working with “student” budget

Sometimes I find me telling myself that college days would also probably be one of my financially unstable times. But I enjoy being broke or a savvy when it comes to budgeting. I strongly do not believe that money brings happiness, it shouldn’t. It has a lot to do with the feeling involving possession issues but this is another subject we can discuss later.

I have found few ways to not break the bank. I am known for getting things that I want instead of needing them. By time when I really need them, I’d make a panicked videophone call to my parents and beg. Not an exactly good way to sort things out, I know. I am listing all the things I’ve done in order to save extra gravy.

1)  Skin Care: If I had a post-graduate job with a gravy flowin’ income, I’d find myself in the shelves at Sephora and browsing their latest cream. However I have found another way around, and the answer is baking soda. It works fantastic! Me and my high school self didn’t escape my face when I enrolled college for the first time. I was only seventeen and I had bad acne. I tried countless of products labeled with some promising marketing phrases that led me hoping it would tackle my skin problems. It never did. Until two weeks ago, I tried washing it with baking soda. It worked amazingly and my skin is a lot more controlled, the best part? It’s only a dollar or few more. I wash my face every night after wetting it with hot water, then I create a “paste” out of the baking soda with water and scrub then rinse. You’re all good!

2) Body Scrub: When you’re in California or DC, your opportunity to get a nice glow from the sun is great. But you cannot do that if you don’t exfoliate, with that being said– most of scrubs are costly OR packed with unknown chemicals that you cannot pronounce. (usually from cheap products, I’d say.) What I do, I take a bit of maple syrup and mix it with sugar. There! It works very well and not to mention it is delicious! You can use similar products like honey or agave nectar. Here’s a tip– the cafeteria at Gallaudet holds those products! You can easily get a spoonful of honey and sugar to-go then treat yourself to a nice body/face scrub topped off with a steamy shower!

3) Bring your cup: In order for me to survive the semester, I rely on America’s most addictive drug that is perfectly legal (well, sociologically speaking!)…caffeine. I usually like my cup of joe black and bold, but sometimes I’m in for a treat. A soy latte is a bliss for me when I’m at my stressed phases at Gallaudet. I go to the ‘gallybucks’ at the G-AREA in Student Academic Center and bring my mug. You’ll save a couple of cents! It is a small amount of money being saved but your action counts for the mother nature. NOTE: When SBG office hours are being posted, we have an espresso machine and it is for anyone to use! We can whip you up a latte if you wish to!
4) Get a metro card, seriously: You’re in DC and you’re a college student, please do not bring your car. We are blessed with wonderful public transportation. It is not the system that we’re blessed with, the perks comes within. Every Wednesdays at SAC, around 11AM to 3pm– a Metro sales rep will be present at a booth where you can apply for a discounted SmartTrip card. When you’re approved (it only takes ten minutes of your time to fill out an online form and get your picture taken) and you save greatly. You pay $5 for the card and start depositing balances at any Metro location- you ride for half of the price! And yes, again its eco-friendly. You’re saving your carbon footprint and reducing the use of paper.

5) Gettin’ tired of your look? Ask around and look out for some hair-cutting offer flyers posted on campus. I’m very anal with my bangs but I do not go to a salon to get a $15 bang trim. I know some friends of friends’ friend who got some mean cutting skill. I get my bangs trimmed in a manner I exactly wanted for an exchange of a drink or a tip. Most of salons at DC do offer student discounts but I’m not paying $27 if I can get a cheaper cut. You can sometimes find a great deal on groupon.com if you really want to treat yourself.  **A note to those who desire a mini-makeover, talking about beach waves: if you want the beachy waves- do not buy hair products. Just fill a sprayer with water and sea salt (get that from cafeteria!) and spritz all over your hair then blow dry- your prayers will be answered.

6) Craving for a movie night? Rent some from the library, you’d be surprised that they have good flicks on the stock! And it is  entirely free! You can also go to the cafeteria to pack some fun snacks to-go so you can nibble on them while watching the movie. I usually pack goldfishes, ham deli meat stuffed with cream cheese, cucumbers and salsa, and etc. I’ve done this many times when I’m broke and it is very fulfilling.

