We Made It!!

Well the time has come! My last semester at City College is over, all that awaits is final grades which are suppose to be posted by 11:59 tonight! Ahhhh, I hate waiting for final grades.... Anyways I'm not too worried! I hope all of you had an awesome spring semester - you made it through finals, I told you all that you'd make it! 

Well anyways, those of you who are attending Santa Barbara city college next year, I know you'll have a fabulous year! I will definitely miss SBCC, it was such a good transition for me. For those of you who will be attending your first year at SBCC: Going to the city college really helped to make the change from HIGHSCHOOL and living at home, to jumping into college and living with roommates much, much easier. It is a shuttle transition, transferring to the CC; you still have mostly smaller sized classes, and you still have "homework assignment" as opposed to solely midterms and essays as at Universities. If change is hard for you, the city college definitely stands as a great bridge into your university years. 

For those of you transferring to UCSB, I'm sure you're a little nervous... As I am too! But I think the best advice I've been given about transferring is to just give it time. Multiple people have told me that the change is a little challenging at first, however, as the first quarter goes on, you get to know the campus very well and also you begin to become familiar with the different teaching methods and you won't even look back! 

Have a great summer everyone! You guys deserve it with all of your hard work this year; and Good luck with all of your endeavors next year!

Transferring to UCSB

Since I figure that a lot of students who attend SBCC are planning to transfer to UCSB (as I am as well), I decided that it would be awesome to talk with a current UCSB student who transferred from city college also!

My boyfriend, Matt attended SBCC and actually graduated SBCC with several associates degrees and transferred to UCSB last fall majoring in economics. I've been talking with him a lot lately about what it was like to transfer to a university after several years at a city college and he has given me quite a few good pointers that I though would be beneficial to all of you guys planning to transfer as well.

What were your first thoughts of UCSB?
"Well it was a lot different than the City College and definitely a big change. We started on week 0 (the Thursday before week 1). My first class was a class that was specifically for transfer students, so that was nice because it was a sort of transition class, to help ease us into classes at the university.
Another thing to note... there is a ton more bikes, the bike paths are like freeways. Biking to class was interesting for the first couple of weeks, but once you get the system down, you won't even think twice about hopping on your bike and heading out to class.... just don't forget your bike lock... oh and only park your bike in the marked stales; do not, however, lock them to a tree... It will get impounded, and you will have to pay to get it out, trust me, I learned that one the hard way."


How did you have to tweak your study habits?
"Your course load honestly depends on your major, but for the most part all of the classes I have tarn have been much more fast paced as UCSB is on a quarter system. This also means that after the first couple of weeks you will probably have a midterm or essay due every single week, which is extremely different from the spread out course work that you come across at SBCC. OH and there is rarely any homework, your grade will consist of your midterms, possible essays, and finals. This makes studying everyday crucial to doing well in your classes. I study every day for around 6-7 hours, it's just something that I've added into my schedule. You don't spend much time in the actual class room as class times are relatively short, but let me tell you, your entire day is spent in the library."


Did you find it easy to meet new people?
"Yes, there are so many students in each class you take, which differs greatly from SBCC with class sizes of only about 30-40 kids. It's cool because once you're in your major, everyone is taking the same classes, so you will get to know one another and it's also a lot easier to get study groups together this way."

Did you recognize any faces from SBCC?
"Yes! It's also nice being a transfer student because you do recognize a lot of familiar faces from past classes that you took at the city college. This makes the transfer from the city college to the university a lot smoother by seeing familiar faces that are going through the same change as you are."

Any advice for transfers?
"Honestly, my advice to all of you would be to study hard... seriously. No one is holding your hand anymore, it is up to you to want to do well and you have to be dedicated to putting in the long hours of studying in order to do well. It's a big change, but it definitely gets easier as the quarter goes on and by the second semester you'll be a pro at maneuvering the bike path and tackling your long study sessions!"

100 Posts!

Wow I can't believe that I have been blogging for SBCC for almost two years now. The fact that I have posted 100 blogs is crazy! I honestly can't believe that I will be leaving SBCC in about a month and heading over to UCSB. Time has gone by way too fast!

I am so grateful to have had this job as a student blogger. It not only helped me to stay connected with the future and current student body, but also to document my time here at SBCC and the experiences I have encountered in these past two years.

So I have some advice for all of you who are in this, college stage of life. Document your events, your struggles, your favorite days! Time will go by so fast and so many different things, events, situations, will happen over the course of the remainder of your teenage years, and early adulthood- Document these moments! Maybe public blogging isn't your thing, so keep a journal, or utilize your phone for something other than social media, use the notes application to document.

I find journaling to be extremely peaceful and calming. It also helps me to put my worries on paper and let them drift away from my mind. That being said, documenting life events isn't just for remembrance and reflection, but also for putting your thoughts and stressors down on paper so that they can start to be free from your mind.

I also find that looking back on journal entries, or even on blog entries that I have done, I realize how I have overcome certain obstacles, and just how big of an achievement they were looking back. I think documenting your thoughts, feelings, and experiences throughout life is so important in self reflection. Sometimes I'll find that I have overlooked just how great the accomplishments and hurdles I have overcome have been.

So get to it! Grab a paper and pencil, or a laptop and begin, essentially telling yourself about your day, about your thoughts, about your experiences... trust me, you will definitely love looking back on your prior self and you will also enjoy seeing just how far you've come!

Interviews.......

I actually have an interview today for a lifeguarding and swim instructor position at Cathedral Oaks Athletic Club. I am super excited and actually not as nervous as I usually find myself when I am preparing for an interview... I think this probably has something to do with all of the preparation steps I've taken prior to this interview.

