Columbus area high school football scores

I feel so stupid at this school. It’s too late for me to drop out or switch and I’m probably going to graduate with this sGPA. I have never gotten above a 2.8 in any math/bio/physics/chem class I have ever taken. I’ve dropped out of being a pre med student twice because I can’t keep up but Ive always wanted to be a doctor. FML. I tried so hard this quarter. I barely saw any friends. I locked myself in ode the moment it opened to right after class and scheduled all my study times. I did well on practice exams but did average on every midterm resulting in me getting a 2.6 for one class and a 1.7 (bombed that final) in my other one. I didn’t want to take on any ECs or jobs like I did in high school so I can focus all my time to do well one fucking quarter to completely screw it up at the end.
I’m going to go to community college back home to raise my gpa and get some core courses out of the way. Im so upset. I love the aesthetic of academia, but I am too old to have “it’s only bad, because it’s my first freshman quarter” grades every quarter. To everyone who was in my classes these past few years, you are welcome. I am the idiot that does so badly and boosts everyone else’s scores.

Predict, Discuss and Follow the Weekend's Events

Use this discussion thread to talk about matchups, share predictions, find stream info, react to results and more. You can also chat live in our discord channel. Feel free to discuss any event, not just the featured events!

Poultry Days

June 10-11 in cloudy Versailles, OH
Poultry Days is a famous recreational ultimate tournament dating back to the 1980s. See tournament site here in all its glory. Plus the complete unencrypted list of team managers and their contact info. Read more here.
The Columbus Pride will be hosting a PUL game against the Atlanta Soul Saturday night at Poultry Days. Tickets are free (donations encouraged), livestreaming and other info here.
Follow: Tournament Site, Festival Site, @Oshadega

Minnesota Warm Up

June 10-11 in both stormy and peaceful Eden Prairie, MN
Men's Teams – Schedule and Results

Teams
Minneapolis Sub Zero, Madison Mad Men, Minneapolis Mallard, Golden Valley Knights of Ni, Des Moines DeMo, Appleton Timber, Edina High School, Winnipeg Street Car, Edina Nomad, Rochester (MN) Spin Doctors, Duluth Dingwop, Minneapolis Dinkytown Doughboys, Minneapolis The Body, Fargo The Fargoats, Apple Valley UFO

Mixed Teams – Schedule and Results

Teams
Minneapolis Surly, Minneapolis The Force, Lake Elmo Pushovers, Minneapolis Bird

Follow: Tournament Site, @MPLSMallard, @Ultiworld, @UltiworldLive

Bay Area Classic

June 10-11 in partly cloudy Fremont, CA
Women's Pools – Schedule and Results

Pool A	Pool B
Bay Area Fab	Oakland Lol
Sunnyvale Void Cat Rewind	Long Beach Just Add Water
San Francisco Off Their Rockers	Bay Area Ultraviolet
Bay Area Tempo

Mixed Pools – Schedule and Results

Pool A	Pool B
Sunnyvale BW	Los Angeles Lotus
Bay Area Lit	Bay Area Donuts
San Francisco Mango	San Francisco Firefly
San Francisco VU	Berkeley DR
San Mateo Air Throwmads	San Jose Moonlight

Follow: Tournament Site, @BayAreaDisc, @Ultiworld, @UltiworldLive

Masters, GM, GGM Regionals

Several regionals for Masters, GM, and GGM divisions will take place this weekend or next (or already took place last weekend). See here for a list occurring this weekend. Which region is most interesting? Discuss the teams and react to results below.
Follow: @USAUltimate, @Ultiworld, @UltiworldLive

These guys were both super hyped 5 star prospects coming out of high school in the class of 2013. Wiggins was obviously the crown jewel of the class and had greater hype, but I remember Gordons high school mixtape being insane too and I actually thought he would be better than Wiggins. They both played one year at college. Wiggins and Kansas got upset in round 2 as a 2 seed, Gordon and Arizona made the elite 8 as a 1 seed. Wiggins drafted 1st overall and Gordon 4th. Neither made it out of the 1st round with their original teams. AG had two play off appearences with Orlando and AW had 1 with Minnesota. Wiggins stayed with Minnesota until 2020 as the 1b-2nd option to KAT and Jimmy. He then left for GSW and two years later helped them win the title with his defense and often being the 2nd scoring option. He also got his first all star appearance. Gordon left Orlando for Denver in 2021 and two years later appears well on his way to helping them win a title with his defensive ability and offensive help, as the third option.
I think its cool how similar their careers have been. Wiggins has had the better career for sure, Gordon has pretty much been like Wiggins-lite arc wise (not playstyle). Do we see an all star appearance for Gordon in the future?? (I dont think so haha).
Edit: For those who are curious
Gordon Mixtape https://youtu.be/zXWrMc2asag
Wiggins Mixtape https://youtu.be/GLsK-ZoL9sY

Throwaway account. I, (16f) Had gotten picked up by a friend (Keoni, 18m, fake name) to watch our high school graduation; them being a senior and me a sophomore. Graduation was beautiful, everyone was very happy and I thought I would be getting a ride home from that same friend. After the graduation, I get in the car with my friend, aannndd we drive to a bathroom near our school. Okay-they need a bathroom break. But after the bathroom, there is some confusion and frantic phone calls and it turns out that my friend is going to the graduation party and I would have to wait in the dark, scary area of a homeless popular spot for 15-30 minutes alone and defenseless until my ride for home came. I never wanted to go the party, but I did prefer it over potentially being kidnapped; so until my ride was to show up, I stuck with Keoni and went to the party. We were some of the first to get there and the host upon seeing me was very hostile. He told me this was a party for seniors only. I had no idea, Keoni had TOLD me I would be fine. Especially because their were plenty of non-seniors he was very welcoming to. Except I'm just generally not popular at all; im autistic, queer, and one of the only non-white people in a very priveldged area and this was fs a popular priveldged kid party. I've been school hopping and was bullied a lot at my last school, but so far I'd just been somewhat socially outcasted here. It's a small school so everybody knows everybody. I told the host who we will call Chad that I didn't know, I was sorry, I was getting picked up in just a few minutes, I could wait outside. But Chad was not having it and told me to pay him ten bucks at that moment. I'm unemployed; I don't have any money. He makes the nearest person to me pay for me, with a very degrading tone towards me being broke and me in general. Really making it out like I am such an asshole. All with the attention of the surrounding party. Now I'm shamefully waiting outside in the dark- cus my phone died- to go home. Maybe I'm just overthinking or being period hormonal, but I can't help but feel really dreadful at the harsh exclusive treatment. Nevertheless, maybe he was right and I was just being such an asshole for being a sophomore at a senior party-so, AITA?