7) An event coming up: dive in! One of perks with being involved with sbg-sponsored events, you get a free admission. When the opportunity arises, sign up to be part of a committee! For example: Homecoming 2011 is around the corner and they will be asking for students to volunteer with decorations, beer stand, security, and more. You’ll pay in first as a deposit to ensure that you’ll fulfill your duties. After the event, you’ll get your money back only if you fulfill your duties. You may save $25!

I think I want to stop there, I finally finished my summer painting project- meet Lola. And, good night everyone.

Lola and the artist

overcoming the..heat

When school starts again, the excitement and the energy is very high on Gallaudet campus. However there may be one environmental factor that I never liked and that is; the humidity, my friend.

Before Gallaudet College existed, the acres of land used to be a swamp. Yes, a swamp. In case if you never noticed the mosquitoes are always around until the midweek of September. Until Gallaudet College started to build, and the whole building expanded even bigger when Gallaudet College became a University and–it no longer resembles a swamp. And now we are continuing our renovations and new projects on campus, we are expecting a new residence hall in the spring of 2012! Anyways, the former climate of land now underpins the reason why DC has horrible humidity.

I always find myself dreading for the heat, because I’m from the west coast where it is nice and dry. But within my four years at Gallaudet, I have learned how to adopt to DC’s weather. I find it useful when I keep myself hydrated. You guys may see me bringing my trusty friend aka Palibou (don’t ask abt the name, long story and yes it involves Alaskan Caribou and Sarah Palin) it’s a REI refillable 32 ounces water bottle. The more hydrated you are, the less likely you’ll feel exhausted by afternoon after sticking up with the humidity. Whenever you’re going to a class, always bring a thin coat because Gallaudet University buildings are usually a bit chilly from the A/C.

I’m also a jogger myself in the mornings, and I do not recommend anyone running in the day where the heat is at its peak. It is dangerous and people do get heat strokes from that. It is best to do your running regime in the morning until 10 am the latest. And on the weekends try to have an activity that is water-related, it cools you down. I usually go to Dupont Circle and sit on the water fountain, a lot of people does this too! It is very cool and refreshing while you do your people-watching pleasure!

Before you know it, the fall season will begin and the humidity will be long gone! And when you pass your full-year mark, the more immune you will be from suffering the heat.

EDIT: One of my professor shared me this link- DC is not built on a swamp (oops!) it’s a myth apparently but this is a good read! http://www.welovedc.com/2009/07/07/dc-mythbusting-built-on-a-swamp/

and this shows that my readers do not only involve students, transfer students, new students, or stalkers–it includes my professors! The perks of Gallaudet- it’s a smaller school where everyone knows everyone on any level from personal to professional level. You’ll sense that after a semester at Gallaudet, really.  It’s something I’ll miss after I graduate. So that’s also the reason why I love the great northwestern (Anchorage) its so small and local- you bump into your tattoo artists every fridays at a gathering.

a cordial facade we stroll…

I am running out of excuses on why I’m not blogging. Yeah, really- this is raw. I’m going to lay it all out on the table and just say this: I’m just busy. Yes, I’m busy. But when you say “I’m busy” to someone- you don’t realize you either: scare them away or cut down the friendly tone in the conversation you’re having with the person. So I typically try to avoid the B word whenever I’m clacking my heels around the campus (usually with flats packed inside my bags because I start limping approximately three hours after the use.) Until tonight, I realized that this is a blog. I’m blogging about my life and it is BUSY. There! Using the B word has never been so liberating as tonight feels. Now what I am about to tell you is considered as a good excuse, probably the best you’ll ever hear.

