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19 votes
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Reasons to be cheerful about Generation Z
16 votes -
Damien Guerot, who fought off Bondi Junction attacker with bollard, to be granted permanent Australia residency, lawyer says
13 votes -
Over 2,000 gender confirmation applications made since last April | Wednesday marked one year since gender confirmation has been simplified in Finland
34 votes -
A collection of stories about kindness at work
29 votes -
Ex-England boss Sven-Göran Eriksson said it was "absolutely beautiful" to fulfil his dream of managing Liverpool
5 votes -
‘Love wins’ say Greek lesbian couple as they wed at last
19 votes -
How to move a 1,000-pound rescued manatee (swimming isn’t an option) (gifted link)
6 votes -
Rivers reborn: Alewives continue to make a recovery in the Penobscot watershed in Maine
13 votes -
The Arizona school setting kids with autism up for success
11 votes -
$1 billion donation will provide free tuition at a Bronx medical school
21 votes -
I'm getting top surgery!
I know I've seen a bunch of people say they want more positive posts here in ~lgbt, and happily I have the opportunity now! I live in Germany and here top surgery needs to be individually approved...
I know I've seen a bunch of people say they want more positive posts here in ~lgbt, and happily I have the opportunity now!
I live in Germany and here top surgery needs to be individually approved by your insurance provider for them to cover it. I got a letter back from them on Monday agreeing to cover it, and as of today the hospital scheduled my surgery for late March! I was expecting a lot more delay between getting the approval from my insurance and when the surgery could be scheduled (especially after the months it took to gather all the paperwork I had to send my insurance!), so I'm super hype.
My work will give me all the time I need off, and I live with my wife who should be able to take over any tasks I can't do during recovery. As much as I complain about how trans healthcare works in Germany atm, I wouldn't have been able to get this surgery back home in the US for cost reasons. So I'm feeling really lucky right now -- my transmasc friend in college had to save up for years to afford their surgery.
I'd love any recommendations anyone has for how to make my recovery as easy and comfortable as possible. I've got transmasc friends who have got top surgery, but most of what I've got from them has been "take more time off work than I did" and "drains suck". The surgery is in only a little over a month, so longer-term stuff like "get to a healthy weight" and "gain pectoral muscle to get a better aesthetic" are probably off the table, but I welcome anyone's practical recommendations! Obviously I'll get instructions from the doctor but I figure there are likely people here with personal experience who might have suggestions that a doctor wouldn't think to mention.
Also, I'm getting double-incision (only real option at my size) and atm I'm erring on the side of not getting nipple grafts. Not a huge fan of my nipples and I want to avoid any potential complications or dissatisfaction with them. I figure if I regret it I can always get nipple tattoos, whereas if I get the grafts and regret it there's not a ton of options. If anybody here has personal experience one way or the other, I'd really love to hear your perspective.
But most importantly, I'm just so excited that things are finally moving forward at a brisk pace! It's like finally getting the opportunity to stop and take a sharp rock out of the inside of my shoe.
EDIT TO ADD: oh god I just realized how am I going to keep my cats from lying on my chest
87 votes -
Jürgen Klopp would welcome Sven-Göran Eriksson to Liverpool so the Swede can live out his dream of being the club's manager for a day
5 votes -
The myth of the unemployed US college grad
31 votes -
Sixty-six good news stories you didn't hear about in 2023
48 votes -
Residents of Luleå, Sweden welcome new campaign encouraging them to say hello to each other during dark winter months
12 votes -
An enigma who lived frugally left his New Hampshire town millions it never knew he had
19 votes -
Five irreverent, upbeat documentaries that will remind you it’s not all doom and gloom
21 votes -
Why am I becoming a teacher?
First of all, this is a lot about me and myself and I'm sorry it's a bit self-centered; it's been bouncing around my head and I want to get it out somewhere. Please let me know if this isn't...
First of all, this is a lot about me and myself and I'm sorry it's a bit self-centered; it's been bouncing around my head and I want to get it out somewhere. Please let me know if this isn't appropriate here.
