How to overcome senioritis {high school, college, and beyond}

There's something about this time of the year. It's like everyone's energy and motivation is simultaneously zapped. In high school, college, and even during my second-to-last semester of grad school I've had to deal with "senioritis." Wikipedia says that senioritis is mainly used in the United States and Canada to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college, and graduate school careers. Since high school, I've gotten a lot better at dealing with this draining part of the semester and I want to share a few tips I use to bounce back and finish the semester the way I started it!

1. Acknowledge your lack of motivation | Just like any other issue, the first step is admitting you have an issue! Senioritis is so common among high school students, college students, and even professionals. We all get to a point or season when we lose motivation and just feel stuck with no desire to work. 

2. Remember how far you've come/what you've achieved | Whenever I'm lacking in motivation, it helps when I remember what I've already accomplished over the semester. I tell myself that if I have already come this far, surely I can keep going and finish strong. Sometimes it helps to look at old tests, quizzes, notes, emails, or to-do lists.

3. Consider the consequences of not finishing the semester strong | For some people it helps to think about how awful things might turnout if you don't get motivated and do your very best work for the rest of the semester. Awful things include getting bad grades, having to repeat classes, getting a bad reputation with your professors and peers, or not graduating just because you didn't put forth enough effort.

4. Reset goals and plan of action | One of the most important things to do when trying to overcome senioritis is to reset your goals and make a plan for finishing up the semester. Setting goals can just be reinforcing the goals you set at the start of the semester or it could mean making new goals. 

5. Change your accountability method | For years I've used my agenda as my organization method for school, work, and life in general. But once senioritis hits, my agenda does not keep me motivated and I have to add-on new checklist methods. I like to use post-it notes in my agenda, set reminders using my iPhone, set to-do lists with friends and work on homework with others, or reward myself for getting homework done.

6. Get rest and stay physically active | Regardless of if your final semester is super busy or full of easy electives...you should still be getting enough rest and exercise. Getting enough rest and staying healthy are both key factors for keeping your mental health strong and staying more focused on school work.

7.  Countdown / Have events to look forward to attending | Semesters can drag on if you only have graduation to look forward to. Instead, think of other events leading up to the end of the semester/season that are exciting. For example, I'm looking forward to Spring Break, birthdays for friends and family, TV shows coming out, awards banquets, and graduation festivities. Life is more exciting when you have things to look forward to doing!

If you have another tip, please leave it in a comment!

I hope this helps you deal with the senioritis!

Recent healthy meals

It's been a while since I've shared my healthy meals, so here goes! The meal above was what I made from leftovers at a restaurant. I used blackened tilapia + raw spinach + raw carrot strips + creamed spinach to make very delicious tacos!

My roommate made eggplant parmesan using even more vegetables than normal (my favorite vegetarian dish!).

Similar to kale chips, I made spinach/kale/carrots chips in a blended dish, so yummy!

I'm back to having fruit smoothies on a regular basis for my breakfast, and this is a classic combo. I used a banana and handful of strawberries + a few ice cubes + a teaspoon of protein powder.

The results of my smoothie! It was sweet, tasty, and filling.

One night I made sushi using the tools I got from the sushi making class I went to a few weeks ago! I put avocado and carrots inside my sushi.

I think it turned out really well because it tasted like the sushi I order in restaurants. However, I struggled with cutting the sushi because I didn't have any knives sharp enough for the job.

My dad made this delicious, healthy meal - cabbage, asparagus, broccoli, mustard salmon, and a baked sweet potato. So clean, so good!!

My roommate made these sweet potato burgers using this recipe, and they were such a healthy treat!

She made the sweet potatoes even tastier by topping them with her infamous apple slaw and chipotle sauce, yum!

Kale chips have become my favorite late night snack since I gave up chocolate chip cookies for Lent.

I baked this piece of salmon with some mushrooms and olive oil. I seasoned the salmon with black pepper, oregano, parsley, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and stuffed the salmon with green salsa for a kick!

