Hey everyone!

Amazingly, it has already been 6 whole days since I have last posted. I'm a little taken aback at how quickly time has seemed to pass by, but I can't say that I'm upset. I am so excited to return to Manoa that it is hard to be disappointed at the less time I have at home. Of course, this is not to say that I don't want to be home, but rather that I am simply excited to be going back.

In this post I wanted to give you guys an update on everything that I have been up to. Starting with, and I'm stating the obvious here, altitude sickness. 

I guess it was wishful thinking when I assumed I would be able to return home and be completely fine. I blamed my sleeping in to my 'jet lag' and referred to my daily headache as a reaction to the lack of coffee I have been drinking. The idea that altitude sickness could really be whats affecting me is something that never crossed my mind. However, we are halfway through day six of me being home, and even though I've managed to go without the nosebleeds and nausea, I couldn't help but lookup altitude sickness symptoms. 

Naturally, I have altitude sickness. 

As much as I was hoping to go without it, as of late it seems that all of my symptoms are that of altitude sickness. To try and combat the poor mood, I decided that I would go on a walk. I put on my parka, laced up my snow boots, and was off. 

I opted for the route I would walk to get to my high school, and decided to take advantage of the benches along the way. Placed overlooking the high school, neighborhood, and mountains, I stayed put for about twenty minutes (or until a few dogs tried to jump up there with me). Here is what my view looked like. 


Even with how much I had worn to keep myself warm, I still found my hands turning a bright red at an alarmingly fast rate. After the dogs ran over and sniffed me, I decided that I should head home. Not feeling much better, the goal was to take a nap and try and sleep off whatever is bothering me. Unfortunately by the time I made it home I was too frozen to think about napping, so I decided to lay down in front of the fireplace. 

Yesterday I met up with a friend and took a trip to Starbucks and Chick Fil A.  After that I went to the mall and scored my very own Colorado flag. I've been wanting one for a while now and I'm so glad I was able to find one! I can't wait to bring it back with me and take it on all the hikes I do. 

Later that evening my friends mom stopped by to, what I thought was, give me some clothes to bring back to one of the girls who had to stay on island. As the mom and sister were walking in I turned to leave, and when I heard my mom say, "Hey come on in!" I turned around once more and saw my friend walking through the door! I screamed, and we hugged for a bit before sitting down in the living room. I was so surprised to see her, but am so glad she made the effort to drive the hour to my house and surprise me. I plan on seeing the other girls this Saturday at a Christmas party. 

As for the rest of break, I plan on meeting up with another friend and going downtown Denver a few times. I have Christmas gifts I need to bring people back home, and am finding it extremely difficult picking out what I want to buy them. Fingers crossed I can find something nice while in Denver! Not sure if I'm going to post about what I find while on break, but we'll see. 

As for now, my family and I just got home from looking at Christmas lights. We went and grabbed Chick Fil A and drove around listening to Christmas music while admiring the decorations people have put up. 

With three more days until Christmas, I hope you are all having a happy holiday and a relaxing break. 



Merry Christmas and until next time,

Aislinn 

Hey everyone!

I'm honestly shocked at how quickly the semester ended. I feel like I just got here, so to be leaving already is quite the shock. Actually, as I type this, I'm no longer on island. My plan was to publish this post before my flight to the mainland, but as luck would have it, and because the honolulu airport doesn't have wifi, that goal was not achievable. Instead, I had to wait until I landed in California to create this post. 

The last week of school was a whirlwind of tests, packing, and last minute group activities. The girls and I, because one of them left a day before the rest of us, wanted to spend as much time with each other as possible. Once she left, the rest of us found ourselves standing around asking each other, "what now?". It's incredible how the five of us went from not knowing each other four months ago to being near family. I won't lie, I also sobbed when the first one left. I didn't realize how much their departures would affect me, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't beginning to panic at the thought of leaving, myself. I guess it's a good thing that I left second, because at least this way I was the one leaving, not them. 

Before I left, I made a quick trip to a tea shop down the street and bought a Vietnamese coffee. I had been told that it consisted of 5 shots, and I was determined to stay up until my flight the next afternoon, so (at the time) this seemed like a good idea. That night I stayed up the entire time coloring and watching tv shows. It was a weird feeling, not having really anything to do but being awake, but I knew this was for the best. I wanted to sleep through the first leg of my trip, because I knew I would panic being over water for that long. Thankfully this worked and I was able to sleep most of the flight. 

