Mi Ojos

I am getting old.

For roughly a year now, I have been squinting in my very first pair of glasses which I got during  junior year of high school. Then, I basically had the most mild prescription you could possibly have. However recently I knew it was time for a new prescription for new pair of glasses, maybe contacts...so I thought.

About two weeks ago at Costco I had an appointment to get my full eye exam. I went in knowing these three things:
1. I was probably going to be really uncomfortable when they would put my contacts in. However, I knew I needed them because I don't like wearing glasses all day. Also, my vision without anything has gotten to the point where it bugs me all day.
2. My prescription had gotten a lot worse and I would probably be squinting, laughing at how I wouldn't be able to read the letters on the board.
3. I couldn't wait to see clearly!

Laughed at myself for being blind *check*!
Could see (more than) clearly with the new prescription *check*!
Was really uncomfortable when the doctor put in my contacts for the first time *check check check check check check check check check*!!!!!!!


I almost can't even tell you how embarrassing that was. As soon as the doctor put in the first contact, then the second one I was nauseous, overheating, shaking, light-headed and my stomach felt like it was spinning. I JUST WANTED THE CONTACTS OUT. The doctor didn't want to take them out and make it worse, however we tried leaving them in and my anxiety was not getting any better....it was getting worse. I rushed outside the doctors office in front of the whole Costco store about 2 or 3 times. Him and the nurse were doing everything they could to not get me to faint when I was back in the room.  Eventually even though I wasn't better, I told him just to take them out. It was a "are you sure?" "no, but do it anyways" sort of thing. Afterwards he looked up what could've be wrong, it's called Vasovagal Syncope. It is basically the physical feelings of fight or flight you get from something feared (something touching my eye). Him and the other doctor said they have had a few out of many people they've examined have this occur. Apart from that, they also said I have astigmatism, ya know, like the old contact commercial with the two blonde twins.

I was informed to lay down for half an hour. During that time I told the doctor about my nightmare from a week before where I woke up blind. We both agreed we'd choose to be deaf over blind and that being able to see was a gift. The nurse offered me a ride home after I calmed down, but I said I'd be okay, home was only a couple mile away. I was treated so well by this office I highly recommend it if you need to get a new eye prescription! I received my eye glasses a week later on a rainy day. I was telling my friend Joseph "I can see clearly now, the rain is NOT gone". Haha. Oh...incase you didn't come to the conclusion from all I said already no, I will not be getting contacts anytime soon.

In the Midst of It All

Example A
Crazy hair don't care

Example B
Coffee please save me

Personally (if you couldn't tell by the shortage of blogs) I have been extremely busy. Keeping my motivation up is tiring because I know in order to achieve success there is something I need to or can do everyday to work towards it...more like every hour of the day. The easiest way that to stay on track is to keep a list in my phone. Anytime I'm done with something I put a a big red, emoji 'X' next to it. You'd be surprised at how good it feels to see the progress your making. There are days where I wake up in the morning ready to go knowing I will finish near everything that's on my list (Example A). There are also days where I struggle to open eyes in the morning, feeling like they're glued shut begging for more sleep (Example B). Those days are usually the ones where I get overwhelmed the night before after adding more things to my list. The key is to find something beautiful, mind-easing or exciting in every day. That is what keeps you sane and happy.

This has been the basics of my list for the past week or two
- New eye prescription appt.
- Israel trip planning
- Work
- Gym
- School and homework
- Searching for next year's lease
- Switching bank companies
- Keeping up with chores
- W2 form business
- Car maintenance
- Running errands

Some great things that have happened today in the midst of being busy busy
- Received my thank you points gift in the mail from my old credit card. I got myself a $100 gift card to Bed Bath & Beyond to get myself a tempurpedic pillow. (I've been wanting one for years) With the rest of the points I'm trying to figure out how to donate them to charity. I saw my cancer organization (Special Love) on there as an option ;)
- The weather is wonderful, I put the top down in my convertible after taking my second test of the week at school (which I feel confident about)
- I'm looking forward to and will be packing to visit my long-term friend at UCLA tomorrow after school. Then I will be seeing my family afterwards :)
 - I got to choose to photoshop a leaping pug and an adorable tortoise today in my 8 am, which you can imagine made me giggle even though I had a hard time waking up this morning.

