Dear Professor.

Hi Professor (Insert name),

I am joyfully emailing to let you know that I am dropping the unit of study (INSERT UNIT OF STUDY), effective immediately. And for your information, despite efforts to disguise it, having a semi-severe overbite as a byproduct of a cleft palate DOES affect how you speak, hence why I struggled to complete the task you set us and made us perform individually during this week's tutorial. It was unbelievably offensive and humiliating when you informed me that you "don't think that that has any effect" on my ability to produce particular sounds, as it is painfully obvious that you yourself do not suffer from any physical irregularities that might inhibit or otherwise affect your speaking ability. Therefore, I strongly suggest not to make statements relating to such matters unless you are actually able to empathize, lest you appear an ignorant fuckhead as you did this week. I, like others with the same issue I am sure, have found alternate ways of producing certain vowels and consonants that deviate from convention; naturally, as mentioned earlier, this does mean that certain limitations are present, and at times it is not so easy. So please, keep your inconsiderate comments to yourself, and realize that you are not in fact an expert on everything to do with phonetics and speech production and life in general.

I noticed the facial expressions of several other students whom you singled out and shamed. I'd advise you to tone it down a little, as such criticism over something stupid like the task you set leads to nothing but resentment. Also, I find it disgusting that you opt to choose favorites; we are being educated at a university level here. Get the fuck over yourself.

Regards,
-Sarah


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^And that is how my email would have looked if I wanted to get a written warning and probably a meeting with somebody important with the potential to do something bad to my uni education.

Smile.

If she put on nice clothes, took time in the morning to apply a little makeup and made sure her hair dried nicely she forgot what she actually looked like and felt pretty, just for a while. Just until she stepped out the door.

If she went to every class and didn't fall asleep once, if she took notes like everyone else and carried a textbook in her bag, she felt like she was doing well, just for a while. Just until she looked at the take-home questions and realized that she didn't understand a thing.

If she said hello to somebody, and exchanged a brief word or a question, she felt like she belonged. Just for a while. Just until she walked away and remembered that it was never really the same people twice.

If she spoke with him, laughed with him, listened to things he had to say, she felt like things were going okay, just for a while. Just until he waved and said "see you next week", which was when she knew that everything she thought was good didn't mean anything at all.

And if she smiled. If she smiled at home, outside, at a store, in classes, it made her believe she was happy, just for a while. Just until the shadows started growing longer and there was no more running around to be done. Just until she realized that a smile was as adequate a disguise as anything else in the world, for both her and anyone else who was around to see it. And so she smiles. Just for a while. Just until there's no one around left to convince except herself.

Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For~

So apparently a lot of the time things don't turn out the way you expect or want... But I guess that's okay. Shit happens. And idealistically, considering all the times when a fork appeared in a road where you didn't actually want one should make the times when things go right even better. So I'll just roll with that.

Uni started today... Hopefully my positive attitude will last a little longer this semester. And who knows, if I keep working on it, by second semester in my final year I might be able to stay positive for more than a week. Impossible, I hear you say. No. It'll happen one day. Speaking of positive attitude, my PSYC2012 lecturer spent a decent period of time explaining to us that those with positive attitudes towards studying statistics tend to do better in the subject. Actually, we were told that those with a positive attitude to both math and stats did the best, those with a negative attitude to math but a positive attitude to stats also did well, but those with a positive attitude to math and a negative attitude to stats or a negative attitude to both did worst. I'm not sure exactly who took the time to conduct this uh... really worthwhile study, but hey, I'm not out there doing any fieldwork, so I guess I can't roll my eyes. But apparently it's all in the attitude >_>

First day of SUESS was good; had nearly 30 people at rehearsal which was nice to see ^^ It really made a difference to the whole feel and sound of everything. Hopefully they all come back next week >_<

And um... yeah, that's about all. Oh, and watching the Winter Olympics made me REALLY want to go skiing.. only a few months left until the ski season starts. This year there will be no more of this 10:00 start business. I'll be there at 8:00 when the lifts open. I'll make it happen somehow xD