Election speech class president

Ok so, I am in the eigth grade and our school does a mini eighth grade “graduation ceremony” for our transition into highschool. Part of this event is three people from eighth grade giving a speech to the student body and parents. I decided to submit my speech and I believe that I did impeccable in my audition, I was able to look up and give eye contact, was able to be breviloquent when reading, and my voice projected enough even without the mic.
After delivering the speech to my homeroom class and the judges I sat down and listened to the next speech. The next speech was by a girl who was infact, dyslexic. She was unable to look up at the crowd and even had to be REMINDED to pause during periods. It was to my utter disgust and trepidation that the dyslexic girl was chosen to deliver the speech.
I just was at a complete loss I what I could’ve possibly did wrong, I had more achievements such as volunteering at a nursing home, being head of student council, being in the gifted program, having the highest MAP testing score, and being chosen to write letters thanking a foundation for donating to my school. Besides I am far better at reading and writing than anybody in our school, even my homeroom teacher said that I am to the entire class!
So I was rather upset by being beaten by someone with a disability and turned to my friend to tell her I believed that this girl was chosen “Out of pity because shes disabled” and one of the teachers ended up pulling me aside to tell me how rude and disrespectful it was that I said that, and said they needed to pick someone who has a harder time to “be inclusive”. I just don’t understand why they couldn’t include someone who can read properly, I mean I know way more about literature than she does! She couldn’t name a classic that wasn’t taught in school, like when I attempted to speak to her about the novel Catch-22.

