Composed & Collected

How To Stop Making Silly Mistakes On Math Exams

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Wed, 11 Oct 2017 17:27:00 +0000

Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by silly mistakes on your math (or any) exams. You can’t see me, but i’m raising my hands pretty high right now. The thing that makes silly mistakes really upsetting is the fact that you actually knew what you were doing. It wasn’t one of those problems you go into hoping for the best.

Did you add instead of subtract? Or maybe you wrote down a positive number when it was supposed to be a negative number? Whatever it is, we’ve all been through those stupid mistakes that just makes you want to pull your hair out.

One time i multiplied 6*4 and got 32 (*insert skull imoji here*). To this day, i don’t understand what i was thinking. I’ve convinced myself i was probably possessed then. This is what silly mistakes are all about. You just don’t understand how you could have made such mistakes.

In my experience, the best way to combat these oversights is to learn from them. Your silly mistakes become stupid when you brush them off as one time faux pas. If you don’t do anything to minimize the likelihood of you repeating such errors, i can almost guarantee you’ll experience many more “faux pas” in future exams. Again, speaking from experience here.

Luckily, I am more than happy to share a couple things i have been doing, which have enormously helped me prevent more of those silly mistakes.

Figure out the cause

Okay, so if you’re reading this, you’ve recognized that there’s a problem. That’s a good start. Now we have to find the root of said problem. So, what’s going on?

Are you daydreaming for half the duration of the exam? Are your nerves throwing you off? Do you not go back and check your work?

Are these mistakes happening at the beginning, halfway or towards the end of problems? For me, i noticed my mistakes were more often condensed towards the end of problems. It was kind of like those running races where the runner in the lead let’s his guard down once they gets close to the finish line, only for a runner behind them to cross the line at the last second. YIKES.

That’s exactly how my mistakes played out. Once i saw shining light at the end of the tunnel, i fell off the wagon and got the entire question wrong.

Do not brush them off as one time mistakes. I can almost guarantee you’ll make those mistakes again.

Make sure you give your answer in the form asked

You may be asked to give your answer as a fraction, in decimal form and rounded to a certain number, and more. Make sure you check if your professor specified how they want the answer. Unless you weren’t given any instructions on how your answer should appear, then you can have it in an appropriate form that suits you.

There is no reason to get into a situation where you have the right answer but not in the right format. This has happened to me, and my professor could not care less whether or not i had the right answer. It wasn’t in the correct format and therefore it was wrong. Simple as that.

Read the questions carefully

Just last week i missed a question i totally knew the answer of, all because i read the question too fast and interpreted it wrong. Here's how to fix that:

Read the question multiple times: When reading the question, make sure you read it at least twice. If you don’t understand what you’re being asked to do, chances are you will not get the question right.

Read the entire question: Read the question in its entirety, especially when it has multiple parts. I can’t count how many times i only worked the first part of a problem and forgot to work out the remaining parts.

Write Neatly

Sometimes you know exactly how to solve a problem but you’re not very organized. How does your exam paper usually look like when you’re about to hand it in? Is your paper clear enough for a random person to follow through the steps you used to solve any of the problems? What’s the state of your scratch paper at the end of an exam? Can the next person discern which problem is which or is everything all mumbo jumbo together?

Organizing your work neatly will greatly minimize your chances of making careless mistakes.

Try to stay calm

Nerves will literally lead you to fail an exam you would have otherwise done well on.

Take deep breaths: Before starting your exam, close your eyes, take a couple deep breaths and remind yourself you’ve prepared well and will demonstrate it on the exam.
Stay focus on your work: Don’t worry about what the person next to you is doing. Don’t get distracted by what may be happening outside of class. Anything can really be a distraction, it’s on you not to let distractions break your concentration.
Get a good night sleep: I know this is foreign to most college students but it’s time to get acquainted with it. Coffee will never beat the benefits a good night rest brings.

Don’t do it in your head!

This is the one thing my math professor always yells at us about. Now, every time i try to do a problem mentally i can literally hear him say “write it down, don’t do it in your head!”

It doesn’t matter how simple you think a problem is, it’s always best to write it down in order to have a visual look of your work. This way you’re more likely to catch some of those *silly* mistakes we often make.

We surely don’t want you to get a question wrong, not because you didn’t know how to solve it, but because you wrote 4*4=8. Is it me or these types of mistakes always happen on questions worth the most points? This is literally how i felt when looking at my mistakes.

Don’t worry about your neighbors

Oh, your neighbor finished his/her test in 10 minutes? Who cares! Half the class already turned in their exams? Who CARES! You’re the only one still working on the exam? wHo CaReS! As long as time hasn’t run out, make sure to focus your attention on your paper and not what others are doing.

Do not rush yourself just because everyone seems to be done with their exam and you’re the only still working. It’s not a race. No one is getting extra points for finishing earlier than everyone else or vice versa. Pace yourself.

Double Check your work

I can’t even count how many times this has hurt me. I used to NEVER check over my work. Once i finished with a problem, i did not care to go back to it. Let’s just say, that method didn’t go too well for me.

Here’s what’s working for me now:

Work problems twice: If there’s enough time, you should always repeat your calculations. Your brain can play some tricks on you, especially if you’re doing your calculations mentally. Everytime i go back to check my work, i always catch one or two mistakes that would have cost me.
Use different methods: When checking your work, don’t just redo the problems the same way you did it the first time. If possible, try to solve the problems a different way, then compare both answers. You have a greater chance of being right if both answers match.
Plug it in: The good thing about math is that you can often check your answer to see if you’re right. You can’t really do this with other subjects. Maybe you could with science but not subjects like history, english or psychology. For example, if you’re solving for “x”, once you find “x”you can plug it back into the original equation and see if it works out.

I can’t absolutely guarantee following these steps will forever immune you to making hair pulling mistakes on your exams. I know it didn’t do that for me because i still make these mistakes once in awhile. What i can guarantee is, you won’t make such mistakes as often.

All the best on your next math exams!

-Yvanne

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What's In My College Backpack

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Sun, 17 Sep 2017 14:00:00 +0000

My absolute favorite part about back-to-school is getting new furniture. I just get super excited to go furniture shopping!

This year i did almost all of my back-to-school shopping at Staples, partly because my friend works there and i wanted to get some discounts.

Writing utensils

Mechanical pencils: I always try to have as many of these as possible. This is a utensil i never like to run out of. Plus, people often ask to borrow my pencils and never give it back. So i like having extras as back-up.
Erasable pencils: I mentioned these in my last post and as promised, i went ahead and got them. I’m super excited to use them!
Flash cards: My math professor this summer made it absolutely mandatory we use flash cards. I really didn’t care much for these before, but after using them consistently enough, i found them pretty helpful!
Post-it notes: I have to remind myself to do things ALL.THE.TIME. Post it notes help with that tremendously.
Eraser: pencil erasers run out all the time. Always got me some back up.

Notebooks: There’s only one notebook pictured here but i have two. I just forgot to take a picture of the other one. The notebook pictured is a 5-subject notebook i’m using for all my classes except for one.

The other notebook i have is a one subject notebook, which i am using for my math class. I use a lot more paper in math for notes and whatnot, so i definitely needed more paper than what is available in the 5-subject notebook.

Planner: This is one of the items that is not from Staples. I actually got this planner last semester at Target. It’s a fairly good planner but i do want to try other planners in the future just to see if i like anyone of them better.

Cosmetic bag: You may recognize this “Play Beautifully” bag from last December. It’s one of the things i received from my Blogger Secret Santa.

I basically have things like lip gloss, lipstick, a mini bottle of lotion etc. inside the bag.

Eyeglasses cleaner: If you didn’t know, i have four eyes. I wear prescription glasses pretty much all the time and i got two bottles of these lens cleaner at Costco for a pretty good deal! I can even go back and get a refill when i run out!

Pencil case: If you’re wondering why they’re puzzle pieces in my pencil case, i use to have a phone case with those in. You could rearrange the pieces to your liking. The phone case eventually broke, i just really like to look at those pieces. I also have extra lead for my pencils.

Now inside the pencil case i have the usual. Pencils, pens, highlighters, markers, eraser, white out, and some glue (you never know when you’re gonna need some glue).

Calculator: Can’t do math without this one.

Flash Drive: My old flash drive recently broke out of nowhere and i never thought to backup my documents (i know, how dumb is that). So all my documents were G O N E with the wind. It makes me upset just to remember all the 4 years worth of documents i lost. I definitely will not make the same mistake with this one. I learned my lesson.

House Keys: I have been locked out of my house too many times. I try to always keep my keys in my bag.

Phone Charger: Always need my phone charger with me.

Water bottle: I have lost so many water bottles in the past and i forbade myself from buying anymore. Until, i went to Dave & Buster’s and got this water bottle at their store. Technically, i didn’t really buy it since it was one of the prizes at their store. I'm pleasantly surprised i haven't lost this one.

Book: I have a fairly long commute to school, i would much rather have a book with me rather than being on my phone. I always try to keep an interesting book in my bag.

Sunnies: i love my new sunnies from GlassesUSA. I literally parade them everywhere. I’m actually sad it’s about to be cold and i won’t be able to wear them.

Wallet: always need my wallet.

Body Spray: I have to smell good! I’m not the biggest fan of the smell, but i can deal until i run out.

Deodorant: This deodorant smells pretty good but i’m looking for a more natural deodorant. If you have any suggestions, leave them in the comment section.

Backpack: Last but not least, the backpack! I actually got this backpack at the thrift store (I love shopping at the thrift store!). I really like it because it has a bunch of pockets, everything has its place.

I got my “RESIST” pin you there at the climate march in DC. That’s where it has been sitting ever since.

What’s one thing you absolutely have to have in your backpack?

-Yvanne

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How To Beat The End Of Summer Blues

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 17:30:00 +0000

This is a sponsored post in partnership with UniDays and Her Campus Media. All words and opinions are my own.

With the amount of back-to-school commercials on television, it is pretty hard to ignore the unavoidable end of summer. In less than a week, i’ll be turning my morning alarms back on and reading endless pages of overpriced textbooks. Is it me or summer always feels like it only lasted for about a month while the school year almost never ends.

Instead of dreading the beginning of the new school year, i choose to make the best out of the free time i have left. You guys know the really popular quote that goes “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” I choose to be thankful for the relaxing summer i had, in lieu of asking the universe why it has to end so soon. And you should too.

Here are a couple ways you can say your farewells to summer and welcome fall with open arms.

Frame your memories

How many pictures of “SUMMER ‘17” do you have on your phone (don’t lie!)? My guess would be double, if not triple digits. I personally love to seeing pictures of some of my favorite adventures on my desk. I almost feel like i can go back in time and experience those moments once more.

You could either frame some of your favorite pictures or make a scrapbook out of them. I promise you will have the biggest smile on your face while doing it. The end of the summer might not sound as bad anymore because you will be reminded of all the good times you had.

Go back-to-school shopping!

You may not be thrilled about school starting again, but don’t you just love back-to-school shopping? If i didn’t discipline myself to only get what i need, i would probably get everything at the store every year (not really. Can’t afford that lol).

One thing i’m excited to get is erasable pens. I can’t believe i didn’t know about them until someone from my summer class let me use one. Ever since then, i have been obsessed and i have to get one for this semester.

As a college student, i’m always looking for ways to save money any way i can, so when i learned about UNiDAYS i could not keep them to myself. UNiDAYS provides free services for students where you can get exclusive discounts on brands such as Apple, Urban Outfitters, GlassesUSA, ASOS, Bed Bath Beyond, Lyft, and many more.

UNiDAYS also offers weekly member-only giveaways from $500 for back-to-school shopping, new phones to style-your-self outfits and more! There is no reason to pay full price for items UNiDAYS will give you great discounts on!

Lose yourself in a good book

I have a long reading list i need to go through. I love taking book recommendations from some of my favorite bloggers! And what better way to avoid reality than to immerse yourself in a good book? Take advantage of the free time you have remaining to relax and unwind while you still can.

I personally like to read around this time rather than doing so during the school year. When i start reading a really good book, i have the tendency to not put it down until i’m completely done with it. Which doesn’t look good for me because i consequently put all my responsibilities in the back seat.

Make the best of the time you have left

Although summer is ending, it hasn’t ended just yet. Meaning, you still have the opportunity to have lots of fun. This is the perfect time to finish off your summer bucket list.

I don’t to see a lot of my friends often enough during the school year, so when we all have some time off, we don’t let it go to waste. We still have plans set up until the weekend before school starts.

My favorite part so far has been my best friend and i restaurant hopping and pretending to be food bloggers.

I have a question: am i the only who gets excited for summer mainly because i get to rock my sunglasses? Which leads to my next question: Does anyone else wear sunglasses more so as a fashion statement than sun protection? Just me? Well then.

I’ve been trying to match all my outfits according to my sunglasses ever since i got a new pair from GlassesUSA, a partners of UNiDAYS. If you like what you see, you can get yourself a stylish pair of sunglasses like mine through UNiDAYS at a discounted price! As a broke college student, “free” and “discounts” are two words i love to hear.

Get excited for fall TV schedule

It’s always good to have things to look forward to. Think about all your favorite TV shows coming back. Are you still sad about the end of summer? I know i’m not!

I CANNOT wait for Scandal (last season *insert Kim K’s crying face*), The Big Bang Theory, How To Get Away With Murder, Stranger Things and Black-ish. I still don’t know how i’m gonna find time to watch all these series, but i’m pretty excited nonetheless.

Prepare for fall activities

Halloween is closer than you think! What will you be this year? If you already have an idea of what you’re going to be, you can start working on it. It’s always better to DIY not only because it’s fun, but it’s also FREE!

Summer may be coming to an end but that certainly doesn’t to be a bad thing. There are so many other fun things to look forward to. All you have to do is figure out what those things are.

-Yvanne

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5 High School Habits To Drop Before College

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Thu, 24 Aug 2017 20:42:00 +0000

Remember in elementary school when your teachers would often say “oh when you get to middle school things will be so much different and you won’t be able to do this and that...” but then you get to middle school and lo and behold, everything is pretty much the same. Then you would hear the same lecture in middle school about high school and once more, it was all just talk to scare you a little.

Although it would make sense to believe that college wouldn’t be much different than high school, i can assure you it’s definitely not the case. In order to have a successful high school to college transition, it is imperative that high school students break and replace the common habits listed below.

Not reading your class’s assigned books

News Flash: You actually have to read your textbooks instead of using them as coasters and whatnots. I was talking to my friend the other day and she was telling me how annoying it is that she actually has to read her textbooks now that she’s in college instead of barely cracking them open like she had done in high school. It was so funny to hear her rant about it because all i could do was reminisce on the time i was in her place my freshmen year, ranting about the same thing.

When you think about it, we really had it easy in high school. We had free textbooks which we barely read. Meanwhile in college, you have to pay for your own OVERPRICED textbooks and you have to read them. Sparknotes won’t come to your rescue anymore either. You’re going to have reading quizzes and sometimes you might not even get a heads up from your professor. All to say, when you get reading assignments, it’s in your best interest to follow through.

Not studying for tests

Oh how i miss the good ol’ days in high school when i barely worried about exams. Most of the time i would study for an exam the day before and call it a day. Meanwhile in college, i have done everything but pull my hair out during finals.

You absolutely cannot take this habit to college. I repeat you can NOT take this habit with you to college. You’re going to have to learn to study over a period of time for upcoming exams and not the day before. Not only is it a better study strategy, but you will also learn a lot more than you ever will with the day of or day before habit.

Procrastination

If i’m being honest, this will likely follow you to college (it followed me!). Procrastination is a pest you can’t easily get rid of. With that being said, i advise you to try your hardest to get rid of this habit, which has the potential to make your life a living hell in college.

Procrastinating in college is a whole different ball game than it is in high school. You could procrastinate in high school and still be able to turn in a decent assignment. Whereas, a lot more is expected of you in college and the amount of time you spend working on an assignment will reflect on your grades.

Don’t be surprised if what would have earned you a B+ in high school may earn you a C- or worse in college. Moral of the story? It is always best not to procrastinate at all, but if you do, do so at your own risk because you will not receive any favors from your professors

Expecting teachers to remind you about missed homework

assignments.

College is whole new ball game than high school. You get a syllabus that tells everything you need to know about the class. All your assignments will be on it and sure your professor will verbally present them to you, but after then you’re on your own. This is especially tricky with long term assignments that students often tend to forget about. If there’s a big research paper due a month or two, don’t expect your professor to remind you about it every other day.

It is your job and your job alone to remember when your assignments are due. And if you happen to forget about them, that’s on you as well.

Not asking for help when you need it

At this point we’ve pretty much established that college is almost nothing like high school. While you were able to do most if not all of your work on your own in high school, you are probably not going to be able to follow the same pattern in college for the fact that more is demanded of you.

Whether you’re struggling with your chemistry homework or your literature paper, there are multiple resources on campus readily available to help you. Your professor most certainly has office hours, don’t be afraid to stop by and ask for help. That’s what office hours are for.

If you would much rather have things explained to you by your peers, there are students tutors available for most subjects. If you’re feeling under the weather, there are counselors you can surely talk to. Remember, a lot of these resources are made available with the help of your tuition money. You’re simply using what you’re paying thousands of dollars to your college for. I know being in college we all want to learn how to “adult,” but asking for help when you need it does not make you less of an adult than the next person.

-Yvanne

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How To Survive 8AM Classes In College

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Sun, 13 Aug 2017 16:30:00 +0000

Ah, the dreaded 8AMs. As most people do, i have avoided early morning classes throughout my college journey like no other. That is, until I had to take a class this summer and my only options were to either register for the class at another campus which was farther than my regular commute, or take the class at 8am sharp at my usual campus.

Lord knows i looked for every alternatives in order to avoid the dreaded morning class, but in the end i had to give it up and take the 8am class. While sobbing of course (okay not really but i felt like it).

As someone who’s used to going to sleep late and waking up even later, the first week seemed like hell on earth. Peeling myself out of bed suddenly became the hardest task known to man. I probably had 27 alarms with 3 mins intervals because i could not wake up to save my life. I walked around campus like a zombie.

And then, slowly but surely, getting out of bed became a lot easier day by day.Having a bunch of alarms turned out to be more annoying than helpful, so i sized down to 3 alarms. My zombie look disappeared and sometimes i would catch myself singing my way to class!

I still don’t understand how i did it for 4 years in high school,yet the thought of attending a class that early in college was like asking me to climb mount kilimanjaro. Makes no sense.

Go to bed early!!

As a night owl, my bedtime hours typically ranged from midnight to 3am. So the first week of school, my genius self thought it was okay to still go to bed at these hours. Let me just tell you, the STRUGGLE taking myself out of bed was very real. This is when i had to set up a million and one alarms along with a live band to get me out of my covers.

Having to wake up a lot earlier than usual is already pretty hard enough. Learn from my mistakes and don’t make things worse. Breaking my habit of not going to bed until after midnight was not easy but it was definitely worth getting a couple more hours of sleep. A restless night is a recipe for a disastrous day.

Have your outfit ready the night before

Do this and thank me later. I seriously didn’t realize how long it took me to pick out an outfit until my 8am class started. It amazed me because i would take the longest time to choose an outfit, as though i was getting dressed to meet the queen. But after all that time, i would come up with the most basic outfit i could find. Yes, i took me 20 minutes to come up with jeans a shirt. Don’t ask how.

I saved close to an extra hour more of sleep for myself by simply taking a shower and picking out an outfit the night before. Instead of waking up earlier the next the day to do all that jazz, all i had to do was wash my face and brush my teeth. This definitely helped improve my mood in the morning.

Also, do yourself a favor and have your bookbag ready to go the night before class. I used to leave all my stuff scattered on the table after studying and it would take me too long to put everything back in my bag before school. Especially if you’re rushing out the door.

Don’t skip breakfast

Guess what? “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” isn’t just something people say for the heck of it, it’s actually true! Even if you only have time to a grab a banana or a nutrition bar, do so. Eating a nutritious breakfast will give you the energy you’ll need to get through your class and the entire day.