Demographics: Male, Hispanic, California, Public CA School, Low-Income, Big School though, over 2k students, Immigrant
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Hooks: First Gen Immigrant, Low Income, Very bad school
Income: Less than 30k
Intended Major(s): Chemistry or Biochemistry
ACT/SAT/SAT II: I won't submit, no matter what lols
UC GPA = 4.15W/3.76UW Community College GPA = 4.0 Rank = top 9.9% 38/383 (currently)
Coursework: AP Chemistry, Ap U.S. History, AP Lang, in my senior year I am taking AP Gov, AP Lit, and AP Calc AB. I took Dual Enrollment. LATTC (CC) = Intro to Psychology (A) Intro to Sociology (A) American Sign Language (A), Stanford University (Actual University) = CompSci 105 (A+), and also took Communication 101 (A) at USC but through LATTC, and will take 2 other college courses at USC during the summer which are astronomy and sociology 2. I will also take one more college class in my senior year at USC.
Awards: Top 10% Stanford Class Scorer Across the country: Since I had an A+, I scored top 10% out of 4,000 students across the country who took the Compsci class. Students from the National Education Equity Lab program. National Honor Society for National Equity Lab: Since I scored that high, they put me in their National Honor Society. High Honor Roll all High School: this is common but I’ll put it anyway. CompSci 105 Certificate: Since I took the class they gave me a certificate. UCLA Three-day Writing Bootcamp Certificate: I attended a boot camp with the UCLA EAOP program, and I stayed in the dorms for 3 days and took writing classes with other students across LA. Peer Mentor Summits Certificates x3: Certificate showing that I went to the summits to learn about ways to talk to students and colleagues. Pal/CLEF scholarship x2: 400 dollars in total. USC Summer Program Certificate: I will be getting a certificate by the end of the summer program.
Extracurriculars: Mental Health Resource Website(11th): Currently working on a website to add mental health and school resources for students at my school. I am using html, css, and javascript to build it. Took my own initiative to reach out to professionals and students to help me with the project.
English Tutoring(9th-11th): I tutored 1 college students from El Salvador in their college English classes for over 2 years, 3 hours a week during the weekends and sometimes Fridays. Went over their lessons, and tried to prepare lesson plans for them.
Peer Mentor Club(leadership position, maybe president?)(9th-11th)
Work Experience(10th-11th): I worked at a shapewear store, I was in charge of the inventory, and sales, and I was a cashier at the same time. I helped with the inventory system as well. Invited to events by the CEO.
Pop-Rock Club(11th): So far I am learning how to play the guitar and we have done multiple fundraisers to get the instruments and equipment that we need.
Chess Club (10th-11th)(President)
Leadership(10th-11th): I only went to leadership for 1 year since they turned the club into a class, and my school goes by mesters so I only take 4 classes and I have 3 APs so it doesn’t fit my schedule. But when I was in leadership, I would organize events like pep rallies, I would help with fundraisers during Valentine's day or Christmas, holidays basically. I might help them when they do events but I don’t attend meetings.
Chemistry Club (President/Founder): I founded the chemistry club.
Programs(9th-11th): I am in multiple programs, including UCLA EAOP which is a program by UCLA, we go to UCLA all the time which is cool. I am in the USC UpwardBound, I take college classes with them on Saturdays, and in the summer I will be staying at their dorms for 6 weeks taking 2 college classes. We also have community service opportunities in the program. I am also in the Gear Up program, we go on hella field trips and I learn a lot from it. I am in the National Ed Equity Lab which allows low-income students to take college classes at schools like Stanford, Harvard, etc.
Community Service Hours: 300+ with Gear Up and other programs. Will also do community service through the city I am in and will volunteer at a good bank this summer.
Essays/LORs/Other: UC PIQS : Prompt #2: Showing my creative side, I will talk about how I use twigs and leaves to create creatures and characters in order to use storytelling and create a story in nature since my mom taught me that when we used to go to the mountains in my home country, El Salvador, and how that shows my creative side because I am able to express my emotions and thoughts through storytelling.
Prompt #4: Which is how I took advantage of an educational opportunity, I will talk about USC Upward Bound and how it allowed me to find the person I want to be in the future through their resources and tremendous love and care for me (I will go in detail about the opportunities the program provides) and I will mention how I am the first undocumented student to join the program since 1977 which is a huge accomplishment and I want to be able to represent my community and myself.
Prompt #5: My significant challenge and how I overcame it, I will talk about my moms health, and how I had to become an adult at a young age to be able to process the emotions in my household and how I got a job in order to buy school supplies like a laptop and an iPad, to not worry my mom.
And lastly, Prompt #7: Which is how I made my community a better place, I will talk about the mental health resource website and how my exigence was hating to see my friends sad and missing out on big opportunities like I did when I was down, so I created a website to give mental health resources to students at my school.
Schools I want to apply to: I want to apply to UC mostly. I really really want to go to UC Irvine. That is my top choice for sure, please be brutally honest with UC Irvine with my stats.
Little Background: I am really worried about my GPA because my history teacher was a terrible human being so she never gave me an A. And since my school is in the quarter system, AP classes are a year long, however the 2nd and 3rd quarter are called honor classes while we are still in the AP class. Therefore, the AP is 4 grades in total and the teacher gave me 3 Bs and 1 C which brought my GPA down SINCE THEY ARE ALL WEIGHTED. I have all As in my sophomore and junior year except my sophomore year I had 2 Cs. So really, only the APUSH class is the one ruining my life basically.
UCLA UC Irvine UC Riverside UC San Diego UC Santa Barbara UC Santa Cruz UC Davis UC Merced UC Berkley Stanford CSULB CSUF SDSU

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Demographics: Female, white, low-income home (EFC of 0, income under $40,000), American southwest, lgbtqI attend a private high school with >1200 students.

• 3.9 unweighted GPA, 4.3 weighted
• SAT 1280 (not planning on reporting lol)
• ACT 31
• I take dual-enrollment courses & will graduate high school with an Associate's degree from an accredited college.
• Will graduate with 7 AP's and ~14 Honors classes (school offers ~25 AP's)
  • AP's: World History (3), Seminar (4), Research, Physics, Literature, Calculus AB, U.S. History

Extracurriculars/Awards:

• Faith-Based Community Service Club (VP junior year)
• Photography Club (President junior year)
• Engineering Projects in Community Service
• Chemistry TA
• Community Service, school requires 50 hours to graduate but I have about 95
• National English, History, and Spanish Honors Society
• 2x Honorable Mention for my scores on the National Spanish Exam
• First Honors award every semester from high GPA

Majors of Interest: Nursing, Public Health, Linguistics
Scholarships: I have gotten various scholarships to attend my private high school since I started attending as a freshman because MAN that tuition is high and I'm still in hs. Will apply for financial aid for college obvi lol
Essays/LOR:Expecting both to be around a 7 or 8/10
Colleges Applying to: As the title says I'm planning to apply to Emory, Boston College, UPenn, and UVA as my reach/goals. I will def have some variety and apply to a variety of places, not just the super good ones lol. Other colleges I'm looking at are UAB, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Michigan, and Seton Hall University.
Thank you so much for your help!

