Flawless.

I think that we, mainly as Americans, have created a society that is vastly built on looks. What you wear, how you look, how to do your hair, and whether or not you are attractive are seemingly valued more than what lies beneath. When it comes to relationships, almost all of them begin with an initial attraction based on looks. Why are we so driven by looks, when it's really who we are that defines us? A friend of mine recently made a comment and said "wouldn't it be cool if we were all just orbs or something? And that's how you decided who you liked, looks didn't matter." While my other friend called it "hippie talk, " I couldn't agree more with her. We are far too centralized around how a person looks and not how they act. You could find the most beautiful person in the world, but if there is nothing to talk to them about, then you can't form a solid relationship.

Unfortunately, people are always judging others and comparing themselves to them. We like to think that if an ex moves on, their new girlfriend is ugly. We think that if someone is really pretty, they must be a bitch. We often judge people, and even ourselves, on how we look faster than it take to say "hello."

As all young girls do, I have had my own personal struggles with my looks. I have always been a very confident person, but sometimes I think to myself, why can't I be as pretty as other girls? I then came to the conclusion that there will inevitably always be someone prettier, smarter, cooler, and nicer than you. What you have to do is stand out from the crowd in a way that looks can't do. You have to be confident and have a good personality, and the right people will fall in love with you based on the inside alone. Any exterior beauty becomes an added bonus. Once we accept ourselves for how we look, we no longer care what others think. As the quote below says, "Once you've accepted your flaws no one can use them against you." I honestly believe this, as if you have no problem with yourself, than it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. This is obviously easier said than done, but I truly believe it is possible, and comes even easier with age, when the inside truly counts more than the outside. I leave with the reminder that "The happiest girls are the prettiest girls." Your own happiness should come before anyone else's and be based on what makes YOU happy, not others.

Life is good.

It's hard to believe that less than a week ago I was on the verge of a mental breakdown because I thought I was going to bomb my math test, which I ended up getting a 91 on (either I underestimated myself or the studying worked.) Today, while I am exhausted, my spirits could not be higher. This past week has been a whirlwind of surprisingly good things. I got into my study abroad program, had an amazing weekend, did well on my math test, and tonight I met an alumni of my school that is doing everything I want to do. I think this week has taught me that while I get down sometimes, life is never as horrible as I imagine it to be. Sure, I may be a poor college student struggling to find out what I want to do with my life and dealing with the highs and lows of a college social life, but at the end of the day, I can truly say I am content with my life.

A sad excuse for a blog.

I'm so inconsistent at blogging. I really love to write and blog but I find myself not having the time. I think this is good though, because it shows I have things to do which hopefully means I actually have a life...

Anyways, for this blog post, I want to focus on being young. As a college student, everyone always tells me these are the best years of my life and that when these four short years are over and I have to enter the real world, I'll constantly wish I could go back. Last year I didn't believe it was true. But now I could not be a bigger proponent of it. College has been full of some of the craziest, most exciting, scariest, exhilarating, and best experiences of my life. I have been so exposed to so many different people and learned so much from those around me and been able to grow so much myself. I'm not even halfway done, and I am already dreading graduation. Although I won't hate not having homework and learning about science and other subject irrelevant to my future career.

But what made me ant to blog about this was this that I came across on Pinterest:

 

It's too true, and the 20s are some of the best years of your life. When else can you stay out until 4 am and not have to worry about anything other than sleeping the next day?

As a new 20 something, I have become a firm believer that it is now more than ever to grab every opportunity you get in life. Make good choices, make mistakes, fall in love, get your heartbroken, waste your money; do it all now, because you may never be so free from responsibility ever again in your life. Now I'm not saying go crazy and do something that would get you arrested, but just remember that life is short and we should enjoy it while we can. :)

The single life.

For once, I am not referring to my relationship status here. That could take up an entire blog. Instead, I am referring to my current roommate situation. My roommate recently moved out due to health problems, and I now officially have a single. After rearranging it to not look so dreary on her side, I am now all settled in to my single. After my friends left and I had a moment alone, it finally hit me. I'm really alone. Sure my friends are only a 10 second walk away, but it's weird to have so much space all to myself after sharing it with someone for so long. I think I will learn to like it a lot, it will just take some getting used to. I have always been very independent and have never had friends who truly cared what I was up to all the time, and for the first time in my life, I have that. I have never been surrounded by so many people so often as I have in college. I think having a single will allow me to get back in touch with myself and how I function when I'm alone. And in reality, people will probably be in here more than I want anyways, because my friends are the best. :)

