y napapa-isip; what if nag-law school din ako? Makakaya ko rin kaya? Masaya rin kaya ako sa desisyon ko kapag? Kay raming pumapasok na paano kung tuwing pagsapit ng gabi. Kadalasan, hinahayaan at i-tinutulog ko nalang. Minsan, katulad ng gabing ito, ay para kinakain ako ng aking mga naiisip na para bang 'di na ako makahinga kung saan ayaw manlang manahimik ng aking utak sa pag-iisip ng mga paano kung 'di ko magawa-gawa.
For some context of why and how I feel like shit rn. Here's a very short summary of my past: Ganado pa ako sa buhay noong 1st year college e. Determinado akong mag-law school kayat dali-dali akong nag-enroll aking pre-law course. Nakakainis din ang mga Pinoy e no? Once nalaman nilang pre-law course mo e automatic na ang tawag sa'yo e "atty". Same rin kapag engineering ka. Tawag ba naman sa'yo "engr". Masarap pakinggan lalo na't karamihan ay nanggagaling sa mga tao tunay nga naman na nagbibigay suporta at nagmamahal sa'yo. Ako naman 'tong lumaki ang ulo na parang feeling abogado pero sa huli ay 'di rin lang pala nag-tuloy. Huli ko lang namalayan na may added pressure rin pala ang mga ganon.
Then the pandemic happened. I lost all hope. Truth be told, if 'di nangyari 'yung pandemic baka nag-shift ako. Dahil alam ko sa sarili ko na bagsako ako sa 3 majors subjects ko noong 1st year 2nd sem. But I got saved by the bell. Instead of failed, dropped o INC, PASSED ang nakasulat sa grading report ko. Hanggang nagtuloy-tuloy na. From 2nd year, nag-3rd year to 4th year GRADUATING student real quick.
All kinds of shit went down noong nag-4th year na ako. I've already lost hope noong pandemic. Noong 4th year na ako?, I just didn't give a damn anymore. Bagsako kung bagsako, pasado kung pasado- bathala na. And then, boom! Pasado ('wag niyo na po akong tanongin on how I managed to pass. 'di ko rin po alam).
I got a job after graduation. Made some money, paid the bills, helped around the house and got to buy the shit I wanted at the time. But the most important thing that job gave me was clarity and realization. "I'm not built for law school", kako sa sarili ko. I finally accepted it and moved on. I resigned after 5 months. Kumuha ng educ units sa may local university namin 'cause I got bored and I wanted to feel in college again ( I know, it's stupid and immature. Don't you think I already know that?). Took the CSE and passed. Kakatapos lang ng semester, and decided i'm not gonna pursue that LPT.
Now, I'm a certified tambay. Nilalakad ko palang ang mga papers ko for employment so at least I'm not going to be a certified tambay in the nearer future.
And now, here I am. In bed, reminiscing and thinking about my what ifs in life. What if nag-law school din ako?
Masaya siguro na mahirap. Mostly mahirap, but worth it naman sa huli. Alam ko naman sa sarili ko na 'di ko kaya 'yung sakripisyo at dedication compared to other law students out there. I've been reading less and less, mostly because whenever I do my brain multiplies in being annoying and not shutting up of its thoughts. Rather than reading, improving my mind, I've been playing too much video games. Too much basketball, too much of this too much of that. Way too much distractions. Eventually, mawawala ako sa focus if I did decide to go to law school.
"Bakit mo sinasabi agad na 'di mo kaya kung 'di mo pa naman sinsubukan?" Y'all have a point there, but kilala ko sarili ko e. I know I cant give up playing video games and playing sports. Hanging out with friends doing God knows what in the middle of the night. Ayaw ko rin sinasakripisyo ang tulog para lang mag-aral. Tamad ko nga raw mag-aral e sabi ng mga high school prof ko (pakyu sila may degree na ako). Overall, I'm lazy. I get distracted too easily. I give up too early, and try to do less most of the time. I'm impatient. I'm incapable of adapting learning strategies and style benefiting a law student. I have all of these negative capabilities. Obviously, 'di talaga nababagay. Pero what if? Wala naman sigurong mawawala saakin kung mag-what if lang ako. Eventually, I'll stop siguro. Soon, magiging okay rin ako. But for now, what if?
What if tinuloy ko mag-law school?

Race information

* **What?** Brisbane Marathon
* **When?** 2nd June, 2024
* **How far?** 42.2km
* **Where?** Brisbane, QLD
* **Strava activity:** https://www.strava.com/activities/11551812170
* **Finish time:** 4:02 Officially

Goals

Goal Description Completed?
-------------------------------
A Finish *Yes*
B 3:45 *No*
C 3:30 *No*

Splits

Kilometer Time
------------
1 5:19
2 5:31
3 5:13
4 5:27
5 5:23
6 5:17
7 5:11
8 5:09
9 5:18
10 5:14
11 4:51
12 5:01
13 5:07
14 5:03
15 5:07
16 4:57
17 5:21
18 5:17
19 5:15
20 5:15
21 5:13
22 5:12
23 5:27
24 5:19
25 5:25
26 5:18
27 5:21
28 5:32
29 5:14
30 5:30
31 5:48
32 5:33
33 5:41
34 6:19
35 6:20
36 7:09
37 5:57
38 6:31
39 7:00
40 6:26
41 7:02
42 6:06
43 5:40

Training

I'd been following Sage Canaday's Higher Running beginneintermediate training program for the past 16 weeks, before that I did about 6 months of base building - this being the most I'd ever run, and off the back of a few relatively sedentary years. The training went pretty well, I began figuring out how HR zones work and linking them to expected times, the weekly mileage ramped up slowly and was tolerated fairly well. Once mileage hit 65+ kms per week (40mi) I noticed a few niggling injuries beginning to appear, but these were handled pretty well with self-massage, and starting ATG strength training for my knees and calves. The biggest run in this training block was a 3hr effort, with 8kms at marathon goal pace (5:01/km, 8:04/mi), the last 2kms of that marathon pace effort being up a very steep incline. I arrived home after that run with very sore feet, and consequently the volume in the next week suffered. Due to a busy schedule, I missed some key runs, especially long runs and a few threshold sessions that I feel negatively impacted my race-day performance.
About a week out from the race, I started to feel a bit sick, but put it out of my mind and pushed through training, which was a bad idea, as that sickness continued to get worse the week of the race, only allowing 11kms total to be run that week, and keeping me couch-bound and off work for a few days. I rocked up to the race feeling average at best, and in retrospect I probably had a little bit of COVID due to my symptoms.
My nutrition was up-and-down the whole training cycle, trying to figure out what worked for me and how much to eat, leading to weeks of overeating, and some weeks of undereating.

Pre-race

I began carb-loading the day before the marathon, however last-minute preparations got in the way of consistent food throughout the day, and I really only started eating a decent amount around lunchtime, or about 16 hours out from the race. My diet changed significantly to achieve this, and I woke up feeling deflated and drowsy the morning of the race.
Immediately pre-race, I warmed up for about 400m, and did some static stretching and dynamic movements. At this point, I noticed my HR was significantly higher than it should have been, which would be a sign of things to come.

Race

I started the race at a pace I was fairly happy with, however my HR was 10-20BPM higher than it usually is at those efforts, which I put down to nerves and figured it would eventually even out. By 20mins in, I realised this probably wasn't going to happen, and ended up running all of the uphill sections at threshold effort (but far below threshold pace), but figured I'd just tough it through and keep going. How bad could it get?
By the 10km mark I was feeling good, starting to smash uphills and felt nice and cruisy at almost marathon-pace along the flats. I was overtaking people and running strong, found my stride, and focused on maintaining good leg turnover and running tall. By the time I'd hit K 18, I wasn't feeling amazing, had a brief bout of light-headedness and slowed my pace slightly and tried to relax as much as possible. That passed, and I finished the first half of the race feeling strong.
As I turned around for lap 2, the first hill out of the city was feeling ok, but the enormity of how much race I had left and how I was feeling was beginning to dawn on me. I accidentally consumed some of the provided electrolyte drink instead of water, and about 5 minutes after that my guts started having a very bad time. I never got rid of this, and the stomach cramps stuck with me until the end of the race. Continued at the same effort through all the big hills, and hit K 24 feeling pretty decent. I'd been fuelling properly the whole time, aiming for 90g carbs/hour and about 1000ml of water in the same time, plus I'd been using my salt tabs, however K 25 was harder, 26 even harder, and so on and so forth. My left hamstring started to cramp up bad, and I had to alter my running form to prevent this from being any more of an issue than it already was. By 30kms in, I knew I was done for, knew I'd blown it on any of my goals by going out too hard, and realised that my lot in life for the next hour or so was to suffer. So be it. I spent about 8 minutes total having a walk, trying to clear the lactate out of my system and find a second wind, but it never came. Finally crossing that finish line well short of my goal was one of the best feelings I've had. Very happy to have finished the race.

Post-race

The missus and her family came to support me, gave me a whole bunch of fruit and sports drinks but I wanted none of, just feeling absolutely burned out. But was very thankful to have people there to hobble back to the car with, and spent the remainder of the day resting pretty hard.

What's Next?

I learned a lot this marathon, and I'm glad to have the experience of the next on on-board to be much better prepared for my next one. My biggest and most unexpected lesson? Don't run a marathon as a 90kg man in Altra Escalante Racers. They might do it for people without any weight, but man oh man were my legs and feet absolutely stinging! Going out to invest in some better running shoes immediately, and very keen to put all my lessons learned into my next marathon. Pfitz 18/55 is the plan I'm going to try next, after a few weeks of very light walking and running, and catching up with all the mates I haven't seen for the last 16 weeks because of my training.
If anyone has anything to add, or some tips for me, I'm all ears.
Cheers!

Gut checking writing lesson time allocation for rising 1st grade - was told to plan for 45 minutes but the lesson could be between 30-45.
10-15 minutes - writing mini lesson (I do, we do)
15-20 minutes - kids complete writing activity at their desks
5-10 minutes- regroup on carpet have a few kids share their work/ideas

I (25m) told my sister (27f) that she’s acting as an entitled Karen.
Names changed, let’s say my sister is Julia and my gf is Emma.
For context: Me and my girlfriend (22f) visited my sister and stayed at her place for a couple of days. My sister is a single mother with a 9 month old son. Last year me and Emma saved my sister from her abusive husband. I don’t know much about what exactly he was doing to her, but the guy was a full blown psychopath, and now he’s in prison for the things he did to her. Once we called police on him, Julia had no choice but to come back to our parents, since at the time she had no job - the guy made her completely dependent on him, she couldn’t afford the flat and she had a baby who at the time was 3mo. Also we were all worried she would harm herself, since her mental state at that moment was very poor.
For the next few months Julia stayed at our parents house. For a reason I can’t really understand she didn’t cancel the contract for the flat she rented with her husband but instead put it on AirBnB. She explained that she would like to move back there once she finds a job. For what I know the reservations allowed her to cover the rent and bills.
3 months after her husband got arrested, she found a job and just like she said, she moved back to the flat with her baby.
To celebrate that, we visited her. We planned our stay, with a trip to the mountains and a visit to a SPA. The SPA was supposed to be a surprise gift from Julia to Emma. Emma helped Julia to write a decent CV thus Julia intended to make it a surprise as a token of appreciation.
Now, back to the issue:
Once we arrive at Julia’s, we started to discuss our plans for the mountain trip. We had a few things we wanted to see and the whole trip and return would take us circa 12-13 hours. Julia’s baby was coming with us and this is where she started to act a bit entitled.
Julia said that she would prefer we woke up at 5-6 am, to be able to return before 8 pm. She said that her son would cry all the way back if he wasn’t at home after 7-8 pm. I reminded her that this was supposed to be a trip free from strife and rush and we would not put an alarm at the sunrise, since it would miss the point. Emma backed me up on that, so Julia sucked it up, but I could see she wasn’t pleased. We reminded her, that we planned to go to a swimming pool anyway, so most likely her son would be exhausted afterwards and would sleep all the way back.
The trip itself was very pleasant. Except for the way back. The kid did cry for almost 2 hours non stop. Julia was with him in the backseat, trying to soothe him but apparently nothing worked. She didn’t tell us “I told you so”, but she did mention that in future she would appreciate to listen to her if we plan to include her son in our plans. Emma told her that she is overprotective of the boy, because she makes him too used to a routine and thus he becomes hysterical when something goes off the schedule.
When we finally arrived, Julia rushed to her flat with her baby and left us with all the bags to carry inside.
The next day we didn’t do much. The SPA was planned for the 3rd day of our visit, so we mostly chilled in front of the TV and in the afternoon we visited our parents. This is when Julia again started to act entitled.
On the way to parents, I put a song I like on the speakers. Julia asked me to turn it off, because she doesn’t want her baby to listen to rap. I told her to be cool. I was the driver and it wasn’t some sort of a violent-dumb rap. She insisted and to avoid an argument, I gave in.
At our parents we had a BBQ but Julia went to the guest room and avoided everyone. She left her baby with our mom and disappeared for 2 hours. In the evening she came back, saying it’s time to go back to her place. I asked her to wait, because we were watching a sports event. She was not happy, but gave in.
At 8pm we took the road back. Me and Emmy had a beer each, so Julia was driving. Her kid started to cry again but this time he fell asleep. I was talking with Emmy and Julia scoffed at me to be quiet, because I would wake up her son. This is where I told her she’s acting entitled. I told her how she’s overprotective of her son, how she overreacted with the rap, because it will not kill him to listen to some other music for few minutes. I had enough. Julia became furious. She started to yell that we are her guests and we should be respectful and take her child into consideration. This made me angry, because we were not at her place. I told her that if she didn’t notice, we were at the car, not at her home. Sister lost her shit and started to scream at me. She said that she will not let anyone talk to her like this after what she’s been through with her husband. I told her she should stop using her husband as an excuse to avoid earned criticism.
At that point Emma told both of us to stop arguing, since Julia was driving and it was not safe.
So we spent the rest of the road in silence. When we got to Julia’s place she again rushed inside with the baby, bathed him and took a shower. I had a headache, so I wanted to chill in the living room when Julia came to me with her baby in hands, crying and told me how hurtful was what I told her and how dare I call her entitled. I told her that she is in fact entitled, she only is too biased to see it. She started to rant about how her husband would abuse her in that very room and that she had every right to give her kid the peace and routine and that I had no right to treat her like that. She demanded I apologize and I refused, so she said she wanted us gone the next day. She said she will not pay for the SPA for Emmy and that the visit is over. I asked her if she had anything more to say, and she looked furious, but went back to the bed with her child.
I was upset with how she overreacted but what she did next was outrageous. Emma didn’t know about the SPA. And after talking to me, Julia texted her to say that she was canceling the surprise and that it was because of me.
We packed our stuff and left first thing in the morning, before Julia woke up. Unfortunately, we forgot the car registration card at her place, so we had to go back. I decided I will save Emma from any extra drama and went back inside alone.
It was a good idea, because after she let me in, Julia immediately started to tell me how immature and disrespectful both of me and Emma were and that she was disappointed in us. I told her that she was crazy if she thought that after she texted Emma I would come to her begging for forgiveness and that by canceling the SPA plan, she ruined any chance for spending the rest of the weekend together. She told me to get out and started to insult me. When I left, she called me, but I blocked the call. She called Emma instead. She told Emma that after what I said to her she refuses to let us use her car and she demands to let it at our parents’ place (forgot to mention that the car was hers, she didn’t need it, so she borrowed it to me). I need that car to get to work, so she screwed me over.
We arrived at my parents and we explained what happened. I was surprised that they sided with Julia. They admitted that she might have overreacted but pointed that she still attends therapy and that it was it unnecessary for me to scold her. We (me and Emma) disagreed with them. My mom called me a hypocrite and spent most of the day on phone with my sister.
Emma wouldn’t talk much, but she was clearly upset with how the weekend turned around.
I don’t think I’m in the wrong, but just to make sure I decided to post that here.
So: Am I the asshole for calling my sister entitled?

I am genuinely concerned about the direction of the United States, and how it will affect the rest of the world too. For all of our lives, America was about freedom and democracy. It may not have been perfect, but we at least had tons of freedom that other countries did not have. We have the freedom to be friends with whoever we like, to enjoy whichever entertainment we'd like, for which news we could get, to criticize our own government, and to use whichever websites we want to (including this one). I also believe in peace, and that people can get along no matter what race, ethnicity, nationality, or their sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, disability, etc, and I believe in going forwards. Unfortunately it looks like we are heavily going backwards, especially with Donald Trump (who has been charged SEVERAL TIMES, and is on trial) as a presumptive nominee. I think we all need to learn that we shouldn't take democracy for granted, but now we live in a time where we are so dangerously close to fascism, where everyone (especially marginalized groups) will face oppression. as Trump is trying to be a dictator (With even more authoritarian rhetoric than ever before. He even said he wanted to be a dictator "only on day one", but history tells us that they last far longer than just a day.) and unfortunately I think he's going to succeed, especially after SCOTUS gives him full immunity and renders him above the law. The worst part about all this is that so many Americans are sleepwalking into it, and some even embracing it. I am heavily believing now that no matter who legitimately wins the election, Trump is going to be in office, and our freedoms will go away (being EXACTLY what the Founders, the real ones and not the MAGA versions, didn't want.). Back in the late 2010s, it would have been considered a partisan hyperbolic statement by Democrats , but after 01/06/21, and the further radicalization of the GOP (to the point it's mostly just the Trump party), his increasingly authoritarian and violent rhetoric (that sounds an awful lot like Hitler) plus the extreme polarization, its safe to say that it's possible that our democracy won't survive the 2024 election, and here's why a dictatorship is very likely (or inevitable).

