Tag: 2017

Hi all, today I sort of wanted to discuss what I do at work since I just finished my first week and know my duties for each shift. Also I enjoy work for the most part, which is always a good thing 🙂

Tuesdays

I just worked my first Tuesday shift yesterday and on Tuesdays (unlike my other 2 days) I stock. Today was actually my most boring day at work because it should really only be a 1 person job, yet usually there are 2-3 people stocking. My stocking partner, Gary, and I spent the day stocking what we could, pacing around the store waiting for people to buy things so we could restock what they had just selected, and talking about ourselves (since we’ll tentatively be spending every Tuesday for the rest of the semester together).

Gary is also a transfer student who lives in the other transfer dorm on campus, and he is majoring in Applied Nutrition. He transferred from Ohio State and based off of what I’ll tell you next I don’t believe he’s flown much. Something myself and most of the people I know are pretty used to me going from Chicago to San Diego to Chicago to Peru to Chicago to Ohio. However, people from here are not. I said I transferred from SDSU and that I’m from Chicago (not even gliding over my gap year or peru excursion) and his mouth was on the floor. “You must be pretty used to flying then huh? Wild” Wild is right Gary. He also mentioned that he’s heard Chicago is pretty liberal but I’m not sure if that was remarked positively or negatively, so we’ll have to wait and see. Nevertheless, he was cute and sweet and I’ll be looking forward to working stock shifts because I’ll be able to see my new bud Gary.

Thursdays

On Thursdays I work with smoothies. The market I work in has a small smoothie bar called “Smooth Moves” and basically I just make smoothies for 4 hours. It’s a lot easier than I thought because everything is labeled nicely and all of the recipes are taped to the wall. Everyone I work with there is a senior which is a little intimidating but they all said I’d done a great job last week on my first day and that normally when someone new is at smoothie, it’s a shit show. So i’m pretty proud of myself. I haven’t gotten the hang of everything yet but I’m sure I’ll know which container is peaches and which is mixed berry in no time.

Saturdays

Saturdays are for the girls.. And Nick. On Saturdays I work at Smooth Moves again, but I also close. I work from 6pm- close. Which should be from 6-9 but last Saturday I wasn’t out of there until 10. No big deal for me; $8.15 more for me and an excuse not to go out and party. Win win. I work with Heather, Madison, Rhiannon, Olivia, and Nick. Heather, Madison, and Rhiannon are freshman and god is it obvious! I hope it wasn’t that obvious for me. Olivia is also a sophomore and she is my favorite coworker on Saturdays. Nick works the cash register across the store so we really only socialize when we’re closing.

Saturdays seem like they’ll be fun because it’s pretty busy which makes the night go by fast and we all bonded a lot when we had to close the whole market and then some of the attached dining hall because people don’t know how to do their jobs. Also we close at 9 and even though we say that, people still stagger in until 915 or so, which is annoying but we let it slide.

That’s a week in the life of work for me. I’m really surprised I liked it this much and I can’t wait to keep making my smoothies and stocking (talking to Gary) !!!

Alicia

It’s been about 10 days since I’ve moved into my dorm and said that everything was weird. Ohio is still a little weird, but significantly less weird, which is all I could have asked for.

My roommate and I are getting along well and Friday night we made a Walmart run at 2 in the morning and we got a fish for our room. We named him Adam Benjamin. Adam because we live in Adams Hall and Benjamin after a boy we want to befriend. Only a little weird. We have been talking tons and we are very similar, we’re both very glad we got paired together and didn’t get someone else. She also says I’m very easy to talk to which is really reassuring since I feel like I’m the most awkward person on the face of the planet.

I think what I really needed was for school to start. I crave a schedule because without one, I just lie around and wait for something to happen.

Once school started and my books started to arrive I have been working on homework, talking to people in my classes, etc. I am still a little anxious about being here but I’m working on it.

I also got a job! I am working at one of the campus markets. I work Tuesdays, Thursdays, and every other Saturday which isn’t too bad. I just make smoothies for 4 hours and the people I have worked with so far have been pleasant and nothing but kind to me.I am joining a few more clubs this week and still making it too the gym whenever I can. So, once I get in the swing of things and don’t have to pull out my phone each time I go to class to remember each classroom number, I think the weirdness will subside completely.

In the meanwhile, I have a 22 page article to read and annotate for Wednesday, so wish me luck

Alicia 🙂

Hi everyone, this week has been filled with school, homework, work, and going to the gym so I will update on all of that in the coming days. However, for the past few months (on and off) I have started off the month by writing a few goals for the month, During August I never followed up with them, but since I am finally back in the swing of things, I will be following up again at the end of the month. Let’s get started with my September goals

1. Finish all of my homework the day BEFORE it is due. My classes don’t start until 12:55 but I don’t want to spend my morning rushing to finish any last minute homework and not make it to the gym or be late to class.
2. Go to the gym 5 (or more) days a week. I joined a club called CHAARG which is for girls who love working out and fitness and to liberate girls from the elliptical, so that will help with  keeping myself accountable, however, if #1 doesn’t succeed, me making it to the gym after class is a rarity
3. Call or Facetime my family at least twice a month. I call my dad daily to rant about life and to tell him about my future husband I met this week, but I rarely call anyone else. A facetime during a weekend where I get to talk to my parents, sister, and my dog, of course, would be nice.
4. Practice good hygiene. I’m good about this in the usual aspects: brushing my teeth, using soap, showering etc. however, my skin sometimes needs some TLC. I need to remember to wash my face twice a day and to put lotion on my face and body twice a day as well.
5. Go to club meetings. One thing I didn’t do in San Diego was join clubs or hell, talk to more than 5 people, so this year, I am making it a habit of joining 3 clubs and going to as many of the meetings that my schedule permits because I want to make friends here, besides my roommate.

