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What are you waiting for? Get out and see the world!

2 Jun

Backpacking through Spain with a Spanish friend

“People need to see that far
from being an obstacle, the
world’s diversity of languages,
religions and traditions is a
great treasure, affording us
precious opportunities to
recognize ourselves in others.
- Youssou N’Dour”

If you haven’t heard me talk about my experience studying and living in Spain during college, then we probably haven’t met yet. Living and going to school in another country has been the most valuable learning experience of my life thus far. I feel so fortunate that I was able to have the opportunity to assimilate myself into another culture and know that because of that time in my life, I am who I am today.

Now, having been of college for a few years and constantly reflecting on that experience I wish I could go back and spend more time in other countries. With graduations currently happening across the U.S. I would ask each and every graduate to consider spending some time in another country. I know money is always an issue but that can be worked out and payed back, you will never get back the time.

With graduation comes the pressure and responsibility of proving to the world that because you have a degree you need to immediately join part the workforce and head straight for the cubicle lifestyle. To counter this, I believe this is the perfect time to travel, volunteer abroad or just spend some time figuring out what interests you outside of a college environment.

Once you start working and piling up the responsibilities it will become more difficult to flee for six months or a year. From what I have seen no employer will look down on someone who valued spending time in other countries and it could potentially help you get a job.

Here is my list of why traveling is important not just for your well-being but also for your future:

Learn another language: Becoming versed in another language will open up doors during your travels, give you an advantage when trying to get a job, and will allow you to work in another country. Learning a language will help you better understand and appreciate political, cultural and social differences.

Improve adaptability: Traveling and living abroad you often find yourself being thrown into new and diverse situations and having to acclimate accordingly. This will improve your ability to take initiative in new environments and open yourself up to experience more outside your comfort zone.

Insight into another culture: Gaining insight into another culture gives us a clearer image of our world as a whole. Seeing how other people live, love and experience life can open your eyes in many ways. It is also fascinating to see how other cultures view the U.S. and being able to create a personal unique stereotype for them.

Find yourself: Traveling and navigating through foreign countries not only helps you learn and meet new people but it is also a chance to learn more about yourself. Instinctively seeing new places and having astonishing experiences makes you think more about what matters to you, and can be a chance to reflect on who you are or who you want to be.

Become more connected to the world: Something I witnessed that is so beautiful it is difficult to put in words is how similar and connected we all are to each other. Whether you live in Spain, Denmark or Istanbul and whatever language you speak, we all laugh, love and have dreams we are chasing. Forming relationships abroad and sharing  your life with someone halfway across the globe is priceless.

With that said, take my advice to see as much of the world as you can because experiences are the best investments and time doesn’t wait.

25 Things You’ll Wish You Tried If You Died at 25

19 May

Our friends over at COED Magazine thought our readers would enjoy this post. Since I am on the cusp on 25 myself I have been thinking more about things I want to try in life and a few on them are most certainly on this list, especially sky diving and I could definitely do some damage with a $100 at a candy store.

You’re 24 and invincible right? No amount of drugs or alcohol is going to kill such a fantastic young man. Wrong. Anyone can die at anytime — including the upstanding readers of COED. So stop sitting around acting like you’re going to live forever. Life is short and only getting shorter every time you click on NSFW material on your work computer.  Print out this list and get cracking on completing on these 25 things before you die. But wait, before you get started and begin live-tweeting your adventures, keep in mind that you won’t be getting a reality show or a book deal out of it. MTV’s Buried Life already took that honor away from every single guy hoping to turn his bucket list adventures into a profitable media deal.

TRAVEL

1. Climb a mountain

2. Travel to Amsterdam, and then make your way to…wait…what?… Stay in Amsterdam.

3. High roll in Vegas.

4. Hedonism III. Look it up…no seriously.

5. Go to Japan: Sounds lame? No, you’re totally right, it’s definitely not going to be frickin’ splendiferous when you enter a country where the average height is 3 inches shorter, American looks are idealized, the food is strangely delicious, and their porn would make even Ava Devine blush. Sounds terrible.

THINGS PEOPLE SAY YOU SHOULDN’T DO BUT YOU SHOULD PROBABLY DO ANYWAY

1. Look directly into a solar eclipse.

2. Start a fight club.

3. Take ecstasy and take Viagra and see what happens.

4. Say “I love you”… don’t mean it… continue the relationship for 10 years while maintaining a stable of hussies on the side. Plan out an elaborate, month long scavenger hunt whilst dropping hints to her friends that you are thinking of proposing. When she finally gets to the last item on the hunt, lead her to a high-wasted midget dressed in a count chocula costume, who pulls out a toy gun and fires it at her. A flag comes out of the gun that says “Surprise… Maximus Steele Slagathor Johnson… wants to break up.”

