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Late-Night Snacks

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.”

– Theodore Roosevelt

My midterms are not in sync so it seems like I have a midterm almost every other week😣 I had my first midterms for Bio Sci 93 and Psych 7A two weeks ago, and last week, I had my Math 2D midterm. Next week, I will have my second midterms for Bio Sci 93 and Psych 7A. It can get pretty stressful, but it’s important to remember to take breaks and to never give up!

My first midterm week was actually quite scary for me because it was my first college midterm and I had no idea what to expect! Luckily, I had brought some snacks to munch on to calm my nerves! Below are two lists: one covers my old favorites and the other has new discoveries!

  • Black Coffee
    • While I usually do not drink black coffee, I found it quite enjoyable when I was studying because it kept me focused!
  • Yogi’s tea
    • Every single day, I drink at least 4-6 cups of tea! Right now, I am LOVING Yogi’s selection of teas such as their Mango Ginger tea and their Stress Relief tea. I usually drink their Sweet Tangerine tea in the morning to give me a boost of energy and their Green Tea Blueberry tea at night to get me ready to go to sleep. 
  • Trader Joe’s Dried Fruits, Vegetable Chips and Infusion’s Tuna
    • Anyone who was close to me in high school knew that I always had one of the following: dried fruits, vegetable chips and/or tuna. I wasn’t trying to be particularly healthy (though that is an added bonus); I just really enjoyed how they tasted so it’s not exactly a surprise that I brought them with me when I started dorming!
  • Ritz crackers
    • This snack is a staple in my household because it goes so well with everything! I eat it with salsa, guacamole, or just by itself! If I can’t decide what to eat, I reach for these!
  • Nilla wafers
    • For some reason, I just get a craving for Nilla wafers every once in a while, and therefore, it made it onto my list for old favorites! The crispness of the wafer gives me nostalgia whenever I eat it and I like the way it melts in my mouth. 
  • Black chocolate 
    • To be honest, I never really liked black chocolate until my sister kept giving me some whenever I studied. Now, it is just natural for me to eat some here and there😂 I actually enjoy the bitterness of the chocolate and it does help me focus better on whatever I am working on. 
  • Potato chips
    • Now…I know…it’s the least healthy snack here, BUT it is important to remind yourself that it is okay to treat yourself to some cravings especially if you haven’t eaten them in a while…that’s what I tell myself so I don’t feel too guilty😅
  • Lady M’s crepe cakes and Mother’s Market Kitchen’s fruits
    • The trip to these places will be worth it because they’re right next to each other! Lady M, first established in New York, is well-known for its crepe cakes! I’ve only ever tried their original crepe cake so I was so excited to see so many flavors at their Irvine location. I ended up choosing their Matcha crepe cake and their Earl Grey crepe cake. I ate both so fast that I forgot to take a picture to show you all😅, but please know that it was delicious!
    • Mother’s Market Kitchen was such an unexpected surprise, but it was worth the visit. Their produce was fresh and they have a variety of fruits that come from different areas of the world. I will definitely go again in the future😊
  • Sidecar Doughnuts and Coffee
    • At first, I didn’t expect myself to get doughnuts because I’m personally not a doughnut person, but I was pleasantly amazed by their selection of doughnuts. They had the typical doughnut flavors like vanilla and chocolate, but they also had flavors like huckleberry, pumpkin spice, and sweet potato. With such bold flavors, even someone like me who doesn’t like doughnuts will be intrigued to try at least one! 

I also tried something different and made some phone calendar wallpapers so I hope you like them🤗

I put together a playlist of all the songs I’ve been listening to this month so here are my music recommendations!

I hope you all have an amazing day and like always, take care!🤗

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no study, head empty

(Forlorn) I sit here, wishing I had a cool midterms story to tell, but alas— here I am, still sitting, with no story to tell.

Midterms felt like just any other test, really. I didn’t study because all my tests were open notes and I assumed that delving through my notes to scavenge for the right answer would be enough— and they were, sorta. I didn’t do so hot on my physics exam. Somehow I forgot that equations wouldn’t be enough to come to the right answer. That’s really all. I didn’t really understand the true significance of midterms until a friend congratulated me saying “Your first midterms!!! Congrats!!” I said thanks! not truly knowing the reason for the ovation. 

Since I’m out of juice with a word count to fill, I’ll write about how midterms could have gone, given COVID was just a silly fever dream the whole world dreamt at exactly the same time.

Pre-COVID Studying

I haven’t slept in days. It’s like I basically live at the library now. The books all know me by name and so do the dusty (Brown Shelves? Gray shelves? I wouldn’t know I’ve never been to the library) brown or gray shelves they live on. My roommate (who currently does not exist) has been staking out in our dorm that we share because there is no safety precaution for single-student dorms. She and I can’t study in the same room, certainly not for virus-safety means, but because she studies with music on and I can’t stand the intrusive voice of Bruno Mars dancing on all the physics equations rolling around in my brain. 

Bruno Mars dancing on physics equations

Pre-COVID Exam Taking

So there I am sitting in my in-person classroom, with a real piece of paper before me and empty bubbles to fill (who woulda thought, tests on paper.)  I’ve forgotten my pencil. I raise my hand and the professor gets the pencil to me by giving it to the students in the front row and having them pass it back to me. After it has passed through at least seven people’s hands, it gets to me and I don’t sanitize it with a disinfectant spray or wipe— why would I? I am mask-less and share the same air that my 50 other classmates breathe. The room is quiet and someone sniffles and lets out a little cough. No heads turn, the room barely takes notice. There’s a person in the seat right next to me, close enough for me to hear their pencil scratching on the test form. It’s not necessary to sit a desk apart, the thought never even crosses my mind.

After the test, me and some friends get some snacks to celebrate the ending of midterms. We all sit at one table together right next to another group of people (there are more than three of them.) Someone sneezes and I turn around to say “bless you” and smile in response to their thanks. Life is good, I live on campus, I have just finished midterms, and the word “Corona” means nothing more than Rapunzel’s island kingdom.