Livin' & Stylin': college

Showing posts with label college. Show all posts

Friday, December 29, 2017

My Year in Review | 2017

This year has been filled with lots of new challenges and opportunities that I did not see coming when 2017 started. I am grateful for this year and what it has taught me about myself and those that I surround myself around.

On Snapchat, many of my friends were posting pictures of themselves from each month of the year, so I figured instead of doing it on Snapchat, I'll just do it on here for y'all to see. This post will also provide a recap of where I been this whole year like I promised in my last post and why I was not keeping up with this blog as much as I would like.

Let's Begin...

January

I am so happy to start off my new year with celebrating my birthday on Jan. 2nd.

February

My school always have a winter formal in February, so here is a couple of my friends and I enjoying ourselves.

March

I love volunteering. Some people from my school and I are volunteering with Hosea Feed the Hungry.

April

My dance team for my college performing at an annual school event called Stomp the Lawn.

May

My brother graduated from GSU *Southern* in early May, and surprisingly it was soo cold and chilly on this day.

My sister also graduated from high school in late May.

June

I started my Human Resources internship at a bank in Iowa. I will have another post talking about my internship experience and how I was able to go there and get that experience.

July

4th of July, I went to a county fair in Iowa and rode many rides. Fun fact, at the end of this ride I was not smiling, I was in fact dizzy and nauseous.

A couple of the interns and I at a bank wide event.

August

Ended the internship program with an out of office fun event for all the interns that I actually planned and set up.

Later that month, I started my junior year of college. I am a the Co-President for NSLS at my school and we had a clubs and organization fair for all the new students.

September

Fun roller skating night at school.

October

Photoshoot with dance team at school. This picture was just all the juniors who are on the dance team and to be honest we make up more than half of the team.

November

Fun SkyZone night with my junior class.

December

Annual event at my school called Boar's Head. There is a whole musical celebration and program for the whole student body and even alums to attend. After the celebration is an after party which is depicted here. This year the theme was Great Gatsby; they had mocktails and all. It was too cute.

Selfie before the Christmas Eve service at my church.

Livin' & Stylin'

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19

Sunday, December 17, 2017

Inspirational Sunday

Today is your day! Take whatever doubt you have and throw it out the window! You can achieve and do anything you set your mind to! Day 1: inspirational quote

I haven't posted in a while, but I will catch you all up in another post about some of things that I accomplished this year. I am so thankful that it is winter break and I actually have time to relax and create some new content.

I chose this quote because I just finished a semester of my junior year of college and it was challenging. Challenging trying to manage everything even when I wanted to give up especially during the later part of the semester. I didn't give up and I kept on pushing through. Honestly, I love all the support that my family and friends give me. Don't ever feel like you can't reach a goal or accomplish a dream because hunny, you can. As I embark on challenges and achievements of 2017, I can definitely look back and say that I can do anything I put my mind to.

You can find happiness.

You can find love.

You can find joy.

You can find peace.

You can find hope.

You can do anything. And I know there are so many people out there who can try to motivate you, but you are your only motivator. When you believe you can, then things will fall into place.

I have to remind myself of this everyday, especially when trials and tribulations come in my life and I feel defeated. I can remember that the Lord place me on this earth for a purpose and I can rise above all.

Livin' & Stylin'

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Where to Shop for Your Dorm

If you were anything like me before my freshman year of college, I looked for every kind of list as to what to bring for college. If you didn't know Bed, Bath and Beyond have wonderful lists of what you should bring for your dorm pertaining directly for your college/university. So I definitely used that list to help me out.

{Before Going Shopping}

Talk to your roommate/ suitmates: Before going shopping for your dorm, especially if you are sharing a room with another person, talk with them to see what he/she is bringing, so you all won't have many duplicates in such a small space. Also, it is good to talk to your roommate beforehand to see if you all want a color coordinate and/or theme for the dorm room.

Make a list of what you will need to purchase.

Look online before you go to your stores to see their store ads and what they might have on sale.

Look on Pinterest or online to see different pictures of how other decorated their dorms to get ideas for your dorm.

{Where to Shop}

I know everyone always think of Target, Bed, Bath and Beyond, and Walmart for the go to places for dorm shopping, but there are many other places that are also budget friendly to shop at for your dorm.

1. TJ Maxx/ Marshalls/ Burlington: They have a wonderful selection for almost all of your college dorm essentials. I actually found my comforter from TJ Maxx last year.

2. Dollar Tree: Great for little storage bins. I purchases two small glass vase from here for my makeup brushes, and I put a monogram on the front of it. So really try to be creative.

3. Rose's: I'm not sure if this store is everywhere, but this is definitely a great place to go for bathroom essentials.

4. Hobby Lobby/ Michael's/ Jo Ann's: Great place to look for storage bins for your dorm and also DIY decor projects supplies, like my DIY Flower Initial on my blog. These craft stores always have coupons on their site, so definitely check out their website.

