How do you view yourself?

I came across this beautiful video and it brightened my day just a little bit.

It's All About Perspective

Earlier this month, the famous child actress turned Ambassador Shirley Temple died. I have to admit that I did not know much about this famous public figure, apart from her child star days and of course the delicious pink drink. Little did I know that this woman was a powerful force of nature who didn't give up when her dream seemed to fade. She challenged life to the fullest and lived what can only be described as miraculously. 

"I don't like to do negatives. There are always pluses to things."
          ~ Shirley Temple Black

Shirley Temple grew up famous.  In 1935 - at the age of 7, she received a special Juvenile Academic Award for her contribution. At the age of 17 however, she got divorced and realized that she was no longer wanted as an actress now that she had grown up. Transition to adulthood was difficult to say the least. As it is for all of us. 

Shirley had three things that kept her going: her cheerful optimism, her incredible work ethic, and her winning personality. And boy did she come back to life with a bang. Her second marriage was an incredible partnership that lasted 55 years. But - more importantly - she became an Ambassador to Ghana and, later on, to Czechoslovakia. 

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She is the most inspiring role model one could hope for. Whether you are 12 and unsure about the teenage years to come, 14 and starting to think about college, or - like me - freaking out about the fact that you are turning 21. With her unwavering optimism, Shirley Temple contributed to the world in so many positive ways. Shirley Tmeple was a true leader, and true leaders never let that hope die. She made her obstacles into into opportunities. 

JSA: Be The People

I joined The Junior Statesman of America (JSA) my freshman year of high school for ALL the wrong reasons, but I luckily fell into a great decision. In all honesty, I joined because I had a gigantic crush on one of the junior boys in JSA....BUT actually ended up learning so much from it.

If you haven't heard of it, JSA aims to teach high school students about democracy and our government in order to encourage involvement and leadership for life! Students involved in JSA learn with and from each other through debates and simulations on critical political and social issues. 

via: http://shsjsa.weebly.com/uploads/6/1/0/9/6109080/9424601.png

via: http://jsa.org/wp-content/uploads/JSA_Congress_header1-1024x474.jpg

JSA Fast Facts:

1. About 10,000 members across the country

2. Over the course of the year there are overnight conventions where you get to meet and work with students from other chapters--one of them each year is a massive Congress simulation. There are also awesome summer programs at Georgetown, Princeton, UVA, Stanford and one in Beijing!

3. Female students were more likely to say JSA programs drastically improved their overall knowledge and skills. Over 65% of female students said that JSA seriously improved their confidence to speak up in class.

JSA had a big impact on my life and maybe it could have one on yours too (and help you get into college)! If there isn't a chapter at your school yet, you should found your own!! Click here to learn more.

When it rain and rains....

"Rain is good for me. I feel like I achieve clarity actually when it rains. The longer I have to sit and wait, the clearer my game becomes to me." 

~ Venus Williams on her tennis game.

The Rain can often be such a good excuse to sit around and do nothing. I didn't want to work yesterday, or do any errands despite my to do list being as long as ever. The Williams sisters (they are famous tennis players!) are such an inspiration for women everywhere. They are strong, independent and so successful. Stumbling onto this quote really turned my day around. The rain is a good time to achieve clarity. 

 

Recruiting 101

During my junior year of high school, I started coxing. Probably 80% of you have zero clue what being a coxswain means, so for a brief explanation: I sit in the back of a boat with eight guys rowing and yell at them. I also steer, motivate, correct technique, etc. but the best part is definitely the yelling.  

Little did I know, less than two years later, I was a recruited Division I athlete competing at a national level. Being recruited completely changed my college admissions process, so I wanted to give you all some tips on how to get recruited:

That's me in the near boat!!

1. Contact college coaches early and often to let them know you are interested in them and to stay at the front of their mind (while always following NCAA rules).

2. Make sure your high school coach is willing to talk to college coaches about you.

3. Have someone record you while competing, so you have something tangible to show college coaches.

4. Study hard for your classes and standardized tests: This will make you a more attractive candidate to coaches, especially at universities with high academic standards.

5. Don't forget your #1 goal is finding the school that's the best fit for you. Remember, you're going to college to be a STUDENT-athlete.

Office Hours

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One of the things I loved most about high school was how close I became with all of my teachers. Many of them seemed (and acted) like a second set of parents. They were never afraid to yell at me when I needed it, but offered more support and advice than I could ever ask for. When I first arrived at college, I immediately missed the hours I would spend talking with my high school teachers about academics, celebrities or surviving life in high school. But I soon learned I still had the chance to develop relationships with my professors.

Office hours are a time for students to meet with their professors outside of class time and discuss their work, the course or really anything they want! It's a great time to talk more about something you might not have covered in class, or anything you're confused about. If there's one thing I always wish I did at the end of each term, it's that I went to more office hours and got to know my amazing professors even better. Your teachers may give you hours of homework and tests, but they really are invaluable!

You're a leader!

I just got off the phone with my mom. She's in Switzerland at this really cool conference called Davos. It's held every year and world leaders come together for the World Economic Forum where they discuss all sorts of political and economic issues. This year's conference was titled "The Reshaping of the World: Consequences for Society, Politics and Business". I am so incredibly proud that my mom gets invited to this conference - she's such an amazing role model and inspires me to make a difference every day.

However, while looking up Davos I came across a really interesting article in the Huffington Post that had some very sobering facts. Only 15% of attendees were women. The Forum selects 50 of its own Global Shapers of which 50% are women but for the rest - there is such inequality! Women everywhere need to be a part of the discussions that are shaping our world and moving our society forward.

We need to reshape what it means to be a female leader and that starts with you! I want to challenge you this week to put yourself out there. Apply for a position in school, volunteer to lead a project in class, go that extra mile with your homework, audition for the school play and it could lead somewhere. You may discover a new passion! Become involved in the society you are a part of - you will gain valuable experience and it will give you the confidence to develop those leadership skills (and it doesn't hurt on college applications either!).

Big (Wo)man on Campus

via: http://www.makers.com/ruth-simmons

Who? Ruth Simmons

What?  Formerly Brown University's 18th President, first black President of an Ivy League, second female president of an Ivy League, mother of two

Why? Ruth has been an incredible force in breaking the glass ceiling for both women and African Americans in academia. Born to a sharecropper in Texas, Ruth was the youngest of 12 children. She went to college on a full scholarship, which launched her into the world of academics. Prior to her presidency at Brown, Ruth was the president of Smith College, the largest women's college in America, where she helped to start the first engineering program at an all-female college in the United States.

On growing up: "From second grade onward, I was reading all the time. My sisters and brothers used to complain there was something wrong with me...As time went on and I progressed through school that was pretty much the pattern. I was an odd duck...I think I found teachers who supported my oddity and I kept working hard and I managed to rise to the top of my class in high school."

Best advice she received from her mother: "Never consider yourself better than any other human being… Always act as if you have respect for another person even when you disagree with them."

On being a working woman: "I went to my supervisor and I said 'I discovered the salary of my colleague. He is being paid considerably more than I, while I am the senior person of the two. And I only want you to know one thing: I know that this is unfair and I will never feel the same way about working for you again' And that's all I said. So I was always unable to sit and take it, you know? I always spoke up for myself and it worked for me."

You can watch more of her interviews here and here!!

Boys on Boys

There is about to be some real life coming at you - are you ready?

 I recently had a really important revelation about what it means to prioritize and how important it is to keep those goals in mind. I started off this term on the right foot - I got into two theatre productions I really wanted to do, I was having fun in my sorority, my classes were absolutely fantastic - things couldn't have been better. And then I got distracted...by (you guessed it!) a boy. Don't worry this story doesn't end in tears. I love getting to know new people and this was a really exciting chapter in my life but over the next two weeks, I really lost sight of the goals I had set for myself. I stopped listening as much in classes, I barely looked at my scripts, I stopped reading the news (which usually I love to do on a daily basis! Keeping up with the world can be really interesting but you have to keep up with it - it tends to move on without you). 

