✖Ask PandaNikita✖

[PandaNikita]

✖Ask PandaNikita✖​

⇒Questions​

✔ Please Ask Me Questions That You Want
To Know The Answer To

✔ I will try to answer thoughtfully and fully

✘ Please don't ask if you aren't interested
in what I have to say

I apologize in advance for any spelling or
grammar mishaps/mistakes. I like to have
conversations late at night because it gets
my mind off other things. Thank you for
your understanding.​

 

[ADanishMuffin]

Why is your username "PandaNikita"? (unless it's an obvious reference to something that I don't know)

 

[PandaNikita]

Why is your username "PandaNikita"? (unless it's an obvious reference to something that I don't know)

My username is PandaNikita because my childhood nickname was Nikita, my real name is Nikki. My favorite animal since middle school has been a panda haha

 

[Ayaya]

Can I ask what your major in college/uni is?

 

[ADanishMuffin]

My username is PandaNikita because my childhood nickname was Nikita, my real name is Nikki. My favorite animal since middle school has been a panda haha

Okay, that makes sense!

 

[PandaNikita]

Can I ask what your major in college/uni is?

I am a Microbiology major, I am currently going to a community college right now - taking 18 units this semester (*I've been at this college for 3 years so I need to get the frick out lol) - I plan on transferring with my A.S. degree of Biology to a university that offers an upper-division level Bachelor's of Science Degree in Microbiology. However, if I do not get into that university I will go towards my second choice, which only offers a B.S. Degree in Biology. I could choose to have the B.S. concentrated in microscopic organisms.

If I am able to become a Microbiologist and have a decent paying job I would love to go obtain my Master's degree and then my PhD in Pathology. But that all depends whether I have enough money or not. I am currently being supported by Financial Aid - Pell Grant, however since my dad is making more money this year I only receive $600 per semester now. Which is barely enough to pay for my books.

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Okay, that makes sense!

Yes haha and another reason: someone already took the username Nikita. Thank you for the question :]

 

[Vizionari]

What books do you like?

And will you ask me questions on my Ask me thread? Hehe...

 

[Ayaya]

I am a Microbiology major, I am currently going to a community college right now - taking 18 units this semester (*I've been at this college for 3 years so I need to get the frick out lol) - I plan on transferring with my A.S. degree of Biology to a university that offers an upper-division level Bachelor's of Science Degree in Microbiology. However, if I do not get into that university I will go towards my second choice, which only offers a B.S. Degree in Biology. I could choose to have the B.S. concentrated in microscopic organisms.

If I am able to become a Microbiologist and have a decent paying job I would love to go obtain my Master's degree and then my PhD in Pathology. But that all depends whether I have enough money or not. I am currently being supported by Financial Aid - Pell Grant, however since my dad is making more money this year I only receive $600 per semester now. Which is barely enough to pay for my books.

That sounds tough
I hope you'll be able to have enough money to get more degree! College sounds really expensive overseas. In here, it depends whether you go to public or private university, and how you enter (through national entrance exam or the entrance exam in university, where the latter is more expensive). Even the books are expensive too, it seems.
Good luck with college! How are you doing with exams by the way?

 

[PandaNikita]

What books do you like?

And will you ask me questions on my Ask me thread? Hehe...

I haven't been reading too many books at my leisure because of school. Though, I enjoy reading graphic novels, visually appealing text in books (this is why I use the font Century Gothic and gray colored font because my eyes are sensitive). I enjoy reading poetry, literature with vivid descriptions that I can imagine in my head. Some authors that I have read and enjoyed were Raymond Carver, Ellen Hopkins, Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll, A. Lee Martinez and Jason Myers. I enjoy reading horror novels the most or at least something suspenseful.