This is one of my proudest cooking accomplishments to date. I am such a fan of Chipotle, and even since I've stopped eating meat I still visit often and order the vegetable burrito bowl. I have been craving this meal for weeks, but the weather in Atlanta has been too freezing to make the trip to my closest Chipotle. So I've slowly been stocking up on materials I knew I would need to recreate this dish. And last week I did it!

For my bowl I made corn and black bean salsa with kale, my own guacamole, onions and peppers, green salsa, tomatoes and of course I had to top it with cheese! Underneath all of that is brown rice with cilantro, yum!

See more healthy meal ideas here

How is healthy eating going for you?

Questions to break the ice / list of conversation starters

I'll be the first to admit that meeting new people at events can be kind of awkward if you're not super social. As an introvert, I really have to make an effort to meet new people and engage in conversations with strangers at events, but it's always worth it because I leave knowing a new person! Talking to new people can be difficult at first, but I've found that being prepared to talk to strangers makes things 100x easier. If the conversation doesn't naturally start or carry on, I always have some questions in mind to spark conversation and hopefully make some connections with the person. The key to asking questions is to also listen to the answers - that's how you can make a great response and potentially make connections!

So here are some of the questions and conversation starters I use in three different settings: college settings, work settings, and random social events in Atlanta. I hope these are helpful for you!

In college

• What's your major?
• What year are you in school?
• What made you decide to attend *insert college name here*?
• Where are you from?
• What high school did you go to? (If you're familiar with their hometown)
• Do you live on or off campus?
• What organizations are you involved in?
• Do you work or have an internship?
• What career do you plan to have?
• What do you do for fun on the weekends?

At work

• How long have you worked here?
• How do you like working here?
• What are some of your responsibilities?
• Where are some good lunch spots?
• How many people are in your department / on your team?
• Where else have you worked?
• Do you have any upcoming projects?

Random social events

• How'd you hear about this event?
• What do you do?
• Where are you from?
• How is the food?
• What area/part of town do you live in?
• Where did you get your *insert clothing item here* from?
• *Mention something interesting you've noticed about the event*

Do you have a go-to conversation starting question or statement? 

Please share in a comment below!

Read about the power of reaching out & networking here

Cheap healthy snacks {kale chips & banana smoothie}

Confession: chocolate chip cookies are my weakness. The kind you place & bake. It's my favorite snack and my favorite thing to pair with frozen yogurt. But I've really been trying to cut back on how often I eat them so that I can accomplish my health goals. So I browsed Pinterest for some tasty looking healthy snack ideas, and the two that sounded great to me were kale chips and a banana smoothie.

I followed these steps for baking, but changed my ingredients some. In a large mixing bowl I covered the kale chips with the olive oil then sprinkled on the following:

black pepper

lemon juice

sea salt

About halfway through baking, I drizzled on some balsamic vinaigrette.

And the final product...

So delicious!! Crispy, flavorful, and addictive. I can't wait to make these again very soon.

Whenever I go to Smoothie King, I order the "Banana Boat" smoothie. Full of bananas, protein, and ice cream. But I wanted to make a healthier version of this smoothie that still tasted great. For a late night snack I put two bananas, a few ice cubes, and 1/4 cup of milk in my NutriBullet.

Yum, and the end result!

I'm so happy that I've figured out how to make these healthy foods into tasty late night snacks because that's when I always want something to nibble on. These are perfect and easy snacks for those of you in college or busy people in general. Quick and filling!

What healthy snacks do you love?

February fitness challenge {daily yoga poses}

I pinned this awesome yoga poses chart via Yoga Journal a few months ago, but I have yet to put it to use. One of my goals for this year is to attend more yoga classes and practice more often. In January I went to the two hot yoga classes I signed up for - 8 more to accomplish the goal I set. This poster has 26 fantastic yoga poses that are pretty simple so I've decided in addition to my regular exercise, I will start every morning in the month of February with one of these yoga poses. Once I get to the end of the list, I'll repeat them until the month ends.

Morning meditation is something I've been trying to incorporate back into my schedule and I think this is a great strategy.

If you decide to join in this challenge let me know!

