30 Day Back to School Challenge Day 2: What am I excited about?

With senior year fast approaching, "what are you excited about?" seems like a question with a thousand answers at the same time.

I'm excited to be almost done with school.
I'm excited to be about to go to college.
I'm excited to go out on my own.
I'm excited to experience something new and bittersweet.

It's a weird set of emotions, because I'm excited for the new, but I'm also excited that I have a new planner, new notebooks, new classes. I'm excited to see what this year holds. For the rest of the class of 2018, good luck and let's go!

30 Day Back to School Challenge Day 1: Goals

Since I'm going into my senior year, I have different goals than I did the past three years. Although the categories are similar, what I want to do with them is very different.

School:

1. Get accepted into college
2. Maintain my 4.0
3. Get at least a 4 on all AP exams
4. Go all out for homecoming
5. Go all out for greek week
6. Prom

Life:

1. Learn calligraphy
2. Make sentimental crafts
3. Slow down and enjoy things
4. Eat more healthy
5. Workout 4 times a week

Blog:

1. Post once a week
2. Take more of my own photos
3. Increase page views
4. Increase social media traffic

Back to School

I don't start back to school for another two weeks, yet I've already done my school supply shopping. I've bought a new MintGreen planner (in Walmart and Target stores only), and with senior year creeping up on me, I know it's going to become even more useful than it already has been.

I consider myself among the lucky because I already know which schools I'm applying to and what my intended major is going to be, but at the same time, that knowledge is also more anxiety-filled. The application for my top choice opens up August 1, so now I can only pray that I get in.

Life is going to be chaotic until about December, but I'm okay with that. I'll soon be going on to greater things, so for now, I'll enjoy what I have. Feel free to comment any senior year or college advice below! I'll put my favorites in a post in a couple of weeks.

Class: Dead or Different?

While browsing one of my favorite sites, Future Female Leaders, I discovered an article. Although I agree that fewer women are choosing stereotypically "classy" paths in life, I did not agree with all points in the article. 

It started out fabulous, with "it's okay to be feminine." I agree. Feminine is good! However, it quickly became problematic. The author believes that all women must remain modest and that is the most empowering thing. Yes, for some women, modesty is empowering, but all women are not the same. Some find modesty empowering, while others do not. It is simply a matter of preference, and one is not necessarily better than the other.

"Put Time and Effort into Relationships." Okay, there was nothing wrong here at all. Do not ignore your significant other, do not broadcast your commitment issues on social media (on second thought, please do so that everyone knows who isn't worth time), and, if you are not in a polyamorous/open relationship, DO NOT CHEAT. Relationships do not carry themselves; you must work with your partner to have a solid one.

"Have common courtesy." Again, this is 100% accurate. Be nice, play fair, use your manners. Take your selfies, relish in the likes, but do not allow the attention to take away your kindness. 

I do not believe that class is dead. I think that the definition of class is simply changing. Do I agree that sometimes, we, as millennials, need to take a step back and think about if we should say or do something? Yes. Do I believe that habits and cultural norms have changed over time? YES. What was considered high-class in the 1940s was not the same as in the 1860s. Should we be worried about the new definition of classy? Nope. Just do your thing. Unless you are being rude, disrespectful, or mean, you are a-okay.

Junior Year Goals

Wow, I can't believe I'll be a junior this year! Sometimes, I still feel like I'm 5 years old. Anyways, here are my goals and aspirations for this school year:

1.  Get at least a 4 on my AP exams
2.  Maintain my 4.0
3. Get at least a 33 on my ACT
4. Completely remove all toxic people from my life
5. Completely clean up and revamp my social media
6. Redesign this blog to (almost) exactly how I'd like it
7. Be more active on here
8. Read more
9. Write more often
10. Allow my mermaid-space-princess adoring self to simply live and love

Throwback Thursday Tunes

Today's blog post is inspired by Spotify's #ThrowbackThursday playlist, but is in no way affiliated with Spotify.

2006 was a great year for pop music. If I had to limit myself to a year of pop, I would choose 2006 or 2007. Here are 30 of my favorites (in no particular order):

1. Crazy by Gnarls Barkley
2. Dani California by Red Hot Chili Peppers
3. Dirty Little Secret by All American Rejects
4. Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson
5.  Promiscuous by Nelly Furtado
6. Maneater by Nelly Furtado
7. SexyBack by Justin Timberlake
8. Run it! by Chris Brown
9. My Love by Justin Timberlake
10. Who Knew by P!nk
11. The Way I Are by Timbaland
12. Hips Don't Lie by Shakira
13. Clumsy by Fergie
14. Fergalicious by Fergie
15. Glamorous by Fergie
16. London Bridge by Fergie (okay the entire album was great)
17. Ridin' by Chamillionaire
18. Gold Digger by Kanye West
19. Stickwitu by Pussycat Dolls
20.  Smack That by Akon and Eminem
21. Who Says You Can't Go Home by Bon Jovi
22. Jesus, Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood 
23. Waiting on the World to Change by John Mayer
24. Feel Good Inc by Gorillaz
25. Summetime by Kenny Chesney
26. When You Were Young by The Killers
27. Grillz by Nelly (I'm glad this trend died. #NoShame)
28.  I Write Sins Not Tragedies by Panic at the Disco
29. Dance, Dance by Fall Out Boy
30. Everytime We Touch by Cascada