Megan Dennis: habits

A College Life Update

October 28, 2019

I wish every week was fall break.

Unfortunately, it’s only this week, BUT I am so excited to sit down and talk to you guys. I realized that I’m halfway through my first semester of college (which is crazy) and I haven’t given you an update of how it’s going, so I thought I would do that today. Many people have been asking (and by many people I mean like 5) how I’m adjusting to this new lifestyle, so that’s what I’m going to be talking about in this post.

I had a rough start. I’m not going to candy coat any part of this because I want to be real. I sort of expected the change wouldn’t be easy, but those first few weeks I felt like I was being thrown into an unfamiliar ocean and had to figure out how to swim. Eventually I did figure it out, otherwise I wouldn’t be sitting here telling you this. Needless to say, I had a very difficult time getting started. I wasn’t prepared for how much time I would spend on homework and how hard it would be to just find some sort of a balance between school, work, and having a social life.

This semester I am taking 15 credit hours, which I feel is about the average course load. The way my school does classes, there are 8-week classes and 16-week classes. It’s honestly all very confusing, but to sum it up, 8-week classes are basically 16-week classes done in 8 weeks, which also means twice the amount of homework. I would say I spend about 8-10 hours on homework a week, depending on how much work there is/what the assignments are. It’s very difficult to tell exactly how much time I spend on it because my days are full of other things. On top of sitting in class for 15 hours a week, I’ve also been working 15 and a half hours each week.

It’s a lot. That’s why I’m so happy I can slow down and breathe this week.

I actually don’t mind staying busy. I’ve developed a pretty consistent routine, which is what I lacked in the beginning. I’m the type of person who must follow their routines, otherwise I don’t know what to do with myself. Routines are a huge part of my life. It took me about a month and a half to develop a solid routine to accommodate my new busy schedule. I made a video on my YouTube channel where I show you what it’s like to be me for a day. You can check that video out here.

I think one of the biggest things that’s kept me on track (besides lots of coffee) is staying healthy, mentally and physically. I use the tips I talked about in my last post almost daily and I’m way less stressed when I have my life planned and organized. I’ve been doing my best to become a morning person (still working on that part of my new routine) so I can get up, go to the gym, and then come back and get some tasks knocked out before I have to go to class or work. I’ve also been trying to stay on a healthy diet. This isn’t easy because I don’t have a lot of time to make good healthy meals. I try not to eat out more than necessary, and I try to meal prep on Sundays so I can just grab and go during the week. I think for me, staying healthy is super important to being successful.

On the upside of things, I am truly thriving. I don’t mean that I’m happy all the time every day, but in general I’m at a good place in life. In college I feel like I’m actually getting somewhere; I feel like I’m one step closer to where I want to be and sometimes that’s the only motivation factor that keeps me going. When times get rough, I have to stop and think about how far I’ve come already and stay focused on my goals and what I have to do to get there. Sometimes it’s difficult to stay focused, sometimes I question what it is that I’m really working towards, and sometimes I just want to quit. When that happens, I remind myself how far I’ve come and that I’m on the right path to where I want to be.

No one ever said college is easy. Because it’s not. It’s hard, it’s stressful, and it’s honestly. just. exhausting. But I know that I’m doing the right thing and I’m grateful that I am even able to go get further education. I value education more than almost anything because I know it’s what will get me to where I want to be in life.

Thank you guys so much for following along with me throughout this journey and I’ll talk to you in my next post!

accomplishments

7 Ways to Make The Most of Your Day

October 14, 2019

#HowISurvivedHighSchool

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 1: 7 Myths About Homeschoolers

May 15, 2019

Hi there, welcome back to the blog!

Today I am coming at you with a very special post/announcement: there is going to be a new series on this blog and guess what? It starts TODAY. My apologies for the short notice but I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a thing or not. I had this idea awhile back when I was contemplating on what kind of post I wanted to do in spirit of me graduating this year. I came up with a couple ideas and finally decided that there were too many things I wanted to talk about and it just wouldn’t all fit in one blog post (or it’d be so long that you all would be sleeping by halfway through it.)

