I'm currently having my 11 year old son go through language arts books, and giving him worksheets when he doesn't understand something. I'm just wondering if I'm wasting his time on this. Is there a better way?
I never went through these kinds of books and exercises as a kid. The books go through things like predicates and action/linking verbs. I don't know what those are, yet my grammar is still acceptable. I can't even identify the adverbs in this paragraph I'm writing. I don't think humans learn grammar the way it's taught in these books.
Some things in the books are useful, like capitalization, punctuation, theithey're, and commas. I just don't see the point of teaching my kid how to identify the predicate of a sentence. To be clear, I'm not complaining. I'm trying to see if there's a better way, and I'm happy to be told I'm wrong as well. I'm not at the point where I ask him to skip parts of the books that don't seem useful, but I'm close to it.
TL;DR: Is there a better way to teach my kid grammar than a grammar book?

I’m sitting in a booth at a roadside restaurant named Hank’s Diner. There is no actual Hank. The Hank who named this place after himself sold it off years ago, retired, and died. Now it belongs to someone named Sid, but he didn’t want to name it Sid’s Diner, so he left Hank’s name there. It’s a bit morbid to eat at a dead guy’s diner, but here we are.
The seat cushions in this booth are red and squishy but also brown and stiff in some places. The material is cracked and the foam insides exposed like gaping wounds. Speaking of morbid, yeesh. The only way I can get my butt comfortable is by sitting with one leg crossed beneath me. Outside, the night overwhelms everything. I take a sip of an off-brand Dr. Pepper soda to try to settle my tummy which is currently doing cartwheels in my chest cavity..
The waitress approaches me in a pink checkered uniform with a white apron that’s got yellow grease splotches all over it. Her name is Glynnis Welch, no relation to my arch-enemy Lisa Welch. Glynnis is a mother of two, grandmother of two, has been married twice, divorced twice, and has two cats at home in her apartment, which is --surprisingly-- not on the second floor of her apartment building. But she was born in February. I find her fascinating. I wonder how much of her life is defined by the number two?
“Where’d your father go?” Glynnis asks me. She does not find me equally fascinating. The only thing Glynnis finds fascinating is how big of a tip she’s going to get.
The “father” she is referring to is Dutch, who excused himself just five minutes ago to use the bathroom. She’s worried we’re going to stiff her on the check. Neither of us looks like we’re exactly rolling in dough. If anything, we look like we roll in mud like that Peanuts character, Pigpen. Some of this mud on me is actually blood, but Glynnis doesn’t need to know that.
“He’s in the bathroom,” I jab my thumb in the direction of their restrooms. “Don’t worry, we wouldn’t leave without paying.”
Her face turns red, a response to being called out on her concerns about us dining and dashing. “I wasn’t thinking that, hon,” she lies. Her eyes survey the landscape of our table, trying to find anything to use to change the subject. Her attention eventually finds its way to my head. “That’s a cute headband.”
“It’s my Rambo band.”
“Oh. Okay.”
She wants to walk away from this conversation. What is with this weird, dirty-looking, little girl sipping her Mr. Pibb in the middle of the night when she should be in bed, dreaming of homework and cartoons about wacky, talking animals? Glynnis could be talking to the guy working the grill in the back of the diner instead of to me. His name is Bartholemew. He insists on being called by his full name because he doesn’t want to be associated with the Simpsons’ character, who he finds annoying. Glynnis and Bartholemew get along like peanut butter and chocolate. Or is it chocolate and peanut butter?
Glynnis takes a couple dishes away with a mumbled, “I’ll be back,” nonchalantly turning Dutch’s plate over, and marveling at how polished and clean it is as she walks away. The guy ate like he never had a cooked meal before. The truth is, he was trained to feed that way in the military. Take what you want but eat what you take. My Nana used to say that too. It’s a generational thing.
“Lily.”
A shadow slides into the booth seat across from me in the spot Dutch was in minutes ago. I look up to see a man staring at me. It takes me a moment to recognize Nathaniel. His face is paler than I remember it being before, and his eyes have big, dark circles around them like his whole face is turning into a giant bruise. Nate smiles at me, but there’s sadness behind it, and pain. I’m just impressed he’s up and about considering not that long ago he was split up the middle like a human wishbone. I wonder if they found a flesh-stitcher to speed up his recovery.
“It’s Alex now,” I tell him.
He nods. “Right, sorry.” He reaches into his big trench coat and pulls out a stack of thin, tan books with my old name written in cursive. “I believe these belong to you.”
My jaw almost hits the table. “No way!” I grab my journals and clutch them to my chest. I had just assumed that they were going to be lost forever. Maybe buried with my other body, which is going to be buried next to Mom and Dad and Roger in the Madwhip family plot.
Nate’s smile broadens ever so slightly. He cinches his coat closed and glances around. “Your friend Detective Gumby had them.”
I snort out a laugh at him using Detective Guthrie’s nickname I gave him by accident.
“Is he going to be looking for them?”
“No, he gave them to me willingly,” Nate says, taking a moment to clear his throat. “I may have given him the impression that I was an officer of the law and was going to be placing them in evidence.”
“Looking like that?” I ask in disbelief. Maybe Guthrie isn’t as great of a detective as I thought he was.
Now it’s Nate’s turn to snort-laugh. “I applied a bit of a glamor with the help of one of the remaining dreamkind.” He can tell I have no idea what he’s saying. “That’s like an illusion.”
Glynnis eyeballs us from the kitchen. She’s wondering who this strange man is talking to the underage girl in her establishment this late at night. Is my father going to come back from the bathroom in time to keep her safe? Does Bartholemew need to get that Louisville slugger he keeps by the freezer door? Should she call the cops?
I smile and wave to her. She immediately snaps out of her trance and turns away, saying something to Bartholemew that I can’t hear.
Nate coughs again. It sounds dry and scratchy. The napkin I left sticking out from under my bowl sizzles and turns black around the edges. I pluck an ice cube out of my drink and rub it over the napkin to keep it from catching fire.
“Sorry about that,” Nate says bashfully. He rubs the tips of his thumbs against his other fingers. “I’m still not at a hundred percent.”
“Then why are you here?” I ask, “Why have they got you running around fetching my journals for me? You should be in bed, sipping on a hot bowl of soup or I don’t know, in the freaking emergency ward?”
“Azrael said the same thing, but I volunteered. I wanted to be the one to do this for you.”
“But why?”
Nate’s smile twitches at the edges. His eyes get that misty look an adult’s eyes get when they’re trying not to cry. “Because I wanted to say thank you.”
“Thank you? I mean thank me?”
“For finding Meredith and getting her home. You’re a good friend.” He pauses. “You’re a good person.”
His words feel like a dagger in my heart. I look down at my roasted napkin and mindlessly play with the melting ice cube. “But everything that happened to her... it was all my fault,” I remind him.
“No, it’s not.” He reaches across the table and touches my hand. His fingers are really warm. Like ridiculously warm. Unnaturally warm. For a second my mind instinctively tries to jerk my hand away to prevent getting burned, but through sheer force of will, I don’t let it. “I can’t make you not believe that, but you should know that Meredith doesn’t. Isn’t that what really matters? Nobody else does either. We know... Samael caused all of this.”
I’m sure he believes that. Paschar believes it too. But I don’t believe it. Only some things were caused by Samael’s actions, but many things were caused by my own. I have to take responsibility for the things I do, especially when they cause harm to others. I don’t say this though, I just shrug. No sense in arguing with someone who is dead set on trying to cheer me up.
I casually flip open the top journal and reread a few entries I wrote weeks ago, back when the world still made sense. I don’t always get to write things in the moment, so I try to make sure to jot stuff down that happens to me when I’m able. Sometimes that leads to me getting details wrong because I write about them so much later, like my first jaunt into the Veil two years ago. What a pain in the ass it was to recall everything that happened and get that all written down after the fact.
Wait, someone else wrote something after my most recent entry. It’s in sloppy, cursive handwriting. I can barely read parts of it.
I joined the police force to protect those who could not protect themselves, to bring justice for those who are wronged, and to ensure the safety of all. I wanted my son to grow up in a world where he felt safe because he knew I was looking out for him. I admit that over the years it has been a struggle to not feel jaded by witnessing the harm that people do to one another. Violence, cruelty, abuse, and abandonment are choices people make. There are no accidents. Despite it all, I’ve always tried to reject the normalizing of evil.
A child died this week. It happened so violently and suddenly that I doubt she even felt it. But I felt it. I was there when it happened. I couldn’t save her; I could only avenge her. I shouldn’t say that. The killer had a gun. I shot him for my own safety. I shot him as much out of fear as out of rage. Christ, you’d think I was a rookie for letting myself get attached to a victim.
Her name was Lily. She was sad and dark and lonely. I knew her because I was the lead investigator into the death of her parents a couple years prior. Everyone that knew Lily seemed to die in horrible accidents. Her brother, her parents, her pets, her friends, even her foster family. It was like she was a walking curse, and she knew it. I can’t imagine living with that, the knowledge that anyone who gets close to you will suffer. Maybe that’s why she pushed me away when I tried to reach out to her.
I can’t help but wonder if she wanted to die. I shouldn’t think about it, and yet it eats at me. It always seemed to me that she danced on the edge of a razor, daring the world to make her bleed until finally it did. The man who killed her had a history of violence and should never have been allowed around children. How he got a job at a traveling carnival that caters to families is a mystery I hope I solve one day. Someone put him on that field, gave him that gun, and pointed him at a twelve-year-old girl.
Despite the tragedy, I do find a glimmer of hope in all this. Lily believed in something beyond her life. I’ve been skimming through these journals in which she wrote about strange experiences with angelic beings, walking in a realm of death and pure imagination, battling powerful enemies like she was some sort of fantasy heroine. As fantastic as it all was, what truly sold it was her absolute belief in everything she described. As far as I can tell, Lily was never diagnosed with any sort of mental disorder. Maybe it was all a coping mechanism for dealing with the constant death that seemed to follow her.
The thing is, she was so persuasive in her fantasy world that I almost believed in it myself at times. She actually sold me on the notion that she knew the future, that she talked to angels and the dead. I’m a grown man, someone who knows what is real and what isn’t, and yet she had me questioning the reality I know to be true. She was a unique soul, that little girl. Maybe that’s why I’m so shaken by her death. If I believe the things she told me about the world beyond, shouldn’t I be happy for her?
Something bothers me though. For starters, Lily had a doll. Every time I saw her, she had it with her. In her journals, she talked about it as if it was an angel, or some sort of walkie-talkie that let her speak directly to them. I’ve looked for it. It wasn’t on her when she died. I’ve been unable to find it. Did someone else take it? Who has the doll and what are they going to do with it? I’m probably being ridiculous. After all, a doll is just a doll. But she had me believe in its power once, who knows who else she may have convinced?
The entry goes on for another paragraph but it’s most unreadable. I’ve heard that some grown-ups have a special kind of writing that makes sense to them and nobody else, kind of like Morse code only nobody but you can read it.
“Detective Guthrie wrote in my journal.” I look up. Nate’s gone. He didn’t even say goodbye. It’s just me and Glynnis in the otherwise empty restaurant. Bartholomew in the kitchen of course, and Dutch in the toilet. Not the toilet itself, I mean the toilet room. The restroom. I don’t know why they call it a restroom though, since nobody really uses it to rest. If I go in a place called a restroom, I expect there to be couches to lie down on and maybe some elevator music to put you to sleep. Not some stinky bathroom that a dozen other people have used and left their germs all over.
Glynnis comes back over, reluctantly. “Friend of yours?” she asks me. She’s talking about Nathaniel.
“Maybe.” I stare at her. She has no idea how good I am at staring.
She stares back. She loses.
“Just wanted to make sure you’re okay. Your father is taking a while, huh?” She looks out the big window at Dutch’s beat-up, old truck that we arrived in. What she’s really making sure is that he isn’t sitting in it, ready to start the engine.
As if he heard her, Dutch finally comes out of the bathroom. Both of his hands are dripping wet. The blow-dryer in the men’s room is on the fritz. He slides into the booth across from me, frowns for the briefest of seconds as he notices Nathaniel’s lingering butt warmth, then looks at the waitress and me and mutters ”sorry" to nobody specific.
Glynnis takes it to be directed at her and she shrugs. “We thought maybe you fell in,” she offers with a half-hearted chuckle.
“No, we didn’t,” I tell Dutch. I don’t need him thinking I’m speculating on his bathroom activities with some strange lady. I don’t want our relationship starting off like that. He needs to know he can trust me not to talk about him when he isn’t around. Trust. It’s going to be life or death for us both.
Glynnis’s face turns red again. She gives me a quick frown and starts to stutter something, then twitches and her fake smile returns. “Can I get you anything else?”
“Just the check, please, ma’am.” Dutch says, wiping his wet hands on the paper napkins that came with our meal. He looks at me, gives a head nod in the direction he just came from, and asks, “Did you need to go before we head out?”
“Yes,” I lie, and then gather up my pile of journals and hurry-walk to the other restroom, leaving the two of them to handle the bill. I don’t have to go. I just need a moment alone with my books.
As I predicted, the bathroom smells. There’s a lavender air freshener on one of the sinks and it adds a nauseating aroma to the mix of odors. I go into the farthest stall, just in case Glynnis comes in, but in my mind, I know she won’t. The last thing she wants to do is come looking for me when I’m out of her sight. She’s actually relieved. Story of my life, really, people being relieved I’m gone.
I pull my feet up, hugging my journals to my chest and cry. My ribs feel tight like they’re crushing my organs. I don’t care. Let my organs get mashed into slime. Let them run out of my belly button and pool on the floor of this bathroom.
“I’m sorry, Guthrie!” I whisper to him as if the journal we both wrote in has formed a psychic connection between us and he can hear me apologize. But he can’t. He’ll never know that I lived. He’ll die thinking he failed to protect me, and I hate myself for causing his faith in himself to falter more than anything else I ever said or did to him.
I take the next several minutes rocking gently on the seat and whispering apologies to a man hundreds of miles away who can’t hear me. Then I clean myself up so it’s not obvious I was crying, dry my hands with the working blow-dryer, gather up my journals, and pop back out into the restaurant.
When I come out of the bathroom, Dutch is putting on his jacket. He hands me mine, something we bought at an outlet mall on the state line. It’s made of jean material and has patches of cartoon kitties on the front and back. It was this or an ugly, yellow sweater.
“Y’all take care!” Glynnis calls after us as we exit the front with its little jingling bell. She doesn’t mean it.
It’s some time near midnight and we’re not stopping until we’re at least two states away. Then we can pull over and sleep, no sooner. I need to get far, far away from where we started to feel even remotely alright. I told Dutch that before we stopped for food, and he nodded quietly. I know he won’t argue. His world view was shattered the moment he learned that angels are real. He would fight for them, die for them. And they told him his duty was to protect me. He’ll do it without question. They’re using him in a way, and though I feel a little weird about it, I’m not going to stop it because without him, where does that leave me? Alone, that’s where. And then I’m as good as dead. I wanted to die once. Maybe several times. But not today. I have to make things right first, no matter how long that takes. Even if it takes forever.
“Do you have any idea where we’re going?” asks Dutch over the music he turned on to keep himself awake.
I only have one clue to start with. The name of a place I heard Samael use when talking to Ohno after using that flesh-stitcher to patch me up. “Narvik” he had said. I just need to figure out where that is. Find that flesh-stitcher, send it home, and then--
The angel radio fills my brain with information about this place, Narvik. Apparently, it’s in Norway, on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Okay, that’s not going to be our first stop, definitely. There’s no way we’re getting to Norway without passports. I can’t tell Dutch this though. I’m going to have to get in touch with Dumah or Barrattiel and figure something else out.
“I’ll know when we get there,” I lie with confidence, “Have you got a pen?”
“Check the glove compartment.”
"That pen you stole from a bank? It ran out of ink and I threw it away."
"There should be another, check around."
Of course there's always a pen in the glovebox. You can throw out a zillion dead pens and still pop open the glovebox and find a pen. It's like magic. You know what you won't find in a glovebox? Gloves. Does a glovebox ever have gloves in it? It must have at some point; otherwise, why did someone name it the glovebox? It should be named the flashlight box. Or maybe the owner’s manual compartment. And yep, there is another pen, thankfully. It’s a long, erasable ballpoint with the words “Dutch Brothers Plumbing” on the side. I scribble it on my pant leg to see if it works. It does.
Dutch sees the name on the pen. “My brother Werner had a bunch of those made, back when we tried to start a business together.”
He doesn’t mention that his brother Werner died during the same war Dutch was a soldier in. He took shrapnel from a landmine that somebody else stepped on. Imagine dying because someone else was careless. I’m sorry, Meredith.
I take the Dutch Brothers Plumbing pen and scratch out my old name on this journal. “Alex’s Journal” I write. I really need to work on that signature. My capital ‘A’ looks like Pac-man with a runny nose. I flip the book open to the entry before Guthrie’s. What did I last write down? The laundry room door crumbles to ash? Oh man, I’m so behind on writing in this thing.
I flip back past Guthrie’s entry and scribble the date from a week ago before writing what I can remember of my thoughts and actions. “Alright, Lily, it’s no big deal. So you’ve got the Devil chilling in your meatball.” It feels weird calling myself Lily when I just wrote my name as Alex on the cover. Best to stick with things as they happened though, so I don’t confuse myself as an adult if I reread all this.
Dutch glances at my hand scribbling furiously. “What are you writing about?”
“The past.” I don’t look up. The road is bumpy and the truck’s shocks are garbage. It takes Herculean effort to keep my hand from turning the page into an infant’s attempt at a Picasso.
“Do you ever write about the future?”
“Never in the moment where it would matter.”
Ahead of us, the road is dark and empty. Everything and everyone we know lies behind us. But the world is round, and you can only go so far before what once lay behind you now lies ahead instead. Maybe someday I’ll go home. Maybe I’ll stop by my own grave and leave myself a flower. A lily, just because.
Maybe.