Here's an opinion I've had for quite a while and just want to bounce it off some others. Get rid of YSA/MSA wards in Utah! Hear me out...
Background: I grew up in Utah, went to K-12 there, served a foreign mission, went back to Utah for work and Undergrad. I remember some great times in the YSA, primarily as a student where everyone else was basically a student. Even in the best YSA ward I ever had (University 28th Ward with Bob Whitman, CO of Franklin Covey at the time, as our bishop and would pay our of pocket for Friday night activities for the whole ward and anyone you wanted to take on a date). Even in that ward where members filled in from the front of the chapel first and then toward the back (unlike so many wards where people fill in the back first and then late comers have no choice but to do the walk of shame to the front) there was this little clique of people who were close to aging out or probably did age out. The guys in that clique figured now that they had their Lexus and a place of their own, they could get a young, attractive girl to marry. Cause what girl is going to choose the guy her age who just got back from a mission and has nothing over the guy who's 10 years older than her but already graduated, has a car and a place of his own and can buy you a car and y'all can start living happily ever after right now?
That was a small clique in the ward though. No one really paid attention to that much. Then you graduate and move to another place in the valley and discover that the YSA wards are only made up of cliques. It's like high school all over again! Now you have a large clique of narcissistic guys and girls who should have aged out but are hanging around because these guys really have it all! They have a nice place, they invite all the hottest girls over after church for Sunday dinner, they have their nice car and wear a nice 3-piece suit to church and have a decent job, etc. They are really trying to get that young 22 yo female as they are now between 31-35 before they finally move on to an MSA ward. Disclosure, I'm not even going to talk about the MSA, I went one time before I turned 31 just to see what I had in store for me if I didn't get married and remained living in Draper... if the YSA can be called a dumpster fire, the MSA is a landfill that was just hit by a bomb!
Oh, and let's not forget to talk about the females in the YSA wards as they get closer to aging out. They all hang around the exact same group of guys all the time. They all hang around that clique of older guys that need to move on (if they're hot enough to be accepted by that clique) and... well... I don't really know why. Maybe a female can shed some light on that for me...? I figure it's hoping that one of them will finally decide to marry her after all this time "hanging out" at the Sunday dinner parties and whatnot. Let me know if I'm wrong on that ladies. Maybe they're thinking some young hot guy will come into the ward and be exactly what she's looking for just like the guys...? Unlikely, but not impossible I suppose.
It just becomes a big clique in the YSA ward that never leaves. At least not until they all decide to leave for the MSA together and become another clique in that ward that is nothing but cliques.
Now, I've lived in many places across the US and even around the world (military). And I understand the need for a YSA outside of Utah. In Fayetteville, NC our YSA ward for the stake covered an area that would take about 2-3 hours to drive from the northern boundary to the southern boundary or from the east to west boundaries. If there isn't a single adult organization, no one is finding one another, unless you use Mutual I suppose! The YSA in Fayetteville had about 40-50 active members. Why in the world do YSAs need to exist in Utah? You could put everyone into the family wards so they can learn and develop from people who got out of mommy and daddy's house, people who don't "hangout" as a group of friends (more like a group of mom, dad and their children).
Those in the YSA age need to learn to become adults. Not remain comfortable in their situation because they have a ton of friends and no shortage of group activities to go "hangout" at where there's no commitment to only talk to one girl, you can talk to all of them! That's evolved into "there's no reason to date just one girl, you can date all of them!" And you end up with a clique of attractive males and females aging out of the YSA but refusing to leave, unmarried, they keep hanging out and doing the dating rotation of all the people of the opposite sex in their clique, changing partners every month or so. I've seen it many times. I lived it... in high school! It's time to grow up!
So my proposal is simple, but not inflexible. Get rid of the YSA wards in Utah. There are so many single adults in Utah and the problem of abundance in their dating market makes them never want to leave because they're convinced they will find someone that is their absolute perfect match! They won't seal the deal until they find that perfect situation. Plus, getting rid of YSA wards would likely cause many of those single adults that stay in Utah after they finish their undergrad to go back to the state they came from (cause let's face it, you only ever complain about Utah every Sunday while you're in Utah... from the pulpit... during fast and testimony meeting... you know... the purpose of bearing your testimony... You hate being in Utah... it's not for testifying of the Savior for y'all, is it?)
By giving some motivation to go back to place they came from (cause there's a YSA ward there and not if you stay in Utah) I think people will find more matches and strengthen the Church in other places rather than overrunning Utah with ridiculous housing prices and garbage startup companies.
I'm not saying you can't continue to have all YSAs meet up for FHE on Monday nights and maybe even a ward prayer on Sundays, if y'all liked ward prayer in your ward (I've seen it done in a dumb way that no one liked and hence didn't come and I've seen it done so well that we filled up homes and had to have people standing outside in the middle of winter with the windows open so they could hear the spiritual thought being given and the prayer). I'm all for having YSAs meet up and do activities. Announce in sacrament meeting in the family wards for all the YSAs to hear. Just get rid of the YSA ward structure where those cliques jump from ward to ward every year because they liked the 1pm church schedule. Which I guess would be more like noon or 12:30 at this point. When I left Utah, the 3-hour meeting block was still in effect.
Now, I understand there are those who get married pretty soon after returning from a mission and whatnot. So perhaps, if not getting rid of the YSA, you lower the age out point to 25/26 and det rid of the MSA. If they're not married by 25/26, there's a high likelihood they're about to become one of those who hangs around the YSA for a long time because they're thinking that once they have a good job, a nice car, a place of their own, etc... now they'll be attractive to the girls coming into the ward and will get the hottest one. Too bad girls can't see your total financial value guys! You know, your cashflow, assets, etc minus your obligations (debt). Ladies, I promise you, some of these guys with the nice cars, a decent condo up on the hill, etc have a mountain of debt and they're barely making the payments! I've worked with some of these guys and I know what they make. The $500 car payment and $2000 house payment... they're barely affording to make those payments with all their other monthly bills piled on top of it. Ladies, beware of what you can't see.
Plus, if he's wearing a fancy 3-piece suit, driving a Tesla or Audi or something similar, and buying some huge place that he won't need until he's married and has 3 kids... do you ladies really think this guy has his priorities straight?
Now that this has turned into a bunch of rambling about other topics I could go on forever about... bottom line, I think the YSA is toxic in Utah. I think it keeps people in because they are comfortable with people their age and they never want to leave. If they're attractive enough, they'll get sucked into one of the cliques. There are plenty of family wards and so many YSAs that you'd probably have 40+ YSAs per family ward if you got rid of the YSA organizations in Utah. Callings could be filled in the family wards and hopefully YSA guys and girls could learn from people who've been there rather than being comfortable around their friends. Perhaps YSAs would get their priorities straight and stop spending so much money on their clothes to wear next Sunday and instead spend it on some actual dates!
I'm sure I'll edit this multiple times. There's just so much here and I'll need to crunch it down in several places. But I'll post this for now. Congrats if you can read this far. Most people's attention spans are no more than the time it takes them to read 140 characters.

I just joined my high school football team as a freshman, i have never played tackle football in my life and have only been playing flag football for about a year now, if there is any, are there some things that can make adjusting easier and if so i would be very grateful to hear about them also, i don’t know how different the game will be from flag football so some pointers about that would be very kind also.

Demographics: white female in stem, 2nd gen immigrant (mom is from 3rd world country), rural low income HS, underrepresented area.
Prospective major: astrophysics + public policy
GPA: 4.0 UW 4.73 W
Coursework: IBDP (6 + TOK), 4 AP, 14 DE
12th grade schedule: Discrete math, physics w/ calc, AP physics, IB English HL, IB History HL, IB Visual Arts HL, IB Chem SL, IB Analysis and Approaches SL, IB French, TOK, Multivariable Calc, Geo Hazards
ACT: 32 composite (32M/32S/35E/28R) planning on going test optional. don’t have the resources to nor feel like retaking. :(
Extracurriculars:

• 300h Astrophysics research; published to IAU Minor Planet Center (well known research program).
  
