This is another video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. This is a CreepyPasta that I wrote and narrated myself. Enjoy!
How American Psycho Broke All The Rules (in A Good Way)
This is another video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. This video essay is an exploration of how American Psycho broke so many rules, as both a book and a movie, yet somehow succeeded.
Filed under Jack's World, movies, psychology, YouTube
Celebrating Summer (With A Personal Story About Sunburn And Sunscreen)
Summer is here!
If you’re a kid who has endured the past eight months of school or an adult who hates dressing in layers just to get the mail, it’s a wonderful time of year. I always looked forward to it as a kid, largely because I was so miserable at school. But even after I started working, I still looked forward to summer. No matter what job I had, it just felt less strenuous with the knowledge that pools were open and beach vacations were possible.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve only come to appreciate summer even more. I wasn’t able to do much traveling for a couple years. Now, my summer travel plans are largely back to normal. That usually means I’ll be taking multiple trips to the beach and I’ll be spending a good chunk of that time lounging about, reading comics under the sun, and hanging out with friends and family. Just thinking about it makes me feel more relaxed.
And I encourage everyone to take time this summer to enjoy themselves. It doesn’t matter if that involves a trip to the beach, a walk in the park, or eating ice cream on a hot day. We all should get out and enjoy this time of year. It’s good for us on so many levels.
But, like with any activity, seasonal or otherwise, there are risks and precautions. Most are minor. If you have a lick of common sense, you already know what to do and you’ll be fine. But in the spirit of celebrating this time of year, I’d like to share a personal story that I hope reminds everyone why these precautions are worth taking. And it involves sunburns and sunscreen.
I know it’s a common concern. Go to any beach, pool, or summer hot spot and chances are someone will urge you to put on sunscreen. For some, it’s more important than others. And that definitely applies to me.
Since I was a kid, I’ve always burned easily. Whereas my sisters always seem to get a nice tan by spending time in the sun, my brother and I always burn and burn badly. Even when we use sunscreen, we can get burned. Granted, that’s often a result of us not applying enough of it. But that doesn’t make the burn hurt any less. I could recount plenty of stories about times when I got nasty sunburns that took weeks to heal.
But one story in particular will always stand out and I hope that by sharing it, others will take applying sunscreen more seriously.
This is a pretty recent story as well, taking place only about six years ago. That’s important because it happened while I was a capable, functioning adult. It’s one thing for kids to get sunburned. They’re stubborn and short-sighted. I know I certainly was and I ended up with plenty of burns that left lasting impressions. So, by this point in my life, I had no excuses.
It happened during a memorable 4th of July trip to the beach. I took an extended vacation so that I could travel to the beach to meet up with some friends and family. We were going to spend some time at the shore, enjoy some fireworks, and have a cookout. It was a perfect setup for the 4th of July holiday and I was so ready to enjoy it.
On the first day I was there, I met up with my dad and we spent almost the entire day lounging at the beach. It was a perfect summer day. It was hot, but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. You really couldn’t have asked for better weather for a holiday weekend.
Knowing this, I did make it a point to apply plenty of sunscreen. I tried to cover every part of my body that usually burned quickly. I promised myself that this trip wasn’t going to result in some painful burn that would obscure an otherwise perfect summer trip. Sadly, I couldn’t keep that promise.
While I did use over half a bottle of sunscreen to smother most of my body, there was one particular part I missed. It was a small patch just around the tops of my feet. That’s not normally a part of my body on which I apply sunscreen, mostly because I wear sneakers all the time, even in hot weather. So, in my rush to get down to the beach, I missed that part. And the summer sun punished me for it.
The day at the beach was still great. It was the first time in weeks that I could just sit down, relax, and not worry about all the other stuff that was going on my life. It also gave me some quality time with my dad, which I always enjoy. That was all great and totally worth it. But it wasn’t until later that evening I realized something.
The tops of my feet hurt like hell.
When I tried putting my shoes on to go out for dinner, the pain was really bad. And that’s when I found out what had happened. The tops of my feet were badly sunburned. The rest of my body was fine. The parts that usually got burned easily were unaffected. I even had a slight tan in some areas. But the patch of burns on my feet were bright red with burns.
