I got a 1270 on my PSAT. Is that bad? Should I spend time improving my score for SATs next year?

You know, there's certain things that when you look at them they look so simple yet, we just don't want to accept the simple things. For example, when I see someone doing something very basic in a field I've worked on before, in my head, I'm like, omg, that's so cool and I see me in him and it's almost like a very endearing feeling and if they come up to me, it makes me so happy. But at the same time whenever I'm doing something new and I have to start small with something more basic, I feel embarrassed to tell anyone cause, in my mind, I'm like oh, but no one's going to think it's cool, this is not good at all. But I know that's not true, they probably feel the same thing as I do whenever I meet someone like that. Another example is doing things, right. A few months ago, I saw like these people like @Chinnu B , @Crown Mare , they were posting like book reviews and I was like, hey, they're so cool, they're so great, I don't even read books, they're totally on a different level. But that's just simply not true, at some point in the past, they were probably the same as me, they also had a day where they picked up their first book, maybe it was before me, maybe they read fast but at some point, they were in the same stage as me and you, and infact I still don't read 1 book a week, I take 1 book, I don't even try to read like 1 chapter a day, if I'm feeling good, I real multiple chapters if I'm not feeling good, I just read 1 paragraph and that's it, some days, when I'm busier, I don't even read. So, does that make me a really good reader like them? Probably not, so what, if I read even 1 book in like say not even a month, like 3 months, that's 4 books an year, in 3 years, I'll know about a whole dozen of books and then I can call myself a reader and like the first example, if I were to tell a good reader that, oh, I read like half book, they probably couldn't care less about comparing my not even 1 book level to them, they'll be like, oh, yeah, that's great and again, we know these stuff yet we just don't accept them.

Welcome to 'Me giving advice as my mom chases me down to study.' or sleep in this case. Now let's start. How do you actually come up with good ideas? 1. The definition of good and bad is totally based on preferences. Now, what may seem like a bad idea to you can be someone's best bet. And this is normal. Not everyone has the same goals and not everyone has the same opinions. But trust me the judges/teachers do. What they have is less of an opinion more of an experience. So, the main thing is to go for what aligns with your goals, ALONG with the proposed audiences and don't just follow others blindly. 2. 'Be original!' everyone says that, but I don't think that is an easy job. Even big scientists and their inventions weren't something totally original. They were Improvements. So, if you can be original, good for you. And if you cannot be, then aim for improvements of past ideas. 3. Now when I say improvements I don't mean for you to improve the grey cement into dark grey cement. I mean for you to improve grey cement into glass. Ik it's hard but trust me what isn't? The main point is, be unique. Nobody would think of turning grey cement into glass (other than me ofc) and it's unique so it works. 4. So, now you have an idea aligned with your goals, your audience's goals that is an improvement of a past idea and it's unique. What's left?- Practicality. If you invent rainbow fart out of cotton candy, I don't think there will be any use for that (other than the aesthetic- never mind). So come up with ideas that are practical and have real-world use to them. Even better if they leave big impacts. People are intrigued about the 1st moon landing not the small trials before it. So, make it have a big impact. But ofc don't get too stuck in it. Without the small steps, no big step can be taken. 5. When stuck between multiple ideas, ask for opinions. Other opinions can help you choose better. For me, if I am stuck between A and B and the popularity vote says B, only then I can understand my love for A. So in the end I just choose A. Don't be like me, be rational. Consider opinions along with data. 6. Use Chat gpt's help. DON'T COPY JUST WHATEVER IT SUGGESTS. Use it to brainstorm ideas. It can help you get to a bigger range of ideas. 7. Seek professional help and opinions too. 8. Choose the ones that are within your limit and resources. Now I, as a Bangladeshi high schooler with no money cannot hope to build the world's largest Air conditioner for all of us (even tho it gets hot as hell in summer). So, make it how you can execute it. However, if it's for an idea that'll just stay on paper or you have funds and opportunities to get more resources then DEFINITELY go for it.

Many people with mental conditions in the world are not receiving the support that they need. There are also not enough resources like psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, etc to support them. I was wondering if anyone would be interested in starting a non-profit together on neuroscience for mental health, where we post and share resources that are backed by science on a website or application. This way, the resources are not just cliche reassurances, but actual science-based methods and cognitive behavioral activities that can help. Any other ideas are also welcome. Please let me know if you'd be interested in founding and leading it together! Update: If you are interested, please drop your email below or to my DMs for privacy as it is the form of communication that everyone can access! Update 2: I sent out an email for those of you who were interested. Please give me your email so that I can add you to the chain if you want to be a part of this. Thank you for your cooperation!

Compared to the research and projects everyone else is doing (seriously, y'all are on fire - keep that up), this may not seem like much, but when I found out, I was literally on cloud 9 and I just wanted to share (this is gonna be a long post). And also I'm just so grateful to whatever holy magic divine intervention thing is helping me. So, to backtrack, this summer, I had this internship (Emory Next Gen), and it's basically a (6-ish week) STEM and research exposure program. In all honesty I didn't think I was going to get in and I was prepared for that "We regret to inform you ..." email, since I was under a lot of stress during the application timeframe (I actually lost my period for almost 3 months because of it) and submitted it maybe 2-3 days before the deadline. But going back to the internship. We had a final symposium, and it wasn't like a "look at the big research we did" kind of symposium, more like a "look at what we did" presentation. We had tons of freedom in how we wanted to do it (The article about this year's cohort talks about that: https://news.emory.edu/stories/2024/07/er_nextgen_genetics_internship_16-07-2024/story.html), and for mines, I made a "Choose your lab!" animated RPG 1980s game style video of everything we did. I put a lot of effort into it; I was on a time crunch of about 1 1/2 weeks-ish, and ya girl is a novice in animation and videomaking to put it simply (guess what video-editing tool I used .... ✨Canva, the PPT alternative✨). When that article came out, my symposium wasn't mentioned, and I was pretty sad, but at the same time, it didn't really matter, because I was really proud of my friends (one kid's presentation got quoted so many times, and I wasn't even miffed, because his presentation was incredible), and they were really impressed with my video, which was all I cared about (if you see the video *I'll link it later*, you'll see how it was catered to us). Anyways, it got pushed to the back of my mind, but then, yesterday, I got an email from the program director saying that they're adding my video into the information page for the program, and that THE DIRECTOR OF SOCIAL MEDIA AT EMORY WAS IMPRESSED BY MY VIDEO AND THEY WANTED TO KNOW HOW I MADE IT. Now two emotions going on: