List Of Black Lives Matter And Racial Equality Petitions To Sign:

College Chats: Staying True to Yourself

If you’re going to college or university in the fall, you might be thinking this is your chance to reinvent yourself. However, I found during that time I learned to understand myself and be comfortable with who I am! You will go through changes and grow, but more importantly you’ll figure out who you honestly are at the core!

The first week is an ice cream swirl of emotions, you’ll have the joy of adult freedom and you’ll be overwhelmed by adult responsibilities. You’ll also be meeting a lot of new people during orientation week and figuring out where you belong. The best advice for that week: be friendly but cautious of who you trust. Whether it’s a relationship or friendship, a person needs to earn your respect before you disclose intimate information. Especially during frosh week, everyone can seem like your new best friend. However, after the high of that week goes away, you’ll get to know who makes a good friend and who’s only good for a party. 

Another reason to be honest about yourself, people easily can tell when someone’s being fake. For example, you might think being cynical and sarcastic all the time will make people think you’re cool. But if that’s not you, most will not respond to a persona you put on. Those that do, are probably not genuine people themselves. You’ve got to discover what feels natural to your personality and not force yourself to be a completely different person. 

Another way to stay true to yourself  is if the decisions you’re making are for you! If you’re scared of losing friends or a relationship by not always doing what others want you to, you need to let go of those people! Your happiness can only be fulfilled by you and should never depend on those around you!

Being honest about yourself, also means recognizing when you do need to make improvements! No matter the personal issue, you need to create small steps you can commit to in order to make a big change! Don’t be afraid to ask for help and those that care about you will support you wanting to grow!

Speaking of support, an easy way to tell if a relationship is good for you is how the other person makes you feel about yourself. If a friend or significant other encourages you to want to be better and still like yourself at the same time, it’s a healthy relationship! We all deserve to relax and take a break once in awhile, but you don’t want to surround yourself with people that don’t encourage you to achieve your goals!

I hope this gives you some refreshed perspective on yourself and please check out the blogs I used gifs from! :)

Dorm Shopping 101: Making a List

The earlier you start the better, back to school sales are not the end all be all of deals. Shopping for your dorm and college can be overwhelming, but there are ways to make it more approachable. Before you buy anything you should make a list to avoid overspending and overpacking.

 As you make your list, consult your family and older friends that went off to college. They’ll help you figure out what you really need to bring.

Another source to consult is your university, they’ll often provide floor plans, dimensions, a list of what the room comes with, and a list of banned products on their website or any housing information they sent you.

Actually write your list, it doesn’t matter if it’s on paper or the notes app on your phone, you’ll need to refer back to your list when you’re shopping

It helps if you write your list in categories like decor, bedding, lighting, toiletries, shower supplies, appliances, etc.

Look at what you use around your house to add to your list to make sure you don’t miss anything important like laundry detergent or sponges for washing dishes.  

It helps to know if you will be in a community style dorm or a suite style for things like bathroom supplies and cleaning supplies

Talk to your roommate(s) so you don’t end up with double the stuff 

Remember you can always buy more later

Note that dorm rooms are relatively small, so shop compact. We will cover how to make the most of what little space you have in future posts.

Dorm life isn’t all about making your dorm look presentable: you have to survive too if your meal plan is limited. Be prepared to shop for food and snacks that can last you through the first half of the semester until you have time to go shopping again.

Personally, I like to write my lists out by hand, it helps me remember it and keep me on task. My bullet journal is great for these things because then I know where my list is rather than trying to keep track of a random slip of paper. -  Clove

When I write a list on hardcopy paper, I have a professional black leather planner which can be used for a wide variety of things like academics and important career-related information. It may be useful to invest in one from Franklin Covey or your local office supply store. Otherwise, when you make a digital list, preferably use Google Docs where you can access it from any device. - Jasiel

What did you read in September? 💗

the hunger moon, marge piercy

the world’s wife, carol ann duffy

(re-read) the unabridged journals of sylvia plath & her collected poetry

mysteries of small houses, alice notley

gods & mortals: modern poems on classical myths, edited by nina kossman

a strangers mirror, marilyn hacker

aftermath: poems, sandra m. gilbert

someday, i wanna wear a starry crown, jasmine ledesma

incarnadine, mary szybist

stay, illusion, lucie brock-broido

rhapsody in plain yellow, marilyn chin

selected poems ii 1976-1986, margaret atwood

thus were their faces, silvina ocampo

one day less, clarice lispector

& so many more essays & research based pieces but i didn’t bookmark them/have a pdf for them :-( 💛

little reminders

do you have homework due tomorrow? do it

did you get any homework today? do it

did you get an assignment notification? break it into small chunks, schedule these chunks and make a start on it. 