I know it’s not fun to have any part of your body sunburned. But trust me, burning the tops of your feet is especially painful. It’s not just that it makes wearing shoes and socks a test in pain tolerance. The mere act of taking a shower becomes difficult. I found that out the hard way the next morning. For the rest of the trip, I had to be careful with what I wore on my feet and what I did. The burns were just that bad.
As painful as it was, I still had fun during that trip. It didn’t keep me from enjoying my time at the beach or the various 4th of July festivities that came with it. But it did help reinforce the importance of sunscreen for me. Since then, I’ve become much more thorough when it comes to applying it for a trip to the beach or pool. And you can rightly assume that I’ll always put a little extra on my feet.
Again, I encourage everyone to get out there and enjoy this summer. Go to the beach. Go to the pool. Go to a cookout with friends and family. Enjoy the sun and the warmth. Just be safe and responsible. You don’t want to deal with sunburns more than you have to. And you especially don’t want to deal with burns on your feet.
Filed under Current Events, Jack Fisher's Insights, real stories
Jack Quick Reacts: Across The Spider Verse
This is another video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. This video is my quick reaction to Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. This visually stunning world continues the story of Miles Morales, Spider-Gwen, Peter B. Parker, and a host of other Spider-Man characters throughout the multiverse. Enjoy!
Filed under Jack's World, Marvel, Spider-Man, superhero comics, superhero movies, YouTube
Happy Memorial Day 2023!
Today is Memorial Day.
Here in the United States of America, it’s often celebrated as the unofficial start of summer. The school year is ending for most kids. Pools, beaches, and theme parks are opening full-time. And most start planning ambitious vacations.
But the true heart of this day has always been about military veterans and honoring their service. As someone who has multiple relatives who served, as well as grandparents who fought in major wars, it’s certainly a day worth cherishing.
In recent years, the many issues veterans face has become more relevant. Beyond the immense physical and mental toll that comes with war, the sacrifice they make to serve is not to be taken lightly. Just look up the training that’s demanded of them. Look up what they have to endure before they ever venture near a war zone.
Whether they serve in the army, navy, marines, air force, or coast guard, the demands we put on them are high. And the debt we, as a country, incur for their service is far higher. And sadly, we don’t always honor those debts as well as we should.
There’s certainly a larger discussion to be had about how we treat and care for our veterans, especially those who have suffered serious injury from their service. But today, let’s take a moment to simply acknowledge and thank these remarkable individuals for what they do.
They chose to serve their country.
They chose to put their bodies, their minds, and their hearts on the line for others.
They committed themselves to a standard and an idea that embodies the best this country has to offer.
Let’s celebrate them. Let’s honor them.
If you can, please consider donating to a major military charity. Or volunteer to assist a veteran or organization.
They gave all of themselves to this country so that we could continue to survive and prosper. Let’s use today to return the favor.
Happy Memorial Day!
Filed under Current Events
Why Do We Root For Characters Like Bojack Horseman?
This is another video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. This video is about unlikable characters and why we root for them. There have been no shortage of such characters over the years. But few have really resonated as much as Bojack Horseman. There are so many things unlikable about this character and over the course of his show, he does many objectively awful things. And yet, he’s still someone I found myself rooting for. Why is that? Why do we feel this way about certain characters? I don’t claim to know the answer, but I make an effort in this video. Enjoy!
Filed under Bojack Horseman, television, writing, YouTube
Sexy Short Story: Homecoming Loving
The following is a sexy short story inspired by a notification I got about a high school reunion. I didn’t enjoy high school and I imagine many others didn’t, either. Hopefully, this story helps in some small way. Enjoy!
“Here we are…Ridgeway High School…for the first time in ten years,” mused Lorilee “Lori” Ming.
“It’s remarkable,” said her fiancé, Lance Marlow. “The old nightmare factory has changed, but not too much.”
“Not nearly enough, from the looks of it.”