(No I'm not asking for a medical diagnosis and don't want people diagnosing me, I just want better advice that what my family gives me. Sorry about the entire paragraph that is this post)
I have always been a talkative kid in my years even when I was a little toddler, i get excited to talk to people and just spout word vomit and get off-topic half the time, sadly this is a turn off for most kids but since high school it has gotten a bit better but family just saw me as not acting my age and just scolds me for talking to much, nowadays I just keep to my self and sometimes talk when it is friends but it stopped that way and I went right back to being talkative and had better friends.
I get distracted whenever something interests me but hates when loud noises just spook the shit out of me even when a family pops in to check on me when it is not expected. Not only that I daydream alot which is also part of my distractions (Sadly half of the time the daydreams turn into porn or hentai which I don't want, so im basically just dreaming porn and i fucking hate muself for it) I could envision an apple if I wanted to and even dream up of a random TV show that doesn't exist and I can have my brain watch and talk if it pleases
I get less motivated half the time, especially when I want to change my life and be prepared for the future but that dies down so fast to the point I don't know what to do now and I just sit in a closed room and that ended up making me more happier than outside (which I don't think it's healthy and I definitely need someone to talk to that is a friend cause Jesus christ I feel so alone inside), the one thing that helps me a bit with fidgeting is drawing, I draw alot in school, doodling and even do actual art pieces in some math classes always helps me, even my English 3 teach always loved my art whenever I draw on my worksheet out of boredom or just wanted to prevent myself from fidgeting (you are the best).
Whenever I tell my parents I might have ADHD they just tell me I don't but the only reason they say this is either they think ADHD isn't real and is trying to prevent me from taking meds (I did take some ADHD medication as trial back in 2019 and it turned me into a zombie because of the dosage) and or I kept many of my symptoms closeted to myself and to other people and they don't notice it at all
Any help?

Hey guys,
I have a spreadsheet I use for work (quoting projects) that also generates a word document and fills out the quote details in that word document. It works great, but it is slower than I would like, sometimes taking up to two minutes to finish the macro.
The part of my code where it is the slowest is where it grabs data from tables in excel and inputs into tables in word. From all of my testing, it seems the only way I am able to do this is by iterating over each cell one by one and transferring the values. I was wondering if there was any way to do this more efficiently?
Below is my code. The sub below is called 24 times for 24 different tables. Hopefully it makes sense, if i need to clarify anything, let me know. Otherwise, thank you for your help in advance!
EDIT: Here is a link to a gif of this code in action. This is obviously just a portion of it all, but it shows the speed and pace of how it runs. https://imgur.com/RmD4j8m

Sub FillTableData(firstRow As Integer, lastCol As Integer, cFormatting As Worksheet, bookmarkName As String, rowCount As Integer) 'set the table in excel where the data is coming from Dim xTbl As Range Set xTbl = cFormatting.Range(cFormatting.Cells(firstRow, 1), cFormatting.Cells(firstRow + rowCount - 1, lastCol)) 'set the table in word where the data is going to '"w" is a global variable, set to the relevant word document Dim wTbl As Word.Table Set wTbl = w.Bookmarks(bookmarkName).Range.Tables(1) 'variables to be used when looping through and inserting data Dim wRow As Word.row Dim wCell As Word.cell 'variables to store the index of the corresponding excel table where the data is coming from Dim xRow As Integer: xRow = 1 Dim xCol As Integer: xCol = 1 'stores the value of the excel cell to do checks on before inserting into word Dim xCellVal As String Dim rowsToDelete As Integer: rowsToDelete = 0 Dim rowsToAdd As Integer: rowsToAdd = 0 'if the word table has more or less rows than there are in the excel table (rowCount) then add or delete rows If wTbl.Rows.count > rowCount Then rowsToDelete = wTbl.Rows.count - rowCount ElseIf wTbl.Rows.count < rowCount Then rowsToAdd = rowCount - wTbl.Rows.count End If Dim i As Integer If rowsToDelete > 0 Then For i = 1 To rowsToDelete wTbl.Rows(wTbl.Rows.count).Delete Next i ElseIf rowsToAdd > 0 Then For i = 1 To rowsToAdd wTbl.Rows.Add Next i End If 'can't remember why i put this in, but it resets these variables rowsToDelete = 0 rowsToAdd = 0 'iterate through each cell, check it, then insert it into word For Each wRow In wTbl.Rows For Each wCell In wRow.Cells xCellVal = xTbl.Cells(xRow, xCol).Value 'if in the cost column, convert the value to dollar format If xCol = 3 Then 'cost column If xCellVal = "0" Then wCell.Range.text = "-" ElseIf Not IsNumeric(xCellVal) Then wCell.Range.text = xCellVal Else: wCell.Range.text = WorksheetFunction.Dollar(xCellVal, DecimalPlaces(xCellVal)) End If 'if in the quantity column, then replace "0" with a "-" ElseIf xCol = 2 Then If xCellVal = "0" Then wCell.Range.text = "-" Else: wCell.Range.text = xCellVal End If 'if in the item title column, then format the text and add indent levels if required ElseIf xCol = 1 Then wCell.Range.text = xCellVal If xTbl.Cells(xRow, xCol).Font.Bold = True Then wCell.Range.Font.Bold = True End If If xTbl.Cells(xRow, xCol).INDENTLEVEL > 1 Then wCell.Range.ParagraphFormat.LeftIndent = 12 End If End If xCol = xCol + 1 Next wCell xRow = xRow + 1 xCol = 1 Next wRow End Sub 

I work at the service desk with a lot of female coworkers. A while ago I was helping a customer with an oven he ordered for his client. The oven(not MDO BTW) was delivered to him damaged and he wanted to get a new one ordered. Not a complicated issue except .com wasn't available because it was purchased in the store and the customer's client originally bought that oven so we had to call her to make a phone sale while she was in the middle of her busy day. So this issue was gonna take some time to get resolved and while we were waiting for his client to become available from her meeting, the customer decided to try and "cheer up" one of my female co workers who was working on a frustrating issue to the right of me by telling her to smile more. Just very weird behavior from by somebody who's actually been pretty chill so far.
Shortly after, the client calls the customer and hands me the phone to make this phone sale(I know they're suppose to be the ones entering the card info, sorry I don't give a fuck). While I'm taking the lady's card info down, the man prints some receipt paper off the printer himself and writes a note in cursive and hands it to the same female co worker still working on the same issue. Once the phone sale is complete I give the phone and the sale receipt to the customer and told him to have a nice day. That note he wrote to my female co worker said "don't forget to smile :)". Glad that dude was finally gone at that point cuz he was starting to irritate me. This actually happened about three weeks after a customer who checking out at the service desk told another female coworker of mine "A smile wouldn't kill you ya know?" She was noticeably creeped out by that and didn't smile so he tried to explain to me and a few others saying "I'm just saying it's polite to smile." That same day he wrote a two paragraph email to my store manager saying that she was rude and disrespectful.
Why do people gotta be so creepy for no reason?

Since the June DSAT is coming up I thought I'd make a post on tips and resources I used to help me study for the May 4th sat. This post goes into decent depth so read it all carefully and remember what worked for me might not work for you.
If you're like me and procrastinated studying until now then this post is definitely for you. All my prep for the May 4th test was done in like 14 days and I expect a score of 1540 or above.
My scores for the college board practice tests:
Practice Test 1: 1220
Practice Test 2: 1190
Practice Test 3: 1530
Practice Test 4: 1360
Practice Test 5: 1460
Practice Test 6: 1530
PRACTICE TESTS EXPERIENCE: Practice Test 1 and 2 were done without desmos since I didn't even know I could use it, so I basically wasted those two. I did test 2 after doing khan academy, test 3 was done using desmos and I did it after I grinded through like 80% of khan academy. Practice Test 4 truly humbled me and I realized how unprepared I really was which was when I started watching more youtube videos. I took the practice test 5 only 2 days after test 4 and my score increased like crazy which made me confident again.
NOTE: PRACTICE TEST 4, 5, AND 6 ARE THE CLOSEST IN DIFFICULTY TO THE REAL DEAL, TEST 1, 2 AND 3 ARE VERY EASY COMPARED TO THE REAL THING.
BASICS FOR BEGINNERS: If you have not studied yet at all you should start with basic concepts on Khan academy, grind through the lessons and videos, do the practice questions in the foundation section and medium section. Also learn how to use desmos, I used desmos for things I didn't even know was possible. Learning how to use desmos got rid of easy constant questions, inequalities, system of equations. Make sure to watch the 3 part desmos videos I talked about below in the youtubers section, it truly helped me a lot.
YOUTUBE: Youtube was one of the key reasons my score increased, I watched videos on the dsat constantly, while I ate food, even on my breaks I just watched videos running through the practice test I had already taken over and over again. I went over each practice test and the mistakes I made probably like 3 - 4 times throughout the 15 days.
QUESTION BANK: After I finished every practice test provided by the college board, ONLY THEN did I go to the college board question bank. This is because a good amount of the questions off of the practice tests are in this bank so without knowing it your brain could memorize how to do it and recognize it when doing the practice test which would inflate your marks. I probably went through hundreds of questions from the question bank (English and math) within the last 3 days before the may 4th test.
EXTRA TIPS: Sleep and exercise are also very important and something that I think isn't talked about enough, this applies more to people who are in my boat and are studying last minute and want a really high score. I slept crazy every night and it really helped me retain more information. Exercise is an amazing break even a walk works, anytime I hit a wall during my study periods I'd just go to the gym for 45 minutes to and hour and I would always come back refreshed ready to study again.
Youtubers I used:
Not promoting these guys in any way but they're just the only youtubers I used and I think other people here would probably find them useful.
Here are all the youtubers I used, Scalar Learning, Settele Tutoring, Tutorllini Test Prep, Strategic Test Prep, Method Learning.
Scalar Learning: He has some decent videos teaching basic concepts and his shorts have some good practice questions that he goes through.
Settele Tutoring: Settele was the one I watched the most, he went through every single question (in separate videos) on every single practice test given by the college board, I also watched some of his free concept learning videos on english, I think he explains a lot of the stuff pretty well. He’s amazing at english and helping you learn english, he made something called a “dumb summary” which I actually used a lot on my may 4th sat, it’s essentially a method where you can summarize a massive paragraph in like 30-40 seconds easily.
Tutorllini Test Prep: Has some good concept videos and also goes through all the math questions on all the practice tests really well, sometimes giving like 2-3 different methods you can use to solve a single question. He also goes through some of his own worksheets that he’s made and some of them are pretty good practice.
Strategic Test Prep: She gives some good test day tips and tips and shortcuts in general for the SAT, her explanations on the practice tests are also pretty decent.
Method Learning: Method Learning is what I’d say really boosted my score in the very beginning stages of my studying. This is only because of his 3 part desmos videos, I didn’t watch any of his other videos but that 3 part seriously was a game changer. The desmos tips he gives are amazing. An example is if a question gives you a linear or quadratic equation and then a constant in it, you can plug that exact equation into desmos and move the slider around to find what the constant is, this takes no more than 30 seconds.
Formulas I memorized for the DSAT:
You will have to memorize some formulas for the DSAT and some will make your life easier.
Sum of interior angles in a polygon: 180(n-2)
Area of a sector: πr^2 ⋅ θ/360
Arc Length: 2πr ⋅ θ/360
Mass/Volume/Density: m = v(d)
X cord. of vertex: -b/2a
Sum of solutions: -b/a
Product of solutions: c/a
If anyone needs any tips or anything just let me know I'll try my best to respond.
Whatever score you want is possible if you're willing to put in the work and time.

