Well hello there! Sorry I haven’t posted in a while. Coming back from Spring Break meant one thing, school is coming to an end. Crazy to say that my first year of college is almost over. It sounds cliché but I honestly still feel like I just moved in yesterday. Being here for five months I have learned a lot of things. Although I am no expert I thought I would share what I know now.

1. It’s completely acceptable to not have your life together… Let me put it this way I have worn my minion slippers out in public on numerous occasions.
2. You aren’t a morning person. No matter how early you used to get up for high school, college time is different. 8ams now feel like 4ams and 10:30 classes are almost still too early. My schedule next semester has been updated for this change.
3. Iowa is good at football. I know we all know this but I thought I would just remind anyone reading. 12-0 regular season.
4. Winter actually means winter. Even though people have told me that this is mild and I’m still surviving. Winter here is not 65 degree weather with sun. But, I’ll admit spinning around in the snow is still fun, even when people look at me like I’m crazy.
5. Diploe-Dipole bonds are the second weakest bonds. This fact is courtesy of my roommate Mags Dull. You probably didn’t care about this and don’t actually find it important, but honestly neither do I.
6. You WILL be broke. No matter how much money you have you are always broke. Especially at the beginning of the semester when you are pretty much taking out a mortgage to buy books.
7. You will have the most amazing time ever. No matter where you go, the experiences you have will be second to none. I have been here for less than a year and I can say I have made lifelong friends (shout out again to Mags Dull) and have learned more than I could have imagined. The amount of growing up I have done here is substantial. I am so grateful for being able to have this experience and wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Until Next Time

Go Hawks!

 

 

Less than 3 months from now I will no longer be a freshman. I am still in denial about how quickly this year has gone. Although it’s not over yet I have created a list of 15 things you have to do before your freshman year comes to a close. Many of these are do-able at every college but some are specific to the best university ever created (it’s Iowa if you didn’t know).

1. Tailgating
2. Go to a game at Kinnick
3. Eat at both Burge and Hillcrest
4. Have an all-nighter during midterms or finals
5. Go to Java House
6. Get a photo with Herky
7. Go to kick-off @ Kinnick
8. Take at least 1 class that isn’t required for your major
9. Go to a $3 CAB movie
10. Order pizza at 2am (Gumby’s or Mesa counts and is preferred)
11. Cry over the cost of books at least once
12. Touch the brain rock before an exam
13. Shop local downtown
14. Go to the museum at MacBride
15. Wear pajamas to class or the dining hall

Until Next Time…

Go Hawks!

Welcome back! Hope you had an amazing weekend. Last Monday it officially became fall, which is my favorite season, and not just for the PSL at Starbucks. Since we are done with summer I thought I would share some of my favorite memories from my past 6 weeks here at U of I. Here we go!

1. Pittsburg Game: If you can’t tell from my other blog posts I am kind of obsessed with football, especially Hawkeye football. Although the other games, especially State, were amazing Pittsburg was by far my favorite football experience so far. The entire game was nail biting. A guy I met in the stands put it the best way possible, “it’s like a roller coaster that just got fixed, you don’t know if it’s going to break or if it’s going to work but it will be the best ride of your life”. Luckily the roller coaster worked and we won the game. How about that 57 yard field goal?
2. My Daum Dolls: This probably makes no sense to anyone expect me and my Daum dolls, but people can relate to this in general. I think one of the most amazing things about college is the fact that I have been able to make so many new and amazing friends. Shout out to dorm (p.s. not a spelling mistake) floor 2 and all of our late night Disney karaoke in the hallways.
3. Late Night Pizza: after a long Saturday of football and celebrating, which we have been doing a lot with our 4-0 record, the best way to end the night is late night pizza and Netflix in the dorm. Good tip- Dominos delivers to the dorms until 3am.
4. 1^st Day of Class: Although this may sounds cheesy my first day of class was actually pretty cool. One of my friends and I grabbed a Starbucks before our 10:30 and just sat the Pentacrest soaking it all in. The thought of lecture and college classes was scary but amazing at the same time. We were typical little freshman freaking out about being in college. In fact we loved starting our morning like that so much, that it became a Monday morning tradition.