“I want to say it made us strong, but…”
Lance’s words trailed off. He just kept staring back at the structure he once dreaded, squeezing Lori’s hand tightly and holding her closer. She squeezed back, needing no further reminders of what they experienced at Ridgeway High School. The memories were still so vivid.
She and Lance did not have an ideal youth. It wasn’t entirely because of their experience in high school, but those years were the ultimate manifestation of so many hardships. When she was ten-years-old, her parents split up after multiple acts of cheating and several violent outbursts from her father. Finding out her older sister was fathered by another man certainly didn’t help, either.
Lance’s circumstances weren’t much better. He didn’t even know who his dad was. His mother also couldn’t confirm the biological fathers of his two siblings, Dana and Marleen. That didn’t stop her from conning several men into paying her child support. But it did hinder her ability to be the kind of caring mother he needed, especially after he endured a number of health problems as a kid.
Their troubled home life eventually bled into high school and in all the wrong ways. Between his health issues and his mother’s reputation as the town harlot, he was an easy target to pick on. Lori became a target too after a series of public outbursts that closely mirrored her parents. It didn’t take much to set her off. And some of her mischievous peers thought it was funny to push her buttons. Something as simple as a snide remark about her hair was all it took.
“This place brought out the worst in us,” Lori said under her breath. “I hate what it made me. And I hate how I dealt with it.”
She turned to her fiancé and buried her face in his shoulder, hiding the light sobs that overcame her. Lance remained stern and strong, as he often did during difficult times. It was one of the many traits that drew her to him. While they didn’t start dating until after high school, they both knew each other. And they understood and appreciated one another’s plight.
She and Lance watched one another endure years of frustration, mishaps, and emotional damage. They also watched one another hit rock bottom. Lance had an emotional breakdown his senior year when he made himself sick on purpose in hopes of losing weight. Lori managed to get herself suspended after another violent outburst against someone who joked about her sisters. They actually first connected in the principal’s office that day. It ended up being a major turning point because that was when they started turning their lives around.
“Surviving this place was a necessary step,” said Lori. “Meeting you was an unexpected twist.”
“And a damn good one,” said Lance. “That might have been the first lucky break in my life to that point.”
“I’d say better late than never, but that would be insensitive.”
“Wouldn’t make it any less accurate,” he said with a weak smile.
Lori smiled back, hiding more sobs. Looking away from the school and towards the man she loved, the less bleak parts of her life came into focus.
It started with therapy. Lori had to undergo a lot of therapy to confront and deal with her many personal issues. Lance went through therapy too, but he also committed himself to being less sickly. Getting away from his mother and her abusive nature certainly helped. But he also had to work with doctors and trainers to lose weight, get off old medications, and improve his health.
While they were going through this process, they attended the same community college. That was where they started dating. They actually watched one another improve from the complete mess they’d been in high school, eventually becoming functional adults – a feat few in their graduating class thought was possible.
It still took years to build better lives for themselves. It wasn’t until Lance secured his job as a social worker that he proposed to her. And Lori accepted, even before she landed a full-time job as a paralegal. It might have been easier for both of them to just forget the awful years they spent at Ridgeway High School completely. That was certainly their preferred recourse.
Then, they got an invitation to their ten-year reunion. And instead of throwing it away, they both agreed to confront this horror. They even traveled back to their hometown, arriving the day before the festivities – just to take in and process the scene before them.
“I’m kind of glad we’re doing this,” Lance said, breaking the silence.
“Kind of?” Lori said with a raised eyebrow.
“I don’t like revisiting these painful memories. And I certainly don’t like being somewhere that made me so miserable,” he explained. “But at the same time…this is something we had to confront.”
“I don’t know that we had to,” she retorted, “but I see where you’re coming from. It does feel oddly therapeutic.”
“We can never undo the hardships we endured. And there’s only so much we can do to deal with the memories,” Lance went on. “But because of this place, I met you. And now we’re about to build a life together.”
Lori had to fight more sobs at such a tender sentiment. But she didn’t mind losing that fight.
