How to Survive

Taken right after my evening class!

… a night class.

This semester, my schedule seems to be scattered throughout the week. I’ll be taking my first evening class, and by evening, I mean 6 PM to 9 PM. I’ve never been exposed to taking a class so late at night, but my first class was last Thursday and luckily, we were let out fairly early. Then again, we basically just went over the syllabus and the first chapter which is usually very brief.

In high school, I was deeply involved with the Yearbook committee and was actually a photo editor for the class. The other editors and I would stay on campus until the late hours of the night: somewhere between 8 PM and 1 AM. During winter break in 2014, I remember spending ten hours in a row in a classroom. My friend Trent and I were extremely burnt out after the four back-to-back days of long nights spent in the Yearbook classroom.

If you have a break, bring things to keep you busy.

That being said, I do have a little bit of experience on how to survive your first night class… So many of us don’t really know what to expect, but a night class is no different than a day class. The only difference is that it’s taught in the evening, when we’re mentally ready to wind down and start clocking out. The actual hard part is staying focused and connected during lecture. A couple of tips I have are:

• Make sure you EAT. Do not skip out on a meal before class! If you’re worried that you might be tired and full after eating, eat thirty minutes to an hour before class starts and then give your body time to digest the food.
• Along those lines, bring a snack. Food is energy. I don’t suggest bringing snacks like chips or candy, but possibly fruit or bars. I find that crunchy food helps wake myself up!
• Self explanatory, but drink coffee… again, if your classroom allows eating and drinking.
• This one’s a little harder, but when you’re dazing off, try and catch yourself and focus on your instructor. Use your eyes to follow him/her and really listen to s/he has to say. **Take notes to keep yourself busy!!**

So far, I haven’t had any complications with focusing in class, but I will send updates as the semester rolls along. Wish me luck!

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Love by Matt White

TB IV: Why I Get Up

Get up for a coffee!

There are so many reasons why so many of us don’t want to get up in the mornings. The reasons can range from something as petty as a blaring alarm clock or something as serious as a pang of sadness running through our bodies, but having experienced a majority of these reasons, I still try to find a reason to get up every morning.

Overlooking Portland from
Powell Butte Natural Park

As all of my friends who are attending schools outside of SBCC are beginning their first week of college, I’ve been seeing copious amounts of Facebook statuses and Twitter posts declaring their dissatisfaction towards their return to school… and also screenshots of their back-to-back alarms on their cellphone. I have an idea of why school has earned such a infamous reputation, but I’m confused as to why students feel so strongly the need to exclaim the horrors of the back-to-school season.

A student myself, I love school. Yes, there are mornings and days where the minutes seem like hours or nights filled with intense lecture notes spread across my desk, but when I’m not at school, it feels like a part of me is missing. The truth is, I’m kind of a nerd! My thought is I’d rather be busy than doing nothing at all. There are so many positive reasons I decide to get out of bed and that’s not just because I have an exam or I have to turn in an assignment, but rather something along the lines of being able to enjoy the sun or the chatter of my peers around me. Get up for breathing in the sea air, to see your family's faces, or for a relaxing walk. It’s just so good to be alive!

If you’re having trouble coming back to school and adjusting to a set routine again, prove to yourself that you have a purpose to fulfill today. I hope you had a wonderful first week and a half of school. (Happy Hump Day!) You are so much stronger than you think you are.

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Goodbye Forever by Us the Duo

Nineteen Years Later

Dinner with my cousins & brother

Today marks the day of my 19th year on this Earth! I’ve been blessed with all types of experiences throughout my life and I am absolutely looking forward to what my 19th year will bring.

My new cousin!

At the beginning of my day, I was woken up by my friend, Sam’s, birthday wish text. Right now, Sam’s attending school in New York so she’s three hours ahead. With my little ding ringtone going off at 7 AM, I ended up not being able to fall asleep, so I scrolled through Facebook for a while and eventually took a shower. Afterwards, Sam finished up at the gym and we FaceTimed for about 40 minutes, just catching up on life. Around 8:20, I drove over to IV to pick up my friend and we attended the New Ambassador training which took place from 9 AM to 1PM. Once I got home, my mom, brother and I hopped in the car at around 1:40 PM and headed towards Fresno to see my cousin, Ellie, and my week old cousin, Kenzie. We arrived here at about 5:30 PM and had dinner with my cousins and brother at BJ’s!

On the way to Fresno...

There were so many aspects of this day that I am so grateful for, but can’t explain. It could be from the myriad of Facebook posts, or the fact that I was surrounded by my family and friends today. As I’ve grown up and as the years have passed, the magic of my birthday has gradually worn off and as a now 19-year-old, I truly didn’t expect much for my birthday. With the sweet birthday text messages, SnapChats, Facebook posts and the spontaneous music breakouts of Happy Birthday to me, I've not felt this sense of warmth in a really long time.

Anyway, thank you for providing me with a wonderful birthday week, SBCC!~

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Whole Heart by Gryffin

Chey 101

Welcome back to school, everyone!

