Category: Wellness

Categories
Wellness

Facebook Addiction

I just wrote a paper called “The Eight Deadly Sins: Pride, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, Lust, and Facebook.” In it, I talked about a lot of the concerns people have about Facebook and health, and then tried to shut them all down because I love Facebook and I don’t think it is really going to cause ADD and cancer or strokes or any of the millions of other things it is accused of.
There is one big problem with it though, privacy. It really sucks, but even if you really restrict your privacy settings, many people who you don’t want to see it still can. So here are some things I try to make sure to do (or not do) on Facebook.

1. Don’t put up anything you wouldn’t want you boss to see. I know, this sounds stupidly obvious, but it’s amazing how many people put up some truly unflattering pictures/other content.
2. Don’t friend you boss, this is just ackward unless you are actually friends in real life (which is also pretty ackward). Even if you have not friended him or her, your boss/potential boss can probably see it anyway (see #1), but at least he or she isn’t getting a news feed of your drunken exploits (if you don’t pay attention to #1)
3. Use the “report photo” option if whoever posted the unflattering picture of you refuses to take it down, don’t just think you have to live with it.
4. Every once in a while, go through and clean out your friends list. A good rule of thumb is: get rid of someone if you cant picture their face or remember where you know him or her from. It is pathetic how many of these people are on my friends list right now. clean out time.
5. Don’t put your year of birth on Facebook. While it might not matter now, it’s going to look real suspicious if you remove it a bit down the road…

So, here ends my preachy lecture on Facebook. Anyone else have any Facebook rules?

Categories
Academic Wellness

It’s that time of year again!

Well, it’s here again! that wonderful time of year filled with… no, not midterms, though that’s true too… ILLNESS! Every thirty seconds or so in every class someone coughs or sniffles or wheezes. Just like high school, university is a magnificent breeding ground of bugs of all kinds.
You always get sick at the most inconvenient time too. I’m going to be having a great time tomorrow trying to give a philosophy presentation while hacking up a lung.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to avoid getting sick while sitting in a crowded lecture hall filled with plague?

Categories
Academic Commuting Involvement / Leadership Recreation Wellness

No, I’m not dead.

Hello Everyone! (although I think that calling the two or so people who may look at this post “everyone” is a bit of a hyperbole) I am back, I did not die or drop off the face of the earth as you might suspect after my long absence. Here is my explanation (*cough* excuse *cough*)
Anyway, the wonderful thing about being in the second semester of first year is that you finally know what is going on. There is no more getting lost on campus and I am finally feeling like a real university student. Instead of doing absolutely every bit of reading mentioned by the prof and panicking that I didn’t have enough time like I did at the beginning of the year, I can now judge what is important to read, and what is just interesting reading to do if I have time (and, of course, there is the occasional reading that is just completely useless, boring, and hundreds of pages long that just has to be avoided altogether. I honestly don’t know why profs sometimes assign these readings. Do they just think that we shouldn’t be able to go a day reading only for recreation?)
Anyway, the negative side of being in second semester and being used to university life is that you can start to take on way too many extra responsibilities because they just sound like so much fun. For example, I just joined a dodgeball team with my sorority. I can’t wait, but I’m also running for a place on the Panhellenic (all greek) Council. And I just started my duties as director of website for alpha phi and found myself having to transfer a domain which I had no idea how to do. Thanks to Eastwood for helping me with that. I’m so close now, and just waiting to get something called an EEP code that I had never heard of before.
So that’s why I have been gone for so long. My to do list no longer fits on my computer screen even in 12pt font. However, despite getting kind of stressed out with all these tasks, I’m also kind of loving it. Its good to be busy again. (But if you ask me if I still feel that way tonight after 16 hours out at UBC, I may give a different answer.)
My de-stress activity: Buss meditation with the soundtrack from Mamma Mia. Give it a try sometime.

Categories
Academic Spirituality Wellness

OMG, CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

Ok, I admit that I tend to get a bit overexcited about christmas, but what’s wrong with that? I’ll tell you what is wrong: Putting decorating and shopping before studying on the priorities list. Tomorrow, I am going to get cracking on the studying front! (Although, there is still the tree to put up… NO, focus!)