I think my only option is to completely resign as a stepparent. I desperately need advice about sustaining a marriage with polar opposite parenting styles, & how to deal with teenage boys with no manners or basic hygiene.
There is a lot of background here I will try to keep as to-the-point as possible. I am 34 with a 10 year-old daughter. My husband is 39 with a 15 year-old son. We each had kids at 23. We are 5 years apart, as are our kids. We were also friends for 5 years before “courting” & built a strong bond of trust already, so yes, we courted. I had rejected him a few times over the years, as I was abstinent after a toxic relationship & did not want to repeat the same patterns. Over the covid lockdowns, we started talking, texting, facetiming more than ever. When he asked me out again, I told him I was not interested in dating without the ultimate goal of marriage, to which he said, “Good. I don’t want a girlfriend, I want a wife.” 3 months later, we became engaged & our marriage is truly amazing & fulfilling in so nearly every way except one - my daughter & I, some of the most playful & outgoing outdoorsy girls you could meet, have no idea how to connect to his son. And there is nothing to make me think it is worth even trying anymore.
Miraculously, husband & I both get along extremely well with our co-parents. I could not see myself with someone that doesn’t. Neither of us have court orders or child support or rigid schedules. My daughter’s bio dad is one of my best friends, & I made very clear that a relationship with me means respecting his role. He said the same of his son’s bio mom. I come from a very blended family in which this is the ideal. My parents were at each other’s weddings & all get along & still get together. Our own coparents attended our wedding a year & a half ago. And that meant the absolute world to me & hopefully if not now, someday our kids.
For sure, my husband could not be a better stepfather. He & my daughter share inside jokes & their own games & pranks. She has her own nickname for him & will run to him & hug & climb all over him. They convinced me to add baby goats to our homestead, & have been tending to & bottle-feeding them both, a beautiful connection & commitment to share. He says, “She makes it easy.” And to put it lightly, his son does not - but I am absolutely not allowed to talk about it without getting ridiculed.
I first met the son when he was 13. Overweight, awkward, all of his hair in front of his eyes. He then retreated to his room. I know him to be the exact same now. He is 6’0 & I think over 200lbs, larger than my dad. He defaults to locking himself in his room. Unless asked to help stack wood or play a game with the rest of us, he only emerges to use the bathroom (in which he never brushes his teeth or washes his hands), or ask his dad for food - of which, he literally only eats yellow rice & chicken. He will otherwise smash an entire bag of “Takis” or flaming hot Cheetos at 10 AM & continuously throughout the day as they are available to him. He plays live multiplayer games from morning often to midnight or 3 AM, with my daughter’s room right next to him, where I blast the fan & AC & ocean sounds to drown him out. Calling this out seemed to be calling stepson out personally, so all I can do is adapt. Daughter thankfully likes it cold.
I have tried to be as soft & supportive in airing my grievances to husband, but they are never taken with grace or accountability. I am not perfect & have definitely been passive aggressive with his reactivity, as he takes my issues as insults rather than something to work on. He casts blame on bio mom or Covid, & now me. “I don’t know what goes on at bio-mom’s house, we moved an hour away & he gets carsick! I’m out of his life!” “It’s because he was stuck inside for 2 years!” “Are you sure you didn’t HEAR him say hi?” “Good news, I’ve been living with him 15 years, never sanitized a doorknob in his life, & I’ve been fine!” “I wouldn’t want to leave my room with you criticizing his every move either!”
Our first night in our new home for example, was a nightmare. My hand lotion moved from the bathroom counter to the back of the toilet - so then into our room immediately. He left the toilet seat open & my razor covered in pubes. He left open bags of chips with crumbs all over the counter. “It’s an adjustment, it’s hard on everyone!” Husband said over & over. This was an understatement, being that my daughter has been raised to ask for anything from snack time to screen time always with “please,” “thank you,” & we eat out of bowls that we put in the sink rather than stack in our room with soda cans & candy wrappers.. I am familiar with the saying, “Living room kids come from healthy families. Bedroom kids do not.” Daughter is a living room kid. Stepson is a bedroom kid. Either way, I had never had personal items used without asking &felt extremely violated by stepson, then upset that husband blamed me for it instead of understanding where I was coming from.
This remains true nearly a year later. My husband has started lashing out while drinking the past few months, accusing me of “HATING” his son, which is extremely hurtful as I do not harbor any hate in my heart for anyone. What I disdain is the way he is raising his son under our shared roof & living spaces, & that he refuses to acknowledge or communicate about it. As things were not greatly improving, I personally had a talk with stepson about basic manners. I said, “When you enter this house without a greeting or making eye contact, it is an insult. It comes off as rude & entitled & I don’t like feeling like a ghost in my own house. This is your house too & I want you to feel comfortable. But you can help me feel more comfortable too.” “Yeah, okay. Sorry.”
I have truly never had a real conversation with this kid. He does say “hi” & “bye” & the occasional “thank you” now. At this point, it is abundantly clear that he does not want me in a step role, & neither does his father, & neither does bio mom. So it seems I have no choice but to let it all go & suffer bad manners & hygiene, silence, & now bitter resentment from husband.
What I have observed is that I actually“coparent” with my daughter’s father. We coordinate around each other’s schedules, we make decisions together, we communicate about her physical, emotional, spiritual, educational, & social wellbeing. Husband & bio mom do not. They parent in isolation & simply let the other do as they please, which has resulted in a child without manners or discipline. This has led bio mom to put the kid on PROZAC without husband’s consent. This horrified me, as someone who only goes to the doctor for stitches. My daughter’s doctor is the naturopath who midwived her in the bedroom she still sleeps in at her father’s house. I understand not everyone is as holistically minded, but I begged husband to get him to a nutritionist first. The child is obese & malnourished. But too late. Bio mom did as she pleased without communication, which seems constant among them.
I have not shared my views as I know they are not welcome. Bio mom is medicated, her other 10 year-old son (deceased dad) is medicated, & now teenage stepson is as well. Husband blames our distance from him which feels like an indirect blame on me, as we are closer to my community & business as husband works from home. But truly they live in the ghetto, & I have always lived on the coast & barely like to drive through those inner cities. I set up a high school tour for them here which is one of the best schools in the state with a tech program I thought stepson would love, but he chose to stay with his friends, in one of the worst schools of the state. He incredibly won class president, though has dropped a bunch of honors classes & continues failing others.
My birthday was last week. When my husband asked what I wanted, I said baby back ribs & family. I just wanted to grill & chill due to an insane work week. I run a housekeeping business & worked for 24 hours in 3 days opening up for the summer rental season. I did not want to go crazy hosting & knew I would if we invited friends. “Are you sure? You wouldn’t be hosting, I will be! You don’t have to do a thing!” He emphasized over & again. So when a friend ended up visiting from out of state, I was ecstatic to invite her & our mutual close friend to BBQ with us. They are single moms with 4 toddlers between them & wanted to camp on our land.
We had a great day grilling & running the sprinkler & feeding the animals. Husband had promised stepson would be outside with us all day. Toward the evening, I asked where he was. “Do you see any other teenagers out there? What’s he supposed to do?” I was hurt. “Well I don’t see any 10 year-olds either, but [daughter] is still out there, & you actually said he would spend the whole day with us. I just want some time all together.” Husband knocked on his son’s door & said, “Hey it’s her birthday, it’d be nice if you come out & spend some time with us.” Then he did, & even if it was just a quick basketball game with his dad & he introduced himself to no one, it still meant so much to me.
So later when we had helped friends & toddlers set up a tent & fire in our woods, I hugged husband & thanked him for bringing stepson out with us, saying family time was all I wanted. “You two have such a healthy relationship,” my friend says. At the time, it uplifted him & he said he loved this friend to death. A few hours later, he said it was “hilarious.”
We had invited stepson’s mom, but she was out of town. My coparent joined us however, & he & husband stayed at camp with the moms & toddlers while I went to tuck daughter into bed around 9. We played some trivia to unwind, said a prayer, & I kissed her good night & went to start the dishes. Husband & coparent came back around 11 when I was ready to go to bed myself. They were suddenly on a completely different level as my slow & steady beer intake. Both their legs were gashed & covered in blood from their hike without a flashlight, which they thought was hysterical. They were loud & silly like, “You can’t go to bed, it’s your birrrfday!” & I realized, ah. They were drinking my girls’ tequila.
Coparent went on a drunk spiel thanking me so much for all the love I am, how I keep the family together, this & that & showering me with slurred praise. Husband was drunkenly yet enthusiastically agreeing & thanking me, saying I was the best. I tried staying up with them to be polite but they were so deep in conversation on a different level that I went to go make the baby goat formula for their 5AM feeding & go to bed. But I couldn’t find their bottles. I raised my hand with the men, gradually higher & higher to ask husband if he had seen them. “I see you have your hand raised, but hang on, let me finish this point,” coparent said. So husband finally noticed, & I cut in anyway asking if he had seen them. “As a matter of fact, no, YOU fed the goats last so I have no IDEA where they are,” he raised his voice, literally pointing a finger at me.
That suddenly spiraled into another drunken heated accusation of how much I hate his son. I started crying & saying all I wanted was for him to be with us today & that I was grateful he brought him out. He fought me saying they can never have a good weekend because of me, called me an “@$$hole,” & said “F you ,” 3 times in a row, upsetting me so much as there was absolutely nothing I could say, to the point I slugged him in the arm to get him to stop. This has happened twice before embarrassingly with alcohol, when he just yells & yells things that are not true & curses at me that I can’t even respond vocally. “You see how she treats me?!” Both men of course freaked out & coparent started yelling at me to listen to husband. This essentially turned into 2 hours of incessant berating from both of them. They both cried during their own tangents. It spun out of asking for baby goat bottles & continued til 2 AM with, for the first time, continual threats of divorce.
“You are not in this relationship & do not need to mediate it,” I told coparent.
“Like it or not, I am! How you treat husband affects all of us! His feelings are VALID & you need to be quiet & listen to him!” he said.
“I’ve heard this all before & it is simply not true! I do not hate stepson & he wants to divorce me because he thinks I do!”
“Emotions causes us to say things we don’t mean, he does not want to divorce you & knows you don’t hate him,” coparent said.
“Oh no, I DEFINITELY believe she hates him. And if I have to spend the last 4 years of his youth with my son being constantly criticized, I will absolutely divorce her!”
“I did not criticize him once today! I never criticize him, I am trying to help us become a functional household!”
And he just went round & round in the same circular aggressions that can only hear themselves. I continually begged for them to stop yelling as daughter’s window was open, the baby goats needed sleep, our rabbits didn’t need that stress. But I got yelled at more for that. “You can’t control passion & you need to sit down & LISTEN to your husband!” Coparent kept insisting. But I had heard it all many times before. I even tried to sleep in the goat pen, trying to settle the poor babies, still hearing the men raise their voices about me, how being critical was just my nature, & then got yelled out of there.
Around midnight, I tried to resign again & go back inside to finish dishes when stepson emerged. “Do you know where Dad is?” “Oh he’s outside, you can probably save him from [daughter’s dad].” He went into the bathroom. So I poked my head out while they continued bashing me & said, “Stepson needs you.” “I’ll be right there.” I went back to the dishes. Stepson comes out of the bathroom. As always, flushes, no faucet (or hand-washing). “He says he’ll be right there sweetie.” No words, back into his bedroom. 10 minutes go by & still no husband as I continue the endless dishes. I poke my head out again. “Did you not hear me? Your son needs you.” “ALL RIGHT!”
Turns out he needed dinner. Despite a huge spread of barbecue & potatoes & corn & pasta & salad & veggies & dips, stepson touched none of it & needed his chicken & yellow rice. So husband literally cooked him dinner at 1230AM, all the while continuing to accuse me of hating him whilst doing so.
Coparent authentically apologized the next morning on the phone. “You screamed at me for HOURS when I was ready for bed to listen to falsities I have heard over & over without ONCE trying to hear me.” He got it. He humbled & admitted specific wrongs & I accepted his apology.
“Sorry” does not seem to mean anything when you throw around the “D” word like that though. Husband pledged to stop drinking. To his credit, 3 days later, he still hasn’t. But when I said, “If you think I am capable of hate, you don’t know me at all,” the best apology he could give me was, “I’m sorry, I don’t think you hate him. But I know you don’t like him.” Then, “I don’t want to divorce you. I feel like I ruined our entire lives in one night.”
I told him that this is going to take more than “sorry” to heal, especially where blame is still cast, & he will have to “show” me. I don’t even know how, through more conscientious parenting? We haven’t slept in the same bed in 3 nights. I haven’t cooked for him, but I still clean after him. We finished some homestead projects in near-silence together.
I think I must resign to being the invisible ghost stepson makes me feel like. Do I have ANY role here but to resign & accept his parenting & continue mine with my daughter alone, while he reaps the benefits of an amazing relationship with her? Isolation parenting just like with stepson’s biomom ? If not for my daughter & our animals & gardens, I would just want to lock myself in a room all day too. But that’s what is so hard for me to get. We have nearly 30 acres & this child is permitted to be a blob on a screen living on empty calories all day & night. I cannot & will not blame a child for anything. I told my husband that when a plant isn’t thriving, you nourish it & improve its environment. He said he didn’t get it. And as deeply as I love him & don’t want to even think about divorce, I have never been so unattracted to him.

I don’t know how many follow or have read the books in this sub, but this is one of the most interesting things I’ve found after reading Rhaenyra being called “Maegor with tits” by the Green opposition.
This is all from the Internet. A click away from any phone.

Socrates was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and among the first moral philosophers of the ethical tradition of thought.
An enigmatic figure, Socrates authored no texts and is known mainly through the posthumous accounts of classical writers, particularly his students Plato and Xenophon. These accounts are written as dialogues, in which Socrates and his interlocutors examine a subject in the style of question and answer; they gave rise to the Socratic dialogue literary genre.
Contradictory accounts of Socrates make a reconstruction of his philosophy nearly impossible, a situation known as the Socratic problem. Socrates was a polarizing figure in Athenian society. In 399 BC, he was accused of impiety and corrupting the youth. After a trial that lasted a day, he was sentenced to death. He spent his last day in prison, refusing offers to help him escape.
There were four charges that were brought against Socrates. They were that he argued the weaker claim over the stronger claim, that he argue the physical over the metaphysical, that he was against the gods and that he was corrupting the youth.
Socrates was found guilty by a jury of 501 Athenians and was sentenced to drink a deadly poison, named hemlock. Many scholars have argued that the charges against Socrates were politically motivated and have understood his trial and conviction as an attack upon freedom of speech and an indictment of democracy.

