Why You Should Stay on Campus for the Summer

Just two weeks before the spring semester was ending, I decided that I needed to stay in Bloomington for the summer to take some courses. Even after I found a sub lease for the summer and signed for classes, I was apprehensive about being in Bloomington for the summer. Previous to this decision, I had plans to work at home, shadow doctors, and relax.

However, after spending eight weeks living with four sorority sisters in a dingy, college rental,  I know that I made the right decision. Here are some reasons why you should stay on campus for the summer and take a few classes:

Smaller class size:

Two of the classes were relatively small compared to what the class size would have been during the fall or spring semesters. My Organic Chem class, which is usually 300 people during the regular year, only had 60 people enrolled. My Abnormal Psych class only had about 30 enrolled and because my lectures usually have 100 or more people in them, I really enjoyed having a smaller class.

 

Get you know your professors:

I had already taken two other classes with one of my professors for the summer, so I was really excited to take a third with her. After going to her office hours a few times, she was able to help me with my test anxiety, and was someone I could talk to about what was going on with my other classes. As a result, I ended up getting one of my best grades of my college career.  Go to your professor's office hours to get to know them, you never know how they will help you!

Get to know the town:

I used the summer to explore Bloomington a little bit. I ended up spending time at local parks playing tennis there with friends and exploring the local hiking options around the lakes. I didn't have time to do these during my first two years of college, so I'm glad that I was able to explore this summer during my free time!

Fewer distractions:

There are less people on campus in the summer, meaning that there are less distractions in public studying places. Also, because your course load is probably much smaller than during the regular year, you can focus solely on one class without being distracted by other assignments. 

Improve your GPA:

Summer classes are easier than classes during the regular school year because you have more time to study and have the ability to focus solely on the one or two classes that you're taking.  Summer classes are also the perfect time to retake classes that you want to improve your grade in. At IU, you can retake and replace grades that are included in your GPA for up to 10 credit hours. I retook a class this summer and I am currently in the process of 'X-ing' out the first grade from my GPA so only the newest, better grade for the course is counted. All of the studying is definitely worth it! 

         

Planner Round Up 2016

As of Friday, I'll be finished with my summer courses and will be getting ready for the fall semester. I personally think that a planner can be a tremendous help during the school year. I know that I would be running around with my head cut off without one. Here are some planners that I have rounded up for this upcoming school year. 

Lilly Pulitzer | Rifle Paper Co. | ban.do 

Lilly Pulitzer Large 17-Month Agenda- I used the Lilly Pulitzer agenda freshman year, but halfway through fall semester of my sophomore year I had to switch planners because I was simply running out of room (this may be attributed to my large, sometimes messy handwriting). I do like the size of the daily view pages, the monthly view pages, and that each month is a different pattern. I am obsessed with the Ocean Jewels and Exotic Time prints for the 2016-2017 agendas! 

Rifle Paper Co. Planner- I bought this agenda earlier this summer to use for the upcoming school year because I like that each day has spots where assignments can be checked off when done, which will be helpful when I have multiple assignments to complete. However, I'm not sure if I like the lack of space for each day. I have a heavy course load this semester and I am not sure if I will be able to put all of my assignments in it because I do have large handwriting. I am also not sure about the size of days in the monthly view pages, which I usually use to put all of my meetings and exam dates on. I  do recommend this planner to those who have smaller handwriting and are looking for an agenda that that does not exposed binding (a huge plus when it comes to putting it in a full backpack!!). 

ban.do Planner- I love the ban.do planner, and I am definitely considering using it for the upcoming school year. There is plenty of room to write down daily assignments and activities as well as the monthly view pages. I especially like all of the cover choices as well as the colorful inserts within the agenda itself. 

Day Designer- The Day Designer Planner is filled with daily planning pages with slots to put your activities from 5 am to 9 pm as well as to-do lists and monthly views. I personally think that this planner is more suited towards professionals, but would work well for someone who is transitioning between college and their first job. 

