Taking Time to De-Stressify your Life

Hello All,

It's the middle of October and that means exactly 3 things:
1) Pumpkin-Spice flavored EVERYTHING
2) Cooler temperatures (well, maybe someday in Texas)
and 3) Midterms are upon us!

While it is extremely important to study hard and do well on your exams, you're not going to do as well if you're totally stressed out, so today I'm going to talk about ways to De-Stressify your Life.

Generally, there are three main ways to de-stress:
1) Quiet Reflection or Meditation
2) Physical Activity
3) Doing something creative

Start by brainstorming a list of things that you really enjoy; activities that make you happy. This is your starting point whenever you need to take a break from studying. However, it is good to have more than one go-to for de-stressing. For example, I have many friends that bake when they're stressed, and if they follow that up with stress eating, you can see that this will lead down a dark path. Here are some additional suggestions if you need more ideas about how to de-stress:

1. Take a long hot shower or bubble bath
2. Try some breathing exercises
3. Have a 1 minute dance break
4. Get a massage; if you're with friends, get a massage circle going.
5. Watch a Movie (I don't recommend watching TV as it can easily turn into binge watching. Movies have a set time limit, so unless you're having a movie marathon, you'll most likely only be taking a 1.5-2 hour study break)
6. Clean (trust me, this works as evidenced by my near spotless apartment during midterms. You'll de-stress and have a clean living space)
7. Be social
8. Read something for fun
9. Go outside. Go for a walk/bike ride and enjoy the change of scenery and fresh air
10. Draw or Paint - really this just boils down to doing something creative be it knitting, cooking, or crafting.
11. Go shopping - nothing like a little retail therapy!
12. Make some music! - If you don't play an instrument, sing or get a beat going by tapping your pencil.


I hope you found this post interesting and helpful!

P.S. If you have any topic in particular that you'd like me to talk about in a post, please leave me a comment.

Taking Advantage of Your College Environment

Hello Everyone!

I didn't get a chance to write up a post last week, and for that I do apologize, so for this post I'll combine two topics in a super-post I'll call "Taking Advantage of Your College Environment."

The first subtopic I'll be addressing is Campus Services. Most students are aware of at least a few of the campus services available to them such as an activity center and a health center, but there are usually many different services that many students never hear of. These services can include:

• a post office
• Multicultural/Diversity center
• Career Center
• Counseling Center
• Study abroad office
• Student escort service 
• Notary
• Discounted tickets
• Women's Center

I encourage all students, particularly incoming freshmen, to investigate all of the services that your school offers and take advantage of them since you're already paying for them with your tuition and fees.

Now, I'll move on to my second topic: Getting to Know Your New Environment. This extends beyond becoming familiar with the campus to learning about the surrounding areas. It doesn't matter where your college is, there will always be interesting and fun things to do in the city/town. Go try out some local restaurants and shops and explore museums and local history. When I was in High School, I participated in a summer college program at the University of Mississippi. It's located in the quaint college town of Oxford, MS, and over the month I had getting to explore campus with my new friends. While seeing everything on campus was neat (the Grove was AWESOME), I think I had the most fun while exploring Oxford. One day I took a trip with a small group of friends out to see William Faulkner's home and on the way back to campus, we stopped in a local restaurant to snack on some chips and salsa, and that turned out to be one of the most memorable days of that entire summer.

It's incredibly important to like the city your college is in, because that's where you're going to (hopefully) be spending the next four years of your life, and while many freshmen like to stay on campus as much as they can to get fully immersed in the college experience, by their junior or senior year they've become bored because they've exhausted all of the entertainment available to them on campus. You'd be surprised by just how much there is to do in surrounding areas, so do some research or ask some people who live in the area (like maybe your professors... here's your chance to practice those Academic Communication Skills!).


I hope you found this post helpful and informative! Next week (or hopefully sometime later this week) I'll be talking about managing your college environment including ways to avoid procrastination and get through midterms without a hitch, so please check back soon! Thanks for reading!