See other fitness challenges here

Georgia Aquarium College Semester Pass {Georgia Tech}

This past week and weekend were extremely busy, but luckily they were full of fun activities! One of the highlights of last week was visiting Georgia Aquarium where I got to see the beautiful exhibits, get a behind the scenes tour, and learn about their awesome college semester pass for Georgia Tech students!

We had an awesome tour guide, Megan, who was very knowledgable and passionate about Georgia Aquarium, which made our experience even better. I'm happy and proud to know how much care goes into keeping the aquarium operating. In the behind the scenes tour, we saw where the animals are treated (on-site), where their food is prepared, and where some college students volunteer in marine biology labs. It was all so cool.

The lobby of Georgia Aquarium is a sight by itself, and each of the exhibits offers a unique and beautiful perspective on life under the sea. We went to all of the exhibits that were open that day. My absolute favorite parts of the day were seeing the whale sharks up close and going to the AT&T Dolphin Show! It is the most impressive dolphin show I've seen, and I am so jealous of the swimmers who performed along with the dolphins.

I'm so excited that Georgia Aquarium is offering Georgia Tech students a pass to visit the Aquarium all semester long for only $31, a price perfect for a student’s budget! This deal is only for college students and the semester price is less than the cost of one general admission ticket. The semester pass allows unlimited visits to the Aquarium during the spring semester, and includes the AT&T Dolphin Tales show and our newest exhibit, Aquanaut Adventure: A Discovery Zone. This is such a great deal, and I know other Georgia Tech students will appreciate the opportunity to hangout at Georgia Aquarium for a great price!

See all the details below!

Georgia Aquarium College Semester Pass – Georgia Tech

One-Semester Pass: $31

Blackout dates: All Saturdays, March 16 –20, 2015

Students can conveniently purchase Georgia Aquarium College Semester Passes at the Georgia Tech Student Center Box Office.

Thank you, Georgia Aquarium, for inviting us to visit!

Healthy grocery shopping list examples

I cannot stress enough the importance of having a list prepared before going to the grocery store. I went grocery shopping yesterday and having my list of healthy food items decreased the temptation to grab unhealthy items. It also kept me from going over my budget. I get emails about grocery lists all the time, and I usually send people links to the three lists below (3 of my favorite guides). But I've finally made my own list, with affordable items that I typically purchase when I do my grocery shopping. When I shop, it normally last me a few weeks and allows me to make multiple creative, healthy meals.

Yesterday, I made this delicious kale + arugula salad (with tomatoes, avocado, strawberries, and lemon juice) and tilapia. So good!

Three other lists that I love!

via Shape Magazine

via Gina-Alyse

via Greatist 

First week of school checklist

Happy Friday! Today marks the end of my first semester back in school and boy was it a busy one. I had a couple of younger students ask me about tips for the first week of school and I thought it would be a great blog post to share with my student readers. This is my 1st Week of School Checklist - things that I do my best to accomplish during the first week of classes.

Go to class | This seems obvious, but in reality most people choose the first week of class to skip their classes because professors normally don't cover most material. This is true. But, professors do normally state important facts about the class and their expectations. This is also the best time to make a great first impression, introduce yourself to your professor, and get a good feel for the class while you still have time to change your schedule.

Read the syllabus | Again, this normally happens on the first day of class with your professor leading the reading. However, I make sure to read the syllabus myself and make sure I understand the course requirements and what it takes to get the grade I want. Having a good understanding of the syllabus can also help you later in the class when the professor may try to propose something that was not originally in the syllabus, possibly violating a school policy.

Add important dates to your planner | After reading the syllabus for each of my classes, I always go through the due dates and test dates and add them to my planner. I am surprised that more people don't do this at the start of the semester, but it makes life so much easier. Instead of trying to keep up week by week, you'll already have the entire semester planned out and you can plan your other life activities accordingly.

Stay on top of your email | I think I got about 300 emails this week. People are always super productive at the beginning of a new year and a new semester, meaning more emails. But it's important to check your email regularly during the first week of school to stay notified about class announcements, organization announcements, or important messages from your campus. Here are some tips for email management.

