Spotlight

Our dorm has a recurring event called Spotlight. Three people tell their stories and people ask them questions to get to know those people really well. Yesterday, I had my spotlight and it was really difficult to try and sum up life in a few minutes and then figure out how to answer the questions. Aaron, the RA who sponsors Spotlight, advertises the evening by get the spotlighters to submit two fun facts about them that few people in the dorm know and would be interesting enough for people to come.

Mine were:

I have every lyric of Wicked, the musical, memorized.

I spent the night at Reed Hastings', house. 

Afterwards I also realized that I have every lyric of Avenue Q, Legally Blonde the Musical, The Book of Mormon, Hairspray, Hair, Pippin, Spring Awakening, Rent, and possibly more memorized. That made me feel crazy!

Screw Your Roommate

Last Wednesday our dorm held Screw Your Roommate. It is a double date times 30 :) Basically, your roommate set you up on a double date with someone and the entire dorm does something together. We went to Dave n' Busters, think Chuckie Cheeses for old people or essentially just a big arcade. Jasmine set me up with someone inside the dorm and so it was pretty chill because we already knew each other. So we just spent the time hanging out. I set up Jasmine with one of Kaya's friends. Overall it was really fun and exciting because everyone got to meet a lot of people from other dorms and it was an arcade, so it was fun. A fantastic, awkward tradition!

Parent's Weekend

I spent the weekend with my parents. They came to class. We went to the museum. We watched tennis. We ate Ike's. We went out to dinner. We hung out with my friends. They watched me perform in Swingtime! It was a great time. And since I postponed writing this for so long, I can't go into too much more detail.

Basically, though, I miss them a lot. Fall quarter is really exciting and new and I was really ready to be on my own. I didn't have as much time to miss my family. However, winter quarter is a lot of school and not as much distractions. Plus, I settled in here so that I really miss their presence. It was hard to say goodbye to them at the end of the weekend. I can't wait to see them again. I love you Mom and Dad! Thank you for coming. I am so fortunate to have your love and support both over video chat and when I get to see you person.

Plus! There was gorgeous weather for them. It was 70 and sunny all weekend long.

Crossing the Line

I have been a little late in the blogging. I apologize.

A week ago we had an event in our dorm called Crossing the Line. It is a winter event that is meant to let us get to know each other better and become more comfortable with serious topics that require us to show vulnerability.

The entire dorm lines up on one side of a line. There is a moderator who will then say, "You are the oldest sibling." If the statement applies to you, you cross the line and turn around to face the other students. The entire activity is entirely silent and no reactions or noises are made after someone crosses. It can take a lot of courage to cross. Sometimes, it is unclear what the statement is saying but you are supposed to use your best judgement and you given the opportunity to clarify later. Some of the statements are straightforward, but others are really difficult to decide about. The statements focussed on different topics: politics, family, body image, relationships, or mental health. 

The best part of this activity was it made people feel like they were surrounded by others with shared experiences. It made us feel more open to talking about serious topics and being open with the dorm. 

It was a really wonderful experience!

Getting closer

One application and two essays finished :)

Took a break for dinner:

Good Morning

Me waking up:

Realizing how many hours left until my paper is due: 

Trying to start my paper:

This will be fun 

Check in

This is how I am doing right now:

And http://stanfordguyproblems.tumblr.com/

Stanford Guy Problems made things a little better :) partly because it inspired more gif use!

Like, seriously....

These are what these essays are doing to me:

Too much fun, I need to work

So I am sitting down to work for maybe six hours straight on some essays and assignments. Wish me luck. I am going to be so relieved when I get to Wednesday. Although I have done some really fun things this weekend, a lot of it has been overshadowed by the anxiety from all the work I have. These next 48 hours will be pretty stressful, and I can't wait for it to be over.

 This how I am preparing for the night. The beginning.

How I will feel tonight, all night, and tomorrow. 

What my Wednesday night will look like. 

P.S. Sorry to people who don't understand gif culture. 