Academic Communication Skills

This week in {ruth} speaks college, I'll be sharing a bit about academic communication. First of all, proper academic communication is a skill that transcends your college career, and will be of great importance to you later in life as you are applying and interviewing for internships and jobs, and when you are employed and need to email or have a discussion with your boss or your coworkers.

As a brief introduction into academic communication, watch this video from the University of Victoria! It's as educational as it is hilarious!

If you'd rather skip the video or you just watched it, some of main points from this video are:

1. Know how to address your professor - some professors are cool with you calling them by their first name, others may wish to be called "Professor" or "Doctor ____". Your professor will typically tell you on the first day how they would like to be addressed.

2. If you have a quick question, it's best to just talk to your professors after class. If your question is longer, you can go to your professor's office hours or send them an email.

          -When emailing a professor, use appropriate language and formatting [no text talk or emoticons! :)] and make sure to include your name, course number, and section number, so that your professor knows exactly who is emailing them and what class you're in. You should also your course number and a description of your email in the subject bar. This is especially important since many professors teach more than one class, sometimes even different subjects, so this will help them be able to respond to you more efficiently.

3. When talking to your professor in person or emailing them, try to be direct and to the point. If you are meeting with them in person, maybe jot down a quick list of what all you want to discuss, so you don't forget about something that you wanted to talk with your professor about.

4. Be cautious and respectful when talking with a professor about grades. Try to ask for their reasoning behind your grade or advice on how to improve your grades in the future.

 An additional aspect of academic communication that is important to be aware of is Non-Verbal Communication. This includes facial expression, gestures, body language and posture, proximity, eye contact, and overall appearance. These are all things that will be of greater importance later on in life as you interview for internships and jobs, so it's a good idea to begin practicing these behaviors and skills now.

Importance of Getting Involved on Campus (And new exciting things!)

I apologize for such a long absence from posting. I noticed that I haven't written up a post since the first week of September, so that needed to be remedied. Since I apparently have difficulty coming up with topics for blog posts, I've decided I'm going to continue with the themes of college-related posts. I suppose I should begin by telling you a bit about myself. I am currently a Senior, and I have been an Orientation Leader at my University for the past two years and this year I have the opportunity to teach a freshman seminar class, so I consider myself to have a wealth of knowledge about how college works. I'm planning on having a weekly post about a college-related topic (probably not actually on Tuesdays though - we'll see what happens), and if you have suggestions please leave them for me in the comments! This week's post is going to be about getting involved on campus.

 

For most students, we're now entering the third or fourth week of classes! By now, you've probably found yourself overwhelmed by all the clubs and organizations that seem to be everywhere on campus. You might have even found a group to join. If that's the case: Congratulations! If you haven't yet found a club or organization that meets your needs/wants, then I encourage you to keep looking, or if possible, start your own!

The rule I generally hear is that students should try and be in at least two organizations or clubs; one that aligns with your major/degree/career choice and one that is something you're interested in. My freshman year, I joined a Pre-Health society and a volunteer organization called Learn to Be, where I could tutor kids online. These checked off the two boxes for me. At the same time, don't go overboard with the organizations because you will feel like you don't actually have time for classes. Try reminding yourself that the primary reason you are in college is to get an education, so classes should come first. If you find out later on that you're too involved, it's ok to cut back. Trust me, the club isn't going to hate you for leaving because they're all college students too and they understand how important it is for you to be able to manage your time well.

Now I want to move into why getting involved is so crucial to your college career.

1. Make friends! If this isn't your main reason for joining a group, it should be a close second or third.
2. Tutoring/Study Groups/Advice from others
3. Events/Parties/Activities - most clubs will have at least a few events each semester, so this can give you an opportunity to relax and have fun.
4. Carpools - this kind of goes with making friends. It's extremely possible that others in your group have a car, and might drive you places if you don't.
5. Study break - because studying all the time can drain you and leave you mentally exhausted (not a great thing when you have a test later in the week)
6. Leadership experience and Community service
7. Networking - Maybe the student sitting next to you works in a research lab or has this sweet internship lined up. He or she could possibly help you out later on.
8. Resume - probably the most cliche thing related to academics and clubs. Yes, you can put it on your resume and it may make you look better to interviewers
9. Teacher recommendation/References - most clubs/organizations have to have a faculty sponsor. 