Do your work during the day

The good thing about having morning classes is that it makes your day seem longer. After your class you still have a good amount of time to get some work done. This was definitely my favorite thing about having a morning class. I loved knowing that i still had the whole day ahead of me after getting out of class.This was great because i could get most of my work done after class instead of doing it in the evening and not going to bed until midnight and after like i used to. Getting myself out of bed in the morning became a lot easier to do, along with staying awake in class.

Set your alarm clock

I like to set my alarms for an hour before i actually have to wake up. So let’s say i have to wake up at 6:00am, i will set up my alarm at 5:00am, then 5:30am, then 5:45am, then 5:55am and finally 6:00am. The way i see it, i’m slowly waking myself up so when the clock does reach 6:00am, getting up won’t be as brutal. I also have a couple alarms with 5 minutes intervals for when i lie to myself by saying that i’m only going to sleep for a couple more minutes then find myself sleeping for a whole hour more. This may seem like a lot, but my professor would not let you hear the end of it if you came late to class. I didn’t want to take any chances. It’s also a pretty good idea to set your phone away from you so you’ll force yourself to get up and turn off your alarm.

Have a positive attitude

This is may be the most important one of them all. A positive attitude makes some of the hardest things a little easier to deal with. Waking up early in the morning may be a big pain in the you know what but try to associate something positive with it and watch what happens.

See? Morning classes aren’t THAT bad. You can totally pull it off as long as you discipline yourself. Good luck with your morning class!

-Yvanne

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5 Ways Positive Thinking Can Increase Your Productivity

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 23:12:00 +0000

"In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact." -Les Brown

If you want to be more productive but haven’t been able to do so, your attitude might have something to do with it. We have all heard of the saying “you get what you put in.” Which pretty much means, you can’t go into a situation with a negative mind and expect to get anything more than just that, in return.

Studies have shown that student's attitude towards math will actually affect their success. The simple fact of going to your math class with a negative attitude will truly help you fail. Not because you’re not intelligent, but for the fact that you’re constantly expressing your discontentment of math and whatnot. I wasn’t aware of this study until recently, but my performance in my math classes make a lot of sense now.

Having a great work ethic is an important component of productivity, but so is a positive attitude. Here are 5 five ways a positive mindset will help you be more productive:

1. You avoid the complaints club.

Not only will you be saving time, you’ll also be saving energy because let’s face it - constant complains are exhausting. Especially when they don’t amount to anything. If you’re performing a difficult task, you are more likely to waste time writing an entire book on the many ways this task is annoying.

Whereas, performing the same task with a positive attitude will encourage you to figure out a more efficient way to complete the task at hand. You will even be able to detect and prevent problems before they arise, which also saves any more time that would have been spent solving the problem. They don’t say “an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure” for nothing.

2. You aren’t as stressed

It is no secret that most people don’t perform well under stressful conditions. When stressed, you’re worrying about however many different things you have to take care of, while barely paying attention to the task you’re currently performing.

When performing a task with a positive attitude, your mind is at ease and you’re able to remain focused. Your productivity significantly increases because your mind isn’t clouded and overwhelmed by stressors.

3. You work better in teams

No one likes to be around people who constantly complain. I don’t know about you, but i try to steer clear of negative people as much as i can. Especially when i’m doing a group project at school, i avoid that individual like the plague. My end goal is an A and complaining is definitely NOT going to get me there.

Just as they ( don’t ask me who “they” is) say a smile is contagious, the same could be said about a positive attitude. Not only is it easier to work with others, but everyone is able to work efficiently. People tend to be a lot more productive when they’re in a positive working environment. Negativity often drags tasks way longer than they should have originally taken and seems to make them a lot more tedious.

4. You have more energy

Cheerful people tend to be more energetic. If you’re full of energy, there’s no reason why you wouldn’t be more proactive than someone who isn’t. Negative people tend to look at the more gloomy side of things and inadvertently deplete their energy. Because those with a positive mindset prefer to look at the brighter side of things, their job performance consequently tends to be better.

5. You’re more likely to make good decisions

Negative thinking clouds your judgement and often leads to poor decision making. Have you ever made a decision and then later wondered what in the world you were thinking? Yeah same. Chances are, your mindset at the time wasn’t the best.

A positive mindset strengthens your problem solving skills and rids you of the distractions brought by negative thinking. Instead of reacting to problems with your emotions, you will be able to take the appropriate steps needed to resolve the problem accordingly. Plus, a positive minds makes way for creativity, which is always very helpful when solving problems.

How To Be More Positive

Now that we understand the immense impact a positive attitude has on productivity, you might be wondering “well, how do i go about being more positive ?” Wonder no more, i got you covered. Being more positive doesn’t mean you have to be in la-la land all the time, all it takes is some effort.

Surround yourself with positive people: You may not realize it, but your environment plays a crucial role in determining your outlook on life. If you constantly confine yourself with people who spread nothing but negativity, chances are you’ll do the exact same thing. Those you hang out with the most can either uplift you or drag you down with them.
Make a conscious effort to smile: Smile right now. Yes, for no reason. Doesn’t matter if you’re in a good mood or not. Just smile. Most of us believe that we smile when we’re happy. This is correct, but so is the opposite. We can feel happy because we’re smiling. This basically means that you can force a smile at any time and trick your brain into thinking that you’re genuinely happy. Not only will you better your mood, but you’ll also reduce stress.
Meditate: Practicing mindful meditation is a great way to relieve stress. When you take time to settle your mind from all the worries of life, you’re able to focus on what really matters.

Next time you have to tackle that do-to list of yours, make sure you to do with a positive mindset.

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My Favorite Inspirational Talks

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Sun, 25 Jun 2017 16:00:00 +0000

I watch motivational Ted Talks and spoken word YouTube videos whenever I get the chance. I find them to be very inspiring. Though once we get inspired, we must act on our inspiration! I’ve put together some of my favorite videos and I hope you like them just as much as I do!

Brene Brown: The Power of Vulnerability

One of my all-time favorite Ted Talks is Brene Browns the power of vulnerability. This is something most of us struggle with. There is

Brene Brown breaks being vulnerable into these next four things. “Letting ourselves be seen, deeply seen, vulnerably seen”- let people see what you may think as the bad things in your life, as well as the good. “Loving with our whole heart, even though there is no guarantee”-;“Practice gratitude and joy”- learning to appreciate everything in life, the good and bad, is so important. “Believe that you are enough”- because you are enough, your worth is in Jesus.

Amy Cuddy: Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are

This is one of my favorite Ted Talks, because body language is important. The way you carry yourself says a lot about you and the kind of person you are. She talks about how if you change your posture for two minutes, into a more powerful posture, you will feel better. Your posture depicts your mood. So, if you want to change your mood, change your posture. I often find myself doing the power pose without even thinking about and it actually works! Its become natural for me, haha!

Prince EA: Everybody Dies, But Not everybody lives

This video leaves me speechless every time I watch it!! In this video, Prince EA talks about how people can get to the end of their life and regret not doing the things they wanted to do when they were younger! This video truly makes you think. We know everyone is going to die, but are you truly living the life you are intended to be living. What passion did Jesus give you? If you aren’t living it out, why aren’t you?

Clayton Jennings: Where Are You Going?

Clayton Jennings is one of my favorite spoken word YouTubers! I am sharing this video because it is one of the first I watched by him a couple years ago. relationship with rather than religion. His question in this video is “where are you going?” He lays it out very simply for us, at the end of our life we are either going to heaven or hell. Where you are going depends on your relationship with Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter if you are religious or not, what matters is your relationship with God. When people say they are religious it makes them feel good, they think they are doing something right. When in reality all the Jesus wants us to do is recognize Him for all He has done for us.

I hope you check out my favorite inspirational talks! Thanks Yvanne for collaborating with me!!

About the blogger in her own words: "I want for my blog to create a community for girls and women alike to find their true beauty! I do not want for anyone to go a day and not know that are unique; because God made us this way!! I hope that I am not only an inspiration to you, but that you are an inspiration to me as well."

Thanks, Airriaunte for this great post! I'm currently watching these talks and loving them! Make sure you check out her blog and follow her on social media at @coffeewithtae

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DIY No Sew T-Shirt Tote Bag

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Wed, 21 Jun 2017 03:03:00 +0000

I was cleaning out my closet the other day and noticed that i had a lot of old T-shirts i barely wear anymore. Instead of letting them sit in my closet with no purpose, i thought i would re-purpose some of them.

As per usual, I went on Pinterest and typed of bunch of stuff until i came across a couple no sew DIYs which looked easy enough. I decided to try the t-shirt tote bag and i think it turned out okay. Plus it only took about 10 mins to make.

If you would like to recycle an old t-shirt into a cute tote bag, here's how:

What we'll need:

- One t-shirt (preferably a thicker fabric)

-A pair of scissors
-A marker (optional)

Instructions:

#1- Cut the sleeves off your t-shirt.

#2- Cut the bottom of the shirt however long you want them. Mine was cut about the length of my index finger, maybe more.

#4- Stretch each strips down

#5- Cut the neck line a little deeper. You can use a marker to mark where you're going to cut so your curve isn't disproportional like mine is.

#6- Tie the front and back strips twice. After tying each pair, you will probably notice the small holes in-between the pairs. What i did to close those gaps, was to tie the left and right strips between those holes in double knots.

#7- Now you have a homemade tote bag you can use to the beach or the grocery store.

-Yvanne

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Easy 4 Ingredients Mango Banana Green Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Thu, 25 May 2017 22:29:00 +0000

My attempt at blogging during this semester was laughable and I clearly need to come up with a new and improved blogging strategy before school begins again. If you’re a blogger and you have any tips for me, feel free to leave them in the comment section.

Anyway, who’s excited for summer!? It felt amazing turning off every single one of my 27 morning alarms the day after my last final. Don’t ask me why, but for as long as I can remember, my morning alarm song has been Yeah! By Usher. I seriously don't when and why i chose that song and i just don't have the will power to change it. I’ve come to associate it with having to cut my sleep short which has kind of made me hate the song (sorry Usher).

It’s been a blast getting to sleep as late as I can without being yelled at to wake up by Usher but I think I’ve slightly abused my freedom. So, I might (scratch that WILL) have to enable some of those alarms again so I can force myself to start being productive before the afternoon. I’m going to need to do this after I start working anyway, so why not start now?

As did blogging, yoga also took a back seat during this semester and I’m trying to redeem myself this summer. I honestly missed it so much! I missed practicing with, Yoga with Adrienne more than I realized.

BUT, I’m so proud to say that I have successfully added yoga back into my morning routine and I have only missed about two days! How about that! I feel very basic using that sentence now that it’s gone viral but I can’t think of another sentence right now.

I love making myself a nice cold energizing smoothie after killing it on the yoga mat, and I thought I would share one of my favorite recipe with you all.

If I’m being honest, I make most of my smoothies with whatever I find in my fridge and more times than not, they end up tasting pretty good, other times…let’s just say my face looked like that gif of Chrissy Teigen at the Oscars. Don’t worry though, the recipe I’m about to share actually tasted pretty good!

Alright enough blabbing for today. All you'll need for this energy boosting smoothie is, mango, banana, fresh spinach and some almond milk.

Blend until you get a nice creamy texture.

Total Time

- 5 minutes

Ingredients

- 1 chopped mango / a cup of frozen mango

- 1 chopped banana / a cup of frozen banana

- 1 cup of spinach leaves

- ¾ cup of Almond milk

- 1 cup of ice (if you’re not using frozen fruits)

This recipe will give you one large smoothie or two average size cups.

Enjoy! and let me know if you tried this recipe.

-Yvanne

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Why I became a vegetarian (Do I miss eating meat?)

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Wed, 12 Apr 2017 17:00:00 +0000

If you had told me a year or two ago that I will be writing a blog post about becoming a vegetarian, I would have laughed at your face so hard! I was one of those people who thought vegetarian/vegans were weird and always tried to make you feel like they were better than you. In fact, let me give a few reasons why back then, omitting meat from my diet would have never crossed my mind.

1. This is going to sound super stereotypical, but I used to LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE chicken. I can’t remember a day when I was offered chicken and said no. If there was a world where chicken was the only meat available, I would have had no problem eating it on a daily basis.

2. In cases you didn’t know, I’m African. And in a typical African household it is virtually unheard of to not eat meat. Basically if the food doesn’t have meat in it, it won’t be as enjoyable as if it did. Think of it as having spaghetti and meatballs without the meatballs. The chances of us eating spaghetti with no meat balls are virtually non-existent. Out of every meal we eat, I would say at least 8/10 times it has some kind of meat in it.

3. I was uneducated. When I thought of non-meat eaters, I thought of hardcore animal lovers who would get upset with you for accidentally stepping on an ant and I simply could never relate. Ever since a dog took a bite out me when I was little, animals and I haven’t been the best of friends. I’m not a fan of them, and they aren’t of me. I’m okay with us co-existing and all but I’m not about to dedicate my life to saving them (do I sound heartless?).

Things quickly changed when I finally got a Netflix subscription and quickly developed a love for documentaries. After binge-watching too many documentaries to keep count, I finally stumbled on a documentary called FOOD, INC. It was as if I had been blinded for years, and the movie basically removed my blindfold. I was completely flabbergasted by what I was watching. I never really paid any mind to how the food I was buying got to the grocery store, where it was made, and how?

FOOD INC. opened doors to many other documentaries just like it and before I knew it, I had watched Cowspiracy, Fork over Knives, Plant Pure Nation, Vegucated, and countless YouTube videos. With every documentary and video that I watched, it became apparent that I couldn’t allow myself to indulge in animal flesh any longer. The chicken I liked so much spent most of its days in an overcrowded room, away from sunlight and pumped with so many hormones to make it grow faster that it couldn’t even walk. The chickens’ legs will often give out because they couldn’t handle the abnormal weight of their bodies. Watching that and many more like it honestly made me want to puke.

Not only is Animal agriculture unsustainable but it is also a huge contributor to climate change among other things. One thing I learned that absolutely baffled is the fact that we could very well feed the millions of people who go hungry every day with the grains we reserve for livestock. Learning facts such as these further reinforced my decision to stop eating meat.

And so after years of being a proud carnivore, at the beginning of this year I decided that it was time for me to break up with meat. I slowly removed meat from my meals and before I knew it, the sight of chicken I used to drool over made me nauseous. I will admit that at the beginning of my journey, I sometimes missed eating meat. Not so much the taste of it, but more so just seeing it on my plate. I’m not the biggest fan of change, so I think I probably missed the routine or familiarity of always eating my meals with a piece of meat on the side. Like I said earlier, in our household there wasn’t much we cooked that didn’t include meat.

Now that I am four months in, I can’t possibly imagine myself ever eating animal flesh again. My chipotle order now, actually costs less than before and that’s with guacamole! I walk by a chick-fil-a almost every day to get to school and I barely look at it whereas before all it took was the smell of chicken nuggets to get me through the door.

I eventually plan on transitioning to a vegan diet in the future, but as of right now, I’m having lots of fun trying vegetarian recipes and making vegetarian versions of foods that I used to eat with meat.

I’ve been really careful not to reinforce the belief I previously had about meat-free eaters when I get asked questions (even ones that are…challenging to answer to say the least). I always felt as though they were condescending towards carnivores which is why I was so quick not to show any type of interest in their lifestyles. I’m definitely not trying to tell anyone how to live their lives but I do believe that sharing what I learned with others could possibly encourage them to do their own research and take whatever action they see fit. I know I probably would have become a vegetarian sooner if I had been informed. With that said, here are some of the videos/movies I watched that helped me decide to become a vegetarian.

FOOD INC. (Netflix)

Forks over Knives (Netflix)

Cowspiracy (Netflix)

Plant Pure Nation (Netflix)

Best Speech You Will Ever Hear - Gary Yourofsky

-Yvanne

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5 Great Yoga Videos For Complete Beginners on Youtube

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 15:30:00 +0000

I recently talked about beginning my yoga journey and in case you were wondering how that's been going, i'm happy to announce that so far, it's been amazing! I'm so glad i was able to successfully incorporate it into my daily routine and stick to it. I refer to yoga as my daily cup of coffee because It's amazing how rejuvenated and energetic i feel after every sequence.

As a college student, yoga classes don't really have a place in my budget so i'm more than happy to take full advantage of the free videos i can get on YouTube. After doing yoga solely on YouTube for a couple months now, Here are some of my favorites beginner-friendly videos:

Yoga For Complete Beginners - 20 Minute Home Yoga Workout!

Yoga with Adrienne is the very first yoga sequence I followed and I absolutely loved it! It doesn’t matter if you barely know anything about yoga or that you don’t even own a yoga mat. All you really need going into this is a positive mind and attitude. This is just one of many awesome beginner’s videos Adrienne has on her channel.

Vinyasa Flow Yoga Class for Beginners

This is another great video to follow. I absolutely love the narrator of this video because the instructions are very easy to follow along. You could almost do this practice with your eyes closed. The pace is slow which is perfect for beginner’s. At first, it seems like an easy peasy practice, but as you get further into the video, you’ll be sweating like no other.

Beginner Morning Yoga Sequence for Greatist (15-min)

This yoga sequence is perfect if you just want to test the waters before diving into a longer yoga practice.

Yoga For Beginners - 30 Minute Home Yoga Workout || Flexibility & Relaxation

I’ve always wanted to work on my flexibility, so I totally loved doing this sequence. The instructions are clear and precise which makes the video very easy to follow along. I have been doing this yoga routine for a while now and I definitely notice a difference from how flexible I was on day one as oppose to now.

Yoga for Beginners, Journey into Strength with Kino

The first time you might find this video a little bit tougher than the others but it’ll make you realize that you’re much stronger than you thought. One thing I learned practicing yoga is that it’s not about doing everything perfectly. It’s more about the process of getting the poses right. So, don’t beat yourself up if there are some poses you just can’t get right (yet).

Even though all these videos are geared towards beginners, I struggled a little with some of them the first time I practiced. If you feel the same way while following any of these videos, you’re not alone. What I did to kind of make things easier for me is that I lowered the speed of the videos and it made a huge difference.

-Yvanne

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What To Do If You Missed Class in College

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Sun, 26 Feb 2017 15:30:00 +0000

The good thing about college classes is that your professors will most likely not take attendance which means they probably won’t notice if you’re not there. Especially if you’re in a large lecture class.

BUT...

It’s all fun and games until it’s two days until your midterm and you have no idea as to what you’re going to be tested on. YIKES.

Missing class in college is definitely not the end of the world— It’s fine if you had a family emergency or you were really sick. it’s more of what you do after being absent from class that really matters. If you go about your day as if nothing happened and expect your professor to come up to you the next class to hand you notes from the lesson you missed, you’re playing yourself. It’s your responsibility to go above and beyond to try to catch up on whatever you missed. Here’s how to go about it:

Talk/Email your professor before class

Do not wait until the next class to talk to your professor about why you missed class. You should definitely call/email before then or go to the he/she’s office hours to find out what you missed. Don’t expect your professor to go over the entire class lesson again just for you though—that’s probably not going to happen. The most, they will do is answer questions you might have about the lesson.

Here’s a sample email to send your professor about your absence:

Dear Professor_________________,

I would like to apologize for not being able to attend [Insert Class] on [insert date].

I had to [insert a legit reason for missing class. Keep it brief]. I received notes from the lecture from a classmate and learned that the study guide for our upcoming exam was handed out. Would you be available [insert day and time] to give me a copy of the study guide and maybe answer a couple question I have about the lecture? Thank you for your time.

Best,

[Insert Name]

[Insert Class]

Look at the attendance and late work policy

I've had professors who were very strict and followed everything on the syllabus to the last dot, and others who were a little more open to giving students a break. If you missed class the day your homework assignment was due or the day you were meant to take an exam, make sure to look at your syllabus for your professor’s policy on such matters. I once had a professor who wouldn't let me take a make-up exam unless I basically brought picture evidence of me lying on a hospital bed (Talk about doing the most). But I've also had professors who let me make-up whatever I missed with just a warning.

Yes, you missed something. No need to ask

I doubt there’s a professor who doesn't think every one of his classes is important. It’s so funny to see their facial expressions when students ask “Did I miss anything important last class?” Oh no, Sarah. You certainly didn't miss anything at all. In fact, we went ahead and stopped everything we were doing because no one wanted you to miss anything important.

You missed something okay? There’s no need to ask. Your professor might even take offense to this because you’re basically implying that his classes aren’t important. What you need to do at this point is try to find out if there were any handouts given or collected while you were absent.

Talk to your classmates

I always try to have the phone number of at least one person in every one of my classes in anticipation of times like this one. Your professor might have said something important about an upcoming exam. If you know more than one person in your class, ask them all for their notes because everyone has a different note taking styles.

I once asked a classmate for her biology notes and I basically felt like I was reading a comic book. There were so many drawings and barely any words—I couldn't understand a thing. It was impossible for me to make out what anything meant yet after asking her about it, she was perfectly able to explain everything. Another reason why it’s always good to ask notes from multiple classmates is because people have different ideas of what’s important and what isn't. One classmate might write down a concept they think is important, while another might not.

Next time, give your professor a heads-up

If you’re going to be absent again in the near future, definitely let your professor know in advance. You certainly don’t have to say too much about why you’re going to be missing class again, but you should provide a reason that’s going to help determine whether or not you should be allowed to submit late work or be exempted from class activities. Also, if you’re going to be absent because of a concert or something of the sort— don’t bother mentioning the reason for your absence.

When you miss a class in college you take like 5 steps behind and everyone else and the more classes you miss, the larger the distance from everyone else becomes. You’re going to have so much catching up to do, you won’t even know where to even begin in order to get back on track. From never-ending reading assignments to countless lab reports, you’ll barely have any room to breathe. If this doesn't sound like something you would want to deal with, don’t make missing class a habit.

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A Student's Guide to Surviving Long Lecture Classes

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Sun, 29 Jan 2017 15:00:00 +0000

Let’s all give a round of applause to the genius who thought three-hour lectures were a good idea.

My first ever lecture class in college was surprisingly quite interesting. I actually looked forward to the class and barely noticed how long it was. I thought “this isn’t bad at all. I don’t know what all the fuss is about.” Turns out, I spoke too fast. The next semester I had to take another lecture class and this time I did understand what the fuss was about.

I was fine the first hour and half of class, but shortly after I was googling “50 ways to stay awake.” I had been so busy trying to keep myself from falling asleep, that I barely paid attention to the lecture. Luckily, I eventually got it together and learned some ways to stay alert and pay attention.

If you’re currently in the same boat as I was, here are a couple thing you can do to successfully get through your obviously long lecture class.

Treasure whatever break time you are given

Do you want to know what my favorite phrase is? It’s “Alright guys let’s take a 15-minute break” You don’t have to tell twice! I would fly out of my chair before my professor even finished that sentence. Take advantage of this time to recharge your energy as much as you can. You can go on a little walk around your school to get your blood flowing and increase your alertness. Don’t stay in your seat during break! You’ve been sitting down for so long that your legs probably fell asleep and your butt definitely has to hurt by now. Get up, stretch, let your legs feel alive again.

Dress comfortably

If you ever needed a reason to wear leggings pretty much all the time, this is it. Getting through a 2 to 3-hour class is already hard enough, so why make it worst by dressing uncomfortably? Do yourself a favor and try not to wear your super tight skinny jeans to your class. I don’t know about you, but I’m already not in love with the idea of sitting on those cold hard chairs for hours and I wouldn’t want to induce my misery with clothes I can barely breathe in.

Don't look at the clock

I’m so guilty of this. About an hour into class, I start looking at the clock every 5 minutes and I swear the numbers do not move. It’s like I check the time and it’s 2:45pm and 10 minutes later I’m checking again, and it’s still 2:45pm! Obviously, that’s not true, but it sure feels like it when you constantly look at the clock.

Have healthy snacks

No one wants likes to learn on an empty stomach. Make you bring snacks to munch on while you’re in class. Quiet snacks to be precise. It’s very distracting not only to your professor but also to your fellow classmates to have to hear you crunch on chips or whatever.

Find a front row sit

Sitting front row eliminates the distractions that you might otherwise have while sitting further back. If you’re sitting a few rows behind, your attention is more likely to get caught up in whatever students in front of you might be doing. Before you realize it, you’ve spent close to 20 minutes staring at another student playing chess on their laptop.

Also, if you’re sitting in front of the class, it is much harder not to pay attention. You are obviously not going to freely go on Instagram or fall asleep if your professor is standing right in front of you. At least I hope you won’t.

Ask questions

Asking questions is great way to stay engaged so you don’t dose off. In order to ask questions, you actually have to know what’s going on. Professors love when students ask questions because it shows that you’re paying attention to the lecture. Asking questions might even prompt more students to join the conversation and make the lecture more interesting

Prepare in advance and take notes during class

Try to review the chapters you will be covering in class the night before. Since you’re going to be learning something new, having an idea of what the material is about might make things easier to understand. This will also give you the opportunity to write down questions you can your professor in class.

If you’re too busy taking notes, you probably won’t be as bored as a student who is just staring at the professor. As you write your notes, get a little creative. Meaning, make them stand out. Use different color pens or draw examples for the more important concepts. Doing this will make it easier to study revise and remember your notes later on. Even if you’re not one to usually take notes, doing so will distract you from noticing how long the class is.

Don’t bring your laptop to class or use your phone

Before browsing through Facebook, remember you’re going to have to take exams about the stuff you’re not paying attention to. Also, you don’t want to get in the habit of going on your phone or laptop whenever you’re bored. There are going to be instances outside of school where you’re also bored, let’s say work, and it wouldn’t be wise to break out your phone while your colleagues are in a meeting. As tempting as it will be to go on your phone or laptop, keep them out of sight and try as hard as you can to pay attention.

Most importantly, go to your class with a good attitude. Yeah, the class may be boring and whatnot, but will complaining actually make things better? I would argue not. Au contraire, constant complains might even make you dislike your class more than before. Your best chance is to try to find ways to still get the most out of your class even if it’s as boring as boring gets.

What lecture class are you currently taking?

-Yvanne

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Starting My Yoga Journey

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 19:34:00 +0000

I used to be one of those people who thought yogis were some weird hippies who talk about their auras all the time and do alien-like shapes.

Well...obviously my mind-set has changed.

I had been thinking about doing yoga for a few months but I was really intimidated by all the other yogis. When I looked at all the poses everyone else was doing, it was hard to believe that I could ever come close to achieving anything like it.

A couple weeks ago, I finally took the plunge and never looked back. I’ve been following a few beginner videos on YouTube and loving them. My first practice was one heck of a roller coaster. At first I thought “well this isn’t too hard” but before I knew it, I was begging to be back in child’s pose every two minutes. I was super sore afterwards but after a few more practice, my body actually started cooperating. I’m still not able to do the downward facing dog right, but i'm getting there.

For a long time, I have been trying to get into the habit of working out but I have never been able to do so consistently. I guess I’m not a typical exercise kind of person, which might be why I’m really liking yoga. It's very smooth and calm-you don't get as agitated like you do when you're working out. It’s been very interesting to learn more about yoga and realizing that it is so much more than morphing your body into extraordinary shapes. You get to mediate and connect more with your inner self. I was incredibly surprised with how good and at peace i felt with myself after meditating for less than 10 minutes.

I’m currently doing Yoga with Adrienne’s 30 Days of Yoga Revolution and I have already noticed lots of improvements on my part which has been very motivating and exciting. A year ago, if you had told me that I would be voluntarily practicing yoga, I would have laughed at your face so hard. It's amazing how much your beliefs evolve as time passes.

I haven’t committed to a specific type of yoga as of yet. Right now, I’m practicing a little bit of everything and trying to “find what feels good” as Adrienne from Yoga with Adrienne would say. I’m excited to document my journey - I can’t wait to see how far this takes me.

I created a Yoga Pinterest board to learn some poses and inspire me to keep practicing.

-Yvanne

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How to Prepare For The Next Semester Over Winter Break

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 15:30:00 +0000

Does anyone else feel like the fall semester flew by? No? Yeah, me too. I was just about done with school by the time finals came around.

Now that the holidays are over, you might want to start thinking about your spring semester. I know, I know who wants to think about school during break? Trust me, you don’t want to wish you had prepared yourself earlier when school resumes. Here are a couple ways you can prepare for the spring semester over winter break.

Register for classes if you haven't already

Do not wait for the last minute! As soon as registration opens, make sure you pick out your classes as soon as possible. At my school registration for the spring semester opened in early November and this gal made sure to register super early. This is so important because I got to pick out the best professors and the best class times/days that I wanted.

You definitely don’t want to wait too long and end up having to pick classes that are either too early or too late for you. Sometimes when you are lucky enough to find a class that you want, you have to get on the waiting list and play the waiting game which is not fun.

Registering for your classes early will definitely help you plan your schedule so nothing overlaps. If you have other obligations, you’ll already know what days and times you are going to be free so you can freely take care of your other obligations.

Reflect on your fall semester

If you had goals for the fall semester, revisit them and check out how you did. Are you happy with how your semester went? What went right and what do you need to improve on? Are you content with the grades you got? How much did you procrastinate? These are the type of questions you need to think about so you can make some changes next semester.

Prepare for your upcoming classes

I mostly do this for classes that I know I’m going to struggle in (i.e. Math). Right now I’m reading and doing a couple exercises from my math textbook for next semester. It’s just to get me a little bit familiar with the material until my professor is able to further teach it in class. This is really helpful because when you get to class, you’re not caught off guard. Even though you don’t know the material that well yet, you have an idea of what it’s about.

Buy your textbooks

Since you have a little bit of time on your hands before school starts, why not take advantage of this to dig up the internet to find the best prices for your textbooks. When you buy your books at the beginning of the semester, you probably just go over to your school’s book store, which is super overpriced. Textbooks are really expensive as it is, so I always make sure to look at multiple websites to compare prices and ultimately find a cheaper option. Also by buying your textbooks early, you get to be that kid professors admire for coming to class prepared and ready to learn. That will totally put you on the professor’s good side.

Often times if you take the time to ask, some professors will flat out let you know that you don’t need to buy the recommended textbook for the class. That’s always nice to hear because who doesn’t want to save that money for something else? I know I do!

Set goals for the next semester

You can use your reflections from the previous semester to set goals about the upcoming one. Whatever didn’t quite work out for you during the fall, you can make some adjustments in the spring.

