u/Ecstasy_Elysium — reddlx

i'll take a latte with blanchard's cream

Hi all, I posted something similar on r/UniversityofVermont but I wanted to post here as well for some more opinions. I'm a biology major and chemistry minor that goes to a small liberal arts college on the East coast. I've been eyeing up Vermont and Burlington for a while now because from everything I've seen, it's the perfect place for me, as well as a particular PhD. program in UVM for my specific interests.

My priority really is getting into Vermont/Burlington over any specific program or opportunity, though. I just need to ensure that I can get a job and housing, which are very difficult both in Burlington and everywhere.

The first big thing I wanted to ask was what are some job opportunities for someone like me with a degree in biology? Assuming I don't get into the graduate program (which is very likely given the competition), is there any lab tech or industry jobs you are aware of?

As for my reasoning for wanting to move to VT, my first and biggest reason is that I am trans and from everything I've seen, Vermont is a very safe place for people like me. I've already had to put up with some BS, so that aspect is very important.

The state is also just very safe in general. I have heard some opposing things about Burlington getting more dangerous, but it's still nothing compared to where I've been. The fact that it is largely liberal and non-religious is also very important to me.
I've also heard that there are small, but present queer scenes in Burlington, which is another good draw that I'd be interested in.

Also the small close-knit community is another big draw. I have this little idealized vision in my head of living in an Animal Crossing town where everyone knows everyone and is always saying hi and being nice to each other. Burlington itself may be different from that, but I'm sure I'll find my people there and on campus.

The state is very beautiful. I love the look of the lush green mountains and the obvious fall. I even love a lot of the things people otherwise warn others about.

I much prefer the cold to the heat, and I love the dead and depressing look of winter.

There's not much to do in VT, and that's okay with me. My main hobby is just walking around and exploring in nature, of which there is lots of hiking trails to do so.

I also love the anti-corporate rhetoric and things like the lack of big chains or billboards.

Of course that's not to say that I don't have my qualms. The lack of diversity is a bit worrying to me. I already go to a predominantly white University, but it's still at least 30% minority. I'm Dominican with darkish skin and locs, so I'm a bit worried it may be an alienating experience.

I'm also worried about the lack of youth. While I can vibe with anyone of any age, I really want close friends that are around my age. The dating pool is also a concern, which I'm aware is already plenty small in Vermont on top of the lack of diversity.

Also, I'm not really a fan of maple syrup.

What are your thoughts?

reddit.com

u/Ecstasy_Elysium — 7 days ago

▲ 132 r/harvestmoon

Hi, all! I am unfortunately young (22) so I never got to play the original release of AWL back in its hayday, but I did get the remake and played through it. It's been a long time coming, though, since I originally got the game in the summer of 2023, and I only just finished it January of this year. I had some long droughts of not playing it which is a pretty common habit of mines with games, but I'm proud to say that I did complete it, and 100% at that. So I wanted to share my thoughts on it, cause I think this is one of my favorite experiences with a farming sim of all time, even above greats like Stardew.

Now of course my experience was just with the remake and not the original. I know the remake changes some things so my opinions may vary from the original's fans, but hopefully they'll still be in line. I may go back to the originals one day, though.

The game starts out really slow because money is slow to come. I just didn't have many lucrative options early on and on top of that, I only sold on Van days. It was arduous, but it really gave me the feel that I was starting off on a run down farm.

My main source of income was the animals, and I loved the system so much. I got into a routine everyday waking up early to take care of the animals and returning 12hrs later to repeat for the afternoon to maximize my relationship with them and my yield. Once I had the processing room I was especially able to make bank. I think in a second playthrough I could definitely be more efficient (sheep are the GOATs for making money), but I had fun regardless.

That being said, the coop was more trouble than it was worth to be honest. The eggs couldn't be processed, and duck eggs weren't even more valuable than regular chicken eggs. Also I could not for the life of me figure out how to consistently get golden eggs, so the birds didn't make me that much money. It was still a sizable income, but I probably could have spent that same time preparing more hybrid crops.

The hybrid crops were an absolute nightmare omg. It was fun planning when and where I was going to grow what, but having to make every single crop one by one with Vinnie takes forever.

For money making I chose crops 38 and 39. 38 grows from the Winter to the Spring, crop 39 grows from the summer to the autumn, so I could alternate their growth cycles. Additionally, I would only sell half of the yield, and keep the other half to make seeds for the next year so I wouldn't have to remake the seeds all over again with Vinnie. Idk if this is the most efficient way to make money with hybrids, but it was the best way of doing it to keep things simple and loop into itself.

I got my relationships maxed out pretty quickly in the first year by spamming flowers, eggs, and milk as gifts. That's a plus for me because managing relations in farming sims stresses me out lol, so I'm glad most of them were simple in this game. Except Garrett, who was almost never in town during a reasonable hour.

I personally found the dialogue to be a strong point of the game. It's very limited and you will get repeated lines a lot, but that only makes finding new lines of dialogue by meeting special conditions all the more valuable. I love how showing items to people, especially your family, can net you new reactions from them. I married Molly btw and I love her sm, she's so precious and deserves the world.

I honestly didn't interact with the child mechanics too much. Not that I didn't take care of my child, but I went into it blind and decided whatever my kid wants to do I'll let them and not influence them anyway, rather I'd prepare them to be the best they can. She ended up going down athletics due to being Molly's kid, so I made sure she was the best she could be.

The digsite is probably the weakest part of this game imo. It's pretty shallow and just boils down to spam A on the same spot once every year and hope you get lucky. Not to mention Carter and Flora constantly bumping into you in the early years. It was at least a good source of income and gifts early on.

I think by and far my favorite part of the game is how realistic the seasons, nature, and weather are are. Rain doesn't always last all day and can show up in bursts.f Spring doesn't have cherry blossoms all the way through, only for a little. Same with flowers, they're only there for a little while before the summer shows up. Late in the summer you can see the leaves start to turn for the autumn. Late in the autumn you can get snow even though its not winter yet. Winter isn't always snowy, and is often a cold and dead wasteland, and the snow can even carry into early spring. Coming from someone that lives on the East coast of the USA, this system was really refreshing to see, and this is the only game I've ever played to do something like this. It made the natural elements feel so much more alive.

That's my thoughts on the game! What did you think of it, I'd love to hear yours.

u/Ecstasy_Elysium — 8 days ago

▲ 0 r/UniversityofVermont

Hi all, I'm a biology major and chemistry minor that goes to a small liberal arts college on the East coast. I've been eyeing up Vermont for a while now because from everything I've seen, it's the perfect place for me, as well as UVM for my specific interests.

I've been specifically looking at a PhD in Cell, Molecular, and Biomedical Sciences, MS in Biology, or just a lab tech opening. My priority really is getting into Vermont over any specific program.

It probably seems a little psychotic to *want* to live in Vermont, but I'll go over my reasoning throughout this post. I just wanted to discuss with other students here to see their thoughts on what I've come up with and discuss.

My first and biggest reason is that I am trans and from everything I've seen, Vermont is a very safe place for people like me. I've already had to put up with some BS, so that aspect is very important. The state is also just very safe in general. I have heard some opposing things about Burlington getting more dangerous, but it's still nothing compared to where I've been. The fact that it is largely liberal and non-religious is also very important to me.
I've also heard that there are small, but present queer scenes in Burlington, which is another good draw that I'd be interested in.