I know summer is approaching and I'm sure many of you, if you're not already working, will be applying to jobs soon for a summer position as you will probably have much more time on your hands than during the semester. So here are a few pointers if you don't know how to prepare for an interview, or if you find yourself getting nervous to head into an interview.

Monday		8:00am - 4:15pm
Tuesday		8:00am - 5:00pm
Wednesday		8:00am - 5:00pm
Thursday		8:00am - 4:15pm
Friday		8:00am - 1:00pm

Monday

8:00am - 4:15pm

Tuesday

8:00am - 5:00pm

Wednesday

8:00am - 5:00pm

Thursday

8:00am - 4:15pm

Friday

8:00am - 1:00pm

Step 1- Consult the career center for help!
The career center is such an awesome guide in not only helping you look for open job positions that meet your qualifications, but also to assist you in starting / tweaking your resume! I went into the career center to grab a couple templates to refer to while freshening up my resume. This was super helpful, as it helped me create a very professional resume, and in turn took off a lot of the stress of wondering if my resume was going to make the cut for employers. Another great aspect of the career center, is that the staff in there is always so helpful and willing to look over your resume and help give some advice on how to make your resume standout from all the others that the employer may be receiving. If you are currently job hunting, utilize the career center, it is such a helpful resource!

Step 2- Once you have gotten / scheduled an interview, make sure you do some research on the company that you will potentially be working for! This will help you to feel more prepared just in case they ask you a few questions about the company. If you show up knowing a few details about the company, you will also be able to draft conversation with your interviewer with regards to the company and in turn, you will leave a great impression!

Step 3- Practice answering some interview questions. I looked up some frequently asked interview questions and had my roommates ask me a few of them last night just to ease my nerves and reassure myself that I do know what I'm talking about. A few of the most common interview questions are "What do you think your greatest asset it?" "What is your experience in this field?" "What do you believe your greatest flaw is?" Before you go into your interview, brainstorm a few answers to the questions that you would potentially use as answers. Again, if you go in prepared, you will be much more confident and, in turn, be able to relax making the interview much less intimidating!

Basically, as long as you prepare yourself, you will be in good shape! Just take a few deep breaths before you get out of your car and walk into the office with your head healed high and show that you are confident in yourself!

Good luck is you are currently job hunting and interviewing! You'll be just fine!

Group Projects

If you're like me, you probably cringe when you hear your teacher say the words "group project" or "you must work as a group". This is exactly what happened to me at the beginning of this semester in my Psychology 200: Research Methods and Experimental Design class. One of the first things our professor said, was something along the lines of "now this class is comprised of mostly group work" and I was absolutely terrified. Most of the time, for me at least, it means doing most of the hard work by myself and struggling to get everyone together to work on whatever the assignment may be.... along with a great amount of stress and a big headache for the duration of the project.

It doesn't have to be like this!!

However, this semester has changed my view on group work completely! In my Psychology Research class, pretty much the whole semester revolves around two huge assignments- two lab reports, both of which are comprised of experimental designs, of which we created from scratch regarding the topic of "does dishonesty lead to more creative minds" in my groups case. Along the way, we have had many assignments to guide us and prepare us for our lab reports; however, almost every assignment was done as a group. Going into this class, I knew I was going to have to put a lot of work in, seeing as I was not completely confident in my research abilities; however, having a group to work with and consult has proven very beneficial to my learning in this class.

I got really lucky and was grouped up with an awesome group, of which every member is eager to learn, contribute and is easily available for group meetings outside of class. I have learned so much, not only about research in psychology and designing experiments, but I have also learned how to work well with other people, and use everyone's different strengths in the ways that benefit not only the other group members, but also the assignment!

For those of you who don't enjoy group work as of right now, here are a few pointers:

Show your group that you are willing, and going to take the assignment seriously. If you show your other group members that you are willing to accomplish tasks within the assignment, things will go a lot smoother and others will be more prone to offer their help and efforts as well!

Accept the role that you and your group members agree is your responsibility and carry out your role to the best of you ability.

Share your views and accept your other group members' constructive criticism. I think one of the most important things that I have learned so far in college is that constructive criticism, especially from peers is super beneficial to expanding your knowledge.

Tips for making your study playlist

Sometimes I find myself spending more time picking songs to listen to while I study, than actually studying. So I've come up with a few things to make it easier to set up a study playlist without becoming distracted or trying to scull through youtube or iMusic to find the next song to keep you motivated.

When I'm studying, I usually like to listen to classical music...
Many studies have proven that classical music enhances productivity while also helping to boost your mood. Studying isn't exactly the most exciting thing that you could be doing, so the mood enhancer, if nothing else should be a selling point for you! Even if you aren't a Beethoven fanatic, you should be able to find a more modern playlist that follows the same guidelines as classical music when it comes to creating a more relaxed mind for studying. Many studies have shown that finding songs that have between 50-70 beats per minute will produce the effects of a soothed, relaxed mind and help center your brain into focus for your long hours spent in front of a computer or textbook studying.

Now I know some of you may be thinking that you will never force yourself to listen to classical music, so if you are one of these people, try sticking to my tip above, of finding songs that stick to the tempo of 50-70 beats per minute and pick songs without lyrics!
The last thing you want to be doing is focusing more on the words being sung throughout the song, than on your class work.... yet another distraction which will lead to a less productive, longer study session, and who would want that?

Once you've found a good bunch of songs to add to your playlist, make sure you control the volume...
As it stands, study music should not be blasting through your ear drums creating a distraction from your studying... this would completely eliminate the purpose of listening to some good classical tunes... (not that anyone would really want to blast some Beethoven... but you get my point.) Just make sure the volume is turned up just enough to create a soothing background music.

