This one right here... https://www.reddit.com/martialarts/comments/1cm05tl/what_do_you_think_of_the_statement_bad_people_are/
It was fun so here's the long follow up. That bad advice that random older dudes kept giving me was the least worrying thing in those three hours of analyzing that church's security measures. I hit up a friend of mine that has a whole lot more security-specific training than I do just to see if I was overthinking things. Bro has taught me a lot, and I still try to make the trip once or twice a year to train with him. Between emails and a phone call I think I did a pretty good job of compiling our conversation. Most of the convo is also here but I'm not a shameless self-promoter on Tuesdays.
This isn't so much about martial arts or fighting or self-defense, but it probably is helpful and good discussion because a lot of you would hopefully give a crap about these same issues.
DC (Me): When I arrived I drove around the building and no one was posted at any of the 3 front entrances, at least not outside and visible. There was always someone at either of the 2 back entrances and the 1 north end entrance.
TF (The Friend): If someone is truly invested in safety they would have all doors covered, including the main entrance(s). Now maybe their thinking is the main entrance is where people come and go and it might be “uncomfortable” for visitors however we are talking about KEEPING PEOPLE ALIVE. To me that is worth the slight discomfort. And one way they could accomplish it without having to make it an uncomfortable experience is put “greeters” at the main entrance dressed in their Sunday best but they are actually part of the security response team. Those greeters need training in profiling, body language, situational awareness and of course the surface level expected things (firearm, hand to hand, situation specific training such as an active threat). Also does this place have security cameras? Security cameras need to monitor the entire property. And keep in mind people stake out places, plant things at places, etc during off hours. Cameras are a must. Want to make some money? Offer to install a system for them. I’ll help you.
DC: There was no mention to me of where first aid kits and AEDs are located in the building. I know where one AED is on the lower floor but it’s a 4-story building. Considering that I was outside the most heavily-traveled door, it would seem prudent for me to know where those are if I see someone get hit by a car or grab their chest and fall down.
TF: An emergency doesn’t always mean a violent situation. It could be someone suffering a heart attack, a child getting run over by a car driven by an 80 yr blind church goer or just a simple amputation of a finger because they are making sandwiches in the church kitchen. Every single floor needs to have multiple AEDs and COMPLETE first aid kits (that’s a whole class in itself – how to stock a first aid kit). I say multiples because you want quick easy access to one of those item no matter where you are at in the building. I don’t know how big the place is but even starting just by putting a complete first aid kit and AED at the N and S ends of the building is a good start along with training the congregation on CPR. You don’t need the piece of paper from a class, just get someone who knows how to come teach.
DC: Along the same line, no emergency action plans were provided. What to do if part of the building has to be evacuated for a fire or smoke? In case of severe weather or tornado threats what parts of the building should be evacuated and what are the safest areas to move people to until the danger passes? They might have these plans somewhere, but what’s the point if you don’t share them with the ones who would have to execute them.
TF: This is a mistake. There has to be an evacuation plan to remove as many people as possible from the building should something occur (fire, active threat, etc). If there are tornado shelters obviously that’s the safe spot for that specific situation. Many times the evacuation plan put in place can be used for multiple threats (active threat, fire, chemical spill, etc) because it’s about removing the people AWAY from the danger. And YES you are 1000% right those plans/routes need to be shared with EVERYONE in the congregation. When people do not know what to do or where to go there will be chaos, always. The people in charge might THINK they are going to be the go to person to provide guidance and manage the crowd but I will tell you when shit hits the fan no one is listening to them. People will be stepping on their own just to get out. With that being said, any evacuation plans that are created need to be drilled by the entire congregation. It could be done 10m before church for the next 6 Sundays to make sure EVERYONE knows the plan.
DC: It gets worse. There actually is no active shooter plan in place. Apparently some Lt. with the local police department will be doing an active shooter training in the future. I'll be in attendance with the lowest hopes in the room.
TF: This should be interesting and disappointing. My first question to him would be “What are your qualifications/experience to teach this? Have you experienced it first hand?”. Or is everyone looking at him because of his “label” which really means nothing other than that is his occupation that allows him to pay his electric bill. I have yet to see (other than myself) anyone put on a close to reality active shooter training session. Most people (law enforcement included) do powerpoint presentations. Unfortunately many “experts” teaching how to survive an active shooter situation think 4 hour Powerpoint presentations, statistics and cute acronyms are properly training people to survive one of the worst experiences a person could face. Powerpoint presentations do not save lives… ACTION saves lives! You know that though.
DC: Same with an active stabber, no plans there. Or at least no one could show me a plan.
TF: Same as the active shooter.
DC: Here's one you'll love. In the event of a person being violent, the directions I was given were to stay away, make a call over the radio, and let someone else come deal with it. They're also bringing in another security consultant (a former Navy SEAL, just like those three guys who all claim they killed bin Laden) to do de-escalation training at some point. I'm skipping that shit.
TF: I’ve always said if you can remove yourself from a situation that is the best way to increase your odds of staying alive. HOWEVER – there are some situations where immediate action is needed NOW! Especially if you are responsible for the safety of others the goal is to not only eliminate the threat but also minimize damage (limit the casualties). The other night we worked full blown knife attacks. I asked someone to demo with me. I slaughtered him with 20+ stabs/slashes in about 5 seconds and that was before he hit the ground and I mounted and continued. My point – the longer an event goes on the more damage innocents will experience. If you have time to go make a phone call then you have time to take effective action that works towards eliminating the threat and minimizing damage. Their suggestion to call someone else is so typical of people who have no concept of how violence really works (let someone else handle your problem…lol). No one cares for your life more than you do. It’s your responsibility. And regardless of what someone’s propaganda says about their label it still takes time to make a phone call, it takes time for someone to arrive and even when they arrive there is no guarantee they will even engage the threat. The overall goal for ALL VIOLENT ENCOUNTERS is to make the even AS SHORT AS POSSIBLE. The longer a violent event continues the odds of you leaving lessen and the odds increased causalities goes through the roof.
Poster's note: When he and I say we're going to train someone in knife attacks rather than knife defenses. The partner (the attacker) is going to be training on how to freaking stab you just as hard as you're training to resist being stabbed.. Rubber knife, protective gear and 100% stabbing vs 100% resistance, for advanced students, is a fun time. If you're wearing the pads you're going to get your ass kicked. He wasn't actually training his class how to go on stabbing sprees.
DC: This was one that’s not even related to fight skills or ability to engage a threat. There was not even a quick introductory rant on recognizing suspicious people or behavior. The more I talked to other volunteers the more I realized none of them had a clue.
TF: This is touched on in my answer to your first question. People who are determined to execute violent activity do not walk around with signs or flashing lights. It’s not always obvious like in the movies. They blend in and lay low until the moment to take action. These church people have no clue what they are doing. It’s all what I call “surface level thinking” meaning the basic stuff your average person who is inexperienced in the subject thinks of – “Get a police officer officer in our group to teach us something.” Teach you what? How to hand out traffic citations? “We have retired military this or that and retired law enforcement and a former rodeo clown who are packing heat during church.” Ok have they ever dealt with using their weapon when there is mass chaos and people screaming/running everywhere? Bullets only travel in a straight line and do not go around innocents if they are in the way. But just because someone has a firearm doesn’t mean they have the mindset to use it.
DC: You’ll love this one. 5 minutes before the church service let out we were told to call it quits for the day, before everyone in the building started filing out to the parking lot at one time.
TF: Do you mean the response team was training, etc and the church had you guys leave 5 minutes before the congregation got out? That ties exactly into my comment in question #1 about appearance/comfort level. Why hide it? Is there anyone in the church (or the world for that matter) that would disagree the world is getting more violent? Everyone knows it is… they’ve either experienced it or seen/heard news stories so why not put it out there that the church takes the safety and well being of their members SERIOUSLY? I have a saying I came up with once when I was talking to a place about active shooter training and they said it couldn’t be hands ons and they were hoping more for like a speaking engagement because their policy doesn’t allow physical contact. My response – “Until you put people before your policies, your people will continue to die.” And that’s just plain truth. Everyone is so worried about policy/comfort level they are putting that before the actual goal of saving people’s lives. If you are getting ready for a championship basketball game what should you do in practice? Play some damn basketball. Well if you are wanting to learn how to save your life/others in a violent situation what should you practice? VIOLENCE. Why would you do ANYTHING ELSE in practice than what you are preparing for? It’s not logical. I think the congregation would approve and love the idea that “their church cares”.
DC: On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the building’s security measures? Is it fucked, or am I crazy and overthinking it because I am oddly OCD about details sometimes?
TF: I would give them a grade of 2 (at best) out of 10. You are 1000% on point on everything. You have training. You understand violent situations but you’ve been trained by someone and a group that has experienced it and knows how violence REALLY unfolds. The people who are in charge with this “security” policy at your church have ZERO experience and ZERO training. Imagine this - would you want a surgeon who has no education in operation and no experience to attempt to perform a life saving surgery on you? A question I would ask them is - "How SERIOUS are you about saving lives?"

