buddhist vegann – Page 5 – Living off Leesh

(Not so) Typical Broke College Student

Published on November 6, 2015October 14, 2016 by Alicia8 Comments

Hey all. Well a common understanding is that college kids have no money. You can see buzzfeed pictures of college kids turning pizza boxes into dust trays, and filling a gallon of milk up at the caf because we are just so resourceful at beating the system. It’s something you have to get good at. Fortunately for me, at least I thought at the time, the job I had recently gotten would ease my empty pockets. I could pay for my sorority, pay for college, and even have extra spending money for sushi nights and that newest pair of shoes.

I found this job on care.com. A website I thought to be home to nothing but sweet mothers and fathers who needed a break on date night or a nanny during the day on occasion during work hours. This is when I came across Mary. Mary traveled a lot and said she needed help with her son when her husband was at work and she was traveling. I said I would love to help her and sent her an email. All of a sudden Mary said she no longer needed a babysitter and that the position was filled, however she could use a personal assistant to help by sending her packages and paying bills and other odds and ends that she would say when they came up. Then she told me I would be paid $350 per week for only about 20 hours a month. $70 an hour is quite a lot I told myself. So, I obliged. She said I would begin working for her right away and that she would mail me checks to deposit into accounts to do all of her spending.

The next morning, she said I would meet with her when she got back from her business trip and that she needed my bank information to deposit money because she needed something done right away. I was a little hesitant but I soon obliged because she was paying me a lot. I did her first job of sending someone in South America about $1500. I didn’t know who it was but Mary said it was a family friend. Mary then deposited $2000 more dollars into my account to whom I would send to the same person. However it was unavailable at the time. She asked me for a loan of $300 for the time being and then I told her I didn’t have $300 in the account. I told her most of my money was in my savings account. She then asked for my savings account information which I promptly declines to give her. She claimed i didn’t trust her but then gave up trying.

The next morning I woke up early to go and send that money to South Africa when I received a notification from my bank’s app. There were 2: “You account balance is less than $5.00” and the other saying “You have overdrawn from your account.” I wasn’t sure what had happened. there should have been about $2210 in my account. Maybe it was a mistake or something I wondered. I logged onto my bank account and saw a number that terrified me and caused me to break into tears. A number of around -$5000 was staring me in the face. How could this happen? How? Frantically I tried calling and texting Mary with no luck. Finally, my teary eyed self called my mom. She has told me that this job seemed sketchy but i didn’t listen to her. I was in love with the money I thought I would have. There was no possible way to get my money back and no way to contact Mary. My mom and I spent several hours on the phone with out bank and Moneygram (the service used to transfer money) with no luck.

Because of this incident, I can’t open an account ever again with my bank and am a victim of fraud, all because I didn’t listen to my parents because I was obsessed with making money. Just saying to all of my fellow college nannies, always make sure you meet a person and never give out any personal information to anyone ever. I hope this never happens to anyone ever again. WE still don’t know if Mary is a real woman or where she lives. Her phone numbers were created with texting apps so we may never find out who she is.

Now, a poor college student becomes an absolutely broke college student who doesn’t get to leave campus or buy anything off of my meal plan or buy anything online for lord knows how long.

Keep this is in mind when dealing with anyone or anything online

Talk to you soon

Alicia

A Day in the Life

Published on November 5, 2015October 14, 2016 by Alicia3 Comments

As I’m procrastinating on my homework of reading 20 pages about how whites suck, I’m going to talk a little about my daily life as a college student aka me procrastinating even more and watching Netflix. Any who, it’s not too intense since I only have class 3 days a week: Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. However on these days I have classes from about 9-5 which, like I said before isn’t too bad. It gives a lot of time to watch Netflix… errr study. Right study. My day goes as such

6am gets woken by my roommate who is trying her hardest to not wake me up but she accidentally slams the door or drops something so I’m awake.