I hope you all can find joy and comfort in every day! It is completely possible, even on the busiest of the busiest or the worst of worst days. Remember to always TREAT YOSELF!

Birthright to Israel

Whether you practice Judaism or you come from Jewish descent, you are eligible for a free trip to Israel! I myself am of Jewish descent coming from my mother. To those of you who know me more personally than others, you know that my mom passed away when I was just a baby. I will discover where I came from on her side and a completely different culture that will leave me with new knowledge of the world around me. This will be a trip of a lifetime for me on top of being my first flight out of the United States!

Santa Barbara Post Office

"Loosen up on the smile, they
want to be able to see your
eyes."

Aaahh, the much enjoyed process of getting a passport. I've heard stories about how difficult it can be to get a passport in your hands. I will notify you as progress comes along. However, all I had to do was bring my birth certificate, license, passport application, and a smile on my face to the Santa Barbara post office today. Besides waiting in line, the meeting was very quick and I was told my passport should arrive by March 29th. Exciting! I have a feeling I will become addicted to traveling after this 10 day trip in mid June. That is.....traveling outside the United States because I've been and lived all over this country already in the West Coast, Midwest, and East Coast.

I guess I make the best guacamole
AND hummus!

If you'd like to know more information about the trip I will be going on or are interested in it yourself, you can checkout the Birthright website! Also, here is a link to a Facebook page for the UCSB/ SBCC club in Isla Vista that makes this trip possible :)

Mine! Mine! Mine!

Let me tell ya....Santa Barbara City College you are the most beautiful school with the best campus location ever. Your accompaniment is quite annoying however. THAT'S RIGHT, I'M TALKING TO YOU SEAGULLS!

I cannot tell you how many times I have been the witness or the victim of many close interactions with seagulls here at SBCC. They have got some gulls to be able to come up this close to you! They can be quite vicious too. Last year I saw one take a whole chicken tender (cannibal) and fly away with it swarming together with the rest of the seagulls before the person got back with their napkin. If you haven't noticed, this is why the SBCC cafeteria has a sign with a picture of a seagull saying that they will not make up for it. 

So this specific seagull to right above would not stop squawking at me. His friend joined into the harmony as well. Over everyone else outside, he decides to come squawk at me for a salad. A SALAD. Heck, I'd squawk for some chicken tenders and some fries if I could. Oh wait, the seagull in the picture to the left did. In fact, he took it farther than any other seagull has done before in the presence of a human being  inches away. HE GOT ON MY TABLE. Excuse me, am I sitting at YOUR table?? This picture shows I had absolutely nothing left on my plate after he was staring me down until I finished my chicken and fries. You know what he did? As I was sitting RIGHT THERE, he took my ranch cup from me, hopped off the table, and flew away.................................. you win seagull. YOU WIN. 

Is this payback for chasing seagulls all my life? 

Birthday Shenanigans

Now that my birthday month has passed, it's definitely time to blog about my birthday.
What's awesome is that my closest friends have their birthdays right around mine. My friend Allie and Joseph's birthdays are the 20th and my friend Nicole's birthday is the 21st. Mine is January 22nd! It's funny how I've basically grown up with Nicole and Allie and our birthday's are so close together (One is 364 days younger than me and the other is 363 days younger). Anyways!!!!...

We're 20!!!

The day before my birthday I honestly had a couple panic attacks. I felt like I just wanted to stop time after hearing things like "You're going to be a fifth of a century old" and "You're officially going to be an adult and not a teenager anymore". However, I had to realize that stopping time is impossible because well....it is.

