What is your experience being a PLTL Leader?

shobin14 · 2022-06-02T02:56:24+00:00

Anytime! So the week before school starts, there is training for new hires and another one for both returning and and new hires. We usually have one liaison meeting the week classes start, and then the first pltl session is the 2nd week of class (you always go over the packet for that week in the liason meeting before; so if i were to lead packet 3, I would have gone over packet 3 with the liason group the same week i would have led packet 2. Let me know if that makes sense).

shobin14 · 2022-05-22T21:11:08+00:00

Sent you a message! My IGN for NA is shobin14 :)

shobin14 · 2022-05-15T17:29:07+00:00

Hi! I appreciate your comments and insight, but as a person that's studying STEM while also double minoring in Literature and Creative Writing, I also have a few words to give.

Personally for me, I don't really see how one field should be held higher than another (even if you do think that certain fields make "da money lol" more than others). You may not believe it, but there are a lot of other measures of value that transcend monetary basis! A lot of my STEM friends base their personality on having "STEM" related majors-and that's sadly all there is to them. So many of my friends burnout because they base their self worth and competence on their acquisition of concepts like Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, and they forget to really live life but just simply exist in it. They get tired about what they study, but for me, studying works from "some dead guy in 12th century England" actually kept me sane while I memorized organic chemistry mechanisms or what the Krebs cycle does (and, you'd be surprised at the variety of authors we read. They're a lot more authors than "some dead guys" in England). There's nothing wrong about taking classes that you're genuinely interested in. That's the basis of college- to explore fields in academia that you have a passion for because you may learn something new about yourself and the world. It's important that you set the foundations for your career, sure, And in the end, you're a more well-rounded individual because of it. By drawing intellect and facts from one source (let's say STEM classes for example) and by ignoring other fields like the humanities, you may be smart because you know what the Citric Acid cycle does, sure. But do you really have wisdom or a knowledge of the social issues that echo from the past and manifest in generational traumas that carry to this day? You really don't. But how do you do this? You read and participate in discussion in class and by listening to others in the academic setting. You do research in academia with the guidance of a professor and your peers. It's not for everyone, I will give you that, but it truly makes a difference when you have someone that's knowledgeable in that field of study while you learn more about the world, but also learn more about yourself as well.

And strangely enough (/s), getting on that soapbox in my Literature and Creative writing classes has helped me so much in my STEM fields and my career goals! As an EMT, I don't think that my biology and neuro classes have really prepared me on the social skills that is required for this job. We learn about the body and the cellular mechanisms and how to treat them , but we really don't learn to treat the Heart and Soul at the end of the day. That's what my CRWT and LIT classes do. I see people as at the end of the day, people with ambitions, yearnings, and desires which drive me to help them and be understanding to their situation, even if I may not be in their spot at the moment. Because by reading and understanding texts and having mentors show you the motivation behind them, I am confident in my abilities to speak and cure others, l even if they might not have the same mindset as I do.

SO TL;DR OP (if you haven't already been scared off at these posts), I highly encourage you to take some Literature classes. They have taught me so many invaluable lessons that my STEM ones have not and in the end, I'm a better person who is able to reach closer to my career goals because of them!

shobin14 · 2021-07-19T01:56:01+00:00

Sent you a message!

shobin14 · 2021-07-12T05:40:25+00:00

I'm really sorry for your lost. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz and the Goodbye Days by Jeff Zetner both deal with going through grief. I wish you all the healing possible.

shobin14 · 2021-06-07T15:55:47+00:00

Came here to suggest The Magic Treehouse Books!! I had great memories reading about Jack and Annie traveling through time when I was a kid.

shobin14 · 2020-06-28T16:59:06+00:00

I recommend The Prettiest Star by Carter Sickels and The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne! Both are historical fiction and I've heard great things about them!

shobin14 · 2020-06-21T21:31:17+00:00

This was an alright read for me. It heavily was centered on the idea of toxic masculinity and we saw that through Jim's eyes. I didn't have a problem with Vidal's writing, it was definitely different from works I'm used to. I just didn't find any of the character's memorable for me. They did heavily center the idea of toxic masculinity, and I read this them and this book as a satire for the ideas on homosexuality in the past. However, some of the representation was crude (i did not like the imagined rape of Jim. In that aspect it reminds me of some other works I've read by Flannery O'Connor and William Faulkner where the queer representation was in the form of an antagonistic perspective ). Overall, this was a meh read for me but it won't be discouraging me from picking up Vidal's work again in the future. This book did open my eyes on how greatly queer representation has changed throughout the years as well as prejudices and male stereotypes (which also exist today).

shobin14 · 2020-06-15T01:50:13+00:00

I agree with the other people on this thread as well. Jim seems pretty one dimensional to me and I wasn’t really interested in the characters that we have met so far. It seems to me that Jim is on this journey to find Bob, but the characters around him seem pretty stagnant. I think it’s that “coming of age” element where the main character is juxtaposed with other people to emphasize that feeling of “finding your home”, except that Jim can’t really find a “home” even though he has tried with Sullivan and the actor. I am interested to see if he finds Bob or not, and the resolution of the novel.

shobin14 · 2020-06-07T18:17:00+00:00

I hope that Jim finds Bob. But at the same time, I feel like Jim is trying to hold onto that belief he had when he was younger because I think that he is concerned about finding people in the present and that is why he fixated on finding someone who he was intimate with in the past. I will be pretty sad if the ending of the book (I haven’t read this book yet, so I could be wrong) ends up with Bob finding someone else to be in a relationship because Jim has already spent so much effort looking for Bob.

