u/Yourmother102

I’ve never had a laptop and I really don’t want to have to buy one for college. I literally just got my iPad a new case and functions similarly to a full laptop. Is it genuinely required, or is an iPad sufficient?

I (17F), just got into a fight with my parents about birth control. This has been a topic of contention in my family for a while, and I have firmly stated that I am not comfortable taking birth control due to the side effects and risks.

Their main concern is that I have been in a two year long relationship with my boyfriend, and we are going to college within 40 minutes of each other. Both him and I have expressed that we don’t feel the need to have sex with each other. We have not had sex, and we don’t plan on having any. Even if we did, I track my period, which is regular, and condoms are readily available on both of our college campuses.

I’ve told them reasonably before that I’m not comfortable with it, and I understand that they’re just trying to watch out for me. However, I am just not comfortable taking the pill, or the shot, or the IUD. I have heard about so many negative side effects and it’s unsettling. I’m an athlete with a regular period and regular symptoms. I have no desire to change that because if it gets messed up then it impacts my performance too. I expressed all of this to them, but they are demanding I still take it.

Today, they sat me down to have another conversation about it, and I finally got upset about it. I told them I don’t want to take birth control, and I told them all of these reasons why. They said that I’m being selfish for not considering it, but I have considered it. I did the research on it and I’m still not comfortable with it. Their version of a “compromise” was that they’ll let me take the pill. Which is by far the worst one. I’m quite literally about to give in, go to the doctor and get the prescription, and just throw out the birth control because I’m so done with this fight. I’m so tired of the conversation and the fighting about it but I just don’t want to take birth control, but they said they won’t pay for college if I don’t take it and I just feel so trapped. I feel like an asshole, but I also know that I’m just trying to stand up for myself and my medical decisions

Edit 1: i did not mention this before bc I didn’t realize it was important: I am going to a HISTORICALLY WOMENS COLLEGE. I do appreciate the concern over being raped and it’s definitely something I’ll watch out for, but there are very few men on campus!

Edit 2: I do not have a problem with acne, or irregular periods, or heavy bleeding or cramping. Just thought I’d reiterate that there is literally no secondary reason to take it. There is nothing to regulate in my cycle because it regulates itself. My family has an increased risk for breast cancer, and I’ve seen that while on birth control you have an increased risk of breast cancer. Sure I can prevent ovarian cancer or whatever, but that’s not what runs in my family. My parents still have me see my pediatrician, who is my mom’s good friend. I don’t have a lot of options to even see doctors because I don’t have a car for a good majority of the day (my brother uses the car in the morning and afternoon…so theres not much I can do about that)

kangaskhan is my last pokemon in the Kanto pokedex. I will be in Tokyo for gofest pls lmk if you can trade/any counteroffers

I feel like a fraud for involving myself in Korean culture. I’m 75% white and 25% Korean, and incredibly white passing (typical, as Asian features become more muted or disappear in the second generation). I feel more culturally Korean than I do miscellaneous white. I just feel like I look kind of ridiculous and that I‘m being labeled as one of those white people that glorify Asian culture and fail to see the negative. I grew up way closer to my Korean grandmother (halmeoni) than my white relatives, and I participated in many traditional Korean cultural ceremonies. I‘ve been learning Korean from my halmeoni, and I’ve felt Korean ever since a child. Ffs I literally have a Korean middle name. I just feel like a fraud and that I’m perpetuating a culture that I don’t look like a part of at first glance (or second glance even). As I’ve gotten older and more conscious of my surroundings i feel like this dissonance has gotten more pronounced. Saying Korean phrases at Korean establishments, using chopsticks in public, bringing Korean food to work, all of those make me feel like those people who say they’re 2% Japanese and that they’re connecting with their culture while watching anime and eating Americanized sushi. I just don’t want to look like that and I’m beginning to grow more conscious of my public image and I just don’t know. I want to feel connected to my Korean heritage, and I am more connected now than I have ever before. I just don’t want to be associated with the fetishizing and over glorification of Japan and Korea that’s rampant in American society and I don’t know how to balance those two feelings