So thus was born the #HowISurvivedHighSchool series. And yes, the dramatic title was indeed my own original creation. I'm super excited and also very nervous to share these next few posts with you. I feel like for the last year or so I’ve been a very private person and just haven’t shared much with you guys so I’m really going to try to be as much as an open book as possible which sounds totally scary if I’m being honest.

Before I get started with part one, I want to make a few general points about this particular series:

1. This is a 6 week series and a new part will be posted each Wednesday (so mark your calendars.)

2. I am NOT here to call anyone out or speak poorly of anyone I’ve encountered throughout my High School career. That’s not my vibe and my intentions of writing these posts are to encourage; not to bring anyone down.

3. I will be talking about certain people I’ve encountered and things I’ve experienced, but please know that NO NAMES will be mentioned; if a name has to be used it will be changed.

4. All the things I am going to tell you are true and are my stories that I have a right to tell.

5. Please read/listen with open ears and hearts.

6. Some of the topics I will be discussing are mature and very series at times so if you can’t handle the intensity, please feel free to click out at any time.

Okay so with all that out of the way, I want to jump straight in to part one. I want to spend this first part telling you guys exactly what I do all day: aka “Behind the Scenes of a Homeschooler.” I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions of homeschooling in general and I want to take some time to tell you guys exactly what is and isn’t true about us “weird kids.”

1. Homeschoolers don’t actually study, we just sit around and watch Netflix in our pjs

This is definitely not true in my case. I can only speak for myself, of course, so there may be kids out there that do this but I try to be as productive as possible each day. Now there are definitely some days where I’m just lazy but for the most part I like to wake up and get things done. As you know, I do have a part time job along with blogging and doing YouTube as hobbies so I definitely try to balance all of that throughout my week.

Being homeschooled definitely teaches you a lot about time management. There’s no bell to signal the start and end of the school day or the pressure to complete assignments by a certain time. You have to decide all this for yourself; which is good and bad for some cases. It took me almost my whole High School career to finally develop a good routine that works for me.

2. You don’t have a social life

This is one of the biggest myths of homeschooling. People automatically assume that because we stay at home for school that we never leave the house. If only. No, for me it’s been quite the opposite: I have too much of a social life. Okay so I have to admit, I’m not a very social person to begin with. At events you can usually catch me in the corner, probably eating. So having a social life has never been an issue for me but again, it could be different for others.

I’ve had people my age who aren’t homeschooled tell me “I would love to be homeschooled but I would miss the social part of school.” People who attend public school definitely have the advantage when it comes to extracurricular activities. Most school districts won’t allow homeschoolers to be on their football team, join Latin club, etc. I would like to see that change but that’s a whole other blog post.

I really think there are plenty of opportunities out there for homeschoolers. I’ve been an active 4-H member for 6 years; I’ve been a part of several Youth Groups, as well as activities at my local library. So for me, socializing has never been an issue. There are many activities to get involved in; it just may require looking a little harder.

3. You don’t have friends

This goes along with the previous assumption but I wanted to quickly address this on its own. I’m going to talk about friendship in an upcoming part to this series, but as far as making friends as a homeschooler I really don’t think it’s that hard. As long as you put yourself out there (ex. Youth Groups, 4-H, book clubs), it’s not much different than how everyone else makes friends. The only difference is you don’t go to school with them every day and sometimes I think that’s a good thing.

4. There’s no drama

FALSE. I literally have to restrain myself from laughing whenever people say they think there’s no drama when you’re homeschooled. We live in a drama-prone world where no matter where you are there’s going to be some type of drama- unless of course you live under a rock.

I remember when I was younger and I had just started middle school. I had such high hopes and I thought once you got to middle school that life would be so much fun and it would be like in the movies where I’d hang out with friends all the time, go on fun trips together, etc. I really can’t explain what my expectations were but I never thought it would actually be completely different than my vision.

