Packing and Preparing: College Dorm Room Essentials

The months leading up to the beginning of college are filled with many emotions. Excitement for the start of a new chapter in your life, anxious to get up to campus when you are waiting at home, and stressful when you are...packing! Yes, packing up everything you use on a regular basis into a boxes and transporting it to a new location in the country can be very stressful. I am in the middle of the college packing process right now, and it can be a bit overwhelming at times! I have been shopping around to find all the additional things I am going to need for living away from home! This includes bedding, storage, laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, lamps, etc! My dorm room is my home away from home so I need all the home essentials!

Hooks and electrical cords...oh my!

All the university dorm essentials!

Picking out storage for my dorm room

Going to need a lamp for my desk!

Thats one successful shopping trip--getting dorm ready!

Some of my dorm room essentials

I am super excited to live in a dorm room, but where I am going to put all my clothes and decor is another issue. If you think packing for a vacation is hard, imagine packing for college! But, to be a smart packer, you gotta bring the essentials. Sure, while you might want to bring your entire shoe collection, there will be no space for it in that tiny dorm wardrobe. Instead, look to other resources like under the bed storage to help store all your supplies, clothes, or anything else you need! Check out the video below to see the essential items I am bringing to my college dorm!

What would your dorm room essentials be? What can you not live without in your room? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo

It's the Final Countdown

Hey everyone! I have been enjoying my last few weeks of summer before I head up to Stanford University. Since school is just around the corner, it is important to get in any last minute summer adventures. Because all of my friends are traveling all over the country for college, we wanted to do some fun activities specific to California before everyone left. I've spent the last couple days of my summer doing some pretty exciting things!
One day, my friend and I drove to Los Angeles to hike to the top of the Hollywood Hills. This is a very popular hike in southern California because trail leads you to the Hollywood sign! Although it was a long way up, the view was amazing! Check out the pictures below to see our hike experience! It was so fun to spend time with my friend before she leaves for college, and hiking to the Hollywood sign is something we can only do in LA! It was a great end of summer adventure.

The beginning of the hike--see the sign in the background?

The Hollywood sign behind me

The view from the top!

There is the sign--success!

My other friends and I are obsessed with music, especially Taylor Swift. We thought the perfect end of summer experience would be to go see her live in concert! We even got to take a limo to the arena. It was an amazing concert and I loved being able to share my love for Taylor Swift tunes with my friends! We danced and belted the songs all night long. My voice was even gone in the morning! It was so fun to see one of my favorite artists live and if one of your favorite musical artists plays a concert near you I really recommend attending!

With the limo on the way to the concert

In the arena--there is the stage behind us!

However, summer isn't all just fun and games. Most people, like me, have a summer job to save up spending money for college. While work can be boring, I lucked out because I teach tennis at a summer camp for little kids. I guess my summer has more fun and games than I thought! I stretch with them, teach them how to hit a killer forehand, and even go in the pool with them to cool off since playing tennis all day and hot summer weather doesn't mix well. Finding a fun summer job that caters to your skills is the best way to earn money and fill in the long summer hours before school begins.

My fellow camp counselor and awesome campers

Starting off the day with some stretching

Don't want any injuries!

If you and your friends are leaving for college soon, or even just going back to school, having some last minute adventures is a great way end the summer right. Try to seek activities native to your hometown because it will make the experiences even more special. Have fun and let me know in the comments how you spent the end of your summer!

xoxo

Even the Sun Sets in Paradise

Hey everyone! This will be my last post in my summer series here on American Amanda! Next, I will begin to write all about school and the college application process.

Since summer is coming to a close, last weekend my friends and I all traveled to a nearby vacation spot for a fun girls weekend! We traveled to Palm Springs, which is a few hours inland from where I live. Since it is in the desert, the temperature was around 105 degrees Fahrenheit, or 40.5 degrees Celsius. Talk about your heat wave! Since it was so hot, we spent most of the time near the pool. Don't forget your lemonade smoothies to keep cool! It was fun to be able to have a mini-vacation without being far from home.

Lots of people are going on vacations now before summer ends. Some are traveling far places, like sea cruises to Canada or trips to Europe. Most people, though, are staying close to home and traveling to places like Palm Springs, Lake Havasu in Arizona, or Lake Tahoe in Nevada. Since the weather is so hot, its important to be near water! Happy tripping!

