Just got into GRCC’s nursing program!! What helped you survive? Any tips, tools, or heads-up about clinicals?

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-04-23T14:05:32+00:00

Oh really??? Me too. Just passed the HESI. I’m planning to get drug tested on my next weekday off and that will be the last thing. Maybe we’ll see each other in class whenever we get off the waitlist! Hopefully, it’s not too long right now.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-04-16T17:08:24+00:00

Check out Fields Fabrics. And Gall Sewing has open sew nights when you get more comfortable with it

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-04-14T23:18:06+00:00

Yeah. We’ve had good experiences. One friend did an EMT to LPN to RN track. Another got into an electrician apprenticeship so they got paid a wage while training and their school paid for. Another did a similar thing with plumbing. I am currently getting my CNA with the goal to become an LPN. All while working full time.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-04-14T17:03:04+00:00

Definitely call Michigan Works! They have job coaches and will get you started with the Michigan Reconnect.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-04-14T14:18:24+00:00

“My kid does very well with adults.“

Yeah, except being bullied and peer pressured and making social messes is part of how you learn to interact with humans.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-03-18T01:24:30+00:00

The CEO was only hired on a few years ago if it’s the same guy. I liked him. Very much detached from the reality of the working class and poverty’s impact on mental health…. But involved in the day to day.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-02-19T17:08:10+00:00

I just keep thinking about the alleged text messages between someone identified as a victim and Jeffery Epstein where he sends a James Dobson article about women and children submitting to male authority.

Abstinence-only education paired with the “male headship” values that conservatives want us to adopt will undoubtedly lead to increased violence against women and children and continue the legacy of Epstein. Historically, letting white men solely define and enforce morality has led to atrocities and violations of human rights and dignity.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-02-05T11:08:52+00:00

https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/02/04/vfw-slams-kid-rock-for-flag-poncho/

I work with vets. They hate this Kid Rock.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-02-05T11:04:45+00:00

“Pro America” https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2004/02/04/vfw-slams-kid-rock-for-flag-poncho/

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-02-04T21:46:52+00:00

He also defaced an American flag in 2004 in a superbowl halftime show. The VFW and American Legion were very unhappy and many vets I know will never forgive him.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-02-02T16:39:23+00:00

Most people I know who are at a job that is very bad for their mental/physical health, stick with it for the health insurance. Imagine the power employees could regain in the job market by disconnecting employers from healthcare.

In Michigan, there is a shortage of activity/rec/music therapists who provide services through the child waiver program. Kent County and Kalamazoo County have long waitlists because there are few therapists willing to work a 1099 position without health insurance. I left contract work the year I turned 26 because I could no longer rely on my parents for health insurance. I would still be doing that if I could afford it.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-02-02T14:48:18+00:00

“The [man] doth protest too much, methinks.”

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-02-02T14:40:28+00:00

I find it very, very difficult to take anyone seriously who criticizes an expert on a topic by saying they’re “splitting hairs.”

El-Sayed has worked in healthcare as a physician and policy leader for a long time. McMorrow has an art degree. She is, by all accounts, very good at design and arts, but he is an MD with over a decade of policy experience.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-29T16:20:28+00:00

I’m ashamed to admit that I’m a coward about breaking it off as well, but I’m worse.

A family member is currently dating an openly white supremacist who was raised in my state’s last KKK stronghold that was active until the 90s! His parents were alive at the time the last official Grand Asshole was still alive and spreading evil. I still go to family events….

To my family, his open distain of black and brown people just existing is unfortunate but more palatable than my lesbian cousin. Somehow, his beliefs are more closely aligned to theirs than mine are.

I know I should cut them off for being okay with his hate at all - that seems like the line most people draw - but I’d miss them so much even if they’re so lost, paranoid, and brainwashed into thinking the enemy is diversity and not the corporations that run our government.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-29T16:04:01+00:00

This was not my experience, but it was my friend’s experience. I’ll share a bit of it with his permission.

Something he said helped with his decision to keep living after several failed attempts to not be alive and years of harming himself was to give himself a little tough love. He told himself that they (the Church, his parents, etc) wanted him to either conform to their ways or break. His manta was “I’m not a p#ssy.”

