Things to do Before I Turn 20

So as of this morning, I have officially been on this planet for 19 years. It’s my birthday–holla–and the weather is really nice and I’ve gotten a lot of work done and it has been a pretty good day so far (aside from an Orgo exam).

There have been a lot of changes in my life in the past year, including graduation and starting college. But the biggest changes have occurred in myself. I have become a relatively productive person with pretty good time management skills (for a college student). I have discovered new life goals, and I want to do so much more with my life. I started this blog, and I started reading even more books, and I organized  a lot of my digital lists and such.

This year, I want to do even more. I want to read a lot of books and develop this blog and get healthy and develop my social skills. I want to find my writing style and get more involved in school and a lot of other things that I can’t particularly think of right now. Hopefully, the rest of the day also goes well.

What do you think I should do before I’m 20? I need suggestions yo.

February in Review

Pretty good things: My February consisted of lots of Tumblr and a good amount of Netflix. I’m almost done with season 5 of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. I only read approximately 3 books. I read Freak of Nature by Julia Crane, which I was not a huge fan of. I guess the idea of the book was promising, but the writing was just terrible, and the story was rushed. I also read An Abundance of Katherines by John Green, which was relatively enjoyable, kind of boring at times, but okay overall. I also read about half of Complications by Atul Gawande, which I’m reading for a class, and it is a fantastic book, especially for those interested in medicine to any extent. I started The Time Machine by HG Wells; I wasn’t really paying attention when I started it, so it’s been hard to get through. I also started Just One Day by Gayle Forman; it’s okay so far. I’ll see if it lives up to the hype (probably not). I’ve also been listening to more music, which is a good thing in my opinion. My current favorite artists are Hozier and Milky Chance.

Also pretty good things: Productivity-wise, I did pretty well in February. I’ve still been getting my work done by approximately 5 pm. I was also pretty social in February (for me at least). I actually met a lot of people last month. I need to find some productive hobbies. That shouldn’t be a problem though because my sister got me an early birthday present of a calligraphy set, so I am going to be spending a lot of time writing stuff on paper. Maybe I should use that as a reason to write poetry, which I’m supposed to do this year anyways. I researched a lot about MBTI again. I know so much about it by this point that I should probably write a whole separate blog about living life as an INTJ. I will probably start working on that once the current round of exams is over with.

Bad things: I didn’t journal much, which is a bad thing because a lot of things went on in February. I really need to start journaling again, at least once a week. My eating habits have also been bad. Not that I’ve been eating unhealthy food, I just haven’t been eating enough, and I forget to eat sometimes.

I think that’s pretty much it for February.

How did your February go?

Update and Apologies

So…it’s been a while. I’m sorry I’ve been AWOL for so long. This semester has taken a while to adjust to. And I’ve been slightly more social. I’m definitely going to start blogging again. Hopefully, at least once a week.

Updates:

  • I’m currently watching Friends on Netflix. It is fantastic. I also started Once Upon a Time but couldn’t really get into it.
  • I watched Interstellar last night, and it was the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. It definitely helped restimulate my intuition and has made me want to do more big-picture things again.
  • I’m currently reading The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. It’s also taking me some time to get into. I’ve already read about 9 books this year, so that’s great. I do need to read more this month.
  • I’ve actually been dressing relatively not crappy most of the time.
  • I got into a few hobbies and practices at the end of last year, but those kind of slipped away. So I need to get back into those.
  • I don’t skip class anymore, which makes me very proud of myself.
  • I kind of stopped journaling daily, as well. I need to get back into that as well.
  • I’ve been researching MBTI again. I think I know too much about it. I still can’t really type other people that well though.
  • I’ve gotten back into tumblr. Which might be a reason that I haven’t been partaking in my hobbies.

What have you been up to lately?

Semester Beginnings

If you don’t know, I am a first year Biochemistry major at Georgia Tech. I am also pre-med for now. I am starting my second semester. Yay.

It’s 8 days into the semester. And I’m starting to realize how difficult these four months are actually going to be. The courses I am currently taking this semester are: Quantitative Analysis, Organic Chemistry, Calculus 2, Intro to Biomedicine and Culture, and Intro to Philosophy. The latter two are super easy and interesting and discussion-based. The former three are torturous. Actually, Calc is not that bad. Orgo is also not terrible, but my professor is super boring. Quantitative Analysis is a Chemistry/Biochemistry major course, and apparently is the hardest Chem course we have to take. It is made terribly worse by the fact that my professor has an incredibly thick accent. I am taking 16 credit hours, but the actual class time amounts to a whopping 21 hours. I have a four hour lab from 2-6pm on Fridays, which sucks to no end. I actually have to go to all my classes this semester :(. And the only breaks I have between my classes are 30 min-1 hr lunch breaks. It feels too much like high school I don’t like it.

I’ve been pretty good at maintaining my good study habits. I am still getting my work done by dinner time (holla). I’ve still been watching too much Netflix and reading too many books (though that’s not really possible). I have some exciting events I am volunteering for in the next couple of months. All in all, college is still stressful and overwhelming, but great.

How has your semester been going?

Day and Night Book Tag

I know, I know. It has been an unacceptably long time since I last posted. But I was sick and had my first week of school and stuff. And I’m just going to keep telling myself that that is a valid excuse even though I watched an entire season of a TV show and read three books in that time.

To get myself back into the blogging flow, I am going to do the Day and Night Book Tag! Woohoo! I was tagged by my friend Sydney from Books and Stuff. I tag anyone who wants to do this tag.

And so it begins:

Do you read more in the morning or at night?

Definitely at night. During school breaks I end up reading entire books between the hours of 11pm and 4am. If I haven’t finished a book before I go to bed, I read it while I’m eating my meals (at home). At school, I just read for about an hour or so before bed. I have a greater tendency to get sucked into Netflix and neglect reading when I am at school. Idk why.

Are there any books that changed the way you thought about things?

I can’t think of a specific one off of the top of my head, but the whole dystopian genre has made me more worried for future generations. Also, Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality has taught me to aspire to greater goals.

YA or not?

Heck ya! Though many books of this genre have their faults, almost all of my favorite books are YA fiction. And some of the ones that aren’t started out as YA fiction and became classics. I think people don’t give YA enough credit. Many YA characters deal with intense problems at an incredibly young age and must mature quickly in order to deal with those problems.

Are there characters you honestly believe are real?

Um…no.

Nobody touches my books or I don’t mind loaning books out?

Well, my physical book collection is very tiny, so it’s never usually an issue in the first place. But some of the books I have loaned out have magically disappeared into oblivion. I would be fine with loaning out books to close friends, however.

Do you ever smell your books?

sometimes

Not everyone loves books…is this a positive or a negative?

Major negative. It is one of the most frustrating things to me when people say they “don’t read”. Books are wonderous. Everyone should embrace them.

I keep my books in the best condition…or maybe not?

No. This may be sacrilege to some people, but I am definitely a dog-ear-er. Bookmarks annoy me. I have a couple of books that have water damage from their corners sinking into the bath. There are others with missing book covers. My copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows has the entire spine backing ripped off. Some of them have food stains from obsessively reading while eating. I will say that these worn out books are the ones that I have read at least 5 times each, so they were going to get destroyed.

Gosh, I have too many books! True or false?

False. I barely have any books. I really want more books, but I really hate spending money. Idk what to do. I just need to get rich so I can live in a library house.

Have you ever spilled or stained your books with something, and if so how?

Yes. Aforementioned food. Probably some nail polish at some point.

Toned or not toned while reading (do you work out and read at the same time)?

Well, I am kind of in a workout lull, so currently no. But I have read books and magazines while on the elliptical during middle school or something. Most of the workouts I do now are videos anyways, so reading wouldn’t work out (hehe).

What should I post next? Do you prefer my book posts or my productivity posts? Let me know please.

December Goals Evaluation

December has gone. And so have the many stressors that came with it (mostly just finals). This is my December goals evaluation:

1. Reading 10 books-I surpassed this goal. YAY! I read about 17 books. Amazing, I know.

2. Watch classic movies-I did not do this because I was busy reading. I am okay with this. However, I did watch Serenity.

3. PL/RA application-Yes. I finished and submitted my application. And I am very proud of it. I am just waiting on my recommendations. I also really need to practice interviewing because I really suck at interviews.

4. Finish TV shows-Yeah! I finished SherlockFirefly, and Parks and Rec. I also started and finished Selfie, and started BroadchurchDollhouse, and House M.D.