Sweet Tooth

I have always been a huge sweet/dessert fan, and I am proud to say, nothing has changed! From being all for going out at midnight and walking down Embarcerdero Del Norte (if I'm in IV for the night) and grabbing an infamous "cookiewich" from IV drip to heading over to crush cakes during my hour break in-between classes to grab a cupcake. Santa Barbara definitely doesn't fall in the aspect of having great places to head to to get a fabulous, great tasting dessert!

A few of my top favs:

IV DRIP-
Although it's located in Isla Vista and I no longer live out there, this place remains one of my favorite dessert places. They have everything from cookies, to brownies, to McConnel's ice-cream and any combination of the three! My favorite thing is definitely the "cookiewich", which as it sounds, is a is an ice-cream sandwich. However, they have an endless assortment of flavors when it comes to cookies, from s'mores, to peanut butter cup, to just plain chocolate chip. They are fabulous... and you definitely can't go wrong with their large variety of McConnel's ice-cream flavors! If you haven't tried this place out yet, I highly recommend giving it a shot! You won't be disappointed!


Crushcakes Cafe-
This is another one of my absolute favorite places to grab a quick dessert at. I am a cupcake fanatic, so you'll definitely find me at crushcakes more than would be for my own good, but hey, we're young so enjoy all those cupcakes while you've still got your fast metabolism! Anyways, crushcakes is one of the best cupcakery's that I've been too. They always have their regular cupcakes, such as their famous peace cake, but they also have a different special everyday and you can never go wrong with any cupcake you choose from here! Chrushcakes is also a cafe and has multiple different pastries and coffee for breakfast as well as a separate breakfast and lunch menu that has everything from pancakes and breakfast burritos, to salads and panini's. I highly suggest trying this place out! It is also a great place to study if you ever get sick of the library, the environment is awesome!

The School's Cafe-
I know this might sound a little weird but the best cookie I have ever had was from our school's cafe! All of the bakery items are made fresh by the culinary students and are phenomenal. My favorite is the oatmeal cookie. Pair is with a latte from the buzz shack and you have a fabulous little study snack!

I hope I didn't make you too hungry! Have a great rest of your week!

The Housing Scramble

I, as I'm sure many of you, have received my acceptance letter from UCSB and I couldn't be more excited! I will be really sad to leave SBCC, as I have had such a great experience here and have learned so much and made so many memories, but I am super excited to be moving on to the next chapter of my life. That being said, the first thing I thought of when I checked my portal and saw that I was accepted was... "I need to find a place to live, like NOW, or I am going to be homeless". Although that statement sounds pretty dramatic, I'm sure many of you know the housing struggle in Isla Vista and if you snooze you definitely lose in regards to finding a place to live. However, it is sort of hard to go house hunting before you know if you will officially be living in Isla Vista because once you find a place you like, you have to fill out the application and put down the deposit of one months rent to secure the place or it will be gone within the hour. So my struggle was, what if I find an awesome place and put down a $700 deposit and then end up not getting into UCSB and having to go somewhere else while losing my $700 deposit. So that just wasn't a risk I was willing to take.

And this would be my new roommate, Kayla

Even up until about a week ago, I didn't even have a game plan for how I wanted to go about finding a roommate, which was really packing on the stress. I really didn't want to have to go through the whole craigslist thing because... let's just say I've been there done that..... However, I got super lucky and became really good friends with my boyfriends, best friends, girlfriend this year (a bit confusing, I know) and she just so happened to be looking for a roommate for the next school year as well. She texted me last week and we started talking about looking at places and we both hopped right on craigslist and began looking at places in IV. We found a couple potential apartments and scheduled a few walk throughs for this morning and ended up filling out an application and writing a check for the deposit. I am beyond relieved that we found a place, and so quickly at that. I am so excited to move into a new apartment, and go out and get a bunch of cute little decorations and to be living with a good friend! I am definitely in need of a change, and I definitely think this is going to be a great one!

If you still haven't found a place, don't stress too much... just hop on the band wagon quickly and start scheduling walkthroughs because there are still quite a few places that haven't been snagged up get... just remember that each and every day more people are finding out their application status so the places are going quickly!

Festival Season is Approaching

The warmer months of the year are definitely my favorite, not only because we have a break from classes and studying our lives away, but mostly because starting at the end of March through the beginning of September... IT IS FESTIVAL SEASON.

I am definitely a festival junkie. From raves to hipster festivals, count me in. I feel like I fell in love with the environment; when you're at a festival, you, in some ways, feel like you've escaped reality for a little while. It's so cool to be surrounded by hundreds of people that all share the love for the music you are going to the festival to hear... and that's the thing, everyone feels the same way, so the vibes are always awesome.

Another reason music festivals are so great is because you get to see so many artists, bands, or DJ's in one weekend. Most festivals I've been to have three or four stages, so you're never really even stuck watching someone who you really don't care to see either.

Yet another one of my favorite things about music festivals is the time you get to spend with your best friends. Think about sitting in the grass listening to awesome music with all of your best friends, heading back to the campground to relax for a bit before heading back out for the night shows... all for two or three days straight... It is seriously like being in a movie. You also meet so many new friends to hangout with while you're there as well. It really is such a great experience.

Even though festivals are super awesome... the car ride home is always pretty brutal. After having such an awesome weekend, it kind of sucks to have to go back to real life, whether it be school, or a job, or really anything because nothing really adds up to frolicking around a festival hearing great music all weekend with no other worries than putting on some sunscreen and making sure that you make it to every set you want to see a bit early to get a good spot in the crowd.

If any of you happen to be going to Coachella weekend 2 (April 22nd-24th), perhaps I will see you there!

