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.

Money 101 for the Struggling College Student

Too often than not, I see my friends spending money like they don't have to worry about saving up for anything. If there world was really that perfect, then I am genuinely jealous, but also sad because the feeling of saving up for something and then buying it is such a worthwhile feeling! I don't know about you, but it makes me want it so much more, and I take better care of it if I am using my own money to buy it.

It frustrates me to see people wasting money when I know they should be saving it.  I feel like the financial illiteracy of our generation is going to screw us up.  My sister and brother-in-law will end up debt-free from dental school in two years because they are saving and putting money aside and trying not to take out loans.  I just wish more of my friends have that mentality instead of putting it off until later.

So for those of you who are interested in saving money, the first step you should take is to live by the 50/20/30 method. 50% should go to the essentials - rent, gas, bills, food. 20% should go toward your future - paying off debt, saving for a vacation, etc. 30% should go to your lifestyle - eating out, shopping, vacations, etc. Even just allocating that money will make you reel in your spending habits and set boundaries.

I am trying to be a lot better about this.  I recently downloaded the app Mint, which connects your bank accounts and credit cards so you can see how much you are spending by category. It scared me to see that every month I was spending way more than what I was making.

They say it takes 30 days to make or break a habit.  Hopefully within a few months I'll be able to have my finances in a comfortable state and I'll be saying that I am successfully saving up for my future.

If you want to know more, I would recommend reading this article from Target.  It is what really gave me a good wakeup call and gave me the steps I needed to take to regain control of my finances.

'Merica

27 Ways to be As American As Ron Swanson

Growing up

From "Follow Your Arrow" by Kacey Musgraves

I am far from being a "grown up" but I can definitely tell that I have been growing up. I will be entering my senior year of college in about a month in and a half and then 9 short months later, I'll be graduating college and entering the real world.  I love this new Kacey Musgraves song - not only because of the Pi Phi symbolism, but because I feel like it preaches a pretty strong message.  Sure the lyrics are controversial, especially for the country music genre, but I think that this song is all about being proud of who you are, not holding back, trying new things, and learning from your mistakes. 

15 Things That Taste Like My Asian American Childhood

Modeled from Foodbeast

Strawberry Pocky sticks. I love seeing these sold at places like Target!

Strawberry Yan Yan's.

Strawberry Koala snacks.  Notice a trend? I really like strawberry.. Also - I want to note that I would exclusively eat the Koala crackers, and not the Panda crackers. 

Botan Rice Candy! I still love these! Sometimes you can even find them at World Market! 

Caramel Milk Candy 

Fruit Bubble Gum. Someone brought these to gym class one day my freshman year of high school. I was so surprised to see these again! 

Shrimp Flavored Chips - I love these. I still buy them at World Market.

Nori. I think I've lost my taste of dry nori but I still love it in sushi. 

Lychee! These things were so addicting. 

Yogurt drinks - this was always the first thing I grabbed when me and my family went grocery shopping on Sunday. I wish they sold them in larger bottles more frequently. 

Boba Tea. Still my favorite thing in the world. Like ever. 

Dry ramen noodle snacks. So good! 

Grass jelly drink

Dried pork. If you're not Asian, you think it's disgusting. I'm not sure what it is, but I ate it on everything anyway. 

Sticky rice wrapped in leaves - oh my goddness this is my favorite way to eat rice! My aunt and uncle make these in their restaurant and gave me six to take home. There are huge perks when your family owns a Taiwanese restaurant. 

Five Things Friday

I'm moving into a new apartment with my friends next month and I couldn't be more ecstatic! While I have absolutely loved the apartment I've lived in the past two years, I've had a ton of roommate drama.  I tend to run away from conflict which is part of the problem - but the other problem is that the people I live with are my sister's friend…and not to be mean..but they're not really my scene.

Since I am the only one out of my friends that have been living the BYOF (bring your own furniture) lifestyle, I already have accumulated a lot of stuff to bring to our new apartment…but that hasn't stopped me from looking and lusting over furniture.  So to kick off Five Things Friday, where I'll blog about five things that I am lusting over, these are the top five things I would love to have in the new apartment:

This would be a perfect accent chair. 

Waffles are my favorite food. Make them circus animal shaped? Even better! 

Okay, so I actually bought this two months ago for my new room..but I'm still so obsessed with it!

A perfect welcome for any Pi Phi's home! 

It's going to be hard to get used to sharing a bathroom - I'll definitely need a mirror in my room so I can get ready in the morning. 

Is there something that you have in your apartment that you can't live without?

Target | Walmart (similar) | Urban Outfitters | Pottery Barn | Fab