Mistrunner

*GASP*

HI!

HI HI HI!

YOU DON'T KNOW ME YET!

HI!!!!

It's New York all over again...

Put pecans in. I don't know your feelings toward nuts in desserts, but I don't usually mind 'em and it keeps them safe from 98% of the population.  

Now THAT is a life hack! But first I have to get some pecans...

Pecans would definitely repel the likes of me.

Madison and Mackenzie would be my picks, but I also found a list that might be useful. 

@TwiLyghtSansSparkles Ooh, thanks! I'll try some of those out. I'm in the awkward "vague personality traits and nothing else" phase of character creation, and I'm hoping getting the right name will help add some kind of shape to this nebulous blob of a character.

honorable mention goes to Picard's enunciation

Data and La Forge fall into the "best friends who are both smart and competent on their own, but when they team up, they're idiots" camp and I love it. 

It's fuel for studying! 

Five Finger Death Punch is a good band to start with. 

I've always loved that name. No doubts about the genre.

I'll give it a listen.

"The Pride" is the song that got me listening to them in the first place. "When the Seasons Change" is more ballad-like than most of their other stuff, so if you wanted to start with something a little slower and ease your way in, that would probably be the way to go. 

A-freaking-men. 

isn't it though

Thank you! I'm reeling a little bit, to be honest. I wasn't even expecting to get in.

I'm hoping college will be good for me. I do respond a lot better when I'm not talked down to, as I think most people do.  I'll just have to see how it goes.

There's always the odd prof who thinks they're still teaching high school freshmen. My sophomore year in college, I had a prof who always threw a small tantrum if she saw us packing up our stuff early (because it was not a small campus and some of us had classes all the way across and….you know…walking takes time) and would make us stay an extra five minutes to punish us for daring to disrespect her. (She was a terrible teacher in many, many other ways too.) 

But she sticks out in my memory because she was the exception. Some of my profs were more formal, others were more laid-back, but they were all good at presenting their material in a way that was informative and not condescending. Toward the laid-back end of the spectrum, I had a logic professor who illustrated logical fallacies by showing us the witch trial scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and who said "If you don't feel like showing up on Halloween, don't worry about it; but if you do come, we're going to watch Doctor Who." Toward the formal end of the spectrum, I had a prof who taught a course called War In Society, and he was a tough but fair grader who complained before our first midterm that "In my class, it is possible to get a GPA greater than 4.0, but the Grinches in the main office won't let me reflect it in your final grade." He also shared some jokes that could've gotten you arrested in Nazi Germany, which are still pretty funny. 

What I mean by this ramble is, college is definitely academically rigorous, but it's also fun. And I think you'll do just fine. 

Sounds fun.  I've been stressing out all year about the prospect of college, but hearing about stuff like this makes me feel better about it all. I'm trying to focus more on the opportunities and adventure and less on the scariness of the unknown. I'll have to buy and make all my own food, but also, I'll get to buy and make all my own food, you know? Exciting! 

1. This should be the easiest one, so far as making it sound interesting. Just choose something you're passionate about (preferably something you can tie to your educational goals—for instance, if you're interested in writing fiction and pursuing a journalism degree because you'd be telling stories about things that happened in real life) and talk about what it is and why you love it. Your passion will help make it interesting to read about. 

2. Let emotion shine through on this one. And the leading emotion doesn't have to be some sort of sorrow or regret; if you choose a failure you now find humorous, play up the comedy. But if it is something that saddens you, or something you now regret, be honest. Don't be afraid to go into the difficulties you faced and how it made you feel. Don't overdo it, but don't go for a completely emotionless retelling, either. 

3. Community service projects. What are some community service projects you've done, or that you're currently doing? Do you volunteer at your church? Every community service project or volunteering project meets some community need; and each need met can serve as a broader example of how you strive to meet needs in general. For instance, if you volunteer your time by acting as a Big with Big Brothers Big Sisters, then you're meeting that child's need for positive role models and constructive activities, and meeting the community's need for mentors in general. It's also an example of how you care for the next generation and want to ensure they have as many opportunities to succeed as possible. Stuff like that. 

4. What do you feel you bring to your friendships? Your church? Your classes? You'll bring all of that to your university community. 

And finally, some general advice: Don't strive for an academic tone. Strive for a more conversational one. Don't be too chatty, but don't be uptight, either. Imagine you're answering a question for a friend of your parents' that you want to impress. But this isn't a stranger; it's someone who's known your parents for a while, has just gotten back in touch, and is super excited to see what you've accomplished in the years they've been gone. Be clear and concise, but don't be clinical. Have as much fun with it as you can. 

Twi, you're a lifesaver.

I've just done this a couple times, and I'm happy to help.  

haha I have an exam in less than 9 hours

Why stop eating bread to do homework when you can eat more bread? 

You're darn right and you should say it

I second Tesh's "yum," but you get a higher ratio of meat to breading if you eat the chicken in patty form instead of nuggets.

You're darn right! I've never thought about that before

Often, and plentiful.

That's amazing...

Feel like you now have an embarrassment of riches in the form of potato chips.

Seems a legitimate response.

Yes. Yes they are.

So are apples.

Couldn't agree more. 

Aw, that's rotten! I hope you feel better ASAP.

Oh, that stinks!

I'd be more worried about the political unrest... But I definitely agree with your unenthusiasm for hot weather.

Middle East doesn't necessarily indicate somewhere that is affected by political unrest. UAE is pretty good this time of year (should be ...autumn there I think?)

But yes, I HATE hot weather so much, humid or dry I don't care (tho humid is worse). The cold is my home.

I'm also not that hot on moving to anywhere with any proximity to Syria, but y'know. Weather is more pressing.

Peanut butter is just so good, you know?

YES. There's no such thing as too much peanut butter!

That's actually something I say all the time.  You can never have too much peanut butter, no matter what anybody thinks!

What was the audition? Something band-related, I assume.

Yep. It was an audition for band placement at a camp I'm going to. There's three at the high school level, and I made the top one! It was a bit of a surprise, to be honest.

That's great; congratulations!!

This is never going to be not funny.

I'm not sure if I want to take twitter away from our dear president or encourage him to use it more.

covfefe was only actively a meme for about eight hours early this morning, but I was awake for all of those hours and watched the whole thing go down. 

Hell yeah! Take its disembodied test head and mount it upon your wall. Clean it, stuff it, and mount it. Don't take it to a taxidermist, though. They're pretty bad with tests. Always rip the skin or overstuff it. 

Once I get it back in a few weeks, I'll be sure to, Bleeder. I'm sure it'll look great on my wall. 

Thanks, Bleeder.  I may get only 3 questions right on the math portion, but I will destroy the other sections. *insert inspirational quote here*

Go get em

As someone who has taken the ACT, it's not as bad as it sounds. You'll do great.