5. Change your name to Maximus Steele Slagathor Johnson.

ADVENTURE

1. Cross country road trip with your buddies.

2. 3-some. No, a drunken “Wobbly-H” with your bro and some chick who hates her dad doesn’t count.

3. Skydive.

4. Rent a Ferrari and drive on the Autobahn.

5. Go scuba diving in shark infested waters. Maybe it’s best to save this one for old age, but still, what better way to prove your own badassery than to have ‘bath time’ with Piscine tubes of teeth, and death. Best case scenario: you survive and say that you went swimming with an apex predator. Worst case scenario: you get eaten and as result have a head stone that Jason Statham would be jealous of: “Here lies Maximus Steele Slagathor Johnson, he was eaten by sharks…after he swam up to one and bit it”

CULINARY

1. Try the best beer in the world: Trappist westvleteren 12

2. Go to the best restaurant in the world: Noma in Denmark

3. Do a Wendy’s Home Run in one sitting: Classic single, classic double, classic triple, spicy Baconator. You hero.

4. Eat a deep fried twinkie: or don’t if you have an overwhelming phobia of time-bending, reality shifting, mouth-gasm stimulating, deliciousness.

5. With your best friends open a high interest savings account that you each put $50 a month into until the last one of you gets married. Assuming 4 friends and 15 years total, you’ve got at least 50k with interest. Proceed to buy a bottle of The Macallan Fine and Rare Collection, 1926 scotch ($38,000), Gurkha’s premier cigar, His Majesty’s Reserve ($750/ cigar), some super cheap hookers, and have the best night ever.

MISCELLANEOUS

1. Go on a Zero gravity flight.

2. Covert Ops: Think ‘Total Recall’ except there is no possibility of running into a chick with three boobs…or is there?

3. Get an Arch-enemy. It doesn’t really matter how you do it; craigslist, softball league, impromptu bar fight, but a hero is only as cool as his villain so get one ASAP. Cape optional.

4. Enter a candy store and drop a $100 dollar bill on the ground. Seems silly, but imagine being 6 years old and suddenly having access to every diabetes causing snack on the planet. You’ve just become a legend.

5. Rent a low flying hot air balloon. Grow a mustachio. Wear a tuxedo with a top hat, cane, and monocle. Bring a telescope and spend a day hovering over a suburban town, shouting judgments from your ivory tower, laughing maniacally, and showering the townsfolk in fake gold coins. Rest assured that people will never forget you.

Yes some of these are a bit extreme but that is what being young is about right, living it up until the responsibilities start piling up and you have no time or will left to go to Amsterdam or eat a deep-fried twinkie (yuck!).

So what are some things on your list?

Fun Opportunity: Calling All Confident Women!

16 Apr

I was recently told about an opportunity that Dove is sponsoring in conjunction Seventeen, Marie Claire or Cosmopolitan. They are searching for searching for fabulous women to be Dove Deodorant Correspondents for each of the publication titles. This would be a short stint which would include a trip to New York, the chance to meet influential bloggers, a photo shoot, and being actively involved in social media.

To enter for the chance to have this one in a lifetime experience all you have to do is share with Dove how you remain confident throughout life’s ups and downs, while approaching life with a fresh perspective? And what activities and interests help support your confidence and help you express your uniqueness? There is a deadline deadline—but it has just been May 5, 2010. After reading the fine print one of the requirements is that you must be between 18-25 years , phew I made the cut off!

Although I applied and would die for this chance I thought it was a great partnership and too good not to share with our lovely readers who are maybe looking for the perfect summer opportunity during college, well this just might be it!

To find out more information about the program and apply click here. I feel lucky to know and surround myself with fabulous, fresh and full of life women everyday!

Happy Friday! Make the most of your weekend!

Swagapalooza: Great Ideas, Influential People

16 Apr

Photo credit: Bacon Hot Sauce

A few weeks ago I attended an event the first of its kind in San Francisco called Swagapoolza which was an experiment in the making where people with products or ideas that were almost ready to take to market could come share them with an audience of people who are involved in the online world particularity in San Francisco. I headed down there with Casi from San Francisco Noobs

The idea was to get all these people into the same room and give each company a bit of time to present and the audience to ask questions and then for the audience to be able to take the products home and potentially talk about them with their networks.

