SCS💐🤍

Self Care Day

After a tiring week, you are going to want to relax and enjoy a day off doing what you love the most. There is no better way than doing a little bit of self care. You can be reading a book, watching a series, or doing your skincare. There are countless ways of having a self care day. Here are some of my personal favorites.

Books

For anyone who is a reader, this may be your best way of taking care of yourself. Reading a good book is always the best way to relax and ease your mind. It can be a book that you are excited about or a continuation to a series that you have started. For me, reading is a moment where I can escape reality and enjoy time off my phone. Now choosing the right book is where things change and can sometimes be a little tricky but it also depends on the mood that I am in and what kind of book I want to start reading. Sometimes it is romance, mystery, thriller, or fantasy. Or sometimes it can be something different, like a movie.

T.V. Shows/Series/Movies

Catching up on a T.V. show that you are watching is the best or watching a movie that you have been waiting to see. Some of the shows or series that I like to watch are my go to for comfort. My most recent watch was a Korean drama titled "Perfect Crown". Literally such a funny and cute drama. Even though I watched the drama in 3 days, I'm already getting the urge to re-watch it again as it had me laughing and kicking my feet.

Skin Care

If it is one thing that I love doing the most is my skin care. Researching more on what products I like to use or which ones work better for me has given me a better idea of how to take care of my skin. The best way that I enjoy a good skin care evening/night. After cleansing my face, I like to have 2 options ready. Option 1 is after a good cleanse and toner, I like to wear a face mask. All the face masks that I have work differently. There are some that are for hydration, moisturizing, purifying, irritation, collagen, etc. The list really goes on. The ones that I have always used are hydration (especially during the summer, with sunburns), moisturizing, calming, and irritation. Adding in some eye patches to my routine are always the best and gives the best feeling cooling effect. 

College 101

Study: Hate or Enjoy?📓✏

Study study study. That is probably what you are doing this week, and next, and the week after. You might get burnout from studying too and that is normal. I have gotten burnout from it and if it is one thing that I have learn about studying is that you can either hate it or love it. Most of the time you will hate it. Especially with midterms being right around the corner you might not know where to begin. Let me help you by motivating you and convincing you to at least enjoy studying. The best thing for that is having a good study spot.

Study Spots

Studying can be done at home, campus, or public areas (there are specific ones). Once you find your personal favorite spot, you will be enjoying it. It is even better when you do it with a friend. Even if you are not in the same major, you are motivating one another to thrive in your college education. I will be telling you some of my personal favorites and how it made me enjoy studying for my classes instead of forcing myself to do it. 

Home

I wasn't one to enjoy studying at home. It was a bit hard for me. Throughout the day it was difficult. I wanted to go outside and enjoy my time with friends or go shop. The only times where I knew that I was able to do it was when everyone would be sleeping. I found it peaceful, yet I would listen to music to help me focus even though no one was awake. There was always something about studying at night with the moon being present that made me enjoy it more. Learned my lesson that I wasn't cut out to be studying at home. I needed to be in an environment where I saw everyone focus on their work to keep me going and being at home was not the place. If you tend to focus more at nighttime, being at home with a candle burning and some tea (or coffee) is the best way for you to enjoy a study session.

Campus

One of the most common spots that you will be focus is the library. Depending on how big your university is, that will also depend on which library you choose. There are some that are seen as the social areas and ones that are dead silent that if you drop a pen, everyone will hear it. Don't forget that the libraries are not the only places that you can study. Some buildings (or colleges) at universities have study spots and for me those were my personal favorite. I would find my spot and tackle the most important assignments to get out of the way. Even studying outside is always an option and refreshing as well. Obviously depending on the weather too. On the right day with the perfect weather, makes the studying session even better. Also helps you ease the mind. If your campus has coffee shops, take advantage. Not only do you get to stay in campus in between your classes but you get to reward yourself with a coffee. It sets the environment and helps you focus on your main tasks.