Hi all, I’m F19 and looking for advice on the best way to teach students treading. After teaching private swim lessons for three years, I feel like I am unfortunately lacking in this area.
At my previous swim school, we just told students to move their hands back and forth in the water and “stomp their feet” up and down. However, I know that the “alternating breaststroke kick” as a treading method is way more efficient. However, does that mean I need to teach my students the breaststroke kick before they even start learning say backstroke, in order to help them progress with treading?
I am curious: what type of treading do you teach? Are there any tips or tricks for teaching treading? Any advice is appreciated

Knock on wood, so far this year, I haven't heard a single Skibbity Toilet or Alpha Male nonsense. Today, I had one of my less focused students start blurting out, "What the Sigma? What the Sigma? What. The. Sigma?" You know the behavior. Say something you heard on TikTok and then look to see who responds. Say it again, doing your absolute personal best to get attention. More effort than you've ever given a single assignment or locating a pencil of any functionality.
A couple of kids chuckle and look to me for a response, so I ask the kid, "What does that mean?" This, of course, is his cue to repeat it two more times.
I ask him again, what does the Greek letter Sigma mean to you in this context. Again, "What the Sigma?" as if he's owning the room.
Naturally, I Google that crap, to the utter astonishment of all the dingbats. Perhaps they believe I've never heard of the Interwebs.
According to all of the reliable sources (I found them on the Internet, so they must be correct), a Sigma is equal to an Alpha, but living away from the pack. I shared this with the class and then clarified with my student, "So, you're a Sigma, on par with the Alpha, right?"
"Ummmmm..."
"If you're the Sigma, you're basically a pack leader, like an Alpha, right? You're the boss. Everybody follows you. You are the best at everything and everybody knows it."
"Ummmmmmm...." A couple of "Ooooohs" from the peanut gallery tell me that the burn has landed. My A kids are having a nice chuckle at the moment.
"Now, dear children, let's all appreciate this moment of irony." At this point, I resumed my normal teaching activities, but a bit more dramatically than usual. We're in a wood shop, so most of this is monitoring traffic, giving safety reminders and generally saying things like, "Next you're going to the table saw," or, "Before you jump into that could you pick up those three things." We have a well-oiled machine and kids were quick to respond to my requests and move on with whatever they were doing.
The irony was entirely lost on my poor Sigma, but everybody else in the room understood that the hierarchy had been quietly affirmed.

On another Korean subreddit:

• Parent Accusing Me of Sexual Misconduct
• School is asking me to hide from the parents and come to work in private

If you have your blackbelt in Hagwon Ju Jitsu, the first thing (and this is what I DM'd the user) is to be highly suspicious of the take-down move going for the legs of "A parent / student said" maneuver. In search bar: Hagwon: Phantom Complaints. How to Fight Back
My clairvoyant comment 4 years ago:

If they need to get you out in a hurry, expect the scare tactic, "You molested a kid! Quick! Run to the airport and leave us all your money before we call the police!" -Hmmm, funny the PARENTS didn't call the police instead of the money-grubbing Hagwon owner.

The first 🚩 red flag 🚩 is, most places on earth would not have the staff contact you about a serious misdeed. The first time you heard about it would be a knock on your door from the police, and be told not to return to work until the situation has been resolved. This is because you are a flight risk and informing you of a crime would be the stupidest thing they could do. A Hagwonite mulling over whether to have the police involved is a clear sign it's made up. If an accusation is serious enough to be made by anyone, then there would be an official complaint made to the authorities. They would quickly take it from there, no one would tip you off the wheels were in motion.

Also, I was told to move out of my apartment to make way for a new teacher, I am constantly being micromanaged, surveilled, and pulled into arguments, and now I'm receiving messages that a parent is accusing me of sexual misconduct.*

🚩 Red flag #2 is that the relationship has been increasingly threatening, abusive, hostile etc. The foreigner hasn't taken the hint that they are not wanted and should pack up and head out, Midnight Run it. The Achilles heel of Hagwonites is to push the shame on to the target. They QUIT, couldn't handle it, were failures, left us high & dry without notice, broke the contract, have to stack classes on the other teachers, everyone is a victim because of their selfish actions! They don't want to fire people except as a last resort due to labor laws and looking like they abused a person that didn't do anything wrong. Search bar: Resign, or I will harass you until you do!

First, it was all the arguments, one of which included the director screaming at me and almost crying on the phone at 8 pm while driving because I taught the students to spell "Cabbage" instead of "Lettuce".

--Never underestimate the depths a Hagwonite will stoop, to make a mountain out of a molehill. They are not very smart to begin with, so they find the smallest turn-signal violation and exaggerate it into a 1st degree felony. That's happened to me, and I simply responded, "Yeah, so what?" I didn't allow them to drag me in to apologizing, groveling, get into the weeds about literally nothing, or any of that, the argument for the next 10 minutes was whether it was important or not, and if the subject was befitting someone in a management position who should be able to discern things that need attention and things that can be ignored. The intent is to harass and they won't leave until they have exhausted all of their energy and are happy with the victim's response to it. I concluded by saying it was not important and I'm not changing anything. They can teach the class themselves if they think they can go the entire day without making a single error.
🚩 Red flag #3, ridiculous reasons and excuses, -no evidence.

I eventually received a call from the director telling that one of the parents believes that her daughter saw my private area in the bathroom (I am a male teacher and this accusation or anything close to it never occurred)

1. Oh yeah? Which parent? What's the student's name, which classroom of mine is she in, what time did this occur, and why would she be in the men's bathroom? Let me see the CCTV footage?
2. It's so weak, it's obviously made up. The foreigner would certainly have seen a student of the opposite gender in his bathroom and told them to leave and would not have unzipped anything if that happened.
3. What is a student doing entering or peeping into the men's rest room in the first place? That sounds like student misconduct to me. Why isn't the parent being told to correct their child's behavior and none of this would be an issue?
4. It's not illegal to pull your junk out in the rest room and try to relieve yourself, that's what it's for, it's not the hallway or classroom.

