It Is Time…

It is time to write the last post in my blog (at least as a part of my Social Media course). It is time to say good bye to all my viewers and readers (at least as a student blogger). It is time to say an enormous THANK YOU to all the people who were with me during this adventure, who supported me, who inspired me, who viewed or read my blog, who commented on my posts, who told me that they actually did what I wrote about and this made them feel better.

In the beginning, I asked myself why people blog, what is the reason behind that: do they just want to share their opinion, to find listeners of their voice, to find supporters of their beliefs and causes? Now, when I do not need to blog any more, I felt somehow strange and sad about that because I found the greatest reason why anyone would blog, a reason I also understood in the end. By blogging people influence other people’s lives in one way or another, but they do influence them, their actions, and their behavior. And I also felt that once when I read a blog of a friend of mine. It is truly amazing how a person can be affected by the words of another, let alone it is a stranger.

So, it is that time when we all become very sensitive, and emotional, and sentimental, and sad, and depressed, and nostalgic because we are approaching the end of……... my blogging. Ok, ok, that was a joke. We are close to the end of our lovable AUBG time. We experience some things for the last time, but just in AUBG, which still means a lot.

Source: Personal archive

Source: Personal archive

Source: Personal archive

Source: Personal archive

Things I Am Going To Miss About My AUBG Time

“Every end is a new beginning”, they say. But nobody tells you how hard the new beginning would be or how painful the end might be. Just a few more weeks and we will be on the finish line. The AUBG era will be over very soon: true happiness for some, real disaster for others. I am somewhere in the middle, because my emotional personality, for sure, would cause me a whole mountain of mixed feelings which will be more in number than the days left.

Looking back, some 3-4 years ago, I can claim that I have been happy. I would change some things, I would modify others, but I would definitely keep the people around me, without whom AUBG would not be the same. Looking back, I remember many places, events, experiences, and people I am going to miss. And they are many more than I can actually recall.

I will miss carefree days I had, despite the projects, and papers, and classes.

I will miss sleeping till noon because my class starts at 12.30.

I will miss going out on a Tuesday, even though I have a small quiz the next day.

I will miss eating at Bakalov at 3 am because dances at Underground are so exhausting.

I will miss taking a nap after a long night out.

I will miss family lunches at DIVA, where we need to roll on the road after instead of walk.

I will miss the serious discussions of important issues on the alley toward Bachinovo Park.

I will miss being a student and not in the part of the unemployed or looking for a job people.

I will miss the lazy Friday afternoons on the terrace drinking beer.

And finally, I will miss my friends, no matter if they are an hour away from. If I can’t knock on their door in the next 5 minutes, then they are away.

Source: Personal archive

Source: Personal archive

Source: Personal archive

Source: Personal archive

AUBG One Last Time: The Birthday

It is interesting when you expect the unexpected and when you don’t know that what you expect is actually what you did not expect at all. It is exciting when you know people well enough to be able to guess what they intent to do. It is thrilling when your friends hijack you at your birthday and you are blindfolded for God knows how long. It is moving when you hear them singing:

Source: http://en.paperblog.com/happy-birthday-courtney-ford-572126/

I opened my eyes in the darkness and saw little lamps illuminating the lake and 10 pairs of sparkling eyes, clapping hands, and smiling faces. I saw joy and I felt happiness. I saw people and I felt love.

They were there in the cold night FOR ME. They were there to say happy birthday in their unusual and amazing way. They were there to see the smile on my face and the tears in my eyes.

Yes, my friends surprised me for my birthday by taking me out to Bachinovo Park with a lovely, colorful, and delicious cake, with small red heart-shaped candles, and with beer. I would anticipate anything, but yet, they exceeded my expectations. They do it every year and still it is as surprising and wonderful as the first one. And this is not going to be the last time they do it, but it is going to be the last time they do it at AUBG. So, people, I am making a point here: with the right people, your college life can turn into an amusement park.

I am a person who values relationships, but more importantly who values people. Thank you, AUBG, for introducing these admirable and adorable people in my life. THANK YOU, people, for always being there for me.

Source: Personal archive

Source: Personal archive

Source: Personal archive

Famous College Kids in Movies

Inspired by the previous post, I thought that there are many college students protagonists in various movies that are worth mentioning and remembering, for they have played a fundamental role in developing and getting mature in the lives of many of us. Here is a short list of some characters that we often associate with the actors that played them.

