Post by BENJAMIN CAIN TOLLINS. on May 21, 2009 18:11:18 GMT -5
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BENJAMIN CAIN TOLLINS.
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the twenty six year old teacher.[/center]
basics!
[/ul]full name! Benjamin Cain Tollins. Nothing interesting here.
nicknames! Well, Most people call me Ben, which... I don't really like, I'm not going to lie. I usually tell people to call me Benji, But Benjamin works too.
age and birthdate! I'm twenty six- birthday's January Sixth.
grade! Teacher. I don't even know how I got the job- I'm not exactly professor material when you first look at me. But I guess they wanted something fresh, something that wouldn't bore the kids to death I guess. And I mean, it's not like I'm not good enough or anything. I got the job fair and square.
major! I teach music.
schedule! Well, I teach symphonic band, the jazz and rock and roll music history class, and then I give a few private lessons to wind players on the side.
physical!
[/ul]play by! Jonathon Kroppman.
height! Just under five nine. he hates how short he is.
weight! around 120 pounds.
physical differences to model! he's a bit taller.
mental!
[/ul]likes! I like... Music, of course. I'm a trumpet player myself, but I can play... pretty much any wind instrument, guitar, and harmonica with some sort of decency. Food is good. Talking to people- I've always been a very social person. Marching band. Tattoos, getting them. Sure, it hurts, but it's sort of a nice dulling sort of pain after a while, you know? I also really like oranges, orange juice, anything orange-flavoured. Tasty stuff.
dislikes! My handwriting. I'm really disorganized and messy, can't help it. Really, it's bad. My height- I've always felt really small, but all of a sudden in grade eight I just shot up and I've been really tall ever since. Never quite got used to it, so I'm really awkward. I've been told it's cute, but more often I've been told it's just annoying. Tuning. I mean, you'd think that since these kids are here for their music, they'd at least know how to tune... some of them are way, way off. I'm patient with them, but it's like, can you not hear that?!
habits! I tap my foot a lot, even when there's no music. I bite my nails like no other. I have a tendency to start saying a word or phrase and have it stick in my vocabulary for a long, long time.
secrets! I... I have this need to make people like me. I don't feel super dependent and all, but I just... I need everyone to like me. Which is impossible, I know. Which makes things difficult.
random facts! Random facts... I absolutely love tea. Iced tea, sweet tea, green tea... Well, green tea not so much, but it'll work. I love the scent of it, mostly, and the taste of course. I suppose I'm a very selfish person because I'm terrible at keeping pets- it's not that I don't take care of them, they just like running away and getting hit by vehicles or getting eaten- but I love cats and I always have one, even if they never end up living past, like, two. It's tragic, really.
attraction!
[/ul]sexual orientation! Uh. Truth be told, I've never even been, like... attracted to anyone before. Not something to tell to people, I guess. I mean, I've had a few girlfriends but they were pretty much friends that liked me, and I liked enough... I mean, hell, I don't care who it is, what it is. Guy or Girl or whatever. I'd just like to know that I'm not, like... Immune to liking someone.
turn ons! see above, mate.
turn offs! nope.
past/current relationships! I've had a few girlfriends. nothing big though.
the virginity question! meh, once or twice. I'll tell you the truth... Maybe it's just me, but I don't know what the big deal is. I told you, there's something wrong with me.
history!
[/ul]hometown! I was born in Madrid, Spain, where I lived for the first four years of my life- then we moved to Toronto, where I've lived (and will continue to live) for probably the rest of my life. It's a little cold, but I like it here.
mother! My mother's a very sweet Spanish woman- Works as a waitress at a pretty nice restaurant downtown. She's a little hard to understand sometimes- she's not the best at English- but she really is probably the sweetest, most amazing woman you'd ever meet. Then again... I'm terribly biased.
father! My dad married my mum, stayed with us for five years after I was born, and left. He just didn't know what to do with us. He moved to... Hell, I don't even know where he lives now. I think he moved back to the US. I don't really talk to him at all anymore.
siblings! I've got a younger half-brother. He's... jesus, he's fourteen, isn't he? I remember when he was a tot, really.
other important relations!