The Last Moments of Maegor’s Reign, losing against a misogynistic society led by petty and ambitious nobles and against the Faith of the Seven, a religion that enforces gender roles and inequality between men and women.

By 48 AC Maegor's tyranny could no longer be borne by the realm. At Storm's End Aenys I's last surviving son, Prince Jaehaerys, put forth his claim to the throne, supported by Lord Rogar Baratheon, who was named Protector of the Realm and Hand of the King by the prince. Jaehaerys had two dragons on his side, his own mount Vermithor and his sister's mount Silverwing, against Maegor's Balerion. Grand Maester Benifer secretly escaped on a ship to Pentos. Ser Olyver Bracken and Ser Raymund Mallery, two of Maegor's Kingsguard, also deserted him. Lord Daemon Velaryon, the admiral of the royal fleet, and brother of Alyssa Velaryon was the first of the great lords to forsake Maegor, taking the royal fleet with him, and many other lords followed his example. The great houses of Lannister, Tyrell, and Arryn came out against Maegor and in the riverlands House Tully gave support to Septon Moon and Ser Joffrey Doggett, the leaders of the Poor Fellows.
Maegor called his banners in response, but few answered, giving Maegor an army of barely four thousand soldiers. Despite this, Maegor refused to surrender. At the end of the war council, Maegor remained behind alone in the throne room to brood. He was found dead the next morning by Queen Elinor, seated on the Iron Throne with his robes covered in blood and his wrists slashed. A spike from one of the swords on the throne behind him was impaled through the back of his neck. How Maegor died was never discovered. Some say he had been killed by Queen Elinor, others that he had been killed by a knight of his own Kingsguard. Yet others say he had been killed by a builder who escaped the slaughter three years earlier and desired revenge, and many believe that Maegor had been killed by the throne itself. Others believe that Maegor killed himself by opening his wrists on the blades of the Iron Throne.

The fate of Maegor’s loyal supporters.

Owen Bush was a knight of the Kingsguard during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen. When Maegor suspected Queen Tyanna of the Tower of betrayal, he had Owen and his sworn brother, Ser Maladon Moore, bring her to the dungeons, where she confessed.
Maegor the Cruel gradually lost political support, resulting in a rival threat in his nephew, Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen. Two of his Kingsguard defected to Jaehaerys, and Maegor lost a third guard when Owen was found dead outside a brothel in 48 AC, his member cut off and stuffed in his mouth.
Maladon Moore was a knight from House Moore and a member of the Kingsguard during the reign of King Maegor I Targaryen. When the king suspected Queen Tyanna of the Tower of treason, Maladon and Owen were dispatched to seize the queen and deliver her to the dungeons, where Maegor was said to have slain her while Maladon was present.
After Maegor died in 48 AC and his nephew King Jaehaerys I Targaryen took the Iron Throne, Maladon was accused of being involved in the death of Queen Ceryse, allegedly restraining her when Ser Owen accidentally killed her. Maladon denied these charges, insisting she died of "shrewishness". While the charges were never proven, Maladon lost his head for his involvement in Queen Tyanna's death, of which he was guilty.
When Queen Tyanna of the Tower admitted to poisoning Queen Alys Harroway during her pregnancy, Tyanna promised the same would happen to Elinor. Tyanna was proven correct when Elinor gave birth to a stillborn abomination said to have been born eyeless and with small wings. Elinor was one of the two wives who survived the king, the other being Queen Rhaena Targaryen.
After King Maegor's death, Lord Daemon Velaryon proposed that King Jaehaerys I Targaryen marry Queen Elinor to reconcile with Maegor's supporters when a bride was being considered for the king, but nothing came of the proposal. After Jaehaerys's ascent, Elinor departed King's Landing dressed in the robes of a penitent. She visited her two elder sons at the Eyrie and Highgarden before retiring to her father's seat at the Three Towers with her youngest son.
Later, King Jaehaerys commanded Elinor to go forth and spread his Doctrine of Exceptionalism to the peoples of the Seven Kingdoms, as well as the goodness of Jaehaerys and Alysanne, becoming one of the Seven Speakers. Her queenly raiment became shabbier and more threadbare each day, and she eventually gave up all claims to nobility, becoming Mother Elinor at the great motherhouse in Lannisport.
House Rosby was one of the first houses to yield peacefully to House Targaryen during Aegon's Conquest, surrendering to Rhaenys Targaryen and Meraxes. The Rosby lands became part of the crownlands surrounding King's Landing. Lord Jon Rosby was named Warden of the Sands by King Aegon I Targaryen during the First Dornish War, but Jon was killed in the Defenestration of Sunspear.
Ser Rayford Rosby defended King Maegor I Targaryen during his trial of seven, but Rayford was slain during the fighting. Lord Rosby remained loyal to the king even as his downfall became certain, and was one of the last to see the king alive. In the chaos that followed the discovery of Maegor's body, Lord Rosby drank a cup of hemlock to join his king in death. His young son received forgiveness from King Jaehaerys I Targaryen at Dragonstone.
In 47 AC, King Maegor was dealing with the issue of his lack of heirs, despite having already married three women. Lord Daemon Velaryon, Rhaena's uncle and a member of Maegor's small council, advised Maegor to wed Rhaena, to unite their claims and prevent new rebellions, and to gain her as a hostage against any potential schemes of Dowager Queen Alyssa. Later that year, Maegor summoned Rhaena to King's Landing, and she did not defy him. At the Red Keep, Maegor married Rhaena in a triple ceremony, together with Elinor Costayne and Jeyne Westerling. As the three women were all widows of men Maegor had killed, they became known as the "Black Brides". Immediately following the wedding, Maegor declared Rhaena's elder daughter Aerea as his heir until he had sons of his own, while disinheriting Rhaena's youngest brother Jaehaerys in the same decree.
After Maegor’s death, discussion arose as to who had the better claim to the Iron Throne. There were some who suggested that Rhaena's claim, as the firstborn child of King Aenys I Targaryen and Queen Alyssa Velaryon, was the strongest. Her gender argued against her, however, and Rhaena herself had come to loathe King's Landing and its court. The claims of her daughters were argued for as well. If Maegor was to be considered a usurper, the true king would have been Rhaena's first husband, Aegon, who had claimed the throne before Jaehaerys had. As such, some suggested the throne should pass to one of his daughters by Rhaena, Aerea or Rhaella.
As time passed, Rhaena began to resent the fact that her claim to the throne, and that of her daughters, had been dismissed in favor of Jaehaerys, to whom she began to refer as "my baby brother". In addition, Rhaena begrudged her mother for promoting Jaehaerys's claim over her own.
Ser Walton Towers was granted Harrenhal by King Maegor I Targaryen in 44 AC after winning a melee in Lord Harroway's Town, but Walton died soon after from his wounds. Harrenhal thus passed to his eldest son. Lord Jordan remained loyal to Maegor during the king's wars, and Lord Rosby were the last to see the king alive before Maegor's death on the Iron Throne. Along with Lords Darklyn and Staunton, Jordan yielded the Red Keep to Prince Jaehaerys, Princess Rhaena, and Princess Alysanne Targaryen. The three lords were sent to the black cells, but were eventually pardoned by King Jaehaerys I after surrendering some of their land.
Jordan eventually died of a chest congestion. Harrenhal passed to Jordan's last surviving son, Maegor Towers, as Jordan's older sons had all died fighting for King Maegor.
Maegor's father, Lord Jordan Towers, was one of the last lords of the Seven Kingdoms who remained loyal to King Maegor I Targaryen. All of Jordan's sons died fighting in the king's wars, with the exception of young Maegor.
Maegor became Lord Towers after the death of his father due to a chest congestion. When King Jaehaerys I Targaryen began a royal progress in 53 AC to celebrate the new year, his first stop was to see the new Lord of Harrenhal, then only nine years of age.
Maegor was an impoverished lord who resided in the Tower of Dread with only a cook and three men-at-arms. Since the rest of Harrenhal was empty, King Jaehaerys settled his widowed sister, Rhaena Targaryen, in the Widow's Tower in 56 AC. Maegor and Rhaena eventually became friends, and she cared for his servants after Maegor passed away in 61 AC. Harrenhal was granted to House Strong after Rhaena passed away in 73 AC.
Maegor was sickly and poor.
Socrates speaks his last words to Crito: "Crito, we owe a cock to Asclepius. Please, don't forget to pay the debt". Asclepius was the Greek god for curing illness, and it is likely that Socrates' last words were implied to mean that death is the cure, and freedom of the soul from the body.
Asclepius, Greco-Roman god of medicine, son of Apollo (god of healing, truth, and prophecy) and the mortal princess Coronis. The Centaur Chiron taught him the art of healing. At length Zeus (the king of the gods), afraid that Asclepius might render all men immortal, slew him with a thunderbolt.
Zeus saw Asclepius & his medical skills as a threat to the eternal division between humanity & the gods. Asclepius met a tragic end when he was killed by a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus.
Socrates ultimately does not fear death because of his innocence, he believes that death is not to be feared because it may be one of the greatest blessings of the soul.
The reasons for Socrates not escaping when he had the chance the night prior; are made explicit before the Laws make their speech. Because escape defies the will of the Athenians, it requires stealth and bribery, shameful practices that are unjustified in the current situation.
Socrates Feared Democracies Would Elect Demagogues. The term arose in Greece in the fifth century BCE, right around Socrates's time, and is often used negatively. Socrates himself was extremely worried that the democratic format would give rise to a demagoguery.
Demagogues are political leaders who seek support by appealing to the desires and prejudices of ordinary people rather than by using rational argument.
Modern demagogues include Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and Joseph McCarthy, all of whom built mass followings the same way that Cleon did: by exciting the passions of the masses against customs and norms of the aristocratic elites of their times.

