50 Days in the Life of a College Junior

Day 10

A Weekend in the Life of a College Junior

Weekends are sacred and what I live for! I try my very hardest to enjoy my weekends and avoid doing homework at all costs. Sometimes I have to study or complete an assignment, but that will come after a long day of fun!

We love to travel on the weekends and escape to warmer weather! We love to hike, eat, drive, and bowl! We usually will find ourselves just soaking up quality time and enjoying moments not in school! However, sometimes we are extra lucky and have to take a trip to take photos for engagements or weddings!

This weekend we traveled to a snow covered canyon and captured engagement photos for a sweet couple!

My husband and I love to capture sweet and tender moments for couples and we love to spend our time pursing our business together!

That is lesson #10!

Take time to have fun!

Spending time on the weekends doing something you love is very important! That is how you spend time relaxing from the stress of college. Remember to put yourself first and find a way to relax.

xoxo, AMD

Day 9

Summertime is Calling!

Engulfing, crystal blue, and warm to the touch,

Summertime goodness filled up to the top

Hours upon hours spent roasting under the sun

But nothing like sunblock could help with the fun!

Soon it all faded and out came the cold

Usually, in my opinion the snow was too bold

The sad times were coming

as the birds stopped their humming…

No warm coarse sand to the touch

No catching a wave on a “hunch”

just staring and sledding

and usually dreading

Four months spent yearning

for the time we stopped learning

For that sweet old time call

That brought love for all

Our sweet sunny sunshine

that we knew as our very own,

SUMMERTIME!

Anyone else missing summer?! Cause I am! Lesson #9

Create a countdown until summer and it’ll come running around the corner!

xoxo, AMD

Day 8

Don’t Give Up

For me, some of the hardest parts of college have been the moments that come before tests! I am such a nervous test taker, so today I am switching it up! Here are some of my favorite pre-test taking tips:

Find your favorite flavor of gum or mint and pop it in right before you take the test!
Study hard for a good amount of time and then go have fun!
Make sure to eat something before you go!
Have your favorite pencil handy!
Be confident
Make sure to read the instructions
Read all the options, but if you know the right one, don’t!
Focus on you!
Celebrate afterwards!
Don’t stress too much, there is always the next one!
Be proud of yourself, for even showing up!

Just remember if you don’t pass, it isn’t the end! Just try, try again!

xoxo, AMD

Day 7

Week One

Well, it has officially been one week since I have started this journey into a sneak peek of my life as a college Junior! Honestly, its pretty boring, but it’s the truth!

The truth is, I love college! It is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. Moving around the world as a kid, I was exposed to so many cultures, adventures, and beautiful places! I was nervous moving from New Jersey to Utah for college, but I have ended up loving it! My university offers so much diversity and creates an open learning environment!

Because of that college seems more tolerable! I am constantly learning Spanish and about the human body and my mind is constantly being awakened! Choosing the right school for YOU is so very important! It is easy to listen to others and what they want from you and where they think will be best, but in all honesty, its your choice!

If you’re going to be in debt, might as well choose where you’re going to be indebted to!

Picking my university was easy! I fell in love with the campus during one summer that I spent there! For some it might require a tour, a friend, a family member, or some other motive. But when in doubt, make sure that there will be an environment you will be comfortable in! That is lesson #7!

Pros and Cons for your dream school are 100% okay!

Check out their clubs, check out there classes, check out the local town or city near them! Will you be able to party hard and study harder? Will you have fun things to do on the weekend? What are perks or benefits to being a student at their campus? These are all important questions when choosing where you want to go!

xoxo, AMD

Day 6

When life isn’t going right, go left

Seriously, it seems like life never goes as you want it! So GO LEFT! Seriously, turn left and grab your favorite soda and take a deep breath! Sometimes the most difficult thing for me is getting along with people. I always find myself doing what I love, but doing it with who I love is a whole different thing!

Growing up my parents always told me that I had an intimidating personality, but I didn’t understand… until I had to get a job. I realized I wasn’t intimidating because I was tall and large and in everyone’s face. I was intimidating because I spoke well, I was mature, and on a good day I was confident. I have always known who I am and because of that sometimes people think I can come off as “too strong”.

My whole life I tried to be softer, be quieter, be more of something I wasn’t. I started to be less of who I was to make others more comfortable. But then I realized,

I can’t please everyone!

What a hard pill to swallow that was! There came a point in my life where I began to realize that I could be kind and be myself. That is lesson #6

You can love yourself and eventually so will everyone else!

Loving yourself and waiting for others to hop on board is just part of life! But once you love yourself, you stop counting on someone else loving you.

My “strong” personality, actually isn’t that strong, I am just honest, brave, confident, and open. I am me. I love who I am and sometimes that can be difficult. College can try to steal that, college will try to lie to you. But don’t listen! BE YOU!

xoxo, AMD

Day 5

Mamba Mentality

In a video starring Kobe Bryant, he shares, “It is most important to love what you do, if you love what you do and it makes you happy, all the hard work and perseverance will pay off. Your dreams are up to you- always be curious, always seek out things you love, and always work hard once you find it”.

Once you have found what you love, stick to it. Follow your dreams and keep following them! If you aren’t in love with what you are doing, find something new! Try something new! Go out of your comfort zone and find who you are!

When you are doing what you love, it isn’t work!

Every day I attend another class, I think although this is tiring and trying, but I know my end goal. At the end of each day, I know it is one day coser to being an optometrist. That is lesson #5.

