What An "Easy A" SHOULD Mean

I'm a blogger, artist, baker, crocheter, Orange Is the New Black binge-watcher, and much more but first and foremost, I'm a student. That means that I know what it's like to hunch over twenty-page papers all afternoon, complete one hundred-question homework assignments, get lectured about time management, study every night for two weeks in preparation for ONE exam, sleep, and then repeat. Here's a little more background so you get a slightly better idea of what I'm like as a student: 

Never have I ever procrastinated for an assignment, project, or studying and I never will. Never have I ever not gone the extra mile to make my work better than expected. Never will I ever settle for "satisfactory." Are you starting to get the picture? You've probably heard the saying, "Quality, not quantity." I do what I do to ensure that my results are of quality that is up to my (high) standards. Doing this lets me rest assured that I truly did everything I could to help"" my grade in a class - I'd hate to have any regrets. 

But when you have a rigorous 19-credit college schedule, intense training to go through for an on-campus organization, and exams, labs, and homework assignments due left and right, the best thing you could ask for is just a small break. Of course, the next best thing would be a few "Easy A" classes in your schedule - those classes that are like a breath of fresh air because doing well in them is such a breeze! 

You cannot tell me that no one on the face of the earth would be ecstatic to have one of those classes. Yes, I am one of those people who love a challenge, like many others, but sometimes it's just nice to have something that just isn't a major challenge. 

Over the summer my fall schedule underwent some plastic surgery - I was completely changing my course of study in college so I needed to add the right classes to my schedule and drop the ones I no longer needed. For one class in particular that I already added, I found out that a friend of mine had coincidentally registered for the same class because he heard it was "...an easy A." I was surprised to hear this but just as equally relieved to have an "easy" class among extremely difficult ones. 

Now that I am a few weeks into the semester and got a good taste of my classes, including the supposedly "easy A" class, I can honestly say that I am annoyed with the perceived standards of an "Easy A" class. 

I feel that the term "Easy A" is relative to our own work ethics. That friend of mine is one of those who live by the motto, "C's get degrees," without trying to lift a finger more than they feel necessary to earn better than the standard passing. I'm not bashing him or anyone with a similar work ethic - we are all our own people. To him, an "Easy A" means inactively listening to lectures, b.s.-ing homework assignments, and little to no preparation for exams - do this and you're guaranteed an A in the class. 

First of all, are there even college classes like that that exist today? If you can find one college class at any University that allows students to slack off at the maximum level, do let me know...It would probably be better to say that this might get you a C in the class if you're lucky, considering that many colleges have rigorous courses where even introductory courses require a lot of effort. So this is probably what an "Easy pass" looks like...

It seems to me that whether some students are hard workers or slackers, they seem to share a similar view of what an "Easy A" class means to them - the view is very similar to what I described as my friend's perspective! Maybe in a perfect world that is the definition of an "Easy A" class - however, we don't live in a perfect world. 

In my opinion, a class should be deemed as an "Easy A" if students can follow the expectations outlined by the syllabus and get the A. There have been times when I did a bit more than what the Syllabus expected of me yet still got below an A in the class. It's discouraging and I'll be the first to admit that. I've also seen people do what I'd call close to nothing and still end up in the A-range. Maybe that's what molds peoples' idea of the quality of work required for an "Easy A" class. 

I think that students should adopt a new perspective on what constitutes an "Easy A" class: complete the homework assignments with the quality suggested by the syllabus; attend lectures; get the grades on exams as suggested by the syllabus; and so on and so forth. A class that is an "Easy A" should mean that you do what is expected rather than do nothing and luck out with a decent grade. This should challenge students with a habit of slacking off big time to put in more effort and show development in quality in order to bring out a better work ethic. It should also cushion students with a tendency to overwork to ensure that their effort is graded justly. 

BUZZING BUMBLEBEE NAILS

Do you think bumble bees are adorable from a (safe) distance? Do you want a super fun and super cartoon-y design for your nails? Do you want me to stop acting like this is an infomercial? Alright, alright, I'll get right to it - here we have my bumble bee nail art! This is a super adorable design that you can wear to impress your friends with your precision techniques (you have to get every nook and cranny of those clouds!) At the same time, this design incorporates some very basic techniques. I'm first going to start off with the fact that I used my BLUE-tiful Sally Hansen nail polish in Blue Me Away! as my background color. My steps for creating this design will probably seem a little bit odd because I usually start by describing the thumb nail, however, I didn't do that this time, but bear with me - it will all make sense! Here's what I did: 

1. Ring Finger
For the ring finger I used a dotting tool to help me draw thick clouds on my nail. I used my New York Color white nail polish to do this. Let your clouds dry completely. At this point your nail probably looks weird with two splotches of white nail polish that actually looks like white out (even worse!) so to fix that and give your clouds some definition and actually make them look like, you know, clouds I took black nail polish on a toothpick and outlined the shapes. I used a toothpick because I felt I had way more control with it and it ensured that I wouldn't make the outlines too heavy. 

