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Can you succeed in life without finishing high school?

Nebulous

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I can't skip anything unfortunately. I've gotta do it all in order.
The only parts I can go past are the essay revision parts- I still have to do those

-
65.6% is done
34.4% is left

5 days to do it

Okay I've gotten some more done..!

75.5% is done
24.5% left to go

5 days

*deep breath* I think I can do this.

Here's what I have left:

- [ ] Topic Test
- [ ] The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare
- [ ] The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare: Act 3.1
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare: Act 3.2-3.3
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare: Act 4
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare: Act 5.1-5.2
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] The Tragedy of Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare: Act 5.3-5.5
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] Topic Test
- [ ] Topic Review Activity
- [ ] Topic Test
- [ ] World Literature
- [ ] Culture and Gender Relations
- [ ] Skills Lesson: Genres and Archetypal Symbols
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] Short Story: "Subha" by Rabindranath Tagore
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] Vocabulary: Technical and Professional Language
- [ ] Vocabulary Lecture
- [ ] Online Content
- [ ] Vocabulary Interactive Assessment
- [ ] Poetry: The Blazon, the English Sonnet, and Contemporary Song Lyrics
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] Nonfiction: From A Room of One`s Own by Virginia Woolf
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] Nonfiction: "At the Hearth" by Laura Esquivel
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] Topic Test
- [ ] Topic Review Activity
- [ ] Topic Test
- [ ] Media Literacy, 21st-Century Skills, Grammar, and Writing
- [ ] Media Literacy: Decoding Legal and Governmental Forms
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] 21st-Century Skills: Exploring Procedural Texts
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] Grammar: Sentence Faults
- [ ] Quiz
- [ ] Writing: Expository Essay: Strong Relationships
- [ ] Pre-Writing Lecture
- [ ] Pre-Writing Activity
- [ ] Drafting Lecture
- [ ] eResource:
- [ ] Expository Essay
- [ ] Drafting Activity
- [ ] Revising Lecture
- [ ] Revising Activity
- [ ] Topic Test
- [ ] Topic Review Activity
- [ ] Topic Test
- [ ] Cumulative Exam
- [ ] Cumulative Exam Review
- [ ] Cumulative Exam

Along with revising two essays from before
-one is a personal narrative about courage,
-the other is a research paper on who I think was the best US president and why

I'm working on the Tragedy of Julius Caesar right now

~

CASSIUS: 
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world

Like a Colossus, and we petty men

Walk under his huge legs, and peep about 

To find ourselves dishonorable graves.

Men at sometime were masters of their fates.

The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,

But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
*-Shakespeare

I love this
Also I bet the book title "The Fault in Our Stars" was a nod to this line, eh?
 

Puffy

"Wtf even was that"
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Ooo, Julius Caesar. A timely verse:

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat."

Sounds like good progress. :p
 

Pyropyro

Magos Biologis
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Keep it up Neb! :)
 

TheManBeyond

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Objects in the mirror might look closer than they
give up neb! there will always be someone who's better than u!

(i'm the stabilizer, too much support might spoil you)
 

washti

yo vengo para lo mío
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that's very scary piece of avatar TMB. how come? :phear:
 

Happy

sorry for english
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Sound like you're doing well, Neb. Keep it up! :)

When i wrote that little pep talk and offered assistance, I was kind of expecting you to have some major essays or something, but it seems like you just need to keep powering through your list - which is totally easier because its completely measurable.

If that's the case, the best advice I can give you is to not slow down. Just finish. That feeling of finishing is incredible, and the more time you have leftover, the more satisfying it feels.

(That's something I wish I'd learned in school or university. Unfortunately, I learned it toward the beginning of my professional life)
 

Nebulous

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Sound like you're doing well, Neb. Keep it up! :)

When i wrote that little pep talk and offered assistance, I was kind of expecting you to have some major essays or something, but it seems like you just need to keep powering through your list - which is totally easier because its completely measurable.

I could use some halp with the essays though

I want to play guitarrrrr my sister and dad are playing drums & guitar and it sounds awesome and ungh I have not been productive today

I'm 83% done with the course (made much more progress yesterday than today.) I really wanna get the essays out of the way though.


If that's the case, the best advice I can give you is to not slow down. Just finish. That feeling of finishing is incredible, and the more time you have leftover, the more satisfying it feels.

(That's something I wish I'd learned in school or university. Unfortunately, I learned it toward the beginning of my professional life)

Gosh I wanna get the work done asap so I can hang with my friend at least a bit before school starts (Sept 5) but I'm feeling sick. Feverish. Throat is bothering me a bit.

Why are the heavens punishing me like this

Also I'm really stressed about going into junior year, it's supposedly the worst year of high school
I asked an older friend abt it and they said "Junior year is a horrible nightmare that devolves into a horrible fuck fest beyond your imagination" like greeaat.
Uhgngnrmjugugjgnngnfmgjgjguugughhgmmmjklokgkgkillmenow
 

Happy

sorry for english
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Post the parameters of your essay problem(s). I'll try to help you nut out a framework/structure. (I hold 3 university degrees - I've done more than a few of these before)
 

yoho22

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It depends on the person. Most of us go to school to learn something new; it is given that we aren't all born with talents, and going to school is one way to develop skills to compensate for the lack of such. If you're an extremely talented individual or you are learned at something that has the ability to make you successful, then even without formal education you can succeed.

