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  • #16
    Congratulations Lori!!!


    Now go make Pluto a planet again
    Libraries are state sanctioned, so they're technically engaged in privateering. - Felch
    I thought we're trying to have a serious discussion? It says serious in the thread title!- Al. B. Sure

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    • #17
      Originally posted by Thoth View Post
      Congratulations Lori!!!


      Now go make Pluto a planet again
      I'm pretty pleased with myself right now, but clearing out Pluto's orbit is a little beyond my abilities...
      Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
      "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

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      • #18
        Originally posted by Thoth View Post
        Congratulations Lori!!!


        Now go make Pluto a planet again
        Ditto
        Keep on Civin'
        RIP rah, Tony Bogey & Baron O

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        • #19
          Thank you, guys. I am super jazzed right now. And now for a bit of a retrospective. Here's the thread I made back in April 2012 when I announced that I was going back to school.

          I graduated from high school in 2003. Since then, I've had 2 stints at the local community college that have garnered me a cumulative GPA of 0.5. Yes, you read that correctly - 0.5. But I've decided that I'm ****ing tired of being a community college dropout, so I'm going back (again).

          Unfortunately, the Dean of Student Development placed me on academic restriction until December 31, 2099. Yes, you read that correctly - December 31, 2099. So I talked to an advisor who said my GPA was so "impressive" that I would only be able to take 2 classes per semester until my cumulative GPA was 1.75 or greater.

          I did a little math and determined that if I retake two of my failed classes during the summer semester and get As in both, I can have a GPA of 1.83 by fall, at which point I'll be able to take a full course load.

          Of course, I'm also working fulltime, so how full a course load I'll be able to take is still up in the air. My college does offer online courses, however, so that might lessen the load. And on the plus side, my employer is willing to reimburse me for my classes... so long as I'm not simply donating money to the college as I've done the last two times.

          So this summer I'll be retaking Intro to Creative Writing for a second time and Anthropology 101 for a third time. Both of these classes contribute to my General Education requirements so they're not a total waste of time, but I can't wait until I'm off restriction and able to take new classes that will actually be of interest to me.

          Oh, and wtf am I going to be doing in college? Well, I want to be an astronomer. It's something I've wanted to be (other than world famous novelist) for a very long time. I know it's pretty ridiculous to decide at 26 that I'm going to go back to school to become an astronomer, but it's what I ****ing want so I don't care how ridiculous it is. My community college only offers two astronomy classes, however, so I'm going to have to suffice with an AS in Physics and then transfer to a 4-year school where I can get a BS in Astronomy. Of course, that's a couple years off, so who knows what my plan will be by then.

          Anyway, I just forked over the money for the first class I'll be retaking, so I better be ****ing serious about this.

          That is all.


          Then we flash forward to now, and here (with some minor editing) is what I posed to Facebook the day after my commencement ceremony.

          (Sorry for the people who got this monologue in person, but I had always intended to put this here.)

          (Also, unlike most of what I put on Facebook this is hella serious. Are people still saying hella?)

          My senior year of high school, I took and flunked AP calculus. It was not the only class I failed that year, the year I barely graduated, but it was probably the one that hit me the hardest. It was one of a growing number of signs that I wasn't even smart. You see, through the worst periods of my depression, I had always fallen back on the idea that, at the very least, I was smarter than everyone else. I may have been lonely and unhappy and unmotivated, but I knew more than all those mindless drones...

          When even that illusion was finally shattered (which, btw, did not coincide with any decrease in my public arrogance), my path to rock bottom was free and clear. The next few years were particularly bad for me and cemented the idea in my head that I was hopeless and helpless. I could never stay interested long enough to accomplish anything, or I wasn't smart enough anyway, or no matter what at any moment any of my accomplishments could be undone by me ****ing it all up somehow.

          Nevertheless, despite these core beliefs of mine, I started to grow and change anyway. I was just blind to that growth. When I decided to go back to school in the spring of 2012, I had a steep path ahead of me. But I can remember very clearly a turning point at the beginning, which was when, after attempting to learn calculus in my spare time, I aced a test (the hideously named CLEP) that placed me out of Calc 1. I was smart again! Hooray!

          But now, four and a half years later, with my degree complete, a reaffirmation of my intelligence is not what I've gotten out of this experience. If anything, I've been humbled. I've come across people with way more natural talent in math and physics than me, and I've struggled mightily with a lot of what I've had to do.

          The struggle is the point, though. To get my degree, I've had to learn hard material, but I've also had to deal with academic bureaucracy, working full-time during the day and taking classes at night, taking classes full-time during the day and working at night, financial struggles, breaking up with < Lori's last girlfriend >, moving multiple times, recurring bouts of depression, and a lot more.

          What I've gotten out of successfully earning my degree is the ability to persevere, to fall down and get back up, to ask for help, to put in the work, to study, to decide in each moment what's important to me and then follow through. In the past, I took any hint of struggle or frustration as a sign that I was obviously going to fail at some point and that I should just give up now to save myself the trouble.

          When I failed calculus in high school, it wasn't because I wasn't smart enough, but because I didn't put in the effort required. Before that, I had relied on being just smart enough to figure out whatever needed figuring out with little effort. Come calculus (and other subjects), that wasn't enough. Work was required. When I taught myself calculus in the spring of 2012, I didn't succeed because of my natural brilliance, but because each night I came home from work, and then instead of vegging out on the couch, I watched video lectures on calculus and found exercises online to practice with. I put in the work.

          This has been a long road, but it's also only the beginning. I was probably among the oldest of the graduates at last night's commencement ceremony, but what's 9.5 years when I'm planning to live forever anyway? I don't know what my future holds or even what I'm going to eat for lunch today, but I do know that whatever I end up doing, I have far more than just smarts to aid me. I have the patience and willingness to learn and do whatever is required to accomplish my goals.

          Maybe I'll even make my lunch...?

          Also, despite not having any faith in myself for a very long time, I've always had friends and family who supported me no matter what I was going through. Some of you are on Facebook, and maybe even some of you I haven't personally thanked yet. So here you go. Thank you. It would have been a much harder road without you all.


          And some of those who've supported me are right here. You guys have helped me a lot, especially during my improbably long depression thread from 2014. It's meant a lot to be a part of this community.
          Click here if you're having trouble sleeping.
          "We confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones." - François de La Rochefoucauld

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          • #20
            Hey it's great to have a few positive threads around here. Even it they took the long circular route to their destination.
            It's almost as if all his overconfident, absolutist assertions were spoonfed to him by a trusted website or subreddit. Sheeple
            RIP Tony Bogey & Baron O

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            • #21
              I missed this earlier, but I wanted to congratulate Lori as well.
              Scouse Git (2) La Fayette Adam Smith Solomwi and Loinburger will not be forgotten.
              "Remember the night we broke the windows in this old house? This is what I wished for..."
              2015 APOLYTON FANTASY FOOTBALL CHAMPION!

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