This is why Maegor and Socrates died. They challenged authority and lost. They were silenced by the powerful lords and by the elected council of Athens whom were given power by the common people.
They were “heroes”.
“My own heroes are the dreamers, those men and women who tried to make the world a better place than when they found it, whether in small ways or great ones. Some succeeded, some failed, most had mixed results... but it is the effort that's heroic, as I see it. Win or lose, I admire those who fight the good fight.
George R.R. Martin.
King Maegor had married all his brides and gave them Queenly status.

Jeyne was married to Lord Alyn Tarbeck. She was widowed when Alyn died during the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye in 43 AC. Jeyne was pregnant when her husband died, and gave him a posthumous son a few months later.

In 47 AC, Jeyne was being courted by a younger son of Lyman Lannister, the Lord of Casterly Rock, when King Maegor I Targaryen sent for her to be wed to him. She married Maegor in a ceremony at King's Landing, along with Lady Elinor Costayne and Princess Rhaena Targaryen. As all three women had been widowed due to Maegor, they became known as the "Black Brides". The stories told of the wedding night claim that Jeyne was given a fertility potion by Queen Tyanna of the Tower, and either drank it, or threw it in Tyanna's face. After the wedding, Queen Jeyne's son was confirmed as Lord of Tarbeck Hall, and sent to Casterly Rock to be raised as a ward of Lyman Lannister.

Lord Edwell Celtigar, the Hand of the King, announced half a year after the wedding that Queen Jeyne was pregnant, and Queen Elinor's pregnancy was announced shortly afterwards. Maegor, joyful, showered both his wives with gifts and honors, and granted new lands and offices to their fathers, brothers, and uncles. Unfortunately, Jeyne's labor began three months early, and she gave birth to a stillborn child, monstrous, lacking arms and legs but possessing both male and female genitalia. Jeyne herself died soon after.

In 48 AC, Tyanna of the Tower confessed to having poisoned Jeyne's child in the womb.
This is all on the awoiaf wiki.
George is a better writer than we’ve given him credit for.
Please feel free to discuss and ask questions.

Trump is going to get a hung jury thanks to juror #2. Here’s the proof of that.
His other trials will result in the same. Idk how any of you morons haven’t figured out that the justice system is made to punish the poor and protect the rich and powerful. But maybe by the time he wins on November it’ll finally hit you.
After he wins, he will implement project 2025 which will control elections so that only maga conservatives win. After that, he’ll implement the changes to the constitution he’s been talking about and eliminate the 2-term limit. That, coupled with project 2025, will guarantee he be your president until he dies. At which point he’ll have one of his sons take the reign to continue the dynasty.
All you idiots need to do is vote for Biden. But your to stupid to realize a bad candidate is better than a literal fascist. So you’re going to “not vote on principle” or throw away your vote on the worms that control RFK jr.
Your vote for trump is going to guarantee he finish destroying America in exchange for billions of dollars.

I see everyone up in arms calling Trump a liar. I think he’s a lot of shit things but what I don’t think he is, is a liar. What I do know is that Biden and his administration def hates crypto, so I much rather take my chances this time going red. In all honestly, Trump never mentioned anything leading up to his first presidency that he didn’t actually try to do when he did get in office. Whether successful or not, whether I agreed with it or not.. he didn’t blatantly lie like Biden has about every single thing he has ever swore to do. Team blue is against crypto and they have done everything they could to try to stop the crypto train. I voted blue my whole life until this last election. I’m just good on the sleazy politicians. Not a fan of trump by any means but lesser of two evils by far. I’m voting with my interest in mind this time.

Was traveling from the airport to home in Hyderabad yesterday. The driver was speaking on the phone with his wife and spoke in a language I did not understand. I asked him what language it is, he said it was Lambadi, and he is ST. (I did not ask him anything other than the language details).
The conversation was slow, as the drive was over an hour, so nothing forced, lots of meaningful pauses in between. I later asked if he voted this year and he said he did. I asked if he doesn't mind telling me who he voted for, he said he won't mind and said that he voted for BJP. A little bit later I asked him why he voted for BJP, he said that there were many things like Modi built Ram Mandir, got the Kashmir thing resolved, and was tough against China. I had a confused face when he said China, so he confirmed that Modi got an app banned belonging to China.
A few minutes later, I asked him where he got his news from. Apparently, from social media, and TV news which repeats the same set of information over and over. I said, I have a family (who were in the cab with me), and I worry about things like education, health, infrastructure and leaving a better India for them, so in that case BJP did not deliver for me. His response was that those things will take care of themselves, but Modi did things for the country and he's proud about it. I brought up things like the covid issue and how it was handled. Apparently the actor Chiranjeevi donated a lot of oxygen during the crisis. I asked him if oxygen, and health should be the government's job as every 100 rupees we earn, 30 is taken away for tax, that should've been put to use.
He apparently did not know about Draupadi Murmu, our president who is from SC/ST. I told him that she wasn't invited to the Ram Mandir event. I think he got disappointed with that as then he said that all politicians have to bring politics in between and not worry about the people. He also said that he voted for Congress in the state election because apparently KCR was good in his first term, but got very arrogant in his second term.
Overall, it was a respectful discussion. I did not get the pushback about Congress at the centre and I told him that there are no great leaders but voting should be for the people. He also knew about climate change with the Dubai flooding and heatwaves but not the whole phenomenon as to why it is happening. The thing about voting is that it is mostly a collective decision within societies and cliques and once the support turns, the mood changes within the community and they vote together.
I wish I had this discussion earlier before he voted, and I hope that the driver will look at things differently. With friends and family, this type of discussion would end up in shouting lol.