A weekend of outings - Boba Tea with Sarah

Continue in this tradition of getting fresh air and going off campus, I went to Boba tea with Sarah. It was wonderful to talk with her and have another break from studying. I got Rose Milk Green Tea. Really really tasty.

PHEbruary Day 16

Do something outdoors today.

I went to Palo Alto for gelato with Ethan today. I got Lavender Honey and Green Tea gelato and we walked around outside. It was absolutely amazing. We talked about the startup his is working on which has to do with identifying voters views and helping voters find political candidates to support that align with their views. He is also an Science, Technology, and Society major, which I am interested in studying and so he imparted wisdom to me on the major.

PHEbruary Day 15 - Dinner in Palo Alto

We biked down to University Ave for dinner for our one hour off campus PHEbruary assignment. It was such breath of fresh air to leave campus for a couple of hours. We went to a place called CrepeVine. I had a greek crepe that was very yummy. It was so much food! A giant crepe with a side salad and potatoes, but it felt great. Walking down University was beautiful and I had great company. Along with me was Riley (in the picture), Andrew, Jordan, Alex, Jacob, Jorge, and Joey. I would love to do it more often, but finding time and energy can certainly be difficult.

A tasty and relaxing treat

I studied this afternoon with green tea and tiny amounts of chocolate by my side. It is delicious to bite off a small piece of chocolate and then drink the tea. The tea melts the chocolate so beautifully :)

Thank you Mommy :)

My mom sent me beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day. She always has done really wonderful things for Valentine's Day for Eli and me. I love you mom!

One of Jon Stewart's Best!

The first ten minutes or so of this Jon Stewart episode are absolutely amazing :) He is my favorite. I watch his show as I eat breakfast every morning. This is a particular good episode though and I wanted to share it. Enjoy!

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/thu-february-6-2014-robyn-doolittle

9:20 in San Fran - Valentine's Day

Last night, Swingtime rolled out to a social swing dancing event in San Fran called 9:20. It was a really big event with a couple hundred dancers and an amazing live band.

I miss social swing dancing here so much. I absolutely had the time of my life. It felt so good to dance. I love the feeling of letting go and just following whatever my partner has in store for me. There were incredible dancers at the event, it was amazing to dance with some of them. Social swing dancing has impacted me so much this past year. It was so nice to be reminded of that and feel the relaxation and joy I get from the experience. I say relaxation though it really was a good workout. I was there for about 2 1/2 hours and only sat out one song the entire night. It was so crowded and hot and sweaty, but I didn't mind one bit.

I hope it isn't long before I can go again :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

The entire dorm was woken up at 7:00 this morning with trumpet blasts and screaming this morning by our amazing staff in diapers and cupid clothing.

They brought us donuts and coffee in the lounge and made a video for us sharing their love. We all really felt the love at 7:00am. Just kidding :) It was really special. The video was a parody of Taylor Swift's "Love Story"and was absolutely adorable. I feel so fortunate so have our staff; they have made this year so special. Valentine's day here is really celebrated just as a day of Love. It's nice how it isn't focused on couples but rather on the dorm, family, and friends. My yoga teacher yesterday talked about also looking at it as a day to give something to yourself as well, and loving who you are.

Thank you for all your love and support. Happy Valentine's day!

72 degrees and sunny

So beautiful that I video chatted my mom outside on the quad and then meditated for ten minutes in a little garden area before my class. #thelittlethings

Academic Episode - Kinda? Does a Compassion Class Count?

I just want to take a moment to talk about the Strengthening the Heart through Compassion class that I have been taking.

The class is just a 1 unit athletic class that meets two hours a week and has no required outside work.

However, it has been a transformative class for me.

The curriculum is centered around Mindfulness, Self-Compassion, and Common Humanity and strengthening these through meditation. Meditation allows oneself to be aware of breathing and your body in the present moment. This fosters mindfulness and then can be tailored to help self-compassion. The guided meditations have me repeat phrases for myself and others that help me feel a part of the human condition and caring towards myself and others. I don't do any of these things well enough but I am simply practicing. All I know is that every time I walk out of class, I feel rejuvenated and refreshed and ready to take on the challenges I have in front of me. My yoga class also helps to put me in this similar mood and I am so grateful for my teachers and their practice.

