College correspondence course in

Demographics
Gender: Male
Race/Ethnicity: White
Residence: Rural-ish South Carolina
Income Bracket: around 150k
Type of School: Midsize moderately competitive public high school
Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): First-Gen
Intended Major(s): Electrical Engineering
Academics
GPA (UW/W): 3.324/4.387 (My district uses a different system with AP classes weighted as 6.0)
Rank (or percentile): 170/588
Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc.: 7 APs, 19 Honors
Senior Year Course Load: 4 APs (Calculus AB, Calculus BC, Physics C: Mech, CSA), Government Honors, Economics Honors
Standardized Testing
SAT I: 1440 (710 R&W 730 M)
ACT: N/A
AP/IB:
5s: Psych, CSP
4s: Human Geography
Other (ex. IELTS, TOEFL, etc.): N/A
Extracurriculars/Activities
NHS, Math tutor, High commitment food service job w/ leadership role, Guitar (4 years)
Awards/Honors
NHS, AP Scholar
Letters of Recommendation
Physics teacher (8/10): Took two physics classes with him. He thought highly of me.
Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
Acceptances:
Clemson University RD (deferred) - Major: Electrical Engineering
University of South Carolina EA - Major: Electrical Engineering
Furman University RD - Major: Dual Degree Applied Physics
Waitlists:
Virginia Tech RD - Major: Electrical Engineering (Accepted)
Rejections:
Georgia Tech EA - Major: Electrical Engineering
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign EA - Major: Nuclear Engineering
UC Berkeley RD - Major: Nuclear Engineering
UC Los Angeles RD - Major: Electrical Engineering
Purdue EA (deferred) - Major: Electrical Engineering
Additional Notes/Reflections
I am currently deciding between Clemson and Virginia Tech.
Clemson is an in-state school that is very close to home. I also get the South Carolina Palmetto Fellows scholarship there, which is around $10,000/year, but only applies to South Carolina schools.
Virginia Tech has a better engineering program. I also just like the school better. However, the cost is around $35,000 more/year than Clemson. Additionally, I am paying for my entire college tuition without my parents.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you for your time.

Hi everyone, I've decided that I'm going to push myself to actually go for the Security+ Cert. I only took 4 courses related to cyber security when I was in college, and I liked it, but I never found myself having confidence in my learning without more hands-on experience. Even though I still haven't had as much as I'd like, I'd like to at least attempt it to say I tried.
I recently purchased the CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Complete Course & Exam on Udemy since it was on sale, but I was hoping there were some other materials that are free so I can periodically/briefly study when I've got down time.
I also typically work with some sort of media (music/YouTube/streaming service) going so if there is anything that is worth me listening to for indirect familiarization I'd be open to that as well!

Hello there,
To keep it short I'm transferring from a Private school to Auburn as a Georgian Resident. Now, with transferring to an out-of-state school I already know I'd be loosing the majority of my scholarships (I was also removed from my stepmother's VA benefits, so another dig). I would only be able to attend to Auburn administered scholarships and my first year I'd probably not receive the Merit Scholarship. My current school is Point University, and its a very expensive tiny school (my reason for leaving). My mother took out a 60,000 loan to pay for my last year at Point which should HAVE covered me for Fall 2023, Spring 2024, and Summer 2024 but they increased tuition and my degree pathway was removed (the pre-professional biology was removed due to lack of students). Summer courses (which I need to take) are around 2,000 but my mother's loan has been removed from my FASFA and I live an a apartment, have a car payment, and a laptop payments. In short, for the first time in my budding adult life I feel like I'm in a financial crisis. I cannot pay the tuition, and I honestly will need to rely on my mother for my Auburn tuition.
On top of this my whole life I wanted to be a Veterinarian, and was even serving as a Veterinary Assistant but I'm heavily allergic to animals. I decided to change my degree to human-based optometry but I don't know what I truly want. I also hate being in debt lol. And I love animals but my eyes get severely irritated and have dizzy spells around animals now. (These allergies developed as an adult somehow???) My reasoning for this post is because I know its stupid to attend college just developing debt while not knowing if its truly your passion but my family is against me deferring my entrance to Auburn until Spring. I just feel its best I stack my money the Fall Semester, pay some of my debt off. And somehow figure out the degree pathway which will shape my future. Any advice would help (my gpa will be around 2.78 after Summer courses but lower without due to slothful nature/drama/health-related issues this Spring semester).