I know there have been a handful of posts about this, but I thought I'd toss in my two cents as well since this is so new. Spoilers and such for the show.
Quick notes on my musical biases/knowledge limitations and such: I haven't seen The Great Gatsby that's currently on Broadway, a lot of my own musical theatre preferences are influenced by Sondheim, I am not the most familiar with new musicals from the past decade or so (not since Fun Home and Hamilton, essentially), and I enjoy Florence and the Machine's music.
Overall, I really enjoyed it-- enough so that I actually booked tickets for a post-opening performance to see what changes are made and what it becomes. I would recommend it for those who enjoy Chekhov-- essentially, those who like to explore specific social themes through characters and are ok with bittersweet-to-kinda-downer shows. Another playwright that comes to mind is Eugene O'Neill, but I don't think the show is that much of a downer. (If I'm being pretentious, I think this is very much a playwright/theatre nerd's musical.)
The show really hones in on the novel's themes of social class (old money vs new money vs working poor), the empty/broken promises of the fabled "American Dream", and the delusions and self-destructive lengths we go to try and capture impossible dreams. There's a reason why this is subtitled "An American Myth"-- it serves as a dual reference for Gatsby in the story (a mysterious man who throws extravagant parties night after night but is never seen), and the myth of the American Dream. The show's willingness to engage with and expand on Fitzgerald's bleak themes may also be why I suspect this is opening in Boston, rather than the Public or some other off-Broadway-to-Broadway incubator in NYC-- the Big City that sells the world on promises that any poor nobody can become a rich somebody with enough personal sacrifice, as long as you're willing to pay the price. (And, accordingly, why I have a feeling that, if/when it does make it to Broadway, it will be critically lauded but may not be a big commercial draw, unfortunately. It might be too critical a mirror for a majority of the local NYC audience and too much of a bummer for tourists wanting a fun time.)
As has been mentioned in the comments of posts on this production, the role of Myrtle has been expanded from the novel. She's less of a random plot device and is now a fleshed out character with her own wants and desires. She mirrors Gatsby in a lot of ways-- she's the "what if" version if he had never met Wolfsheim and become a somebody while in pursuit of capturing what was lost.
The score and lyrics absolutely have Florence Welch's musical DNA all over it. Her moody melancholy style meshes incredibly well with the story and themes from the novel that get highlighted in the musical. I believe this is Welch's first musical, and I suspect that it's also her co-collaborator's (Thomas Bartlett) first musical as well. Their music shows a ton of promise but I think some parts still need tweaking to fit a musical structure. To me, the first act feels like a series of singles sung by the lead characters strung together with some ensemble expository songs. The score could make stronger use of musical motifs and throughlines, and ideally begin weaving it together near the end of the first act. However, things do all beautifully come together as a cohesive whole for Act 2; it just feels a little late at that point, in my opinion.
The cast is incredible. Props to all from ensemble to leads. Solea Pfeiffer as Myrtle and Charlotte Macinnes as Daisy are both riveting. Isaac Powell plays a very humanized Gatsby-- mysterious one moment, but a total dork the moment he has a tea party with Daisy. Ben Levi Ross' Nick is wry and yes, the gay/lesbian subtext from the novel becomes textual for both him and Eleri Ward's Jordan.
Analyzing choreography is not my strong suit, but there are some strong Fosse influences. Myrtle's death scene stands out in my mind with its delicate but impactful staging.
The set is a minimalist, gnarled chrome mass of automobile bits with a set of stairs that pivot out to wooden bookshelves of books. The band is also on stage on the often-used second level. Rachel Chavkin, the director, had a preshow speech and noted that two set pieces weren't ready yet. Honestly likely would not have noticed had she not mentioned it.
Anyway, would love to hear others' thoughts on the show. It's been a while since I've felt like nerding out over a musical.

I am an applicant considering the MPP programs at Georgetown and the University of Chicago. While the University of Chicago is undoubtedly strong academically, I've heard that the Harris program is quite large, and I'm concerned that this might compromise the quality of instruction. I understand that master's programs are generally seen as cash cows, but I wonder if Harris might be an extreme case. Teaching quality can vary, but with such large class sizes, crowded classrooms, and potential financial issues at the school, there could be concerns. My inclination towards Harris is due to its curriculum being heavily focused on economics, including the electives, which allows me to focus almost entirely on economics and econometrics. However, I am worried about the quality of instruction, especially the theoretical focus in the use of tools like R and Stata, with not enough practical coding practice. I believe that having good professors and utilizing Chicago’s geographical location would satisfy me. As for the career services office, I have minimal expectations, as it is not an MBA program.
I know students often complain about their schools, especially considering the high tuition fees. However, my expectations are not high. I come from the University of Sydney, which seems to have a high academic ranking, but the teaching quality is poor with classes of 300 students that focus primarily on theory with little attention to practical application. I once studied for a year at a top-five public university in the U.S., and I feel that as long as the program meets the standards of a typical public university, that would be sufficient for me. I am not expecting the standards of a liberal arts college.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, we find ourselves amidst a spectacle that’s spun out into a charade much against the true spirit of justice and political dignity. A supposed regular presser by the Biden campaign, executed with Hollywood flair, turned into a denouncement platform against former President Donald Trump. This media frenzy took place right outside the Manhattan courthouse, drawing more attention than the closing arguments of a trial that has been as contentious as it has been polarizing.
Now, let's cut through the chase here. Hollywood actors like Robert De Niro, who have zero experience in political administration, were commandeered to vilify Trump. De Niro, amidst his dramatic narrative, claimed that Trump’s potential return to the Oval Office meant a goodbye to freedoms and elections. Hyperbolic? Absolutely. Such statements not only stoke unnecessary fear but also divert from constructive political discourse.
It's crucial to underline that while the Biden campaign insisted their presence at the courthouse was purely coincidental, it’s hard to dismiss the conspicuous timing and setting as mere happenstance. The trial, which has captured massive media attention, conveniently turned into a stage for political theatrics rather than focusing on facts and lawful proceedings. The Democrats, desperate as they seem, are clutching at straws trying to sway public opinion by staging such dramatic interventions.
From a background standpoint, it’s insightful to note that since the start of this trial, Trump’s lead over Biden has not only persisted but widened, according to national polling averages. This surely ramps up the pressure on the opposition. Democratic strategist Pete Giangreco’s admission that weighing Biden’s term against Trump’s would be a losing battle everyday flags an inherent acknowledgment of Trump’s effective administrative policies and leadership that resonated with many Americans.
Looking ahead, the implications of these developments are significant. If political campaigns continue to rely on court steps rather than policy debates and genuine public engagement, what does this spell for the future of American political integrity? Will the courtroom dramas overshadow the real issues that everyday Americans face?
Conclusively, what we witnessed today isn’t an anomaly but perhaps a glimpse into a campaign strategy that could recurrently surface as we approach more critical junctures in American politics. The use of entertainment figures in political campaigns while entertaining, may not necessarily equate to informed, balanced political discourse.
(Facts extracted from NY Post. Political bias cleaned and rewritten by Listen2.ai.)