do you have an exam tomorrow? do some light revision. or if you’ve left it until the last, turn off your phone, put it in your desk drawer and revise until you’re done. make sure you get at least 4 hours of sleep if you’re cramming, 8 if you’re not. 

do you have a quiz tomorrow? do some v light revision, and redo some homework problems or handouts on the topic.

how much tea/coffee/general caffeine have you had today? how much water have you had? switch your next coffee refill to water.

have you brushed your hair? tame that mane.

have you showered? have a warm shower right before you go to bed so you feel sleepy when you come out.

are your feet cold? put on socks.

are you working your hardest? push a little harder. 

when was the last time you allocated relaxing time? pick a cutoff point for your work, whether it’s 9pm or 1am, and spend 15-30 minutes (depending on the time) to wind down by reading a book, talking to family or friends, taking a shower and generally doing whatever you want. 

50 Things To Do For a More Productive Summer

1. Find some work experience  2. Head to the theatre and indulge in a good ol’ play or, even a musical 3. Plan a local trip or a day in the city and soak up all the culture 4. Volunteer your time once a week to a charity/ shelter 5. See if you can get work as a summer temp 6. Deepen your faith 7. Meet up with family and friends that you haven’t seen for ages, take loads of pictures and have an AWESOME time (how about camping in the New Forest? Or in your back garden? Barbecues or a simple trip to the ice rink) 8. Try curing one of your fears 9. Do a movie marathon 10. Develop or find a new hobby 11. Attempt to create a business with your own innovative idea 12. Do a charity challenge 13. Start taking driving lessons 14. Learn a language 15. Give your room a revamp — how about jars filled with multicoloured or fresh pinecones? A fresh coat of paint? A cluster of assorted candles? 16. Begin your #100daysofhappiness 17. Soak up the sun with a load of picnics, beach trips and outdoor games with your friends 18. Have a wardrobe clear out and donate all the clothes to a local charity shop 19. Pick an actor and watch all the films they’ve been in 20. Start a blog! 21. Get baking and come up with some new creations 22. Make a list of all your skills and everything they’ve taught you 23. Become a dog walker for a neighbour 24. Start saving for something worthwhile … 25. … or blow all your money on some concert tickets (you only live once) 26. Designate a whole day to go without a TV, laptop/ computer, internet, music, phone and any other electric devices 27. Begin writing a novel 28. Make proper lemonade and sip reading your favourite book under a tree 29. Go out for a day with nothing but the things that you can fit in your trouser or cardigan pockets or carry in your hands … OR … with as little as possible 30. Read an entire series of books or pick up some classics and get through them 31. Host a tea party with your friends 32. Make an exercise routine and stick to it (for a month, at least) 33. Watch an entire box set 34. Get rid of your anxiety by writing your worries down on a piece of paper, folding it into a bottle and sending it out to sea 35. Make a scrapbook of your favourite memories 36. Get hooked on a new genre of music or a new artist that hardly anyone has ever heard of 37. Head out to the selection of free festivals and carnivals available throughout the country 38. Make a birthday cake for one of your friends or a member of your family 39. Get active 40. Buy dinner for a homeless person 41. Get your body to your ideal size/ weight 42. Set yourself a budget and see how far you can get on public transport with it 43. Read a collection of children’s books 44. Go to a book signing, find someone famous or attend a celebrity event to get a glimpse of the stars 45. Plan and execute a 3 course meal for yourself or your family 46. Spend a day being a child again 47. Start a diary 48. Spend a day detoxing your body – drinking green tea, eat plenty of fruit and veg, guzzling water and meditating 49. Re-work the way you view yourself 50. Write your bucket list

how to write KICK ASS essays!

let me know if it helps! :)

Here’s the guide. Link to doc here.

SAMPLE ESSAY WITH EDITS

Hello! I'm sorry if this has been asked before, but how do you become proficient at handling conversations in Japanese/handling grammar very well? I read your post on the JLPT, and it addressed issues I have been tip toe-ing around--indeed, passive actions such as listening or reading are easier than the active ones. How did you go about that? Did you write a bunch of sentences daily? Did you have a conversation partner? What would you rec. to someone who lives outside Japan? Thank you!

