2/13/2019 0 Comments How I CHOSE MY "PErfect" schoolPicking a college is the most stressful thing of every high school student. If it isn’t, you are lying to yourself. You spend your last two years of high school worrying about your GPA, course load, SAT and ACT scores, extracuricculars, essays, and applications. ON TOP of looking through over 5,000 colleges this country has to offer. HOW IN THE HELL DO YOU FIND THE PERFECT MATCH?
Sometimes you don’t. Not to sound morbid or anything. Some people have NO CLUE what they want to do, where they want to be, what size classroom they want to be in, how much they can afford to pay… because let’s face it: college is NOT cheap. 1. EXPLORE: do not limit your options. There are so so so many different places all over the country and if you are not sure don’t be afraid to ask around and do your research. A lot of schools offer similar programs but much different coursework which can make a HELL OF A DIFFERENCE. 2. VISIT: this may be harder if you are looking further away but is totally doable. You should visit as many schools as you can. If you are trying to plan a summer vacation, instead of going to the same beach you have been going to since you were five, plan a roadtrip to visit a few of the schools on your list and get to know the cities around it because that is where you may or may not be living for the next four years AT LEAST. When you visit, take notes, do not be lazy. THIS IS IMPORTANT. Think of what is important to you, dorms? city life? class size? campus size? atmosphere? weather? vibe? sports? clubs? food?(come on, you know you love food). Remember the interactions you have with people around and on campus because odds are that is how the majoirty of people in that area act. Take note of that. Take note of the distance as well, sometimes you may think you want to be far away and then realize it may take you a 5 hour flight to get home EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. If you like that, awesome - if not, maybe look at closer options and vice versa. You can ALWAYS find a happy medium. 3. RESEARCH: Once you have visited some schools you can start to compare programs you might be interested in. If you know what you want to do GREAT (it will probably change..but GREAT). Compare those schools majors and see which courses sounds interesting and what the different requirements are and see which will best suit you IN THE LONG RUN. This is a lot of money so make sure you are thinking about the long run not just the right now. If you have NO CLUE what you want to do- TOTALLY OKAY! Make sure the schools you are looking at have good exploratory majors and undecided paths because that will be VERY helpful in trying to pick a major down the road. Ask questions always if you are not sure. 4. FOCUS: Whenever you have it down to a list of 10 or so schools start figuring out the logisitcs of how likely you are to get in. It is totally okay to challenge yourself, in fact you definetely should, but you also totally can stay within your comfort zone. But now is the time to get your head in the game and looking at numbers. That is your test scores, GPA, and PRICES!!! There are costs associated with EVERYTHING for college, including APPLICATION FEES!! This is why it is important to only apply to schools you are serious about. Do not waste $50 on an application fee for some school you have no interest in. Come on, save that $50 for food… you know or books. 5. TIME: Give yourself time. Application deadlines can sneak up on you and you do NOT want to be rushed trying to write a personal statement, especially if any of your numbers are lacking because this can make up for where those numbers lacked… ahem… I have been there. The more time you give yourself the less stressed you are. PLUS this is your SENIOR YEAR!! Do NOT forget to enjoy it. You are about to be on your own. 6. TAKE ADVANTAGE: Take advantage of the free rides, food, and support. When you get to school your uber bill will be through the roof, as well as your fast food bills. There is no support like your family and when you are far away it does get harder to feel that support. College is amazing and you meet WONDERFUL people, maybe your forever people, but nothing beats family and life is short so take advantage of that. I probably missed A LOT, but you can fill in the holes. Do not worry. Worrying is stressful and who needs stress? Things will come to you and you will look back and think it was easy… maybe. Always smile, do not get discouraged, and always remember where you come from because that has shaped who you are and what you one day will become. You are beautiful.
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While flying from destination A to destination B or maybe C,D, or E, we know one thing: airports are NOT everyones best friend. I, however, am one of the very few people who LOVES airports (for the most part). I do not know if it is because of the vast restaurants and shops, the hustle and bustle of families, workers, couples (young or old), and so many other types of people all leaving some place to head somewhere lese, usually better.