I don't even know what's the point of me living anymore and why I don't just end this. It feels like I'm waiting for something even tho I can't even think of anything that would make my life actualy worth living. I'm ugly, short (168cm, 5.6ft), balding even tho I'm just 19, my teeth are fucked up, which makes me unable to speak properly. Back when I was younger my parents could have gotten braces for me for free on NFZ (it was free for kids belove 13), but decided not to because apperantly they didn't want to make things hard for me, even tho because of that my face didn't develop right and my liwer jaw is pushed back because my upper teeth being angled backwards stop it from extending. When turned 18 I did consult orthodontist about it and they told me my malocclusion is extremely bad and it would take long and expensive treatment to do something about it on top of jaw surgery. I did get a holiday job to try to pay for that but I ran out of money before I could even get any braces. That's another thing, whenever I saw a problem in myself I tried to do something about it. Like I was about 16 when I notised how short I am and did daily streaching for like 2 years but in the end that didn't do anything and overall I did not grow anything since I was 14. I also tried to do something about balding. Since my family is poor I could not go to trichologist, so instead I went to pharmasy and asked for something for hair loss, I tried several of those, but of course nothing worked. I never had friends, people in school either bullied me or avoided me (because why would someone want to risk their reputation by getting close to me). I went to three schools overall and it was always the same. (Two middle schools and high school. The reason why I had to change school was because me and my sister got transfered to educational care facility for a year after false rape accusation on my dad.) Also none of the teachers actualy carred about me being treated like shit, because there was this thing where teachers treated students like their friends and they wanted to be in good relationship with them. And why would they risk their social standart by taking side of someone like me, some unliked, antisocial weirdo. Needless to say because of all of that I have no confidance, no self worth and no social skills. I did start going to therapy like a year after starting high school, because I had high hopes that would help me somehow but I didn't. Like she keeps telling me I shouldn't care so much about my appearance because I'm smart and have a good heart. But like how? I wouldn't call myself smart, I think allot but that's just because I'm overthinking everything. And how do I have a good heart? I literaly hate sociaty and won't be suprised if I became terrorist or something. Also I would much rather be attractive and stupid asshole. I would not only be confident and accepted by sociaty but also too stupid too care about anything. After I mention that she has nothing to say and we just repeat this unleass something happened that's worth talking about. I guess nobody should be surprised that I'm also a porn addict. Like I swear masturbation is the only way for me to feel anything nice right now. But obviesly life is not worth living just for porn. Next week I start my maturas (or finał exams or whatever you call it in english). I literaly don't study to it at all because I bearly have enough energy to stand up right now. If I fail then I'll probably just kill myself. If not I'll try applying to college and if I don't get accepted then I'll kill myself. Either way I don't think there's allot of time for me left. Like for now I'll wait up to matura results, if it somehow goes well I'll apply to college and wait for that. And if somehow I'll get accepted I'll wait maby like a month and if something doesn't happen that'll somehow change my life around (even tho I can't think of anything that accualy could), I'll just say fuck it and finally free myself from this shit.

I'm not from Georgia or Philly but I got into UGA and Drexel. My grades were really high in high-school(salutatorian) and I was active in a ton of extra curriculars. I'm considering Drexel cause of their coop program but I heard their campus life and social aspect is pretty bad. I'm considering UGA because I heard it's a really great college experience but I heard their CS course isn't great.
The other schools I got into weren't that great compared to these two so I'm currently only considering these. I care about getting a good education and experience for my career after college, but I also want to have a ton of fun. I want to enjoy my 4 years and get the full college experience.
Btw, money isn't really a big consideration for me

I always wondered what I would say if I ever found myself face to face with you again. I prepared speeches. Made up elaborate scenarios in my head. Practiced exactly what I'd say.
But when the moment came....I could only bring myself to exchange the socially acceptable pleasantries. Exchanging the empty "hope you are well" and "it's good to see you" instead of the "I loved you then and I still do" or "where have you been for the last 12 years" that I wanted to say. The half hug felt cold and distant and I wondered if you could feel the desperation in the way I embraced you.
Just like that the moment was over. You walked away and I stood alone in front of the high school administration office. Maybe if the circumstances had been different this whole moment would have played out differently. After all, funerals aren't really the time to hash out old feelings.
I watched you from across the gymnasium. Sitting alone on the bleachers. My internal monolog ricocheting between the overwhelming desire to sit next to you and the ache in the pit of my stomach insisting that I let sleeping dogs lie. I'm not the same person you fell in love with all those years ago....arguably I'm a better version but who's to say you would even like this person.
I woke up this morning reaching for me phone hopeful that I'd find a response from you. We fell back into a comfortable state, faster than I imagined and 24 hours passed in a blink. It was effortless how easily I opened up to you again...almost like no time had passed at all. I drifted to sleep after attempting to open the lid to pandoras box of "unresolved feelings" with the comfort of thinking we'd finish the conversation the next day....
I've always hated the way messenger tell you when someone's read your message. It always makes the lack of response sting a little more. It was like waking up to that day 12 years ago when you disappeared from my life the first time. I checked my phone 100 times. I guess I've always been overly sensitive about these small details. I take it too personally when I let my guard down, show some vulnerability, and don't recieve any feedback. I have to work to remember not everyone is as acutely aware of how simple things like message responses impact someone's perception of a situation. I'm still healing and I'm a work in progress.
Finally I picked up a book to distract myself. Of course I pick a book about two college lovebirds who lose touch for 15 years then randomly reconnect and live happily ever after. There is section of the book towards the end where the guy talks about how often he thought about the girl over the 15 years. How often she occupied his mind despite him marrying and creating his own life. He described how real things were and how nothing with anyone else ever felt real. I chuckled as I pondered all the times I'd thought the same things about you.
I think maybe I'll always love you. I think maybe I'd always let you come back. Not that I would necessarily sit around waiting...but if you came and told me you'd love me and asked me to be yours...I'm not sure there is anything in the world I wouldn't drop for you. Sometimes that feels like the most frightening thing in the world.
I'm afraid and I feel a little like I'm standing on the edge of something…

