Bye for now

Well as you all know the semester is coming to a close as we finish up finals week! I hope everyone had a great semester, I know I did. This semester will definitely be one for the books. I can't believe I am already finishing my first semester of college... One down only seven more to go. Wow thats a little scary. It definitely seems like a long time but looking back to August, I never thought that time would fly by as fast as it did. We are almost out in the real world...Now thats an even scarier thought.

I am so happy I got to share my thought with all of you throughout my first semester of college! I will be signing off until Spring semester resumes in January. I hope you all have a wonderful break, you all deserve it!

Until next year,
Your fellow blogger,
Hannah Bellich :)

Studying

I don't know about you guys, but I have been studying all day for almost the past week.

What I've learned: College finals are no joke.

Going into finals I really didn't think it was going to be that big of a deal. Looking back at finals in high school... now that was a joke. I thought I would be okay just studying each subject for a couple of hours. Man I was wrong. I ended up dedicating about four entire days to math (120) and two to english. And when I say days, I mean the entire day... about 14 hours or so. I am just so thankful that I started studying earlier rather than later because that would have been a recipe for disaster.

TIP #1: Finals is not the time to procrastinate!

Now for a mistake I made... I started studying for math first because I anticipated that it would take me a lot longer than my other classes and I had a lot more information that I needed to cover. Well... I got a little carried away with math and ended up 'forgetting' about my other subjects. Saturday night I remembered I still had a bunch of english questions and notes I had to finish preparing for my final, which was today. So I ended up having to do most of my english in about two days and didn't feel as prepared as I could have.

TIP #2: Study your materials in the order that you have your finals!

I also decided that it would be a good idea to go out with my friends on friday night.. mistake number 2.I should have stayed in and studied on Friday because by Saturday I was already in 'weekend mode' and wanted nothing to do with my textbooks or highlighters.

After all we are here to go to school, so finals should be taken seriously! As long as you don't save your studying until the night before you will be fine! <--- future note to self.

I hope everyone survived finals week... and for all of you ladies out there that still have finals tomorrow..........Here's a little motivation!

Starbucks Update:

As you know from my previous blog, I recently got offered a job at Starbucks as a barista! Well I am currently on my third day of barista training.. and man oh man is it hard work. Going into training I knew I was going to have a lot to remember, but I never thought about each and every detail that goes into making the perfect latte, cappuccino, frappuccino, ect. Although I've had to learn a lot of information in the past three days, I am having a ton of fun! I am so thankful to have landed the job that I did. My manager, co-workers and my barista trainer are all very welcoming and helpful! I am so excited to get to work with great people and create new friendships.

The reason I am telling you about my awesome job is because I think it is important to plant yourself in your new town. If you are coming to Santa Barbara City College from out of city, out of state or even out of country, I think it is important (once you are settled) to get to know your town and become and active citizen in the community. You will meet people in class, in sports and in clubs, but by getting a job you will expand your friend group so much. It is so nice to know people from different crowds and backgrounds and also different age groups. My parents live 2,000 miles away so I definitely did feel lonely when I first got here, and like I had no one to turn to if i needed help with something. But now that I have met people through school, cheer and work, I have really begun to feel a sense of comfort here in Santa Barbara. I have someone I can turn to with any situation that may cross my path. I am very lucky. So not only has this job helped me get involved in the community, it has also helped me expand my peer group in an extremely positive way. I highly recommend it. If you obtain a job in something you would be interested in doing, you will meet people that share the same values as you, and maybe even the same passions and what better way to make everlasting friendships!

STRESS

Stress.

I'm sure all of you college students know exactly what I'm talking about. Maybe stresses come along with college. Not only do you have tons of homework to worry about, but many of us also have the added stress of being away from home for the first time.

Today in my personal development class, we talked about the stresses that college kids encounter and also ways to deal with these stressors.

Some of the stressors we came up with:

External-

• School/Homework/Finals
• Money/Budgeting
• Determining Class Schedules
• Balancing Work and School
• Worrying About the Future
• Worrying About Where to Transfer
• Roommate/Housing Issues

Internal-

• Perfectionism
• Negative Self-Talk
• Trying to Impress Others

These are just a select few stressors that many college students inquire. If you have any stress about any of these things, know you are not alone!

Now a few ways you can deal with these stresses:

• Yoga
• Exercising
• Hanging out with friends
• Reading a book
• Painting (This is my ultimate de-stressor!)
• Taking a bath
• Meditation
• Going to the beach
• Enjoying nature-go on a hike
• LAUGHING!
• Breathing-Take a deep breath!
• Take a break
• Remove yourself from the stressful situation for a while
• Ultimately doing something you are passionate about will help relieve stress

I hope this helps relieve some of your stress, especially with upcoming finals!