Hi everyone, I’d like to know if anyone has recommendations for basketball coaches/trainers or programmes I can attend to improve my skills.
For context, I’m 20M, been playing pickup for around 5 years. Though I’ve never played for CCA, I enjoy the sport enough to justify spending some money to hire a trainer as I want professional advice on how to get better. However from what i’ve seen, almost all training organizations in SG are focusing on players who are of lower age groups like 13-19 or are playing for school team/clubs. So far zero luck finding any that provide adult training
If anyone has any suggestions, please share with me, thanks!

(Repost because I accidentally posted this when it was 5AM in Australia)
I have a 20yo Assyrian friend who fled Iraq and is now a refugee in Jordan where conditions for minorities like him are just as deplorable.
Him and his family are working on getting visas to Australia. At the moment he works so much that he barely has any time to rest, but he's been trying to learn any skill that would make his life in Australia a bit easier.
As I'm European I'm not really aware of the landscape of the job market demand in Australia or how "things work" down under.
In many cities in Europe for example, building up your own skills in private is almost useless without any official certification.
My friend used to be able to play the piano but he can't practice it anymore, and he's also interested in "computers", as broad as the term is. I'm hesitant to recommend programming because he barely has time to be with his family.
Is there any skills that are in high demand in Australia and that he can learn by himself with only the internet? Does the Australian gov probably even have courses or schoolings available?
Thank you all for any pointers/help!!

Dear community,
I downloaded the newest firmwawre and it doesn't recognize my german keyboard, e.g. if I'd want to use the letter ö for a button the program would write [ or something different. Another issue is that I can't use symbols for which I'd have to use 2 or more buttons to access, let's say "?" which is written by pressing two buttons simultaneously, because the programm directly would write "shift + ´" or something like that (again, because the program wouldn't recognize the german keyboard as such)
this is really bothering me, isn't there a way to download older updates? This is really bad programming!
How could I solve the issue??

Hi, it's my first time building a PC and I want to know if I need to have a GPU before I build my PC. I live in Australia and right now I only have enough money to buy every component apart from the GPU. I'm planning on getting a rtx 4070 or 4070 super, depending on which one has a better deal. For my CPU I'm getting a ryzen 5 7600 along with 32 GB of ddr5 cl30 ram. (See part picker below) I was planning on getting all the parts except for the GPU and using the integrated graphics on the CPU until I can afford the GPU. I plan on playing games like terraria and making beats in FL Studio while I wait for my GPU. Is the any reason that I shouldn't do this?
Parts (Any recommendations are welcome cuz this is my first time)
https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/vzBVz6
PCPartPicker Part List: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/pjfbgB
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($299.00 @ Centre Com) CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.00 @ Scorptec) Motherboard: MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($276.58 @ Amazon Australia) Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($179.00 @ MSY Technology) Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($188.00 @ Amazon Australia) Video Card: Gigabyte WINDFORCE OC GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB Video Card ($898.77 @ JW Computers) Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($139.00 @ Centre Com) Total: $2039.35 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-05-15 18:21 AEST+1000

Hi all. My asus GU502GU died after 3 years… motherboard went to space. So for the past month I have been without any laptop except my work one. I would really like to buy a new gaming laptop (budget 1800EUR), but I have no idea which one to buy. There are so many options, all with small differences and the more I research the more confused I get… can someone give me some recommendations?
The laptop is gonna be used mostly for gaming. I can’t buy a normal computer because I am working abroad, and every x months I move.
Thank you in advance 😁

Terve
I am an experienced software engineer and am considering doing my master's in computer science in Finland.
One of my qualms is that I finished my bachelor's degree 10 years ago and so I am unable to get any academic letters of recommendation for my master's application which many universities require. Are there any universities in Finland which don't require academic letters of recommendation to pursue master's degrees?

I am planning to get a new computer with a 4090, and was thinking about getting new monitors. I am currently running duel Asus VG279 144 hz. I have been thinking about upgrading to a three monitor setup, and am currently looking at the Alienware AW2725DF OLED 27" monitor, as well as getting mounting arms for them.
Is it a good idea to get three brand new Monitors? or should I just get one to use as a main monitor and the my two Asus monitors as side monitors? I plan to get the Dell-MSA20 and a Huanuo Duel monitor mounts so I can have two stacking monitors and one on the side.
Looking for any advice or recommendations. Thank you.

So it seems like my PC is sometimes slower than usual when I boot it up, and it stays that way for that entire session the PC is on, it seems to affect everything, apps load slower, the issue is most noticeable while gaming - the PC keeps freezing every now and then or freezes then crashes/restarts sometimes with BSOD. So when I boot up my PC I manually start up Steam and Discord, and I pay attention to at what speed they're loading, when they are loading up slower than usual it means that this is one of those slow sessions and I'm going to run into the other issues which I gave above, and that's what happens indeed.
But sometimes after boot (75% of the sessions) it runs perfectly fine, I notice Steam and Discord load up quickly and so I run into none of those issues for that entire session in or outside gaming. I've looked up what this issue could be, asked some people for advice, tried a lot of things accordingly:

• Reinstalled Windows. (As advised by a local computer technician)
• Disabled Windows Update. (As advised by a local computer technician, he recommended it since my Windows is pirated)
• Did a clean reinstall of Nvidia GPU drivers.
• Ran Memory Diagnostic tool on my RAM, (the "Standard" level of test) and it showed no errors.
• Ran Memtestx86 on each of my RAM sticks one at a time, I got all 4 passes and no issues came up.
• I did the "CHKDSK", "sfc/scannow" and "dism/ online /cleanup-image" commands on my drives via the command prompt.
• Did a full scan of my PC with Quickheal antivirus and Malwarebytes, which detected and cleaned some malware but the issue didn't stop after that.

