Now I have 5 days left until I move in and I'm almost ready. I did my dorm shopping roughly 2 weeks ago but there's still a little bit more shopping I have to do so that I get most things on my college checklist. I also need to get a laptop. I've had the same Lenovo Thinkpad PC for about 3 years and while it's been great, I got it for free used and it has problems that I can't deal with in college. Like the fact that when it gets too hot, it'll just shut down and it does this often, even when there's a cool surface underneath it. It's just become too much for me, especially since I'm a Creative Writing major who will have to do a ton of writing on the computer and I can't afford to lose my work. So I'm going to get a Macbook Air (13 in, in case you wanted to know) and see how that goes. I've heard a ton of good things about it so I have high hopes. The only problem is that I'm not extremely familiar with the system since I've basically used PC my whole life but I'm up to the task of learning.
Apple had this "discount deal" where you could buy the 13-in on sale for $949 and a pair of Beats wired headphones for $200-$300 (depending on color), but then I went to Best Buy's website and I saw they had the 13-in on sale for $899. And I also went on Amazon where I do a lot of my shopping and found the Beats wired headphones for $139-$170 (depending on color). All I could do is shake my head. I first found out about Apple's "discount" from someone on my college's Facebook group (something you should get into by the way, but I'll talk about this more later) so I checked it out and this is what I found. This is why it's important to research expensive products before you buy them or else you will get cheated (this also goes with textbooks, something else I'll talk about later).
I still need to get toiletries and school supplies, both of which I will buy at Target because they always have the best prices. And earlier this summer, I also bought some books about college preparation, 1 of which I read, 1 of which I barely read, and another of which I'm in the middle of reading. For those of you in high school, nervous or who want more info about college, or those of you in college already who need some guidance The Naked Roommate by Harlan Cohen is perfect. I know that I haven't started college yet, but the book touches on any and all questions I had about college and gives much more information. I HIGHLY advise that you read this before you go off to college because it'll likely save you a lot of strife and confusion. The other book that I'm in the middle of is How To Become A Straight-A Student by Cal Newport. I'm only about 2 chapters in and I haven't started school yet so I can't tell you how great it is but so far, I've learned a lot about time management and how to study in a way that helps me retain more info in less time. In both books, the authors said that they interviewed a ton of students. Cohen interviewed students from all over the country (USA) while Newport said he stuck to students from the most prestigious schools, like the Ivy Leagues. Cohen gives advice on the overall scope of the college experience while Newport's advice is focused more on time management and study/schoolwork habits. However, I think the two of them together make a very useful combo. I will write a review of them, maybe at the end of my first year so that I can get a good feel for how helpful or unhelpful they are.
Anyway, I think that's enough for today.
Monday, September 14, 2015
Introduction (& Fears)
I thought it'd be a cool idea to journal my four-year (or more) journey through college to detail my progress, experience, etc. and to give those of you interested a taste of the college life, or for those of you already in college something to possibly relate to. So let me tell you some basic things about myself. (Just so you know, while I will go into specifics about my experiences, things like my university, last names, professor's names, etc. will be kept confidential because I like my privacy and I'm sure the other people I'll talk about on here like their privacy too (: ).
1. My name is Kristina
2. My major is Creative Writing
3. Some of my favorite things to do are writing (obviously, and mostly fanfiction), listening to music, binge-watching shows, fishing through Tumblr and Pinterest, reading, running, traveling, going to the beach, shopping, playing with my dog Unchkins
4. I'm a Christian
5. Maybe I'll add more when I think of it
So, it's about a week before I start school. It's actually midnight as I write this on a Monday and I move in on Sunday so I have less than a week. It's weird because this whole summer has felt like such a drag. I graduated high school on June 12 and I've had about 3 months and a half of vacation, the longest summer vacation I've ever had. For about the first 2 months, I was so bored with summer and then I went on vacation with my family from early to mid August and from there the summer has just been going so fast. I feel like all I did was watch Netflix and write Fanfiction but I had all these other plans that I never really got to, which I'm ashamed of. But as the beginning of my college experience approaches, all I can feel is fear and worry with a tinge of excitement mixed in there. I've always been pretty shy and introverted and when I signed up for my dorm assignment, I said that I wanted to be in a triple which means I'm going to have 2 other roommates. I did this because it was the cheapest housing option but also because I tend to do better in groups of 3 or more. Sometimes when I'm not comfortable with a person, it can be hard to keep the conversation going so, 2 other people in the mix feels better to me. As an introvert, just thinking about the first few days of college, AKA Welcome Week, stresses me out because I can pretty much only handle social interactions for a few hours before I get tired out/in a bad mood. I need time to myself to recharge but I don't know how that's going to go during the most social week of college in the most social dorm at my college with 2 roommates. Have I made a terrible mistake trying to put myself out there?? Let's hope not!
This was really just suppose to be an intro post so I'm going to stop before I make it too long with more of my worries. I'll keep you posted throughout this week, though. Thanks!
1. My name is Kristina
2. My major is Creative Writing
3. Some of my favorite things to do are writing (obviously, and mostly fanfiction), listening to music, binge-watching shows, fishing through Tumblr and Pinterest, reading, running, traveling, going to the beach, shopping, playing with my dog Unchkins
4. I'm a Christian
5. Maybe I'll add more when I think of it
So, it's about a week before I start school. It's actually midnight as I write this on a Monday and I move in on Sunday so I have less than a week. It's weird because this whole summer has felt like such a drag. I graduated high school on June 12 and I've had about 3 months and a half of vacation, the longest summer vacation I've ever had. For about the first 2 months, I was so bored with summer and then I went on vacation with my family from early to mid August and from there the summer has just been going so fast. I feel like all I did was watch Netflix and write Fanfiction but I had all these other plans that I never really got to, which I'm ashamed of. But as the beginning of my college experience approaches, all I can feel is fear and worry with a tinge of excitement mixed in there. I've always been pretty shy and introverted and when I signed up for my dorm assignment, I said that I wanted to be in a triple which means I'm going to have 2 other roommates. I did this because it was the cheapest housing option but also because I tend to do better in groups of 3 or more. Sometimes when I'm not comfortable with a person, it can be hard to keep the conversation going so, 2 other people in the mix feels better to me. As an introvert, just thinking about the first few days of college, AKA Welcome Week, stresses me out because I can pretty much only handle social interactions for a few hours before I get tired out/in a bad mood. I need time to myself to recharge but I don't know how that's going to go during the most social week of college in the most social dorm at my college with 2 roommates. Have I made a terrible mistake trying to put myself out there?? Let's hope not!
This was really just suppose to be an intro post so I'm going to stop before I make it too long with more of my worries. I'll keep you posted throughout this week, though. Thanks!
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