Dealing with Homesickness in College

One of my closest friends is transferring to my university this year, and I am excited to see her to show her how much I love my school. She, however, is not feeling as ecstatic to move here like I am for her because, like hundreds of thousands of people around the world, this will be the first time she will be far away from home for a long period of time. The majority of her time from now on will be of her being away from home. Although starting a new chapter of your life is exciting, it is often difficult at first to think about all of the adventures you will encounter because your mind is distracted with what you left behind in the previous chapters. 

Homesickness comes with moving away to go to college. You may spend the first night crying because of how much you miss your family. During the first couple of weeks, you may constantly think about home. Even though it might seem like you are the only one feeling these emotions and crying your eyes out, the person right next door to you in your dorm hall most likely is going through the same time, and so is the person next door to them and so on. Moving away from home to attend college is often the first time people are away from their families for a long period of time. Although it is inevitable, there are ways that can help you deal with homesickness that I've found to help. The goal when dealing with homesickness is just that: dealing with it. You shouldn't allow your homesickness to control you and make you miss out on the fun that you will have in college.

Here are a few things that I found helpful when I was extremely homesick during the first couple of weeks of my first year in college:

Skype Your Family

Thank goodness for the invention of video chatting. Skype allows me to not only talk to my parents but also see them. Even though I am not physically with them, it seems like it when I talk to them through Skype. During the first couple of weeks that I was in college, I would skype with them every single night for at least an hour. Sometimes, I skyped with them just to see their faces and hear their voices. It allowed me to feel like I was not hundreds of miles away. When you miss your family, all you want to do is see them, and Skype allows you to do that from anywhere in the world. Eventually, as you slowly stop getting homesick, instead of talking to your family every single day, it may turn to once every couple of days and then only once a week. For me, there were a couple of times, especially during midterms and finals, where I couldn't really study because I was missing my parents. With the magic of Skype, I called them, talked to them for about 10 minutes, and then was able to get back to studying. 

Distract Yourself by Having Fun

Most universities have some sort of "welcome week" where they welcome the new college students. My university had so many activities to get my mind off of missing my family back home. It's understandable that you might feel guilty for having fun while your parents may also be missing you, too; however, they will understand that these next few years will be one of the best time periods in your life! You should not feel guilty in this case for having fun! It's college! You are suppose to have a little bit of fun! While you are busy having fun, your mind won't be occupied with missing home. Enjoying yourself while participating in your school's attempt to break the world record for the largest water battle, for example, will replace that homesick feeling. 

Befriend Someone at Your College from Your Hometown

When you have someone from your hometown as your friend in college, it's like you have a piece of your home with you. You could talk to them about that one joint on the corner of 1st Street that offers the best burrito in town or that hiking spot with the best sunrise view. I became with someone I met at freshmen orientation that is from my hometown and we bonded during our first year in college because we had that connection of where we grew up. It was nice for me to talk about my hometown and have someone who knew exactly what I was talking about. If you have a friend from your high school, for example, who is going to the same college as you, it's great at first to hang out with them so that you can talk to someone about your hometown, but it's important to note in this case that you should not cling to them the entire time. Branch out and meet new people!

I just started Fall quarter at my university and am going through a bit of homesickness after spending 2 weeks at home with my family. I'm dealing with it, but I'm not letting it affect my college experience and my studies. I think that's what the most important thing about dealing with homesickness. You have to deal with it one way or another, but you should not let it affect your studies, work, health, and college experience. We all go through it at least one time in our life, but we can't let it hold us back from having fun and working hard.

Best regards,

Lisa xx

Girls' Night Out + My Outfit & Makeup

This past week included the birthdays of two of my friends/roommates. Boy, was there a lot of present giving, birthday singing, and celebrating these past few days! 

First, we went to this shaved ice place where their shaved ice is actually called "snow" because it has the consistency of snow. They take a huge block of flavored ice and put it through a machine that shaves it to make a really fluffy product. It feels like you are actually eating snow! Being the Asian that I am, I got the taro snow with red beans and condensed milk a.k.a. the best combination EVER!! 

I think that at this age, it's important for a person just to have fun because once you graduate college, that's when you enter the real world consisting of long hours at the office and bills to pay once you arrive home. Also, you have more energy to have fun with your friends until the late hours of the night ;) Of course, I am not about having fun 100% of the time because when it comes to school and working on my career, I am dead serious. It is nice, though, to let go sometimes to enjoy life.