Lately ever since I left off after my last entry (around Thanksgiving) I’ve been discovering more about my GNU Baby (for those who don’t know, it is a snowboard) and I love it until I injured my tailbone. I am now living with a coccyx injury. I have to stay away from Lomo the long board for a range of 6 months to a year and yes that includes my GNU Baby. I have read so much more books and yes it includes King’s books *ALWAYS! I’ve written a 45 page long story about a LSD trip and the catch is that I have never tried LSD. I became the Anagrapha Grammareus for my sorority in the spring semester. I coordinated Colorfest 2011 Workshops. Arranged several events on behalf of Student Body Government as their Director of Community Relations. I got an internship gig at National Council of Disability. And yes! I got tattooed (much more to come!) I discovered great bands like Arcade Fire, Mumford & Sons, Doctor Squid, and more. I went to Alaska in the summer then made an impulsive decision to stay there for two months. Where I enjoyed a lot of Kaladi Brother Coffee, honey-cinnamon-nutmeg-lavendar infused beer, and good local indie music (talking about the hoons: http://www.facebook.com/Thehoons). And here I am. So, I think this considers a good pass for slacking on this blog lately.

Anyways, one of my objectives for my last year is to blog as frequently as I can. This is because I want to have my own blogging site someday and this is a good start for me. I’ve been browsing around other wonderful sites (for ladies or anyone with kitschy art interests, and yes vintage fashion with a little bit of tattooing culture nicely interwoven into the mix) I fell in love and felt suddenly inspired! Their url(s) are:

http://www.delightfully-tacky.com/

http://entroende.wordpress.com/ (a dear friend of mine!)

http://skunkboycreatures.blogspot.com/

http://thevelvetbird.blogspot.com/

Something to keep you all occupied before your preseason training begins, or any other training that heavily involves workshops (the usual at Gallaudet for Resident Assistants, Campus Activities Workers, Student Body Government *me* officers, Greek Officers *me again*, and more.)

The upcoming academic year of 2011-12 will have to begin and end with a bang for me. It will be my very last year at Gallaudet University before I go off to explore the perks of life out there. Before I can do that- I’ll lead my sorority (I’m the Proedros- check our site out: http://www.phikappazeta.org/) and I’ll be the Chief of Staff for the Hinks and Behm Administration- it will be a great year for Student Body Government. I’m very animated about how I will lead my cabinets, we have a very diverse and wonderful team this year.

I can’t write about the year any further because it is yet to come! If you’re a existing student, a new student, a transfer student, a stalker, or a someone who wishes to give me an insult…rant…death threats.. I welcome them. contact me at my school email address: clara.baldwin@gallaudet.edu

ask me anything, I’m an open book!

p.s. the subject “a cordial facade we stroll” is a portion of lyrics stolen from one of the hoons’ song “a new credo” (a pretty rad tune to listen to) had to credit to them. just felt very fitting.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy your turkey hiatus, before you know it- the semester will end!

 

Take care and stay warm, don’t worry if your clothes don’t fit tomorrow- its thanksgiving!

a hint of winter in the air, already?

I can’t just believe that the Thanksgiving break is around the corner, it is something I need. I just need to take a break from Gallaudet and do not take this in a bad way! Gallaudet is always very lively with the Common Time (Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:30 to 2:30) workshops/forums/panels. Along with student organization events: Kappa Gamma Bash, Alpha Sigma Pi’s Oktoberfest, Homecoming 2010, and so much more.

I am working on my research proposal and last weekend I got too overworked on it and decided to go out for a break. You sometimes don’t realize how beautiful DC is, rich in patriotic culture & freedom of speech- you’ll never get tired of DC. I walked to the supreme court and the memories came back to me. The best day of my life was when I met Sonia Sotomayor while being on my SOC 150 fieldtrip- Saloshin Justice Seminar. This class focus on the field of criminology and we had so much opportunities to visit every category of the field. We even went to a crime & evidence unit and visited the blood drying room which was so cool. If it wasn’t for the class, I would have never met Sotomayor nor viewed the blood drying room.

Here’s a picture of the class with Sotomayor, and that will be all for today. I just need to get the writer’s urge out!