Organization and Study Tips for College

For many college students around the country, this is the second week of classes, which means exams are anywhere from 2-4 weeks away. That might still seem like a lot of time, but as the coursework starts picking up, it's easy to get overwhelmed as that time flies by, so here are some organization and study tips for college students.

1. Invest in a planner. No, I do not mean spend $50 on a 5-in-1 life planner, address book, farmers almanac, 5 year calendar, huge spiral bound monstrosity. Yes, these do work wonderfully for some people, and if you are one of those people, please be my guest. What I mean is that you should invest time and energy into setting up your planner and continually using it throughout the year. When I get my syllabi at the beginning of each semester, I like to go into my planner and mark all of the test dates and project due dates for the entire semester. Occasionally these dates may get shuffled around, but at least you'll have it in your planner to begin with, and then you can scratch it out and rewrite it or draw a huge arrow from the original date to the new date. You also have to invest a few minutes outside of class to write down homework assignments and then check to make sure you've completed everything that needs to get done. Usually if I don't have any upcoming assignments in a class, I'll make a note of that too, just so that when I'm looking back through my planner I know I haven't forgotten something for that class.

2. Use sticky notes. Seriously, there are a million different practical applications for the usage of sticky notes. They make marvelous book marks that you can annotate and they're really handy for reminding you of stuff. I like to make notes of assignments and due dates on sticky notes and post them on the wall above my desk. When I finish the assignment, I take it down, crumple it up, and throw it in the trash can, giving me a wonderful feeling of accomplishment until I look back up at the wall and see at least 10 more sticky notes waiting to be removed. Basically however you choose to use them, sticky notes are wonderful little things!

3. Keep your course materials together. Some people like to have a different folder or binder for each class, so if that works for you, go ahead! I personally don't like constantly having to switch out binders, mostly because I'm terrified I'll bring the wrong one by mistake. However you choose to keep papers and materials organized, make sure you continued to use it. It can become really easy to just cram a bunch of handouts into the front pocket of a binder, but then you end up having to shuffle through a huge stack of paper to find what you're looking for, and it takes forever. So, I recommend using dividers or one of those accordion pocket folders to keep papers organized by class and, if you're really ambitious, by subsection.

4. Flashcards. We've now moved on to "study" tips, and the first big one is FLASHCARDS! The reason the flashcards are so popular is that they work! True, you may merely be memorizing the concepts, but hey, sometimes that's all it takes to do well on a test. Some people like using online flashcard websites and programs, and again, if this works for you, do it! I'm a personal fan of handwriting my own flashcards out on note cards (usually note cards that I've cut in half so's to save paper). I find that simply writing out the concepts onto the flashcards helps me, and having the physical flashcards with me in my backpack allows me to review/study, with or without internet access during short breaks of time that I would normally just waste playing a game on my phone.

5. Read the textbook. Your professor assigned it for a reason: it will help you do well in the class. I'm not saying that you have to read ahead in the book, so that you already know exactly what your professor is talking about, but it's good to not fall really far behind. I remember for one of my intro biology classes, I felt fairly comfortable with the material, so I chose not to read the book, assuming that attending lectures and workshops would be enough to do well. During the week of the first test, other students told me that there would apparently be a significant part of the test that came directly from the book instead of the lectures, so I panicked and started reading right away, and, wouldn't you know it, I fell asleep after reading the first 3 pages. I mean, deep, deep sleep; like I think I crashed for about 2 hours because the book was so boring, I was overwhelmed with how much I needed to read, and I was exhausted. Please, learn from my mistakes and read the assigned parts of the book!