Public Areas

Throughout my college years, I would go to coffee shops to study or public libraries. There were times where I would go alone, with my sister, or I went with friends. If I went with friends I would go in the afternoon (12pm-4pm) and we would go to local/downtown area coffee shops. These were perfect for lunch catch ups and help each other out with our studies. When I would go study with my sister, we would go out to study in the evening. Most of the places that we went to were in the downtown area of Los Angeles. We both felt safer going together in the evening for the late study sessions enjoying the late night city drives. If I went solo to study, I would go from 10am-6pm. My solo study sessions would be either at coffee shops or at public libraries. These were moments where I wanted to solely focus on my big assignments (midterms, finals, presentations, or projects). 9/10 times I would get 90-100% of the work done.

Don't feel restricted on where to study. There are places that you can go to and enjoy a different scenery. The places that I went to don't have to be the places that you should go but ideas. If you dorm and want to explore the cities close to your campus, this is the perfect time to go explore. You got this and don't give up!!!

WIML

 Winter Arc💪🏼

If you have been spending time on TikTok and have come across videos about "Winter Arc", then you know what I am going to be talking about. If you haven't seen those videos, let me give a brief introduction. Winter arc starts on October 1st and ends December 31st. Some people like to start in September to have that habit slowly being built by the time October comes around. This is a 3 month process of health improvement, goal setting, and building habits. A lot of the videos shown on social media is people going to the gym 5-7 times a week to hit their health goals and maintain a healthy eating habit but there is more to that. As for me, my winter arc will be differently.

Goal Setting

The way that I want to start my winter arc is goal setting. There are a couple of goals that I have in mind and want to transition them into habits.

1. Eat cleaner: This is my main target and by doing so, I will be cutting down on sweets, including sweet drinks. As of recently, sweets have been something that I am not constantly having. I will crave for something sweet once a month but it is not a constant crave. 

2. Working out 5x a week: With my currently schedule, sometimes it is hard to find a time that I want to go workout at the gym. I prefer going right after I wake up in the mornings but then I get schedule for work and it makes it harder when my shifts are not consistent. I might have to start going in the evening when it is crowded or later at night around 8:30pm. This is something that I will be working on and planning accordingly. 

3. Staying active: On days that I will not be going to the gym, I want to continue staying active. This can be going on walks, hikes, or doing stretching exercises at home. 

4. Getting proper rest: My sleeping schedule has been a mess and it has to be fix. Getting 8 hours of sleep is the goal and making sure that I am sleeping early. Giving my body and mind a proper rest will improve day to day activities.

5. Waking up at 7am: I am not a morning person and this one is going to be a challenge. For those that know me, I love sleeping and waking up is the worst part of my day. This is what I need to fix and I know I will struggle but giving up is not an option. Waking up early will also allow me to have more time to tackle all of my tasks that I have planned out for my day.

6. More books, less phone: Being on my phone can be addicting and the books that I have got to be read. I have recently bought more and haven't read half of my book cart. I will have to put myself on a book buying ban soon because that tbr list is getting longer and it is time to shorten it up. This is a habit that I go back and forth with but slowly adding it to my routine by reading a chapter (or more) before going to sleep.

7. Journaling = healthy mind: There are days where I do forget to journal and catch up either the next day or a few days after. I have been trying to work on that in the morning but I keep forgetting. A habit that is still being in the works and I know I will be able to do it. Journaling will help me ease my mind and give myself a bit of self care.

8. Staying hydrated: No matter what time of year we are in, staying hydrated is a priority. I have been able to maintain my hydration pretty well and I know for this winter arc I will be able to keep doing well.

With a total of 7 goals, I know that it may be a struggle to stay consistent but I will not be giving up. I am starting this upcoming week Sunday to build these goals into habits by the time that winter arc officially begins. There are days where I will struggle but I will be reminding myself that these habits are not going to be built overnight. They take time and that is okay. If I can do it, so can you!! 💛

SCS💐🤍

  Journaling✨

Past blogs you may have noticed that I journal. Well in almost every WIML and Self Care Sunday. Today I'll go more in depth of what materials I used, how to structure your journals, and what benefits it has to you. This isn't something that you should be forced to do. Use journaling as your safe space to vent, give gratitude, or write whatever thoughts you have wandering. There is no right or wrong on how to journal. What I have on this blog are ideas based on how I journal.