“That’s…a beautiful thought, Lance,” she said, wiping away some tears. “It almost seems inappropriate for a place like this.”
“That gonna keep you from kissing me?”
“Hell no!”
She smiled warmly and he smiled back. He then embraced her tightly and gave a deep, affectionate kiss on the lips. Lori gladly returned the gesture, letting some of the pent-up emotions flow freely.
Being back at Ridgeway High School was difficult. They had visited the campus a day early just to give themselves a chance to process it all. Even though it brought back many painful memories, there was something profound about returning together. They had gone from two very broken individuals with many personal problems to an engaged couple, preparing to move forward with their lives instead of just healing from the past.
In that same moment, and within this powerful gesture, another bold feeling came over Lori. While kissing and embracing her finance, her eyes glanced briefly to the nearby football field, which was often empty this time of year. She then started kissing Lance deeper and with a more sensual undertone, her gestures sending clear, unambitious signals about what she desired.
“Umm…Lori?” Lance said, breathless as their lips parted, but their bodies remained close.
“Do me, Lance,” said Lori in a blunt, but impassioned tone. “Do me right now…on the 50-yard-line…for this school we both hate.”
That came off as more aggressive than she’d intended, but the grin on her fiancé’s face still widened. And while Lance was usually one to overthink an opportunity like this, he gladly made an exception.
“Meh. What’s the worst they could do? Suspend us?” he joked.
“They might still try,” she quipped. “So let’s make sure it’s worth it!”
They both laughed. They then kissed again, their embrace and gestures becoming more playful. But with the sun rapidly setting over the campus, Lori knew they had to move with urgency. So, with renewed energy and purpose, she latched onto Lance’s arm and led him towards the football field.
They moved swiftly and with purpose, sharing more excitement in that moment than they had since the day they left this accursed high school. Arriving at the football field, more memories came rushing back – memories of cheering classmates, raucous games, and meaningless school spirit. Neither one of them had a chance to enjoy the more typical rigors of adolescence. The school and their peers had robbed them of that.
Now, they were getting back at them in their own special way.
“Right here! Right on the school logo!” Lori said, practically tugging at Lance’s arm.
“Ground zero for Ridgeway pride? I love it!” he said.
“Shut up and start stripping, love.”
Lori led by example, swiftly slipping off her T-shirt, undoing her bra, and sliding out of her shorts. Lance caught up, getting his shirt and pants off almost as fast as he did the night he proposed to her.
She was down to her panties. He was down to his boxers. Standing with him in the middle of this field filled her with a strange kind of energy – the kind that quickly morphed into a strong arousal between her legs. Sharing that energy, Lance took her in his arms once more and laid her down atop the neatly cut grass. He then proceeded to make out with her like the horny teenagers that once populated this school.
“Kiss me…touch me…do everything the health teachers told us not to do!” said Lori.
Lance snickered, letting out one of those deep, masculine grunts he knew drove her wild. He drove her even more wild with some skilled, targeted foreplay.
He caressed her breasts, licked around her nipples, rubbed his thigh between her legs, and let the weight of his body press down against hers. It was more than enough to send Lori into a sexual frenzy, her heart and her loins in overdrive at the prospect of making love to Lance in such a bold setting.
It led her to reach for the waistband of his boxers and pull them down, freeing the growing erection they had barely contained. He returned the favor by slipping off her panties, leaving them both completely naked and completely exposed in this very open field. It added an element of danger to their sex. It also inspired Lori to take a very specific approach.
After a bit more of heavy foreplay, she shifted their bodies into a new position.
“Here…I’ll suck you off. You eat me out,” Lori said.
“Our health teacher definitely advised against this,” Lance commented.
“Which is why we should do it and enjoy it!”
Lance offered no argument. He gladly followed Lori until they were lying on their sides in a prefect 69 position – her facing his erect penis and him facing her engorged vagina. Nature must have been cheering them on because a warm breeze blew over the field, as if to encourage them to keep going. They gladly got the message.
Lance made the first move, pushing her thighs apart and burying his face in her womanhood. Lori made the next, grasping the base of his cock before enveloping his length between her lips. A succession of purrs and grunts followed, their naked bodies shifting and writhing together at the pleasure they evoked in one another.
It was beautifully harmonious while also being undeniably raunchy. This was reckless and probably illegal. But that didn’t stop them. It just motivated them to go the extra mile.
“Sucking a dick…getting my pussy eaten out…and enjoying every goddamn minute of it! And at a place that made me miserable for four years!”
The enthusiasm and energy really showed. Lori sucked harder and faster than she usually did when giving oral pleasure to her lover. Lance matched her every step of the way, plunging his tongue into her womanly folds and stimulating all the sensitive areas he knew so well. It might have made more sense to save this kind of passion for their honeymoon. But this felt like it would be more fulfilling in the long run.
Their shared efforts showed in the results. Lori felt Lance’s cock become fully erect between her lips. She was also very wet between her legs, ready for sex and not the gentle kind. Their bodies were on the same page. It was just a matter of who would make the next move.
“Take me,” Lori said through another breezy gust.
Like a reflex, they repositioned themselves again. Lori laid on her back again and Lance got on top of her. She then spread her legs, wrapped them around her waist, and drew him closer as they aligned their bodies for sex. Their eyes now locked – their gaze a mix of boldness and passion – Lori urged him to complete this reckless act.
With a thrust of his hips and a subtle shift of hers, they did it. Lance entered her waiting depths with his hardened flesh, penetrating her moist folds so smoothly and easily. Their flesh now entwined, they started moving together – making love to one another – indulging in this sweet feeling in a domain that had brought them so much misery.
“We’re doing this, Lori. We’re really…really…doing this,” Lance panted in between movements.
“Yes, Lance! We’re doing this!” she exclaimed. “We’re making love…right here…at Ridgeway High School!”
From there, an outpouring of pent-up emotions mixed perfectly with a familiar passion. The desire to make love and the desire to confront old demons converged in this reckless, but exhilarating act of intimacy. It was also quite energetic and heated.
Every thrust of the hips was more fervent and focused.
Every undulation was more intense, their naked bodies moving with greater purpose and poise.
Lance treated it like a retort to everyone in high school who made fun of him for being overweight and out of shape. Now, here he was making love to his beautiful fiancé with an intensity that would leave most men winded. Lori eagerly encouraged him, moaning loudly and joyously as he stimulated her innards with his ravenous humping. She raked her fingers down his back, moved her hips in conjunction with his, and showered him with messy, affectionate kissing.
It was wild, but in the best possible way. Together, she and Lance laughed, moaned, and gasped into the dusk of the warm summer night. They also mixed it up along the way, rolling about on the well-cut grass of the football field, making love in various positions. At one point, Lance flipped her onto all fours and thrust into her from behind. He also lightly pulled her hair back while squeezing her butt, something he knew drove her wild.
And as she took in this feeling, Lori looked back towards the school with a mix of bliss and disdain.
“You seeing this, Ridgeway?” she shouted at the building. “I’m back! I’m naked! And I’m fucking my future husband on your football field! Fuck you! Fuck you!”
Lori kept repeating that vulgar mantra as she shifted her torso upwards, which allowed her to reach down to her pelvis and fondle her clitoris through the motions. Lance reached down and helped, placing his hand atop her and applying some extra pressure.
That, along with her vulgar insults to the school, helped send her over the edge. And she achieved orgasm in a way she would not soon forget.
“Oohhhh fuck yes!” Lori shouted.
She made sure she was still staring at the school, as though she wanted to ghosts of her high school years to see her O-Face. She grinned with extra glee, biting her lower lip and arching her back as waves of pleasure rocked her body from within.
It felt so good, like many of the other orgasms she’d enjoyed with Lance. But having it here in a place that gave her so much misery just made it feel even better.
It was a feeling she wanted Lance to enjoy as well.
“You’re turn, love!” Lori said, still beaming from the ecstasy.
She took charge of their lovemaking. It almost caught Lance by surprised. His eyes widened with surprise as she turned around, pinned him on his back, and mounted him like an animal in heat. But a smile never left his face. And that smile widened even as she straddled his waist, lowered herself back down onto his sex, and started riding him with focused intent.
