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@baltrunfest Never disappointed. Crowd support the whole way 🙌 🔥@KennedyKrieger Thanks @BaltimorePolice volunteers, sign makers, cheerleaders! 🦀
Baltimore, MD 🇺🇸 English
Stacie Daly
1.4K posts
Stacie Daly retweetledi
I graduated!!!
I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a concentration in Psychology, summa cum laude!
Five years ago, I started this journey with an eighth-grade education, and even that was from a Scientology school, where critical thinking was discouraged and the quality of instruction was subpar, to say the least.
I did not get here alone.
Thank you to @NYUSPS and @DeanKamath.
Thank you to everyone who supported me, encouraged me, and believed in me, especially on the days I was not sure I could do this.
And there were plenty of those days.
To my therapist, who told me not to give up when I was told I likely would not be accepted into a prestigious program. To my tutor, without whom I likely would have given up at the harder points along the way.
To all those here who have sent me loving messages on social media. And to everyone else who has cheered me on in person through the ups and the downs of it, it means more than I can put into words.
It got me over this finish line of being a student again and graduating.
That goal once seemed impossible.
To those who have asked me, “Why this? Why now?”
I pursued higher education to reclaim a piece of myself.
When you come out of a high-control group like Scientology, or even a high-control family, there are parts of you that were never allowed to fully develop.
Those parts include your curiosity and your ability and right to question.
Education was discouraged because knowledge creates confidence in your ability to trust your own mind and navigate the world. That leads to true independence, and that would never be allowed.
I wanted that back.
But more than that, I needed to understand.
I needed to understand how my mother could have us join Scientology when I was just eight years old, and how my family and I could be part of something like this and stay in it for so long.
I needed to understand how these systems work, how they influence people, and how they take hold.
Without education, access to real information, and support, people can fall into systems that work against their best interests.
Some assume that because they are educated, even highly educated, they would never fall for something like this.
But it turns out that is not necessarily true.
What many of us are impacted by, but never quite understand, is how high-control groups operate.
Many still do not understand how misinformation spreads, and how tribalism and radicalization shape what we think, what we believe, and who and what we trust.
Without that awareness, none of us are immune.
Today, we are seeing how these forces can influence good people and distort reality. History has shown us that this is not new; it just comes in a different form now.
Social media connects us in ways we never imagined, but it also creates echo chambers that reinforce beliefs and justify behavior without question.
Real critical thinking is hard when we are fed so much by algorithms designed to appeal to us. In learning and achieving this milestone in my own life, it has helped me take a good, hard look at my own beliefs and ideologies.
This journey was about healing for me, but also about figuring out how to help others in whatever way I can in the future.
So what is in my future?
I am considering continuing my education and possibly pursuing a master’s degree, with the goal of contributing to advocacy and policies that protect people, not systems.
For now, I am taking this moment in.
I am proud of myself. And I am grateful.
Thank you for being on this journey with me.
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Stacie Daly retweetledi
I strongly recommend everyone watch this sobering reflection from @BenSasse, who faces a terminal cancer diagnosis.
This is what it means to "die well." Truly inspiring.
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Stacie Daly retweetledi
Former U.S. Senator @BenSasse announced a few weeks ago that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He said that the disease has reshaped his understanding of what truly matters, describing many things he once cared deeply about as pointless. He said, “The foolishness of our works are pretty apparent to you when you try to really look at the accounting of a life. Jesus did everything on the cross to fulfill the whole law. I fulfilled none of it. He fulfilled all of it.” That is so true. Join me in praying for Ben, his wife Melissa, and their three children as they walk through this. May the Lord strengthen, help, and uphold them. foxnews.com/media/ben-sass…
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#NotDeadYet
We aren’t going to do many medical updates on here, but a bunch of friends have requested a status report and kindly asked what to pray for, so a few quick observations…
* Some folks are very helpful — such as our tireless team at MD Anderson. We were accepted into a clinical trial at Houston’s amazing cancer hospital around New Year’s. We’ve just completed our first week of experimental chemo.
* Some folks are less helpful — such as whatever jackwagons signed me up for tickets to loads of upcoming Nickelback events. (Although I do tip my cap to the cheery optimism of the dudes who bought me concert tickets for April “2027.”)
