Advice, Art, entertainment, exercise, health

Stay Home and Productive

By Natalie Grace Sipula

[5 minute read]

It’s that time of year again. We’ve pushed through finals, labored on final projects, completed all of our assignments for the semester just in time to…sit at home. So this isn’t exactly the beginning of the summer that we all had planned. With events being rescheduled, trips being postponed, and internships and jobs being canceled or modified, many people are at a loss as to what they can occupy their time with for the next month or so. It is very easy to fall into a trap of sitting around, watching Netflix and scrolling on your phone for hours, but at the end of the day that won’t make you feel better about staying at home. What will make you feel better is engaging in activities that will either pull you away from a screen or which are productive and/or creative. I have listed below a few ideas, some large and some small, for activities and goals to work on during this sometimes frustrating time period.

Establish a Workout Routine

Photo from Pexels

Creating a workout routine is an easy way to get out of the house and stay active during quarantine. For some people, not having access to a gym is upsetting, and for some, it has made little to no difference in their daily lives. I would encourage everyone, however, to create some sort of small but consistent workout routine to implement into your day. If you choose to work out around the same time every day, you have suddenly added some structure to your day that mimics the structure of normal daily activity, and it can lift your spirits significantly. Even if your workout consists of just taking a jog around your neighborhood, it gives you a chance to get some fresh air. Plus, it will make relaxing and watching your favorite show feel more acceptable because you spent part of your day going out and doing something.

Learn to Cook Something New

This is an activity that not only eliminates the time you spend in front of a screen, but is rewarding because it leads to a final product: food! It doesn’t matter what level your cooking skills are at, there are recipes all over the Internet for everyone from beginners to master chefs. While cooking can be laborious sometimes, it is an activity with endless possibilities that can be catered to your specific tastes. The best part is, once you learn a new recipe and try it a couple of times, you will have something new to cook or bake for your friends and family once quarantine is over!

Make Playlists

We all love music. We also all know the feeling of looking for that perfect song to match your mood while walking to class or work and then failing to find it. Making playlists takes a surprisingly long amount of time, and finding new music is equally time consuming. Making new playlists, naming them, and choosing a cover photo for them can be quite fun. It also feels highly productive because it is a way to organize something that you spend a lot of time with. I would personally recommend using Spotify to create playlists, and one of my favorite ways to find new music is by searching up playlists by the mood I’m in or going on Youtube and watching videos where people share the music they are listening to currently. This is a never-ending task that can be a lot of fun.

Edit Your Resume, Cover Letter Template or LinkedIn Profile

This suggestion is probably the least fun but also probably the most productive. Editing your professional documents and profiles is a detailed and time-consuming process, one which we push to the side a lot of the time during the busy school year or work day. Now there is no excuse to keep neglecting this task. There is always more editing that can be done, and perfecting these documents can be very helpful before returning to class and work. There are innumerous resources that can give suggestions on how to make edits, and there is no better time than now to make use of them.

Read a Book

Photo from Pexels

Forgot you can do that outside of school? Sometimes we all do. Most students spend a lot of time reading materials for classes, and sometimes those readings are books but sometimes they are textbooks or documents. Regardless, so much reading can sometimes take up the time we could normally use to read for fun. Now is the perfect time to crack open a good book on a topic you’re interested in. Curling up with a good book inside or outside can pull you away from all of the distractions of social media and the internet, and can make you feel like you did something creative and productive during the day. It doesn’t really matter what you read, just engaging with a material outside of technology can be rewarding.

Play a Card Game or Board Game

If you are quarantining with family, a roommate, or a friend, playing some type of strategy game can be a great way to engage your mind in a challenging task. Oftentimes we forget about the board games we have stored away at home, and playing a game can be a great way to bond with the people around you at this time. If you don’t have any games at home, a deck of cards is very inexpensive and can be found at your local Target or on Amazon. There are dozens of card games, and learning how to play one of them is a fun skill to have. Some games that are quick to learn but challenging to play that I would recommend are Cheat, James Bond, Egyptian Ratscrew, or Slapjack. You can find tutorials for these anywhere online.

Start a Film or Show Review Club

Photo from Piqsels

This last suggestion is a great way to transform the time you already might be spending watching Netflix into a social activity. Get a group of people together and decide on a list of movies or episodes of a TV show to watch, and then schedule a meeting time via Zoom to watch the show or movie at the same time and then talk about it after. If it is too hard to coordinate a time to watch an entire film together, then just schedule a time to talk about it together so everyone can watch the film when it is convenient for them. This way, you have something social to look forward to even while you are just sitting at home relaxing. 

While these can be difficult and trying times, taking advantage of the time spent at home can help you to adopt a new way of thinking about the whole situation. Many of us may never get an extended period of time spent at home like for a long time after quarantine is over, so spending time with family, relaxing, and learning new things can make this time more enjoyable than you might think. Stay safe!

