Recount of my last semester

Well. It’s over (Monday after 2pm). I made it through but honestly, I have been too busy for it to even hit me yet.

I do know that it’s all coming suddenly and slowly at the same time. I should be the most excited or anxious I’ve ever been but I am surprisingly calm. I guess that’s good?

Writing this blog has let me strengthen my eye for stories. I have been able to experience an event or crisis and know how to turn it into a blog piece. It’s going to be an invaluable skill especially because most entry level positions for PR will require me to blog and run social media.

One of my favorite things actually, was looking for a gifs to put into my posts.

I think I shall continue this blog into the future.

 

While I’m away take a look at the website and accounts that I get my info and lifeblood from.

 

My Inspirations 

 

 

I MADE IT!

One thing I that has been weighing heavily on my mind is how I will decorate my graduation cap. I know it’s silly but I really want to. There’s just so many options! I think I am going to go for a fandom one of course, although Audrey is holding her own against them all. Hopefully I decide soon but why don’t we look at my favorite geeky grad caps in the mean time.

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My top contenders are:

“Nothing is impossible the word itself says I’m possible” – Miss Audrey Hepburn

“If it’s time to go, remember what you’re leaving. Remember the best.”
“I forgot not all victories are about saving the world.”
both by the doctor^^

or going for humor:

“So long and thanks for all the fish” -hitchhikers guide to the galaxy

 

Which do you think?

Pros and Cons of Graduation

With my graduation just around the corner,  I find myself constantly reminiscing and constantly thinking of the future. What happens most often is in the middle of reminiscing I remember one of the bad moments, albeit there are very few but bad nevertheless, which propelled me into thinking of how much better things will be after graduation.

 

While making a list of the things I was excited and nervous about I thought I would see how some of my fellow graduates felt.

Chelsey Coyle’s pros:

 

Megan Sells’ cons:

 

 

Here are mine:

Pros:

1. I will become the first in my family to graduate
2. No more student loans
3. that evil uphill walk will no longer plague me
4. All the times I made myself sick from stress during finals will finally be rewarded and made worth
5. I will never get sick after finals again
6. no more finals ever again
7. no more midterms

Cons:

1. My student loans will kick in soon
2. I have to find a way to become a functioning part of the real world
3. My friends and I will all soon disperse across the state or even the country.
4. Thursday night outs are no longer acceptable.
5. That burst of  magical money that helps me pay my rent will be no more
6. The days of sleeping in are drawing closer to a close.

 

Oh yeah one more Pro. I get to find my new place in the world and transition into the next part of my life. College was a wonderful part where I finally found myself. The challenge for the next part is to keep growing, but not to let self-doubt and the terrible job market get me down and lose myself again.

 

 

 

Tired Tires.

This last week I had so many errands to run on my one and only off day that I was left even more exhausted than a normal school/work day.  Perhaps the hardest part was that I had to go and buy myself some new tires, which I knew absolutely nothing about!

I knew enough to know that I needed new ones when mine had so little tread that they couldn’t make a turn in the rain which almost led to me hitting a pole head on. Luckily, my car turned just enough at the last minute and my breaks were good enough to slow me down. I only hit the curb but that was scary enough for me.

 

Sure enough, when i took it to Discount Tire to check before I went home for Easter they told me that my driver side tire was about to bust and that I should get it replaced as soon as possible. Welp. Too Bad it was after they closed and they were closed Easter Sunday….

So I had to buy new ones and I was very nervous. Because of how people were when I was trying to buy my new car i.e. manipulative, deceiving, and taking advantage of the fact I didn’t know what to do.  So I did some research. There are a lot of how-to and guides for buying new tires, because of course this is the internet. But a lot of them still went over my head by talking about the mechanics and the science of tires.  So instead I just went to the discount tire website and read reviews.

I figured out what size tire I needed, the general price ranges-even found some sales, then found what quality was really necessary for my location and driving type. Since I just drive in the city I was able to get mid range tire and discount tire had a sale on good year.