You Can Thank Dr. Stremlau

One of reasons why I am writing again, I am taking creative writing class, which require lot of writing. I am in progress of creating a fiction story, which will be 25 pages long and that makes me miss writing about real stuff- my life. So here goes..

The summer I just had consisted: snowboarding in mammoth, road tripping around the New England coast, and working at Camp Mark Seven. Oh didn’t I mention that I now own a long board too? All it took was a summer to realize that shredding and the concept of riding is necessary in life. After shredding and falling hard on the powdered slopes, I have discovered the excitement of riding. Yes this is the feminine Clara typing here; stating that she rides.

And the summer went well.

Fall semester 2010, I was so pumped for it. I didn’t know what was in the store for me but I like what I have so far. I have successfully declared my major: Communication Studies & Sociology with concretion in criminology and English minor. One of the common problems I recognize is the Deaf people’s knowledge in the criminal justice system. It does underpin the reason why I am majoring in sociology with concretion in criminology.

I am currently working on my research project proposal that will take yearlong work of researching next year. I will observe the knowledge that Deaf people have in the criminal justice system. I am more interested in knowing what their knowledge of restraining orders, probation system, the protocols of court are, and etc. After finding the data, my goal is to be able to mend the problem because it is clearly fixable but nobody is doing that. The word for that? Apathy.

On the bright side, there’s a hint of fall in the air. I love the autumn, the season for pumpkin ale, warm spices, and lots of chai lattes! It is when I lick things up from my finger and lap it all up. I would recommend you guys to stop by Sova’s on H st and grab a latte, do the homework with their free wifi.

It is really good being back in District of Columbia. I love how things integrate here, with tattooed people, places like national cathedral, and great food such as heirloom tomato salad with fresh basil. You can go to Dupont Circle and do people watch as often as you want to without feeling like a fool because others go there to do just the same thing. That’s one of the perks of DC- and a student spotted a Supreme Court justice; Sonia Sotomayer shopping at the Eastern Market. Where else can you find moments like that?

Until I write again,

-C

an awakening..

I think I have forgotten that I’m one of the Gbloggers- so pardon for the long hiatus. I am sitting in one of my most fond places- Baltimore Washington International airport. I love it when I sit and watch people, studying how they behave. In general, people watching can be very amusing.

 

One of the fewest things I have been lacking this semester is consumption of pop culture. I’ve just been so busy with classes this semester- and I am this close to declaring my major. The new curriculum here makes it much easier for me to get things going with other classes than the general studies requirement courses. I like where I am heading towards and I believe that your Bachelor of Arts degree should be something you truly enjoy doing and merges well with your masters. I am not unveiling you all on what I am majoring in because I have this weird curse where I declare it without officially doing the major selection paperwork- I ended up not majoring in that area. So, people- please bear with me.

 

Anyways back to the concept of consumption of pop culture, the first thing I did when I went to BWI (besides treating myself a latte from Starbucks) was buying a magazine. I just love America because every fashion magazine must at least have something about weight loss in the cover. I couldn’t pick which magazine I wanted but one thing that made my decision much easier was judging the covers- I saw that allure has Kirsten Dunst on the cover. I had to take it, I love her! Ever since I saw how she portrayed the role of Lux Lisbon on The Virgin Suicides and I was in love with her. I don’t usually read allure but- I realized how sad it is because my selection is based on the covers. Let’s say if a magazine has a boring cover with some good articles inside or a magazine with Dunst on the cover with full of crappy article, which would I pick? Sadly- the one with Dunst on the cover.

 

I eagerly bought the magazine and sat down with my latte, I opened the magazine and I miss the colorful pictures of photoshopped models, scents of perfume samples, and lots of close-ups beauty ads. I started to laugh as I flip through the pages, I realized that the society’s control agents has gone mad. What we are consuming, reading, and seeing is not real. It is ridiculous and clearly unrealistic- but it got us believing. Everyday people hit the gyms to look good, maybe a thousand of women on the operation table- awaiting for their breast implants, and people  being obsessed with their bodies. It is exactly like believing a non-existing ghosts, but we believe the photoshopped supermodels instead.