I always wondered what I would say if I ever found myself face to face with you again. I prepared speeches. Made up elaborate scenarios in my head. Practiced exactly what I'd say.
But when the moment came....I could only bring myself to exchange the socially acceptable pleasantries. Exchanging the empty "hope you are well" and "it's good to see you" instead of the "I loved you then and I still do" or "where have you been for the last 12 years" that I wanted to say. The half hug felt cold and distant and I wondered if you could feel the desperation in the way I embraced you.
Just like that the moment was over. You walked away and I stood alone in front of the high school administration office. Maybe if the circumstances had been different this whole moment would have played out differently. After all, funerals aren't really the time to hash out old feelings.
I watched you from across the gymnasium. Sitting alone on the bleachers. My internal monolog ricocheting between the overwhelming desire to sit next to you and the ache in the pit of my stomach insisting that I let sleeping dogs lie. I'm not the same person you fell in love with all those years ago....arguably I'm a better version but who's to say you would even like this person.
I woke up this morning reaching for me phone hopeful that I'd find a response from you. We fell back into a comfortable state, faster than I imagined and 24 hours passed in a blink. It was effortless how easily I opened up to you again...almost like no time had passed at all. I drifted to sleep after attempting to open the lid to pandoras box of "unresolved feelings" with the comfort of thinking we'd finish the conversation the next day....
I've always hated the way messenger tell you when someone's read your message. It always makes the lack of response sting a little more. It was like waking up to that day 12 years ago when you disappeared from my life the first time. I checked my phone 100 times. I guess I've always been overly sensitive about these small details. I take it too personally when I let my guard down, show some vulnerability, and don't recieve any feedback. I have to work to remember not everyone is as acutely aware of how simple things like message responses impact someone's perception of a situation. I'm still healing and I'm a work in progress.
Finally I picked up a book to distract myself. Of course I pick a book about two college lovebirds who lose touch for 15 years then randomly reconnect and live happily ever after. There is section of the book towards the end where the guy talks about how often he thought about the girl over the 15 years. How often she occupied his mind despite him marrying and creating his own life. He described how real things were and how nothing with anyone else ever felt real. I chuckled as I pondered all the times I'd thought the same things about you.
I think maybe I'll always love you. I think maybe I'd always let you come back. Not that I would necessarily sit around waiting...but if you came and told me you'd love me and asked me to be yours...I'm not sure there is anything in the world I wouldn't drop for you. Sometimes that feels like the most frightening thing in the world.
I'm afraid and I feel a little like I'm standing on the edge of something…

hi im from the bay area, and of course my 2 top choices for college were Berkeley or Davis. I plan on pursuing a career in the med field (not sure what yet). I was so excited about my acceptance at Davis, but when I got rejected from Berkeley I was/am really upset. for davis, me and my sister were planning to attend together this fall. but my berkeley rejection really hit after my sister, a transfer, got accepeted to it and will be attending there. now im not sure what to do. should i go to community college and have a last shot at berkeley (i can tag to davis as well). or should i just go to davis instead this fall?? i just need some advice

Not on purpose of course as no one can pick their genes but I know who the mutation came from. I’m 46, dx ovarian dysgerminoma in 1986 at 9 years old. My son is 20 and was diagnosed with embryonal carcinoma Feb 23.
Dysgerminoma is super slow and curable. The stuff he has was growing so fast it tripled his beta HCG in 9 days. Today we did second chemo Round 3. He will have 4 rounds.
His got to stage 3b (it goes to 3C) before we found it when the mets caused agony in his back. He still lives at home and of course took time off from college. I’ve gone to every appointment and every chemo spending every night in the hospital with him. Can’t pry me away and he wants that he says. I hope my presence and being 31 years out from the same bleomyacin, etiposide, and cisplatin he is enduring comforts him
The trouble is I have PTSD from what I went through. I was a patient at St Jude and back then idk if they realized how loudly child crying sounds went through walls. I cant hear children crying in the hospital without going cold and trying to catch my breath.
There has been twice I’ve almost dissociated, my son is the spitting image of me at that age and not terribly older than I was when my cancer returned at 15. He has 6 hour infusions and today I just started feeling like I’m not here and alive and couldn’t differentiate his experience from mine. He laughed when I said he could have at least copy/pasted his dads nose
He is the sweetest young man in the world. Anyone else a parent who had cancer as a child watching their child now go through it? I realize I’m likely to be a long shot but I don’t have at home support. I’m thankfully in touch with my sister who is fighting stage iv breast cancer. Our mom died of colon cancer in 2010 and on Dec 6, 2023 we lost our dad after a 2 week illness. Never felt so much stress in my life