• Department of Education internship (1 year) Conducted educational policy research; drafted 1y and 5y plans for policy implementation, worked with international and local nonprofits to collect data, developed statewide educational programs and curriculum. Presented at some pretty big conferences too.
  
• Foundepresident of school astronomy club; teaching 20+ students how to conduct research; effectively STEM outreach at my HS (few clubs, this means a lot to me), also started astro educational outreach website with blog publications.
  
• Math comps; 2x 2nd team in region, 1x top 10 individual in state (well known). Qualified for this year’s states invitational on behalf of my region (we’ll likely take 1st or 2nd).
  
• Piano; 10x national awards for memorized programs, international recognition medal, play at advanced level in string orchestras/recitals. (These come from a well known college of musicianship)
  
• Model rocketry; outreach event I coordinated and conducted for local middle schoolers on aerodynamics, build model rockets regularly.
  
• Student body executive treasurer; manage financials for all of student government.
  
• Coordinated county arts fair 2y in a row; taught a panel in last year’s fair on figure drawing. I have a full portfolio and set up a gallery exhibition. National arts magazine publication.
  
• 10,000 meals made for families in impoverished countries (long volunteer event) collaboratively made with other members of a church.
  
• Involved in theater stuff, painted & designed a set for the theater dept (just wanted to put this here because it shows character).
  

Honors: - 1 international piano award

• 10x national piano awards
  
• Judges award + art publication in national comp
  
• Secretary of education scholar
  
• National merit commendation
  
• Collegeboard rural and small town scholar
  
• Mu alpha theta (started the chapter at my school)
  
• National Arts Honor Society
  

LORs: TOK/English teacher said I was one of the most intuitive, gifted, and hardworking students in his 11y of teaching. Math—idk, but it got me into a program with a 8% acceptance rate for heavy STEM. We have a fantastic relationship. Got a rec from someone REALLY high up in state legislature who I work with closely (employer at time). Phenomenal rec. Shared theme between my LORs is that I do a LOT, I’m STEM driven, and I balance everything I do super well both intrapersonal and academic.
Essays: Banger. Most people I asked said they were pretty good to excellent. My writing skills are pretty good (7 predicted in HL english too).
Schools: - Caltech

• MIT
  
• JHU
  
• Harvard
  
• Princeton
  
• Yale
  
• Northwestern
  
• Northeastern
  
• Dartmouth
  
• Cornell
  
• Columbia
  

Everything Is Mowing and Edging
Location: Northern Utah
So, I have a potential customer, and their yard is roughly 7500, square feet, and looks easy to just one big rectangle. I would be mowing and edging. And I am having trouble coming up with prices, I am still in high school, no professional company, and know I can't charge what professions charge. The area is northern Utah and just for some reference I offered to do an 8,000 square foot lawn for $100 it also had tons of flower boxes and they said it was too much. So, I was thinking for mowing and edging maybe $80-85 what do you guys think am I charging too much or is this fair?

Everything Is Mowing and Edging
Location: Northern Utah
So, I have a potential customer, and their yard is roughly 7500, square feet, and looks easy to just one big rectangle. I would be mowing and edging. And I am having trouble coming up with prices, I am still in high school, no professional company, and know I can't charge what professions charge. The area is northern Utah and just for some reference I offered to do an 8,000 square foot lawn for $100 it also had tons of flower boxes and they said it was too much. So, I was thinking for mowing and edging maybe $80-85 what do you guys think am I charging too much or is this fair?

Everything Is Mowing and Edging
Location: Northern Utah
So, I have a potential customer, and their yard is roughly 7500, square feet, and looks easy to just one big rectangle. I would be mowing and edging. And I am having trouble coming up with prices, I am still in high school, no professional company, and know I can't charge what professions charge. The area is northern Utah and just for some reference I offered to do an 8,000 square foot lawn for $100 it also had tons of flower boxes and they said it was too much. So, I was thinking for mowing and edging maybe $80-85 what do you guys think am I charging too much or is this fair?

How is everyone managing living expenses these days? My department pays a stipend, tuition and fees, but the stipend has not kept up with recent inflation and rising rent (housing shortages, even with roommates) in a high COL area. Also have had a couple of personal emergency expenses come up that have eaten my savings.
I have a little over a year left and a real job is on the horizon so I’m considering taking out a loan that has a lower APR than my credit cards. Is anyone in a similar situation, or on the other side? Haven’t had to take out any loans for school yet so the thought of taking one out with a light at the end of the tunnel is getting to me!
P.S. I also work in a synthetic organic lab with an old school PI that takes the “no outside jobs” clause seriously. I’ve tutored here and there but it’s just not cutting it.

Have a few items i'm trying to clear out all in great condition, noted if games are loose or CIB. Open to Offers on bigger bundles for some discounts.
Shipping starts at $5.00 with Free Shipping on Bundles over $75 with Pics upon request.

PS4

Odin Sphere Leifthrasir Storybook Edition SEALED $140
Metro Redux CIB $15
Rise of the Tomb Raider 20th Anniversary Extras Only No Game $10
COD : Infinite Warfare Legacy Edition CIB $10
Plants vs Zombies 2 : Garden Warfare $10
Has Been Heroes CIB $10
The Division $5
Deus Ex MD $10

XBox One

One Lords of the Fallen $10
Phantom Black Controller CIB USED $30 (Controller is 7/10 cosmetic wise with bottom back bumpers having heavy scuffs & 9/10 overall function wise)

PS Vita

Toukiden: Kiwami $35
The Walking Dead: Season 2 $30
Hot Shots Golf World Invitational $30
Legend Of Heroes: Trails Of Cold Steel 1 $60
Dynasty Warriors Next $25
Stranger Of Sword City $30
Earth Defense Force 2: Invaders From Planet Space $30
Ragnarok Odyssey Ace $45
Shantae Half-Genie Hero [Risky Beats Edition] $60
UnEpic SEALED $130
Risk Of Rain SEALED $45
Aqua Kitty SEALED $60
Grand Kingdom Case $10
Toukiden : Kiwami Case $15
Reverie $40
Sir Eatsalot $50

3DS

Legend Of Legacy Launch Edition SEALED $65
Crush 3D Loose in 3DS Case $10
Cubic Ninja Loose in 3DS Case $10
Codename S.T.E.A.M $5
Warioware D.I.Y Loose in 3DS Case $30
Smash Bros 3DS CIB $17
Steel Diver CIB $8
Rodea the Sky Soldier Launch Edition CIB $30
OEM Charging Base for original 3DS $20

PS1

Fighter Maker Loose $10
FF Tactics GH CIB $30
FF9 CIB (Case damaged) $15
Crash Bandicoot 2 Loose in Twisted Metal GH Case $15
Sim City 2000 Game+Case (damaged) $10
Oddworld Abes Oddysee CIB $20

DS

Intec DS Case $10
Score 6x Game Cartridge Case $10
Bleach Blade Of Fate Loose $15
Advance Wars 2 Days of Ruin Loose $30

