Weekend Round-Up

This weekend was probably the most eventful one of my entire life, but it was SO EXCITING!

First of all, I graduated college! Eeeek! I've spent the last 4 years of my life working toward this moment, so the fact that it finally happened is so unreal to me.

I mean, I am a college graduate. WHAT? I'm so excited, but also a little nervous. I'm totally not ready for the Big Girl World.

I think I'm just going to miss being able to catch up with my friends whenever I want. Not too mention the option to sleep through a class once or twice. (That definitely won't fly at a job)

Like I said, I'm excited though.

I just can't believe that I'm a COLLEGE GRADUATE!

Diploma Time!

The fam

My Big and one of my best friends!

Some of my sisters! (What is going on with my feet????)

It's official!

This week was also Mother's Day!! So, after my graduation on Saturday, I headed to my parents house on Sunday!! We didn't really do much. My sister and I took my mother to see The Other Woman. It's absolutely hilarious and I definitely recommend it!

I'm a poor (recently graduated) college kid, so I didn't know what I would get my mom for Mother's Day. I actually ended painting her something.

It's the cruise ship we're taking in July for our family/friends vacation! I'm really proud of it, and my mom loved it!

Did anybody else have a fabulous weekend? I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother's Day Weekend!!

Study Tips

With finals just around the corner, I've definitely been getting a little bit worried about being prepared.

In high school, I never really had to study; I was in honors and AP classes and graduated with a 4.3 (on the 5.0 scale, obviously), so when I got into college and first realized that--GASP--I would actually have to study, it was a bit of a shock.

Now that I'm finishing up my senior yer at my university, I have become rather good at studying, if I do say so myself. Although, I am still the reigning queen of procrastination. 

Here are a few of my favorite study tips that I've learned along the way. Some of them might sound a bit overused, but trust me--they work.

1. Take Breaks
   I know, I know. You're studying and you're so productive, so you don't really want to take a break, but I swear by this. I'm a big fan of the 25-5 rule: you study for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break to do whatever you want: eat a snack, browse Facebook or Twitter, fit in some quick exercise, whatever really. Apparently this is called the "Pomodoro Technique," or something.
   I'm a big fan of using technology to help anyway it can, so I recommend Pomoroido on android to time your studying/productivity and alert you when it's break time. For iPhone users, Pomodoro Time Management Lite is a good alternative. If you have a Windows phone, I think the Tomato Productivity Timer is the best free option.
   
2. Drink Water
   If you haven't heard this one, you've probably been living under a rock. Apparently, drinking water while you study increases your brain function or something. It also, you know, keeps you hydrated, which is always important. I don't think there is anything worse than being distracted by how thirsty you are and how dry your mouth is. Talk about unpleasant.
   And, whadya know, there are apps that track your water consumption, too! I have not yet found one that reminds me to drink water (the fact that I find that necessary is a little embarrassing), but I love that Fitbit gives you a visual representation of how much water you've had that day.
   
3. Listen to Music
   I feel like this one actually goes against everything you're taught about studying, because it pulls focus away form your work, right? Well, I'm not talking about flipping to your favorite Beyoncé or someone playlist. In fact, recently I've been  big fan of the Hans Zimmer station on Pandora. If you don't know, Hans Zimmer is a well-known composer who's worked on films like Inception, Pirates of the Caribbean, 12 Years a Slave, and even The Lion King! The music gets me super pumped and I actually feel like I'm doing something important, rather than studying for that econ final.

Those are my best study habits. Are there any that you swear by?

Life is Hard

I don't think there has ever been a more true statement.

It's not like I'm just realizing this, of course; I've known for quite some time. It's just that some times you let that realization slip into the back of your mind until something brings it to the front again.

Like finals. My last finals.
It's a little terrifying and preparing for them is completely taking over my life.

I'm taking 21 hours this semester (WHY??), so I have finals for 7 classes.
SEVEN.
Thank God they're not all actual exams, but still.
I have papers, presentations, projects, exams, on top of trying to find a big-girl job, working at my internship, and completing activities for Chi Omega and my other organizations.