Every day is one day closer to being who you want to be!

It is important to remember life is one day after the other all compiled together. So when you feel nervous, overwhelmed, angry, or like giving up, just remember that this is just one day. One day that will add up to a whole lifetime! So press on, find joy in the journey, and remember to always fall in love with what you’re doing.

xoxo, AMD

Day 4

Be Your Own Biggest Fan

Today, I reminded myself to just ENJOY college! Go to a gymnastics meet and not stress about the homework waiting on your desk, but just to have fun! So I did just that! I went and watched our girls gymnastics team! We lost and that got me thinking! The crowds were still roaring and we were still singing our fight song. So I thought,

If I lost, who would be the ones to still cheer me on?

I thought of tons of people that came to my mind, that I knew that even when I lost, would cheer me on. And then I asked myself, why don’t I cheer myself on when I lose?

What a bold question to ask, but a necessary one! I realized that although I had a ton of fans the person in the other corner was myself. I realized my boxing match of life was one I could never win- but one I had to fight! Mentally, I needed to make signs, t-shirts, and songs dedicated to my awesomeness! That is lesson #4.

Be You!, B-E YOU! B-E-Y-O-U! Be You!

DOnt let fears, others words, bad grades, silly thoughts, or ANYTHING stop you from being YOU! When things get tough, cheer yourself on! Make yourself a sign and chant loud and clear! Sing your fight song even when you are losing and let the crowd soar!

xoxo, AMD

Day 3

You + a Bad Attitude = Nothing Good

Anybody feel like positivity is this trend that you can’t get on board with? Like sometimes everyone is screaming RADIATE POSITIVITY and you realize its actually difficult? Well that is okay! Positivity and joy take work and sometimes it is even harder in the dull and bleak winter!

Happiness takes work!

It can be a hard pill to swallow, especially in college! You feel like if you aren’t at a party, or you don’t have a thousand followers, then maybe you missed something? But the truth is, that happiness fleets fast after your followers care less and the party is over. Happiness comes from putting in work! Happiness comes from waking up each morning and deciding today is a good day.

Today was a difficult one, as promised, I cried. But that is life, you face hard ones. And then you will face a good one. Today I choose to have a bad attitude. I choose to be grumpy and super anxious about my test today. I found that I struggled to make that choice to be happy…. and honestly it lead to nothing good. What we do and what we say and what we choose to feel, effects all of those around us. That is lesson #3.

10 minutes of smiling a day can make happiness stay

So choose to be happy, fight through the tears, through the doubts, through the crushing anxiety. Make that choice. Let that choice define you for the better. Allow your mind to be uplifted by joy! Happiness is a process and a goal. So achieve it!

xoxo, AMD

Day 2

Third Time is a Charm

Fun fact about me, I want to be an optometrist, on a good day! However, the prerequisite classes are quite intense, and NO-they don’t get easier. To all pre-medical professionals out there, I feel ya!

My least favorite class and one that I just can not figure out is Human Physiology… When I first took this class, I got engaged, so my focus was definitely not on learning action potentials. Then I had to take it a second time and I found myself frustrated yet again. I blamed the teacher and the fact that the class was at 8AM was not helpful either, but I never sat back and asked:

What was I lacking?

That was a hard question and one I had to answer the third time I entered that class with the same teacher. As I sat down that first day, my sweet husband had already mapped out a survival guide (because he passed with flying colors)! I was lucky to have a study buddy and a coach to help me push through. This semester I continue to ask myself, what am I lacking? And each time, I have come up with a new way to study!

I spend time reviewing my notes each and every day. I do his problem sets (which I used to avoid). I focus on his objectives so that I do not strain myself when it comes to test time. As I face my THIRD (and last) first exam tomorrow, I go with confidence, I go knowing I have prepared for battle. That is lesson #2.

Even if it takes three pebbles, David DID conquer Goliath!

That’s the best part of college, no one yells or screams or doesn’t understand failing. Everyone faces failure in college and honestly it’s something to be proud of. Fail early, fail often and fail forward. And then in the end, PASS IT WITH AN A!

xoxo, AMD

Day 1

A Burst of Lemon, Made with Real Fruit

Crazy as it sounds, that is how I would describe this day! Sometimes life is not the sweetest and it isn’t the yummiest lemonade (which by the way, is definitely found at Chick-fil-a). Sometimes this life is made with real fruit. That’s just the blunt truth!

Mornings are just NOT my thing!

After a very early morning and a lot of grunting to drag myself out of bed, I thought a nice refreshing shower would cheer me up, however, I then stepped outside to a rainy AND snowy day and thought, this is the end! With second day soggy hair, I rushed to my work meeting and then off to skating around my campus. I know I should invest in some boots because I am now a Utahan, BUT I am still in denial!

I honestly couldn’t even focus in Chemistry today because my mind was begging to go back to bed! No intermolecular force in that class could hold my brain together!

But as I was scooping up a spoonful of my Yoplait lemon burst yogurt, I realized something- that just like my yogurt, life was made with real fruit. It was made with ups and downs and what feels like pointless classes. Real fruit is bitter, sweet, savory, and unpredictable. Real life is just the same. That is lesson #1.

Life is made with real fruit and college is a smoothie full of it!

No matter what university you choose, no matter what classes you take, you will face moments that will define your flavor. You will taste the bitter, sweet, savory, and unpredictable. But in the end, you’ll devour the whole thing and it will leave you wanting more

xoxo, AMD