I made it to the airport that morning in great time. I'm used to the airport being an hour away, so my mistake was leaving 3 hours early. I probably could have gotten away with staying an extra hour on campus, but I'm glad I now know how close the airport, surprisingly, is. While waiting for my flight I was able to see one of my friends whose gate was next to mine. We talked for a bit and then it was time to board. 

While I slept through most of my flight, I will say that this was a very unique experience for me. Typically I'm on flights that are packed and, oftentimes, overbooked. While the stewardesses stressed that this flight was also overpacked, it wasn't until we boarded that we realized the flight was pretty empty. Considering how I usually fly Southwest, this was a big change. I was fortunate enough to sit next to a window, right on the wing, with no one in my entire row. As tempted as I was to lay down and sleep, I decided that I probably wasn't that lucky, so I tried to get as comfortable as possible with the tray table in front of me. I even brought my eye mask and ear plugs. Running on 29 hours awake, I was very determined to be sleeping on this flight. 

There were two times during the flight when I woke up. The first, was about 3 hours in during sunset. I looked out the window and saw the sky a beautiful dusted pink. I'm not sure if it was because I was sad to be leaving, or because I had just woken up, but in that moment everything around me felt like a dream. I felt like I had just woken up from a long nap, and that the past four months have all been part of this long ongoing dream. All I could think in that moment was that I hope I don't wake up. My first semester at UH was full of new experiences and growth, and there is not a single thing I would change. It is a very sad feeling leaving the island, and even though I'm excited to go home, I cannot describe how excited I am to return. Leaving UH was a reminder that, while it seems permanent, nothing truly is. I can only describe it as feeling like I'm leaving behind my home. For having just woken up, I was quick to feel overwhelmed, and I tried my best to fall back asleep and not cry again. Here is a snapshot of the sky. 



The second time I woke up was right over the city. By this time the flight was coming to an end, and all below me were bright, twinkling lights from the city. Once I was up I stayed up, and have been ever since. 

So now, for the next 10 hours, I'm going to be trying to keep myself awake for (again) as long as possible. I'm not sure why I have such a long layover, but part of me wishes I didn't sleep on the plane so I could just sleep these 10 hours away. It's also at an awkward time, where half the country is beginning to go to sleep, so I'm limited on who I can talk to. Maybe I will change into warmer clothes. Rumor has it Denver is in the negatives right now, so it looks like I can't wear my sandals and shorts. 

I hope everyone takes it easy these next few weeks. We've all earned it! As for myself, I'm excited to get to see the snow, and the city, but I know it will be short-lived since I have to work. But on the upside I will be home and back in my own bed. I can also shower without shoes, which will take some getting used to. 

Until next time,

Aislinn 

Hey guys!

I am exhausted. 

This has been quite the week for me, and it's only Tuesday! I have had more coffee in the past two days than I have had all semester. Also, I have gotten a total of about 8 hours of sleep in the past 48 hours. Needless to say I am starting to crash.

This week has also held a lot of firsts for me. On Monday I experienced my first caffeine high ever. This consisted of me, only two cups in, feeling the overwhelming need to do my dishes, laundry, and run a mile, all over the course of one hour. While I did use this to my advantage and clean my tupperware, I had to practically force myself to sleep given that it was 3:30 and I was one of the few still awake in my building (presumably).

The second first was the opposite of a caffeine high. Yesterday, after about 3 cups of caffeine, I became very lethargic and slow. This was a different experience, because not only was my breathing very slow and shallow, but I was also just very tired. The plan was to pull an all nighter, but at 4:20 in the morning I realized that would be near impossible. I actually texted my friends and I told them that I would need them to call me and wake me up in the morning because I just knew I would need the extra push. 

After both exams I came back and took a well deserved nap. Before college, I found naps to be extremely hard to have, but now that I'm in college and staying up generally later (especially now) during exam season. I actually finished my psychology exam today and took a good hour and a half nap. 

Currently, the rest of my week consists of studying for Chinese and Religion. I'm not too worried about Chinese, considering I got a 98% on my speaking final, but I'm still going to study what I can. 

