u/SourGhxst

Once I started being homeschooled in the 3rd grade my parents stopped taking me to get shots and became specifically anti-vax during the pandemic (especially my father). I need to catch up on my vaccines if I want to go to college so I found a low cost clinic online and set up an appointment. I was really worried about the price, I'm technically insured and 18 but with my dad being as anti-medicine as he is I was worried he would freak out if he saw a charge on there (it's his work insurance I am under). So at the clinic I explained my issues and after talking with each other a bit they let me get the vaccines for free, they said they "loved seeing young women take charge of their health" lol. I have a few follow-up appointments but am otherwise on track to being fully vaccinated ^^

So I just started learning ASL literally today, I am not deaf nor do I know anyone who is irl but I do want to be a polygot and I figured it would be nice to know living near D.C. maybe I could go to that Starbucks if I get proficient enough :,3

Anyhow, I looked up the alphabet and got started, I couldn't have been signing for more than 10 minutes and just ended up stopping because of the pain. I did it with my dominant hand at first but then switched to my non dominant one bc it hurt so much, the non dominant one was better but I'm wondering if I should even learn at all? When I looked it up most people said they hadn't experienced pain unless they worked as a teacher or were signing all day, etc. I do know that sometimes people who learn to sign later in life can have more issues but this feels excessive.

I mainly want to know if others have/are going through pain while signing, I kinda feel like I'm crazy. I do want to tough this out and build up some muscles for it but in the meantime is there any way to deal with the pain?

(p.s. I'm fairly certain I'm doing the signs correctly, even if I wasn't it shouldn't have caused me that much pain that fast)

I'm 18 and have been applying for over a year now, got my first interview a few days ago and was rejected. I understand it's rare to get a job on your first interview, and that the job market is completely garbage rn, but I still cried over it. I've been trying for so long to do this so I can get away from my family but nothing is working. On top of it all I feel like a complete loser for not having a job by now.

Truthfully, I needed a job ages ago, I'm fearing now that even if I did get a job, that it's too late for me to do anything and that I won't be able to leave for college in this fall.

I have no real job experience other than babysitting, I don't have a car or license so I can't to doordash (Or something similar). Any advice on how to get a job or maybe how to find scholarships (I swear they're impossible to find rn) would be extremely appreciated.