u/theoneyoucall2001

I’m not sure if this post is appropriate here and if this something to be worried about, but I (26M) have been having trouble making friends at my school placement.

I’ve been at my school site for the past 2 weeks for professional development and honestly, I have been feeling lonely. Particularly where to sit during PD and when it’s lunch time or during a break. Though there have been opportunities to talk to people, I’m not quite sure how I should go about developing relationships and making friends.

Staff members and members on my grade team have approached me to say hi and check-in on how I am doing with the program, which has been nice. There are some times where we have conversations that are not brief. However, I am not sure if those are invitations to join them during lunch or during breaks. Plus, it seems like the majority of people already have their groups that they hang out with.

I want to note that my mentor has invited me to eat lunch with him and some of his friends a few times, which is nice, but I do not want to solely rely him for all of my social interactions at school. My mentor also has a lot of other responsibilities such as being the lead for my grade and has been pulled by admin to help support them, so I haven’t been seeing them much.

This leads me to being in the room just working on stuff for my program and for the classroom, so it can look like I do not want to socialize with people and no one wanting to approach me.

I have had trouble making friends all of my life, so I am used to this feeling, but I don’t like feeling alone and I want to try and build relationships and make friends. I can be sometimes socially awkward, so that may be a reason, but I am working on becoming better with social interactions.

There are a few teachers who work at my school who have done the same program I am currently in (My mentor did not complete the same program,) so I am not sure if I could seek out advice from them or if it would be weird to bring it up. There is another resident at my school site in my same program, but there always with their mentor. I know it’s still early and school has not even started yet (I start Monday,) but it’s a yearlong program and I am already struggling with keeping up with coursework, so I’d really want some connections at my school site to help me through it.

I just do not know what to do and wish these things came easily to me.

I (26M) am a grad student in a unique program where I have one class that is from 8:30 AM to 5 PM. It’s all virtual and synchronous meaning I have to be logged into Zoom with a one hour lunch break in between. The class timeline wise is pretty short and will only be 2 weeks long meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

The only issue is that I am living with family in a small apartment where there is not any space for me to do the class uninterupted all day and I anticipate having to talk in whole group discussions and in breakout rooms. I had ideas of maybe going to a coffee shop in the morning and then possibily transitioning to a library after my lunch break.

He has made it clear that students cannot take the class in their cars and that we must have our cameras on. The class starts this Monday and I have not reached out to my professor about my situation. I am not sure if I should. Any suggestions on how I should take my classes these next two weeks?

For more context, I am from the United States in Long Beach, CA

I (26M) am a grad student in a unique program where I have one class that is from 8:30 AM to 5 PM. It’s all virtual and synchronous meaning I have to be logged into Zoom with a one hour lunch break in between. The class timeline wise is pretty short and will only be 2 weeks long meeting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

The only issue is that I am living with family in a small apartment where there is not any space for me to do the class uninterupted all day and I anticipate having to talk in whole group discussions and in breakout rooms. I had ideas of maybe going to a coffee shop in the morning and then possibily transitioning to a library after my lunch break.

He has made it clear that students cannot take the class in their cars and that we must have our cameras on. The class starts this Monday and I have not reached out to my professor about my situation. I am not sure if I should. Any suggestions on how I should take my classes these next two weeks?

For more context, I am from the United States in Long Beach, CA

What’s a typical nighttime hair routine for a guy who has a short afro? i currently just spray it with water and then apply some leave-in conditioner.

i have a pic on my profile for reference.

Where do people go about finding rooms in LA?

I (26M) moved back to LA a year ago and have been living with my family. I am very appreciative for them allowing me to live here rent free, but I have really been missing my space. It’s pretty cramped already and I want to try to move out if I can. I am currently in a teacher grad program that’s supposed to be intense and I am expected to finish next June. I originally was going to wait until January to move out, but I don’t think I can do it lol. The drive to my classes is like 45 min to class and an hour back home. I don’t even know the commute to my placement school yet since school is out, but I assume it’ll be less since my school is closer to where I live. I also just want to have a space to be able to complete my homework and assignments.