If you didn't know already, my name is Cheyanne, also known as Chey, and I am a student blogger for SBCC. I'm currently beginning my second year as of today and I'm hoping to transfer by next fall!

I feel so refreshed to be back in a routine of things and although, right now, I already feel like I'm a zombie, it's really nice to be back. Last year, I had such a wonderful time at school, learning, making friends, working... My biggest achievement last year must have been being able to really find myself. I am so cheesy, but honestly, I'm so much more confident in myself than I was in high school. Last year, I introduced myself with 10 facts about myself. This year, I'll introduce myself with 10 changes I've discovered over the last couple of months!

1. I now own a FitBit and I am fiercely competitive. My family members and I are always taunting each other and sending messages to each other, haha.
2. I'm capable of giving myself an at home manicure! Like cuticle cutting, nail filing, nail painting... I truly felt like a professional (disclaimer: I'm not).

   

   Summertime Happiness! PC: Mama Yang

3. I can drive to LA, with confidence! All those times in high school, when my friends who couldn't drive would want me to take them to LA, say good-bye to that Cheyanne because I drove to the LA area three times this summer.
4. When the weather is really warm, there's is one song and one song only that I hear in my head. And that is Burnin' Up by The Jonas Brothers. Is that embarrassing? Honestly, I'm the craziest. I know.
5. I think I have the ability to become a coffee addict, but it actually has to be good coffee. I didn't realize it before, but I don't drink coffee for the purpose of staying awake, but I really do drink it for the taste, haha.
6. When my hair is in a ponytail for more than four hours, I get small headaches.
7. I do judge books by their covers and it's so horrible because I have already read two books this summer that I CHOSE based off of their covers and I didn't like either one.
8. I just joined my first club/organization at SBCC this year! I'm an Ambassador for the school as well as a student blogger. Look forward to our events this year! I'll send minor updates before the events take place as well.
9. I love taking photos, hate transferring files to my hard drive, and not super fond of editing photos. I mean, I'm pretty bad at Photoshop, what can I say. I just use the VSCO app on my phone, haha.
10. My new updated celebrity crush is Justin Baldoni from the TV Series, Jane the Virgin, and I finished two seasons, forty-four episodes of this series in a matter of four days. Is that horrible? But in my defense, it was summer, so why not Netflix binge while I can. ;)

Alrighty, that's it! I'm hoping to post on a schedule throughout this year, but I can't help but blog whenever I think about something I want to write about. I just need to get it out of my system, right away.

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Burning Doves by Mikky Ekko 

I'll Be Back

Walking at the Bluffs :)

Well it's that time of year that I must part from you until this next fall semester.

I know I say this in every other blog post, but I my appreciation for learning has stretched far beyond than I expected in less than a year. The 2015 - 2016 school year and inspired me to become a better student and individual, teaching me that there is purpose to everything we do. We come to school with a purpose to learn, expand our knowledge and meet more individuals.

Ending this year with a smile. Also, my hair has grown immensely!
I mean... compare it to my photo on the right!

Like I mentioned in my Dear Incoming Students post, I was extremely insecure in high school but aren't we all? There were so many things that I didn't like about myself and all of them were so petty. It was as small as not wanting to wear sneakers so I don't look like I'm a tomboy and making sure that when I go out shopping, I would wear the same things as my fellow peers. There was no individuality or quality to my life and it is something that I deeply regret. Following that, I looked forward to every single break, whether it be a three day weekend or a two week long vacation just because I hated being at school. Being surrounded by people who I thought were judging me constantly made me feel let down and I tried to hard, giving 110% percent when conversing with my friends or the popular kids at my school. I only had one teacher who inspired me and showed me that I could be more than I imagined. Mr. Dent, I don't think you'll be reading this, but if by chance you do, I thank you for being so motivating and having so much faith in me! Other teachers disappointed me, in a sense. Even after taking her class, which I enjoyed being in and trying hard in, this particular teacher didn't seem to really want to talk to me regarding my schoolwork or correcting my grades. There was always this sort of tension in her class and that led to me becoming less motivated and less interested in the subject.

Don't hold yourself back.

However, despite all of this heaviness and darkness, Santa Barbara City College has failed in making me feel anything like this. I am forever grateful for the professors that I have come across this year and the staff and students, as well. My first semester was probably the most extreme in the sense that I didn't know what to expect... I'm laughing at the thought of myself now because I remember waking up for the first day of school, putting on makeup and doing my hair thinking, "It's the first day of college. It's time to wake up and look like an adult, Cheyanne." Now after attending for a year, I can TRULY SAY... Nobody cares!  It's a time where we are all too busy worrying about ourselves and our futures. If anything, just try to encourage and make others laugh. Just a quick thanks to all of my professors, Doug Folsom, Craig Cook, Joe White, Peter Georgakis, Andrea Carnaghe, Bonnie Chavez and Maia Mook for inspiring me and keeping my year felicitous. I can honestly say, I've had the best professors on this campus. No bragging, just a couple of facts, haha.

This post is way too emotional, but I'm an emotional person, so what can I say? I love my blogging job and I love writing! I can't wait to be back. I love you all so much and thank you for keeping up with me this year! I had a blast and am looking forward to see what 2016 - 2017 will bring.

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Felicity by Sungha Jung

Kuv Niam

The title translates to: My Mom. 

Happy Sunday, everyone.

Today was a really special day, Mother's Day! I always looked forward to days like these such as Father's Day and such because then I could work on arts and crafts or other fun projects!

Geez, well I guess this post will be all about my mom, right? This past weekend, we actually made a trip out to Fresno for my cousin, Ellie's, second birthday. Yes! The little baby that I always seem to post about is already two. My friend, Conor, is turning 20 soon and he'll be the first out of my friends to hit the second decade! How crazy is that? Yikes, better take advantage of the time I have now before responsibilities start to sink in...

Mama Yang

Anyway, I had prepared a gift for my mom in advance for Mother's Day. At my workplace, we sell these little books about the size of a palm and there are 50 pages. On these 50 pages, there are fill in the blank sentences and the books vary in theme. So there are books like "What I Love About Mom" or "What I Love About You" or "What I Love About Dad" and you get to choose whatever works for your situation so these are perfect gifts for Mother's Day, I thought! I decided to buy it and divided the 50 fill-in sentences in between myself and my two brothers. My younger brother, Nathan, filled in 17 and so did I and then my older brother filled in 16. We had filled out this book during the car ride to Fresno and just used different colored pens to differentiate who was who.

Finally, today rolls around and I am all ready... Or so I think. There was something missing from the gift and I had totally forgot. I had taken my Fujifilm instax camera, but it was in my purse, which I couldn't find... What happened was my aunt had cleaned up her place and put it in their office, which I never go in! So... It got left there and I didn't find my camera until later. But, when I did find it, I had my brothers pose so that I could get some photos taken of them as part of the present for my mom. I posed with myself pointing to my eye, Nathan posed with a heart (a really BAD heart, by the way), and Matt posed by pointing his finger directly into the camera lens... SO we ended up with "I Love You!" We presented my mom with the gift and she was so pleased. While reading the sentences and turning the pages, she was so happy, she couldn't keep a smile off of her face and she was very touched. Towards the end of the book, our photos finally popped out and she just smiled even more and we hugged her.

I always freak out about what I should get my mom every time Mother's Day rolls around, but I think simplicity is always the best answer. As long as it's a genuine gift and thought has been put into it, your mom will always be pleased. She loves you with or without a gift! Happy Mama's Day, Mama Yang! Love you so much!

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to Like My Mother Does by Lauren Alaina

Parting Ways

Blogging Team 2015-2016 (Minus Doug, Hannah and Leayam)

I am ever so grateful that I had the chance to work with such creative, talented students this past year. Honestly, I think being a blogger has kept me sane throughout my freshman year of college. After being so deprived of joining clubs since high school, the blogging program has given me confidence and has made SBCC a more comfortable and enjoyable place to be.

To my fellow bloggers, Fede, Angela, Alyssa, Ashley, Andrew, Doug, Hannah and Leayam — You are all extremely wonderful individuals and it's truly been a blessing to work alongside such a supportive team! Being around such a friendly group of people has provided me with the opportunities to laugh about weird, relatable things. I wish nothing but the best for you all and hope you have an exciting and fulfilling summer vacation before school kicks in once again! Thank you for inspiring and guiding me throughout this year.

To Emily and Melanie — I don't think I have met such a quirky, lovely and sweet pair of people before. Thanks to the both of you, I was able to express genuine smiles throughout our awkward silences in the meetings and to the strange and spontaneous lines that we happen to spill out. Also, receiving those uplifting e-mails in my inbox really brightened up my days. Thank you both so much for being so patient and caring towards us bloggers.

To Karen — It was such a pleasure meeting you this year. You have taught me what is it to be a successful student and inspired me with your kindness and generosity. I was so sad to hear the news that you would be retiring, but I also consider myself lucky for having the chance to have met such a wonderful person. Thank you for coming into my life and teaching me that kindness and laughter brings joy into everyone's lives.

As we wrapped up the year with the last blogger meeting today, I walked away knowing that I was able to be in the presence of such strong people and sitting alongside all of them today has also rebuilt my strength. We sat in a circle, enjoying slices of pizza, some with a side of ranch and others without. We shared our stories, our memories and our laughter. Within the span of one hour, green envelopes were handed out to every one of us by Melanie. In the spur of the moment, I asked, "Do you guys mind if we take a selfie for my blog?" Classic me. And so we did! It is a picture that I will treasure forever because it represents the beginning of my college career. Following that, we dispersed. I stayed behind a bit to hug Melanie and Emily and wish the both of them a great summer... Then, Fede, Angela and I walked out the door, said bye, waved and walked in opposite directions. I walked with Angela towards the door and also said good-bye to her once we walked through the door. And that was it!

Again, thank you all so much for such a wonderful experience. :)

See you next post,

Chey

Currently listening to New Year's Day by Pentatonix