This is an interesting concept that was conceived by an ambitious young man who even got Guy Kawasaki to speak and Robert Scoble to sit in the audience and tweet. I think everyone would agree the best part of the night was that there was a live twitter screen on stage next to the speakers and as people flocked to the open bar the tweets got considerably more inappropriate.

Although the event was very interesting it was definitely the first of it’s kind and with more trial could be more organized and the products chosen more strategically. However there were a few innovative products that I was excited to preview!

  • The Helmet Lock: This is one of those ideas where you kick yourself saying, “Why didn’t I think of that?!” A simple and smart design  that ensures your helmet is safely attached to your bike lock so you never have to carry your helmet anywhere again!
  • The Joby Gorilla Pod: If you are anything like me you love to capture every moment and then post them on facebook the gorilla pod makes it easy to take pictures anywhere by allowing you to wrap your camera or iphone on anything
  • Bacon Hot Sauce: Okay so maybe this isn’t as much as a necessity as a helmet lock or a camera holder, but who could resist two of the worlds greatest foods in one?! Yes that is right bacon flavored hot sauce, a condiment like that begs to ask the question, do you even need food to accompany it?

It was fun being a part of this experience and I do think that previewing new ideas to a group of people is the new form of marketing these days. Although I still think market research and investor presentations hold value that will never cease I was glad to give my two cents about some of the products that I think are worth checking out!

For more information on Swagapalooza go here.

Monday Inspiration

29 Mar


Book Review: Viva Las David

11 Mar

I just finished reading Viva Lost David which was sent to me by the author Jacob Orenge. This book is a fun and exciting journey of a recent college grad trying to find himself through adventure and heartbreak. A classic a tale of a hardworking college student who spent his whole college career so devoted to his studies that he never actually took the time to enjoy the social aspect of being in college.

When he graduates he decides for once  to listen to his heart and not his head as he follows his man of the moment out to the West Coast landing him in Sin City. Throughout the book David really struggles with the common after school crisis of not wanting to become an adult but feeling the overbearing weight of unspoken expectations that come with a college degree. While trying to figure out his future David has to deal with many roadbumps including, getting his heart broken twice and dealing with family illness.

Ultimately David’s journey leads him to his next journey taking the next steps toward his future (you will have to read the book to find out what this adventure is). This is a great story for anyone who is a millennial and a fun and entertaining read! David is so relatable and it is fun to hear his perspectives on the West Coast vs. NY as I have always wanted to live there.

Other places to find Jacob at his website here and if you happen to live in NY you can catch him doing some live comedy!

Happy Thirsty Thursday all!

International Women’s Day – 100th Anniversary

9 Mar

Today is International Women’s Day and I decided to ask a few of my friends and family members why they are proud to be women and here is what they said…

  • “It’s hard to say why I’m proud to be a woman, because I don’t necessary see myself as a woman–I see myself as a person. I guess that’s what makes me proud though, that so many strong women throughout history have fought with conviction in the spirit of justice so I can see myself today as a person instead of just a gender.” – Masters Student, Columbia University
  • “The fact that more and more women are CEOs and high powered positions in recent years, having women in power” – Accounting Consultant
  • “I am proud to be a woman, we use our hearts, not just our heads with everything we do.” – Community Manager of online gaming site
  • “The strength and willpower combined with glamor and femininity of women.” – Executive Assistant at a global non-profit
  • “Seeing my managers work their butts off at work and then go home and be wonderful moms and wives to their newborns makes me proud to be a woman. We don’t have to choose anymore to be either a mom or a career woman. We can be both and incredible ones that!” – Recruiter
  • “When I worked in finance, it was totally a man’s world and I feel like I held my own. Seeing how far woman have come in the workplace that women are CEO’s of major companies that men used to run. If I hadn’t been in such a male dominated profession, I wouldn’t have appreciated it as much” – Recruiting Coordinator
  • “Being one of the few girls in my Math/Engineering/Computer Science classes in college. It made me proud to be a woman when I was at the top of my class the one who had to help my male classmates. Now as a teacher, I’m proud to inspire my high school girls that they too can excel in a male dominated field.” – Teacher, Teach for America

Today women across the world were celebrated, recognized and talked about.