In the follow-up: School is asking me to hide from the parents and come to work in private
is by-the-numbers attempt to continue to harass, but the director doesn't know what to do after a lawyer was called. So first it was a "major" problem of exposing himself to a student, then when a lawyer contacts the school, that was an even bigger error by the employee. Wow, no one can ever do anything right in that place.

Fast forward, the attorney contacted the school, the school says no police were coming to talk to me, but instead, the school talked to the police already on my behalf and I will not be talking to police, so I shouldn't worry.

--NONE OF THIS HAPPENED! Ask the attorney to call the precinct and ask for a copy of the POLICE REPORT. They have to fill out any interaction with the public so it's not all from memory, even if no action is taken. The next officer that fields a call about it, can pull up the report and get a summary of events, dates, names etc.
Yeah, "don't worry" I talk to the police about your felony charge, fine, deportation, and de-escalated the situation for you, you're welcome!

AND IT JUST GETS STUPIDER

Now, my school is asking me to no longer come to work at 9 am and greet the parents, but instead, come to work 30 minutes earlier, hide from the parents, not teach kindergarten anymore, and sit behind a computer on a different floor, alone, doing random administrative tasks.

--A blackbelt would NEVER come in to work 30 minutes earlier without pay. They would absolutely make their presence known to the parents and children so that the lies they were told, would visually be false. They are trying to hide the employee until they quit or get fired, or may have already told everyone a lie that they ran off w/o notice, because that's what they were expecting from the false sexual exposure claim.
Why cooperate? Come down from 2nd floor, walk around, enter the classroom, say hi to everyone when they show and leave.
Why would the other 4 foreigners cooperate? This is a serious accusation, they should all refuse work until the director is made to apologize and reinstate the teacher.
They are apparently bleeding student numbers, are in way over their heads, barely a year old, are over-staffed now, and need to shed labor costs. A foreigner strike would be the nail in the coffin. They would have to reverse themselves, or face foreclosure in about a week after parents yank their kids not having a NET teaching them.
A golden opportunity to bring them to their knees will undoubtedly be totally wasted. It's like the entire defense fell down, and the person with the ball is not sure whether they should go for a lay-up or not.....ridiculous.

I've spent this year subbing after last year finishing my degree, subbing, and student teaching. Which means I've had two years of keeping an eye on teacher jobs being posted, and I cannot discern any trend of there being a shortage in any field or at any grade level. Job postings, yes, but they are getting filled quickly, I don't see how that equals a shortage.
There is little chance that I am going to move to a big city I've never lived in, don't know anyone, and can't really afford to take a first year teaching job that I can just get non-renewed at when the school year ends.
I was talking to a guy working at my school (as a para) who just finished the same Masters program as I did in the same subject and I said "guess we are competing for jobs, then" jokingly. He just said it wouldn't matter because he wasn't even planning on applying for jobs within this state. Because there weren't any.
I got into teaching because I thought I'd be great teaching English at a community college, but I get ghosted by every community college I've applied to.
People have told me, over and over, that in education it is about who you know if you are going to get a good job. That or you need to apply everywhere and just uproot your life completely for a job in a city with rents you won't be able to afford. Add to that you may not have a job after a year, even if you do a great job due to school districts using non-renewals as an excuse to keep labor prices down by continually hiring first year teachers. People have told me, over and over, that I might have also overqualified myself and that is why I am not getting a job. Never had a classroom, but got a masters in teaching because it included a teacher prep program and was roughly the same amount of work/cost as any other teacher prep program. But people with masters get paid more (in most school districts this is part of union contracts), and I have zero experience with having my own classroom (because, yeah, no one hired me yet) so I am slightly more expensive but potentially as qualified as someone right out of college.
I get it. In a tight market this makes total sense. But there is a teacher shortage, everyone so everyone needs to step up. I stepped up. I don't want to have to take a job thousands of miles away from where I live. I don't want to move to take a job that has a half-life of one year. I don't want to move to take a job that is going to make it difficult for me to afford housing anywhere near that job.
There is not a teacher shortage. There is a budget crisis in public education. There is not a shortage of people willing to work, there is a shortage of people willing to pay teachers a salary they can live on and give them any sense of personal or professional stability.

I feel like it’s that time of year where stuff is getting sent in constantly (extra clothes, sun hats, sunscreen, etc.) I teach an integrated Pre-K classroom and we’ve worked a lot on being responsible for your own belongings but these parents get so upset when one thing doesn’t get sent home one time during the week. We try so hard to make sure things are accounted for, put away and sent home but we still can’t be responsible for every single item each child brings into school! Am I being unreasonable to expect my students are able to put their sweatshirt in their cubby and carry it to pick up? Especially now as we are preparing for Kindergarten and making sure everybody packs their own bag at the end of the day. Of course the adults in the room do their best to make sure if things were missed, they’re packed but we are overall encouraging them to be responsible!
I’ve had one parent already this week be absolutely rude to us and then give us the cold shoulder because her daughter didn’t come home with her sweatshirt. She was ranting about how “this always happens to her daughter” (her water bottle was misplaced in September during the afterschool program). One of my other students found it in the play kitchen this afternoon stuffed among the baby clothes. This was after we looked in other classrooms, the gym, the playground and even asked some parents if it went home with them. I’ve had other parents accuse us of losing their kids things and then message us on Seesaw saying “oops it was in the back of grandma’s car”. I’m not a parent so maybe I’m being too harsh and I understand that it is frustrating for your child’s stuff to be missing or not sent home, but I feel like there is also an opportunity to teach your child about being responsible for their own things, we do that all day in the classroom. Or, maybe don’t send your child to Pre-K with a yeti water bottle or brand name sweatshirt if you’re so concerned about them misplacing it or leaving it at school! It just can be really frustrating to have parents blaming us for these things constantly when there is already so much stuff happening and we have to drop everything and go on a massive search for a water bottle or sweatshirt. Does this happen to anybody else? How do you handle the attitude from parents??

Hi everyone! I’m transitioning from an elementary English-only teacher to a classroom/homeroom teacher teaching english, math. and science. I want to spend my summer preparing myself as I’ve never taught those subjects before and want to make sure I’m familiar with the best strategies, as well as familiarize myself with the topics to be taught in general (gr1-gr3 common core curriculum topics) Are there any online courses (paid or unpaid) you can recommend for this purpose? I really want to bridge any gap there could be between myself and my new colleagues who’ve done this for years. And I want to give my students the absolute best I can. Thank you in advance! ❤️

I teach face-to-face classes that are meant to be 100% conversation based. Maximum 4 students at one time. Teens and adults. Just speaking obviously gets boring for some, so I look for ways to spice things up. Examples: Jenga where every piece has a number written on the side. Take a piece, you have to ask or answer a question with the corresponding number from a list. Rolling 2 dice to determine which question, item etc in a 6x6 grid. Playing cards: everyone draws a random card, highest number asks a question (or does some action), and the suite determines which of 4 categories that question comes from. Board games: ISLcollective has tonnes of these. Everyone gets a counte piece and tries to progress around the board by rolling dice, but each square has a question, word, grammar item etc. Obviously all of these could be adapted to not just questions but individual items of vocabulary, grammar, challenges etc. Just looking for similar ideas, a simple format that you can use to gamify pretty much any topic. Thanks, peace and love.