What we learn in the academe is only a part of the whole thing around us; however, the knowledge in the academe can be used to become successful in your pursuits and is also the safest way to be secure in life.
 

QuickTwist

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I wouldn't worry so much about what your friend says about Junior Year being hell. Everyone has a different experience when it comes to school so you can't predict that it is going to suck, which would leave you with bad expectations which could taint how you perceive that year. You haven't been there yet and you don't know what it is going to be like so don't "expect" anything until it actually happens. On a personal note, my junior year was the best year of HS I had.
 

Polaris

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Yes, and no : /

The issue with conventional school is that it starts out in the early years with loads of creative and fun stuff, and then just descends into rote-learning hell until you get to university level, where you are allowed to be more creative again. By that time, most creativity and incentive has been effectively killed off in most people, unless you have very strong long-term vision and incentive for a particular career.

So I think you need to keep this in mind, but that doesn't mean you, in particular, should pursue a college path. If you are artistically inclined, however, I would think it would be only to your benefit to finish high school in terms of how your applications will appear to administrative and executive agents at art schools. Or any school/college/university for that matter. Remember that you are competing with a bunch of people who have actually finished stuff, and that is what decision makers look for - people who can finish stuff, and who also perform well at interviews. As much as we despise the processes that provide us with the necessary documentation, the reality is that most schools and potential employers require this. If you don't have it, and one thousand other people have it, there is not much chance that people will even look any further at your application.

...and if you decide to drop out of school - make sure you don't have long periods of unemployment, because that is also a red flag, unless you can document illness, disability or something like that.

This sucks, and probably seems unfair to those of us who are not inclined to coughing up certificates, but reality doesn't care about that. It only cares about the fact that you can get stuff done and show some sort of proof of this, and you can of course get stuff done without certificates....but it is then completely up to you and your own ability to become financially independent.
 

redbaron

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~~~Warning: complete brain-vomited intuitive rant ahead. No critical thought was applied to the following post~~~

I think college/university being proverbial hell, isolation from family, forced to assimilate to a new culture and realise yourself for what you want to be, is no small part of why university is such a huge stepping stone and in a way, important to a younger person.

I regret working full-time and saving money when I was younger instead of moving away, living off scraps and whatever I could scrounge while going to university. My life has been too comfortable during my youth as a result of my 'practicality' and 'sensibility' and I'm weaker for it, almost delayed developmentally in a way. I lost passion for my own adult life before I was even an adult, committed to slovenly self-destructive habits that still torture me to this day. These are my rewards for my so-called 'responsible' and 'disciplined' approach to work at a young age.

My (almost) obsession with the relative practicality of whatever task I'm currently committed to, and the ability to find flaw and fault in any direction I opt to take is, I believe, very much to do with the fact that I resigned myself to a life of mediocrity as early as 15-16, where I decided to just accept I wasn't special and that I'd simply work and take what pleasures I could, where I could. 10 years later I'm closer to 30 than 20 and I'm now filled with this realisation that my life has literally been pointless - I've followed the social trends of doing what's "reasonable" and "practical" and put myself in a position where, with my acquired and inherent skillset and abilities - I realistically could have a number of decently paying jobs, yet none of which would satisfy me on a personal, intellectual, emotional or soulful level.

So I sit and do what I always did, which is not so different than what you do now Nebulous - which is to see all the problems and the struggles, to rationalise and to embrace contrarianism, finding solace in friends with no ambition, who seems listless and rebellious at heart - but whose rebellion is not at all genuine, soulful or strong - rather it's weak. To be truly rebellious is to thrive within the system given, to accept that we are all part of the system, but to bend it around you in ways that defy the natural order the system would attempt to impose on you and to eventually, create your own system that runs counter-intuitive to the established, that allows for the realisation (or if not the realisation, at the very least, the pursuit and chasing of your realisation) of yourself.

Don't give up. School is fucked. University is fucked. But your task isn't to finish school and university, and then to end up in some pre-meditated pathway that feels arbitrarily prescribed by others, as if by an over-eager doctor keen to fulfil the quotas of some pharmaceutical company. No, it's to acquire the systematic skills you need to build your own system.

Be better than me if you can, or at least start on what I intend to start while you're still young. I'm not even that old, but 10 years is a lot. What I could have achieved in any multitude of areas, had I committed to doing so at 16. 3 hours a day, 365 days a year, and I'd have reached more than 10,000 hours of commitment and one would say under certain parameters I'd be a 'master' of something by now.

Whatever it is you want to do, just do it. One hour a day, two, three. Whatever you want, just do it every day. Don't think about your ability at it relative to others - do the other things you need to do to succeed in the system. That expands to high-school, university, work, relationships, but do the thing you most love as well. Every single day. I regret moving to a smaller place where I can't set up my drum-kit, I feel broken even though I was rarely playing it in recent years. Just looking at it was like looking at the best friend I ever had, the friend who was always there to make my eardrums tingle and give me early ear damage and piss off my neighbours if I ever really needed to or felt that urge.

I don't know what you love, I don't know what you cherish, but foster it and grow it, nurture it and don't let it go for anyone or anything. It doesn't mean you'll make anything of it, but it is at least, symbolic of _YOU_. Drumming was that to me, and it seemed so easy to rationalise and just say, "well I don't play them that often these days, neighbours are around, I can't really make that much noise" etc etc. and it seems infinitely ridiculous to me that I lament them so much every time I hear a song - but I know now how my dad has felt all these years, and how it felt to be separated from HIS drumming.

