Toil and Trouble

Care to share?

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well, school used to be a place I went to so I could go dance later or fence or whatever. and I had to keep my grades up to do that too.

and then it was all gone. no fencing, no jumprope, the only dancing was in the living room by myself to the radio while my mom was at work. it SUCKED. massively. no matter how bored I had ever been at school, that was worse.

and they said I'd never go to college or anything. I'd be lucky if I finished HS. and I've never had much thought about college or whatever, but the idea that I'd never be able to get a job or be financially independent was terrible. I mean, I don't want to live at my mom's house when I'm 30!!

So....I'm here. I get to at least finish high school. College is still iffy, regardless of whether I want to go, but I can at least maybe get a bad job if I finish high school. I can have a life. I'm not going ot be a bum on the streets.

so yeah. I'm doing school because I want a future. regardless of whether it was Xavier's or not, I won't have much of one without some sort of skills. and I think I want to go into medicine. I don't know if I want to be a doctor, but it's something. and that's more than I thought I'd have.

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*nods* You just reminded me why I stick with this, exams and all. There's lots worse, and here I have a chance to avoid that. Ta, Pixie.

And one of these days I'm going to have to decide what I want to do with meself once I finish school. I never thought much about it before. *grins* Looks like I get to talk actual guidance counsellor stuff with Pete for a change, though maybe Jake would be better, if he ever comes back from his travels...

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x-blink.livejournal.com

glad I helped. and y'know...a lot of people here, and I include you in this, have lived 'worse'. I guess I just want to avoid it as much as possible.

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BLoody good idea. You got the opportunities, take 'em.

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It ain't like I'm every going to be able to go to university,

Why not? Except for the not-liking-the-studying part.

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It's not so much that I don't like the studying - well, except for Maths, that is - it's more I ain't that good at it. I'm so far behind, Artie's ahead of me in some things. And here's me seven years older'n him. So by the time I catch up enough to think about anything like that, I'll be the Professor's age.

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Ah, but see, that's not "never," that's just "a really long way away." Plenty of people get their college degrees kinda late. Heck, my cousin Nate doesn't have his yet--he went into the Marines right out of high school, figured on hitting college after he finished his hitch, and he's nearly thirty now and still planning on it. If you want to do something, there's almost always a way if you look hard enough.

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We'll see. Gotta finish high school first. *wry grin* If this maths book don't kill me first. ;)

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Just don't doze off on your back while you're reading it. It'll fall and hit you on the nose.

Yes, I know this from experience. Mine was one of my dad's Norton anthologies, though. Short Fiction, I think. Got halfway through a Steinbeck story and dozed off, because Steinbeck is boring, and suddenly I got punched in the face by 1700 pages of timeless classics. :)

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*snorts* I nearly did that when I was in England - I was reading this bloody huge volume on the history of witchcraft, nodded off and nearly got crushed to death under it. If it'd hit me in the face, I think it would have done.

And I really do think this maths book is plotting to do me in. Either that or drive me insane.

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What kind of math are we talking about, here? I'm fairly decent at it up through trigonometry, and anyway I doubt you're into the kind of math Kitty likes that looks like a horrible traffic accident involving an alphabet soup tanker and a warehouse full of Greek restaurant menus. :)

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The 'easy' stuff - 's why I don't ask Kitty to help too much, since it's so bloody simple I think she gets bored. Fractions, decimals, long division... all that stuff you lot learned in elementary school, or so I'm told. Makes me wish Rack had sent me to school a bit more often - you don't use numbers in magic that much, so I never got the hang of it.

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What, no opening portals to the Math Dimension and summoning forth demon accountants to collect souls for Lord Pi? :)

That's about where Artie is, and I help him with his homework sometimes. Want a hand?

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x-skin.livejournal.com

Like Jamie said, never say never.

Look at me - there's no way I'd've gone to university if I'd stayed back home, 'cause of the money issues, but mostly 'cause I only went to high school enough to not actually get kicked out, not to get good grades, 'specially since I'd've needed a scholarship to even start. The... disagreements with the cops didn't help, either.

None of that applies anymore (well, except the money issues, but I've got more chance of a scholarship now than I did then - a little more, at least). And yeah, I'm going to have to stay in high school an extra year at least to make up my credits, and I'm not even sure I want to go, but the choice is there, y'know? And it is for you, too, however much work it'll take.

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I can give you the sort of life you want, and without all the brain-busting.

And I do _not_ need a crash-course in Laundry 101. I need to find a maid service, and hire _them_ to do it. Only fair and proper, after all. I still can't believe people are expected to just do their own. How plebean!

Manuel

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Promise, I never get bored. I _like_ helping people.

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And I do _not_ need a crash-course in Laundry 101. I need to find a maid service, and hire _them_ to do it.

What, seriously?

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Why does this come as such a surprise to you people?

Really.

Manuel

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this whole bloody education-in-herds concept.

I grew up with one-on-one instruction. A glass of something in one hand, a smoke lit, maybe a book or two cracked open, and we would just _talk_. For hours. If I had a question about a place, the tutor would tell me of his direct experiences, or we would go there directly and examine it for ourselves.