How are you spending your last few weeks of summer? And if you are already in school, what was your favorite summer memory? Let me know in the comments!


xoxo

SAT Time!

Hey Everyone! This Saturday, I took the SAT! The SAT, Scholastic Aptitude Test, is a test each high school student is required to take to apply to colleges. It tests you on subjects like sentence completion, reading, writing, and math. Plus, there is a 25 minute essay required to be written. Overall, it's a five hour test! Talk about a buzz kill to your Saturday! It takes a lot of preparation before hand, as many people purchase review books or take classes to obtain all the information needed. It's almost impossible to get a perfect score, 2400, because it's graded on a bell curve, yet everyone tries their hardest to receive the best score they can. Luckily, you can take the test as many times as you want, and some schools super score your test, taking the best scores from each section from different tests to create one overall super score.

If you read my ACT post, you will know how the SAT and ACT are very similar. Both are required with applying to United States Colleges, but schools only require one or the other. So you can focus on what test you are better at! The SAT tests you more on vocabulary and critical thinking skills, while the ACT tests you on what you already know, and has a science section that the SAT does not. Even though there are some differences, both are equally challenging and count the same in the college's eyes.

Here is the website for the SAT:

http://sat.collegeboard.org/home

If you are planning on attending college in the United States, knowing more about the SAT is a great first step towards this goal.

So, do you think you would be better on the ACT or SAT? Let me know in the comments!


xoxo

Club Rush

Every year at most American high schools, there is one week dedicated to signing up for clubs, or club rush! During this week, each club sets up a table at snack in the center of the school and students come to look at and sign up for new and exciting clubs. Clubs vary from French Club to Young Politicians of America Club. I am involved with many clubs at my school, from Spanish Honors Society to International Club. Clubs are a great way to get involved with the student body while doing something you love. Many of the clubs go to charities, so joining a club can be have social benefits while helping the community. Here is a video from Club Rush this year at my school!

Do you have clubs at your school? If you could join any club, what would it be? Let me know in the comments!



xoxo

Around the Campus

School is back in session, and everyone is getting adjusted! We have a packed schedule, which keeps everyone busy. We have about 6-7 classes in total going throughout the day. Classes normally start at 8 a.m., go for a little less than an hour, and then we have 5 minuets to get to our next class. This makes it hard to socialize and stop by your locker between classes, but there is a fifteen minute break and a forty minute lunch in the middle of the day. As you can see everyone is hustling to their classes! 

We have something that we call "zero period" which is a class that starts an hour earlier than all the rest. I have a zero period so I can fit all my classes in my schedule, but boy is it hard to wake up at 6 a.m. every morning! 

Some students have a zero period to get their classes done with early and then can leave at lunch. For me and many other athletes, our schedule is packed and we have to stay at school until 4 on practice days and even as late as 6 on game days! We are all dedicated to our sports, so it makes the long day bearable. 

We are all looking forward to the first football game on friday followed by the first dance directly after! The theme of the dance is Ahoy, a dance at sea! It will be a fun event that the whole school will attend.

What time do you start and finish school? Do you have big sporting or social events at your school? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo 

First Day of School

Hey Everyone! So today was my first day of school! It was very hectic, but also exciting! My schedule of classes consists of English, Spanish, Physics, Calculus, United States History, Model United Nations, and Tennis. I am in the Advance Placement program at my school, so all my classes go a little faster and are a little harder than the normal class. I also moved everything into my locker today, and its  a bottom locker! Having to scrunch down every day to reach it is no easy task. At the end of the day, we change for our sports and go straight to practice or games. This makes for a long day, especially in hot weather! It was over 100 degrees at school today. This weather makes me want to go to the beach or go swimming, but instead I'm back in school.

First day of school!

Holding all my stuff before
school! Luckily we have lockers
to put everything into.

It was great to see all my friends at school, but I am not looking forward to leaving summer behind!
What was your favorite summer memory? And what's a good outfit to wear in any weather, hot or cold? And if you wear a uniform, how do you spice up your uniform to let your individual style show? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo