Secret Confessions

[Doomy]

[Edited Because I Fracking Can]

Welcome to the Secret Confessions thread. Beyond the pure anonymity of the internet, there lies a certain level of understanding behind all the accounts here on FF. The SC account carries burden of allowing the user to give a candid, private confession with (hopefully) understanding feedback. The SC thread is for other posters to give kind and/or helpful advice, words of empathy, or a secret of their own (under the SC name or not).

This account is a group account, and EVERYONE needs to treat it respectfully. By posting under the Secret Confessor, you are pledging to refrain from hate mail, "finger-pointing", insulting and being a jerkface. By posting in the SC thread, you are pledging to keep the comments respectful. This has not yet been a problem, but it's nice to have written down "just in case".

If you would like to use the SC account for ANY reason beside posting in this thread, please PM me- even if it's under the SC name (this is not to exert authority, but to maintain order over a very accessible account).

Thank you!


email/login:
[e-mail]
Password: secret

[Lamp Post]

I do understand, and, well. . . she might not be the friend you're used to her being or the friend you necessarily need her to be, you still need to stand by her, though. You haven't lost her, but maybe until things settle down you should look into getting another distraction or possibly make some new friends of your own/catch up with old RLs.

[Hannah]

I'm trying to get into a residential highschool for my junior and senior year. It is the top highschool in the state and specializes in math and science. It would also be a wonderful opportunity to GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE. Not to mention that I'd be living within walking distance of my sister, which is awesome. Problems?

1. Basically, I've never been to a public school. While I can be wonderfully sociable some of the time, I can also (particularly when I'm under stress) be totally socially inept. All I know about public schooled kids (and yes, NCSSM is technically a public school) is from the movies, and they don't look incredibly friendly...

2. Without any kids holding them together, my parents have a much greater chance of separating. And part of me doesn't want to care, being that I'll only come home every other weekend (when they give us a long, homework-free weekend specifically for that purpose) but I still don't want to see that happen.

3. I'll have to leave all of my wonderful RL friends. I mean, the ones I still have left, but they mean everything to me.

4. I most likely won't be playing on their volleyball team, and I'll be eating cafeteria food... I'll probably get fat.

5. No auditions. Yeah, they have an excellent drama department, but I'm not going to /go/ anywhere with that. It means almost totally giving up my dream career.

6. It will be hard. I have focus issues and am already a really slow reader (due to several small learning disabilities). I also don't work well under pressure and the grade I get from NCSSM will be final. No extra credit, no second chances. Writing is difficult as well as anything that requires memorization. Not to mention that I suck at time management. I mean, I can't tell you what date it is today. (I just checked, it's August 11th.) And rarely can I tell you the month. I'm just scared of flunking out and not getting into a good college and all that shit. While the coursework I do would suggest that I'm some kind of genius, I grow more fearful every day that my mom is right; I'm just not good enough.

[Devil's Sunrise]

1. They're not. You're wrong. Trust me.
2. I'm sorry, I don't have advice for that.
3. That I don't have specifics for, but keep up with them online. Make more RL friends, but concentrate on not losing the old ones.
4. Do whatever extracurricular you fucking want to. And if you think you are, there are things you can do to try to change it.
5. No, it means giving up being a child in your dream career. I gave up trying to be an English teacher as a 15-year-old... So... Be like other people and realize that now is the time for school and education?
6. The amount of difficulty only matters when the amount of work you're willing to put into it is less than it. If you truly want to work as hard as needed and be as motivated as you possibly can, then it won't matter.

Do what feels right. You're not at a completely life-changing decision yet.

[EndOfTheEarth]

Having gone to public school Grades 4-12, I can give you my opinion on each item.

1) I, like you, am socially inept, Regardless, I was able to find people to hang out with in a brief period of time. Yes, 86% of the people you run into will be the most godawful jerks on the face of the earth, but the other 14% are who you should stick with. It's a good learning experience too; college and the modern workplace are exactly the same, at all levels.

2) Having come from a stable family, I can't comment on that one.

3) This is what videochat is for. Also, it stresses the importance of making new friends. I learned, with great surprise last semester, that in the working world the people you know will take you much further than an ivy league diploma.

4a) If you can prove yourself, you'll be on their team. Besides, it shouldn't be hard for you to make.
4b) Cafeterias are required to offer healthier options. The sole question is as to if you will take it. Similarly so, it means that it is now up to you to stay fit.

5) Wrong. Public school drama departments have auditions, just like any other drama group. It's still a fight to get good roles, and there are still groups that travel around rating performaces, and I don't mean local folks either. One of my classmates had people from that one big college in New York show up to see his show (Not Julliard, the performing stage arts place). Granted, you'll need to work harder and perform outside of the school drama department, but if it's something you really want, then you should be able to handle it.

6) Request something called an "Individualized education program" (IEP for short). From there the school will work on assisting you with these issues. If they take the IEP as an excuse to try and put you into lower-level classes, point out your right to "Least Restrictive Environment" (LRE). It will show up on your transcript, but it will also actually give you a better chance to get into the college you have in mind.

7) This is likely your one chance to prove your mother wrong. Put in the effort, smack her in the face with it, and proceed in whatever direction you prefer.

[Hannah]

6) I should mention that my learning disability(s) are not what you are probably thinking of. It really only makes focusing for long periods of time harder and makes me read slower, and I've only been diagnosed by my mother (who is licensed to, you know, do that stuff). I've been doing grade level in every subject except for math (which I'm way ahead in), but I heard at NCSSM you don't get a choice in taking AP courses and I definitely couldn't do AP English. The real problem is that I'm not sure how I fare against other students, especially ones who are also advanced. It's not just a public school, it's pretty competitive.

[EndOfTheEarth]

Use sparknotes, and you'll be fine.
Personally I've never done so, except for Jane Austen's Emma, but I know as a fact that that's how the rest of them do it.

Sounds like ADD or Autism to me, neither of which is an issue.

[nathan_p]

I read every book in my AP class. Except for one, which was written in completely incomprehensible dialect and a very dry style. That one I skipped entirely.

[EndOfTheEarth]

We're a dieing breed, I believe.

[Hannah]

Geniuses? I don't think you were ever that popular of a breed...

[nathan_p]

People who bother to read books instead of use someone else's analysis...

[Hannah]

Oh yeah... Them.

[Hannah]

Yeah, it can be described as a pretty mild case of ADD.