Start of Summer!

Hi internet & Happy Saturday!

It's been a whirlwind in the past two weeks which explains my absence from writing a post. I've been dealing with finals (which went fairly well by the way), apartment stuff, transportation stuff, summer job stuff, and a bunch of other stuff. Yes, I'm aware that I used stuff three times in the past sentence. So, let's recap:

My last week of UCI spring quarter was a string of events: finals, studying, graduation parties, and too much coffee for my own good. My finals ended up turning out really well! all the studying was worth it in the end. I'm just really glad I don't have to read another 75 page article for womens studies again or learn about synapses in the brain....

Finals Week also meant Graduation week for a lot of the seniors! It was really sad having to say goodbye to some of my senior pals. We had a couple nice graduation parties to send them off on their way. 

 Literally right after my last final, I had to pack up everything and head back home to the bay area because I had a full weekend ahead of me! I had to get my CPR and First Aid Certification on Saturday before my staff orientation for my summer job which was on Sunday. Which by the way, I am very proud to state that I am now First Aid and CPR Certified! It's a good feeling being able to say that you are officially certified to help save lives :) 

And now that brings me to the start of the week: My first summer job as a camp counselor! It was a hectic first day for me, but it definitely smoothed out over the week. I get to huddle up with 3rd graders-- which seem to be the biggest grade on the field to me. A little overwhelming at first but again, with time it started to get easier and easier and I'm definitely learning a lot from the kids and my co-workers! I am also in the dance studio every day, which is definitely the time of the day that I look forward to the most. Being a dancer, a studio is a second home. It's my place where I can unwind from the stress and craziness for about 2 hours and just enjoy dancing. I love seeing the variety of kids come in and seeing how they move to different music. I've been playing some obvious Top 40 hits (One Direction, Carly Rae Jepsen, Justin Bieber) but after a while when it gets old I would play some oldies like Michael Jackson or the Beatles. I love that even old classics like Billie Jean or I want to hold your hand are still songs that kids are familiar with. Parenting: you're doing it right. ;) 

Fast Forwarding to today: it's officially my first day of nothing since the week before finals! I didn't do too much today-- just went to the mall, and watched a couple episodes of Doctor Who with my little brother. It just felt nice to breathe and not do anything since the past two weeks have been a bit hectic for me. It feels absolutely amazing to have completed a week of my summer job and I can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of the summer!! 

With that, I'm leaving you with my current summer jam:
You're lying if you're not feeling an itch to move your body to this song

My First Article with Her Campus!!!!!!!!! (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

MY FIRST ARTICLE YIPPEEEEE

Click!!!!^^^^^ 

Sorry for the abuse of the exclamation points, but my first article with the online campus magazine that I recently joined called Her Campus is officially up and I'm oozing with excitement! 

It's a bit ironic because my first week I was given the topic of "Health/Fitness" and lets just say I'm a yoga-doing, dance-class-taking, walking-across-campus-over-and-over-again kind of workout girl.... So of course, I wrote about how you can stay physically active, without actually going to the gym. I am clearly very lazy when I'm not in dance haha. Anyways, please check it out, it would be super awesome! 

It is my first article, so be nice ;) Also if anyone has suggestions for what I should write about next (note: it doesnt have to be about health/fitness) please let me know! I'm open to ideas!! 

Macaroons, Dance Concerts, and the Importance of Live Art

Happy Friday!

It's been a great week so far, both academically and physically. I've been having some really great dance classes, I got two midterms back that I did extremely well on, and I did an interview for a summer job that also went well.

Oh, I also had my first macaroon ever so that was an experience. In fact as I type this up right now, I'm chowing down on a hazlenut flavoured one and drinking a cup of tea. I'm feeling fancy fancy freeeee (although I probably shouldn't be eating a dessert since my stomach isn't feeling too great. we'll call this sacrifice)

Anyways, I think the main thing I want to blog about is the importance of live performances. In my last post, I talked about how I was home to watch my younger brother perform with his highschool, School of the arts. School of the Arts in San Francisco is a very Ballet and Modern based school, so their dance concert was mainly works of contemporary ballet, modern, and the occasional jazz pieces.  These kids are all in their teens-- from 15 years old to 18, and all of them have got such talent. My brother kicked some serious butt (of course I'm being biased, but let's be real here... he's an awesome dancer) and it was just so cool to see him dancing in something completely different from Billy...

Except I do have to make note of one of the pieces that kind of reminded me of a continuation of Billy's "Shadow Dance" right before "Grandma's Song".  This piece used interesting lighting to create shadows onstage, and of course my brother whos obviously a seasoned expert on shadow dancing, had an awesome little duet with another dancer where he used his hands to create shadows that fit with her shadow. It was pretty cool and probably would have been the result of Billy's shadow dance if he didn't see Grandma sifting through his private stuff.

There were loads of other talent on the stage as well, and I have to make note of these two dancers... both tall and both are red heads... These guys were featured quite a lot and boy can they move! holy man, I was shaking my head in awe. The two of them had a duet, and it was so epic and ginger. Not sure why there's the idea that gingers are "soulless" and "unfortunate" because honestly, after Ed Sheeran, Rupert Grint, Karen Gillan, Prince Harry (The list go on), and now those two kids..... I Beg to differ. Gingers ROCK.

So despite it being a great show, I think watching this show and watching my younger brother perform was kind of the inspiration behind my working hard in classes this week. Not to say I haven't been working hard in class, because I definitely do, but this week I had a different motivation behind me. After watching a live performance of dance, I was motivated to really work hard in classes so I can perform again. And I think it's really important, especially for artists, to constantly be exposed to live art. I'm really fortunate that the university I go to offers live performances weekly, whether it's a dance concert thesis, a live improv comedy club, or a jazz music night. Not only do you get a sense of inspiration and motivation while watching talented performers, you gain an even bigger appreciation and respect for the art. Don't you agree?

With that said, this weekend is going to be full of live performances: I'm seeing my friends dance in a student choreographed dance thesis, I'll be working on a dance-chemistry collaboration video, and then on monday I'll be attending a musical theatre night show in LA (with andy mientus and michael arden! I've only recently found out who they are, but my golly can they sing!) I'm so excited for these events and I love surrounding myself with such talented people who may have a different focus in the arts, but all have the same passion and drive. :D It makes me just want to embrace all of them in a lovely hug.

That's all for now! Lovely weekend to all and to all. xo