What agenda are you planning on using this upcoming school year? 

Fourth of July Weekend Sales

Independence Day is one of my favorite holidays and many stores have great sales over the holiday. Below I have included some of my picks from sales this season.

Kate Spade- 30% all sale items with the code: SUNSHINE

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J.Crew- 40% off with the code: COOLSTYLES

LOFT- 50% off everything with the code JULY4TH

Happy 4th of July, everyone! 

How IU Changed My Life

I know that I've been MIA for seems like forever to me, but realistically only a few weeks.

Today is #IUDay, a day to honor everything that is IU. When I was first visiting colleges, Indiana University was one college that was low on my radar. Believe it or not, Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and Butler University in Indianapolis were my top contenders. Back then, I wanted a small school, but after visiting IU a few times, I knew that this campus would be the one I called home for four years of undergrad.

The Bloomington, Indiana campus offers a lot of what I was looking for in a school such as multiple science majors for me to choose from, a history of students getting into various medical schools, Greek life, and being both in-state and close to home.

Coming to IU has changed my life in many ways.

 I don't rely on my friends from home any more, although I still talk to them everyday, even if two of them do go to Purdue. I think that coming to a large campus such as this one helped me break out of my shell. If I had gone to Butler, there is a large chance I would hang out with people from my hometown everyday, and that's not what I wanted from school.

IU offers one major that my other top contenders couldn't quite give me, Human Biology. I've found my home within the major. It's even given me one of my best friends, Ali. Not to mention the lone advisor for the major, Andy, will answer all of my emails, even the ones I send at 11 pm at night. Even though I contemplate switching from Human Bio and Pre-Med almost every week, at the end of the day, the major is one of the huge reasons IU was so appealing to me in the first place.

Greek life here as also given be a huge reason to love IU. Being a part of Phi Mu has given me so many friends and memories that no one can replace. From tailgates, to Room 15 (hi roomies), to Homecoming and Little 500, and to my Greek fam, Phi Mu has truly been apart of so many of my memories of IU so far.

 This week is Little 500 week, the week leading up to the greatest college weekend. For months bikers for both men's and women's teams have been training so that they can give their races their all for the races Friday and Saturday. Yes, Little 500 week is basically a week of partying, but the bikers are the reason that the campus has a reason to party. Without these amazing people, it would just be a normal week in the month of April.

People ask me why I love IU so much, and I usually reply that it's the memories that it has given me so far and for the memories I know that will be made. However, another reason why I love it so much is the pride I see in the eyes of each alum I meet when I say that I go to IU. While I was on spring break I meet an alumna of Kelley School of Business who was also in Greek Life here, but throughout the week we talked a lot about the campus, about IUBB, and about how Greek Life has changed. She told me that to this day, she loves to return to campus, and it showed when she asked me to help her find one of the IU March Madness games on her iPad.

Everyone that comes to this campus for school leaves with even more passion for the spirit of this school than when we enter.

I want to thank IUBB, my professors, my friends, my sisters, and Bloomington for helping me realize how amazing the spirit of this campus is. I can only hope that one day after I graduate that I'll be able to tell a current student of everything that IU gave me without crying. I thank God everyday for pushing me to make the decision to come to this school.

I wouldn't give it up for anything and no matter how many times I hear "This is Indiana", I will be screaming the lyrics.

Go Hoosiers! 

Big Little Reveal

Sorry I've been MIA, but I've been busy with midterms and doing things for Big Little Reveal Week! On to the news, I'M A BIG! I picked up an amazing set of twins and I am so happy that they are the newest additions to my Greek fam.

For Big Little Reveal, every family in our chapter has their own shirt theme. This year there were several Drake themed shirts, and other popular shirt designs from Pinterest. I actually designed our shirts this year after all of my ideas were taken, but I love how they turned out! My littles, Brooklyn and Alanna were both two of my bid buddies from the new pledge class and I'm so glad that I'm able to call them my daughts.

Welcome to the tribe, Brooklyn and Alanna!