He would tell me that he can't drum just on and off, he can't do it for anything less than his life, or else it's just too hard to continue, to enjoy it and to thrive on it. And I understand it. I've resisted that notion, rejected it for all sorts of reasons, but deep down I know why. But deep down I also know that his response is NOT right, to give up and waste his soul away and slaving to that which he hates because it's "practical" and "necessary" and whatever other stupid fucking reasons people give. I know that it's my "job" to make sure that I pursue what I love with fervor and take joy in what I pursue always, even if its limited and it feels terrible to be constantly limited in my ability to enjoy it.

So do what you love, take joy in it. Don't forget it and don't sacrifice it for others - because it's not worth it. Just don't. Don't do what seems reasonable and correct within the context of "the system" if it crushes your very soul. But don't throw the system away entirely, and become useless and incapable of self-sufficiency either.

Or something like that anyway.

*deep breath*

*hits post*

tl;dr - more reasons to finish this fucking English course.
 

Happy

sorry for english
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~~~Warning: complete brain-vomited intuitive rant ahead. No critical thought was applied to the following post~~~

I think college/university being proverbial hell, isolation from family, forced to assimilate to a new culture and realise yourself for what you want to be, is no small part of why university is such a huge stepping stone and in a way, important to a younger person.

I regret working full-time and saving money when I was younger instead of moving away, living off scraps and whatever I could scrounge while going to university. My life has been too comfortable during my youth as a result of my 'practicality' and 'sensibility' and I'm weaker for it, almost delayed developmentally in a way. I lost passion for my own adult life before I was even an adult, committed to slovenly self-destructive habits that still torture me to this day. These are my rewards for my so-called 'responsible' and 'disciplined' approach to work at a young age.

My (almost) obsession with the relative practicality of whatever task I'm currently committed to, and the ability to find flaw and fault in any direction I opt to take is, I believe, very much to do with the fact that I resigned myself to a life of mediocrity as early as 15-16, where I decided to just accept I wasn't special and that I'd simply work and take what pleasures I could, where I could. 10 years later I'm closer to 30 than 20 and I'm now filled with this realisation that my life has literally been pointless - I've followed the social trends of doing what's "reasonable" and "practical" and put myself in a position where, with my acquired and inherent skillset and abilities - I realistically could have a number of decently paying jobs, yet none of which would satisfy me on a personal, intellectual, emotional or soulful level.

So I sit and do what I always did, which is not so different than what you do now Nebulous - which is to see all the problems and the struggles, to rationalise and to embrace contrarianism, finding solace in friends with no ambition, who seems listless and rebellious at heart - but whose rebellion is not at all genuine, soulful or strong - rather it's weak. To be truly rebellious is to thrive within the system given, to accept that we are all part of the system, but to bend it around you in ways that defy the natural order the system would attempt to impose on you and to eventually, create your own system that runs counter-intuitive to the established, that allows for the realisation (or if not the realisation, at the very least, the pursuit and chasing of your realisation) of yourself.

Don't give up. School is fucked. University is fucked. But your task isn't to finish school and university, and then to end up in some pre-meditated pathway that feels arbitrarily prescribed by others, as if by an over-eager doctor keen to fulfil the quotas of some pharmaceutical company. No, it's to acquire the systematic skills you need to build your own system.

Be better than me if you can, or at least start on what I intend to start while you're still young. I'm not even that old, but 10 years is a lot. What I could have achieved in any multitude of areas, had I committed to doing so at 16. 3 hours a day, 365 days a year, and I'd have reached more than 10,000 hours of commitment and one would say under certain parameters I'd be a 'master' of something by now.

Whatever it is you want to do, just do it. One hour a day, two, three. Whatever you want, just do it every day. Don't think about your ability at it relative to others - do the other things you need to do to succeed in the system. That expands to high-school, university, work, relationships, but do the thing you most love as well. Every single day. I regret moving to a smaller place where I can't set up my drum-kit, I feel broken even though I was rarely playing it in recent years. Just looking at it was like looking at the best friend I ever had, the friend who was always there to make my eardrums tingle and give me early ear damage and piss off my neighbours if I ever really needed to or felt that urge.

I don't know what you love, I don't know what you cherish, but foster it and grow it, nurture it and don't let it go for anyone or anything. It doesn't mean you'll make anything of it, but it is at least, symbolic of _YOU_. Drumming was that to me, and it seemed so easy to rationalise and just say, "well I don't play them that often these days, neighbours are around, I can't really make that much noise" etc etc. and it seems infinitely ridiculous to me that I lament them so much every time I hear a song - but I know now how my dad has felt all these years, and how it felt to be separated from HIS drumming.

He would tell me that he can't drum just on and off, he can't do it for anything less than his life, or else it's just too hard to continue, to enjoy it and to thrive on it. And I understand it. I've resisted that notion, rejected it for all sorts of reasons, but deep down I know why. But deep down I also know that his response is NOT right, to give up and waste his soul away and slaving to that which he hates because it's "practical" and "necessary" and whatever other stupid fucking reasons people give. I know that it's my "job" to make sure that I pursue what I love with fervor and take joy in what I pursue always, even if its limited and it feels terrible to be constantly limited in my ability to enjoy it.