Have a good rest of your week, and if you are currently unmotivated in the aspect of school work, use the fact that we only have 4.5 weeks of classes left and then finals.....AND THEN SUMMER!

Saving Money

As I have mentioned previously, I ended up having to quit my job for numerous reasons. I knew this would mean that I was going to have to stop spending as much money as I would normally freely spend, but I also didn't realize how much money I actually spent each month, let alone each week. When you don't have a pay check coming in, you begin to question whether or not you really need that morning latte, or if you can suffer through the torture of running the day on no caffeine.

This was one of my realizations: I spend way too much money on Starbucks each week, so that was my first cut back. I used to go to Starbucks and grab a pastry with my caramel latte around four to five times a week... Now I'm trying to cut back to just once or twice a week-which has actually proven to be extremely difficult, and has lead to some pretty angry mornings. Luckily, my mom actually picked up a Kuerig for me last time I was at home which has proven to be a tremendous help in saving money. If you are a coffee fanatic, but really want to cut back on spending money on over priced latte's, I highly recommend investing in a Kuerig. Sure you have to pay for the pods, but let me tell you a box of 24 pods for $8.00 gives you 24 cups of coffee for the price of two lattes... so yes, I guarantee this will save you much money (and frustration) in the long run!

Another one of my money pits proved to be eating out. When you have that pretty nice paycheck coming in twice a month, you never really think twice about going to Chipotle for dinner even though you have plenty of groceries in the fridge. I realized that I ate out way too much. I would go grocery shopping and get a bunch of great food to make for dinner (spending money at the grocery store for all of this food) and then end up eating out for dinner four times a week.... which then my groceries would go bad and then I would repeat the cycle. WASTE OF MONEY PEOPLE. I know I'm not the only one that does this, so only buy groceries that you know you are going to use, and plan out your week- so you like to eat out, it changes things up a bit... so go out to eat twice a week instead of four our five times and make sure to use up all of your groceries so that you are making the most out of your money!

SO yes basically, I wasted most of my money on food... which now that I think about it was kind of dumb because I was solely being careless. This is just my scenario, but if you guys are looking to save money my advice would be to make sure you are only buying groceries that you need, and not letting them go to waste. And seriously, get that Kuerig if you are a coffee drinker, it really is a huge money saver!

Aerial Yoga

Adventure one of my spring break:

I wasn't exactly looking forward to spring break as much as I usually am, probably due to the fact that my family and I usually have an extravagant trip to Hawaii planned... and this year that was not possible because my sister and I didn't end up having the same week of spring break. I was looking forward to a week off of school, but I sure didn't have the same excitement as I would have for a trip to Hawaii. However, I must say, I severely underestimated my spring break. I have had such a fun, yet relaxing break... and my body is definitely thanking me for this much needed break! Hopefully everyone else had a great relaxing break as well!

I ended up going home for half of break and then coming back to Santa Barbara for the other half (this proved to be such a great balance). Anyhow, my mom, my sister and I decided to take a day trip on Tuesday to LA to hang out and have some girl time, ya know the typically shopping day while also eating at some cute, little, (over priced) cafe's in LA. In addition to shopping, we also decided that we all wanted to try aerial yoga. My mom had seen a post on Facebook advertising an aerial yoga studio in West LA and thought it would be fun if we all gave it a shot. I have been a dancer and cheerleader almost all of my life and I also enjoy practicing yoga so I was immediately in... however, my mom and sister both think yoga is boring (like I'm sure many people do) and aren't really all for it, so I was surprised when everyone agreed to take any yoga class let alone swinging around on silks upside down doing yoga poses. I was pretty excited to see how this little adventure would turn out.


I walked into the studio all confident and excited, and then we got assigned our silks and were waiting for the instructor and I kid you not, all of the other students were swinging around on there silks and were doing, what looked like all of these exotic positions and I turned to my mom and sister and we all just started laughing, thinking there's no way we are going to be able to do this.

To my surprise we all ended up doing really well! Actually my mom and sister were both super good at most of the positions and I was the one struggling to keep up at some points! It was such a fun thing to do together and more than anything, I'm had such a fun day hanging out with my mom and sister while trying something new and exciting!

Deltopia

As I’m sure most of you know, the infamous Deltopia is tomorrow. Now as fun as partying all day long on Ocean side DP looking over the cliffs to the beautiful beach, it can also get very dangerous as I’m sure all of you know. I know there are all of these rules in place, such as a noise ordinance of 6pm and no parking in Isla Vista without a proof of residence along with strict rules on public intoxication and minor in possession with regards to the highest possible punishment in place and also the fact that there is going to be an extremely high amount of police officers and sheriffs out patrolling all of IV this weekend… but I also know that just because all of these extra measures are taking place, it really doesn’t matter to the massive amounts of Isla Vista partiers that are going to continue on with their traditions no matter what.

I’m not even going to lie here, I am planning on going out to a few events tomorrow- it has honestly become part of the Isla Vista culture and I know many of you are also planning to go out as well.

My biggest thing here, is make sure you stay safe and please try to minimize the risk of things getting out of hand. It is one thing to go out and have fun, but keep it safe and respect our community.

Here are a few things to keep in mind tomorrow, and really for anytime you are panning on going out to IV.

As much as it is recommended to discourage out of towners, there will be quite a few people trecking in for this event. As Im sure you have heard out of towners cause most of the trouble during this particular weekend every year so just try to keep your parties local and if you do know people coming in from out of town, address the policies with them and talk to them about how these are the streets you walk though everyday, this is your home so respect it like it is one.

