Hello everyone and happy Thursday!

As we approach the middle of July, I felt it fitting that I start up a new series on this blog where I cover all of the Back to School essentials and questions. I'm very excited to see where this series takes us, so let me break down how this is going to go. 

Every Thursday I am going to share a new subtopic within college preparation and the back to school season. Here is what that will look like:

July 19: Top Five (Lesser Known) Must Have Items for a Successful Dorm Room

July 26: Things You Think You Need (But Don't!) for College

August 2: How to Curate the Perfect Skincare Regime in College

August 9: Your First Dorm Room vs Your First Apartment 

I am so excited for this series and I hope you are, too! I am working with some amazing companies for this series that I hope inspire you and your future abode. 

As always, leave me a comment letting me know your thoughts! I would love to tailor this series to fit YOUR needs. 

Until next time,

Hey guys!

I couldn't start this post without sharing how much time I have left on this little rock: 15 days! The more I think about it the more anxious I get, so I'll save the sappy stuff for a later post. Instead, I wanted to make this post more relative to those high school seniors out there who will be starting to get their decisions back.

By now, if you applied early, you will start to receive more and more news from your school. Actually, it doesn't matter what time you applied because the closer you get to decisions the more news you'll be hearing. 

In my case, I applied early to Cornell. Right up until my decision was released I had been receiving emails from the University on almost a constant basis. I got emails about my program, financial aid, and even just general news about the school. In fact, there was even one time where I got an email reminding me about financial aid deadlines and asking that I clarify Cornell is the school for me (of course at the time it was). And then, last year on the day of decisions, I sat down in my living room alongside my family and hit the link that would decide the rest of my life. 

Denied. 

In fact, I didn't even read the entire email. When you read the words, "We regret to inform you-" everything else kind of becomes blurry. I read the beginning and told my family I didn't get in, to which they responded with, "Okay, time to focus on the other schools." Which in hindsight is probably the best advice one receives, because even though there's a good chance you'll have your heart set on your first school, if you are denied admission than there is nothing you can do. I could not appeal, could not reapply, I could only move on. 

The point is, your decision, good or bad, is not the end of you. If you got in to the school you applied to- congratulations! But this doesn't mean you can slack off and call it good. Schools (and this goes for every school) still wants to make sure you're putting in some effort at school. If your grades take a dip, you run the risk of getting your decision rescinded, or, in simpler terms, you might not be accepted anymore. 

On the flip side, if you didn't get in, you're not alone. It's perfectly normal to feel discouraged, but you shouldn't let this decision blind you from giving your other schools the same amount of attention you gave the first school. In many cases, it isn't that you weren't a good candidate, but the school just doesn't have room. While your chances of being admitted to schools are typically higher if applying under early admission, it isn't something that's guaranteed. 

I'm a firm believer in that everything happens for a reason. So whatever your decision turns out to be, just think of this to be what's best for you. If I had been accepted to Cornell, nothing would be the same. No blog, an assumably harder coarse load, and a poor mood because the weather would be horrible. Additionally, there's no beach near Cornell, so I would not be enjoying myself like I do here. Trust me, things are going to work out. 


And really, is it so bad that I'm going to school in Hawaii versus New York? With views like this it really is hard to feel like I'm missing out. 




Until next time,

Aislinn

Hey everyone,

So today successfully concludes my very first day of class! Let me break it down for you..

Firstly, walking from the freshman towers is killer at 8:00am. It really is. Not only is it very humid, but, at least in my schedule, the distance you have to walk is pretty far. At a brisk pace, getting from the towers to the north side of campus is a good 25 minutes. Also- wearing a dress is a horrible, horrible idea. In hindsight, it was something cute to do for my first day, but ideally wearing a cotton dress in humidity is not a good idea. Don't do it. 