Since the June DSAT is coming up I thought I'd make a post on tips and resources I used to help me study for the May 4th sat. This post goes into decent depth so read it all carefully and remember what worked for me might not work for you.
If you're like me and procrastinated studying until now then this post is definitely for you. All my prep for the May 4th test was done in like 15 days and I expect a score of 1540 or above.
My scores for the college board practice tests:
Practice Test 1: 1220
Practice Test 2: 1190
Practice Test 3: 1530
Practice Test 4: 1360
Practice Test 5: 1460
Practice Test 6: 1530
PRACTICE TESTS EXPERIENCE: Practice Test 1 and 2 were done without desmos since I didn't even know I could use it, so I basically wasted those two. I did test 2 after doing khan academy, test 3 was done using desmos and I did it after I grinded through like 80% of khan academy. Practice Test 4 truly humbled me and I realized how unprepared I really was which was when I started watching more youtube videos. I took the practice test 5 only 2 days after test 4 and my score increased like crazy which made me confident again.
NOTE: PRACTICE TEST 4, 5, AND 6 ARE THE CLOSEST IN DIFFICULTY TO THE REAL DEAL, TEST 1, 2 AND 3 ARE VERY EASY COMPARED TO THE REAL THING.
BASICS FOR BEGINNERS: If you have not studied yet at all you should start with basic concepts on Khan academy, grind through the lessons and videos, do the practice questions in the foundation section and medium section. Also learn how to use desmos, I used desmos for things I didn't even know was possible. Learning how to use desmos got rid of easy constant questions, inequalities, system of equations. Make sure to watch the 3 part desmos videos I talked about below in the youtubers section, it truly helped me a lot.
YOUTUBE: Youtube was one of the key reasons my score increased, I watched videos on the dsat constantly, while I ate food, even on my breaks I just watched videos running through the practice test I had already taken over and over again. I went over each practice test and the mistakes I made probably like 3 - 4 times throughout the 15 days.
QUESTION BANK: After I finished every practice test provided by the college board, ONLY THEN did I go to the college board question bank. This is because a good amount of the questions off of the practice tests are in this bank so without knowing it your brain could memorize how to do it and recognize it when doing the practice test which would inflate your marks. I probably went through hundreds of questions from the question bank (English and math) within the last 3 days before the may 4th test.
EXTRA TIPS: Sleep and exercise are also very important and something that I think isn't talked about enough, this applies more to people who are in my boat and are studying last minute and want a really high score. I slept crazy every night and it really helped me retain more information. Exercise is an amazing break even a walk works, anytime I hit a wall during my study periods I'd just go to the gym for 45 minutes to and hour and I would always come back refreshed ready to study again.
Youtubers I used:
Not promoting these guys in any way but they're just the only youtubers I used and I think other people here would probably find them useful.
Here are all the youtubers I used, Scalar Learning, Settele Tutoring, Tutorllini Test Prep, Strategic Test Prep, Method Learning.
Scalar Learning: He has some decent videos teaching basic concepts and his shorts have some good practice questions that he goes through.
Settele Tutoring: Settele was the one I watched the most, he went through every single question (in separate videos) on every single practice test given by the college board, I also watched some of his free concept learning videos on english, I think he explains a lot of the stuff pretty well. He’s amazing at english and helping you learn english, he made something called a “dumb summary” which I actually used a lot on my may 4th sat, it’s essentially a method where you can summarize a massive paragraph in like 30-40 seconds easily.
Tutorllini Test Prep: Has some good concept videos and also goes through all the math questions on all the practice tests really well, sometimes giving like 2-3 different methods you can use to solve a single question. He also goes through some of his own worksheets that he’s made and some of them are pretty good practice.
Strategic Test Prep: She gives some good test day tips and tips and shortcuts in general for the SAT, her explanations on the practice tests are also pretty decent.
Method Learning: Method Learning is what I’d say really boosted my score in the very beginning stages of my studying. This is only because of his 3 part desmos videos, I didn’t watch any of his other videos but that 3 part seriously was a game changer. The desmos tips he gives are amazing. An example is if a question gives you a linear or quadratic equation and then a constant in it, you can plug that exact equation into desmos and move the slider around to find what the constant is, this takes no more than 30 seconds.
Formulas I memorized for the DSAT:
You will have to memorize some formulas for the DSAT and some will make your life easier.
Sum of interior angles in a polygon: 180(n-2)
Area of a sector: πr^2 ⋅ θ/360
Arc Length: 2πr ⋅ θ/360
Mass/Volume/Density: m = v(d)
X cord. of vertex: -b/2a
Sum of solutions: -b/a
Product of solutions: c/a
If anyone needs any tips or anything just let me know I'll try my best to respond.
Whatever score you want is possible if you're willing to put in the work and time.

It’s on a book (tale of 2 cities) if would be beneficial if you are willing to read it:)! No AI!!! Ai = automatic end of agreement! Just try your best and A’s are the obviously goal! HMUUUU✨✨ (dm for payment info) These are Google doc worksheets! This is no essays but there are some paragraphs you need to write! Please guys ✌️🤗

Next part from The Lost Women of NXIVM:
PRODUCER: Do you have the suicide note?
HEIDI CLIFFORD (As “Anonymous Classmate”): (Reading purported “suicide note” aloud): This is a copy of the suicide note.
“I attended a course called Executive Success Programs, aka Nexium (sic), based out of Anchorage, Alaska and Albany, New York. I was brainwashed and my emotional center of the brain was killed and turned off. I still have feeling in my external skin, but my internal organs are rotting. I’m sorry, life. I didn’t know I was already dead.”
“No need to search my body.”
Was this potential suicide letter in Kris’s car coerced?
Was it her willingly writing it?
You don’t know."
As we have discussed in previous posts, nothing about the Kristin Snyder missing person case makes any sense whatsoever, and the purported “suicide note” found in her vehicle is certainly no exception.
Before we start analyzing the “suicide note,” here are a few factors to keep in mind:
• We know through information from multiple sources that Kristin was a prolific journal writer and letter writer, so we have a plethora of writing samples to compare with this alleged “suicide note.”
• We refer to “the writer” in our discussion of the “suicide note” below. The reason for this phrasing is because the actual writer of this note is unknown. Did Kristin herself write it, either as a explanation for killing herself, or for the purpose of faking her own death? Did someone else write it to make her disappearance appear to be a suicide? Was part of the text written by Kristin and added to by another party? Was the entire note faked? Was the note written by Kristin, but under duress/coercion as Heidi pondered?
• See notes under each section below regarding clear discrepancies between Kristin’s baseline writing style based on the hundreds of writing samples we have obtained from multiple sources through varying times throughout her life.
Now, without further ado, let’s take an in-depth look at this “suicide note” – line by line.
“I attended a course called Executive Success Programs (aka Nexium) based out of Anchorage, AK + Albany, NY.”
• Who is the note intended for? There is no salutation. We have tons of samples of Kristin’s letters and there is always a salutation – AND a date. If this is really her “suicide note,” why wouldn’t she address it to her partner Heidi, friends, coworkers, and/or family – as she always had addressed people in her letters? Similarly, wouldn’t she document the date of the most significant letter of her life, as she did routinely with her letters? In fact, she often even included the specific time (for instance, 7:15 p.m.) that the letter or journal entry was written.
• In addition to a salutation and date on other writing samples, Kris also typically indented her paragraphs and she also usually wrote on each line of the paper in her letters and journal entries, unlike this “suicide note,” which does neither.
• Related to the numerous writing samples we have acquired though multiple sources, Kris also primarily wrote in cursive in both her letters and in her journal. This “suicide note” is an odd hybrid of cursive and print.
• Why would anyone start a suicide note with “I attended a course…”? Clearly, the writer of this note is directing the reader to correlate ESP with the disappearance, but it seems like a very odd place for anyone to start a suicide note. Also, Kris attended two courses, not “a course”; a fact that Kris would have clearly known.
• “aka Nexium” is another oddity. Kris did not take any NXIVM classes, not even one, despite the extensive recent propaganda linking her to NXIVM. Why? Because NXIVM did not even exist at the time of Kristin’s disappearance; it was still in the planning stages. The writer had obviously heard about these plans as evidenced by the phonetic spelling. Again, it is obvious the writer of the note is clearly directing the reader’s attention to ESP/NXIVM – but if Kris were distraught enough to write a suicide note (and as functionally incapacitated as reported by her partner), why/how would she focus on minutiae like this?
• Speaking of minutiae, it gets even more obvious in the next words: “based out of Anchorage, AK + Albany, NY.” First of all, WHO CARES where ESP was based? That is in no way pertinent to the reasoning, and apparently is another clear attempt by the writer to direct the reader toward ESP/NXIVM. Secondly, this information is actually wrong. ESP wasn’t “based out of Anchorage, AK” – they held classes in Anchorage in a rented hotel space. The home base was in NY. Furthermore, Kris knew very well that this information was wrong, having recently visited their NY headquarters herself weeks before her disappearance!
•The words “based out of” (city, state) are odd as well. None of Kristin’s other writing samples did this. Nowhere does she mention elsewhere that anything is “based out of” anywhere in any of her copious writing samples we have obtained.
• Furthermore, why would the note say “Anchorage, AK” anyway? Presumably, Alaska law enforcement would be able to deduce that Anchorage is in Alaska without this unnecessary clarification.
“I was brainwashed + my emotional center of the brain was killed/turned off. I still have feeling in my external skin but my internal organs are rotting.”
• If Kris was brainwashed, she wouldn’t know (at least at the time) that she had been brainwashed. Again, this seems to be yet another clear attempt by the writer to direct the reader to look at ESP.
• Furthermore, if Kris finally did realize that she had been brainwashed, why would she then kill herself?
• The writer switches “my” and “the” in a sentence – something Kris never did, even once, in the hundreds of pages of writing we have obtained. The sentence should read “the emotional center of my brain,” not “my emotional center of the brain.”
• Another oddity is in the redundancy of “external skin.” Again, this sort of mistake does not appear to be Kris’s style, based on other writing samples. She had a Master of Science (M.S.) in Biology and she worked as an environmental consultant to the National Guard. She was a precise, clear, scientific, and articulate writer.
• This passage clearly implies that Kris was suffering from Cotard’s syndrome; per WebMD: “People with Cotard’s syndrome (also called walking corpse syndrome or Cotard’s delusion) believe that parts of their body are missing, or that they are dying, dead, or don’t exist.” We have talked to multiple people who Kris had visited in her January 2003 trip immediately prior to her February 2003 disappearance, and nobody reported any observations of any mental health issues, suicidal ideation, depression, psychosis, nor delusions of any sort. All of the people who discussed Kris’s reported mental health decline stated that they had not personally witnessed any symptoms, but rather, they were told of a rapid decline following Kris’s disappearance.
• If Kris thought she was already dead, why would she kill herself?
“Please contact my parents Bob + Jonnie Snyder at (number redacted) in Dillon, SC if you find me or this note.”
• Why would she specify to contact her parents, who lived out-of-state? Why not her partner? Why, in fact, is Heidi, the love of her life and civil union partner not mentioned AT ALL in the entire note?
• The inclusion of Kris’s parents as the sole contacts listed in the note contradicts a specific story told at the time of the disappearance alleging that Kris had uncovered memories of abuse during the class and that these purported memories were the reason/a factor in her alleged suicide. But: if that story was true, why would she include her father in the note? It should be noted that there is no evidence whatsoever that Kris was abused. As with the alleged rapid mental health decline, people who reported that story were not told of the purported abuse by Kris themselves, but rather, they were told of the purported abuse allegations after her disappearance. In fact, we even have been given a copy of a text message exchange in which the person who spread this abuse claims refers to it as “the lie.” This is yet another example of the myriad of inconsistencies and contradictions that plague Kris’s case.
• Why mention “Dillon, SC”? There is already a phone number given, so the city/state is irrelevant, and also, it is not her typical style. Again, it seems like someone with a quirky tic to mention a city and state wrote this.
• “if you find me or this note” is similarly nonsensical. If someone found her but NOT the note, they wouldn’t see the note, would they? Again, this oddity of wording is inconsistent with Kris’s typically precise style.
“I am sorry, life, I didn’t know I was already dead. May we persist into the future. KRISTN (sic) SNYDER”
• Again, if she thought she was already dead, why would she need to kill herself?
• Why is she addressing “life”?
• “May we persist into the future” is interesting. “Persist into the future” is a phrase used in ecology, which could potentially mean a couple things: a). Kristin wrote this herself; b). Kristin wrote this phrase elsewhere and someone traced/copied it onto the “suicide note”; or c). the writer had seen a document that referred to this phrase and used it.
• WHO LEAVES A LETTER OUT OF THEIR OWN NAME???? The second “I” is missing in “KRISTN.” Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, Kris predominantly wrote in cursive and she typically signed her name in cursive as well. Why, in the most important document of her life, would she BLOCK PRINT her name, and even more bizarre, why would she leave a letter out of her own name? The writer appears to drop letters and cram letters together, but there is no evidence from other writings that Kris did these things.
“No need to search for my body”
• Why was this written on the BACK of the page on the “suicide note”? And why was the note left inside of a notebook to begin with?
• Kris was a member of the Anchorage Nordic Ski Patrol, and therefore, she was involved in search and rescue. Therefore, she would already know that THEY WOULD SEARCH FOR HER ANYWAY. Also, more importantly, why would she intentionally hide her own body and therefore put her colleagues/friends on the search and rescue team through the extensive trouble and potential dangers of conducting the search for her?
• Why write “my body” on the back of the page but write “me” on the front of the page of the note? That is yet another incongruity.
• Why the emphasis on not looking for a body? The writer clearly has a very specific reason to mention this; there is a reason the writer does not want the body found. It is very rare for a person to want to hide his/her own body, and even more rare to be able to successfully do so.

So,basically it happened when I was in second semester.There was a girl who used to stare at me during lectures and there were various moments when we had a eye contact but I used to ignore that thing.Then things started to escalate when she started saying hello to me when I was with my friends.So, my friends suggested me to go and talk to her.So I gathered my confidence and approached her.She interacted with me but left very soon.Later that day she sent me Instagram request and we started having conversation about random things(politics, studies etc).
She knew I was good in academics so she asked for help and as a human being I helped her and then after this we were talking 1-1.5 hrs daily on phone and when I didn't saw her message she used to call me continuously(One time she called me 7 times in interval of 3-4 mins) and every time she would ask me that if I am okay or has she committed some mistake that is why I am ignoring her.She used to ask for my suggestions for every thing.
Then we started going to library,where I used to teach her on the expense of my own academics but I didn't cared.Things were going well. She became a support system for me.We used to go on walks etc. She appreciated my physique (I go to gym).
But things started going downhill on June 3rd,it was her birthday and she didn't invite me,I thought she might be busy with her friends but foolish me called her and asked that am I just for her academic support!She denied and said that she wanted to give me party alone and I said I don't want a party from you .Things were not going well, we didn't called each other much.
Fast forward to 16th June ,I was working on my project and it was around 3 in the morning and she texted me that his boyfriend is asking about you,My heart fell down and I just replied her it's your matter and you have to answer it but she insisted me to tell something to reply him.. Then I wrote a long paragraph in which I said I don't want to become a barrier between both of you.I trusted you but you betrayed me and used me. I wish you all the best and please don't try to text me again.. then she started spamming that sorry,I know it's my mistake. Don't leave me blah blah... I didn't reacted to her messages. Then I went to my bed and it was around 4:30 AM, I am having project submission at 9:00 AM and after 2 days I am having my end semester exams. I tried to sleep but after 1 hour, I woke up and was feeling heavy, I called my friend and told him that everything thing is over and I broke down. Then he and one more friend of mine came running to my room and took me to the balcony and consoled me and told me that don't be sad..
Then afterwards I gathered myself and went for the project evaluation,it went good but I was feeling a void. Then in the evening she texted me again asking me that If I am angry because of her.. my friends suggested me not to reply so I didn't reply.. But the night before the exams she texted me asking for the solutions of worksheets, I didn't send her.Then she called with a different number.But then again she started spamming. Then I texted her that I want to meet and want to end everything, she came and I gave her a short reality check and saw her tears rolling down her cheeks,I again said that please don't cry etc etc.... So I gave my exams and went home.
Again on July 2nd she texted me that I met with an accident and broke my hand. I replied take care. She said are you still angry with me,please give me a chance I want to normalise everything but I asked why should I give you a second chance which she didn't bother to reply.
Now fast forward to 4th semester, everything is going fine(My CG is 9.0) but now again she is staring at me and is trying to initiate a conversation but I ignore her completely but deep down I also want to initiate a conversation again. So what should I do? Kindly guide me!!
Thank You :⁠-⁠D

