10 things I've learned in the first 10 days at Community

Here are some things I've picked up so far.

1. You have to want to be there.  Commuting to school 4 days a week can seem  a lot like a "high school part 2" (believe me, it does) but if you treat it like a second senior year, you won't do well.

2. Get there early. If being late to class is bad, having to walk 20 minutes to and from your car will make going to school even harder. If you get there 30-45 minutes early that should give you enough time to find a parking spot and get to class without having to run a half mile.

3. Get your supplies quickly. The first couple days teachers are usually lenient, but if you ordered your books online, make sure you know when it will get to you. You may want to spend a little more on express shipping to ensure you'll get your books on time.

4. Find friends fast.  Surprisingly, a lot of people from high school will also be going to the same community college as you, whether its because of location or because of complications with the other school they were originally going to, this will make it feel even more like high school, but if you have some friends in the same boat then it'll make your experience more fun.

5. Talk to your teachers. The faster your teachers put a name to a face and get to know you, the better off you'll be. Make teachers your friends rather than your enemies and they'll be more willing to help you projects and any questions you have on the work.

6. Make use of the school gym. The good thing about school is that most, if not all have a gym that is free to use whenever, as long as you have a school ID. Since you're commuting too, there is no real excuse not to take advantage of the opportunity. (It also takes away the chance of the Freshmen 15)

7. Bring your own lunch. Having to buy food from the cafeteria can get expensive, and take up time that can be used to do other things like actually eating. 

8. Go to school events. In high school, I never went to any school events, and I really regret it now. Almost all of the events that your school will do will offer two things: free food and free stuff. That in mind who could pass up that if you have nothing to do otherwise? No one.

9. Your ID is your friend. Along with the free gym membership, your school ID can get you diacounts on eveything from restaurants to clothing stores to movie theaters, and so on.

10. Try to enjoy yourself. If your going to community college, it's probably the best financial decision you could make in terms of going to college. The connotations may seem bad now, but when your debt free and everyone else has upwards of $50,000 in debt, you'll   be thankful. So enjoy your time, it's only for a year or two, and then you can get into practically whatever school you want without having to worry too much.

I hope this helps some people, either make a decision, or feel better about your choice.

Talk to you later,

-Karin xx

Summer Reflection

As the first weeks of school are passing, I can not help but look back on my summer. (I also had to for a presentation I did) While I was in  Germany, I recorded a lot of the activities we did Because I Knew I would have to do a presentation for the group did sponsored the trip, and making a video Seemed like the easiest way to cover everything without having to talk a lot.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday, and I did just that. I had created and presented my trip, Which I think went pretty well if I do say so myself. And I figured I did Might As Well post it here too Because I did spend a lot of time working on it. So, here you go, Bad Iburg 2015:

So, to update on my tubing adventure / fiasco: It was less tubing and more white water rapids, but instead of being on a raft, you were on a tube that you had no control of. I fell out of my tube a good 4-5 times, almost drowned multiple times in which I had to be saved by either my brother or my cousin, I have like 15 bruises and cuts all over my body, and I lost one of my earrings. For barely surviving tubing my Mom did buy me a "I survived" t-shirt, which is kinda funny while also being 150% true. 

Talk to you later,

-Karin xx

My French Adventure

For my last week abroad I took a train from Osnabruck to Amsterdam and then to Paris. This is what ended up happening next.

Monday July 20, Day 22: Left Germany for an obnoxiously long train ride with a connecting train ride in Amsterdam, and then another six hour train ride to Paris. After waking up about five minutes before actually arriving in Paris, I was super tired and sad because I already missed my friends who were still in Germany. Anyway, my Mom met me in the train station and we went to the hotel and got ready to go to the Moulin Rouge (at which I almost fell asleep during). Before that though we went to see Basilique du Sacre Coeur, which was gigantic and amazingly beautiful.

The view from outside the Basilica

Tuesday July 21, Day 23: This morning we got up relatively early, and made our way down a half block to the tour company across the street from the Louvre and started our venture toward Mont Saint Michel, the island fortress that I had been wanting to visit for a good 3 years. It took about 4 hours to get to, and it just so happens that the one day I want to see Mont Saint Michel, is the day that the farmers are blocking of the roads in protest for their businesses bottoming out because of cheaper, lesser quality imported goods. Basically, they blocked the tour buses from being able to get close to the island so we had to walk like 2 kilometers to a shuttle bus, which wasn't as bad but we were not expecting it. (Also on the way to the shuttle bus, it was drizzling, and super smart Karin didn't bring a jacket) Fortunately, the weather cleared up and led to an amazing day exploring all of the ancient buildings and living something out of a fairytale.

This place literally looked like Hogwarts

Wednesday July 22, Day 24: We didn't really do too much today, but we did do a lot of walking. We walked through the Champs de Mars, walked under the Eiffel Tower, walked down the Seine to the Statue of Liberty, walked up to a shopping district, walked over the the Jardins du Trocadero, took a selfie with the Eiffel Tower, walked all the way over to Champs-Elysees, walked down that street until we got to the Jardins du Tuileries, where we walked through that, and went on the Ferris Wheel where we could see almost all the sites, and then went back to the hotel. See, a lot of walking.

Thursday July 23, Day 25: We had gotten the Paris Pass for the next two days which got us in to a bunch of museums and monuments either for free, a discounted price and/or skip the line, making it a super helpful tool especially in the summer when the lines are super long. We started the day off going to the Chocolate Museum (personal favorite). We then stopped by the Vertical Garden, and walked through Montorgueil Street and also through the Jardin du Palais Royal. We stopped by the hotel to drop off the bags of chocolate and gifts, and started back on our way to the Galeries Lafayette, then the Picasso Museum, Place des Vosges, Bastille Square, and a park that was a story above the ground and gave great views of the city.

 Friday July 24, Day 26: This was the day that we literally went all out with all of the main sites of Paris. Get ready for this list: Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe (all 700 steps), Notre Dame, Shakespeare & Company (personal favorite), a bus tour around the city, a 1 hour river cruise, and lastly the Louvre. Not only did we summit the Eiffel Tower, but also the Arc de Triomphe (unfortunately not Notre Dame). The reason why we crammed everything into one day was because that was technically our last day in Paris and we didn't just want to have walked by the monuments, we wanted to see the entire thing. And thus, we ended our day very tired, yet very fulfilled.

It started raining at one point on the bus tour 

Lisa herself

Saturday July 25, Day 27: Today we went to Giverny - the town where Claude Monet lived and painted, and Versailles. I'm not sure where I'd rather live more, Monet's super cute house or Versailles Palace. (too bad I can't live in either) We spent the day in those two places and then when we got back to Paris, we got a taxi to Disneyland Paris (mostly because I'm actually 8 years old and not 18) 

Sunday July 26, Day 28: Out of the 2 parks to choose from, today we did the Walt Disney Studios. I was a pretty chill day, but kinda rainy here and there, which made the lines shorten up. I made my Mom go on every single ride there was and I can truthfully say it was well worth it. 

Monday July 27, Day 29: Today was the most tiring of the two days. We went to the main park and stayed from opening until closing. Unfortunately we did miss some rides in an effort to get a picture with Minnie (which happened) , but I think that for the two days spent in Disneyland, I conquered pretty much all of it.

And that was the finale to my month abroad. If you think that these are a lot of pictures, you haven't even seen a quarter of them, along with my polaroids... 

Talk to you later,

-Karin xx