#my issue is my inorganic teacher

[gatheryepens]

my chemistry teachers are making me go insane again….

#so usually I have 3 lessons today but my biology teacher wasn’t in #so it was a chemistry day #and I didn’t realise how much I appreciate having that break between the two lessons #since in my frees (wouldn’t recommend) I did nothing #which still feeling guilty about but it is what it #my issue is my inorganic teacher #so like dude makes us do some questions whilst he’s setting up this demo #and then we stop doing questions to watch the demo which is fine #but then we go back to do questions which takes everyone like tops 5-10 minutes to finish #and whenever someone tries to ask for help/say that they are done #he’s like I’m busy and I’m like JAOCKEIXJENJAMSMDNES #and he’s just sat at his laptop typing away #which it’s valid if he does have a lot of work to do #but like 20 minutes later he puts on the board like pages to do in the book and I’m like this took you like 3 seconds to do #why didn’t you do this earlier #and it frustrates me because he was like hey I’m gonna finish the syllabus this week #and then he’s like no it’s now next week #someone also asked him when are the bank holidays as we miss his lessons #and he’s like it’s fine don’t worry about it as they are revison lessons #and I’m like BRO the reason why you aren’t doing revison sessions after school is because you have enough time #and now it’s fine if we miss the lessons since we are just revising #but yeah the current mood of this whole week is stressed and exhaustion #it’s come to the point of me lauging uncontrollably at stuff that isn’t relatively funny #well maybe it’s a little bit funny… :3 #but like I was helping my friend with some 6 marker on photosynthesis and I kept mixing stuff up #and then just end up laughing because I was just so done with chemistry as a whole #finished the question in the end though :) #gatherrambles

[buckybarnesss]

it's amazing derek's functioning in s1.//

His sister was killed. Killed by his uncle. Who was the feral alpha. That bite a teenager. And there was Kate, who shot him and torture him.

And yet, he never try to take revenge. Is incredible that after all that. He really tried to do his best. He called Scott brother, he tried to make Scott trust him. He try to save him. When he was mad a Scott teen crush, he was seeing himself with Paige.

He wasn't the best communicating. But he tried.

He never used other or try to make them do something that they didn't want to. But Scott, he made Derek to bite Gerard. When Derek told him that the bite was a gift.

Scott is not a saint.

derek hale is probably one of the most traumatized characters to grace television and that's before we're introduced to him. i don't think derek had a break in life since before paige's death and he'd been existing in survival/crisis mode for years by wolf moon.

i'm of the mind that derek didn't receive the proper support he needed after having to mercy kill paige. which was an act of compassion to minimize her suffering a drawn out painful death. however, due to the circumstances her true cause of death had to be covered up and along with it derek's grief surrounding not just her dying but his participation in it.

this is what kate argent took advantage of to get close to derek. i think it's reasonable to assume that the substitute teacher angle can still be considered valid. we know the argents use this tactic and it was used in the on fire novel.

her being a sub would've put kate in position of trust and authority over him not to mention paige's death would be recent enough for her to easily find out about it as well as derek's connection to paige.

in fact, i think it was paige's death that was the impetus for kate even being in beacon hills but i digress.

all the adults in derek's life failed him.

the thing about derek hale is that never gives up and he never stays down despite the things life has thrown at him. he learns, he changes and he evolves as a person.

when scott and derek meet in wolf moon it's the worst possible time for them both and that impression is what lingers between them. derek's has a hard time not seeing scott as a reflection of his younger self and derek is so, so, so viscerally angry with teenage derek. it compounds when he believes scott is making the same mistakes he did.

scott, of course, responds to derek with bullheaded stubbornness because not only is scott a super independent person but he reacts very badly to male authority figures who want to exert any form of control over him.

rafe mccall is a piece of shit and i will stand by that. there is no one incident when your parent is an alcoholic but maybe it's my own personal bias showing. it's just hard to believe rafe only did something once especially when the supposed only incident is a grown man grabbing a small child with enough force that when the child resists they fall down the stairs resulting in losing consciousness.

the show makes it's clear melissa and rafe argued frequently and loudly, that melissa believes they're better without him. that says abusive household. hell, the man also seemingly checked out of his son's life for years and with the money issues the mccall's are shown to have does he even pay child support?

scott responds negatively to not just villains like peter, gerard, and duecalion but to also to normal power tripping mr. harris. his relationship with chris argent gets development so scott eventually respects him but it takes time and allison literally dying.

there's also the fact derek is not more than a few years older than him so scott does see derek as more of a peer throwing his weight around than he sees an adult with authority. derek using the "we're brothers now" line on scott triggered him and frankly derek it's a weird thing to put in your welcome speech. it's trying to inorganically force a relationship that isn't on that level. it's why it's both funny and sad when scott uses the line later on liam and stiles cringes so hard his soul leaves his body.

the only two male figures scott carries respect for throughout the show is sheriff stilinski and dr deaton. which is why it's so easy for deaton to get scott to go along with his plan in s2 without him thinking the repercussions entirely though.

don't misunderstand me scott's double cross in s2 is terrible but i think people forget deaton's role in it sometimes. there's a reason stiles wasn't in the loop on it like nearly every other plan scott does. i wish the narrative put more weight on it but i'm not surprised it was glossed over as teen wolf keeps everything snappy and fast paced. we don't frequently get time to dwell on things which is a shame because it could've provided interesting development.

if anyone tries to make scott a saint than they're lying but also the opposite is true. scott isn't evil like some fans seem to want him to be.

derek and scott's relationship is never straight forward and always complicated. they're both shitty to each for reasons due to their respective histories that the other has no way of knowing at the start.

but also like it's not teen wolf if there's not a failure to communicate to drag the plot out.

#my blog #teen wolf #thoughts on teen wolf #derek hale

[onewomancitadel]

I dislike how cinder reverted back to her old self in V8 tbh. She kinda went back to the manipulative shit from before rather then us getting an emotional arc or anything

There are a couple of things to remember about Cinder:

1. The Fall Maiden shows up last and most dramatically in the fairy tale.

2. The 'and then' rule of RWBY means that every possible challenge to her eventual turncoat is going to be confronted. We're at the 'so we have part of your traumatic backstory, AND THEN?'. That, alone, is insufficient a premise for her big damn heroic acts later, because RWBY is interested in a more sophisticated answer.

Just like Ruby realises that the memory of her mother, bittersweet it is, unlocks her silver eyes, she too still has yet to confront her mother wound, and that is the next part of character arc. She's not there yet, neither is Cinder.

Cinder has to think donning the performative mask of being wicked and having fun manipulating people will fix her. Her issue since V4 is that it was burnt off, and then her new one was chipped away again by Jaune, blown off by Raven, and then she picked herself back up again, put a sturdier one on. It didn't work. So she thinks she's finally succeeded at her goal in V8:

All of her pain meant something. It taught her how to hurt again, say the right thing, play the right line, bow to the audience. It's more of that Salem and Madame imitation: Salem with her composer's control of the Grimm and the production of the whale, Madame with her ladylike posture and her prim manipulation.

The reason we need her back here is because she needs to realise IT DOESN'T WORK.

It doesn't make the pain go away! It doesn't make the hunger better! Everybody thinks she's a failure! She thinks she failed! The pain meant something, yes, but all it's taught her is that--- what--- she can put it on other people?

Well, Emerald is free. Emerald is free, yet Mercury is more committed to Salem than ever. Her symbolic inner-children are fundamentally torn between two different ideals. She is resolutely, absolutely spiritually imbalanced right now, not on a happy path to being an evil maniac.

She doesn't know that it's possible she's already been succeeding at something else!

The Fall Maiden is the guardian of Choice, and so far: she thwarted the inorganic transfer of the Maiden power through the Atlesian meat puppet stuffer; she realised Pyrrha's destiny as a Huntress; she's Jaune's anima and taught him to stop being self-sacrificial; she taught Raven how to mother; she brought Neo where she needed to go (to find Ruby, to go on a journey of forgiveness next volume - this is more speculative on my part); she freed Fria from the meat puppet machine AGAIN and most significantly of all, let Fria choose who her next Maiden candidate would be, transforming Penny from a girl into a woman. That's probably her most significant and unironically heroic act yet, which never fails to amuse me.

So yes, as an agent of painful change and fate, she's actually successful. But the audience, and Cinder, are both so focussed on these perceived failures - failure, the greatest teacher - and as such we think it’s some sort of solution to her character by being a manipulator again.

IT'S NOT.

IT'S WAITING TO BOIL OVER.

It's so exciting, and I love where it's going.

#cinder fall #rwby analysis #rwby #seraphina's asks #a treatise on why cinder fall is the love of my life #cindemption #LOL! I DO WHAT I WANT!

[tiecladartist]

Okay, spoilers beneath the cut because I have some issues with Rise of the Titans.

Tales of Arcadia is one of my favorite series ever. It handled the "Kid is the chosen one" situation brilliantly, every character had depth (even characters like Steve, Eli, the teachers, etc). Theme was expertly handled with each part of the series. Destiny, heroism and sacrifice for Trollhunters; Family, duty and home for 3-Below; Legacy, prejudice and family (again) for Wizards. Every season brought me to tears, made me laugh, made me fear for the safety of the characters and want good things for them after watching them sacrifice over and over again. It is a comfort show for me and always will be.

Now, the movie...

So, I don't think it was bad. I also don't think it was good, unfortunately. The animation took a bit of getting used to after bingeing everything else leading up to this, but I can't deny it was incredibly beautiful. It was especially nice to see places other than Arcadia and Akiridion-5. It started off strong with the train fight, and admittedly there were a lot of scenes I quite liked during the movie. But, just the scenes. I liked moments, but overall it didn't come together quite as well as the shows did.

The biggest factor is likely time. I doubt making this a movie was the initial plan since I know production companies enjoy snubbing out strong series for various reasons. Honestly, I was surprised we got an "ending" at all based on the trends of recent shows being forced to wrap things up prematurely. Even Wizards felt rushed compared to the others and as a result a lot of interesting concepts were brushed over quickly. I mean, I for one would've loved to see more Camelot "filler" shenanigans since those less plot-heavy episodes that we had throughout Trollhunters and 3-Below helped us explore the characters and grow to love them, and we didn't get quite as much of that with Douxie, Archie, Lancelot, Charlemagne, etc. But I digress, this post is supposed to be about the movie, not Wizards.

So yeah, I think Rise of the Titans should've been a show rather than a movie. We could have more time before Nari is captured, focusing on the "where are they now" of all the characters after the year we skipped. Jim gets to cook and eat human food after losing that passion when becoming a troll, adjusting to being human again! Maybe him and Toby talk about Barbara and Stickler being together and how it's kinda weird (Toby could compare it to having conflicting feelings over his Nana dating an alien). Krel and Aja have a call about how it is being the Queen and Steve interrupts because he misses Aja. Perhaps we hear Eli in the background doing something related to the "Secret weapon" and the call gets cut off quickly because this leads to a small disaster on Aja's end that she needs to go fix. Claire is practicing her magic with the help of Zoe while Douxie is off with Nari. NARI AND DOUXIE INTERACT WITH EACHOTHER AND WE ACTUALLY GET TO SEE IT! (Like, I know that they were travelling together for a year and that that is why Douxie is sad when Nari dies, but it didn't impact at all outside of empathy because there was no emotional investment on my end towards their friendship). But yeah, we get to see what's going on with everyone, and then perhaps this first episode ends with the reveal of them being ready for a plan of sorts (luring the arcane order and cutting off their magic. That wouldn't be revealed though). Cut to the Arcane Order in their super secret clubhouse saying they're close to finding Nari and you get a decent cliffhanger.

Episode 2 would start with the train fight and go fairly the same way. We see Jim struggling with fighting with no armor. Or perhaps he has akiridion armor, but it's too rigid or keeps malfunctioning (doesn't fit, so to speak). Only difference is that Jim's arc wouldn't be about whether or not he's still the trollhunter, because we've been through that already and he knows. I could get having moments of doubt, but his full on denial was kinda out of place after everything he went through. Instead, it could be that he feels useless due to now being a burden in a fight. Or perhaps instead he's wrestling with guilt. He's blaming himself since the arcane order got the seals due to them trying to rescue him. Maybe both? Maybe he even misses his troll body and feels that he's too weak now. Yes, he's still the trollhunter, amulet or not, but he's feeling less and less capable of answering this particular call, and that bothers him. He doesn't want to be a burden after all. Fight ends with the train crash, arrest, Douxie swapping with Nari, all the same.

Now, this is where things would go very very differently. Have more time before Douxie and Nari switch back. Let the Arcane order monologue a little more. They want to reset the world because the balance has been shifted? Cool! Tell me more! Did they used to try to get along with the humans? Did they try diplomacy in the past only to fail due to the stubborn humans, and that's why they've decided to take drastic measures? Or if not, explore why they believe they're the ones allowed to decide the balance is off. Is it because they're powerful? Or how long they've been on Earth? Did they reset it in the past and thus know through experience? I don't mind not knowing, since not everything needs to be spelled out for the audience, but there was potential to make them characters rather than obstacles, and it wasn't really utilized to its full potential. Allow Douxie to pick their brains a little instead of immediately swapping him and Nari back and only succeeding in delaying things a few more hours. Hell, if it was a TV show I honestly would've had one or two episodes before doing that while we address how that initial failure (and the fact that magical creatures/aliens were revealed to the world) affected everyone.