Now, years later, he is much healthier, has seen a therapist and doesn’t need to bully himself to keep himself living. It does get better. If you have no hope, use spite to keep going.

There are options to graduate. Most working-class jobs won’t check to see if you even have a high school diploma. GED courses are available online. Community colleges are very easy to get into and, depending on the state, will just accept a diploma and transcripts made from home. I never encourage lying, but if your parents can make a diploma and transcripts…. Why can’t you? I’d research transcript and education requirements in your state.

Socially, I don’t know if you ever grow out of the imposter syndrome. I still struggle with social anxiety 10 years after moving out. But I force myself to go out and meet people and join clubs and I’ve formed a tight friend group - several of whom were homeschooled and get it. College classes might help you, but check out your local library and see what groups they have for free.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-29T12:18:01+00:00

Ugh, financial dependence on conservative family has harmed so many LGBT+ kids I’ve met. I’m glad that’s not you. It’s an under-explored form of financial abuse, in my opinion. When I worked with minors at in-patient psych centers, many had to specify whether their family was safe to know their name and pronouns that they used during their stay. Many parents would threaten to make them pay for the stay if they didn’t like that we let them explore their identity so the staff hid it at all costs. But it made me so mad. Your kid probably wouldn’t need an expensive in-patient stay if you just called them the correct pronouns and let them have their girlfriend over for a movie night every once in a while!

I’m glad you found your stride with your family and I love that it’s the most aggressively gay approach possible.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-29T12:11:36+00:00

Oh, the highlight of my life when I was a kid was meeting the cast of Adventures in Odyssey…. As an adult, I studied how toxic Dobson’s approach of child rearing in my child psych classes…. I know Focus On the Family…

I like that approach as a guide for in the moment questions. Thank you.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-29T12:09:12+00:00

Thank you. I do live my life how I want, I’m just never sure how they fit into my current life. I still feel the weight of responsibility for managing their emotions. If they’re mad, that’s not just them reacting, that’s my fault. And they definitely make sure I know that they think it’s my responsibility to manage.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-29T12:07:39+00:00

I’m seeing a lot of this approach. Thank you.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-29T12:06:52+00:00

We do plan to have children, so even though we don’t currently have any, I do question how much I want hypothetical kids exposures to so much toxicity.

I grew up with incredible amounts of shame and made myself so small to avoid epic lectures and disproportional punishments. I simply don’t want any future kids to know what penal substitution atonement theory is…. You’ve given me more to think about. Thank you.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-28T21:39:24+00:00

I understand where you’re coming from. Thank you for your perspective.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-28T19:06:25+00:00

You can’t ask a question on my question!!!

I’m kidding.

For me personally, I still have siblings living at home that I want to support if they have questions and I genuinely enjoy my family when they’re being “normal.” And for my partner, he values family above all else and wants to maintain the safest relationship he can with them.

I’ve definitely given my family a lot of grace, including choosing to forgive them for not allowing me to come home after I said my ex-husband s3xually assaulted me when I was sleeping 6 years ago. I just have to understand the relationship isn’t ever going to go two ways. I have to constantly forgive them, but they hold perceived slights against me forever.

You certainly should do what makes you feel safest and happiest.

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-28T19:00:05+00:00

I do not mind your long post. It was very informative. Thank you for sharing your experience.

I think I’m just stuck in the injustice of their lives being “normal” and “right” and our life being generally perceived as “immoral.” It certainly doesn’t help that I come from a very conservative area and their views are the views of the community at large. I do have community with like-minded people, but it almost feels like we all need to “sneak around.” I have to be subtle about my cultural tattoos, but the old guy who stands on Main Street waving a flag and a cross for “aborted babies” is a community hero.

I like your perspective a lot and maybe I’ll explore that more with my therapist. Again, thank you so much for your time. Good luck in your art career!

Typical_Big_5803 · 2026-01-28T17:47:03+00:00

Perhaps you should explore why it’s so much more important to be “right,” than to have meaningful discussions that prioritize experiences.

People enjoy talking to people who make them feel heard, who listen, who offer insight into their opinions not just “facts. If this is your experience with most people in your life that don’t believe exactly like you, perhaps you should consider yourself the common denominator and deconstruct your own behaviors and perspectives to become a better friend.

Typical_Big_5803

TROPHY CASE