Jason Matthew Biggs playing Jim Levenstein in American Pie 2 - a continuation of the college student’s funny misfortunes in a sexual aspect.

Russell Crowe playing John Nash Jr. in A Beautiful Mind – an ordinary student with extraordinary knowledge who develops the Game Theory at Princeton University.

Jim Sturgess playing Ben Campbell in 21 – a senior math major at Massachusetts Institute of Technology who is accepted at Harvard Medical School but is unable to pay the tuition and joins a blackjack team lead by a professor to earn the needed money.

Channing Tatum playing Greg Jenko in 21 Jump Street – a police officer who has to go back to school undercover to prevent the outbreak of a new synthetic drug and arrest the bad guy behind the scheme.

Anna Kendrick playing Beca Mitchell in Pitch Perfect– a freshman who wants to pursue a music career and upon entering college, she joins the female a cappella group the Barden Bellas.

Katie Holmes playing the President’s daughter Samantha MacKenzie in First Daughter – she enrolls in college and falls in love with another college student who does not accept her as the president’s daughter, but rather sees through her character. Eventually, he turns out to be a member of the President’s bodyguards sent undercover to protect her.

Reese Witherspoon playing Elle Woods in Legally Blonde – a sorority girl who in order to get back her boyfriend follows him to Law School.

Famous College Students

Hey, everyone! This week I want to introduce to your attention several popular people who became famous during their years in college. I know how busy everyone is at the end of the semester with all the papers and projects, but come on, there is always something to complain about. Let’s be more realistic and recall that real life is yet to come and overwhelm us. That is why I wanted to show you people who follow their professional endeavor very persistently and at the same time study. Yes, those people are at our age and the fact that we see THEM on TV does not mean that we were not born under a lucky star.

Hannah Dakota Fanning, mostly known as Dakota Fanning, is a famous American actress whose professional film career starts at an early age. She was born in 1994 and today at the fragile age of 20, she can brag with quite a rich filmography. Currently, Fanning is a junior at the New York University, doing an individualized study. Some of her more popular movies are I am Sam, Man on Fire, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, and The Runaways.

Emma Charlotte Duerre Watson is an English actress and model. Similar to Dakota Fanning, she starts her career at the age of 9, playing Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter Series. Strongly trying to neglect her popularity, she enrolled at Brown University, but then stuck between studies and professional work, she transferred to Oxford for her junior year. However, Emma moved back to Brown University and is graduating this May.

Alexander Ludwig is a Canadian actor, singer, and model. He was born in 1992 and is 21 now. He stars in the Hunger Games movie as Cato, the male tribute from District 2 who fights Peeta and Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) in the final scene. Alexander is a junior at the University of Southern California majoring in Theater and is a member of a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity which is one of the most exclusive university fraternities famous for their wild parties.

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American computer programmer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He was born in 1984 and became not just extremely popular, but extremely rich while still in college for creating Facebook. A student at Harvard University, he was very good at computer science. In his sophomore year, Zuckerberg dropped out of the university to complete his project. 

Lessons I Learnt in College

Following up on my previous post Lessons Learnt in College, I would like to share with you MY lessons learnt. Or at least some of them. Enjoy!!!

• Find wonderful people, make them good friends of yours, and keep them for a lifetime.
• Be open-minded for new experiences. 
• Go through new things you think you are not good at.
• Better late than never.
• Socialize no matter how shy you are.
• Participate in clubs even if you join them in your last year.
• Developing yourself through extracurricular, socializing, and friends is more important than studying.
• Remember your old friends.
• Do not go to live off campus. 
• Do not worry if you do not have a plan for the future.
• Make things that make you happy!

Source: http://bitterwithoutglitter.blogspot.com/2014/02/10-things-that-make-me-happy.html

Lessons Learnt in College

Life is the largest and most comprehensive book a person can ever read. What is more, people don’t just read, they look, watch, feel, imagine, and experience. We are learning throughout our whole life and we all take different lessons from the many stages and from the many things we go through. What I am specifically talking about here is that college can be a great life school and we have all learnt our lessons or will learn them. This is one of the those precious periods in lives when we meet a lot of new people, make friends, grow, develop more skills, become more mature. College can give us some of the best moments and unforgettable memories. And from all those experiences we can learn a lot. That is why what is following is a small list of things we have learnt in college, some useful for our future, some useful to us as individuals and how we build our character. Go through it and see what you haven’t learnt yet.

Maybe it is worth remembering something.