 

I realized, America is addicted to this infectious disease- the pop culture but it is up to us how we interpret it. I must thank my GSR 240 class on sexism in advertising, it has truly opened my eyes to how the society is. Sometimes you take courses to get it over with but you do not realize how much impact it has on you.

 

Other than this, life’s good for me. Nobody said life was easy well maybe Hugh Hefner did. I’m on the winter cheerleading squad once again and am working for Green Gallaudet. I still work at Campus Activities. Also- I just became a new sister of the Phi Kappa Zeta sorority- I am very proud of what I have overcame this semester!

I just wanted to tune you guys in for a halftime report. I cannot believe that its July already. It is only a month away before I go back to Gallaudet early to start working again and begin another academic year. So far, the summer is treating me wonderfully. I visited Alaska and Colorado, but guess what? I’m back in Alaska. It’s lovely here and visiting for two weeks was a big mistake, Alaska is HUGE and you’ll need a month or more to enjoy Alaska. The only thing I am still trying to integrate on Alaskan lifestyle is sleeping soundly at nights. Their sun schedule are way different than the schedule we have here! Their sun goes up until like 3 am! Other than this, it’s all good in Alaska! Lately I’ve been visiting places and places, this weekend I’ll camp out in Homer for the Forth of July!

 

On July 7^th, I’ll go back home and pack for Indiana & New York. I plan to visit my family in Indiana and go straight to New York for Camp Mark Seven. After the camp, I’ll go straight to District of Columbia. This summer is very different for me, often I stay in home a lot and spend a lot of time with my family. But this time the summer is so just busy and it cuts down the time I have with my family. It really helps me see how important my family is to me, because often I would wander in those reflecting moment while being away from home; I would think how much I miss the serenity I have around home. The family I have are people who allows me to be completely who I want to be, where I feel it is okay to be a temporary couch potato! I miss the serenity, the calmness, and the joy of being home.

 

Anyways, here are some pictures!

1) The view of Denali which is 6 hours away from where I took the picture! 

2) I held the gun and it was heavy, but nope- I don’t hunt. 

3) This is something I enjoy daily at Alaska- COFFEE!

4) Democracy isn’t something you see too often in Alaska since their gov. is Palin. 

5) Me posing in front of The Sleeping Lady Mountain.

Spring Semester 2009: The Final Edit

 

Eagle River, AK

 

 

Greetings from the lovely Alaska! I am enjoying my little adventure at Eagle River and I am sad to say that it will end this Friday. Anyways, I cannot believe that the semester is over, I know that I’ve been inching closer to the ending. But it is finished. I remembered that I had a severe case of sophomore blues at the beginning of my epoch. There is something I would like to share about Gallaudet University. I looked back on how my courses were and the benefits of General Studies Requirements course, which consists two professors teaching an integrated course.

 

When I begun my freshmen year and I learned that our class will be the first to explore the new curriculum which has GSR courses in it. I didn’t understand what GSR was for until I got my schedule. For example, First Year Seminar is GSR 101. When you register for classes you’ll see the headline to be “GSR 101” and the topic will tell you what this GSR course will cover. I have taken seven GSR courses and I have had a quite interesting experience.

The pros of having an integrated teaching environment is that you do really get most out of the course itself. Because you have two different professors who have undergo an experience of a lifetime where they fully invest in their doctrine. You hold an option of talking to one of them, in certain situations. One time I recall myself being very uncomfortable about my paper’s thesis. I decided it was best for me to ask one of my professors for an opinion because I am comfortable with her. You will also be able to get am insight of your professors’ strengths and weakness where you will become familiar with situation tactics they use. Once there was a scramble between an enraged student and one of the professor. The professor who was dealing with the angry student couldn’t understand “fast” American Sign Language. The other professor who was also hearing but is a CODA herself quietly interpreted what the angry student was saying. It was wonderful watching an actual integrated team work in action.