This is a strange issue, right ? I feel like issues like this should affect the PC in all the sessions, rather than it being like a roulette when I start up my PC where my current session might be a normal one or the one with all the issues.
Can anyone please help me with this, this issue has plagued me for months now, I've probably spent around 2 months thinking about what could be the issue and trying potential fixes, and I don't know what to think or do anymore.

TW: brief mentions of depression, suicidal ideation, and attempted suicide
When I (28F) was growing up, I was the golden child of the family. I didn't know it back then. Up until I was in high school I had a younger sister and an older half sister I only saw a few times a year. It wasn't like I never got in trouble or got yelled at, in fact I have a very vivid and hurtful memory where I was called a liar by my parents when I was being 100% truthful (they just didn't want to hear it and wanted someone to be mad at I guess), and then I was told to just "suck it up and get over it". But compared to my younger sister, who was compared to me in every way, I always had the perfect grades, perfect attitude, perfect behavior, etc. Our parents, especially our mother, who was the main parent taking care of us during the week, pretty much pitted us against each other constantly. My little sister was being told she needed to be more like me, and I was told my sister was a bad kid. I would try to help her stay out of trouble as a kid and would get mad when she didn't listen to me because i didnt understand she was just being herself and didn't need to be exactly like me. Up until college, I didn't understand that my sister didn't need to change, she needed her parents to love her as she was and help her instead of trying to mold her into some ideal of perfection. We were picked apart constantly about every little thing we did, and I was expected to always somehow know everything even if I'd never learned it before. My house was full of constant yelling due to the extremely high expectations and my mother's terrible temper, and it became a very stressful place to be starting when i was around 10. We went through a lot of financial hardships as well since I was very young, so I dont want to dismiss how hard things were for my parents and how much they went through. But I have always been hyper aware of how much it costs for me to exist as my mom stressed so many times over the years that she couldn't afford to buy even a new shirt because she had to buy stuff for us, as if that was at all our fault.
When i was in high school, my baby brother was born. He pretty much instantly became the new golden child, not only because he was the youngest and the only boy, but because it became clear at a very young age how intelligent he is. I was a straight A honors kid and he was blowing me out of the water since he learned to read. I didn't mind at all because 1) I was going to be going to college in a couple years, and 2) with our age difference, he was as much my son as my brother, and I took on a very loving parental role with him of my own volition. I also saw the promise in him and I wanted him to live a happy life. My little sister and him are very close to this day, at least to my knowledge. During this time they were still coming down really hard on my little sister, treating her as well as they always had - meaning they still yelled at her constantly and were overly critical of her and everything she even thought about doing. They talked about sending her to military school more than once, and pretty much resigned themselves to the idea my sister would never be able to live on her own before she even got to high school, let alone graduated.
Flash forward to when I was in college, I started coming home and noticing things about how my parents treated my sister, and for the first time I saw it for how terrible it was for her. The distance and time I spent away from the house helped my little sister and I completely change our relationship by my second or third year. What really solidified it was a series of events that happened my junior and senior years of college.
My sister moved to our town with her husband with their 2 very young boys, and we soon found out she was pregnant with twins. That is kind of where it all began to fall apart. Time showed not only that her husband is a massive pos, but also potentially abusive, although we never got concrete proof. As my sister's pregnancy progressed and they struggled to get on their feet, my parents started watching my nephews for hours at a time, sometimes the whole day. And if my parents had to babysit out of nowhere and put their lives on hold, me and my younger siblings were expected to do the same. No toys, no books, no games - nothing. Essentially, the entire house was expected to babysit in a way that i have been told wasn't normal. Even my little brother was expected to take on this role in caring for kids who were only a couple years younger than him. I spent my entire childhood taking care of my little sister and then my baby brother, and I hated seeing how they were doing the same to him when me and my little sister were at the age where it shouldve been left up to us. I started really butting heads with my parents as the situation progressed because they started yelling at my baby brother when the boys would even bump their heads even though it wasnt his fault. He never mistreated them, hit them, pushed them , or anything, so my parents justified it by saying he wasn't being a "good uncle" by "letting them" bump their heads on the tv stand, for example. He was expected to let them play with all of his toys, and my mom tried letting the boys use things that were very important to my brother, which would've ended up with the boys taking those things home. Saying it that way makes it sound a lot more mild that it was, but I'm trying to save time and not give out too many personal details. I guess you could say in short, my parents began expecting my elementary school age brother to give up his time, his space, his toys, his gifts - anything that meant anything to him, to help care for children when he was still a child not much older than them. I ended up giving my baby brother my room to not only keep his stuff in, but to sleep in.
In the end, my sister had the twins and then moved back to her home state about 6 months later. We think her no good husband lied to her about us and she cut contact with all of us, and we haven't heard from her since. In our house, the damage was done. I had long conversations with my little sister when our parents weren't around about how she needed to get out because of how they were treating her, and how I would eventually graduate and move to a city where I could find a job. But neither of us wanted to leave our little brother in that house because we were worried how they would treat him when we both left. Our parents had already proven they would throw any of us to the side at any second, even their golden child baby boy, and blame even him for anything that went wrong. Our parents have a history of spilling all our business at any holiday meal and badmouthing any little mistake. They would talk shit about us in front of us and shame us in front of family our entire lives, and if my sister and i weren't there to take the brunt of it, how long until they turned on my baby brother. Would they even wait until he wasn't "perfect" anymore?
Throughout all of this, I was struggling a lot in college, and starting around junior year i became very depressed and suicidal, which resulted in a major attempt in my 5th year of college, which to this day i don't like talking about. Before that, however, I went to my mom about feeling depressed and told her i thought i needed to talk to someone. She brushed me off. I was dumb enough to think that maybe she thought i was exaggerating, so i tried a second time to ask her for help about a year later, and she brushed me off again. Part of me blames her almost entirely for my attempts, because i came to her before any of them because i knew thats where it was headed if i didnt get help. All she had to do was make a couple phone calls to find me someone to talk to and she couldn't even do that for me. I was a scared girl who needed her mom's help because i didnt know who to turn to, and she turned her back on me. After my final attempt, I pulled myself up and got help, but my financial aid ran out and I was unable to return to school and finish my degree, so I went back to my parents house and was absolutely miserable for the next 6 months. I felt like a failure, like I wasn't "perfect" like i was supposed to be. I felt suffocated every single day and like the only ones who wanted me there were my siblings. One day I tried a little experiment and sat in the living room with my mom for the entire day and she didn't say one single word to me, didnt even acknowledge my existence. Ever since the stuff with my nephews happened, I had doubled my efforts to protect my siblings and take the brunt of my mom's anger, so I pushed back a lot when they tried to get onto my siblings for ridiculous things. I ended up ghosting my friends for 3 months because I was so depressed, and it really scared them. It was then I knew i had to get out of that house or it would kill me, so I moved into my grandparents' house a town over.
