By now you’re probably passed all of your fascination with college being new and exciting.  You’re also probably tired of the same old dorm posters.  Instead of just plastering your walls over with stereotypical college imagery, why don’t you make your dorm as unique as you are?

Have no fear my decorating minions, get your hot glue guns ready and lets get crafty!

Let’s Make… Picture frames! Posters are so…mainstream. Everyone has them. Why not hang your own pictures in personalized frames?

 This is an easy craft. You can find ready-made frames for cheap at any dollar store, walmart, or craft store. All you need to do is decorate with fabric, sequins, or little plastic accents…things you can again find at walmart or a craft store. Just apply them with your hot glue gun…and there you have it!

Let’s Make… Beaded curtains!  This project will take a little more time to finish, but it allows your mind to go to a zen-like place while you do it.

You will need: Beads! Fishing line and a tension curtain rod.
First measure your door frame and decide how thick you want your curtain to be. Thicker curtains call for more beads. Cut your fishing line to fit, and then start stringing your beads (this part takes awhile).
Once you’re done stringing all your beads,  apply them to the rod and hang. Put a dab of hot glue over the part where the beads are tied over the rod to keep the steady. There you have it! Read More »

My on-the-road anxieties have been eased by this one important mantra. Call it zen, call it what you will, but there is something utterly freeing about the reality that life is sometimes beyond your control and that you just have to let things go.

An illustration: Back in December, I was on a plane from Bogotá to Quito. A very short distance certainly, but it was the longest journey from point A to point B I’ve ever endured.

In the end, it took me twenty four hours to fly the short 450 mile distance between the two cities. I grew a gray hair of worry that I wouldn’t be able to catch my connecting flight back to Los Angeles, but I certainly learned a great lesson that I now apply to all the impatient moments in my travel career. Read More »

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it can take me a while to get into the academic-paper-writing mood of zen. A long while. Like…several months.

Since I don’t usually have that kind of luxury to juggle around class deadlines, I do fun writing exercises to help me get in the mood. They’re easy, short, and they really will help your writing skills get better, so you can snag the high grades you need. Try these, or make up your own.

• Journaling. I don’t mean the kind of journaling that your sixth-grade teacher made you do about your summer vacation. I mean real journaling about what you really care about. Write a page about how much of a douchebag your ex is, or a few paragraphs about your favorite kind of chocolate and why exactly you love it so much. Loosening your writing muscles will help you get better starts on your papers.

• Songwriting. Come on. We’ve all listened to a Backstreet Boys song or two and thought to ourselves, “My four-year-old cousin could write better lyrics than those.” So why not prove it? Rather than calling up your baby cousin, do it yourself. A quick exercise like scribbling down a song will give you more creative, open ideas about the content and outlets of your academic writing. Read More »

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: summer ain’t over until the school bell rings.

Before you dive headfirst into college orientation, that sophomore year daze-fest, junior year 300-level-class hell, and senior year craziness, do yourself a favor and recharge, reenergize, and take some time for yourself.

A perfect way to spend some lovely “me” time is to venture out to the beach by your lonesome. Read More »