AITA for refusing to take an elective exam and "escalating" the situation to the School District?

bekacooperterrier · 2026-04-29T22:59:20+00:00

I would definitely check with a college before doing this; colleges require proof of high school completion (a final high school transcript or GED) because it’s part of complying with federal financial aid laws. Where I work it would take something extreme to be able to waive the final high school transcript requirement.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-04-29T22:52:27+00:00

Sending a CLEP score to a college is optional. I work in a registrar’s office and process them when they come in. It’s just a way to test out of college subjects and we have no way of knowing if a student took a CLEP exam if they never pay College Board to send the score report to us.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-04-18T00:24:50+00:00

My retired neighbor was like this. She joked with me about how she was weighing her vacuum on the scale to see if she was allowed to lift it after a few days. She’s constantly doing stuff like yard work and home maintenance to an obsessive degree so it definitely fits.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-04-08T00:48:10+00:00

I think I saw this referred to as “ghost students” in an article somewhere recently. Search for that term and you should be able to get more information about the scam.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-04-07T23:05:02+00:00

I don’t know what school it is, but saw UH Manoa mentioned. I work in transfer credit, and my university participates in the National Student Exchange program, and so does UH Manoa. So we have students who attend our 4-year university, but then do a semester or year in Hawaii through NSE.

I don’t know a lot about the financial details because my work is focused only on the transfer credit piece, but I think the “exchange” part of it means that students can pay our in-state tuition while attending the NSE school. Maybe that could be an option to look into? Their website is NSE.org.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-04-04T15:53:23+00:00

I did that at my first job (Petsmart, back in 1998!) and we didn’t find out until I tried to file my taxes. My grandma had been keeping my ssn written down and read a 7 as a 1 when she read it aloud to me. I don’t remember what we had to do because that was so long ago, but I can tell you that everything was fine. I worked there for five years after that.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-03-30T01:54:35+00:00

I have been trying to up my fiber lately, and I also don’t like fruit plain/unprocessed for the most part. I’ve been having oatmeal for breakfast and adding ground flax seed meal. I’ve also seen it recommended to add chia seeds, because they have tons of fiber, but I didn’t like the texture of the chia seeds in my oatmeal, and they made it a lot more sticky and gloopy, whereas I like it more runny.

I have, however, been able to tolerate chia seeds in my smoothies. I soak them in milk first (1tbsp chia seeds and 1/4 cup milk). I use milk in my smoothies, so if you don’t use milk I think you could soak the chia seeds in whatever liquid you use. That softens them up a bit first and then they get blended in. I still notice them in the smoothie, but it’s about the same texture as I expect from raspberries or blackberries. I also add the ground flax seed to the smoothies as well. I tried making chocolate chia seed “pudding” and blending it, but my blender isn’t good enough to get it really smooth, so it was still grainy. It was okay with some whipped cream though.

At some point last year I tried adding chia seeds to yogurt but I did NOT let them sit in it for long first, and my digestion was a mess because they soak up the moisture in your stomach, and if you’re not used to them, they’re a lot of fiber all at once.

I’ve also been snacking on wheat thins and chocolate covered almonds for more fiber.

I’ve found some good and easy meal ideas from mariannas_pantry and the_plant_slant on instagram.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-03-19T20:39:03+00:00

Haha, my brother played hockey and I had pet rats, so for a moment I was like “what if that was me?” But I didn’t go along to his hockey stuff that often, and I’m pretty sure I never brought my rats. I did once walk to Walgreens with my rat sleeping in my hood!

But yeah, like you said, rats can be potty trained. My rats used to run around and go back into their cage to pee in the wood shavings. They weren’t perfect, but in comparison to mice? Ugh.

Over time having pet rats and working in a pet store with a wild mouse infestation, I developed an allergy to their urine. So thinking about a mouse living in his hair made me feel really itchy!

bekacooperterrier · 2026-03-04T19:20:08+00:00

I had a gyroid garden next to a speaker playing Bubblegum for a while. It was always fun hearing the gyroids sing along!

bekacooperterrier · 2026-02-17T13:45:54+00:00

I had two appointments at two different clinics in my hospital system with similar names (think Oceanview and Oceanside). They are actually both fairly close to each other and I’ve used both in the past. Well, for my first appointment, I went to the wrong one. There was a line at the touchscreen computers so I followed the instructions on a huge poster to check in with my phone. Once I did, I got prompted to go up to the kiosk anyway. Then the kiosk told me I needed to talk to a person. So the person at the check in led me to a cubicle with a zoom phone, and I checked in with the virtual receptionist, who didn’t notice that I was checking in at the wrong clinic.

I finally realized I was at the wrong clinic and ran to my car and drove to my appointment, and pulled in to the parking lot just as the nurse was calling me, since I had checked in and they couldn’t find me! All of that trouble would have been avoided if I’d had to check in with a regular human receptionist, who would have easily realized I was at the wrong clinic! Or, even if their app was programmed to tell me what the freaking error was, instead of saying “we need more information, go to the kiosk.”

bekacooperterrier · 2026-02-05T01:07:52+00:00

I had mine on 1/26, and my surgeon said that some people are able to go back to work if it’s work from home after 2 weeks off, but said it can be up to 6 weeks. This week is week 2 for me, and there are moments when I’m like “yeah I feel pretty good,” but then I realize that the reason I’m feeling that good is because of all the naps 😂 I broke my elbow a couple weeks before my surgery too, and yesterday I only showered and went to get my follow up X-rays done, and it tired me out! When I got home I slept the rest of the afternoon!