Random Tip- As well as being a great place for morning Starbucks, the Pentacrest is also one of my favorite study spots before it gets too cold!

5. Kick off at Kinnick: My last favorite memory I’m going to share was also one of my first. During OnIowa the entire class went onto the field at Kinnick and continued the tradition of creating the “I” which was followed by fireworks and photos with Herky. Although it was 6 weeks ago I still remember every moment. Being on the football field with the rest of my class made the University of Iowa feel like home. I felt like this was where I belonged.

 

What are some of your favorite moments?

Until Next Week

Go Hawks!

If you have read my bio you will know I am an out of state student. I don’t mean that I come from the “Chicago Suburbs”, I mean that I am 1,847.9 miles away from home. I chose to come to this university to try something new, I mean who wouldn’t want to be able to live in two states at once for four years? And four weeks into it I can say that it was the best decision I have ever made. I have never been more in love with a place in my life, and I’m from SoCal so that’s saying something. But I have also learned a few things from being an out of state student who only gets to go home with him twice a year.

1. You WILL miss home- as much as I love being out on my own to experience and learn new things there are days where all I will want to do is hug my mom and dad and sleep in my own bed. Those moments will hit you at the weirdest times, trust me. I was sitting in math discussion this week and all of a sudden I felt home sick. The worst is when I talk to my parents and hear their voice or see something that reminds me of them. It is especially hard when all your friends are able to go home on the weekends and you know it will be 3 months before you go home. The time when I am most homesick is when I am actually sick, but I think that’s the same for most people. All you want is a hug from your parents to make it all better.
2. On the same note, because I am so far away from home I have begun to cherish my family and how close we are. Being on your own you will realize how grateful you are for what your family has taught you over the past 18 years. Trust me, there have been multiple times I have been doing something and realized that I would have been screwed without my parents. Easiest example- knowing how to do laundry before I came to college. I haven’t made a white t-shirt red yet.
3. It’s a great conversation starter- on a lighter note saying you’re from somewhere like California is a great topic starter. It just means you’re going to get asked the same question a lot. So why would you chose Iowa? Because it’s the most AMAZING place ever, that’s why.
4. You get the best of both worlds- While it sucks to be so far from home, there is a positive side to it. You get to live in two states at once. While I get to meet new people and experience a completely different world I also get to go home for four months out of the year and live on the beach and hang with my family.
5. Finally the best advice I can give is that it WILL be ok- sometimes you will feel like dropping out and going home. You will feel like you can’t do it, but I can promise you that in the end it will all be ok. We are all feeling the same way, we all get homesick so if you want a day to cry and miss home that’s ok but don’t spend all your time worrying about it because you will miss out on the amazing place that is Iowa City and the amazing people that are the University of Iowa

Until Next Time

Go Hawks!

Welcome back! Hope everyone had a good weekend. Beating state definitely helped brighten up my Saturday just a little bit. I also want to take a moment to mention Tyler Sash. The win this weekend was for him and he will always be remembered as a part of the Hawkeye family.