These works I have enjoyed the most: Identical by Hopkins, The Mission by Myers, Annabel Lee by Poe, Metamorphosis by Kafka, The Cathedral by Carver, We Have Always Lived in The Castle by Jackson and The Stranger by Camus *edit: adding Exit Here by Meyers*

I will ask you questions on your thread as well

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That sounds tough
I hope you'll be able to have enough money to get more degree! College sounds really expensive overseas. In here, it depends whether you go to public or private university, and how you enter (through national entrance exam or the entrance exam in university, where the latter is more expensive). Even the books are expensive too, it seems.
Good luck with college! How are you doing with exams by the way?

It is not too hard, I think the hard part is being able to get good grades. I do not believe that grades reflect someone's knowledge, it only reflects what you can memorize. My community college is fairly cheap in tuition, I think it depends on where you want to get your degree at. The state universities here are a lot cheaper than the regular universities, I plan on going to a state university. Do you currently go to college?

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Also if anyone thinks that the Century Gothic and gray font that I use is hard to see I will just make it black

 

[Vizionari]

Is your schedule a little weird in college? Like sometimes you'll have classes in the mornings and the the next day you have late night classes?

 

[Ayaya]

It is not too hard, I think the hard part is being able to get good grades. I do not believe that grades reflect someone's knowledge, it only reflects what you can memorize. My community college is fairly cheap in tuition, I think it depends on where you want to get your degree at. The state universities here are a lot cheaper than the regular universities, I plan on going to a state university. Do you currently go to college?

That is true. It's too bad most people, like parents, are too focused on grades when it's not reflective of the student's ability. They could have gotten a professor/lecturer who only gives out C or D
I'm currently taking a break from college for health reasons. Would say more but this is not my ask thread lol.
How do you like to spend your free time, besides being here or playing AC? What is your hobby?

 

[PandaNikita]

Is your schedule a little weird in college? Like sometimes you'll have classes in the mornings and the the next day you have late night classes?

Surprisingly enough my schedule this semester is better than previous semesters. I have classes from 9AM till about 12PM on some days other days I have classes from 9AM till 5PM. I have meetings on the day where my class ends at 12PM so I have to stay on campus to attend the meetings which is a downfall. I usually don't get home until 6PM or 8PM Mondays through Thursdays.

Last Fall I had a lot of classes on Thursdays, I had classes from 9AM to 945PM I wouldn't get home till 1130PM :[ This semester has been by far the best time schedule for me out of 7 semesters at this community college.

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That is true. It's too bad most people, like parents, are too focused on grades when it's not reflective of the student's ability. They could have gotten a professor/lecturer who only gives out C or D
I'm currently taking a break from college for health reasons. Would say more but this is not my ask thread lol.
How do you like to spend your free time, besides being here or playing AC? What is your hobby?

It's totally okay if we chit-chat here, you could always PM or VM me if you feel more comfortable talking about it that way :]

I understand that grades and GPA are necessary but they aren't good measure-ers of a person's true knowledge. It makes me so frustrated and angry when someone cheats in a class. I never cheat in any of my classes. If I don't know the answer then I don't know it.


I spend most of my free time either drawing, watching Anime or movies, reading some manga or playing other games. I am trying to get back into making art. -Other games I like to play during my free time are the Sims Franchise including SimCity, the Zelda Franchise, some PS3 games. Other than playing those games I like to edit photos or talk to friends (I talk to my boyfriend a lot outside of free time and all that jazz). Hmm I don't really do too much outside of those things that I have listed. I am trying to learn the piano but I am sort of procrastinating on that haha.

Oh I also play this iPhone game called Dark Summoner (I've been playing since a few months after it was created - about 2 & 1/2 years)

 

[Ayaya]

It's totally okay if we chit-chat here, you could always PM or VM me if you feel more comfortable talking about it that way :]

I understand that grades and GPA are necessary but they aren't good measure-ers of a person's true knowledge. It makes me so frustrated and angry when someone cheats in a class. I never cheat in any of my classes. If I don't know the answer then I don't know it.

Same. A lot of my friends cheat, almost at every exam they can. I feel too guilty and scared to do it though, and I don't feel satisfied if I get my good grades from cheating. I get average-bad grades as a result most of the time but it was all from my hard work.