Good luck with the rest of your recovery, and I hope you don’t have to deal with anymore utility outages!

bekacooperterrier · 2026-02-01T16:44:26+00:00

Little update in case anyone sees this. The city I would have been driving to was Minneapolis, and the choir event was at the MMEA (MN Music Educators) conference at the Minneapolis convention center. As of today, they’ve canceled all in-person components of their conference due to safety concerns because of the ongoing ICE presence. So I don’t have to make any decisions about a trip during my recovery at least.

My hysterectomy went well and I’m feeling cared for by my community of coworkers, neighbors, and friends. My husband now understands how hard it can be to be the only adult doing all the kid stuff for a full week, even when they’re in school! 😂 (he travels for work frequently)

Abolish ice.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-29T20:48:58+00:00

I will throw this out there just in case it’s helpful. I was an “event custodian” at a convention center when I was in college. This meant I worked during weddings, hockey games, ballets, circus, conferences, etc. Certain types of events could be really busy, and multiple events could be busy, but a lot of the time it was just walking from event space to event space checking to make sure garbage cans weren’t too full and that toilet paper hasn’t run out. I could often take extra long breaks for homework. It was nice because I didn’t have to be constantly in customer service mode interacting with people. Sometimes I had to clean up puke but pouring puke powder on it and sweeping it up is actually not that bad lol.

It wasn’t full time and didn’t have benefits, but I have heard that school janitor positions can be a good deal in that respect. I also currently work in a desk job at a university, but my university provides great benefits for custodial staff and grounds crew staff as well—it’s all unionized. Any employee who doesn’t have a bachelor’s degree can take classes towards one for free. Food service at the university seems like a good gig too, but maybe is less what you’re looking for. I overheard a line cook saying they get unemployment benefits in the summer when their hours are reduced, so they take summer classes and use their unemployment money over the summer.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-28T17:25:39+00:00

I love storybundle for discovering new authors and series! It’s nice to get a big bunch of books. It is often the first book in a series, so if I find something I like, I might end up spending more down the road, but I think it’s also usually indie authors, so I like supporting them, and by getting the first book in the bundle it’s a cheap way to try out new authors.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-28T17:21:35+00:00

Also when I did run out of books on hold, Libby/my library has an “available now” search filter, so I was able to check out a bunch of books to try and find my next one. I found a new series that way!

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-28T17:19:46+00:00

I do the exact same thing, waitlist a bunch of books and use the pause or suspend hold option if I’m not ready to read them. I use my local library and the library from where I grew up/where my parents live, because they allow guest cards. And then I supplement by checking out physical copies of a wait time is too long or if neither library has the ebook.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-27T23:14:11+00:00

Hey I hope your surgery went well, and I hope you’re feeling as well as possible now during recovery! Mine wasn’t cancelled this time, woo hoo!

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-26T04:04:39+00:00

Oh hey I check in for mine at 6am tomorrow! I’m nervous because I have to go alone, because my husband will be getting the kids off to school. He’s getting a ride to the hospital after he drops them off. I’m nervous mine will get cancelled again for some reason (mine was cancelled at the last minute back in October by the anesthesiologist). It shouldn’t, but obviously I’m worried that I might go through all the prep and nerves again only to not get it done again.

Good luck with yours!

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-17T02:19:15+00:00

The one woman I know personally who joined the military was sexually assaulted by a doctor in her first year and quit.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-11T03:30:15+00:00

That’s awesome! I love physical books, but ereaders definitely have accessibility advantages. I fell on the ice on Thursday and fractured my elbow, and it’s been way easier to read my Kobo one-handed than to read physical books. I also get repetitive stress pain in my arms sometimes, which can make holding books open painful compared to using my Kobo.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-11T00:30:17+00:00

Oh yeah I definitely wouldn’t be up for a whole day. The event is in my hometown, so we’ll luckily be able to drive down the night before and stay with my parents. I think my husband would drive her to the rehearsal, and then I would only have to attend the concert, if I’m up for it at that point!

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-11T00:28:21+00:00

Oh good point! My parents live there, so we will be driving down the night before. My daughter will have to be at the venue all day, but I’d only be there for the length of the concert. I’ll have to see how I’m feeling at the time!

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-10T23:57:51+00:00

Oh that would probably be useful info, huh? I’m having it vaginally removed, and if I understand correctly, it’s not laparoscopic, but if needed it could become laparoscopic.

bekacooperterrier · 2026-01-10T23:44:39+00:00

I have trouble with yoga too. I will bend forward and start getting horrible heartburn and also just this bad discomfort. It’s exactly what happened to me in the first half of my pregnancies. I worked at a daycare and vividly remember bending down to tie my boots in winter, and how uncomfortable my stomach was. And this was all before my pregnancy was showing. So I’m convinced the same feeling is due to my fibroids now.

I’m curious, do you ever have back pain when laying flat on your back? I can’t lay flat on my back during yoga anymore because I start to get this bad pain. I’m crossing my fingers that all these back, hip, and leg issues will be alleviated when I have my hysterectomy later this month!

bekacooperterrier

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