Another piece of advise, stick with your friends. This is always a good idea when going out to parties, but I think it’s an even better tactic this weekend because there is going to be many more people in the few streets of Isla Vista, which means there could be a highened risk for possibly encountering people with bad intentions.

STAY HYDRATED. It’s getting warm out, and alcohol and sun don’t mix extremely well. Drink a glass of water for every drink you have. You’ll thank me Sunday morning for this one, trust me.

Another thing you must remember is that there will be many cars towed for not having validation of residency in Isla Vista. If you don’t live in IV, don’t take the chance and park on the streets or in the parking lots anyways. You do not want to wake up Sunday morning and have to uber to the towing company to pay $300 to get your car out of the towing site.

Lastly, know your limits. There are going to be tons of cops out and about patrolling IV all weekend. Keep yourself and other’s safe by knowing your limits: don’t start the day off with 10 beers because remember this is a long, social day. You want to be able to make it past 2 o’clock in the afternoon and also keep in mind that  many people are arrested and cited in IV on deltopia for public intoxication and minors in possession. You do not want to spend the entire day in jail and wake up without a license for a year and a $300 ticket. So make sure you are aware of your partying and are able to keep yourself safe.

Quizlet

As midterms and exams are being thrown at us, I'm sure you have been spending much of your time with you head in your notes and textbooks studying. Well this is exactly what I have been doing, and let me tell you, I was getting really tired of looking over my notes again and again and again, and actually found that I was not learning anymore from the notes than I had learned the first couple times that I had gone over them. I realized that I needed to revise my student habits.

My roommates were always using the webpage/app, "Quizlet", and I had always thought that it was a website that younger children, say middle school and high school kids, used for their vocabulary tests. Now I have no idea why I thought this, but since I was sort of desperate to change my study habits, I decided to sign up and see what this study site was all about.

I do have to say that I should have listened to my roommates when they tried to suggest that I use quiz let. I mean, I definitely realized that this website was for electronic flashcards, but I didn't realize all of the other features that Quizlet had. It's super nice because you can create your flashcards and put them into a folder for that specific class, so it also helps to keep you organized. Another feature is that as you are going through your flashcards, you can star certain terms, so that you can separate out the flashcards by what you know and what terms you may need a bit more work on. There is also a few different study techniques that you can interchange between using your specific study set that you have created. There is a setting where you are asked to type in the definition of the word provided on one side of the card. This setting is definitely the hardest for me, but in my opinion, it serves as the best study skill because it ensures that you know the flashcards given either the definition or the term interchangeably. There is also a few "games" you can play with you study sets as well, which helps to mix it up a bit. My favorite feature is the "test" setting, which gives you a variety of multiple choice, short answer and true/false questions to further test you on your study set that you have selected.

I have found that quiz let has helped me much more that passively looking over my notes again and again. I feel like it stimulates your brain in a different way than just reading notes from the top of the page to the bottom of the page.

I have started to make Quizlet's for my geography lectures which have helped me so much! I will sestare the lecture notes into vocal and questions relating to that topic. This way I have flashcards for each lecture and am able to review the material by making the flashcards while the material is still fresh in my mind as well as continue to study throughout the week.

I believe that Quizlet makes studying much less of a hassle because once you have the flashcards made, you have many different ways of studying that are only a click away! IF you have not yet used Quizlet, I highly recommend it... and if you are a current user of the nifty study site, make sure you are utilizing all of its great features!

Its Time to Start Making Decisions that Benefit Yourself

I feel like in some ways, I am sort of a people pleaser... and by that I mean that I really don't like letting people down or making their life harder in any way. I mean, I guess you could say that this trait could be beneficial in many situations, however, sometimes it jeopardizes my happiness and well being and that when it becomes a problem.

Recently, as you all know from my many blog posts, I have been beyond busy, stretching myself in every direction and even though I tried many solutions to help ease the stress of the busy schedule such as making sure I had at least sometime to myself everyday, or trying to exercise regularly, or trying to get a schedule down for hom
ework / study time, nothing was helping with the stress factor, and it began to build up until I finally (had a mini breakdown on the phone with my mom) and realized that I needed to change something in my life or I was going to continue down this path that was ultimately making me miserable, unhappy, and mentally unhealthy.

After consulting with my mom, who is and always will be the best at giving advice, she agreed that something needed to go in order to regain my happiness (and sanity). By the end of our conversation, it was clear what needed to be cut out of my life and it was also clear that although my happiness and making sure that I am healthy in all aspects comes first, school is a close second, if not a tie. School has always been a huge aspect of my life, and it has always been important to me as well as my family members that I attend college and obtain a degree. So of course I would have never even imagined quitting school or taking time off. What this m
eant, was that work had to go. I am lucky enough that my parents support me not only with everything I do in life, but also in the financial aspect, so quitting my job wasn't going to effect my ability to pay rent or buy monthly groceries (which I am so, so thankful for, and appreciate so much). However, this also meant that I wouldn't have much extra money, for the time being, to go to concerts, go out to eat or go shopping on a whim.

To be honest, I was worried about quitting my job just because I like to be able to have my own money; it's such an accomplishing feeling to go and cash a paycheck because you know that you did work hard for that money. However, I also knew that I was wearing my self down way too much and that it was going to catch up with my very soon, in fact, I think it may have already started too, so I knew what I had to do and what was in my best interest.

I think that this little obstacle that I have encountered has taught me so much this semester, and I am also glad that I had to go through this. It has taught me to think twice about buying that shirt that I already have in two other colors, or about ordering food in solely because I'm too lazy (or too busy) to cook the food that I have in the cabinet/fridge. I also realized that there are many different chapters in life, and that it's okay be be kind of caught in the transition phase for a short while. Im obviously not going to say to heck with it and never work again; I am definitely going to get a job over the summer, but let me tell you for the time-being I am so much less stressed and feel much relief when I think about all of the homework I am going to be able to get done, and the time that I am going to have to spend time with friends and also, with myself without feeling rushed. I feel like I can enjoy life again.

