Author: Brooke

From 0 Interests to Lots – Find Yours!

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

Are you looking for a hobby or a new activity to fill some empty space in your life, but can’t seem to figure out where to even start? Have you always passed your free time without any structure and are looking for something more outside of school or work? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, you’ve found the right place! I was in your shoes not too long ago, and since then I’ve found plenty of hobbies and interests to occupy my time. Here’s my tips on how to figure out what you actually like spending your time doing, and how to get started pursuing it.

  • Think about who you admire. Sometimes, thinking about the people you look up to can remind you of your personal goals. If you’re constantly keeping up with girlboss YouTubers who have their own podcasts, maybe you want to start your own YouTube channel or podcast. If you’re obsessed with certain fashion designers maybe you want to get into making your own clothes. It can be something simple or something complicated, but your idols can say a lot about you.
  • Consider the things you do when you have free time. What do you do when you’re not busy and no one’s telling you what to do? Yes, even TV and scrolling through social media can count. Whatever you generally lean towards doing, find a way to channel that into a hobby. Sometimes, these things actually already are hobbies- I know a lot of people who claim they don’t do anything but are amazing artists who make these beautiful drawings in their free time. That’s definitely a super cool interest/hobby! If you’re looking to do something more with it, you can make a social media account and share your art with the world or do commissions though, for example.
  • Take advantage of opportunities around you. What’s available at your school? Go to club rush, go to interest meetings, pick electives that sound interesting- these all might lead you down a path of something you end up loving. Talk to teachers or your counselor about possible things you might like or activities you should join based on what your favorite subjects in school are, and always look at bulletin boards around your community for opportunities outside of school.
  • Think about your future goals. This only applies if you’ve set long-term goals for yourself, but I know in high school a lot of people have, so I’m hoping it applies to a lot of you. If you’ve always said you want to be a lawyer when you grow up, get involved in debate or mock trial. If you want to be a teacher, start tutoring people or join some other academic groups. Sometimes looking at the big picture can point you in direction of what you want to do now- it’s a win-win because you can test out if you’d actually like to go into that field when you’re older.

These are just a few ways to find some new interests; I know it can be overwhelming. I went from feeling like I wasn’t interested in anything to being interested in so many things I couldn’t commit to joining an activity dedicated to each of them. There really are so many opportunities out there- you just have to find them and take advantage of them, and if they don’t work out you can always make your own. I’m no expert on finding your passion, but I’m always here to help or offer what advice I can, so please let me know if you have any questions.

Brooke

The Perfect Trip – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I have another poem to share with you all. It’s inspired by a faux-camping experience I had earlier in the school year with my friends, and I thought it would be a funny/interesting thing to write a poem about. Regardless of the background behind it, I hope you all can find something to relate to within the poem.

we pitched a tent as fast as we became friends; people say that these experiences bond you like nothing else can, i didn’t believe it until now. this tent is our friendship, we litter it with blankets and snacks and all the things that make life comfortable. we shower each other with compliments, it’s all about making ourselves comfortable. as we make a campfire and roast s’mores and do all these stereotypical “camping” trip things, i look across the fire and see your faces, smiles flickering along with the shadows. i realize i’ve never been camping with anyone else before. we watch the stars and talk about life, we laugh until 3 a.m. while eating dry cereal straight from the box. i feel like a kid again, i feel like it’s easy to be myself, i feel comfortable. i don’t care about being comfortable in the tent anymore, and i don’t care about having the perfect trip. with the perfect company, the destination no longer matters.

I hope you guys enjoyed this poem. Please feel free to leave feedback or suggestions for future poetry I share on here- even though I’ve been writing poetry for a while, I don’t claim to be an expert and I would love others’ input since you guys are the ones reading it 🙂

Brooke

Youth and Government – 72nd MLC in Sacramento, CA

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

I’ve been waiting to post about this so I could collect my thoughts and reflect on this past year of Youth and Government as a whole (I can’t believe it’s over already), but the time is finally here. If you’re unfamiliar with Youth and Government, it’s a youth model legislature and court program through the YMCA. The California Y&G program has two weekend-long statewide training conferences and the culmination to the year is the statewide conference in Sacramento, which was a full 6-day trip (the actual conference activities are only 4 days). Whatever delegation you are in will meet weekly throughout the program to inform you on debate topics, politics, and other aspects of the program, as well as just have fun.