So,basically it happened when I was in second semester.There was a girl who used to stare at me during lectures and there were various moments when we had a eye contact but I used to ignore that thing.Then things started to escalate when she started saying hello to me when I was with my friends.So, my friends suggested me to go and talk to her.So I gathered my confidence and approached her.She interacted with me but left very soon.Later that day she sent me Instagram request and we started having conversation about random things(politics, studies etc). She knew I was good in academics so she asked for help and as a human being I helped her and then after this we were talking 1-1.5 hrs daily on phone and when I didn't saw her message she used to call me continuously(One time she called me 7 times in interval of 3-4 mins) and every time she would ask me that if I am okay or has she committed some mistake that is why I am ignoring her.She used to ask for my suggestions for every thing.Then we started going to library,where I used to teach her on the expense of my own academics but I didn't cared.Things were going well. She became a support system for me.We used to go on walks etc. She appreciated my physique (I go to gym).But things started going downhill on June 3rd,it was her birthday and she didn't invite me,I thought she might be busy with her friends but foolish me called her and asked that am I just for her academic support!She denied and said that she wanted to give me party alone and I said I don't want a party from you .Things were not going well, we didn't called each other much. Fast forward to 16th June ,I was working on my project and it was around 3 in the morning and she texted me that his boyfriend is asking about you,My heart fell down and I just replied her it's your matter and you have to answer it but she insisted me to tell something to reply him.. Then I wrote a long paragraph in which I said I don't want to become a barrier between both of you.I trusted you but you betrayed me and used me. I wish you all the best and please don't try to text me again.. then she started spamming that sorry,I know it's my mistake. Don't leave me blah blah... I didn't reacted to her messages. Then I went to my bed and it was around 4:30 AM, I am having project submission at 9:00 AM and after 2 days I am having my end semester exams. I tried to sleep but after 1 hour, I woke up and was feeling heavy, I called my friend and told him that everything thing is over and I broke down. Then he and one more friend of mine came running to my room and took me to the balcony and consoled me and told me that don't be sad.. Then afterwards I gathered myself and went for the project evaluation,it went good but I was feeling a void. Then in the evening she texted me again asking me that If I am angry because of her.. my friends suggested me not to reply so I didn't reply.. But the night before the exams she texted me asking for the solutions of worksheets, I didn't send her.Then she called with a different number.But then again she started spamming. Then I texted her that I want to meet and want to end everything, she came and I gave her a short reality check and saw her tears rolling down her cheeks,I again said that please don't cry etc etc.... So I gave my exams and went home. Again on July 2nd she texted me that I met with an accident and broke my hand. I replied take care. She said are you still angry with me,please give me a chance I want to normalise everything but I asked why should I give you a second chance which she didn't bother to reply. Now fast forward to 4th semester, everything is going fine(My CG is 9.0) but now again she is staring at me and is trying to initiate a conversation but I ignore her completely but deep down I also want to initiate a conversation again. So what should I do? Kindly guide me!! Thank You :⁠-⁠D

the prompt is 2021 Q1
https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap21-frq-english-language.pdf?course=ap-english-language-and-composition
For centuries handwriting has been our primary source of documenting data, but is it still currently? With digital technology reaching into everyones' back pockets the decline of handwriting is evident. Email's have replaced letters, Word has replaced note taking, powerpoint has replaced posters, and many more. Even though handwriting is a great skill to have, and can help you with other aspects in life, its pragmatic uses are continuously declining. Thus it should not be focused on in school as a mandated class but rather as an elective.
Undoubtably, handwriting has major benefits, more than just the physical writing it self. Cursive script is proven to develop fine motor skills and improve mental organization (SOURCE D). Even though cursive handwriting has such benefits, the uses it posses in the everyday world are exponentially declining. What would be the point of focusing valuable education time on forcing every student to learn cursive? It would be absurd, if they want to do it, they can choose to in the form of an elective. It would be deranged to force woodworking kids to join the band, same applies here. Or it would be the same thing as forcing every student to learn French, Japanese, Spanish, and Arabic, indisputably learning many languages has great benefits to one's mind, but it should be a choice especially since it is not used in everyday life. Or as SOURCE E states, Super Mario Bros can develop better motor skills. Another important factor to consider on WHY we should make it optional is its [handwriting and cursives] roots. The real reason we adopted such writing habits in the 19th century was to make our national identity and our sense of uniqueness. We differed from other scripts not limited too but including the Gothic script, or the Palmer method because they were connoted to different cultures (SOURCE C), we adopted this so we can show we are different, however in todays world that matters very little because everyone has the same Sans Serif font in their inboxes (font gmail uses). Vouching the fact that we should not make it a necessity at school for children to learn at school.
Even though mandating such a dying subject could potentially revive it, there is no practical need to do so. Doing so would most likely do more harm than good. SOURCE B portrays one of the thousands of worksheets teachers would have to print for every student to strenuously practice their cursive writing. We all know that deforestation is hurting our climate. Badly. So why waste even more paper, especially on children who have no interest in learning the skill as well. It is like buying a $100,000 racecar for a student who has no interest in racing. What will it lead to? Immense waste. To reiterate. The printing of worksheets should be encouraged for children who want to learn the skill of cursive handwriting, but shouldn't be forced upon everyone. There would be no point in encouraging penmanship in school since post-school the focus is towards technology, after all school is meant to prepare us for the future (SOURCE A). Schools that are focusing on it should reconsider and put more effort into preparing the children for the future. In 2013, writing on paper was on average 2x than writing with technology (SOURCE F), that is however 11 years ago and if numbers like that are still prominent, school administration should reconsider.
The point of school is to be prepared for the future. In today's world penmanship is almost extinct, and in tomorrow's world it will be extinct. Technology is more efficient to use, saves the environment, and is the standard for today. So why force children in learning something that will not have technical use to everyone. It [cursive handwriting] should be more of an optional elective, like woodworking or coding.

Hi All,
New to Penmanship 😁
I need a guidance on improving my penmanship. Especially for the cursive and courier new Font. Mainly with Fountain Pens.
So far since a month i have been practicing the letter tracing, writing small sample paragraphs etc.
But for every different pen it feels different, seems like i have to practice for every pen?
Any guidance and tips for correct practice and improvement??
It would be great if you can share the PDFs, materials etc, if you have any on penmanship that helped you personally 😁
Thank you 🙏

This analysis comes from Cults and Nonconventional Religious Groups: A Collection of Outstanding Dissertations and Monographs, "Shakubuku: A Study of the Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist Movement in America, 1960-1975", David A. Snow, 1993, pp. 171-179.
I'll try to shave it down, because it's a long section, but he masterfully dissects the manipulation and artifice involved in the "discussion meetings" of then-NSA (now SGI-USA). You'll recognize the fakery he identifies - this is the nature of the Dead-Ikeda-cult SGI, a completely dishonest and exploitative cult.

It is at these discussion meetings, then, that NSA gets on with the real work of promoting and securing nominal conversion, of attempting to get recruits to take the first major step toward conversion by agreeing to receive a Gohonzon and to give chanting a try.

In those days, the nohonzon was issued up front (for a fee, of course - cash on the barrelhead).

And since gaining converts is, in large part, what this movement is all about, "nothing is more basic to the activities of NSA," as noted in the Winter edition of the 1975 NSA Quarterly, "than the discussion meeting." Or, as one district leader emphasized when discussing the importance of these meetings: "Discussion meetings are indispensable to the spread of the practice and the attainment of Kosen-rufu."

If you've ever felt confused at how sitting around someone's living room with the same bunch of losers month after month is doing anything toward the SGI's supposed goals of "world peace" or anything at all, actually, besides wasting the participants' time, I think what's described here will make it clearer what the original intent and purpose of these "discussion meetings" was, AND how far from that the current SGI "activities" have fallen.

The Character and Organization of These Meetings from a Sociological Standpoint
Given the purpose and importance of these discussion meetings, the question arises as to how they are organized and brought off in a strategic manner. In other words, what is the underlying strategy guiding this work of securing nominal conversion, and what are the kinds of tactical adjustments made at the line of scrimmage when the plan of attack does not appear to be advancing the group toward its goal of getting guests to agree to give chanting a try.

It's not enough that the "guests" say they'll try it; by the end of this ordeal, they'll say absolutely anything to get themselves to the other side of that door! What they really want is enough interest and desire on the part of those "guests" that they'll come back - and ideally become regularly attending members (as described in this indoctrinational creative writing fiction where a career Catholic priest is so entranced with the fictional (non)discussion meetings that he JOINS the SGI!! You'll notice that there is never any room within SGI to even mention one of THEIR SGI leaders who joins a Baptist church, for example, much less to celebrate such a stepping-out-of-line. But it's always FINE for other religions' leaders to see the obvious superiority of the SGI, knowmsayin?

In order to answer these question [sic] in a sociological manner, let us step out of the shoes of a guest and into those of a sociological [sic] with insiders' knowledge.
The Strategy of Theatrical Persuasion. Although members and the movement's literature like to characterize these meetings as being forums for free and open discussion and the spontaneous expression and flow of happiness and excitement, they are a far cry from gatherings characterized by spontaneity and unstructured discussion and interaction. Rather, they are meticulously planned and highly orchestrated meetings that can be best conceptualized, from a dramaturgical perspective, as theatrical-like presentations staged and conducted by a set of individuals (NSA members) who not only work together as a team but whose intimate cooperation is expected and required in order to foster and sustain a convincing impression or definition of the situation in the eyes of the audience (the recruits or guests).
Although the staged character of these meetings is seldom readily discernible to the unsuspecting guest, the appropriateness of conceptualizing these meetings in this way is suggested by the following considerations. First, the purpose of the meeting, as already indicated, is to sell guests on the idea of chanting, to so impress them that they feel compelled to give this practice call [sic] chanting a try.
Secondly, there is a division of labor such that all members have one or more roles to play. These various roles include the leadership role, the role of emcee, a general, overarching supportive role, and several more specific supportive roles, such as the role of giving an explanation of what NSA is all about, the role of a song leader, and the role of giving testimony. And even more significantly, members are provided with fairly detailed instructions, or, in the language of the theater, with scripts indicating what each role involves and how best to perform or play it.

There's a list of these roles. At the discussion meeting planning meeting, the attendees go down the list and simply plug different members' names into the worksheet.

The main leadership role, assumed by the district chief or, in his absence, the assistant district chief, includes, for example, the tasks of leading the chanting in a vigorous manner, conducting the question-and-answer session, meeting with each of the guests, and providing an inspirational role model for the other members. In performing these tasks, the leader is reminded that rather than putting on the air of a great sage, he should make a point of displaying great vitality, warmth, and compassion. Furthermore, he is expected "to be able to give clear explanations of the philosophy and practice," and is instructed to "always tailor his answers and encouragement to the audience."

Answers should always be tailored to the audience. If the guests are young, then the answers should include examples they can relate to. If the questions are too mystical or one-sided, the leader must have the wisdom to change the subject or break off the question-and-answer period diplomatically.

Blanche described how in her first district, the WD District leader instructed everyone that, if someone in the meeting was going on too long or rambling or whatever, that they should just start clapping wildly and shouting, "Congratulations!!" and then the MC would just move on to the next topic on the agenda. Reeeeal "spontaneous" there...

The emcee role is also regarded as particularly important, so much so that "the success of the meeting" is said to be contingent on how well it is performed. In fact, "so much depends on the emcee" that the discussion meeting is described for him as "a battleground in which he must struggle to bring victory to the members."

Barf. How far SGI has fallen! Now the goal is to see if there's some young teen in an SGI member's family who can be press-ganged to show up and read the agenda - their youth in and of itself is supposed to "encourage" everyone! Forget about all that "struggle" nonsense - they aren't gonna. This illustrates the SGI's current "form over function" approach, in which they just identify someone and pressure that person to do it, rather than the ideal candidate volunteering from a spirit of...oh, whatever - see above paragraph 🙄 Ideally, there would be SEVERAL young people positively brimming with passion and youthful energy who would be vying to be chosen: "Me! Let ME do it this time!" "No! ME!" "Choose ME!!" Instead, now it's just some tired old fart who agrees to do it, just to get this over with and there's no one else.

Specific responsibilities include setting "the gears fo the meeting in motion" and keeping the meeting going in a rhythmical and orderly manner.

You have to wonder just how crazy they envision these (non)discussion meetings might go - will a spontaneous rave break out if it isn't carefully controlled? An unpermitted parade? A frenzy of liturgical dance?? WHAT might happen??? Enquiring minds want to know!!

The emcee must develop the ability to keep the rhythm of the meeting going by making sure that there are no pauses or interruptions. If someone is causing a disorder, he should quiet the person in a polite manner. If a baby starts crying, he should see to it that either the mother or one of the young women at the meeting takes the child to another room to calm it down.

Gendered. Misogynist.

The emcee is also charged with being "the eyes and ears of the person leading the meeting."

Before and during the meeting, he should watch guests, be on the lookout for disruptions, and in general, be aware of everything that's happening. He should inform the person leading the meeting how many guests are present and whether they are young or old, so the leader can set the rhythm of the meeting accordingly.

Yeah. NO 😄 WOW but it's been a LONG TIME since any SGI sales pitch-based recruiting session - I mean discussion meeting - had any characteristics that would fit the above instructions. Just no way. Not now. Now, it's the same old handful of longhaulers dragging themselves in to go through the motions - as usual. By rote.

In addition, the emcee is expected to talk, act, and appear in a manner that displays or exudes strength, confidence, vitality and neatness.

The emcee must speak in a vigorous, strong and clear voice, but not screaming. The way he sits, stands up and moves the table must display confidence.

This was when a small table would be moved in in front of the person who led gongyo, who would turn around to face the group. This is of course a Japanese norm, completely foreign to Westerners. How many people outside of Japan even have a low table like that, designed for someone who's sitting on the floor??

In fact, he should stand up smartly whenever he is talking. As for appearance, he should reflect the image of NSA - clean and neat clothes and personal grooming.

It has been a LOOOOOOOONG time since ANY SGI district could insist on these requirements! Now they're just lucky if they can get anyone younger than retirement age to read the agenda off, and the agenda is often handed to them right there at the meeting itself - fuhgeddabout all this "advance preparation" nonsense. Nothing happens at the SGI discussion meetings, so nobody's going to go to this much trouble just because.

And finally, the emcee is instructed to have the details of the meeting worked out and the setting in order before the meeting begins.

...as opposed to showing up and being handed a printed agenda to read off as SGI does it now.