Now I am most definitely not saying that you shouldn't work in college or what not, because I have been working for almost all of the past two semesters, and it has been awesome having that spending money, but I am saying that there are points in your life that you need to realistically evaluate your situation and make the choices that are actually beneficial to your life, your health, and your well-being.

Be good to yourself you guys! You only have one mind and one body, so take care of it!

Get Used to Using Office Hours

If there was one thing I have learned about student life so far this semester it would be: UTILIZE OFFICE HOURS!!

Unfortunately I can say that office hours have never been something that I was good at adding into my schedule, however, since I have had significantly harder classes this semester, I have absolutely needed to attend office hours this semester. At first I thought of this as kind of a burden to my already hectic schedule, but after attending the office hours of a few of my classes for the first time, I realized just how essential office hours are to doing well in that specific class.

I understand that going in to talk with a teacher one on one can be somewhat intimidating, however, you will quickly realize after attending one or two of your professors office hours that the professors are really there to help you learn and succeed. I always had the impression that teachers had office hours because they had to (which I'm sure they are required to have a certain amount of office hours available to the students), but in all honesty, every professor that I have met with thus far for office hours showed me that they genuinely care about their students ability to succeed.

Office hours are super nice because you have the chance to get some one on one instruction based specifically on the topics you may be struggling with or need clarification on. I actually went into Michael Robinson's office hours this past Thursday to discuss some of the topics I struggled with on the first geography exam, and let me tell you, I left that office with such a better understanding of all of the definitions and concepts I was previously struggling with. I think this is one of the best things about Santa Barbara City College- the fact that all the faculty are so passionate about their field of teaching and are so willing and eager to help every one of their students succeed. I find that it is actually pretty hard to do poorly at this school because there are so many resources offered to help students do their very best. In addition to office hours, the school offers learning workshops on a different topic relating to student success every week, provides textbooks for a 2 hour reserve in the library, offers a scanner to be able to scan library books as well as text books, and has so much more to dedicate to student success.

Really, when it comes down to it... your ability to succeed here at SBCC all depends on how much effort you are willing to put in, because al of the resources are laid out right in front of you.

My addiction

I have recently discovered that I have a pretty serious addiction. This addiction: COFFEE. I have always loved the occasional latte before an early morning lecture or when heading out for a long road trip, however, I have recently noticed that I NEED coffee now. I am starting to get headaches of I don't have my caffeine for the day and I definitely attribute this new found addiction to all of the stressors I have join on this semester.

For one, as I have noted before, my course load is pretty large this semester, and the work in each class just keeps getting progressively harder. That being said, I am spending ridiculous amounts of time in the library trying to get all of the concepts down and all of the textbook reading done. On top of my long days at school, I also work about five shifts per week, which basically means my life revolves around 'getting to the next thing'. I am always on the go "Oh I have school until 4, I need to rush home so I can change before I rush out to work, and after work I need to rush and get the closing check-list done so that I can rush to the library before it closes, and finally rush home so I can get to sleep with at least a few hours before I start the cycle over". Okay so by reading a little simplified excerpt from my inner thoughts throughout the day, I'm sure you can see why I'm always needing my caffeine to keep going- and I am sure many of you can relate to this type of lifestyle, and if you don't use caffeine as an aid to your busy life... props to you, that is honestly admirable!

Although the caffeine component of coffee is definitely the scientific reason for getting addicted, I recently discovered that there is more to my addiction that solely the caffeine. I have realized that I am addicted to the environments and good vibes in the coffee shops. I have recently started to go to the good cup because it is such an awesome place to gather my thoughts on my day and start attacking my homework in a peace. Since I am so busy, the only time I get to actually head over to a coffee shop for a couple hours is on the weekends, but I have found myself craving these couple of hours I have at the coffee shop. I love having some alone time in a quiet environment with a nice iced latte and some good vibes flowing. Most of the time I do homework but some friday mornings I do find myself heading over to the good cup on State Street to watch the new episode of Greys Anatomy...shhhh. However, I find that I get so much done, and am in such a better mood when I leave because I feel accomplished, a whole lot less stressed and also much calmer.

I know the library is fairly quiet, especially on the downstairs floor, but something about coffee shops sets off a better vibe to me. Maybe it's the retro music that's playing in the background, or the fact that people of all ages go in to get work done, or maybe it's even the smell... all I know is that my study space of choice would definitely be a coffee shop, and I definitely recommend trying it out!l

There's More to IV Than Partying

As you all have probably gathered, I have been trying to get out and explore Santa Barbara a lot more, not only just enjoy the beautiful city we live in, but also to help relieve at least some of the stress that I've talked about in previous posts. Well this weekend one of the adventures I took on was a beautiful bike ride out in Isla Vista. First of all, I had no idea how beautiful some of the beaches are out past the Isla Vista elementary school, nor did I know that there are some awesome bike and running trails over there past the ecological preserve.

On Sunday afternoon, my friend Matt and I decided to embark on what I thought was going to be a leisurely bike ride through the paved Isla Vista streets. Little did I know that this bike ride was actually a pretty legit ride through some dirt trails along a beautiful stretch just above the cliffs past the far end of del playa. There were tons of people kite surfing (which I hope will be an adventure I take on in the near future...stay tuned) and a bunch of people out enjoying the beautiful trails and beautiful day. It was such a relaxing thing to do on a sunday to wind down the weekend and get your mind set for the week ahead.