In the topic of cheating, would you feel cheating is allowed if the text is hard? For example, in my country, cheating in national exams has become a tradition. Mostly because the tests are hard, even for someone who studied diligently for 3 years of high school, and that the national exams will decide your acceptance to university and thus your future. A lot of students on those days excuse their cheating because of this reasons; they don't want to screw up their future over one exam. Even some teachers are letting/helping these students cheat just so they can graduate and that the reputation of their school won't drop. Would you feel that cheating is allowed here? (Sorry for asking a hard question, you don't need to give a good answer, just your opinion lol)

As for my own situation with college, (putting it under a spoiler so people don't have to see it)

Spoiler

I'm majoring in Law but got too stressed from assignments, peer pressure, and seeing my grades drop every semester. I don't have a passion for learning law outside of wanting to get a decent pay job, and my university happens to be one of the top law schools in the country. It got too overwhelming for me that I stopped coming to class and stayed in my room for weeks. Right now I'm with my family and seeing a psychologist for help. Sorry if it's tmi haha.

I spend most of my free time either drawing, watching Anime or movies, reading some manga or playing other games. I am trying to get back into making art. -Other games I like to play during my free time are the Sims Franchise including SimCity, the Zelda Franchise, some PS3 games. Other than playing those games I like to edit photos or talk to friends (I talk to my boyfriend a lot outside of free time and all that jazz). Hmm I don't really do too much outside of those things that I have listed. I am trying to learn the piano but I am sort of procrastinating on that haha.

Oh I also play this iPhone game called Dark Summoner (I've been playing since a few months after it was created - about 2 & 1/2 years)

Oh! Do you have a deviantart/pixiv/tumblr maybe? I'd love to see your art. and what is your favorite game?

 

[PandaNikita]

[jump=dop]click[/jump]

Same. A lot of my friends cheat, almost at every exam they can. I feel too guilty and scared to do it though, and I don't feel satisfied if I get my good grades from cheating. I get average-bad grades as a result most of the time but it was all from my hard work.

In the topic of cheating, would you feel cheating is allowed if the text is hard? For example, in my country, cheating in national exams has become a tradition. Mostly because the tests are hard, even for someone who studied diligently for 3 years of high school, and that the national exams will decide your acceptance to university and thus your future. A lot of students on those days excuse their cheating because of this reasons; they don't want to screw up their future over one exam. Even some teachers are letting/helping these students cheat just so they can graduate and that the reputation of their school won't drop. Would you feel that cheating is allowed here? (Sorry for asking a hard question, you don't need to give a good answer, just your opinion lol)



Oh! Do you have a deviantart/pixiv/tumblr maybe? I'd love to see your art. and what is your favorite game?

You shouldn't feel the need to cheat, cheating - especially in school - gets you nowhere. It will just further proves that studying might not have been your first priority. It's not a hard question. In my opinion, I do not think that cheating should be allowed. If there is such an institution, school, or any place that allows participants of a test to cheat, then what is the point of the test? Is the point to see how many people will cheat? To see who is honest or to see who is the sneakiest? I am not sure what your countries standards are on test taking however, I think if the test is hard enough for even a diligent student to fail then maybe they need to lower their standards. In my math exam last semester I didn't study for it but I reviewed and listened in my class and got a high B (85%) while others got a D or lower (>60%). However, since I was absent or sleeping most of the time I did poorly on the final exam and didn't turn in my semester's worth of homework - and you know what? I got the same grade as those students who decided to cheat on their exams. I passed the class with a C+ (78ish%). Cheating gets you nowhere. Why try to keep a school's reputation all and well if it is comprised of cheaters? Sorry if I had offended you but this is my opinion. I am not sure about your countries culture, values, standards, etc but I am judging from my perspective based on the country I live in (aka North America)

Spoiler: ayaya

It's okay, it's not TMI. If you wanted to talk more about it you could PM me. I understand your situation based on what you gave me, my brother spent weeks not going to school and staying in his room. I did something similar my first year of college. I was quite sad and lonely, didn't really want to deal with school either but I did my best to pass.

