Veggie Tales: My Attempt at Vegetarianism

To the (possible) joy of animal lovers and vegetarians everywhere, I went vegetarian this week, and possibly for a good while after that! I have been trying to better my life in many ways, and one of them is eating well. While I do eat pretty well, I have always toyed with the option of going vegetarian or vegan. After talking to a girl on my floor about her being vegan on a college campus, I decided that would be a little bit too big of a task to take on (also, almond milk chai lattes are, unfortunately, gross). Let me take you on a little description of my veggie tales of the week.

For full disclosure, I accidentally ate one bite of chicken during dinner on Monday night. I don't regret it, though, because the chicken bayou pasta is the best food option at the buffet and I was not about to miss out on it. Now that I have revealed that, I believe we can move on.

Courtesy of We Are IU

I am the kind of person who wishes they were vegan but will probably never actually do it, and I hope I'm not alone in that. I recently decided that as an animal lover and self-proclaimed person-who-wants-to-be-healthier, I should finally make the move into vegetarianism. This week was my trial period, and I plan to continue on with it because I have actually become a big fan of not eating meat.

Nothing about going vegetarian seemed like a significant change from my normal life and eating habits. I was surprised by that because when I'm at school, I find myself eating some sort of meat for dinner every day. That was actually one of the reasons that I wanted to change up my eating habits- it seemed like I was eating way more meat than usual and I felt bad about it. I wasn't necessarily more tired or lethargic because of my meat eating habits, but I did feel sorry for all of the chickens and cows I was supporting the deaths of.

Courtesy of TIME

Lucky for me, the buffets on campus offer at least one vegetarian option at every meal, so I just picked that one each time. I also usually had the soup, which they also often have a vegetarian option of, so that I could have more protein since many of them have beans. I do question how annoying it will be when I'm not at school to make sure that I'm both not eating meat and still getting enough nutrients. I'm not too worried about it, though.

Overall, I did feel a bit more energetic this week, and I felt better about myself morally because I wasn't eating meat. If you're a big animal lover like me and you still eat meat, it might be time to change your ways. If not for the animals, maybe for the environment: every year, at least 51% of global greenhouse gas emissions are a result of animal agriculture. Or, maybe even for your own personal health: there are serious concerns out there, with actual research backing it, of the effects of meat on giving people cancer.

If you think that vegetarianism (or even veganism if you're stronger than I am) is for you, even if it's just for a week or so, check out this helpful Huffington Post article that offers thirty reasons and thirty ways to go vegetarian!

G.N.O. (Girls Night Out) by Miley Cyrus

Tonight was the first time in a long time that I left campus. Granted, I stayed within the border lines of State College (an Uber ride out of State College sounds pricey), but I did find myself a good ten minutes away from campus. For this GNO, I went out to dinner at The Field and to watch Beauty and the Beast at UEC Theatre. Here is how it all went down.

A few days ago, my friends and I were all talking about how much we would all love to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. The conversation then transitioned into acknowledging how none of us every find ourselves far off campus- everything we do is either on campus or downtown. So, in that moment, the four of us decided to venture away from our dorms and downtown for a little girls night out on Thursday. And that we did! 

The Field was delicious, and I don't even believe that's because all I have had to eat for quite some time is dining hall food. We all shared table fries (parmesan and truffle), which they actually dumped onto the table for us. Although that was slightly strange, I could definitely dig the rustic vibes they were giving off. I had a hamburger, which came with chips and a pickle, and it was incredible. At the end of dinner, we all agreed that there was no chance that any of us could consume anymore food, so we passed on the milkshakes even though they sounded delicious. The live music was a little bit load, but I won't hold that against the restaurant. All in all, it was a great time and I would really recommend heading over there if you haven't yet.

 

After dinner, we Uber-ed our way over to the movie theater to see Beauty and the Beast. If you haven't seen it yet, go immediately. I don't want to spoil it, but Emma Watson portrayed the role of Belle wonderfully and the story never fails to warm my heart. I will say, though, that the theater itself is super relaxed about everything. You could easily walk in, not pay for a ticket, and go into a theater with no questions asked. By the time our movie was over, around 11:30 at night, there was not one employee around and everything was still unlocked and open to take. It was a little weird.

Photo courtesy of Disney

 

Now that you have heard about my night and what we did, I need to explain to you why this matters at all. There was something freeing about driving away from campus- passing Beaver Stadium and seeing it in the rear view mirror- but knowing that you would be back soon. I hate leaving school for breaks because I love being here so much, but sometimes I feel trapped in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. As much as I enjoy my time here constantly, it can feel somewhat overwhelming when I have not left campus for two months straight. 

Going off campus, as simple as it may seem, felt like a quick breather from all things college. Although it can be a little expensive with all the Uber rides and movie snacks, it was all worth it. After getting back to my friends' dorm in North, we all agreed that we needed that. Sometimes all you need is to get away from schoolwork, overwhelming parties, and college student responsibilities to take a breather and have a worry-free night with your best friends. 