This is an excellent question, and one that I get asked a lot irl by Japanese people in particular. Let’s talk about gaining fluency and the ways we can go about it!

How to Gain Fluency in Japanese (and Other Languages)

Speaking Fluency versus Accuracy

Language proficiency is divided into two separate categories:

Fluency: Although there are no widely agreed-upon definitions or measures of language fluency, someone is typically said to be fluent if their use of the language appears fluid, or natural, coherent, and easy as opposed to slow, halting use. In other words, fluency is often described as the ability to produce language on demand and be understood.

Accuracy: Correctness of language use, especially grammatical correctness and word choice.

By the above definitions, a “fluent” speaker may make grammatical mistakes, but they can speak without having to stop and think too much about conjugations, word choice, etc.

An “accurate” speaker can speak with nearly zero grammatical/word choice mistakes. However, the speed of their utterances isn’t generally taken into account, so it could take an “accurate” person twice as long to articulate the same idea as a “fluent” person. 

Ideally, you need to strike a good balance between these two qualities when speaking. I have a boss, God bless him, who is 100% fluency and 0% accuracy and…man is it hard to understand what he’s saying sometimes, but he can generally get his point across just barely. I have another coworker who is 100% accuracy and takes about 3 minutes to form a sentence because he wants it to be perfect. 

How to Increase Speaking/Writing Accuracy

First, let’s talk about the easiest thing to improve, which is accuracy. It’s also (in my opinion) the least fun thing to improve, because it means grammar books and vocabulary memorization. 

You can only use a language accurately if you know what is correct and what is incorrect, and you can only learn that by studying grammar and vocabulary (or if you’re a native speaker and picked it up innately, you lucky bastard).

So here’s some things you can do to increase your accuracy:

For example, if you’re having a hard time using the passive, you need to review that part of your textbook and find some exercises to drill it into your head. 

Say the correct thing aloud. Lots. Sometimes I just walk around my apartment and narrate everything I see/do like a crazy person, but that’s good practice. 

Write example sentences using the grammar you’re struggling with and say them aloud too. 

There’s a bunch of cool apps that connect you with native speakers that can help correct you too! I used to use HelloTalk, I think. 

If you’re a creative soul, when I was studying for the JLPT, I took 1 grammar point and 5 vocabulary words from my JLPT study books and used them to write a 2-page short story about the adventures of ネギ, a stray black cat that smelled like green onions because she napped in an onion field. Then I had a Japanese friend check it over for me and mark mistakes. I hand-wrote them to improve my abysmal handwriting at the same time. It was really fun! I sometimes think about doing it again just for funsies.

When someone corrects you, don’t feel like your entire life is over and you’re a failure and you’ll never get it right haha. I’ve seen people fall into that hopeless mindset, and that’s just nonsense. It’s a good opportunity for learning and nothing more! Say the correct thing you’ve just been taught out loud, then write it down if you can. And, if possible, find a chance to use it in conversation asap.

How to Increase Speaking/Writing Fluency

Now this is the hard one. Especially for those learners who do not have native speakers nearby. 

I’m going to be dead honest with you. I started formally studying Japanese at uni, and I had a Japanese roommate/best friend since year one. I had a 4.0 GPA in my Japanese classes (and only my Japanese classes lol) because I was and still am a MEGA NERD about it. 

…But it wasn’t until I studied abroad in Japan my 4th year of uni that I gained fluency. 

There are a lot of things that can hold us back from fluency. An interesting thing I’ve noted is that Foreign Language is perhaps the only subject in which a student’s personality can directly affect their progress. To gain fluency, you have to go forth and speak, but if you are naturally a shy person, that is going to hinder you. If you are the kind of person who takes mistakes/failures poorly, you will be less likely to take risks and try to say harder sentences. In contrast, you can get full marks in math regardless of the above personality traits. 

I’m not saying that you have to be an outgoing explosion of a human being in order to gain fluency. But what I am saying is that you have to be willing to seek out conversations, and you have to be willing to take chances. Get out of your comfort zone. Use that new word you picked up the other day. Try to explain something that is difficult for you. 

My problem was that, while I lived with a native speaker who would have happily taught me anything I asked, her English proficiency was much higher than my Japanese proficiency. And when I struggled to say something in Japanese, I’d fall back onto English. And when she told me something I didn’t understand in Japanese, she’d repeat it in English instead of Japanese, because that was easier for us both. The same thing happened when I was in Japanese class as well. I always had the assurance that I could fall back on English.