6. Learn your learning style. Are you a visual learner or an auditory learner? How about a kinesthetic or logical learner or a solitary or social learner? Figure out what learning styles work best for you, and use it to your advantage. If you're an auditory learner, ask your professor if you can record the lectures and listen to them again. If you're visual, study figures and diagrams more closely and try to write things out. If you're not sure what learning style you have, you can take a quiz online such as these: Educationplanner.org
       LDpride.net
       Vark: A guide to learning styles

7. Form a study group and take turns "teaching" the concepts to one another. Research shows that being able to teach a concept indicates mastery of the concept, so while you're studying with your friends, take a break and try to explain it to them without using any of your notes. If you're able to clearly explain the concept to them, then you probably understand it enough yourself to do well on the test/assignment. Also, when working with a study group, try and use a variety of learning styles to help all of the members of the group.

I hope that these tips have given you new ideas about different things to try (or not to try) to help you do well in your classes this semester, or to help you stay organized and on top of things. Thank you for reading my blog, and please check back here often for new posts.

10 Tips for the First Week of College

Hello all, this post is meant to be a follow up to 5 Tips for Incoming Freshman Orientation, and without further ado, in no particular order, here's 10 Tips for the First Week of College:

1. Attend Class
           This may seem like a no brainer, but you'd be surprised just how many students decide straightaway that their classes are pointless to go to. Even if it seems like you might already know everything that your professor is talking about during the first day, keep going to class to meet your classmates if nothing else. Then when the material gets more difficult (which it will), you'll have some friends/acquaintances there to form a study group with.

2. Read your Syllabi
           You will get a syllabus for each class you're in whether it's handed to you on paper or you have to look it up online to read it. Many students either promptly throw this paper away or shove it to the back of their binder, but you shouldn't do that! Oftentimes professors will list all of the due dates for the entire semester in the syllabus and if you lose it, you might miss the deadline for a major project or not know that you had a test in class one day. So this tip actually has two parts: read your syllabi and make note of the important dates!

3. Get an organizer and use it
           This goes hand in hand with the syllabi tip. In college, with classes on random days and some that may only meet once a week, it's easy to forget what assignments/due dates you have for each class (cause you're brain is being overfilled with knowledge), so get a planner/organizer/calender/whatever to help you remember these assignments/projects/test dates.

4. Don't be a hermit
           When I first moved in with my current roommates, we all brainstormed together for our "apartment rules" and added to the list as needed. One of the first ones we came up with was "Don't be a hermit (unless you're a crab)." While it seems funny, it actually is serious. I'd say that at least half of your college experience comes from the friends you make and activities you're involved in and not the classes you're taking. While classes are important, the first week or two will be less stressful and the ideal time to start making new friends and joining clubs and organizations that interest you.

5. Get ahead
           The first few weeks of classes are generally the calmest and easiest period during the semester. Use this time before the coursework starts picking up to start brainstorming ideas for later projects or even something as simple as reading ahead in the text. The further along you get in the semester, the easier it is to fall behind, so combat that now!

6. Start getting to know your professors
           Since the first part of the semester is generally less stressful, this is also a good time to start building relationships with your professors, especially any professors that you might want a recommendation letter from later on. Your professors are also more likely to be available to talk with you now as opposed to the week of the first exam when they're bombarded with tons of students wanting to ask questions about the test material. Get your foot in the door early.

7. Stay on campus as much as possible
           This one mainly relates to commuter students, but it can also apply to students who live on campus. The first week(s) of college are chock full of activities and gatherings, and the best part is that everyone is open to meeting new people. My school has a larger percentage of students who commute to campus for classes, and I see a bunch of them missing out on a lot of fun events because they'd rather not stay on campus if they don't have to. Also, residential students can also gain from staying on campus as much as possible for meals instead of driving off campus. The food may be better off campus, but the people and connections you can make from eating with others at the dining hall will make up for it.

8. Take advantage of free stuff/offers
           Many incoming students have a limited to no supply of spirit wear for their university/college, but instead of going to the bookstore to buy an overpriced t-shirt, you can probably get free shirts all over campus during the first few weeks of school. Just this year, I was able to get 2 t-shirts in one day without even going to all of the events that were going on that day. In addition to free shirts and other "swag" items given out by the truckload, free food is also quite abundant during this time from free nachos to free icecream to free popcorn. Lastly, many campus services may offer special discounts to students during this time like $10 worth of free printing or raffles to win a gift basket.