1. Apathetic Voters and Protest votes. If you look at almost all of the polls, Biden and Trump are either tied, or Trump is in the lead by a small margin. In case you haven't noticed, Biden doesn't really have much of a loyal fanbase, meanwhile, Trump has a literal cult who will follow him NO MATTER WHAT. Biden's approval rating has sunken over the years, partially due to inflation (Even though things have been getting better recently), and of course the support of Israel (even though the situation is very complex and not only that, there's also Trump probably being even worse when its this, as he will absolutely NOT sympathize with the Palestinians.), he signed the bill that will likely Ban TikTok (Even though Trump called for that first, then flip flopped, even though he doesn't care about tiktok) and there is yet another issue than can never be fixed, HIS AGE (though Trump really isn't much younger.) As a result, he has lost the young vote, and many people would either vote for a 3rd party candidate or for Trump as a protest vote, or vote for Trump due his time in office being more "peaceful" and having better "economy" (Even though Trump sides with PUTIN in invading Ukraine, and the fact that the covid recession started under Trump, and lets not forget the George Floyd protests and Trump trying to stop even the PEACEFUL ones, he even threatened to use the MILITARY to do it.) Either that, or they'd refuse to vote for anyone thinking that all the options suck or that Trump will for sure lose so them voting is unnecessary. But, that's one of the reasons why Hillary Clinton lost the 2016 election and Trump won (only by the electoral vote), and why we are all in this mess in the first place.
2. Voter suppression: Even if there were a lot of people who would actually want Biden to win, Ever since the 2020 election, republican lawmakers across states have passed several voter suppression laws to make it harder for those who are most likely to vote against Trump or other republican candidates. More people would also be disenfranchised. Even worse than that, is that some of it could even be done by force, such as Maga people guarding the polls, and even Poll workers not working fairly either.
3. Overturning an election could happen. Even if Biden won the election legitimately, there is still a chance that the election could be overturned, and not only that, there's a HIGHER CHANCE of it being successful than in 2020 (Especially considering that most of the congress REPUBLICANS that put country over party are GONE now). In fact people are already planning the election denial just in case Biden wins, which will ensure that it will be more likely to be a success, so it's very likely that even if Biden legitimately wins, Trump will be in office.
4. January 6 could happen again. Even if the election doesn't get overturned, there is another way Trump could get in office, BY FORCE! When January 6 happened, it was very violent and scary, but it didn't prevent Biden from getting in office. However, things are likely to be different in 2025, and as such January 6 may be more likely to be successful than last time. They may use some tactics that are UNTHINKABLE, and of course, Trump could power grab and be in office, and thus become a dictator.

Now I know a lot of people would say that "dude relax, we survived a Trump term before, and we will survive the next one, it won't be as bad." Yeah, people said it "won't be that bad" in 2016, but even with the guardrails, checks and balances, and Trump's inexperience, that term resulted in several preventable covid deaths, a supermajority far right supreme court that overturned several things including abortion (which Trump TAKES CREDIT FOR) and of course, the January 6 attack (which he still PRAISES and will pardon all the attackers when in office). Those guardrails won't even exist anymore next time, as now Trump will pick only loyalists in his cabinet (and purge the “deep state” aka people who won’t go along with Trump), many of the moderate Republicans are leaving or are radicalizing (most of the ones that stood up to Trump are NO LONGER IN CONGRESS, and even HALEY has seemingly flip flopped as well.), and now Trump knows well what he's doing (and knows more about how the government works and how to exploit it), and let's not forget about Project 2025 (And Republicans are ALREADY implementing some of it). People also said similar things about Hitler back in the 1930s as well, such as saying that it was "hyperbolic", laughing at him, or even saying that he "wouldn't be that bad", but we all know how that ended up. Yet ANOTHER world war and genocide towards targeted groups (such as Jews, the disabled, and LGBT). The same thing happened with other dictators as well.

One of the worst things about this is that many people are sleepwalking into it, or don't even care. The mass media isn't covering enough of this, but instead "Biden is old" or stuff like that, which isn't helping one bit (especially when owned by billionaires), and what's even worse is that many of these people won't even realize the danger that's coming until it's way too late (as has happened NUMEROUS times throughout history, including in Germany). Even worse than that is that many people (Especially MAGA) are saying they'd prefer a dictatorship (though maybe not outright, though the fact that they support Putin is telling), and are saying that it's what America needs, and they (wrongly) believe that they will benefit from it. Not only that, a survey has revealed that Gen Z is actually leaning towards dictatorship as well. and not only that, Corporate America is starting to embrace the upcoming dictatorship. They believe they will benefit from it (they won't), being one of the reasons why the mass media won't report this enough. And not only that, it seems like NOTHING can stop him, not even his convictions (instead of opening the eyes of Maga, they will see him as being persecuted, meaning there is absolutely NOTHING that could open their eyes, they will never see him as someone who ONLY cares about himself, but as a savior, and i'm frightened by that.).

All of this will result in Trump winning the election (Which will be even more likely once he gets full immunity), and of course our democracy falling apart, the only belief system allowed being (their version of) Christianity, us losing our rights and freedoms, our education system being MAGA propaganda, Ukraine being taken over by Putin, and a possible Civil War II (or even worse, WWIII, and a possible nuclear apocalypse). Even worse than that, Putin could take over the US and betray Trump as well (and we will be totally fucked), but if not then Trump may try to take over the world. History tells is that usually the only way to get rid of a dictator is by violence (either a war or a coup), and we don't want to get to that point, but unfortunately, it looks like its inevitable, especially with the decaying of the guardrails and increased polariziation. Soon we may have to say goodbye to our rights and freedoms, and we will accept that we may lose some of our friends along the way, we may no longer be able to do whatever activities we enjoyed doing, we may no longer even be able to criticize the government anymore (even if its constructive criticism) as well as living in fear for a very long time. They also say that a loss of hope for our democracy could contribute to it, and admittedly, it's very hard to feel hopeful right now considering all of the factors, but there is still a little bit of hope. We can prepare for this, and make it so this is less likely,

