On my Radar

Tonight is my sorority's date party! It's our big themed social event of the semester where everyone just cuts loose and has a good time. This semester, the theme is The Great Gatsby so naturally I have been prowling the internet all week looking at Gatsby related everything.  Here is what's been on my radar this week:

ONE | "A Little Date Party Never Killed Nobody" is the theme we have going on and is the phrase going on the back of our shirts. I absolutely love this iconic image of Leo holding up his toasting glass.  #classy

TWO | Not Your Typical Flapper Dress: I think people forget that flappers weren't the high society folks who would be at a 1920s Gatsby party.  This dress has that romantic and vintage detail that I think would be at a 20s party. 

THREE | PARKS AND RECREATION REDDIT: I'm not your biggest Reddit fan but I am all over this Reddit subthread. Check it out.

FOUR | SPERRY DUCK BOOTS: Oh if I did not just buy a pair of LL Bean Boots, I would be all over these! They look so warm and I love the different color options they have! Find them here.

FIVE | GRADUATION: 

!!!!!!!!

A Day in the Life

I always love reading posts like these by other bloggers and I realized that my life is decently interesting enough to be able to do this post.  The great thing about being senior is that I have a golden schedule: 12 hours and classes only on Monday and Wednesday. I learned pretty late in the game that people actually schedule like this on purpose to make it easier to work or do internships (or waste time/sleep).  Unfortunately the Monday/Wednesday blocks make your day really scheduled but I was fortunate today to get out of one class early and have one class canceled. (One awesome part about college: when the teacher’s are sick, there is not a substitute teacher!) Variety is the spice of life, right?!

Here is my (not so typical) Wednesday:

9 AM | Champion are Readers program at the Early Learning Campus: My sorority’s philanthropy is literacy and we have developed a reading enrichment program that can be implemented at any elementary school.  It makes me wake up a few hours earlier than normal, but it is so worth it to see these kids faces light up when we have a new book to read every week.

10 AM | Coffee Coffee Coffee: One day I will be able to function without coffee every morning.  Today is not that day.  I love stopping by Quill’s Coffee Shop in Cardinal Towne for my caffeine fix.  Plus – check out that fun coffee art!

11 AM – 3:15 PM | Class. Lunch. Class. Class:  I have a really good mix of lecture and discussion based classes this semester.   It can be difficult to distinguish how the professor will teach the class so I recommend asking around before you sign up for a class.  In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever just blindly signed up for class without asking friends and looking them up on Rate My Professor.

4 PM | Panhellenic: I take minutes every week at Panhellenic (the umbrella organization for all Panhellenic sororities).  This week we had elections so I am officially the outgoing Secretary.  Greek Life not your cup of tea? UofL’s student body is so diverse and there are a variety of student run clubs and organizations that cater to different interests.

5:30 PM | Night class: My sociology class was cancelled this week but it is my favorite class this semester.  This class is loosely structured but we mainly just discuss hot topics and relate it to the chapter we’re focusing on in class.  Night classes can be good and bad – it’s always a bonus only having class once a week, but that class also lasts 3 hours.. so choose them wisely… and take them with a friend.

Is procrastination supposed to help you?

This weekend, I was working on a project for my strategic communication writing class.  This is an online class, so I never complete the assignments and quizzes until the weekend they are due. This I chalk up to lack of motivation. #senioritis Granted, I always start mapping out the assignment the Wednesday before so by the time I am ready to buckle down, I've already done the hard part.  But this weekend, even after mapping out my assignment, completing these assignments were torture.  I had a hard time coming up with good writing material, and I basically threw away my entire Saturday because I just wasn't feeling it.  It was an unusual feeling because this is one of my favorite classes I've taken.

Sunday, I bit the bullet and completely revamped my assignment, changing the client and product.  And you know what? I don't think I had ever written faster or had that many thoughts come to my mind at once.

I wasn't aware of it yesterday, but after reading this article on Levo League this morning, and evaluating my past few years in college, I've realized that at its essence, procrastination is really just your gut feeling.  I didn't want to write Saturday, not because I was lazy, but because all the ideas I had totally sucked and I didn't even want to put those thoughts on paper and face reality: that I needed to pick a better topic.  I needed to start clean.  It can be hard to admit that, especially when you have finished one part of the assignment.  Is it worth it to give up and start clean with a blank slate?