I joined my local Y&G delegation this year not knowing what to expect, but it was one of the best decisions I ever made. I became so much closer with a few people I’ve been acquaintances with at school for a while, and I met so many amazing and genuine people from other schools in my area. I’m a pretty shy person but I’ve always been interested in politics, government, and law, so it seemed like a great way to get out of my comfort zone- I was right. The Sacramento conference was absolutely exhausting and amazing in every way. I was in the Appellate Court program so I got to present a court case, and my partner and I actually won!

During the conference, you’re mainly going to sessions for whatever specific program area you’re in. You get meal breaks and you can eat with your friends wherever you want within the boundaries of the program (a few blocks in downtown, plenty of places to go), and you’re responsible for walking everywhere and getting to sessions and getting ready. It was so fun to be independent and wearing business clothes in the city- I felt so old! It also bonded my delegation together even more than I thought it would. 24/7 for basically a week with people really bonds you, especially when you’re having fun and making incredible memories doing something super unique that most kids your age don’t get to do. There’s also a few joint sessions, and it’s amazing to see people speak in front of the whole 4000 person program.

Another highlight of the week for me was when my delegation had elections for our officer team next year. Someone nominated me for president- I gave my speech and didn’t win, but someone else nominated me for campaign manager, which I ran for and won the position!! I was really hoping to get an officer position since I want to get way more involved in the program next year since I now know how much I love it, but I didn’t actually expect to get anything. I’m so thankful to have been elected since I’ve never had a real, concrete leadership position/title in anything before, and it made me feel a lot more confident in my abilities to be a leader in some way throughout the program.

This program is so inspiring and it really does change lives. I can’t say that I’ve completely transformed and become a different person who speaks in front of thousands of people easily, but I have witnessed it do so to others, and I can only hope to work towards that same transformation in the future. If you’re at all interested in debating, politics, law, government, or even just having fun and learning about all of the above a little bit to see if you like it, I highly suggest you join the program. It’s not just for people who are experts on these topics or overachievers or the loud ones in every room- there’s truly a place for everyone within the program and if you join you will find yours.

Sacramento’s also just a genuinely cool place. I haven’t been to Northern California since I was little and I’ve never been to Sacramento, so it was super cool to tour the Capitol and actually be arguing a court case inside of it. There were lots of good restaurants, and I loved the feeling of being independent in the city. It definitely affirmed my desire to live in a big city one day. My delegation got there a day early so we could tour Old Town Sacramento, and we had a lot of fun bonding times there.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my experience, and I hope you consider joining Y&G if you’re still in high school and it’s available near you. If you’re out of high school and this still sounds amazing, they also have intern and volunteer opportunities that sound amazing- I would totally consider being an intern for the program in college. Regardless, thank you to the YMCA and to Y&G for helping me discover a new part of myself and for giving me the best memories with the best people at conferences. I can’t wait for next year!

Brooke

When Does Peer Pressure Become a Good Thing?

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

There are a lot of broad questions/topics in my mind that I want to address on this blog, so I’m going to be starting a little series where I pick a question and explain how I would answer the question based on my thoughts and opinions. As you can tell from the title of this post, today I’m going to be discussing when I think peer pressure becomes a positive force rather than a negative force. As a teenager in high school, I experience a fair amount of peer pressure as anyone would expect; however, I feel like it’s actually usually in a positive direction rather than negative, which is a different perception than the normal description of peer pressure. If you want to know my complete opinion on this, keep on reading.

When people say “peer pressure” in relation to teenagers, they’re usually referencing the pressure to drink, do drugs, or participate in some other illegal/possibly dangerous behavior. However, I feel like most of the peer pressure I experience is actually pushing me to do better. I go to a fairly competitive public high school and my friends and I are in difficult classes, so we all push each other to do better. This competitive atmosphere can have its own downsides, but I feel like even though it’s still pressure, it’s pushing me to be my best self.

I’m actually thankful for some of the things my friends pressure me into doing. I’m kind of introverted and will easily spend the entire weekend at home doing schoolwork and other things, but my friends will force me to hang out with them- obviously only when I actually can- and make sure I give myself a break from all the work I’m doing. They’ll convince me to go to school events that I actually wanted to go to but needed a little push, and they encourage me to go out of my comfort zone and try new things.