I'll preface this by saying that I am all for free speech on campus. Even ignorant or hateful speech that I disagree with. Sure, I feel sad for these speakers, but it is so important that this nation's colleges and universities are bastions of free speech. I care so much about this, that I have made a monthly donation to FIRE for years.
That said, I'm actually livid that people are trespassing in classrooms to protest. What the actual fuck? Why are they being allowed to terrorize the educational experience of their fellow students? Keep it in the quad or wherever else. Trespassing into classrooms to protest is not cool.
So, in just four easy steps:

1. Wonder where the hell campus police are if the trespassers are doing this to class after class after class
2. Tell the trespassers to leave
3. When they ignore you or argue with you, tell the trespassers that if they don't leave, you're going to use reasonable force to remove them from the classroom and end their trespass, as you are entitled to do under California Penal Code § 692 and a century-and-a-half of caselaw
4. When they still don't leave, make good on your threat -- firmly but gently drag their asses out of the classroom one by one

Here’s what I mean: first, Trump is convicted of trying to overturn the 2020 election, he is found guilty of corruption at the end of his hush money trial and is found guilty of other charges of corruption while in office and is imprisoned. This would mean Joe Biden would be handed an automatic win (I think?).
Except this doesn’t happen either: in a sudden escalation of events Joe Biden dies suddenly before his win can be announced. Kamala Harris is then assassinated by enraged MAGA supporters who vow to break Trump out of prison, going so far as to call other MAGA members to stage another attack on the US Capitol Building in DC if that’s what it takes to put Trump back in the White House so Project 2025 can happen.
America is now in a state of emergency, with both MAGA members and Democrats engaging in mass rioting nationwide, each of them blaming each other as the catalyst for this episode of madness in America. Acting President Mike Johnson declares martial law and deploys National Guards troops to restore order but MAGA militia fight back, resulting in firefights between MAGA rebels and government loyalists in major cities nationwide.
The Second American Civil War has begun.
What happens from this point onwards?

The defense and the prosecution today made their closing statements in the New York criminal case against Trump for falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, also known as Stormy Daniels. The payment was intended to stop her account of her sexual encounter with Trump from becoming public in the days before the 2016 election, when the Trump campaign was already reeling from the Access Hollywood tape showing Trump boasting of sexual assault.
The Biden-Harris campaign showed up at the trial today with veteran actor Robert DeNiro and former police officers Michael Fanone and Harry Dunn, who protected the U.S. Capitol and members of Congress from rioters on January 6, 2021. In words seemingly calculated to get under Trump’s skin, DeNiro said, “We New Yorkers used to tolerate him when he was just another grubby real estate hustler masquerading as a big shot,” and called him a coward.
When Robert Costa of CBS News asked campaign spokesperson Michael Tyler why they had shown up at the trial, Tyler answered: “Because you all are here. You’ve been incessantly covering this day in and day out, and we want to remind the American people ahead of the…first debate on June 27 of the unique, persistent, and growing threat that Donald Trump poses to the American people and to our democracy. So since you all are here, we’re here communicating that message.”
Yesterday, in remarks at Arlington National Cemetery in observance of Memorial Day, President Joe Biden honored “the sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands of women and men who’ve given their lives for this nation. Each one…a link in the chain of honor stretching back to our founding days. Each one bound by common commitment—not to a place, not to a person, not to a President, but to an idea unlike any idea in human history: the idea of the United States of America.”
“[F]reedom has never been guaranteed,” Biden said. “Every generation has to earn it; fight for it; defend it in battle between autocracy and democracy, between the greed of a few and the rights of many…. And just as our fallen heroes have kept the ultimate faith with our country and our democracy, we must keep faith with them,” he said.
His speech at Arlington echoed the message he delivered to this year’s graduating class at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he urged the graduates to hold fast to their oaths. “On your very first day at West Point, you raised your right hands and took an oath—not to a political party, not to a president, but to the Constitution of the United States of America—against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” he said to applause. Soldiers “have given their lives for that Constitution. They have fought to defend the freedoms that it protects: the right to vote, the right to worship, the right to raise your voice in protest. They have saved and sacrificed to ensure, as President Lincoln said, a ‘government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the Earth.’”
“[N]othing is guaranteed about our democracy in America. Every generation has an obligation to defend it, to protect it, to preserve it, to choose it,” he said. “Now, it’s your turn.” Biden spent more than an hour saluting and shaking the hand of each graduate.
In contrast, Trump ushered in Memorial Day with a post on his social media company, saying: “Happy Memorial Day to All, including the Human Scum that is working so hard to destroy our Once Great Country, & to the Radical Left, Trump Hating Federal Judge in New York that presided over, get this, TWO separate trials, that awarded a woman, who I never met before (a quick handshake at a celebrity event, 25 years ago, doesn’t count!), 91 MILLION DOLLARS for “DEFAMATION.” He then continued to attack E. Jean Carroll, the writer who successfully sued him for defamation, before turning to attack Judge Arthur Engoron, who presided over the civil case of Trump and the Trump Organization falsifying documents, and Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the current criminal case in New York.
The message behind this extraordinary post was twofold: Trump can think of nothing but himself…and he appears to be terrified.
On Saturday, May 25, Trump had an experience quite different from his usual reception at rallies of hand-picked supporters. He was resoundingly booed at the national convention of the Libertarian Party in Washington, D.C., where Secret Service agents confiscated squeaky rubber chickens before his speech. Attendees jeered Trump’s order, “You have to combine with us,” even when he reminded them of his libertarian credentials—tax cuts and defunding of federal equality programs—and promised to pardon the January 6 rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol.
Trump also promised to pardon Ross Ulbricht, who founded and from January 2011 to October 2013 ran an online criminal marketplace called Silk Road, where more than $200 million in illegal drugs and other illicit goods and services, such as computer hacking, were bought and sold. Most of the sales were of drugs, with the Silk Road home page listing nearly 13,000 options, including heroin, cocaine, ecstasy, and LSD. The wares were linked to at least six deaths from overdose around the world. In May 2015, Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison and was ordered to forfeit more than $180 million.
Libertarians want Ulbricht released because they support drug legalization on the grounds that people should be able to make their own choices and they see Ulbricht’s sentence as government overreach. Trump has repeatedly called for the death penalty for drug dealers, making his promise to pardon Ulbricht an illustration of just how badly he thinks he needs the support of Libertarian voters. But they refused to endorse him.
Trump appeared angry, and on Sunday, as Greg Sargent reported in The New Republic, he reposted a video of a man raging at MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. In it, the man says that when Trump is reelected: “He’ll get rid of all you f*cking liberals. You liberals are gone when he f*cking wins. You f*cking blowjob liberals are done. Uncle Donnie’s gonna take this election—landslide. Landslide, you f*cking half a blowjob. Landslide. Get the f*ck out of here, you scumbag.”
Trump’s elevation of this video, Sargent notes, is a dangerous escalation of his already violent rhetoric, and yet it has gotten very little media attention.
Last November, Matt Gertz of Media Matters reported that ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News provided 18 times more coverage of 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s comment at a fundraising event that “you could put half of Trump’s supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables” who are “racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic,” than they provided of Trump’s November 2023 promise to “root out the communist, Marxist, fascist and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country.”
CNN, the Fox News Channel, and MSNBC mentioned the “deplorables” comment nearly 9 times more than Trump’s “vermin” language. The ratio for the five highest-circulating U.S. newspapers was 29:1.
Clinton’s statement was consistent with polling, and she added that the rest of Trump’s supporters were “people who feel that the government has let them down, the economy has let them down, nobody cares about them, nobody worries about what happens to their lives and their futures, and they’re just desperate for change.” She said: “Those are people we have to understand and empathize with as well.”
Sargent noted that news stories require context and that Trump’s elevation of the violent video should be placed alongside his many threats to prosecute his enemies. While there is often concern over disrespect toward right-wing voters, Sargent writes, there has been very little attention to the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s posting of “a video that declares a large ideological subgroup of Americans ‘done’ and ‘gone’ if he is elected.”
Scott MacFarlane of CBS News reported yesterday that Republicans have ignored a law passed in March 2022 requiring the placement of a small plaque honoring police officers who protected the U.S. Capitol and the lawmakers and staffers there on January 6, 2021. It was supposed to be in place by March 2023 but has not gone up. A spokesperson for House speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) says his office is working on it. Kayla Tausche of CNN reported today that three of the police officers at the Capitol that day—Sergeant Aquilino Gonell and Officer Harry Dunn, both retired, and Officer Daniel Hodges, who is still with the Washington, D.C., metropolitan police—will be traveling to swing states for the Biden campaign to tell voters that Trump threatens Americans’ fundamental rights.
Finally, today, Melinda French Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced $1 billion in new spending over the next two years “for people and organizations working on behalf of women and families around the world, including on reproductive rights in the United States.” Only 2% of charitable giving in the U.S. goes to these organizations, she wrote the New York Times, and “[f]or too long, a lack of money has forced organizations fighting for women's rights into a defensive posture while the enemies of progress play offense. I want to help even the match.”
—
Notes:
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/26/libertarians-reject-trump-rfk-chase-oliver-presidential-nominee-00160040
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/05/27/remarks-by-president-biden-at-the-156th-national-memorial-day-observance-arlington-va/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/05/25/remarks-by-president-biden-in-commencement-address-to-the-united-states-military-academy-at-west-point-west-point-ny/
https://newrepublic.com/article/181973/trump-media-attacks-media-dangerous-turn
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/congress-fails-to-install-plaque-honoring-jan-6-police-officers/
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/28/politics/biden-campaign-january-6-officers/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c722qy5dzlgo
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/25/trump-commute-ross-ulbricht-sentence-libertarian-convention-00160025
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ross-ulbricht-aka-dread-pirate-roberts-sentenced-life-federal-prison-creating
https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-is-spotlighting-ross-ulbricht-silk-road-appeal-to-libertarians-2024
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4305566-trump-doubles-down-death-penalty-for-drug-dealers/
https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/major-news-outlets-gave-much-less-coverage-trumps-vermin-attack-then-they-did-clintons
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4687060-donald-trump-squeaky-chicken-libertarian-controversy/
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/28/opinion/melinda-french-gates-reproductive-rights.html
The Dworkin ReportDe Niro and Jan 6 Heroes Unload on Trump Outside NY TrialRobert De Niro just showed up outside the New York City courthouse, where Trump is facing 34 felony counts. Rightwing lunatics are already trying to start conspiracy theories lying and saying that thi…Read more8 hours ago · 765 likes · 132 comments · Scott Dworkin
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Demographics: White Male, Mother has Bachelors of Science, Family income of 98k, Title 1 School, Small town (~16k residents)
Stats: 11 APs - Calc AB & BC, Bio, APUSH, Euro, Gov, Psych, Lang, Lit, Chem, Physics C I assume all scores will be a 5.
3.98 unweighted gpa 4.54 Weighted gpa (0.333 weight for honors classes & 1.0 for AP)
Currently 5th in class, hope to get 1st or 2nd next year
36 ACT Composite (36 for all sub scores)
ECs: 1) Speech & Debate - Freshman Year 2) DECA - Sophomore-Senior Year (President) 3) Community Service Club - Junior Year 4) NHS - Junior & Senior Years 5) JV Tennis - Sophomore-Senior Year 6) Supermilage - Senior Year 7) Robotics? - Maybe Senior Year 8) Private Pilot License: - received my pilots license on my 17th birthday. Less than 500 pilots are 17 in the world. This took me over a year to complete and is my passion 9) Mitchell Flight Club: Elected Club secretary by over 40 members. I manage intra club communications. This club has 2 airplanes and hangars. I help coordinate monthly meetings aswell. 10) Projects: - currently working on designing a wind tunnel, have made model rockets, worked with 3D printing, made rc planes, arduinos, some coding, plan on designing parts to make my car more fuel efficient by lowering drag coefficient.
Summer programs: 1) Missouri Scholars Academy: - Top 300 students in Missouri are selected to go to this month long program at mizzou. Every Missouri student has a chance to get in. 2) Boys State: I plan on running for governor but I have not participated in it yet 3) Naval Academy Summer Program 4) Air Force Summer Program 5) Aerospace Academy: Weeklong program in which I work alongside aerospace interns and develop spacecraft equipment.
Awards: 1) Various school recognition awards 2) 1st 2nd and 5th at DECA districts competitions 3) 3rd at DECA State 4) Did not podium but I attended DECA internationals 5) AP recognition 6) NMSQT Finalist probably* (1490 PSAT) 7) Private Pilot License
LORs: Very strong. I have a very good relationship with my teachers
Essays: Quite good, not Shakespeare but pretty good.
Intended Major: Aerospace Engineering
About me: I am a student with a total passion for space and rocketry. I love aviation and I am a pilot.
If anyone has any questions or wants me to go into more depth please let me know! -Drew

