Megan Dennis: routines

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!

#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.

change

Going Vegan for A Week

April 27, 2018

change

Change

January 09, 2017

Since it’s the beginning of a new year, I felt it fitting to talk about change. Some people welcome change into their lives, while others find it hard to accept it (such as myself). If you’ve been wearing your hair the same way for four years, why would you want to change that if it’s what you like and what you’re used to? Probably because you don’t realize how much a change is needed. It never hurts to branch out and try something new every once and awhile.

Change has never been easy for me, but I can certainly say it’s taught me a lot in my life. Fortunately, God decides when it’s time for a change, because otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am today. I love my routines and habits so much, that I don’t even realize how bad they may be. Or maybe they’re not necessarily bad, it’s just time to grow out of them and try something different.

And not all changes will be good. Sometimes it’s hard to understand why things happen the way they do, but you just have to remember that there is a reason for it, even if the reason isn’t clear in the beginning. Maybe moving to another state and to a different school isn’t what you desired, but maybe it was time to experience new things and meet new people.

Nothing here on earth is permanent. I hate to break it to you, but nothing lasts forever. Things are always going to be constantly changing. People are going to come and go from your life, because people and their feelings are constantly changing as well. Someone you love today may not be the person you’ll love in five years. Your teacher may decide teaching just isn’t her thing anymore, and she wants to try a different occupation.

So you see, you can’t hold onto things forever. You can squeeze it in your hands as tight as you can, but it will eventually slip away. And there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it. You just have to accept that it wasn’t meant for you anymore and you’ll come across something better. That is the pattern of life. If there wasn’t change and everything stayed the same, no one would ever learn anything. We wouldn’t be wise. We would just keep making the same mistakes over and over again because we wouldn’t know any different.

Change is hard. But no one said life was going to be easy. The things we experience daily can change our lives for better or for worse, but with every change comes a reason and a lesson for it that will, in the end, make you a wiser person if you choose to learn from it.

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A College Life Update

#HowISurvivedHighSchool Part 1: 7 Myths About Homeschoolers

Going Vegan for A Week

Change

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