N64

N64 Console with hookups and 1x OEM Grey Controller (Controller is in good condition 8/10 and analog stick is 8/10, console was painted with black acrylic spray paint from previous owner and cartridge slot has been modded to play Japanese N64 carts so doesn't include the slot flaps) $70 shipped - https://imgur.com/a/d83hiHu
007 GoldenEye Loose $35
Beetle Adventure Racing Loose $20
Snowboard Kids 1 Loose $50
007 The World is Not Enough $20
Quake 2 $20
Rush 2049 (damaged label) $40
Armorines Project SWARM $15
Pokemon Puzzle League $30
WCW vs NWO Revenge $15

PS3 $6 Each unless Noted

Final Fantasy X/X2 Remaster Limited Edition CIB $15
NiNoKuni 1 Steelbook CIB $30
Tales Of Symphonia Chronicles CIB $20
Zone Of The Enders HD Collection CIB $15
Yakuza 3 Loose $15
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Loose $15
Genji Days Of The Blade $20
Genji Days Of The Blade Loose $10
South Park : The Stick of Truth SEALED $10
Need for Speed Most Wanted CIB $10
Infamous
Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty Ghost
Need for Speed Pro Street
Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Red Faction Guerilla x2
Battlefield 3
MoH Warfighter LE Loose
Darksiders
Darksiders 2
Crysis 2
Deus Ex HR
Call of Duty 2 Steelbook
Mercenaries 2 in Generic Case
Warhawk
Call of Duty MW3 x2
Assassins Creed 4 BF
Beyond Steelbook Bad shape broken at spine
Uncharted Dual Pack in Custom generic case

PS2 $6 Each Unless Noted

Gran Turismo 3 A-Spec $10
Soul Caliber 2 CIB $15
ATV Offroad Fury 4 $10
MDK 2 Armageddon Loose $10
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 $10
The Getaway $10
Samurai Showdown Anthology $30
007 Agent Under Fire Loose $10
Test Drive GH $10
FIFA 2001 CIB $10
Star Wars The Force Unleashed CIB
Army Men Soldiers of Misfortune
Welcome to Jumpack Demo Disc
Metal Arms in Generic Case
MX vs ATX
Army Men
Rocky
NCAA Football 2004
Army Men : Sarges Hero
Full Spectrum Warrior
FIFA 2001 MLS
NCAA Football 2003
NCAA Football 2004
Eye Toy Antigrav with Eye Camera $20
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2
Wheel of Fortune
Motorcross Mania 3
Seaworld Deep Sea Adventures
Socom US Navy Seal
Red Faction Case $5
Final Fantasy X-2
ThrillVille
Call of Duty 2 The Big Red One in generic Case

Snes Games

Mortal Kombat 2 (label is damaged) $10

XB360 $7 Each unless Noted

Zone Of The Enders HD Collection Limited Edition SEALED $60
The Evil Within
BF3 Limited Edition
Kinect Adventures
Motionsports
Call of Duty Ghosts
3rd Party Controller $10
Darksiders 2
Marvel Ultimate Alliance in Gamestop Case $10
OEM Black Controller with Battery Pack $20

OG Xbox $7 Each unless Noted

Fable The Lost Chapters PH $15
TRON 2.0 Killer App $15
Testdrive
Call of Duty 2 $10
Need for Speed Underground $10
Midnight Club 3 Case with Burnout 3 Disc
Wreckless
Unreal Championship 1
Mace Griffon
Cabelas Deer Hunt 2005
Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball
Chase : Hollywood Stunt Driver
Star Wars : Obi-Wan CIB $10

Gamecube

GB Player OEM Case Holder *Missing outer cardboard and Manual $25
NFL2k3 CIB $8
Monopoly Party+Manual in Blockbuster Case $10
Star Wars Rogue Leader+Manual in DVD Case $15
Spiderman 2 Player's Choice (Missing Manual) $15
Megaman Anniversary Collection (Missing Manual) $20
MC Groovez Dance Craze$10
Fifa Soccer 2002 $10
Spiderman 1 Case $5
007 NightFire Case with Fantastic Four Games $5

Switch

TechKen Switch Pro Wireless Controller Purple $20
Ys VIII Lacrimosa Of DANA (PAL Version) CIB $40

Wii

Nights Journey of Dreams in Gamestop Case & Manual $10
Generic Dual Wiimote Charging Dock $10

Covers, Cases and Manuals

8x Universal Game Cases (N64,SNES,Genesis,etc) $8 Each
3DS Persona Q : Shadow of the Labyrinth Case $15
Wii Dragon Quest Swords Manual $7
Wii Monster Hunter 3 Manual $5
Wii Elebits Manual $5
GC Ghost Recon Case & Manual $7
GC True Crime Streets of LA Case & Manual $10
GC Spiderman 1 Case Only $7
GC Dead to Rights Case & Manual $10
GC Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow Case & Manual $10
GC Hitman 2 Case & Manual $10
GC MoH Frontline Case & Manual $7
GC Rainbow Six 3 Case & Manual $7
PS2 Call of Duty FH Case & Manual $7
GC NFL 2K3 Case $5
GC Turok Evolution Case & Manual $5
PS4 Nioh Case $5
PS Vita Exist Archive Case $5
PS3 Zone of Enders HD Collection Case & Manual $10
PS2 Dragon Quest 8 Case & Manual $10
PS2 Onimusha 2 Case & Manual $10
PS2 Tekken 5 Case & Manual $10
PS2 Kingdom Hearts 1 GH Case & Manual $10
PS2 Kingdom Hearts 2 GH Case & Manual $10
PS2 Area 51 Case PAL version $5
GC NBA 2K2 Case & Manual $10
PS2 Final Fantasy X-2 Case $ Manual $10
PS2 Starwars Battlefront Case & Manual $10
GC Prince of Persia Cover & Manual $10
GC Viewtiful Joe 1 Manual $20
PS2 Katamari Damacy Cover & Manual $10
GC Burnout 3 Takedown $5
PS2 Nightmare before Christmas Oogies Revenge Cover & Manual $15
PS2 GTA San Andreas Cover & Manual $10
PS2 Capcom Classic Collection Cover & Manual $15
PS2 Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution Manual $5
PS2 Megaman X Collection Cover & Manual $15
PS2 Star Ocean Till the End of Time Cover & Manual $10
PS2 R-Type Final Cover & Manual $15
PS2 Soul Caliber 2 Cover $7
XB Panzer Dragoon Orta Cover & Manual $30
XB Ninja Gaiden Black Cover & Manual $10
PS2 Mad Maestro Cover & Manual $10
PS2 007 Everything or Nothing Manual $5
PS2 Half Life 2 Cover $10
PS2 Devil May Cry 3 Cover & Manual $10
PS2 FF X-2 Cover & Manual $10
PS2 REZ Cover & Manual $15
PS2 Rygar Cover & Manual $10
PS2 Chaos Legion Manual $7
PS2 Zone of Enders 1 Cover & Manual $10
PS2 Final Fantasy 12 Manual $7
PS2 Front Mission 4 Cover & Manual $10
PS2 Metal Gear Solid 3 Subsistence Cover $7
PS2 Escape from Monkey Island Cover $7
PS1 Final Fantasy Chronicles GH Back/Front Cover & Manual $10
PS1 Tenchu 1 Cover & Manual $15
PS1 Final Fantasy 7 GH Front/Back Cover & Manual $15
PS1 Buster Bros Collection Cover & Manual $20
GC Zelda Master Quest Manual + Windwaker Promotional Paperwork $30
PS2 Black Case & Manual $10