Need help figuring out a career
Hi everyone. I graduated with my bachelors in biology in 2023 I’m currently 22 years old, almost 23, and been out of school for the last year while trying to figure out my life post graduation. I originally went to school in the hopes of becoming a doctor and going to medical school, then switched to pre-PA from a combination of the intimidation of debt/4 years of more school and years of residency. But while getting my patient care experience after graduation (required to apply to PA school) I realized I hated the office setting and patient interaction. I’ve since been working in retail while trying to figure out life.
Recently I interviewed for a 1 year MRI tech program (because I don’t have to deal with patients as much and my interests in physics and imaging) and got accepted to start next fall. However I did have to register at my local community college this summer for some pre-requesite classes which start in a week. Today I was going through some of the things I need before starting the course and the same uncertainty I felt with going to medical school my senior year have started to set in now that I have to come to terms with reality again and deal with this. Looking over all the course material and syllabus was daunting and made me realize maybe I wasn’t as ready as I thought in making this decision — I still don’t even think I actually wanted to do the MRI program at all I just felt forced to do something with the degree I felt I wasted 4 years getting. But I have no motivation or interest to start these summer courses (similar to how I felt I had the potential to excel in med school but just lacked the motivation and true passion that would’ve made it a long 4 years) and I feel it’s a warning sign rather than what some may think is me being scared of a challenge (I’m definitely not I was in honors in college and graduated with a 3.96 GPA highest in my program). I also just had 2 more surgeries (for a total of 7 in my lifetime) and each has done the opposite for me opposed to others — instead of enforcing interest in medicine I’ve become so agitated by it.
At this point I don’t know if I should continue with the program and summer courses and see how i feel as it goes or back out now and take more time to figure out my life. I’m definitely an over thinker but if I can get the few grand I already paid in tuition back for a full refund it may be worth it to take the extra time to decide. Only reason I’m hesitant about it is I actually have been finding a real interest lately in going to pharmacy school where I would need these pre requisites also, but again I’m intimidated by that kind of toxic culture where students are overworked and abused and I’m burnt out of the idea having to study 12 hours a day (obviously the only careers I seem to have considered are science/healthcare because all I was good at in school and had some interest in was science and maybe that’s my problem trying to force my hand into a “respectable career” — also yes I have considered research and it’s not for me I didn’t enjoy the research process in college during my honors thesis).
All I know is I have the capability to succeed in anything I do it’s just figuring out what that is for me. All that matters to me at the end of the day is I would like to have a good work life balance and make a decent amount of money but not to live luxuries more because I’m very much a family man and would like to support my own one day to have a comfortable life and go on vacations and stuff I never was able to as a kid. I’m a bit of an introvert but can also be very social, but I don’t enjoy dealing with complex personalities that I’ve learned in my patient care and retail experiences so something like management and HR wouldn’t work for me. Another thing I’ve been thinking is even if I might enjoy something like accounting if I don’t want to go to 4 years more of med school I probably don’t want to spend 4 more years pursuing another bachelors and MBA… I’m not a very creative person either so I don’t think something like engineering architecture of entrepreneurship would benefit me. Something I was once considering bc it was suggested to me was becoming a chef but 1) even though I enjoy cooking I enjoy like making dinner for myself I don’t think I would enjoy the professional kitchen environment and 2) my cousin went to culinary school and basically for the same reasons ended up doing nothing with it and now has some social services government pension job. Speaking of pension jobs I considered teaching and police which is the career of choice for my aunts and uncles, but I couldn’t personally handle teaching because of the kids crazy parents and restricting curriculums and i can’t be a cop where I live because I’m colorblind and honestly think I wouldn’t be taken seriously as one. One thing I would’ve loved to do is commercial real estate I’ve talked about it a lot as a possibility one day with my best friend but the problem is I have no idea on getting started with that without needing the capital.
I know this is very long but thank you for reading all this and any help would be greatly appreciated. I’m physically exhausted and drained from feeling confused and a loser for having no direction.

Hello! I teach guitar, bass, and drum lessons for a living. I have a nice guitar rig and a nice drum kit, but until now I've only ever played bass for teaching lessons and for my own demo recordings (for which I plug directly into my audio interface). I've been teaching at a small school that has a little portable PA that my students and I plug into but soon I'll be teaching exclusively out of my home. I'm looking for a bass amp that checks the following boxes

1. Two inputs - one for me and one for my students
2. Loud enough to play with a pretty quiet drummer
3. Can be found used for under $300

Requirement #1 seems to be the most limiting. I wonder if the best option be an all-in-one PA situation? Something like this?
Thanks in advance!

Hi, I am a student assistant right now, interning at an oral surgery office. I understand that I am not a dentist and don’t have the knowledge or qualifications to really assess this but I guess I’m just getting a bad feeling…
One of the dentists in the office always uses sevoflurane and places a laryngeal mask airway device for general anesthesia. An assistant said he uses it for ALL wisdom teeth extractions. So far, I haven’t seen any other doctors use a LMA, they always use IV sedation w/ medications (versed, propofol, sometimes ketamine, decadron, etc).
From what I’ve seen, it seems maybe riskier than other GA methods? Today, 2 pts O2 saturation dropped quite low (around 60%) from issues w the LMAs. The assistants told me that we have to be very diligent about getting any blood & saliva from the throat during LMA removal or it can cause a laryngospasm. it’s hard to wake them up after and most of the time they tense up a lot and it’s difficult to restrain them to keep them from hurting us or themselves.
We had a consult today for a teenage girl to get a single wisdom tooth extracted (complete bony impaction), and he said GA w/ LMA. It made me nervous.
Is it overkill to use LMAs so much? Or am I just overreacting? I just don’t understand why he always chooses that method.

Hey all,
I'm rolling out some numeracy initiatives in my school and looking for some shock value in the presentation to get relevance and buy in.
I'm seeking anonymous stories of numeracy 'face palms' that you've encountered when teaching kids in a variety of KLAs (preferably high school) Stories that highlight the significance numeracy has and why we need to ensure its everyones responsibility, not just the maths faculty.
Things like students asking for a bigger ruler, because the one they have only goes to 30cm and they're measuring something larger. Moments where you've thought, oh wow, they are serious.
This is not an exercise in shaming, more one that shocks snd highlights the need.
Looking forward to hearing some.

Alright, this might be a long one due to my current emotional state. I found out today I’m being non renewed. I’m a first year English teacher. My boss explained it’s due to budget cuts, and she was having to let multiple people go. She gave me the option of resigning or letting my contract run out. She told me it might look better if I resign, since I’m a first year teacher. What do ya’ll think would be the best? I’m just worried about finances here. I hear some teachers can apply for unemployment, but that might vary state to state.
This year has been crazy. I have struggled with whether teaching is for me or not. I don’t know how to feel about this. This year has been tough because I was figuring out my teaching style and how to do things. I feel like if I was given a second chance here, I really could have done it. Now, I don’t know whether to apply for other teaching jobs or take this as a blessing in disguise and run.
My boss said they would write me a letter of recommendation and that my observation scores are all average or where they expect a first year teacher to be. They also mentioned that they think I would be better suited for the high school level than middle school based on the way I teach. I’m not sure how to take that statement.
All I know is that I have to survive a field trip tomorrow and a ceremony afterwards. I have to pretend to be okay because it’s not fair to the students. All I want to do is lick my wounds, but I owe it to the kids I’ve worked with all year to be there.