1. Everyone should vote: Everyone who is allowed to vote should vote. The two party system sucks, and I'm not the biggest Biden fan, but I'm voting for him anyway, because he's the lesser of the two evils, especially when the only other major choice is trying to overthrow the government. I think a vote for a 3rd party candidate or someone else who isn't on the ballot is a vote for trump (Especially since we have a TWO PARTY SYSTEM, other parties are UNLIKELY TO WIN), please let's not repeat 2016.
2. Fight Voter suppression by supporting some non profit pro democracy groups, especially non partisan ones.
3. Fighting against the overturning, again by supporting the same organizations.
4. The people at the Capitol should be prepared for what will happen the next attack, and let’s NOT normalize such attacks.

However, there is still only a slim chance that saving democracy by these methods will happen, but the best we can do right now is enjoy the time we have right now. We should enjoy the time we can enjoy the media we want, go to the places we want, be friends with who we want, and spend time with our family members (Especially if they are in the LGBT community or other marginalized communities, because the time we have with them may be numbered), and of course live our lives to the fullest, by doing the things that we take for granted (As long as it doesn't hurt anyone). And soon, it's very likely to go away, and it's a very hard lesson, that in order to keep freedom or even improve it, we have to work hard to protect it, because it CAN happen here. If all the preparation that us and some government officials can do fails, then what should we do. Accept what will happen to us or flee to another country and live in exile, don't say that you weren't warned. We don't want this to happen, we want to live in a country without always living in fear. So please try to help us. Especially if you actually care about your rights and freedom, or that of your friends and family (especially those who are in marginalized groups). This election isn’t just Biden vs. Trump, it’s Democracy vs Dictatorship, and I think it would be hyperbolic if it weren’t for Trump’s Hitler like speeches, his praise of autocrats, the January 6 attacks in 2021, and Project 2025.

I left teaching after over a decade. I landed a job in Instructional Design and left teaching in early summer 2023. It was a 10% pay cut, but the trade-off is worth it and soon I'll be right back to my old salary level.
For those of you who are on summer break now and thinking about leaving: I encourage you to dig deep and devote whatever summer time you can to upskilling.
After one year of being an instructional designer, my life is so much better.
My most stressful week of work, so far, was only about 30% as stressful as a regular week of teaching.
My workload is so much lighter. I had never realized that I was juggling:

• Designing lessons
• Managing emails from admin and counseling
• Managing 160+ "direct reports" and all of their adults
• Delivering lessons
• Evaluating lesson effectiveness
• Discipline
• Emotional/social coaching
• No time for professional development
• Actively malicious department leadership
• Aloof/removed administration

In my new job:

• I work from home 3 days a week
• The 2 days in my office are blissfully quiet
  • No bells
  • No shouting/screaming/running in the halls at all hours
  • No pushing of all those chairs
  • No pencil sharpeners
  • No interrupting intercom announcements
• My managers are kind and helpful
• No more planning sub lessons when I'm out of the office
• Sometimes I have several weeks to design a single lesson
• Part of my job is just recutting recorded webinars in Camtasia
• If I respond to an email the same day I receive it, it's considered excellent customer service
• I am allowed to pursue professional development on company time
• No one has said, "Fuck this, AvatarH, I need to do my math homework instead."
• I am not responsible for managing anyone's behavior but my own

Make this your summer of goal-setting and action. You may not be able to land a new job before the start of the school year, but build your exit ladder. It took me about 11 months of job applications to find my job, and I know that Instructional Design is still pretty tough right now, but please know that it is POSSIBLE and it is WORTH IT.
You deserve a better professional life, because you'll have a better personal life, too.
​

J2 female student here taking 3H2 and 1H3 subject. Im pretty confident that I can get As for A levels, but I don't think my predicted grades will be excellent as of the time prelim rolls over due to me taking a iffy subject that records my progress from the start of the year (so that 1 subject's predicted grades will cmi)
I am considering taking law in UCL/KCL/imperial, maybe even oxford, and have a few questions.

1. How is the process of taking a gap year to go overseas like? Will I have to specifically indicate it within my application or notify my jc?
   
2. What are the chances of me being accepted with good grades but relatively lackluster portfolio? Im seeing crazy international applications with students doing large scale charities, non profits, internships at big5 companies... (which I do NOT have). Heard that the UK does not focus too much on extracurriculars, but I am still worried that Im lacking compared to other applicants.
   
