Worried About Dormitory Decor? Well I Say, No More!

Hi all! Apologies for the delay in posting. I was on a brief three week hiatus for personal reasons, but am back now! I hope my fellow Americans enjoyed their 4th of July, this past Tuesday!

So it has been almost two years since I left the Inland Empire and moved to Orange County. This is my second time making a big city move since I first started college down in Southern California.  Something about living alone with your pets and having a new slate to work with seems magical in a way. However, it can occasionally be stressful when you have to think about how to decorate your new home. I have lived in over four different apartments and the college dormitories over the past nine years. So I have learned how to decorate for both limited space and seemingly unlimited space. Keeping up with the school theme, I would like to help you out with figuring out how to decorate your dormitory with the help of Aura Frames.

Dorm Living:

Dorms, they're pretty small. Typically, you share them with one other person, but sometime you might have two, or even three other people per dorm. A lot of big box stores will give you check lists full of the most unnecessary things ever to buy just to get you to spend extra money at their stores. My list of essentials would have to be the most basic and the most realistic from my own personal experiences.

Bed: Twin XL - Bed set (for most dormitories, the best are Twin XL -some times you can find bed-sets that fit both regular Twin and Twin XL). They are fairly cheap so feel free to buy more than one, you'll be in that dorm for at least one year.

Pillows - You can usually find some good pillows on deal from Macy's or J.C. Penny.

Under the Bed Organizers - Remember that you are sharing a very small space with other people. If you have two or three roommates, you might also be sharing a closet. Under the bed organizers helped me out so much as a Freshman in the dorms.

Full body Mirror - Not all dorms will come fully furnished aside from the bed and desk (I bought mine at Target for under 4$.)

Bundles of Hangers for Clothes - most dorms have closets and dresser-drawers

Laundry Essentials - Baskets, Pods/Detergents, Fabric Softener, Iron/ Iron Board- Look for coupon deals on laundry items, believe me, you can find so many.

Bath Supplies - Flip-flops, Shower Caddy, Towels, and the basic shower essentials (body wash, soap, shampoo, conditioner. (The reason that I recommend the flip-flops is because you will be sharing those showers with several other men or women and can risk getting foot fungus.)

Frames for Photos - You can be low tech and get very simple frames to put up photos to combat homesickness, or you can be high tech and get some pretty neat digital frames like the ones that Aura Frames has.

Posters - Posters can be a cheap way to decorate your apartment as well, and it's also a good way to really personalize your space with posters displaying your interests.

Stuffed Animals or other comfort items - If you were like me and moved to a college far from home, then bringing moments with you can help combat homesickness as well. For me, it was old stuffed animals, but it could be something different for you. 

If you are artsy, I recommend that you draw some pictures or make some little decorations for your dorm side. Even have your friends help you!

*Desks are typically included and lamps/lighting as well. If I think of anything else to add, I'll let you know! Highly recommend a trip to Walmart and Target for some cheap dorm supplies. Good luck with your first year at the dorms!

A picture from my freshman year in my dormitory at UC Riverside - East Lothian ( Nine years ago).

If you guys have any comments on the items you brought with you to the dorms, feel free to let me know in the comments below!

Till Next Time!

-Hachi

Beauty meets Brains: Graduation Photography

Hi all! I hope this week has treated you well. Today's blog is a bit of a follow up to my blog from last week. Last weekend, I did some graduation photography with my friend, Tammohawk Photography. He's also one of my cosplay photographers.  He's a very versatile photographer and will make sure to get your best side. The main reason I chose to get graduation photography for my Master's Degree is because I didn't have the opportunity to participate in graduation as an undergrad. I lost the motivation to walk the next school year (2013-2014),  they wouldn't let me walk with my graduating class, 2013. This time,  I finished on time and was able to walk with my friends from my cohort. As a result, I became motivated to walk and took celebratory photos. So I'd like to share some with you. I hope you like them! I had to add braid hair to my hair because my grad cap wouldn't fit on my natural hair, otherwise. Hopefully, it doesn't look that bad. It's been over seven years since I last added my own braid extensions..S. My grad cap should also be able to glow in the dark if I did it right.  I'm going to put that and my tassel in a shadow box.

This dress is by American Rag if anyone is curious and my medallion is from the honor society - Phi Beta Delta.

It took about four tries to get this photo right.

In international phonetic alphabet, I.P.A, this says: "What we think, we become" (A quote from Buddha)

That's all folks!

I hope you guys liked my photos. Also, if you're about to graduate soon too, congratulations! For those in the midst of final classes and exams, finish strong and enjoy your summer vacation! In the comments below, show me your grad caps!

Update: We graduated on Sunday, May 21st, 2017! We're M.A. recipients!  Being M.A. recipients, we had to be hooded on stage so we took photos with our hoods on before knowing that and then took them off when our procession began.