I will be given a $51,000 Living Stipend and I am trying to secure a part-time job for some extra income. The stipend is going to be sent out in four dates throughout the program, so I won’t get it all at once. The first one at the end of July.

I was thinking about finding a room that is $600 or less. Is this realistic? Where would I go about finding a room? I was looking at some on Craigslist, but I’m not sure what’s legit. Should I just stick it out until I finish my program? Any thoughts? Thank you for reading.

Edit: I did not clarify, but my program is based in Northern Cal, but I’m taking classes at Cal State LA. My program and Cal State LA are not affialted. I was also thinking of areas such as Inglewood, Gardena, South Gate, and maybe downtown LA or just areas closer to it.

I (26M) start my first class for my Master’s in Education and teacher credential program. What are some ideas I can wear as a male graduate student? I’m currently thinking business casual like khaki’s and a polo and maybe something more casual like jeans and a t-shirt. thoughts?

Hello! I am a graduate student who is currently enrolled in a Teacher Credential Program that begins in the summer. I have a pre-work assignment in which I have to interview family and community members to get a better idea of the community where I will be student teaching. I am looking for families and community members in the Huntington Park area whom I can interview who can speak on the history of the community, their hopes and dreams for students in the community, and the resources/assets of the community. These interviews are expected to be short, 15 minutes max, and can be done virtually (Zoom or phone call), whichever is best for your schedule. Ideally, I would like to hold these interviews before June 15th, and I am flexible on a date and time that would work. Thank you for reading, and if you are interested and/or have any questions, please send me a DM! Thanks in advance!

I (26M) had several teeth pulled this year because they were in terrible condition due to my lack of care; I thought I was doing a good job 😞. Anyway, before I had my teeth pulled, I asked my dentist about dental implants and what they would look like if I got some. They shared that I could have dental implants done once the areas would heal and had a solid bone graft foundation. I had teeth pulled back in August and November of 2025, I would roughly say, and I am at the point now, looking into dental implants. Now, I did not realize how expensive it would be to get dental implants before I had my teeth pulled. I know I should've researched that before hand.

Onto the point of this post, my dentist has gone back to school or is completing a certification of some sort to do dental implants, and has offered to do two of mine at a fraction of the cost because he is in this program. I would be paying about $4,000 out of pocket for those two teeth, thanks to insurance, and what would be covered by them. This was about 3 weeks ago when he asked, and I had told him I wanted to think about it. I have a lot of concerns. #1: I would essentially be a guinea pig since he has not done them before, from my understanding. Obviously, he is a certified dentist, so I know it would not be like some getting work done by some stranger who has not gone to dental school. #2: I am going back to school, and my grad school does not offer health insurance, so I would have to find dental insurance that my dentist would cover. I live in California, so I was thinking of enrolling in Medi-Cal if I am eligible. #3 Since I am going back to school, I will not have money like that to get my dental implants done. My dentist also mentioned that I should get them done soon because my teeth will begin to collide due to the empty spaces in my mouth. I was really hoping to get it done next summer after I complete my program. I was also thinking about going somewhere completely to get my dental implants done, like at UCLA's dental school or even out of the country.

Any thoughts on what I should do? I can provide more information if needed. I'm just really stressed right now. 😞

I (26M) have decided to go to a live music performance on Friday that will feature local, upcoming artists. I am going alone because I really want to put myself out there and just enjoy the performances, but I am also seeing this as an opportunity to meet new people. However, I am not sure what the right move is if given the opportunity. I do not have a lot of friends at the moment, and I am kinda a socially awkward person, so this is kinda big for me.

My intentions are still mostly just to enjoy the performance, but I want to see if I can make one friend while I am out at the event.

As a side note, I am gay too, so I feel like I might even have a harder time. Any advice/tips is appreciated!