Hello! I am an Agricultural and Biosystems engineer. I started working as a senior high school teacher at DEPED on May 2 in a nearby school in our town. And I can say na mahirap pala, mahirap in a way na di mo alam ang gagawin mo, di mo alam ano dapat need na ipasa na papers and requirements, no direct instructions kung saan ka magkuha ng mga e lesson mo sa students. Like pagkadeploy ko, nagturo agad. I don't have any experience in teaching, I dunno how to make lesson plans and aside from teaching since alam ng principal salary grade mo bibigyan ka pa ng mga auxiliary work na which is 10 times more sa role mo as a Special Science Teacher I. They would also tend to scrutinize you since I'm just a fresh grad and yan na agad daw salary. May isa pa na teacher nagsabi "Ang swerte mo no, yung iba jan kahit 10 years na sa DEPED di parin makuha kuha ganyan na salary grade" so they will tend to give you a lot of work since ikaw may mas mataas na sahod. I'm just sharing this experience of mine and I hope siguro hindi lang ako ang naka experience ng ganito. Gusto ko lang talaga mag rant guys!!! Huhuhu kasi 1 week pa lang ako dito na school pero gusto ko na umalis. Nevertheless, I'm still grateful na may job ako and ganito salary natin however yung mental health naman natin yung maapektuhan.

I’m specifically looking for boards that show jobs I can get outside the US or contract/freelancing positions.
I currently work in data analysis and sustainability. I have previous technical and content writing experience. I also used to teach ESL part time irl. I know R, SQL, GIS and started learning Power BI. I’ve been having a hard time finding remote work that doesn’t require me to have a US Visa. Thanks for any advice in advance!

Hello! My name is Anikka and I am a first-year undergraduate student in the U.S. pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Psychology.
I would like to ask for your help in a research survey I am conducting in collaboration with a university in Australia called Monash University. This survey is only open to college/university students in the United States. Estimated time to complete is 5-10 minutes, with no open-ended questions. If you would like me to complete a survey of yours in return, link it and I will make sure to complete it.
https://monash.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_afzHBD0FjXVj5Pg
We are studying how different factors of one’s identity and education contribute to how they deal with their finances. This study will be used in helping places that have higher poverty rates identify and implement the necessary laws/education needed to foster an understanding of financial literacy in people. It is difficult to change one’s economic situation, but it is beneficial to teach people how to work with what they have. Thank you very much for your time!

I’ve been typed in MBTI but as a multitude of different types, and only once by Socionicists before (is that a word?), but was in a very unhealthy mental place then and I’m not sure it was accurate. I've filled out the questionnaire and tried to be thorough, although I think it comes across as rather muddled in some points, so I'm happy to clarify any bits. Thanks in advance for any help or input!
What do you study or do for a living? How did you come to do that? What do you like or dislike about it?

• I study medieval languages and literature and folklore at a PhD level. I came into this somewhat accidentally - I’ve always been interested in history (not solely medieval), but began to specialise a bit more and found I had a knack for picking up several dead languages quite quickly. I always say I came to it by accident, but that sort of downplays how much I love it, and how I’ve been obsessed with history since I was a child.
• I love getting perspectives from the past and thinking about different belief systems, how perspectives on the world have changed diachronically and vary geographically. I want to understand the people of the past, sort of as an example of innate archetypical humanity in incredibly varied contexts. Reading these texts helps me understand people I know, myself, and humanity as a whole better. I also love how varied my day can be - I go to new places each year, I work on different projects each month, and I solve different problems each day.
• I dislike some of the instability surrounding future jobs - although I’m in one of the best departments in the world for this topic, it can be very difficult to get a job post-PhD in academia, something that remains a worry despite not being an imminent problem to solve.

What else do you do on a daily basis? What are your interests and hobbies? Why do you do them?

• I work a lot and my partner says I don’t know how to relax. So a lot of my “hobbies” are doing things like learning extra languages (I recently started German), specifically languages that will be useful for my future studies/work.
• I work out pretty consistently, a mix of strength-training and cardio. I try to keep it even (although I read somewhere that a 60/40 split is optimal, 50/50 is close enough). I do this for a mix of health benefits, stress-relief (possibly could be considered a health benefit) and vanity. I will drop workouts when work becomes too busy though (it’s not priority number one)
• I like rock-climbing and hiking when I can, but I don’t do this daily.
• I plan future travels and work, and I also really like organising social events, but most of that is centred around organising and helping run departmental events at the moment. Despite this, I can be a bit of a shut-in on a day-to-day basis.
• I also play video games as stress relief, if I’ve completed enough stuff in the day. Games like Skyrim, Ghost of Tsushima, etc.
• I also spend a lot of time on reddit reading about various topics related to fantasy novels or videogames, mythology, psychology and psychiatry, various personality-typing systems, true crime (although less into this one than the others) also watch youtube videos about such things.

What are your values, and why?

• I value determination, grit, and intelligence in friends quite a bit, and a sort of “can-do” optimism
• I value inclusivity, I dislike cliquish behaviour.
• I sort of don’t know how to describe this, but I find it annoying when people try to interfere in my work to suit their agenda - I value a sort of friendly “live and let live” mentality.
• Following on that, I value approaching people with an understanding rather than judgmental mindset

Describe your relationships with family and friends. What do you like and dislike about them?

• I am not super hands on with my family - I live on the other side of the world from them - but I do like them, and keep connected electronically and through weekly or fortnightly Skype calls. I sometimes feel that they don’t really understand my interests, but they do care and try to pay attention regardless, and I know they see me as somewhat distant, but they see that as a personality quirk rather than indicative of lack of affection.
• I don’t have a super large friend group at the moment but have in the past. I’m focussing on quality over quantity at the moment, after spending a lot of time working in nightlife earlier in my life and having the massive social circles.
• I appreciate that my friends are intelligent, passionate, well-travelled and ambitious people.
• I struggle sometimes when friends don’t take me into account when I have done so for them, and I also sometimes find people a bit too caught up in their own worldviews and concerns without seeing what (to me) is the bigger community picture. I also really dislike when people try to apply moral pressure on me (that I have to care about a cause or I’m a bad person, etc.). I also find it frustrating when I’m the sole organiser of events or meet-ups.

What do you look for in friends? In romantic relationships?

• This was somewhat answered above, but I also enjoy outgoing and warm people, and people who I think I can rely upon. I try to take people as they come, though, and have had all sorts of friends.
• In romantic relationships, I like when people are ambitious, determined, and intelligent but also kind and passionate people. I like them to have a level of overlapping interests with me (my partner is also a medieval scholar, but works more with artefacts and museum work).

What conflicts have you encountered recently with other people? Why did they happen? Which kinds seem to happen on a regular basis?

• I can be accidentally rude at times without realising, and also can be a bit dismissive of views I think are dumb, sometimes hastily so.
• I can over-explain or simply talk too much or over-theorise
• I can be a bit of a people-pleaser
• A recent conflict was my trying to organise a departmental event and the other graduate students not contributing or seeing the larger picture of how that would help our department as a community, which I got very frustrated by.

What are your strengths? What do people like about you? What do you like about yourself?

• I work really hard
• I try to create opportunities not just for myself but for those around me. I think we (not the whole world, obviously, but those around me) can all succeed.
• I am thorough in everything and don’t really half-ass stuff.
• I am pretty friendly and always up for a chat or to be a shoulder to cry on, and am pretty nonjudgmental (one friend says I always try to attribute other’s actions to a positive motive)

What are your weaknesses? What criticism do you often face from others? What do you dislike about yourself?

• I can be impatient and don’t know how to relax/wait for things.
• Sometimes I can come across as weird or intense, and I wish I was better at toning that down and relating to people
• I get pretty insecure about what people think of me at times, and wish I was a little better or more confident there.
• I take on too much work - I have been called an “arbeidsoptimist” before
• Sometimes I can be overly conflict-avoidant - I’ll get frustrated by people, but try to work around that.
• I can be a bit hesitant about making decisions
• I have a moderately murky sense of self - hence the need for a typing questionnaire and struggles with self-typing
• When stressed, I catastrophise a lot, and can have quite a lot of anxiety about not living up to my potential or failing at the things I am working on.

In what areas of life can you manage well on your own? In what areas of your life would you like help?

• I am good at keeping myself on task and working towards goals, I don’t really struggle with motivation or such.
• I’m pretty good at building connections and friendships with professors and other people and maintaining a sort of warm, friendly atmosphere in workplaces.
• I need help at times figuring which information is important and which can be left out. My work tends to spiral outwards and things like page-counts in papers or time-limits in presentations seem horrendously oppressive.
• I need help with taxes.
• I sometimes need help figuring out why I’m upset about things.
• I would like help figuring out my socionics type ;)

What things do you dislike doing? What things do you enjoy more than others?

• I dislike cooking (it just doesn’t interest me, although I enjoy tasting different kinds of food, I am also happy eating the same thing everyday, which I do when I live on my own).
• I dislike things like taxes.
• I am struggling with this question. I guess I dislike when I cannot plan and have to wait and see about more information (not strictly a “dislike doing” answer). Unresolved problems or conflicts give me a lot of anxiety.
• I enjoy going to museums, climbing, exercise (while listening to a podcast about an interest, preferably in another language), analysing medieval literature, planning initiatives, theorising and brainstorming with professors and some friends.

What goals, aspirations, or plans do you have for the future, and why?

• I want to publish more articles in and outside of my field. I have a couple I’m working on now, which range from 19th century literature (recently accepted as a journal article!) to niche folklore topics (recently presented at a conference) to medieval travel literature (readying for publication), so that is my immediate term, along with some travel for language-study later in the summer.
• Long term, I want to finish my PhD and become a professor in my field at a research-heavy (R1 or the equivalent) university
• I hope to master more languages (I need working competency in 5 to even pass my PhD qualifying exams), and to do so, I plan to travel (and acquire funding for that).
• I also want to be a little closer to my family, and take care of my partner and eventually marry.

What kinds of things do you do to manage and/or beautify your environment (your room, your house, etc.)?

• I have a lot of trinkets, artifacts, candles, and pieces of artwork up in my room. They are pretty varied, from statues (a bronze buddha from Sri Lanka, a basalt Horus from Egypt, and so forth) to artwork (Dante’s inferno by Botticelli, a Dali painting is up too at the moment), to some tibetan prayer flags, etc. Basically just stuff I’ve gotten from travels or as gifts.
• I’m pretty clean, in all honesty. I don’t mind clutter, but I don’t like when things are dirty.

If you won the lottery and didn't have to work anymore, what would you do?

• Exactly what I am doing, but I’d have a nicer place to live and worry a little less. I acquire external funding for a lot of my travels, etc., so that stuff wouldn’t really change.

What traits do you find endearing that others might dislike? What traits are considered positive/neutral by others but tend to annoy you?

• I find it somewhat endearing when people talk a lot about their own interests. I can usually relate it to things I am interested in without needing them to do that for me, and I also usually just find those things interesting.
• I find it endearing when
• I sometimes find it difficult when people leave all decision-making up to me, even if they’re trying to be flexible/easy. I can make the decisions, but don’t always like to.

How do you behave around strangers?

• I am very polite, but don’t really engage with strangers that often. I can be a bit shy, and used to have a decent amount of social anxiety, but lately I’m just not interested in interacting with strangers.

How do you react to conflict? What do you do if somebody insults or attacks you?

• Conflict really causes me a lot of anxiety if it’s with someone I know or have to see in the future. In those instances, I usually just don’t end up in conflict with them: I’m pretty friendly and try to see people’s perspectives.
• If not, and it’s with a stranger, I kind of just ignore them.

Would you ever be interested in starting a business? Why or why not? What role would you play in it? What kind of business would it be?

• Not sure. I kind of prefer doing what I’m doing now - the research and teaching aspects. I don’t really know what sort of value I’d be adding to the world with a business, but I suppose if I could find something that was both interesting for me and seemed to fill a needed niche, sure.
• I like the business Facsimile finder, they make medieval manuscript reproductions. Perhaps something like that, or creating a sort of community centre/third place (I used to think about owning a pub, back in my bartending days).

How do you dress or manage your appearance?

• I keep things pretty simple, and try to stick to classic clothes (rather than trendy). Timeless and simple, more or less. That being said, I enjoy colours, and try to model my wardrobe a bit off of an autumnal palate (I got really into colour season theory a couple of months ago briefly, and was “typing” all of my friends and myself, now I just use it when thrifting for new clothes).
• I pretty much exclusively get clothes either as gifts or through thrift stores. I sort of really dislike shopping otherwise.
• I take care of myself physically, and keep a simple but effective skincare routine and eat moderately healthy. It stresses me out when things like skincare have too many steps, though.

Do you like kids? Why or why not?

• Yeah, I think kids are nice. I appreciate how much potential they have and how good-hearted and imaginative they usually are. That being said, I don’t always find them particularly interesting, so I guess more of a generally benevolent ambivalence from my end.

In what situations or times in your life did you feel most fulfilled, and why?

• I’m pretty fulfilled right now, in all honesty. I have work that challenges me but is super interesting and allows (and pays) for lots of travel, I have a loving partner, I have a relatively secure future for the remainder of my PhD programme (minimum four more years).
• I do wish I had a better social circle right now though, but I honestly haven’t put enough effort in to build one (I have two social circles but we’re all busy/inconsistent).

Currently I’m between Cal and a lesser renound private school in NYC. My parents completely support Cal and are willing to figure out paying OOS there and I know it should be an easy choice, but for some reason it’s not. When I was originally applying to schools, I wanted a big campus and Greek life and fun game days and lots of weird niche courses taught by people who know everything about what they’re teaching and that is Cal. But I found out about my acceptance late, and had already fallen in love with my smaller private school where it’s easy to get to know people and clubs aren’t 5 round processes and I can walk down the street to one of the best cities in the world.
My mom gave me til today to pick a school and I’ve pretty much spent the day watching videos and reading about Cal to convince myself that, for my future, this is where I should go. The problem is I get the sense that everyone there has all this drive and was at the top of their class and that’s not who I am. I don’t like stress, I partied a decent amount in high school and was excited for a big school because of party culture, and I can’t help but feel like going there would put me at the bottom of the ranks in a big pond. And on top of that a class with 400 students in it sounds like hell. I want to go to law school so I’m prepared to work my ass off in undergrad to get to a t14 but I’m afraid my best there simply won’t be enough to stand out.
On top of all that, I’m a black girl and when I toured Cal I saw a total of 6 black people and that’s because they were taking grad photos. I looked up the stats and less than 1% of the black population are NARPs. It’s a predominantly Asian school and coming from a high school with similar demographics, I know it won’t be easy for me to make connections.
And all that, at the end of the day it’s still Berkeley and who in there right mind turns down Berkeley. It’s by far the best school I got into. I wish someone could knock some sense into me and tell me to lock in.

