#schev

So honestly, I kind of sat on this message for a long time because I was going to make a jokey response, then I was going to make a serious response, but I couldn't think about how to word the serious response.

A couple days ago I was walking around outside in the rain, and I was thinking about how much I might like to have been walking around in the rain with my boyfriend. And (as you, the asker, know) my boyfriend lives pretty far away from me like on the other side of the continent in Michigan, and we don't get to see each other a lot. I like seeing my boyfriend and it's nice to talk to him and be friends with him, but I don't want to see him all the time. I think this is the kind of thing that most romantic couples feel like, except the most obnoxious ones, but people seem to think my general reticence even from my boyfriend is a little odd (although BF seems okay with it so far).

Anyway while I was thinking about walking in the rain with my boyfriend, I was thinking about how much nicer it could have been if he lived closer to me so that we could do activities together. If he was closer and came over, I I wouldn't feel obligated to act like a "host", rather than a girlfriend who would just want to sit and relax with her boyfriend.

But like most thoughts, that was a pretty brief one, so then I was thinking while I was walking in the rain about how much I might like to go back to Japan some day. And I thought to myself, sort of offhandedly; wouldn't it be badass if I could just sit in an AirBnB for a bit in Japan and play some video games, but I was in Japan, so I was enjoying video games in Japan? And I'd have the leisure to go outside and do whatever I wanted in Japan, but I'd also have the leisure to come back and decompress from my day (in Japan)?

That was when the thought about your ask came to me, and I realized the commonality between my Japan-thought and my boyfriend-thought. Wouldn't it be nice if I had the leisure and the time in order to fully relax in my situation, instead of being expected to make the most of the situation, and logically knowing that my situation was limited in scope, so I should make the most of it?

I think as I've become an adult I've gotten used to a lot of external stimuli that I'm really sensitive to, as an autistic person. Still the differences between me and a "neurotypical" person are obvious and more vast than is immediately discerned by how I present. Sometimes there are times when I'm on a vacation and I think, I can't wait to get back to my hotel room so I can hole myself up in there and read a book or stare at the computer or hide under the covers and do nothing for several hours. Logically I know that I'm probably not the only person to feel this way, and this probably isn't an exclusive autistic experience. Anecdotally, my relatives and even some of my friends will all completely shut off from the world beyond their vacation for a few days and be completely happy with plunging themselves into this new stimulating experience immediately. I am The Weird One for slowly dipping my toes into it and then immediately needing to get back out of the pool again.

Virginia announces approval of new teacher education degrees and programs statewide

RICHMOND—Governor Ralph Northam announced Monday, June 24, that the state policy boards for elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education have approved 53 new teacher preparation programs and 25 new degrees that will allow graduates to become teachers after earning four-year degrees in education.

“We must remain focused on meeting the growing needs of our public education system to prepare…

Governor McAuliffe announces Affordable Pathways Grants to help students succeed

RICHMOND – Governor McAuliffe announced a new grant program today that will provide Virginia students with a clearer path to a higher education.

The Affordable Pathways grants (up to $140,000 each) will be awarded to as many as four public two- and four-year institutions of higher education. Grant recipients must have a partnership with a Pre-K-12 program and demonstrate how they would use the…

Gov. McAuliffe announces $1 million in cybersecurity scholarships

RICHMOND – Governor Terry McAuliffe announced Wednesday, Aug. 10, that applications are now being accepted for a $1 million state scholarship fund for students studying cybersecurity. The Virginia Cybersecurity Public Service Scholarship Program will award $20,000 a year to eligible Virginia students who are studying how to safeguard computer networks, data and electronic resources. In return,…

Midway through a statewide summit on college completion, the educators heard a tale of two high schools that underscored the uneven access to higher education in Virginia, even within regions.

Lakilya Parker, a May graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University, told of attending one school in Hampton Roads where “from the moment that we walked in the door the faculty held us to their highest expectations. They automatically assumed we all would do our best, we all would go to college.”

But when her family moved, she transferred to a school that “was totally different. There is an education gap.”

Trade programs were emphasized more, and sometimes community college, she said, but “a lot of my peers didn’t even know that college was an option for them” because they assumed they couldn’t afford it.

Enrollment at the state’s public universities is flat this academic year, with an overall increase of just 27 students for the fall semester at four-year institutions.

The State Council of Higher Education for Virginia issued its fall headcount report Tuesday that showed a total enrollment of 214,667, up slightly from 214,640 from fall 2012.

While undergraduate enrollment rose by 1,517 to 168,239 students, graduate enrollment fell by 1,389 students to 41,436. Enrollment in first professional programs also dropped, by 101 students to 4,992.

“The bottom line is, it’s not quite at the level we had in our projections in September,” council member Stephen D. Haner said in presenting the report.

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Giancarla Rojas is not an American citizen, but she has an American dream. The Falls Church resident has worked doggedly to become the first in her family to attend a four-year college, since her parents brought her here illegally from Bolivia as a child.

She won a reprieve to stay in this country under an Obama administration initiative, maintains a 3.8 GPA at a community college and has a résumé packed with volunteer work, but George Mason University is still out of reach.

The 19-year-old cannot afford the $29,000 a year out-of-state tuition Virginia charges for enrollees with her immigration status, so she and six other students filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Arlington County Circuit Court arguing that they should pay the same lower rates as other long-time Virginia residents.

The lawsuit marks the latest flashpoint in a heated national debate over whether to grant the benefit to children brought here illegally. Maryland became one of at least 17 states to do so last year, after vigorous opposition forced a referendum on a plan to grant in-state tuition discounts to undocumented college students. The issue is also the subject of litigation in Georgia and Arizona.

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