trudiannracquel

Category: self-improvement

  • FREE COLLEGE/UNI RESOURCES you should be using!

    This post is for my introverts, my online students, and my (generally) socially awkward weirdos who sometimes find it hard to get what they want in University. In addition, it’s for those who are new to the post-secondary experience (congratulations!), or those who simply don’t have time to scour your university’s website trying to find what you need. Here are a few things I think EVERYONE should use if you’re paying tuition in college:

    The Writing Centre/Student Academic Services – Academic Services’ job is more than helping those with accommodations. They also help with essay writing, including how to outline and formulate college-level paragraphs. They can also help with setting schedules to stay on track academically; my school gave us access to a system that once you put in the due date of an assignment and your start date, it’ll assign you tasks to ensure you complete it on time. I’m sure there are other things available in the academic centre as well, but these are the ones I found most useful.

    The Library – These lovely people help with research. Which is a big deal if you’re in a social sciences program like I was. During my first semester, I randomly emailed the librarian in charge of helping with a specific topic and she showed me how to use the research website provided by my school, she gave me suggestions on what to type in the search bar, how to choose good articles and how to brainstorm topics that are interesting and relevant. Lovely people. 12/10.

    Peer Mentoring Services – I am biased toward this service because I volunteer as a mentor at my school. We basically answer any questions you have about navigating the school and the resources. For example, I’ve helped people figure out how to start study groups, talk to their professors, and connect them to the resources available. If you’re lucky, your mentor/mentee will be in the same program as you and may be able to give you some insight into what to expect, but if not, they can always direct you to whom you can ask. They’re like older, nice siblings, who want to see you win.

    Career Services – This department helps with resume building, and interviewing skills as well as giving tips on how to construct a good cover letter. For example, it wasn’t until I used the service at my school that I realized you should cater each resume to the job and put the most relevant things first. Sometimes they put on career fairs, which can help you with finding internships, full-time jobs or research assistant positions. This is more helpful for things outside your academic career but still imperative.

    The Gym/Student Clubs – Social life and mental health are very important, especially in these years of your life. Being active helps to alleviate stress and keeps you physically healthy, while student clubs help with mental health and peer interaction/community building. Win/win if you get to be in a club that’s also active and it’s a great way to network at school.

    Your professors and TAs – These were probably my most under-utilized resources during my first year of college. I was so scared to ask questions for fear of feeling dumb, so I would spend hours on my own trying to understand concepts. They’re paid to answer your questions, so use them wisely. If you’re scared to ask a question in class (though this would be better to build rapport), or if your program is online like mine, post on your class’ discussion forums frequently and email the course email to ask questions or point out interesting things. I even link to outside resources I’ve used to help with a specific topic.

    Any Free On-Campus or Virtual Events – At the very least, there’s usually food during on-campus events (so I’ve heard). For online students, it’s an opportunity to connect with people. If you don’t find yourself gravitating towards anyone specifically, have no fear, I’ve seen some universities have ‘study sessions’ or ‘power study groups’ to help foster motivation when studying. And you don’t have to speak out loud. However, free on-campus events will usually help your experience and maybe teach you something your college offers that you never knew existed.

    Honourable Mention: The free version of the Grammarly App – seriously. This saves you time writing essays, discussion posts, emails, etc. I used the free version for my first year and the paid version for my final two years. I’ll probably keep using it as long as I’m in school.

    Each school has different resources. The ones I’ve listed are based on my experience in 2 universities and 1 college in Canada. Most I’ve used while some I wish I used more as they could’ve changed my grades or my sense of loneliness while in post-secondary.

    I hope this post was helpful!

     

     

  • Beginner Bullet Journaling Must-Haves

    Beginner Bullet Journaling Must-Haves

    Bullet journalling can be intimidating. It’s just a pen and paper and everything in it is up to your preference and skillset. But, when I see any set-up online, I instantly think, “yeah, that’s never happening. I’m not even going to bother to try.”

    This year, however, I decided to go for it and keep it as simple as possible. Check out my YouTube video here to see how I did it this year.