Secondly, teachers or those in training to become one: I want to hear your thoughts on this question.
Why am I becoming a teacher?
I've been finding that I'm asking this question of myself a lot lately. My goal is and always has been the same for years: I want to teach, I feel good teaching, I feel I have a purpose and that purpose has been what's driven me forward when I wanted to give up. Truly though - why do I want to be a teacher?
I could do the same style of work in other settings. I could become a tutor, self-employed or otherwise, and assist students in a specific capacity. I could be a YouTuber, creating video essays on self-researched subjects of passion. I could be a writer, bringing the same content through literature to a wholly different audience. In all of these, there is the potential to make more money, reach a wider audience, and leave a more indelible impact upon the world.
So, why am I becoming a teacher?
15 years ago, I dropped out of college, suffering depression. I wasn't the only one depressed; aside from the millions of others reeling from mental health issues, the economy was entering a recession in 2008. I was a NEET - jobless, out of school, and seemingly stuck. My family (read: my dad, stepmom, and sisters) had abandoned me - they had other matters to worry about than their wayward son - and I was fortunate my mother whom I'd dissociated from years before reached out to me. With her help, I got back on my feet, moved across the country, and began looking for work with slight hope. I volunteered one day to read at the school she worked at, and the teacher in the room went to the admins and demanded I be hired on the spot. I was.
Thus began a journey of discovery. I was good at something, and I felt good about doing it. I felt something to replace my depression and self doubt: worthiness.
Over the years, I honed my craft and continued sporadically attending school - when I could afford it - in order to become able to lead my own classroom in our private school/daycare. That was 7 years ago, and I've been teaching prek (4-5 year olds) since then. I'm able to teach reading, writing, mathematics, chess, life lessons, history, biology, astronomy, geology, entomology... the list goes on and on. I have a passion for learning, and for sharing that learning.
Is that why I am becoming a teacher?
The biggest obstacle to achieving my ultimate dream - teaching in public schools - was always the degree. I had dropped out of college twice - in 2008 and again in 2013 - before finally completing an Associates degree in 2016. I felt that, financially, getting my bachelor's would never happen. Massive student loan debt (private debt north of $30k) and low wages in childcare meant I wasn't getting anywhere. Life changes though, and the stars aligned - the private debt was written off, I got out of defaulting on my federal loans, and just in time to qualify for a state program to get me in school again and have a full ride scholarship. It was happening!
Now we live in a post-pandemic world... Do I still want to become a teacher?
At first, attitudes were siding with teachers. There was sympathy for their struggles and worries, the low pay and high barrier to entry. That quickly changed, as it did for medical workers and others in the pandemic world. Teachers struggle more now than they have before. Fewer resources, more troubled students that desperately need help, more resistance from parents and communities trying to prove that teachers and schools aren't necessary in the way they have been, and more burnout and shortages across the nation.
I see all this and yet I press on. Why?
The thing is, I'm not sure. My resolve is strong and I've been persistent and diligent in my schooling. I've worked too long and hard to give up this opportunity. Why do I still want to teach, though? Why not find an administrative job with potentially more pay and better work environment? Why not leave education altogether and use my skills elsewhere?
It comes back to what drove me forward in the first place: purpose. I feel in direct connection with the future by doing what I do. I feel like in some miniscule, imperceptible, but meaningful way, I can help create a better world tomorrow by doing what I do today. It gives my life meaning, and nobody and nothing can take that from me. I've changed hundreds, potentially thousands, of lives already. Students return years later to tell how much I meant to them - these are students I had known at ages 4 and 5 who still remember me a decade later!
So, why am I becoming a teacher?
Because someone has to do it, and that someone might as well be me. I enjoy my work, I enjoy the ups and downs, I enjoy the struggles and challenges and overcoming them, I enjoy making difficult topics understandable to young minds, I enjoy what I do even when I hate it. To me, that's love.
