#except that the prof wanted to make the class 'more unique' or whatever like wow thx that makes up for not having a real education in

[allonsymiddleearth]

So I’m taking this graduation survey from my school’s psychology program and god. I’m going to put the longer part of my rambling rant at my school under a cut, but I thought this one deserved to be above it.

So first there’s this:

[[image reads: “your Psychology courses at the University of Arizona have contributed to your ability to apply ethical standards to evaluate psychological sciences and practice.” with options “strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, or strongly agree.” Strongly disagree is highlighted.]]

actually laughed out loud. The U of A psych department knows SO MUCH about ethics, clearly, with professors leaving due to racism experienced while other, tenured, professors take money from a literal actual eugenics fund and no one official bats an eye because, hah, who cares? Being supported by eugenicists doesn’t make you one, obviously!! (It does here, sry.) Also I spent a whole fucking semester with Eugenics Scrooge, telling you all the bullshit she came up with, and she’s still teaching the same fucking class at this very moment and no one talked to her about it, so I’m gonna guess no. 

Also there’s this little quiz at the end testing whether they managed to teach us basic psychological concepts and THEY ABSOLUTELY DID NOT. 

My first semester here I actually took PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY and we spent absolutely no time whatsoever, at all, learning about idk, relevant topics to personality?? We learned that there WERE personality disorders, we did not learn what they were, and unfortunately we did not cover the Big Five even in title. 

Now, pre-University of Arizona, I was actually interested in the field of psychology research so I do know a bit, but only because I used to read studies on my own, plus I’ve read tons of medical journals out of necessity for my own survival with a semi-rare disease so I may not know everything about those fields, but I have a pretty good idea of the scientific method, of research standards, and of academic writing. And I have friends who are social workers, half my family has psych degrees, and a lot of people in both those groups including myself have actually been to therapy so I have some basic knowledge on topics like what cognitive behavioral therapy is and what the Big Five are (it’s the first option.) 

But DAMN nothing highlights how bad my education really has been like seeing what the actual people in charge of my education THINK they should have taught me, knowing they haven’t even a little.

There was a little spot on the survey in which I could tell them how to improve the program, and I was like, “I literally know almost nothing more about psychology than when I started this degree, with the exception of a few studies I’ve read now that I easily could have read for free in the public domain and not paid more money than I’ll ever make in my lifetime for professors to take the easy way out of actually teaching an online class. Hey also, I would have had a MUCH better time here if the U of A would decide that eugenics wasn’t okay and not have a professor literally teach the class that humanity would be better off if people like me were dead but hey, at least the academic advisors in the psych program are good, sure!” except slightly more professionally... slightly. 

Anyway, I go to school in The Bad Place honestly. 

#sometimes in math or french i'm like 'did i learn this? i really don't think i ever did' #and i could be wrong #because i easily could have missed it or forgotten because i didn't really get it #but i'm actually good at social science and I used to like it before this hellhole ruined it for me forever so I would definitely remember #if we had learned this #and i specifically remember asking why we didn't learn this #no answer #except that the prof wanted to make the class 'more unique' or whatever like wow thx that makes up for not having a real education in #the thing i'm studying #but you know what we DID learn?? #we had a whole unit in personality on buddhism and another on hinduism #which i'll totally give you that studying religions like those from a perspective of serving a purpose towards psychological health is #interesting #BUT IT IS DEFINITELY NOT PERSONALITY #my pointless rants have sources maybe I AM academic #but if i am #blame it on my anthropology minor which has been AMAZING and taught me far more than my actual major #sure a lot of it was reading articles on my own that i probably could have done for free if i'd googled the class title in google scholar #but they were actually curated to include ranges and then DISCUSSED you know #because i actually like the subject and professors teaching it did so ethically and well and usually really interestingly #like you're SUPPOSED TO DO IN HIGHER EDUCATION #(okay i don't hate all social science but i'm certainly never working in it and I don't think I'll ever touch psychology in any official #capacity with a 10 foot pole) #i miss music school