Just remember to keep track of all your receipts, so if you find an item somewhere else that you liked more or even for a better price, you can take the other item back.

If you are attending an out of state college/university and need moving boxes, instead of buying them, you can ask employees of the stores for their boxes that they are not using anymore. This will be helpful when you start packing your items for school.

Comment below some of you all tips for college dorm shopping.

Livin' & Stylin'

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

What NOT to Bring to College

Since I have finished my Freshman year of college, I would like to believe that I know a thing or two of what NOT to bring to college. For a more in dept post about my freshman dorm check out: Dorm Room Tour | Freshman Year I posted a while back. Many of you reading may be incoming freshmen who are shopping for your college dorm, so this post is especially for you. These are the things that I personally did not need for college, but you might think otherwise, which is perfectly fine.

Excess//
Pillows & Decorations: My roommate and her parents definitely decked out her side of the room with much more decorations than you see on my side. Try to limit the amount of decor pillows because although it would look nice on your bed, your bed is only a twin (maybe XL).

Towels: Of course you should have backup towels, but I found that I always seem to wash my towels when I needed new ones.
Makeup: Do not bring all of your makeup because I guarantee you will not feel like doing your makeup every single day. For me, I just stuck to a neutral face and picked out products that I could use every single day that is natural.
Purses and Bags; I brought all my purses to college, and used only two the whole year. Only bring the ones you know you are going to use. You already have a book bag, so sometimes I only carried my wallet key chain. My go to purse style are over the shoulder ones, and not the big handbags.

Clothes//
Trust me on this, I found myself wearing the same outfits, you do not need all of your clothes. I even thought that I downsized what I clothes I brought to college, but I still seemed to have more than I needed. Also, a nice tip is to switch out your wardrobe between seasons. Leave your high school tee shirts at home because in college you receive so many free t shirts, it's not even funny.

Bed Risers//
Most beds in dorms are able to be lofted, which raises your bed up without the need of bed risers. I saw in someone's dorm at my school who had a lofted bed and bed risers, which I thought was quite odd especially since she was short. Save go ahead and see if you school lofts your bed already and save some $$$.

Drying Rack//
I never used a drying rack and when I needed something to be dried I hung the item on a hanger, and then hung the hanger from my closet door. You definitely have to be creative in college, and since there isn't a lot of space in your dorm, try to consolidate.

There are many more posts out there about what to bring and what not to bring to college, but I hope you all enjoyed my list.

Livin' and Stylin'

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19

Thursday, January 14, 2016

How I Organize my Planner | College Edition

New Year, new start, right? Well start off with being organized starting with your planner/agenda. I've started my Spring semester of my Freshman year of college, and I wanted to show you all how I organize all my school work and events in my planner.

I am using the Vera Bradley 2016 Agenda Book in Katalina Pink. Vera Bradley also makes a Student Agenda Book which I think is good for a high schooler, but the regular agenda book, to me, has more space for all of my school work and more handwriting space. The way I organize my planner has not reached perfection, but it surely is simple and works for me.

How I use the Monthly View:

Mark important events (school games, school events, meetings, breaks) January is not as busy as you all can tell. When we have long breaks, I use washi tape to mark it off, that was some of winter break marked off at the beginning of January. You can find washi tape a Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Michael's, pretty much anywhere.
To mark tests/exams in each class. I uses these stickers I bought at Sweet Ava's Paper off of Etsy. These stickers really come in handy, and they lasted my for my fall semester and still going strong for my spring semester.

I color code all of my classes so the month view matches the weekly view. I usually write the name of the class , assignment, and then just highlight it, so it can stand out to me more.

Economics.................Green

Spanish....................Yellow

Psychology..................Pink

Core........................Orange

To have an easier view for both the monthly view and the current week, I use a binder clip.

How I use the Weekly View:

Mark homework. I give in more detail when homework is due and what I homework I have to do each night
Mark Quizzes
Mark Events, Rehearsals, Meetings that I might miss if I don't look at my monthly view calendar

When I finished/ completed an task or homework assignment I will use a purple pen to check it off on the side.

A better look at my monthly view calendar.

I know Syllabus Week can be kind of stressful, but take it one syllabus at a time and input all of your important exams, quizzes, assignments, and homework into a planner/ agenda.

Livin' & Stylin'

Sheika

Hebrews 6:19

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Christmas Decor + DIY Project

As you all may or may not know, I am finally on winter break. My last final was on December 18th, and I was totally ready to get that last final done with especially since it was Microeconomics. If you all would like, I can do a post about what my first semester of college was like and maybe include a few advice and organizational tips.

The point being is that I haven't been home since Thanksgiving Break, and didn't have a chance to show the Christmas Decorations throughout my house, and also include a cute DIY project. Enjoy the pictures below.

My mom bought the snowflakes seen in almost all the picture below, a long time ago, so she did not recall where she bought them from, sorry.

This is my sister wreath hung on her door. She already had the printed monogram, but she used ribbon to wrap it around the wreath and add a snowflake to the top.