I just hope that people see this post, that they might start spreading the news before it’s too late. Something big is coming, something ancient, something older than any of us could have ever imagined. It might be too late. I don’t know what will become of me, of the people I love that I might never see again, by the time you are reading this. But I implore you to listen and take this story seriously, because it could save your life. Or not. I don’t know yet how deep this goes. If it’s true, if what I think is true…God help us. Nothing can save us now.
I’ll start at the beginning, because you need to understand how long this has been happening, and the implications of what is possible now that it’s getting worse. Over winter break, I went to visit my friend from high school, Jackson, in Vermont. He goes to Bennington College, studies Social Sciences with a minor in Linguistics. Smart guy. He used to write my papers for me in English class, and I would pay him back in six packs. That’s always how it was: him, studious and put together, and me itching to get outside. I was constantly on the move, biking through the forests behind my house, trail-running, building a treehouse for my little brothers, you name it. I wanted to get my hands dirty, get into nature. I guess that’s why I opted out of college, and went for camp counselor positions and summer gigs until I secured a conservation job with a park near home. Nature is important to me, and I want to do my part as the generation that has a responsibility to heal the world.
The outside was what called me to Bennington, aside from the fact that I missed my best buddy. I don’t remember when it was first brought to my attention, but I became aware of murmurings of Bennington’s rocky past online about a few months before I was set to visit Jackson. Being an experienced outdoorsman, I wasn’t afraid; on the contrary, I was rather excited to get out there and prove my worth to Jackson and his college buddies, who were far less athletic than I am. Looking back, I’m kicking myself for being so cocky. I can’t believe I ever thought of my best friend in that way.
From what I could see on the internet, Bennington College’s history was a long and often sinister one. There were videos about people vanishing into thin air: a girl wearing a red parka went for a hike alone and was never found, an experienced man leading an outdoor expedition disappeared in the woods, a woman fell into a stream, doubled back to the campsite to change her clothes, but never made it to the site, a man on a bus disappeared from the vehicle at a stop but left all of his luggage, a teenage boy was waiting in his mother’s truck and when she came back, he was mysteriously gone…I wish I could say these stories deterred me from poking my head somewhere where it didn’t belong.
Instead, I only grew more curious. What was going on in this so-called “Bennington Triangle?” I was in a unique position to investigate this phenomenon for myself. Many people hear about strange occurrences and the intrigue piques their interest, but they never have the chance to see it for themselves. But I could. I knew I could hold my own out in the wilderness—it was literally my job! Besides, I was a strong, slightly stubborn young man, built steadily, and I could protect myself well. What could possibly happen to me out in those woods, much less to a group of young college-aged men? The people who went missing most likely made one fatal mistake that cost them their lives, or maybe it was all just a big coincidence. Either way, I was about to find out for myself.
It was halfway through December when I left to meet up with Jackson. I got there on the last day of classes, and Jackson told me he would be busy until later in the day. I assumed he was cramming for a final, and I told him it was no big deal, I would meet up with him and maybe meet some of his buddies later. Besides, I had some plans of my own.
The most famous missing persons case in Bennington went cold, and is still unsolved to this day. The case is a tragic one, and I didn’t want to be insensitive by going around asking for information or throwing around names. Everything I needed, I found online. Paula Welden was the name of the girl in the red parka that went missing. Allegedly, she left campus one day to go on a hike by herself. She left the campus around 3pm and hitchhiked to an entrance to the Long Trail, a trail that runs for almost 300 miles from Massachusetts all the way to the Canadian Border. She wasn’t dressed to be outside for long, but as the story goes, she never made it back from the trail.
There was one sighting of her, however, that particularly interested me. A man reported that he had seen her running around, rather erratically, in the bottom of a gravel pit near the entrance to campus, and I wanted to see if there was anything left of the pit. Because I’m experienced with many different kinds of natural phenomena, I initially wondered if there wasn’t a natural explanation for her distressed behavior. I thought maybe there might be an insect nest or an infestation of small animals at the bottom of the pit that she might have disturbed, so I decided to check it out in my free time.
After the RA checked me in and I tossed my luggage into Jackson’s dorm, I packed a small backpack with essentials: water, sunscreen, energy bars, mini first aid kit, some rope, a utility tool, a flashlight, and a lightweight jacket. Then I headed out towards the pit.
The first thing I noticed was how much smaller the pit seemed. According to the eyewitness description of the incident, Paula was running up and down the side of a deep gravel pit, but what lay in front of me now was something much more shallow. I walked down into the center of what was left of the pit, but I could easily see over the edges. The small, dark fragments of rock crunched and ground together under my hiking boots, and the slowly sinking midday sun bounced off of the remnants of white snow around me. It was an unusually sunny day for winter, and the snow was, curiously, letting up for my visit. But the good luck for me ran out here—there seemed to be nothing to investigate at this location. My hopes of finding any evidence of insect or pest infestation that could have disturbed the girl were dashed, maybe buried several feet underground.
I lingered awhile, kicking at the bits of gravel in the small pit. I watched the small rocks scatter over the rest of the gravel, hitting up against the edge of the pit and rolling back down a few inches. I turned to go, but stopped. Maybe it was a trick of my eye, the sun reflecting harshly off of the snow and glinting in my sunglasses, causing me to not see clearly. I walked to the edge of the pit and kicked some more gravel at the side. The small rocks skipped across the uneven surface of the gravel pile, and scattered up the edge of the pit, farther than gravity should allow them to travel. I kicked more, and it happened again. My heart started beating faster.
I crouched down and picked up a small stone. I rolled it gently across the gravel, softly enough that it started to slow when it reached the incline of the side of the pit. I watched, astounded, as the rock slowly rolled uphill about a foot before coming to a stop. I gave a shout of excitement and jumped to my feet.
As I stood up straight I nearly fell back down. In an instant, my hearing seemed to go and I felt an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia. I spun around, thinking someone must be behind me, messing with me, but the sensation of closeness stayed pressing at my back. I spun around again, searching for an explanation. My head was fuzzy. I heard my footsteps, overwhelmingly loud, and I couldn’t hear anything else, almost as if my range of hearing was limited to my immediate surroundings. Like I was trapped in the pit. As soon as those words flashed through my head, the claustrophobia overwhelmed me, pushing up against the very air around my body. The silence built up inside my ears until all I could hear was my muffled footsteps, my desperate breathing, and the blood rushing faster and faster through my body.
I lunged for the edge, clambering up the side as fast as I could. Instantly upon passing over the edge the sounds of the late afternoon bore down on my ears. I stumbled and covered my ears, the chirping of the birds and rustling leaves almost too loud for me to bear.
It’s not that I was scared. Obviously, I was a little shaken up. As I hastened back towards Jackson’s dorm, I tried to rationalize what had just happened to me. Maybe I hadn’t drank enough water and I simply became dizzy. Maybe it was altitude sickness. Maybe a strange bug had bitten me and I temporarily lost my bearings. Nothing quite made sense. I tried to push it from my mind and focus on having a good first day, because soon I would be meeting Jackson’s college buddies.
When I got back to the dorm, Jackson was waiting for me. Fresh from the shower, his hair was damp and he was putting on a clean t-shirt. Pulling me into a hug, he expressed his excitement over my visit, asked me about my flight, what I thought about the campus—all the preliminary niceties. Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even if he noticed, he didn’t pry and try to ask me about my slightly shaking hands, my pale face, or the vague disconnectedness with which I answered his questions.
That night eased my worries slightly. I ended up meeting Jackson’s group of friends and, together, we ventured into downtown Bennington. We hit a few bars and chilled at some of the many breweries in town. Live music, good company, and many, many beers did wonders on my nerves. By the end of the night, I had completely forgotten all about my encounter in the gravel pit. Jackson’s friends were nice guys, and I was too busy feeling proud about my best friend coming out of his shell in college. When he left, I had my doubts, but it was crystal clear that Jackson was really coming into himself at this school.
The festivities continued for the next few days: the guys were stoked to be done with their final exams and excited to connect with Jackson’s old friend, so we spent our time drinking and hanging out, bumping music and generally having a blast. It was almost enough for me to forget about one of the very reasons I was excited to be in Bennington in the first place.
It’s been a few days since that incident. I had even almost started to feel better about the whole thing. Maybe it was a mistake to poke around in old history, and maybe I should just focus on living my own life and fulfilling my own passions, working to heal nature as best as I can. But now Jackson and his friends want to go on a hike, and I’m starting to feel that same claustrophobia creeping back in. What the hell is out there, and why do I feel like I shouldn’t be messing with it?
Jackson chose the hike, not me. It was like him; he was the researcher, he was the one who looked at details, so he suggested we hike on the Long Trail. It intersected with the Appalachian Trail, and maybe I wasn’t paying attention when Jackson explained this to me, because it didn’t raise any alarms about the missing persons cases. Paula Welden went missing on the Long Trail, sure—but she wasn’t with a group of capable college guys like I was.