So do what you love, take joy in it. Don't forget it and don't sacrifice it for others - because it's not worth it. Just don't. Don't do what seems reasonable and correct within the context of "the system" if it crushes your very soul. But don't throw the system away entirely, and become useless and incapable of self-sufficiency either.

Or something like that anyway.

*deep breath*

*hits post*

tl;dr - more reasons to finish this fucking English course.

@Nebulous:
This above post is valuable and worth your time to read because at your point in life, there's no way you can understand what it's like to have 10 years of hindsight following teenage decisions that set your trajectory in life. You have a very important decision to make (and subsequent decisions), and what RB's post affords you is the perspective of someone reflecting on decisions they made at their own crossroads, in a situation comparable to your own.

Of course I'm not saying that RB made the wrong decisions (I don't believe that at all, by the way) and that you should learn from them, or anything like that. Rather, I'm trying to say that this is a thought provoking post that you should spark in you the question: "How do I want to see my own decisions upon reflection later in my life?"

For the record, I am in the same age bracket as RB and at that end-of-high-school fork, I took a very different road. I can't say I made the best decisions either and I've made many mistakes of my own. I'm currently contemplating a significant career change.
However, I'm fortunate that my own trajectory is advantageous enough that correction of that course doesn't require a full 180.

@redbaron:
I may have misread, but it seems like you're gearing up towards some interesting pursuit? If you don't mind my asking, what are you intending to do?
 

k9a4b

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If I could go back, I would have gotten my GED and got out of high school early. I fucking hated high school and it was a terrible environment for me to learn in. Then I would have not gone to university and worked a trade instead (like welding or being a damn good mechanic and working for myself) and learned things on my own (fuck you college and your worthless pieces of paper).

But you probably don't really know what you want to do. I didn't either, which is probably why I thought going through school was a good idea... So you should probably stay or something?...err... :cat:

this + the fact that university is designed to make it really easy for people to borrow money from the government when they are young and have no idea how the world works or what they want to do or why
 

redbaron

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@Happy: not sure, I feel like I have to go back to university at this point and learn a thing or two about a thing or two. I'd write a book but that seems not useful really. Maybe start a YouTube channel or a blog (or both) where I begin by breaking down science in ways that I just don't see anyone do.

Then eventually I'd like to design my own experiments and report on them myself. Maybe write a book after all this, with more of a platform to promote it. I'm good with language, I'm good with science - and I'm routinely frustrated by how scientific journalism is portrayed, and I'd like to do something that primarily achieves two things:

1. circumvents paywalls by extracting and communicating information via other formats
2. makes science digestible to the average person, without distorting it or sensationalising it
3. i didn't say 3 but I'd like to use this same platform to also talk about pressing social issues that get little notice in society these days. Suicide rates for young men for starters and on a more local scale, raising awareness for environmental issues here in Australia...oh and tackling this fucking housing bubble*

As a bonus I'd be pretty fine with debating and discussing certain topics with people on Teh Interwebz on a variety of topics for the sake of bringing them to a wider audience.

Project is about 0.03% complete as of writing this.

First step I guess is learning how to monetize one aspect of these things so that it can fund itself, then expanding that to allow for it to cover living costs so I can full-time do this. It would probably take up every second I have, but it'd be worth it.

*on that note Happy, join the Affordable Housing Party and join ya fackn union!


:elephant: - also I've been waiting forever to say this, but fuck this stupid elephant. It's my most hated emoticon on the entire site. Fuck you elephant emoticon.
 

Nebulous

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~~~Warning: complete brain-vomited intuitive rant ahead. No critical thought was applied to the following post~~~

I think college/university being proverbial hell, isolation from family, forced to assimilate to a new culture and realise yourself for what you want to be, is no small part of why university is such a huge stepping stone and in a way, important to a younger person.

I regret working full-time and saving money when I was younger instead of moving away, living off scraps and whatever I could scrounge while going to university. My life has been too comfortable during my youth as a result of my 'practicality' and 'sensibility' and I'm weaker for it, almost delayed developmentally in a way. I lost passion for my own adult life before I was even an adult, committed to slovenly self-destructive habits that still torture me to this day. These are my rewards for my so-called 'responsible' and 'disciplined' approach to work at a young age.

Huh! This is an interesting perspective.
I thought getting a job and getting paid and saving up was rlly important and I've been stressing about having to do it soon

No one in my household is working right now and we're just living off savings. My dad did physical work until he hurt his back months ago, then he got Lyme disease, so he's really not able to do that job anymore. Which is where our money was coming from.
I've been saying I'll try to find some work this school year- I have to get my license and keep up with school work though.
But ugh there's definitely pressure for me to get a job.
And that's out of my comfort zone-- I've been on Zoloft for almost a year but I still definitely get anxiety in certain situations, and this has been stressing me out.

Ahh



Wow ok this turns into a sad rant pretty fast​

But yeah I've been planning to find some work and have a 'responsible' and 'disciplined' approach to it, at my young age.