Original prompt: https://www.reddit.com/WritingPrompts/comments/k42lei/wp_you_have_one_super_power_the_ability_to_know/
Sequel to yesterday's Speak No Evil
Most kids find out their superpower when they get into their teenage years. I was a late bloomer at sixteen, but it was less ‘bloom’ and more ‘boom’. I know the answer to any question asked of me, which includes any question I ask myself aloud. The two minutes sitting in the lunchroom with my friends and thinking of the good I could do, before I called the Guild, were the most wonderful and most delusional minutes of my life. It took six hours for the government to declare me the deadliest super villain alive.
Had I done anything supervillain-y? No. It seemed they just weren’t going to take any chances. On the contrary, my life was currently treading along a path that would check boxes of taking down bad guys.
Day one was sad, stressful, and still somehow boring. Once my brothers had been picked up from school (Steven is eleven and Nathan is seven), and my parents had left work early, they met me at home. Or what used to be home, considering I’d be staying on the seventh floor of the Guild’s headquarters from then on.
After a long talk in the living room, with superheroes Fusion and Trailblazer there as security, my parents decided to take up the Guild’s offer of bodyguards and tracking devices rather than moving. It wasn’t that surprising. If I’d had the option, I would’ve gone with that alternative. Living at Guild HQ was a prison when you got right down to it.
Nathan seemed to take the news the hardest, which wasn’t surprising, considering he was seven. “Who’s gonna help me with my math?” he asked, close to tears. His red face and puffy eyes weren’t helping me feel better, but I’d cried my eyes out already once that day and wasn’t keen on a repeat performance.
Steven, answered the aggravating voice in my head. I’d told Nathan not to ask me questions, but there wasn’t anything to be done about it. He was seven. He didn’t get it.
“I’m not a genius,” Steven said, indignant, “but I think I can manage helping you with adding and subtracting numbers.”
“But you don’t explain it like Joan does,” Nathan whined.
“Hey, it’ll be fine,” I told him with a small smile, crouching down so I was looking up at him. “Worst comes to worst, we’ll set up a playdate. You can come over once a week and hang out at my new apartment, and I’ll help you with math.”
When it came down to it, it felt like I was leaving for college a year and a half early. Packing up boxes and being told what kind of furniture was already there and what I might want to bring. Trailblazer was handy to have around, I’ll say that much. Superstrength is incredibly useful when it’s moving day.
My parents fussed over me as we packed the U-Haul, and I let them. I’d never wanted to be fussed over more in my life.
They all drove with me, which left the house empty for the Guild’s security people to put in the alarm system and cameras. Mom had said as long as they didn’t put cameras in the bathrooms, she was fine with them. Also, it wasn’t as if someone was watching them 24/7; the cameras were for emergencies, if there was a break-in, to let the police and heroes know what was going on inside.
The apartment I got was pretty awesome, actually. The tub/shower was big, the mattress was comfy, and I had a flatscreen on the wall both in the living room and one in the bedroom. There were two bedrooms, and one functioned as an office, with a desktop computer. I had my laptop, but I suppose the desktop might come in handy if I needed one for a job when I was older.
That was the thing that hung over me. The impending possibility of being there forever. There were some moments of weakness I had where I asked questions out loud, even though I knew I probably shouldn’t. The thing was, I had to be really specific in some situations, and it was nearly impossible. I asked, “Will I stay here forever?” And “Am I stuck living here until I die?” The answer was, of course, no, and that was comforting in a small way. But those answers didn’t really give me what I wanted, because obviously I’d leave the premises at some point.
One I did ask was, “Is the Guild the safest place for me?” That answer was yes.
I used my power as little as possible, though. Its presence had already started to feel like a cinder block on my chest, having anxiety that was both pressuring me into asking questions out of desperation and wanting to stay blissfully unaware of anything. However, it wasn’t long until I figured out that I’d be using my abilities often.
The day after I moved in, I started work with a group run by Valerie, a group that had already generated a list of questions to ask me. Valerie was assigned as my ‘handler’, which wasn’t horrible since I ended up quite liking her. But it was surreal, sitting in an office with her and other powerful heroes, a PowerPoint presentation educating me, or at least reminding me of, some of the news articles that I’d seen when the incidents had occurred. Then when I had that background knowledge, they’d ask a question.
The biggest one, and the first one, was whether Goliath was dead or still alive. He was a supervillain who was responsible for the destruction of a building downtown and the deaths of dozens of people when he’d set explosives and demanded a ransom he did not receive. They’d been incredibly relieved when it turned out that, as they’d thought, he’d perished in the explosion, which had been set off prematurely.
Then there was a question of whether Nocturne was still in the United States. There was a warrant out for her arrest for frequent kidnappings for ransom, and we were able to pin down her location precisely. I literally rattled off an address for them and they sent two heroes off to arrest her and bring her into custody.
This went on for an hour or so before I started getting a headache and feeling short of breath. “I think this is starting to affect me,” I said, putting a hand to my head.
“That’s fine, this is plenty,” Valerie said emphatically. “You’ve done incredible work today, Joan. You should be very proud of yourself.”
I didn’t feel proud. Mostly I felt tired. Of course this ability was amazing, but it was just something that had happened to me, not anything I’d accomplished.
Returning to my room and kicking off my shoes so I could fall onto my comfy bed was a relief. The headache was still there, though, so I kept the lights off.
A few hours later, without having meant to take a nap, I woke up. My head wasn’t pounding anymore, just sore, and I was breathing easier. Going into my little kitchen, I turned on the oven to preheat it for a frozen pizza. There was a food court on the third floor, but I liked my alone time too. Then I went into the living room and pulled up Netflix, starting an old standup routine from Jim Gaffigan.
Aside from that, things were pretty boring. My education continued, once my boss had found tutors who were willing to commute every day to Guild headquarters. That was actually pretty cool, having a team of teachers just for me. We worked one-on-one, so they knew how much of the material I was grasping, and I probably did only half as much homework as I used to. That took up a majority of my time.
But keeping in touch with friends was harder than I’d thought it would be. The four girls I’d been sitting with when I’d discovered my powers were my best friends. They had been told to keep it a secret, and their parents had actually signed NDAs on their behalf, since minors couldn’t sign NDAs. I had no idea how that worked, but I was a junior high student, not a lawyer. The fact was that they swore up and down that they wouldn’t tell anyone, and the Guild had to take their word on it. They were protecting me, though, so just keeping it amongst themselves was what good friends did anyway.
Not that they had the temptation to tell anyone. From their end of things, it was completely anticlimactic. I made the discovery, went to the nurse, and was never seen again, not even to clean out my locker. Someone else did that for me. After I’d moved into the Guild’s headquarters, I’d asked if they could visit like my family did, and Valerie pointed out that it would be safer if we stuck to social media and texting. We didn’t want them to get too close to me, in case they could be used as leverage.