  Materials

Honestly, any sort of writing material works when journaling. You can use any journal or notebook that you have lying around in your room. Personally for me, I like to have a journal with a minimal or modern design to remind me to write my thoughts. Most of the journals that I own, I have bought them at Marshalls. You can honestly find pretty covers with minimal or modern designs for pretty cheap. I recommend to start with a small journal to get you adjusted to a new routine.

When it comes to highlighters, pens, or pencils, it does not matter. If you are new to journaling, lets keep it simple to the supplies you have at home. The writing supplies that I use are gel pens (color and black), regular ballpoint pens, and highlighters. It is very rare when I do use pencils to write. I do make mistakes and use white out. Sometimes I just cross out the words I misspell or don't want to use instead of using white out. There are no specific brands to what I used, it is mostly the stuff that I have lying around or impulsive bought items. 

  Types of Journaling

There are many different types of journaling. I'll be breaking the ones that I know.

Junk Journaling: This can be a way to scrapbook with items that you collect along your day. For example you can have a page set for a restaurant that you tried. On the page you can add in the receipt, pictures of the food that you had, a piece of the napkin that you took (believe me, I have seen people do this for this type of journaling), and pictures of the place you went at.

Self Care Journaling: You personalize this journal to your liking. This can be where you have self care prompts that you want to respond to and better understand yourself. You can add your self care goals that you set out for yourself and how to improve on becoming a better version of yourself. 

Morning/Night Journal: I have seen people and this journal myself. It is called "The Five Minute Journal" and it will already have the prompts for you. Every page is dedicated to the day (the start of your day) and night (to rewind and prepare for the following day).

Reading Journal: This is perfect for all the readers. This journal can be bought or made on your own. After finishing a book, you have a page dedicated for each book you read and fill out the information such as name of the book, author, genre, pages, start/end date, format, etc. These are perfect to write what you like about the book you read and your favorite quotes.

Journal a Day: One journal that I started to work on during my last semester of college was a small reflection entry daily. This was tied in with a poetry book that I have. The 3 questions that I would add is "what line stood out to me?", "why?", and "how to incorporate the line to my lifestyle?"

Benefits

There are a lot of different benefits to journaling. One of the main reasons that I like to journal is for improvement on mental health and reduce stress. Writing down my thoughts or answering prompts have helped me from stressful moments. There is something about writing that makes me feel better after a tiring day. 

College 101

 Study Tips

Throughout college you will find that not everyone studies the same. Finding what study method works for you is important but also pay attention to the subject/major. Every major shares different information regarding the topic you are learning. There are some students that review their notes and rewrite them, others make flashcard, some summarize their lectures and make annotations. For my major, most classes required a lot of memorization and active recall. My best study method was making flashcards, reviewing & summarizing my notes, annotating readings, and active recall. Work with what is best for you. If you don’t know, let me guide you.

Flashcards: works best when you are focusing on memorization (nursing, kinesiology, science)

Practice problems: perfect for any math topics, chemistry, and physics. 

Writing notes: listing down important point from lectures or readings. (Psychology, sociology, social work, science, business, nursing, history, etc)

Active recall: writing, teaching, or talking out loud on the topics that you have been taught on (any major, if you are a science major, works perfectly).

Staying Organized

When working on your notes, make sure you are staying organized. The best way that I was able to keep them organized on my iPad or laptop was by making a file of my major and small folders under that file of all courses that I took. Best way to label them is by splitting them up as “general education courses”, name of major (example, “psychology), under the major folder i personally like to add the number (example 200’s; ECON 201, ECON 202, ECON 203). This made looking up all the lectures and midterms. In each class I had them split by “Term 1, Term 2, Term 3, etc”. This depended on how many midterms I had for a class and the lectures leading up to that term made it easier to look back of when the topic was taught.

WIML💻🛍

 Job Updates✨💻

There has not been an update on my current job search and applications. Although I did apply to more places and have gotten at least 2 new rejections. Not entirely hurt but I do hope that I get back from the 2 places that I want. I did find more openings for a company that I am interested in working at and have already submitted my resume and filled out the application for the job. I really hope that I get to hear back from these places.