And how did I enjoy my life the other night? By dancing around barefooted under the lights of a ferris wheel and reenacting a scene from The Breakfast Club. Nice, clean, and really cheesy fun! :) 

My Outfit

This is the type of outfit that I've been wearing for a casual night out. It is very comfortable, which makes it perfect to dance around a ferris wheel in! I am wearing an H&M blouse that has little, maroon-colored prints on it, black leggings from Forever 21, and rose-gold sandals also from Forever 21. Here is a quick tip on how to wear leggings: make sure your top covers your bottom! Leggings are made with relatively thin fabric that is often see-through. You don't want people to see your bright pink underwear now, do you?

Here are a few alternative, affordable outfits that are similar to the one I wore. To see where each piece of clothing is from, click here to see the set on my Polyvore. 

My Makeup

For my makeup look, I went for natural-looking skin with slightly defined eyes. I started off with a tiny amount of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation mainly on my cheeks, chin, and nose where I get some redness. I swiped some Rimmel London Wake Me Up Concealer under my eyes and around my nose and blended it out with my ring finger. A small dusting of Rimmel London Stay Matte Powder in Translucent along my T-zone was then all I needed for my face makeup. Moving onto my eyebrows, I filled them in with the NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder with an angled brush. I simply wanted to fill in some of the gaps instead of going for the "bold brow" trend. For my eyes, I used the NARS Duo Eyeshadow in Bellissima, brushing the lightest shade all over my lid, blending the darkest shade into my crease. I then lined my upper eyelid with MAC Eye Kohl in Teddy. One quick coat of Maybelline The Falsies Mascara finished off the eyes. Instead of going with a lip color, I chose to simply apply some Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Skin Protectant to keep my lips moisturized throughout the night. 

It was such a fun night! It was a great stress reliever and a much needed break before hardcore-finals-studying time.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post! I really liked blogging about what I did with my friends. Maybe I should do more blogs like this then?

Lisa xx

Don't Worry, Be Happy!

People always tell me at least one of the following things:

“Lisa, how are you always so calm?”

“Gosh, you are such an optimist!”

“I always see you just chilling around the dorm hall. You must not have a lot of work to do.”

“IT’S FREAKING FINALS WEEK!! WHY AREN’T YOU FREAKING OUT?! LIKE FREAKING!!”

Ok, that last one was a bit dramatic, but usually it’s along the lines of those examples.

I feel as if I’m a naturally calm and optimistic person; however, there are things that I do that I feel really help me maintain that positive calmness in a very hectic and stressful environment like college.

I thought it would be a good idea to list the things that I do to stay happy and relaxed during stressful times for those of you who feel like you let those hectic times get the best of you.

DISCLAIMER: I am in no ways an expert. What works for me may not work for you.

1. Listen to music that makes you feel good.

Music has played a very large role in my life. I find it very therapeutic for times when I feel angry, sad, or stressed. I personally like pop music. Not just any pop music, but Justin Bieber and, lately, One Direction!!! Yes, I’m a belieber and directioner…. BUT I SWEAR, I’M NOT CRAZY! ;) That’s the type of music that puts me in an upbeat mood. For you, it may be the exact same thing or the exact opposite. Create a playlist that consists of songs that make you happy and/or relaxed, and listen to it when you are not feeling so great.

2. Thinking positive/motivating thoughts

I think I’ve, without knowing it, trained myself to thing positive thoughts and become to optimist that I am today. I don’t know how, but it has just happened. I did not realize it until my first quarter of college when I was under an immense amount of stress trying to adapt to this new environment and chapter in my life. I would always keep in mind that things will work out for the best in the end and that I am doing the things that I am and working my butt off in college to have a career in a field that I love. A few motivating and positive thoughts a day can do wonders to your mood. Stick post-it notes around your desk or room to remind yourself of these things!

3. Exercising doesn’t only make you physically healthy

Ever since my sophomore year of high school, I’ve been going to the gym. It wasn’t to be “skinny”; I love my body and all of my curves. The reason why I did it was because exercising makes me mentally healthy. It has become a very important stress-reliever for me over these past few years. While I am working out, it feels like I’m reducing my stress with every mile ran, weight lifted, etc. I always leave the gym feeling happy and relaxed! If going to the gym is not your thing, go out for a nice stroll around your neighborhood, hike with some friends, or maybe go for a quick swim.

4. Alone time can sometimes be the best time

If you know me, you know that I sometimes like to just chill in my room and be by myself for at least a couple of hours a day. As much as I love going out with friends, setting aside some time for only me is extremely important in my daily schedule. To put it as a simile (no matter how cheesy it may sound), I am like an iPhone that needs to be charged by itself before going out and performing its tasks. When living in a dorm where your friends are literally a few feet away 24/7, there will be times when you crave a few moments of alone time to do whatever it is you want. For me, it’s going on YouTube to watch a few videos by my favorite YouTubers. Lately, it’s been all about Jack and Finn Harries (aka JacksGap). Darn me and my fancy of hot British guys!! ;)

Speaking of YouTube, I am in the process of creating a YouTube channel! Because I have just entered college, I thought it would be a great idea to create this YouTube channel not only to document my experience at a large university, but to also show those of you who are not in college yet what it would be like. I will also do a few other random videos here and there, but documenting my time at “uni”, as they call it in the United Kingdom, is my main objective.