Well, there was my Ma's ma, Nadia Ramirez. She's my grandma, obviously, but I always just called her Lola for some reason- It wasn't a common nickname for her, I think I'm the only one that called her that. She was just... one of those sweet, angry old ladies that's always yelling at you in that was that makes you love her, because she's... She's my Grandma. She's really important to me- She's lived with us since her husband died, so she's just... She's always been around. She's not very good at speaking English, so if we ever go out into town or something I'm usually translating, but that's okay- She's trying to learn.
income! We're pretty well off- my grandparents have quite a bit of money, so we have that along with my mum's (admittedly small) salary and my job... I don't live with my mum or Lola anymore, but I still pitch in quite a bit to their taxes and stuff.
GENERAL HISTORY!
(I'm going to be lazy. ten points it is.)
I. My parents met in Spain, of course- my mother is Spanish. My dad was in... some form of American Army. I'm not all that sure, I don't talk to him all that much. They knew each other for three weeks before they eloped- hey, it was spring time, I guess.
II. They were married for three years before they had me- which is a lot longer than some other marriages, which goes to show that three weeks may not be too short of a time... I was born on a rather cool January morning, whatever, whatever.
III. When I Was four, my dad's time in the army was done, and they decided that they wanted to move to Canada- I'm not all that sure why, But I think it's just because both of them wanted us all to move to their own homeland, so they just settled for Canada.
VI. Really close to my birthday, actually, when I was five, my dad just sort of... left. I didn't really see any tension between the two (Though I learned later that they hadn't been getting along for three or four years now) so the fact that he was just gone came to me as a sort of surprise, but I don't know. I guess I was just too young to understand that he was gone for good until I was over it.
V. I was... six, I think, when Lola followed us over- my grandfather had died, and I don't know, I guess she didn't want to be alone over there... I don't really blame her.
VI. This was about when I started getting into music. She would always play piano and she had my grandfather's trumpet, his guitar with him... They were both really into music and the arts and all that. When she noticed that I took an interest in it, too, she started me up in lessons- she taught me piano, and I started learning guitar. In grade seven when I was given the chance to join the school band, I took the opportunity, of course- with a rental beginner's trumpet, I didn't want to ruin my grandpa's or anything.
VII. And really, it was all downhill after that- I love music. I love playing music. I don't play guitar like one would usually think- all rock chords and quick arpeggios and all- I'm more a classical player. Which I guess surprises people, with my appearance. Over that, I'm definitely more a trumpet player. I joined the band in high school, marching band, even this small garage ska-band for a bit, which was fun while it lasted. Music was my life. Is, my life.
VIII. In high school, I guess I started getting a little... I don't know, crazy- not too bad, but I suppose I started branching out a bit. I've always loved talking to people, but I used to be really shy, awkward- towards my junior year, that was gone. I started making new friends, people that would introduce me to new things- I'd be a liar if I said I hadn't 'experimented' with... pretty much everything. Some ideas were better than others, some were downright awful and extremely dangerous, but... I'm not going to lie, my junior and senior years were probably the most fun I'll ever have.
IX. Nearing the present... I went to school for music, all the while never all that sure where I was going with it. A professional player? Probably not. I didn't want to get into the business part, I didn't want to teach... Oh, god, I didn't want to teach. Every time someone would suggest that, I would cringe. I never realized how absolutely perfect that would be for me until I went home after the semester was over one year, and my little brother wanted me to teach him guitar- I'm good at explaining things. I'm patient. I love talking to people. I love, love, love music. So I swallowed my pride and decided that yes, this was exactly what I wanted to do.
X. I finished school, and as expected, I didn't get a job at first- I felt sort of like a failure, to tell you the truth, spending all that money on an education that didn't get me a job for well over two years. I considered going back for something else again, something I didn't want to do but would ensure me some money, nursing, anything, but after what felt like eons of sending my resume to... everywhere, one of the least likely schools offered me a job- I almost didn't even bother with Harbin. They wanted someone nearing their thirty year teaching mark, I was sure, someone with a huge beard and nice tweed suits and conventional teaching methods... Guess not. When I went in for an interview, I tried to look as professional as possible, but it's pretty hard with all of my tattoos poking out from under my collar, my sleeves- I don't regret getting them, they just make things hard some times, not going to like- I thought they were going to turn me away the instant they saw me, but one look and they said I was 'just what they were looking for.' And... here I am. I'm starting classes next week, and to be completely frank, I'm scared shitless that I'll screw up.
the man behind the curtain!
[/ul]your name! ADAM.
roleplay sample!
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see Winn.
