After School Advice

[TinyDinos]

I posted this in general questions already, but I figured it makes more sense to post it here too. So this is just copy and pasted here to see if i can get some relevant advice haha.

I’m in 11th grade (USA) and I’ve been panicky about what I’m going to do with my life. I’m getting closer and closer to finishing school, and I think I’m gonna do community college after High School, but I’m still not sure abt what to do. My step dad is a recruiter for the Army, and my mom was talking to me in the car yesterday about how she doesn’t think that I’m going to get my life together by the time I’m out of High School and I probably won’t realistically figure it out in a few years after that either. She said that she thinks that joining the army would be “really good for me” and that she thinks that “I should at think about it because at least I can still be productive while I figure things out.” And my step dad agreed. I don’t know how to feel about this, but I’m kinda discouraged about finding work as things are, and a bit more so now because my mom seems to lack faith in me too. I don’t know if the army would be good, but I want to make her proud. Plus, like, what other choice do I have? Any thoughts?

[_Kai_]

On 1/19/2023 at 9:45 AM, TinyDinos said:

I posted this in general questions already, but I figured it makes more sense to post it here too. So this is just copy and pasted here to see if i can get some relevant advice haha.

I’m in 11th grade (USA) and I’ve been panicky about what I’m going to do with my life. I’m getting closer and closer to finishing school, and I think I’m gonna do community college after High School, but I’m still not sure abt what to do. My step dad is a recruiter for the Army, and my mom was talking to me in the car yesterday about how she doesn’t think that I’m going to get my life together by the time I’m out of High School and I probably won’t realistically figure it out in a few years after that either. She said that she thinks that joining the army would be “really good for me” and that she thinks that “I should at think about it because at least I can still be productive while I figure things out.” And my step dad agreed. I don’t know how to feel about this, but I’m kinda discouraged about finding work as things are, and a bit more so now because my mom seems to lack faith in me too. I don’t know if the army would be good, but I want to make her proud. Plus, like, what other choice do I have? Any thoughts?

Hmmmmmmm, well don't stress out too much if ya haven't found an occupation to fulfill yet, life could take us anywhere in life even if we planned it all out.

You could maybe try listing out some of the things you enjoy that could turn into a job? Also I'm sorry to hear that you think ur mom lacks faith in u :(

I have faith & hope in you! ^^  

[TinyDinos]

1 hour ago, _Kai_ said:

Hmmmmmmm, well don't stress out too much if ya haven't found an occupation to fulfill yet, life could take us anywhere in life even if we planned it all out.

You could maybe try listing out some of the things you enjoy that could turn into a job? Also I'm sorry to hear that you think ur mom lacks faith in u :(

I have faith & hope in you! ^^  

Yeah I’m trying not to stress too much. I think it’s just the pressure from school and stuff getting to me, but I’m working on making peace with not going to a 4 year university. I need to place more realistic expectations on myself haha

Thanks for the kind and encouraging words

[Equivalent Ways]

On 1/19/2023 at 9:45 AM, TinyTurtles said:

I posted this in general questions already, but I figured it makes more sense to post it here too. So this is just copy and pasted here to see if i can get some relevant advice haha.

I’m in 11th grade (USA) and I’ve been panicky about what I’m going to do with my life. I’m getting closer and closer to finishing school, and I think I’m gonna do community college after High School, but I’m still not sure abt what to do. My step dad is a recruiter for the Army, and my mom was talking to me in the car yesterday about how she doesn’t think that I’m going to get my life together by the time I’m out of High School and I probably won’t realistically figure it out in a few years after that either. She said that she thinks that joining the army would be “really good for me” and that she thinks that “I should at think about it because at least I can still be productive while I figure things out.” And my step dad agreed. I don’t know how to feel about this, but I’m kinda discouraged about finding work as things are, and a bit more so now because my mom seems to lack faith in me too. I don’t know if the army would be good, but I want to make her proud. Plus, like, what other choice do I have? Any thoughts?

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, i am so freggin late but I wanted to post smth here anyway.

Im sorry dino, it sucks to feel the pressure from society AND family. Just know i will love you no matter if you go to a 4-year or community But ya, uh it is REALLY natural to want to make out parents proud, if it makes you feel better, idk what I am gonna do either. Heck it feels like my socks have more of a future than i do I might just go to community for art or smth just to say i am doing smth lol. But my main goal is finishing HS, and that is already a big accomplishment right there, ok?