The emcee must have a plan for the meeting. He should write up a schedule showing who will give the explanation, what songs will be sung, who will give experiences and so on, and present it to the leader at least two days prior to the meeting. The emcee must prepare for the meeting. He should check to see if the meeting place is clean and neat, that all lights work and there is an appropriate meeting table. Most of all, he should do Shakubuku for the success of the meeting.

Oh, like any of that's gonna happen! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Yes, things were VERY different back in the late 1960s-early 1970s, when the SGI organization in the US was still growing. As you can see, all this has been tossed right out the window.
A couple of items:

• "the leader" - this was when the leader of the local district organizational unit (typically the MEN's leader) would assume the leadership role for the "discussion meeting". This was replaced with a "central figure", an invited "SENIOR leader" who would agree to attend and serve this "leader" function. The invited SENIOR leader would typically lead gongyo and preside over the proceedings - that's more how these meetings are arranged now.
  
• that "Shakubuku" in the last sentence? It strikes me wrong somehow. Sure, that'd be great and all for EVERYONE to bring a "guest" (#SGIGOALZ of course) but I think that having the person CHANT for the success of the meeting would be a more reasonable assignment. Also, how could the MC properly shepherd their "guest" and STILL do all that MC stuff single-mindedly??
  

In fact, you can see a newly promoted leader doing exactly that, "chanting for the success of the meeting", here, from this same time period (early 1970s).
It's been a LONG time since any of this was happening, and you can clearly see in today's (non)discussion meetings how far things have deteriorated - and that's JUST the MC part! There's a bit about the demands on the members of the group - I'll skip to just this part:

As one district chief explained during a planning meeting for senior and junior leaders within the district and which I was invited to by one of my key informants:

Make sure to tell your members to chant in rhythm with the leaders. There shouldn't be any more than one rhythm. Everyone should be together so that there is unity. And remember to have them support the leader in whatever he says; the guests won't know whether he is right or wrong. So even if you don't agree with what is being said, act as if you do. this [sic] way there is unity at the meeting and the guests will be more impressed.

Wow, huh? It's completely dishonest and oriented entirely at flimflamming and bamboozling the "guests"!
Next there's a big section on "experiences", but I'm going to give that its own post because it's a WHOLE topic on its own. Hopefully today! But Ima skip ahead a bit, to p. 177:

A fourth indication of the staged character of discussion meetings is provided by the fact that planning meetings are held at both the district and chapter level for the purpose of discussing how to improve discussion meetings and make them more successful. Although rank-and-file members (those who have not attained that status of a junior or senior leader) are not normally invited to these planning meetings, I was able to attend several of them at the invitation of both my district chief and a junior leader who was one of my key informants.

SKULLDUGGERY!! 💀

It was during these planning meetings that I became deeply sensitized to the highly orchestrated and dramaturgical character of not only the discussion meetings but of NSA's overall operation.

At this point it's important to remember that "dramaturgical" means "relating to the art or the theory of writing and putting on plays, especially for the theater" - it's all putting on a show to manipulate the unwitting guests in order to trick them into transforming into new recruits. It's ALL fake - just a façade to fool the uninformed.

A fifth consideration suggesting that staged character of discussion meetings is the fact that much of what members do and say, both verbally and nonverbally, during the course of a meeting is to appear natural and spontaneous rather than artificial and contrived.

They try. Unconvincingly.

In other words, these meetings are not to appear as staged performances or as the product of dramaturgical cooperation. This concern is evidenced by the emphasis placed on exuding sincerity and responding to calls from the emcee and to what the leader says and does with alacrity and enthusiasm. It is also suggested by some of the rituals engaged in by the emcee, as when he scans the gathering after he has called for an experience so as to foster the impression that whom he calls is a spontaneous decision rather than one that has been pre-arranged, as indicated by the fact that those called on are already listed on his meeting agenda and by the fact that members frequently know beforehand whether they will be giving an experience.

This fakery apparently was dropped decades ago; in current SGI (non)discussion meetings, not only is the person acknowledged by name as delivering/"sharing" an "experience", but the person often has it written out on a piece of paper they semi-read off.

But none of this is evident to the guest.

Rather, what transpires - who gives the explanation, who gives testimonies, and so on - is staged in such a way that it all appears as if it is spontaneous and independent of prior planning, negotiation, and decision-making among the members. As a consequence, it seems reasonable to suggest that NSA in general and the district members in particular have something of the character of a secret society.

Only without any special perks or sexiness.

This is not particularly surprising, however, when considering the nature of theatrical-like teamwork. As Erving Goffman noted in his seminal discussion of this kind of work:

... if a performance is to be effective it will be likely that the extent of cooperation that makes this possible will be concealed and kept secret... The audience may appreciate, of course, that all members of the team are held together by a bond that no member of the audience shares ... But (the members of the team) form a secret society ... insofar as a secret is kept as to how they are cooperating together to maintain a particular definition of the situation.

This will all be very familiar to the people trying to recruit new suckers into MLM schemes/scams, too.

The sixth and final consideration suggesting the appropriateness of viewing these meetings from a dramaturgical perspective is the fact that they do not "go on" unless there is an audience, that is unless guests are in attendance.

Before Ikeda was excommunicated by Nichiren Shoshu and transformed the SGI into his own personal worship society, there was a certain "rhythm" to the year. February and August were "Shakubuku Months", and there was an "introductory meeting" scheduled every week. If it came to meeting start time and there was no "guest", the meeting was halted and everybody was sent out to try and find something with a pulse to drag in, at which point the meeting would proceed:

When I first discovered this I was somewhat startled, for I had assumed that these meetings were conducted in their entirety regardless of the presence or absence of a new face. But as I learned one evening, this is not the case. Following the chanting session on this particular evening, the leader emphasized that since these meetings were for guests and none were present, we would have to go out and round up one or two. So the members in attendance were divided into Shakubuku teams and sent out in search of prospects. Although three of the four teams returned empty-handed, one had managed to corral a single guest. But one is all that is needed; and so the formal meeting began as usual.

For "formal meeting" read "sales pitch". By the late-1980s, perhaps earlier, instead of being every discussion meeting, this format was restricted to the "introductory meetings" during the Shakubuku Months. However, he's describing something that happened every single time. No meeting unless a "guest" was present.

During my tenure as a member I saw this particular scenario re-enacted on four different occasions, and on one occasion we were sent back into the streets three times in succession. Around 8:30 p.m., after the third try and with one guest in hand, the show finally got on the road.

The author describes himself as "an active participant observer for nearly a year and a half".

Perhaps even more illustrative of the theatrical character of these meetings and the fact that they are staged for guests is the following course of events that transpired one evening during a meeting I attended:

Although no guests were present when the chanting began, a young couple came in toward the end of the chanting session and situated themselves on the floor at the back of the room. But apparently the emcee didn't notice them; for upon completion of the chanting session he didn't jump up and yell out: 'Welcome to a vigorous and happy meeting of the [name here] District of NSA!' But the district leader, who had apparently seen this couple come in, punched the emcee in the ribs and whispered that some guests were present. And so this member immediately assumed his role of the emcee and proceeded as usual by springing to his feet, putting on a big smile, and blurting out, 'Welcome to a vigorous and happy meeting of the [name here] District of NSA!'

"Vigorous and happy" 🤣

In light of the foregoing considerations and observations, there seems to be little question about the appropriateness of conceptualizing NSA discussion meetings as "shows" or presentations staged by the members, who constitute a performance team, before an audience composed of recruits or "guests".

This was what was going on BEFORE Dickeda swanned into the US in 1990 and "changed our direction" - because of what Sensei did, the bottom fell out of the discussion meetings. Instead of weekly meetings, Dickeata dictated that these meetings would only happen monthly from now on - and of COURSE Die-Sucky Scamsei's word is LAW in his own cult of personality, where the membership follows a PERSON instead of any "law". Post-excommunication, at the (non)discussion meetings I attended, there was at least one guest every single time, but they never came back. The ONLY person I saw join post-excommunication was a formerly homeless woman with two small children who had moved in with an SGI member (who had unethically selected her at the abused-women's shelter she was living at, where he volunteered computer classes for the residents). She was able to see it didn't work; she ended up quitting.
Now what SGI-USA is left with is an ever-shrinking membership of mostly Baby-Boom generation and older individuals who mostly joined during the time period described in this study. SGI has completely lost what vitality it once had; now it's simply waiting around for the grave - and oblivion.

This question gets asked a lot and I think for some people it's essentially all they want. They're not in actual penmanship and don't want extraordinary expertise in it. It's just the work/job they do that requires them to write sort of neatly/legibly and fast. It's like a survival skill for them.
You cannot write super fast and expect it to be looking perfect. Similarly, you cannot write super neatly and assume that you'd be able to do it quickly. A balance between the two is crucial for sufficiently good and efficient handwriting.
The solution is to stick to the basics. Simple handwriting is fast and it could be neat and clean at the same time. Handwriting doesn't have to be fancy if you are in a time limit. To be efficient, you'll need to focus only on the things that matter.
Cursive is not fast, nor is print. What you're more proficient in makes one fast over the other. It's strange that, for some people, cursive with more loops, long flourishes and more character takes less time to write than simple letter-to-letter printing. For some, print is fast no matter how fast the cursive is for others. Learning cursive is not the solution to writing faster as this advice is thrown around all the time whenever someone asks a similar question.
Another piece of advice people give is to write smaller. You still need to do the same hand movements and efforts to complete a certain letter so it won't help that much. It's not the best thing you can do to be faster.
Picking a font for inspiration isn't necessary if speed is the priority. Making your handwriting look in a certain way similar to a font takes the second place.
If you are supposed to show your written work to someone else, being illegible is something that you don't want at all.
Certain letters don't look how they should (according to the standard letter chart which everyone knows and writes/reads) which creates legibility issues.
Improving your letter formation and making them look how they're supposed to be is a perfect starting point to boost the legibility aspect of your writing.
So one of the best advice that can be given to someone who's looking to improve their fast handwriting or handwriting in general is before making it fancy/eye-pleasing, make it fundamentally perfect. Know how each letter is to be formed up to standard. You can always add a style of your choice afterwards.
Tracing worksheets/workbooks could be a great starting point for studying letter strokes and letter formation. However, you'll need to practice with more than just worksheets on your own to be a better penman.
When writing quickly you already won't have much time to reflect on how you're doing so external help like using lined paper instead of blank would be the best thing to do. Lined paper not only makes you write in a straight line but helps you to be more consistent as you're writing between two parallel lines.

Hey everyone
Sorry uf I'm posting it in the wrong subreddit but I neend some clearty
Somedays ago I read about dyslexia and most of the the it's symptoms match I'll list here a little background story and my symptoms that I think are prominet
I'm 21, I have been failing in this education system as far as I remember since grade 3 qt that time i would always fail in my exams and and somehow when I got to grade for I again failed 2 times and I was made to sit with the grade 4 students and given writing learning books like cursive writing it was hell of an embaresment and was thinking it was my own fault that I don't study enough after that In grade 6 I failed 1 time this thing kept going on and off cuz if this i got depression i isolated myself alot i even fail yet in exams this all even made me hate the education system.
My writing is really bad sometimes I can't even understand myself
I can't read in speed and when I do read i something get stuck on simple works for 1-2 second I can't pronounce works with different (not correction it i ment to write difficult) pronounce or when I have ti spell the word
When I'm writing a paragraph I something forgot what i was writing and something I'm thinking a different word and unconsciously I'll start writing a different similar work
I overthink a lot idk if it's a symptom or my embarrassing childhood made me like this
I also spell the word letter by letter when I'm writing but still something I would unconsciously write a wrong latter I exams paper still are filled with cut words even thi I'm 21 now ( i still can't spell most if the worlds )
I hate to read write
It's really hard for me to contrate on things for me mostly reading or writing
When I'm typing on my phone i use autocorrect 95% if the time infact this whole para is 99-95% autocorrected.
Very emotional person
Prefer videos or audios for studying
I'm still trying to complete my Alevels (third time) mostly in exams I have the concept in my mind but it's hard for me to get it in words and express it
I Will try to think of an alternative easy word whenever I can't write a word
Something when I'm reading something anywhere mostly on phone white reading the paragraph I lose interest ends if to 2 things then i close back out and do something else or keep reading without understand not of it
Should I get checked?

Hey everyone
Somedays ago I read about dyslexia and most of the the it's symptoms match I'll list here a little background story and my symptoms that I think are prominet
I'm 21, I have been failing in this education system as far as I remember since grade 3 qt that time i would always fail in my exams and and somehow when I got to grade for I again failed 2 times and I was made to sit with the grade 4 students and given writing learning books like cursive writing it was hell of an embaresment and was thinking it was my own fault that I don't study enough after that In grade 6 I failed 1 time this thing kept going on and off cuz if this i got depression i isolated myself alot i even fail yet in exams this all even made me hate the education system.
My writing is really bad sometimes I can't even understand myself
I can't read in speed and when I do read i something get stuck on simple works for 1-2 second I can't pronounce works with different (not correction it i ment to write difficult) pronounce or when I have ti spell the word
When I'm writing a paragraph I something forgot what i was writing and something I'm thinking a different word and unconsciously I'll start writing a different similar work
I overthink a lot idk if it's a symptom or my embarrassing childhood made me like this
I also spell the word letter by letter when I'm writing but still something I would unconsciously write a wrong latter I exams paper still are filled with cut words even thi I'm 21 now ( i still can't spell most if the worlds )
I hate to read write
It's really hard for me to contrate on things for me mostly reading or writing
When I'm typing on my phone i use autocorrect 95% if the time infact this whole para is 99-95% autocorrected.
Very emotional person
Prefer videos or audios for studying
I'm still trying to complete my Alevels (third time) mostly in exams I have the concept in my mind but it's hard for me to get it in words and express it
I Will try to think of an alternative easy word whenever I can't write a word
Something when I'm reading something anywhere mostly on phone white reading the paragraph I lose interest ends if to 2 things then i close back out and do something else or keep reading without understand not of it
Should I get checked?

Hello all, I have an excel file were:

• The cell in column a contains an image,
• Column b has text,
• Column c has numbers,
• Column d has text,
• Column e has text

I would like to export this information into a word document and have the image centered on the page and information from columns b,c,d, and e centered underneath it.
I have been trying to do it with VBA but I can't seem to get the formatting to work also this code doesn't work if there is no image in cell a but when i add a line saying to skip rows with no image in cell a it crashes.
The sheet contains about 100 rows and I want all of them to be in the word document with each row formatted as stated above, except that not all rows have images and as such the code should skip those rows should be skipped
Here is my code so far:
Sub ExportToWord()
Dim wdApp As Object
Dim wdDoc As Object
Dim ws As Worksheet
Dim i As Integer
Dim img As Object ' Declare an object for the image
Set wdApp = CreateObject("Word.Application")
Set wdDoc = wdApp.Documents.Add
Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Sheet1")
For i = 1 To 10
ws.Rows(i).Columns(1).Copy
wdApp.Selection.Paste
wdApp.Selection.TypeParagraph
' Set image formatting for each image
Set img = wdDoc.InlineShapes(i) ' Explicitly qualify the image object
img.Height = wdApp.InchesToPoints(3.75)
img.Width = wdApp.InchesToPoints(5)
ws.Rows(i).Columns("B:E").Copy
wdApp.Selection.PasteSpecial DataType:=2 ' 2 corresponds to pasting as text
wdApp.Selection.TypeParagraph
Next i
' Center-align the entire document
wdDoc.Paragraphs.Alignment = 1 ' 1 corresponds to center alignment
wdApp.Visible = True
End Sub

i use markdown in supernote, with the toolbard turned off and a monospaced font (Settings>General) and this comes close. Bits I'm missing are: - paragraph indenting - ability to load preferred font family - focus and typewriter mode like iA Writer
It is sooooo close to being wonderful for longer writing, not just notes. So very, very close. (I shifted to using an e-ink android tablet to eliminate screen glare, type in my first drafts (which are cursive in pencil on paper), using a QwerkyWriter keyboard, and love the set up.