My first class was originally supposed to be my largest, however I quickly realized that would not be the case. Out of 7 people I am one of of the youngest. There's actually one other freshmen, but other than that there's only a couple sophomores and juniors and the rest are Ph.D students. It makes me wonder why so few students are continuing with Chinese, and it also makes me wonder why so many students are guys and not girls. But regardless we opened class with introductions of ourselves in Chinese and went on to review the rest of the year. 

After running home and changing into shorts and a tee, something much more practical, and went on to my next class: Intro to World Religion. Now while I thought this class was going to be interesting it just turned out to be a huge rant and a "Do you think God is real? I can prove to you why he isn't as real as you think." Which is insane. And what makes it worse is the fact that I was under the impression that this class would be small. Instead, the class is a huge lecture hall with probably 40 people. Personally, that's way too many people for me and the whole reason I registered for an ACE cluster. It really ticked me off and I wish I could drop the class just based on the sheer amount of people enrolled in it. 

Next class was Anthropology, and more specifically World Cultures. Another class in my ACE cluster, but another one with too many people to count, immediately I wanted to leave. The topic seems interesting, but not only does the teacher not know how to use a computer but also hates electronics. I get that some people are old fashioned, but this is a whole new level of loathing. At one point, when she was explaining the book we would need to buy, a girl asked her if, because an E-book was cheaper, we could opt for buying the online version instead. Her response was, "Of course!" But when asked, "Awesome, so when I do that can I bring my tablet to class?" She did a complete 180 and went "Absolutely not. No electronics." So now the girl is really confused, as am I. She rebuttals with, "So should I get the E-book?" And I kid you not she goes, "Certainly!" And its so frustrating because some of us, like myself, are going to get the book the cheapest way we can, but you're really going to stop me from reading your textbook because you don't like technology and "studies have shown...". Quite honestly that might be the worst line you'll ever hear in school. "Studies have shown..." I mean I get where she's coming from but as a teacher you should know that not every student learns the same, so if I student learns better by typing their notes than why not let them? If technology is so awful and detrimental than why are STEM schools so successful?

Anyways, my next and final class was English 100. Naturally, I scored a 3 on the AP exam, meaning I would get absolutely no credit and that I will have to retake the class. However, as luck would have it, my English class seems like it's going to be the most fun. With only 20 kids, the ideal amount, I really think this class is going to be entertaining. Also, it's great to be able to sit there and say, "I thought all of my classes were going to be small..." And hear a chorus of "Yeah same!" It's comforting.


After all of that was over it was about 3 in the afternoon. I know early classes are often dragged, but being able to walk home when others are leaving, or just starting, feels so refreshing. Plus, it's so nice to just be able to go home at a seemingly normal time. 





I hope you all have a great day and I will talk to you soon!

Until next time,
Aislinn 

Hi everyone,

With less than 12 hours until my first class, I decided that instead of giving advice or sharing some things about my day that I would instead write this post to all of you potential students.

Firstly, lets talk about our 101 classes. Like any other college in the country, your 100 level classes are your most basic class. They range from "Intro to Psych 101" to "Beginners Mandarin Chinese 101". However, a little known fact about these entry level classes are the supplies. If there's anything the school tells you as far as supplies goes is that you will need a little remote called an iClicker. Now what's an iClicker.. Well, to make things simple, it's essentially a little remote on it that is typically used to either take attendance or show your participation in a class. I would go into more detail but considering my first classes aren't until tomorrow that's all I can share on the iClickers. However, if there's one piece of advice I could give you than it would be don't buy from the bookstore. If you have $60 that you're okay with throwing away for a little remote than the bookstore is perfect, but if you want to be a little more frugal than see if you can buy one secondhand. In my case, I found someone on Facebook that was able to meet on campus and sell me a remote for half the price of the ones in the bookstore. Trust me, the professors are going to (typically) tell you the bookstore is the cheapest way to go, but listen to me when I tell you it's not. 