 

The discount tire website is great because they have a check out feature that factors in labor, price, and warranty for you. So I knew exactly how much I was going to pay.  But I got even extra lucky because I had met a worker the night before I went at my job. Good customer service gets you far. He gave me an additional discount and I was able to get 2 new tires and change out my old spare for $240 total. I was very happy about that price and I only waited 20 mins.

I only called my Dad once just to verify that what I was going to buy was acceptable and not too cheap. Because I was under the impression new tires would cost me $500. Afterwards he said he was very proud how I did it on my own and that most people in my family would have just had grandpa (an old mechanic and former dirt track racer) to do it for them; a thought that never even crossed my mind. This left me feeling even more accomplished and confident in my adventures into adulthood.

401 (K)ill me now.

Well it’s happened. Last weekends when I was visiting my dad he tried to have the financial responsibility talk with me.

I will have to admit I gave him the segue he needed talking about how good I have been this semester at budgeting and saving.

 

 

I was asking for it really.

He started off simple, asking about my student loans and what not.

Then he goes, “Well, when you get you’re first job you need to set up your 401 (K)…”

He talked about not just trusting one person to pick my investments, and to let him help, that I need to read about the places myself.

Here’s a few of the tips he gave that I did remember:

• “Pretend that 20% of you’re paycheck isn’t there from the beginning.”
• ” Just get in the habit of saving, that’s what so many people don’t get.”
• “Yes, pay off your loans, put don’t wait to start saving til after.”
• other wise words that went right over my head.

 

I know I am still gonna need to do research and reading on how exactly 401 (k)s work but luckily I’ll have help.

For those of you don’t or who don’t want to talk with you’re parents about it, luckily we have the internet. There’s boundless articles about 401 (k) for beginners and also 401 (k) for dummies.

 

Invitation Stress!

Sending out Graduation invitations is the single most stressful thing I remember from my Senior year of high school.  There’s a few reasons for this:

1. My penmanship is equivalent to a 14 year old boys.
2. I  have a big family on both my mom and dad’s side
3. There are friends of the family and distant relatives my parents want to impress

But now! Now there’s the added stress of me having to buy the paper, pay for postage, etc. on my own.

Luckily There’s FedEx!!  And they have online uploading and different options for size and style! They make some of my stress disappear cuz I won’t have to find time to go and wait for all the prints I can just upload it online and pick them up later when I want them!

There’s also the stress cuz my friend is designing my invitations for me and relying on other people for time sensitive things has never been something I am comfortable with! But she has shown me some examples and I am quite excited about them! Hopefully, everything will work out fine and I can just stop stressing!

About my penmanship… that’s what printers are for!

 

 

update: the invitations ended up costing $6 for 45 thanks to Texas State’s Copy Cats. Then stamps were 70 cents each!                            

Then with the prices of envelopes and a fancy gold calligraphy pen they ended up costing me around $88 total.

 

 

HUMP DAY

Hump day should be called slump day, because so often it’s how Wednesday makes me feel! It’s the middle of the week you’ve already been working hard two long days and it’s not even the weekend yet!? Not fair!

To keep my spirits up I feel the need for some good music, a good read, or good episode to watch.

This blog is a good hump day helper. It’s called Quarter Life Crisis Music. I like it because it not only has really interesting music but she is also going through the same phase of life as I am.

I also always will turn to any good geeky show to help me through.

Because they have really uplifting sentiments like this:

Or hilarious adorable things like this: 

Or leaving you feel all empowered-Because no one does Strong Female Characters better than Sci-Fi:

Basically. Just find something to get your through this slump of a day so you don’t fall apart. Give yourself a small break and don’t let your shh… fall apart.

Memories or Money?

The toughest decisions I face as a young adult are whether to deplete my bank account for the sake of a good time. As the saying goes, “These are the the best years of your life.”  And I wanted to live up every moment of it.

