Ah, Snapchat. This lovely social media app, introduced to me in 2012, has become a huge part of my everyday life. Not only do I use it daily to keep the streaks alive with my seven best friends, I also use it to capture some of the most important (and cutest) parts of my day on and off campus.
Below you’ll find a collection of Snapchat images I’ve taken and posted on my public story since becoming a student here at the University of Iowa. You’ll quickly notice that I’m a huge fan of emojis, filters, stickers, the customizable character emoji feature from Bitmoji and geofilters. All of these components of Snapchat are why I love it and use it every single day.
This week, take a closer look at my life as a student through the eyes of my Snapchat camera.
One Sunday afternoon, my roommate, Celia, and I finally took the time to venture outside to study in Currier’s courtyard. It didn’t last too long because we were both sick and it was a little windy, but this is certainly a spot I’d consider doing homework at on another nice fall day.
The next week, I spent my Sunday doing some homework and then taking the time to head down to the Homecoming celebration at Hubbard Park. There I found free cotton candy and my close friend from high school, Emily, who was with the Iowa Track and Field team signing autographs!
This past Sunday, Celia’s mom came up to visit her and brought pumpkins for us to carve!! So later that night, we went down to the courtyard and carved our pumpkins with our boyfriends. I didn’t take a picture of the final result, but Celia’s is a cute little ghost saying “Boo!” and mine has “Trick or Treat Yo’ Self” carved into it. Carving pumpkins here really made it feel like fall, and they certainly make for some pretty festive decorations in our room.
Since my first class of the day begins at 4:30 P.M., I don’t have much to do on Mondays. Lucky for sick me, this worked out perfectly. I spent most of my Monday that week in my bed just trying to sleep my way back to health. I did end up going to my two classes that night and also made time to put up some cute fairy lights by my bed. (This is the fourth set of copper wire lights we’ve put up in the room and plan on putting more up for the Winter. You can never have too many cute lights.)
If there’s anything I love more than Snapchat, it’s free bagels. On this Tuesday, I decided to use my free Bruegger’s Bagel coupon after class for lunch. If you subscribe to their email, Bruegger’s will send you a coupon to have any kind of bagel with cream cheese for free!! This was perfect for lunch because there’s a store right across from my Media History lecture in Van Allen Hall, and nothing tastes better than free food.
This next picture of a Tuesday is a follow up to the sick pictures posted on Monday. I got myself out of bed and studied in the quiet area by Currier’s computer lab and fitness center to keep myself awake and get things done. I even carried a whole box of tissues with me to finish my homework because I literally couldn’t go five minutes without using one. Getting sick in college is not fun at all. AND if you’re sick and living with a roommate, chances are, they’re going to get sick too. Sorry Celia 🙁
The next week, my boyfriend and I decided to venture off campus three miles on his scooter to Pizza Hut to get some really cheap boneless wings. Like most people, we love Buffalo Wild Wings. However, on a college budget, “bdubs” can get a little pricey for two people. One night we stumbled upon an ad for Pizza Hut and found out that they sell their 8 piece wings for five dollars when you buy two or more. To save money on delivery, we just rode his scooter to pick up our order in-store. It was all fun and games until we got there and found out that they hadn’t even made our order yet. So we waited and eventually the wings were ready BUT the Pizza Hut employee decided to reward us for our patience and gave us twice the amount of wings (32 instead of 16!!) 32 wings for $10? Nice.
Recently, I’ve discovered how awesome Flex meals are. Eating in the Burge or Hillcrest dining halls can seem a little monotonous, so I like to spice it up every now and then for lunch with this option. Every semester, under the Gold meal plan, I’m allowed unlimited entries in the dining hall and 75 Flex meals. But if you think about the numbers, that allows you to have at least one Flex meal every day of the semester. These meals don’t rollover, so lately I’ve tried to eat them more frequently and it’s great! On this Wednesday, I decided to eat in the IMU but they also offer Flex meals at the Library, the Clinton Street Market in Burge, the Street Hawk Food Truck, and countless other locations on campus. 
The next two images were taken the night of my first choir concert in the new Hancher Auditorium. Pictured above are some of the girls I’ve gotten to know in my voice section. I’m not going to lie, it’s been pretty hard making friends here, but I’m glad that I’m starting to become closer with these girls. There’s a Starbucks located right across the street from the school of music, so one day I went there after choir and most of these girls were there. We talked about glitter and makeup while walking back to the dorms with our coffee. I think it’s safe to say that I’ve found my people.
After stu(dying) in the library all morning before my first Media History exam, I stopped by the Food For Thought Cafe to grab some sushi and enjoy a lunch on the Pentacrest. I never thought that I would enjoy my Thursdays this much, but they are by far my most valued and productive days.
After choir one Thursday it was pouring and I didn’t feel like walking to the other end of Clinton St. to Currier. I decided that this would be a wonderful time to wander around Voxman for a bit and found what I think is the best study space on campus. Located on the main floor past the reception desk is the Rita Benton Music Library. First of all, these are two of my favorite things combined (libraries + music) so it’s no wonder this place amazes me. It’s completely silent and had multiple pod-like studying chairs with moveable desks attached and a footrest. Studying doesn’t get much better than this.
The next week, Tuesday was National Coffee day so I had a reason to take a selfie with my usual Thursday morning cup of coffee before my Media Society discussion at 8:30 A.M.
One Friday in September, I took some time to visit my good friend Gina and catch up on life. We met in high school but now she’s a sophomore here and decided to show me around to some of her favorite places downtown. After lunch at the coffee shop High Grounds, we went to fun antique stores and the ever cute White Rabbit boutique. If you’re coming to school here and already know someone who knows their way around town, I 100% recommend taking the time to meet up with them. I found a ton of cool new places and reconnected with a really great person in the process.
The next two pictures came from this most recent Friday where I was just feeling good. I got really excited about seeing my mom later that night and was obviously very excited about my socks. Fall weather makes me so happy because of all of the comfy clothes. Later that night Mom and I had a great dinner at Graze downtown. I love catching up with my mom even if it is only for a few hours.
Saturdays- the most popular days to post a picture on my story- typically consist of football game selfies, food, and visits back home.
For about three weekends straight, I somehow ended up at Hurts Donuts outside of Iowa City in Coalville. I’m not complaining though. These hyper-decorated donuts are worth every penny, and I’ve discovered that the best item to order here is a donut milkshake. You can customize your order by mixing and matching the donuts and milkshake flavors, then they’ll top it off with a donut instead of a lid. My favorite is either the Dirt or Fred Flintstone donut shake 😋
Instead of staying in town for Iowa’s Homecoming, I decided to go home and do some Homecoming makeup for my friends going to the dance. Every year since her sophomore turn-a-bout dance, I did makeup for my close friend Lauren. It’s always nice coming home and it would’ve just been weird if I didn’t help her get ready for her last Homecoming. Later that night, I went out to dinner with my mom and little sister Nicci to visit my other sister, Audrey, at the pizza place she works at. It was quite a happy, reunion-filled, homecoming for me. ☺️
If you’d like to see more of my daily life on and off campus, feel free to follow my Snapchat, my username is rachel_crack! It’s the only public social media site I have that I post on basically every day and as always, keep checking out my personal blog at https://freshhawk.wordpress.com