Meal swipes. A little known fact about them is actually also a very hard to explain. At UH meal swipes, AKA your meal plan, can range from 7 meals a week to (I believe) 20. However during your first week, the one before classes start, chances are you aren't going to use all of your meal swipes. When this happens, you're going to find yourself wondering, "But what am I going to do with the five meals I didn't have this week?" The answer, which took my friends and I two whole days to find out, is actually quite simple: The Market. Closest to Hale Aloha Lokelani, The Market is a little on-campus convenience store. Whenever you find yourself with extra meal swipes at the end of a week, simply go to The Market and buy the equivalent of your meals in food. Here's an example: Out of my 10 meals a week, I only had 3. With the extra 7 meals, each meal being $5.50, I was able to buy over $35 of food! In addition to your meal swipes, The Market also takes debit/credit and food cash (essentially dining dollars). A word of advice- do not go on a Saturday. As their busiest day Saturday at The Market is crowded, bought-out, and competitive. Just try and picture 30 college kids trying to do the math as to how many meals equal an entire case of ramen. And don't forget that there's only one case and 30 kids. It's insane. Have you ever seen an episode of "The Walking Dead"? Pick any scene from inside an abandoned, empty, cluttered grocery store and you've got The Market on a Saturday night. It's absurd, but since this is the only place that will take meal swipes, it's all you've got.



So that concludes this post! I hope those two things helped in some way. If not, at least you now know a little more about Manoa! 

Until next time,
Aislinn

Hello everyone,

Boy, today was a sigh of relief. It's truly amazing how you can go from feeling absolutely horrible to comfort. If I had to pick the weirdest part of my day it would probably be the feeling of deja-vu I got at the most random parts of the day. Crossing the crosswalk in front of the East West center? Deja vu. Looking at the palm trees across from the Queen Liliuokalani center? Deja vu. While I felt yesterday like I didn't belong, today I felt the opposite. I wouldn't say I feel like I belong, per say, but rather I feel comfortable and almost like I'm in a familiar place.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say something that I'm sure will catch many people by surprise. You see, I'm not a very religious person, but when I have very hard times I often pray and ask God for the best. I don't think the feelings I got today and the day I experienced were because I "put myself out there" (which I did, by the way!). Instead I truly believe it's because God helped me. And I won't go into much more detail, but I will share that I'm very excited to get involved on campus and begin attending weekly mass. 

Now onto the rest of my day. After being woken up by both garbage trucks and roosters, I decided I couldn't just lay there any more and instead I got ready for my day. I knew that my mom would be stopping by, so for the first half of my day I knew I would be alright. 

Once she got here we did our laundry and set up my payment plan. At Manoa, students have many options of paying tuition. If you don't get scholarships or your loan money falls short, there is a third way to pay your tuition: via a payment plan. Pretty self explanatory, but a payment plan is essentially paying everything for that semester up front. I won't share how much I pay, but I will share which plan I signed up for. At UH there are three plans a student (or their parents/guardians) can sign up for. The first is a four month plan, typically for upper classmen. In this plan, students pay for the fall semester in four payments. Payments can be done up front, but only in the beginning. The school requests that you pay online, I personally think because it's quicker, through either a checking or savings account. In my case I had to sign up for the credit union out in Manoa and pay for tuition that way...Carrying on, the second type of plan is a 3 month payment and the third type is a two month plan. The perks of the payment plan are great, because not only does the school give you time to come up with the money, but they also don't kick you out if you're late or low on funds. Also with a payment plan you aren't tied to a bank that you'll eventually have to repay!

At the end of the payment process mom and I hopped on the shuttle to Walmart and from there we walked to Ala Moana. Ala Moana, a mere 15 minute bus ride from campus, is located right outside of Waikiki and consisted of over 300 very interesting stores. From your standard Coach and Disney Store to your only-available-in-Hawaii stores like Hilo Hatties and there ABC Store, there's something for anyone and everyone. While at the mall mom and I ran into Old Navy (which is quite honestly very cheap here) and went out for lunch. 