I fell asleep before midnight came about, I guess my adult-self couldn't hang. Like usual, I woke up to many texts and several social media posts wishing me a happy birthday. I don't know what it was, but for some reason on my birthday (January 22nd) I could not seem to soak in the fact that I was 20. I am in my second decade. The whole day just seemed unreal to me. I had to start the day off finishing homework that was due that day, then I went shopping for an outfit for the night, and came back home and got ready for my birthday dinner at Something's Fishy on State Street (a hibachi grill). By the end of the night I came to a realization. I have been waiting, wishing, and dreaming of what is going to happen in my 20's for so long. This was just the start to everything I have been dreaming of for so long. I'll be graduating college, finding my career, publishing a book, getting the first place of my own, and hopefully meeting someone I can spend the rest of my life and build a family with down the line. It's an adventure within a second decade span I should be excited for, it doesn't mean all these things have to happen all at once right now!

The stars of Hollywood.

Last weekend I drove down to UCLA to see Nicole (who I've known since we were babies). We had the best time celebrating both of our birthdays with each other in Hollywood that night since we weren't able to meet up the other weekend.  It definitely made up for the mixed emotions I had on my actual birthday. At this point it has all soaked in for the most part. There will always be feelings of "boy, time just flies by", but I'm becoming more accepting of it. That makes me all the more motivated to make this second decade a good one!

Revolving Work Around School

Hello fellow CC mates. Ny name is Tired, last name Exhausted!

When you have to be cheesy and use Photo Booth in
Graphic Design to post to the class forum.

Hopefully my name will go back to Angela, last name Bickmann in a couple weeks. It's the plan! Right now is just the greatest time with new classes starting and moving up to a new position at work all at once. However, within a week or two I hope to not be saying that so sarcastically. At the moment I'm working as a host and expo, which is giving me almost double the amount of shifts I want to handle. Slowly but surely they are fixing my work schedule week by week to eventually get it how I would like for it to be.
Here are my thoughts for a decent work schedule as a college student depending on how you function best as a student:

Typical Angela accidentally
hurting herself doing anything.
This happened to be while slicing
my favorite sourdough bread on
my second day training at work. Am
I fit for the job now?

Try to not work during the days you have school if you can, or when you have a ton of classes!
 Between last semester and starting this semester, I've noticed it is incredibly difficult to go to school, work, and come back and do homework all in the same day. Last semester I had squeezed my classes into Tues-Thurs and worked Mon, Wed, Fri. Wednesdays were always my tough days with all the homework I had due on Thursdays. This semester I am going to school Mon-Thurs and (in a couple weeks) will be working Sat, Sun, Mon. However, Mondays shouldn't be tough for me because I only have one, easy class on Tuesdays where as Thursdays last semester I had 3 classes. Make sure your managers understand that not only is working important to you, but that school is as well. I recently decided to tell mine that I would rather work three days a week instead of five or four like the scheduled me because of school. They were more than understanding. Currently they are working on fixing that for me!

Give yourself a day or two to be able to leave town if you need to. We all need that refreshing moment with family or old friends when things get stressful!
This is a big one for me when anxiety catches up to me. It can also be crucial for the students who are having roommate troubles, which can be very common. Personally, I like to know that if I am having a stressful week, I will have a couple consecutive days where I can get away from it all and not have to worry about trying to get someone to cover my shift at work. That can be stressful enough as is! Last semester I had Saturdays and Sundays off work and school. This semester I will be having Thursdays at school, but off work and Fridays off both school and work. So this semester if I want to get away, I can leave town Thursday after school in the afternoon and come back Saturday afternoon before work in the evening.


Remember that school comes before work! Always, always, always.

