Trick or Treat? Halloween ideas for 2020

 Halloween is a beloved holiday for many children and young adults alike.  It's a chance to  revisit childhood memories and be creative with friends, not to mention score some free chocolate. Here are a few ideas for celebrating Halloween while maintaining social distancing.

Things that you can do for Halloween celebration while social distancing: 

Put on a Halloween Parade

 Invite a group of friends to all dress up and me out the quad at the same time and take a tour around campus. Show off all your cool onesies or costumes and throw out a couple pieces of candy here and there if there are onlookers. Perhaps even stop at Walmart and get some squirrel food and feed the squirrels while you're at it.

Hold a Halloween door decorating contest

 Something especially fun for RA's, host a door decorating contest and have a competition to see who has the best decoration skills. Come up with some themes such as scariest door, most effort door, and hardest to take down. Don’t forget to send us pictures at the Learning Commons! We’d love to see what you’ve made!

Make Halloween a month or week long celebration with a fun DIY countdown calendar

 Get some yarn and hang up in the corner of your room, add some plastic spiders from the dollar store or make some out of puffs and pipe cleaners, then write numbers on the back or with each spider pick a random candy from a bowl or premade surprise canisters. You can also make Witch hats out of construction paper and hide candy inside!

Hang Up A Piñata

 Piñatas are known mostly for small children's birthday parties, however they can still be relatively cheap and are a lot of fun in small to large groups. Snag a Frankenstein's monster, a ghost, a pirate, or a creature of your choosing and set up a time with your friends to snag some candy. Just make sure to clean up your trash after you're done.

Walmart

Party City

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Hold A Mask Costume Contest

Ask friends to design their own face mask, then gather over Zoom to see who’s come up with the most inventive one. A few clever ideas: a cat, butterflies, monster, and beard mask!
Most of your supplies for this can be made with supplies found at the dollar store such as pompoms, pipe cleaners, markers, gems, paint to dye with, and glitter if you’re feeling brave.
Michael's also has instructions for how to make all kinds of different types of masks. 

Ideas!

Try The Good Kind Of Ghosting

Ring the doorbell of a friend, leave a special bag of goodies out front, and then run before anyone can get to the door. Tape a big sign to the bag that says, “You’ve been booed!” along with the recipient’s name and who it’s from so they know exactly who to thank for the sweet surprise.
This can be a paper bag filled with their favorite candy, some knickknacks, decorations for them to hang around their room, confetti, you name it.

While we may be a little old for trick or treating and our usual get togethers may be canceled, there are still lots of fun ways to get the gang together and enjoy some fun. What are some ways you plan to celebrate Halloween this year?

Making the Most of Thanksgiving Break

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Thanksgiving Break is upon us. Soon we will be wherever we call home with our families (by birth or by choice), and celebrate the national holiday (no school for anyone). I don't know about you, but Thanksgiving has never been my favorite holiday, or even my second favorite (#CHRISTMAS FOR LIFE), but this year I'll be going back home to see my family and what my new home looks like. My mom moved to Missouri, a place I've never been to before, and I'm excited to see my new room and reorganize it in a way so that it looks less like a storage locker. I plan to relax and have some fun, but I also want to use those extra 192 hours of free time to better myself and show my appreciation for the people I love.

Here are the top 5 ways I plan to make the most of my Thanksgiving Break:

1. Avoiding Toxic and Anxiety-Provoking Situations

I have two main family groups: my mother's and my father's. This became confusing, since my father remarried and my step-mother's family became the third main family. The holidays have always been a hassle since it seemed that I was always hurting someone's feelings by choosing one location over another, but now I'm comfortable with my decisions and realize that I need to do what makes me happy. I'm not obligated to spend my time with anyone that I don't want to, and being a grown woman (20 years old, for goodness sake) means that I make my own decisions and everyone has to respect that. If you have a hectic, dysfunctional family life, you know where I'm coming from. 