Maybe I'll go through and like, actually plot out episodes and stuff, but since I only just finished watching, here's just some various things I'd change:

-Get rid of that whole Steve pregnancy. That was just out of place and rather than the "comedy" breaking the tension, it shattered it completely and distracted from everything. If you wanna explore his father-based character arc, maybe have him and Aja discussing the fact that now that she's queen, she'll need heirs. And maybe Steve isn't sure he could be a good dad due to his history with paternal figures. You could even have it that he's taking care of Nari while her and Douxie are switched, and that leads to a situation where he helps her out and realizes he may be a better dad than expected. Or perhaps Blinky gives him paternal advice. Or Strickler. Or even BARBARA AND JIM like, Steve couldn't be worse than Jim's dad, and letting Steve and Jim bond over that would be nice. There was so much potential, but instead, Steve was reduced to an out of place running gag instead of getting a resolution to his character arc. And hey, if you wanna keep the whole male akiridions give birth thing that's cool, but it's gotta be done in moments where it won't distract. Or, you could even have it be that it means Aja and Steve need to adopt because uh... she's inorganic and he's organic? His body likely isn't actually built for akiridion childbirth despite the movie glossing over this fact? And maybe Steve has mixed feelings about someone else being the dad of his kids, but Coach and him talk about how Coach isn't his biological dad, but that doesn't mean he loves Steve any less.

-GIVE DOUXIE MORE SCREEN TIME! Seriously, had this been a show he would have the most potential for character growth out of everyone. His series was the shortest, so really all he got was a confidence boost and moving past needing Merlin's approval. But there was so much to explore with him still. What was up with that extreme burst of magic after Merlin's death that was never brought up again? How has he been mentally handling singlehandedly guarding Nari against the Arcane order for a year? Once he and Nari switch back, does he feel guilt over not being able to protect her? "Merlin wouldn't have failed like that. He kept her safe for thousands of years, I lasted a little over one". Perhaps, in his constant desire to prove himself to the people he cares about, he takes risky moves to try and save Nari again and make up for his mistakes, similar to how Jim was acting in the movie. Eventually, when he and Nari meet up again when trying to break her controlled state, Douxie is apologizing and talking about how he wants to make things right. He sees Nari as a friend; as family, just as much as Archie, and he doesn't want to lose her like he lost Merlin. He doesn't want to lose anyone else (which would make Archie getting stuck in the other Trollmarket, and Nari's sacrifice even more painful later on if that still happened).

-Krel, Eli and Stewart also needed more time. I get it was a movie, so time was short, but still. Krel's entire thing is that he grew to see Earth as his true home, and we didn't get to address the fact that he was immediately at risk of losing it at all. Not to mention the sheer amount of stuff he'd built for everyone. Like, could you imagine an episode where, to break up the tension (in a proper way, not a weird pregnancy way), in the midst of everyone trying to figure out how to stop the titans, Krel has overworked himself fixing and managing everyone's tech. He has to spend a day resting and disasters ensue as no one knows how to fix any of the stuff he usually manages. Like the tech keeping Camelot afloat, for example. Stewart and Eli could be the ones that end up stepping up to fill the Krel sized gap for the day.

-And I know that these fillers would lower the tension a bit, but like, having the titans need to charge up after awakening (like, absorbing elemental energy or something), or perhaps making the Arcane Order have to collect certain things to break the seals in the first place that they had on their fortress but lost when that was destroyed , or any other kinda obstacle to give time between the train fight and the Titans waking up would give time for less plot-heavy, more character focused episodes. And even after the titans wake up, they were moving super slowly and walking across the planet. It's not like they'd be short on time despite the movie making it seem like walking from china to america was a short jog at most.

-Don't give Toby the amulet. Don't get me wrong, I love Toby very much and literally bawled out loud at his sacrifice scene. But like, it made no sense to give him the amulet? Jim doing everything again with years of Trollhunter experience would help solve a lot of problems from his first go around (and I'm not fully on board with the whole time reset in the first place. Resetting to the start of the movie, or even just the fight with Bellroc would be better). Jim knows the burdens of being a trollhunter first hand, and you really think he'd be okay dumping all that on Tobes? Toby, the guy completely content with being the wingman and helping the people he cares about. Toby, the guy who never worried about not having a grand destiny up until the movie. The guy who in his biggest dreams was a Duke, not a king. I think Toby was well aware of how important moral support is and wouldn't see it as a lame superpower. But even if he did, in a tv show they could explore that in a way where he comes to learn just how much that moral support does for his friends. And if you still want his moment of glorious sacrifice (because I count that as one of the well done moments), then do that! But rather than going back in time to save everyone, make it so they sacrifice the stone to turn back time a bit. Risk their victory to try saving Toby. Have them fight Bellroc together instead of it being just Jim, because it's trollhunters, not trollhunter. It always has been, always will.

-And if you're like "But if they don't go back then Strickler and Nomura stay dead!" Then how about they don't kill them for shock factor in the first place? Have Strickler badly injured instead, because by god Barbara deserves some happiness. And think of the potential scene of her treating his wounds, and the two of them think about how things have changed since that visit to trollmarket when they were both hurt. About how Strickler stuck around, and when Barbara thought she'd lost him it scared her. How she's sick of almost losing everyone she cares about. She could talk a bit about Jim's dad then too, and it could be revealed that Jim was outside because he was going to check on them, but stopped when he realized they were talking. And then later on, he asks about his dad, admitting he overheard, and we get that conversation they had in the movie. And if you keep the Nomura sacrifice, give her more of a moment ffs. Like, she deserved better! Have the death be a sacrifice to save someone else instead of just "oops I got caught and I'm in the sun now". Make it deliberate. Make it her decision after a life of serving others. Finally, she got to be the one in control of her fate, and she chose to protect the people she cared about.

There's so much more I could say about this and the potential that was killed by the lack of time, but this is getting long and I should probably try actually doing the work I need to do today.

Edit (Because this just popped in my head and I need to add it).

THEY WERE LITERALLY AROUND THE ROUND TABLE! THE NINTH CONFIGURATION (which like, screw that there are more than 9 heroes here to save the day) WERE THE NEW KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. They were there to protect the world, and like... did the bond between Lancelot and Steve just not exist anymore? Did that get timeline erased too? Could you imagine Steve fighting to protect the world, doing his best to protect the people he cared about so that he never loses someone like he lost Lance again? He gets to keep his promise to carry on the legacy of the Knights even after they died. THE POTENTIAL WAS THERE!!! THE SET UP WAS THERE!!! BUT NO! WE GET MPREG STEVE INSTEAD!!

#tales of arcadia #trollhunters #3-below #wizards #toa #toa trollhunters #toa 3below #toa wizards #rise of the titans #toa rise of the titans #rise of the titans spoilers

[bqstqnbruin]

I have no title for this again, who’s surprised?

I really just wrote this in less than half an hour so tbd on how great this is. I’m also thinking about turning this into something with multiple parts, but I haven’t posted anything that hasn’t been requested since my birthday almost two months ago. 

I also 100% am supposed to be studying for the inorganic chemistry exam that I have on Wednesday, but that’s a whole other issue.

________________________________________

The day you had to show up to work and prep a lab experiment for your students was, of course, the day that the train decided to not only show up late, but also break down twenty minutes into your half-hour commute. Of course, you still needed to get coffee since you ran out the door without making any like you normally do, and there was no way you were going to show up to school without having caffeine in your system. 

You were a high school chemistry teacher in your first year of teaching, and it seemed like every time you had planned something that you thought your kids would enjoy, something in the universe seemed to try to tell you that you shouldn’t do it. Last month, you tried to do an activity to teach limiting reactants by having the kids make s’mores, and without your knowledge, the bags of marshmallows had disappeared from the rest of your stuff somewhere between your front door and the front door of your school. Another time, you tried to bring something in to demonstrate different types of reactions and when you set it down by your feet, someone stole it and ran off the train before you could catch them. You were wearing heels that day, you weren’t about to run after them.

By the time you get to the Dunkin that is closest to your school, the line is out the door. You try to order the coffee from your mobile app, praying that it would save you a few minutes so you could run the rest of the way to school before you were so late that your students got there and were standing outside your door. 

You get your coffee in a surprisingly fast amount of time, and you’re practically sprinting out the door to make it. You round the corner and crash right into someone, dropping your bags, falling to the ground, and worst of all, spilling your full coffee everywhere. 

“Ah, shit!” you curse as one of your students sees you and walks right past you. Remember that if she ever asks you for a favor, you think to yourself. 

“Are you ok?” A guy asks you. You finally look up from the coffee stain that is all over your shirt and see a guy about your age with the most beautiful blue-green eyes, that goofy boy next door grin, and because of the way he was also on the pavement, he had arm muscles that would make any girl swoon.

“Yes, I’m fine. But you’re covered in coffee. How can I make this up to you?” you ask. Your biggest fault was that you cared for everyone before you cared for yourself. It was why you became a teacher. 

“You not only spilled your coffee, but your stuff is also on all over the ground and you seemed to be in a rush. What do you mean ‘how can I make it up to you?’” He asks, picking up your stuff and pulling you up onto your feet. 

“I’m in a rush which is why I got coffee all over you. Where’s your phone, I’ll make it up to you after school but I have to go get my lab ready for my students.” You say, frantically motioning for his phone, checking your own to see that you only have ten minutes before your students are going to start arriving for first bell. You know you need at least five to find everything because someone else in your department borrowed something, plus another five or so minutes to set up assuming no one distracts you. Then there’s also the fact that you have worksheets to give to your students, and that you needed to pull up their entrance ticket so. All in less than ten minutes now that it took him a little bit to find his phone. 

“I’m Jake, by the way.” 

You look back up at him, shocked. “Wait, shit, you’re Jake DeBrusk. That’s why I know you. I’ve had your shirsey since I was in college” Your students knew that you didn’t grade while the Bruins were playing. You were in Nashville since you got your master’s at Vanderbilt, and your students hated, more than anything, that you were a Bruins fan. You had forgotten that the Bruins were in town to play the Predators, which must be why Jake is in town.

“You’re a fan?” He asks.

“Um, yeah, I’m from New England. But hey, I need to sprint to work and set up a lab so use my number! I’ll see you soon?” you run away before he can say anything. 

You almost knock over one of your own students as you run to your classroom and let the students in that are waiting outside.

“Ok, guys. Who’s ready to help me set up this lab experiment!” You ask them. You’re lucky that you have the best students because they get the lab set up faster than you can get out the papers to pass back to them and set up the entrance ticket question. You even had a minute before the first bell to check on your phone. 

I can swing being in town for an extra night if it means I can take you out. Can you make it up to me then? ;)

The wink had to be a little weird, but you had a feeling that spilling your coffee all over Jake was going to make your life very interesting.

#jake debrusk #jake debrusk imagines #nhl imagines #nhl #hockey #hockey imagines

[marinsawakening]

I’m creating an esper girl AU because of course I am, and it focuses on the girls teaming up to save pretty much all the other espers of Seasoning City, who have been kidnapped by a mysterious organization. Anyway here’s a rundown of everyone’s powers I have so far:

Mezato: brainwashing, but like, mostly subtle. She basically has a form of telepathy/empathy that focuses on projecting her emotions/thoughts/wants/needs onto others, and uses that to influence people’s minds. She usually does this over a longer period of time, because that’s harder to detect or resist, but can brute force her way into your brain if need be. 

Tome: spacey powers; gravity control, wormhole creation, light manipulation (or rather, darkness manipulation; mostly the ability to take light away from places and make it dark, though other abilities sneak in too). Also has some very basic psychokinesis. 

Emi: written curses/talismans. She can curse anything she writes on, as well as make portable curses on paper. In addition, she can also protect anything she write on and create written talismans for people to carry. Also has the ability to see curses.

Tsubomi: necromancy and control over living beings. More specifically, she can control physical aspects of both dead and living things, such as bones, blood, tissue, etc. Can also create decay, and has chlorokinesis.

Rei: extrasensory perception/clairvoyance. Yes I know she’s a canon esper I just wanted to make clear she’s involved in my AU.

More details about their powers and a little bit about the role I’m planning on giving them in my AU under the cut.

Mezato:

Her powers manifested when she was too young to remember, and she’s used them on an almost daily basis since. This made her spoiled rotten and used to getting her way, creating an ego similar to that of Teru or even Touichirou. However, after the Divine Tree Incident, she got some character development and realized that always getting what she wants through mind control has left her hollow, which, combined with the newfound knowledge of just how scary it can be to be on the receiving end of mind control, has knocked her down a few pegs and made her use her powers less. 

Is mostly a support member, searching out information by brainwashing people into giving it for her and/or using her brainwashing to get access to places she shouldn’t have. 

Has the best control of her powers out of everyone in the group, and functions as something of a mentor for the rest because of that, despite her distinct un-mentor-like personality and the fact that her powers aren’t really comparable to most of the group’s.

Her power level is rather high, somewhere around Teru’s and/or Takenaka’s level, but she’s not and will never be as overpowered as Mob.

Has a very faint, sickly yellow aura. Can brainwash you into overlooking it, forgetting you ever saw it, etc. 

Avoided the organization’s detection because her power is very subtle and hard to recognize, and even telepaths and empaths generally don’t pick up on her aura because she has a unique mix of the two abilities.

Tome:

Her gravity control functions basically the same as the leader of the Seventh Division’s, but much less powerful (and she can’t create orbs at the start of the story).

Her wormhole creation is basically just cool space themed teleportation, with the added bonus of making it easy for to teleport large groups (but she develops it relatively late into the story).

Light manipulation mainly focuses on being able to take light away from a place, so it looks more like she’s controlling darkness than light. However, later during the story, she develops invisibility (and maybe even the ability to manipulate colour? idk I think it’d be cool).

By ‘very basic psychokinesis’, I mean that she can do basic esper things like create barriers/have raw explosions of energy, but can’t do anything more advanced. Doesn’t even have telekinesis. Cannot shape her raw psychic powers like the vectors Teru/that one Seventh division guy uses. At most can blast people somewhere like Serizawa, but it’s much weaker than his. Mostly, her psychic powers lie in her space themed powers.

Her powers manifested when she came under Rusty’s curse, as a desperate reaction to try and keep her alive, but since they only manifested as a slight increase in gravity and some darkness swirling, everyone assumed it was Rusty’s curse and didn’t pay it any mind. Tome later found out that they were her powers, and was planning on telling someone, but then all the espers got kidnapped.

Has really shoddy control of her powers to start with, bc she only just manifested them, but learns and grows quickly.

Has impressive powers but a moderate to moderately high power level, a little weaker than Ritsu to start with and eventually developing to somewhere around his level.

Acts as one of the front line members and is often on the offense, because her powers are very well suited for it, and she’s the only one of the team who can create barriers. Later also helps with stealth missions, after she masters her darkness control/invisibility, and acts as the transportation for the team after she manifests the ability to create wormholes.

Has a very noticeable galaxy aura when she’s using her powers, but it’s faint if she’s not. It gradually becomes more and more noticeable even when she’s ‘in rest’ over the course of the series.

Evaded detection by the organization because her powers had only just manifested, and nobody except her knew they existed.

Emi:

Manifested her powers during the last exam period, after she got way too stressed and her powers pulled a Ritsu and awakened. This happened about a year prior to the start of the story. Found out about her powers after she noticed she had accidentally cursed her teacher with her exam, and suddenly gained the ability to see spirits.

Is bad at detecting esper auras, because her power set is very unique and has little overlap with either psycho/telekinetics or telepaths/empaths.

How powerful her curses/talismans are is almost entirely dependent on how much time she’s had to prepare them; she stores up energy into the curses/talismans, which releases when the curse/talisman is activated. 

She does have an upper limit, of course; the most extreme talisman she could create would be a one-time protection against death, and the most extreme curse she could create would either cause minor decay in a person or collapse a building. She cannot store power for longer than a week.

Has a moderate to moderately high power level. However, her unique power set makes her hard to compare to others. Would, with practice, maybe be about as powerful as or just a little weaker than the curse guy from the Seventh Division, but her power is less suited for battle bc she needs to store energy first.

Has really bad control over her powers bc she’s scared of them; accidentally curses almost anything she writes on, and doesn’t really know what her base powers are. Doesn’t even know she can make talismans at the start of the story. Eventually becomes more confident and gains better control over them.

She didn’t tell Mob or any other esper about her powers because of the aforementioned fear of them. Was, however, working up to asking someone for help after realizing she can’t control them herself; had told Tome in confidence, who was planning on asking Reigen for advice on this (since he may not be an esper, but he knows pretty much all the espers in Seasoning City). 

Avoided detection by the organization partially because she’d told almost nobody of her powers, and partly because her unique power set gave her an aura that’s practically invisible to most other espers.

Has an ink black aura that rises up from her hands like thick smoke/ghibli tears when she’s writing her curses; otherwise doesn’t have an aura at all.

Rarely to never goes out into actual danger situations, because her powers are basically useless for spur of the moment defense. Almost a complete behind the scenes support member, making curses for the team to use and talismans to protect them.

Note to self: prime damsel in distress material. Might get kidnapped at some point.

Made friends with Tome online after finding out they both liked the same game. 

Tsubomi:

Her powers give her the ability to, among other things: have rudimentary brute force control over animal’s bodies (sort of similar to blood bending but harder to maintain; this drains a lot of energy and is generally impractical), deform tissue/blood/bones in animals (hard to control, but easy to manifest), control over plant bodies (the easiest for her), control corpses (very easy), cause decay in things (pretty easy in organic matter, a lot harder in inorganic matter), and heal living thigns (very difficult, requires fine tuned control).

Manifested her power about one to two years after she stopped being friends with Mob, but rarely if ever uses it because it really freaked her parents out and they encouraged her to keep it secret, and because her powers are by and large useless in day to day situations.

She’s not particularly bothered by the nature of her powers herself, but does recognize that it’s very morbid to others, and can be pretty self-conscious about that.

Her control over her powers is decent, but not great. She has a fairly good grasp on what her base abilities are and doesn’t have wild explosions of power, but is bad at knowing where her limits lie and unpracticed in a lot of areas of her power. 

She’s extremely powerful, about at Touichirou’s level, and if she was more practiced, she might even be able to hold her own against Mob. 

Is the tank of the team; because of her raw power, she often brute forces her way through obstacles. The biggest issue with her is that her control isn’t fine tuned enough to ensure that she won’t seriously injure or kill people if she goes against them, which, in the beginning, makes it difficult to send her out into the field. However, once she gets the hang of that, she’s easily the most powerful.

Evaded detection by the organization because she never told anyone she was an esper, and because she moved out of Seasoning City about a year prior to the start of the story.

Emi was a friend in school and she maintained contact with her after she moved.

Gets dragged into the story after Tome, Emi, and Rei evacuate Seasoning City and come to her. 

Rei:

Only canon esper in the gang, and mostly maintains her canon powers. However, due to frequent practice over the course of about four years, her extrasensory perception/clairvoyance now has about an 80% accuracy rate, and she can even sometimes sense nebulous things from the future, such as ‘danger’ or ‘happiness’. 

She actually was detected by the organization, but she felt a sense of danger before they came to kidnap her and booked it. When she realized that almost all of her friends weren’t answering their phone, she figured out that espers were probably being targeted by someone, and went to Tome for help, who seemed like the safest option at the time. Tome realizes she might be watched bc of her work at Spirits and Such, and brings them both to Emi, after which they decide it would be saver to go out of town entirely and go to stay with Tsubomi.

She went to Tome for help because she was one of the two (supposed) non-espers involved in esper shenanigans she knew. The other was the Awakening Lab guy, but after being kidnapped by Claw, she realizes that he would almost certainly be watched, and opted for Tome instead. 

While they aren’t close, acquaintances more than friends, she knows Tome from Spirits and Such. 

Functions as a support member, primarily; while she does go out into the field if necessary (usually paired up with Mezato, because she could point to people who probably has information/are important and Mezato could take care of them), she also often stays at home base, sifting through documents and internet rumors to find the ones that she can sense would be the most useful. 

As in canon, her power level is very low, but she is definitely one of the most practiced members of the group and has good advice on how to train your powers. Along with Mezato, functions as something of a mentor as a result, and is very nervous about it.

#emi #takane tsubomi #ichi mezato #kurata tome #kurosaki rei #mp100 #mezato #*tsubomi voice* you cannot kill me in any way that matters. decay is an extant form of life. #tsubomi's power is still under contruction and might change to heat manipulation #but i think this is pretty badass #my posts #also don't get ur hopes up about me actually writing this #i suck at action scenes and this would most likely have a ton of them #so unless i can figure out how to avoid that im probably not gonna write a full blown fic for this #esper girl gang au

[xox-gossipgoat]

more gud personal statements (from medical students but still)

