#university advice
is the best breakfast I’ve ever had.
My roommate and I get breakfast every morning, and sometimes our friends will meet us there. I have an 8 am class every day, so we meet at 9 for breakfast. It is so amazing.
At my school, there are so many breakfast choices. I get a scramble made for me every morning - you just fill out a little order form and they make it right there in front of you! I also get some sort of carb-y food, either pancakes (chocolate chip, blueberry, and regular is what they offer, different days of the week!) or french toast. They have sausage, bacon, turkey sausage patties, scrambled eggs, oatmeal, waffles, fruit, yogurt, cereal, breakfast muffins/cookies/donuts, potatoes, hash browns, and some other stuff that I can’t think of!
Waking up every morning knowing I’ll be full until 2 pm is a great feeling.
Cheers!
Last night I had a dream that I received a text telling me I had been accepted into my dream school. I woke up really sad, and disappointed. I remembered how sad I was when I came home to this thin, tiny, sad envelope and cried for two whole days because my envelope wasn’t gold. I didn’t go to class the next day; I just laid in bed and felt sorry for myself.
That was something no one told me: it’s okay to be sad. It’s okay to cry and not go to school the next day. It’s okay to feel hurt and embarrassed. Those feelings are okay. After awhile, you don’t feel as sad anymore. You don’t want to cry as much, and there will be a day that you won’t cry at all.
It’s been 7 months since I received my rejection letter, and I still cry sometimes. Sometimes it’s really easy to be sad, like when you’re alone in your dorm room and Facebook is full of pictures of your friends who go to that school and it’s 1 am on a Friday night. I’m still sad, still disappointed, but there will be a time that I don’t feel this way anymore.
A lot of dorm rooms (or apartments, for that matter) have the same universal rules: quiet hours, no pets, and no holes in the walls. Unfortunately, that means no pinning up frames for pictures! Thankfully, washi tape has saved all of us college students (and apartment renters).
Using washi tape to frame photos is not only cute and fun, but easy! All you need are your photos (in this case, I used motivational quotes), scissors, and washi tape!
My washi tape is actually “paper tape” that I bought from Target on clearance for less than $2 each (each pack comes with 4 rolls).
All you need to do is cut the washi (or paper) tape to your liking, and tape up! It comes off easy and doesn’t tear off any paint. Perfect!
Fin.
To all the students out there preparing or filling out college applications: don’t freak out.
Take it from me - no matter where you go, you will not be unhappy. College is a pretty big deal, but where you go will not dictate your life and your experiences. Here are some words of advice:
1. Only apply to schools you feel confident about. Applying to schools that don’t have your major or interests is a waste of time, energy, and money. Apply to schools you would be proud to attend and can see yourself at. This was a struggle for me - I wasn’t accepted into my dream school, but my backup school was still one I would be comfortable with attending (I know I didn’t come off that way on this blog).
2. Don’t lie on applications. You want a university to want you for YOU, not for this made up person on paper (or, in most cases, online). Of course, bring out your best qualities and characteristics, but don’t go telling a school you are the president of a club or founded a group, if it isn’t true. Be you!
3. Don’t get stressed if you don’t get into your first choice. That was me. I was crushed and felt sad, which is normal and OK. That was something people often forget to mention: it’s okay to be sad about college. There are so many other universities out there (approx. 2,169!) and you will find one that you will fall in love with.
4. Make the best of the school you’re at. I thought I would hate my school, but after being here for two weeks, I’m realizing that I do like it. I like the city (town), the school, and the people. Give it some time. And if you’re going to your first choice, don’t go in with extremely high expectations. Be realistic, but still have fun!
Good luck to everyone sending out applications this fall and winter. You’ll all do great!
Fin.
What’s in my School Bag?
Since this is a college based blog, I thought this would be the perfect place to post what I have in my school bag! I decided I would carry a bag this year instead of a backpack. A bag is very sophisticated and mature to me, but I still brought my backpack to school with me, if I ever decided to switch.