And I have a tumblr and deviantart. I don't post anything on tumblr anymore, I'm currently working on a blog/website for the app Dark Summoner ~~ 50% done (I will post a pic in a spoiler). I use my deviantart to search up f2u (free to use) bases for ideas on drawing or pixel art that I plan on doing for a future art thread or signature shop on TBT haha debating whether to post one or not. I am definitely going to post an art thread once I've sketched at least half of the pages in my journal (sketchbook) :]


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anchoring

Custom theme created by me, WIP, for my Dark Summoner Clan blog/page
Haven't worked on it for a few months

Spoiler: clicky

 

[Ayaya]

You shouldn't feel the need to cheat, cheating - especially in school - gets you nowhere. It will just further proves that studying might not have been your first priority. It's not a hard question. In my opinion, I do not think that cheating should be allowed. If there is such an institution, school, or any place that allows participants of a test to cheat, then what is the point of the test? Is the point to see how many people will cheat? To see who is honest or to see who is the sneakiest? I am not sure what your countries standards are on test taking however, I think if the test is hard enough for even a diligent student to fail then maybe they need to lower their standards. In my math exam last semester I didn't study for it but I reviewed and listened in my class and got a high B (85%) while others got a D or lower (>60%). However, since I was absent or sleeping most of the time I did poorly on the final exam and didn't turn in my semester's worth of homework - and you know what? I got the same grade as those students who decided to cheat on their exams. I passed the class with a C+ (78ish%). Cheating gets you nowhere. Why try to keep a school's reputation all and well if it is comprised of cheaters? Sorry if I had offended you but this is my opinion. I am not sure about your countries culture, values, standards, etc but I am judging from my perspective based on the country I live in (aka North America)

No, I agree with your opinion as well. A lot of people- students, teachers, and parents alike -think that the tests are too hard while the education system in my country didn't meet the requirements. Not every part in my country is developed; There are still schools without enough facilities to help their students learn, or students and schools that can't pay enough for the books needed. Yet, every student in the country takes the same exam with the same questions. It's unfair and students have tried to reach out to the government to change this, but so far they don't seem to care much...

I ended up talking about my own country lol so I'll ask a different but related question- How is the education in your country? Is there something about it that you're unhappy with? So far I only know about Student Loans that put students in debt for years, but otherwise we seem to have the same problems when it comes to college, despite the difference in culture (or maybe college is hard in every country...)

And I have a tumblr and deviantart. I don't post anything on tumblr anymore, I'm currently working on a blog/website for the app Dark Summoner ~~ 50% done (I will post a pic in a spoiler). I use my deviantart to search up f2u (free to use) bases for ideas on drawing or pixel art that I plan on doing for a future art thread or signature shop on TBT haha debating whether to post one or not. I am definitely going to post an art thread once I've sketched at least half of the pages in my journal (sketchbook) :]


Custom theme created by me, WIP, for my Dark Summoner Clan blog/page
Haven't worked on it for a few months

Spoiler: clicky

OOO:
THAT WEBSITE LOOKS REALLY NICE
I love the images you use, and everything looks perfectly fit! I usually use bases but it's amazing that you can code these yourself o_o Do you have experience in web design/coding too?

and I'll await for your art/signature thread~

 

[PandaNikita]

No, I agree with your opinion as well. A lot of people- students, teachers, and parents alike -think that the tests are too hard while the education system in my country didn't meet the requirements. Not every part in my country is developed; There are still schools without enough facilities to help their students learn, or students and schools that can't pay enough for the books needed. Yet, every student in the country takes the same exam with the same questions. It's unfair and students have tried to reach out to the government to change this, but so far they don't seem to care much...

I ended up talking about my own country lol so I'll ask a different but related question- How is the education in your country? Is there something about it that you're unhappy with? So far I only know about Student Loans that put students in debt for years, but otherwise we seem to have the same problems when it comes to college, despite the difference in culture (or maybe college is hard in every country...)