Sample Essay 1 In the sweating discomfort of the summertime heat, I walked through Philadelphia International Airport with several overweight bags, tired eyes, and a bad case of Shigella. Approaching Customs, I noticed the intensity and seriousness on the faces of the customs officers whose responsibility were to check passports and question passengers. As I moved closer to the front of the line, I noticed someone reading a foreign newspaper. The man was reading about the Middle Eastern conflict, a clash fueled by religious intolerance. What a sharp contrast to Ghana, I thought. I had just spent three weeks in Ghana. While there I worked, studied their religions, ate their food, traveled and contracted malaria. Despite all of Ghana’s economic hardships, the blending of Christianity, Islam, and traditional religion did not affect the health of the country. When I reached the front of the line, the customs officer glanced at my backpack and with authoritative curiosity asked me, “What are you studying?” I responded in a fatigued, yet polite voice, “Religious studies with a pre-med track.” Surprised, the officer replied rhetorically, “Science and religion, interesting, how does that work?” This was not the first time I had encountered the bewildered facial expression or this doubtful rhetorical question. I took a moment to think and process the question and answered, “With balance.” Throughout my young life I have made an effort to be well-rounded, improve in all facets of my personal life, and find a balance between my personal interests and my social responsibility. In my quest to understand where I fit into society, I used service to provide a link between science and my faith. Science and religion are fundamentally different; science is governed by the ability to provide evidence to prove the truth while religion’s truth is grounded on the concept of faith. Physicians are constantly balancing the reality of a person’s humanity and the illness in which they are caring for. The physicians I have found to be most memorable and effective were those who were equally as sensitive and perceptive of my spirits as they were of my symptoms. Therefore, my desire to become a physician has always been validated, not contradicted by my belief system. In serving, a person must sacrifice and give altruistically. When one serves they sacrifice their self for others benefit. Being a servant is characterized by leading by 3 example and striving to be an advocate for equity. As a seventh grade math and science teacher in the Philadelphia public school system, everyday is about sacrifice and service. I sacrifice my time before, during and after-school; tutoring, mentoring and coaching my students. I serve with vigor and purpose so that my students can have opportunities that many students from similar backgrounds do not have. However, without a balance my effectiveness as a teacher is compromised. In February, I was hospitalized twice for a series of asthma attacks. Although I had been diagnosed with asthma, I had not had an attack since I was in middle school. Consequently, the physicians attributed my attacks to high stress, lack of sleep, and poor eating habits. It had become clear to me that my unrelenting drive to provide my students with a sound math and science education without properly balancing teaching and my personal life negatively impacted my ability to serve my students. I believe this experience taught me a lesson that will prove to be invaluable as a physician. Establishing an equilibrium between my service and my personal life as a physician will allow me to remain connected to the human experience; thus enabling me to serve my patients with more compassion and effectiveness. Throughout my travels and experiences I have seen the unfortunate consequences of not having equitable, quality health care both domestically and abroad. While many take having good health for granted, the financial, emotional, mental, and physical effects illnesses have on individuals and families can have a profound affect on them and the greater society. Illness marks a point in many people’s lives where they are most vulnerable, thus making a patient’s faith and health care providers vital to their healing process. My pursuit to blend the roles of science and religion formulate my firm belief that health care providers are caretakers of God’s children and have a responsibility to all of humanity. Nevertheless, I realize my effectiveness and success as a physician will be predicated mostly on my ability to harmonize my ambition with my purpose. Therefore, I will always answer bewildered looks with the assurance that my faith and my abilities will allow me to serve my patients and achieve what I have always strived for and firmly believe in, balance. 4 Sample Essay 2 “911 operator, what’s your emergency?” “My friend has just been shot and he is not moving!” “Is he breathing?” “I don't think so!” “Are you hurt?” “No.” “Stay there, the paramedics are on their way." On April 10th 2003, at approximately 11pm, my best friend Kevin and I, intending to see a movie, headed out my front door. We never made it to see a horror movie; but our night was nothing close to mundane, when we became innocent victims to gang crossfire. As we descended my front door stairs two gunshots were fired and one person fell to the floor. Kevin was shot! I vividly recall holding him in my arms, and while he lost blood I almost lost my mind. All I wanted was to help, but there was nothing I could do. At 1am that morning Kevin's family and I sat in the emergency waiting room at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn, hoping and praying that the chief surgeon would bring us good news. While this event started me on my quest to become a medical doctor, at that moment all I could envision was a life of despondency. According to author Jennifer Holloway, “tragedy is a substance which can ignite the soul.” When Kevin’s surgeon walked through the door of the emergency waiting room he did not have to say a word. Kevin’s family cried hysterically. I, on the other hand, could not cry. As fast as despondency had filled my heart, it was now gone; I was consumed by anger, frustration and motivation to change my life’s direction. The death of my best friend compelled me to pursue a career in medicine. This, I hope, will enable me to help save the lives that others try to take. In the fall of this event, I took my first biology and chemistry courses. By the end of the year I excelled as the top student in biology, received the Inorganic Chemistry Achievement Award and was encouraged to become a tutor in general biology and chemistry. Tutoring was a captivating experience for me. Questions raised by students challenged my understanding of scientific concepts and their application in patient care. To further develop my knowledge of medicine, I volunteered in the emergency department at Albert Einstein Hospital, in Bronx, NY. While shadowing doctors, I was introduced to triaging, patient diet monitoring and transitioning from diagnosis to treatment. This exposed me to some of the immense responsibilities of a doctor, but my 5 experience helping in the cancer ward was where I learned the necessity of humanity in a physician and how it can be used to treat patients. Peering through a window I saw Cynthia, a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with terminal cancer, laughing uncontrollably after watching her doctor make funny faces. For a moment not only did Cynthia forget that she was dying, but her smile expressed joy and the beauty of being alive. This taught me that a physician, in addition to being knowledgeable and courageous, should show compassion to patients. It also became clear to me that a patient’s emotional comfort is as important as their physical health, and are both factors that a physician considers while providing patient care. Although focused on medicine, I was introduced to research through the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation in Science. Here, I learned organic synthesis techniques, while working on a project to elucidate the chemical mechanisms of oxygenprotein binding and its relationships to anemia. I also received the United Negro College Fund/Merck Science Initiative Research Scholarship that allowed me to experience cutting edge research in Medicinal Chemistry, with a number of world-class scientists. At Merck Research Labs, I learned the fundamentals of synthesizing novel compounds for drug discovery, and we focused on treatments for cardiac atrial fibrillation. This internship changed my view of medication and their origins, and left me with a deep appreciation of the challenges of medicinal research. I also now understand that medical doctors and research scientists have similar responsibilities: to solve current and future health issues that we face. Despite the tragedy that brought me to the hospital on April 10th 2003, the smells, the residents and the organized chaos of the emergency room have become an integral part of a new chapter in my life. On the day that my friend lost his life I found my soul in medicine. Today as I move forward on the journey to become a physician I never lose sight of the ultimate goal; to turn the dying face of a best friend into the smiling glow of a patient, just like Cynthia’s. A patient’s sickness can be a result of many things. But with the right medications, a physician’s compassion and some luck, sickness can be overcome, and the patient helped. In time and with hard work it will be my privilege to possess the responsibilities of a physician in caring for life. 6 Sample Essay 3 On Wednesdays, I was the only visitor for Jorge, an elderly patient in the AIDS and Tropical Disease Ward at Carlos III Hospital in Madrid. A native of Equatorial Guinea, Jorge had full blown AIDS and had been living in Spain illegally because, according to Jorge, his country lacked enough resources and trained doctors to provide an adequate level of treatment. Over several weeks I witnessed his losing battle, not only with a terminal illness but also with cultural incongruence and a continual feeling of unease, thousands of miles away from home. Talking with Jorge during my experience as a volunteer for the NGO Soldarios Para el Desarollo in the fall of 2001, led me to question the justice of health care discrepancies that make it so difficult for people like Jorge to get sufficient treatment in underdeveloped nations. Jorge was a victim of health care inequality, a subject that has been at the forefront of my mind since enrolling in “Race and Medicine in America” during my sophomore year. The course revealed to me the historically poor distribution of quality medical attention and how treatment continually evades socio-economically disadvantaged communities. I came to understand how, in the US, a national shortage of physicians and unlikely prospects of financial gain have caused few doctors to take an interest in these communities, leaving a diminishing level of access to services and expertise. This unfortunate reality inspired me to take an interest in treating these populations, in hopes of helping to improve the care for our country’s poor and underserved. Jorge’s story broadened my perspective, as I further realized that this need is exponentially worse in developing nations. The combination of my studies and real world experience strengthened my desire to practice medicine focused on treating underserved populations, nationally and abroad. In pursuit of my goal, I sought additional exposure to medical conditions in the developing world. During the summer of 2002, I contributed to a public health research initiative in Ghana. My research on malaria infectivity in and around the capital city Accra sent me to shanty town communities with poor hygiene and chronic illness and gave me yet another perspective on the impact of economic disparity in health outcomes and treatment options. Exorbitant patient volume and endemic disease are but a few of the many obstacles to doctors serving these communities and trying to provide quality care. Despite theses difficulties, I witnessed skilled physicians in this setting performing complex procedures in substandard conditions. At the Komfo Ankye Teaching Hospital in 7 the urban village of Kumasi, I scrubbed-in during the removal of an osteosarcoma tumor from a man’s jaw and an ileostomy, where I saw a scalpel filling the role of an absent screwdriver and doctors working in a hot ward with minimal ventilation and only basic amenities. These resourceful doctors were still able to perform, reaffirming my expectation that despite complications, the addition of well-trained doctors can make a marked difference. I began to understand how, by taking my medical school training to such environments, I could serve as an intermediary - bringing first world knowledge into a thirdworld context. Since my time in Ghana, I have continued to participate to health care projects in poor communities. During the summer of 2003, I conducted research in an obstetrics ward of a public hospital in Sao Paulo, and the following fall participated in an infectious disease initiative that brought medical attention to impoverished suburbs of Lima, Peru. Most recently, I worked at a bilingual health clinic in Chicago serving a primarily Latino immigrant community. With each experience, I gained a deeper understanding of the complementary skills necessary to make a real difference. I have learned that medical knowledge, cultural understanding, and political savvy are critical components to a holistic approach to community health care and development, and are skills possessed by the most effective contributors to positive change. I continue to hone my language skills in anticipation of serving Spanish and Portuguese-speaking populations; and I am building an understanding of how to work in a complex funding environment and link medical treatment with public policy. I wish to pursue my medical training and a Master’s in Public Health, so that I can improve access to health care and serve as an effective physician. My desire to perform medical public service developed from concern and sympathy for people in need of medical care, most specifically those with the least access. I further recognize the importance such compassion plays in effective communication between doctors and their patients. It was my childhood doctor’s ability to convey understanding and elicit trust that inspired my initial interest in the medical field. He combined calm and compassion with medical expertise in a thorough form of healing that I grew to expect, but have infrequently witnessed in poor communities. As I strive to bring better health care to underserved populations, I hope to do so with the same personal care and attention that comforted me in my youth. 8 Sample Essay 4 Too young to volunteer in a hospital yet too old for summer camp, I was determined not to idle away my first summer as a high school student. Undaunted and striving to help my community, I inquired about our local nursing home. My grandmother refused to enter the brown building with me, unable to interact with residents who were ailing and terminally ill. With persistence, I toured the facility with my father and decided to volunteer. The residents who were so debilitated that they would never leave the care of the nursing home really moved me. It was amazing how the support of the medical staff and family members created an environment that allowed residents to live an enjoyable life. I will never forget one resident in his early thirties who was paralyzed from the waist down, unable to live as most young adults. I would run into him on the elevator almost daily. My encouraging words and energy as a young person often brightened his day, and in return made me feel very joyful to serve. It was quite extraordinary to know that such a small gesture could positively impact someone’s life. From reading stories to assisting the professional staff with exercise routines for the residents, the experiences I had there were life-changing. It was then that I realized that my life would be most fulfilled working directly to improve the lives of others as it relates to medicine. With a strong interest in clinical medicine, I continued my studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) as a biology major and a Meyerhoff scholar. I embarked on several projects within the disciplines of immunology, cell biology, genetics, and vascular biology. These research projects gave me an indescribable experience as a participant in the discovery process and newfound appreciation for biomedical research. I was ready to work in the hospital and wondered how various scientific discoveries were being used in medicine. To answer this question and gain first hand experience of life inside a busy hospital, I began volunteering in the shock trauma resuscitation unit at the University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) in Baltimore. On my first day as a volunteer, I was a bit nervous, unsure of what to expect. However, once I suited up and walked into the shock trauma room, I knew medicine was the profession I was meant to pursue. Through my work, I witnessed the 9 medical staff working tirelessly to stabilize and care for patients who had experienced car accidents, stabbings, and other forms of trauma. I will never forget walking into the shock trauma room to find a crying mother and grandmother as they saw their son and daughter severely injured from a car accident. As I looked into the next unit, there was a middle-aged woman who was recovering from a stab wound. Walking away from her unit, I could hear her call “Miss….Miss, can you help me?” I didn’t know what she wanted, but I quickly turned to talk with her. She wanted her food heated and the nurse’s assistance. Although I could not physically interact with her, I felt like a part of the medical team---working to ease suffering and serve those in pain. The most striking incident occurred one Saturday morning when I walked into the resuscitation unit and saw a pool of blood surrounding the rolling bed of one patient. The doctors and nurses tried everything possible to save his life. However, they were unsuccessful and he died. I watched the reactions of the staff as they silently covered his body and rolled it away. It was then that I realized that one day I would be in a position to save someone’s life. I immediately thought about the family of the deceased patient. Most importantly, I understood the important role that I must be prepared for in helping families deal with such a life tragedy. As I was walking back to the locker room, I started to reflect on the joy I got from volunteering in the hospital and mentoring community kids, combined with my passion for science. I knew at that moment that I would love working as a physician who could not only heal and alleviate pain, but who can educate and innovate. The opportunity to change even a fraction of the lives of those in a city or underserved country is quite amazing. With the untimely death of various community members due to the advanced stages of cancer and the higher incidence of human immunodeficiency virus infection in minority women, I am inspired to join the struggle against deadly diseases and sickness. As I continue to strive for more, I can remember a quote by author Anna Eleanor Roosevelt: “When you cease to make a contribution, you begin to die.” I not only want to treat patients in the clinical setting, but am driven to improve the treatment and diagnosis of life-altering diseases through public health research. Without reservation, this will be my contribution. 10 Sample Essay 5 The litter bearers burst through the triage area doors from the dusty Afghanistan night carrying three soldiers injured in an IED blast. The tent that housed the trauma bay hummed intensely yet somberly as the medical staff began evaluating the casualties. My trauma shears ripped through the soldier’s charred uniform while I performed an initial assessment of the casualty with the attending physician. Exposing the injuries, I found that the soldier was badly burned due to the blast. He was unconscious, suffering from a compromised airway and his skin was peppered with shrapnel. I attached monitoring equipment, started a peripheral line and began cleaning the burns that blanched the majority of the soldier’s upper body. Through the synchronized chaos of surgeons directing treatment, anesthetists intubating and nurses administering initial medications, I understood the fluid relationship between the levels of medical hierarchy. I became part of an intricate network of communication, and the demanding process of saving a life. Nothing has been more rewarding than serving my fellow soldiers and the local Afghan community during a year long deployment overseas. Working in a combat support hospital under personalized mentorship of a cardiothoracic, orthopaedic and general surgeon gave me the opportunity to learn about long and short term care, processes of diagnosis and proactive medical treatment in trauma situations. After serving in a combat zone I realized that a life is the most magnificent and powerful force in existence. It compels us to bridge language and cultural barriers, and it is the common denominator amongst all human beings. As a physician, my priority is the preservation of that which is most precious to us all. The impetus for pursing a career as a physician began during my involvement in the Minority Medical Education Program (MMEP) in the summer of 2001 at Yale University, where I participated in a rigorous eight week program that mirrored the experience of a first year medical student. The curriculum focused on writing and communication skills, medical ethics and core science knowledge. Additionally, the program encouraged team building, small group discussions about current medical developments and molding the future of healthcare. I received close mentorship from first through fourth year Yale medical students during the MMEP, as well as opportunities to shadow physicians in the New Haven Hospital emergency room, 11 oncology ward and cardiology department. The MMEP shaped my focus as a young student aspiring to inherit the future of medicine, and provided me with realistic expectations for my life long pursuit of medical knowledge. During the MMEP I found joy in the practical application of my undergraduate studies, as well as an appreciation for the dynamicity of my forthcoming medical education. The following summer I participated in the Infectious Diseases Undergraduate Research Program at the University of Iowa. Over an eight week period I studied trends of nosocomial versus community acquired Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA) infections at 140 statewide, long term care facilities. I used pulse field gel electrophoresis to categorize and group different strains of MSRA taken from patients at the different facilities and track patterns of prevalence. The summer long project added perspective to the obligations and responsibilities of being a physician. At the culmination of the eight weeks I understood the importance of medical research and the interdependency between the laboratory and clinical realms. I realized that it is critical to be immersed in medical literature and to foster an atmosphere that encourages aggressive medical research. I also learned that the term “medical community” signifies a constant discourse between the many facets of medicine. The commission of every physician is to juxtapose ideas, plans and research with the unified goal of improving the quality of life. Lastly, when I think of the role of a physician I am reminded of a quote by Robert Browning that states, “But a man’s reach should exceed his grasp.” The face of healthcare is constantly changing. The medical field needs professionals with imagination and vision. I will fill that necessity and I will provide the same quality of care that I desire to receive. It is my dream to serve humanity. 12 Sample Essay 6 I energetically clap my hands as we chant in unison, "Ooh, I feel so good, like, I knew I would... Ooh, I feel SO GOOD!" This has been our weekly ritual for the last three years: me in a circle of women prisoners at the Rhode Island Correctional Facility, all of us yelling at the top of our lungs while a Corrections Officer stands outside the door. As our chants reverberate off the empty walls, Cherry, a pregnant inmate who has been in this facility most of her adult life, takes the lead and we echo her moves. When I "go inside" I forget where I am; the women are eager to clip pictures for a collage, learn West African dance steps that I myself perform at Brown, or write poems on romance or motherhood. Enclosed by locks and patrolled by guards, I help inmates find a way to escape through artistic expression; their enthusiasm affirms the importance of my role as a facilitator of art and writing workshops with SPACE, Space in Prisons for Arts and Creative Expression. I, in turn, am humbled by the poems and artwork the women produce as the workshops provide a creative outlet to assert their unique stories. Sitting alone with forty unexamined boxes in the Brown University archives, I was reminded of my experiences with the SPACE program, and I began to appreciate the importance of having a medium for relaying untold stories. While researching the offpraised fifty-year-old cooperative between Brown University and Tougaloo College, a historically Black private school located in rural Mississippi, I examined the past through narrative, and I unearthed personal accounts outlining a history that had long been forgotten. One day, I found a letter with "To be read and destroyed" scribbled in the margin. The letter outlined Brown's role in the forced resignation of Tougaloo's president in 1964 for his support of the politically minded students at Tougaloo, who organized and led numerous demonstrations throughout Mississippi at the height of the Civil Rights Movement in America. Newspaper clippings detailed community outrage at the firing, while hand-written flyers rallied student groups to oppose the Brown-Tougaloo relationship through demonstrations. The research took me to the tiny Tougaloo archives and back to Brown to conduct oral history interviews. The work was instrumental in providing Brown-Tougaloo exchange participants the opportunity to challenge misconceptions of their experiences; the documents we collected are now available on a website about the Brown-Tougaloo relationship and the events of the Civil Rights movement. 13 : My visions for eliciting personal narrative are embodied in my approaches to healthcare. For four years, I conducted biomedical research on the underlying reasons for increased incidence and mortality rates of prostate cancer in African-American men; this first taught me the importance of evaluating economic, social, and cultural histories for the insight they offer in examining health. While personal narrative offers patients distinct voices for their stories, in serving the needs of the people, physicians are afforded the unique opportunity to mediate and then to validate those narratives, bridging personal stories with physical observations. This fusion of the social and corporeal has been reiterated in my experiences as a student conducting clinical health research both domestically and abroad I shrug, wiping the perspiration off the side of my face onto my sleeve. Our team has been working outside for almost three hours measuring fasting glucose levels, taking blood pressures, and calculating Body Mass Indexes for a rural family in modernizing Samoa. For many I will counsel this summer, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension will be linked to perceived social pressures to maintain material lifestyles exceeding individual financial means. The glucose meter beeps abruptly; I lean over the table to see the reading, while an old woman sits across from me tending her bleeding finger. "La'i mai suka": "You do not have diabetes," I announce, checking the "normal" box on her information sheet. One of the Samoan field assistants translates for me as I explain the importance of exercise and healthy eating, listing traditional Samoan foods as better options to canned spaghetti sandwiches. She nods, understanding. The activities I pursued as an undergraduate were chosen not for utility to some future plan; instead, my interests in a wide range of human activity helped me to discover the significance of bridging everyday peoples' narratives and their health needs. Further, eliciting the voices of others helped me to realize why I am so compelled to pursue medicine. Each experience has taught me the importance of real communication in healthcare: paying close attention to how people feel and the meaning of what they say. I am enriched by the individuals I have encountered; I marvel at their unique stories, and I appreciate how each person is validated and empowered in exchange for sharing his/her history. Our interactions sit at the heart of humanistic sensibilities to healthcare; I am determined to become a physician, where I can help to relay stories that otherwise might remain untold. 14 Sample Essay 7 Sweat profusely ran down his face and dizziness clouded his world. Though he was not feeling well, he ignored these signs and the repetitive, “Daddy, are you okay?” for the fear that he would display any sign of weakness in front of his children. After several hours of denial, his body gave the final warning that all was not well and the man collapsed in a pool of vomit. That man was my father and I watched as he too weak to stand and vomit on his mouth and clothes, was transported to the nearest medical center with the help of my sister and grandfather. After numerous CAT scans and other tests, we learned that my father suffered a minor stroke. Though he suffered a stroke the day before, my father, against the doctor’s advice, went to work the next day to ensure that his condition was not a financial burden on our family. Seeing my father suffer many complications from diabetes and hypertension, I strove to learn more about these diseases by reading medical literature to see how they could be controlled and prevented. However, watching my father sacrifice his health for financial reasons had a lasting impression on my motivation in medical care. My father was diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension when I was ten years old. His lack of treatment worsened his diabetic condition and my sophomore year in college, he was put on insulin. To this day, I am convinced that if we could have afforded adequate health care my father would have not sacrificed his health and thus he would not have suffered many complications. My primary interest in hypertension and diabetes is personally driven. For two summers I worked in Dr. Yan Huang’s lab where I conducted two independent research projects on the correlation between diabetes and atherosclerosis. One of my projects was concerned with controlling the regulation of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression in vascular smooth muscles cells by thiazolidinediones (TZDs). In this project we hypothesized that the diabetic class of drugs TZDs would reduce CTGF expression in vascular smooth muscle cells, which would in turn reduce atherogenesis. We did an in vitro study and were able to determine that TZDS did reduce CTGF expression in vascular smooth muscle cells. My research for that summer was recently accepted for publication in the journal Atherosclerosis. I saw the importance of biomedical research in clinical care. In addition, my project has taught me about the effective treatments for diabetes and I learned about the seriousness of my father’s disease. However, from reading medical literature and 15 personal experience, I learned about the health disparities that existed among minority groups as well as those of lower socioeconomic class. This information further reinforced my determination to pursue medicine to counter these disparities. As a serious student, I felt that I should contribute equal time to volunteer work. I participated in an alternative spring break project in Logan, West Virginia through the Premedical Organization for Minority Students (POMS) in which we visited the underserved area of Logan, West Virginia and were able to get first-hand clinical experience. From this experience, I obtained skills in taking blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and urinalysis and used these skills while visiting senior citizens residences. Through my interaction with the seniors, I realized that communication and trust is vital for a healthy patient-physician relationship. In addition to doing health related activities, I was able to talk to students from disadvantage backgrounds on the importance of getting a postsecondary education. My goal in doing this was to give back to a community similar to my own because my environment gave me the right foundation to become a strong, intelligent individual. However, the most rewarding part of the trip was sharing with the local high school students my life story and how I found motivation in my disadvantage situation and used it to excel. I believe that it is important for them to see someone like themselves, so that they may be inspired to succeed as well. By far, my most rewarding community service has been with the College after School Team (C.A.S.T), which is a program that provides free tutoring and mentorship to disadvantaged, inner-city high school students that are at risk. My duties included tutoring, during activities with the students, preparing students for the route to college by working with them on standardized tests and college applications. I consider this to be the one of the most rewarding community service that I have become involved with because I am able to see a progress in students and watch them succeed. After seeing firsthand the waste in health due to the lack of health care in my community and family and the health disparities that exist among minorities and those of the lower economic rungs of society, I am aware of the need for physicians in medically underserved areas. As a potential physician, I wish to eliminate health disparities that exist among minorities and lower income individuals by making health care available to those who would not otherwise have access to it. Medical school would provide me with the skills needed to counter the health disparities that exist domestically and globally by providing experience in such areas. 16 Sample Essay 8 A little boy in a rural town in Mozambique is competing with 100,000 patients for the attention of the only three doctors available to him. Meanwhile, in Nicaragua a mother is torn between spending money to put food on the table or tending to her son's illness as they survive on only one dollar a day. The struggle continues as a black mother mourns the loss of her infant daughter because the infant mortality rate amongst the AfricanAmerican community is twice that of any other ethnic group in America. With the world becoming increasingly more connected, we cannot continue to detach ourselves from these issues. I have always felt attached to and compelled by the problems of the world, therefore these stories of disparities and inequalities have always distressed me. In fact, it was these stories that urged me to pursue sociology as a major. Focusing on international social change, I have learned many of the extreme social issues affecting the world today. These issues have inspired me to want to be in the forefront of combating these problems with the best of my capabilities. Those capabilities and opportunities for me lie in the field of medicine. I have wanted to be a doctor from the time I was a child and as I excelled in the sciences throughout my education, that interest developed even more. The University of Michigan provided many outlets for students to gain medical experience and I took advantage of many opportunities there, two of them being my job as a nurse assistant and my Distraction Osteogenesis research. Working as a nurse assistant in the hemodialysis unit for over a year, allowed me to develop health care professional- to- patient relationships and it allowed me to see the doctors and nurses in their working environment. Whereas my research, which investigates the effects of radiation on bone healing, involves surgical procedures in which I assist in and require me to do post-operative rounds. The rounds are performed twice daily during which we give medications to the rats, feed them, identify and care for infections, take daily notes on their overall health, and distract their mandible. This experience gives me a glimpse of how medical student 17 rotations are conducted on the wards. Opportunities like these and many others continue to nurture the spark for medicine that was ignited when I was young. Growing up, my idea of medicine was confined to dealing with patients in a doctor’s office. However, majoring in sociology has allowed me to see that I want to practice a kind of medicine that extends beyond the walls of an office and into the community where disparities in infant mortality have to be addressed through research and education. Furthermore, my travels to Nigeria in December 2004 and my recent trip to China in May 2007, have shown me that medicine can transcends the borders of the United States to places like Nicaragua where I can organize mission trips to provide free, quality health care for those that would never be able to afford it. Achieving quality health is a product of both good physiological maintenance and a healthy living environment. My sociology background has taught me that people not only require their health needs to be addressed but also other life issues as well. I have learned that addressing both of these factors can positively impact a person's general health. My application of this knowledge is apparent through my work on campus in different organizations, especially as the health committee chair of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) - UM Chapter. As health committee chair, I partnered with several professional health school organizations to put together a health fair. There, we provided free screenings for students and people in the Ann Arbor community for cholesterol, blood pressure, body mass index, glaucoma, and diabetes as well as counseling regarding other barriers they felt were preventing them from attaining good health. What I can do as a doctor in the future is build upon the efforts I demonstrated in college by merging the principles I will learn in medicine with those that I have learned in sociology. My mission will be to change lives. I am not a superhero, I am but one person who believes that the needs of the less fortunate should not be overlooked. As long as I am equipped with the armor of medicine, I can help see to the improvement of some of the disparities that prevent people from receiving optimum health care in the United States and abroad. So I hope that I will be given the opportunity to affect the life of that little boy in Mozambique, as well as many medically disadvantaged across the globe.