2. Middle Finger 
This is the whole point of this design so don't mess up! If you do, it's all cool - "there are no mistakes in art," as said by my first grade art teacher =) So first things first, I took white nail polish and made an ovular shape in the middle of the nail. On top of that oval, I used the same white nail polish to make what looks like a stretched out half-circle. This is supposed to be the bee's wing. Make sure you create a pointy looking shape at the end for the bee's stinger! This white nail polish will help your yellow nail polish show up better against the blue background. Near the stinger, I used a dotting tool to create two small dots which will be continued on my next three nails as the beeline. Once all the white nail polish has dried you can go over it with yellow nail polish for the body of the bee. You can leave the wing white. Once the yellow dries, draw in black stripes, color in your stinger, and mark the wing. Don't forget to outline your bee for a cartoon-y and neat look! I took a bright green and went over the white dots for the beeline. 

3. Index Finger
This finger continues the beeline with just a somewhat straight line of dots. I also painted a cloud just above the beeline using the same technique I used on the Ring Finger. 

4. Thumb nail 
This thumb is all beeline! I arranged the dots in a fun loop to add a little bit more flair to it! 

5. Pinky 
Last but not least, on my pinky I painted small hearts because I thought they'd look nice with that splash of pink! 

So there you have it - fun and easy bumble bee nails! Maybe you've noticed that a good amount of my designs are animal based... Well can you blame me? Who doesn't like animals? =) 

SWATCH: SALLY HANSEN "BLUE ME AWAY!"

Hey everyone! So one nail polish color that I am kind of obsessed with at the moment is Sally Hansen's Blue Me Away! because it's such a shiny, smooth, sky blue that no one should ever have to live without! I paid about $3.49 for a bottle of this nail polish from Walgreens. This particular line from Sally Hansen (Hard as Nails) isn't at all expensive yet it has great quality and great color pay off! 

I applied two coats of the polish to my nails. One thick coat is definitely enough because this is kind of a really opaque color, however, obviously, if you slather it on your nails the dry time will be way longer than if you were to take your time and apply two thin, even coats. 

On my ring finger I used black and white nail polish to create clouds in the sky - the blue nail polish was the perfect canvas for this! I actually use this design in a future post - I won't completely give it away, but let's just say that it had me buzzing happily with the results! 

This shade of blue is definitely a perfect sky blue. It isn't super light but also not super dark, which is great because sometimes a lot of the nail polishes I own are either really light and sheer or pretty dark and heavy - this is a great balance! 

This color is definitely amazing enough for you to wear plain on your nails but you can definitely spice it up a little with an accent nail like I did. This color is one of the very few colors I decided to take back to college with me. I dorm on campus and I didn't want to have a ton of stuff lying around my room like I did last year so I was extremely selective with many things, including nail polish, and I'm glad that this color made it past my "screening" process! 

Wear this color to add some coolness to any daytime outfit. People will probably feel calm just by looking at your nails! =)

THE KINDS OF CLUBS AT YOUR COLLEGE'S INVOLVEMENT FAIR

Back to school time usually means back to clubs and extracurriculars, or in other words, activities to make your week less boring and a little more full of purpose! Sometimes it can be hard to navigate the plethora of tables managed by different on campus clubs and organizations. Some people like to categorize the clubs so they visit what they're interested in. I went to my college's involvement fair last week and I made sure I got a peak at just about everything there! I noticed a few recurring themes between many of them and thus, this post was born! Here are the types of clubs that you'll see at your college involvement fair: 

1. Greek Life 
Greek life is popular among many, many, many college campuses. At my outdoor involvement fair, Greek Life tables were situated in a good chunk of outdoor plaza. The involvement fair is a fantastic way for them, like other organizations, to advertise and gain recruits. Just look for non-English alphabet and you've found your frats and sororities. In all seriousness, Greek Life helps you build a sense of community with the people around you. You build character and learn to trust your peers as if they were your brothers or sisters! Fraternities and Sororities also provide cool accommodations and events for their members. Confession time: I absolutely cannot tell you what each of the letters mean (I took Latin in high school) and which frat is a brother to which sorority!