Also, I’ve experienced peer pressure in a good way at Youth and Government. I’ve talked about Youth and Government a few times on this blog before, but it’s basically a model legislature and court program through the YMCA, and it involves lots of public speaking and debating. As a quiet person who’s interested in this type of stuff, the other kids in my delegation and in the program in general at conferences were so supportive and encouraged me to speak my mind even when it was scary for me. Seeing other kids do it convinced me I could too.

I definitely understand why peer pressure is usually perceived negatively, because you shouldn’t necessarily do things that you don’t want to and you shouldn’t let people push you around, but I think people should recognize it can give the little push to some people that they need in order to do something they actually want to. I’m indecisive and often question my decisions a lot, so I’m thankful when people can influence me a little bit and give a tiny bit of pressure so I actually make a choice.

I hope you guys found hearing my perspective on this issue interesting. I’ll definitely have more of these coming soon, and I challenge you to write about or at least think about your opinions/your personal answer to this question 🙂

Brooke

How to Pick Up New Skills & Why It’s Hard

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

I’ve tried a lot of new things this school year, and I’m glad I have. That being said, every time I would go to try something new, a little voice in my head would hope this would be my “thing”, the thing I was good at from the get-go, the thing that came naturally to me. I know it’s important to start new activities with an open mind because it takes practice and hard work to perfect a skill, but I couldn’t help wishing I had some sort of specific talent or activity I was known for being good at.

If you’re trying to pick up some new skills of your own, you’re in the right place. It’s definitely challenging to dive into something new, but I’m here to help you guys out. I’ve definitely been there, and I still am constantly trying to master new skills, so we’re all in this together!

  • Be open-minded – I know, it’s basic, but it’s so important. Keeping an open mind is crucial because you’re never sure if you’re actually going to like something or be good at it until you try and put in an honest effort! Even if something seems difficult, give it a full shot before you write it off as not being for you.
  • Put the work in – As I mentioned before, you don’t have to be a superstar at the first practice/meeting/whatever it is that you’re doing. Make sure you’re giving your best efforts and don’t complain or get discouraged based on your beginning skill level. Be willing to try it out a few times/for a while if possible.
  • Think about what you like the best – What do you genuinely enjoy doing? Find activities or pastimes that would serve those interests- you’ll probably end up being better at these things anyways.
  • Make time for it – If your activity is kind of an afterthought and you’re always rushing through it, you can’t expect to be fully proud of the results. Don’t commit to something unless you know you have the time for it, and make sure you can fit it into your schedule.
  • Enjoy it!! – Have a positive attitude towards whatever new thing you’re doing. It will most likely make it at least twice as fun and you’ll have an easier time picking up the skill and mastering it. Don’t see everything you do as something to conquer- enjoy the experience while you’re there, and be grateful for the learning opportunities you have.

I hope this helps you guys out if you’re intimidated by getting out of your comfort zone and trying new things. I was always like that in middle school and even freshman year, but this year I pushed myself out of my little bubble and tried so many new things, and it’s been the best thing for me. Every experience you have contributes to your overall learning experience, so don’t worry about being an expert at everything you do! That being said, picking up new skills is wonderful and useful, so I wish you all the best in doing so 🙂

Brooke

Volunteer Project Inspiration – No-Sew Blankets

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

Today I have something a little different to share with you all. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you would know that I volunteer a lot through a variety of organizations and groups both inside and outside of school. For one of the volunteer groups I’m in outside of school, we often make no-sew fleece blankets. We volunteer these blankets to a variety of charities and groups of people in need; the most recent batch was donated to a local charity that works with foster kids.

It’s a super easy way to give back, and the only supplies you need are fleece from a fabric store and scissors. You choose a length and width of the strips and cut the piece of fleece on all sides, and then you tie every two pieces together into any knot of your choosing. It took me about 10-15 minutes per blanket, and I’ve made dozens over the course of all the meetings where my volunteer group worked on them. The one thing I would say to be careful of is to not make the knots too tight, since the fabric will start to bunch up and make weird rounded corners if you do.

It’s an easy and rewarding project. If you’re looking to get involved in your community or start your own volunteering, try getting a group of friends together and making a big batch of these blankets, then finding a worthy cause to donate them to. I would recommend trying to find coupons and deals for whatever fabric store you buy the fleece from it, because it can be a little pricey if you buy large amounts at a time.

