A Little Update

Whew, it is hard to believe that it is only Wednesday. Sorry for being a little absent around these parts lately, but with the weirdo Texas weather that we have been having, and being a little sick last week I have been trying to get caught up. The hardest part has been catching up with school. Mainly because I have two hybrid classes and one online class, so that means I spend a good portion of my time teaching myself. A hybrid class, in case you didn't know, is where a class meets one day a week and then the other day is online. So Tuesdays for me are jam packed one class after another, and then I spend Thursday's reading the online version of the lecture and completing that weeks assignment. Honestly even though this is my first time experiencing this type of class format, for me it is the perfect combination. It gives me face time with the instructor, and it also gives me free time on the day when I don't have class. I would highly recommend this type of class, and you should try it if you have the chance.

So that was a quick little student session, just to share with you some advice about a class type!

Anywhoo, I should be back soon with an update on Valentines day with S. Soon I will also be talking about a little project that I have recently undertaken that I am SUPER excited about!

Dressing Classy for Classes

So I think a question that lot of college students want to know is: "What exactly should I wear to class?" I think a lot of people get confused on what to wear because of freshman orientation. Generally at freshman orientation someone at some point will say something like, “Now make sure that you don’t wear pajamas to class because it looks bad to your teachers. You need to wear nice decent clothes all the time.” But from there that leaves us to decide our personal definition of “nice decent clothes”. So I wanted to share my personal opinion of what to wear to class based on what I have experienced from what people wear at my college (and by things that I have worn).

THE BIG WHAT NOT TO WEAR: PAJAMAS (By pajamas I literally mean anything that looks like lingerie, cartoon printed pants, footy pajamas, ect.) They make you look sloppy and unprepared, and they can even make it hard for you to focus because you are TOO comfortable. Professors love to pick out the student who wear pajamas to answer questions because they are generally the less prepared, not focused students, and they are also more likely to fall asleep in class. 
Bottom Line: NO PAJAMAS.

What to Wear Instead: Yoga Pants with a tank top and sweatshirt, also sometimes sweat pants(this depends on the pants, there are so many nicer looking options nowadays that sometimes sweatpants are a viable option). Yoga Pants are acceptable classroom wear, but I would stick with just basic black ones and then pair it with a tank top and a sweatshirt, or a t-shirt. Sweatshirts are a good choice, especially during the winter (because it’s cold), but also all of the time because class rooms are generally freezing. Sweat pants and a t-shirt are also acceptable most of the time, as long as you look decent, not sloppy, and don't look like you literally just rolled out of bed.

I wanted to focus mainly on Pajamas because they seem to be one of the biggest things not to wear. Then I decided to make this nifty little chart here to show you some comparisons on what is appropriate vs. what is not.

WHAT TO WEAR	WHAT NOT TO WEAR
Jeans	Leggings as Pants (Unless you legitimately think you can pull them off)
Shorts (of an appropriate length)	Pajamas
T-shirts	Shirts with holes in them
Tennis Shoes, Boots, Flip flops, ect. (almost any shoe is appropriate besides heels)	No shoes (Please wear shoes…PLEASE.)
Business Casual Dress (Polo’s, khakis, blouses, ect.)	Any dress that might be worn for a night out, a prom dress, or to the club
Yoga Pants, Sweat pants	Heels (Unless you absolutely must, and if you do be smart and take a pair of flats)
Jackets, Sweatshirts, Cardigans	Crop tops (Without a tank underneath)
College themed gear	High school themed gear (Dear freshman, this means NO LETTERMAN JACKETS.)

 And now some pictures of college appropriate dress, for inspiration and reference!

A great outfit for those days when you want to dress comfy but not look like you just rolled out of bed. Original Photo Victoria's Secret

A great simple outfit for a cold school day. Original Photo here

 This would be a great spring outfit for school! Original photo here
 
I think this Lilly Pulitzer popover would be great to wear when its just a little chilly out.
Original photo here

And then every girl should have a great statement hoodie that will get some laughs, but keep you warm. Original photo here. It's also great to have a watch so that you can always get to class on time. I'm loving this turquoise one from Modcloth. Original photo here.

Do you have a favorite item or go to outfit for class? Leave me a comment and tell me about it!

How Do You Stay Motivated?