Looking back, I have a lot of regrets of things I wish I hadn’t done, people I wish I never would have spoken to, and all the different ways things could have gone better. Every day I think about how I wish people from middle school could see me now and see how far I’ve come. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, though, it’s that the best thing to do is let go and move on. It’s a hard principle to learn but you’ll gain so much if you apply it to your life.

5. You never leave the house

Once there was a week where it felt like I was only home to sleep. However, people seem to think that we don’t have any kind of life outside of school which is not true at all. Honestly your life is what you make out of it so there’s always the option to never leave the house but I would probably lose my sanity if I stayed home all the time. I think it’s important to put yourself out there in the outside world because there will definitely come a day where you absolutely can’t be in your room all day long.

6. People are homeschooled because they got expelled

This assumption comes straight from what someone said to me just the other day. We were talking and they said “I think some people are homeschooled because they got expelled from school.” What?!?! I have yet to meet anyone who is homeschooled due to that reason but I suppose it’s always possible. I had never even thought of that before, which is why I wanted to include it. So now I’m going to be insecure when I tell people I was homeschooled because what if people assume that?

7. That homeschoolers don’t get to go to college

Again this is something someone said to me awhile back but I’ll never forget it. If homeschoolers didn’t go to college, how would they get jobs? Our economy would literally be failing if for instance everyone was homeschooled but we couldn't go to college. Surprisingly, homeschoolers are more often accepted into colleges than schooled applicants. Why? Because homeschooled students spend more time studying what they are interested in rather than being forced to study the same things as everyone else.

So yes, we do get to go to college.

Well that wraps up this post! I hope maybe this provides you with a better understanding of what being homeschooled is like and that we’re not all the weirdos some people make us out to be. Make sure to stay tuned for next Wednesday for part 2 of #HowISurvivedHighSchool.

exercise

8 Healthy Habits to Master In 2019

January 21, 2019

8 Healthy Habits to Master In 2019

Welcome back, beautiful people!

Guys. I haven’t posted since LAST YEAR. How crazy is that? Well as you probably know by now, it’s a new year and let me tell you, I’m super stoked for 2019. Exciting things are going to happen and it’s going to be a fantastic year.

In my last post, I talked about my 2018 New Year’s resolutions and if I followed through with them or not. I thought this would be a good follow up to that post because I’m going to be talking about some ideas for your 2019 New Year’s Resolutions. I hope this inspires you to make some of these your goals for this year because I know I’m going to try really hard to master them this year and I hope you’ll consider joining me.

1. Drink more water

You’d be surprised at the many things water can do for you. Not only does it keep you hydrated, it helps regulate blood pressure, improves skin quality, relieves stress, and boosts energy. I used to be terrible about drinking water (I’d drink maybe 2 glasses a day), but I’ve noticed a huge change to my overall health since I started drinking more water last year. The average person should drink about 8 (8 oz) cups (about 2 liters.) I recommend investing in a large water bottle because it helps you stay on track when you don’t have to keep refilling your cup throughout the day. So this year, give up the sugary drinks and sodas and stick to water.

2. MOVE!

You guys are probably tired of hearing me talk about how important exercise is but I cannot stress it enough. It’s so important to not only your physical health, but your mental health as well. I like to workout especially when I’m having a bad day or feeling down. Getting out the energy helps release all the bad feelings and gives your brain something else to focus on. Exercising doesn’t have to be about losing or gaining weight, it’s about staying healthy and promoting a healthy lifestyle. Even if it’s just an hour a week, get out and move! You don’t have to go to a gym to do that either. A home workout is just as effective and so is going for a walk/run, biking, and swimming. Whatever it is, find a way to keep your body moving this year.

3. Cut out negativity

This is harder than it sounds because it took me years to actually do it. By cutting out negativity I mean any negative people, places, or influences in your life. These are the things/people that are preventing you from being your best self and living your life to the fullest. Only keep the people/things that are encouraging you and helping you become the best version of yourself. It shouldn’t be hard to determine who/what needs to go because subconsciously you probably already know. It’s the people/things you get that “gut feeling” about. The hardest part will be cutting them out, but it will ultimately make you so much happier- even if it takes you awhile to realize it. I can promise you that this is one of the best decisions you will ever make.