2. Community Service Clubs
This kind of club was probably number one on my list of clubs to sign up for this semester. Community service clubs provide students with a great way to get involved on and off campus and they help students become aware of and get in touch with people from other organizations. A great example of a community service club would be your college Key Club or Kiwanis Club. They provide members with cool opportunities to get out into the neighborhood for good causes! These also look great on graduate school applications and on resumes! 

3. Sports Clubs
These are kind of different from intramural sports since these clubs are actually declared clubs at your college. Intramural sports have multiple teams within the same school competing against each other whereas established sports clubs compete with those of other colleges. There would surely be a sports club for everyone interested - soccer, volleyball, tennis, basketball, badminton, QUIDDITCH! Yes, Quidditch is a sport! My college has a pretty popular Quidditch team! This year, I signed up for the Field Hockey club. I have never played field hockey before but the great thing about Sports clubs is that you don't need experience to be part of a cool team! 

4. Pre-Professional Societies 
I'm talking about Pre-Med, Pre-Dental, Pre-Vet, Pre-Law, Pre-anything! These societies are fantastic to join if you are on a certain pre-professional track. They give you insight into the field you want to go into, the professional school application process, some test prep, and other great resources that you might not be able to find completely on your own! I used to be part of the pre-Vet society at my school and during one meeting, an alumni from the society brought in a dog and taught us how to examine him for things like cancer! It was a great hands-on experience that pre-vet students wouldn't want to miss out on! These societies overall just help you get more acquainted with your field before you actually go to Med School or Dental School or whatever school! 

5. Honor Societies 
 These are groups that honor students with top averages. Think of them as an exclusive reward for keeping your GPA above a 3.5! You get access to exclusive scholarships, professional conferences, exclusive study abroad opportunities, bragging rights, and, of course, an awesome Honor Society t-shirt! Did that seal the deal for you? 

6. Hobby/Recreational Clubs 
These are a big part of the involvement fair because they probably comprise the majority of the extracurricular body at your college. These kinds of clubs are great for you to take a load off one night a week and just have some fun and interact with people! Some "hobby" clubs my school offers include archery, fencing, snowboarding, anime, forensics, culinary club, and lots more! Maybe you're a pre-law student but you want some time to get your cook on - join the culinary club! Or maybe you're a Biochem and Engineering double major who enjoys making scarves and beanies in his or her free time - the fiber arts club at your college is just right for you! No matter what your major or what track you're on, you can never, ever go wrong with hobby-type extracurriculars! 

7. Cultural Clubs 
Are you looking to stay intact with your culture or immerse yourself in a different one? Culture clubs are probably what you're looking for! There is a variety of culture-oriented clubs at colleges that anyone can join! Indian, Caribbean, East Asian, Hispanic, and many of these other clubs are designed to let students travel to another country with ever leaving campus! Immerse yourself in food, art, dance, and wardrobe from other cultures with these clubs! 

8. Dance Clubs
My college, like many others, has a lot of different kinds of dance clubs. Of course, there's the main team that performs at the football games but there are others such as ballroom dance, ballet, Bhangra, step, and other campus dance troupes. I definitely don't think that I'm a good enough dancer to even be considered for the main dance team at my college (or at any college!) but the campus dance troupe and ballroom dance clubs have peaked my interest a little more since I have ballroom dance experience. These kinds of clubs will educate on different styles of dance while giving you a great workout and toned legs! 

9. Emergency Response Organizations
This kind of organization seems to be growing in popularity and availability on college campuses. My college has two - the volunteer ambulance corps and the community emergency response team (CERT for short). They are student run however they have overseers from the district. I am part of the community emergency response team, which has trained and educated me in disaster preparedness. These organizations are a great way for students to gain experience in a highly professional and fast paced environment - perfect application builder for students on the pre-med track! They require a lot of intense training but if you can persevere through it all, you'll be glad you applied!

10. Social Issues Clubs
There are growing numbers of on campus clubs that highlight aspects of society such as the LGBT community, feminism, discrimination, the environment, and many more. Okay, the environment isn't too much of a "social" issue but I decided to throw that one in there because it is a global issue. These clubs educate students on these aspects within society and you don't necessarily have to be gay to join the LGBT club or you don't have to be a full-fledged feminist to join the feminism club. Likewise, you don't need to be a super tree-hugger to join the environmental club - the point is to gain a new perspective and consider insight that you might not have previously considered. 

There you have it - the types of clubs at your college involvement fair. No matter what the type, all clubs share a common goal - to get students connected with the university and with each other. So get out there and join something! Join something you didn't think you'd ever join; join a club to be educated; join a club for experience in your field; join something that lets you help others. Most importantly, have fun while doing it! 