Let me tell you all a funny story about the whole job application process. The past couple of days, I have been scrolling on TikTok to pass some time when I am bored and hope that I get to come across small business, coffee shops to try out, or just see what is in my for you page. Then I get a tarot card reading video and one thing about me is that I cannot do another tarot card reading. I did it once, never again. But this tarot card reading did get my attention and it was about new beginnings and opportunities coming my way. Getting one video about it was fine, the second video went more in depth on "September is the month that you will get good news. The job you have been wanting will be coming to you". Now I don't know if I should be scared or intrigued. Then after a few scrolls, I get another video on "a job calling is coming your way", fourth video "September is going to deliver news about a new job opportunity", and many more videos. I was getting a couple of more tarot card videos regarding of job opportunities a few days ago but as of right now, there hasn't been any new tarot card reading videos. Like I said before, I do not like messing with tarot card readings but if this is sign about me getting the job that I have been wanting them pleeeaaaassseeeee let it come my way!! I'm tired of waiting for a call or email. I'm trying to end my retail adventure in order to start a new adventure. 

 Working Retail🛍

In my current job, I have enjoyed my time with my coworkers and managers. It has been a pretty nice environment and one that I did genuinely enjoy the work environment and the discounts. But there comes a time where you want to move forward with a better opportunity. As of right now, I am getting hours which is a blessing because money is needed in this economy and after my inventory shift on Sunday, I know my next check will be amazing. To anyone who has done inventory in a retail setting, you are a warrior. Scanning every item of the store is tiring and when it comes to our understock, it is not a joke. Bending to scan the items is what kills the most. Thankfully the items I had to scan were a mix of understock and whatever was on the walls. After that 6pm - 12:30am inventory shift, I will not complain about any closing shift in my life again. Even though it is nice to work in an environment when there aren't any customers asking for help.

Welcome to September

 Welcome September!!

There is so much to look forward to this September!!! There are birthdays that will be celebrated this month. Theme parks are starting to put out their Halloween decorations. Small coffee shops are starting to come out with their autumn drinks. Autumn is starting this month, ahhh I'm so excited!! One autumn drink that I am looking forward to from a coffee shop is called "Whisky Vanilla with pumpkin spice cold foam". Literally the best fall drink for the autumn season!! As you can tell, I'm excited.

With the start of the new month, there are also new goals that I am setting out for myself. First and foremost is being able to have all the blogs posted consistently. There have been days where the blogs are not being posted on time and I will be changing that. I have been adding a lot of content on the Instagram but the TikTok account has not had any update and that is one of the main focuses that I do want to start adding more. Winter Arc is one that I have been seeing on my TikTok feed and one that I want to make official as I have started preparing all of August. 

Journaling is one that I will be doing everyday!! I already have my morning, self care, and night journal. Although they might sound similar, they each have a purpose to the way that they are structured. I have been trying to keep my journaling habits consistent but I tend to forget to work on them. Especially in the morning. The self care and night journal are a lot easier to work on as I already have my time set for them. Sometime around noon or in the evening I start working on my self care journal. Right before I go to sleep, I work on my night time journal. As I do this I also make sure that I am prioritizing my night time skin care.

As the new month starts, new reading goals. I have been in a bit of a reading slump lately but I want to be able to bring it back up. The books that are in my current TBR list have not been touch but I will be modifying that list. Keep a lookout for some of the new books that I am excited to read!! Best believe I will be journaling about those books after they are done being read.

SL 101

Joining A SORORITY!!

If you are in college and you have come cross the thought about joining a sorority but haven’t been fully convinced, keep on reading. Joining a sorority is an experience that you will be getting in college. You’ll think about the reasons for joining and the ones about not joining and if you think that being in a sorority is not for you that is okay. There have been situations where many young women go through the rush process and later on find out that it is not for them and they leave. 

As you enter the second week of school you will be seeing a lot of the sororities out on campus with their tables set up and seeing people talk to them. Take that chance to get to know them and who they are as an organization. Believe me when I say this but a lot of the times, their newest members are always going to be the ones that approach you or want to talk to you because they are also learning the ropes of how to recruit. They are also shy and scared that you will be rejecting them before they get to introduced themselves. 

Talking to the sororities during their tabling week is the perfect opportunity to get to know every organization. Ask them questions about their sorority and what has their experience been like, how has their experience in the sorority helped them, and what sources do they have to help everyone stay on track with their academics. These are a few questions that I would get asked meeting women who were interested in joining. 