#personal statement #important

[liz-lit-corner]

10) National Book Award Winner- The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Reader Response:

A. There are a few obvious things that I relate to in this book, including the racial, spiritual, and gender issues that the main character, Xiomara, experiences throughout the book. But the main thing that drew me to enjoying this book so much is the fact that Xiomara has the amazing opportunity to share her passion and emotion through the discovery of slam poetry. I have always had many things to say but could never get the courage. This book has taught me to speak up for myself, especially in the face of adversity.

B. This book mainly agrees with my view of the world. The way that Xiomara grapples with her role in society as a women, struggling to find her identity under the male gaze, is almost painfully accurate for any woman in the real world.

C. One of the things in the book that actually challenged and perhaps changed my way of thinking is the aspects of religion. I have never really been religious myself, despite the fact that I have been surrounded by religion my whole life, but it never truly spoke to me. Xiomara's mother appeared to love God over her own daughter and this led to many circumstances where they clashed. While the "resolution" of their conflict felt inorganic and forced, I feel that even some of the most cruel people can change.

Justification:

I chose this title because I think it is an interesting take on a teen coming-of-age story. The fact that it is written in verse gives the story an intriguing twist that, although many people do not enjoy, I actually liked. I'm usually not the biggest fan of poetry (not that I don't love it, but I usually don't gravitate towards it), I feel that the themes of this story, through Xiomara's slam poetry and the other aspects of her life, are told beautifully in this way. Additionally, I really like the way that misogyny in our society is framed through Xiomara's experiences with her identity and changes in her body. These issues are extremely relevant in out society, where women's bodies are constantly policed and criticized under the male gaze and a white male-dominated world.

Conclusion:

This book should be on every high school teacher and librarian's shelves. It's an amazing poetry-style story about female identity and how the patriarchy affects our lives growing up. I would highly recommend this novel for anyone who is looking for inspiration to speak up for themselves as well as relatability in how Xiomara and the other female characters find their identity in the world.

[honey-and-strawberry]

I had actually completely forgotten about that tax issue until I saw that post and 😤 it's so messed up and some men have the audacity to be like: uh its no that bad just deal with it*more Neanderthal mumbling* 🙄 like No! We shouldn't not have to be taxed over items that WE NEED!

I'm glad there are guys like your bf and my brother around though, ones that see the problem women deal with, including the lesser wages issues. Equality may have been enforced more since the 60s most notably but the same lazy men, or their sexist sons, are in charge and only allotting crumbs of it to show.