WHY FRIENDSHIP BRACELETS ROCK (EVEN IF YOU MAKE THEM FOR YOURSELF!)

Friendship bracelets aren't little gifts exclusively for friends - you can rock your own creation just as well! This is typically what I do - I make bracelets and I wear them. Myself. Don't get me wrong, I've dished out a few to some really close friends in the past! These bracelets seemed to have been a cool trend a few years ago (2 years ago?) but you might not see too many of them in stores at this time. I guess consumers could say that they've lost their popularity - they're a thing of the past. Here's why I think that friendship bracelets should never ever lose their appeal: 

1. They easily add casualness. 
Friendship bracelets are chill - super casual and easygoing - that's the kind of vibe you might get from people who wear them, at least that's the vibe people get from me when I wear them! They top off your look by adding just enough casualness to your outfit. Pair them with a flannel top and ripped jeans for a super down to earth look. 

2. They never tarnish. 
Unlike silver bracelets and necklaces that you can get from Claire's or Forever21, friendship bracelets are made of string (called embroidery floss) and you won't get an ugly tinge on them from oxidation. Don't get me wrong, I will still buy cute necklaces from Forever21 but the fact that you won't have to throw these bracelets away because of tarnish is definitely a plus! 

3. They are very easily customizable. 
These bracelets are extremely easy to make, or maybe I'm just speaking for myself since I've been making these bracelets since Elementary school! Never fear, they actually are easy to make on your own, which means that you can pick your desired colors and create the patterns you want. If you're a beginner then a great pattern to start off with would be an easy chevron, pictured above at the bottom, it is the second, third, and fourth, designs from the right. 

4. No weird clasps to work with.
Bracelet clasps can be super annoying sometimes! Some of them are so hard to open and it can take you several tries before you successfully put on a bracelet with just one hand. Friendship bracelets have a zero tolerance for annoying bracelet clasps because they don't have any! I like making adjustable friendship bracelets, which are very simple to make. All it requires is being able to pull string, so if you can pull string, you can work this bracelet! 

5. They're great for all genders. 
Unlike a lot of jewelry on the market today, friendship bracelets aren't just for girls - guys can rock them too! A guy can probably wear the same design a girl can wear and be cool with it, since I don't know too many guys who would willingly wear a girls' necklace from Claire's. 

6. They make you feel so creative!
Whenever I wear my friendship bracelets to class that I've made I always feel so talented and artsy! This is a great confidence booster and is actually a cool way to let people see another side of you without you ever having to open your mouth! I've found that for me, these bracelets are a cool ice breaker because I get lots of compliments on them from random people and before I know it, we've had a 20 minute conversation! 

Maybe one day friendship bracelets will re-claim their popularity as a fashion statement. Maybe one day we'll have a friendship bracelet empire. Okay, maybe not but friendship bracelets are still really cool! Let me know what your favorite fashion piece is! 

APPY SAVVY: 5 Apps for phones and computers that can help you conquer the hustle and bustle of college life!

No, I’m not talking about Tinder or Snapchat! College students are aware just as well as anyone else, if not better, of the “vital” stance of technology in today’s society. With technology playing a key role in the efficiency of day to day activities, it’s about time we start using our phones for something other than Facebook on the go!

1. The Calendar App
The calendar app is useful for organizing your entire day, thus allowing for a significantly reduced level of confusion! With the help of a calendar app, suddenly there is hardly anything hectic about a 10a.m. appointment with a professor, tutoring sessions, homework time, lunch with a friend, and club and organization meetings. In the morning just use your phone or computer to open up a calendar app and create a schedule for the day. Google Calendar is a great tool for this. The calendar app that comes pre- installed on iPhones is golden. It alerts you about your event 10-30 minutes in advanced so you’ll always remember what’s going on.

No more forgetting to take a trip to the Bio lab to drop off some papers! This app is especially useful for students who usually have a lot on their plates for the day and want to have a way to manage their time better. 

2. EasyBib
We all know that writing a works cited page for research papers in writing class can be extremely tedious. Even though MLA format is probably something that many of us have been introduced to since middle school and been practicing since high school, the correct format sometimes doesn’t stick to us. EasyBib makes it just that - easy! In less than two minutes you can have a perfectly structured citation for a source. Way better than following a model to handwrite all the citations for all of your sources! With EasyBib, you will always receive full credit for your works cited page in any class! EasyBib saves you a good chunk of time, especially considering that after writing an in-depth paper, students don’t want to concern themselves too much with a “perfect” works cited page - even a “decent” one might be setting the bar a little high. If you plan on taking some classes that require research papers throughout the semester then this app with be a lifesaver!