1.       Advocating for yourself 

2.       Be a good time manager

3.       The power of perseverance

4.       Taking responsibility

5.       Good conflict resolution skills

6.       Good communication

7.       Dealing boredom

8.       Managing finance and debt

9.       Social networking

10.   Understanding true autonomy

11.   Appreciating vacation

12.   Every person has a story to tell

13.   Never forget your day ‘ones’

14.   Some will not see the same vision you see

15.   It is ok not to have a plan but remember to network

16.   Taking risks is important but a contingency plan

17.   Everything happens for a reason

18.   Cancelled classes are like celebrating you birthday

I hope that you already know a lot of these lessons, especially the seniors, but if not now is the time to catch up on them 

:(

Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/kevintang/21-signs-youre-so-ready-to-finish-college

The picture above speaks very eloquently about what I want to discuss in this post – one thing I am definitely not going to miss about college. This is The Bill every student receives at the end of each semester, which you have to pay before its end. Yes, you see the amount you have to take out of your pocket and you don’t even know where those expenses came from. It is like they charged you for breathing, talking, standing, chewing, even existing. It is not enough that you pay for tuition, but you also have to pay for 1000 additional things which you don’t use or even know about their existing. Well, of course, the blame is all yours, since you chose to study there and now you have to shoulder this burden. The good thing is that this will be so only for four years, so seniors, you are lucky, because whatever price increases happen, you have just a few more months left. Therefore, dear students, my advice is to take whatever possible you can receive from this four-year experience, get the best of it, because it might be with you for a long time. The bad things – we all forget them quickly.

 Bad Habits That I Learnt In College

We were born people for the good or for the bad. And all people have their positive and negative sides, virtues and vices. Throughout our growth we develop various habits, good and bad. Some of them last for a lifetime, others disappear quickly, depending on the environment we live in. Very often exactly the environment is the key driver that helps us form those habits. Therefore, it is very important for you to decide on your surroundings, according to which stage of life you are at.

Today I will share with you several bad habits that I personally learnt while in college. I believe that many of them hold for you as well. Enjoy!

         

          1)      Procrastinating the whole day. 

          2)     Doing projects the night before the deadline.

          3)     Taking a long ‘nap’ in the afternoon.

          4)     Going to bed when other people wake up.

          5)     Waking up when other people go to bed.

          6)     Drinking excessive amounts of alcohol.

          7)     Drinking coffee at least two times a day.

          8)     Eating junk food at the most inappropriate times.

          9)     Going out the night before your exam.

        10)  Spending more time in Facebook complaining about an exam than studying for it.

        11)   Pretending that you are talking on the phone when someone you don’t want to talk to approaches you.

Source: http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_jul2008/StudyToFail.htm

Source: http://procrastinators-anonymous.org/node/4389

10 Things That Happen When You Are Addicted to Coffee

In college people experience and learn a lot of new things and form various habits. For instance, a lot of people start drinking coffee for the first time while in college and form here on they might hate it forever because it will remind them of the sleepless nights spent over projects, paper, and midterms. Or they might love it forever. Coffee can even become your best friend – the one you wake up every morning with. Some people enjoy coffee so much, that they just drink it all the time as if it is water. As a last semester senior I know how frequently one can be forced to drink coffee in order to wake up, no matter how bitter and unpleasant it might be. However, many people worship this sacred drink and cannot start their morning without a cup of their favorite day companion. What is following is a list of 10 things that usually happen to people who are coffee addicts and you might not want to interfere with them…in some occasions…

1)      You are a person no one wants to talk to before you have had your morning coffee.

2)     You are not productive without your coffee.

3)     You burst out in anger when someone asks you how many cups of coffee you got.

4)     You want to punch your friends in the teeth when they tell you that you should reduce the daily amount of coffee intake.

5)     Finishing your cup of coffee sends you in a deep despair.

6)     You feel overly happy at the end of the working day because finally you can go for coffee with your friends.

7)     You are turning red and steam starts coming out of your ears when someone tells you to substitute coffee for green tea.

8)    You feel fabulously awesome once the effect of the caffeine starts working.

9)     You are acting like a drug addict when people ask you if you like coffee.

10)  You freak out when one of your friends drank up your coffee.