And this might be tmi but I actually switched to reusable pads a few years ago and after the initial cost of getting enough to last a full week it had already paid itself off in 3 months. I know its gross to some people, the idea of reusables but it is seriously so much better and way more hygienic. And bleached tampons? Let's not go there for now though 😅

Thinking about the components of a disposable is 😬 its basically a unbreathable trash bag with heavily bleached and inorganic material, that trapes bacteria and oders, near a very sensitive area of the body for hours a day, 3-7 days, or more or less in some cases, a month. How is that good for ones body?

And this topic took a big turn, from economics to health 😅😬

It’s stupid how men react when women talk about bullshit things we deal with. I’m not even gonna mention harassment (either physical, verbal, and sexual, any) cause that’s a whole other topic and I don’t wanna deal with that right now. I’m glad there are a few men out there who understand and support with what they can but they still unknowingly benefit from the bad ones who don’t 😔 my sweet bf didn’t fully understand what a period was till he started dating me even tho he has younger sisters but I don’t blame him for not knowing, his dad was very much the type that is like “guys deal with guy things, girls deal with girl things” which.....ugh. There needs to be a whole reevaluation for education in this kind of stuff cause when I was little (like around 10) we watched the puberty video but we were split up (boys go to the library, the girls went to a classroom) and as I grew up I wanted to know what was in the male video cause it would help me understand how my partners body works. In high school my biology teacher showed us how to check for lumps not only for women but men too and it was really helpful to understand what goes on in our anatomy. It would greatly benefit people if we had an understanding on anatomies and changes (physical, mental, social), so we wouldn’t have god damn people who think women have control over their periods and fucking politicians who believe women have control over fertility.

This may also be tmi but since I got on birth control like 7ish years ago, I haven’t had a period since (had the depo shot then moved to pills but I still haven’t had one). I would get some spotting but nothing crazy (except earlier this year I had a period that lasted like 2+ months 🥲). Even tho I haven’t need to use pads or tampons, I fully support reusable products. Those washable period panties look so soft I wonder if they feel as soft as they look! I never used the cup thing but I heard good things about it from friends. Whatever works go for it! Disposable products are 😬😬😬 in general and what people do to make them last is terrifying (heard stories of girls keeping tampons in for hours and hours so they don’t have to use a new one and I’m like DEAR GOD STOP). Just seeing the word “bleach” and “tampons” in the same sentence.....let’s not get into that.

It’s good to talk about these things cause we’re human we need to talk about experiences cause that’s how we know if there’s something wrong or right. If something works for many people there’s no harm in trying it but if it doesn’t work out for you that’s ok too and that’s the beauty of trying.

#sorry if this was long I got on my soap box #we need better education in so many ways #we need actual sex education. like legit education #anons

[gatheryepens]

both of my chemistry teachers are making me insane

#like one said we would be done learning content by Easter halfterm #but we won’t because he’s been off so often #and now he’s like really rushing the end bits which is really annoying #because I’m left confused #my other chemistry teacher is also behind and rushing the content #to the point where he’s not explaining stuff properly #so I’ll have to go over it again #my other complaint is my inorganic teacher taught us organic last year #and left out so much stuff #like A LOOT #like my organic teacher now would be like did you not do this #and we are like no #and my inorganic teacher had the audacity to say he taught us this thing #when everyone in the class has literally said no we didn’t go through it #and he’s like maybe you forgot #like yes 19 people all forgot #my other issue is they aren’t doing revision sessions and literally every subject are #and the reasoning is we have enough time my guy literally said we will have 5 lessons of revision #like I wouldn’t be that upset but the reason I’m upset is that they are doing GCSE chemistry revision sessions and I’m like bruh 😭😭 #like now I’m really worried about chem…..

[crucialandinert]

Zach Woods’ Advice

Excerpted from Will Hines’ blog Improv Nonsense, which I could not figure out how to reblog this from so I made a new post.

Well the first and best set of advice I have to offer isn’t even mine. It’s from UCB Performer Zach Woods in an email he sent to then-UCB student (now teacher and performer) Achilles Stamatelakey about this very problem. In Achilles’ words:

In May 2006, I had no confidence in my improv.  After taking classes for a year-and-a-half, I felt like I was only getting worse at performing.  I sent the following e-mail to some of the teachers and coaches I’d worked closely with at the time to seek their advice.

I’m not feeling great about my improv and I hope you can give me some advice.  

I don’t remember when I’ve felt this unconfident in my performance. For the past month or so, I’ve constantly felt indecisive in scenes (both in practices and performances). I also feel way in my head and tentative. I find myself making moves because they seem like the “right” move to make, not because they’re best for the scene or the most fun. I’m making weak choices and end up in mediocre scenes because of it. In other words, I feel like I’m stuck “improvising” rather than “playing” a scene.  

Part of my lack of confidence might stem from having some really great rehearsals and shows in March, then having really high expectations of myself in April during Harold team auditions and not meeting those expectations. That I got rejected from two teacher-approved performance workhops hasn’t helped my confidence either. It’s a vicious cycle.  

What do you do when you feel like you’re in a rut? I want to feel like I’m improving my skills as an improviser in some way, but I haven’t felt confident in weeks. I don’t see myself getting out of this slump anytime soon.  

Thanks again for all your help.  

- Achilles

I got a bunch of responses, all of which I am extremely grateful for. Here is one of those responses:

Hey Achilles,

I’m sorry you’re feeling this way. Everyone gets in ruts from time to time, and I know how discouraging it feels. While there are some things you can do to help, I think the short (and probably disappointing) answer is you’ve just got to ride it out. Ruts always last longer than we want them to, but they don’t last forever. So try to be patient….as impossible as that sounds.

Here’s some other stuff….

-I think sometimes people who care a great deal about improv can get so wrapped up in the improv community and improv itself that their self-esteem becomes dependent on the quality of their improv. This happens to me more often than I’d like, and it’s always bad news for both my improv and my self-esteem. I think it’s important to remember (especially when you’re  in a slump) that the qualities that make you valuable as a human being have nothing to do with group games or tag-outs. Whether or not you’re a worthwhile person has nothing to do with improv. If you’re doing awesome shows, you could still be an asshole, if you’re doing bad shows you could still be a kind, generous guy. Hopefully you’re not neurotic enough to be plagued by these issues, but, I know I am, so I figured I’d mention this stuff, just in case. So….

Remind yourself that your value as a person is in no way related to, or dependent on the quality of your improv.

- Another thing that can put people in their heads is a need to “achieve.”

While it’s great to get some validation in the form of recognition or approval, I think it’s best not to put too much stock in external recognition. The warm, mushy feeling that comes from ‘achieving’ (getting put on a team, class, etc.) is fleeting, and soon you’re back to worrying and working and trying to improve. I think it’s good to be patient and to  move at your own rate. Try not to measure your progress against  other people’s progress. I know that’s hard (maybe impossible) but I think if you allow yourself to improve at your own rate, it liberates you from the self-conscious, insecure, self-flaggelation that is anathema to good improv. Put your nose to the grindstone and do the work. It’s important to have goals, but I think it’s also important that those goals be rooted in personal progress rather than external achievement.

- Slumps are sometimes a result of improv-overkill. If you’ve been watching and doing improv constantly, it’s possible that you’re a bit burnt out. Good improv isn’t inspired by other improv, it’s inspired by life. If all you do is do/watch improv, you may have a deficit of life experiences to draw from.  Take time to do the non-improv activities that you enjoy—  things that have absolutely nothing to do with comedy. This will allow you to recharge.  It will also put you back in touch with the things that make you unique and interesting as a person. That stuff is essential to good improv. Improv isn’t just about game and technique, it’s also about personality. It’s important to take time to do non-comedy things that make you who you are. Listen to the music you like, read a book, fly a kite, hang out with your non-improv friends, go swimming, walk a dog, do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t require a coach. Just get away from improv.

In a weird way it’s kind of like the game of a scene. If all you do in a scene is hit game, game, game, and you never play the reality of the scene, both the game and the scene will feel inorganic and contrived. Similarly, in life, if all you do is improv, improv, improv, and you don’t do interesting, fun non-improv stuff, your improv will feel stiff, and your life won’t feel so good either (in my experience).

-Get a new pair of shoes. I don’t know if this works, but I was in a slump once and I asked Peter Gwinn what I should do. He told me to get new shoes and wear them during rehearsals/shows. Make sure they are significantly different from the shoes you currently wear to rehearsals/performances. This might be bullshit, but it might be a miracle cure.

-Eat healthy, sleep well, exercise. I find that this stuff makes a huge difference. Taking care of your body allows you to focus better, etc. You probably already do this, but if not, eat some soy and get 8 hours of REM.

- If you feel like a show/rehearsal went badly, don’t beat yourself up. If you notice yourself moping or obsessing over the show, try to do something to take your mind off it. You are not helping your improv by mentally abusing yourself. Self-flaggelation is just a way of indulging one’s own insecurities and fears. Sometimes you can’t help it, but  try to avoid abusing yourself if you can.

- And remember, your slump is temporary. It’s more in your own head than in reality.

Be patient, relax, and your slump will pass. Seriously.

You’re going to be alright,

Zach

PS. I apologize if this email comes off as pedantic and/or convoluted.

Besides the great advice, my favorite part of this e-mail is that Zach apologizes at the end for having written it.  Very Zach.

#zach woods #zw #jared dunn #donald dunn #gabe lewis #the office #jared silicon valley #silicon valley hbo #hbo silicon valley #please please read #everybody #regular reblogs #gabriel susan lewis

[mesaylormoon]

Film and Fluff: A Review of Lady Bird

I’ll have to begin this review with a trigger warning, because unlike many others, I did not like Lady Bird.

If I haven’t lost you yet, I’d like to say that I wanted very badly to like this film. It consists of everything that makes a film amazing: a character-driven story, troubled family dynamics, a complex cast, and relatable drama. Where could it possibly go wrong? In addition to all of that, my family and even other teachers of mine had praised it, and naturally, all of their talk about their love of the movie piqued my interest. Unfortunately, after having seen it a second time, I couldn’t find much to appreciate about it. I personally found Lady Bird to be a sedate, dry, boring, and clumsily-written piece--one that was likely created to appeal to an audience of teenagers just like the titular character. With that said, I’d like to discuss where I believe Lady Bird succeeds and fails.

Christine “Lady Bird” McPherson is at a critical point in her life. Like everyone her age, the time for her to choose colleges and begin a new life is on the horizon. She is unable to attend the schools she desires, however, because her parents struggle financially. Christine also has a troubled relationship with her mother, only adding to the problems she experiences at home. The film follows this young woman’s journey of self-discovery, maturation, and personal growth, as we navigate the highlights of this brief phase in her life.

As I mentioned earlier, the story of Lady Bird is actually one of the movie’s saving graces. But in my opinion, Lady Bird is comprised of more flaws than strengths. The most crippling of all these is our heroine, Christine. A supercilious, self-obsessed, inconsiderate, troublesome, and entitled character of sorts, she is easily the absolute worst I’ve seen in years. She ruins her film for more reasons than just her personality--as an unlikeable lead, I found myself hoping she’d suffer throughout the movie. Even as she was ripping open her acceptance letters in anticipation, I was longing for her to be rejected by every school she applied to. In almost every scene, Christine can be seen saying or doing something selfish--she’s such a petty girl in fact, that there’s time devoted to her nagging her mother about not cooking her eggs properly! Thinking behind this, I’m sure the director wanted to illustrate how much Christine had grown by the end, but considering how quickly and clumsily the story moves, I don’t think these scenes were necessary. All of these character flaws would not be so detrimental if she would’ve reflected upon the advice and feelings of her family--some of the few people in her life who express concern for her--more often, but she never does. Again, in almost every scene she plays a critical role in, she’s doing something that feeds her mischievous desires. Her extensive list of crimes include applying to expensive colleges behind her mother’s back, dating a boy without her parents’ knowledge, pranking a nun, getting blackout drunk, fooling around with people who ultimately take advantage of her, and--the absolute worst of all--eating holy bread. My goodness, how I wanted Christine to suffer. (If you haven’t noticed, I’ve also been refusing to address her by her equally insufferable, pretentious, ridiculous nickname for all of this review.) Other characters in Lady Bird are not as awfully written as Christine, but everyone except her parents are generally unlikable. This also works to the film’s detriment when you, as an audience member, should be wanting Christine to have good company in her life.

