Roomie Sleepover!

 I am now welcoming you one last time to the girls in 236! Our sleepover only consisted of us and a couple of our close friends. A few people tried to come to our room and a few wanted us to leave and go out with them, but we stuck together. This was the last weekend night and we wanted to spend it together! We took our mattresses from our bedrooms and put them all on the living room floor. The night consisted of a lot of typical sleepover stuff, "college-girl style". It was a special time for only my roommates and I to share, so I'm going to leave it at that. However, I will tell you I've never felt closer to them. I wish they were my roommates at the beginning of the year and that we had this sleepover sooner. Sometimes me being in a single made it more difficult to bond with them because I was in a separate room, as they all lived in the same rooms and were together the whole year. That doesn't matter anymore because I can tell you that even though we will mostly all be living in different places, I will for sure hit them up next semester when they are back! They've reminded me of something that I tend to forget a few times....What's the point of surviving if you aren't living? By that I mean, I've come all this way going through tough times and now it's time to enjoy life to the fullest and be myself and in control of my happiness. I lost this train of thought throughout a lot of this year because I was stuck in survival mode with all the sicknesses, emotional distresses, and also the pain and surgery I had to do.  That's why I'm a little worried for my upcoming wisdom teeth removal May 20th in Virginia. It's coming up close and finals are upon us, all while having to pack and move. I don't want to get off track again, but I guess I gotta hop on that train and get back off. I'll never forget this wild ride I've had with my roommates, what a great way to end my first year here!

California Girls

What do you know, I convinced someone to go to SBCC! That someone is my silly, future roomie Sarah (aka: Sil Bil). We became friends in elementary school when I lived in Iowa. We bonded because we had gone through similar things and because of our love for California. Many of our conversations consisted of us talking about coming here together to visit one day. And here we are! Our reality is bigger than we dreamed it'd be, and we're talking of living together next year. She already applied and got accepted to SBCC and also applied for my apartment. I told her it wasn't easy and it can be really stressful to move from so far away, but it'll be worth it in the end. I'll be so lucky to have her as my friend and future roomie because neither of us take advantage of California's beauty. Finally I'll have someone here who understands how hard I've worked to come to this point. Also a friend who wants to celebrate that with me. OH! And someone to sing my heart out to country music with :D We will have so many adventures and I can't wait to explore them!!! Sometimes dreams are bigger than you dreamed they'd be. 

Best Wax Museum Masterpiece
(even better than bae Channing Tatum)

Reppin' SBCC

The Campus Store located in the SBCC Bookstore was having a SALE! It was called the "Spring Sidewalk Sale". Right outside the bookstore on May 5th and earlier today May 6th, they had apparel up to 40% off! Sorry that I'm letting you know after it already happened, but I didn't know about it. Also I was only on West Campus yesterday and this store is located on the main East Campus. I was so intrigued by it I missed lunch and just made it to my next class haha. I have to say, wearing school apparel for a college definitely makes me feel more like a college girl. It's a different feeling that being in high school for sure. Can't believe this year is almost over! Study hard my fellow Vaqueros!

My Bitter Sweet Procrastination

They say not to procrastinate. They say you'll feel better just getting it done....Well I did. I finally got a haircut after putting it off for the entire school year! Those of you who know me know that I've been trying to grow out my hair for years. In fact, just 4 years ago I had lost my full head of hair.

On a happy note, my hair is longer than it's ever been my entire life! It's always scary going to a new hair stylist, but I've had to do it many times before. I just did the smart college girl thing to do and Yelped places for reviews. I walked in to Hair Select (Cliff Drive, Santa Barbara) and the hair dresser was shocked at how healthy my hair was. I had no split ends. I wasn't used to hearing this because before I lost it, my hair was always unhealthy. Now however, I don't dye it and I rarely ever apply heat to it. Growing my hair back after chemo was a new start to a new scalp. My hair was baby soft because it really was "baby hair". Yesterday I got the last 1.5 inches off left of baby hair and I actually feel better! I used to hate getting haircuts, but this time it actually feels good. My hair dresser actually had me stand up out of my hair to cut it because it was that long!

