Traveling

Traveling in college is A LOT of fun. You have friends from practically all over the world and depending on your income and comfort level, you might be able to go home with them over the weekends, or even find a new place to go out of the blue!

My school is near D.C., so a lot of our students tend to stay pretty local over breaks, but my friends and I find every excuse we can to find somewhere new! (:

So, regardless of where you are in the world, here are my college-traveling survival tips:

1. Know what you need to bring to get to where you're going.
• It's probably not necessary to bring your passport to go 30 minutes down the road, but if you're boarding an international flight, it's a completely different answer. 
2. Always prepare for an emergency.
• You're bound to get lost, lose your keys, forget your wallet, etc. at least once in your college career. So, bring extra cash, keep pictures of your I.D./passport/VISA on your smart phone in a password protected App., and make a copy of your keys to keep with a trust-worthy friend. 
3. Ask the locals for the best places to be.
• Find yourself in a new area? Ask a local for the best places to eat, hang out, or things to do in that area. Not only may you find something pretty cool, but you'll also get a pretty good understanding of the area, itself.
4. (With that being said), make your own journey.
• Don't feel like you have to go to the most tourist-y attraction in a new place, feel free to go hiking, walk along a water-way, or even check out historical landmarks. 
5. Lastly, remember that you can ALWAYS Google it.
• Want to go apple picking, cliff jumping, sky diving, etc? Google can help you to find the best/safest places, while also giving you direct-routes of getting there, prices if applicable, and even hints/reviews from people who work there or go there frequently.

So, with all of that being said, have fun getting out there! (: 

My Shower Survival Guide

As someone that grew up sharing a bathroom with a sister, I am no stranger to having to live with other girls. However, being a Junior in college now, I wish that I would have known exactly what to bring to college for this very area of space known as...

The Communal Bathroommmmmmmmm (room, room, room.)

(All jokes aside, communal bathrooms aren't really all that bad, as long as you know what to bring and what you'll actually end up using.)

So, as someone with infinite amounts of wisdom (sarcasm), I now bestow upon you my Shower Survival Guide:

Bring "shower shoes"

• Flip-flops, crocs, anything that can get wet will do, but these are really important because you really don't want your feet to be touching the floor in communal showers for hygienic reasons.

Bring the things you actually use at home

• But not necessarily the copious amounts of goo that you think you use but actually haven't used since bell-bottoms were in style.

Bring a shower caddie

• Trust me, nothing is worse than going to the shower and holding all of your goos while also holding your clothes, a towel, a comb, and well, whatever else you'll end up carrying.

Bring a cheap, netted laundry bag 

• While this may sound strange, it's actually really useful to put your dirty clothes in if you feel uncomfortable walking to your bathroom in a towel, but it's also really useful to put your clean clothes in, if you feel more comfortable getting dressed in the bathroom than your room. It also helps that you can hang it up by the drawstring, so your stuff will stay dry while you shower, instead of being on the floor or the soon-to-be-soaked changing seat.

Bring water-safe Bluetooth speakers

• If you're like me and like to jam out in the shower at home, usually with an Iphone being placed on the counter, college will be a time where you will inevitably kill your device if you don't listen to this point. Communal showers are REALLY steamy because of the amount of people taking hot showers at once. Don't let your phone be the next one to die, invest in speakers so you can leave your phone in your room, but keep your speakers in the shower. 

Bring your own personal cleaning supplies

• If you're not the biggest fan of germs, other girls' hair, and all things uncleanly, and prefer to shower at night, you may want to invest in a pair of rubber gloves and some Scrubbing Bubbles. Most of the time, communal showers are cleaned in the morning (before most of us are even awake), and left unclean on Sunday's. So, if you're the type to shower at night, take five minutes to scrub it yourself and you can guarantee that your shower will be clean!

So, that's all for now. Think I missed something? Leave me a comment! 

Campus Jobs

Just like any other time during one's life, you're left with choices that can dictate everything from where you live, to what you end up doing for the rest of your life... (No pressure, right?)

Well, college is one of those times where you can put on many sorting hats, until you find the one that fits you, however many tries that may take.

For those of you who are like me and prefer decisions, not options, this could be a very taxing and well, annoying for lack of better words, process.

But, with my infinite amount of wisdom, I tell you not to fear! A great way of deciding what works for you (and maybe even what you never want to do again!) is by working on campus...

Now, again, for those of you who are maybe overwhelmed by options, a typical University will have too many to ponder. But, for those of you who LOVE your options, it's more of a blessing, than a curse...

So, my words of wisdom to you are these:

• Try what you think you'll be good at
• This may sound obvious, but sometimes, people confuse what they're good at with what they like... FOR INSTANCE, I like math... but I could NEVER take a job involving calculus because I do not have the training to do so.
• Try what you want to do in the future (or something close to it!)
• Think you want a job on the Hill? Join Student Government.
• Think you want a job as a researcher? Be a lab technician at your school.
• Try something you've been too scared to try before...
• This one's tricky, but I will use my personal example. Public speaking, at least for me, was a terrifying monster when I was in High School... But now, I do it for one of my jobs on campus, as a Student Ambassador. To me, that's something that I was too scared to do, but now I'm really good at it!(:
• Try something DIFFERENT
• Have a ton of experience in "x"? Gain new experience in "y"! This will make your resume POP and it will also make you see the world a bit differently!

So, those are just a few of the tips I have for you, but at the end of the day, you're in charge of your own life and it's up to you to see where that takes you!(:

Have a good one!