So there I was. Sitting on my bed. Complaining to a friend. I felt behind: I wasn't putting any work into the different aspects of my life. I was putting nothing into my passions and I was getting nothing back. Logically. My friend just looked at me. I then got a good dose of tough love. She simply opened my eyes to the fact that I had let my life slide because of a boy. My friend turned to me and said that this was happening because I had gotten so distracted. I couldn't believe that I had lost myself so easily in such a short time. College is short and the time that you spend here is precious.

Now I am not saying that great romances aren't a lot of fun or that you shouldn't totally put yourself out there for that special boy. I am also not saying that you can't have both. I am saying that so often girls can feel defined by our love lives and how "successful" or "unsuccessful" we are. Women are continually judged by their relationship status - whether women are single or not matters so much to everyone else! I had bought into this image of what being "successful" when it was exactly this "success" that was preventing me from achieving my real goals. This can be seen all over the media and the news. Take Taylor Swift - how often is her music judged by the latest boy she's dating? Or how often is she mentioned in the media for who she's dating as opposed to the work she's doing? There are also very positive role models out there. Angelina Jolie is a brilliant woman who has managed to turn her media spotlight to super important issues! Although you can still read about her kids and husband (and who wouldn't want to), she is also regularly profiled for the all the amazing humanitarian work she does. UNHCR ambassador, building schools all over the world, making education more accessible for girls - just listing them is inspiring.

I am not out saving the world right now... but one day I would like to be. Although this boy is a wonderful one - he is also not what I need to be concentrating on right now. I had sacrificed what I really wanted to be working on for fleeting happiness. I panicked but luckily had the greatest girlfriend to give me some good advice.

How to find your path again (according to my brilliant roommate):

1. Set small achievable goals: don't try and accomplish everything all at once, you will only end up disappointed in yourself. Set goals that you know can get done. Ticking something off that to-do list (no matter how small) is a great feeling
2. Re-evaluate: look at your priorities. What do you really want to be achieving? How can you get there?
3. Spend time with yourself. There is no shame - in fact, it's encouraged - in getting a cup of tea/coffee/hot chocolate with yourself. Or going on a sunset walk by yourself - think of the instagrammable opportunities.

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FOMO: Fear of Missing Out

At college, there is ALWAYS something fun you could be doing (or missing out on). My freshman year, I really struggled to figure out how to balance my time. I felt like I was being pulled in so many different directions. Whenever my friends were doing something fun, I would be so afraid of missing out that I would completely abandon my work for the next day, so my grades slipped. I haven't been able to overcome my FOMO, but I've learned some really good tricks for time management...

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1. Make lists on lists: Whenever I start getting anxious about the all things I have to accomplish, I make a list of what I have to get done in order to be caught up with my work and my life.

2. Planners are your best friend: On my iCal, I keep an up to date schedule with classes, practices, meetings, and any social events, so I can instantly know when I have free time. Additionally, I have a Life Planner from Erin Condren that I use to keep track of all of my assignments. By keeping two planners, neither gets too cluttered!

3. Eat & study with friends: By working in the library with my friends or taking study breaks to get meals with them, I can hit two birds with one stone--I'm getting my work done and getting to spend (fun) quality time with my friends. Make sure they have work to do too though or else it will just be a distraction! 

4. Don't spread yourself too thin: One of the easiest ways to let the time slip away from you is by getting involved in too many activities. Freshman fall it seems like this is your one chance to join every single club. DO NOT DO IT. I promise almost all of the opportunities will still be there later. Get involved in 1 or 2 things and you can always ramp up from there if you want to.

Do you have any other great time management tips?

xx

A tidy dorm, a tidy mind...

The key: Unpack!

I am not the biggest fan of packing/unpacking but it's so important to make your dorm your own space. I always like having a couple of hours on my first day back to really make my dorm my own again. Make sure to take the time to organize your clothes and put away those toiletries. I also love decorating my room. There will be a post to come on decorations (I tend to go a little crazy).

Whether you are hanging out with friends, studying for a midterm, or just unwinding - it's so much nicer to do when your room doesn't look like this:

My floor before unpacking my suitcase.