* Some folks have a heavenly bedside manner — such as the MD Anderson research nurses who’ve helped dial in my anti-nausea mix of drugs, radically reducing my daily puke count (“DPC”) over the past 72 hours.
* Some folks have a less heavenly bedside manner – such as my tender(?) bride who in the wee hours last night exclaimed: “Can you imagine if we make big progress on both the nausau and the spinal tumor pain?! All we’d have left is your increasingly ugly mug.”
(She’s a keeper…)
More fundamentally, please hear Melissa’s and my gratitude for the outpouring of love and kindness over the three weeks since my diagnosis. We are blessed in so many ways, so I’m not surprised at how moved we’ve been by these prayers, but do know that we’ve been very moved.
I’m #NotDeadYet (hat tip: Monty Python), so let me close with three prayer requests:
1. That our kids will trust in the Lord‘s Fatherly kindness and sovereign timing.
2. That the spinal tumor and the nausea can be managed enough to make me a moderately-chipper patient, finding energy to soldier well with my neighbors at the blood draws and drudgery.
3. That I will be able – to borrow the old Puritan phrase – to “redeem the time.” That is, to try to serve and love our neighbors with little bits of work — or writing and speaking projects here and there. Time is the great equalizer, but not all time is equal — you can play a lot of basketball in the last 60 seconds (especially if you’re as newly dominant in basketball as Nebraska). We’re going to give cancer a run for its money and see what can be learned in the process. As we figure out the rhythms of chemo, I’m going to endeavor to do whatever work I’ve been given to do…and try to love and serve (and not puke).
More to come….
Ben Sasse@BenSasse
Friends- This is a tough note to write, but since a bunch of you have started to suspect something, I’ll cut to the chase: Last week I was diagnosed with metastasized, stage-four pancreatic cancer, and am gonna die. Advanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it’s a death sentence. But I already had a death sentence before last week too — we all do. I’m blessed with amazing siblings and half-a-dozen buddies that are genuinely brothers. As one of them put it, “Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.” Death is a wicked thief, and the bastard pursues us all. Still, I’ve got less time than I’d prefer. This is hard for someone wired to work and build, but harder still as a husband and a dad. I can’t begin to describe how great my people are. During the past year, as we’d temporarily stepped back from public life and built new family rhythms, Melissa and I have grown even closer — and that on top of three decades of the best friend a man could ever have. Seven months ago, Corrie was commissioned into the Air Force and she’s off at instrument and multi-engine rounds of flight school. Last week, Alex kicked butt graduating from college a semester early even while teaching gen chem, organic, and physics (she’s a freak). This summer, 14-year-old Breck started learning to drive. (Okay, we’ve been driving off-book for six years — but now we’ve got paper to make it street-legal.) I couldn’t be more grateful to constantly get to bear-hug this motley crew of sinners and saints. There’s not a good time to tell your peeps you’re now marching to the beat of a faster drummer — but the season of advent isn’t the worst. As a Christian, the weeks running up to Christmas are a time to orient our hearts toward the hope of what’s to come. Not an abstract hope in fanciful human goodness; not hope in vague hallmark-sappy spirituality; not a bootstrapped hope in our own strength (what foolishness is the evaporating-muscle I once prided myself in). Nope — often we lazily say “hope” when what we mean is “optimism.” To be clear, optimism is great, and it’s absolutely necessary, but it’s insufficient. It’s not the kinda thing that holds up when you tell your daughters you’re not going to walk them down the aisle. Nor telling your mom and pops they’re gonna bury their son. A well-lived life demands more reality — stiffer stuff. That’s why, during advent, even while still walking in darkness, we shout our hope — often properly with a gravelly voice soldiering through tears. Such is the calling of the pilgrim. Those who know ourselves to need a Physician should dang well look forward to enduring beauty and eventual fulfillment. That is, we hope in a real Deliverer — a rescuing God, born at a real time, in a real place. But the eternal city — with foundations and without cancer — is not yet. Remembering Isaiah’s prophecies of what’s to come doesn’t dull the pain of current sufferings. But it does put it in eternity’s perspective: “When we've been there 10,000 years…We've no less days to sing God's praise.” I’ll have more to say. I’m not going down without a fight. One sub-part of God’s grace is found in the jawdropping advances science has made the past few years in immunotherapy and more. Death and dying aren’t the same — the process of dying is still something to be lived. We’re zealously embracing a lot of gallows humor in our house, and I’ve pledged to do my part to run through the irreverent tape. But for now, as our family faces the reality of treatments, but more importantly as we celebrate Christmas, we wish you peace: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned….For to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9). With great gratitude, and with gravelly-but-hopeful voices, Ben — and the Sasses
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Stacie Daly retweetledi
It is time — once again — to check in on our Jewish friends.
