High School Music/Language Teacher.
Gay.
Dating Theo.
01/29/1992.
30.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Yunjin Lin on May 12, 2019 14:21:27 GMT -8
Yunjin was pretty sure that the office had decided that he was the best choice for the "troubled" kids to be in his homeroom. He didn't mind this too much, but it bothered him a little bit that the office thought it was a good idea to either group them all together or not foist them on other teachers. At the same time, Yunjin knew that he was good with these kids. A lot of his homeroom students were in the GSA, and a lot of them were in before and after school programs in general, and he tried his best to make sure that they were getting the support they needed. He regularly had meetings with students from his homeroom just to check in with them and try to get them the help they might need in whatever form that that would present itself.
One of the students that he worried about a fair amount had been looking shakier than usual the past few days, and he was concerned. At the end of homeroom, he gently pulled Ace aside and said, "Hey, it seems like you've been having a bit of a rough week. If you don't have other plans, can you come to my office for a quick check in during lunch? I'm free after school as well if that would work better for you."
All of his students knew that he had an open door policy when he was in the office unless he was having a private meeting, and most of them at least showed up occasionally to get his help with something or to get some of the pastries he generally had around.
@ace
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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2019 11:37:51 GMT -8
Ace felt his heart leap as his teacher pulled him aside. "U-uhm... sure..." He replied simply. "Lunch is fine." He scoured his brain trying to think of what Mr. Lin could want to talk with him about. He knew Mr. Lin often just wanted to check in on students, so he really didn't have to worry, right? He had been feeling a bit faint today though, so he eventually resigned himself to eating a pastry if Mr. Lin had them today.
As the bell for lunch rang, Ace was quick to leave his math class, he didn't like the teacher anyway, and went to Mr. Lin's office, neither hurrying to get there nor taking his time. He knocked softly on the door to the office, hesitantly saying quietly, "You wanted to see me...?"
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High School Music/Language Teacher.
Gay.
Dating Theo.
01/29/1992.
30.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Yunjin Lin on May 20, 2019 19:15:56 GMT -8
Yunjin smiled at Ace when the boy came in, waving him over saying, "Come in, come in. Grab a chair, and a pastry. I was about to start some tea, would you like some?"
He looked Ace over. The kid seemed possibly even wobblier than he had that morning. Yunjin wondered if he wasn't eating enough because there wasn't enough food at home, or if he wasn't eating enough for other reasons, but it was pretty clear that the kid's blood sugar was low enough that Yunjin was worried that he might pass out. He couldn't really say all of this directly, but that didn't mean that he couldn't help at least a little.
He added, "You've seemed a little bit out of it the past few weeks, but this week especially. Is there anything that I could do to help?"
Just because pointing out the details didn't seem like a smart move didn't mean that he couldn't be relatively direct with Ace. He'd found since he started at Cedar Beach High School that his students generally reacted well to being treated like they understood what was going on in their own minds the best like they were their own people, and Yunjin didn't see any reason to stop that trend now.
He took a pastry himself, breaking it in half neatly so that the scent of lotus paste filling would gently fill the air. He wasn't above using temptation if it was a situation where Ace was choosing not to feed himself. He kept his hands busy with things on his desk, starting the tea water and straightening some papers, not wanting Ace to feel too on the spot.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2019 20:23:40 GMT -8
Ace eyed the pastry box, having a momentary internal battle before reminding himself he said he'd eat one if they were present. He picked out a coconut bun and took a bite. It was so good, and made him question just how long he had gone without eating this time. As Yunjin spoke, Ace quickly tried to search for a reason he could be 'out of it,' but couldn't really come up with much that wasn't just the truth. "Um... well, the other teachers have started really stressing finals were coming up... I'm worried about science and English, I haven't been doing well on the essays or tests and mom would be so disappointed if I got a bad grade..." Theoretically, he added mentally - he had never actually gotten a bad grade on a final report card, somehow always managing to pull through at the last minute, and his mom never told him he had to get perfect grades, but Gwen had, and she did praise him when his report cards came in. He curled up into the chair, resting his chin on his knees and frowning at the pastry. "Been stressed, I guess." He said, using those words as a means of ending his rambling before he revealed a little too much.
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High School Music/Language Teacher.
Gay.
Dating Theo.
01/29/1992.
30.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Yunjin Lin on May 31, 2019 21:05:17 GMT -8
Yunjin watched Ace hesitate over the food, and then over his answers. He was pretty sure that there was more going on than just finals stress, but he hadn't seen enough to be sure about his hunch yet. He said, thoughtfully, "Would it help if you got the chance to work with a peer tutor on some of the work that's giving you trouble? There are some of them who are in the GSA, and I know do good work as tutors."