The bag I’m currently using a Lilly Pulitzer Shine Tote. I find it bright the flamingos to be adorable. Unfortunately, I bought it during the sale towards the end of summer, so they aren’t sold anymore, however there is a somewhat similar one here. The bag is big, waterproof, and has a zipper pocket on the inside! It’s the perfect bag to use for school, besides the fact it can’t zip up. I’m planning on purchasing a Longchamp Le Pliage and swapping those two between each other.
What I carry in my bag is pretty much the same each day. I carry, of course, the basics: my Liz Claiborne wallet (similar here), a pair of sunnies I was given from a friend, a stick of Dove deodorant, Calgon hand cream (best hand cream I’ve ever used), two sticks of chapstick, a Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer in cucumber melon, and my Ralph Lauren 1 body mist. I carry my body products in a polka dot cosmetic bag that I bought from Forever21, along with the striped one, in a pack of three (which is unfortunately not sold online).
I also have a pack of Mentos gum, my dorm keys on a cute pink lanyard, and a coupon book I was given on campus!
As far as school supplies go, I carry eight pens, four highlighters, and a pad of post it notes. I carry all of those in the striped cosmetic bag, which is the perfect size - there’s no struggle looking for the right pen!
My classes are all pretty spaced out. I have enough time that I can come back to my dorm room between classes, so I switch out which notebook I need so I’m not carrying two around at the same time. I have three, which I bought at Target.
I may or may not end up changing what I carry with me. I have everything I need without carrying too many items, so I’m happy. Let me know what you carry in yours!
Fin.
Post link
websites to download PDF textbooks / e-books (academic books) for FREE!
Hey guys! It’s been a while! I know I’ve mentioned in a few posts before that I’ve gone paperless with my lecture notes, textbooks + everything else that has to do with papers in university, I want to highlight again that in my opinion as a sophomore university student (a scholarship student with student loan),academic print books arereallyexpensive. For each semester, I usually take 4-6 courses (around 20 credits hour per semester), so I would have needed to buy 4-6 books each semester. Honestly, I couldn’t afford to buy them every semester. Therefore, I opted to borrow the books from library+print them in B&W (colour printing is expensive when there’s hundred of pages) + bind each of them. I usually do this for heavier / core courses (i.e. higher credit hours). Whenever possible, I also bought second hand books from seniors (usually books that are from lighter courses). I did all these repeatedly until the end of my second semester of foundation year. It hurts my wallet (+ heart) so much from a trip down this memory lane uhuhuhu.
After the second semester of my foundation year, I started going paperless with my textbooks first. To my knowledge, most of the free e-books websites usually require us to sign up / something + this annoys me very much. I tried searching for other websites that doesn’t need us to sign up, + I’ve finally found them. In my opinion, these free PDF textbooks are such lifesavers for my wallet. So, I thought of sharing with everyone (especially university / college students) where I download these PDF textbooks / e-books.
First of all, I usually use these websites to download academic books in PDF formats (I will update / add on this list if I have found new websites):
- Library Genesis (my #1 favourite): http://gen.lib.rus.ec
- Free Books and Slides (previously known as Download Slides): https://freebookslides.blogspot.com
- Free Medical Books: https://vk.com/edicalbooks?m=1
- Internet Archive (for not so current articles, books, journals, research papers, etc): https://archive.org
- GCE Guide (for AS / A / IGCSE / O levels): https://www.gceguide.xyz
After that, I would import them into the Documents by Readdle appon my iPad. This app is one of my top 5 favourite apps of all time (plus it’s free), but it’s only available for iOS. I always use it to view/read PDF books, highlight + search texts, bookmark pages, etc. Besides file manager, it can also function as a media player. Talk about multifunction!
Well, that’s all! I’ll probably get busier with my internship starting soon, so I won’t have much time to post on my Tumblr :(