Either my mom or my dad came to visit me every weekend for the first couple of months, staying overnight, and also an afternoon or two during the week. I think they wanted to make sure I was settling in well and wasn’t struggling. It had, after all, been a huge change in my life, literally overnight. Also, I saw a psychologist once a week, so I had someone to vent to. At least, someone to vent to who knew how to help me, since my family and friends were always willing to lend an ear. They just didn’t have control over my circumstances or any helpful advice.
The days passed by quickly, and I got into a routine, feeling like I was in a boarding school. Five days a week, I had my tutoring sessions, which included history and language arts in the morning and then math, science, and Spanish in the afternoon. Then, once I did my homework, I was free to spend my time however I wished. Sometimes I went to the gym, and I ended up scheduling self-defense classes twice a week with Hurricane, and I ended up really enjoying those. Then every evening, I’d spend an hour answering questions.
One thing did change. Valerie went to bat for me with the higher-ups, and they took the supervillain label off my file. I was unspecified now. Not a hero, but it was progress.
We spent a little time getting used to what kind of results we could get. Using my ability as a prophetic one worked best. Philosophical questions in general would get so complex that they turned into Möbius strips and we wouldn’t even get any responses to them. Just silence. But more than that, there were some questions that we never wanted answers to, which sounds strange, until you think about it for hours and hours like I’ve been doing.
Do any gods exist? Is there an afterlife? Is there sapient life in our galaxy? Or in the universe? Will the human race die out in the future? If so, when? Those were staggering concepts to get a yes or no answer on. And on top of not wanting the answers, so many people would reject them out of hand if they contradicted what they believed. Who was to say I really was all-knowing? Maybe there was some god that gave humans powers and wouldn’t let us find out about it?
Then we also had the possibility that answers to big questions could change if we knew the answers. Questions like, when will the next pandemic occur? How will it start? Obviously we’d take precautions, but then the butterfly effect would kick in. If we stop that pandemic, how does that change things, and when is the next one? Then we prevent that one. What about the one after that?
Also, how much of my energy did we want to focus on things like that? Natural disasters happened every day and we needed to decide how many questions a day we wanted to ask. For something like daily tornado watches in America, we didn’t want to ‘waste’ questions on something that would only save two people. And was it really worth it to know those things? If there was an earthquake coming that was going to completely demolish Los Angeles in, say, three years, what would we do? Evacuate everyone? How many people would even go along with that?
Some things didn’t qualify as questions, gratefully. That would have driven me crazy. Like, “How about this weather?” What even is that? It’s not a question, that’s for sure. Or if I said “What the hell?” if something surprised me, there was no response to what the hell it was. There was, “Are you busy?” or “Can I come in?” if someone was at my door, neither of which gave me answers. Presumably that was because they were subjective and just on the edge of rhetorical. I was always busy with something, but was I too busy? And yes, they literally could come in, but was that what they were asking?
It was three months in that my headaches started building up faster, and we couldn’t make it to an hour. I started to worry, as did Valerie. One day, about half an hour into our session when I apologized and said I couldn’t continue, my eyes closed and my head in my hands, we scheduled an MRI.
That’s when we found the tumor.
Sitting in a little room, on the exam table on paper that crinkled every time I moved, I got hit with that like a brick to the face. “We found a tumor.” How was I supposed to react to that? Well, the first thing I did was ask if it was cancerous. The oncologist, Dr. Corbett, said he didn’t know. My brain said yes. All that had to happen was my face crumpled and I averted my gaze and then he knew as well.
In the moment, I both wanted to ask all sorts of questions about it, but also I didn’t want to know the answers. If I got answers and they were horrible, I’d ask how to change the outcome. But what if it said I was going to die no matter what we did? Did I want to know that? If we were going to operate on it, could I ask if the operation would go wrong?
It turned out that when it came to my own life, the questions my brain wanted to ask my all-knowing ability were infinite. How ironic that they would make my condition worse.
In the end, Dr. Corbett told me that he wanted to have my parents come in to discuss it. I wasn’t even seventeen yet, so as a minor, my mom and dad had the decision-making power when it came to medical issues. They had a Guild car go fetch them at work, calling ahead, and by the time they got there, I saw visible evidence that my mother had already been crying.
My mom started asking what kind of treatment was available and my dad asked when we could do it, how long it took, what the risks were, which echoed answers in my ear. Answer after answer. They were so distracted that they didn’t even notice. By this point we had a system, like they’d say, ‘I want to know possible treatments,’ but it had gone out the window.
“Would you shut up?” I cried, propelling myself off of the chair and down to the floor. “At least let me leave the room.”
They fumbled apologies, but I didn’t care for them. They were just panicking, I know, but I had no patience for it with the weight of what had just been dropped on me. I stormed down the hall to the elevator, hitting the button hard repeatedly.
It wasn’t fair. As if this ability hadn’t already grabbed control and taken away almost everything I had, now it wanted to take my life too. I wanted to go back to before that day at lunch, before that first question had been answered. Before I’d given months of my life to an organization that ended up giving me a tumor. Sure, they hadn’t known, but shouldn’t they have guessed? We always stopped when I started to get a headache, but were the so stupid that they didn’t wonder when I was getting headaches? Hindsight is 20/20, but I was just a teenager. They were the ones in charge, the ones with knowledge, the ones with expertise.
I needed someone to blame. But when it came down to it, my anger fizzled out and left me soaked in cold despair. Going back to my apartment, I locked the door behind me and went into the freezer for ice cream, settling with the pint of Ben & Jerry’s on the couch. After eating about half of it, I sighed and stuck the spoon in, putting it on the table.
Pausing for a long moment, the tension in me pulling like a guitar string about to snap, I asked, “Is this tumor definitely going to kill me?”
No.
Relief flooded me. That was all I’d needed. A possibility. After all, we could take the path my ability showed us to get to the best conclusion. And if it meant medical treatments or surgery, the Guild would spare no expense on letting their golden goose die, I was sure. If anything, it would mean I could only use my powers sparingly, or not at all. I’d be an elite superhero, taken out of the china cabinet for special occasions.
Leaning back into the couch cushions, I took in and let out a deep breath. My only worry was that the Guild would be irritated with the fact that said golden goose was producing fewer eggs. I didn’t want them cutting me open in their haste to get them.
After fifteen minutes or so, I felt myself drawn back to the fifth floor, where Dr. Corbett had been talking to my parents. He stopped mid-sentence as I walked back in.
“There’s a chance I’ll be okay. I asked,” I told them softly.
My mother’s shoulders dropped as tension left me and my dad walked over, taking me tightly in his arms. “We’ll figure this out,” he muttered in my ear. “We will. We’ll kick this thing’s ass.”
“I know,” I answered. I didn’t, not for sure, but I knew we’d fight as hard as we could.
/storiesbykaren