    Something else I fall into the trap of is thinking I need a million tools and pieces of stationery to start. And this year, I also see that’s not true. So here is a beginner, essential list of things I think you’ll need to start and complete your bullet journal. Well, you may need these in addition to a Pinterest account because my creativity was not there when I decided to start, and it helped me by guiding me.

    A journal: Notebook Medium (A5), Hardcover, 251 Numbered Pages, Lilac, Dotted – Leuchtturm1917 : Amazon.ca: Office Products OR if you want to keep it really affordable and simple: Dot Grid Notebook Spiral A5 Size Dotted Paper WINSAFE 80 sheets/160 Pages, 8.27inX5.67in (2) : Amazon.ca: Office Products

    Coloured Pens: Colored Gel Pens, Lineon 24 Colors Retractable Gel Ink Pens with Grip, Medium Point(0.7mm) Smooth Writing Pens Perfect for Adults and Kids Journal Notebook Planner, Writing in Office and School : Amazon.ca: Office Products

    Basic Pens: BIC Round Stic Xtra Life Ballpoint Pen, Medium Point (1.0mm), Blue, For Smooth & Comfortable Writing, 12-Count : Amazon.ca: Office Products

    Markers/Paint Pens: Dual Tip Brush Marker Pens, 24 Color Brush and Fine Tip Art Marker for Journal, Coloring Book, Planner : Amazon.ca: Home

    Let me know in a comment if there’s anything else you think you’ll need to start a bullet journal. And drop a smiley face if you’ve seen the YouTube video!

  • 5 Steps to Change Your Life in 2022

    It’s not easy to admit, but it’s okay to wake up one morning and decide that you want to change your life completely.

    Typically, you’re incredibly quiet and reflective. Now, you have a desire to make every room you walk into notice you immediately. Or the reverse could be true: you constantly draw attention to yourself by being loud and the party’s life. Now you want to be a wallflower and observant. Whatever your reasons and wherever you fall on the spectrum of personalities, it’s okay to change yourself.

    Humans are superfluid, multi-faceted and interested in various things (speaking from an incredibly privileged point of view). Some ideas of human nature say the moon and birthdays influence our moods and decisions. The example I’m about to allude to is poor, but you can also see this when you look at the lives of some disciples of Jesus. Some went from being interested in persecuting people, to loving them and abiding by the rules they hated. If we look at it from a worldly point of view, people like Bill Gates probably never thought they would go from a college drop-out to creating one of the biggest and most successful tech companies in human history. We change.

    If you happen to relate to any emotions from this post, a desire to adjust things in your life and (for me) become the woman you’ve always dreamed of, here are a few tips that have helped me manage this thought process as well as slowly bring it to fruition.