Source: http://www.cksignsplus.com/catalog?page=shop.product_details&product_id=201&flypage=flypage.tpl&pop=0

Source: http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/10463058/image/87053032-the-coffee-addict-s-long-lasting-motto

10 Things You Do NOT Have to Apologize For When You Are In College

Since early childhood, since the time we were forced to sleep in the afternoon because sleep helps us grow, since the time we were checked if we washed our hands before eating, we have been taught the three most important words in life: please, thank you, and I apologize. Yes, we were taught to be good people, thankful for the things we had and received, and regretful for the wrongs we did. We were taught that to apologize means to admit your wrong deed, behavior, or words, so that we make the other person feel better. However, no one asked us if we do want to apologize. No one asked us why we did what we did. No one asked us how we felt. Well, this absolutely cruel life injustice has been revenged. In college. Below is a list of 10 things you don’t need to apologize for when you are in college. So, grab a pen, take notes, and don’t forget that no one can make you apologize if you don’t want to.

       1)      Going shopping for more socks and underwear so you don’t have to do laundry.   

       2)     Getting drunk on a Wednesday night.

       3)     Daydreaming about traveling the world instead of paying attention in class.

       4)     Procrastinating the whole day.

       5)     Ordering pizza at 2 a.m.

       6)     Switching your major to something less practical but more appealing.

       7)     Showing up to class in your pajamas.

       8)    Perfecting the art of funneling and every other drinking game.

       9)     Spending more time laughing with friends than updating your resume.

      10) Taking an embarrassing on-campus job.

 You can find more things not to apologize for in the following link. ENJOY!!!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/krystieyandoli/things-you-dont-have-to-apologize-for-in-college

Source: http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxNC1hMmY0ZjM4NTk2NTU2Mzky

Dilemma

A long time ago I was looking through some old documents, letters, and photos at home when I came across my mom’s notebook from high school. I opened it and on one of the last pages there was a message from her class teacher, saying the following: There are two tough decisions in life every person has to make – what career to take on and what person to marry. I might agree with her and say that those are probably the most crucial decisions that determine to a great extent a person’s life. If, of course, you already decided 1) to be a millionaire without working and 2) not to get married.

However, here, I would like to add one more hard decision that I am certain a lot of seniors, and not only, have to make: what to do after graduation. Go to do masters, do an internship, get a job, travel around the world…many options, one road. Oh, my! This is not even a dilemma or a crossroads! So, you, young and green and fresh minds, have to make a wise (or not) choice. I just want to tell you that no matter what other people do, you are different and unique. You don’t need to go study because that’s how it is supposed to be, and you don’t need to find a $2000-pay job because that is what most people strive for. Whatever you do, make sure it comes from your heart!

OK, enough with the serious talk. That was not the point of this post, although it might seem the opposite. I just wanted to share with you that we actually face a lot of dilemmas every single day, starting from the morning whether to go to class or not, going through lunch whether to get out of the bed or stay a lit bit longer, to the evening whether to go out because there is an awesome party, but you have a 9 am class. Well, I am not telling you, but my advice is that every party is unique by itself and will never repeat, but you will have to wake up at 8 am every day from the day you get a job, so….I think you got me ;)

Source: http://urlm.co/blog/2010/03/01/the-make-or-buy-dilemma-for-designers/

It’s a MARATHON!

I was thinking how I can describe the four years spent at an university and one of the very first words that came up to my mind was a ‘marathon’. Yes, a marathon – studying has always been boring for some or exciting for others, taking more or less time. And when you think about it, it has always been a marathon, competing with others for better grades, more attention, more free time, more understanding from professors, more parties to go, and more stories to tell. We spend all four years trying to compete and be the best, or one of the best, in whatever aspect you can think of. And I am not saying this is something negative. Quite on the contrary. If it wasn’t for the competition, the victory wouldn’t be so so sweet and enjoyable.

In relation to one of my posts: go seniors! DO NOTMISS A CHANCE! Go, AUBGers! Now is the time. Run your marathon and, no matter if you will come out as a winner, the more important thing is that you will have an awesome experience, incredible memories and unforgettable stories to tell. Live and love as much as you can. Those will be the storiesyou tell when you’re old and wrinkled.

In this context, I came across an interesting website concerning various kinds of sports. It is Athlinks and it connects athletes from all over the world and enthusiasts as well. The website provides information about different races, marathons, and competitions where people can take part in. An interesting feature is that users can compare their results with those of the athletes of their choice. If anyone is interested, visit their home page at https://www.athlinks.com

Source: http://www.flipkey.com/new-york-city-vacation-rentals/g60763/e/new-york-city-marathon-new-york-city-vacation-rentals/