There were a few times I chose memories over money:

1. Spring Break 2012- South Padre
2. My 22nd Birthday/Halloween
3. Rock Port Trip-2012
4. Spring Break 2013- Panama City

All of those were 1000% , yes I said 1000%, worth it!  Beautiful and forever cherished memories were made but at the same time I lived off of less than ramen sometimes afterwards just to make rent

 

There were  a few times I also chose money over memories:

1. Ranch Party 2013
2. Purposely skipping Floats in Summer of 2011&2012
3. Rock Port Trip-2013
4. Several game nights up in ATX (GAS MONEY!)

 

A few of those I regretted because everyone would come back talking about how much fun it was, but in the long run There will always be another opportunity for these smaller events. And its nothing that ways too heavily on your heart for skipping.

Currently I am faced with another decision of memories or money.

I have been getting the short end of the stick with scheduling at work lately and have been given 3 days a week. With a minimum wage job making rent on that is nearly impossible unless I don’t buy anything at all, not even groceries, this month. Luckily I have savings to help bridge the gap though.

Also this weekend, my former roommate and current friend is having her birthday celebration in Houston (where she lives now). I was not told with enough time to request off but I could have found someone to cover it. However that would have left me with only 2 days- which means no money.

I did pick up 2 extra shifts so I can “technically” afford to miss Saturday now. So the question comes again: Memories or Money?

Which would you choose?

Pretending I was “Freshly-21” Again.

Last week was very interesting. I only worked 3 days and they were Monday, Saturday and Sunday. This meant I had the ENTIRE week off! I also had no tests, projects, major assignments, or group meetings. I literally had the week off. I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was a very strange sensation and I didn’t know how to deal.

I thought at first “hmmm.. let’s getting this reading assignment due next week done.” I had an audio book and I only needed to listen t 5 more hours. And then I thought…” I should post something on this blog.. but what?”

My mind was blank. Procrastination and sleep won the battle.

Tuesday night rolls around and my friends and I decide to check out the square. It’s been at least a year since we were out on a Tuesday. (Due to the fact that we are all in our last year or had graduated the previous semesters.) We thought it would be fun and nostalgic.

We were wrong.

Now “Freshly-21” is a phrase my friends and I have been using lately to describe the people we used to be. It started at the beginning of January when were on 6th street and these girls were talking to us about what to get. They offered to help us get the bartenders attention and asked what we were drinking in case he came to them first. Vodka Waters. That’s what we drink.

“Vodka Cranberry? Vodka Soda?” They kept asking if we meant other things and from then on we started calling people who were too eager to party or who ordered sugary drinks “freshly-21s”

 

But I digress

We thought we could handle it but going out on a Tuesday when you’re not a sophomore or junior I’ve learned is no longer fun or smart, and also a waste of money. No one we knew was out, we spent way too much money and functioning was hard the next day.

Moral of the Story: If you stopped doing something, there was a reason. It’s not always fun to relive old memories. Be smart, evaluate why you stopped, and then if the reason still stands true: Don’t Do It!

 

Filing and Downsizing.

Two weekends ago I started my tedious goal of sorting through, organizing, and storing my desk area. I say tedious because I had to two boxes left unpacked that were full of papers, bills, etc. I am not ashamed to admit I was terrified and overwhelmed. Downsizing and filing have never been by strong suit, I get that from my Gigi. I also am (mostly) not ashamed I called on my Mom for help with this. She’s the only one who can get me to stop freaking out when I get overwhelmed.

Miraculously, it only took 5 hours to go through the two boxes and downsize. Now for the fun part, filing. Luckily, I was motivated because what started this was the sight of these two beautiful boxes made to look like vintage suitcases. These are what I used for my filing boxes. One was dedicated to bills, old leases (always keep a copy of those), financial aid letters. The other I used for all my class work I will probably need for the senior portfolio and others that the information will be helpful to have later.

We used a file holder on top of my desk to keep current bills, rent receipts, pay stubs, and other papers I need at an easy access, like my Food Handler’s certificate.

My Desk

This is one task that I was actually able to handle gracefully. My advice: find a system that works for you. I chose to have only three separate sets of files because that’s all I could handle without being confused. Just get it organized. It’s so much easier than the system I had before, which was go through every folder and box until I find the paper.