Let me know if you have had a GNO (girls or guys night out, either way) while you have been at Penn State and how you liked it! 

Thinking of the Stress Free Days

For the past five years of my life, I have pretty much been in a constant stressed out state. I'm sure many of you can relate to being stressed out everyday- with college and jobs and all of the in-between, life can get hectic and it is pretty easy to lose sight of the days that you were not stressed. My mom, being the classic worrying mother, always gives me advice on how to deal with my stress, like working out and getting enough sleep and making lists. I do all of those (except sometimes maybe I don't get enough sleep- don't tell my mom though), and I still felt as though I never had enough time in the day to get everything I need done, done. So my friend from home gave me some advice that had helped her- for ten minutes every day, just lie down in bed in comfortable clothes and imagine a memory from one of the favorite moments or times in your life. This may seem silly, but since I know college students tend to be among the most stressed people, I wanted to share with you why you should try doing this too.

Bridgehampton, NY

For me, the summer is always a time when I feel incredible because I know no stress. Work seems simpler, the weather is nicer, beaches are at my disposal, and I always seem to have free time. This past summer, I spent a week in the Hamptons with two of my best friends, beach hopping, going to restaurants, and trying to spot celebrities at every corner. When my friend told me to think about my favorite moments, this was the first one to come to my mind. 

So this past Monday, I tried it out for the first time. I got back to my dorm room after the gym, showered, and before I rushed out to dinner with some friends, I told them I would be a few minutes late and I tossed myself onto my bed. I closed my eyes, and instead of falling asleep and taking a nap, I just dove deep into my memories from this past summer. I remembered little things- like stopping at farm stands to get doughnut peaches and watching Dirty Dancing on the projector late at night. These were memories I didn't even know I had, and yet when I forced myself to think about it for ten minutes, they all popped up as if they were at the forefront of my mind all along.

Courtesy of Libby VanderPloeg

Now, you may be thinking "Katie, this seems silly. How would this help with my stress?". Good question, reader! I don't know if there is any science behind it, but this week I have felt a lot less stressed. Even with exams, applications, and other responsibilities packing my schedule, it all seemed tolerable after I opened my eyes after those few minutes thinking about my best times. It also helped when I had moments during the day that I felt overwhelmed because I would think back to those ten minutes from the day before and it helped me to think that I will end up in that state of relaxation again. When I'm in a bad mood, I think about good times and it immediately puts me in a better mood.

It blows my mind how much ten minutes of my day have changed my stress level, and I really think it could help some of you too. It is such a rad way to feel better if your life isn't at its best right now. I love Penn State, just like hopefully you do too, but it can certainly get stressful here. Thinking about summer brings me back to center and helps me feel like I have control over my life. 

Those Cute GoPro Videos, Except I Don't Own A GoPro

It is truly hard to believe that two weeks have passed since the THON 2017 weekend began. As evidenced from my last post, I am extremely involved in THON all year long and it's something I hold near and dear to my heart. The whole weekend was incredible, and really solidified for me why I spend all this time and money working towards a goal of raising as much money as possible for the Four Diamonds Fund.

In the past two weeks, I took on a task that reignited all of the incredible feelings from THON weekend. I made a video of my special interest organization in the stands at the Bryce Jordan Center, and my God, was it fun. It made me rethink all my life plans- I made one low quality video on iMovie and tossed "Brand New" by Ben Rector over it and all of a sudden I think I'm the next Martin Scorsese. I took all the videos on my phone and it doesn't even go up to 1080 HD, but I like the video nonetheless. I felt as though I was able to capture the incredible feelings of THON, the relationship my organization has with our Four Diamonds family, and the connection we all share as friends in a two minute, four second long video. Take a look!:

My home friend Ali (who I've mentioned too many times, probably) is the one who introduced me to making these kinds of videos in the first place. She made one from her family vacation to St. John in 2015 and it was so cute that it inspired me to want to do the same. I won a GoPro at my high school's post-grad party and subsequently lost it in the ocean in Southampton, New York about a month later. It was potentially one of the greatest material losses of my life and I miss that GoPro, but the waves wanted it more than I did, I guess. Rest easy, GoPro. Here's Ali's St. John video, though:

Regardless of my GoPro loss, I took advantage of a huge event that I was attending and made a cute video for my organization. They loved it. I mean, seriously. I was blushing when I read these messages:

I have to recommend making a video on iMovie or some other similar video editor. It's simple, you don't have to have any skills to do it, and we learned the basics of iMovie in the library that one time for this class anyway! It's a unique creative outlet, something a little bit different than the average drawing, painting, or writing. This WikiHow article gives you eleven quick steps to understand iMovie if the lessons from that class don't come to mind. It doesn't take long and it's lots of fun! If you're not a particularly creative person but you still need a creative outlet for your flashes of creativity, this is for you. If you have any sort of Apple product, you can make a video on iMovie (the app is free so you can make videos on your phone too). If you've ever made a video like this, put it in the comments or show it to me and I can almost guarantee that I will love it. Here's to creativity and fun times at THON!