I don't have a car, I don't know how to drive, and I'm a broke college kid. I do my best to live within my means and make the best decisions for where I am in life. It's unrealistic for anyone to expect me to make trips across the country to see them, and quite frankly it's both irresponsible and disrespectful for anyone to tell me how to live my life when my best interest is clearly not their priority. Whew, now that I've got that out of my system, I can say with certainty that I will be celebrating my holidays how I choose to. 

2. Starting New Holiday Traditions

Speaking of celebrating the holiday, I'd like to start some new traditions on the family. I'm away at college, my older cousin has a job, and we're all scattered across the Midwest. All of us kids are no longer kids, so we can start changing things up a bit. Normally we'd all go to Grandma's or my aunt's and watch TV or chat about our lives since we last saw each other - the previous week, or July - then, we'd eat together all the delicious food that was made. I'm an adult now, so I need to come up with my own dish to contribute. My mom always does the Mac N'Cheese, now vegan Mac N'Cheese, my Grandma the meats, and my aunt the pies. My uncle's started bringing fancy wine, and my little cousin made regular Mac N'Cheese. I want to make a desert since sweets are my favorite part of all meals, but I'm not sure what yet. 

I think it'd be nice for everyone to start bringing our favorite photos to share with one another. A lot was lost when my childhood home flooded and later caught fire, but a lot was saved, and it's been years since then. I think this will be a great way for me to open up to my family, since I'm still the shy one. We can talk about family we haven't seen in a long time and come up with more ideas together. Besides coming up with my special dish to contribute, I can also take the initiative of one of our current traditions and make it something that I do every year. I think setting the table and deciding where everyone should sit is the best option for me. I can even make decorations, though we'd run out of space for food if I did that. 

3. Spend All My Money (that I've budgeted) on Christmas Presents

I've been adding trinkets and toys to my shopping list all year, but now's the time to decide on my budget for gifts and watch for those sales. The moment I turned 18, I was no longer a child, but I'm a winter-baby so I was given special treatment. Freshman year, I gave family members what I deemed to be my best creations from the ceramics class, but last year I was at a complete loss. I spent so much time being nervous and sad that I was so broke after paying for my tuition, that I didn't buy anything. I decided to just give hugs and sign on my mom's gifts, and was surprised that everyone was fine with that. This year is different, I will sign my own gifts and will no longer depend on my mother to know what to purchase! I'm still broke, but I'm more determined than ever, and I know I can give everyone the gifts they deserve. 

4. Opening Up to My Loved Ones

Keeping in touch can be difficult while in college, because it seems like I'm the only one reaching out. The friends I was once close to are gone now, but, they're really not. I've always been the shy one  and the reserved one, so people tend to keep their distance until I reach out. It's a sucky feeling not being comfortable talking to people, especially when I know that they will whole heartily welcome me. But now's the time to decide who I want to be in my life and whose lives I want to be a part of. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to call up everyone I went to grade school with, but I will show my appreciation for those who have put up with me over the years.

I love writing letters. Writing allows me to express myself and take the time to reflect on my words. I can rephrase sentences to better convey their true meaning. Thanksgiving is when I open up to my family, but this year I plan to open up to everyone who calls me their family. I won't expect anyone to write back, I won't expect anyone be positive and thank me, and won't expect anyone to be negative and curse at me. I'm writing because I want to speak my truth and I know that I'll feel better once I do. This is my break from my routine, so I won't waste this chance.

5. Catching Up On My Notes and Finishing Assignments
If I spend three days of the break focusing on academics, then I can spend the other days relatively stress free. I need to catch up on my astronomy notes, and I'm not exaggerating when I say this will be the death of me. Memorization is not my thing, and I've definitely procrastinated on rewriting my notes. I'm hoping to write complete notes based on the book, that way I can say that I tried. I also need to finish all the papers needed for my ACP binder, and write my final Personality paper! You see, there's work I enjoy doing. I'll have plenty of time to not do homework over winter break.

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While it'd be cool to have a list of 10 things I plan to do, I don't. Unrealistic expectations are something I've been trying to avoid, plus my homework adds at least four items to this list. Let's make Thanksgiving an amazing experience. Don't be discouraged if past holidays haven't gone so well. You have the power to decide how you will live your life; It's the blessing of being born human. If Thanksgiving tends to be a magical time for you, congrats, you've won the lottery. All in all, we should all use this break from classes to our advantage. Whether you're working every day, playing video games all night, or trying to keep your kid siblings from killing each other I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving!