Hello! I am excited I found this community. I plan to start a masters degree for school counseling this fall, but I am still unclear on if I am going to be screwed over in the end because I have never been a teacher?
My bachelors degree and background is not in education or any type of psychology, but I do meet the requirements for the masters program I am applying for. I have seen over and over again that teaching experience is not required, but I have also seen things like “this program might not lead to licensure in your state.” What does that mean? Is that a generic statement sent to all online students just to cover themselves? The school I am applying to is in the state (and city) I live in, and I’m confused why they would offer a masters is school counseling if I wouldn’t be able to be licensed after completing the degree. Even the recruiter seemed slightly unsure by the wording, but still assured me that everything would be fine.
Can anyone who has taken this path without prior teaching experience give me a rundown of how this will work? Certifications that will be necessary? Etc? Thanks in advance! And I’m excited to (hopefully 🤞🏻) be a part of this community!

I teach AP Psychology with classes mixed with juniors and seniors. I usually only have about 2 weeks between AP exams and finals grades being due for seniors- which means it's pointless to do anything too big with my juniorssince half the class will be gone and I can't have individual assignments in our gradebook.
So I do sort of mini "media literacy" with students around this time of year since I recognized years ago students can't really critically approach movies and TV shows- it's a very passive experience for them and I was shocked how really basic things went clean over their heads. I figured psychology is a popular topic, especially in films and TV, so I'd like them to be able to have a decent idea of accurate vs. inaccurate programs of disorders in film- especially since most will never take a psychology course again.
Anyway, I "screened the film" A Beautiful Mind for the 3rd time this year for 7 years now and my wife was asking how I never get sick of these movies or how I still can get chocked up at certain scenea and I know I'm not the only one to watch the first half a movie t times on Monday, only to finish it 5 times on a Wednesday. 😂
So what movies do you all show every year and still get caught up in?
P.S. this is for a psychology course where we learn about schizophrenia for an entire lesson- watch a real life interview where a guy with scholophrenia describes in detail psychosis events AND I tell them flat out A Beautiful Mind is a true story about schizophrenia. I STILL have to pause the movie when the "plot twist" is revealed because so many of them are shocked 😂

Basically what the title says. I’ve had 3 interviews where I’ve came in 2nd. Post-grad first year teacher. Just finished student teaching. Have my Masters in PE, bachelors in Computer Science. Have been subbing for the past two years of college and coached baseball this past spring season. When reaching back out for feedback I’m just told “it was really close and you did an amazing job, we loved watching you teach, but we had to pick between two and went with the other candidate”
Any tips on what I may be falling short on?

Introduction

There was a post that was recently posted and it's been asked a ton: "How do I get a computer science related job after I graduate from KSU?". I thought I'd share this with everyone because I've been down this path and managed to make it on the other side. This will be a long explanation and hopefully, can serve as some sort of guide for students. That being said, things are subjective and this is not the holy grail of how to make it. You might find all, some or none of it useful. I encourage testimonials and whatnot in the comments. Can be applied to all majors but, this primary for technology-based majors since I am in tech field. YMMV

About Me

I've been around here for a while. I was a student not too long ago, studied computer science for my bachelors. After graduating, I work in FAANG and have worked in big tech for a while. No, I don't work at Amazon. I am a senior software engineer. I touch frontend & backend technologies. I participate in hiring frequently.

Starting Out

Over the years and while attending here, there's been a weird disconnect between students, goals and how to achieve them in tech. Goals can be anywhere from learning new technologies, getting internships to securing a full time job before or after you graduate. As much as I would love for there to be a path where you can do minimum effort and still succeed, there isn't. A lot of you seem to not realize that. Getting a degree in this field is not enough. Doing projects that show no passion / interests is not enough. Being stuck on tutorials for years is not enough.
This field is much like a sport. There are very few people that can just be great without any effort. You have to be consistent. Four years is not a lot of time. It goes by super fast. If you constantly push things back and you do not take the time to learn the fundamentals outside the classroom, you will not succeed in this field. This field is at a point where there's so many of you. Every post on LinkedIn and news articles said "hey, this field is a gold mine and you'll make six figures out the gate". For a time, maybe that was somewhat true. As of writing this, it's not. You're going against people who have: better schools, better experience, etc. You have to find a way to diversify yourself early. If you can't diversify, you're going to be in a tough place later down the road. Knowledge not something you can just consume in less than an hour and pass an interview. You have to know it well. If you don't, there's someone else who will.
There's an interesting connotation in life that you're either born super smart or an absolute idiot and that you have to be smart to do computer science / programming. There are people with raw IQ that can consume things like no one you've ever met but, that's such a rarity that there's no realistic use in using that as a data point. If you ever took the time to ask someone who you thought was really good at something, they would tell you something along the lines of: I love what I do and I spent a lot of time doing this. There are hours and hours of time people put into passions that you don't / will never see. Meaning that they can no-life this shit for days on end and still come back and do it some more. It doesn't mean that you can't succeed if don't do that but, computing / programming is a very boring field if you do not enjoy it. I would seriously contemplate why you're going through this. If you're doing it for money and only money, you're going to end up miserable. No amount of money can make you do something you hate. It'll wear you down both mentally and physically. If you're doing this because it's a mix of passion and money, you're like everyone else and you gave yourself a better shot. It's a mental thing. Don't climb uphill if you rather sit at the bottom. Don't complain if you're at the bottom and you rather be at the top. There's nothing wrong with that. But, don't do it. For what it's worth, I am not the smartest person. I graduated high school with a low GPA and took college seriously because I wanted to do more with my life. Plus, being on hourly forever sounds horrible imo. Use the opportunities that life has given to you and run with it. Run far, run smart and run in a direction that you can see yourself going long-term.
Additionally, college is what you make of it. Blaming professors or the program (while I do agree sometimes) is not a solution. Blaming professors that don't speak English is a cop out. If you work in tech, you'll be interacting with a lot of people from other countries. Suck it up. Work with it instead of against it. Professors and TAs can only teach you so much. Classes are meant to give you a taste of what it's like in that domain / space. It's not meant to fix all your issues and show you the way. That's for you to do on your own time. Take accountability of your own success, explore the internet (it's free) and lock in. Stop looking for opportunities to find you. Actively seek them out yourself.

Networking

Make connections with people. I cannot stress how important this is. Especially on the Marietta campus, there's a lot of you that go to class, stingers / food, run to class and immediately start gaming and think that when your classes are over, you're done for the day. That's a bad mindset. Make connections with people. Sit with random people at stingers or wherever. Have a conversation. Find a common interest. Don't harass men / women for a date while you're at it. Keep it cool. A lot of people say "there's nothing to do at KSU and there's no life on campus". That's not true at all. It's true if you choose to put your head in a box and refuse to look up. Join a club that interests you. Get close to the people in that club who actively attend and build a personal relationship. If there's no club with your interest, make a club. Fuck it, lead one. You can make one officially through KSU or add a discord server to the student hub and go from there. You'll meet some really cool like-minded people. Lots of my connections have come from randomly showing up to a club, getting out of my comfort zone and weirdly enjoying it.