Hi so incoming college and I need some advice to get a scholarship soon. Then I saw post about tesda.
What is TESDA and it's purpose? Do I need to take a course there to get a scholarship? Is the scholarship still applicable while studying in College? Is it alright na mag take ng course during summer? How helpful po sila? How long ang isang course and ok lng po ba na kumuha uli ng isa once finished? Are there other scholarships na pwede pang applyan these days?
Thank you feel free to give suggestions, advices for an incoming College student para ready sa future. :>

Hey guys. This is just a rant. Im a 23 year old guy and im 6'1. You might see my height and think "get a load of this guy, at least he has height" but if im being dead honest, it doesnt count for shit if youre ugly and have adhd and goofy ass personality. I really hate this feeling of lonliness. I look at couples and think "what does it feel to be loved by a woman?".
Ive tried improving myself in various ways - going to the gym, jogging, having hobbies, and im starting college for a different career after failing out a few years ago. Mostly cause I wasnt in the right headspace. I might just be single because rn if you were to look at me, im not the kind of guy to offer anything right off the bat. I work a shit job, and have no career. Im working towards one now. Im just doing prereq courses rn and next year going to a community college.
This year ive pretty much become a yes man, saying yes to any and all invitations from friends, and it honestly worked. I am meeting new people, and experiencing things I didnt experience for so long. But despite doing all these new things and improving myself, ive still never found a girl.
The lonliness hits hard sometimes, especially when I see my homies get girlfriends one by one, with me being the last one whos never had one, and they all know it. It's like there's this unspoken barrier that keeps me from experiencing the same things they do, and I'm just stuck watching from the sidelines.
This is just a rant. My ancestors are probably looking down on me shaking their head.

I'm turning 20 this Thursday and I've been diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis since I was five.
I keep getting bad flare ups that leave my knee and ankle joints stiff and extremely inflamed. I'm a sophomore in college and these past two semesters have been some of the worst in my life.
this spring semester though has been the absolute worst of my life. I've never been in so much pain, so much so that I couldn't even physically get out of bed for more than a minute. I felt like my body had given up on me, I couldn't attend class so I missed a lot of school and I eventually ended up hospitalized for almost 2 weeks ,leaving me to have to beg my professors to please excuse me from work and exams. And while majority were excused, it still left me with grades I'm not very proud of.
what's really getting to me is that I ended up with a C in my Anatomy and Physiology 2 course. I'm not proud of this grade at all and my family is reassuring me that with everything I've experienced, to be proud that I still passed the class.
but I don't know. I just can't seem to find good in this situation. I keep finding myself blaming myself for not pushing myself past the pain, blaming my illness for affecting me with school and wishing that I never experienced that flare up.
I guess what I'm asking for is advice? on how to deal with this emotional toll that my RA will just fuck up my life whenever it likes.

I recently committed to Georgia Tech (class of 2028) as a Mechanical Engineering major and applied to an LLC out of curiosity. I got into Grand Challenges (GC) but I honestly don't know anyone who took it so I don't really have context on how much it is really worth. As of now, all I plan to do in college is to explore the engineering field and specialize once I figure out what I specifically like. Any advice/thoughts on whether GC would be valuable? I also have a few specific questions regarding GC:

1. Is GC essentially a research project only during the fall and spring semesters where students find a problem and create a theoretical solution?
2. I heard that the GC classes can serve as Social Science electives but when I looked at all the possible Social Science electives I could take under the ME course catalog, I didn't find the GC course code. Am I misinterpreting something or does GC not provide Social Science credit for some majors?
3. What is the expected time commitment per week (because I also plan on joining other clubs/research programs so I would like to know if I will have time for other activities as well)?
4. Also, this is mentioned on the website but I can't find much information about it: what exactly is the service requirement (what do you do, is there a certain number of hours I need to do, etc.)?