But when I elected to study abroad in Japan for 3 months, I knew that this was my big chance. So on the host family form in the “other requests” area, I wrote that I specifically wanted a host family that could not speak English. I was setting fire to my crutches, and I was scared but excited to see them burn. 

By the end of my three months in Japan, I had gone from “Chotto matte kudasai” and needing a minute to form my reply, to “Okay, yeah I see that movie too and I liked the action scenes, but I didn’t care for the story little.” (I’ve underlined mistakes that I would have made in Japanese, to show you that I sacrificed some accuracy to obtain higher fluency.)

So, in short, the easiest and quickest way to increase your spoken fluency is to throw away all the crutches you can and use the language as much as possible. Every single day. Even if you’re just having an imaginary conversation with yourself! And like I said, there are a bunch of cool apps that connect you with Japanese people who want to learn English and you can do language exchanges with them. I had a lot of fun with those in the past. 

As for increasing writing fluency…well. That’s a tough question with Japanese, because I can type Japanese at like 100 wpm, but my Japanese handwriting fluency is at a 10/100. I can read and type at the level of a native Japanese high school student, but I can only write the kanji that 7 year old can write. That’s no exaggeration.

The big reason for that dichotomy is that my work is paper-free. 100% of my work is done on screen, so about the only time I have to write out something is when I’m filling out a form, which includes my name (katakana), address, and maybe occupation. 

If you want to increase your Japanese handwriting speed, just keep on writing. Write those little short stories about ネギ like I did, or find some writing prompts (I just started a side-blog with writing prompts yesterday btw) or keep a little diary. Make opportunities to write. 

How to Have Nice Handwriting in Japanese

Okay, full disclaimer: I am the absolute LAST person qualified to talk about this, because I have awful handwriting in Japanese. 

Unless you have prior experience with a different language that uses kanji, or you lack the keen eye of an artist, you will likely struggle to develop neat handwriting. 

Personally, I really like using this app called Japanese Kanji Sensei. It’s on Android (not sure about iOS), and if you pay just a few bucks you can make your own kanji sets and stuff. Anyways, it will show you how to write the characters prettily. It gives you a good frame of reference for what nice, pencil/pen-written characters (versus calligraphy characters). It has hiragana and katakana on it too!

I get a stylus and write out the characters on this app for the muscle memory, so my hands remember the sensation of writing a certain character. (The muscle memory is different if you only use your fingertip.) This muscle memory and repetition is how Japanese people learn how to internalize kanji as well. I really enjoy and recommend this app. I’m sure that there are others out there like it too.

Summary

TL;DR: Review your textbooks, take risks, use every resource available or make your own, and just have fun with it! 💗

ODE TO LIFE (1) / (2) / (3) Cheryl Strayed, Tiny Beautiful Things / (4) / (5) Keith Haring, Journals / (6) / (7) / (8) / (9) / (10) / 

The Honest Guide on Preparing for College

I thought it’d be cool and useful to give you guys an “Honest Guide on Preparing for College.” It has all the things you may already know, and then also some things you perhaps don’t. And a bunch of tips that are helpful for preparing for college, but also during college. I’ve been working on this post for months, adding few new tips every now and then so hopefully you guys like it and find it useful! :) I may add more tips from time to time, I’m not sure.

Suffer from acne? Visit a dermatologist to get it under control ASAP. The earlier you start, the earlier you’ll see results! And trust me, you’ll be going bare-faced a lot in college. At least twice a day- morning & night. And you’ll always want to look and feel your best! It sucks to be self-conscious.

Figure out a rough guideline of your morning/ night routine. Your college routine is usually not going to be the exact same as your home routine. Ie: Make up will probably be done in your room, not in the bathroom. If you use makeup often, consider buying a vanity mirror! Very useful. 

You won’t need binders. I brought 3 (1-inch) in case and I hardly use one. It’s more useful to have individual folders for each class. Or even those notebook with tabs inside to hold papers. The point being, the way you organize your work is different in high school. You’re not going to the same 5 periods everyday in college. You have classes that meet MWF, and TTh, etc.

Don’t forget to bring college essentials! Refer to my two posts here (”College Essential Hacks”) and here (”Things I Forgot/ Nearly Forgot to Bring to College”. 

Invest in make-up. In high school, I never wore make-up but now I often wear mascara and light lipstick! I spent countless trips figuring out what shade was best for me and trying out different products. Would’ve been easier to just do this in the comfort of my own home than in college! I’m still a make-up noob though, haha. I can’t even figure out how to apply eyeliner confidently!