In every airport there are hundreds to thousands of people that pass through everyday and they all have a story, they all come from somewhere, and are all heading in completely different directions, but no matter where you are from or where you are going we all meet in this airport. A huge building full of aircraft capabale of taking you anywhere in the world. ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. C’mon? That’s cool, right? Anways, whether you hate flying or absolutely adore it there is one thing that cannot be denied. You want to have the smoothest travel experience possible. After many years of flying from destination A to destination B, I have come up with a few ways that help my airport travels go as smooth as possible. 1. ARRIVE ON TIME: Plan to arrive AT LEAST an hour and forty five minutes before your flight DEPARTS if not checking any bags. Planes start boarding 40 minutes before take off so this will give you enough time to get through security and find your gate. 2. DO NOT CHECK A BAG (unless you need to): If you can fit your belongings in the biggest allowed carry on suitcase, then no need to pay $30 to check a bag. These bags will fit on the plane AND nine times out of ten, the airline will offer to check your bag complimentary at the gate. This means all you had to do was get it through security and to the gate and then you will not have to worry about it again until your final desitnation baggage claim. This will save you big bucks! You are also allowed one personal item (mine is always a backpack because they fit the most). 3. WHEN PACKING: When packing, think smart. Put your shoes and clothes in your rolled suticase that will be checked at the gate. In your backpack, or persoanl item put things like your laptop, iPad, wallet, extra socks, glasses, sunglasses, charger, headphones, snacks (whatever you need ON THE FLIGHT). I also HIGHLY reccomend putting your 3 oz toilitries in your backpack because sometimes security requires you to remove them. It is much easier to remove these items from your backpack than having to unzip a suitcase while you are trying to take off your shoes in security. 4. WEAR SLIP ON SHOES: Save yourself and everyone the struggle of holding up security lines by wearing shoes that are easy to slip on and off. It already takes forever and NOBODY, not even the mom with the 2 year old and dog standing behind you want to wait for you to untie and retie your shoes. 5. FIND YOUR GATE: Find your gate before you run to any bathroom, store, or restaurant. It is important to know where you need to be and what time you need to be there. ALWAYS find your gate first especially if you are unfamilar with the airport. 6. UTILIZE THE PLANE WIFI: Every airline is going to charge you $10 or more for the wifi use during the flight. What you may not realize is you can use the airlines wifi for FREE to watch movies and the movies airlines provide are usually pretty good! 7. FOR CONNECTING FLIGHTS: Anytime I have a connecting flight, the second we touch down and I am able to turn on my cellular data. I look up “city of layover departing flights”, I find my gate for the next flight. You can usually look out the plane window and see what gate you will be getting off at. From there, the back pocket of the seat infront of you will have a magazine with MOST airport terminal maps OR you can look it up on your phone. I then map out how far it is and make sure I will have enough time to get there. 8. EXTRA TIPS: Be patient and kind to everyone you see. There are people rushing through airports, people leisurealy strolling, people who do not know the language, maybe you do not know the langauge, children, workers, and elderly. Everyone you see could use a smile or a hello. Do not be afraid to engage in conversation with the person next to you. They may have a really cool story and maybe they could become a part of yours. You are beautiful. Okay, so you are in a relationship and you or your partner ask for a break. Yes, a break. Not a break UP. Just a break. We have probably all been there, I have too, numerous times. It takes a while but when you realize just how absurd that is you kind of want to slap yourself in the face.
Why though? Well to make it simple let’s think about what led you to make that decision in the first place. It could be literally anything, but SOMETHING led you to not want to be with that person any longer. That. Is. Enough. You should never want to not be with your “forever” person. You should always want to be with them. If there is something driving you two apart, it is probably for a good reason. People do not change. By the age where you are in serious enough relationships to be reading this blog you should know whoever you are by now is probably who you are. That is not going to change. So for whatever reason that you are wanting a break, or your partner, that reason is PROBABLY not going to change. And if you try to force your partner.. or ex partner to change then that is even worse because now you are forcing a relationship. Not a good idea. It will end in the same way. You should be able to be you in whatever relationship you are in and you should be able to be you with a person who is being themselves as well. And those two personalities should click enough that you do not want to be apart from them EVEN WHEN things get rough because things do get rough. It is life afterall. Nobody said it was easy. BUT if you are trying to ‘go on a break” with someone or someone is trying to “go on a break with you”, sorry but that is just a lame excuse because 1. You or they are too scared of losing a potential love in case they or you “never find anything better” (bullshit), 2. You or they are too scared to “hurt your feelings” and just dump you so you will end up getting dragged along with the hopes of eventually “getting off the break” until one day you see them or they see you witha new person and it’s like OH I GET IT NOW… we were actually never getting back together or 3. You or they are just REALLY confused and you both should just end it officially so you can work on yourselves… and probably find someone better that complements you. I am NOT saying if you are on a break it is NEVER GOING TO WORK, it might. I am just saying you should probably save yourself some time and just break up so you do not feel dragged along, cheated, or manipulated and go on with your life, be yourself and if someday down the road your paths cross again there is always room to “try again”. But, breaks are stupid. Just break up. Things that will stick for forever should never fall apart. If they do, it probably… notice I say probably, will never work. You are beautiful. |
jULIE SONGERHey guys!! Thank you for checking out my blog! I am going to be posting about life tips, advice, fashion tips, travel stories, and social issues! I am currently a college student at the University of Kentucky studying social work hoping to pursue a career in substance abuse counselling! I appreciate every single person who reads this. ArchivesCategories |