I am a bookworm, through and through. There's nothing like picking up a good 'ole book and getting lost in it for the day. Rain, shine, snow, or hail - I'll always have a book with me. Last year, I set a goal on Goodreads to read at least 20 books. Proudly, I read 22. This year, I set a goal of 30,...

Continue Reading

Christmas passed by extremely fast. I honestly was not expecting it to come and go so quickly. One moment I was on the plane, flying away from Ames to Detroit, and the next thing I know, gifts have been opened, food has been eaten, and the Christmas music is drifting away. What's next? I suppose my flight back to Ames, which I am...

Continue Reading

Finals week is officially here! Day one is over (hopefully, unless you have a night final tonight - good luck, then). How are you all keeping up? I can say that I am beat down and ready to go home and sleep my break away. But alas, finals is not over for me and for plenty other students. I realized that I probably...

Continue Reading

Christmas break is quickly coming up, and as a college student, I am more than ready. College is great, don't get me wrong; it's just exhausting and stressful. I'm not really complaining because it's school, and hello, school is never a walk in the park. However, a break never hurt anybody, so bring it on!  For those who go to college out-of-state, this...

Continue Reading

...my family. There is little that I would or could do without my family's support. I value family so much, both immediate and non-immediate. They have been there for me through literally every ordeal that I've had to endure as well as every amazing event. Whenever something happens to me, I automatically want to tell my family. Whenever I want to cry, I...

Continue Reading

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities that a student can choose to attend in the United States. Some are two-year institutions; others are 4-years; there are also public and private institutions to choose from. I happen to attend Iowa State University, a public 4-year institution in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State was not my first choice; it was my second. But if you...

Continue Reading

Guys! I cannot believe that we have less than a month left in 2016. I can still remember ringing in the new year with my friends in Düsseldorf ; we had fireworks, sparklers, wine, and good food. It was amazing. I can also remember the intense emotions of my last night in Germany; how I felt when the plane touched down in the...

Continue Reading

*Update as of 4/28/2017: I got another internship at Touch of Elegance Events & Design in Detroit for the summer. Instead of pursuing the ACL internship, I went with T&E. This is because I switched my majors from Event Management + Hospitality Management to Event Management and Public Relations. The post is still relevant, however. *Update as of 4/28/2017: I got another internship at...

Continue Reading

Being a college student is great. I mean, you get a lot of free and discounted things, you meet people from literally all over the world, and you have the opportunity to learn so much about yourself, this world, and anything else that interests you. But, like every great thing, there are downfalls: constantly being broke (no, this is not a myth), lacking...

Continue Reading

This past Friday, I went to the Center Grove Orchard with some of my GWC friends. The day was perfect - the weather was just right, there was so much to do, and I got to eat some delicious Cider Donuts. I also bought a pumpkin! Soon enough, I plan to paint it, so I'm pretty excited about that.  Some of the awesome...

Continue Reading

Yesterday, I went to the Ames' Farmers' Market with a couple of friends. The booths there were full of diversity - you had flower stalls, Taco trucks, beauty booths, Indian food, lemonade stands, and music artists. I really enjoyed myself! Here are some snapshots that I captured while there. All were taken with my Canon EOS Rebel T5. ...

Continue Reading

I have a question for you all. It's pertaining to a recent experience that I have had (although I have technically been dealing with it for a long time already). The more times I have to deal with the ignorance that I am going to mention in this piece, the more I get bothered and upset. Everyone who really knows me understands how...

Continue Reading

On my photography portfolio, I introduce myself as a portrait and pet photographer by day and a wildlife and nature photographer by night. I love each photography genre individually because of the respective characteristics and opportunities brought about. Portraits: seeing a person's or family's personality shine through the camera. Pet: working with animals and letting their personality shine through. Wildlife: the spontaneity of...

Continue Reading

It's really funny how I tend to go MIA whenever big events occur in my life. It happened when I went to Stanford; it happened after I moved to live with my permanent family in Germany, and it happened again after I recently moved to Iowa. Big events tend to make me want to soak everything in without the pressure of having to...

Continue Reading

Leaving your family and moving away for college is naturally an emotional event. No matter what experiences or opportunities you have ever embarked upon, going away for college is an entirely new ballgame. I can attest to that. Leaving to go to Iowa State was a sad ordeal for me, despite having flown across the U.S. to California when I was only 15...

Continue Reading

Michigan, oh Michigan, how I love thee. As I get closer and closer to moving away from my home state, my love for it continues to grow. Once upon a time, if you would have asked me where I would prefer to live, my answer would've been, "Anywhere but Michigan." But now my answer would completely change. The mitten state is not only...

Continue Reading

Prioritizing and keeping myself focused and on track used to be one of the most challenging things for me to do. I would get distracted by social media, television, blogs, music, and pretty much anything else. But sometime over the last two years, something in me changed. I began to organize my tasks and schedule better; I began to keep track of the...

Continue Reading

Before I went to Stanford's Summer College in 2014, I never really had a roommate. But, I guess, that's only if you do not count the time my sister and I had to share a room when we were young. Unfortunately, my first roommate situation was not the best, but it also was not the worst. It was simply...okay. Which is fine! There...

Continue Reading