Tag Archives: college

ATX / UT, Community, Food & Travel

Top Snacks For College Students

Snacks are an essential component of the college experience. Whether you have a stash of  Oreos and popcorn or yogurt and almonds in your dorm, I can almost guarantee every college student has their favorite snacks on hand right now. I asked UT students to share their top snacks, and I got a multitude of responses. So, if you’re looking to add some variety to your snack collection, then this is a great place to start!

I was not surprised to discover Oreos, chips, gummy candy and goldfish were popular answers among the students I spoke to. All of these snacks have a wide range of flavors to choose from, which makes them appealing to a larger audience. In addition, these are the types of snacks that never get old because the second you get tired of one flavor, you can switch to the next one.

On the more nutritious side, many students said they keep a healthy supply of Greek yogurt, trail mix and granola bars. Greek yogurt can be more of a hassle to carry around, but trail mix and granola bars are great to take with you on the go. 

Again, depending on your preferences, you can choose different toppings for your yogurt, switch out raisins for m&ms in your trail mix or go for a fruit-filled granola bar instead of your usual chocolate chip and peanut butter combo.

There were definitely some outliers in the responses that are worth an honorable mention. Some people specifically mentioned lucky charms, peanut m&ms, Milano cookies and dried mango slices.

I can’t end the article without sharing some of my own picks for snacks. Of course, I always keep cashews, brookside chocolates and white cheddar popcorn. I’m definitely excited to use my research to diversify my snack selection the next time I’m at Target, though!

Featured Image By Matilda Herrera Ramirez

Wellness & Fitness

An Ode to Lazy Days

It took me a long time to appreciate the beauty of the lazy day. Simply lying back, watching Netflix, taking a nice warm bath, spending time in nature, just doing what makes you happy without wondering whether or not you’re being productive enough.

Days like those used to give me immense amounts of guilt. I’d wonder if I did enough beforehand to truly warrant not doing anything “productive” for a whole day. It felt like my work was all-consuming and somehow more important than my happiness and peace of mind. Days felt very frenzied and I felt as if I was on the road to academic burnout because I was constantly guilting myself out of spending time away from school work.

Soon, I began to recognize a problem. I was no longer doing work in school with the intent to learn. School was simply a place where I did assignments, and I began to hate the environment because it felt toxic. Now, it’s important to remember that only some of this can be attributed to my mindset. There are so many things about the school system and college admission systems that force a certain unhealthy hyper-competitiveness amongst their students and are simply inherently toxic, but that’s a different conversation for a different day. 

I started recognizing that something about me had to change if I intended on preserving my mental health. The first step, I decided, was to stop basing my personal worth on the grades I received. That was certainly easier said than done, but once I began opening myself up and realizing that there are so many other facets to me apart from my grades, I stopped falling into that toxic, hyperproductive mindset and started trying to spend my free time doing things I love, rather than worry about whether I’m working enough.

This even changed my outlook toward learning and school. When I was constantly thinking about my academic performance, I held lots of ill will toward school because I felt it was the reason I could never relax. Altering my mindset and attempting to distance myself from a reliance on academic validation and allowing myself to kick back once in a while really made me see school as a place to explore new subjects and learn new things.

Naturally, this process is far from linear. Just last month I got a score on a biology test that I didn’t love, and I fell right back into the pattern of guilting myself out of relaxing and forcing myself to constantly study. It’s also much easier said than done, but hopefully my journey can help someone out there embrace those lazy days a little bit more and worry about school a little less.

Featured image courtesy of Canva

Entertainment

Festive Christmas playlist

Ready to switch out studying for cozy nights in Christmas pajamas? If so, check out this Christmas playlist to celebrate the jolly season. Listen to this mix of classic songs such as Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas Is You” and lesser known songs such as The Killers’ “Don’t Shoot Me Santa.” Get ready to sing along to these holiday jams “Underneath the Tree.”