9. Don't be too quick to judge
           This one is admittedly broad as it can apply to people, classes, clubs, or even the campus as a whole. The first few weeks are often completely different from how the rest of the semester is and it may take everyone, professors included, some time to get back into gear and find a routine again. It can also be really easy to judge your fellow classmates, but try not to. Everyone tries to make a good impression in the beginning, so it can be hard to see what's genuine and what's not. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt and then let the chips fall where they may.

10. Be Yourself
           Alright, you knew it was probably coming, the cheesy "be yourself" tip. Lots of people like to dress up and wear lots of make up their first few days of college, and I can understand the desire to make a good impression on the faculty and your classmates, but it's really unnecessary as you may see many (or possibly all) upperclassmen wearing t-shirts and running shorts to class. Don't try acting like someone you're not, because then the friendships you make won't be as genuine and as the year goes by, making new friends becomes more difficult, so don't set yourself up for failure in this area.

My (partial) solution to solving the obesity epidemic

The other day I was shopping around for some athletic shorts, and as I have mentioned in a previous post, I am a full-figured, plus-sized woman. As I was browsing through the racks of athletic shorts, I noticed a trend. 75% of the rack was size small or extra small (why is this even a thing?), 20% were medium, and 5% were larges. Absolutely nothing bigger than a large. Frustrated, I figured that maybe the women's section of the department store would have the plus-sized athletic clothing. How kind of them to make the womens' wear section a one-stop shop for everything above size 14 (please note intense level of sarcasm in that statement). So, I walked around the store to the womens' section, and guess what? If you guessed that there was absolutely no athletic clothing there, you'd be correct! What is up with that? I mean, seriously!

Society keeps telling us that there's an obesity epidemic and demands that people of a certain weight eat healthier and work out to lose weight. However, how they expect this to happen when stores don't carry athletic clothing in larger sizes is beyond me! It's just not logical. You're essentially making it more difficult for someone to do something that they probably don't want to do in the first place. And even if they do want to work out to lose weight, they might become dissuaded or frustrated with how difficult it is to find appropriate workout attire. If overweight individuals cannot purchase athletic clothing in stores, their only other option is to order them online; however, that doesn't make anything easier. They still have to find something online in their size (which will be frequently sold out online), pay extra money to order it (s&h is a pain!), and hope that it fits when it shows up after at least a week of waiting. If it doesn't fit, then it must be returned (additional s&h) and the buyer will either reorder it in a different size, or give up and take a refund.

My proposal: if stores would start offering athletic clothing in larger sizes, overweight individuals might be more likely to start working out and lose weight. This even benefits the clothing companies, because when people lose weight, they have to buy new clothes in their new, smaller size! See, everyone benefits from this, so please, clothing companies and stores, start offering decent plus-sized athletic clothing IN STORES!

Rant about "Plus Size" clothing

I am a full-figured woman in my 20's. Most of the time I am comfortable with my body, but I always get a little jealous of those skinny little nothings who get to wear the trendy "Juniors" clothing. And what do full figured women like myself get to pick from? Usually 2-3 racks of overpriced granny clothing. If I wanted to look like a granny, I'd go to a thrift store or ask for hand-me-downs.

Most estimates place the average dress size of an American woman at size 14-16, so why haven't clothing companies caught up? HELLO, BIG IS BEAUTIFUL TOO! There are some stores that specialize in "Plus Size" women's clothing, but again, most of them sell clothing designed with older women in mind. (One notable exception is Lane Bryant. Bless you, Lane Bryant, and your tastefully modern "plus size" clothing!) Additionally, in most cases if you are able to find trendy clothing in a larger size, it doesn't fit right, because so many of today's fashion trends only flatter the thin or athletic builds. It is so aggravating! And this is just regular clothing, I haven't even talked about swim suits yet! Many (and I would even venture to say most) women despise swimsuit season because going around half-naked is really uncomfortable for some people. It's even more uncomfortable if you can't find swim wear that fits well.

Alright, this rant is almost over, but I still have one more point to make. Why is it that most "plus size" clothing is also made for "petite" women? SERIOUSLY!? It's like clothing makers assume if you're "plus size" you must be short to compensate. What is that about? I have to special order pants from companies just so that they come down below my ankles, and of course that adds an additional charge. All I'm saying is that if men's departments have "Big and Tall" then why can't women's departments?