Despite this, I typically get back to sleep. On the occasions that I don’t I watch out my window at the sun rising. A very nice perk of having a dorm on the east side of campus. i enjoy being basic and doing time-lapse videos of the sunrise at time. Honestly, anything to occupy my time. When I’ve had enough basicness for one morning, I get up, shower, make my bed, put things back in their places, the usual. Now here is where it gets complicated, so listen. During my weekend, (Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday) I typically hop back in bed and do homework, study, or watch Netflix. That’s pretty much all I do during those days unless I make plans with someone. I love having those days to relax because it allows my brain to cool off from nonstop classes the other three days. I highly recommend a 3 day college schedule because all day Friday i sleep, on Saturday I hang out with friends and Sunday and Monday I do homework. I am able to really get everything done and ensure I will have time left on Monday night to squeeze in a few more episodes on Grey’s Anatomy (my current and forever obsession Netflix. Need more recommendations from people because I’m almost done with the series… again..). On Tuesday and Thursdays I have class from 9:30-10:45. That’s Biology. It’s a lecture and won’t kill me if I miss it. So if I ‘forgot’ to do my Spanish homework the night before I don’t go to that class. At 11 we have Spanish. It’s Spanish 301 and since I’m only a freshman it’s terrifying. The students in that class are either native speakers or juniors and are super smart. Not sure how I received a 5 on my AP test to be enrolled in that class, but I did. And me and my few other freshman friends are making our way through the semester. When I depart from Spanish at 1215, I have a break before my 2 o’clock class. I typically go to Starbucks and get my venti shaken black tea lemonade unsweetened and then head back to the dorm. I have a class after my break that I always have a quiz so I study for that and then head to my 2 o’clock Africana studies class. That class is almost always cancelled, I actually haven’t had it in 2 weeks. But when we do have class, we take a 10 minute quiz in the beginning of class and then listen to a debate, have a discussion and then we get to leave. After that I make my way to my final class f the day: Honors. We typically discuss a reading that no one reads and there are like 5 kids who do all the talking. I typically read it but don’t pay enough attention to be able to talk about in class for 75 minutes. After that class, I finally get to return to the warmth and comfort of my bed where I do homework (maybe), eat dinner, and watch Netflix until my roommate gets frustrated that she’s going to be 3 hours after she said she would earlier that day. On Wednesdays (we wear pink lol), my load is a lot lighter with only 2 classes, however those two classes are both 2 hours and 40 minutes. Typically they never take the whole time which is nice. My first class is my Biology lab from 9-1140. It’s a pretty simple class with quizzes every other week. We have dissected sharks, a squid, and look at some very unique looking creatures; marine and terrestrial. After that class, I go to Starbucks again, and then head back to my dorm. I do homework for a while, or get lunch with a friend until my class at 4 begins. My class is Sociology and is very boring because everything he lectures is not on the test, yet he gives extra credit if you come to class so I kind of have to go. He typically releases us at 530 and then I get dinner and go to the library until 9 when I go home and finish any other homework I had and then go to sleep just to start my day over again.

Well that’s my week. I know you all were just wondering and on the edge of your seats as you read each line. But that’s my day. I have a lot of free time so I’ll be queueing blog post for a while. This post probably wasn’t posted the day I wrote it. Oops.

Talk to you all soon.

Alicia

P.S. be my friend and talk to me I need friends. I don’t bite.

Lung Cancer Awareness Month

Published on November 4, 2015May 27, 2018 by AliciaLeave a comment

Hi everyone,

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, so I decided to talk about Lung Cancer and how it has affected my life.

For starters, almost everyone in my family (not really but kind of) smokes or has smoked at some point in their life, and i was exposed to a lot of smoking as a child because my dad raced horses and everyone smokes there. My mom has been smoking since high school, my dad’s mom smoked for a long time, my dad’s dad has smoked for at least 40 years, a lot of people who live on my block who I spent every summer night as a child smoked too. Needless to say, a lot of 2nd hand smoke has come my way.

Around January of my 7th grade year, my grandma (dad’s mom) was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. As a 7th grader I always associated cancer with dying, many people do. That night my dad told me was the first of four times I had ever seen my dad cry. After that day, we went every Sunday to visit her and spent the whole day down there. This continued for the rest of the school year and all of summer. Every weekend we could see her getting worse but I couldn’t bring myself to admit that she was dying. Around May she could no longer walk. My family went down to my grandma’s house for my 2 cousin’s graduation (one high school and one middle school). She couldn’t make it to the stands and refused to let people see her in the state she was in, so my grandpa, grandma, sister, and I watched my cousin graduate high school from the backseat of my grandpa’s car. When it came to my cousin’s middle school graduation, she couldn’t even make it out of the house so she and my grandpa stayed home and told her all about it when we got back to the house for cake and presents.

A few weekends later we were back at their house celebrating birthdays. My two cousins have birthdays on May 31st, June 2nd, and my birthday is June 12th. She couldn’t remember that I had hugged her and said goodbye. Being the brat of a 13-year-old I was basically refused to go back and hug her goodbye until I was forced into a hasty and unwanted hug on my half. I always wonder if she remembers this, because I do. And if I could take back one thing in my life it would be throwing a fit because I had to get out of the car and hug my soon to be deceased grandma. As the months passed on she got worse and worse. It was hard watching her have to be changed by my grandpa and seeing her lose hair and barely eat, but we always went. We always sat with her and watched her favorite western movies that we probably could recite to you. We watched them and we told her about our days hundreds of times, because we knew in a few short months or weeks she wouldn’t be there to ask us about our days.

In Mid-October, me and about 30 other 8th graders from my middle school went on a trip to Washington D.C. for the weekend. It was a really great experience and I enjoyed almost every second of it. Upon arriving home, my mom told me that my grandma was doing really bad and would die soon and that we would be traveling down to my grandpa’s the next morning when my dad got back. Well, we didn’t go that morning. Because on October 19th, 2010 at 6:54am my grandma died. She was surrounded by my dad and aunt and grandpa. My dad got home from my grandpa’s house that morning and told me the news and I then saw him cry for the 2nd time ever.