“Oh God! Lori…so beautiful,” Lance gasped.
It must have been quite a sight, watching her ride him with the light of the setting sun in the background. She made sure to give him plenty to admire, grasping his waist and dancing atop him in a special lover’s dance. She even squealed with delight as he reached up to fondle her bouncing breasts, pinching her nipples again as she guided him to his share of the ecstasy.
His grunts and gasped intensified.
Lori sensed he was close, feeling his manhood tense inside her depths in anticipation.
She watched with playful affectionate as his expression tensed in anticipation of his release. She leaned over, steadied her movements, and gave him something to focus on for that final push. When the feeling hit, he let out a cry of elation that echoed throughout the campus.
“Ohhh fuck yeah!”
His choice of vulgar proclamations was so fitting. Lori snickered under her breath while still caressing his face, watching as her lover took in the pleasure.
She felt his body shudder under her, his hardened flesh throbbing inside her as he filled her womb with his hot seed. The warmth that followed perfectly complemented the evening breeze that washed over the field. While Lance processed his bliss, she took his hands in hers and held them close to her chest.
“I love you, Lance,” she told him.
“I love you too,” Lance replied. “I love you as much as I hated high school.”
“And that…is how I know our love is special.
“Special enough to make tomorrow’s reunion bearable?”
“Definitely!”
Lori grinned at her future husband and he grinned back. They then kissed before parting their flesh. However, they were in no hurry to get dressed. They opted to linger in the afterglow, curled up on the 50-yard-line to further cement this moment into their memories.
Life had not been easy. Their experience at Ridgeway High School was a uniquely dark time for them. But they endured. They found each other. And after ten years of rebuilding their lives, they returned to the site of that darkness. They couldn’t undo everything that made high school so awful. But they could lay the foundation of something better.
And that was exactly what they did on the 50-yard-line in their own special way.
Filed under Sexy Short Story
Superman Earth One Video: The Most Underrated Man Of Steel
This is another video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. This video is me highlighting and celebrating Superman: Earth One, a 2012 graphic novel from DC Comics that gave us a unique version of the Man of Steel. Superman has had many iterations over the years. Some are more memorable than others. But Superman: Earth One gave us something special. As a story and a take on this iconic character, it delivered a Superman that has only gotten better with age. And I break down why in this video. Enjoy!
Filed under DC Comics, Jack's World, superhero comics, writing, YouTube
Why High School Exams Were Harder Than Most Jobs I’ve Had
As I’m writing this, a great many school-age kids in middle school and high school are anxious for summer to begin. For many school districts in the United State, the end of the school year is in sight. It no longer seems so far away and so out of reach. I imagine many are already counting down the days until that magical moment when the final bell rings and school is out for the summer.
I know that wait can be agonizing, at times.
I have not forgotten the elation I often felt on the last day of school
But before any students get to that wondrous moment, they have one last obstacle to face. It involves the last round of standardized tests and exam. It may vary from district to district, but this is usually the time of year when most students take the SATs, AP and IP exams, or a general final exam for each class. They are often among the most difficult and stressful tests of the entire year. I haven’t forgotten how hard they were, either. And while I’ve already made my opinions on standardized testing clear, I’d like to use this moment to share another insight.
Back in high school, I took a number of AP exams during this time of year. And towards my junior and senior year, I also took final exams that often required much more studying than your standard quiz. I took many similar exams in college, but most of those varied in that they didn’t rely entirely on scantron sheets and multiple-choice tests. To date, it was those major exams towards the end of high school that ended up being the hardest test I ever took.
I vividly remember staying up late at night during the days leading up to the test, often going over page after page of notes that weren’t always well-organized. I also remember reading over textbooks again and again, but still struggling to remember key points. It resulted in many restless nights. On the nights before tests, I often laid awake in my bed, going over notes and concepts that I knew I had to remember for the exam the next day.
It was not healthy. I can’t overstate how stressful this was for me.