ATX / UT

What NOT To Do After Getting a Bad Midterm Grade

So, you didn’t do well on a midterm. Maybe you studied for days in advance and felt super confident in the material. Maybe you didn’t study a bit and went in cold. Regardless of what led up to this grade, unfortunately, there’s not much you can do now… about the grade itself, at least. While I completely understand the urge to switch majors or drop out of college, there are other ways to recover from a bad midterm grade.

Don’t silently wonder what you did wrong. The first thing I like to do after getting a midterm grade back is talk to the professor or TA for the class. You may not be able to change your grade, but you can certainly learn from your past mistakes so that you perform better on the next test. By going to talk to your grader, you’ll also be proving that you truly care about the course, which they’ll definitely appreciate.

Don’t waste too much time dwelling. You can totally buy yourself a pint of ice cream and put on a feel-good movie while you process. We’ve all been there. And you know what, it’s okay to do that for a little while. It’s okay to sit in your disappointment and feel all of your feelings in full. It’s just not okay to get stuck there.

Don’t do anything impulsive. I may or may not have seriously considered getting a tattoo and/or dying my hair pink after I didn’t do as well as I wanted to on my first midterm. That impulse lasted less than 24 hours, and I’m glad I didn’t act on it. As tempting as it may be, there’s definitely no need to drop the class or transfer to A&M. You will recover.

Don’t stagnate your study habits. If you didn’t do well on a midterm, there’s probably something you can change about the way you’re studying. Maybe try forming a study group or starting your review a few days earlier. College is all about learning and growing, so try out new study techniques and find out what works best for you.

Don’t give up! Failing a midterm or not meeting your expectations for a midterm grade doesn’t mean there’s no hope for getting your target overall grade in the class. It also doesn’t mean you’re doomed to fail out of college and not succeed in your future career. One bad midterm grade doesn’t define you as a student or a person. 

We’ve all been there. At one time or another, all of us have experienced failures. Accepting those failures is hard, but they can be taken as an opportunity to grow. It’s important to shift our mindset and view failures for what they are: learning moments.

ATX / UT, Food & Travel

Best Coffee roasters in austin

Austin is home to a plethora of great coffee shops, but only a select few roast their own coffee beans. Whether you like to brew your own at home or let the baristas do what they do best, using the best quality beans can make a world of difference. That said, let’s break down some of the best coffee roasters in Austin.

Trippy Buck

Trippy Buck is a little food truck located on the UT campus. It may seem unsuspecting but there is more to their service than meets the eye. They market themselves as a ‘farm-to-cup’ experience, sourcing their own coffee beans from their farm in Ecuador. They offer a variety of different roasts including green coffee, light, and dark roasts, but our personal favorite is the classic ‘Hacienda Roast.’

Summermoon Coffee Co.

Summermoon Coffee is a chain of coffee shops based in Texas. They have multiple locations near and in Austin where you can pick up a bag of their coffee beans. They offer multiple roasts but the ‘Velvet Blaze’ roast is what they use for their drinks in-house.

Wild Gift

As a five-person run coffee roaster, Wild Gift pumps out an impressive array of nine different roasts. You can find hints of honey, chocolate, lime, and jasmine in their selection. Their bags are adorned with a quaint drawing of a budding coffee plant. They can be picked up at Epoch Coffee and at Austin-area Central Market locations.

Austin Java

Austin Java has been brewing coffee since 1995. They follow the tenet of “people over product” and this can very easily be seen at their Manchaca location. They have numerous signature blends like ‘Fog Cutter’ which is a darker roast, along with ‘Morning Glory’ which is more of a sweet, light roast. Their coffee beans can be picked up at Austin Central Market locations as well as at Austin Java’s own locations.

This listicle is only a sip of what Austin has to offer but thankfully it is very easy to pick up local roasts. The best option would be to buy directly from local roasters through their roast houses, coffee shops, or online stores. This option is better than grocery stores because they are often closer to their roast date at the point of sale. 

Featured image by Ren Breach