The concept of having two professors can be difficult because when they disagree on something, the classroom environment can become awkward. Some of the professors have different learning outcomes which makes it much more frustrating for us. Some of the professors bring up an issue which other professor strongly disagrees on, which becomes a squabble inside the classroom. Sometimes the professors do not communicate with each other where the lesson plan is lost; it can be frustrating for students because it is a waste of time. One of the few guarantees about having a GSR course is that you will get a very strict professor and a sweet one. I remember my GSR 101 professors very clearly: one was a mother-like and another was just some kind of crazy aunt! The motherly one was all about making sure that we got our life under the table. However the crazy aunt really kicked our rear end with tons of academic workload.

Overall I am glad that I enrolled Gallaudet in time they invested in the GSR courses. I feel that I do get the most out of those courses and it is not like I have this attitude where I groan and say, “I have to take this course!” I do not think that GSR course needs a major facelift but they do need to polish up some area.

 

Ok, I need to go back to where I was in Alaska!

 

Till the next time I blog,

 

-C

Your action speaks louder than words.

I apologize for not keeping up with my promise. BUT BUT What I can do at this very moment is share you guys an entry filled with pictures. So that way you all can know how crazy my semester went. I cannot believe that the spring break begins friday and guess where I’m going? 

 

NEGRIL, Jamaica! 

This is what I really need: 

 

Paradise, BABY!

But the weird thing is that I am not excited, not even a bit. That is just because I have several hefty workload coming up BEFORE I can even go to Jamaica. 

Ok, enough with words- pictures! 

 

 

Vagina Monologue Cast 2009

 

In green room, being my own self

 

POWERSHIFT 2009

I am involved with Green Gallaudet, an environmental organization at Gallaudet University. My position is Education Track Director, and we’re very fortunate to be in D.C. Since Powershift 2009 Conference took place at DC! 

 

Rachel and I with Jessy Tolken

 It was a such honor to get the chance to meet her, she was featured all over on media- discussing about cleaner energy in the future. She is an activist who is very short but you cannot allow her height  to put some assumption because she made 12,000 college students all over the nation to come to Powershift 2009. Imagine. 

 

Ben's chili at Adam's Morgan

Me posing in the front of the best chili eatery in D.C. where Obama ate! On that day, we went to the University of Maryland to observe their cheerleading competition. Before that, Ben’s Chili was our pit stop. 

 

Their proudest portrait

Now they were really serious about Obama eating there once. 

We were getting ready for the CAC Cheerleading Competition where we hosted at Gallaudet this year. 

 

Siren Red Lips = Bonus Score given by Judges!

Fooling around with one of stuntmen

This is why I love my team

 

 

 

My cheer hunnies 🙂 

 

Bachelor's Party: The Season Finale

 This is one of the most fun thing I had during the semester. We were so crazy about the new Bachelor’s show on ABC so we actually had a “score sheet” for who’s right with the predictions. We would predict who’ll be in, who’s gonna be out. For that we had 1,000 points awarded to the ones who made correct assumptions. On that night of season finale, we all dressed up as if we were going to the rose ceremony. (Rose ceremony is when they eliminate one of the contestant) And we were not VERY happy with our bachelor’s decision. He choose the girl he wanted to marry which is our favorite- Melissa then later he broke off the whole engagement and went over for the second girl- Molly who he didn’t propose to in the first place. 

 

Our reaction when Jason didn't propose to Molly

 

My proudest moment for my stuntmen- Kent.

Two of my closest people, well Californians. They got into a fraternity- Kent just became a brother of Alpha Sigma Pi Fraternity and Mark got into Kappa Gamma Fraternity. I’m really proud of them 🙂 and their pledging program just ended! 

 

Mark as Kappa Gamma brother

Other than this, Real Women, Real Beauty performance night is tomorrow! It is part of the Women Awarness Month, I can’t wait. I did the performance last year and this year- trust me it is entirely a different story! Then Jamaica this friday. aah. 

 

Till the next time I blog

 

-C