For me, I love planners but I can’t seem to use them consistently to save my life. I just forget to write in my planner a lot and then I gradually use it less and less as the year progresses. I definitely improved on this last semester, but I’m not quite there yet. So, this will absolutely be in goals for the spring.

Have Fun!

It’s called winter break because you need to do exactly that, take a break. You just finished what I assume was a pretty busy fall semester, and you certainly need to take a breather. Is there a book you’ve been dying to read but haven’t had the time to do so? If you’re behind on your favorite show, do catch up! I’ve been binge watching Criminal Minds and documentaries on Netflix like no man’s business.

Ta-ta for now,
-Yvanne

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Blogger Secret Santa

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Sun, 25 Dec 2016 15:00:00 +0000

Merry Christmas everyone! I participated in this year's Blogger Secret Santa, which was hosted by Cathleen from Classy Cathleen and Abigail from Living the Gray Life. It was so fun shopping for one special blogger and receiving all the incredible gifts i got from my secret Santa!

The card is just adorable!

I love all the stickers she put on- they're so incredibly cute!

She got me the cutest socks and a bar of chocolate that was so good! Yep, i already ate the entire chocolate bar.

I also got this makeup bag (that i totally needed) from elf.

I opened the bag and there were two lip products from elf also!

I can't wait to try these colors!

Everything i received!

I would like to give a huge shoutout to my secret santa------- for all the awesome gifts she gave me! She has an awesome blog and she currently has a chicken casserole recipe that looks so good! You can also connect with her on Twitter and Instagram!

Ta-ta for now,

-Yvanne

Feel free to share!

The Mystery Blogger Award

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Sat, 17 Dec 2016 15:00:00 +0000

So I took my last final yesterday and I’m officially on Winter break! I didn't post as much i wanted this semester, so I’m definitely going to try to be more consistent now that school isn’t in the way.

I want to thank Megan from Love, Megan Anne for nominating me for The Mystery Blogger Award! It was so nice that you thought of me. Thank You! It was fun to reading a little bit about you. You can check out her post right here. This award was created by Okoto Engima, you can learn more about it here.

The Rules:

1. Put the award logo/image on your blog.

2. List the rules.

3. Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog!

4. Mention the creator of the award and provide a link to their blog as well.

5. Tell your readers 3 things about yourself.

6. You have to nominate 10-20 people.

7. Notify each of your nominees by commenting on their blog.

8. Ask nominees any five questions of your choice; with one weird or funny question(specify)

9. Share your link to your best post(s).

About Me:

1. I’m bilingual—my first language is actually French. Salut les amies!

2. I’m neither a dog nor a cat person. I’m just not about pets.

3. I like Nutella a lot! In fact, I’m holding a jar at this moment.

Megan’s Questions

1. What is your favorite thing about blogging? My favorite thing about blogging is writing and posting content that I am genuinely proud of.

2. Do you have any holiday traditions? Umm I don’t think so… oh wait! I do always eat lots of festive holiday cookies and chocolates.

3. Have you planned anything for 2017 yet? I’ve always wanted to start doing yoga so I plan to finally get into it next year.

4. What is the number one thing on your wish list? I didn't really have a wish list.

5. If you had only one year to live, what would you spend it doing? I’ve never really thought about this. I think I’ll probably spend time with my family and travel as much as I can.

My best post(s)

Tips to Memorize Your Notes Faster

The Best YouTube Channels for College Students

How to Start the Semester Off Right

12 Things I Wish I Knew as a College Freshmen

I nominate:

Jessica from Infinite Golden Floors

Nikki from Her Daring Thoughts

Sunny from As Told By Sunny

Jesse from Jessexmegan

Alexandra from oh, so alex

Kellie from In an Organized Fashion

Jasmin from Macarons and Mascara

Ashley from a little ashley

Itunu from A Modern Flower Child

Moty from Moty Inspires

Here are your question nominees!

1. Do you have New Year’s Resolutions?

2. What’s your favorite song right now?

3. Why did you start blogging and how long have you been blogging?

4. Are you doing anything fun for the Holidays?

5. Describe 2016 in three words.

Thanks again to Megan for the nomination! I hope my nominees have fun answering my questions.

Ta-ta for now,

-Yvanne

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10 Funniest Christmas Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 15:00:00 +0000

It’s December 1^st! In my book, now it’s officially acceptable to listen to Christmas songs. I guess you could say I’m one of “those people.” You definitely won’t catch me listening to Christmas songs at any other time than now.

Now that I have started listening to Christmas songs, I thought I would share a couple of my favorite funny songs. Humor and I get along very well so these are perfect!

The Twelve Pains of Christmas

No one talks to me I’m trying to ring up these lights!

I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

Oh-oh looks like mommy got some explaining to do ASAP because this kid saw everything and he’s “gonna tell daddy!” I lowkey get a little sad listening to this because it's Micheal Jackson.

Chipmunk Christmas Song (Don’t Be Late)

Everything about the chipmunks is already funny and this is the cherry on top.

I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Um SAME. Can you just picture waking up to a hippopotamus standing under your Christmas tree next to all the other presents? The sight of that will actually be kind of funny for a second or two.

It’s The Most Fattening Time of the Year

What are these “calories” you speak of? And portion control? I sure don’t know those are around the Holidays.

You Ain’t Getting Sh!t for Christmas

Everyone has that uncle who doesn’t believe in Christmas gifts.

Present Face

You know the face you make when you get a present that is totally not you and you have to pretend like you love it? That’s the present face.

The Bed Intruder Christmas Carol

Whoever composed this seriously deserves an award. The original Bed Intruder song itself is hilarious as it is, but a Christmas carol version of it? I AM HERE FOR IT.

Just Another Christmas Song

Obviously, we can never have too many Christmas songs

Chanukah Song
Adam Sandler sang this and it’s hilarious!

The Full Playlist

Here’s my full playlist with even more funny songs! Enjoy!

What are your favorite christmas songs?

Feel free to share!

My Favorite Youtubers

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 17:00:00 +0000

I recently shared my favorite TV Shows, so it's only fair that i share my favorite Youtubers! I unfortunately watch a lot more people than i have i on this list, but i chose people who i watch more frequently. I say unfortunately because watching so many Youtubers contributes a lot to my procrastination.

Jessi Smiles

I actually discovered Jessi on Vine. She used to be a big “vine sensation” which is kind of funny because I didn’t really like her on vine as much as I like her now. When I found her on YouTube, it took me a good minute to figure out where I knew her from. After watching a couple of her videos on YouTube, I was instantly hooked! She’s one of those people who is hilarious without trying to be. A lot of her content is just her telling random stories which could seem boring at first, but you just have to give it a chance to enjoy her content. I love her personality and her authenticity. She’s wholeheartedly herself, and that’s entertaining.

If you love good stories about crazy events in people’s lives, Jessi is your girl. She also swears quite often, so if you’re sensitive about that, maybe she’s not your girl after all.

The Gabby Show

Another vine girl! I don’t know why I watch so many ex-viners! One thing that’s different is that I actually watched Gabby on Vine quite often, so I guess it makes sense that I would also like her YouTube Channel. I love watching her storytimes because she tells them so well it almost feels like you were there. I think she’s really funny in her own unique way.

Teala Dun

I saw Teala in my suggested videos and she looked so familiar which is what made me click on her video. I was trying to remember where I know her from, then I realized she used to be in a TV show called Are We There Yet. After watching a couple of her videos, I was hooked! You could say the rest is history. Just a heads up, she says “Lit” a lot, which is kind of annoying.

SidVicious

Whenever I feel like doing some type of exercise in the comfort of my own home, this is the channel I turn too. The choreographies are super easy and so fun! It’s a great stress reliever or a way to just let loose and have fun. I’m slowly trying to get into the habit of doing this weekly.

Alx James

SASS. That’s all there is to know about Alex

Jamie and Nikki

This is the cutest family ever! I’ve been watching them for a long time and I kind of feel connected to them because I’ve watched them grow before my eyes. I started watching them when they got married and I am still watching after they had their first child. Their baby girl, Ava is so adorable! Nikki is GORGEOUS.

Patricia Bright

I usually do not care for channels that are mostly about makeup because they are super redundant to me. Come on, how many “Current Makeup Routine” can one post. I feel like it’s the same thing all the time and I suppose i may feel this way because I’m not a big makeup person. Anyways, for some reason Patricia has me hooked no matter how many no-so-different makeup routines she posts. I love her style and I’m always excited to see how she pairs her outfits. I would gladly move into her closet and adore her clothes every day.

BuzzFeed Video

Buzzfeed’s videos never fail to entertain me! The Try Guys are my favorites

Clever TV

The Cheat Day series is what keeps me hooked on this channel. Why do I enjoy watching people try different foods you ask? I’m sorry, doesn’t everyone enjoy this? Plus Jessi is sometimes in these videos, and she makes everything even more entertaining.

Remi Ashten

Last but certainly not least! Whenever I describe Remi to my friends, I always say that she’s the cutest and nicest human being! She’s one of those people that you just cannot hate. One thing I really love about her is how optimistic she is. People often misinterpret this as her just not giving a crap about stuff but she’s just one to always look at the bright side of situations which is one more reason why i love her.

I mostly watch her vlog channel because she’s a sunshine and I can’t get bored of her.

She also has a main channel where most of her videos are DIYs, Make-up Tutorials and Fashion.

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Tips To Memorize Your Notes Faster Before Your Next Test

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Mon, 07 Nov 2016 02:20:00 +0000

Can you believe it's already November!? I seriously feel like I was writing posts for back-to-school just yesterday! The great thing about this is that the semester is almost over. The not-so-great thing about this is that finals are coming up.

Don't you often wish you could remember your biology notes as good as you can remember the lyrics of a song two days after it came out? Yeah, same. With finals around the corner, there's no doubt that we are all going to need to remember A LOT of information just as well as we are able to recall song lyrics. Luckily, I've compiled a list of things you could do to help you memorize your notes a little bit faster before your next test.

Memorize in Chunks

I usually find projects super overwhelming even before i get the chance to look over them. Just thinking of everything i have to do, is enough to make me procrastinate for awhile. Recently, I have noticed that dividing my work in smaller sections often makes it more bearable and manageable.

