u/onlyupsfromhere

My friends forgot my sweet 16

Hey, guys, this happened like a month ago, but I need to know if I had the right to feel sad or frustrated or if I need to reconsider my friendship with my friends (obviously, for me to say this later part means that there have been other instances that have made me feel this way, but to talk about those would making this post 30x longer.)

So, per the title, my friends (we're a group of 5 girls who became friends around the beginning of high school. I was personally friends with 2 of the girls before we got into a group,p and then we just all became friends) forgot my birthday when I turned 16. I was really busy in July (working 2 jobs + summer school), so it was a bit challenging to find a date to celebrate. For a bit of clarification about my jobs - they're summer jobs (however, you have the option to extend throughout the school year; they just renew your contract), and I have to reach a certain number of hours by the end of August. My shifts are such that I could only afford to miss one shift, which I had to because I got sick in early July. We decided on the 31st (of July) after one of my shifts, when I would be getting off work early. It would just be a cute dinner party since I wasn't able to coordinate a bigger party.

Anyway, on the 15th, none of them texted happy birthday, and only when I confronted them about it (because I'm not staying silent) about how that made me feel, only 2 of the girls out of 4 (since w/ me we're 5) did wish me a happy birthday. I think the part that really erks me the most is that they made a lame excuse for not wishing me a happy birthday when it's clear they forgot. One of the girls, "A" - which was oen of the girls I became friends with first as we met each other during my high school's admissions process and interview stage said - and I'm paraphrasing here: "I'm so sorry we forgot but if you were able to actually meet on July 12 then we would have probs remembered or like have celebrated and remembered" (something like that). I called her out, saying that a simple birthday text doesn't require having to hang out on a date I'm clearly not available for. The other friend, "B," did an exchange Francence for a new months prior (during the skl year), and her excuse was that "in France it's good luck to wish someone a happy birthday later" & apologized - which is a total bs excuse.

Fast forward to July 31st, when we celebrate & idk if I was just oversensitive about what happened, but they arrived at my dinner party late (like ~10 mins) and only let me know after I called them (no heads up). It seems like they hung out before @ a park and were taking transit to the restaurant. No problem with them hanging out since it's like our schedules don't perfectly align, but I feel like being late, considering that I just had a 7-hour shift after forgetting to wish me happy birthday, is pretty shitty - idk. So we celebrated; it was cute, took lots of photos, and I had a great time. Towards the end, we planned to get ice cream and open the gift they gave me. The gift isn't reflective of what I like as a perso,n a I like not asking me (we're planning a birthday for "B" right now as hers is in a few days and they asked her so it's uncommon - we do this every birthday) or even looking @ our Secret Santa wish list that we use every Christmas is also a bit shitty. Again, correct me if I'm overthinking this or being hyper-sensitive.

So I understand it was a long time ago, but this memory resurfaced, and I'm tearing up, but I wanted to get your guys' opinions on the matter.

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u/onlyupsfromhere — 22 hours ago

I'm interviewing an incoming UofT Engsci student: what would you want me to ask her

Hey guys! I'm interviewing a 2026 high skl grade who's going to UofT for EngSci this fall for a student podcast I’m creating (planning to release it soon!). The goal of the podcast is to help demystify the uni experience/getting in through real stories rather than polished admissions advice.

I’d love to center part of the episode around questions that high school students have regarding university/ the admissions process.

The person I'm interviewing had a pretty strong academic/STEM background in high school and was also involved in research, extracurriculars and leadership, so there are a lot of directions the conversation could go.

So if you have any questions regarding:

choosing EngSci / deciding on engineering

the UofT application process

grades and extracurriculars

APs and course choices

what they wish they knew earlier in high school

balancing academics with having a life

expectations going into first year

how they decided what opportunities were actually worth their time

Or anything you're curious about, please lmk!! I want to make this podcast as meaningful as possible.

reddit.com
u/onlyupsfromhere — 1 day ago

Am I cooked? AP bio, AP sem, AP chem, AP lang, AP pre cal, mandarin + gym

guys I'm going into gr 11 this year, and my courses are APs except for Mandarin & gym, which is like PAF - so it's not actually gym but like healthy living/fitness or something like that. The only reason why I'm taking it is that my school requires we take a gym/fitness course until grade 11.

my skl is non-sem & I get two spares w/ guidance (which is lwk a spare but sometimes I hv to meet w/ guidance during that time)

I'm already studying bio & chem (not the AP versions though) & have campbell textbook asw

Any advice? I'm a low-mid 90s student (chem & bio brought my grade down last yr) but I need to hv all high 90s esp because all of these APs are grade 12 courses

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u/onlyupsfromhere — 2 days ago

SHAD - your thoughts?

Hey guys!!

I got accepted into SHAD this feb but didn't go. For those who went - what was it like? What are the benefits of SHAD? A lot of people talk about the professor connections - how have you been able to optimize them?

reddit.com
u/onlyupsfromhere — 2 days ago

How much should I charge for tutoring? Grade 11 Bio, Chem & Academic Math

Hey guys!! I'm a high school tutor - going into grade 11 with a relatively strong academic record. I fast-tracked a lot of Grade 11 courses whilst in gr 10, so I ended up taking gr 11 bio, chem, functions (among others) this past year. I did okay (low - mid 90s) and really poured my heart into studying for bio & chem, where I have annotated slides w/ photos from the textbook as well as notes from class. My school has an enriched program, so even though I took gr 11 courses, they're meant to be enriched on top of that.

I have about 2 years of peer tutoring experience ranging from grades 2-9. A parent in my area reached out to me if I could tutor her daughter for the school year. She wants me to help support her daughter (going into gr 11) in bio, chem & "academic math." (I searched it up on Google, and it said it was a 3U course). Considering she described Gr. 11 functions as academic math, would that mean bio & chem are 3C (college level as opposed to university level) courses?

Her mom is looking @ twice a week starting in September; however, we haven't figured out location (in person vs online) and duration per session (I usually do 1.5h/week). Mom's vision for our sessions is to have her bring her work to me and ensure she's on the right track. She's a 70/80s student, but it seems like her mom isn't concerned too much about grades (described that as her doing "sufficiently well in school") and hopes for me just to support her with the random misunderstandings that she has.

Considering the mom's goals for our sessions, how much should I be charging per hour?

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u/onlyupsfromhere — 2 days ago