Another huge flaw of Lady Bird involves Christine’s severe lack of fluid and natural character development. (Or maybe it’s just the editing and pacing.) That is to say, she becomes a much more humble person by the end of her story, but the film seems to be so hastily cobbled together, rushing from one plot point to the next, that I found her growth inorganic and oddly abrupt. While there’s nothing wrong with the major story elements in Lady Bird, viewers aren’t given enough time in any scene to see how one event in her life would compel her to become a better person. There are many moments in Christine’s life that could’ve served as a catalyst for change (e.g., finding out her boyfriend is gay, being betrayed by other boys, having drunken nights out) early in the film, but everything I mentioned only comes into play about halfway into the movie. And whenever these moments do appear, they appear to be “interrupted” by a scene that restricts opportunities for the emotions of the previous scene to be felt, and this results in a much less immersive experience. In fact, it doesn’t seem as if Christine has the time she needs to process everything she feels after something significant happens in her life. Even the ending appears to be so sudden that even the most forgiving of viewers would want to see more build-up toward Christine’s moment of change. Ideally, viewers should be able to have a reasonable amount of time to share in the emotions of the characters, and that just isn’t possible if you’re only given about a moment for that to happen before cutting to something that feels unrelated. As good as Saoirse Ronan’s performance is, it isn’t strong enough to support the idea that Christine has undergone major personal growth. It really is a shame that this film feels as rushed as it does; everything within the story could’ve made for a moving experience, had every subplot been given the time to develop.

The environment and tone of Lady Bird give the film a very sedate feel. I understand that this is supposed to be a relatable picture that has an equally normal setting, but Lady Bird feels abnormally boring, and this perception can be attributed to the fact that nothing about the movie’s environment stands out. As a native of Sacramento, I’ve seen just about everything shown in the film, but that isn’t the problem. Something about how everything was shot just seems very… lazy. In my opinion, even if it was purposeful, the lack of creative imagery, stellar editing, and memorable scenery makes this film very forgettable. Lady Bird is already a movie with a very simple plot and character cast, and if nothing about the appearance/setting of it is memorable, then frankly, the film as a whole can suffer as a result. I certainly felt that way after watching the movie.

Now that I’ve addressed my main issues with Lady Bird, I’d like to review everything I appreciated about it. The story is one of those things. Although Lady Bird’s plot has been written countless times, I find it interesting that there are not one, but four major conflicts within this film: 1) Christine’s struggle to find herself; 2) her need to become a mature young woman; 3) her desire to attend college away from home; and 4) her need to rebuild her turbulent relationship with her mother. Individually, these story threads are compelling, and it’s impressive that all of them are woven into one narrative without anything becoming too confusing. With the exception of the fourth conflict, every significant element of the plot is given enough screen time, development and focus. Most of the film centers around Christine finding ways to attend her dream college, and admittedly, it’s not the most engaging element of the story. What is a bit more interesting, however, is everything that Christine must navigate in order to become a better person, and a more caring daughter. Every wrong decision, every boy, every argument, and every negative influence brings her closer to realizing just how much her life has to reverse itself. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that in a film. More often than not, a main character’s growth, even in an emotionally/character driven story, is motivated by all of the good deeds that they perform. I think that it’s especially refreshing that, even though Christine is a horrible main character, that her arcs are propelled by her mistakes. It’s an original--and smarter--angle to approach this plot from, and it’s very welcome when reflecting on coming-of-age stories that are rife with cliches. (Although, Lady Bird is rife with cliches, as well).

None of the characters in Lady Bird are as complex as Christine, nor are they given as much focus, but it’s also refreshing to see a cast without a perfect member. Everyone in this film is at least a little flawed. Christine’s family is full of people who are either inattentive, self-serving, or detached, and her closest friends are certainly an entitled bunch. Her parents are especially passive, and do very little to redirect their daughter so that she may do the right thing. Of course, none of these flaws make them inherently good characters, but plenty of films with coming-of-age plots feature people who are well-meaning, thoughtful, and caring. This film, I would argue, has very few, or none. (Christine’s mother could very well be considered an exception, however). Nevertheless, I suppose it’s… interesting... in some respect... to showcase a set of imperfect people in a film about overcoming imperfection, and in some ways, that may even help to strengthen the message and intent of the film.

Lady Bird is one of few films to include commentary, albeit very little, about troubled relationships between mothers and daughters. As another critic highlighted during his review of another movie, people seem to assume that many, if not all, daughters have peaceful relationships with their mothers. This is certainly not the case, and there is time dedicated to exploring this idea. As an immature seventeen-year-old, Christine finds much of what her mother says to be discouraging and upsetting. But her mother, being the doting figure that she is, understands that her daughter must understand her own limits, as well as the struggles of her family, to ensure her safety. Because of their conflicting opinions, the two are at constant odds with each other, quarreling in every scene they share. This conflict reaches its peak after Christine does something especially selfish, and subsides, of course, by the end of the film. Even if their time together is brief, the tension that their interactions provide is gripping and even humorous. To see a film feature the strained relationship between a mother and daughter is meritable, but had there been more focus on this element of Lady Bird, it likely would’ve been much stronger.

The final moments of the film are unquestionably some of the most powerful in the picture. After a disastrous night, Christine finds herself in a hospital, next to a child who is much more meek and sickly. Upon seeing this boy, she begins to silently reflect on how terribly she had behaved in the last year of her life. As she continued her self-reflection, she finally began to consider her parents, and the amount of support they had given her throughout her life, eventually reading the letters they had both sent her and reaching out to her family. These last ten or so minutes of the film are a perfect example of what makes the medium of film incredible: there need be no dialogue. Silence and subtle expression are all that is required to convey the emotions involved in scenes that are as touching and pivotal as this, and Christine’s pivotal moment is no exception. Every look of pain, grief, and longing you see in her face is so saddening that it’s easy to feel as if you’re a person trapped by the guilt and remiss that plagues her mind, even if only for a moment. And as she walks out of church and reaches for her cell phone, you as a viewer are filled with the relief that Christine is at finally deciding to reconnect with her family. In my opinion, the subtlety and emotionality of scenes such as this are able to redeem the more painful components of Lady Bird, and it’s wonderful to see that they are well-executed in such an important part of the story.

I understand that, as a person who disliked Lady Bird, that I am likely giving you a horribly inaccurate idea of what you’ll feel about the film. I can almost promise that you’ll find much more to appreciate and enjoy in this film than I--as well as very few others--did. But as someone who now thinks more critically about characters and their development in films, the technicals of filmmaking, and story, I found this picture to be much more infuriating than enriching. While the story and characters in some form can allow for a new experience, I don’t believe that they have as much to offer as everyone seems to claim. Perhaps you may think differently, and as an artistic piece, Lady Bird does have a fair amount of merit. Character-driven stories propelled by a lead’s flaws, or even the conflict surrounding their lives, are enough to create a thought-provoking experience for many viewers. I may not have enjoyed Lady Bird, but I do believe that there’s at least enough to recommend for those that enjoy the commentary that films like Lady Bird one provide.

#lady bird #lady bird review #the worst of 2017 #saoirse ronan #2017 films #independent films

[kordeliiius]

My Undertale story after 2 years

(I haven't even started my playthrough of Undertale tonight and i'm already getting emotional.)

I very often like to imagine how far the story and characters of Undertale would have come at this point if they were real. (this includes year 1) Both Toriel and Papyrus have their driver’s licenses. Toriel is working part-time as a teacher/aid in a nearby school, and Sans might even start working soon. Asgore is learning to be at peace with himself through spiritual means. Monsters such as Grillby and Muffet have made secondary establishments on the surface. Undyne is considering proposing to Alphys. Mettaton is on national tour with his friends; he’s returning home for the anniversary. The Amalgams are getting along swell with their families and are getting help with their speech. Hell, I’ll even bring Red into this; she’s living with Undyne and Alphys, and since awhile back, has overcome her fear of exposing her doll-like body in public. The Dreemurrs have rented a small house in Ebott. The kids are all sophomores in high school, and they all have friends. Frisk and Chara (almost 15, and going by 16 respectively) are doing their best in their artistic development, and Chara is doing so while working with mental issues. (I haven’t finalized the details of their current existence yet.) Frisk also wants to grow their hair out. Asriel, though, probably has it the hardest. He has to switch between existing as Flowey at home and as a monster outside of it, but even so is making great progress, despite the first attempt at this transformation being less than a year ago. As a flower being, he’s not a creature meant for walking, but he’s been improving for a long time now. He’s only able to exist as Asriel thanks to his human siblings’ determination. Mainly Chara has taken it upon themself to perform this task.

Most monsters haven’t strayed far from Ebott, though a few have moved away or gone traveling. Local food industries have begun selling monster-friendly equivalent food for their inorganic customers. (I haven’t decided on a common name yet) While sticklers exist, monsters are mostly accepted in the Ebott area. Not many national integrations have been made. However, many of the political problems in our world are either very rare instances or don't exist in theirs, so it’s adding a different fuel to the lesser fire. No major outbreaks have been had. Yet.

At this time, on September 15, 2017, they would have just taken a long memory lane walk through the Underground, and have caught the sunset just in time. It’s a tradition they started last year. Right about now, they’d be hanging at Toriel’s place, talking, playing video games, with the occasional individual taking a shower break. They still can’t believe it’s been two years. A long time, yes, but it feels so short, and they’ve all grown so much. And their determination is still going strong.

This is something I’ve been thinking of doing for awhile now. I sum up how the Underground gang is doing after another year. I draw the Dreemurr kids a little older. Maybe even spice up the post a little bit with other drawings. It would also be a measure of my development as an artist, not just their growth. While I did draw them one year post-pacifist around this time last year, I didn’t write anything on their story, nor did I do so around the game’s release. And I don't have time to draw anything else this year. But it’s better late then never. I would love to make this an annual series and explore the possibilities for their future!

(did this this year, and it’s not a happy one, but it’s my best depiction of that they’d look like during the game’s events)

(Made this a year ago, close-to-accurate representation)

(drawing for this year’s anniversary)

I’d honestly appreciate it if you guys tried something like this, too! Talk about your headcanons for Ebott’s future, maybe draw some stuff! Tagging something like “#my undertale story” would work, i think.

So until next time guys, stay determined.

#undertale #my undertale story #my undertale story 2 years #happy birthday undertale #undertale anniversary #underversary #undertale second anniversary #second underversary #frisk #chara #toriel #papyrus #sans #asgore #undyne #alphys #red #mettaton #amalgams #grillby #muffet #asriel #flowey #headcanons #undertale headcanons #i might even make this a challenge on amino oh my gosh #kramblings

[gilrael]

I’ve been thinking about how fucked up teacher training is at my university’s chem department. Not that the situation is perfect in the other departments. The English department has its own share of idiotic mindsets and horrible didactics lecturers, but there’s something about the chem department here in Freiburg that makes me want to eventually write and publish an open letter to them once I have my state exam and won’t have to worry about offending the profs that are going to decide whether or not I will pass my state exam. Meanwhile, I’m just gonna publish a relatively anonymous rant on my Tumblr, because I need to get some of these things off my chest.

(continued under the cut)

The first thing I want to get out of the way: I am suffering from depression and my therapist is 90% sure that studying chemistry is one of the main causes of my mental health issues. "Why" you may ask? Because of all the stress it puts on me.

My profs expect me to learn things that I will forget as soon as I am out of university. I agree with my profs when they say that I need to know more than what I need to teach my students, but we disagree on where to draw the line.

Quantum mechanics is the bane of my existence and as soon as I am confronted with Schrödinger’s equation and all the other fancy mathematics behind physical chemistry, my brain goes blank and all the greek letters and variables just become a blurry mess. This does not mean that I don’t understand the basic concepts behind chemistry. Molecular orbitals are amazing and I can draw the diagrams for many different compounds. I know how inharmonic oscillators work in theory (and let’s be honest, half of my phys chem lectures on quantum mechanics were about inharmonic oscillators in one way or another). I know more about physical chemistry than I will ever have to teach at any kind of secondary school you will find in Germany. The same goes for other fields of chemistry. I know so many reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry, but I will only have to teach one or two of them (and I will only have to teach them should I end up teaching at a vocational school, because reaction mechanisms are not part of the regular curriculum and only show up in the curriculum for vocational schools). I know how to qualitative inorganic analysis in a lab setting, but chances are that I will not have to teach that either (unless I end up teaching a class of lab technicians in training, which is not that likely, considering that there are very few vocational schools in my state that have courses like that).

What I am trying to say is this: I already know more about chemistry than I will ever have to teach and yet my profs don’t seem to be satisfied with that. They keep trying to cram more and more knowledge about chemistry into my brain while completely ignoring that by doing so, they will make it harder for me to step down onto the level of my students. They themselves aren’t very good at taking their students’ perspectives into account. I have heard the sentences "This is trivial, so we are going to skip it” so often and it’s never been “trivial”. There’s nothing trivial about chemistry and I do not want to become like my profs and forget about how complicated all of this is when you are learning about it for the first time. I do not want my students to be frustrated and give up on chemistry because I failed to break it down into small enough chunks for them to process. Just because it seems trivial to me doesn’t mean it’s trivial to them.

