Vice and Other Advice

I was never too connected to my roots. At most, I’d slip in an out of cultural appreciation when cultural festivals were around the corner, or I’d occasionally look out into the nature and wonder how the world around us came to be. But sometimes I’d feel guilty for feeling entitled to these thoughts of awe and amazement at the universe- I thought I was the least spiritual p erson on the planet. I used to roll my eyes when people I knew talked about spiritual matters. I tuned it out. I thought being spiritual was lame or unrealistic. The world was just a result of chemical reactions to me. But sometimes , I realized it was a result of beautiful and awe-inspiring chemical reactions. I was under some angsty impression of myself that getting spiritual once in a while just didn’t fit my vibe. But more recently, I’ve realized it’s a blessing to see some of the things we see. I’ve gotten more in touch with my emotional side, and a lot more things move me than they did befo...

^ Best Cook   But eating pasta with friends is better. Studying abroad is more than just packing a suitcase and learning how to fend for yourself on trains. You also have to know how to do your own laundry, record your expenses, and … make food.  I was pretty confident in my pasta making abilities, but I didn’t think I was so lazy that I’d miss having a large frozen vegetables section at a grocery store. The lack of preservatives in my food and the long weekend trips I took deterred me from buying groceries in bulk like I was so used to in the United States. In fact, the last time I had bought a full load of groceries was back in 12th grade when my parents attempted to instill the smallest bit of adulthood into me. I spent the first year of college eating dining hall food, and “getting groceries” meant ensuring I had a decent stock of Belvita breakfast biscuits and Oreos. In Metz, I now was tasked with making use of a mini fridge, microwave, and two h...

Metz, France Studying abroad is a crazy cool experience. You get to knock off so many bucket list items and spend the summer away from everything that you’re used to. But despite what you may think, it’s not some crazy free-for-all (although it’s close) where college kids just test their limits and city hop each day. There’s something called “classes” that happen during the weekdays. In groups of our choosing (or alone for that matter), we travel on weekends that range from two to four days in length. So of course, we don’t get to Eat-Pray-Love style each of our vacations and turn into locals in each city we visit; we find the major attractions, walk around, take basic pictures by monuments, eat the signature foods, and then dash back to class. In spite of the fast pace, you can still find pockets of time where you get to breathe, and understand your surroundings. Of course, it’s not required to, but I’m about to share with you what happens when you do take time to smell the r...

It's easy to feel hurt when people don't reach out to us. Why waste time on someone who isn't putting in an equal amount of effort? Nine out of ten times, this logic is acceptable. However, sometimes the best friendships take a little extra effort to unearth. I recall a time meeting one of my best friends in school. The first time we met, we barely spoke. She didn't seem too interested in talking or hanging out. I wanted to get to know her better, but I felt vibes that she didn't care too much. At this point, perhaps I should have stopped- she evidently didn't   want to be my friend. I convinced myself that we probably didn't have anything in common or that she was too cool for me. Despite this feeling, I still made light talk with her in class. Then, when I invited her to hangout, I again got vibes that she didn't care about my time. Again, perhaps I should have stopped there, but something told me to give her another chance. And I'm glad I did. ...

WARNING- This is more of a personal statement than good advice. It’s just me typing out the nebulous thoughts in my head that I need to clear out. Read if you want. It’s a fact- I worry too much. I worry about what people think of me, I worry about handling my college classes, I worry about my family, I worry about my social life, I worry about my health, and I worry about my future.   Sometimes, I get too caught up in worrying about all these things, especially the first and last- what people think of me and my future. Worrying too much about what people will say for some of your actions mentally restricts you from trying new things. How are we supposed to know what’s actually good for us just based on other people’s judgments? Recently, I went through formal recruitment and joined a sorority. As of two weeks ago, becoming a sorority girl never crossed my mind. Going through recruitment was just something I did to meet new people and try new things, and somehow I ended up g...

I've never liked the squad-mentality of friendship. The whole " if one person doesn't like her, we ALL don't like her" attitude is faulty. In spite of the loyalty we may owe our friends' judgement, it's not fair for us to let one person's judgement spoil our own. Girls talk about each other. A lot. There's no such things as secrets sometimes, and if you've messed with one of my friends, chances are we've talked about you. A lot. It's just what we do. In the moment, we may discuss one's distrustful or disgusting nature based on a bad experience a friend has had. But most often, my interactions with some of the people we discuss have never been short of positive. When our trusted friends narrate the encounters they have with people, some details can accidentally get exaggerated. Perhaps they misread the facial cues and tones they relay for us to form a judgement on the people they speak of. On numerous occasions, I've heard my...