Same thing when it comes to studying. You're more likely to remember what you're trying to learn if you break it down into smaller feasible chunks. I mean, would you shove a whole pizza in your mouth, or would you slice it and eat one slice after the other? Okay, I have never attempted to eat an entire pizza at once but the second option seems way more manageable. Make sure you take breaks in-between chunks to give your brain time to fully take in what you just learned.

Read Out Loud

When studying your notes, you'll most likely retain more information if you read them out loud rather than reading silently. You might think this sounds a little crazy but I promise you I'm not making this up. This is actually proven research. The study says that reading out loud will help you remember things you might have otherwise missed while reading quietly. So next time you're reading over those notes of yours, make sure you add some volume.

Alright, I know I just told you to read your notes out loud, but don't go reading 20 pages straight up. If you result to reading everything out loud, it will be no more effective than reading quietly. What you should do is read the important things or things you think you might forget out loud, and study the rest quietly as usual.

Teach Someone

What's the best way to make sure you really know your material? Teach it to someone! Not only are you reinforcing what you learned in the process, but you are also teaching someone else something new.

If you can't find anyone to teach it to, teach yourself. You can pretend you're giving a lecture and make up questions you think someone might ask and answer them. It sounds weird but it totally works.

Rewrite Notes

You probably think that I sound really silly right now and asking yourself why in the world you'd rewrite notes you already wrote down. Once again, hear me out. I know it sounds like unnecessary extra work but if you actually give it a try, you're definitely going to see the difference it makes. It'll be easier for you to understand and recall a lot more information when you take time to rewrite your notes. Make sure you rewrite them in your own words and not the words of your professor's power point slides or your textbook's.

Move Around

Studying the same subject in different locations will help you remember the information you're studying. Standing and walking stimulates blood flow which helps you stay attentive. Instead of reviewing by only sitting at your desk, you can try pacing back and forth or moving to another room. This way, your brain will be forced to make multiple connections with the information you are reviewing, thus strengthening your memory.

Another way you could make connections is by relating what you're studying to stuff you already know. This will also make it much easier to recall what you learned later on.

Use Rhyme Mnemonic Association

This is personally my favorite way to help me memorize my notes because it's actually pretty fun! My friend and I used this method numerous times when studying for our history tests. There is an overwhelming amount of names and dates to remember for such classes and this method helped us a lot. We will often make up silly and completely unrelated stuff to remember our material and it'll be so funny to remember them when a question would come up on the test. Here are some examples of mnemonics for your reference.

Make up a Story

You can make up a crazy story in your head while adding facts about what you're trying to memorize. The weirder or crazier your story is, the better you'll be able to remember it along with all the facts you were trying to memorize. This method works great if you're maybe trying to memorize elements of the periodic table for your chemistry class or bones in our bodies for your anatomy class.

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8 Dos and Don'ts The Night Before A Test

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 15:00:00 +0000

I hate to admit it, but i used to be one of those students who didn't start studying for a test until the night before. Yup, that's how much of a huge procrastinator i once was - not that i don't procrastinate anymore, I'm just doing it less now. As of now, i am proud to announce that i have gotten rid of that habit, and i actually study days, if not weeks in advance. Doing this has allowed me to have plenty of time to prepare for my exams in other ways that have less to do with studying.

That's right, studying is not the only thing that needs to be done in anticipation of an exam. There are other important steps you need to take the night before your exam in order to be completely ready the following day. Here's a list of do's and don'ts to help you be a little more prepared for your next test.

Do review lightly. At this point, the hard core study session ship has sailed and there isn't much you can do about it. Whatever you try to cram right now will most likely not help you because your brain needs enough time to store information in your long term memory, and the night before isn't enough time. Instead, the information you are cramming will remain in your short term memory where it is way easier to forget.

This is just like learning names or phone numbers. When I first got my phone number, I had to constantly go in my contacts to look at the number every time I needed to give it to someone. But now I don't even bat an eye when asked for my number because it is stored in my long term memory. Basically, you shouldn't be learning anything that you don't already know the night before an exam. What you should be doing is reviewing your note cards or doing a few practice problems - nothing major.

Don't get stuck on social media. Have you noticed how incredibly easy it is to accidentally spend hours scrolling down on social media? Maybe your intent was just to be on twitter for a few minutes before bed but before you know it, it's 2 AM and you're still scrolling!

Do eat a healthy, balanced dinner. This is definitely not the time to indulge in junk food. Greasy burgers, donuts, pizza, and the likes are out of the question. Believe it or not, studies have shown that there's a strong correlation between what you consume and how it affects your physical and mental performance. These foods will actually help boost your brain power and help you study better.

Do get a good night sleep. This is almost funny to write because most college students don't know what a good night sleep feels like. As college students, we are supposed to get more than 8 hours of sleep everyday yet very few of us actually meet these hours. Not only does a good night sleep improve your memory, it also enhances your focus. It might seem like a good idea to stay up until 2 am to study but this is actually counterproductive because you will need the energy you're burning away to concentrate and stay alert during your test. You're better off calling it a night and saving your energy for the exam.

Do prepare everything you'll need the day of the test. It's the little details we often overlook that ends up stressing us out before the exam, so why not ovoid the hassle? People always seem to forget that they will need a writing utensil during the test. Don't be THAT student. If it's usually cold in your class, make sure grab a jacket. Pack a nutrition bar, a bottle of water, etc. Make sure you have everything you will need already in your backpack so you don't forget anything. There's nothing worse than arriving to class and realizing that you forgot your calculator on your table at home - the horror!

Don't pull an all-nighter. First of all, your brain stops working a 100% at night because it uses so much energy during the day and it only makes sense that it needs to rest at night. The longer you stay awake the less efficient your brain works, which means that it will not fully register whatever you're studying. The best thing to do is study during the day, then get a good night sleep so your brain gets the chance to process all the info you studied and store it in your long term memory so you'll remember it for the test.

Do try to relax a bit. You've probably been studying for a while now, but it's time to relax a little and get your mind at ease. You could maybe listen to music, watch a YouTube video, or whatever wouldn't stress you out. This can be a reward for yourself for all the studying you've been doing. I especially need to do this because I sometimes feel as though I haven't studied enough which gets me panicking about failing the test. I usually watch a video from one of my favorite YouTubers to help me relax.

Don't forget your alarm. Okay this may sound a bit silly but some people (i.e. me) have woken up late the day of their exam and had to get ready and rush out of the door in 3.5 seconds. If you've ever had to pull this off, you know it's very stressful and it's definitely not the way to start a test. I usually have about three alarms to wake me up in the morning. I'll get mad at the first one because I have to cut my sleep short, the second one will totally be annoying and then I'll finally give in and get up by the third alarm. Now you might think this is a lot, but it's my system and it works for me. Find what works for you!

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Group Projects: How To Deal With Difficult Group Members

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Sat, 01 Oct 2016 09:00:00 +0000

Does anyone else cringe a little when your professor mentions any type of group projects? Yeah, same. Some students choose to work alone whenever possible because they just don't want to deal with the stress that comes along with group projects. Even though it's a lot of work for one person, i honestly don't blame them. Group projects can make you pull all your hair out.

Don't get more wrong, group projects can be really fun with the right members, but when you have some members who do nothing but stress you out, you're going to need lots of prayer to get through the project. Feel free to use this guide to make the best out of group projects with not so great members.

Take the lead if necessary

If you realize that there's total chaos in your group, don't be afraid to take the lead and set some order. This certainly does not give you the right to go around and treat everyone like your employees, because everyone will just hate you. You taking the lead means that you will facilitate communication between members, you will send periodic reminders on what needs to be done and you will encourage everyone to do their best. Often times difficult group members just need someone to push them a little before they can get serious. I know it's annoying since you definitely didn't sign up for the class to run after this person. But if you want to get a good grade that's what you have to do.

Assign Tasks

First thing to do is to try to get everyone to pick something they're comfortable working on. If I'm really interested in a topic, doing research on it won't really feel like work. Most members will probably pick something to do but it's the difficult ones you have to worry about. They will try to not do anything and let everyone else do the work, which is exactly why they need to be assigned tasks. One time I made a mistake of not doing this because I thought we were all on the same page and this member ended up telling us that he didn't know he was supposed to do anything, which is crazy because it's a group project and you obviously have to do something. We basically had to scramble at the last minute to complete his part of the project. All that kid had to do was slap his name on the power point slides and call it a day.

Set deadlines and regular check-ins

Now that everyone has an assigned task don't make the mistake of thinking that they'll do it in it timely matter. Most of us are giant procrastinators, so if there is no clear deadline, you best better believe that the work won't be done until the very last minute. It's also important to have regular check-ins with members (especially the difficult members) to check on everyone's progress and make sure everyone is on the same page. You can even use these as evidence to show your professor all your attempts at reaching out to the problematic group member.

Talk to the difficult member

Sometimes difficult group members aren't slacking because they want to, there might something going on in their lives that keeps them from participating in the project. Try to be sensitive at first. It's very frustrating when everyone else is doing their work and a member seems to be chilling, but you never really know what might be going on in their lives. Be polite, ask this member if there's anything you can do the make the task easier for them or even have them do a different task if it would be of any help.

If that tactic doesn't work, then you can put your serious face on and let this member know that it's not fair to all the other group members who are working their butt off while this member does absolutely nothing. Let them know that you will have no other choice but to go to the professor about the matter if their behavior does not change. Hopefully that scares them into getting their work done.

Have a chat with your professor

You're not paying thousands of dollars just so some kid can screw around with your grade so if you can't get this member to do their part of the project, just give your professor a heads up. Before you do go to your professor, make sure you have proof of multiple attempts at trying to get said group member to help out. It's just so your professor knows that you actually tried to take care of the issue yourself and didn't just run to him/her the first chance you got. Make sure you don't go to your professor the day before the project is due to complain about a classmate because they'll probably think you're just making excuses for your group.

Suck it up

If all attempts at getting this member to contribute to the project fails, then you'll just have to suck it up and take on more work. I know it sucks but if you really care about your grade, this is what you will have to do. Some of my professors could not careless about who helped or didn't help with the project, they just wanted it to be complete by the due date. I don't know about you, but I would rather do most of the work and get a good grade than to only do my part of the project and get lower grade because the project is incomplete. Yeah, it's not fair to everyone else in the group who actually put in work but that's just life my friends.