There were some sketch parts of the ride where I gladly hopped off of my bike to avoid plummeting down some pretty steep rocky points in the trail and one pretty brutal uphill stretch, but hey, why not get a little workout in too! My favorite part of the ride was when we got to these bluffs at our destination. There was a place to set our bikes down and head down a trail to the beach. The beach is covered in cool rocks filling alms the entire beach and there was also some really cool, whole shells. I was super pumped about the shells because not many beaches over in Santa Barbara have many shells, if any.

I was super happy to find this beautiful place out in IV, because usually when you think of nice trails and nice beaches around here, you think of wither Santa Barbara or Montecito. I have been kind of nervous about moving back out to IV next year because Iv is indefinitely known for its partying and this aspect sometimes overwhelms the actual beauty that can be found in IV.

If you haven't already experienced some of the beauty IV has to offer, I highly recommend it!

#There'sMoreToIVThanPartying

Have a fab week, and remember that spring break is closely approaching, you can do it!!

My Favorite Places on Campus

Today I got out of class early, so as I was strolling around campus the idea popped into my head that it would be awesome to share my favorite places on campus, so you too could enjoy them!

Enjoying my morning with
some good company at the
look out spot on east campus

My all-time top favorite spot on campus would be the lookout on east campus over by the humanities building. I usually find myself spending my few minutes before my psychology class overlooking the beautiful harbor with some good friends - and let me tell you, this is the best start to a monday morning. I truly do think relaxing around this peaceful and beautiful view really sets my day up to be more productive, efficient and just over all better!

Next, one of my other favorite spots would be the concrete benches over on east campus that are located just before you reach the staff parking lot while walking up by the PE buildings. I love this spot because it is such a convenient place for me to write some blogs or study some flashcards if I get out of class early. There is hardly ever anyone sitting there so it is super relaxing, especially because you can see the ocean from this lovely spot too! Another plus to these little benches is that the sun beats directly on them in the afternoon and for some reason or another, there seems to be no breeze, so this is the perfect spot to catch some rays and warm-up if you find that you have extremely cold classrooms, like I do.

Even though, this next spot isn't exactly open to all students, it very well could be! I am talking about the LFC. Although you do have to be enrolled to workout and participate in the group fitness classes, I highly recommend it, as it did make my list of favorite places on campus. I am so happy that I enrolled in the LFC. Since exercise is one of the best forms of stress relief, I think that everyone should take advantage of the awesome gym that is right on campus. Today, I had a quiz my geography lab, so I knew we were going to get out at least an hour and a half early. This morning I threw on my workout clothes, made sure I had a towel and headed off to class. We did, indeed get out of class two hours early, so I headed to the LFC to get a quick workout in before my first class, and I actually noticed that I actually stayed awake, was much more engaged in my lecture and actually got all of the clicker questions right after hitting the gym. So if you haven't yet thought about joining the gym you should definitely do so for next semester, it really helps in many aspects with college life!

Those are just a few of my favorite spots on campus, perhaps in a later blog I will share some more!

Hope you all have a safe, fun and stress free weekend!

Recent Festivities

These past couple of days have consisted of a few Santa Barbara firsts for me. Although I have lived here in SB for almost a year and a half, there are still some things I haven't done yet. That being said, you can only imagine all of the awesome things that there are to do here seeing that I have been here for a year and a half and I still haven't accomplished many of the awesome things there are to do in this beautiful city.

First, I want to take a second and say how awesome pressed juicer is. Everyone has always ranted and raved about this super healthy, super tasty juicer, however, I never had the desire to waste my hungry stomach on a bottle full of mashed up veggies. Regardless, I was on State Street tis previous weekend and passed by pressed juicer and for some odd reason and sample what I once though was nonsense and give in to the Santa Barbara "health-freak" society. Well needless to say, I sampled a couple different juices and they were actually pretty tasty (however, I still don't think I would be able to finish an entire bottle); but then... I saw the machines that produce a frozen juice blend and I was in! Needless to say, I am now obsessed  with pressed juicer's frozen blends. Let me tell you, these things are awesome! They have several flavors ranging from more slushy- fruit and veggie based blends to the staple vanilla and chocolate flavors. The best part about these are that, even though they are extremely tasty, they are also really healthy, as they are made up of the same contents as the juices, but are just simple frozen. You can also get a variety of different toppings ranging from dark chocolate chips, yogi berries (which are my personal favorite), almond butter, and a variety of berries. Basically, these frozen pressed juices are a significantly healthier version of fro-yo (which is probably why I was intrigued in the first place, because I love frozen yogurt). Anyways, I would highly recommend trying pressed juicery even if you are typically opposed to drinking your veggies - they have other tasty options - but beware, the freezes may become an addiction!

The other first for me this weekend was attending a showing of the movie Dead Pool at the West Wind Drive-in with a few good friends. I have never been to a drive-in and let me tell you, it was a blast! I was actually surprised that there was a lot of people there; by the time the movie started, the parking lot was full. So I guess Im pretty late jumping on the bandwagon of the great time the drive-in entails, but i'm guessing that I'm not the only college kid who has been distracted by the party life in IV, and only devoting my friday and saturday nights to socializing at house parties. So if you're looking for something to do instead of going out and partying, I highly suggest going to the drive-in. You still get to hang with good friends, make good memories and have a great time while bypassing the parties and staying completely sober.

Happy Hump Day Everyone! Have a great rest of the week!