Some women walked across bridges everywhere from Congo to London to demonstrate the strength we have in numbers. Others in  performed tribute dances for the women suffering in Haiti and some were listening and watching  the stories of others on the other side of the globe. As a woman in America I feel proud and lucky, I am educated and know that I can accomplish anything I want. It is hard to think about a woman the same age as me in a developing country and imagine the life she is living in comparison to mine.

All women are eager and capable, but not always given the freedom and ability to move forward in life. We as women should ban together and recognize our unique strength and endless opportunities. Then ask ourselves how we can ensure that women near and far are all given the chance to recognize the beautiful power that lies within them and somehow help them receive the same opportunity that we are given everyday to be who we are.

This video below is really moving and gets us to realize the ripple effect that one girl can have on the world. The Girl Effect is a project looking at the effect that investing in a girl has not only on a community but humanity as a whole.

Remember…”Well behaved women rarely make history” – Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

Daily Inspiration – Happy Friday!

5 Mar

“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” — Mary Kay Ash

Work it Girl!

3 Mar

“Courage, sacrifice, determination, commitment, toughness,heart, talent, guts. That’s what little girls are made of; the heck with sugar and spice.” -Bethany Hamilton (greatest female surfer of our time)

March is National Women’s History Month and the overarching theme is “Writing Women Back Into History” where they will be taking a look into the past at all the impressive things women have accomplished.

There are a bunch of cool events and exhibits happening all across the US commemorating this month. For everyone who knows me I am a true feminist with the definition of a feminist at heart, meaning anyone who believes that men and women should have equal rights (with that definition who isn’t one?). From Seneca Falls to the first woman running for President who made it into primaries last year, we have come a long way as a gender and are progressing more each day.

In honor of this month I thought I would feature a few kick ass women who made their mark and paved the way for us:

  • Carrie Chapman Catt – Suffragette and founder of the League of Women Voters
  • Elizabeth Blackwell – the first female to receive a medical degree in the U.S.
  • Sally Ride – the first woman sent into space
  • Madeleine Albright – first woman Secretary of State
  • Mother Teresa – internationally famed humanitarian

Clearly this list could go on for pages but these are just some of the first women who broke the mold and took risks – true role models. Today our society has just as many if not more brave and confident women who are changing the world and making it a wiser place. I for one am so happy and proud to be a woman, especially in my generation I know that I can do anything I put my mind to and that there are endless resources and people to support me.

As amazing as it is to be a women in my country there are many developing countries who are still holding women back from their full potential. I believe that women have an amazing and unexplainable connection with one another, even with women we hardly know, we are all connected. There are many hardworking organizations who are leading the fight for women in developing countries to give them the opportunity to be as powerful and educated as we are in the U.S. For a full list of great organizations head here.

So I would ask you this month to do something you have never done, take a risk, make a change and be the beautiful woman you are!

Book Review: Naked Economics

2 Mar

I recently finished reading Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science by Charles Wheelean. Economics is definitely a field where I feel I am lacking a lot of basic knowledge mostly because I have never dedicated time to really absorbing or studying the subject. However, it is obviously very important and I thought it was time I start figuring it out!

From HMO’s to why Bill Gates is so much richer than me, by applying important real life situations to the study of economics Wheelan makes the subject very approachable and easy to apply to anyone no matter your situation. Because of this read I truly feel like I have such a better grasp about economics and had no idea how important and interconnected it was to everything in my life. I suggest anyone who feels intimidated or flustered hearing the work economics to pick up this book immediately because you will finish feeling rather accomplished and with a much clearer understanding about the way in which the economy functions.

I wanted to share with you some interesting tidbits I picked up from the book:

  • In development economics the two lacking factors, education and health are the two main things that contribute to human capital which makes individuals productive and therefore determines their standard of living. For example “Higher rates of education for women in developing countries are associated with lower rates of infant mortality” (212).
  • “Prior to the Great Depression, the United States experienced ten depressions- each worse than anything we’ve had since” (160)
  • In taking a look at financial markets and investments there are many theories. Wheelen points out that “85 percent of the mutual funds that claim to have some special stock-picking ability did worse over two decades than a simple index fund, our modern equivalent of a monkey throwing a towel at the stock pages” (131)

From this read I have a new understanding for economics and the level of importance it holds in my life and how it really is a set of tools that can improve or destroy our country. For all that I got from this book I still have a ton to learn, but I am glad that I got the basics down, baby steps.

This reminds me I have yet to do my taxes…

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