Taking on responsibilities really freaks me out, because i get thinking that I'm not going to be able to figure things out quick enough, or I'll be late all the time, and I'll be an awkward mess and embarrass myself and disappoint people and give the company a bad name and I'll hate myself and become a self loathing crying mess who believes she can't do anything right again :,)))
(((Which is hat happened last year when I was a c.i.t. at a summe camp,, that was horrible)))
And then I feel stupid and lame even talking about my anxiety too much, because in the end excuses are excuses and anxiety is just a thing and I have to stop being a baby because I'm almost old enough to live on my own and be an 'adult', etc...
ungh I don't know. I feel like a freshman. I don't feel like a junior, I didn't even feel like a sophomore last year, I feel connected to the age 14, and I'm scared to move on because I feel like a fish out of water.
It's probably cuz I never had a whole freshmen year experience. I got no closure and i feel like I only got half the year done. I perpetually feel like I'm still in the middle of ninth grade.
(I had some sorta breakdown or whatever you'd call it that year. Horrible, horrible anxiety and emotional problems, like actually fcking crazy. Psychs wanted me locked up- and I felt like I desperately needed that too- but my parents wouldn't hear of it. They thought I was being a bitch on purpose to be mean to them. God that year was awful.)

This is probably some complicated psychological problem with repression or other
I have a therapist but like she's not that helpful. Can't switch because insurance things though.
One thing I'm looking forward to about going back to school is that I'll have access to the school psychologist again :,D she's so great and smart and we're on the same wavelength so we can actually talk. She's so calming. I just want to sit on her floor forever.
^
Wanting to sit on floors and hide and be near a grown up I deem as "safety" does not seem like grown up behavior. Something's wrong. Something must be messed up with me because that's not normal and it's shitty to want to be coddled like a little kid

I miss my aunt
She was like a mother to me
My mom doesn't give off the warm caring vibes my aunt did.
She's always been more shut off that way im crying again like a fcking baby
I'm such a mess this is so inconvenient

My (almost) obsession with the relative practicality of whatever task I'm currently committed to, and the ability to find flaw and fault in any direction I opt to take is, I believe, very much to do with the fact that I resigned myself to a life of mediocrity as early as 15-16, where I decided to just accept I wasn't special and that I'd simply work and take what pleasures I could, where I could. 10 years later I'm closer to 30 than 20 and I'm now filled with this realisation that my life has literally been pointless - I've followed the social trends of doing what's "reasonable" and "practical" and put myself in a position where, with my acquired and inherent skillset and abilities - I realistically could have a number of decently paying jobs, yet none of which would satisfy me on a personal, intellectual, emotional or soulful level.

Some goals I have for my life are
• to do something with this story my friend and I have- preferably an animated series or comics
-which would require some sort of extensive training in art, animation technology and techniques, storytelling, and or comic book drawing and stuff
-plus some more psychological and philosophical studying because we want the story to introduce people to a bunch of cool theories and themes and ideas. It's ambitious and idealistic of us but we want it to be almost an allegorical manifesto

• another idealistic one: make a bunch of money so I can give back to my parents, and use the money I have to help causes I believe in and make the world a better place. I'd especially love to help people who are homeless and struggling, God just walking through New York City rips my heart out.

• travel a bit and learn a language (as many as I can tbh)
-I'd love to stay in Norway for a while, and Sweden, France, Ireland, Scotland, Portugal, the Caribbean perhaps?, check out the national parks in the US, go to New Zealand .. etc..
- I'm learning French in school. I'd love to learn some Scandinavian language too. I'm French, Irish, German and Swedish- I'd love to connect to those cultures more because they're a part of who I am

So I sit and do what I always did, which is not so different than what you do now Nebulous - which is to see all the problems and the struggles, to rationalise and to embrace contrarianism, finding solace in friends with no ambition, who seems listless and rebellious at heart - but whose rebellion is not at all genuine, soulful or strong - rather it's weak. To be truly rebellious is to thrive within the system given, to accept that we are all part of the system, but to bend it around you in ways that defy the natural order the system would attempt to impose on you and to eventually, create your own system that runs counter-intuitive to the established, that allows for the realisation (or if not the realisation, at the very least, the pursuit and chasing of your realisation) of yourself.

Don't give up. School is fucked. University is fucked. But your task isn't to finish school and university, and then to end up in some pre-meditated pathway that feels arbitrarily prescribed by others, as if by an over-eager doctor keen to fulfil the quotas of some pharmaceutical company. No, it's to acquire the systematic skills you need to build your own system.

Be better than me if you can, or at least start on what I intend to start while you're still young. I'm not even that old, but 10 years is a lot. What I could have achieved in any multitude of areas, had I committed to doing so at 16. 3 hours a day, 365 days a year, and I'd have reached more than 10,000 hours of commitment and one would say under certain parameters I'd be a 'master' of something by now.

Whatever it is you want to do, just do it. One hour a day, two, three. Whatever you want, just do it every day. Don't think about your ability at it relative to others - do the other things you need to do to succeed in the system. That expands to high-school, university, work, relationships, but do the thing you most love as well. Every single day. I regret moving to a smaller place where I can't set up my drum-kit, I feel broken even though I was rarely playing it in recent years. Just looking at it was like looking at the best friend I ever had, the friend who was always there to make my eardrums tingle and give me early ear damage and piss off my neighbours if I ever really needed to or felt that urge.

I don't know what you love, I don't know what you cherish, but foster it and grow it, nurture it and don't let it go for anyone or anything. It doesn't mean you'll make anything of it, but it is at least, symbolic of _YOU_. Drumming was that to me, and it seemed so easy to rationalise and just say, "well I don't play them that often these days, neighbours are around, I can't really make that much noise" etc etc. and it seems infinitely ridiculous to me that I lament them so much every time I hear a song - but I know now how my dad has felt all these years, and how it felt to be separated from HIS drumming.