We packed some backpacks, crushed a beer or two for celebratory sakes, and set off on the trail. I let myself feel excited as we stomped through the trees, Jackson and his friends decked out in their matching red Bennington shirts from graduation. The hike was long. It was tedious. I don’t know when I first started noticing the weird aspects around us until about an hour in. The others didn’t pay any mind to these things, but I saw them: leaves drifting in the air with no breeze, snowflakes trapped in patches of sunlight, floating but unmoving, and that tree. It was a towering douglas fir, half-dead and reaching for the afternoon sun with bare branches. Each time I looked over my shoulder to check for hikers behind us or glanced ahead to see what awaited us, it was there. At first I assumed my eyes were playing tricks on me. After all, we had been hiking for a few hours.
Only when we stopped for a breather and Jackson pointed at a nearby stream did the weird things become too much for me. We were hiking on an incline, and we were exhausted, but when Jackson knelt beside this stream, it was flowing uphill. By then I was a little panicked. I freaked out, telling them that we needed to head back. Who cares if we hadn’t reached the halfway point yet? Was there even a halfway point? It felt like we had been walking for miles!
One of Jackson’s buddies opened up a map of the trail on his phone, and it was blank. He had service and bars, but the map was just…gone. Shocked with sudden fear, we immediately turned and headed back down the path. The sky darkened within minutes of us retracing our steps. Somehow, night was falling, despite us beginning the hike only a few hours prior. I tried to point it out, pulling Jackson aside when we slowed our pace to pass around a bottle of water. But Jackson was terrified and unfocused, and when I asked him what was wrong, we realized that one member of our five-person group was missing. How had we not noticed?
So, we made a U-turn and headed back up the mountain. Twenty minutes later, we found his torn university shirt. I turned the red fabric over in my hands, panicked and bewildered. When I looked up to scan our surroundings, I saw that same Douglas fir directly to my left. I was shocked, and the rest of the group must have noticed. We looked at each other and saw the panic rising on our faces. What the hell was happening?
I only had one goal at this point: we had to get down the mountain to call for help.
We decided to do our best to follow the trail on the way we came up, but only once daylight broke; it was difficult to make out the trail in the dark cover of the night, so I insisted it would be too dangerous. Someone could fall and get seriously injured, we could all get separated in the dark, or worse. So we did our best to hunker down and build a makeshift shelter to wait out the night, but it wasn’t easy. I can only describe the sounds we heard as otherworldly. Despite the lack of animals in the woods, nature seemed to be alive around us. The clicking of bugs kept me wide awake, but the noises were louder and deeper than I had ever heard. The baying of giant wolves, so close I imagined them coming up directly behind us. The snuffling of something in the underbrush, but from a cavernous creature larger than any moose could ever be.
Where had these animals been in the daytime? Why did it feel like they were surrounding us now?
I don’t know how I ever fell asleep, but when I awoke in the morning, the sun was beating down on us. From the sheen of sweat on my forehead to the dreadful pit in my stomach, I could tell something was horribly wrong.
When I scrambled to my feet and glanced around the area, I realized that only Jackson and I remained at our site. It was us, the clothes on our backs, and the demure amount of leftover supplies in our pockets: keys, gum wrappers, half-eaten power bars, and anything else that was ultimately unhelpful. We had been stranded on the forest floor, us against nature, as if something had swooped in from above and whisked Jackson’s friends under the pitch-black cover of the night.
I frantically took in our surroundings, peering into the bushes and pushing through thorny shrubbery. There were no tracks, no drag marks. Not even broken branches. I told Jackson we had to get out of there, and fast. I knew we needed to find the closest trailhead and book it down the mountain. Jackson ran so fast he nearly chipped a tooth on a steep hill. He was trying to keep up with me since I was faster by a long shot. All that sports stuff in high school paid off in the moment, so I almost felt bad leaving him in the dust. I called back over my shoulder to him every minute or so, making sure he was there.
He stuck with me for the most part. His t-shirt got torn by overhanging branches at one point, leaving a nasty scrape almost as red as the decimated fabric. I found myself struggling to remember if he was wearing that shirt to begin with, back when we started.
Then I decided I was losing it. It was like a fight against nature, Jackson and me against the blaring sun and sloping trail. Eventually, Jackson starts glaring menacingly at the passing scenery, cursing loudly and deliriously at everything surrounding us.
When we stumbled upon a trail marker, we barely had enough energy to celebrate. While we caught our breath, I tried to calm Jackson down. Something told me that cursing out Mother Nature wasn’t the best idea right now. Whatever was sicking the elements on us wouldn’t appreciate the nasty things he was saying about them. But he was terrified, and nothing I said could slap any reason into him. I had to lead us to safety, get us out of here.
Suddenly, I heard a sound in the distance. But unlike everything else we had heard so far, this one was man made. Jackson heard it too, and started yelling about a helicopter. He made a break off to the left, towards the sound, and I bolted after him. Somehow, he burst out into a tiny clearing.
Ripping off his red Bennington shirt, he started calling out and waving it in the air like a rescue flag. He jumped and shouted, but as the helicopter got closer, the unbelievable happened. The clearing started shrinking, tree branches reaching from either side to close the gap and obscure us from the view of the pilot. Jackson screamed in fury, cursing the forest like never before.
Then the chopper must have been lowering down towards the treelike because the wind picked up, blowing in circles around us like the blades were inches from our heads, faster and faster, more violent by the second.
The brush beneath our feet blew up in the air along with the topsoil and dead leaves, obscuring our vision. We could hear each other gasping for breath, trying to keep the debris out of our eyes and coughing. I flung my arms out into the space around me, calling for my best friend and reaching out for his hands. But then I felt something shift. The decaying leaves around me smelled stronger. The wind became more vicious. The earth trembled beneath my feet, and I thought I felt something looming above me, breathing down my neck but also looking straight into my unseeing eyes.
Then it clicked. Jackson's red shirt, the gravel pit, Paula's erratic behavior, the other missing hikers...something was picking these people off, luring them deeper into the woods where they were sure to never be seen again. Did the color red cause whatever it was to literally see red, like a sick, twisted joke? Like a giant bull in front of a matador? What kind of creature could it be? Such a stealthy hunter, a commanding presence that made man tremble at the sensation of its mere aura...I couldn't even think about it without snapping my mind.
Before the flurry of leaves and moist earth settled back onto the ground, I knew Jackson was gone. I knew the chopper hadn’t seen us and that I was on my own now. I tried not to panic as I felt like every hidden eye in the forest was staring me down, sizing me up. I took off blindly, but where to, I didn’t know. After what seemed like hours of desperately sprinting, I saw a pile of rocks in the distance. Shelter, I thought, and decided to rest there for a minute to get my wits back about me.
Then I had an idea. With what little juice I had in my phone and whatever cell service luck would afford me, I knew I had to send out a warning. For some reason, I didn’t think about myself. I didn’t think about dying, disappearing, or whatever had happened to my friends. If the nature around me would be the thing to end my life, so be it. I had decided to dedicate my life to nature long ago: to save it from my fellow man, to preserve its beauty, and to keep it out of the wrong hands, the people that wanted to use its power for evil and to bring about the harm of those around them. I know it sounds ridiculous to be thinking about when my life was at stake, but I knew it was what I needed to do.
From my makeshift hiding spot in the rocks, I began furiously typing my story with what little battery I had left on my phone. When my hands started cramping, I used the voice option. I didn’t care. I just had to get my story out there.
For an hour , I’d been trying to put it all down in words. I couldn't believe my luck, that my battery hadn’t run out yet.
I had almost gone to the end when I felt the same creeping silence begin to close in on me. It was as if the forest was falling silent around me, and that silence was racing in on all sides, but it was different from when I was in the gravel pit. There was more to the sensation this time, not just the sinking, breathless feeling and the loss of hearing.
Somewhere deep within the forest, but at the same time, only miles away, I heard an awful rumbling sound, something I’ve never heard before. Nothing like the helicopter, not even the giant animals I was convinced I had heard in the night. I can't even think of a word to describe it, but it filled me with a frantic kind of dread that I’ve never felt before. I feel it in the ground. My entire body wants to run as fast as I can, but it’s like I’m glued to the ground. I taste metal in my mouth like maybe I bit my cheek or the dirt from the wind or I bit on a rock, I spit and I can’t get it out. I’m going to open an app and copy and paste it so people can know while I still can type I’m shaking so hard they have to know.
And the smell I’m smelling it’s like fruit that’s gone ripe, but it keeps getting more ripe, a sickly sweetness that keeps building mixed with the smell of the richest earth imaginable.
This is happening now, I’m smelling this now and It’s it’s like I’m trapped under the shadow of some thing bigger something that’s taking the shadow away from the trees and I can’t see the shadow of the trees anymore and the ground around me is trembling. It’s like I can hear the trees calling out to whatever it is, that’s walking towards me or flying I can’t tell, everything is stretching and growing out towards me. No behind me above me something is coming. I’m I feel better right I feel better than I have in days or however long I’ve been out here I’m not thirsty anymore. I’m not hungry anymore. I feel fuller stronger smarter. My mind is overloading. I’m thinking of 1 million things like I don’t know if I can speak anymore it’s like, it’s like I’m fruit like I’m a ripening on the vine and this giant wings beating above me and the smell is too much I