For all those other people out there who are much more diligent than me and have already gotten a good start on their studying and have some free time, here is a list of the 5 best movies to get you in a christmas-y mood:

1. How the Grinch Stole Christmas – This is my all time favorite, and I mean the old cartoon version, not the bizarre new Jim Carrey one.
2. A Muppets Christmas Carol – There are some other versions of this too that are good but this is the best because of the puppets.
3. Miracle on 34th street – I loved the new version and this christmas I plan on watching the original version… wait, what’s that I hear? Oh, its the sound of my grades plummeting due to lack of studying. Maybe I should wait until after exams to watch it…
4. The Nutcracker Prince – Ok, I’m not sure if this is actually a good movie or if I just love it because it brings back memories of being a kid. So try it and find out for me.
5. Old TV Specials – Ok, technically not a movie, but watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus is Coming to Town is great for feeling all chritmas-y. Probably because I watched those every year since I can remember.

So that is my list. Merry Christmas everyone!

Categories
Academic Wellness

Grading Systems

Arghh!!! Excuse me while I rant a bit here. After all, that’s what blogs are for right? I don’t think I have quite fulfilled my quota of angst on this blog, so here goes.
I am pretty certain that universities were made to destroy egos. Now, in some cases this can be a good thing. But, most of the time, destroying the spirit of innocent first years is just mean. All through high school, ninety percents are handed out for practically zero work, then you come to UBC and suddenly you can’t get them no matter how hard you try! (there are some exceptions of course, like in the language classes, but still) You come to expect certain grades, then you feel like a total idiot when you can’t achieve them. Why does this happen? It’s because they use the same marking system as high school (percents). I get that university papers have to be marked harder, but why can’t they use a different system so that you evaluate your performance based on the marks you got on previous university assignments, and other people results, and not your high school results which are completely unreasonable to expect yet you can’t help doing it anyway. There would be way less depressed students if high school was only letter grades, and university was only percent (for example) and there was no similarity.
Well, that is my idea. Any others?

Categories
Academic Commuting ResidenceLife Wellness

Halfway There

Well, we are halfway through the semester and I am beginning to seriously look forward to winter break. I have written two papers this week, the second one finished half an hour before it was due (I know, I know, but in my defense it was only because I forgot to put it in mla format and had to do it at last minute, and my printer was acting up… you know).
Now that it is raining, the commute is even more horrendous. I love living at home, but I am looking at living on campus next year just to avoid the commute. I am sick of being too hot, too crowded, and motion sick for three hours a day. Plus, living on campus I would not feel guilty about keeping my mother up when I am out late. Every time I tell her not to wait up, and every time she does. I guess thats just mothers though.
Thats about all of my rant, university is loads of fun, but crazy exhausting.
P.S. All my classes are fun, but if you are choosing an elective I would recommend Philosophy 100. Trust me, you will never be the same.

Categories
Commuting Wellness

Translink Tip #1

Trust me, I know how completely depressing long bus trips can be. Here is one way I found to perk me up.
1. Make a playlist on you i-Pod called “Bus” or something.
2. Put all your most happy, bouncy music on it. (preferably fast music, though some slower songs work too)
3. Press shuffle when you begin your bus ride and turn the volume up.
4. Discretely dance in your seat. ( you can disguise this quite well by making it look like the bus just hit a bump or turned a corner )
5. Be Happy! The trip will go faster.
Also, If you see a crazy girl looking like she is having a seizure on a bus seat, come say hi to me. We can dance together.
đŸ™‚

Categories
Academic Commuting Involvement / Leadership Recreation Wellness

Learn to Pole Dance With Translink!

Want to build muscle and increase your stamina while meeting loads of new people? Try the Translink pole dancing course for commuter students! Registration is easy and free with your U-Pass, simply board a crowded bus, fail to get a seat, and grab a pole. Within seconds you will be swinging back and forth like a pro. And there is no better way to make new friends than by landing in their lap after a particularly violent jolt. It’s a full body workout suitable for all ages, come and try it today!

Freshman 15? Ya right, I think I get more of a workout taking the bus than I do when I go to the gym. Not to mention walking around all day with a bag the size of a small vehicle on my back. If I am not fit enough to climb Everest by the time this semester is over, I will be very unhappy.

All my classes are going great. Unlike in high school, the professors here seem to actually want to teach. Or at least the ones in the Coordinated Arts program do. The pace is crazy but it’s worth it. The thing that has been the hardest to adjust to is the reading. Not the act of reading itself, but knowing what it is that you are supposed to read for when. It’s not like in high school where they write your homework on the board at the end of class, you need to look ahead and see what you will be doing next class. Sometimes the reading that you do will have nothing at all to do with the material you are covering in class so it can get confusing.

I’m going to part two and three of recruitment for the sororities this weekend, it sounds like it will be a lot of fun, but it takes up so much time that I need to make sure to get my reading done tonight. Also, I should work on my french composition. Actually, I should be doing that right now.

Au revoir mes amis.

Spam prevention powered by Akismet