That day, my mom and I went shopping for what I would wear to the funeral just to get my mind off of what had happened. The next day I went to school to get my work for the rest of the week and everyone (kids not teachers) were yelling at me about how I had missed the day before (If more than 3 people missed the day after we got back from DC they claimed they would cancel the trip) and I Had to calmly explain that my grandma died and to shut the hell up but being polite about it.

The next morning, we drove down to my grandpa’s house where the hospice bed my grandma had been in was removed and replaced with her rocking chair she always loved.

The wake was among one of the longest days of my life. I refused to go and look at her because I knew I would break down if I saw her laying there, so peacefully and pain-free. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. i sat in the other room with my mom, sister and cousin and watched as people I had never met came and said how sorry they were for me, and even being surprised by some friends and neighbors who had come to pay their respects. it was so sweet knowing people cared enough to drive an hour and a half just to say they were sorry.

After many long and agonizing hours of waiting for the ceremony to begin, it finally did. I sat there next to my cousins and behind my dad and aunt and listened to the coroner talk about her. I don’t remember a word he said. All i Remember is that my cousin handed me a box of tissues because I was basically wailing in my chair. After the ceremony as I continued to weep, a person to whom I still am unaware of told me “you grandma was a great woman” which I then continued to cry even harder. My eldest cousin and I were definitely the closest to my grandma and were crying the hardest. My dad took us both up to see her one last time. She looked so beautiful and happy. There was no pain, no suffering, and no sadness on her face, Just peace It was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen.

The woman who had taught me how to make pot holders and other fun crafts, who had made the best chocolate milk in the coolest cups, who had let me eat chocolate frosting, who has let me stay at her house for 2 weeks where all we did was play with her dogs, watch TV, and garden, the woman who knitted beautiful sweaters, who introduced me to my favorite movie, and who loved me unconditionally was gone. My best friend was gone. She never got to see me grow up. I was still in my awkward stage and had yet to blossom into the woman I am today. She never got to see that and that still makes me sad to this day. But I know she’s here. I don’t believe in God, and I know she didn’t towards the end of her life, and I don’t believe in ghosts, but I know she is always with me.

To this day, not a day goes by that I don’t think about my grandma and miss her dearly. This past summer I got a tattoo in memory of her. She loved butterflies so much. She had butterfly puzzles and butterfly trinkets sprawled around her house. I got a tattoo for my best friend and it was the best decision of my life.

Purple ribbon is all cancer awareness but I chose purple and not white because white ink doesn't work too well. — Purple ribbon is all cancer awareness but I chose purple and not white because white ink doesn’t work too well.

This one’s for you grandma. See you someday

Until next time

Alicia

Living the Srat Life

Published on November 3, 2015June 25, 2016 by Alicia6 Comments

A common misconception of sororities is that all the girls in the sorority paid to make their friends. Well, it you’re a college student, you paid for college, and you made friends in college. Doesn’t that make any friend you’ve made in school a friend you paid for? Any club or organization in school and on campus has dues, so you literally are paying to make friends. Yet, people always say to get involved on campus because it’s a great way to make friends. I got involved on campus through my sorority and made many friends. Friendships I never would have made had I not rushed and joined the Greek system. I love all of my new friends and wouldn’t trade my rush experience for the world.

Another misconception of all sororities is that all they do is party and sleep with guys. Sororities were founded on philanthropy and community service and that’s exactly what we do. My sorority, Delta Zeta, has a philanthropy where we work with Starkey hearing and try to help people hear. We raise money through gofundme and by having nacho nights at the chapter house a few times a year. We also go on sisterhood hikes to raise awareness too. While there are parties that every frat house hosts, not everyone in the chapter participates and parties aren’t only excluded to girls in sororities. Nearly everyone in college goes out and parties at least once and you don’t have to be in a sorority to be in one.

A lot of my younger friends have asked me about the pros and cons of joining Greek Life and I guess since I’ve told literally everyone I’ll tell you guys too in case any readers are wondering whether or not Greek Life is the life for them

Pros.

You make so many lifelong friendships
There is always someone to get food or go on an adventure with
Leadership opportunities (resume booster)
Connections with alumuna and your sisters/brothers for jobs after college
Sisterhood retreats- Day trips to Disney, random pumpkin patch trips and more
Philanthropic Events- nothing is better than giving back to others, but what makes it even better is doing it with your brothers and sisters.

Cons

Costs- It’s very expensive and I’m going to have to get a job in order to pay for it
The stigma- people who aren’t in Greek Life seem to hate and give it a bad rep
It takes up a lot of time(this hasn’t been an issue for me yet but it’s what everyone says so I’ll put it up here)
Rules- You have to dress a certain way for certain days and buy this shirt for this day.
Hazing- My sorority doesn’t haze and a lot of sororities don’t have either but frats are a different story. My roommate’s brother had to get his nipples pierced prior to being initiated.

Personally, I never thought the Greek scene was for me, until i rushed and met some amazing people who convinces me that being the stereotypical sorority girl wasn’t necessary to join a sorority, And now, I have some great friendships and memories that will last me forever.

What are your opinions on Greek Life? Are you in a frat or srat? Which one?

Talk to you all soon

Alicia