3. I do read a fair bit on philosophy and law, have law related/debate competition experience though no awards, less than 100 volunteer hours, and some awards here and there from non-law related competitions. No work experience, but plan to take up one after A's.
   
4. Should I even apply for this year's UCAS cycle given my prelim results are confirmed to be screwed because of that one subject? Or just focus on grinding As? (Have not studied for LNAT or started on UCAS app)
   
5. Are there situations where people accept an offer to study law in local unis, then apply for overseas unis when the next application cycle rolls around? So at least if I do get rejected, I can still fall back on local university. If so, how is the tuition+transfer process handled?
   
6. Local law vs UK law prospects. While SG's law schools are ranked high, I do feel that UK law schools have better international recognition. Does this prestige really matter if I want to go back to Singapore to practice law? (Heard lots of crappy things about the grading and prospects for SG uni law, especially for female grads)
   
7. How are lesser known UK unis law degrees perceived in Singapore? I find Durham/Edinburg quite charming and am eager to put those as my backup choices.
   
8. For SG applicant who have gotten into UK law schools, I would love to hear about your stats and extracurriculars.
   

Thank you for bothering to read through this. If anyone has had relevant experience/knowledge on this it would be fantastic to hear from you, thank you so much!

I was waitlisted originally for computer science and rejected from buisness with around a 3.9 and no SAT but I already was planning to commit to another school, I thought they were just not gonna let me in until I realized that i did not submit my mid year grades. I just filled out the SRAR with my recant grades and it says online that august 1st is the last day you can get in. Am i cooked or do I have a chance of getting in?

Hey everyone. I am 32 and just started riding. I have been taking lessons 4 times a week for a few months now. I have been riding western. I feel confident in purchasing my first horse.
I have completely fell in love and am obsessed (addicted) to be around horses and in the saddle. I have autism and I’m telling you that horses have completely changed my life (for the better). I have never felt happier and more secure in myself. Just have to say that horses heal in ways I cannot describe.
I have riden mostly on a 26 year old mare draft, 13 year old mare quarter and a 8 year gelding thoroughbred.
I have absolutely fell in love with the gelding. He is so spunky and sweet.
What does everyone suggest for my first horse?
I am actively building a farm with a 2 acre pasture. I plan to add a nubian goat and/or donkey for companionship. Until I can expand my pasture for a second horse. My daughter is 3 and rides too. She will need her own horse soon!
I want to ride for pleasure but I also want to train my horse for western mounted shooting.
I am a shooter before I rode horses.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and for reading.

Quite confused between three locations -
A) Dalhousie-Khajjar-Chamba; B) Bir-Mcleod-Dharamshala; and C) Sissu-Keylong
I am planning to travel for 3D/2N during 3rd week of June. Could anyone please help me with this!?

I'm delivering a 15-30 minute demo lesson for a language center on Wednesday. Now, I've delivered plenty of demo lessons before, but this one looks more difficult than the ones that I'm used to. Going by the textbook page that they gave me, I have to use six sample sentences cover and teach the nuances for a bunch of different tenses in the past, present, and future. For example, one of the present tense samples is 'She hasn't been to Colorado before. The trip is being organized by her rock climbing club.' There are plenty more like this, some using multiple tenses in the same sentences, others using the passive voice, etc., and many are for grammatical structures I haven't taught before.
Structurally, I'm planning to follow the PPP model- I'm planning to go over all of the sentences first to review their meaning (teasing them out to minimize teacher talking time), then show the two interviewers acting as my students) the worksheet that I would hand out to them (explaining that in my class, they would complete it alone and check their answers together), and conclude with a roleplay in which each pretends they met a celebrity and talks about their experiences in a variety of tenses. I took the practice and production stages from the book itself, just slightly changing the latter to make it more engaging. In the interest of expediency, I also left out the second 'practice' activity in the book (a gap-fill). I've prepared a quick PowerPoint that includes all of these.
Right now, I think my biggest concerns are how long it will take to go over the sentence themselves- you could spend fifteen minutes on one tense, but I have to cover all of them. I'm also concerned about them asking questions about grammar I might not necessarily have the answer to (even after researching them, some can be pretty confusing). More generally, I'd like to make my lesson stand out a little- this is definitely more competitive than some of the schools I interviewed with, so I need to make it count.
If anyone has any advice, l welcome it. Thank you!

