Tag: advice (page 2 of 16)

“Espressos and Surgeries: A Study Abroad Trip to Italy” by Alex Stone

It is Monday morning. I am on the bus, overhearing conversations in Italian. I am holding onto the overhead bar for dear life as the bus speedily whips around the sharp corner up the hill. We pass small cars, historic buildings, and apartments with laundry hanging from the balcony. I am still groggy from the lack of sleep since my body hasn’t adjusted to the new time zone yet. But at the same time, I am jittery and excited; the espresso I drank that morning along with adrenaline are coursing through my veins. I can see light just peeking up over the horizon as we approach our stop. When I step off the bus, my jaw drops at what I see. The sun is rising up over the water and the cliff-side homes, casting the entire city in a warm yellow and pink glow. I hear the sounds of waves crashing against the rocks below and scooters zooming by as people are headed off to work. Everyone in my group pulls out their phones to take pictures. Our site manager is finally able to draw our attention away from the spectacular view to tell us to turn around. As we do, we see towering stained-glass windows covering the front of the building and palm trees lining the path that goes up towards the top of the hill beyond the front gates. We were staring at the hospital we would be commuting to every morning for three weeks. This was how my mornings went while I studied abroad in Genoa, Italy this past winter.

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“What If?” by Chris Hope

I’m the type of person who thinks way too much about things, whether that be about decisions I make or about media I watch or listen to. Funnily enough, both of those aspects of myself fit together perfectly, because the past two weeks I’ve had working on the Harrington Theatre Arts Company’s recent production of the show If/Then. If you weren’t able to catch it, the story of If/Then focuses on Elizabeth and two timelines branching out from a single decision: one where she chooses to go with her newfound friend Kate (who calls her Liz) and one where she chooses to go with an old college friend Lucas (who calls her Beth). That single decision has a huge effect on her life as well as the lives of her friends and acquaintances. People who may meet and fall in love in one may never meet at all in the other, all because of a single decision. I, like many people, also tend to think long and hard over the possibilities that are presented in life’s choices; there can be advantages and pitfalls to such overthinking, but there are of course ways that media such as If/Then explore how one can overcome all of those pitfalls.

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“Time to Break the Cycle” By Alex Stone

You wake up to the annoyingly persistent buzz-buzz-buzz of your alarm clock. The sun has just begun to creep up over the horizon, starting its day just as you are beginning yours. Your bed is so warm, so cozy. It is almost painful to force yourself up and out of bed. Yet, you know you must because there are essays to write, projects to do, and notes to study. It is another morning, another day, and you find yourself just counting down the hours, the minutes, the seconds until you can crawl back into bed and get some much-needed rest before taking on the next day.

Throughout the semester, we can all find ourselves feeling this way, like we are in a constant cycle of work and worry. As Honors Students, taking many challenging classes, getting involved in exciting research opportunities, and participating in time-consuming extracurriculars can begin to make life feel overwhelming at times. The work may keep piling up, but the desire to accomplish that work keeps finding a way to remain out of reach. And yet, while I have found myself in this position a time or two this semester, I have also found a way to break out of this dangerous cycle, and hopefully you can too.

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“Diagnose and Treat Bad Study Habits” by Alex Stone

This summer, I began the daunting and lengthy process of studying for the medical school entrance exam, or as most people know it, the MCAT. (Cue gasps of horror!) Scary, I know. I was nervous but excited to take this next big step in my academic career. When I had signed up for the exam, it was February and the start of the spring semester. My actual test day, which was at the end of August, seemed ages away. I took my time getting organized, finding study materials, and even purchasing a prep course—though not a necessity, it seemed like the right choice for me and my situation. While I did prepare for the many months of studying ahead of me, I was leaving my bad study habits untreated. 

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“Lessons Learned in a Busy Week” by Chris Hope

This semester has been quite the busy one, though it might be hard to find someone who won’t relate to that statement. Midterms ending some weeks ago, fall break on the horizon but just out of reach; it can be a time of wanting a rest from what just was, but not being able to have that rest just yet. For myself, a piece of that business has been occupied by the recent showing of HTAC’s Shrek the Musical and the Tech Week preceding it. 

For the unaware, Tech Week for a theatre company is the week before opening night where all hands are on deck with daily rehearsals and constant work to improve upon performance and technical aspects, which in my case included creating or improving the show’s props and finding places for them backstage. Over the course of the week I realized that the sort of shifting emotions and work relate to the way they similarly shift throughout the academic semester, and each day has a way to be summarized and has something that can be learned from it. With that said, here are some lessons I learned from each day of Tech Week.

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