TL;DR class descriptions/info to help underclassmen know about classes thru personal experiences. Add to it with extra info or questions!
To all the incoming freshmen or other underclassmen - you’ll prolly hear it a lot, but the time really does go by so fast. Enjoy it, soak it in, and step out of your comfort zone. Someone posted their classes thru Purdue to let other students know how those classes were (in case it was a niche/high-level class or it wasn’t on RateMyProfessor). That was pretty helpful to me so Imma do it too. I’ll let u kno how the courses went and what I can remember. I’m graduating from the College of Ag with a B.S. in Animal Sciences with a concentration in Biosciences and minors in Biotechnology and Real Estate. I came into Purdue with AP and Dual Credits, so some things I didn’t take. Anyway, here are the classes I took.
Anyone who’s taken any of these, please add on/say smth else if it has changed! Underclassmen, feel free to ask about them!
————————————————————————
FRESHMAN YEAR
AGR 101: Intro to Ag & Purdue (Multiple lecturers)
This course was THE intro course to Purdue and Ag (duh). It was a 1/2 semester course so I was done with it by week 8 and there was only a quiz. We were told the purpose of Purdue being land-grant and were just intro’d to the different parts/departments of the college of Ag + different success tips. This was also the class where u begin (already) thinking about your 4-year plan and create a LinkedIn. Easy A, just show up and learn about the college of Ag
AGR 114: Intro to ANSC Programs (Ashley York)
Also a 1/2 semester course that was done by Oct. This class just went into depth on what to expect as a student in the department. You may start work on a resumé, continue with planning or LinkedIn. Again, easy A, just show up. Also, Ashley was a saint helping me each year to make sure I was on track, even tho she wasn’t my advisor.
ANSC 102: Intro to Animal Ag (Elizabeth Karcher)
This class was the first “real” class of college. It was just an intro to different domestic species and the operations tht are part of animal ag. I think there was also a lab with the class where u were introduced to animals. Dr. Karcher also was a pretty good professor. Just pay attention - it’s sort of memorization for random facts about animals/common sense depending on what u took in high school/home life in a rural area. Should be easy A.
CHM 115: Gen Chem (Multiple lecturers)
Was never a fan of chemistry, so this class I went into with dread. I didn’t want to take AP Chem, and just dealt with it in college. Honestly, if u took honors/were a good student in hs chemistry, there should be no problem - was basically just like a high school class. There was a lab that went with this course, but because of COVID, I just had an online worksheet to do every week for pre-, in-, and post-lab so I can’t speak on it. If u aren’t inclined to chem, it might take a bit of extra studying, but I was never worried.
PHIL 110: Intro to Philosophy (Taylor Davis)
To be fair, I never exactly wanted to take this exact class. I came from a small town in the Midwest, so I wanted to be sure I wasn’t dumb or anything to the people, cultures, etc. around me. Told my advisor I wanted to take a class to give me more of a “world” perspective, so she suggested the class. It honestly was not bad at all. The professor knew what he was talking abt and very accepting of questions. We learned how to tear down an argument and build it up in several ways and talked about cool things like if we have free will, does God exist, etc. The only assignments that counted for the sem were a midterm and 2 papers - 1 small and 1 large philosophical essay over any topic from the class. Definitely changed my outlook, would recommend taking it. The first part of class was harder - making sure u understand why/how an argument does or doesn’t work - but the rest was fun/easy as the topics were just presented and talked about.
AGEC 217: Economics (Larry Deboer)
I found Econ as a topic in and of itself to be quite boring. Supply and demand, money, etc. The class kind of turned out that way. Its presented as basically supply/demand and reasons for changes to the them were slowly added throughout the semester. We had several assignments, but they were nothing terrible. Gotta give props to the professor, tho. He knew the class wasn’t great but made it fun. Also, the class is flexible for schedules as in some situations it can count for credit in place of ECON251.
POL 223: Intro to Environmental Policy (Tara Grillos)
When I first started, I thought the route I wanted was ANSC with some focus in environmental issues. That’s why I took this class. I don’t understand the “intro” part, really. The whole class was presented as just case studies for things that have happened that impacted policies from the late 1800s/early 1900s until recently. Some of the info was cool. I don’t remember much for assignments, but there was a group project/paper where u had to decide on an environmental issue, state how u plan to fix it, on what level of government, etc. It wasn’t a crazy class to be in as a freshman, but it was not what I was expecting for a POL class.
ANSC 181: Orientation to ANSC (Elizabeth Byers)
Another 1/2 semester course. This class, as far as I can remember, was just for showing u the possibilities available to u in ANSC. This was specifically ANSC. It went over every concentration and what jobs/salaries there were. This was also a class where we were assigned to create our resumés (professionally) and start networking. Just as, if not easier than the other 1/2 semester classes so far.
ANSC 221: Principles of Animal Nutrition (Dale Forsyth)
Sorry but not sorry for anyone in ANSC. The class is boring, but Dr. Dale Forsyth is such a sweet old man. This class is the intro for nutrition in ANSC. U will learn the different required nutrients, food stuffs (supplements and stuff too) that have these nutrients, what happens when animals are given too little of these, and how to balance/create rations for animals (ruminant and non-ruminant). As long as u are okay/good with algebra, there shouldn’t be a problem. U just need to solve systems of equations in Excel to get the right weight of a food stuff. Homework was balancing rations. Exams looked at that + nutrients and their deficiencies. Dr. Forsyth also talks fast and doesn’t slow down because he has a lot to get thru. Come into the class knowing it prolly isn’t going to be very fun, but u need to know it. Try to find something interesting in the whole.
BIOL 111: Fundamentals of Bio II (Sean Humphrey)
Not sure how this class really is. I came into college loving biology and being (not to sound like an ass) great at it. To me, it was easy and relearning biology from high school for a bit. To others it may be a bit more difficult. There is just a lot of memorization. The professor was nice and answered my questions when I had them and explained in great detail if I was confused. I can’t remember any assignments I turned in, or anything about exams. Overall, I thought it was an easy class, but be the judge urself.
CHM 116: Gen Chem (Multiple lecturers)
Just a continuation of CHM 115. It picked up where it left off. Got a little harder, but it was nowhere as hard as TV or anything makes it. There are definitely topics that show up from hs again, but a lot is new. Wasn’t fun for this class switching lecturers every few weeks since they each had their own lecture style. Again, there was a lab section, but because of COVID, it was a worksheet. Not the worst class, but a meh class.
MA 16020: Applied Calc II (Alexandros Kafkas)
The first and only time I had to take math here. In hs I took MA 165 and thought it was a breeze (prolly bc it was hs). To anyone wondering, MA 165 SHOULD count in place of MA 16010 in college of ag. With that in mind, I went into the course knowing what Purdue math is known for, but still keepin an open mind with my abilities. I’m really proud of the grade I got, too. I think a lot of the course depends on the lecturer - mine was good at teaching us new concepts. Learn all you can about the lecturer beforehand, find out if they are good, and see it for yourself. We had quizzes in class every week (MWF) over the previous lecture and homework thru LON-CAPA that was usually due the day aftebefore (Tues, Thurs, Sun, I think). The quizzes and homework were good starting problems. The exams were tough and harder than quizzes/hw. If u’ve done well in math, but aren’t a prodigy or someone who can put in hrs of work, don’t expect to get likely higher than mid-70s on exams. It was common to get around a 50-60%. They do curve “if it’s necessary” but it is ALWAYS necessary.
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SOPHOMORE YEAR
AGR 201: Communicating Across Cultures (Pamala Morris)
To start…BOO. Was not a fan of this class. Felt like it was a money grab and busy work. It was required for some international understanding credits. The content wasnt interesting but for sure important. We were taught to basically be good ppl and about the different types of hardships that groups of ppl could go thru (ageism, sexism, racism, classism, etc.). We were required to buy the book, which was $50, but written by the prof and from what I assume was her website. I don’t recall ever using it unless it was necessary for an assignment. The class helps u relate and think critically, but is done in a piss-poor way. It could hv been the COVID aftermath where lecture was done virtually but we had a class later on with other students for a “lab”. Quizzes were easy, and overall easy, but so bad too.
SPAN 201: Spanish III (Nancy Reyes)
I know I’ve said this already abt other courses, but this still applies. This course was 100% a high school class. I did a placement test into this course (after 3 years in HS Spanish - Fr. to Jr. - with a 2 year gap of not learning) and got all credit for Spanish 1 and 2. Took it for international understanding credits. This course made sure u knew the basics again, spent a lot of time in past tense, then ended w maybe a month in subjective and future tense. There were a few speaking assignments and cultural readings/lectures. Was encouraged to speak Spanish for class, but the prof knew that couldn’t happen but still helped us all. Exams included MC, writing, and listening. Not sure if this is the same for other languages, but hopefully it is.
CHM 255 + 25501: Orgo + Lab (Elizabeth Parkinson)
Dreaded this class, but went in confidently. The class sucks, no other way abt it. It was a lot of memorization and practice. A lot of the “basic” stuff started sticking about halfway thru the semester. It doesn’t help that I stopped going to lecture about 3/4 thru the sem. It wasn’t as hard as expected, but it was still quite hard. The prof was amazing at making the content interesting. Labs were ran by GTAs. Depending on the section your GTA may not kno anything. The labs also did not go along with the lecture - they are 2 separate courses that can individually be passed or failed. Exams were as you would expect with the course - a few high spots among a crowd of C’s and D’s. The lab had multiple things due every week w the semester started. It was expected to do ur pre-lab at start of week, turn in ur in-lab immediately after finishing lab, then the previous week’s post-lab/final lab was due. The lab also holds the policy that if u don’t show up dressed right or sleep late, if you don’t show up within 10/15min of start that u can’t show up and will receive a 0 for the lab.
ANSC 230: Physiology of Domestic Animals (Rod Allrich)
This class taught me a lot. Each week was a different body system and learning info regarding animals individually. Things were taught in general as overarching concepts, but then things were applied as necessary for individual species of animals. Everything was brought up from the digestive system to the endocrine system. The class met 4 days a week and had a quiz once a week. There was no lab when I took the course. The specific professor I had was also interesting to say the least. Dr. Allrich is a funny, good man, but he does not use or create slides. Instead he uses his own website to post info (usually from Merck veterinary) abt whatever it is he wanted u to learn. In class he would just ramble on about what he thought was important. ANYTHING he said could be test material - no matter what (I was told by an upperclassman to remember that his favorite pie was sour cream and raisin pie bc it was a quiz question they had). Now, there is a lab that goes with the course. Also, if u hv Cabot the course material and class are much harder than with Rod. There are expectations, lectures, and more. Regardless of the professor, the information that was taught was useful, remembered, and interesting. In any class, Rod typically will have this structure but will grade easily. Quizzes will be to write statements of fact and exams won’t exist or will be take-home with only having 5 paragraphs to write using a word bank
ABE 226: Biotech Lab I (Kari Clase)
This was the first course I took for my minor in Biotechnology. I did not know what to expect going in as I didn’t grasp the scope of biotech. The course was ran well. The whole class is a wet lab where u are in the scientific process trying to find a new species of bacteriophage. U dig in dirt, do some pipetting, use beakers, make plates, isolate DNA, and send it off. Any research u do/finding a phage gets put into a national database for phage research. U do hv lab notebooks that get checked, but hv an outline to go off. There were several quizzes and deliverables that had us learn about phage more, or aseptic technique. It was a good class. U do have to buy a lab coat (which is kinda cool). Easy class that kickstarted my interest.
CHM 256 + 25601: Orgo II + Lab (David Thompson)
This class was disastrous. It was me, the content AND the professor as to why that was the case. This was just a continuation of course and lab. The new content was harder to wrap my head around, + I stopped going to the lectures about halfway thru the sem. To make matters worse, the class was early and the prof was speaking in mach turtle. I would listen to the lectures a day later so I could 2x speed thru them and the man was sounding like a normal person talked. This class was harder than the previous course. If u didn’t like CHM 255, sorry this is worse. The lab was just the same as the previous sem, but the GTAs changed. Again, labs didn’t go with the lecture and are 2 individual courses to be passed or failed separately. I passed but the class made me rethink my life once or twice and was potentially the worst class I ever took.
STAT 301: Elementary Stat Methods (Spencer Hamrick)
I did not enjoy this course a single bit - besides the professor. The course throws, what I felt like, was the entire concept, terms, rules, designs of statistics at u. It was a lot at once for me. I felt like there was a disconnect between what I was learning and in what ways it applied to me. It wasn’t too difficult, but the class was boring. There was also a lab section that was not great either. We were forced to use SRSS. There were homework assignments on a different software/website that equally were boring. The exams were harder than expected - there were some sections with questions with such small disparities that the answer came down to a difference of 1 word in a sentence. Overall, there’s a lot to learn and it’s all pretty basic to give a general understanding, but it was done poorly. If it was done better, it likely would have been an easy course. This course tho is also one of the worst classes I took.
AGRY 320: Genetics (Joseph Anderson)
There’s not much to say about this course. It was genetics. It felt like another continuation from the end of BIOL 111. It built a foundation for DNA, chromosomes, and went from there. There was a lot of higher thinking and content that was build upon thru the semester. It was a bit of memorization, but the content was fun. There were hotseat/iclicker questions for each lecture. Prof. Anderson was also really good at presenting the info.
AGRY 321: Genetics Lab (Aneesha Kulkarni)
This was the lab that went with AGRY 320. It was separate from the lecture. I do not believe it ever followed along with the lecture. The semester was spent with Arabidopsis. From the plant, we extracted DNA, did PCR, did mutant analysis, etc. The whole semester led up to a final lab report for what had been done that semester. There were also some small lab assignments that needed done. The class was also serious about attendance which could have made a major impact on grades. It is also typically ran by a GTA. It was fun and I enjoyed it. There was never really any work that needed to be done outside of class and at times it let out early.
ANSC 333: Physiology of Reproduction (Jonathan Pasternak)
This was a good class. The content focused on female anatomy/physiology first, then male anatomy/physiology, then on interactions and changes to the body through hormones and development. I found the class to be interesting as there is a lot more that goes into reproduction that u think. It’s a lot of cool info thrown out, but in a manageable way. Notes can go fast n there is a lot of terms and items to pay attention to. There was also a lab portion to this class. The lab went with what we learned in lectures. It was hands-on learning and doing things. It might sound gross but we had a lab where we took fetuses from a pig uterus to weigh and look at. We also looked at pig semen under a microscope. The professor was obsessed with histology. Expect to look at many slides of different tissues and know how/why they differ, where they are from, etc. I don’t remember assignments, but there was a lab practical that involved many things. Overall, it was a fun class.
ABE 227: Biotech Lab II (Kari Clase)
This class was busy. There were lots of things that needed to be done often (oddly no true deadlines it felt like). This was the dry lab portion. After ABE 226, any DNA that was collected sufficiently was sequenced and the data came back. That’s essentially what the semester was for. With the DNA from a phage, u must make entries to find out the start/stop site of genes, gene function; BLAST the genes, gather evidence there is truly a gene, and more. There were some small assignments with deliverables. There was also a larger project that was put into the undergrad research symposium. From the DNA, a small group chose a gene and researched. A lot of busy work and nights up, but there was a final genome announcement and research went into real life.
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JUNIOR YEAR
HIST 33805: History of Human Rights (Rebekah Klein-Pejsova)
This class was a requirement for an upper level humanities course. This class was easy and interactive. There were some readings that had to be done outside of class, but not much else was required. U would read, then come to class, fill out a discussion, and talk. The content started back in history and moved all the way to just beyond the Holocaust. There were a couple writing assignments that were like a paragraph. The final was to write a paragraph on when u thought the history of human rights began. Again, easy and almost no work required.
BCHM 307: Biochem (Barbara Golden)
I loved this course. Dr. Golden was soft spoken but she made sure u got the info u needed. The content felt like a mix of genetics and chem. The course was biology-sided for those that hate chem. This course went back to the central dogma and such, but then included a lot of metabolism and inner workings of cells. There were parts involving the Citric acid cycle and other “basic” biology concepts that went into further explanation from a different perspective. I believe there were also hotseat/iclicker questions. If u liked biology or genetics, u should like this course, too.
BCHM 309: Biochem Lab (Orla Hart)
Just like the genetics lab, this lab did content that led up to something big at the end. The lab was spent learning basic lab technique, then focused on isolating and purifying LDH from a Bradford assay. There were lab reports/assignments, but they all help and lead to the big lab report. It was a fun time. Dr. Hart was a fantastic prof for the course as she fully knew the topic, always helped out, and had high expectations. She would also joke and talk with us. She shared about her family (she’s Irish), her cats, n more. + she would talk with you in her office, where she had Ghirardelli chocolates to eat. There was a written midterm + u are required to wear a lab coat and goggles during lab.
ANSC 311: Animal Breeding & Genetics (Donna Lofgren)
This was another class that I liked a lot. For anyone interested in this topic, it is not what u expect. The class is not punnet squares and seeing what traits u can see. This class was a lot of math. You had to find the allelic/gene frequencies, var, covariance, selection intensity, generation interval, EBV, etc. I cannot stress that this class is a lot of math (prolly 75/25 to 85/15 for math/concepts). It is, however, one of the few genetics restrictive selectives for ANSC (if I remember right). There is other content too, learning about how to breed animals, components of breeding and genetics, etc. There is a lecture and lab. The lab is when homework was intro’d and we were given time to ask questions/complete it. The lab lasted 2 hours, and usually there would be several homework problems left. There was also a large project that used a sim (mine was beef, other years used lamb/sheep). I would have to cull and breed to get better genetics, get rid of disease, etc. The better the offspring the better. This sim was paired with an arrow chart and written report. Lot of work, but a lot of fun.
ANSC 326: Applied Non-Ruminant Nutrition (John Radcliffe)
This class was boring. Unless u love animal nutrition, it’s hard for it not to be. This was like a continuation of ANSC 221, but only focused on (essentially) pigs. Once again, just learning the background/basic info for feeding animals, providing nutrients, and balancing/creating rations. Also, this class also uses a lot of Excel - more than ANSC 221. There was a final for the course, but it was only a 1/2 semester course. There may have also been a lab section, but the work typically finished quickly.
ANSC 446: Companion Animal Mgmt (Rod Allrich)
Another course with Rod. It was basically nonsense. U learned what it took to keep companion animals healthy and managed. Specific diseases/interests were looked at for animals during class + issues/problems with animal clinics, shelters, etc. There wasnt much to learn. Since it was Rod, there were no slides. Anything written could be tested. Students had to present some issue with companion animals for points twice in the semester. There was also an animal business plan due at the end of the semester. It was required to describe the location, services, employees, their benefits, etc. There were no exams, but there were his quizzes - u were provided movies to watch and write a 1-page summary/reflection on what u saw. Once u get used to Rod, his classes are some of the easiest to ever take.
MGMT 200: Intro Accounting (Terra Maienbrook)
This was my first class for my Real Estate minor. If u have taken any math class at college u should be fine. This course is an intro. U learn the accounting equation, debits, credits, depreciation, and interpreting it through balance sheets. It can get a little confusing when things are broken down further, but as long as u pay attention there shouldn’t be trouble. Just remember what debits and credits do and u should pass the course. There were assignments that helped understand what needed to be done and how the content u are learning works, but it turns into busy work later on. If u get 1 small error as ur doing ur balance sheet, then the whole problem will be wrong and it probably won’t tell u what the error is. The professor also used hotseat/iclicker for attendance, so make sure to show up. She did let u come to any section at any time and still do the attendance. Exams weren’t difficult if u pay attention and do well in lecture and homework. If u do well, the prof would even email saying that u did well.
MGMT 304: Intro to Financial Mgmt (Phil Baeza)
This class was okay. Part of it could have been it was the prof’s 2nd semester teaching here. The class was a lot of basic info for management/econ and was also a requirement for the Real Estate minor. U are taught corporate finance + the goals of it, cash flows and a bunch of math with related terms (NPV, PV, NWC, NOI, etc.) None of it was exactly difficult to figure out. The class itself wasn’t bad content-wise. Once u learned the information, it was there. There was a lot of Excel for solving problems. If u aren’t good with Excel - make that a priority. The course also had exams, but you were allowed a typed cheat sheet for each. Besides the exams, there was also a case competition (so many of these in MGMT classes). Info was gathered about a company and with a group had to decide to approve or disapprove of their loan request. Overall, not terrible, but hard to sit thru.
ANSC 303: Animal Behavior (Marisa Erasmus)
This was an interesting class to take. It was pretty fun (and I ended up as a TA, my last semester). The course is essentially psychology in animals. You learn conditioning, scientists who contributed to the study, types of interactions, and types of behaviors (maintenance, maternal, social, play, sickness, etc.) and how they are in animals. The course also has a lab section with it. The lab section is essentially to allow for time for the zoo project, although there were some labs that went to the ASREC to observe those animals. For the project u are provided an animal at the zoo to research, go to the local zoo, and observe them. When ur back you create a presentation for the research you did involving the animal and enrichment provided by the zoo. In class, there were several quizzes over lecture content plus a midterm. There were also assignments, but many of them had some involvement with the zoo. The class also had no final, but there was a final quiz. The professor did talk fast sometimes, but as long as you typed or rewrote notes later, there was no issue.
STAT 503: Stat Methods for Biology (Yan Xing)
Unsure of why, but I loved my grad level stats courses. They were much easier and fun to learn than STAT 301 (so if u hate STAT301, give 503 a try). This course basically started at the beginning. The content started with learning sample vs population, statistic vs parameter, plus sample unit, size, variables, and variable types. The course became harder as time went on, but nothing was super difficult. The topics included basic stats (mean, stdev, var, types of distributions, unions/intersection), marginal probability, tree diagrams, binomial distributions, chi-square, ANOVA, hypothesis testing, and multiple comparisons (like bonferonni). The information was always presented in a way catered to life sciences (crazy). The lectures not presented in class, but expected to be watched beforehand. I did not go to lecture, but watched the lecture videos on my own. That was enough understanding to easily pass. There were homework assignments that were due every other week. Start them sooner than later, you’ll need the time! This class was also my introduction to coding in R. I had no experience in any coding beforehand but easily got the hang of it, especially since the professor provided tutorials. It was used for every homework, basically. There were also quizzes that weren’t too difficult. The class was not easy, but it was fun.
ABE 512: Good Regulatory Practices (Keri Clase/Stephen Byrn)
This was the final class I needed to get my Biotechnology minor. It was terrible. The professors were nice, but there was no structure. The lectures were about regulatory science and dealt a lot with information from the FDA. The course went over the good and required practices required for the creation, testing, passing, and distribution of medical equipment and/or drugs. Every small detail and information that was not in lectures was required to be known. There were quizzes and assignments that all got turned in through Gradescope. The quizzes are where random information was expected to be known. The assignments were deliverables which asked some question or inquired about a part of the process and write about them. The final was a final deliverable that had to effectively be a conglomeration of the other deliverables (but not just copying and pasting). The class wasn’t hard, but very poorly set up.
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SENIOR YEAR
CSR 103: Intro to Personal Finance (Wookjae Heo)
I just needed a filler class in my schedule. I figured it could help learn some “real world” stuff that maybe I wasn’t sure about. The class was completely online with provided lecture videos. It was very easy and what would be expected. Topics went from how to manage debt and make sure you can get loans, to being informed about credit cards and insurance. All the information was easy to get through. There were writing assignments to be done basically every week. The professor would have you read a paper that 50/50 he had a part in writing, and answer questions. Some things were interactives that just needed to be completed (regardless of how well). Not a bad class. It will definitely pad your GPA - everything taught should be common knowledge.
MGMT 370: Real Estate Fundamentals (Lindsay Relihan)
This course was quite informative. It was an average level of difficulty. There was a lot of information that went into it - I mean it is a fundamentals class. Topics that were talked about included foundations of real estate, what is real estate, valuation of property, lending, time value of money, multiple financial ratios, and taxation. There were multiple assignments - some writing and others math. The writing was for discussions (5 of them) about certain papers provided or certain book chapters. The math assignments were problem sets to get done for what we had learned. They gave plenty of time to finish them. Beyond that, there was also another case study/competition. For this a company was selected and given potential locations to move to. You had to decide if it was worth it for the company to move locations.
ANSC 345: Animal Health Management (Rod Allrich)
For this class, I just needed to take another ANSC course. This class was practically the same as any other Rod Allrich course. We learned how to keep animals healthy and basically many different common diseases of animals. From his website, we would get brought to a page talking about some disease or medical problem that could potentially happen and have to write a 1-page summary/reflection. This happened each week. He still did in person quizzes with statements of fact. Once again, students had to make videos/presentations for the class to present on some problem. There was no final exam. Did not learn too much from this one, but it was a great space filler and GPA booster.
ANSC 481: Contemporary Issues in ANSC (Barry Delks)
This is essentially the final push for ANSC students. As seniors, you take this course to prepare you for the real world. Lectures were given by guests who the professor brought in. They would talk about their specific company, career, or niche and any issues they were seeing there plus how to stop them. The professor would then have groups get together to discuss ways to fix the problems and have the guest comment on what was said. There were also assignments to be done, but they were very easy. They were just things to make sure you were on track for a job and/or graduation (having a 30-sec intro, making a cover letter, redoing your resumé). Part of the class was also just attending the career fair.
STAT 512: Applied Regression Analysis (Tiantian Qin)
Like my other grad level stat course, I absolutely loved this one, too. This class was a DIST course. This class solely focused on regressions (simple linear and multiple linear regressions). Topics for the course started with the basics (terms of regression like betas, Xs, SSE, SSR, SST, and diagnostics) and moved to more difficult content (lack-of-fit-testing, global f-testing, transformations, ANOVA, marginal effect, coefficient of partial determination, multicollinearity, and more). I found the content interesting and it was fun to learn about. Nothing was too difficult and could always be asked about through office hours. There were homework assignments that corresponded with the lectures that were due every other week. Again, take the time. The course also used R coding for everything that was done. The course also had a couple exams to do. But the biggest thing was the regression project. This required a group of students to get together, find a set of data, and use it to form a regression analysis. There was a lot of coding involved, but it was fun parsing through and wrangling data.
MGMT 375: Real Estate Law (Cecelia Harper)
This course has been super personal and fun to take. This is one of my last courses for the Real Estate minor and I am glad to have taken it. The course goes over any and all laws that relate to real estate in some way. The course talked about property rights, subsurface rights, common laws, easements on land, financing/lending, prenuptial agreements and other contracts. Most grades come from exams, though. There were 3 during the semester plus the final. All exams (except the final) were open note and book. The final we were allowed a 1-page cheat sheet that was front and back. The only grades that did not come from exams were from the contracts we drafted. You create your own lease agreement and purchase agreement, then pair with someone to mesh them together for a new one of each. I think the course is particularly made tho by the professor. She is a practicing real estate lawyer who knows what she is talking about. She would set it up so the class was very personal and we each asked her questions. It was interesting because she could have stories about clients to connect things from class. She would always entertain questions. There was no extra credit, except for when she would randomly do attendance. The course structure could be changing quite a bit now, tho.
MGMT 43901: Real Estate Investment & Development (Michael Eriksen)
The other last course for my real estate minor. This class was a step away from what I thought it was going to be. This course is geared toward commercial development and the business side, as I felt. There was nothing really said about personal/residential property. The course topics included an overview of real estate, ways/types of investment, estimation of cash flows for commercial real estate and finance terms associated, providing loans/financing, the roles of a developer, and taxes. The course didn’t have many plain assignments. These were Excel files with attached questions and instructions. If you could follow the instructions you did well, plus the assignments built on each other, except the last one - this one used ARGUS software. The majority of the work was spent on a case competition (go figure lol). Students were put into groups to select a plot of land to develop for some commercial purpose and provide the financials, timeline, and reasoning for the decision. There were several required tasks to be done for this assignment, plus a presentation at the end. There was no final exam, but there were 2 midterms. You could use an excel sheet with notes throughout, tho. The professor was good. He catered to his students and asked questions about how we thought the class was going. A good class to take.
BCHM 421: R For Molecular Biosciences (Pete Pascuzzi)
I took this class because my previous classes had made me really like working in R. I took the class to continue on with that. If you do not have a basic understanding of R, it may be a slight learning curve. The class only met on Wednesday and Friday for 2 hours. There wasn’t a lecture every class, but there was usually some work to be done. All assignments were done through R and could typically be finished in the class period. If this wasn’t possible, it could usually be finished the next class. The class just showed different things in R, from graphics and data wrangling to how to process gene ontology. There were homeworks and labs, with labs being more involved. There was a midterm that was open resource and a project. The project was done at the very end with groups who put together code from previous lectures/labs to create an RShiny document. The class did have a final, again open resource, but any graduating seniors did not have to take the final. There was an opportunity for extra credit by creating an R notebook for all your notes for functions and lines of code. The professor was also nice, helpful, and willing to put in effort to match you.
ANSC 351: Meat Science (Yuan Kim)
This class is basically just biology plus some extra info for meat processing. If you have taken muscle biology (or just bio) you will do well. The class does have some busy work, tho. The first part of the class was solely muscle biology. After this, the class went into meat quality (including analysis, factors affecting quality, etc.), parts of production (packaging, freezing, heating), slaughter and that process, then into meat safety. The content was interesting to learn and easy to take in. The class did have several assignments. After every class was a lecture quiz, each week there was a reflection, and every so often there was a case study. Case studies involved reading a case and providing a response to address the cause of a problem and fix it. The whole semester, there was a project involving some topic in meat science (novel tech, meat in diet, lab-grown meat, alternatives, etc.). Groups got together at the beginning of the semester to make a decision on the topic. Then, throughout the semester, groups met with TAs, wrote drafts of a paper, critiqued other student papers, and made a presentation to show the class. Throughout the semester, you have to work 2 shifts at the butcher block or write a giant essay on a book, too. The class also required 4 exams and a final. If you showed up to every class, you were able to skip the final. Dr. Kim loves the topic and wants you to learn, but most of the grading will be done by TAs.