[boomerang109]

hi!! (god i hope the way i type doesnt rat me out skddk jesus at this point it might who even know i feel like its distinct but maybe thats just me idk) but!!! time to just Rant abt twwda, *sighs in the best way possible* ****this***** fic. man. the Very first thing it helped me (that was memorable to me) honestly was the whole acne thing where toph was like are you good looking and zuko’s like ‘well i have a scar and acne’ and toph’s like ‘acne’s a normal thing’ my hesrt just idk why but whenever i have a Bad day abt myself (or the parents are on my back abt it skdhdj i Hate that but thats Not what this rant is abt) im just like ‘its a normal thing’ and!!!! i got that from **your** fic!!! genuinely you Cannot understand how close twwda is to me as a person bc

the whole test anxiety? and zuko not telling his teachers he has trouble hearing? in the fifth grade i needed glasses Bad but i never told Anyone bc i felt Bad (still hold strong to this habit 😃) but God i just- i just *relate* and Finally.

the enby aang. ive been able yk even tell my irl ant me possibly being she/they (maybe even they/them) solely bc of your fic (i even told her that it was thanks to your fic and explained everything abt the whole enby aang!!!) ill seperate this mess into paragraphs skdhdk but!! please just know how Much you helped me

OH SHIT FUCK the whole a flower in shade can also grow in the sun. that Hit bc its like ‘you dont Need to suffer just bc you can survive in that condition, you deserve the basic necessities too’ and honestly when i read that i just sat there stunned like wow. so?? true??? i honestly just love you and your fic (okay bye sorry skdbdksk !!!!!)

thats my four paragraph essay for you boom <3

okay anon, it’s nearly 2:30 am (probably will be by the time i finish typing) so if im a bit incoherent i apologize. i just know im going to be busy tmrw and i didn’t want this to sit in my inbox (sorry to everybody else who didn’t get responses whoops)

(honestly idk who you are and i hope you feel comfy telling me at some point, but it’s okay if not!) (i do have a few guesses but i keep changing my mind so basically im clueless ahdhdjsks) (actually right after i typed that i noticed something that’s unique—i think—to you. the person i’m thinking of is absolutely lovely, but i’m not going to start guessing or anything cause if you don’t feel comfy having any identity connected to this, that’s okay! that’s what anon is for!! just do what makes you most comfy)

i love that the acne line resonated with you? i think you’re the second person to mention this and i 🥰! it’s such a throw away line but i always hate in fics when people make them high school age and then are like “except for his scar, zuko’s skin was smooth” or whatever the fuck. like no!!! high schoolers have acne!!! and obviously zuko is embarrassed of it, but sokka is just like dude. we all have it, im good looking and ive got acne so just don’t even worry. and that’s the energy im sending you (and your parents cause they better not be on your back about acne that’s dumb af) cause no one is judging your acne (they’re too busy worrying about their own) AND even if they were, that makes them a shitty person whose opinion doesn’t matter. you’re beautiful with acne

i want you to work on asking for help, like mx mak said, it’s not a limited resource! and often teachers/adults are happy to help you. (and often it’s their job/the law that they have to). but also? i wrote zuko missing shit in class being like “oh this is unrealistic if someone was missing what was being said in class they’d get notes from someone” and then i took a class where the prof spoke way too fast and my audio processing said NOPE and there would be days where my notes would just be question marks like zuko and i didn’t ask anyone for help. (i did start recording class which is literally illegal without permission but shhh it’s fine)

i’m so glad i was able to help you and please know i’m here to help in whatever capacity i can outside the fic as well. it’s kind of a joke that being trans is contagious but actually being able to hear about other people’s experiences is So Important. cause six months ago i could’ve confidently told you i was a cis girl and had been sure of that my whole life. but then i finally admitted to myself that my “thinking they/them pronouns were the coolest thing ever and kind of being jealous” thing was not very cis of me. and yeah, everyone’s experience is individual. but we can at least share our thoughts and what we learn to help each other. cause i wanna support you

you deserve MORE THAN basic necessities. you deserve so much more, but the necessities are a good place to start. treat yo self.

please don’t apologize!!! i appreciate this sm, i love you and your four paragraph essay <3

#ask a boomerang #wwda #anon being able to help you in any way with the shit show that is gender makes me 😌 #being able to provide support people in hard experiences literally is why i want to write i just never imagined i’d be able to achieve that #with fic so im very very truly 🥰🥰🥰