So how does this relate to my past three years of college?  Between going into college not following my heart, and refusing to listen to my gut for two years, procrastination was really my saving grace.  Interesting concept right?  Procrastination gave me a second chance, a chance to start over with something I was passionate about.  The Levo League article gives the most important question to ask yourself: How would I feel if I completely removed this from my to-do list? Relief?  Then let it go. You're not giving it the 100% it deserves.  Discomfort?  Be truthful with your inner fears.  Discover the risk you can afford to take and still sleep at night.

And did you know, at its core, procrastination really means, belonging to tomorrow.

Coping with Rejection

About one year ago, I got the dreaded email stating that I was not moving on in the interview process and that although I was qualified, I was not what the company was looking for.

I laid in bed and cried for about two hours.  This was my dream internship and I felt like I had been kicked in the stomach.  I had never not succeeded at something like this.  I was high achieving in high school, aced my interviews for scholarships and programs for college, got my first internship right after my freshman year of college, which snowballed into many other opportunities within the company.

I had never felt so defeated before, but I jumped right back into the internship pool and had an interview with a different company two days later. I didn't get that internship either, but I wasn't sad about that one.  At that interview, I realized that the only place I wanted to intern at and work for was the first company that had rejected me.  Plus, the second company honestly gave me the heebie jeebies. The environment and set-up was not my style.

So - I talked to the campus rep, reapplied at the beginning of the next semester, interviewed, and got the internship.

There are many different ways to cope with rejection.  You cry.  You get mad.  You get hateful.  You doubt yourself.  I did it all.  But I rose from it.  There is no greater power than the power of emotion. I channeled everything into the rest of the semester to make myself more valuable, more talented, and more prepared for the interview and the internship. In that time, I was able to find my passions and realize how those passions connected to my internship.  But I'll admit - it was hard going back to those interviews and seeing the people who had rejected me.  But if anything, getting that call is greater validation that everything that I worked hard for gave me this opportunity.  So when you feel like you are at the your lowest, work yourself to your highest.  It'll give you the confidence you need and make you feel better about everything you have accomplished.

Do something.

Well, I am back after an unexpected and long hiatus.  Since I have last posted, I have finished my internship at Target, received a job offer to start at Target full time as an executive when I graduate in May, and have started my senior year.

Senior year is the first of many lasts for me.  It is the last time I will probably see a lot of my college friends all together for a very long time.  It is the last time I will ever be able to get to complete the full college experience.  Over the summer, I saw my senior year as a joke. My classes were easy.  I wasn't taking many hours.   I didn't have much going on.  But now, I see my senior year as a final way to make an impact.  School has been going on for only two weeks and I already feel as if I am as busy as I was last semester.  I find myself adding on new opportunities to get involved and try and make a difference.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of my senior year goes.  I am sad but excited to make this last year count and make it the best year of college.

Finding the Time

One of the greatest assets after graduation is the connections you make in your workplace from your internship.  An internship is the number one thing I tell incoming freshmen to focus on while they are in school.  Start early (right after your freshman year, even!) and do them often! Of course - during the school year, it can be a little trickier to find the perfect balance between classes, your internship, a part-time job, campus organizations, and down-time. But, it's not impossible to do it all. I was there.  I was the girl who was working a 10-hour internship and a 15-hour part-time job.  I was on a leadership position in two Greek organizations.  I was involved on the campus activities board.  I was taking a full-time course load.  You can do it all...It just takes strong will, a good sense of organization, and the ability to prioritize.  Plus, being able to successfully multi-task wouldn't hurt either.

My best friend during my spring 2013 semester was my planner and my phone.  I synced my phone to my iCal and had all my classes and meetings on there. I used my planner to make lists of everything I needed to accomplish on that day.  I was always on my phone so that was where my schedule was most up to date and thats what I started referencing a lot more as the semester went on.  It was a tough semester - I would leave for my 10 AM class and not come back to my house until 5 PM, only to stay long enough to eat and then be back on my way to meetings until 9.  I was definitely my most prepared as far as classes went because I didn't have time to fall behind.  To have a semester that hectic, you teach yourself how to be disciplined and not check Facebook every ten minutes of studying.

In the end, it was totally worth it.  Pushing yourself to that level and realizing that you are succeeding is the best feeling in the world.  It really is a way to see how much you have grown as an individual and how much more responsible you are.  It also makes you appreciate the time you have to yourself a lot more.

One tip to note - the perfect balance is changes semester to semester. Sometimes it can even change within the semester. It's just important to stay adaptable to the situation and learn from your mistakes.