4. Get a planner and use It

This doesn’t even have to be anything fancy; it can just be a notebook or pad of paper. Whatever it is, find something to write down all of your appointments, tests, meetings, etc. Having a place to write down all your events will prevent you from feeling overwhelmed and stressed. Having a planner will make it easy to organize your life as well as prevent bad scheduling. Take time at the end of the week to go over your plans for the upcoming week and make a schedule for your appointments and tasks. This will help you manage your time wisely and if you follow your schedule, you will go to bed each night feeling satisfied with your days.

5. Make a sleeping schedule and stick to it

I think one of the most important factors in having good, productive days is the amount of sleep you get each night. I used to be one of those people who would completely waste their day by sleeping/being lazy and waiting until nighttime to start any projects I had to do. Let me tell you, you will be 100 times happier AND productive if you have a good sleep routine. Go to bed and wake up at the same time every day (yes, even on weekends.) It may be a little hard to adjust to at first, but eventually your body will get into the habit of falling asleep and waking up at the same time every day on its own. Also, try to avoid taking naps throughout the day and eating within an hour of going to bed. These things will interfere with your sleeping routine and make it harder to go to sleep at night. So, make it a habit to get into a good sleep routine and I guarantee you will be feel rested and energized each day which will allow you to be more productive.

6. Practice self-care

Do you ever feel like you’re so overwhelmed with school or work or things going on in your life? Do you work extra hard to please someone and make them happy? I think we’ve all been there and maybe you feel like that all the time, so that’s why I’m challenging you to make it a goal in 2019 to take better care of yourself. You’re probably wondering “well how do I do that?” The answer is that it’s different for everyone. Moreover, it doesn’t have to be anything big or expensive. Maybe it’s just taking ten minutes out of your day to journal or draw, or taking time to do your makeup. Treat yourself every once in a while. For me, I spend the last few minutes of my day meditating, letting go of stress and forgetting my worries of the day. I also attend a weekly yoga class. I understand that maybe the things I mentioned aren’t for you, but this year I encourage you to take some time each day or each week and practice some form of self-care.

7. Build your relationships

This is one of my biggest goals for this year and I hope it will be one of yours too. Instead of giving up and ignoring the problems in your relationships, learn to work through them. The best way to build strong, healthy relationships with people in your life is to communicate. By communication I don’t mean texting them once in a while or sending them memes on social media. Make it a point to set aside time in your schedule to spend time with the people in your life. Communication is one of the most important elements in your relationship with your family, friends, boyfriend/girlfriend, etc. So this year try to focus on taking time out of your week and work on building those relationships with the most important people in your life.

8. Be positive

Again, another thing that is easier said than done. But I think what you’ll realize is that if you are already doing the other things I mentioned above, this one will become much easier. It makes me so sad and unhappy when there are people who always choose to see the worst in every situation or let small irrelevant things get the better of them. So this year, really try to focus on seeing the good in even the worst situations. You’ve probably heard this before, but you attract what you are. If you’re down all the time, let’s be real, no one wants to be around that. However, if you make it an effort to stay positive and uplifting, you’ll be the type of person others desire to be around.

I think we all know at least one person that’s happy all the time. How do they do it? Well I can assure you almost 100% that there is no one who is happy ALL THE TIME. However, if you do all of the things I listed above, you will be a changed person. It all comes down to how you’re choosing to live your life. If you fill it with negative influences and toxic relationships, you’re bound to have trouble. On the other hand, if you fill your life with positivity, you’re already on your way to happiness. In the end, then, it all comes down to lifestyle choices. If you want to change your life, change your lifestyle. The results may be slow, but I can promise you that they will change you and make you the best person you will ever be.

I hope you will join me in mastering these goals in 2019. I believe these are the things that are important for building a happy and healthy life. So let’s do this together and make 2019 the best year ever!

changes

Twenty Eighteen: Year In Review

December 31, 2018

Twenty Eighteen: Year In Review

Welcome back!

