The title is harsh, probably because Master of Puppets by Metallica is playing right now. Maybe if I had some NBA Youngboy on aux, the mood would be different.
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I come from a Bulgarian immigrant family, here is my first time over there. My mom has been a counselor at different colleges (she’s currently working on her doctorate’s) while my dad worked as a hog farm manager in Bladenboro, near Lumberton, in the swamps for a bit. Football (or soccer for y’all Americans) is the biggest pillar holding up my childhood, playing outside with the other kids while my dad refs their dads. Once I turned 14, I became certified as one, reffing weekend tournaments and staying in free hotel rooms across the region with my dad. Reffing became my main income (my only other jobs being in a coffee shop during COVID and Mt. Mitchell State Park) and I started to progress. When I turned 18, I started to ref high schoolers, the same adults my dad reffed, and even army dudes on Fort Bragg. I started reffing college before my 21st birthday. Something I hold over dissenting players, coaches, and parents is the fact that I’ve been on ESPN multiple times reffing. Have they? Haven’t met one so far.
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Moving on from the history of my employment, the next subject is academia. I love reading and writing and hate math. Science is OK. Those are the facts. I liked primary school, then moved to the county west of Asheville. The move was rough and middle school, freshman, and sophomore year of high school reflected it. I moved back to the swamps junior year and it was a total day/night difference. I stayed at the local community college for freshman year, but didn’t complete my associate’s there because back home isn’t known for being exciting. I loved sophomore year living on campus here at App until, you know, COVID. I took a gap year because I felt that tuition was too expensive for Zoom meetings. I made my big comeback Fall 2021 and have been floating down the river since.
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This last section contains info not related to the two biggest things revolving around my life right now. I love nature (dorky Eagle Scout) and always down for a hike, day or night. Speaking of day n’ night, I love some good rap, different versions of rock, and nice mellow tunes. Something I want to do as a teacher is play some music every morning/let them listen to their own music while they work. That’s what I’m doing right now, like the teacher I’m observing currently.
I look forward to continuing this great start to class!