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Joined 6 months ago
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Cake day: June 4th, 2025

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  • I was a little bit younger than you are when I went no-contact with my family. I have also been disabled since I was 19, and later in life was diagnosed with ADHD and a Cluster C personality disorder (I’m goddam terrified of everything). I very much relate to that feeling of “I should be/wish I was dead by now”.

    It’s hard, I won’t lie to you. There have been times I wished I had a family to rely on, but once the wishful thinking wears off, I realize they’d just make whatever I was going through so much harder. Also, my mother has narcissistic tendencies, and my moments of happiness and accomplishment are mine now. That one change was huge for my self-esteem and confidence. Eventually you’ll become your own person and not intrinsically linking everything you do and are to your parents.

    I’m in my late 30s now, and I’m going to graduate with a BS very soon. There’s a lot more help for college students in the US than I think many people are aware. You’re disabled so you qualify for TRIO support. I have worked for TRIO in two capacities, and one of the things we do is help people find and apply for scholarships. You also have the option of doing a work-study (at my uni you can be paid $3500/semester). I currently work for upward bound, the TRIO program for high schoolers, and one of the things I do with them is help them find colleges that fit them. I’m more than happy to help you figure out what is a good fit for you and start working on scholarships! I’ve also moved around a lot, so I might be able to point you towards cities that you’d like.

    Something very cool is that some US universities have sister universities abroad, so you can take part in an exchange program. My university has a sister uni in Ireland. There are also work study programs abroad in almost every continent (you could spend a paid-for summer in Thailand, for example).

    Right now I’m looking to get my doctorate in Europe. It is possible to be disabled and achieve academic success! I had a hard time learning that I can trust people for support, but you’re already far ahead of where I was at your age. You’ve got this!



  • I tutor high school students in math and science. They’ve all taken a budgeting class. One of my students is taking calculus and I genuinely feel he has a better understanding of it than I do!

    I am glad he has the option to take calculus, he’s one that gets bored at the place other students need. But I really don’t think many students need it or can fit it in their graduation tracks.

    We also need to consider how difficult algebra was for some, to the point that a lot of adults think they hate math. I like the comment in the op that Applied Calculus skills (real-world story problems) are useful, and I think that would have more impact than two-three semesters of calculus.


  • There are still a ton of folks who are cash only in the US. Some of it is because cards and digital transactions make it easy to track people (in the US at least). Others can’t open bank accounts for one reason or another, usually because they don’t have an address or appropriate ID. And quite a few only accept cash so they don’t have to report their income, because they are on disability or they owe money to the government.

    I’m actually dealing with my last example right now. I want to hire someone, they only want cash but I live 5 hours away from them so it’s causing some difficulty. They don’t even want a check because they are so cautious about their income being tracked that way.














  • I have two friends who recently graduated with electrical engineering degrees, and they can’t find work where they live. If you’re able to apply across the country and move, that may give you better results, but they are both now looking for jobs outside of their degree focus. One is actually doing IT for the university he earned his EE BS from, but there’s no opportunity for growth there because it’s an incredibly tiny school and community.

    It’s been over a decade since I worked in tech, but experience was king. I’m earning a degree in biology now, because by the time I left Microsoft I knew how easy it would be to automate my job