Joining a sorority can bring you many different opportunities. There are leadership opportunities that you can apply for, scholarships, connections, career search, study groups/buddies, and the obvious thing that you will hear, lifelong friendships. A lot of these sororities take their academics serious in order to have you be the best student that you can. Don’t think that because you are in a sorority your grades won’t matter because they do. 

You might ask the people around you about joining a sorority or might have seen on social media about the negatives about joining a sorority. Some of the common ones are:

"You are paying for friends": If you are joining just to make friends, then you are going into this for the wrong reasons. A lot of the women who join are going to find a sisterhood, a second home, network, and gain connections to help them out when they graduate. Believe me when I say this, your chances of talking to everyone is going to be difficult. There are going to be members that you are not going to click with and that is fine. 

 "All they do is party": Not every sorority girl is a party girl. That is the stereotype that society has put on these women. One thing that I have stood by and have told the young woman who have joined after me is "You get to experience the sorority life the way you want to. If all you want to do is party, that is fine but that is the image you are painting for yourself".  

"There is so much drama": Yes. Unfortunately that is given. No matter where you go and when there is a group full of women, there is going to be drama. Every women is going to go through something. If you are always getting caught up in drama, you are going to want to step back and give yourself the time that you need. Surrounding yourself with individuals who start or love to see drama happening, you are going to want to step back.

SCS

 Self Care Day: 2

Beautiful Sunday for a beautiful self care day!!! Nothing feels better than to journal in the morning and plan my week. I will be starting a new journal as well and it has felt exciting to design the first month cover!! Sunday has really been a day to give yourself a refresh from the past couple of days and creating a week to look forward too!!

First thing on the list is planning your week. This can be done on your phone (calendar app), on an iPad, planner, or a notebook. The way that I like to plan out my week is to write down all my work shifts on my planner in red. Any hangouts with friends, I like to use pink. When in comes to planning all of the blogs, I use a blackberry jam color (oddly specific). These colors make it easier to differentiate all of my events.

College 101

 Syllabus Week📚

First week of school is always going to be the easiest week, at least for those who are going into their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year. If it is your first year, do not panic. Let the professors introduce themselves and the class. Your first day of the semester should be easy. If you already started college, then you must have experience how quick some professors go over the syllabus and then go straight into lecture. Congratulations, you have are no ahead that other most classes. If your professor did not do that, you will get to experience it in upcoming years. 

The first week is a perfect time to build your routine. Knowing when to take breaks, when to study, take lunch, or even take a nap. Start planning ahead as well. There are times when professors will state what exams or important assignments coming up, write those down in your planner or make a note of it in your phone. 

On syllabus week, you normally don’t have big assignments to worry about. The most you have to get done is take a syllabus quiz, introduce yourself in a discussion post, and/or get your textbook for the class. Most of these assignments are a week grace period but there are some professors that give more time in case more people get added. Finishing those assignments are easy to do and don’t take longer than 5 minutes to get done, get them out of the way before the deadline to let you enjoy the weekend. One tip I will give is to never buy a textbook from your university’s bookstore. The prices on these textbooks can be a lot and half 90% of the time you can find them at a cheaper price if they are being rented or bought on a different place such as Amazon. I have found most of my textbooks on Amazon and have rented them out or bought used since they are cheaper. There are going to be some textbooks or lab manuals you will have to purchase at the bookstore.

1st Official Lecture Week📚

Don’t try to rush and understand the very first lectures that are being taught. I have done that a couple of times and it has confused me. Look over the lectures before the start of your class. Read over the slides to give you an introduction of what the lecture will be about. Once class starts take notes or annotate. When doing this, keep in mind of what is important, topics you don’t understand highlight or underline, topics you want to revisit and study more, and bookmark these slides to go back and review. After your lectures are over, give yourself a break until you have established a time to study. With all the notes/annotations you made, review them by active recall. This will help you understand the topics more and better prepare for quizzes/tests or midterms. For better studying resources, make a study group. Topics are easier to understand when your peers teach it to you as well. Makes it less confusing than a professor teaching. Even searching up a YouTube videos helps!!