It’s been awhile, so have you missed me? Probably not. Much has happened since the last time I posted and I plan to do a life update post soon, but not in this post. I hope your holidays were as wonderful and tasty as mine. I’ve been on Christmas break for almost two weeks now and this is the first time I’ve gotten to sit down and work on some projects I promised myself I would get done during Christmas break (weird how that always happens...) Alas, that did not go as planned but no worries because here I am now, finally accomplishing some things and writing a new post.

As you may have noticed, another year is in the books (is it just me or did it go by extra fast this year?) I really enjoy writing these year end review type of posts, so that’s what I’m going to do today. Hopefully this won’t get too lengthy, so my apologies in advance. Enough being said, here’s how 2018 went for me:

For the first time, this year I made a list of New Year’s resolutions. Normally I don’t do this, mostly because I don’t want to fail them (I’m that kind of person.) But this year I tried it out so I wanted to share some of them with you and talk about how I either failed or succeeded at them.

· Wake up early
· Eat Healthy
· Exercise more
· Read the Bible everyday
· Start a journal
· Be organized
· Read at least 15 books
· Spend less time on devices
· Be more positive

Waking up early

When you’re homeschooled, waking up in the mornings isn’t so easy. I could sleep until noon if I absolutely wanted to. In fact, I used to do that and it actually made me really unhappy because I would wake up and the day would be halfway over. So this year, I made it a goal to wake up early/have a good sleeping routine. I think it’s safe to say I succeed at this goal because I have a much better sleep routine and it’s made me so much happier because my days are so much more fulfilling, versus sleeping through half of it.

Eating healthy

I’ve never technically been a “bad” eater. My mom was never the mom at the grocery store with a cart full of junk food with packs of energy drinks hanging over the sides. But I still wanted to do better this year and I actually ended up giving up all red meat (pork and beef.) Not only for environmental reasons, but because I never liked eating those foods in the first place. I would eat them if they were put in front of me, but this year I completely gave it up and I’ve never been such a happy eater in my life. I like to call myself a “partial-vegetarian” and someday I hope to cut out all meat completely. I’m extremely happy with the progress of my diet this year and I hope I can continue good eating habits in 2019.

Exercising more

Okay so I already did a post on my fitness story (you can read that post here), but I’m really proud of myself for being a lot more active this year than I was before. I started to enjoy going on walks, bike riding, and other outdoor sports I never thought I would actually like. Fitness has become an activity I like now and I feel so good after a workout. I would also like to point out that I’m not working out to gain or lose weight; or maintain a certain body image. In my opinion, fitness and exercise should be about staying healthy in general and not trying to make yourself look a certain way. I’m definitely proud of the progress I’ve made this year, and although anyone can look at me and not notice a difference, I can clearly see the progress I’ve made since I started exercising and that’s what matters to me. For those interested, I plan on doing a workout routine post sometime; however, I like to change my routine up from time to time so I don’t get tired of doing the same workouts. In other words, I don’t have a “consistent" routine I stay with for a long time. Overall, I’m super happy with the progress I’ve made and I hope to be even more active in 2019!

Reading the Bible everyday

This is also an area in my life where I’ve made some big changes this year. To give you a short summary of my religious background, I was baptized when I was 9 (I think) at a church I had been going to for a while, but no longer attend. Since then, my relationship with God has been through some rough patches over the years; and until this year, I was not in a very good place with God. However, after many years of soul searching and church hunting (which is not easy), this year I finally found a church where I feel as if I belong and going there has really helped me deepen my relationship with God. I have not read the Bible every day as I said I would, but I have been reading it a lot more frequently and my faith has become so much stronger this year. There are still times when it gets hard, but I’m in a better place with God than I ever was so getting through rough patches is much easier now that I have a strong relationship with God.

