Short Stories, Poetry, Artwork and More - LYRE 7

Hello wonderful people! I have an exciting announcement for you all:

Last year I was an editor and contributor for The Lyre - an undergraduate student run literary magazine that features short stories, prose, poetry, travel logs, photography and artwork from students not just from SFU but around the world. The Lyre is run by the World Literature Student Union at SFU and I had such a wonderful time working with some awesome people on creating a literary masterpiece.

While I am not working on it this year, I will most likely be submitting pieces, and I encourage you to do the same! Submissions for all kinds of writing (short stories, prose, poetry, etc) and artwork (photography and illustrations) are open for this year's magazine, themed "Identity and Language." The deadline for all submissions is January 31, 2016.

More information can be found here!

Until next time.

x R

The Top Ten Things I Need to Remember (as finals are next week)

10. High school final exams are nothing like university final exams.The only experience I have is none. None whatsoever. My only advantage is that I guess I am used to weekend exams because of piano but that is pretty much it. Then again, maybe all exams are the same.

9. Studying for high school exams is nothing like studying for university final exams. This means 1) no cramming the night before and 2) no procrastination. Just do it. Just study.

8. My profs did not make such a big deal about exams, and suddenly I feel really zen. I feel really calm. Almost too calm that it is making me suspicious. But that might be a good thing:

study hard + study early = no stress

7. Thank God that my spread of exams is great. I have God to thank profusely for that, and I guess myself for choosing such awesome courses.

6. As much as staying up late to study sounds like a super fantastic idea, DO NOT (repeat) DO NOT stay up late and study. I do not want to study into the morning hours before an exam. This will kill me and my grade and therefore my GPA.

5. If anything, remember theories. Theories are important. Then, use the theories to apply what I learned this semester.

4. Remember that this is only 4 x 3 hours of my life = 12 hours of exams total. It is a lot of time. It is half a day. But it will pass. I will pass.

3. Do one thing a day that I love. Remember the 25-5-30 rule so that I do not burn out. Watch funny videos (but set a time limit on that too, or else things can go wrong...)

2. Bring EVERYTHING that I need to each exam. Wake up on time. Get there on time. Best to be early and relax (and cram/wallow/die) early than to be rushing and risk being late.

1. Pray for guidance, support, and mercy. Because somethings this semester (especially Stats) are lost in my brain and confusion.

BONUS: All of this will be over soon. Time flies... I hope.

Here is a throwback Thursday photo of me as I was just accepting my application to SFU and attending an event. 

Keep spilling ink! I know I will - three of my exams are essay based. The other one has some kind of math in it but my prof writes wordy questions, therefore, I need to provide lengthy answers to answer all questions hidden inside one question. Best of luck to everyone on their exams, final projects and papers - I know we will all succeed. Mandatory celebrations to follow, just in time for the holidays!

"If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him."

- James 1:5

x R

Officially A Loser

OKAY (That is what my International Studies prof says all the time, in that precise manner).

One thing's for sure (and my mom can attest to this too), I hate eating lunch, or any meal for that matter, by myself. And by myself, I mean alone in public places. I feel that eating is a social thing, and though one might argue that it makes everyone eat slower because people are trying to talk instead of eat, I think most people agree that eating with friends is more fun than eating alone.

Now, I think that I do not just hate eating alone but I also fear it. There is apparently a term known as "solomangarephobia" that precisely describes my fear - the fear of eating solo.

So why do I fear eating alone?

Many times when I go out with family or friends for a meal, I enjoy the company that they provide for me. It gives me a sense of security and does not make me feel awkward while I'm eating. From time to time I glance around at the array of people in the restaurant, and 9 times out of 10, there will always be solo dinners.

I am curious as to what is going through their minds while they eat by themselves. I do not pity them per se, but I do wonder how they feel about eating alone. I almost feel awkward for them. I feel that same awkwardness when I am asked to go and eat by myself.

As I am learning in university, there is very little time to eat. Sometimes, an older and wiser friend told me, you have to go eat by yourself.

What?

Maybe this is because I am such a social being that I have this notorious fear that will not let go of me. 

This fear was also prevalent in high school too. Once everyone was able to drive out of school to eat lunch, I would come out of meeting after meeting with the threat of eating alone. The feeling was something incomprehensible, yet, it seemed so simple. I just did not want to eat by myself.

But yesterday I was forced to do that. After exploring SFU Vancouver for the first time, I was hungry for lunch. The thing was, I was in the middle of downtown with no friends. I had nothing with me but my bag and a craving for Japadog.