Bring clothes you’ll actually wear. 1/3 of the clothes I’ve brought to college were never worn… They just took up closet space!

Bring formal clothes too. You never know what events you’ll go to (including sorority rush, galas, etc). Don’t forget a good pair (or two) of shoes for the outfit!

Realize that the first month-ish of school is the prime time to make new friends. People are more open to making new friends and are more friendly and receptive. Make the most of this!!! I can not stress this enough! Remember that first impressions can stick, so be especially graceful during this period. I would even go so far as to say that you should try to go out to a party in the first few weeks of school for two reasons…. 1) You can see if you fit with the party scene and if you enjoy it. 2) When you attend events early on, people will assume you’re down to go for the rest of the semester and you’ll get invites. (Which you can turn down, of course.)

Keep in touch with old friends! Seriously. Don’t just make new college friends and forget about your old high school friends. Keep in touch! Message them regularly and keep them in the loop! It might seem like a lot of work to message them all the details about something, especially when they are unfamiliar with the people so you have to describe it a lot (Wait, who’s Jim again? What’s your roommate’s name again? etc), but it’s so rewarding to have an old, familiar friend with you as you both experience college together, but separately.

Know your schedule and be on top of this. Be organized. I recommend a planner and also having a print out of your weekly schedule that has your classes and other time commitments. I actually drew my weekly schedule and hung it by my desk. It not only helps me visualize my week, but also lets my roommates know when to expect me. I also use a calendar app very diligently. Whenever I commit to an event, I immediately put it into my calendars (the app, and also my physical calendar in my room). I also inputted the dates and times of my exams/ important assignments from the get-go so I wouldn’t be surprised about when they were. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND INPUTTING THE DATES OF YOUR EXAMS AND DUE DATES OF PAPERS, ETC INTO YOUR CALENDAR ASAP!!!!!!!!

Keep in touch with family. Similar reasoning with #9. But basically, your parents and siblings have lived with you all of your life. They’ll miss you. Text them, call them, facetime them once in a while. Send them a postcard. Buy them college gear. Do little things like this; they’ll really appreciate it!

Don’t be so uptight and remember to be grateful. I feel like I’ve matured greatly in college. I used to have these crazy-high expectations about friendships and stuff, and now, it’s not that I have absurdly low expectations, but I just don’t take everything for granted. I am grateful for anything and everything my friends do for me. They bought me Chipotle? Aww. They reminded me about the review session? So sweet. Basically, don’t take things for granted.

Don’t be that one annoying friend. You know who you are. College is a time where you can really ‘reinvent’ yourself and you should really try to be a ‘better you’ during college. Here are some traits I find annoying, personally… An annoying friend is one who does any or all of these things:

“Forget” to pay a friend back for spotting you. Seriously, we all hate that person who does this and we all really respect that person who is really diligent about paying back someone. So take note. Everyone is on a tight budget in college.

Rants all the time. If you’re ranting all the time and your friend is just listening, you have yourself a freaking awesome friend. Just remember that friendship means you can rant, and your friend can rant back. It’s a two-way street.

Tries to peer pressure others into doing something they like. Okay, I get that you drink and smoke a lot. But you don’t need to feel the urge to ‘convert’ me to doing the same. No means no.

Always bails or is flaky. Freaking annoying.

Takes things too far. We all have that one friend who takes things too far and doesn’t know when to stop….

Too sensitive… But we also may have an uber-sensitive friend who always holds grudges and is a grumpy cat. 

Don’t skip class. Seriously. It doesn’t matter if the lecture is posted online, or if you’ll just get notes from a friend. Or if you already ‘know’ what’s being taught. Just go. Skipping class = lower grades = lower GPA = unhappy you.

Be willing to try new things. This can vary to an extent from person to person. It can be as crazy as asking someone out or trying new food. College is a time of growth, new experiences, and fun times. HOWEVER, don’t do anything that will harm yourself. None of this “yolo” mantra please.

Bring a lot of undies. Shirts and pants can be reworn more than once (within reason), but undies can’t. So save yourself from doing laundry all the time and bring a lot of undies.

Learn to let things go. I used to be that person who held onto grudges. But since starting college, I’ve really begun to realize that life is so much more fun and enjoyable if you don’t let the little things faze you. Learn to let it go. Don’t let what that rude guy said to you this morning stick with you for the whole day. Who cares if you asked someone out and it failed? You don’t need them anyway! You’re too fabulous for them to handle! 