Oh and i guess in terms of other options, you could find a job that does not require a bachelors, or take a gap year, or get an associates in smth yeah thats all i know right now haha

Edited March 26, 2023 by Equivalent Ways

[Equivalent Ways]

hi @Emmerson <3 I think if I remember correctly, you are trying to dual enroll in college during HS, right? I did that for 2 semesters over 2 years so if you needed any advice, maybe I could help :D

[Olivia05]

@Equivalent Ways hey thanks if I need advice I’ll certainly come try and talk to you

[TinyDinos]

I wanna cry :(

my senior year was supposed to be easy. I planned everything out since last year, and all I’ve gotten is the short end of the stick. Between arguing with my mom over what courses I want to take to my teacher forgetting to enroll me in all of my classes I haven’t caught a break. Now I’m two weeks behind in four classes, had to order the curriculum for two of them today and found out im not graduating when I was expecting to. I planned since last year that I wanted to do dual enrollment and graduate at the end of this semester, as well as receive college credit. My teacher assumed I didn’t want to do it and didn’t enroll me, gave me links to the wrong college, made me do the enrollment process for that only to realize her mistake later, and then we get the right school only for the deadline to have already passed because she didn’t do her job. She links me to a school in Arizona and their deadline passed too. We get this school that has late deadlines so I can get into it, and the deadline for their English class is passed so the main class I wanted to do dual enrollment for is unavailable, and I have too twice as much work to graduate because of it, and to top it all off, I’m so tired of fighting for this goddamn class, I don’t want all of my hard work to be wasted, I settled for a college class elective and swapping my only other class to be dual enrollment: Economy. That was the only class I liked and I adored my teacher and now I have to give it all up. On top of it I might not even be able to do the English class through the college for next semester. My teacher wasted my time, and now I’m stressed out and wanting to cry.

[TinyDinos]

This was supposed to be the fun part. The reward for all of my hard work leading up to this point and all I’m left with is stress and anxiety. My teacher says I’m good at advocating for myself, but I’m so tired of having to advocate for myself. Why can’t someone fight for me just once?? I’m so tired. I hate all of thistles 

[Aurora]

12 hours ago, TinyDinos said:

I wanna cry :(

my senior year was supposed to be easy. I planned everything out since last year, and all I’ve gotten is the short end of the stick. Between arguing with my mom over what courses I want to take to my teacher forgetting to enroll me in all of my classes I haven’t caught a break. Now I’m two weeks behind in four classes, had to order the curriculum for two of them today and found out im not graduating when I was expecting to. I planned since last year that I wanted to do dual enrollment and graduate at the end of this semester, as well as receive college credit. My teacher assumed I didn’t want to do it and didn’t enroll me, gave me links to the wrong college, made me do the enrollment process for that only to realize her mistake later, and then we get the right school only for the deadline to have already passed because she didn’t do her job. She links me to a school in Arizona and their deadline passed too. We get this school that has late deadlines so I can get into it, and the deadline for their English class is passed so the main class I wanted to do dual enrollment for is unavailable, and I have too twice as much work to graduate because of it, and to top it all off, I’m so tired of fighting for this goddamn class, I don’t want all of my hard work to be wasted, I settled for a college class elective and swapping my only other class to be dual enrollment: Economy. That was the only class I liked and I adored my teacher and now I have to give it all up. On top of it I might not even be able to do the English class through the college for next semester. My teacher wasted my time, and now I’m stressed out and wanting to cry.

Hi there, I'm really sorry to hear that this has happened. It sounds like you had it all planned out and then for no fault of your own you have had to change all your plans. Do you mind me asking, is your mom aware that your teacher forgot to enrol you in all your classes. If so, did she do anything about it - eg make a complaint? I feel like you shouldn't be punished for your teachers mistake. 

The whole process sounds quite complicated to me (sorry I have never gone to school in the US so I don't quite understand how it all works). Would you mind writing out for me, what classes you were hoping to do and what classes you are now doing instead. Also, when were you planning on graduating and when will you be graduating now? 

One thing I have found helpful in these situations is to have the belief that things happen for a reason and everything will work out fine in the end. Ever since I have started to believe this - things do just seem to work out for the better in the end. It's really difficult to do at the time but it often works. Is this something you've ever experienced? 

[TinyDinos]

3 hours ago, Aurora said:

Hi there, I'm really sorry to hear that this has happened. It sounds like you had it all planned out and then for no fault of your own you have had to change all your plans. Do you mind me asking, is your mom aware that your teacher forgot to enrol you in all your classes. If so, did she do anything about it - eg make a complaint? I feel like you shouldn't be punished for your teachers mistake. 

The whole process sounds quite complicated to me (sorry I have never gone to school in the US so I don't quite understand how it all works). Would you mind writing out for me, what classes you were hoping to do and what classes you are now doing instead. Also, when were you planning on graduating and when will you be graduating now? 

One thing I have found helpful in these situations is to have the belief that things happen for a reason and everything will work out fine in the end. Ever since I have started to believe this - things do just seem to work out for the better in the end. It's really difficult to do at the time but it often works. Is this something you've ever experienced? 