I have a real and honest question. How do you stay motivated? I just want to say that as a college student that has classes and then free time (which is technically studying time) I have a hard time saying to myself, "Ashley, you have to get off Netflix (Hulu, the internet, ect...) and do your homework now." I try to keep myself motived by making a study schedule, writing down all my assignments on my planner as soon as I get the syllabus for each class, putting reminders in Google calendar. But the kicker is that it's still hard for me to actually sit down and get things done, and get things done ahead of time. I think part of it is because I get so sucked into how easy it is to procrastinate. With so much technology at our fingertips every second of everyday its so easy to get distracted. We check our phones every five seconds, look at countless random things on the internet, and have a slew of TV shows and movies instantly at our fingertips. As a college student I have to remind myself that I am responsible for my education. No matter the amount of encouraging, and reminding that our professors provide us with it all comes down to us. We have to read that chapter, take notes, study flashcards, and finish assignments.

I do not think that I am the only college student who struggles with the overwhelming urge to be technologically connected all the time. We've become addicted to it, and that's only partially our fault. I think that the best way to overcome our addiction is to admit it. So I am here today asking all of you to pledge to a study shutdown. When you either have dedicated study time, or you just know you need to study I want to challenge you to disconnect from your phone, computer, or other device that connects you to the outside world. It you must use your computer for your homework, then install a blocker in google chrome that you can turn on that only lets you on school related websites so you have a better chance of staying focused. Turn off the TV, and listen to some music to keep you motivated. Set your phone to silent, not just vibrate. That way you aren't tempted to check it because you think you got a text message, or other notification. Think of your study time not only as your time to focus on bettering yourself as a student, but also a change to unplug from our technology filled world. I think that not only with your grades thank you, but you will thank you for taking time to focus on you and not what everyone else is doing.

I would love for you to join my challenge, all I ask is that you fill out the pledge, and post it on your blog explaining why you choose to take the challenge. Your response definitely doesn't have to be as lengthy as mine, it can be short and sweet. Also I would like it if you would leave a comment with a link to your blog if you decide to take the challenge so that I can come over and read why you want to challenge yourself to shut down your technology while you study.

**just right click and then click save image as**

Student Sessions: How, and Where I Buy My Textbooks

Hey y'all! I don't really have a weekend recap for today, it was a pretty low key weekend which is a-ok with me I'm just enjoying not having much to do since school starts back in a week! YIKES. Which is why I am here to start a new series of posts that I will be sharing on my blog that are tailored specifically to college students. Since I am a college student, and a junior I feel like I have accrued some life  college experience and I want to share it here in my little internet space so that hopefully I can help out some other college students. So I introduce to you: Student Sessions!

Now the student sessions posts are not going to be on a specific day of the week or anything. They will just pop up whenever I have something that I geared toward students that I want to share. So since I am starting school again in a week I am currently in the midst of purchasing my textbooks. Now I long ago learned that unless it is a book that is specific to your school (as in a book the school themselves produced like a lab book) you have a ton of other options for purchasing and or renting your textbooks for the semester. I use to resources to help me make sure that I am getting the best deals possible on my books whether I rent or buy. 1st I use http://www.slugbooks.com/ . And what this website does is by taking the ISBN number or name of the book for the list your college gives you will immediately tell you the price of your book from different retailers, Amazon, Half.com, Abe Books, & Chegg, and will show you which website has it for the cheapest price and if its cheaper to buy or rent. NOTE: Most English and Science Textbooks will be cheaper to RENT. This is because they are generally larger books. Unless it is a book that you think you will possibly use again (as in a professor says that it will help in another class in your major) RENT it. So once I start finding out prices I start plugging them into an excel spreadsheet (in my screenshot I'm using numbers for mac, but excel works just as well)

I know this is probably a little hard to read but if you right click and open it in a new tab it should be easier to read.  So this is my spreadsheet for this upcoming semester. I started out by listing my classes, and then underneath each class the name of the book or books required. then in the next column I put the ISBN # for easy reference, and then in the next column the author so that I could make sure that I was getting the right book. Then using Slug Books and my college bookstore online, I list the prices, along with whether the price that I listed was buying or renting. Renting is color coded with green, and buying with blue. So once I have all my prices in, I go through and use yellow to denote the lowest price option for that book. Then normally I would have my total calculation for my books on my spreadsheet by I am new at working with Numbers and I am still figuring some thing out. But my total came out about a whole $200 dollars cheaper than what it would have cost me to buy them solely at my college bookstore. Now I do want to list another option for renting textbooks that I have had a good experience with but isn't listed on here, because Slug Books doesn't list it, but it has been a good go to when I couldn't find a book on one of these websites. Barnes & Noble, they actually have a pretty good system and pricing and renting books but they still don't have as many books available as the ones that I used.  

Who doesn't want to save $200 dollars on their textbooks?! 

I suggest you try it out, cause it really works!