PHEbruary Day 12

Go for a walk. Walk for exercise, clarity, or as a social break with your friends. Find one of the following on campus:

• Magnolia Trees - There's like three on campus and they're beginning to get all pretty and pink and spring like.
• Cactus Garden - thee cooliest. watch out for the lizards. They like to stick to people for some odd reason. Or may be it's just me.
• Kingscote Garden - very serene place smack in the middle of campus. Complete with koi pond (that currently have like zero koi...but is still serene and probably a lot greener in the spring but it's not like this place has real seasons anyway so I'm sure it's still green ok plus i etched my name in a bench so if you find that that would be like total extra credit not vandalism by the way it's art)
• One of two parks in the faculty neighborhood (also very serene, and has a great view of the bay if you can climb relatively short trees)
• Hanna House - Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright here on campus. The house has no right angles. Obtuse is neat.
• Whisper Circle - easiest to find. Stand in the center and whisper out loud and see what happens!

I took a long walk out to the Arizona Cactus Garden between my section and class. It was a beautiful walk down Palm Dr.  past the Oval and main campus. It was really nice because it almost felt as though I was getting off campus for a moment, removing myself from the stressful midterms of the crazy winter quarter. Plus, the cactus garden reminded me of the landscape of New Mexico and the love and support that I have at home. Overall, I think it contributed brilliantly to my health, especially at the moment. 

The highlight might have been when I was walking down the center of the Oval and there was a little girl, around the age of two, standing on a bench facing me. When she saw me she started waving, I waved back, and then she smiled. This moment made me so happy almost to the point of tears.

Maybe I am too emotional right now, but I don't really care :)

UNSC Simulation for International Security in a Changing World - An Academic Episode

My political science class, International Security in a Changing World, had our big simulation last weekend. The majority of our class so far has been preparing to for a two day simulation of the United Nations where we discuss the interim agreement between Iran and the United States and a possible resolution for a long term agreement to lift sanctions and require greater oversight to Iran's nuclear energy program.

I represented the Ministry of Foreign of Affairs of Russia. There were five other Russian delegates. The simulation was somewhat similar to the Model United Nations I did in high school. Our goal was to accurately represent our country and its interests and pursue diplomatic options with other countries.

The simulation was exhausting but extremely fun. I was very nervous about the simulation because the people running it, the secretary, the heads of state, and other students are very impressive people. The person representing my Head of State, President Putin, was a former Ambassador who had been a part of every major arms treaty negotiation from 1970 to 1997. There were former international lawyers and distinguished academics. Many of the students are graduate students or honors students in political science or international relations. So I was intimated.

Once we got into the swing of things I found a role for myself. I took diligent notes and advised my Head of Delegation and Legal Advisor on where we stood on certain issues and how we should vote. I took part in meetings with other delegations that involved intense negotiations. The highlight, though, was giving a speech all of the delegations and heads of state that concluded with Joseph Stalin's quote, "A sincere diplomat is like dry water or wooden iron." Russia was recognized later as being the delegation with the most memorable quote.

In the end, we came to long term agreement with Iran. Iran would allow greater transparency to its nuclear energy program in exchanged for a gradual release of sanctions over 1.5 years. If both sides lived up to their promises, by the end of fours years Iran would be fully integrated into the international community with its full rights restored as a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In addition, Russia signed a multilateral trade agreement with Iran and China so that Iran's oil would travel through Russia's pipeline and Russia and China would receive other economic benefits.

I was there 9-5 on both Friday and Saturday. Now I have a paper to write about how the simulation went. yay....

It was an amazing experience though and I have learned so much about Iran and nuclear energy and the threat of nuclear weapons state.

What time is it? It's Swingtime!