EDIT: In response to a comment that there's "something I'm not telling you", I decided to add a section prior to C202 explaining how I used the time after orientation to help me prepare. Contrary to the person's assumptions/accusations, I did not engage in pre-writing, nor did I solicit rubrics, pre-written papers, etc., but I did make use of the time in relevant ways that I will describe further below.
Hi all,
I started my MBA on 4/1 officially, got my capstone final task approved on 4/29, and have successfully filed for my diploma and graduation. I wanted to thank all of the folks on this Reddit, along with those on Facebook (the WGU Business page, as well as the WGU accelerators page) for the information and the support that they've provided, which were a big help in me finishing when I could. Below is a summary of my experience, a couple of tips, and a small description of how I approached each course.
Overall notes
I loved my program mentor overall. One thing I did need to get used to was that she opened C200, C202, and C204 to start, and wouldn't really open courses for me until I finished all of the courses. This was annoying because there were a couple of times early that I needed to wait (it was really like a day or so, but at my pace I didn't want to lose days). So, I needed to establish a pace where I let her know ahead when I finished one course, and she would accelerate the next one while I finished the other (after the first set of three, I pretty much had two at a time open). She did let me choose my sequence after the first 3, so I was strategic on my choices based on what I knew (OA vs Performance Assessment, how I did on the pre-assessment, existing knowledge, etc.). Below are some details on my experience with each, and how I made decisions within each course that ultimately led to my success.
Edit: Added this paragraph below since I remembered it while rewriting the other things.
Tip for the OAs: Sometimes the proctor's aren't available right at the time (e.g., sometimes it's 8:07 for an 8:00 PM and the proceed button isn't available). If it takes too long (which happened to me a couple of times, but some people complained about it a ton on Facebook), I would just use the chat feature on the bottom right and let them know. The couple of times I did this (literally 2 times), they were able to get me started within about 5minutes or so. As a generally rule, I'd plan for about 15-20 minutes longer than your anticipated start time and completion time when you are scheduling your tests. This seemed to piss a lot of people off, but my feeling is if you plan on it being 15-20 minutes longer, then just be patient (you'll be fine waiting a bit, no big deal). I do get that some people are REALLY constrained for time, so I get it, but plan for it and you'll generally be fine with the proctors as long as you follow the rules (in my experience, at least).
Orientation - Completed on 3/15
This was quite easy - just complete all of the required tasks. Was more than I expected to need to do, but was my first experience in seeing the rubrics, the submission system, etc. Was not a big deal.
EDIT: Paragraphs below have been added to describe my use of pre-launch time, a critical phase to my final completion time.
Pre-Launch - 16 days (3/15-3/31)
An important part of my MBA time was some of the work I did during the pre-launch time. I want to emphasize that I used solely information available on the "Class Preview" versions of the site (which allows access to the pre-assessments and the course resource pages, I think). I took all the pre-assessments, passing all of them except for Financial Management, which I failed bit just a little bit. The pre-assessments let me know what areas I was weakest in, which were relevant in helping me determine which areas to focus on. Another thing that I did was be aware of what textbooks were used for the courses (using Reddit, primarily). While I was not able to obtain most of the books (e.g., those posted on 3rd party online sources such as Accounting), I was able to find similar books/older editions that I could use. There isn't really enough time to read all of the textbooks, but I did use some of this time to studying an older version of the book for C202 (a Human Resources book). Because this topic was new to me, I did read more or less the entire book (and because I did not have access to a lot of other stuff). That was the main book I read ahead of time (the other book I read completely was Accounting, another area completely new to me, but I did in fact do that during the term). Other than that reading, the other thing I did was curate all of the resources I could from the course websites about each of the tasks. Reddit provided some info, and the website constructed some info. Note that not all classes have slides/tips on the resources, so for some tasks I was more or less left in the dark (although I could determine from the Reddit posts of others generally what they are. I engaged a lot in "brainstorming" about each of the papers (e.g., if a paper was talking about an individual, I thought about who I would write about and what I would write). I did not, however, prep any materials ahead of time, partially due to the fact that you cannot view any of the rubrics, and it is generally suggested to write to the rubric (which I think is solid advice). One thing I did do that was helpful was copy and paste the instructions into the assignments and fill out my papers kind of like a worksheet (Section A - response for Section A. Section B - responses for Section B... etc.). This helped with ensuring that I met all of the rubric requirements and helped the evaluators find information (I did require a handful of revisions throughout, which I will generally note). The revisions tended not to waste too much time, as I tried to always have a second course open so that I could work on that while I waited for revisions to be approved for the other (you need mentor support in making sure things are open when you need them, and my mentor wouldn't allow me to have more than 2 open at a time, other than at the beginning when I had the first 3 open).
I want to reiterate that I did not have the rubrics ahead of time, write a single page ahead of time, or read through/copy/receive any assignments from anyone else. Every single thing I wrote was my own work, and inspired only by the textbooks and papers I read (in a few small cases). In any case, I used the time to scour the site for any and all information I could use to help me be mentally prepared for the tasks. When 4/1 hit (in fact, several hours into it, because materials don't really launch until noon on the first day typically, which I didn't know ahead of time), I was good to begin my work on the first 3 courses.
C202 - Managing Human Capital (1 OA) - 1 day (4/1)
This was my first OA. I took the pre-assessment and passed, so I felt confident going in. To prep for this course, I read through the whole textbook at a light skim, picked up some things I didn't know before, and focused on particular points I recognized from the PA that I wanted to focus more on (and read more thoroughly in those sections). I took this test on the first evening after my skim/lighter reading and was all set. I could not open other courses at this point, so I continued with C200, which was already open, but would require more time (as it was a PA course).
C200 - Managing Organizations and Leading People (2 PA tasks, both papers) - 4 days from open (4/4)
This course required two performance assessments, as well as a leadership assessment (CliftonStrengths) as part of one of the tasks. These were both very manageable tasks. I spent the most time in this class reading through a couple of papers to find good sources (this was actually one of the few that I had to/bothered to do this in). These look me a bit longer than average to complete compared to the others, so it took me a couple of days to get it done. In terms of reading, I looked at the materials related to the tasks (and the relevant papers). I did not look at any of the other course materials. After finishing this, I had C211 opened.
C211 - Global Economics for Managers (1 OA) - 2 days (4/6)
I passed this pre-assessment as well (although more marginally), so I wanted to take this one out. Apparently, a lot of people do find this test hard, but I did take Economics in college, and have made some efforts to learn some of these things on my own in the past. I focused on a read/skim approach on my areas of weakness from the pre-assessment, and was able to pass this pretty quickly (2 days after opening it). Test was absolutely fine, but my light approach to reading (only reading a couple of small areas) led to only a marginal improvement from the pre-assessment to the OA, but it was a solid pass, so it was good enough. With this done, I focused on C204 (my last remaining class). I think I was slowed down a bit, as my mentor made me wait until finishing C204 before I could continue (which annoyed me a bit, but forced me to focused on that next).
C204 - Management Communication (2 tasks - 1 paper, and 1 presentation/video/executive summary) - 8 days (4/8)
This one took me a bit longer because the work was a bit more extensive. I also was traveling on 4/2-4/4, and on 4/5, so I was only able to do this on 4/8 after I was done traveling (as I needed to make a video presentation). These tasks were more extensive, so there was a lot more work involved. I relied on the textbook only, and focused exclusively on the sections related to the tasks. I maybe BARELY did a light skim on other materials, but honestly skipped a lot of it, as it was not relevant to what I needed to do. The tasks ultimately went down pretty easily (once I sat down to do them). I had to slow down a lot because of all the traveling and needing to shoot the video, but things sped up a bit from here for a while. This allowed me to open up C215.
C215 - Operations Management (1 OA) - 1 day (4/9)
For this one, I BARELY touched the book (except for some last minute skimming the last hour before the exam). I passed the pre-assessment (barely), so I felt ok, but I focused on watching Dr. Haywood's videos on youtube (which tons of people recommended). Watching these boosted my knowledge about the area quite a bit (although he doesn't really touch any of the math, which isn't needed anyways). I was able to pass this OA immediately pretty much because I had watched all the videos. With that knowledge, it was pretty easy. The videos are very easy to understand and help with the OA a lot, so I HIGHLY recommend watching them (and use the book as a supplement too, if you need/want to). After this, I had C206 opened, and C207 opened (I was able to get two courses at a time by this point, which allowed me some flexibility in working on tasks)
C206 - Ethical Leadership (3 PAs - all papers) - 4 days (4/13, including revision time)
This one required a LOT of writing, as it is three papers! That said, a lot is based on other materials (case study, ethical leadership inventory, code of ethics), and so I barely touched the course text materials at all. I just diligently wrote and got everything done. I had to do a couple of revisions here because there was a lot to write and I missed a couple of things here and there, but it was easy once I knew what was missing to fill in the gaps. Revisions took me an extra day or so (one happened on day 3 for a task I submitted earlier, and another happened on day 4, which was what moved me to 4 days for the course. After this, I went to C207, which I already had open.
C207 - Data-Driven Decision Making (1 OA, 2 PAs) - 5 days after open (4/14, including revision time)
I have a lot of expertise and experience and did well on the pre-assessment, so I looked at pretty much nothing here. I was able to do the two PAs pretty quickly, but also quickly realized that I didn't know what they were asking for in places (I felt the wording was strange). I had to resubmit both of these, and even had to do one of them a total of 3 times to pass. These also, for some reason, required getting instructor approval. This was the one course I worked with the prof but I did take advantage of it by asking them to look at the work. They gave me some tips that were helpful in terms of understanding what they wanted and I was able to pass (although it took more revisions across the board than any other course). Without studying, I took the OA, and was able to pass that (although I scored about the same as the pre-assessment, which makes sense). The OA was harder than I Was expecting, so I was a bit disappointed. Nevertheless, I finished this and was able to move on to C212.
C212 - Marketing (1 PA) - 1 day (4/15)
This class required one pretty long paper. I looked at only the materials related to the paper and nothing else. I wrote the paper in about 4 hours, I think (ignoring my actual job that day...oops). I passed quite easily in one attempt (just was a lot of writing). This allowed me to move on to C213
C213 - Accounting for Decision-makers (1 OA) - 7 days (4/22)
I was a bit concerned about this course, as it was pretty much all brand new to me, and because I knew it was considered one of the two hardest classes (behind Financial management). For this one, I read the book cover to cover. I had passed the pre-assessment marginally using prior knowledge, but reading the book helped a ton, and I passed the OA fairly easily after all the studying. I had gone out of town for a few days again, so it took some time before I could sit for the exam. I used a few days to read all of the book pages, and then used the rest of the time to focus on C214 before sitting for this exam.
C214 - Financial Management (1 OA) - 1 day (4/23)
This was the one pre-assessment I failed (barely), and I knew this was a hard course. After opening the course, I learned that the videos provided on the site (rather than the book) were the most useful materials. I basically read through a few chapters while working through the accounting, and then switched to the videos after learning about them. The videos (posted on the course site) were about 4.5 hours or so, and were all I studied other than those few chapters I read before. I did not watch the additional 1 hour calculations video that was also available because I felt I knew enough. That said, there was a LOT of math on the OA, and I honestly didn't know how to get the calculator (I had the TI BA II recommended calculator). That all said, I passed with a pretty good score (I think I may have guessed well in a few places where I couldn't figure out the calculator as well. I sat for this exam one day after C213, and was done with this course. This test took me like 1 hour and 40 minutes total (far longer than any other exam, which generally ranged from 30-60 minutes for me). But I passed and moved forward, leaving only the capstone.
C216 - MBA Capstone (3 PAs) - 4 days (4/27)
For this, there was a business simulation and two associated tasks, as well as a profession portfolio PA. I had pretty much everything I needed for the portfolio, so this took a couple of hours to knock out and prepare for submission. However, I did need to finish the simulation and the two tasks first. Task 2 must be completed after Task 1 is passed, so I did task 1's simulation part and finished the task, and had to wait a day before getting to Task 2. After that, I finished the simulation (which I thought was an AMAZING way to integrate all that I studied and learned), and then completed Task 2. Both of these tasks passed within one attempt, and I submitted Task 2 simultaneously with Task 3, and my last days just involved waiting for approval, which happened yesterday (4/29).
After all this, I filled out the graduation paperwork and am waiting on that. With all that, I completed my work within 27 days, and am slated for graduated after 29. It was quite a road, and a lovely experience. I'd love to study more if it wouldn't cost another 5k, and am eager to see what's next.
I'm happy to share this with all of you, and am also happy to answer any questions that anyone might have! I would highly recommend this process, especially for motivated folks who can work well independently, and hope that I can use what I've learned for my work in the near future!