After lunch we caught the bus back to campus and finished setting up my dorm room. I know that I haven't posted pictures yet, so here are a couple to hopefully satisfy until I become more comfortable sharing pictures online. 

The day of move-in before anything had been unloaded

After unpacking everything. Isn't it adorable?

Overall I think my mom and I did a great job of setting my room up. Now I just hope my roommate and I get along so that I won't need to move rooms and take it all down! 

Afterwords was when things went downhill.

I knew that I would feel lonely again, but was at that point in the day where all I could think was "Why won't people hang out with me? Why is my door the only one open in my hall? Where is my roommate?!" In short, I was thinking very negatively. In an effort to change things I decided to reach out to one of my friends Shannon. Shannon and I know each other from Colorado, but that's about it. I opened with, "Hey! I hope I'm not bothering you-" and asked if she had signed up for NSO (New Student Orientation). She quickly said she has, and I explained my situation (could you really call it that?). She quickly texted back that "Of course, you're more than welcome to join the three of us as we do NSO. If I had known that your roommate wasn't there yet I would have reached out!" This was when my day began to get better. Before I knew it, I was rushing to get my room tidied up before leaving to go have dinner with Shannon. I'm sure my mom wanted to spend more time with me, but I was very eager to hang out with people outside of my floor! And really, I haven't done much of that. My floor seems to be the silent type, in which no one leaves their door open and instead of socializing they all stay inside of their rooms. In fact for the whole day yesterday mine was the only room with the door open- on my entire floor. I understand that people are still getting acclimated to campus, but shouldn't you also be getting to know people? 

When my mom left was when Shannon came over. She actually came over right when my mom was calling a cab. It was really nice spending the majority of my day with my mom while also getting to hang out with my friend. 

Once inside my tower, we hung out for a bit before heading out to dinner. We ate in a different cafeteria and it was a crazy experience. I say crazy, but really the only thing crazy was how much effort the school puts into the presentation of their food. No, really. I'll attach a picture my next post. Also, Ashley ate dinner with us! I'm actually really glad, because Ashley is really nice and I would hate to be left out had she gone and eaten with someone else. Because Shannon and I had been talking about going to Banan and the Japanese garden after dinner, we extended the invitation to Ashley and she accepted. So, after eating my tilapia, rice, and fresh green beans, we left and began walking. 

Banan is interesting. And also vegan. Do you know what an acai bowl is? Banan has a similar look except it's misleading and gives off the impression of being ice cream. Don't be fooled, IT'S NOT ICE CREAM. Instead, it's yogurt made entirely out of bananas. Around the yogurt is anything from coconut shavings to fresh slices of strawberry. In my case I got the Acai bowl (it looked like chocolate) with a side of banana slices, strawberry slices, granola, and puffed quinoa. Like I said, very vegan. But still good. I think next time I'll read more of whats in the bowl before buying. 

Once we finished eating we walked over to the very peaceful Japanese garden. One of those moments where I thought to myself, "is this really happening?" happened as I walked down the aged stone steps to go look at the koi in the pond. With a full moon in the cloudy sky, it was one of those times where you can't help but think, "I couldn't do this stuff if I was back home" Seeing the garden, while at night, was still very cool and while I don't think Ashley enjoyed it as much as I did, I'm glad Shannon was able to show me. 

Later was the inflatable fun in the courtyard which Ashley wanted to do. When we showed up, there were 2 inflatables and a dunk tank. It's a very small courtyard. Since Shannon and I didn't really want to do the challenge course or basketball we just decided to walk around campus some more, given that the two of us haven't seen a good chunk of it. The walk was interesting, we saw a mongoose and many wild cats, but the weather was great so it was nice to walk without getting sweaty. 

After that we said our goodnights and went back to our dorms. Tomorrow we're going to get breakfast and will then take the bus into Waikiki. I'm not sure if Ashley is going to go, but I'm still so excited. God is so good. 


Until next time,
Aislinn