He would tell me that he can't drum just on and off, he can't do it for anything less than his life, or else it's just too hard to continue, to enjoy it and to thrive on it. And I understand it. I've resisted that notion, rejected it for all sorts of reasons, but deep down I know why. But deep down I also know that his response is NOT right, to give up and waste his soul away and slaving to that which he hates because it's "practical" and "necessary" and whatever other stupid fucking reasons people give. I know that it's my "job" to make sure that I pursue what I love with fervor and take joy in what I pursue always, even if its limited and it feels terrible to be constantly limited in my ability to enjoy it.

So do what you love, take joy in it. Don't forget it and don't sacrifice it for others - because it's not worth it. Just don't. Don't do what seems reasonable and correct within the context of "the system" if it crushes your very soul. But don't throw the system away entirely, and become useless and incapable of self-sufficiency either.

Or something like that anyway.

*deep breath*

*hits post*

tl;dr - more reasons to finish this fucking English course.

Thank you so much for taking the time and energy to write this. It means a lot and I'm really grateful to see another perspective into life, Ah. Thank you.

----

Btw English progress:

87.5% done
12.5% to go

But there are three essays I have to do
I haven't gotten to the last one yet
 

Nebulous

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Work left

95% done (Woo!!!)
5% left!
Deadline: August 31 (today is the 29th)

--
Essay 1: Personal narrative- about a time you were courageous
Essay 2: Research paper- who you think was the best US president and why
Essay 3: Expository essay- what qualities make for a healthy and long lasting relationship

topic review activity
topic test
cumulative exam review
cumulative exam
--

The tests are no big deal, but the essays require me to stretch my brain differently and focus a bit more- because of the limited time I've been rushing through most assignments, using sparknotes instead of reading books, and going by the just get it done it doesn't have to be perfect mindset.

The essay prompts are pretty lame or strange but wtv~

@Happy: I'm gonna employ the help squad

I DO NOT want to plagiarize or have you guys write anything- but I'd appreciate some help with
1. figuring out another point to include in the personal narrative and
2. Helping me find something on President JFK that I can actually cite- apparently the website I used doesn't work with MLA citations. ( https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/Life-of-John-F-Kennedy.aspx )
3. Just kinda figuring out a guideline- that's the hardest part of essay writing for me but once I got that I'm fine

ALSO a TON of this is me talking to myself I gottagetthesedoneforgivemypublicdramaandwhatnotimsorrybutnotsorryenoughtostopbecausethishelpsmethink

Assignments
Personal Narrative on Courage:
Think about an event in your life that required bravery. Write a personal narrative that recounts the event. Describe what happened and the impact the event had on your life.
* develop a multi-paragraph response to the assigned topic that clearly communicates the purpose of your story to the audience
* describe the characters, setting, and conflict using meaningful sensory descriptions and details that enable the reader to visualize the experiences in your narrative.
* organize your story in a clear and logical manner, including an introduction, body, and conclusion.

----
Research Paper- Best US President
Write a multi-paragraph essay that explains who you believe was the best US president and why. Be sure to support your choice using examples and details that back up your argument.
* develop a multi-paragraph response to the assigned topic that clearly communicates your controlling idea to the audience.
* support your controlling idea with meaningful examples, reasons, and information based upon your research or readings.
* properly use citations according to MLA format.
Personal Narrative rambling/ 1 question
For the personal narrative/courage one im using a ..slightly altered version of a situation years ago where I was skiing and had to get to the bottom of the mountain asap, but I'd been overly cautious and therefore kinda slow at skiing thus far, and the slope I had to go down was particularly steep compared to what I was comfortable on.

Things I could use help with: uh in the actual story I just really had to go to the bathroom so I just bit the bullet and went flying down the mountain, realized things were actually fun and easier than they seem, and that doing things despite your anxiety about them can open new doors in life, blah blah.
I don't really want to write that I had to pee :phear: some random teacher on the internet will grade this
What could be some other reason to have to get down the mountain asap?
Like 'oh nooo I was stuck at the top of a steep trail but it was the only way down the mountain from where I was and there was no night skiing-so no lights- and if I didn't go down before the sun did I'd be left there in the dark’ ?? (Fabricated bs. Would that pass as a believable situation though...?) any better ideas?

Uh what even do I say as my points though like
How do I organize this

I'm gonna die in a hole



And ugh for the President one. Outline idea--

Intro-
-Thesis (opinion+reasons why) , introduce 3 qualities
Body 1- Quality 1 of President that makes him the best
-supporting detail - cite
- explain significance of supporting detail
Body 2- Quality 2 of President that makes him the best
-supporting detail - cite
- explain significance of supporting detail
Body 3- Quality 3 of President that makes him the best
-supporting detail - cite
- explain significance of supporting detail
Outro-
-restate thesis, blah blah
-
Works Cited
-----

So I gotta figure out what the qualities should be and find a thing or two that I can actually cite with MLA. Speeches would be perfect

Uhhhh

JFK was the best
qualities that made him awesome:
1. inspiring to people,
2. Made major accomplishments, and
3. ??