I miss that.

Of course, too many mistakes and it was the switch, but I came to realize that a little pain was a wonderful tool for sharpening the attentions.

Here, it's so cold and formal. Makes it hard to learn. And there's really no need - if you pay attention in class and can actually read the textbook *grr* then you should pick up the material.

Manuel

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Why does this come as such a surprise to you people?

Well, self sufficeincy is just one of thoes things I expect everyone to be able to be. Not knowing how to do your own laundry in this day is very... Mary Lennox not knowing how to dress herself.

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I've done it before.

I detest it. So why should I waste my valuable time and effort in doing it, when I could just pay a domestic to take care of the details for me while I attend to other things?

Seems perfectly reasonable, unless you've got some sort of jihad against domestics. Then again, you're an American, you might...

Manuel

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Nope, I was just commenting on the fact that you were talking about "a crash-course in Laundry 101", which makes it sound as though you don't know how. There will always be people in service jobs, be they food service or domestic service. I've got no problem with it, as long as they get treated well.

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Seems kinda lazy to hire somebody just because you don't feel like doing something, though.

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I would tend to agree, but what if you don't have the time to do it yourself?

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Nothing wrong with that. A couple of my cousins worked for a cleaning service to help pay for college--good, steady work, and most of the time they got along pretty well with the people they were helping out. I just don't see the point of dropping a bunch of cash every week to get out of . . . maybe, what, half an hour's work, since it's not like you have to sit around and watch the machines go, unless you really don't have time.

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Yeah, I agree, laundry's not so bad. Paying someone to mow the lawn or shovel the walk, on the other hand, makes _perfect_ sense to me.

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Heh. My parents relied on the free help for those. :)

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Mine tried to. *grin*

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Oho. Conned our way out of it, did we? :)

Dad got a riding mower when I was twelve--we've got big yards. So I didn't mind mowing the lawn so much.

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x-tarot.livejournal.com

Not all the classes are cold or formal. History was a lot of discussion this year - although, that may have been due to Shinobi disliking regular teaching methods.

Art is never cold or formal, and Biology was not as well.

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x-cypher.livejournal.com

I had an idea. Have you ever heard of something called a GED? I forget exactly what it stands for, but it's basically a test that winds up giving you the equivalent of a high school diploma if you pass. So rather than suffer through all the classes that you seem to hate, you could just take the test. It would take some preparation, since you aren't completely fluent in English yet, but it might be something you might ask Ms. Frost about. *shrug*

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I do not want to take this option. I need to be able to read English well first.

I am frustrated.

And no, I will not accept aid in this matter. I do not wish to acquire any _more_ debts.

Manuel

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Physics isn't either--Doc McCoy is fun.

. . . Actually, I don't think I've had a boring, cold, or formal class since I've been here, and I've taken most of 'em. What I missed about actual classrooms when I was homeschooled was the discussion, I think--I mean, my parents are smart people, and we talked about stuff, but there was a max three different points of view on any subject. Get a dozen different people into a room, get 'em excited about a discussion--which most of the teachers here can do no problem--and you've really got something special.

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I was a willful little monster of a child, by which I mean I'm small and not very good at lifting and pushing stuff - or so my father believes.

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...but there's some things I prefer to do for meself, no matter how much work it involves. If I never learn how, then one day I'm going to be royally fucked over when I do have to do it for meself, be it the school stuff, or the laundry. ;)

Sure there are people willing to help, and that's good, but in the end, you can only rely 100% on yourself. Because there will come a time when all you'll have is yourself. I learned that early on.

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It's funny, I think what I miss most about my parents is right after school when I'd get home, they'd sit down with me and go through all the homework I had for that day. Dad and Mum were both smart and they wanted me to do well. Most of the time these days, everyone else is so stressed there's not many people to actually just sit down and study with. *grins* I'm too much of a social type to really like schoolwork without company.

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I'll renew that translating spell, if you like. Sorry it only covers one book at a time. Pick the one that's giving you the most trouble.

As for incurring debts... my point exactly as far as your offer to do for me goes. I know you want to and can affod to, but it's too much. I do appreciate it, tho'.

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Rack took care of most of my schooling when I was a kid. He taught me to read spells, to speak Latin, Sumerian, and the rest of them, and how to look after the place and meself. He was big on the whole pain as an educator thing, only he never used to stop at a little.

When I was a ward of the state, they tried to put me through the great British education system. Classes of forty or more, teachers who don't give a toss or had no idea what they were doing, never enough books and such. I picked up what I could, the days I was actually there, and copped more than me fair share of beatings because the teachers thought I was giving cheek when I told them I didn't understand the work.

What they do here is much better. At least they notice when I have trouble, and there's plenty of people who are willing to help. And no-one hurling blackboard erasers at me head. ;) I might complain, but it's that or go madder than a box full of badgers, and you don't want to see that again. *wry grin*

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You also have those insanely complicated assignments to do, as well. *grins* I do appreciate the help, just can't help feeling your time is better spent elsewhere than teaching me what must seem like to you the maths version of the alphabet when you're up to writing epics yourself.

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