I really appreciate any input. Thanks!

Saying anything positive about myself is apparently illegal on this planet no matter how minimal it is.
I've never been with anybody my whole life. Nobody will get near me or even touch me. They'll stand 10ft away with their phone cameras out. People have made me feel horrible all my life just because of my looks. I've been considered a joke to a whole college university and everyone has made me feel bad and try to make me fail because they think I am ugly.
I love to play video games, watch anime and tv, and enjoy peace and quiet when I can. I am a half Asian and half White male. Not very photogenic but can provide a picture of myself. What I'm looking for:

• Age: 25-50. Can be flexible, but not too flexible. Race is not a huge deal for me. Some types of people treat me slightly better than others, so I can be a tiny bit picky. Not picky on height either. Weight isn't a big deal either.
• Personality wise, would prefer an introvert, but not a big deal if not. You don't really need the same interests either.

The only thing I require when it comes to messaging me is a promise to show a real, normal pic of you in the future as well as your city and state. Really only looking for something local at the moment. If you want to show me a group pic, just let me know which one is you. I will, of course, return the favor. Hope to hear from anybody.

I graduated college a year ago and I spent 4 months looking for a job to start my career. I wasn't able to find a job. I gave up and I started to work a part time job and help around the house.
When I gave up looking for a job I had a mental breakdown considered taking my own life. I thought to myself that I was worthless and there was no point in being alive. However I wasn't strong enough to commit to ending myself.
I ended up going to therapy it seems to have helped me a bit.
Later, I forgot all about not being able to start my career and I was genuinely happy. But yesterday, I realized that it is going to be a year since I graduated.
I immediately started to have suicidal thoughts again. I hate myself so much. I hate how much of a failure I am. I hate that part of me didn't want a job. I hate being lazy. I hate being not good enough.
There are people who have it so much worse than I do and I hate that I how take every thing for granted. I won't be able to get a full time job. I won't be able to get enough money to take care of myself and my family.
I might as well be dead. I love my parents so much. They don't deserve a piece of shit like me. I failed them. I can't take care of them when they are old. I can't have my own family either. There is no point in me living. I live with my parents and I hear the shame in their voices when they explain that I live with them with others. If I died they would be sad of course but at least I wouldn't be a source of shame for them.
I am tired of life. I just want to end it. I have no sense of direction in life. I don't know what I want to do with my life. There isn't anything I that find interesting to do for a career. I felt like this for a long time. The only reason why I got my degree was for money and I regret it.
I'm such a worthless piece of shit and I dont deserve to be alive. Almost every possible way I can take my life seems too painful or has the possiblity of me surviving with life long disabilities. I hate that I'm so much of a coward.
Sorry for the long post I just wanted to vent. I would like some advice. Part of me wants to want to live. There is so much I want to do in life. I want to have my first dog or cat. I want my own family. I want to travel. I want my own home. But I won't be able to do any of that.

Saying anything positive about myself is apparently illegal on this planet no matter how minimal it is.
I've never been with anybody my whole life. Nobody will get near me or even touch me. They'll stand 10ft away with their phone cameras out. People have made me feel horrible all my life just because of my looks. I've been considered a joke to a whole college university and everyone has made me feel bad and try to make me fail because they think I am ugly.
I love to play video games, watch anime and tv, and enjoy peace and quiet when I can. I am a half Asian and half White male. Not very photogenic but can provide a picture of myself. What I'm looking for:

• Age: 25-50. Can be flexible, but not too flexible. Race is not a huge deal for me. Some types of people treat me slightly better than others, so I can be a tiny bit picky. Not picky on height either. Weight isn't a big deal either.
• Personality wise, would prefer an introvert, but not a big deal if not. You don't really need the same interests either.

The only thing I require when it comes to messaging me is a promise to show a real, normal pic of you in the future as well as your city and state. Really only looking for something local at the moment. If you want to show me a group pic, just let me know which one is you. I will, of course, return the favor. Hope to hear from anybody.

First of all, yes, I realize based on my title that maybe I shouldn't be trying to do this alone...
So, I want to start planning for early retirement. I was exaggerating a little bit, I at least have the wherewithal to have started doing an analysis of my income & expenses and punching together a couple of beginner spreadsheets.
Currently, we have HHI of about 280k per year. NW is about $1 million. Slowly working toward FI/RE.
But, my problem is, I don't know how the heck to calculate anticipated future changes. Both income and expenses.
At this time, we still have a mortgage, but I expect it to be paid off right around the time I would retire. At this time, we are also putting away a combined $1k/month for our kids' college funds, which will also end around the same time-ish. We also pay many hundreds of dollars a month for kids' activities. Those are all expenses that will go away eventually, so of course I know how to just remove them from a spreadsheet.
My bigger confusion, though, is coming from how to figure in future income that won't start for a while. Like, my husband will get a pension of around 8k/month starting in about 10 years. We will eventually get Social Security. We will have a period where we have to pay for health insurance, up until we turn 65 and Medicare kicks in. I don't know how to figure this stuff in when I'm trying to calculate a number that I need to retire. Like, how to calculate my "number" to take into account income that we don't have yet, but will kick in at a guaranteed later date.
Finally, this will obviously also affect our tax liability. Right now we're paying income tax on our comfortable salaries. I assume taxes will be quite a bit lower if we're just paying capital gains off of some draws from our stock portfolio, and eventually pulling from 401ks, IRAs, etc.
How the heck do you figure all this future stuff in?
...Or do you just pay a financial advisor to figure it out for you?