(HELP)
I just gotta figure out what the qualities should be. He was really inspiring, because he was ambitious and optimistic-- uh like maybe I shouldn't put inspiring as it's own quality and instead just tie that in?? Like
1. Ambitious
2. Optimistic
3. ?
But I think I'd be using the space race aand agwgshhsjsbebeovvo no I hate essays I'm sorry

I'LL FLESH THE ESSAYS OUT MYSELF DON'T WORRY BOUT THAT I just gotta figure out what goes where and what my points are

THANK YOU THANK YOU if you help at all I'm stuck on these and I have the rest of today and tomorrow to get these done R.I.P. :hoplite_spear_kill:
 

Ex-User (14663)

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For the president one, I would start with a treatment of what it even means to be a good president. E.g. discuss important aspects of being a president - cultural, economic and social impact, maybe war-related performance, his legacy, how he tackled crises etc.

Then it's a matter of using these criteria to assess the various presidents.

For an essay, you should probably consider their reason to give you such an assigment. Which aspects of your writing will be assessed, for example. Obviously they are not interested in your actual story, but how you write it. I don't know, but it seems you picked a topic that's kinda hard to flesh out. Skiing down a hill fast is a very rudimentary sort of bravery. There are probably millions of things you have done which required a more.. literary sort of bravery, like dealing with some sort of personal issue, angst or something like that.
 

Viscosity

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Well, taking your past performance into account...

Do you have any reason to believe that that might change in the future and are their any past events which may support that belief?
If not, it is probable that you might invest time and money into a particular field of study and find yourself repeating your behavioural patterns, which would ultimately lead to considerable losses.

I think that it would be wiser to judge your competencies based on your past experiences, accomplishments etc. Use the data that is available to you with prudence and patience and try not to react to that data emotionally. Get a sense of where you stand and what to expect, and accept and respect that, and then scout for possibilities and make a decision. Experiment. Trial and error.

Speak to others. Get support/advice from family, friends, or otherwise.

We all exist with our own limitations, man. It's what makes us who we are. The better we are aware of them, the better we can filter out dead-ends, conserve our energy, and orientate or position ourselves in a manner which allows us to grow in our own peculiar way. There's joy in that, really.
 

Happy

sorry for english
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@Happy: I'm gonna employ the help squad

I DO NOT want to plagiarize or have you guys write anything- but I'd appreciate some help with
1. figuring out another point to include in the personal narrative and
2. Helping me find something on President JFK that I can actually cite- apparently the website I used doesn't work with MLA citations. ( https://www.jfklibrary.org/JFK/Life-of-John-F-Kennedy.aspx )
3. Just kinda figuring out a guideline- that's the hardest part of essay writing for me but once I got that I'm fine

Don't worry, not advocating any plagiarism whatsoever.

Seems like the Personal Narrative is going fine. Although, I think if your narrative is that you needed a bathroom, and the only way was down the mountain, then you should be sticking to it in its entirety. Don't water down the sense of urgency in your story by omitting that part, because it's a predicament that everyone can relate to, and that is the strength of your story. Also, like you said, some random teacher on the internet will grade this. That's all the more reason to go for it. You've already confessed it to the internet.

FYI - LINK: Here's a fantastic resource for story structure... Follow the story circle and you can't lose.

For the president one, I would start with a treatment of what it even means to be a good president. E.g. discuss important aspects of being a president - cultural, economic and social impact, maybe war-related performance, his legacy, how he tackled crises etc.

Then it's a matter of using these criteria to assess the various presidents.

For an essay, you should probably consider their reason to give you such an assigment. Which aspects of your writing will be assessed, for example. Obviously they are not interested in your actual story, but how you write it. I don't know, but it seems you picked a topic that's kinda hard to flesh out. Skiing down a hill fast is a very rudimentary sort of bravery. There are probably millions of things you have done which required a more.. literary sort of bravery, like dealing with some sort of personal issue, angst or something like that.

For the president one, your best bet is to follow Serac's advice and first pose the question "What are the qualities of a good great president, and why?" and then "How did JFK embody these qualities better than other presidents?"

So, you should split it into two parts. Sample structure below (note I'm trying to tailor this to a 10th grade level - sorry if it comes across simplistic)

Intro
-State your thesis, that you plan to argue that JFK was best.
-Outline your method, that you will attempt establish objective criteria against which you will critique JFK's presidency compared with other popular presidents
[-I would normally state the limitations of whatever it is I'm writing, but that might be a little too much in your case.]

Part 1 - Criteria
Body 1 - Quality 1 - Outline the quality and why it's important. Perhaps also discuss a president other than JFK who exemplified that quality
Body 2 - Quality 2 - As above
Body 3 - Quality 3 - As above

Part 2 - Discussion
Body 4 - Quality 1 - How did JFK exemplify that quality better than any other president?
Body 5 - Quality 2 - as above
Body 6 - Quality 3 - as above
(once you write these, restructure it so that it flows more like a narrative/discussion than a series of answers to questions, but only if you have time)

Conclusion
[the usual]​

I'll give you a research and citation tip for when you've left things too late: Go to the Wikipedia page, scroll down to references, steal them (read them, obviously, but use that list as your starting point)

Essay 3: Expository essay- what qualities make for a healthy and long lasting relationship

Ugh really? I'm going to have to think about this one. I'll get back to you.

I don't think many adults have a good answer for that, let alone teenagers.
 

