adulting

During my senior year of college I lived in a house with nine other women, and believe me when I tell you: it was better than the movies.

This was a reality my freshman-self could never have predicted, especially having started college on Zoom amidst the COVID pandemic. I went from having no in-person college community to coming home to one every day. The added excitement to this senior year housing extravaganza was that I only knew 4 of the 9 women before moving in. Most of us didn’t know each other at...

All throughout high school (...and middle school) I would watch countless amounts of “Day in the Life of a…” videos. Heading into my college years, I especially loved to see videos about college students and people who were studying what I wanted to study. Rather than film a video, I’m going to be sharing my day in the life as a Berkeley English major!

From a recent Friday (08/27/23) in the Fall 2023 Semester:

8:30-9:00 am – Waking up! Honestly, sometimes the hardest part of my day. But it is Friday!

9:30 am – Grabbing a...

I never learned how to cook on my own until this year, my sophomore year of college. Before, it was always my parents guiding me through the steps – let the pan heat up before adding the oil, add meat before vegetables, understand when it’s fully cooked. The base seasonings I use in my apartment are the same ones: onion powder, garlic powder, paprika. But as I’ve made food at Berkeley, I’ve found myself adjusting the flavors slightly, adding my own dash of perspective.

I think growing up is a lot like cooking. If you're cooking raw meat, the first seasoning gets...

Like most fairytale-loving kids, I never wanted to grow up. The idea that growing up meant becoming a responsible, reliable, and problem-solving person out of necessity was sickening. When you’re a child it’s whimsical to do responsible things on impulse, because you can go play after. Nowadays, at 20, to play is to be rewarded, and by what? Finishing tasks? Meeting deadlines? Having such little anxiety or imposter syndrome or so much stress and fatigue that you finally just stop studying? The feeling of never doing enough follows me around like a bouncy child asking “Are we there...