5. Practice coding-Kind of. I used some coding apps to practice, but I didn’t actually code a webpage or anything.

6. Organize-Partially. I organized my Tumblr and updated my Goodreads account. But I didn’t get a chance to further organize my Chrome bookmarks and clean out my email.

7. Build online presence-Meh. I got over 30 followers on this blog! But I did not really do much else. I posted almost every day of winter break, and I have over 100 blog post ideas on Evernote, but I haven’t worked on YouTube or made a LinkedIn.

8. Work out-Complete and utter failure.

9. Productivity experiments-Also, fail. I didn’t do an productivity experiments at all. I guess I read approximately one book a day, but I am not going to count that.

Did you accomplish your December goals?

2014 Reflections

It is almost the end of 2014. That means that people have begun to set resolutions for 2015. Most people are focusing on who they want to be in the new year and what they want to change about themselves. But we should also look back at the past year to see, not only what we could do better in the coming year, but also what we accomplished and what we were great at.

These are some of the things I’ve accomplished in 2014:

  • read 30-ish books
  • watched 17-ish TV shows
  • got productive
  • maintained 9-5 study schedule
  • Dean’s list
  • graduated high school
  • started college
  • started this blog
  • learned the importance of personal projects
  • journaling daily in August and December and a couple days in between
  • rekindled interest in space and books and medicine
  • learned HTML
  • learned about MBTI
  • envisioned more goals for myself

I’ve read about 30 books. Not many I know, but I was distracted by Netflix. Speaking of, I’ve watched 17 TV shows in their entirety. Which is way excessive. But I did productive things while I watched Netflix, so I am okay with the large amount of shows that I have watched within a 9 month period of time. I should probably calculate how many hours of my life I spent on Netflix. Netflix has expanded my interests so so much. Namely, Doctor Who and Torchwood have changed my life. I also watched some movies, but I don’t really remember which ones. I should have recorded them somewhere. Most notably, I became productive. Never before, had I though that I could maintain a 9 to 5 study schedule. Oh, and I completed my first semester of college on the Dean’s list. I started journaling regularly, which I never realized was so fulfilling. I started this blog. I started to crave work. I can’t really do nothing for a day anymore. Well, I can, but I hate it. I learned that planning is a passion of mine. I also learned that I need creativity outlets, whether they be in forms of writing or forms of art. I have explored the merits and drawbacks of both digital and analog productivity. I still have not struck the perfect balance between the two, but my current methods are working for me reasonably well. I went through multiple rounds of fitness phases. I have also gone through innumerable amounts of unhealthy phases. I have rediscovered a love for space and space travel. I have started reading avidly again. I have also started to listen to podcasts and watch TED talks regularly. For me, 2014 contained many a momentous occasion: I officially became an adult; I graduated from high school; I started, and finished, my first semester of college; and I began to realize more of the things that I want to do in my life. I have begun to aspire to be one of those people that just does so much. For example, Hank Green, Tina Fey, and the various productivity bloggers that I now follow.

The year of 2014 has brought many changes to my life. My schooling has changed. My habits have changed. My interests have changed. And my mindset has changed.

I started this year as a procrastinator who had completely succumbed to senioritis. And I end this year as a relatively productive college student, who has a colossal amount of goals, for her schooling and for her life.

While 2014 was a year of change, 2015 is going to be a year of maximum productivity.

What have you accomplished in 2014?

Productivity Report: The Mara Dyer trilogy

The Mara Dyer trilogy is a fantastic YA series by Michelle Hodkin. This trilogy includes: The Unbecoming of Mara DyerThe Evolution of Mara Dyer, and The Retribution of Mara Dyer. Usually, I can predict what is going to happen in most books, especially those of YA genres. But I was genuinely surprised by many of the plot points throughout this entire series. Which is definitely a good thing.

So most of the main characters in this trilogy really know how to get things done. They have to deal with mental illness and hallucinations and mistrust, and they still take care of themselves relatively well. But I think the title of the most productive character goes to Daniel Dyer, Mara’s older brother. He is the perfect student, the perfect  son, the perfect brother, and he plays instruments. Granted, his main goal during much of the story is to get into college. And he does not have to deal with aforementioned mental illness and unknown powers, but he takes care of those who do. One could argue that Noah Shaw has to deal with those problems and still has a perfect GPA and reads libraries of books and plays an instrument. But he has an unfair advantage because of his perfect memory.