Reason number 211 why I love these high school students.

Reason number 211 why I love my high school tutoring students:

A student wrote his SAT essay. He detailed how, scientifically speaking, the planet doesn't need humans.

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What no one will tell you about college.

I'm tutoring high school students, prepping them for the SAT.

I think what they need as much as good SAT scores are some good college strategies. Share yours here.

So here it is:

What no one will tell you about college (until you get there).

1 - Want to increase your scores 5% without doing anything?

( Sit in the same seat every day )

2 - Talk to your professor outside of class.

( Disagree with your prof? Good! Take it to her/him at the end of class. )

3 - Bored? Ask a question.

( Every time I found myself zoning out during a class I would raise my hand )

4 - Avoid clock-watching.

( Avoid the clock-watching tick by sitting where you can't see the clock. )

5 - High school is for taking the classes you hate. College is for taking the classes you love.

( Don't be a masochist -- if you can avoid that hated math class by taking a much more interesting astronomy class, do it.  )

6 - Know thyself. Work with your habits rather than against them.

( If you suck at mornings, don't take that 8:30am Japanese class. )

7 - Avoid schizophrenia and be efficient: Take related classes at the same time.

( You can use your readings from Indian history as sources for your Indian lit class and vice versa. )

8 - If the class you want is booked, show up anyway, books in hand, and participate vigorously.

( The professor would rather have you as an extra student than the disinterested slackers in the back. )

9 - Give yourself flexibility: Plan, plan, plan.

( When you're not sure of your major, take classes that apply to all three of your most likely majors first. )

10 - The one I learned too late: Build a relationship with professors who are top in their field by taking more than one class with them.

( If they're a bit of a name, their opinion carries weight. )

500,000 animals being slaughtered right now.

My mom has been talking about this for weeks:

500,000 animals to be ritually slaughtered?

On Tuesday, November 24th the Gadimai animal sacrifice festival will take place in southern Nepal. It is said that 500,000 animals including buffaloes, chickens, goats, pigs, rats, and birds will be tortured and slaughtered during this Hindu festival.

Write to the Nepalese Embassy: info@nepalembassyusa.org

In India, the ritual slaughter of animals in such rites as the Agnicayana has long been replaced with effigies. There is no religious reason for this throwback. Despite the detailed instructions in Leviticus, Judaism no longer sacrifices the fatted calf. Like that.