Don't over commit | This is something that I had to remind myself of during this week. Don't over commit. The start of a new semester means tons of new opportunities - internships, organizations, leadership roles, events, parties, etc. And of course we want to do it all. But we can't! It's easy to fall behind with classes if you over commit yourself during this first week of school. It's also a recipe for stress and unhappiness. Remember that saying "no" is ok, and you can always get involved in things once the semester settles down.

Dress for success | I'm guilty of dressing down for class on days when I don't have work. But during the first week of classes I try to make a great first impression and this means looking presentable for all of my classes. You won't ever catch me wearing heels or anything that extreme to class, but I do stray away from Nike shorts, leggings, and sweats during the first week. Dress for the kind of career you want.

Smile and network | During the first week you're not only making an impression on your professors, but your classmates as well. I'm always very friendly during this first week and try to meet anyone in my class I don't already know. My program is pretty small so I know the majority of the people in my classes, but it's great to visit with them and catch up during the first week back. I also make sure to have contact info for a few people in each of my classes in case I have a question about classwork, want to study with them, or miss class one day.

Set goals for the semester | Setting goals is a very important part of my first week back at school. I set goals about how I want to perform academically and also set personal goals and achievements that I want t accomplish during the semester. I normally write these down somewhere so I can be reminded of them throughout the semester.

Feel free to leave other suggestions in the comments

I hope you have a happy and successful semester! :)

Starting semester three of grad school

I just started back to school and work on Monday, but this week has already been insanely busy! Maybe it's because I'm still wishing it was Winter Break...but I am literally reading my own advice from this post and trying to get to Friday. I'm only taking four classes this semester, but it seems like everything in addition to classes is happening this week.

With my birthday coming up next week, I'm working on my 24 to-do's in year 24 list (see last year's here), and it's been a fun distraction from this week's work. I'm celebrating my birthday with friends this weekend, and will share photos from that afterward. 

I hope you're having a great week, and I can't wait to share the posts I have planned for 2015! :)

VKV Prints {Life Is Peachy & Sparkle Notepads}

These past few days have been a time for me to relax and recover after an extremely busy semester. I took five classes and worked, making every week pretty interesting. I'm very proud of how I did in my classes, and I am so grateful for a break from school and work for the next few weeks. 

One area of my life that has not taken a break is my communications company. November and December have been busy with photo sessions, graphic design projects, and new additions to my company. One of those new additions is VKV Prints! One of my freelance designers and I have been working on this idea for the past few months and it's great to see it come to life. We've designed multiple notepads and other prints to sell on my company's website. We'll be rolling them out two at a time, and have so many exciting designs to share.

Our first two designs are the "Life Is Peachy" Notepad and the "Don't Be Afraid to Sparkle" Notepad. Since we live in Georgia, the "Peach State," this design has been super popular, and I really love it too! The notepads come with 50 sheets and are the perfect size to keep on your home or work desk. 

I use notepads all of the time so I thought this was a great product to launch first for VKV Prints.

Both of these notepads are available to order here for just $10 each, and will be available until they sold out! We have a few of each left.

I appreciate all of my readers for supporting my projects and dreams, it's always exciting to share updates on my blog and get your feedback!

2015 Promises to Myself

I didn't plan to post this until later on in the month, but I already have friends asking how I'm setting goals for 2015. So here goes! I'm doing "promises to myself" again like I did in 2014. This method worked really well for me because I printed out my promises, shared them on my blog, and figured our how to get them done throughout the year. Even though 2015 will be impossible to completely plan for, it always helps to set goals and make promises to yourself. Here are my 2015 promises to myself, and below I have a blank copy you can use!

And here's a clean copy for you to use if you like this format too!

Set yourself up for a great new year!

Final exam study tips {college & grad school}

It's final exam season, ugh I know. But I have learned to appreciate this time of the semester because it means the end is near! I'm sharing a few tips that I practice for midterms & final exams that really help me feel prepared before tests and have my final projects completed ahead of the due date. I hope these help you have a happy and successful final exam week!