It's been a while since I've posted. Things got better the past month, with the fruits of mindfulness.
I want to share with the community my personal anecdote, with what was key for me and how the seemingly inert practice on those worksheets that psychs gave me has benefit.
The first key insight is that who I am is not a paragraph that I can write to you. It is not a story. It is not a roleplay. It is not my memories. It is not any idea of what characteristics I do or don't have.
This is because, those are thoughts. Who I am is not so fake and transient as thoughts. Thoughts are basically like farts and should be treated as such.
The second insight is that mindfulness is a safe space. Let's look at the status quo and then look at how mindfulness changes it.
Imagine a dungeon cell. In there there's you, and in a dark corner, you can vaguely sense a child. And the sad reality is that you abuse that child. It's existence is so abhorrent to you that you demand it stay silent and in the darkness, and you don't care how it feels. If it makes any noise you cause it more pain.
That dark imagery is fitting for how I was treating myself and am still conditioned to treat myself. It's shame. Deep shame is at the core of this.
Mindfulness, changing this status quo, says "hey, I see you in there, and I'm here for you if you want to show yourself. I'll help you and take care of you because I want you to feel at ease." This is the re-parenting therapists mention sometimes.
So I sit and watch for how I feel in my body and I try to embrace it like that. This is instead of self-abuse. And I've been able to connect with this disconnected part, and how it shows up in my body and mind.
So "who am I?" does not have an answer that can be written. But it does have an answer.
I speculate that the disorder of self in BPD and CPTSD is basically a conditioning to deeply shame the true self that's in that dark corner, and to look out of those iron bars at the passers by and try to become a child to them and be what they want, instead of being an adult to the child inside.
To put it concretely, take a look at polyvagal theory. Conceive of states of hyperarousal and hypoarousal as the pain of that inner child. And know that I was able to remediate this by being mindful without hate but with compassion.
The mindfulness is not "I'm look at you so that you can shut up and get back in the corner and leave me alone."
The mindfulness is "I'm really here for you. I have space for you. I'll never leave you, we're together forever."
Somatically, it caused me to relax like I had never relaxed before.
Hope that made some sense to someone. It's a personal anecdote, not advice.
Hope everyone is well and happy and at ease. Take care of yourselves.