P.S. I originally wanted to make a list of things NOT to do over the holiday, but really who wants to read about that? Just make the most of the time you have and appreciate the life that you live. 

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Working Through Academic Resolutions

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New Year’s resolutions more often fall flat. But there is something we all can do as students. I could write about the history of New Years, the tradition of resolutions, and give some stats on how many fail compared to not; or I could even write about my own and how I plan to achieve them, but I’ll leave that to my lifestyle blog. While it is an interesting read it won’t help you, so instead let’s do something more interesting for students in their first week of classes. I’ll show you how to make a goal, plan how to beat it, and go beyond your expectations.

Let’s say my goal is to have straight As in all of my classes this semester. First, I ask myself “can I do this?” I know I can, it’s possible but difficult. I know it’s possible because I only had one class last semester that was lower than an A. If your grades were mostly Bs, then a more attainable goal would be to aim for one of two As, if Cs one or two Bs, and so on. Next, I ask myself “how can I do this?” This time, I think about all the steps I need to take to accomplish this goal. Do you have other priorities, and if so how much time do they require? I have my four classes, my work study, my job, and my officer position; in total, seven. I’ve scheduled the classes, work study, and job, so I have time available to complete assignments, study, and my duties as VP Academic Excellence. Each of these priorities will change in ranking depending on events that come.

This week is the trial week, everything is on equal terms until I get my syllabuses. I work one day less this semester, so my weekends are free to make up for anything and everything I had to push aside during the week. But, that also means when I’m scheduled to work I will works, no matter the assignment, no matter the fun socials, no matter what. It’s possible that ,in order to meet my financial obligations, one of my classes will be lowered in the ranking so the others don’t lose their place as well. It’s tricky. My priorities would have to be all four of my classes to achieve this goal, which is something I am unwilling to do.

Through this example of one of my goals you hopefully see why it’s important to ask yourself questions before committing yourself to any task. If I hadn’t thought through the decisions I would have to make, I would’ve missed the opportunity to create a goal that’s equally amazing, yet manageable. I encourage you to do the same. What is my academic goal/resolution? To maintain my current GPA.

Helpful Hints:
The History of New Year’s Day 

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/new-years-day

The History of New Year’s Resolutions 

https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-new-years-resolutions

Why New Year’s Resolutions Fail 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/modern-mentality/201812/why-new-years-resolutions-fail

Fall 2018 Reflection

 

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2018 was the year of independence. I chose to become financially independent by working two part-time jobs here in CR, and when the school year began, I bought my own school supplies. I lived away from home for the first time and missed all the usual family events; I didn’t see my parents again until Family Weekend. My family and friends would both agree (if you asked) that I’m a very independent young woman. I’ve always desired my freedom and staying here in Iowa made the most sense to accomplish that goal. To start, I had plenty of free-time. Too much time means too many possibilities, so I would leave campus to explore the city. The library became my sanctuary, especially when I was looking for a job and wanted to relax in air conditioning (the air in my dorm didn’t work). The job hunt took a few weeks, and during that period I stayed up late to watch tv, slept in, cleaned, and read a lot of books. It was fun to relax, but also boring, so when I finally made it through the interviews, I accepted both jobs.

I knew I needed to continue working through the semester to pay off tuition, so I resigned from an officer position, and left all the clubs I joined (except one). I wish I devoted more time to myself and was able to be less stressed over my financial obligations. I wish I arranged my schedule differently, so I would have more time to study for exams. I wish I kept contact with old friends when the semester began. I wish I did a lot of things differently, but I’m also proud that I handled my obligations the way I did because I really did the best I could do without hindsight. I accomplished most of the short-term goals that I set for myself, and even the big long-term goal of paying for my tuition this semester on my own. I’m so grateful to have such supportive family members and friends and teachers and coworkers to give me the courage to believe in myself. It’s been a great year, and I wish nothing but the best for the future.

Thank you :0)

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