He looked thoughtful for a moment, covering up his thoughts turning over by fiddling with the nearly finished tea and taking a few bites of his own pastry. He added, "As your adviser, I can also talk to any teachers for you if there's something that you're struggling with but don't know how to address with them."
Yunjin asked gently, "Has there been anything else adding to that stress? You don't have to tell me, but if you need an adult who you can tell who will do their best to connect you to whatever help you might need, I will do my best to help. That's a promise."
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Post by Deleted on Jun 7, 2019 18:31:14 GMT -8
Ace perked his head up at the mention of getting a tutor. "Um... sure. That would be helpful." He replied simply.
He shifted uncomfortably, feeling like he was getting caught in a lie even though he hadn't actualy lied; just didn't tell the whole truth. He flipped back and forth in his mind whether or not he should say more, or leave it at that and actually lie. He looked down as he rested his head back on his knees and muttered, barely audible, "I guess there's bullying happening..." He hadn't told a teacher since he was in probably first or second grade. When he had done so then, the teacher had "a firm talk" with his bully, and then the bullying got worse, so to even admit it to Yunjin it was happening made him nervous. But he wasn't going to point fingers this time, even if the worst of his bullies weren't at this school; he didn't even want to know what kind of retaliation he'd face now that they were older.
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High School Music/Language Teacher.
Gay.
Dating Theo.
01/29/1992.
30.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Yunjin Lin on Jun 17, 2019 20:43:10 GMT -8
Yunjin nodded when Ace said that a tutor would be helpful and said, "Come back by my office after school, before GSA, and I'll make sure that I get at least one of them to be here so that I can introduce you."
When Ace said that he'd been encountering bullying, Yunjin managed to keep a calm exterior, but he was angry for Ace's sake. The kid was sweet, and tried really hard to be a good kid from what Yunjin had seen. He said softly, "Thank you for telling me. I want to let you know that as long as the bullying doesn't get physically endangering, I'm going to let you guide me in terms of how you want something dealt with. If you face situations that you want escalated so that someone faces administrative punishments, that is something that I'm here as a resource for you. If what you need is a safe place to eat your lunch, or someone to talk to about it, or to have your classes rearranged a little bit just to get away from dealing with someone, that's also something that I can help you with."
He paused for a second and said, "You're also always welcome to come to my office if you need to. Whether I'm here or not. I keep important documents in a locking cabinet and have my computer always password protected so that I'm able to get permission from the administrative sides to give my students the key code for the office door if I feel the need to."
He paused and added gently, "I can also talk to parents about any academic struggles and help interface with that, if it's partially an at home concern. Or about getting you a chance to see a counselor if that's something that you think would help, and I can make it about school as a stressor if you don't want a parent to know more than that."
He figured it was probably a lot of information, and he noticed that Ace wasn't really eating his pastry. Since the tea was ready, he poured some, pushing a cup over to Ace and said, "Have some tea and eat your pastry. I don't want to keep you from getting enough lunch, and you've looked shaky today."
He knew that it was a gentle push, especially because he was concerned about Ace not eating enough, but he was trying not to push too hard.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 16, 2019 20:06:49 GMT -8
((TW: mentions of eating disorder and self-harm in this post.))
Ace realized he must have essentially frozen in place when Yunjin placed a cup of tea in front of him, and he almost instinctively took a big bite of the pastry. Which, in retrospect, was not the smartest idea, but at least it gave him an excuse to remain silent as he digested everything Yunjin told him. He had never thought about getting a counselor; as a kid, it seemed like it would be too much of an inconvenience on his family, but now he was old enough to walk himself, or take the bus if necessary. He knew he needed a counselor, but to admit it was scary, let alone admit it to his family.
"A place to stay for breaks. My classes are fine." He said as he was almost done with the food in his mouth, covering his mouth with his hand. He looked down, intensely studying the remainder of his coconut bun, "and maybe a counselor, one I could maybe see at school, or nearby school. For... school stress." He was afraid if he admitted his eating disorder and self-harm to a counselor they'd have to tell him mom, and he didn't want that. But he also knew he needed help; having a safe place in GSA helped to ease the self-harm habits, but they didn't stop. He sipped on the tea, hesitantly glancing to Yunjin. As he set the cup back down, he felt a little braver, like the tea that reminded him of home and the comfort-food pastry were giving him more confidance, "And quite honestly, I don't even know if my academics matter, because I've never come home with bad grades. For all I know, I'm stressing over getting perfect grades for nothing. But my mom has her own business, and my sister is in school for nursing... And my mom is so proud of my sister..." He faded off, not really sure where he was going with this topic. Where ever it was supposed to go, however, was not this direction, and he forced himself to stop talking before he got emotional.