Things at my grandparents' house started okay, and i was even able to confide in them what had been going on at my parents' house, which in the end turned out to be a big mistake. I got a job working overnight at a retail store and met the guy who is now my boyfriend of 3 years. Unfortunately, the longer i spent at my grandparents' house the more i saw where my mom got it from, and they ended up treating me just as bad as what was going on at my parents' house. The only difference was that my sister wasn't there so i was taking the brunt of all of it. When things started getting tough for them after my grandpa retired, instead of sitting down with me like an adult and asking if it would contribute financially, my grandpa cornered me in the car when he was driving me back from work and guilted money out of me with a sob story. And guilted me at the dinner table the second time when they needed more money. One time i walked in the house after work and before i had even taken my shoes off or put my purse down to get my wallet out, he blocked the door to my room with his hand out like a loan shark to give him the money. I payed for all my own expenses, took short showers and kept as many lights off as i could, and told them not to buy me anything, even food. And in the end, even though they guilted me for money, then more money, and promised they wouldnt kick me out, they sold the house out from under me when they knew i was still trying to save for an apartment with what little money i had left a month. I ended up having to live with my best friend and her husband or i wouldve been homeless. I still helped them move even when they f-ed me over. And even after all that, I still went to holidays and visited my parents from time to time.
The last time i saw my grandparents they ran into me and my best friend in a store. My grandpa saw me first (he and my grandma were in different parts of the store), and starting yelling at me for pretty much cutting them off since i hadn't been to see them for months, and then when he started realizing he looked like the bad guy tried to make the reason i stopped talking to them about politics (i live in a conservative area) as if that would justify it. When my friend and i were trying to grab one last thing before we left because i was humiliated and trying not to cry, my grandma cornered me at the deli counter, had me pinned between the counter and a cart so i couldn't leave, and started yelling at me too. I was so broken back then, but i tried to tell both of them i would talk to them but not in the store. They just wanted to scream so we left. I haven't spoken to them since and have no plans to.
Eventually i moved 2 hours away back to the city i had went to college in. During that time, my grandparents drove the 3 hours to try to find where i lived, and then called trying to get me to come downstairs. I was asleep for work at the time but it made me feel so uncomfortable that they would do that. And after living there a year and my bf and i commuting to visit each other every other week, it came to the point where if i wanted our relationship to continue i had to move back. This is not something he ever brought up to me, this was a decision I came to on my own. So two years ago I moved back to the area I grew up in. We live an hour away from my hometown and 30 minutes away from the town i met my boyfriend in. And although he has family in both areas that we visit, I haven't seen or really talked to my parents or siblings since i initially moved out of the area.
A year ago, after a year of silence from me and from my parents, I dropped a box off at my parents' house when they weren't home with souvenirs i got them on vacation when i first moved back, short letters to each of them about the gifts, and a long video letter on a flash drive explaining everything I felt because i knew i couldn't go on without being honest and i knew if i tried to have a conversation in person, they wouldn't listen to me. I told them i wanted to keep them in my life but i couldn't ignore everything that had happened and the ways they treated me and my younger siblings. I told them i had no interest in continuing a relationship with my grandparents and that anything they have told them probably wasnt true. I sent them scans of my diaries as "proof" that i wasn't lying because that's the kind of house i grew up in - if you couldnt prove it, it didnt happen. I laid myself completely bare so that i could heal, knowing the whole time they may never want to speak to me again. I gave them pictures of me and my boyfriend and my new phone number anyway. The only thing i didn't give them was my address because we live on his family's land and his family, knowing a bit about my family and also about my grandparents essentially stalking me, don't want anyone from my family nosing around on the property. I don't want that either so i agreed not to give it out. The people in my life who knew about the box and the letter turned video letter were supportive of the idea given all i had been through, and I thought dropping it off would be the end of things.
Since then, I have healed from everything that has happened. I'm still angry and sad and i feel like I'm grieving every day, but I'm not the spineless, scared girl i used to be. My boyfriend has helped me become a better person in so many ways. But i still miss my family, especially my dad. I feel like he didnt deserve what i've done for reasons i cant go into, because the reality is he depends a lot on what my mom tells him because he works, and he trusts her deeply. I feel like in some regards he depended too much on her word, although he isnt completely innocent. There's obviously a lot more to my story that what I have here or else I'd be writing an autobiography, but just know if this all sounds like it isn't a big deal, I have so many stories and so much more detail that isn't safe to give out here.
The reality is my parents and i pushed each other away until we all became strangers long before everything blew up. I felt like a stranger from the time i left for college. I was made to feel like if i wasn't at home, i was a second thought, and a lot of very serious issues happened while i was away that i didnt find out about until i came home. My last year of college i was physically starving and could only afford to eat one meal a day if that. When i had left for school at the beginning of that school year my mother made it clear i had to figure it all out myself because they had no money to give me, but then i came home for Christmas and everyone but me had all new electronics. I cried asking for money to buy my uniform to start my campus job but they bought all new computers and tablets. And that stung.
Last Christmas, my parents and siblings messaged me. It was the first time I had heard from them since before i dropped off the box. It was just a Merry Christmas, but it absolutely shocked me. And then they all messaged again on my birthday. Same thing, just little pleasantries, but it makes me feel like maybe that door isn't closed. However, I have absolutely no idea if we can move forward, if they want to, or even if its a good idea to try. I have struggled a lot since college about whether or not all of this and everything I wasn't able to share here is or is not a big deal. I've had people close to me listen to my whole story and call it emotional neglect and abuse, but I just don't know. I feel crazy most of the time, and I'm afraid I'm exaggerating or making it up for attention or something, which also doesn't make sense. I struggle a lot in my day to day. I am ruled by the emotions of those around me and i cower like a kicked puppy when people around me are upset, even if its not my fault. I get ashamed when i make a mistake or i'm not "perfect", and if my feelings are valid I have no idea if it would be a good idea to get back in touch. But i think about if/when my boyfriend and i get married, and how i have no family to sit on my side. It sometimes feels like it's my fault because i wasn't strong enough to just shut up and deal with it anymore. At this point I dont know what is the right answer, what's going to finally give me peace. For now, I just keep moving forward trying to build a better life with my boyfriend and hope all the pieces will fall into place later.