3. iBooks
This is an app that comes pre-installed on MacBooks and iPhones. This app is great for downloading and saving online versions of books. Imagine that you have a class that requires several classical novels, available for purchase at your campus bookstore. Who wants to pay for books that they likely won’t even touch during the semester? I’m being real here - I know that there are a handful of diligent students who will actually read the material expected of them, however, the vast majority will just let the books collect dust in their dorm rooms. Many students opt to just use the pdf version of these books for absolutely free, which sounds like a great idea. iBooks lets you keep all those downloads in one place. Yep, you don’t even need to bookmark any webpages - download the pdf version and move it to the iBooks collection. Now you have access to all the reading books for class with just one click!

4. Google Drive
Google Drive is a great way to keep all of your documents and presentations in one convenient place. You can carry Google Drive with you anywhere because you can access it on any computer, and thus, have access to essays, presentations, and such as long as you have uploaded it to Google Drive already. Google Drive uses a simple interface so you have your documents in your account in just seconds! Google Drive also makes class projects a snap - everyone in your group can view and edit a presentation and there’s also a chat feature so your group can talk about the project even if you can’t physically be with them!

5. BlackBoard
Keep track of updates from all of your classes by using a BlackBoard app. Maybe you don’t have your laptop on you and can’t get to a computer on campus in a hurry but you really need to check BlackBoard for class updates. Downloading the app can save you time and grief. Have access to updates and messages from professors, grades and such with just a tap of the screen. Students can’t afford to miss a beat in college! BlackBoard will keep you right on track!

Technology is what you make of it - use it efficiently and your time will be spent efficiently. The above mentioned apps will ensure that college students supplement their learning by providing tools that help students stay organized and work smarter, not harder!

OWL NAILS

Hi again and welcome to September! If you could associate owls with any month of the year, wouldn't it be September? Maybe it's those vibes of wisdom that you feel when you look at a picture of a peaceful owl chilling on a tree branch with its eyes closed in contemplation - the more you look, the less you see! Maybe it's because, of all the animals, the owl is most likely to be a kind of "teacher" or "mentor" to ambitious, impressionable students. Maybe that's just me, but I thought these Owl themed nails would be great for back to school season! In this design I paid homage to the wise old animal that can turn its head 270 degrees without breaking a sweat! 

All you really need for this design is a base coat or really light nail polish, black nail polish, white nail polish, yellow nail polish, and any other nail polish colors you'd like! I painted a different colored owl on each of my nails, however, if you prefer to have all your owls be uniform, that's up to you - it'll still look great! 

First things first, I used Sinful Colors' Social Ladder to paint a thin coat all over each of my nails. In the picture, you see an area of what looks like a plain nail bed near my cuticles, however, this is actually a thin layer of Social Ladder, which is a very sheer, very light pink color. I also used this color in my PROM NAILS design. 

Once that coat dries, take your favorite nail polish color and - this is the tricky part - go near the cuticle and paint almost a semi circle shape. This is the top of the head of the owl. In drawings, you'll see that some owls are given that distinguished look of having that peculiarly shaped head so that's what we're going for here! It might be kind of tricky to manage, however, one thing I found useful to do is to start in the middle and make a single stroke all the way down the nail. Once you do that, slowly connect the edge of that stripe towards the cuticle using a curved motion. Do this on the other side as well. When it dries, you'll take black nail polish on a striper brush - or even on a toothpick - to outline this shape. You only need to outline the top of the head. This makes the owl more defined and look neater. I actually highly recommend you use a toothpick for this rather than a striper brush because I found that I had more control with a toothpick. 

Next, take white nail polish and paint an ovular shape - this is the owl's belly. Grab your dotting tool and with the same white nail polish, make two dots for eyes. Once the eyes dry, take yellow nail polish and use the dotting tool to dot over the white eyes. The white helps the yellow stand out way more against any background color, including black! 

Once the belly is dry, take any color you'd like along with a smaller dotting tool and make little polka dots on the owl's belly. This adds a fun and creatively colorful flair! Don't forget to go in with a striper brush with yellow nail polish and draw a small vertical line for the owl's beak - I almost forgot to mention that! Once the yellow eyes are dry, take a smaller dotting tool and use black nail polish to create pupils. Voila! You can take a handful of wise old owls with you wherever you go! 

I hope you enjoyed this nail art and are inspired to create your own! Mix it up a little! Try a bunch of different colors or if owls aren't your thing, paint your favorite animal on your nails instead! I've done panda bears and penguins in the past, which are also really easy to create!