    1. Find your reason why. You’ll regret it if it’s to satisfy someone else’s version of you. Humans come and go, but you’ll be stuck with the change forever (or however long hair dye lasts). Good reasons for changing will accomplish personal goals. Poor reasons will sound like, “maybe this will help them like me more or make them see me in a ‘better’ light.”
    2. Create a Pinterest board or mood board. Have a visual representation of what you want to look, act, and live like. Determine who you want to be. You could print it or create a collage as your cellphone background. The goal here is to have a physical sense of your dream. You could have a photo of how you wish to dress. You could create an ideal work schedule. You could even write down affirmations that clearly state what you want. Anything to remind you of what you’re working towards.
    3. Change your mindset surrounding the changes. It’s been well-documented that how you think affects everything you do. There are famous sayings like “thoughts become things” or “train your mind.” Even in the Bible in Mark 9:23, “All things are possible for one who believes.” How you think about your life greatly affects your effort and outcome. I recommend the Bible if you want guidance on this, but I’ve also heard that Atomic Habits, 12 Rules for Life and The Power of Habit are life-changing. I’ve just recently ordered these on Amazon, so I’ll be able to tell you for sure in a future post. But, zeroing in on how you perceive yourself and these changes will make a world of difference.
    4. Make little changes daily. I find that the easiest way to fail is to try to accomplish everything at once. I tend to over-extend myself and give myself too much credit for how much I could achieve in a short time. And while that might be true on a productive day, I don’t have many productive days, if I’m being honest. Many days, I wake up, go to work, come game, cook and go to bed. And that’s okay. The point here is that you should be giving yourself little goals regularly. For example, one of my personal goals is to have natural, healthy hair. I relaxed my hair earlier this year and have regretted it ever since. I miss my curls and my versatility. I miss how my face looked with shorter hair. I miss the texture. So now that I’ve identified what I want, my daily goal regarding hair is to keep her moisturized and protected. At least until she’s grown enough for me to feel comfortable doing a big chop again. To achieve this, I only need to take an extra 5 minutes at night to moisturize and wrap my hair instead of just going to bed with a bonnet. This small change will help me love my hair in its current state and encourage me to keep this habit when I do my big chop.
    5. Give yourself grace. Be gentle when you mess up or fall back into old habits. Please recognize that you’re changing routines and habits for your ideal and that it’s hard. My biggest pet peeve about myself is that I speak negatively when I think I’ve failed at something or know I could be doing better. Coincidentally, words of affirmation are also one of my top love languages. However, I’m learning to be kinder to myself. I have no problem giving others grace and making excuses for poor behaviour. But when it comes to myself? I’m terrible at it. To achieve change, this fits into a mindset where I must tell myself, “it’s okay to miss a day. You needed rest. Just pick back up tomorrow. You are not worthless because of this.”

    And those are my tips for changing your life! Please, leave me a comment if you have any to add. Or let me know what you’ve done in this area.

    Don’t forget to follow me to get more girl talk and tips. And heck out my Youtube channel as well.

  • 5 Tips to Start a new Month

    Hey. Welcome back. Thank you for reading this post!

    At the beginning of each month, I always feel like I need to start fresh. In my mind, it’s the time to spring clean and set new goals and (hopefully) set up a plan to achieve them. However, I always find myself scrambling to do the minimum and before I know it, it’s already the 7th of the month. At that point, I say to myself, “the month is already done, I’m not gonna bother to set up anymore.” And the cycle continues…

    So recently, I decided to just put together a little list of 5 things to do to start a new month. I made it fool-proof for myself and simple. If there’s too much to do, I simply won’t do it.

    Here are a few things I do to get started in a new month!

    1. I create/ research new affirmations for the month. A lot of them I find on Pinterest. A few I create according to my circumstances. If you check out my Instagram (@herlifenotyours), one of my most recent posts was my affirmations for the month of May. I try to include everything from relationships, to finances, to work and I keep any negative wording out of it. For example, instead of saying “I don’t want to spend any money unnecessarily”, I’ll say “I will spend my money wisely.” I kind of slacked in reciting them in the month of June, so I transferred the same ones to July.
    2. I do my basic beauty routine. This includes shaving my face, changing my toothbrush head and adding a new colour to my wardrobe. Shaving my face helps my skincare goes on better and my face smoother for days when I wear makeup. And my wardrobe is all neutrals (see what new neutrals I bought!), so every month, I try to rotate which pop of colour I enjoy the most. I also toss 3 panties and 3 pairs of socks because I recognized that a lot of my undergarments are old and I tend to hold on to them for some strange reason.
    3. I do a deep clean of my room. I dust my mirrors and my bed frame. I snake the drains in my washroom. I wipe down the window frames. If it’s needed, I’ll change my shower curtain. I just try to do the bigger tasks that take me longer to complete and that instantly lift the mood and cleanliness in my room.
    4.  Planning. I absolutely love to bullet journal. The creativity and freedom of expression and being able to customize it every month or week or daily. However, I’ve started to do most of my planning and creating my to-do lists digitally and use my bullet journal for just journalling in the morning. So every month, I decided to dedicate some pages to tracking healthy habits and writing down memories. I find that when I’ve looked back on previous months (and even years) of bullet journaling, I can remember the time and space I was in when I re-read something. I want to ensure that I’m keeping memories of all the good things that are happening. I also, occasioanlly, select a new Bible plan. However, I usually do the daily Bible readings on the YouVersion app.
    5. Finally, I fast. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to talk about fasting. I know it’s an agreement between myself and God for specific purposes. But, I do attempt this every month. For the first 3 days, I try not to listen to any music besides gospel, I try to avoid Youtube (which, if I’m being honest, I failed this month), and generally try to avoid anything that I know distracts me from recognizing God’s mercy in my life. It might vary from month to month. I’ve tried to avoid meat and have even done traditional fasting where I don’t eat until a certain time. The general goal is to reset my focus on what is most important and remove anything I know will distract me from it.