During a student’s academic journey, unplanned events may happen that require them to miss class. People with kids need to know how to ask for school leave, whether for an emergency, a family emergency, or a planned vacation. You can request to miss school in writing by filling out an application for leave in school. People typically apply to leave school for various reasons, such as to go on a long trip, get medical care, or go to an event. Remember that applications for school leave need to be made politely and professionally. The application for leave in school should be brief and indicate the cause for the absence, how long it will last, and when the student will return. The application for leave will be talked about briefly in this article.

Reason for Leave application

For private reasons

A student may need to take time off if they have to deal with a family problem or another personal matter. For medical reasons if a child is sick or hurt and needs to be cared for or rest, they may have to miss school. Parents have to provide an application for leave in school for fever.

Because of religion

A student might miss class to attend a church event or celebrate a holiday. Because they need to learn, students may miss class to finish an internship, go on a study abroad course, or go to a conference.

Outside of school

Students may miss a few school days because of an event or action outside of school.They should provide an application for leave in school for going out of station.

Types of Leave

Medical, personal, emergency, and holiday leave are the most common types of leave that schools give. Knowing the differences between the types is essential because each may have different needs and ways of applying them.

How Applications Are Made?

Applications for leave in school are made through routes set up by schools. As part of it, you might have to use a website, fill out a form, or write an official letter. Parents and children should learn about the school’s recommended application process to ensure they follow it.