So I went, in search of the Japadog. And then I went, in search of a place to eat, alone.

I was petrified of this experience - sitting out in public, alone. It almost seemed like high school all over again, with office workers and tourists alike passing by and thinking that I was a loser, eating all alone. To make thing worse, a couple tourists had asked me to take their picture. Being a polite Canadian I agreed and helped them get a few shots. When it was all over, the asked me, "Dear, why are you eating lunch all by yourself?"

Officially a loser.

I had nothing to hide but the truth. "I'm down here by myself today."

The tourists nodded knowingly. One of the elderly ladies spoke. "It's good to take some time for yourself though. Get away from all the yapping mouths", she said, making a talking motion with her hands behind her husband. We laughed together and I wished them a good day.

In time afterwards, I realized that she was right. I did take that afternoon for myself.

I very rarely go to downtown, and I go even more rarely by myself. But on Friday, with the sun shining down through a perfectly cloudless and brilliant blue sky, I took in everything around me. I became invisible, like a piece of architecture. I just observed everything around me, took in the smells and the sights and looked ahead, instead of behind.

Sitting by the water, I looked at the ripples of the water. I watched seagulls fly to meet others on rocks. I looked at my reflection in the water. And as I sat and listened, I began to regain sight on a person that I had lost while I was so busy trying to conform to the social standards of society - me.

When you are by yourself, you see the world differently. In many ways, you become vulnerable. But this vulnerability allows you to look introspectively into yourself. The quietude allows you to breathe and not be choked out by the voices around you.

So maybe, in the end, I became a winner.

Here are some of the shots I took from yesterday:

And of course, to fulfill my obsession with panoramas:

So take time for yourself! Be a tourist in your own city, fulfill your cravings and sit in the quietude of yourself. Never be afraid to eat by yourself (as I will try to be now!) and spill more ink while you do.

x R

#OOTD

As many know, I graduated from Holy Cross and Our Lady of Good Counsel. I was in the Catholic school system for 13 years. Throughout those years, one thing I did not have to worry about was what to wear. Thankfully we had uniforms that kept everyone consistent and cut out the stress of wearing the latest fashions from my life. I only had to really tear my hair out when we had jeans days in high school.

But now, I am in university. I had no uniform (though my dad would joke and say that I could wear my kilt if I wanted to). There was no uniformity. You could wear whatever you wanted.

This made me excited (shopping!) but also nervous. On the second day of school (my first day off, and what used to be my first day of high school), I woke up at 8:30, rifling through my closet. I was panicking because I could not find my kilt, until I realized that I was no longer in high school anymore.

My observations as I went from class to class, from one hallway to the next, is that there is a great array of what people wear to school. The pleasant realization? There were many people dressed like myself! 

The very first day of school brought heavy, heavy rain. Unfortunately, fashion had to be sacrificed for practicality and I had to ditch all the plans and outfits that I had dreamed about wearing for my first day. Instead of skirts, I had to resort to jeans. Forget the cute tops, I was rocking a hoodie all day.

Today's weather was a lot better, but I still kept the jeans.

A few questions and realizations after these two days:

1) In a lecture hall (especially in one with nearly 200 people in it), people really cannot see what you are wearing. Especially when you are sitting down for the entire lecture and short (like me).

2) Did I really care that much about what I wore during high school?

3) Do I still care about what I wear?

4) The uniform of university is as such - jean, some kind of shirt, and a sweater of some kind. The sweater, of course, is optional, depending on the weather.

5) How long do some girls spend trying to figure out what to wear?

6) One of these days I will wear sweats or something. One of these days.

I think that I will always care, to some extent, about how I look. They say that what you wear reflects on your character and can help to lift your mood. Though I will never be like those girls that wear 2 inch heels to class, I suppose I could stand dressing up a bit from time to time.

The point is, in the end, school is a place to learn. In retrospect, I think spent a lot of sleepless nights creating and recreating outfits for high school jeans days that would impress other people. I never really dressed for myself, and I would find myself in items that I felt uncomfortable in.

Clothing, like many other things, is a form of expression. I am beginning to learn now that it should never rule your personality - it should compliment it. Let your personality shine through the words you say, the actions you do, and your smile.

So shop for things that compliment you instead of just covering you (though covering you is a good idea too)! Be confident in who you are and never underestimate the power of a simple 'hello' or friendly smile, and keep spilling ink while you do. I hope everyone's school year is starting off well!

Throwback to the times when I wore my outfit of the year - my uniform. Maybe it will make an appearance at Halloween... #throwbackthursday

x R