Yeah that’s all correct. My mom is aware of it and has been helping me through it the whole time, advocating on my behalf, etc. she spoke to the teacher’s supervisor yesterday asking about switching to a different teacher and they said that we can’t because there are so many students that there isn’t another teacher for my sisters and I to switch to. They said that they can push for it first thing next semester for us to switch and that they’re gonna do whatever they can to try to get me into the dual enrollment class but I’m not hopeful. 

no worries, i don’t know how similar it is to the UK as I have never been there before, but basically I’m homeschooling and in high school (12 grade). That means the school has a list of approved teachers and curriculum options, and I get to choose my classes and where I take them from as long as all of the credits line up so I have enough ti graduate (and there are some classes I HAVE to take, like some English and some math, etc.) Classes are split into semesters (fall and spring semester) and usually high school classes are two semesters long in order to get full credit for the class. College classes however are only one semester long, and give full credits. If you do dual enrollment (college classes while still in high school) you can do the college class and get a full year of high school credit, as well as the college credits for the class. Twice the rewards for half of the work. Does that make sense?

the classes I had left that I had to take in order to graduate were Economics and English (Fall Semester) and then Government (Spring Semester). I was going to do English through the college to get college and high school credit, and then only need the one semester of work, easy peasy. However since my teacher botched it, I have to do English through the high school for the first semester and maybe through the college second semester. Twice the work. 

I fought so hard for the college dual enrollment that I didn’t wanna waste my work because I couldn’t do the English class, so I switched Economics to be a college course, even though I loved my teacher for that class and the original curriculum so I’m sad about that. I also put an elective in my schedule through the college to get credits. As far as graduation goes, I was gonna graduate in December because I would’ve completed the full year of English and would’ve been done with school. Now I have to work twice as hard and graduate at the end of the school year, possibly with less college credit than I’d anticipated as well depending on the availability of the course I want to take in the spring.

I tend to live my life with an attitude of “if you can’t do anything to change it, there’s no use dwelling on it” and that usually helps put things in perspective, however school is a very stressful topic for me, and this teacher really botched an important year for me and it’s ruining everything

[Aurora]

On 8/24/2023 at 4:36 PM, TinyDinos said:

Yeah that’s all correct. My mom is aware of it and has been helping me through it the whole time, advocating on my behalf, etc. she spoke to the teacher’s supervisor yesterday asking about switching to a different teacher and they said that we can’t because there are so many students that there isn’t another teacher for my sisters and I to switch to. They said that they can push for it first thing next semester for us to switch and that they’re gonna do whatever they can to try to get me into the dual enrollment class but I’m not hopeful. 

no worries, i don’t know how similar it is to the UK as I have never been there before, but basically I’m homeschooling and in high school (12 grade). That means the school has a list of approved teachers and curriculum options, and I get to choose my classes and where I take them from as long as all of the credits line up so I have enough ti graduate (and there are some classes I HAVE to take, like some English and some math, etc.) Classes are split into semesters (fall and spring semester) and usually high school classes are two semesters long in order to get full credit for the class. College classes however are only one semester long, and give full credits. If you do dual enrollment (college classes while still in high school) you can do the college class and get a full year of high school credit, as well as the college credits for the class. Twice the rewards for half of the work. Does that make sense?

the classes I had left that I had to take in order to graduate were Economics and English (Fall Semester) and then Government (Spring Semester). I was going to do English through the college to get college and high school credit, and then only need the one semester of work, easy peasy. However since my teacher botched it, I have to do English through the high school for the first semester and maybe through the college second semester. Twice the work. 

I fought so hard for the college dual enrollment that I didn’t wanna waste my work because I couldn’t do the English class, so I switched Economics to be a college course, even though I loved my teacher for that class and the original curriculum so I’m sad about that. I also put an elective in my schedule through the college to get credits. As far as graduation goes, I was gonna graduate in December because I would’ve completed the full year of English and would’ve been done with school. Now I have to work twice as hard and graduate at the end of the school year, possibly with less college credit than I’d anticipated as well depending on the availability of the course I want to take in the spring.

I tend to live my life with an attitude of “if you can’t do anything to change it, there’s no use dwelling on it” and that usually helps put things in perspective, however school is a very stressful topic for me, and this teacher really botched an important year for me and it’s ruining everything

Hi there, I'm really sorry it's taken me a few days to reply. How are you feeling about everything now, that a few more days have passed? 

Thanks so much for explaining everything a bit more. It sounds quite complicated and it's interesting that a college class gives you full credits after just one semester. Are college classes considered more difficult than high school classes? I can understand your frustration though around having to do double the work. That must be really frustrating!! Especially as it was your teacher who messed up and nothing that you did. 

I'm glad to hear that your mom has been helping you with all this and has been advocating on your behalf. I'm curious to hear whether this has changed anything about how you and your mom have been getting on? I know that you were arguing a lot before this happened. Is that still the case or would you say that it has had a positive affect on the relationship between you and your mom?

It's good that your teacher's supervisor is now aware of what's happened and it sounds like they'll do whatever they can. Hopefully they can push for you to change to the dual enrolment class. When do you find out?