Very Important Papers

Application for leave in school may mean that schools must ask for supporting documents. Medical leave sometimes needs a note or proof from a doctor. You may need the same kind of proof of trip plans for vacation time. Gather the necessary paperwork and send it in with the leave request.

Time of absence

Most of the time, schools ask parents to let them know before they take their child out of the building. Then, the school management can do the right thing and ensure the child’s education is interrupted less often. Parents should request time off from school as soon as possible, in line with the school’s stance on advance notice. Parents should provide an application for leave in school for 1 day in advance.

Amount of time away

When it comes to schools, there may be rules about how much time you can miss for different reasons. There may be limits on vacation time, but people who are sick may be able to take medical leave for as long as they need it. Parents and children should know these time limits so they don’t get mixed up. The school management takes requests for time off when they are sent in. Anyone on the staff, like the director, school counsellor, or someone else, can review this. Parents and kids should be patient and wait for proof of clearance before moving forward.

Communication Tools

Schools usually set up specific ways for parents to talk to their administrators about requests for time off. One way to do this is to go online, email a pre-addressed address, or call the school office. When parents and kids use the official ways to get in touch, they can ensure their needs are heard and met. Parents and kids who want to take time off should check in with the school to ensure they got the application for leave in school and see what’s going on. They should quickly provide additional paperwork or details to speed up the process. The open conversation keeps approvals from being late.

Other Places of Education

To make sure that a student’s education continues while they are abroad, schools could offer other ways to learn. This could mean making study guides, giving homework, or teaching online. Asking about these plans might help lessen the adverse effects of leave on a child’s schoolwork. It must be turned in before the leave of absence starts and is usually sent to the school’s department head or director.

Go back to School Rules and How to Do Things

Schools could have set up specific rules to help kids return to the classroom after taking a break. This could include going to teacher meetings, making up missed work, or finishing tests. Parents who want to ensure their child returns to the regular schedule should call the school. For legal and administrative reasons, schools keep much information on students present and absent. To avoid problems, parents and children must carefully record requests for time off and keep an eye on their child’s attendance.

Review and Thoughts

Parents and kids can stay current on any changes or improvements by reviewing the school’s leave policies and procedures. Giving the school administration comments on their experiences with asking for time off can also help ensure that things keep improving.

Conclusion

Parents and kids need to know the school’s rules about requesting time off to talk about their needs and ensure the kids have a smooth educational experience. Parents and kids can handle the process confidently and keep their child’s schooling as regular as possible if they know the types of leaves, the necessary paperwork, and the permission processes. Parents and schools must work together, plan, and talk to each other so that application for leave in school requests are adequately treated and students can keep up with their work.

FAQs

How do I request school leave?
To request school leave, write to your principal or other school administration.
How early should I request leave?
Leave should be requested as early as possible to allow the school to make arrangements. The timeline depends on school policy and the cause of the leave. In a medical emergency, you may need to apply for leave sooner.
What is the use of leave applications in school?
A leave application is a written request to take time off school, college, or employment for a certain period.