We see you, we care about you, and we are infuriated & disgusted, too. ❤️
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Stacie Daly retweetledi
Before families arrive at GKTW, life can feel heavy.
Between treatments, fear, and exhaustion, joy can fade.
But when families come to the Village, the weight lifts. Laughter returns.
This Giving Tuesday, you can be that light for another family. 💜
gktw.org/givingtuesday
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Stacie Daly retweetledi
That's it...I'm coming to the @Giants Sunday. We show up no matter what. I'll see you in the tailgates!
Drop your seats maybe I'll come sit with you during the game...lets have a day. Go Giants!
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Stacie Daly retweetledi
HOF voting season is underway, and I'm deeply grateful for the incredible words shared by my peers in this video. Hearing their endorsements has left me speechless— I'm not good at asking for support, but I'm asking now. If you believe in my candidacy, please help me get this video seen. A simple repost makes all the difference. @Giants fans, let's unite! Your support is what can make this go viral.
#tellafriendtotellafriend #GoBigBlue 👇🏾
youtube.com/shorts/dajCDq6…
YouTube
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Stacie Daly retweetledi
Charlie Kirk was more committed to peaceful, open dialogue with those who disagreed with him than anyone I know. God blessed him with immense gifts, and he used them boldly and without fear. He knew the risks he was taking, but he did it anyway because he loved his kids & felt a responsibility to the nation they would inhabit. I traveled the entire country with him last year, we spent 1x1 time together in Ohio two weeks ago, spoke to him again 2 days ago. He’s long warned of the rise of political violence & the growing culture of assassination, when few were willing to listen, with a clarity of vision unlike anyone I’ve known. Completely and utterly devastated.
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On vacation, turned on @ESPNRadio at gym & first voice I heard was @JasonMcCourty @UnSportsESPN
Go RU @RFootball @rutgersalumni
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@baltrunfest @KennedyKrieger thank you for another awesome day
Love my 🦀🏅
Thanks to all the spectators 👏🏻, volunteers, medical personnel, @baltimorepolice
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@WorldofOutlaws @mandeepauch planning my first trip with bf for November finals in NC What are must needs to pack? What do fans do at track between races? Fave local eateries?
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@FreddieandHD I am with Dev as my dad told me Pee Can is where you go the bathroom 😉
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Stacie Daly retweetledi
@LicensePlateGuy Thanks for all the posts
Wishing I lived closer but my nephew went in my place 😊
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Three years ago, I embarked on a terrifying journey: becoming a college student at the age of 50 after only having an 8th-grade education and spending 35 years in a totalitarian cult.
After three years of hard work, long nights, tears, and wanting to give up so many times, I have earned an associate's degree from NYU.
I'm now working on my bachelor's degree.
I desperately wanted a higher education for many years but didn't move forward because I feared I was not smart enough. Even though I had managed to leave Scientology, three decades of brainwashing still gripped my mind.
I feel so grateful to have gotten the support I needed from my family and friends, including my mom, my step-father George, my sisters Nicole and Shannon, my husband Angelo, and most of all, my little nugget, my daughter Sofia.
So many of you have gotten me through the most challenging times. I have read many of your comments and drawn inspiration from them.
I couldn't have done this without the support of my therapist, who provided the support and tools that prevented me from giving up early on.
Thank you to the professors and staff at NYU and my amazing tutor.
I know I am in a position of privilege that has offered me the flexibility to do this. But over the past three years, I've heard from thousands of people, especially women, who have decided to take the leap at an older age and get their GED or pursue a college education.
Whether a cult used to control your life, you have a full-time job as a stay-at-home parent, or full-time job(s) outside of the home, it's never too late to continue your education and pursue what you have always wanted to achieve for yourself!
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