Hi there.
This will be a bit of text, so
TLDR I've struggled all my life with ADHD, only recieved that diagnosis in the past couple years and have always been affected by quick bursts of unregulated rage in response to my perfectionism. I realized today that this emotional dysregulation has thrown a wrench in a lot of my relationships, regardless of how much progress I've made with it and make sure it's directed inward and not toward others. It quickly becomes to every friend or significant other incomprehensible, unforgivable and makes me unlovable in the long run. If you relate, let me know.
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I'm not sure what percentage of people with ADHD expereince the emotional dysregulation symptom. However, my adult diagnosis of ADHD and realization of that symptom explained to me my entire life. The quick, extremely intense bursts of anger were something I always thought was a character flaw, or a trauma response that I really should have grown out of by now.
I grew up in a rather difficult home. Lots of shame and perfectionism filled the house for my whole childhood mainly because my parents suffered from it as well. However, it fostered an environment where almost everyone was competing against each other to be acknowledged as a legitamate person who was "good enough". We would do anything for this, including tearing each other down. This, of course, has affected every other area of my life, not just family. Constant feelings of inadequacy since I was young created this anger and hatred for myself. Back then, no one really knew I had ADHD, least of all me. I just thought I was stupid while my sisters were so smart. I would lose my keys or my wallet or my phone and my parents would yell and scream. So, I guess I decided that was the proper reaction to my flaws. And, in response to any mistake, large or small, any imperfection, I would go into a rage so quick and intense and unregulated. This drove me to begin self harming in high school. I only really realized this might be an issue in college when I found bruises on my head (I would hit my head in a 30min fit every morning if I felt I wasn't pretty or skinny or smart enough).
Since then, I've had loads of treatment and have made such significant improvements. Nowadays, a moment where I engage in self harm is quickly cut off and few and far between. However, I still experience that unregulated anger in reaction to an imperfection even if I'm able to disengage pretty quickly. Still. This symptom feels as if I am absolutely unlovable. I feel like not many typical, normal people see this as a symptom of any disorder but instead a serious character flaw. To others, I can be so kind and empathetic and charismatic in the right situation, masking so hard in order to be liked, to be enough. Yet, the second any person gets close enough to see a moment of that unregulated anger, regardless of how I try so hard to make sure it doesn't affect them, I feel like it's instantly weird to them, incomprehensible, and eventually, unforgivable. This trouble with anger was a big player in the end of my last relationship. He just didn't understand how I could feel so strongly about nothing. And, I don't blame anyone. Logically, it does not make sense that in response to seeing myself perform poorly in my favorite video game, I become violently angry at myself and quite honestly want to die for a couple minutes. Then I return to normal.
I get it. It's hard to relate to and understand. Even though I was relieved that my emotional dysregulation is explained by ADHD, I can't help but feel like absolute trash in the irony. In an effort to be loved, my reaction to imperfection, in return, makes me unlovable. It feels suffocating. Like I am constantly begging for forgivness and understanding. Regardless of how hard I try to heal, regardless that I didn't choose the anger or the perfectionism, there will always be that piece of my self that just so undesireable.
I don't know why I'm here. Maybe processing and understanding. I'm desperate for someone to get it, I guess If you actually read all that nonsense, thank you, truly. Let me know if there's anyone out there who has experienced the same emotional dysregulation and the negative effect it has on...everything.
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