Back To School: How To Make The Most of The New School Year

Hi, and welcome back! I hope everyone had a great summer!

Most of us are either already back in school, or will be back very soon. So I figured I could write some helpful tips and things to look out for in the new school year. Here we go.

• Organise yourself. Whether this part is easy or difficult depends on the type of person you are. Take this quiz to find out if you are organised. Of course, it's best to buy school books and supplies a few weeks before school starts, but some people prefer to wait and see what each teacher wants instead of buying things that end up being useless. My suggestion is to get a folder or binder for every subject, if your teachers allow it. That way, you can put an A4 pad of paper in each instead of a copy, which can easily be forgotten in your locker (believe me, I've been there). You can also put notes and poly pockets in a folder. Alternatively, you can have one big folder with separate compartments inside, as well as a big A4 pad. A word of advice though - it can get very heavy as you get more and more notes. 

• Try not to fall behind on homework in the first few weeks. These are the weeks when you are most relaxed and not focused on school. This way, your workload can overwhelm you. Try my blog post on coping with a huge homework load for advice. Remember - don't let the stress get to you!

• Sort out your locker, if your school has them. Remember to get a lock if they are not provided by the school! This way, you can be sure that things won't go "missing". If you live in America, you're lucky. You can really decorate and furnish your locker just the way you want it. Here are some videos I found which are really fun and useful for organising your locker.

 

• If you've just changed classes or schedules, make sure to speak up if you have any problems with it. If you have any problems with your timetable or if you want to change to a different class, go to the office or whoever is in charge of things like that and get it sorted. If you don't, you're probably going to be miserable for the rest of the school year. Besides, organisational issues are best fixed at the start of the year, when schedules are still flexible and classes aren't full. Why make your life difficult later when you can sort out your problems now?

• Make a conscious effort to talk to people you don't know yet. Look friendly and open. Most people are naturally drawn to happy, bubbly people. Make a lasting first impression - it will make school life much easier later on. However, don't abandon your old friends either!

A Positive Start to Spring!

So spring may not have started off like we would have expected. For the first time in years, there was snow during Spring Break!

Never mind all that though! There's only a few more weeks until summer and it's about time we put away the winter spirit and step into spring with a positive attitude!

I know a lot of people who still have the winter blues... but why sit around when you can have an attitude makeover right now?

1. Start every day in a positive way. Wake up and live. Take a deep breath and smile. Look in the mirror and say "I'm beautiful." Choose to be happy.

  2. Appreciate the beauty of small things. Look out the window. It's raining? No problem! Find the beauty in rain. If it's sunny, even better! Notice things around you that you never noticed before.

3. Go outside (no matter what the weather!). We all sit inside all day every day, and our mood and confidence suffers. Go to a place that you've never been to before. Make it an adventure! Bring friends and food and just enjoy yourselves!

4. Do things you love. That way, you'll love what you do and really enjoy yourself. Remember - if you enjoy the time that you waste, then it's not a waste of time!

5. Surround yourself with positive people that you love and who make you happy. There's no point in always listening to people moaning about problems!

Just try to enjoy being you!

Sorry if I overloaded the positivity, but I think spring is a great time to start over and just be happy.

Horoscopes - are they worth your time?

Can we trust horoscopes? Are they reliable? Is there any truth in them?

These are questions that people have asked themselves for hundreds of years.

Personally, I do think that there’s some truth in them.

I have a really good app on my phone called DailyHoroscope (go figure) and I use it almost daily. I also follow a few horoscope accounts on Twitter. Some people would think I’m crazy for reading horoscopes, but hear me out.

I definitely don’t think people can be grouped into 12 types – there’s way too many of us for that. However, I think that maybe there is a general pattern between the people of a certain Zodiac sign. I don’t know how astrologists can get accurate predictions from the general time of the year that a person was born – it’s hard for me to wrap my head around it. I guess there has to be some fact in the general area of expertise though. I mean, astrology has been around for thousands of years!

I don’t believe the hype that horoscopes are always 100% correct or accurate. I think that they mostly depend on our subconscious – what our mind makes of the prediction we read and how it subconsciously makes it happen. Some people believe everything they read and take it literally. I don’t think this is the way to go. I also think the reliability of a horoscope depends on the source. If you’re reading a short, general horoscope in a magazine or a TV guide, you probably shouldn’t believe it.

Who do YOU want to be?

Who do you want to be when you grow up?

It's such a popular question, and I think we've all heard it several times over the years. However, it's also one of the hardest questions to answer.

Years ago, people didn't have so many opportunities. If you were a girl, you were gonna end up being a housewife. If you were a boy, you would probably do the job that was passed down many generations in your family. You just didn't have the options. Now, it's different. There are so many different paths you can take. We see them every single day. Yes, we're in a recession, but with the right qualifications and ambition you can go very far. With so many choices, though, it can be so difficult for young people to choose a career. 

It's so hard for us to decide what we want to do every day for the rest of our lives. We're at the beginning of our lives and we haven't experienced life enough to make such an important decision. What if we get bored of our job? What if we can't do things right? What if we're gonna dread going to work every morning just like we dread school? How do we prevent this happening?

There are many ways to find out what career is suitable for you, like online surveys, reading magazines and journals, and going to see your career advisor in school. However, I think the only person that can truly decide is YOU. You're the one who's gonna make the choice and you're the one who's gonna have to live with it for the rest of your life. So make it right. Start thinking. Brainstorm things you like doing, things that you enjoy, things you're good at. Research your dream career online, find out what you need in order to achieve it. Really focus on it.

Even watching movies can help. This is probably the only time I'd ever tell you to take advice from Twilight (cause in real life if someone tells you they want to kill you and/or drink your blood you should just run for your life). Watch the following speech from Eclipse. I think it's really inspiring and many of us can relate.

Even watching movies that feature confused teenagers searching for the meaning of life can help. You know the kind.

So get out there and get involved. If you want something, you have to go out there and get it through hard work and dedication. It's sad but it's true.

Good luck!

My New Years' Resolutions

Welcome back!

We're almost two weeks into 2013 now, and it's about time I did my New Years' Resolutions.

Do you do resolutions? And if you do, do you ever stick to them?
I have to admit (shamefully) that I never stick to any of my resolutions, but I think there's value in them. Maybe if you display them enough and make a poster with them or whatever, you might actually stick to them. Listening to cheesy power ballads can help too.

I'm putting my resolutions up here so that they're official and public.

By the end of 2013, I want to:

• break bad habits and overcome my weaknesses to become a better and stronger person. 
• be a more consistent person and finish what I started.
• be able to say that I achieved something great.
• work on my greater ideas.
• write something that I'm really proud of.
• be a more open and honest person.
• be independent.
• put the past behind me and look towards a better future.

There you go. 

Also, here's an idea I found on Tumblr recently and I think it's absolutely amazing. You make a 'memory jar' and write down all your memories throughout the year. You empty it on New Year's Eve. This is something I'm definitely going to try.

Happy New Year everyone!