Well, that was quite a rant. I'm sure there's more I missed, so I'll make a follow-up post when I think of it. Also, I'd like some reader feedback. I'm curious what term you prefer to define "plus size" clothing as. Some companies call it "Womens" while others call it "plus size" or "full-figured," so what do you prefer? Please leave your answer in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

5 Tips For Incoming Freshmen Orientation

For many high school students (at least in the Dallas Area) this past week was filled with many exams and graduation ceremonies, and now many of those students have begun a 2.5 month wait until their first day of college. As an Orientation Leader at my University, throughout the summer I help facilitate Freshman Orientations, welcoming new students to campus and helping them schedule classes. This will be my second year as an Orientation Leader and I've compiled a list of tips and advice for incoming students at Orientation.

1. Meet People!
      When I was a freshman, meeting other students at orientation really wasn't high up on my to-do list. I was there to get information about the school and register for my classes. It didn't help that a lot of students from my High School were also attending this University because I felt that I didn't need to meet people. At orientations, you will have opportunities to meet new people who share the same interests as you, and who may be taking the same classes as you. Speaking from personal experience, it's also a good idea to meet people for the simple reason that you won't have to eat lunch by yourself. Trust me, you don't want to do it. It can be kinda awkward and embarrassing to talk to strangers, but its nothing compared to the awkwardness and embarrassment of eating lunch all by yourself.

2. Actually Listen to the Presentations
       I guarantee you we don't just come up with these speeches and presentations to bore you or kill time. You can learn all sorts of information by actually paying attention to the speakers. And if you can't pay attention, still be respectful by not sleeping or texting because people put a lot of hard work into this.

3. Browse clubs and organizations
      Many schools will have organization fairs during orientation where club members will come out and share information about their organization at a booth. There may be a ridiculous number of groups, so don't get overwhelmed. Some schools may have a list of all of the organizations or an organization fair map, so you can quickly look up clubs that interest you. A word of caution as well: don't sign up for too many clubs because when classes actually start up you'll probably be busy and not actually have an abundance of free time to spend in clubs. I recommend joining at least 2 clubs (1 academic-based club and 1 interest-based), but definitely no more than 4 or 5. When looking around, also take into consideration how often groups meet. Some clubs meet once a week, while others meet only monthly or bi-monthly, and the meetings may only be 30 minutes long, or they could last 3-4 hours. This may not matter much to you as a Freshman, but later on, if you want to take a leadership role in the organization, they may have additional meetings that you have to attend. Just try to be realistic, and if you find that you do over commit your time Freshman year, don't be afraid or ashamed to quit a club or two, everyone will understand and you'll likely feel a lot better.

4. Learn how to Schedule Classes yourself
      One of the most frustrating things that I experienced last year as an Orientation Leader was when family members would come in with their students and try to tell them what classes to take and when they should take it. I'm not saying all family members were like that, but there were definitely enough of them like that to make me a little wary whenever a bunch of family members came into advising with their students. Many family members were great though, very hands off, and only making a few suggestions here and there. What many family members didn't seem to realize is that their students will have to do this by themselves for the next semester and the following 6 semesters (assuming a standard 4-year graduation track). I also understand the family members' concerns. They're worried about their student getting a "worse" professor, or getting stuck with Saturday classes, or not being about to graduate soon enough, or not being able to get into a graduate school or health professions school. As hard as it is to let them take control, you have to trust in your student and his or her adviser, because the adviser will do his or her best to keep your student on track.

5. Take Orientation as a opportunity to familiarize yourself with campus.
      Although you might not have your whole class schedule or know where your classes are yet, orientation is a fantastic opportunity to take in as much of campus as you can. Go check out the Student Union, the Library, the Gym, and any other unique places on campus. This is where you'll be spending a lot of the next 4 years of your life (again, assuming a 4-year track) so why not get to know it? You can also use this as a chance to meet current students and ask about their favorite places on campus and if they know any of the school's "best kept secrets."