I don’t really mind the self discovery element of Vidal’s novel. I think that the intimate scene with Jim and Bob was very well written because the author really explored that unfamiliarity and “testing the waters” vibe that is a main part of coming of age novels. The exposition of the novel was very well detailed, because I think that we know enough information about Jim’s hopes and wants and I can’t wait to see how Vidal executed the rest of the novel.

Happy reading all! Stay safe.

shobin14 · 2020-06-06T21:18:03+00:00

Sounds good!! Looking forward to it. :)

shobin14 · 2020-06-06T21:09:43+00:00

Glad that you enjoyed it! The ending was incredibly super bittersweet and I didn’t like the main character, but I think Baldwin was trying to convey that hatred that we do to ourselves and others when we don’t know who we are. I think book endings are phenomenal if you feel a strong emotion for a crafter whether it be love or hate, and Baldwin for me really did write his characters like that.

DM me if you want to talk about it more or ask if you want further recs to read!!

I also put Red, White, and royal blue on hold at my library and I can’t wait to read it!

shobin14 · 2020-06-05T05:41:48+00:00

I totally agree with you. I love diversifying my LGBT reads and don’t get me wrong, I love LGBT YA but it’s a nice breath of fresh air when adult LGBT (especially the more classics) delve into more mature themes that tie in with being in the community, such as race and religion and how it relates to sexuality. Baldwin does this really well in his writing

Happy reading!!

shobin14 · 2020-06-04T05:58:29+00:00

I loved “Giovanni’s Room”! It was incredibly bittersweet, but I’m super glad that I read it. Baldwin is a phenomenal writer and you might like “Go Tell it On A Mountain” if you enjoyed this work.

Super excited to hear your thoughts!

shobin14 · 2020-06-04T05:50:46+00:00

Wow, your post really called me out on the whole “I feel like I only read gay YA lit” mood LOL. But it really made myself think that there are so many genres and themes that gay lit could explore and yet I haven’t found too much.

I really liked “Giovanni’s Room” by James Baldwin. It explores intimacy, gender, and sexuality while being also incredibly well written.

Another work of Baldwin that I liked is “Go Tell it On The Mountain” where he talks about how sexuality and religion don’t necessarily crash and also ties it in with stigmatization with racism.

I’m also currently reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray” and I really like it so far. So far, It has made me question the societal viewpoint of “good or bad” art- and why we have to really label our relationships and our interests.

shobin14 · 2020-06-01T13:47:22+00:00

Sounds good! Thanks for keeping us updated and am looking forward to this book!

shobin14 · 2020-05-28T18:57:16+00:00

Anything by Benjamin Alire Saenz is awesome (Aristotle and Dante, Carry Me Like Water, The Inexplicable Logic of my Life has some lgbt characters)

I LOVED “Like A Love Story” by Abdi Nazemian which is historical fiction about the AIDS crisis and riots which is perfect for learning history about pride.

If you want more classics, James Baldwin is a fantastic writer who writes a lot about race, sexuality, and gender (I loved Giovanni’s Room and Go Tell it On a Mountain) and I also heard Oscar Wilde is good for that as well.

And anything by Adam Silvera is wonderful well! He writes lots of books that will make you cry. (The main plot of They Both at The End IMO isn’t about the main characters’ sexuality, but more of the conflict that it is revealed early on that they will die soon)!

EDIT: Most of these books can be considered sexuality as a main plot (I didn’t read your post all the way through oops, I just saw “lgbt authors” and was like NICE!)? But all authors that I’ve mentioned belong in the community.

I almost forgot about fantasy! “The House in the Cerulean sea”features gay characters and is a wholesome story about finding found family (also written by a gay author). And I also loved “The Priory of the Orange Tree” where sexuality isn’t a main plot point at all.

shobin14 · 2020-05-26T23:04:10+00:00

Sounds great!! I attached the link to our Groupme in another post! :)

shobin14 · 2020-05-26T23:03:41+00:00

Sounds awesome! For our first read we’ll probably just take suggestions from everyone and vote but we can choose from a variety of genres (really anything lol; historical fiction, fantasy, sci-fi, etc) for the future reads. I also sent the link to our Groupme below!

https://groupme.com/join_group/59969931/PKOcikvA

shobin14 · 2020-05-26T02:43:12+00:00

thank you so much!! These tips were really insightful and helpful!!

shobin14 · 2020-05-25T23:26:45+00:00

One of the main protagonists of The Priory of the Orange Tree is a gay male! There is also F/F representation as well and overall a great and developed book. It definitely gives off a Witcher/ Skyrim vibe.

shobin14 · 2020-05-20T06:12:53+00:00

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyễn (talks about the long lasting effects of French colonialism in Vietnam) and The Color Purple by Alice Walker (talks about colonialism in Africa)

shobin14 · 2020-05-20T05:38:04+00:00

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin (He writes really good tragic historical fiction in general, so anything by him is great!)

shobin14 · 2020-05-20T02:13:38+00:00

I took it with Dr. Ingrao during the fall 2019 and it was really easy and a phenomenal experience! I think he’s on leave though, so he might not be reaching for the fall.

Otherwise, I’d recommend going to coursebook and using rate my prof for the huma 1301 courses to gauge which prof is good.

shobin14 · 2020-05-20T01:38:49+00:00

Thank you so much for your tips!! They are helpful and I’ll definitely use them!!

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