    That’s it! That’s what I (try to) do every month. I usually do this at the end of the month or the first 3 days. Let me know in a comment if there’s anything you do to start a new month. I’m always looking for suggestions!

    Have a beautiful day,

    HL

  • $500 Sephora Haul!

     

    Ep 9: $500 Sephora Haul! – YouTube

    Hey Guys! Here’s the accompanying blog post to the above Sephora Haul. Let me know if there’s anything you’ve tried or any item you want a specific review on. Also, any video recommendations!

    Have a lovely day 🙂

    Twilly D’Hermes Eau Ginger Eau De Parfum

    Sephora Best Skin Ever Foundation

    Drunk Elephant Mini A-Passioni Retionol Cream 

    Josie Maran Whipped Argan Oil Body Butter

    Philosophy Amazing Grace Whipped Body Creme

    Fenty Skin Butta Drop Whipped Oil Hydrating Cream

    Lancome Idole Aura Eau De Parfum

    Ole Henriksen 3 Mega Wonders

    Ole Henriksen Truth Juice Daily Cleanser

    First Aid Beauty Ingrown Hair Pads

    Drunk Elephant Protini Polypeptide Firming Moisturizer and Protini Powerpeptide Resurfacing Serum

     

     

  • 5 Affordable Ways to Treat Yourself

    Hello! Hi!

    I hope you have a better day than you were yesterday.

    Emotionally treating myself is something I never used to think was necessary. I used to feed into the hustle hard, team no sleep, nobody cares work harder, culture. I used to believe that working all-nighters was the way to go.

    I was very wrong.

    I’ve learned through trial by fire that it is of the utmost importance that I take care of myself first. If my mental health isn’t at least 80%, I can’t function. I can’t be a version of the woman I want to be in the future.

    Bonus (sarcasm): I work at a fast-food restaurant as a manager, so it’s not like I can shower myself in luxury regularly. And I am also trying to save to move out of my parents’ house. ‘Trying’ is the operative word. (If you watch my YouTube channel, you’ll see why I say that).

    Here are a few ways I’ve treated myself recently! Most are free, and some are cheap (depending on your tastes).

    1. Cry. It sounds weird, but a good cry can help you release some frustrations you have. Crying can release pent-up tension in your chest. If you live in a place where you can scream, screaming is a much better option. But if you live in suburbia, crying is a good alternative.
    2. Exercise. Movement is key to maintaining a healthy life, especially when you don’t feel like peeling your body from your bed. Exercise is an excellent way to distract yourself, even with thoughts of wanting to run back into your bed.
    3. Picnic. Okay, this is more of a date idea. But putting together a smorgasbord of your favourite finger foods and getting dressed up is a great way to spend time with yourself and feel special (in theory).
    4. Dance Session. Okay, this one I started doing about two years ago when I would get overwhelmed with school. I give myself 10-15 minutes, put on Queen Bey, and dance like no one is watching. It’s an energy rush because I know all the words to the songs I choose, and I get to lose myself in good music and happy lyrics.
    5. Read. Reading is a great way to escape your reality. I get immersed in many books, especially fantasy and rom coms. I’ve been avoiding romance books recently, but I recently read Monday’s Not Coming and They Both Die at The End and completely forgot where I was for a good three days. Reading could even be free if you borrow books from the library instead of buying books!

    I hope these ideas help, even a little bit. I know it isn’t easy even to choose to take care of yourself. But there’s a little sunshine since you decided to read this post, right?