Sorry if some of this doesn't make sense, I'm sleepy but I have to pull an all-nighter to finish my homework to turn in before my exams.

It's okay! I enjoy this conversation :] The education in my country is alright, but I guess it is better than some countries...? My community college fees are cut down a lot by "tax payer dollars" and I get the Board of Governors Fee Waiver, this BOGFW waives the unit fee. I am taking 18 units so I think they waived $600-$700. The BOGFW only helps out those in need of the help - financial unstable families or students.
^That is what I am happy with haha

What I am unhappy with is that the financial aid requires your parents tax information. I only get $600 per semester now because my dad makes $1,000 more annually, but that extra money goes to - rent, bills, food - not my tuition or books. I do not currently have a job, I do not get "allowances" out of nowhere or from "chores". I'm a broke college student haha and I dislike the fact that I am unable to claim myself as an independent student. I am required to provide my dad's tax information even though he is unable to support my college funds. That is what I dislike about my college - there are many students who are in the same situation. Also there is a program at my college and many other colleges called EOPS (I think it stands for Equal Opportunities for Students) it is like another source of financial help from the colleges, however since my placement tests for English and Mathematics was a little above average and my GPA is over 3.0 I do not qualify for EOPS or workstudy - which infuriates me because there are so many other students that abuse their help from EOPS when there are real people in need - such as myself.

Student loans are pretty bad, some people are able to pay them off but it takes them years or even decades to get rid of the loans.

OOO:
THAT WEBSITE LOOKS REALLY NICE
I love the images you use, and everything looks perfectly fit! I usually use bases but it's amazing that you can code these yourself o_o Do you have experience in web design/coding too?

and I'll await for your art/signature thread~

Thank you <3 haha they aren't my images but I have credited the rightful owners of the images, I am not using their art for money either. I used simple bases such as the permalink and note taglines in the css code. Everything else I created by myself, the calendar and pop-up menus were pretty tricky, but I have them fixed and running! Hmm I do not have experience in web design and coding but I have always messed around with custom css, jquery, html, etc in themes or websites. I love to create blog pages - I am currently working on one for ACNL as well but I might not be able to finish it until I get a break from school (Winter or late Spring).

Haha the art/signature thread might be up in early November! I just have to work on a couple more sketches for examples. I'm debating whether or not to include digital art (I have just bought a Wacom tablet and I am fairly new to digital art - I use ArtRage for drawings - Photoshop CS6 for signatures)

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Also if there are any misspellings or grammar mistakes I am truly sorry! I am working on some papers right now as well as responding to your questions :]

 

[PandaNikita]

Bump~

 

[PandaNikita]

Questions please

 

[Zulehan]

Who is that in your avatar?

When did you decide to aim for a Ph.D?

 

[PandaNikita]

Who is that in your avatar?

When did you decide to aim for a Ph.D?

The girl in my avatar is the protagonist from the movie Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki, I definitely recommend watching the movie. I enjoyed it.

Hm well I decided to set my goal of obtaining a PhD in pathology last year when I took a Microbiology course - consisted of a lecture and lab session separate from each other. In my first year of college my major was Undecided, my parents kept asking what my major was and I blurted out of nowhere that it was pharmacy. When my parents found out how much money a pharmacist makes they have been constantly pushing that career on me. I hated my pharmacy classes but I fell in love with microbiology because of the hands-on work I was able to do in lab. Even though my eyes are sensitive, I enjoyed looking through a microscope and performing experiments with the instruments and bacteria given. I came back the next semester to be a lab assistant for my professor.

After a year of researching Microbiologists and Pathologists I told my mom about my decision and she twisted my words around and told my dad that I didn't care about making money.

In short, they are unsupportive of my decision, but I am going to keep moving forward to pursue my desire of becoming a Pathologist because I enjoy doing experiments and research about bacteria rather than about medication.

Hopefully that answered the question in full. I apologize in advance for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I am on mobile and my phone likes to zoom in and zoom out as well as delete everything I type T_T