Besides all of that, I'm finding this week to be very enjoyable, albeit pretty stressful. I'm actually going to miss the late night studying. I won't miss the finals, though. 

I'll leave this post off at this. I don't have much else to comment on so I hope everyone continues to push through and try their hardest during this stressful week. The break is so close! 

Until next time,

Aislinn


PS: This is what Waikiki has been looking like lately. Isn't the sky absolutely breathtaking? It's a nice distraction from the reality of finals.

Hey guys!

It is officially 'Dead Week'. I had to look this up, but Dead Week is the week of finals where students are so busy with studying and cramming for their tests that they will literally appear dead. I haven't hit that point yet (as it's only Monday) but I'm two cups of coffee in and it's only 2:13, so I'm getting there. I'm actually blogging instead of studying, but let's keep that between us. 

As promised, here are some pictures that were taken yesterday. Bella brought her nice camera with her to Waikiki, and, in the midst of the tourists, managed to take some really nice shots. Most of the pictures include the girls, so I will wait to add it until I get their permission. Until then, here is my favorite of myself. Notice I'm wearing a santa hat. You can't see it, but the tourists were very confused. I think it was worth it.  

I think what I love about this is Diamond Head so picturesque in the background. The sun was setting and made Diamond Head look absolutely stunning, as well as make me look tan. Views like this are constant reminders of how blessed I am to be going to college here. 

Continuing off on the topic of Dead Week, I have successfully racked up at least ten hours devoted to studying. Like I said, I'm running on two cups of coffee here, and while that's pretty tame compared to what I assume will be much more as the days progress, I have found that either I know a lot more than I give myself credit for, or I'm not studying correctly. I have decided to break up my studying by days, so today was entirely anthropology. My finals schedule is:

Monday- Anthropology
Tuesday- Psychology
Wednesday- Chinese
Thursday- none
Friday- Religion

Thankfully, only one of my finals is cumulative. Because of this, I have a lot less studying to do. Don't get me wrong, I still have a lot of work to review, but not as much as I could have. Once my anthropology final is done I plan on spending the rest of the day reviewing psychology. This exam worries me the most, but I know a few people who got 5's on the AP exam, so, if need be, I will ask them for help. 

I don't have much else to say about Dead Week, but I will try and update as much as possible for you all. 

The coffee is starting to kick in, so I'm going to end this post here and study for a few more hours. 

Study hard, everyone! Remember to get some sleep and enjoy the next few days with your friends.   


Until next time,

Aislinn

Hey everybody!

It's exam season, which means the next few days, for myself at least, are going to be spent with my head in the books from morning till night. As difficult as it has been to convince myself that no, I don't need to go to the beach, I know that all of this studying will be worth it in the end. Like many other schools, the day before finals week is typically given as a "Study Day" for students. However, you all have been reading long enough to know that the chances of me studying on a day off of school are slim to none.

But you'd be surprised, I actually did spend my day off studying, albeit briefly. I used Friday to catch up (and finish) my Chinese homework for the semester. I missed out on hanging out with the girls, but I'm glad I was able to get my work done. I know that, had I gone out, I would not have finished everything on time.  

The next day Eric and I decided to go on a hike. Originally we were torn on the Kaniakapupu Ruins and the Lyon Arboretum, as both looked to be very interesting hikes, but in the end we went with the Arboretum. 

My first mistake of that day was making the conscious decision to wear jeans.

Looking back this was a horrible decision, as I've really hyped myself up to be this experienced hiker. Instead, the impression I got from the pictures of the Arboretum was that it was more like a garden, and I figured jeans would be the way to go. Obviously, I was very wrong. We were hiking for about 3 hours and I can't tell you how many times I wished I was in shorts. However, complaining aside, the Arboretum is a very scenic hike that just about everyone can enjoy. If you are considering going, I would recommend bringing bug spray. This seems obvious, but it's always the obvious things that you end up leaving behind. This was our second mistake. 

Here are some pictures I took of some plants in the hike. Some are indigenous and some are not, but either way they're all stunning in person. 



Additionally, the waterfall can take anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour to get to, but hardly anyone goes up there, so I would recommend going! It's not like Manoa Falls, but is still worth hiking to. 

Hey guys,

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