With good luck and a positive outlook, I'll be graduating with a degree in Early Childhood Education next September. It may not be prestigious, it may not make me a lot of money, but it will allow me to continue on the path I've set myself. Thanks for reading.
26 votes -
In this Arizona city, kids with autism are more than welcome
23 votes -
What are you looking forward to right now?
In an effort to make life feel a little more joyful, I added a new calendar to my calendar app called "Nice things". In this calendar, I'm putting all sorts of nice upcoming things to look forward...
In an effort to make life feel a little more joyful, I added a new calendar to my calendar app called "Nice things". In this calendar, I'm putting all sorts of nice upcoming things to look forward to (album/movie/game releases, the start of Fall, when my preorders will ship, upcoming eclipses and equinoxes and full moons, you name it). My goal is to feel more connected with the passage of time, rather than letting each day blur into the next. I want things to anchor and ground me each day.
Along the same lines, I'm curious: What are you looking forward to? What things on the horizon have you excited for the future? What would you put on a hypothetical "nice things" calendar?
51 votes -
A Baltimore restaurant owner drove six hours to cook a favorite meal for a terminally ill customer
28 votes -
Competitive eater takes on US hot dog challenge to shed light on international adoption investigations
10 votes -
Could we share some uplifting news?
I'm seeing a lot of doomer content lately and plenty of defeatist commentary to match. I know it sucks out there but surely there's an air balloon that looks nice in the sky or something, right?...
I'm seeing a lot of doomer content lately and plenty of defeatist commentary to match. I know it sucks out there but surely there's an air balloon that looks nice in the sky or something, right? It's exhausting to see the same negative stuff that I would see on reddit.
I need something positive and maybe you do too.
Here, I'll share something nice to get us started: This 72 year old guy graduated and his 99 year old mom cheered him on.
76 votes -
Estonia legalizes same-sex marriage
47 votes -
Welsh town seats world’s first known nonbinary mayor
12 votes -
Kids’ reading scores have soared in Deep South states
13 votes -
Singapore Air hands staff eight months’ salary bonus after record results
11 votes -
Taiwan grants right of adoption to same-sex couples in latest move toward full equality
19 votes -
Murhaf raises $230,000 selling charity flower pins in Sweden – sales skyrocket after a viral post about the boy, and a racist backlash, only brings in more money
2 votes -
This guy shares cool maps of the world every day on Facebook
5 votes -
Fifth person confirmed to be cured of HIV
13 votes -
UK girl with deadly inherited condition is cured with gene therapy on NHS
9 votes -
The Satanic Temple to open free abortion clinic in New Mexico
14 votes -
Slovenia officially becomes first eastern European country to recognise same-sex marriage
11 votes -
Denmark to grant asylum to all women and girls from Afghanistan
11 votes -
US citizens can now sponsor refugees directly. Here’s how to apply.
9 votes -
Baby hippo raised by rhinos meets another hippo for the first time
3 votes -
Danish bank workers celebrate full year without robberies – finance workers' union says number of bank heists has been affected by fall in use of cash in recent years
8 votes -
Svalbard reindeer thrive as they shift diet towards popsicle-like grasses – increased plant growth due to warmer climate
3 votes -
Finland defence minister to take two months' paternity leave amid NATO bid – Antti Kaikkonen says 'children are only little for a moment'
8 votes -
All-terrain wheelchairs arrive at US parks: ‘This is life-changing’
11 votes -
In a first, doctors treat fatal genetic disease before birth
5 votes -
OneWhale charity aims to establish first open water safe haven in a reserve for whales, including a Russian beluga that went viral on YouTube
2 votes -
Same-sex marriage is now legal in all of Mexico's states
15 votes -
This 33-year-old made more than 1,000 Wikipedia bios for unknown women scientists
15 votes -
Sony releases its first over-the-counter hearing aids
8 votes -
The Ice Bucket Challenge wasn't just for social media. It helped fund a new ALS drug.
6 votes -
US child poverty rate at an all-time low
11 votes -
Iguanas reproducing on Galapagos island century after disappearing
7 votes