It's a lot to handle, and it hit me just how much this all has been affecting me when I took the time to look at my room this morning.

It is a MESS. Honestly, it looks like my room exploded.
Which is a big deal, because I HATE MESSES! If everything is not in its place, I almost have a panic attack. And I wish I was kidding.

I have dirty clothes all over the place, bags just piled on the floor, my shoes are strewn across the room, and I have clean towels in my hamper that I haven't even considered folding.

My life has just been so busy and stressful lately that I let my room get this bad, and now it's making me even more stressed and I know I have to take time out of my day to clean this. If I don't, it'll kill me.

But when will I have the time? Everything is due this week and next! I just don't know how I'm going to make enough time to get my room clean enough for me to handle it, but I also know that if I don't I won't be able to focus on anything that I do!!

Does anyone have any suggestions for managing my time for cleaning, working, and doing school work?
Because that would be a GREAT help. And I'd probably love you forever.

All-Nighter

So, who's a fan of all-nighters? I'm really not sure how I feel about them, especially as I'm currently enduring one right this moment. Hopefully this will be the last one of my undergraduate career, but I guess only these next two weeks will tell.

Oh my God, I only have two weeks left of school. How weird is that??

But, back to the point.

All-nighters.

How do we let it get to the point where we have to force ourselves to stay awake just to finish the work we've been assigned all semester? I know, for me, it's the pressure; I work best under pressure. But that doesn't stop me from freaking out, so sure I won't actually finish my assignment in time. I've never not-finished an assignment, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about it! It's a whole lot of undue stress, honestly.

So, tonight/this morning as I'm writing this term paper that's due at 8 am (why did I just start this???) I'm obviously stressing out about not being able to complete it. This worry is completely unfounded, considering I have almost seven hours to write two more paragraphs, but I worry nonetheless.

So this is my advice for you: don't pull an all-nighter.

Especially if you have plenty of advance notice about the assignment. Sure, procrastinating is fine; I don't get why everybody acts like it's such a big deal. But don't, and I mean DO NOT, procrastinate to the point where you will literally have a 15 page paper due in 8 hours and you haven't even thought about it for two seconds.

And do you wanna know when it gets especially bad?

When you have to pull more than one all-nighter in a row.

I've been 86 hours without sleep before, and I promise you that it is not something I recommend. I showed up to an important presentation with my clothes on backwards and my work sub-par.

Sure, I look back on it and laugh now, but it really was no fun. It was hell. Like I said, not something I recommend.

And all-nighters are just so not good for you. I can already tell that my sleep schedule is going to be fucked up by this. And let's not even discuss my eating habits for the night.

I just really, really hope that this is my last all-nighter. REALLY.

35 Days

That's how long I have until I graduate from Winthrop University with my Undergraduate Degree.
(Let's be real: this is probably going to be my only degree; I don't think my sanity or my wallet can handle any more school.)

I will be receiving a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration with a Concentration in Marketing and a minor in Visual Design Studies.
Sound intense? It was at first. But now all of the blood, sweat, and tears I put into all of my schoolwork seem like absolutely nothing. Because I'm entering the real world now. There will be no professors with an abundance of advice to call on when I'm stressed; no last minute emails telling my professors I'm "sick" and won't be able to make it to class; no strolling in to class looking like a hobo and not being judged for it because it's a Monday. All of that will be over,

In 35 Days.
THIRTY. FIVE. DAYS.

I'm not gonna lie, I am nowhere near as prepared as I should be. I don't even have a job yet. Not from lack of trying, of course; apparently all of these companies don't think I'm quite as fabulous as I do. And let's not even talk about how I am going to pay back this plethora of student loans once I graduate if I can't find a job. Shit's about to get real.
Because now I'm going to have to make sure I don't sleep through an alarm (or 4). And that professional wardrobe I told myself to buy a year ago? Yeah, I still don't have it and I actually need it now. It's time for me to buckle down, because the real world is speeding my way and I am nowhere near prepared enough to jump on.

And so it begins.