Just wanted to share a hard won victory for my son today and thought you all might appreciate it!
My son was enrolled in a hybrid school for several years. Unfortunately our son struggled and was “behind” his peers in second grade despite doing well on at home days. We reached out to his physician to get him tested. The school started recommending holding our son back. Meanwhile our son had received an ADHD diagnosis and was rapidly catching up due to the medication and behavioral therapy. He went from not reading at all to confidently sounding out words almost overnight. The school was adamant however that he would not be moving onto 3rd grade. He also confessed to us and his therapist that his 1st grade teacher made him sit in a corner most of the day and that now his second grade teacher was calling him stupid in class. He told his doctor he was too stupid to learn and began refusing his medication because kids made fun of him for his brain being different. Obviously we had to make a change.
We pulled him out not long after Christmas his second grade year. We bought fresh workbooks and readers and computer games, etc. True homeschooling without the support of the hybrid school was scary. But it gave us freedom to try new curriculum better suited for his brain. He had the freedom to move from one subject to another when he’s bored or run off energy outside or learn from a YouTube video or podcast. We just focused on building base skills and building up his confidence but the damage was deep and he frequently would get frustrated and say he was just too dumb.
Now it’s more than a year later and reading finally “clicked.” He’s read about twenty chapter books this year and he’s doing fourth grade math and he loves science and geography and is even learning Spanish. And today he pulled up a new educational computer game where he got to pick his aptitude level. In the past he’s always gone for the easiest levels in every subject but today he told me he wanted to start at level two in most and level 3 in math and reading because “I’m really good at those things now.”
Frankly I could care less if he’s ahead, behind, or on par with grade level right now. But knowing he has confidence in himself? That’s the ultimate prize of parenthood. Im so proud of the wonderful human we have the privilege of raising and I’m so proud of everything he’s accomplished this past year.

Does York U accept people with 60% and below average. How true is this??
Does York University actually accept people with 60% and below average? I have a friend who is planning to apply to York university undergrad nursing program this September. Right now he stands at a 50 something percent in MCR3U (grade 11 functions), 60 something percent in SCH3U (grade 11 chemistry) and a 60 something percent in SBI3U (grade 11 biology), Bro doesn't want to take Adv functions, he wants to take mixed maths. I currently stand at an 85% in grade 11 functions, 88% in advanced functions, 90% in grade 11 chemistry, 78% in grade 11 physics and 80% in grade 11 biology, but looking at getting into UofT, Waterloo and TMU. York (as my safety choice) for life sciences. He claims he can get into York as their admissions requirement for Nursing is 70% average and I argue that just because you manage to meet the minimum requirements doesn't mean you are guaranteed an admission to the program (I stand corrected btw). But he feels he can get in anyways, does that mean York accept anybody and any grade atp??
Does he have a better chance at getting into York Nursing with his average than me getting into York nursing with my average. And if so, does that mean all the hardwork and consistency I put into getting good grade is for nothing since York would have accepted me with 60% average anyways??

hey everyone!
so i had a rough first year and have since been brining my grades up and began getting help. by the end of my undergrad (expected april 2026) i should have around a 3.4 cgpa. i havent taken the lsat yet and im wondering if its worth it to study for the lsat while in 3rd and 4th year, conffer my degree in april 2026 and then go back for 2 semesters to attempt to get my cgpa up to a 3.5? will schools (im applying to all in canada besides sask, manitoba, unb prob) even look at undergrad courses done after my degree is conffered. i am really intrested in OZ if anyone has the direct answer for that? also the reason why i want to confer my degree no matter what is incase anything happens i still have my bachelors already and can hopefully move home and just take bird courses in the meantime.
or if i should just focus on my grades now, graduate in april 2026 with a 3.4 and then spend the may-september studying for the lsat to apply for the 2027 cycle.
i guess my main question here is; is it really worth it to go back for 2 semesters to raise my cgpa from a 3.4 to a 3.5 (and will schools even count this) or should i just focus on spending those months studying on the lsat.
thanks so much guys :)

I gave the first full length SH exam today and got 80% in it - 140/175 correct with 1.5 hours remaining. I gave it in multiple breaks due to some other commitments. Without expert - 89.6% Without diff and expert - 100% I have my exam in 10 days. Is this good enough? I would still be taking 2nd mock test and the plan is to majorly rely on SH questions and 3rd rock notes along with notes I created.

I’m a grade 12 student that wants to go to commerce York but I didn’t apply there. I only got into computer science York , and tmu commerce. Which would be the best plan?

So I’m 100% that kid from school that couldn’t sit still, and was out on meds like 3rd grade -10th till I just said I’m done with this. Made me feel terrible honestly. Anyway
Here’s my issue, I’m in my mid thirties and I have great job. However most of my 20s I didn’t have any issues with any of this. I was very well spoken, now i can’t think of a word that I need in what feels like almost every sentence and it’s unbearable. I will sit down to do a task, and a lot of times just incapable of seeing the full picture of what I’m doing. I ever in my 20s being incredible good at multi tasking and moving fast as hell. Now I feel just absolutely bogged down.
I don’t know if this is ADHD, I don’t know what it is. Anybody relate to this?