Starting a journal

This is where I begin to fail. I’ve journaled off and on for years, but I’ve never kept up with it as I keep saying I will. I started out strong this year, but unfortunately I never made it to the end of January (I know, so far.) At this point I can probably conclude that journaling just isn’t my thing at all. However, I did start something else this year. Every day of 2018 (minus only a few days) I wrote down something on a piece of paper, folded it up, and put it in a Kleenex box. On the paper I wrote down something good that happened that day. Some days it was just little things, but even if it was a bad day I still had to write something down. I haven’t looked back at any of them yet so I’m excited to go through and read them at the end of the year. For this new year, I plan to do the same thing but instead of writing them on slips of paper, I got a gratitude journal for Christmas so I’ll be using that to write things down in there instead of the slips of paper. I would highly encourage you to do this too because it helps you to see the good in even bad days or situations. Doing this has helped me realize there is always something to be grateful for even if it’s just being alive.

Be Organized

I have always been a very organized person. Physically and mentally. For the most part, my room stays clean and uncluttered. This year, I also stared using a weekly planner to write things down in. Needless to say, it has helped me a lot and now I have an obsession with planners. Not that I couldn’t remember things before; however, writing things down helped me a lot to have a plan for each day as well as remember school assignments and such.

Read at least 15 books

I wanted to read this year more than I have the past few years. Recently I’ve had trouble focusing during reading which had caused me not to read as much as I used to. This year I really wanted to make it a goal to try to read more, which I did; however, I don’t think I reached my goal of 15 books. I did read a lot more than I did last year though and I’m pretty happy about that. I’ve recently been hooked on Sarah Dessen’s books (so cheesy but they make good easy reads.) I hope to continue reading more in 2019 because it’s such a good hobby to have and I’ve learned a lot from books. There’s nothing like the feeling of settling down to read a good book (and getting mad when your favorite character dies. Book nerds can relate.)

Spend less time on devices

I, along with millions of other people on this earth, am guilty of spending too much time on my devices. I don’t know about you, but this is something that annoys me because it can be a difficult habit to control. These days it seems harder and harder to put down your phone and live in the real world. What do we do when we’re bored? Check social media. What do we do when we need to speak to someone? Text them. What do we do when we look good? Take selfies on our phone. What do we do when…okay you get the point. I tried hard this year to keep some distance between me and my phone and I have to say, I’ve done pretty well but not as well as I would have wished. I could be better about putting down my phone and finding more productive things to do with my time. So this year, I’m making it a priority to decrease the time I spend on a screen. And I’d like to challenge everyone to this as well. Make it a point to be present and in the moment because sometimes we miss things happening in the real world when we’re too concerned about what’s happening in our digital world.

Be more positive

This is probably the hardest and easiest goal of the whole year. It was hard for me because I struggle with staying positive. I’m not the kind of person that’s happy all the time. There’s times where I’m depressed and it’s hard to even get out of bed and face the day. However, those moments did not happen as frequently this year and it’s probably the biggest change I’ve made all year. Looking back at how I got to where I am now, it all has to do with lifestyle choices. Primarily the things I’ve listed above, along with a few other things which I want to talk about briefly.

This year I cut out all negative influences in my life and people who were not making a positive impact on me and my life. Instead of investing in these unhealthy relationships, I chose to invest in relationships with people who are positive influences on my life and that’s probably one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I can legitimately say I’ve been genuinely happy this year and probably the happiest I’ve been in a long time.

2018 has been the year of healing and moving on. I moved on from things I was doing and going through that were not healthy. Was it easy? Definitely not. There were times when it got super hard, but I knew in the end it would and will be worth it. Healing is a process. I’m still in that process, taking things day by day and some days are harder than others. I know to some people it won’t seem like much, but to me I can see every small change making a big difference in my life. I know I have changed in the best ways possible and those changes are helping me live a life I didn’t even know was possible. And that was the best part of this year.

This year has been one of the best ones yet! Thank you if you’re still here reading this…your support means the world to me! I’m extremely grateful to be sharing my journey of life with you (for almost 2 years!) I hope that God has blessed you as much as He has blessed me this year, and I pray that 2019 will bring joy and happiness into your life and that you will have a wonderful new year!