hi!
I'm a physiology student but i really want to learn how to code (ex. making websites) but i have ZERO experience in coding and i fully mean it. i want to take a class as an elective but i have no clue (i dont know the difference between software enginnereing, computer science, computer engineering etc). could anyone please give me any recommendations!!
thank you!:)

I wanted to preface this by saying this occurred 7-8 years ago, when I was a sophomore in high school, and im a much different person now and not proud of who I was. Even so, the events of that semester haunt me even today, to the point that it occasionally keeps me up at night, I feel like if I get some impartial judgement on the situation I may be able to resolve some of the lingering grief. I feel like all things considered my actions were justified, but of course you will always be the protagonist fighting off the antagonists in your own story.
So it started in February 2017. I entered into an alternative high school program in my county designed to give students who couldn't otherwise function in normal schools a second chance. I had missed a few weeks due to a hospitalization earlier that year, and while my teachers had been lenient, I was having a difficult time catching back up and it was decided by my school counselors that I would be an excellent candidate for transfer.
It started off really well, I immediately was making new friends, I felt refreshed and hopeful about my new school, I really liked all my teachers, things finally felt right for the first time in awhile. Then I met a boy who i'll call "T", he was pretty cool, easy to talk to, very friendly, overall welcoming and we became friends right off the bat. I decided to get involved in extracurriculars, and T was part of the schools forensics club, which I had an interest in, so I joined up. On the trip we exchanged phone numbers, and ended up flirting over text over the next couple weeks. Eventually he asked me out and I accepted, this is where it started going downhill.
I figured dating this guy meant we would spend more time together, so we could really get to know each other, I was mistaken. I asked him to eat lunch with me, he wasn't interested, he wouldn't walk me to class or really interact with me outside of the classroom and texting. On top of this I learned some information about him over text that I will still not share because this story is still recognizable by those involved but lets just say it was a major turn off for me, I ended the relationship quickly. After that "J" and "A" his two female besties, quickly entered the scene to make my life a living hell. The initial accusation was that I led T on, and that I was trying to control him by forcing him to eat lunch with me, the truth is, I just wanted something different than what he was offering. I even told him we could still be friends. Meanwhile I was in my promiscuous phase and had many non serious flings and sugar daddy's and whatnot, this was just a run of the mill whelp that didn't work out moment for me, I was ready to move on immediately. They were not.
Rumors quickly spread about me, about me being a slut, apparently I was a prostitute and everyone seemed to know except me, and honestly I was unbothered by this. The prostitute thing was untrue, though I absolutely accepted gifts from people I talked to online, and I kinda was a slut, to be fair. Though I feel like what I do with my free time is my business, as long as im not hurting anyone, which I wasn't, not exactly the reputation I wanted but things could be much worse. I still had my friends, and I poured myself into my studies and ignited a love for STEM that I still have today.
Then one by one my friends disappeared. I would see them talking with A or J or one of their misc. associates. I was confused, because I hadn't done anything to them. I tried to talk to them, but I was blocked or laughed at, the more I was mocked and ridiculed the less confident about that whole thing I became. It wasn't just my current friends though, A kept tabs on who I was trying to befriend and snatched them up before I could clear the air. This happened with a couple people, but one in particular really hurt, i'll come back to him in a bit. I still had my best friend "M" who I had known years prior to coming to the school, she stuck around the longest, but eventually she started dating a guy from that clique, I was completely alone.
Meanwhile I was getting sneered at and laughed at, and whispered about, I would see girls I didn't know except through association with A and J who would point at me when they thought I couldn't see, and they'd lean into their friends to quitely gossip behind their hands. I tried not to see it, I found myself staring at the floor a lot.
I ended up talking to A and J and asking them to stop, I told them they were being immature (which in hindsight fanned the flames) there was no ceasefire. I ended up going to the school counselor who basically told us to be nice and did nothing to help. I talked to her 1 to 1 and explained the situation and she shrugged it off. I was growing increasingly desperate for support I wasn't receiving. I started to notice an impact to my grades, I was depressed, I couldn't focus, I was randomly tearful. I started eating lunch in a random corridor away from my peers. I wish I could have disappeared completely.
Then one day a boy transferred in from another school, a teacher asked for a volunteer to give him a tour of the building, I was chosen. His name was S. Talking to him was like a breath of fresh air, we hit it off quickly, I was so relieved to finally made a friend. We connected over history, he was a nerd like me and funny too. I went home that day and cried joyful tears, I was so excited to see him again the next day in first period, and when I walked into the room and saw A, J and him sitting together, my stomach hit the floor, we made eye contact and he just frowned and shook his head. I went to my desk and just put my head down and cried. At this point I didn't care if I was seen or not. This is the one that really got me.
A few weeks passed by, I was quietly working in biology class and I heard a dude call my name across the room, he said "OP, "D" thinks your cute!" and the group of guys laughed, I motioned the guy over, and gave him my number, I didn't have any interest in dating the guy but I really really wanted someone to talk to me. It wasn't even two hours before he was hitting it off with A.
At lunch time I went to a different counselor, one who showed more empathy to my situation. She told me I could stay in her office the rest of the day. 4th period came around and I was reeling in my head, I felt like I was a cornered animal, I was desperate for something to change. When she stepped out for a meeting I marched myself up to Spanish class, Which I shared with A, J, T, and S. I cracked the door and asked if I could speak with A in the hallway. I had the perfect speech planned, I had rehearsed a million times, that teacher said no. I told her it was incredibly important, she told me no and to get out. I looked at her, I looked at A, I stepped toward her and before I knew it she had a fist full of my hair, she was hitting me in the head while J grabbed my arms, I broke free and shoved J hard, and started punching A back but couldn't gather the momentum to do any damage as she still had my hair. The teacher who was 6 months pregnant tried to step in, I was so disoriented I shoved her away with my elbow. A male teacher came in and pulled us apart. I looked around at several cameras, faces of disgust. Sam looked at me and said "what the fuck is wrong with you?" I took my bags, and ran out into the hallway, down the stairs and was almost out of the building when the principal stopped me. I was suspended for a week.
My mom picked me up and I told her everything. We decided I would be withdrawn and I would be homeschooled the rest of high school. I eventually got my GED. I mellowed out, met my husband, and now we have a sweet baby boy. For some reason though, my heart can't handle what happened, even still it plays on a loop in my head. Everything I never got to say is still in my throat and has been since that day. Im hoping sharing this will finally put all that to rest. I want to move on, truly.
AITA?

