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Here’s Why Grades Aren’t Everything
I’ve always loved school and had a natural affinity for learning in that type of environment, but through my stints in education and just talking to people, I’ve come to learn that not everyone has the same experience. There are people who HATE school, but due to the institutional and cultural pressures put upon us, still find themselves having to dedicate years of their lives (and savings) to a college degree. So, this post is for all my “Cs get degrees” homies and my “I’d rather be pursuing literally anything else” babes, but it’s also for the kids who put a jarring amount of pressure on themselves to get a…
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When We’re Searching for Closure
In life, things happen, and we as humans want to do anything in our power to make sense of everything as quickly as possible. It helps us heal. For some, we find closure through a conversation, where all issues and questions can be laid out onto a table to be addressed. However, not all of us are so lucky. Sometimes others are unresponsive, and sometimes we are the unresponsive ones. And in some of the hardest times of all, we can’t get closure because the person is no longer with us. Connecting dots without the help of someone else is like sewing with your eyes closed. You think that you’re going from…
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Serving ‘Em Up: Apologies
We’ve all done something wrong or had wrong done to us. In many instances, this has warranted an apology. But every-so-often, we receive an apology that just doesn’t sit well or seems satisfactory to someone else but not to us. This post is all about why that may be. Dr. Gary Chapman is the author of the 5 Love Languages. He has decades of experience in counseling and learning how each individual gives love and receives love in order to help relationships thrive. In 2006, he took his work a step further by writing a book about how we give and receive apologies. Knowing how your friend, partner, parent, child…
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4 Ways I’ve Embraced Change At A Time When Everything’s Changing
I’m officially at the point where everything in my life is being thrown into disarray. I’ll be graduating from college in a few months and I’ll be moving to a new city to start my first full-time job. I’ll have to make new friends and I’ll probably have to date (ew), all while doing my best maintain an active and healthy lifestyle. Through this post, I’m going to breakdown the ways that I’ve begun to think about and work through these impending changes. Maybe it will help you too. WAY 1: Learning to lead with love and not fear As someone who gets very anxious very quickly, the thought of…
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5 Ways to Come Up With A Blog Post Idea When You Can’t Come Up With A Blog Post Idea.
This week’s entry is rather ironic because it came as the result of a period of writer’s block. I COULD NOT COME UP WITH A BLOG POST IDEA. So I turned my panic into a blog post. #lemonade. via GIPHY Keeping up a blog is hard, and figuring out exactly what you want to write about and how you want to write about it can be frustrating. So, to appease those of you who are feeling as defeated as I was prior to getting this idea, here are a few tips methods I’ve used to help me keep the ball rolling. Use a blog topic generator.This is not going to be…
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Friendships: Expectations vs. Reality
I’ve made and lost friends over the years. I’m sure we all have. All my experiences have led me to better understand the kind of friend that I am and the kind of friends that I want to have. Today’s post is all about challenging the expectations we have about how friendships are going to be and accepting the ways that they often are. People are complicated, so nothing is ever straightforward, and that’s totally okay. Expectation #1 : We’re going to be friends forever! Reality: The good news is that this is actually possible, but it doesn’t just happen. People change, so in order to stay friends with someone…
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A Sucker For Love
I am a sucker for love. Some would even say that I’m love’s biggest fan. My love for love runs so deeply that I cry pretty much every time Perfect by Ed Sheeran plays on the radio. I can’t help it! I think that the idea of selflessly caring for another being – be it your mother, lover, friend or dog – is beautiful. Love is one of the few things that every human being will experience at some point in their lives, and in a completely different way from everyone else. Romantic love is scary, because you’re basically agreeing to be completely vulnerable with someone who doesn’t have to…
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Thoko’s Take on Body Positivity
I am a writer for an online publication called The Bridge. It’s a magazine documenting the experiences and thoughts of women of color at UNC-Chapel Hill and Duke University. Here is an article I wrote towards the end of last semester about loving our temples (that’s what I call bodies). The journey to appreciating yourself will be long and arduous, and sometimes lonely. These are some of my tips to get you started, but by no means do you have to follow any of these steps to a T. Criticize these. Adapt them. Adopt them. Chuck some out. Add your own in. It’s your journey. Find beautiful and empowered womxn…
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My Thoughts on Studying Abroad
The last 5 years of my life have been one long study abroad experience. I added to that experience by participating in the UNC Honors Semester in London in the Spring of 2017. I had the most amazing time there, and London remains one of my favorite places in the world. When I got back, I was interviewed by the Undergraduate Admissions team. Here are a few of my thoughts on studying abroad. Why you picked this program: I had always wanted to live in London and the program was the perfect opportunity for me to do so. The diversity of the city is something that I’ve always been drawn to…