On the bright side, this will prepare you for the real world. You'll definitely come across these type of individuals in the workforce and you're going to have to deal with them too. What better time to prepare for that than now? Sometimes you won't even have the luxury of complaining to a higher authority so you might as well learn how to work with different types of people now.

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Monthly Intentions | September Goals

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Thu, 15 Sep 2016 00:38:00 +0000

Hi everyone! I'm so happy to be part of The Blogger Goal Collaboration once again this month! I love reading other bloggers’ goals and hold myself accountable for these intentions. If you would like to be part of the link up, contact Angela from The Clutter Box.

I can't believe we are almost halfway through September! I feel like I was just writing my august goals yesterday, but of course so much time has passed and it's now time to see how I did.

August Recap

Post more than once a week

I'm really disappointed at how I did with this goal. I started out alright, then as the weeks went by, I just didn't produce enough posts.

Check out other blogs and leave meaningful comments.

I think I did okay with this. I didn't read as much blogs as before but the ones I did read, I made sure to leave meaningful comments!

Work on the behind-the-scenes of the blog!

This was super hard and sometimes frustrating but I’m really proud of all the things I was able to do. I'm thinking of building my own theme from scratch! It obviously won't happen this month or the month after that, but I really want to do this. We'll see how that goes.

Post consistently on social media, especially Instagram.

I'm not really sure how I did here. I'm always running out of things to post so I basically post every time I do have something to post.

Connect with more bloggers.

I talked to a lot of bloggers during twitter chats and it was so fun! Gold star for me on this one.

I want to have a personal signature to put at the end of my post.

Okay, so this obviously did not happen. I did try to make one but I ended up not liking it and I just didn't use it. If you know a website where I can make a signature to add at the end of my blog posts, please leave in the comments!

Share other bloggers' posts!

I have been sharing blogger's posts a lot on my twitter. Mostly by retweeting, so I think this was a success.

August Highs and Lows

Highs

My august stats were on point! The back to school series I did was really successful and it was honestly the highlight of my month.
I talked to a lot of bloggers and it was so nice!
I started an email list and I got an OK amount of subscribers for a beginner.

Lows

I didn't post as much as I wanted to! *Major sad face*
Not making my personal signature. I really need to get one. I feel like my posts are just meh without one.

September Goals

Post twice a week

This obviously didn't work out last month, but I’m going to keep trying! I wish I could be one of those bloggers who schedule a month's content in advance! I literally write my posts maybe two days from when I’m supposed to publish, sometimes the night before! I really need to get it together.

Keep being active on Twitter and Instagram

I post on twitter every day, which is good but I definitely need to up my Instagram game.

Make a signature to add at the end of my posts

Learn more about Pinterest and get the most out of it

Right now I’m getting a steady amount of followers and I was freaking out when this post got over one thousand repins! This really encouraged me to learn more about Pinterest

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Make sure you check out these lovely bloggers!

An InLinkz Link-up

The Best Music To Listen To While Studying

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 02:27:00 +0000

Multiple studies have found that when listening to certain types of music while studying, you tend to concentrate more and absorb more information. Of course, Everyone is different. I can listen to Party In The USA while studying and retain information just fine(not really), while someone else would never be able to concentrate to that song. But for the overwhelming majority of students, you have to play the "right" type of music in order to get the advantages that come along with listening to music while studying.

Not only are you benefiting from listening to music while studying, researchers have also found that there are great benefits to listening to music before studying or performing a task. These benefits include improving memory, attention and even mental math ability. It can also ease anxiety and depression. With school already back in session there is no doubt that many of us will need to take advantage of these benefits.

Classical Music

Classical music is very peaceful and harmonious, which has been proven to lift your mood and enhance your productivity. To be honest, who actually likes studying? Most of us do it simply because we don't want to fail not because it's a hobby. So not only will Mozart help you concentrate, he will also put you in a good mood while you study!

Classical music is also known to have a calming effect on people. If you're ever anxious about taking a test or you're having trouble focusing, just put on some classical music and you'll soon feel at ease and ready to take on those tasks!

Music Without Lyrics

It's always better to listen to music without lyrics while studying for subjects that requires you to use the language part of your brain. This is because if you're trying to write an essay for example, your thoughts would get all mumbled with the lyrics of the music which is obviously very distracting. I stopped listening to songs with lyrics while studying for this very reason before i even knew it was an actual scientific fact, because i seriously could not concentrate. And also because i would always end up singing along to whatever song was playing. I would often catch myself singing along (more like yelling along) to "Don't Stop Believing" before realizing that I'm suppose to be studying!

Believe it or not, but your brain will actually shift your focus away from what you're doing and pay attention to the words of the music to determine if someone is speaking to you or not. That's kind of weird but it's true! Unless you're doing math, because you're dealing with numbers and not words, listening to lyrical songs will decrease your attention and performance on your tasks.

Nature Sounds

You know how you just love when it's raining because you can just get yourself a cuppa tea, grab a blanket along with your laptop and get so much stuff done than any other time? Well that's probably because of the relaxing sound of rain! Nature sounds are very relaxing, which is probably why they're so widely used for meditation. Natural sounds such as ocean waves, mountain streams, and falling rain will increase your ability to concentrate and focus on your task. It's also a great way to mask noise if you're trying to study in a noisy environment.

There is a website i really like called Noisli which mixes relaxing nature sounds (wind, seaside, night, water stream, leaves, rain), color generators (pink, white, and brown) and my personal favorite, everyday sounds such as coffee shops, fireplace, and trains.

Modern Electronic aka Chill out Music

This type of music includes genres from New Age, Ambient Trance and Trip Hop. These sounds are very soothing which will help you relax your mind and enhance your creativity.

If you want to get your creative juices going, check out Music For Airports by Brian Eno.

Instrumental Ambient Sounds

If you really want to play some music while studying but you're not really into the classics, that's okay! The Ambient sound brings you the relaxing sounds of musical instruments along with with modern tunes so you don't have to choose one or the other. You're still getting great music and being super productive! You can have the best of both words! And yes, i just referenced Hannah Montana.

Timed Tempos

Researchers found that music with tempos timed at 60 beats per minute in a repetitive pattern can put your mind at easy and help you concentrate. When you're picking songs, choose ones with repetitive tempos such as the one below, to help you be more productive.

Low Volume

The whole point of having music while studying is to have something playing in the background so you're not in total silence. But if your music is as loud as it would be if you were listening to music any other time, then you're not doing yourself any good. Sometimes i can accurately guess what song someone is listening to even when they have their earphones in. This is how you know that your music is way too loud.

When you're studying with music on, you're barely suppose to notice that something is playing in the background or else it's just a distraction. Your brain would want to focus more on the loud sound rather than what you're working on, and that's just because the music is very noticeable.

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My Favorite Fall TV Shows

noreply@blogger.com (Yvanne) — Mon, 05 Sep 2016 17:35:00 +0000

I can't wait for these shows to comeback so i can ignore all the work i have and watch them. Does anyone else do this? I would have so much work to get done in so little time but i will somehow find time to watch these shows because #priorities. I feel like no one watches television anymore, it's all about Netflix now. Speaking of Netflix, i just finished watching Stranger Things and it was so good! I would totally recommend it. Anyways, if you still watch television you should consider watching these shows.

Scandal

Can we all just thank the heavens for Shonda Rhimes existence? This show is my absolutely favorite! The suspense, the drama, the love war and everything else will give you all types of feels! The show is about Olivia Pope(Kerry Washington) and her team, whose job is to fix other people's messes. Those messes could be anything from helping to cover up people's atrocities, to winning elections despite the odds. Everyone knows that Olivia Pope is the person to call if you're ever in a sticky situation. Although she's is very good at fixing other people's lives, the irony is that she can't do the same in her life for crap! Which is what makes the show even more interesting.

via tvline

The Big Bang Theory

I seriously don't know why, but i used to really dislike this show. Not even because i had watched it once and not liked it, but simply because i would always hear about it and it became annoying. I don't remember how and when i started watching the show, but i was instantly hooked! The show is about 4 scientists whom despite being extremely smart guys, cannot figure out how to strive in the social world. It's very interesting and funny to see what situations they get into daily. You'll either love or hate one of the main characters, Sheldon Cooper who is even more cringe worthy than the other three guys. To give you an example, he's one of those people who will request an almost impossible order at Starbucks and create an unnecessary scene if you don't get it right down to the last dot.

via comicbook

Jane The Virgin

I don't know how or who came up with an idea like this for a show but i'm liking it! The show is about Jane, who has a boyfriend but is set on waiting after they get married to have sex, not only because she's a devout catholic but also due to the fact that her mom had her at a very young age and she's afraid of following that same pattern. Here's where it gets really interesting. Jane goes to the clinic for a routine visit with her doctor but somehow she ends up being artificially inseminated by accident. So now she's Jane the pregnant virgin. You can only imagine the absolute chaos that comes after this.

via fanart.tv

How to Get Away With Murder

As DJ Khaled would say, "Another one!" Shonda Rhimes is at it again with this fantastic show. The show has everything you could possibly ask in a TV series. Drama? Yes! Romance? Yes! Suspense? Yes! Everything in-between? Yesss! All you need to know is that Annalise Keating (Viola Davis), is a criminal defense lawyer and professor who teaches a class called "How To Get Away With Murder" at a prestigious school. She invites 5 of her students to work with her and her practice and they quickly learn how to actually get away with murder.

via tertangala

2 Broke Girls

To be honest, i don't know how this show is still on network television. Some of the things they're able to say on the show is so cringe worthy in a funny way, but i still wonder how they don't get complaints for those comments. The show shares how two unlikely girls became friends and learned how to live with one another despite their different backgrounds. There's Max Black, a girl who has pretty much been poor all her life and Caroline Channing who basically used to be Paris Hilton until she lost everything when her dad was arrested for fraud and had to actually work for money as a waitress which is how she met Max. It's really fun to see what goes on in their daily lives and how they tackle to world as a team.

via collegebinge

Do you watch any of these shows? What shows are you excited to watch this fall?

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