A selfie of my friend Bao & I before graduation/hooding ceremony.

M.A. Linguistics - California State University, Fullerton - 58th graduation ceremony - C/O 2017 - Photography Courtesy of Nina G.

Till next time!

-Hachi

Time Travelling Letters

Hi all! Today's blog is a little bit different. I am teaming up with Earnest, which is a S.F. based tech-enabled student loan refinancing company, to reminisce about my college days in the form of a letter to my past self. It was almost 10 years ago since I was a freshman at UC Riverside, and now, in just 10 days, I will be participating in the hooding ceremony for my master's degree from Cal State Fullerton. I am both excited and nervous because I did not get the opportunity to walk with my friends for my undergraduate graduation. As a result, I did not participate in it. This time around, I get to walk with some amazing people from my graduate cohort. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my letter!

Dear 18 year old Dawn,

Hi there! Would you believe that you are almost 28 years old now?! Time sure flies! I cannot begin to tell you about all the interesting people you will meet and things you will do with your life. You will have many fun experiences in college, some of which will dictate how you live out your life until this very day.

You were never much of a party animal, but as soon as you turned 21, kickbacks with friends became a weekly thing. You would invite everyone over to your apartment to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl and drink blended margaritas. You really thought you were a good bartender/hostess those days. You went on road trips to Laguna Beach, Long Beach, Los Angeles, and many other places. You saw Salvation Mountain with once close friends and visited their family.

Unfortunately, like many instances in your life, friends came and went, but you always cherished the good times despite that. Some of your friends you made in college, you still will spend time with.  Did you know that you took over two and a half years of Japanese classes as an undergraduate and grad student and picked it up pretty well? You also became a Conversation Partner and made many Japanese and Korean friends from this program as well that you still connect with. You're still as into anime and manga as always, and even got more into cosplay. Through this, you made life long friends that you meet up with at every convention. Also, can you believe that you have gone to FanimeCon over 12 years in a row, and that you would be volunteering for Comic-Con International going on 5 years now? I bet you didn't expect a hobby like that to extend throughout your young adult life.

You felt like you would be tired of school many times and that you would stop with just your bachelor's degree. Well believe it or not, you are now about to receive a M.A. in Linguistics with specialization in Disorders of Communication. Congrats to you! You persevered, changed majors once, stayed one extra year & a quarter, and still embrace the scientific/analytical side of your personality. You are a seasoned researcher that has both presented at and been invited to several different research conferences in many states and one country. You are a smart young lady! Never forget that! There were many challenging classes you'd take as an undergraduate and despite not having the ideal GPA, you still got into graduate school and thrived! You're in a prestigious international honor society and one of the top students of your graduating class of grad school. Be proud of all your accomplishments and all you have went through and will go through. You have the passion of a highlander with the strength of a titan and you will overcome all obstacles. Nothing can stand in your way.

With love,

27 year old Dawn

18 year old me vs present day me. Do I look that much different? Haha

I hope you guys like my letter to myself. This actually isn't the first time I have done this. If I remember correctly, one of my undergraduate classes had us do this as an assignment. It was either an English class or a Japanese class.  Have you guys ever written a letter to yourself? Let me know in the comments below. *Random factoid: Travelling is the British English spelling, while traveling is the American English spelling. I tend to write using both dialect styles.*

Till Next Time!

-Hachi

Well hello there!

Hi, I'm Hachi. Well, not really. Hachi is my nickname, my real name is Dawn (I do go by both, although more of my given name). I'm a 24 y.o Northern California native, living in overly sunny, Southern California. I am a natural hair enthusiast, and am interested in home improvement. Semi-fresh out of college, I am currently in education limbo while taking a year off in between undergraduate and graduate school. I have a bachelors of arts in Linguistics and intend to apply for masters programs in Linguistics with some sort of specific emphasis, as well. We'll see if I get in, fingers crossed, haha. In the meantime, during my limbo between school, I am trying to keep busy doing whatever I can. I am currently a research assistant in Psycholinguistics, and tend to do research projects for conferences. It's both fun and stressful, as is life in general. So other things I am doing are: "working" on a novel (I get bad writer's block), joining groups and committees, going to comic book & anime conventions (love comics, anime, manga, cosplaying and attending cons), comic book collecting, and working out. I also take one online class every semester at a local community college so I am used to focusing on school work and not to get too lazy. Not sure if you can tell, but I like to stay active. This blog of mine will mostly focus on various life observations and ramblings from me and my adventures in Southern California, with a few Northern California ramblings as well, when I go home to visit. I hope you enjoy the ride, because it will either be very long and boring, or very fun, and fast paced. We shall see, hehe. Also feel free to post comments, but please note, unpleasant comments will be deleted. Let's keep this blog happy and positive! :) Tell me about yourself too, if you'd like. :)

Till next time!

Hachi (Dawn)