The Gopher

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The answer they are probably looking for revolves around: Communication and willingness to compromise on things that don't matter while also generally being similar on things that do matter but also realising that you don't need to be perfectly compatible and are fine to do things with other people.
 

Nebulous

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Whys there no robot dance emoticon this world is one of deprivation and cruel bitterness

Stab me in the gut
I feel like throwing up

Add lyrics
Kill me

(I'm just stressed as hell and shit. I finished every single English assignment except the three fckin' essays. Everything else is done. Yet I'm still not free. I have a better idea of what to do now, I changed the topic of the personal narrative one [thank you guys for suggesting that- much easier] but god I'm having so much trouble dragging myself through the writing. God. Procrastination and just flat out moping.

Also frustrated with my printer; I've been looking for the cord for months and finally found it [somehow wrapped around the uh, leg of my desk chair?? But right by the bottom of the seat? I HAVE NO CLUE.] Was like, yay, finally I can print out the stuff I need printed for my art assignment, but then my iPad wasn't connecting to the printer and a plethora of other technical difficulties that were pissing me the hell off.)

:cthulhu: :cthulhu: :cthulhu: imsoannoyedandfrustratedAAAHHHHHH


So yeah i did a shit load of work but I still have pretty much three essays to flesh out and then I have all my art homework which involves printing out things but I can't because my printer is being shut so I'm just gonna scream and fling myself out the window
 

redbaron

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Nebulous I think that your total lack of confidence in your own ability comes from your over-critical and hyper-controlling parents. You're likely a lot more capable than either you or they think.

My $0.02
 

Nebulous

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Nebulous I think that your total lack of confidence in your own ability comes from your over-critical and hyper-controlling parents. You're likely a lot more capable than either you or they think.

My $0.02

OCD, whatever, mhmhmhm i have a hard time deciding how to go about things.
I don't know. There's the "emotional/mental disorder" story, or the "I'm just victimizing myself and making excuses" story.
Likely it's a combination of those, but it's really hard to tell where the balance is.

Slap a bunch of labels on, depression, social and general anxiety, OCD, ADD, whatever else. Medication and therapy.


At least I want to do things right; that's a benefit of the perfectionism or over critical-ness.
But I come off as obnoxious and someone playing "victim", which isn't an image I want to be embodying. Perfectionists worry and complain a lot. And then worry and complain about how much they worry and complain. High ambitions, wanting to do things superbly, having very high standards for yourself and your work, tends to have side effects of constant self-criticism

I think the reason I thought I was INTP when I first got into typing was because I mistook my anxiety issues for Ti. Very much in my own head, thinking non stop and obsessively "analyzing" my behaviors and "researching" things that seemed relevant to me. I think it's probably a factor in a bunch of mistypings- people who don't realize they have anxiety problems deciding that those thought loops are actually Ti.

Brings BBC Sherlock to mind, he thinks he's all logical and unemotional, but really almost everything he does is because of how extremely emotional he is.
(There's an episode where Mrs. Hudson explains that Sherlock is emotion driven. It's great.)
Even Vulcans turned to cold logic because they're actually extremely emotional beings. So much so that they were destroying themselves with war and violence. Logic is safer.
 

TheManBeyond

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Objects in the mirror might look closer than they
Nebulous I think that your total lack of confidence in your own ability comes from your over-critical and hyper-controlling parents. You're likely a lot more capable than either you or they think.

My $0.02

WJsFHs2.jpg
 

The Gopher

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Nebulous I think that your total lack of confidence in your own ability comes from your over-critical and hyper-controlling parents. You're likely a lot more capable than either you or they think.

My $0.02

Yes partly, and I think the result, or at least middle point is you procrastinate partly because it gives you an excuse for why the result isn't perfect. Maybe due to perfectionism complex. Ironically you intentionally self sabotage so you have an excuse for your performance.

You know... not that I would know anything about it.
 

Artsu Tharaz

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Can you succeed in life if you HAVE finished high school?

I mean, who in their right mind would sit through that shit?
 

Nebulous

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Aaaand first day sucked.
Guidance counselor is a fucktruck. She didn't put art in my schedule at all, there's no room for it, she thinks it's a bad idea for me to try any "hard" classes, she was overall being a condescending asshole jerk

Uururhrgrg
Gonna take a cold shower I feel like satan
 

Nebulous

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Wait, did you finish on time?

Yup! (English course) and I got a good grade, forgot exactly what but it was around 90

--
@washti and everyone

Sorry if I seem like I'm blowing things out of proportion. I seemed freaked out in the posts earlier because I was freaked out. It was legitimately an entire English 10 course, and I had the summer to do 70+% of it so I could go into Eng 11.

Quizzes, tests, books and stories and plays to read, lectures, assignments, all that stuff.

And I managed to get it done, mostly in the last few weeks I had to do it before the deadline.

That's stressful.
I was trying to express the stress I was feeling because that's how I know to describe a situation, by how I'm preceiving it. I'm not showing off or trying to appear as a martyr.

Ehh imma take this to another thread
 

washti

yo vengo para lo mío
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AAEAAQAAAAAAAAmvAAAAJGM1YmM3M2NjLTA5Y2QtNGI0Yy1iNzdiLTliNTg1YWU0ODM2OQ.jpg


Congratzzzzulation!
PS. Kidding!:o(with blowjobbing out of proportion:D)
 

Pyropyro

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Good job Neb!
 
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