Hi everybody,
disclaimer: Nothing I say in this post is necessarily true, and in NO WAY, do I condone anyone following in my footsteps or referencing anything I say in this post to the FAA/AME... but with that being said:
New to this reddit, but Just wanted to make this post to any future pilots who are going through a similar situation to what I have, about Depression, Anxiety, antidepressants, Therapy Etc.
To start this off... If you are an aspiring pilot, wanting to eventually work in the airlines, corporate, military, or basically anything that makes money, you need an "FAA First Class Medical" This is a non-negotiable aspect of aviation, that any pilot you see had to earn, but also maintain every year.
If you are not aware yet, the FAA takes mental health issues very seriously and almost always tends to disqualify or defer pilots who have had, or continue to have these issues (Bipolar disorder, Depression, ADHD, Anxiety, etc)
My personal story is that I have always wanted to be a pilot, but never really thought to start my training until more recent years, which also happened to coincide with the beginning of my depression/anxiety diagnoses, for which I was medicated on a few different antidepressants (prozac, zoloft, wellbutrin) over the timespan of 1.5 years. During this time I was regularly visiting a psychiatrist for psychotherapy and a regular therapist, along with my pediatrician at the time (I was 16-18).
In regards to my diagnosis: In my own opinion, my depression was a result of my environmental and lifestyle issues, which resulted in my diagnosis later being classified as "adjustment disorder with anxiety." This is a factor that I believe helped me later on in this story.
WIth 100% honesty, I never had any suicidal intentions or any dangerous thoughts that would ever truly make me a liability in the cockpit, as I understand why the FAA is careful around people with this type of history, so I will say that if you are reading this, and you do fall under this category, I would highly recommend doing some introspection about your mental health, and if you deem yourself capable to hold the lives of potentially hundreds of people in your hands, as this can be serious issues down the road.
I would say I am definitely on the safer side of the world of mental health issues, as some of you may have much more serious conditions or history, like suicidal ideas, bipolar disorder, ADHD (depending on if you take medicine/are diagnosed). Unfortunately, The cases mentioned above are much harder to get past to earn your medical, and I would not be able to advise you in those situations, although I believe a "HIMS AME" is the person you would go to for help in that department.
Going back to my story, however...
After learning that being on antidepressants would not allow me to be a pilot, I realized that I had essentially made a grave mistake in getting medicated for a diagnosis that I was not even confident I had, and was extremely upset by this. That was the moment I started going online to find people who had been through similar situations, and the reason why I am now writing this post.
To clarify, I never personally felt as though the medication was doing anything for me, and always wanted to get off, but I was always at the mercy of my pyschiatrist's treatment plan, which basically required me to stay on medication for a certain period of time before getting off.
In NO way did I intend to intentially stop my use of medication, which is VERY dangerous, but I was out of the state for about a month while doing some volunteer work, and unintentionally forgot to take my medication in the morning, which I did not realize for about a week (IT WAS ONLY SAFE BECAUSE MY DOSAGE WAS VERY LOW, OTHERWISE IF YOU STOP USAGE OF MEDICATION SUDDENLY YOU CAN HAVE SERIOUS PERMANENT BODILY DAMAGE).
Because I was doing very good with my life and my mental health, I opted to stay off medication with accordance to my psychiatrist, and from there on out was smooth sailing as far as my mental state. I would see my psychiatrist once a month as a check up, and always reported my positive state of mind. About 7-8 months after that, this month, I decided to start my flight training, but more specifically my AME appointment.
I was already familiar with the process, which begins with you filling an AME form out on medexpress website, where you fill out all medical history. I will specify this one time and one time only:
DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT LYING TO THE FAA!!!!!!!
No matter how desperate you are, lying to the government will always hurt you in the end, and a potential career in aviation is not worth it if it is based on a single or possibly multiple lies.
After filling out the form truthfully, with all my medical history as mentioned in the above texts, I went to my appointment, and talking with the AME, who was quick to start asking me about my mental health history, for which I was ready to explain. I was also able to get a letter from my psychiatrist, mentioning that I was "adherent to my treatment plan"
After telling the AME EVERYTHING about my mental health struggles, history, etc. He decided that I was fit to earn my medical, pending a signature from my psychiatrist ensuring everything I said was truthful, which it was. Finally, after so much struggle, I was able to earn my first-class medical.
The point I want to get across with any of you who still stuck around to read all this, is that if you do disqualify for the medical, there is a reason for that, which you simply must accept in the name of safety of others.
for those of you who are in a similar position to me at any point in my journey, just know that If you stay honest with yourself, your doctor, and eventually the AME, you will definently have a path to earning your certificate, pending some potentiall obstacles.
There is a resource from the faa about medications allowed for pilots, though I never used it as a reference for myself, but definitely check it out if it applies to you in any way. If I missed anything please reply below and I will try my best to answer.