Whether you prefer to up a Yak, favorite a tweet, like a Facebook post, or press that cute little heart on Instagram, we all have at least one guilty pleasure when it comes to social media. For me? I’m on all of them which can definitely be a distraction when I want to be productive and get homework done. So what does this have to do with my newly college life? More than you might think. I don’t know what it is like for everyone else, but social media is a huge part of my social life, I mean let’s be honest if you didn’t post about it then really it didn’t happen. Just like every other teenager on the planet I have to share something the minute it happens just so everyone knows how much fun I am having. It’s a constant need to impress people. A few days ago my Rhetoric teacher asked us to think about what we believe we are supposed to get out of college. Almost all of the posts had to do with living up to the standards being brought on by social media. And it got me thinking, why does our generation feel a need to impress everyone with our daily activities? After we left class I continued to think about myself and realized I was just as guilty as all the other teenagers out there. During OnIowa I spent the entire time SnapChatting just make sure people knew I was enjoying my new college. At the first football game I posted multiple photos on Facebook so people could see that I had school spirit. All I wanted to do was prove to people that I was having a better time than they were. What I have now realized is that there isn’t a social standard you have to live up to. You don’t have to be going out every Friday night and posting every Saturday morning. People don’t need to know everything about everything. College is finally where you get to experience anything you want without judgement. My goal, if anyone wants to join me, is to start putting my phone down more often and actually start making memories for myself instead of photos for a whole bunch of people I’ve never actually met. You don’t have to live up to the customs of college created on social media because there really aren’t any. Enjoy these four years because they are the only four you get. Now I’m going to go tweet about my new blog post going up because if I don’t then did any of this even happen? Kidding.

If you feel the same way chat with me down below in the comments section. I would love to know I’m not the only one feeling the pressure on social media.

Until next time.

Go Hawks!

Hey there! Hope everyone’s first week of class went well and you are having a safe but fun weekend. For all of those rushing I hope you didn’t get too wet in the rain last night and you find a sorority or frat that’s perfect for you!

As I have mentioned in my previous blog I am in the honors program at the university. As an honors student you need a certain amount of credits to graduate with honors. While most students were still moving in 500 other honors students and I spent three days exploring Iowa and presenting what we a have learned. My class was “Love where you live, live where you learn.” When I first read the description of the class I was a bit hesitant about enjoying it, my professor was amazing and the things we learned about the people and city of Iowa were amazing. Instead of going on about the program I decided to share some of the amazing place my group discovered with you.

1. The Prairie Lights Book Shop: I will be the first person to say that books are not the first thing I would spend my money on but this book store is amazing. When you walk in the doors you feel all warm cozy. The first thing I wanted to do was grab a book and sit down in the coffee shop for hours on end. Sadly we didn’t have that amount of time but I was able to buy a book. Even better the prices aren’t substantially more expensive so why not find a great new book while supporting a local business that has been around much longer than most of us have?
2. Pullman’s: Although we did make this stop during my primetime I had actually been to this restaurant a few days before for lunch. This Pullman car style dinner serves everything you could need for a well-priced lunch or dinner. When I went for the lunch I had a sandwich with a side of chips and it was perfect for a simple, cheap lunch. The restaurant is great for when you are sick of the Burge and Hillcrest food. I can also say that the coffee cake is amazing. If you don’t believe me ask anyone who was in my primetime group, it was devoured every time our professor brought it to class.
3. Film Scene: I have always been a movie lover, but I have always cringed at the fact that you pretty much have to take out a mortgage to even thinking about going to movies and that’s before you add the popcorn. So when I found Film Scene at the Pedmall I was super excited. Although it doesn’t always play box office movies you can still see some great Indie films here and for the cheap price. You can either pay per movie or become a member and get $5 movies for a year. They also tend to do student discounts for certain moves. My favorite part? They do movies in their roof top garden. A couple movies coming up in their rooftop collection are the Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles and Dirty Dancing.
4. Revival: My final suggestion when exploring Iowa City is going to visit a place called Revival. Although this wasn’t an actual stop we did explore it during our ten minutes of free time between stops. Revival is a clothing store that you can also find in the Pedmall right across the street from Film Scene. I can tell you now that I will be spending all of my money here. The store does second and you can pick up some really amazing deals which is great on a college budget. But if you’re not the type of person to wear second hand they do have new clothing as well. And if you are trying to make a little extra money while clearing out the clothes you don’t wear any more they also buy clothes.

Hope this helps when you are looking for a new place to explore downtown.

What are some of your favorite places to visit in downtown Iowa City? Comment down below and let me know if you have any questions about the locations above or if you want more suggestions.