Even though I ended up passing and even acing some of these exams, the work I had to put in just didn’t feel worth it. And in the grand scheme of things, I don’t feel like all that studying helped me actually learn the concept. Even if I passed or aced the exam, I genuinely can’t remember any helpful knowledge coming from it.
However, this harrowing experience did have one important impact. But I wouldn’t feel it until I graduated college and started working in the real world.
Looking back on all the jobs I’ve had since college, including the ones I found really terrible, I don’t think I’ve ever been as stressed or as anxious as I was when studying or taking those tests. That’s not to say all the jobs I’ve had were easy, by comparison. They certainly weren’t. I’ve had a number of jobs over the years in which I’ve come home feeling sore, drained, and miserable. But even on my busiest days at those jobs, I still didn’t feel nearly as stressed.
And I think that’s an important perspective to share because I imagine there are a lot of young people right now worrying about what the adult world has in store for them. Their only real experience with hard work and stress comes from school. They’re constantly told by teachers, counselors, and administrators that the work their doing now is critical. And it’s meant to prepare them for the much harder work they’ll face in college or the adult world.
If someone out there has been telling you that, I’ve got an important message for you.
Unless you plan on being a doctor or lawyer or a sweatshop laborer, that’s not accurate. That’s just administrators trying to get you to work harder so that you’ll get better grades, which consequently makes them look better. The truth is never that simplistic. And you often don’t find that out until much later in life and after some significant life experience.
But even if you don’t have that experience, you can still maintain a better perspective than I ever did when I was young. I made the mistake of treating every major exam like a defining moment in my life. I genuinely believed that if I didn’t ace every test, my life would fall apart and I would fail at everything moving forward. I also believed that each passing year would get harder and harder. Eventually, I’d have to spend every waking hour studying or working, never having time to enjoy my life. Again, it was not healthy. I did real harm to my mental health by thinking that.
I eventually had to learn that both college and the adult world don’t have to be this never-ending toil of joyless rigor. Once you have some agency and guidance, you can chart your own path. Yes, you’ll still have to work. And yes, you’ll still have to struggle at times. But it’s not nearly as arduous as these exams and the teachers who give them make them out to be. In time, they will be a small sliver of a much richer life.
To date, I don’t think I’ve ever worked as hard or been as stressed out as I was when taking my high school exams from this time of year. Every job I’ve had came with challenges. But rising to those challenges never felt so tedious and arduous. On top of that, I actually got paid for that effort. That definitely took some of the stress out of it. And even in the worst jobs I’ve had, there was a general structure and logic to it all. I knew what I had to do and why. Whereas with school, it was just a matter of doing what the teachers said and getting the grades they said you needed to get.
Time, life experiences, and the benefit of hindsight has helped me see those exams for what they were. As agonizing as they were, a part of me is grateful that they hardened me to the rigors of hard work and stressful nights. Compared to my last few years of high school, every job I’ve had has been less stressful and more manageable. That helped make navigating the adult world easier in the long run.
Even so, I wouldn’t wish that kind of stress on anyone. And I sincerely hope anyone reading this who’s still in school can gain some insight from what I’ve shared.
I know it’s still so overwhelming, having the end of the school year be so close, yet having to navigate final exams.
I know it seems like your entire life revolves around school and these tests, at the moment.
I only ask that you take a step back and appreciate that these challenges will help make you stronger in the long run. You need not fear what comes next. Because if you can survive high school even slightly better than I did, then I promise you’re already strong enough to build a brighter future for yourself in the years to come.
Filed under Current Events, Jack Fisher's Insights, philosophy, rants, real stories
Why The Death Of Ms. Marvel Is Dumb (Amazing Spider-Man #26 Spoilers)
This is another video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. #msmarvel #spiderman #amazingspiderman #kamalakhan In this video, I react to the news that Ms. Marvel is set to die in Amazing Spider-Man #26 and why it’s an objectively dumb move for comic run that has been incredibly frustrating for fans.
Filed under Jack's World, Marvel, Ms. Marvel, Spider-Man, superhero comics, writing, YouTube
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