Between classes, take a breather! (Or a picture in this case)
#bloggerprobz

You have the rest of your life to work after you graduate college. That's why there things such as student loans, grants, and scholarships. Don't get me wrong, I know it's scary to know you're using money you may eventually have to pay off. However, if working is bringing down your grades because you simply don't have the time to try or study, then it can get very overwhelming. I'm fortunate enough to have college payments and rent covered for me. I work so I don't completely run out of money by the time I graduate. Also, I work to be able to be able to pay for my car, gas, and anything else that is not a necessity (like shopping, gym membership, traveling, going out to eat, etc).  It all adds up folks! I'm trying to be smart about it and we all should try to be. If loans, grants, scholarships, and working the days that won't stress you out isn't enough for you and your bank account, you may want to consider taking a break from school. I encourage you not to, but if it's all to overwhelming to do at once, then it may be the right decision for you! Remember, college is the time to put you as your top priority. You don't have to worrying about what everyone else is doing :)

First Impressions

For the first time in history, I'm actually interested in all of my classes. That is not to say they won't challenge me because I can already tell they will, but at least I will have the motivation for my classes this year (except yesterday when I had to get homework done on my birthday which I will blog about after this weekend). Here's a rundown of the first impressions of my classes!

Argumentation and Debate: This partially an online class, we only meet on Thursdays. I've never tried any class that was even partially online, this is will be a new experience for me. The first day of class I walk in and before it even starts there were people from the earlier class trying to convince and bribe people from this class to switch with them. Sorry, I planned out my schedule perfectly in advance! Perks of being prepared. A lot of people wanted to take this class because the professor is known to be one of the best. From what I can tell he is pretty hilarious having the whole class laughing on the first day. Also, this or any communication class is needed for anyone who is transferring to a CSU school (which I most likely will be doing). So far what I learned is that there are two ways of thinking. System one is thinking with your emotions. System two is thinking with reason. This class is about thinking with reason (logic) in preparation for arguing and debating rationally. Also so students don't get offended!

Reporting/ Writing I: This is the very first college level journalism class I have ever walked into. I know I will enjoy the writing portion of it and that I will excel in that part of it, however I am a little nervous about the reporting stuff. I'm definitely more of a writer than an interviewer, but this class will help with that! We will learn a lot about current events as that is most likely what we will be writing about. When we were writing out things about ourselves on the syllabus, I noticed when it asked if I had experience in writing I ended up having a lot to say! I've been blogging for SBCC, I've taken a couple creative writing and photojournalism classes in high school, I'm in the process of writing an autobiography, I've been in the newspaper, and I've received an award at school before for the best poetry in the class. I also wrote down that I may be interested in writing for the Channels. I collected a few quotes about journalism from him including: "Journalists are active creators of content"  "Writers convey a message and connect with the audience" "Journalism is an art, you're an artist" and my favorite "Journalists have the power to influence" And with that power, I hope to do so!

Graphic Design Basics: I was late to the first day of this class :( It's my only 8 AM and there was construction and traffic from an accident that morning. Of course, when I get to the class every computer I try I couldn't find safari on to join the lecture for the syllabus review. Eventually I asked before we had to take a picture of ourselves to post an interesting thing about us on the forum and a quiz online the first day. I am excited to see where my creativity takes me in this class! I'm not a computer wiz, but I would like to know more since all print writing may all be online one day. We not only have to get the textbook, but pay $20 a month for this this Indesign Creative Cloud program for our computers every month until class is over. This teacher not only teaches Graphic Design, but she also has a separate job involving graphic design as well. I'm excited for the project we will be working on all semester. It's a booklet of graphic designs we will make on topic of our choice. Creativity here I come!

Music Appreciation: The teacher in this class loves what he does. We are learning the basics right now like how to read music, music terms, and how to clap or bang on our desks to rhythms. This is fun for me because I get to remember stuff from when I used to play piano and we get appreciated as a class for clapping our hands correctly. No seriously, he really is like "WOW YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING AT THIS, AGAIN!!! BUT FASTER!!" He understands that we as a generation today are more into EDM music and such, so he makes the class as interesting as possible with his jokes. He also understands that some of us (like me) are taking this for a humanities general ed class. This is the only class I have gone to more than once so far. I knew I'd like the teacher right away once he said that we don't need to get the textbook this year because they are expensive. Instead he put together a smaller, more condensed version of one himself for $7 at the bookstore.