Interviewing

Brush up on your interview skills. Technical and behavioral abilities matter. Culture fit matters. A lot of you seem to walk around with almost zero personal hygiene. Clean yourself up, practice talking to people and get places. There's been this stigma that culture fit doesn't matter as much as technical and if I have great technical abilities, they'll just accept me. I can tell you for an absolutely fact that I have thrown out / tossed out resumes from highly technical individuals that had zero people skills. If you can't communicate and clean up, you're more of a risk than someone who does all those things and has a bit less technical ability. I can teach someone how to code. I can't teach someone how to take a shower or brush their teeth. Know more than just Leetcode. Learn system design. Take a course / watch a video on Linux and bash. Do not be afraid of the command line interface. Understand how things work at a deeper level. Take feedback seriously. Do not argue with people. If you future manager / colleague tells you that you need to work on things, work on those things. There's nothing worse than a co-worker in denial.

Jobs

As for internships and full time opportunities, there's a few classes at KSU that you really want to master: Data structures, Algorithm Analysis, Operating Systems and Discrete math. If you're in a major that doesn't have those classes, spend the extra money and take those classes. Do not take them online if you can afford to come in person. Take the hardest / best professors for those courses. Super important. Leetcode is quite literally, those classes merged together in a prompt-style format. If you do not understand those concepts, you will not make it in this field let alone pass an interview loop.
Data Structures - Varies. Rate my professor.
Algorithm Analysis - Varies. Rate my professor.
Operating Systems - Do not take Carla McManus if you want to learn the concepts fluently.
Discrete Math - Andy Wilson.
Having solid resume is super important. Many people who don't secure things and get automatically rejected, etc have horrible resumes. Spend the money (it's a lot) to get your resume professionally written. It's worth it. Invest in your long term career aspirations. Templates are cool but, they don't convey information well and come across as lazy. Don't put every achievement ever on there. I don't want to see a wall of text. No, I don't care if you're a Boy Scout. No, I don't care if you bussed tables in high school. You get the point. The rule of "only one page" is complete and total bullshit. If you have projects and prior work experience related to the role, list it down. Don't conserve space for the sake of keeping it one page. You're limiting yourself. I know the career center actively tells people on handshake to keep it to one page. They're wrong. I landed internships & full time roles consistently at big tech / FAANG for years with a 1.5 / 2 page resume. Do not lie on your resume. If you can't solve a leetcode hard consistently with the technology / language of choice, you don't know it well enough. I have interviewed a ton of students and people that list they know C or Python and can't write recursion or gives me a solution in O(N^2) or worse. Aim for O(N), use a hashmap / hash table when you can and do it in a language that doesn't make you fight the runtime / compiler. Trust me, we know when you're making shit up. If you don't know something say it and then, tell them to explain more. This way, you show that you have the capability to learn. Ask smart questions. Do not ask questions that have already been answered. Take notes.
On your resume, experience is only real experience if you get a W2. If you don't get a W2, you can't claim it as professional experience. A lot of background checks these days are drilling down on incorrect information. I have seen instances where people lie, get an offer, company finds out through a comprehensive background check and their offer is gone. Do not put the fate of your future income on a lie. I cannot stress this enough. A lot of students and people actively lie.
Secondly, the trick to getting a good internship is timing. A lot of you wait until Nov - Dec to find an internship and then, throw your hands up when no one responds. That's not a good mindset. Solid internships are recruiting in end of July to August. By September, the amount of open spots are extremely thin. Local companies tend to look for internships during this time. Internships are about luck after that. Reach out to people in your circle to increase your odds. A referral goes a long way. Prior experience through projects that are complex and unique go a long way. It's a numbers game. Don't aim for the highest thing ever without some sort of referral. You can still apply but, do not expect much from it. Start small and work your way up. It's extremely rare to go from KSU undergrad sophomore to Google. It takes a lot of outside work. If you happen to land the internship, make sure that you get recommendations at the end. Having real people who you worked with in a professional capacity that can vouch for you is huge. If you're in your junior year and you get an internship, make sure you try to secure a full time offer. Loop in your boss, mentor, etc. Make your expectations clear. Reach their expectations and beyond.
Thirdly, full time opportunities are rare and most new grads that get hired come from the previous year's intern pool. If you don't get converted, you have to make up that time searching for a job during your senior year. If you do get converted, keep looking because companies are flaky these days. Always have a Plan B & C. Never fully count on Plan A. If you don't have internships across four years, it's over for you. From a hiring manager perspective, it's an absolute red flag when we come across someone with a degree and no internships. That's effectively going against the point of college. You'll have to settle for crumbs and crawl your way up. Very few make it out of that hole. The bar is significantly higher. Especially, now.

Searching for an Opportunity

Do not wait until after you graduate to find a job. Jan - Early May are when most companies finalize budgets and hire. If you wait until after May, you'll might have to wait until after the Summer and possibly, October for hiring to pick up again. Proactivity is nothing but good for you. If you can't be proactive then, you won't succeed in this field. Referrals matter but, personal connections with the hiring manager / recruiter are much, much better. Work your way up. Don't discount an opportunity because it doesn't pay well. Get as much experience as you can and bounce around. Do not go into the gate thinking you're going to make $120K - $140K / yr out the gate. You're most-likely going to make $68K - $75K / yr depending on the location. Do not listen to LinkedIn posts that claim all this cool shit and how to do it. Trust me, it's bullshit. Don't pay attention to it. It's a brag-fest. It's a long road. Start walking on it early and you'll reach the other side when it matters most. Trust in it.
The reality of this economy is that highly experience people have been laid off. Those people are applying to entry level roles and those roles are being filled for cheap. In addition, watch out for fake postings and scam jobs. If you take a contract job, always keep looking. Avoid jobs that will providing "training" before you even start. Avoid jobs that are less than week old. You want things that are fresh. It's a numbers game. Apply for 300+ jobs every week until you get a response back. Don't be discouraged by employers who don't respond or ghost you. Keep at it. It's a mental game.

Conclusion

I think if you do these things, you'll end up at a great spot after four years. If you're just now coming across this and you've been slacking, use this an opportunity to wake the fuck up, light a fire under your ass and lock in. If you're still in denial after reading this post and you have yet to get anything, light a fire under your ass, come to terms with it and lock in.
If you're in it to do zero work, cheat on your classes, mess around for four years and somehow wing a high salary or a job in this field, good luck. You're fucked. You're so fucked, in-fact, that you'll be wondering "why me and why is it so hard" for a long ass time. Don't be that person.

Cool Resources

Git - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvUiKWv2-C0
Github (use this as your portfolio; web devs should make an actual clean website) - https://github.com
Github Student Pack (tons of free resources) - https://education.github.com/pack
Linux Handbook - https://linuxhandbook.com/ Linux Quickguide - https://github.com/mikeroyal/Linux-Guide
Lots of subreddits geared around linux and programming. Great resources to find.
Understand: Kernel Space vs. User Space, Memory Allocation / Deallocation, Bitwise Operations, Memory blocks, processes and threads, context switching
System Design Primer - https://github.com/donnemartin/system-design-primer
Understand: Monolith vs. Micro-services, Tradeoffs between different approaches, Vertical vs. Horizontal Scaling, Load Balancers, Buckets, Data lakes, CI / CD Pipelines, Data Clusters, Client-Server Architecture, Synchronous vs. Asynchronous Context: System design is like a giant puzzle that has many forms. Create a basic design. It won't be perfect. Mix-and-match different services and know why, how and tradeoffs between each approach.
Programming language is dependent on the role and what the company favors. Common ones are Java, C++, Python, C#, JavaScript / TypeScript and C. You can look at jobs that you would like to work someday, look at the requirements and use that as a basis on where to start learning. Things constantly change. Fundamentals build up on each other. Start small. Work your way up. Do not dream big. Dream realistic. Everyone is different.