I hope this blog will become helpful to as many of you as possible!

Lisa xx

Prom: The Best Night of Our Teen Lives?

With prom coming up for a lot of people, I decided to write a blog about my prom experience and what to expect at prom.

A lot of people have incredibly high expectations for their prom. Besides your wedding, it’s the date that you look forward to since you are a little kid! I remember being a young girl and watching the prom episode of “Sister, Sister”. It looked so glamorous with big puffy 1990s dresses and limos!! I couldn’t wait to experience prom!!

Girls have higher expectations for prom than boys. We’ve been picturing it as the night of our teenage lives in our heads for YEARS! We imagine wearing the most beautiful dress that makes all of the other girls jealous, our hair and makeup done to make us look like a celebrity, the guy of our dreams as our date, dancing the night away with all of our friends. I can’t deny my high expectations for my prom! I was hoping to have Justin Bieber as my date!!! 

There is nothing wrong with high expectations. It shows that you have hope, and hope is a wonderful thing to have. But if your expectations become so high that it goes beyond reality, you may be setting yourself up for possible disappointment.

Let me tell you a story about my prom.

I am a naturally optimistic person who believes in having hopes and dreams that can become real with some hard work. Because of these traits, like many girls, I envisioned the absolute perfect prom. The day of the prom, I didn’t really like my dress. I bought it online, and it just didn’t look very flattering on me.

Nope. I didn’t like my dress very much. I wanted “BAMMM!!” but for me, it was more like “bam”, if that makes any sense at all x) So expectations on looking great were out the window….

One of my guy friends was my prom date. Let’s just say, he was no Prince Charming… or Justin Bieber for that matter. I was ditched during the last slow dance. (This is the part where you all collectively say “Awwwwww!!!”) I would go into further juicy detail, but I might get in trouble. Hehehehe. Maybe another time ;D Well, there went my dream for the perfect prom date….

Prom for me wasn’t all that bad, though. Below the banquet area was an arcade that we had all to ourselves. They had laser tag, and because of the ultraviolet lights and me wearing a white dress, I was like a running target because I was literally GLOWING. My closest friend and I also played one of those Terminator shooting games, and I have to add that we looked like bad mama jamas in our elegant dresses shooting zombies with huge machine guns!

Overall, it was a bittersweet night. If it wasn’t for my girl friends, it would have been worse than what it was. BUT life goes on, and we can’t fixate on the bad parts in life for long or else they can hinder us.

The Lesson:

You can go into prom with hopes of what it will turn out to be like, but just be cautious of those expectations. Think “Here is what I want my prom to be like, but I know that it may not end up being that way and if so, it will be alright in the end.”

Prom is a night to celebrate with your friends before you all depart your separate ways. Have fun and stay safe!

Lisa xx

20 Facts About Me

1. I love cold and cloudy weather! Strange, since I live in a place where it's sunny 90% of the time.
2. When I come across an inspirational quote that I love, I copy it into a page in Notes on my iPhone. "Nothing is impossible, the word itself says 'I'm possible'" - Audrey Hepburn
3. One time, I ate an entire watermelon in two sittings.
4. I love watermelon. 
5. I am currently a first-year in college studying business economics.
6. I've been a vegetarian for 3 years.
7. Taking off is still the scariest part of being on an airplane for me, even though I've been on numerous airplanes since I was 3-months-old. 
8. When eating, I always make sure the first and last bites are the best.
9. My first ever cheek kiss was from Harry Styles. ;)
10. On the wall next to my bed, I have post-it notes of all of my short-term and long-term goals.

11. My fantasy dream job is to have my own vegetarian cooking show on Food Network.
12. Sunscreen is my best friend.
13. I can appear shy when I first meet people, but I warm up afterwards and show my true self. 
14. The best thing I ever ate was the spaghetti at Scarpetta in LA. That was over 3 years ago and I've been craving it everyday since.

15. I love taking on leadership positions because it highlights the person who I really am on the inside. I absolutely recommend everyone to take on leadership roles.
16. When I go home during breaks, I spend hours watching the Turner Classic Movies channel.
17. I take very colorful notes. 

18. Popcorn is my kryptonite. 
19. The best thing I've experienced was helping low-income children and families in my community by creating a Christmas party and organizing an event called the "Bookshelves in Every Home Project". 
20. I'm a naturally optimistic person.