I live at home in the UK with my family. I have a sister. I like to watch Netflix and have baths when I get the privacy😌
Feel free to ask what I look like btw
I do have a few friends irl of course but i would love to make more <3
Still at college currently but I would rather not talk about education 😆
Don’t really do an awful lot outside of that so hopefully I can chat with you lots!
Love to be asked questions too so please ask any questions you like 🙃

Hello /bangalore,
Please post all your *Bangalore related* questions, queries and random musings in this thread. Separate threads for such questions/musings will be removed.
Examples of questions you might want to post in here:
* How is this restaurant in Bangalore?
* Does anyone want to hang out in Bangalore?
* I'm going to this event in Bangalore, does anyone want to accompany me?
* Is this college in Bangalore any good for this course?
* How is this company in Bangalore for working/internship?
* Where can I find this food item in Bangalore?
* Which restaurant makes the best *insert food item here* in Bangalore?
* Where can I get my bike serviced in Bangalore?
For anything that warrants a classifieds post, ie if you're looking for an internship, a job, to sell your furniture etc., or if you're advertising something, please post in the monthly classifieds thread instead.
Any non-Bangalore-related questions or musings will be removed. Please use other, relevant subreddits for such discussions.
Thanks

So I (M35) just ended a 2 year friendship with my now ex-friend Howard (all fake names). I met Howard 2 years ago through my best friend Mason. Mason and I had just moved to Philly and he told me that his friend from college, Howard, was also going to be moving to Philly. Mason asked me to hangout with him and Howard so he could make some friends in Philly.
Now I had never met Howard previously and only heard about him through Mason. When we met, we really hit it off and had some things in common that we can bond about like boardgames. It was overall a nice night.
After that, the 3 of us started to hangout weekly. We'd go to the club to dance, have Ramon night, or explore the city to get familiar with it. We'd even have a few "pillow talk" nights where I thought Howard and I were connecting on a deeper level with each other. Solidifying a strong friendship, or so I thought.
Eventually Mason started to bring around other people who were also new to Philly and we soon had a group of 6-7 people in our mutual friend group. We'd all hangout together either individually or together. I was really vibing the group and enjoying my time in Philly with them. But of course I still spent a great deal of my time with Howard and Mason.
Fast forward 2 years and everyone is getting ready to move on from Philly to start the next phase in their life. I was sad people be leaving, but really happy for everyone's next step. During this time when everyone is making preparations, Mason decides to go backpacking for 6 months and says his goodbyes to everyone early. After he left, I instantly never heard from Howard. I would text him about hanging out or ask when he's leaving Philly. Radio silence. I just thought he must be busy getting ready to move and didn't think about it.
Well last week I sent a group text to everyone, including Howard, asking if we could get together before they leave. Everyone responded, but Howard. I thought this odd, but I didn't want to keep trying to reach out to him and figure he eventually would. Well Saturday rolls around and I come to find out that Howard threw together a going away celebration party and didn't invite me to it. Everyone thought I was invited and just didn't show up due to scheduling or something. I was really hurt by this because after 2 years I really considered Howard a close friend.
Well he finally texts me back today, probably because he heard from everyone how hurt I was and he texted me with a flimsy "Sorry I missed your text". No mention of the party, nothing. Just sorry for not getting back to me. So I immediately called him out for not inviting me to the party and wanted to understand why he wouldn't. I told him I was questioning our friendship and started to wonder if he only tolerated because of Mason. Because I don't find it a coincidence that he immediately ghosted me right after Mason left for his trip.
To which he responded with one filmsy excuse after the next. No heartfelt apology, no guilt for trying to hide it from me, just excuses. One of the excuses being that it was a party for the "West Philly" group. Which was a gut punch because that basically is saying he never felt I was part of the group and that they were "his" friends and not "our" friends. I was an outsider. I was so upset and I told him to never contact me again and reminded him that we met that group together and through Mason. I was always a part of that group. I told him that his response to my hurt from his intentionally exclusion was not ok and that I can't believe he would treat me like an outsider.
I had helped this man through panic attacks, supported his success, funded a lot of his parties, and been vulnerable with him in ways I wasn't with other people. It was so gut wretching to know that truly meant nothing to him. It also flared up my trauma from 10 years ago when I had another group of friends also ghost me in the same manner. No explanation or anything. This is the reason I don't like to get close to people and stay at a distance. It's the reason I only have 2-3 close friends. It also starts to make me wonder if I'm the problem. I just can't believe how easy it is for people to be fake to you or drop you so easily when you share so much of yourself with them.
Anyways, I just wanted to get this off my chest because my heart is really hurting that I lost another group of friends and I don't understand why. No closure at all. Sorry for the long post.
TLDR: Found out how my now ex-friend of 2 years really felt about me and I ended the friendship