Hi, my name is ____ and I'm a Pinterest Addict

As the title may suggest, I'm just a little obsessed with Pinterest. Ok, I'm definitely addicted. But, like most things, it does have its positives and negatives, so here are some things you should know about Pinterest whether you're already an avid pinner or you've never even heard of it.

1. Pinterest is basically electronic hoarding. I'll be the first to admit, I constantly pin things that I wish I owned, but if I ever actually owned all of these physical items I would be concerned if my family didn't hold and intervention and try to get me some help. Not to mention the whole empty pocketbook issue...

2. Pinterest is full of valuable information. This information usually comes in the form of "life hacks." If this is a foreign concept to you, basically "life hacks" are tips and tricks that make life much simpler. These are usually stupidly genius ideas brought to you by someone who's had to think outside the box a time or two in his or her lifetime.

3. Pinterest is also full of interesting but totally useless information. This usually comes in the form of movie trivia! For example, one of the most under-appreciated Disney jokes of all time is in "Hercules" when one of the two boys stuck under the rock slide says "Somebody call IX-I-I." Ha! So clever, Disney!

4. Pinterest is full of wonderful and delicious ideas! See 3-2-1 cake. I think I've made my point.

5. Pinterest can get a little old. This is because many Pinners only pin items that the people they are following have already pinned, meaning that few Pinners are actually pinning new material. So if you're on Pinterest, please, please, please pin new stuff!

6. Pinterest can cause a young woman to start planning her wedding before she even has a boyfriend. When I first joined Pinterest and I saw all of these people pinning wedding ideas, I scoffed and told myself how ridiculous it was and that I'd never do something like that until I had a serious boyfriend. I think that lasted until my brother got engaged and I suddenly knew exactly what all of these pins were talking about, and some of them were actually really good ideas, so I caved... yeah, I'm one of those people too. I guess when and if I ever get engaged I'll have less planning to do then, so this is a good thing, right? That's at least what I tell myself to feel better.

7. Pinterest is an enabler of fandoms everywhere. Sherlock, Doctor Who, Once Upon a Time, Supernatural, Game of Thrones, and just about any other fandom out there is ridiculously over represented on Pinterest, allowing fangirls and fanboys alike to share their theories and obsessions with the world. Not that I'm judging. I have a Doctor Who board with over 200 pins.

And last, but not least

8. Pinterest is severely overloaded with pictures of cute baby animals, so don't make an account if you can't handle the cuteness overload.

That's all for today, thanks for reading!

Comparison is the Thief of Joy

I've been thinking  a lot lately about how often we compare ourselves with others and immediately become discouraged or frustrated because we can never be just like them. Growing up it was that I wasn't as smart as others students in my classes, and even now in college this is still a constant concern of mine, but now dating has become involved as well. I've caught myself many times thinking, "why can't I be in an adorable relationship like them," after running into a friend with his or her significant other. This type of thinking is neither encouraging nor productive. So why do we do it? 

Theodore Roosevelt is credited with saying “comparison is the thief of joy,” and I definitely feel that he hit the nail on the head. Our society seems to encourage comparison about everything. “Which toilet paper is the best? Which mascara is most waterproof or gives the longest looking lashes? Who can sing or dance the best? Whose personal life is more interesting?” And on and on and on and on; it’s exhausting. We constantly look at what others have that we don’t instead of looking at what God has gifted us with. If we put as much time and energy into exploring and nurturing our own gifts as we do into comparing ourselves to others, we would not only be so much happier, but we would also be closer to becoming who God wants us to be. Comparison will always be there, but we have to make the decision not to dwell on those negative thoughts or devalue ourselves in our own eyes, because we are loved by the King, and that’s all that matters.

First Post!

Hello reader of my blog!

I've toyed with the idea of writing a blog for some time now, because I find that writing helps me process emotions and brings me joy. My blog is called T{ruth} Speaks Life, because my name is Ruth and in this blog I'm just going to talk about life. My struggles, my victories, and the lessons that I've learned.

Well, that pretty much sums up my first post! Thanks for reading!