One essential ingredient that you must have when starting on line foreign currency exchange trading is an account with a Forex trading broker. The currency trading broker is your connection into the markets and they will provide the essential cover that allows you to trade with margins.
The question is how do you select the best Forex brokers. There are at least 7 criteria points to be considered when you are deciding where best to shop for a Forex currency trading broker.
1. Dependable
This works on multiple levels. You need a broker that you can rely upon to be trustworthy and who will not all of a sudden vanish like a puff of smoke from the internet taking with them all of your hard earned money. The FX market is surprisingly devoid of regulations so there are a vast number of Forex brokers to choose from and as is like with many things in life some Forex trading brokers are more honest than others.
The first step is to check up on the reliability of the currency trading broker and to confirm your online Forex broker is regulated.
Check for a Forex currency trading broker with an unblemished record regarding any complaints logged against them on the National Futures Association website. Other countries have their own regulatory bodies for example the Financial Services Authority in the UK performs the same function.
Another consideration is whether the online Forex broker's trading platform is reliable. The Forex trading platform is the financial software that will connect you to the FX markets whenever you want to trade. If the online Forex trading platform is often offline then this will cause you some major problems. For example you could miss out on either opening or closing a trade at the optimum time.
It would be best to check a number of online Forex trading forums for feedback from individual users regarding the amount of downtime that they have experienced. Remember it is like with all online forums do not listen to the loudest voice as they may have a vested interest either way in recommending or not recommending who in their opinion are the best Forex brokers
2. Services Provided by the Best Forex Brokers
The Forex markets trade for a full 24 hours each day that's from Sunday evening through to Friday afternoon Eastern Standard Time. Check that your Forex broker's trading platform is reachable available during all of these times, The best Forex brokers trading platforms will be available and they will also offer around the clock customer support on Forex trading days.
Check that they cover at the seven main currencies that are USD, JPY, CAD, AUD, CHF, EUR and GBP certainly the best Forex brokers will.
The best Forex brokers will offer you a minimum of the following essential tools, which are instant execution of your Forex trade at the price displayed, technical analysis charts and financial trading charts. Most will also offer a training program to teach the basics of using the tools.
3. Forex Broker Costs
Online Forex brokers do not make commission charges to their customers so the way they make their income is from the difference in the Forex trading spread. The Forex spread is the differences between the buying and selling prices on any of the currency pairs. The Forex trading spread is usually any spread between 1 pip and even sometimes less to around 3 pips; this will depend upon the online Forex brokers terms of service and the currency pair being traded.
The piece of the pie taken by the spread can make all the difference between achieving a profit or making a loss in your Forex trading account. This will affect both the immediate term and also the longer term so you will need to scrutinize closely at what level the spread will be computed. If you can decide which pairs you are likely to trade most frequently the spread on those pairs will be more important to you than on others. For example I prefer the USD/GBP trading pair, which is known as cable.
Beware of special short term marketing maneuvers like special offers of lower Forex trading spreads that may not last long once you have committed your funds.
Consideration need to be given on how much is the minimum amount of capital you can invest in order to open a Forex trading account. Good advice given to new traders is to start out small, which means looking for a Forex broker who will let you open an account with a minimum of $250 or hopefully less.
4. Margins, Which Are Also Known as Deposits
Margins are a variable that change from Forex broker to Forex broker. A lower margin requirement means giving you a higher leverage, and higher leverage can give you the ability to create greater profits, or losses from a fund of the same size. Margins allow you to magnify the opportunity to make more money
5. Size of the Trade also known as Lot Size
Trade size varies from one broker to another. Generally 100,000 trading units of currency is considered a standard lot, 10,000 of trading units is a mini lot, and 1,000 trading units is a micro lot. Some brokers do offer fractions of a lot too, which give you more power to set your own lot size. This could be perceived as a bonus or just an added complication depending on your point of view.
There are other matters to be considered which include the interest paid on the Forex margin account, the rollover charges when trades continue over to the next trading day and any other FX trading policies that the broker may have which could affect your Forex trading account commerciality. These are the main points that you should be looking out for when choosing the best Forex trading broker.
6. Customer Service
This is very important especially when you have just started out using a Forex trading platform. Like with all new things there will inevitably be teething troubles and you will want to be able to speak or email someone and get an instant response. The best Forex brokers will provide this service.
7. Forex Exit Strategy
There will be a time when you want to realize some of the profits that you have made and be able to withdraw your money quickly and easily. Make sure that you are able to get your money within a couple of days as some online Forex brokers insist on a 14 day delay which is totally unnecessary.

So I'm planning on asking my research professor for a letter of recommendation, but I have not taken a formal class with him and I'm not sure if I will have the opportunity to do so by the time I apply. However, I have received a letter grade for my work in the lab since I registered for research as a class through my uni's undergrad research program. I was wondering whether this letter of recommendation could count as a science professor's letter of rec since I did receive a grade? Thank you!

Hi I'm currently preparing to go to the US to pursue a Master's starting in Fall 2024 (expecting to graduate in 2026.) I plan to apply for a PhD afterward, so I want to ask how to plan my Master's studies and schedule to best meet the requirements for a PhD.
I designed my timeline is as follows:

• Aug 2024 - Oct 2024: Adapt to life in the US
• Oct 2024 - May 2025: Join a research group, for papers or recommendation letters
• Jul 2025 - Nov 2025: Apply for PhD programs
• Feb 2026: Receive offers

I have a few questions:

1. How to balance time between research and classes? Should I contribute most of my time and energy to the research? (The coursework is quite heavy...)
2. How to maximize output in the research? What should I aim for / what to expect to gain from this.
3. If I want to stay in the research group for a PhD, should I discuss this with the professor from the beginning or wait until I have some good results?
4. Considering this is a two-year program that offers CPT opportunities, should I use this to get an internship?
5. Anything I should do now (May) to prepare for that?

I appreciate any advice, as I'm quite new to this topic. Thank you very much!