I found this picture off of Google Images (credit: Virginia Club of New York) but it’s basically what the blankets should look like when tied.

I hope you consider taking on this project! It’s always nice to give back to people in your community and even though the winter’s almost over, it’s still chilly and there are always people who are looking to stay warm. I know I felt good whenever I turned some blankets in or folded up a stack I had made and saw the impact my volunteer group would have on these kids being able to stay warm.

Hopefully you guys enjoyed hearing about this fun way to give back. I love to volunteer in any way that I can, and I just wanted to pass an idea along for others to do the same. Let me know if you end up trying it, and how it goes!

Brooke

An Eternal Second – Poem by Me

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

The slow passing of time is a topic I’ve wanted to discuss on my blog for a long time. It was another one of those things where I didn’t know how to formulate it into a formal blog post, but I knew what I would say if I was making it the subject of a poem. I’ve been so happy to see positive feedback on my poetry, so I took this as an opportunity to write another poem to share with you guys.

An Eternal Second

tick, i hear the clock- but it doesn’t tick again. here we are in this moment together. it feels like just yesterday you and i met, yet it’s been years. years filled with memories, memories stuck to now-yellowing pages filed away in a cabinet in the back of my mind. i’ve been with you so many times while staring at a clock just like this. sometimes i’m wishing for time to go by faster, sometimes i’m praying that we can stay in this moment. if time’s going by so slow yet so fast at the same time, then all we really have is now. maybe time isn’t passing at all…

tick, i hear the clock again. i blink; the noise snapped me out of my thoughts. it’s proof the moment’s gone, but at least we’re still here together.

I hope you enjoyed this poem. I know my poem’s have kind of a weird structure/lack of structure, but hopefully that makes them more relatable and easy to understand. It makes me so happy to come up with new work that I can share with you guys- I’ve never really had a designated place to share my writing before.

Brooke

Netflix Recommendations for 2020 – Slightly Less Basic!

BrookeLeave a comment

Welcome back everyone!

If you didn’t know already, I am an avid Netflix (and Hulu, and Disney+) binge watcher, and I’m always looking for new things to watch. I’m not exactly a TV or movie critic, but I like to talk about whatever shows I’m into at the moment, and I tend to see the good in most of the programs I watch. Netflix hasn’t gotten as much love lately but there’s still plenty of new stuff being added all the time, so here are a few of my recent Netflix recommendations.

Keep in mind that I have a fairly “basic” teenage girl taste in TV shows, so I tried not to put anything on here that was extremely basic, and preferably things I hadn’t heard too much about previously.

  • The Circle – This is a Netflix original, and I got hooked after the first episode. It’s a little cheesy at times, but it’s basically a social media competition where 8 people live in separate apartments isolated from each other and can only communicate through this chat platform called “The Circle.” They compete for popularity and people get “blocked” out of the house and replaced. There’s only one season out, but I’m hoping more is coming soon.
  • Greenhouse Academy – This isn’t a new show but it’s another Netflix original and I don’t hear people talk about it often. I believe a new season is in the works, which is exciting since the last one ended on a major cliffhanger. It’s basically a mystery show that takes place at this uniquely structured boarding school for geniuses. I’ve always wanted to go to boarding school so that was the draw for me at first, but I genuinely enjoyed it.
  • Cheer – I guess this one could be considered basic if you think about all the media attention it has gotten, but it holds a special place in my heart because of my experience with cheerleading. Although I was a high school cheerleader, I also had an experience on a competitive team (nowhere near the level of Navarro, of course). The documentary series follows the ups and downs of Navarro College’s national champion team and their big competition in Daytona. I highly recommend it even if you’re not a cheerleader.
  • Big Mouth – This cartoon focuses on the struggles of puberty, and it’s absolutely hilarious albeit pretty inappropriate at times. I enjoyed it as a lighthearted show before bed, but I didn’t follow along with the storyline too closely. A few of my friends are completely obsessed with it as well, so it’s worth a look if you like cartoon shows like Family Guy and the like.
  • Yummy Mummies – This is completely random, but one of my friends suggested it to me because she found it hilarious and she knew I would be down to try watching anything. It’s a reality show covering the lives of these absolutely insane Australian moms and moms-to-be, and it’s like The Real Housewives on crack. Again, it’s not new, but I haven’t heard anyone talking about it so I figured I would share.