1. Divide and plan | Finals require a plan of action to handle calmly. Before I start studying or working on anything, I write down all of the finals I have and all of the assignments I have due during finals week. This semester I had the following written down:

Multivariate Statistical Coding Analysis Take-Home Final

Comparison Essay

Research Paper Proposal

Final Research Paper

Final Policy Memo 

Having a written list really helps keep me organized and also helps me prioritize my assignments. Trying to take on everything at the same time is very hectic and has proven unsuccessful for me in the past. So now, I stick to getting finals studying and assignments done using a system.

2. Get the assignments done first | When I have a ton of studying to do, the last thing I want to think about is doing assignments for another class. That's why I finish my assignments that are due before I start seriously studying. Of course you can do some light studying during the weeks/days leading up to your final, but I spend the majority of that time knocking out any assignments I have to do. This helps me really focus on the study material and decreases my stress levels since I have fewer things on my to-do list. After finishing my assignments, my list looked like this:

Multivariate Statistical Coding Analysis Take-Home Final

3. Take breaks | Taking short breaks is a great way to reward yourself for getting work done/learning information and it helps keep your brain from getting exhausted too quickly. If I'm studying at my place, I take breaks by watching an episode of a TV show, checking social media, painting my nails, having a snack, or doing some yoga.

4. Mix solo studying and group studying | I personally prefer studying and working alone, but that gets old really quickly during finals week. So, I like to alternate studying/working on my own for a few hours with working with others. Group/partner studying is good if you have the social self control to be around others when there's work to be done. But, I appreciate sitting at a table with a friend while doing work - it makes me happier, it makes me feel more obligated to study and it's nice to know someone is in the same boat.

5. Eat healthy snacks and drink water | I prepare healthy snacks and meals during finals week so that I can easily pack and eat them. Some of my favorite healthy snacks include bananas, blueberries, and yogurt. I also always keep a bottle of water with me.

6. Set alarms | I use alarms on my iPhone to set limits on my work (so I know when to take breaks), and to remind me of things I may forget otherwise because of the craziness of finals week. I also set limits on how late I will stay up during the week, and use alarms to tell me when it's time to wind down for the night and get some rest.

7. Make/use practice tests | Before your exam, do a practice version of the exam to prepare! I sometimes make my own exam with possible questions or have a friend quiz me over the test information. All of these get your mind prepared for an exam and calm your nerves.

8. Be confident | Once you've done all you can to do well on your final exams, just believe that you're prepared and  try your very best when it comes time to take the test!

And remember to celebrate once your finals are over - here are a few suggestions of how to celebrate!

Obsessed with {theSkimm}

I've been a Skimm'r for about five months, and I am obsessed. I think I've shared theSkimm, a daily e-mail newsletter that is perfectly crafted and written, with most of my family, friends, and classmates. But then I realized I still haven't shared it with my blog readers, sorry! So here's a rundown of theSkimm and why I, along with many others love it.

So theSkimm arrives in my inbox every weekday morning (excluding holidays) around 6:30AM. The time may vary for some, but I'm just happy it comes before I wake up. It's the first thing I read before even getting out of bed. TheSkimm always includes a "Quote of the Day" that relates to an interesting news story.

One thing love about theSkimm is that the newsletter includes both national and global news. I typically have trouble following global news and relating to it because it feels so distant. Yet, theSkimm does an excellent job of breaking down some of the most important news stories across the globe so that anyone can understand them and realize why they are important. Another great aspect of theSkimm? The writing. If you speak sarcasm, you will absolutely fall head over heels for the writing style in theSkimm - a little snarky, a little sarcastic, and very smart.

I also appreciate theSkimm covering stories that are important, but don't always get the news coverage they deserve. For example, theSkimm has been keeping readers updated on Ferguson, MO and the ongoing protests. 

TheSkimm also shares a word/term "to know" which really comes in handy. And, they sometimes have a sweepstakes/contest going on for readers to enter.

Last, but not least, the Skimm Birthdays at the end is such a fun addition to the newsletter. It's also great to see that women and men from across the nation and in my city are also Skimm'rs!

You can subscribe here

You can check out previous Skimms here

Do you Skimm?