Hi guys, Firstly thank you in advance for your valuable time & advices.
Background : no assets at all nor father is working now as he recently got treated with by pass surgery and the vein from which leg took was infected and due to that since past 6 months every day going through dressing. Again few days back my father faced some swelling in one hand which doctor said that it was due to medicines and said to need to be treated with a injection. I also have my older sister lucky to have her but my parents want to do her marriage asap as she got aged.
I am loving a girl since my undergrad before judging it love or not. I feel loyalty matters. So I just want to stay there because all the time I really feel privileged to have such kind of love My bad luck as always. After one year into this her father died and her mother found out about us.
I want to purse ca just I know that they paid well but due to financial issues unable to and joined engineering out of nowhere. Selected ece as people said that you can choose hardware or software.So I did not have knowledge about it. During my engineering tenure I collected more backlogs nevertheless to set things right. I cleared all and became first one from dept to get oncampus job. The prof of dumbness I have is that I don't know about IIT nit until my campus recruitment training after 6th semester but I saw lot of posters and ads about them but never have info about them.
I did not join my campus job as her parents need assets which I don't have one. I thought I need to join some product based company for higher package and also I feel like I love doing coding but after 2 months of graduation my father came to me and said to earn some as due to covid he is not getting any work. So I selected mnc over mindtree just because it has lower bond period but as soon as I joined in rush to make money tried digital exam failed twice which wasted 1 year but next 6 months I cleared it but they took 5 months to release ther score. So 2 years completed like this I realised and don't know what to do. Upon observing my colleagues pursuing ms I thought it might have give me better chance to make her parents accept me. So I started preparing in a way to graduate as soon as possible earliest I can join is spring 2024 intake. In this application process my father got hospitalised as I want to leave job I did not added my parents for health insurance. So all the saving vanished anyway I got rejections from all colleges I applied due to I applied late and also have backlogs. I even applied to some top 300 univs for ms in cs because I really want to challenge my self and to prove myself that I do have more caliber. Then after that tried for summer intake but then realised that no colleges were there in summer hence again applied lately to fall 2024 again same story rejected from which I want to pursue like suny buffalo, unv of Georgia & unv of south florida.
Recently, I got admission to University of albama at birmingham for ms in CS which costs me around just 46 lakhs for tution fee itself cuz they gave me extra course and extra tution fee ( integrated masters program. Not exactly direct ms in cs admit ). With expenses it might go upto 60 lakhs I think and they gave me one time scholarship of 1.5k.I need to pay deposit of 2000$ around 1.70 lakhs which I don't have so I need to take loan to pay this and also to pay processing fee to get loan sanction letter. I think I need to take for visa slot, travelling ticket fee etc..
So this is it guys I don't know what to do really. Since graduating in rush to ear some assets did not think clearly and did not take any good decision. I don't have anyone to give them clear picture to take informed decision I know most of them will say to stay here. Anyway now
Pros of ms in cs : 1. I will learn computer science which I think I like but not sure. 2. If I get job I think it will atleast give me some chance to have conv with her single parent mother.
Cons : 1. Huge loan and don't have anything to back it up. As my father health not totally good. I can't help him for 2 yrs I think financially. 2. Need to learn like someone preparing for upsc because I thought this is only thing that differentiate me from other who are knowing pursing and doing part time parllely.
Stay in India
Pro : 1.Atleast I can financially help my family though my sister supports now but my parents want to get her married but there is so many complications here too. 2. I don't have that huge loan burden
Cons : 1. I need to get into 24 Lakhs package. at least to stand in front of her mother to ask her to consider in a 6 months or so but market is so shit. 2. I won't get chance again to learn something and that college life
Dont know what to do literally even while I am pursuingy ms I don't have guarantee that her parent will wait until my graduation. Unable to take any decision feeling like lost and not able to do anythin except routine tasks. Wasting every night and day sleep. As I am from witch I don't have experience except on AWS and lost all my knowledge on proframming languages too and don't have much knowledge on DSA too.
Please be kind.

USC isn't a target for me, but I want to know what you guys think. I've cemented CS as my major. Also, if there are any ideas for what schools I should target please tell me. I'd appreciate recommendations of any kind relating to how I can strengthen my profile in the coming months.
Demographic:

• Second generation South Asian male
• Out of state
• Legacy at USC (two siblings with masters from there)
• Middle (upper middle?) class
• Kind of competitive public high school (Washington)
  • I have no idea because the circle I tend to find myself in is super competitive, so my perspective is biased (I have a friend with ~15 aps, plays a sport internationally, internships, a whole bunch of other crazy stuff... he's going to UCD this fall).

Stats/courses:

• 3.95 GPA UW
• Will have taken 6 AP's when I graduate (CSA, micro, macro, physics c, gov, psych)
  • Predicting a 5 for csa, micro, macro. I'll be taking the other 3 as a senior so the scores won't be on my apps, although the classes will be on my transcript.
• SAT 1470 (Please let me know if I should take it again in the fall!)
• Will be taking a computer science course in a University of Washington summer quarter

EC's:

• Game design/development
  • Have published several games online (little to no downloads)
  • Have won 3 hackathons for said games, biggest one had ~10k teams/submissions
  • I could stretch and say I have been making video games of some kind since elementary school. I've always committed time out of my week to it. To be more selective, I have been "actually" making games since I began high school.
  • Involves brainstorming, designing, programming, and art
• Video production/YouTube
  • Not currently active but was semi active for a few years. ~60 videos in a 3-year period, each one took anywhere from 3-12 hours in total to make. 269 subscribers on YouTube, 257 followers on TikTok. Additional time spent researching how to make the videos succeed, SEO optimization, etc.
  • Involves graphic design as well as video editing
• Outside of school sport
  • Not currently active but played for about 2 years, practiced for around 4 hours a week, plus matches when in season. Made it to a low intermediate level.
  • Uncommon sport (cricket)
• For some fluff, playing video games... nothing to show for it
• Computer building
  • Have built 2 computers
  • Have set up 2 different Linux-based home servers for Minecraft and NAS purposes
• Over the summer (currently finishing up my junior year) I plan on adding to my game portfolio and doing some volunteer work. I may also learn more programming languages.

Awards:

• Hackathons as previously mentioned. Nothing else

As a final and hopefully humble note, I have been told by many people that I am a very good writer, including past English teachers, friends, family, and random classmates. I'm hoping that my essays can carry me to victory.