Let me know if you guys have any underrated Netflix recommendations or if you end up watching any of these and enjoy them. As I said, I’m always down to try out a new show 🙂 I get through shows embarrassingly fast as well, so I’m sure I’ll have some new recommendations soon enough…

Brooke

How to Exercise After Quitting A Sport

BrookeLeave a comment

Hello everyone!

It’s been almost a month since my cheer season ended (you should read some of my older posts about cheer if you’re new to my blog), and it’s been really nice to open up so much free time in my schedule. However, I’m definitely not the most in-shape person and I would rarely exercise outside of cheer practices, so I’ve been left to figure out how to stay in-shape and get myself outside and moving. I know this happens to a lot of other high-schoolers and college students when they quit a sport and are left with no physical activity scheduled into their life for the first time in years, so I figured I would talk about how I’m dealing with it and what I think could help others.

A lot of my friends who also ended their high school sports “career” as well ended up joining a gym. I think this is awesome if it works for you, especially if it’s a local gym since lots of other kids your age/your friends might go there as well, but I wasn’t interested in spending the money and committing to something I probably wouldn’t take full advantage of since I can’t drive yet. However, if you can afford it and you’ll be motivated to go, getting a gym membership is a great idea, especially if you have a gym buddy or two.

For those looking to go a different route, I’m in the same boat as you. It’s super important to keep being active, not just for the sake of looking in shape, but for your physical health and mental well-being. I always notice that being outside and doing physical activity reduces stress since it lets off steam. If you’re unathletic like me, I recommend starting with walks around your neighborhood or local park just to get outside. If you want something a little more intense, you can do jogs/runs.

If you’re looking for a fun weekend physical activity, I highly recommend hiking. I’m lucky enough to live in California with tons of hikes of varying difficulty that are accessible year-round, but I’m sure you can find some spot near you as long as the weather is favorable. It might not be something you have time to do everyday, but it could be a way to switch up your typical weekend hangout with friends while getting outdoorsy. I enjoy hikes because the beautiful views usually outweigh any fatigue I may experience.

If all else fails, just try something new. Popular options are cycling classes (SoulCycle is definitely the most well-known one, but I believe the owner or someone associated with the company has some questionable publicly-expressed values), yoga classes, Zumba classes, or other forms of workout classes. I’ve never tried any of these, but I hope to in the near future since a lot of my friends rave about them and there’s a lot of different options near me.

As far as my personal physical activity right now, I actually got transferred into a PE class for the rest of the semester/school year, so I’m outside for at least an hour a day doing some form of exercise. It kind of sucks to add another class after having a few weeks experiencing going home from school earlier and not having cheer, but I still need one more semester of P.E. credits and if I finish out this semester P.E. class, I’ll be done with that. It’s also actually kind of nice to having some form of physical activity built into my schedule again.

I hope this helped you out or at least made you realize you’re not alone if you’re young and trying to figure out how to stay in shape and active after quitting a sport. I feel like sports are such a typical part of the high school experience and being involved in one was a part of my identity at school for so long, but I’m glad to be able to move on with my life and explore new things- new ways to exercise is just one tiny portion of that!

Brooke

Speed of Light – Poem by Me

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I apologize for the bad quality- it’s straight from Google Images. Here’s the prompt list that inspired this poem.

Hello everyone!

I was searching through Google images looking for poetry prompts again, and I found this list above that really inspired me. I was particularly intrigued by the speed of light one, so I’ll be sharing a poem with you guys based on that today. I’d also like to thank you guys for the support I’ve received from my poems thus far.

Speed of Light

3.00 x 10 to the eighth meters per second couldn’t feel any slower in the dark but it’s fast enough to bring us together while we bask in the glow of a humid summer day. i think love might travel faster than light because it’s too easy to fall into it- it’s not even considered traveling when you’re in free fall. light casts a shadow on your love; it’s hard to look past the rays of sunshine and and accept the darkness. but in the end, light travels and we’re stuck on the ground. in both the light and the dark, it’s you and me.

I hope you enjoyed this poem. Please feel free to send me any feedback or suggestions for future poetry prompts, as I’m always looking to improve my work and try new things 🙂

Brooke