The World is a Beautiful Place

I told myself I would post yesterday, but life got busy. Anyways, I am now forcing myself to blog before going to bed tonight. For this blog, I want to focus on world travel. I have been very very very fortunate (I cannot stress that enough) to have visited almost 10 different countries over the past 10ish years. I have been to more places than my own father. This would probably lead you to believe I am either rich or frequently volunteer in foreign countries, but the truth of the matter is neither. The first time I went abroad I was a mere 11 years old and went to Rochester, England with my church choir to sing at the Rochester Cathedral in England. I think the fact that I was so fortunate to have this experience at such a young age began my lifelong 'wanderlust.' I am always researching and wishing I could just jump on a plane and travel the world. Unfortunately I do not have the money and some people think that's running from your problems so its not socially acceptable. But anyways, the next trip I took was my biggest to date. I went with a program called People to People Student Ambassadors to Europe the summer before my freshman year of high school. We went to Switzerland, Germany, France, The Netherlands, England, and Belgium over the course of three weeks. It was possibly one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I got to meet so may people and experience so many cultures. I saw places people twice my age have yet to see. I am forever grateful for the experience and wouldn't trade it for the world.

Now when you start high school after spending the summer in Europe, NH can seem pretty bland in comparison. I think this gave me a new outlook on life and allowed me to start to really define who I was. I became very independent and began setting goals of what I wanted in life. These goals and working for success were met even farther my junior year, when I paid for myself to go on a trip through my school to Italy. I saved every penny from birthdays, babysitting, and working my part time job at the local grocery store to spend a week in April traveling through Italy. And it was worth every penny. There's also nothing better than that knowing of self accomplishment that you paid for something and deserved it.

After my trip to Italy, I couldn't get enough of Europe. I am so fascinated with the food, the clothing, the people, landscapes, architecture, and social structures. Any time I feel down I immediately see how much it would cost to fly to a new country. It's a little weird, but it's me. Now it's been almost three years since I've been to Europe, and my plans begin again.

I am currently in the process of applying to spend a semester in Ireland next year. I could not be more ecstatic and excited about this amazing opportunity. I will get to spend MONTHS in Europe and live there and travel and live the life I have imagined. I highly encourage everyone in college to take the opportunity to go abroad if you get it. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and you never truly understand yourself or where your from until you go somewhere else.

Anyways, I end this with some final words on travel. DO IT. Save for a big trip, or splurge on a weekend getaway with friends. The world is such a big place and there is so much to see and experience. Take any chance you can get and if you don't think you can, think again. Where there is a will, there is a way.

And now for an ending quote, one of my favorites on travel:

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." St.Augustine

Almost two months later...

I keep taking hiatus' from this blog. It's really a problem. Either it means my life is too busy and exciting to blog, or I'm too lazy. I'll leave that question up for argument. Anyways, I REALLY want to seriously commit to blogging this time. This semester I only have classes two days a week and since I turned down an internship opportunity, I want to consistently blog this semester. Not only will it help me clearly align my thoughts and things that I like, but it will also help to to have writing samples, should I decide to move into the PR world and need examples. Anyways, I want to post later tonight on my best finds on Pinterest of the week. I need to start with something simple, then build to bigger things. That will be posted later. If I have time.... I guess I am busy, question answered :)

Back in Action

It's been a long time since I've blogged on here. A lot has happened since then. A lot of positive changes for me, but unfortunately for many others in the world, some not so positive things have occurred. I want my blog to be focused on my personal trials and tribulations, but right now, it feels selfish to not focus it on the greater good of the world. Less than a week ago one of the most tragic school shootings to ever occur happened in Newtown, CT. This has raised many questions and concerns to people across the nation, which should be held until people have had time to mourn and recover from this tragedy. But that being said, I want to continue on with my focus of this blog. I want to send love, happiness, and inspiration. I think our society has become a mess of mixed messages in the media and the world of social media has turned us into monsters. Too many people look to others for acceptance and turn to the media as an example of how to act. We as a society need to move in a more positive direction and spread love not hate, help those in need, and just try to be a kinder people in general.

I want this blog post to serve as a new beginning and inspiration to myself and others. Even if only one other person sees it, it will still mean that the message is getting somewhere. I am going to challenge myself to try to do random acts of kindness as much as possible. Maybe reconnect with an old friend, help a family member, or pay for the person behind me in Starbucks. If we can all start but doing this small acts, maybe society as a whole can create large acts of kindness and turn out society around to be caring and kind.

I'll end with this famous quite by Gandhi:

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."