Featured image by Szabo Viktor on Unsplash

Natalie Grace Sipula is a Philosophy, Politics, and Law major with a Spanish minor and plans to pursue a career in law or research science.  She is a rising sophomore from Cleveland, OH and is a Presidential Scholar studying in Thematic Option.  Natalie is an active member of Phi Alpha Delta (Director of Recruitment) and QuestBridge Scholars.  Growing up she was dedicated to theatre, including studying and performing at Cleveland Play House.  She graduated high school as a Global Scholar, Mock Trial state competitor, and Varsity Cross Country team member. She is a volunteer camp counselor with Mi Pueblo Culture Camp in Cleveland. Since arriving in Los Angeles she has enjoyed volunteering with City of Angels Pit Bull Rescue and in her free time enjoys reading Russian and ancient Greek literature.

Adult Responsibilities, Advice, New Experience, Outlook, USC

Having Post Grad Pandemic Anxiety?

By Samantha Jungheim

[5 Minute Read]

Realizing that I would be graduating during a global pandemic was gut wrenching. The first time I graduated from college, earning a BFA in 2015, I faced so many fears and uncertainties. Now in 2020, I’ll be graduating with a masters degree in December. A few months ago, I began to worry about getting through these difficult times. Normal post grad anxiety became magnified and my heart goes out to Spring 2020 college graduates. Despite 2015 and 2020 being very different fiscal years, I believe some of the post grad lessons I learned can help current graduates. Part of getting rid of post grad nerves is coming up with a game plan. We all come from different backgrounds, yet we can all make the best choice in the moment, create a toolbox for the future, and market our skills to employers.  

Making the Best Possible Choice 

When I was a recent college graduate with a degree in Painting, I struggled to find a job in the arts that could pay for the cost of living in San Francisco. Through a college connection, I became an art teacher for a non-profit, but it was barely paying the bills. I started seeking other positions, and was contacted by a recruiter with an open contracted Customer Service Representative position for Square, Inc. At the time, I was torn about pursuing a job in tech when I was passionate about art. “How could I afford to pursue my dreams?” I wondered.

In the moment, I made what appeared to be the best decision. It felt like none of the options were going to help pursue my dreams and I needed to pay the bills. Little did I know at the time that working in tech gave me invaluable skills I’d continue to use for years. After taking the job, I found aspects of it that aligned with my passion for helping others, examining language, and creating content. I also didn’t fully realize until working at Square that some of the skills I learned at art school lent a hand to working with technology. Even though I only stayed in tech for a year, I don’t regret making the best financial choice for that period of my life because it ultimately improved my skillset for working in the area I was passionate about, and you can do the same. 

Creating a Toolbox 

As future employees, we need to demonstrate what is in our metaphorical toolbox. Lessons you learned at USC will help you, but as recent graduates now you can look for other avenues to gain additional skills for your toolbox. When I took the contracted position for Square, I looked at it as a post grad learning opportunity. Instead of paying for a university, I was taking on a new role of getting paid to learn in an entry level position. Not only did I improve the skills I had from my undergrad experience, but I also gained new technical skills and experience adapting to a new work environment. While the job market isn’t what we expected for 2020, I recommend taking this time to strategize. Ask yourself, what skills am I lacking? Can this position make me a better candidate for my dream job? Even with limited options you can always add to your toolbox.

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Asian American, Cultural Exchange, culture, Food, Identity

Recreating My Favorite Dishes

By Sarah Selke

[3 minute read]

After asking several students in ALI conversation groups what they missed most about their homes, the unanimous response I received was simply, “food.” Despite the wide array of restaurants in Los Angeles featuring cuisines from all around the world, it is hard for many international students to find what they would consider be truly authentic good food.

A student I recently conversed with talked about the food from his hometown, Chengdu, a city known for its spicy cuisine. Although he likes trying other cuisines, nothing beats Sichuan food. Speaking of the various similarities and differences between regional cuisines in China, I proclaimed my own partiality to Shanghainese food, which is known for having more sweet and sour flavors. One dish that I especially love is Sheng Jian Bao, which roughly translates to pan-fried buns filled with pork inside. This dish can be found throughout China, but is most common in Shanghai, where it is commonly sold as street food.  

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Thinking about food left me with a craving to make my own Sheng Jian Bao. Ever since I tried the dish on a trip to Shanghai several years ago, I had been looking for a place in the San Gabriel Valley that would meet my expectations. Unfortunately, none of the restaurants I visited succeeded in matching the ones I had eaten abroad. Finally, over a recent three-day weekend, I looked online for a recipe and decided to try a hand at making the dish myself. It was a long process: gathering all the necessary ingredients, letting the yeasted dough rise, seasoning the meat, wrapping the buns, then steaming them. Although the whole affair was rather tedious, the buns turned out to be delicious – perhaps not quite as perfect as the ones I had eaten in Shanghai, but enough to be worth the preparation effort. 

Continue reading Recreating My Favorite Dishes →