Demographics
State: PA
Highschool (2): Private Roman Catholic - Class of 85, Rural Public - Class of 200
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: Hispanic
Mom: Business
Dad: Med, attended Northwestern University
Upper-Middle class/Upper, live in rural area
Intended Major: Electrical Engineering
School 1:
UW Fresh-Soph GPA: 94.6%
W Fresh-Soph GPA: N/A
School 2:
UW Junior GPA: 95%
W Junior GPA: 103.7%
Class Rank:
Fresh-Soph: ~15%
Junior: N/A (around 10% my guess)
Have all A's (90+) on yearly transcript except AP Lang this year
PSAT: 1480
Coursework
All Honors (with the exception of electives)
APs:
3 Junior Year. None offered Fresh-Soph.
AP World: N/A
AP Lang: N/A
AP Stats: N/A (4-5?)
AP Psychology: Next Year
AP Physics: Next Year
AP Calc AB: Next Year
AP Environmental Science: Next Year
AP Lit: Next Year
Other:

• High Honors Fresh-Junior
  
• NHS
  
• Honorable Mention Spanish Award
  
• 100 hrs local community service
  

& others
Cost Constraints / Budget

• 70k a year
  
• Mom said price range changes accordingly to "how good the school is"
  

Schools
Urbanized Preferred, not needed
Chicago area preferred (family near by) yet other options are fine
Size of school: Medium-Large is fine
Safety: Not sure
Likely: Michigan State, Illinois Institute of Tech
Match: Lehigh, Pitt, Purdue, UIUC
Reach: Not sure
plz let me know what colleges I should be looking for and suggest some

Demographics: * Gender: Female * race/ethnicity: African American * state: Missouri * First-gen * type of school: Large public school with ~1,600 students (no class rank) * Hooks: First-gen, Extremely Low Income, (hopefully) filing FAFSA as independent, lives in single guardian (sibling) household
Intended Major(s): * Major in Journalism * Minor in Elementary Education * (possibly minor in Spanish)
ACT/SAT/SAT II: * Not to self-deprecate but the scores are pretty bad. * ACT * 26 Composite * Math : 22 * Science : 25 * English : 28 * Reading : 30 * Will take SAT * PSAT=1210, English strengths
UW/W GPA and Rank: * GPA * 3.7 weighted , N/A unweighted
APS * World History - 5 * U.S. Gov & Poli (junior) - ? * English Lang & Comp (junior) - ? * Human Geography (next year)
Awards: * nothing really * ‘Superstar’ award (best student) from math teacher. * Cheerleading: 3rd place (in our division) in the state. * (Hopefully certificate of bi-literacy next year 🤞🏽 )
Sports * Varsity Cheer (2 years) * JV Cheer (1 year) * Varsity Girls Track & Field (1-2yrs) * Varsity Girls Wrestling (1 year)
Other Extracurriculars * Varsity Scholar Bowl (2 years) * Student Council (3 years) * Yearbook Staff (2 years) * 4 years of Spanish Courses
Leadership Roles * NHS (National Honors Society : 1-2 yrs) * Student Council Chair * Student Rep Chair (2 yrs) * Social Media Chair (1 yr) * Quill & Scroll (Journalism Honors Society) * 1-2 yrs * Black Student Honor Society (3 yrs) * Social Media Advisor (1yr) * Scholar Bowl Social Media Advisor (1yr) * (Attempting to create a Spanish club during senior year, will be the president)
Summer (educational) Programs: * ~ 10-day long educational trip to Australia during summer before junior year (through school district) * (Applying for NSIL-Y for the 2nd time this coming fall with the hopes of getting into the Korean or Indonesian summer programs) * (Fall) Yearly HBCU college fair in Virginia (attempting to apply in person to Howard & Spelman there next year). * (probably doesn't count) UCA Cheer camp over the summer (2 yrs)
Essays: N/A (honors student yet I suck at writing about myself)
Recommendation Letters: Haven’t requested them yet, but planning on… * Math Teacher :) - Have him currently, he’s a thorough writer (theater kid), chose me as his student of the year, also my scholar bowl coach. * Journalism/Yearbook Teacher - Love him, teacher for 3 years, has worked with him through yearbook camps & college visits, connections at MIZZOU. * 1 of my school’s 5 principals - Known her for 3 years, Black Honors Society & BSU sponsor (I’m in both & she’s a fellow black woman), she’s currently going to an HBCU (would be good for Howard & Spelman), will most likely go on an HBCU trip with her next spring.
Schools: * University of Hawaii, Manoa (DREAM) * Howard (HBCU DREAM!!) * Spelman College * Mizzou * NYU (extreme reach but dream reach) * UCLA (reach)
Schools (I haven't researched thoroughly): Richmond American University (London), NYU (Bueno Aires Campus), Saint Louis University (Spain Campus)
I know I'm not doing any cool/exceptionally competitive majors (like comp sci or engineering), so with college I'm more interested in the environment. Help me out! 🤍