Here is our official video from our performance at Viennese Ball!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfiFdeEa24c&feature=youtu.be

Note the changes

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PHEbruary Day 11

Do 10 minutes of stretching. I got that covered in my amazing yoga class today :)

PHEbruary Day 10

Drink 2.5 liters of water. As simple as that.

PHEbruary Day 9

Have some intimate time. Make sure to give hugs and let people know you care.

I spent more time today with Thomas. I haven't gotten to see him as much this quarter because we have been so busy and I miss him. Today we worked on homework together in his room. I also gave everyone I saw a hug. Or tried to at least. Without being too weird.

PHEbruary Day 8

Spend time with your friends :)

I best completed this activity by driving home from Viennese Ball with my friends from my dorm. We drove back from San Francisco blasting music and dancing in the car. It was especially memorable when we came cruising down Palm Drive with Mem Aud in front of us.

Viennese Ball

One of Stanford's long standing traditions is Viennese Ball, a formal dance on campus full of waltz, swing, and contemporary dancing. Swingtime performs every year and it is one of our favorite performances. I had an absolutely amazing time. It really felt like an actual ball. Everyone was dressed up so nicely and, of course, I loved the partner style of dancing. There was great food as well. OH! And it was at a ballroom. The ball took place in the lobby and ballrooms of the Hyatt Regency so the venue was gorgeous as well.

Swingtime performed a new number and the performance was received extremely well. We went out to sushi beforehand which was such a special treat. After we performed I went home to the dorm with my friends from the dorm who had come to the ball and stayed to watch me perform.

Definitely a magical night! I wish I had more pictures but my phone ran out of battery basically when we arrived at the ball :( Here is a picture from the performance though.

The ticket :)

There was a photo booth that my friends and I definitely had some fun in :)

PHEbruary Day 6

Eat according to MyPlate. Eat your fruits, vegetables, whole grain, and protein :)

Pandora station: "Classical music for studying"

I am studying in Sarah's room tonight, a change from studying in Ben's room every night. She listens to a Pandora station called "classical music for studying" which I think is just awesome. And it is great studying music :)

PHEbruary Day 5 - Triple PHEture (haha)

There are three challenges for PHEbruary today and I love them! They take some more time, but I think it's really important to value taking time to do things for my health. So...

1. Walk to all classes. Almost everyone rides their bike everywhere on campus. However, this makes life much more fast paced and as Stanford students, we are usually cramming in a lot as it is. Walking to class allows time for reflection, to enjoy the beautiful day (It is LOVELY outside today), and slow down just a bit. It took me 20 minutes to get to class but it was worth it. I talked with my mom on the phone and looked and got to look around instead of focussing on not crashing into something on my bike.

Bye bye bike!

Me a' walkin!

2. Give a "kudos" to someone. I went to the bookstore after class today to buy a card to give to a friend in my dorm for being there for me and having such a positive presence in my life.

3. Take a photo of something that catches your eye today. I don't know if I have decided what I am going to do for this yet. We will see what comes up :)

Just look at that day though!

PHEbruary Day 4

Meditate for 15 minutes.

Sarah, Ben, and I are going to meditate together tonight after an episode of Game of Thrones :) It is the best way to prepare for my Spanish midterm tomorrow. Don't worry, I did study for it...some.

PHEbruary Day 2 and 3

Day 2: 30 minutes of cardio. I had a 2 hour Swingtime practice so this was easy to fulfill.

Day 3: Give and receive a massage to relax and unwind and treat yourself. I gave Maia a message and she returned the favor. It was wonderful!

PHEbruary - Day 1

February is a month devoted to wellness on Stanford campus with the PHEs (Peer Health Educators, hence PHEbruary) in each dorm giving out daily challenges for students to work at for a healthy mind and body. Our dorm is broken up into teams to try and encourage each other to participate. I think this is a really neat idea that works towards a wonderful cause. I will try and share each challenge with you so you can take part if you are interested as well. Today's challenge was to have at least one hour without electronic devices, screens completely off. I participated by doing my Kierkegard reading for my Art of Living class and then taking a shower and getting ready for the evening. What did you do?