The best part about my long hair is knowing it is ready to donate whenever I decided I'm ready to. I felt very self-fulfilled to hear those words. I was going to donate by hair before I lost it, but it was too unhealthy. Now i can, but I'll probably just wait till the day I decided I want shorter hair again to donate it. So for now, I'm going to enjoy my long, healthy hair :)

SB or IV?

SBCC, Santa Barbara

Today I went to a focus group meeting for SBCC to discuss the ways we can improve our school. They were curious to know why people chose to live farther away in Isla Vista rather than closer to the school in Santa Barbara. I was told to keep the discussions everyone else talked about private. So instead, I will tell you my opinions and why I chose to live in IV. The only reason I would choose not to is because of the distance, however the pros outweighed the cons for me.

Isla Vista

• Close to UCSB students, so you get the same University vibe as a community college student.
• Cheaper living costs compared to Santa Barbara. 
• The sense of community, other students are always out and about in the town.
•  Entertainment, all friends coming together to hangout on weekends.
• There are many restaurants to eat at and they're open late for students.
• Walking distance from the beach.
• Pet friendly.
• The 15X bus brings you directly to SBCC and back from IV.
• Small town, but enough people. Less stressful and hectic than the downtown city in SB.
• Isla Vista is known for it's craziness, but cops are everywhere here and ready to help you and your safety.

It's Never Too Late

I've always loved dancing, but I grew up in a home that I wasn't comfortable in. In fact, I moved a lot of times in my life which made me all the more shy. When one grows up going through multiple traumas, it makes it hard for them to put themselves out there. I chose to move once again, this time for college and for myself. I had the chance to become and grow into the adult that I want to be and I took it. The dance team I was apart of didn't get the chance to perform many times this year. Things are also coming to a close because of the end of the semester stress of people not being able to make it to practice. However, I'm still thankful for the experience they gave me to opening up. I always felt good after a practice. Feeling the beat of the music and moving to it with my body almost heals me in a way. I'm hopeful that I will become apart of this team or another during next school year. I encourage you incoming freshmen (in fact any student) to take college as a new start and do what you love; become who you want to be. It's never to late to become you.

Tips for Scheduling

Even with the stress of the end of this semester, I'm still thinking about my schedule for next year! I recently went on pipeline and noticed I could sign up for Fall 2015 classes as early as April 30th. I was shocked because that's only a few days away! At the same time, it'd be a good thing to sign up for classes that early to make sure I get them. Also, if I were to get a job this summer I could inform them of my schedule way ahead of time.


Speaking of summer, I am taking a summer class this year. I will be in Summer Session II because during the first Summer Session I will be getting my wisdom teeth out and traveling to see friends and family. Might as well travel for a month if the cost of rent here itself is more money! However, this means I will have to move my stuff to my family's house farther south and bring it back up to Santa Barbara again when I come back. The reason I'm taking a summer class in the first place is because I want to keep things moving. Emotionally I don't like the idea of just sitting around wasting time when I could be going to school or making money while still having free time in between.

Today I got out of class early and have literally been sitting in the library for the past two hours doing the same thing. I've been trying to figure out a schedule that would work for me during Fall 2015. During this Spring Semester, I realized how annoying it is to have my classes spread out five days during the week when I could squeeze it into a couple. I choose to live in Isla Vista like many SBCC students, so traveling this far every day, especially if it's only for one class,  is quite un-motivating for me. I'm the kind of person who likes to get everything done at once. That's just how my motivation works. What I do is, I lay out all the possible, available classes I need with the teachers that have the best reviews.  Then I put them into separate schedules that could work fitting in the different times like a puzzle. Then I pick which one works best for me! Personally I'm getting my general classes out of the way first because they are the least interesting and it gives me more time to think about which upcoming major I want. Scheduling classes for college can be even more stressful than sitting in the class itself. Follow these organized tips I taught myself and it should become a little bit easier for you. :)