Youthful mind.

A little piece of truth for any high school readers reading this blog: There is not a miraculous jump of maturity level from high school to college.

In college, people still leave chewed up gum underneath chairs, make crude, sexist jokes, and publicly proclaim their drunken escapades in hopes of obtaining bragging rights.

It's something that I have to face and deal with day in and day out. And it's something that I'm not particularly fazed by, especially not after my own high school experience.

But it's vastly unfair to generalize, isn't it? Today in my American State & Local Politics class we were having discussions questioning whether or not certain things, such as healthcare, sexual education, and state universities should get more funding from the government. It was probably the longest and most interesting discussion we've had in that class yet (and trust me, the material is anything but riveting).

What made it truly interesting for me is how much students in my class knew and cared about these issues. I learned so much from my classmates, and it was incredible to see how much my own peers read, watch, and listen to what is going on in our society.

It's not fair to say that young adults don't care about the community, just as it is not fair for me to assume that all college students have the mind capabilities of a spoon.

Happy Vernal Equinox!

After a rough and temperamental winter, warmer weather is finally around the corner. Sadly, the gorgeous 70º weather from Friday won't entirely reflect the first week of spring, but anything is better than the horrible snowstorms we've had this winter.

I've always loved winter, but having to walk everywhere in crap weather really gave me some perspective. I've never been SO happy to have nice weather again.

I plan on celebrating the first day of the new season with free Rita's water ice (mango flavor, always),  Spanish homework, and a Harry Potter marathon. Not the most exciting way to spend the first day of Spring (or a weekend, really...) but a little relaxation and peace is what I truly need these days.

Spring also means that I have to start thinking about Summer! I know that I'm going back to my part-time job back home, but if I don't get as many hours as I'd like at work, I want to find other things to do as well. I considered interning in the city, but it would definitely conflict with my work schedule. I was also suggested to find a second job or volunteer. I don't have much time to really think about it, but we'll see how it goes

Quite frankly, just having no academic obligations for almost four months will be good for me.

Words to live by today {and always}

{photo}

With that in mind...

...come on you gunners.

Make time for a slice of humble pie.

{photo}

I've always been busy, always been running around campus, whether I had meetings to go to or textbooks to study. My first semester of college has been a whirlwind, but the first month of my second semester has already been ten times more hectic than the beginning of the year.

On top of studying, writing, editing, and planning, I have also taken up exercising. I have always wanted to make exercising a more routine thing, but I constantly fell back on the excuse that "I didn't have time."

But then I realized. The hour (well, more like two..or three hours) I spend procrastinating on Tumblr or Twitter can be spent at the gym. Not only do I make good use of my time by getting fit, but I also get energized and become happier. I actually find myself feeling enthusiastic about going to the gym and looking forward to it at the end of the day. Endorphins are some hell of a hormone!

Despite my added burst of energy, I am still exhausted by the end of the day. Slipping underneath my covers after a long day is such an appreciated luxury. It's relaxing yet agonizing, since I know that the next day will only be the same cycle of craziness I had experienced all day.

Fridays (to many college students) are usually meant for weekend hurrahs that include excessive drinking and/or super short body-conscious skirts. My Friday consisted of going to the gym, buying granola bars and strawberries at the supermarket, watching Merlin, and then catching the Zs by 11:30. Ohh yes, I went to bed before midnight on a Friday night. I couldn't dream of something like this in high school.

I have a tendency to ramble about how busy and tired I always am to my roommate. "Oh I always have these meetings, these workshops, these deadlines, etc. etc." She always comments on how quickly I fall asleep at night, since it takes her hours to fall asleep. A busy, working body has made me drift to sleep like a baby.

I thought about the way that I would drag on about my priorities and obligations, and how I would laud my to-do list as a blessing and a burden. And I realized that...I am not special for being busy. Everyone is busy. Everyone has things to do. I am not the only one who rarely has breathers anymore. My roommate is busy (though she claims that she is nowhere as busy as me), my professors are busy, my TAs are busy, my classmates are busy, the school faculty is busy. I shouldn't single myself out as such a hard-working, busy person because...well...I'm not the only one. There are many people who have so much more to do in so much less time than me.

And it's all rather humbling. Knowing that I'm one of many with dreams, with obligations, with a life. We're all working it all out at our own pace. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Strength in the strangest of places.

{photo}

Every morning I make a habit of reading some of the news on the internet before getting a copy of The New York Times when I leave my building. Today, in between bites of peach oatmeal and sips of French vanilla coffee, I read a BBC News article about the psychology of shopping. I naturally was intrigued by the article, and I realized that the analysis seems rather...obvious. At least to me of course. I could definitely relate to the psychological ideas that the experts explained, especially these parts:

Most shoppers attach greater significance to potential loss - missing out on a bargain - than they do to a reward like having bought something that was needed. The purchaser thinks if they don't buy the item at that instant they might miss out entirely, Graves explains.

But if a shopper hasn't gone through a rational process because of time constraints or other elements of stress, they may feel guilt or anxiety, referred to as "buyer's remorse", explains Dr Denison.

It's interesting how something so "asinine" as shopping can have so much emotional consequences. As I thought about what I had just read, I realized that the indescribable itch to spend money that I used to have has been well controlled as of late. Since coming back to school, I have not spent my money frivolously on mocha lattes and steak burritos, and I did not buy any clothes on my most recent trip downtown. Where did this will power come from? Perhaps it's from the profound realization that my bank account is not as healthy and plump as it used to be. Whatever it is, I'm quite impressed by my progress so far. Money saved now will be money spent on fine chocolates and satin scarves when I vacation in France this summer.

Now if only I had the same strength to stop procrastinating on all of my school work...  

Russian dress code?

From an article in today's issue of The New York Times:

Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin has angered women’s groups recently with his comments about female modesty. At a December round table on interethnic relations, he said a woman wearing a miniskirt “can provoke not only a man from the Caucasus,” the predominately Muslim region on Russia’s southern border, “but a Russian man as well.”

“If she is drunk on top of that, she will provoke him even more,” he said. “If she is actively inviting contact, and then is surprised that this contact ends with a rape, she is all the more at fault.”

 Misogyny at its finest, isn't it?

Because men have absolutely no control over their own actions, and any consequences should be of the "provocative" women's wrongdoing...*

*obvious sarcasm

Back in the city.

{photo}

As much as I enjoyed my first semester of college, it wasn't as glamorous and adventurous as I might have made it out to be. As a matter of fact, I had minor emotional turmoils as I did in high school, except my gradually expanding wisdom helped me cope with some issues far better than I ever could as a high schooler. As the days got darker, my sanity began to spiral downward. Finals week was nearly my breaking point; I was basically hanging on by a thread.

But I managed. I dealt with the stress, the frustration, the cold. It was (and is) life, and that was all. It's all part of the beauty of living.

In 2010, I left school in a state that one may call a "hot mess." I overworked and under-slept, my ratty, unkempt hair was poorly hidden by beanies and berets, my eyeliner was purposely smudged in hopes that people didn't realize I just couldn't be arsed to actually do my makeup properly. All I wanted to do was...nothing.

And so for the last month, I had been doing nothing. Sitting at home, watching movies, baking sweets. I only left my house to go to work, and I only went out with my friends three times. My days were mostly spent lounging in pajamas, so bringing my wardrobe back home was of little use. For what it was worth, winter break was absolutely lovely.

That being said, I am immensely happy to be back in the city. It is time to come back to reality and start things fresh. It may be rather gritty and grimy, but this place is practically my home. I have a pretty decent outlook on this year, now I just have to act upon it.