Taking Care of Yourself

Recently, I have been extremely busy... and when I say busy I mean that I legitimately have not had even a minute in the past week to take a moment and gather my thoughts. It has been go, go, go... wake-up, get ready, grab breakfast and head out the door to walk to class. Then, since my school schedule only allows for ten minutes between classes, I have to rush from class to class, only to rush home and head out the door for work. Then, to no surprise, after work I grab dinner I grab dinner and head out the door to the library until 11:00 when the library closes and end up falling asleep around 11:30 from pure exhaustion. This has been my what my days have consisted of this entire week, and let me tell you... I am drained, tired, feeling under the weather, and have been somewhat aggravated in general.

Today I have realized that self-care and "me" time are essential to maintaining my well-being and well, my sanity. I have not taken one moment to myself this week; not one moment to gather my thoughts and destress, and I think it has really took its toll on me, both mentally and physically. In light of this realization, I decided to take one hour and dedicate it to myself; meaning that I wasn't going to worry about homework, who was testing me, what was going on on social media, or even stressing about my work schedule.

I decided to grab my yoga matt and head out to shoreline. I have always loved doing yoga, but since yoga studios are a bit on the expensive side in Santa Barbara, I haven't kept up with it as much as I would have liked. So having a love for yoga was only one reason why I decided to use my "me" time to go do some peaceful destressing. The other reason was just that; yoga is extremely peaceful, for me at least and when I practice yoga, my mind seems to center on that very moment instead of on every other nitty-gritty detail concerning my life thats usually passing through my mind. Boy key me tell you, I felt extremely better after taking sometime to take my mind off of my busy life. I even felt that I was way more motivated to be productive when I got home as well!

To all of us that are lucky enough to live in Santa Barbara: We are so fortunate that we live in such a place that has so many options for destressing and getting away from the hustle and bustle of college life. By this I mean that if we need to take a break from the enclosing walls of the library or realize that we need to stay grounded and take a break from the party scene, we have so many options to keep us busy, or help us destress. I mean what's a better destressor than the sound of the waves crashing up on the beach? So if you are feeling overwhelmed or stressed out go take a walk on the beach, do some yoga in the park, go kayaking, whatever it may be that you enjoy, go do it - make some time for yourself and I'll bet you'll see a difference in more than one aspect of you life!

As the classes get harder....

I've realized that throughout my college career, my classes and course load have been progressively getting harder and harder. Obviously, this is expected as it is anticipated that your knowledge is to expand and you are getting closer and closer to preparation for real life. When I first started at SBCC, I sort of felt like I was still in high school. I walked into my first class and we actually had a seating chart because from the first day on, we were assigned groups to work with. I am in no way saying this is a bad thing, actually, it was extremely helpful in helping me transition into this dramatic life change; it was just a lot different than I had expected. Of course, it depends on what classes you decide to take during your first semester as well; if you jump right on the band wagon and take microbiology or something of that nature, then of course you will be hit with a bigger load of homework and a more college like feel in regards to the teaching style. However, I am speaking from my personal experience and my first college class was "personal development", which by the way was a fantastic class to start off the new chapter of my life with; it really helped me to notice things I had not even noticed about myself.

Now that I am well into my last (fourth) semester here at SBCC, I have realized that real life really is just around the corner, and with that came a class schedule that complimented that realization I had. I've been noticing that my classes have less 'busy work' and that my grades in almost every class I'm taking this semester revolve around midterm exams,, perhaps a few quizzes here and there, a course paper and the final exam. Because our grade consists of nothing but these elements, my stress level is through the roof. I am finding that I haven't really had much experience with preparing for tests on my own with solely lecture notes and without prior exercises or homework assignments to help. Although I am stressed out, I am so thankful that I am now taking classes that will really prepare me for the UC system.

Keep Your Eye on the Prize

If any of you are in the same situation as I am right now, I just want to encourage you to keep going! You are not alone, and you will get through all these long days nights of studying and passing up invite after invite to study for midterms! Just remember fabulous things are yet to come and missing out on a few social events to ensure that you have good grades and are obtaining the knowledge you need to pursue your dreams will definitely be worth it... at least this is what I tell myself to keep me going!

Good Friends and Good Times

I've been talking a lot lately about how to obtain the greatest college experience from studying to enjoying the beautiful city we live in. I've also mentioned the importance of friends, but I really want to exaggerate this aspect of the college experience.

Like most of us, I assume, we've gained many "friends" at the beginning of college. By "friends" I mean a bunch of people that are willing to collaborate with you to get a bunch of people together to go out and party. However, as college goes on, and you keep maturing, you realize these aren't really the type of people who bring you up, or bring out the best in you. I think I have reached the point this semester where I have realized just that. My first few semesters here at city college I have to admit, I too, was one of the people who got caught up with artificial friends and thinking that all the partying and all the artificiality was such a great aspect of college life. Because I have started to realize that you need to surround yourself with people who lift you up, and keep you positive and motivated in  life, I've began to make some changes.

Although I still like to go out and party and still love being social, I've began to loosen the strings with people who are of no benefit to me. I've been hanging out with people who compliment my life and care about my wellbeing and let me tell you, I have been so much happier and so much more motivated to do well, not only in school, but also with taking care of myself. I've also realized that those who are your real friends will want to do more with you than solely get drunk and walk around to random parties. For example, this last weekend we got a group of our close friends together and all went camping for a night out at El Refugio Beach. (If you have never been camping out here in Santa Barbara, I highly recommend it. It is another one of those beautiful and extremely fun things that there are to do in Santa Barbara.)

All I'm saying here is that you need to surround yourself with people who will want to hangout with you for more than your 'under the influence self', people who enjoy you for who you are and want to get to know you without having any ulterior motives. I mean of course you and your friends are all going to have nights where you go out and party, but you just need to find the ones who are there to go get you some breakfast in the morning (and maybe bring you some advil) ;) Those are the ones you wanna keep around.