There were my September goals. Do you have any?

Alicia

I feel weird. Ohio is weird. It’s my first night here and I just feel weird. Maybe it’s the fact that my sinuses are clogged beyond repair or maybe it’s because i feel like a speck of dust floating in the air, but I feel weird.

I am all moved in, my dad has come and gone, and my roommate and I have exchanged some small talk about our home lives and old schools.

However, as I sit here on my new bedding, looking at my tidy desk and 4 dorm walls where I’ll be spending a great deal of my next 9 months, I can’t help but feel weird.

This feeling is one I’ve felt before. It’s the feeling of being in a new place. When you don’t know what to do, so you float, you just float and float and float until you are given a routine or a task or a human plucks you from thin air and says you are not dust anymore.

I don’t want to be dust. I have 2 full days before school starts and I just feel like dust. Sunday will be fine with floor meetings and involvement fairs and scoping out classes.

But tomorrow, what will be of tomorrow? I might just go out and scope out campus, maybe grab a cup of coffee and write until my heart’s content. I don’t know what will be of tomorrow,  or the days and weeks to come after; but I know one thing: I do not want to be dust.

Finishing up my back to school series by doing something I love making; lists of goals. Whenever I start something new; a year, a school, a job, etc. I love making a little set of goals for myself. Here are my goals for school this semester

1. Go to the gym 6 days a week
2. Drink 64oz of water daily
3. Get at least 7 hours of sleep each night- Usually, I’d want 8 but let’s be honest
4. Finish all of my homework before the day it’s due- Usually pertaining to essays and studying
5. Get 10,000 steps in daily- With my job on the opposite end of campus, this should be no problem
6. Try not to skip class more than once a month- The goal is not missing at all but it’s bound to happen a few times a semester and that’s okay.
7. Use my planner!
8. Visit my professors at least once each- Nothing says dedicated like going to office hours no matter how small the question may seem
9. Join an extracurricular  activity (or 6)- I’ve already got a few ones I I’d like to join, it just depends on whether or not they fit into my schedule
10. Aim for Straight As
11. Read a book or two that wasn’t assigned- I love reading but sometimes I find that Netflix and napping are higher on my list of priorities
12. Save money

What are your goals for the next 6 months?

Alicia

In the next few weeks, 18-year-olds across the country will be road tripping to their new home and beginning the next four years of their lives. When my dad and I flew out to San Diego 2 years ago, I was terrified, excited, nervous, and every emotion in between. The only thing I could base college off were the movies, and that certainly wasn’t easing my mind. To prevent current and future freshman (or transfers) from having their share of mental breakdowns, I’ve decided to compile a post of some misconceptions my friends and I had about college our freshmen year.

1. High school prepares you for college- In high school I barely studied, missed school once every other week (or more), and didn’t really care about high school in general. I still maintained a 4.2 GPA all 4 years of high school. However, when I got to college I was in for a major shock. In college, you can’t skip class, you have to study, and you HAVE TO care. These things are vital to succeeding, graduating, and getting a job.
2. Getting classes out of the way early is a good idea- No. I had an 8 am second semester and 2 9ams my first semester. I am a morning person, however, having to sit in a room with words and facts being spewed into your face for an hour really takes the life out of you. On my days where classes didn’t start until 10 or 11, I had much more energy and was able to get little tasks done in the morning like eating breakfast, going to the gym, and organizing myself.
3. Midterms and finals are hell- If I’m being honest, they do suck. I won’t lie. Having to know a semester worth of information for 5-6 classes isn’t easy, however, it’s not the end of the world. If you’ve been reading your books, attending classes, and studying regularly, finals will be over before you know it.
4. Everyone parties- This was probably my biggest fear entering freshman year. I’m usually very introverted and I don’t like large crowds (unless it’s a concert) and I’m  more conservative when it comes to attire… college parties are not the place for me. I did go out a few times freshman year (first weekend, halloweekend, etc.) but most of my friends and I didn’t go out most weekends and that’s okay.
5. You won’t make any friends- Join a club or make study groups with people in your classes and you are guaranteed friends. Freshmen (any year really) are always looking for new people to talk to with similar interests. Go out of your comfort zone and start up a conversation and you’ll be sure to have a few new friends.
6. The food is bad- I don’t know where this rumor started but the food at San Diego (And Ohio from what I’ve had) is really freaking good. There are professional and student cooks who make such a variety of different foods daily to please everyone’s palette. If you can’t find something you like, you aren’t looking.
7. Greek life is everything- Greek life is a good way to make friends and be social, but it’s not the end of the world if you don’t join a sorority. At my schools and most of my friends’ schools, Greek life is less than 10% of the student body. If you want to go Greek, do it!, But if not, don’t feel pressured.
8. You’ll never leave the library- First semester, I went to the library twice and the only reason I was there was to print something because my printer broke. If your roommate is quiet enough and you don’t have a lot of group projects, you are given a really nice desk that can work just as well as the library.
9. You have to know what you want to do as a freshman- Most people enter college with one idea of what they want to do and end up changing it one, two, or ten times before they really know what they want. Don’t fret if you enter undecided!
10. People instantly mature when they get to college- Have you ever met a college boy?

To all the new college students, I hope this helps. What else are you nervous for or what were you nervous for before starting college?

Alicia

Hi everyone, sorry it’s been a bit since I’ve posted last. I’ve been getting ready for college and sleeping on the couch with Poppy so I’ve been exhausted. But, here I am, 9  days until I leave for Ohio, excited as ever.

Since I’ve been doing this whole shopping thing, I’ve decided that since I scoured the internet compiling dorm shopping lists, that I would make my own shopping list for people in college or people getting ready to head off to college. I hope you enjoy and let me know if there’s anything you would add.

Alicia