Now comes my next complaint with the chem department. We only have three didactics classes -- one seminar and two labs. The seminar is okay-ish. The lecturer (who is an actual teacher who teaches secondary school chemistry like all the people involved with didactics at my chem department) is nice and enthusiastic about his job. He wants future teachers to put thought into how they structure their lessons and he tries his best to give insights into didactics. But at the same time, this seminar is everything but challenging. He didn’t teach me anything that I didn’t already know through observing my own teachers. Which is kinda sad. He is also in charge with one of the two labs, which I haven’t taken yet, but from what I’ve heard it’s probably the most useful class for teachers in the entire chem department. It is designed to make you think about how to present experiments to students and to ebend these experiments into detailed lesson plans. And then there’s the other lab, which was an utter waste of time. Both of the teachers who are in charge of it fail at their jobs (not just as lecturers but also at being secondary school teachers). They just throw experiments at you that you probably won’t be able to recreate in your own lessons because 1) you will not have the proper equipment to do them, 2) some of them take over an hour and lessons at school are 45mins (90mins if you are lucky) and 3) some of the experiments you are not allowed to do at school anymore because they have been deemed to be too dangerous.

Meanwhile, in the English department, I have four didactics requirements. There are the Didactics I and II seminars. Didactics I is just a general introduction to ESL teaching. For your Didactics II seminar, you can choose between different topics like grammar, literature and cultural studies. Then there’s a lecture called “English in the classroom -- linguistics” which is all about linguistic studies on ESL teaching. And last but not least, we have to take a seminar in either linguistics or literary/cultural studies that relates to school in one way or another (next semester I will hopefully take part in a seminar called “Transcultural Literature and Islamophobia in the EFL Classroom“). See the difference? First of all, the English department offers us some choices. Are you not comfortable with teaching grammar? Go choose a Didactics II seminar on teaching grammar! Do you want to know more about the science behind ESL teaching? We got you covered with our lecture, but you can also take a linguistics seminar in addition to the lecture! Most importantly, though, they acknowledge that we are teachers first and linguists/literary analysts second. Even in classes that are not designed specifically for teaching students, our needs are acknowledged. I took part in a seminar on tense and aspect for my linguistics requirement and when the lecturer found out that most of the students in attendance were future teachers, she changed up her reading list to include articles about grammar teaching. This would never happen in a chem lecture. Nobody fucking cares about the teaching students in the chem department. Most of the time it feels like we’re a nuisance, like we are not wanted at the lectures. They treat me like garbage but at the same time, they expect me to perform in the same way the regular chemistry students do. Add to that the blatant misogyny of many male professors and you have a pretty good explanation for why I struggle to get out of bed and attend my 8 am chem classes.

So this is ridiculously long, so let me give you a short little conclusion that also serves as a TL;DR version of this rant:

I can never be good enough for my chemistry profs because what they want me to be is a chemist first and a teacher second. But that’s never going to happen. I am a teacher, not a chemist.

#personal #gilrael complains about uni #mental health #education #i actually spend 2hrs writing this #but now i feel better lol

[balancekrp-blog]

WE ALL HAVE THE SAME ROOTS, AND WE ARE ALL BRANCHES OF THE SAME TREE…

                                                                           LEE PRINCE / WATERBENDER

WHEN WE HIT OUR LOWEST POINT, WE ARE OPEN TO THE GREATEST CHANGE…

prince is the name given to him when he is successfully adopted. birthmother fearing that he will follow the path of his father, forcing his children into military-like regimes, training his older brothers as warriors beyond their years, she sacrifices her duty for the greater good. he’s not even a month old when he is intercepted by the gentle hands of two loving, however inexperienced, mothers — gyuri and lia. he escapes a fate of blood, sweat and tears for his father’s vicarious pleasure. one day, he will be grateful.

that day is yet to come.

he is born with an innate sense of family, community and reliance built into him. its his genetic disposition, and without explanation, it troubles him for many years. but he is still well loved, cared for, and spoiled with rich life experiences. he is doted on fervently, and stays within the four walls of home until it’s absolutely necessary to leave. this way, they can control the way he consumes the world; in small bites, he devours the apple of knowledge, rather than in overwhelming portions. and they just can’t believe their luck — prince is naturally apt at listening and learning, and picks up on social cues long before he’s taught them. of course, he is much too young to express the yearning to follow his parents wherever they go. once the umpteenth attempt to cling to their legs in public is refused, he realises he must be doing something wrong. so, instead, he keeps quiet and observant, intently engaging whenever his mothers would offer to bring him to work, or explain the books they were reading. they fit so well together, after all, and all he wanted was to be the exact same.

both of his parents are earth benders, each independent from the moment their families had abandoned them for their ‘wayward choices’. he doesn’t realise that this defines their bond, and the bleak difference between the three of them. it is their direct and solidified mentality that plagues his childhood. instead of ushering him out into the complex gardens with all of his near aged peers, he learns how to manage life as one big, incomplete task. rushing between his bedroom and school, using public transport efficiently and alone. it is spent checking the watch he’d been gifted on his first day of elementary, since his moms were often working to their own demanding schedules. stuffing away under his desk, more comfortable with his two best friends (blade and spinner, diecast action figures) watching him as he chipped at his homework in the cramped space. he liked being a successful student. it meant praise from his parents, and engaging conversations at the dinner table he’d otherwise not understand. he is absolutely overjoyed when he realises that his passions align with his mother’s.

gyuri is a talented biologist, with experience home and away in restoring and sustaining the climate. fitting for her family roots, however much disdain she faces away from them with. that is the very reason that his other mother insists he becomes familiar with water bending. it was a phenomenon in both their eyes when he had first started creating his own micro climates in their living room, gently ushering their pet fish around the open air. he doesn’t notice their watchful gaze then, but with time, and a letter in the mail inviting him to join the city’s largest training centre, he will. it’s like an after school club, sort of, but he isn’t very fond of it at first. the greatest part of school was being so scornfully judged for his reclusive behaviour they left him to continue it (this is, of course, something he convinced himself of). apparently, a large part of water bending was the relationships you’d create with a community. at first, it sounded like he’d have to rely on others to succeed — a terrifying idea, in truth. he moans and groans about it the entire car ride, fumbling with the watch on his hands impatiently as his parents stayed silent.

over time, he warms up to it. the people are starkly different from his own family. they are constantly changing, both literally and figuratively, and their families are each as welcoming as the next. they come to watch training from time to time, and often bring snacks or gifts from their family ‘back home’, or ‘far away’. the art is one that evades him the moment he pulls focus elsewhere. it truly is magical, and beyond scientific explanation, unlike the power his parents would explain excessively each time they used it. like he spoke a different language, and the only way for him to understand was to spell it out in over zealous hand gestures. it was nice not to be considered different for once. to live in seoul, with two mothers, neither of which share your heritage nor have any understanding or belief of your culture is a greatly isolating experience. if his awkward and introverted personality didn’t speak volumes, there were many other stark differences he showed. at the coming of age ceremony, he is the only student to be awarded the mark of the wise amongst a sea of ‘trusted’ and ‘bravery’. he would’ve been glad, but who in god’s name wants to be called a real life ravenclaw.

he let his frustrations manifest, and most often it just ends in him distracting himself with schoolwork. where he upheld both education and bending, he did neither in great pride, knowing his family would do it for him, anyway. humans and human relationships were a complex facet of life, a book tells him. an equation with no one solution. another book tells him that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps to maintain and perpetuate the conditions for life on the planet. he considers, momentarily, that he isn’t very good of a living organism, then. he is only sixteen, and the thought makes him laugh — “that’d be a funny summary for my autobiography.”

the passion for water bending is one that makes him guilty. it felt like something he should deny in public, particularly with his moms. he can’t blame them for wanting a kid. there really was no scapegoat, and so he turns to the future for answers. the future, and his pets. the growing population of animals that kept him company was overwhelming, at first. his cat allergy was sacrificed for prescription medication, his room decked out for maximum interaction with any rescue beast he could find, as he continued to observe their lives under a magnifying glass. the animal kingdom functioned on a much more simple system than any other. it was an easy love to feed, and an even easier career to chase.

when he reveals his plans to study abroad, and follow his mother’s alma mater, the reception is mixed.

for a child like prince, who’d heavily relied on family ties for all his life, the decision felt completely out of the blue. his zoo of domestic animals were the first issue of concern, once the initial shock was quelled, and he agreed to seek owners amongst his school friends and water bending community. the very thing he intended to leave behind, in truth. when he went to the elders to ask for his blessing, his decade long teacher had expressed some regret in his departure. between them both, he revealed his remorse, not interfering with prince’s obvious inner turmoil. ‘you were different’ he is told, and it may be the worst compliment he could ever imagine hearing.

he won’t dwell, not before he is already home, packing his life away in 196x196 inch boxes. he would’ve liked it like this when he was younger. he watches his tomcat, ai, jumping excitedly between the open storage boxes. he can see a ghost, small and excited by the prospect of new toys, doing the very same. he hasn’t changed that much. no, he still likes sitting under his desk, contorting his limbs to fit under there with his three cats, all piling on top of each other. he keeps a journal, notes on the study of his own body and how it moves, and scratches away at it. he has made it this far in the darkness of his own room, doing a swell job of being alone with pet company.

“a lab would be cute. golden retriever?” he mumbles it to himself, tilting his head toward his scrapping pets. he marvels at how easy it is to stuff away one person’s livelihood into four paper boxes. if he were a cat, he wouldn’t have to pack anything away at all.

#bn; accepted #bn: leechaiyapornkul chittaphon #bn: ten #bn: nct #bn; water

[sualkmedeiors]

At Honeywell Innovation is Always the Key, Says CEO

“Innovation is the key,” says Honeywell CEO Darius Adamczyk. “Anything we do in Honeywell, innovation is always the key. Whether it’s expanding into Europe, driving more robotics, a connected  warehouse offering which we are bringing to customers and having a broader play, are the key technology levers for that business.”

Darius Adamczyk, CEO and Chairman at Honeywell, discusses how the company is using innovation and technology to drive growth in an interview on Bloomberg:

Honeywell Digital Makes Us a More Contemporary Digital Company

As we always said my number one priority as CEO was to drive organic growth, but we never say we’re going to give up on our margin expansion. We do it through a combination, both commercial levers, which is managing our mix, and always introducing new products, which bring more value to customers. But also not forgetting our roots, which is driving productivity. With the number of ERPs we have and the kind of complexity we have in our supply chain, Honeywell Digital, which is going to make us a much more contemporary digital company, we have plenty of levers for productivity as well.

Honeywell Digital really has three primary elements. First is data governance, which is standard across all our various businesses. We’ve done over 80 acquisitions in the last 15 years so we have a lot of disparity. Then there are common processes, which is we want to run our businesses the same way in a very consistent manner. We have some pockets of excellence, but those have some inconsistency. Finally, all integrated into a common IT platform. Just to give an example, we had well over 1,500 different software applications before we started. We had over 150 ERP systems. It’s just very difficult to run a company efficiently and enable us to really make good data-based decisions. Honeywell digital is really all about enabling that.

Anything We Do In Honeywell, Innovation is Always the Key

Warehouse automation, which we started in 2016 with our Intelligrated acquisition. It’s been just a terrific business growing strong double-digit. We also made another acquisition called Transnorm which added to that technology in Europe in Q4 last year. We were planning on growing it organically, but also we’re looking to enhance our offerings, so we’re looking for inorganic opportunities as well. Innovation is the key. Anything we do in Honeywell, innovation is always the key. Whether it’s expanding into Europe, driving more robotics, a connected warehouse offering which we are bringing to customers and having a broader play, are the key technology levers for that business.

Amazon is a big customer but we have a lot of big customers. I wouldn’t say it’s a predominant customer in that business. Just about everybody is looking into ecommerce because with a lot today’s retail you really have basically two options. One option is to enhance the in-store experience which a lot of retailers are doing. The other one is to drive ecommerce. We think that this trend is going to continue. Although I would say it’s in the middle innings in the US, it’s just beginning in Europe. We think we have a huge opportunity in Europe, India, and some of the other overseas markets.

We have a very active venture capital fund and we’ve made about six investments in the last six months which is augmenting our technology plays. So although we haven’t made any big acquisitions, other than Transnorm in Q4, we are continuing to invest through our venture fund and we’re deploying capital that way. It’s been a terrific story for us in 3D printing for instance, particularly for our aerospace business. For a lot of the slow-moving parts we’re trying to basically get a new part certified and three printing per day. That’s our objective. Our aerospace businesses have made tremendous progress in achieving that and it’s really helping both for our inventory and on-time delivery for a lot of our aftermarket customers.

It’s Important For Teachers To Be More Effective in STEM Education

Regarding the workforce, education is the key and particularly STEM education. Honeywell is a big believer in that. Not only do we develop a lot of our young people that we bring into the company but we also spend a lot of money and time on developing teachers. It’s important for teachers to be more effective in STEM education. It’s something that we’re going to be supporting going forward even on a broader scale because that’s the way to differentiate our company.

We’re always going to be differentiated by technology and we want to bring the brightest and the best. We want to make sure that it’s a competitive issue, not just here in the US, but everywhere we hire people, and we hire people just about everywhere. We have engineers in the US, China, India, everywhere around the globe. I would say lately we’ve actually been very much on the hiring string. When you grow 8% that creates a lot of opportunities to hire a lot of people particularly in the area of technology and engineering and software.

At Honeywell Innovation is Always the Key, Says CEO

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from https://www.webpronews.com/honeywell-innovation/