Learn to be confident in yourself. “Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You “- Dr Seuss. Over the years, I’ve found that I’ve grown much more confident and independent. I love it.

Learn how to socialize and be a great conversationalist. Smile and actually pay attention to what they’re saying. Remember what they said and bring it up the next time you see them. Hey, how was your lunch at Gypsy’s with John? It makes people feel special and nice. Use their names in the conversation as often as you can (without it sounding totally awkward and weird). People like hearing their names in conversation. [Btw, I read these facts on a Time article somewhere so its legit.]. People don’t remember what you say, but they remember how you made them feel. So make them feel loved and appreciated. Laugh.

Live and learn through your mistakes. No one’s perfect. So what if you bombed your first midterm? It’s the first of many. Pick yourself up and study harder for the next one. Don’t get all beaten up.

Consider bringing your AP study guide books to college. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve opened my AP Calculus review book from Princeton Review to review and look up things.

Keep track of your meal points. I frequently hear people saying they always have leftover meal points at the end of the year, but maybe it’s because I like to buy a lot of snacks, but I was actually behind on points for half the semester. It’s no big deal–I can easily add more points–, but just don’t be under the illusion that you have unlimited amount of points and can buy whatever you want. Be smart about rationing off your points.

Don’t let one midterm grade affect you. Yeah, you failed that midterm. So what? Just do well on the next ones. There’s nothing you can do about your midterm grade–you can only improve yourself for the future. Have a good cry, rant to friends, watch some Netflix–and then realize the changes you have to make and enforce the changes. 

Pick classes that you’ll enjoy. Don’t pick morning classes (if you can help it) if you’re not a morning person. Don’t take a Drawing/ Painting class if you’re not an artsy person for your Visual Arts requirement–there’s classes like Art History or stuff like that. Be reasonable about the classes you take and how much workload you know you can handle. Not everyone is the same.

Go see your adviser from time to time. Just to make sure you’re on track! Work out a 4-year plan. You don’t want to have any surprises later down the road!

Be careful with labels. Like “best friend” or “favorite person”. Sometimes, these can lead people on unintentionally and you’ll get yourself in awkward and uncomfortable situations where they like you but you don’t like them or something. I learned that it’s just best to call people your “friends” and unless you are really bonded with a person, then call them your best friend. But honestly, if you two are best friends, you kinda just know you are each other’s best friend–it’s a mutual feeling and it doesn’t really need to be said or labeled. I think it’s just best to rid yourself of using labels, honestly. Terms that imply exclusivity can sometimes lead people on. I think you should have a self-check with yourself every month or two and go like, “Okay, where am I at? I really like where I am right now. I could improve on this… etc etc. Let’s see the friends I’m close to… Do I think any of them likes me? I don’t want to unintentionally lead them on.” Just stuff like that.

Understand your finances for college. Including scholarships, how much you’re paying, how much you’re working (if applicable), etc. Just be on top of all your money stuff! 

Don’t go out and eat out a lot. I ate out a lot during freshman year. Too much. I had no regrets during the moment but now looking back, I just imagine all of the money I could’ve saved if I didn’t eat out…. :( You can save so much money by reducing how much you eat out.

Be financially conscious and be mindful of how much you spend. There are plenty of hangouts you and your friends can do that don’t require money or that much money. Examples: movie nights, picnics, checking out the campus botanical garden, going sightseeing in the city, cooking dinner together, etc. Just because it costs money doesn’t mean it will always be fun, memorable or worth it–something to remind yourself of! In addition, shoot for quality over quantity. Buy a $50 pair of Rainbows sandals that will last for years, instead of flimsy, cheaply made sandals that will break after a couple of uses. Splurge on that North Face jacket–you’ll be wearing it a lot and it’s versatile and will last you years. Now that I buy groceries and cook for myself, I’ve definitely come to appreciate the value of the dollar.

Realize how small the world is and how connected everything is. Don’t talk shit about people. Seriously. The person you’re complaining about may have a friend who is taking a class with the person you’re telling to. Or the person you’re telling it to may have a friend who has a friend who knows the person. If it’s one thing that keeps coming up in my time here, it’s that everyone seems to know everybody (or is a friend of a friend). So limit your shit-talking, secret-sharing, gossip talk to only your trusted confidants. Seriously, though. As you go through college, you’ll come to notice that many people will reappear in your classes because of being in the same major, and more. The world is small, y’all. Don’t be reckless.