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High School Music/Language Teacher.
Gay.
Dating Theo.
01/29/1992.
30.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Yunjin Lin on Jul 23, 2019 1:07:44 GMT -8
Yunjin gave Ace a soft smile and said, "Alright, I'll teach you that code before you leave, you only have to promise me that you won't do anything explicitly against school rules in here. There will be other people who hang out here sometimes, but most of them will be people you know from GSA. It's an open door policy."
He saw the nervousness as Ace asked to see a counselor, and he wondered what the boy was grappling with. He said, "There's going to be a youth advocate coming into GSA soon, and he'll be coming in somewhat regularly, so one of the things that we can do as far as you finding something is get you on his list of kids who need help connecting to these resources. Also, I don't know how accessible it would be to you, but it is one bus from school: there's a LGBTQ+ center for teens where my partner works, and they have counseling resources."
He thought about it for a second and said, taking a bit of a guess, "Even though you aren't an adult, counselors will keep things confidential from your parents at your request. There are a few cases where they can't keep things entirely confidential: they're mandatory reporters, but as long as you aren't an active major danger to yourself or others, a therapist will be able to help you navigate things without adding to the stress by telling people things you aren't ready for them to know. At the same time, they can be there to help you interface with telling someone things that you're struggling with if that is what you end up feeling you need."
He looked at the clock and said, "Lunch is going to be wrapping up soon, but I want you to know that I'm here for you to come talk to if you need an adult who's on your side, OK?"
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Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2019 11:37:49 GMT -8
Ace finished the coconut bun and hesitantly reached for another, observing one before grabbing it, taking a bite, and being glad his assumptions that it was a pineapple bun was correct. "I'll wait until that youth advocate comes in. And maybe I will check out the LGBTQ+ center at some point."
He stared intently at his tea, not sure how to tell a mandated reporter that what he had to tell a therapist would activate the need for a mandated reporter in the first place, instead silently nodding. It took a moment before he looked back up, giving Mr. Lin a smile. "I appreciate it, and will definitely look into counseling services, depending on how easy it is to go to the LGBTQ+ Center, I think going there would be beneficial in more than one way." A part of him was curious what his teacher's partner was like. But that was a totally different topic. He finished his tea and gently placed the cup back on the desk. "Thank you." He added simply, "For the resources, and things to consider, and yummy food."
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High School Music/Language Teacher.
Gay.
Dating Theo.
01/29/1992.
30.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Yunjin Lin on Oct 28, 2019 22:58:21 GMT -8
Yunjin dug out one of the cards for Theo's workplace and slid it across the desk to Ace. He said, "You don't have to take the card, but it's got the info for the LGBTQ+ center on it if you want to at least record that."
Yunjin could tell that something was bothering Ace, but whatever it was, Ace wasn't going to tell him right away. That was OK, he was making sure that Ace ate and knew that he was here if Ace needed to bring something to him.
He smiled at Ace taking another bun, and he said, "I'll make sure to get you connected to the youth advocate that's coming in to work with the GSA kids who need it, and that can be a resource for you to get connected to other resources without needing to bring it to the attention of your mom if you don't feel comfortable doing so."
When the warning bell rang, he stood up and said, "Let me show you that code, and you're free to come by any time. This is a safe space, and even if I'm not here, you're welcome to take a pastry."
He hoped that this was a step in the direction of making a difference for Ace.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2019 14:48:30 GMT -8
Ace nodded, taking the card and shoving it into his jacket pocket. "Thank you." He said softly, following Yunjin out to see the door code. He smiled at the comment about taking pastries, though he wasn't sure if he'd do so, it somehow humored him that his teacher had that set up in the first place.
He gave Yunjin a small bow, "Thanks again, Mr. Lin. I'll remember that. See you in Chinese class!" He said simply.
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High School Music/Language Teacher.
Gay.
Dating Theo.
01/29/1992.
30.
Sheep (WA)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
|
Post by Yunjin Lin on Nov 25, 2019 22:32:45 GMT -8
Yunjin watched Ace head on his way with a wave, feeling like they had at least made some progress. He figured that if he could get Ace actually interacting with a few more trusted people that would help. It was a relief that Ace had taken the card too, and some pastries. He'd round up Liz if no one else since she was in the peer tutoring and mentoring group at the school and in GSA.
He went to gather up his things for class and head out himself, glad that he was heading to one of the classes close to his office. He was still one of the more junior teachers at the school despite having been there for several years now, which meant he didn't always get assigned convenient classrooms. He was glad that he'd get a chance to check in on Ace later in the day when he had the freshmen for Chinese though.
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