REASONS WHY I PICKED THE BEST SCHOOL!!,

I knew from the start, the moment I stepped foot on Loyola's campus, the sun shining down, clear blue sky, and the kind faces of students greeting me, that I wanted to go here. There was no doubt in my mind that Loyola was the perfect fit for me: medium sized, small class sizes, an abundance of club and extracurricular activities, and strong sense of community amongst the students and faculty.

Loyola has truly been the most amazing, fun, yet academically challenging endeavor I have taken on, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The best part about this school is the sense of community, brought about by the generosity and kindness of the upperclassmen to first year students. The college transition for new students can be stressful and nerve-wracking in itself, the struggle to make new friends, be more independent, and especially interact with the upperclassmen.

BUT, that was never the case at Loyola: last night I took a leap of faith, and reached out to a senior whom I had seen around campus, and knew she was a kind, outgoing individual, but had never spoken to before. I had applied to become an Evergreen, an organization which students apply for leadership positions to work with the orientation program at Loyola. The Evergreen staff works to support students through their academic, social and personal transition into the Loyola community.

Evergreens serve as positive role models for the incoming first year students, as well as an outstanding member of the Loyola community. I knew from the start that this was something I would want to apply for. Throughout my four years of high school, I was an avid participant and executive member of the peer leadership program. 

Naturally, I chose a school like Loyola with the Jesuit tradition of service and leadership, two ideals that are important to me. Growing up in a small, tight-knit community, I developed a passion for community service and leadership. Similar to the Evergreen program at Loyola, the peer leadership program at my high school consisted of a group of upperclassmen who worked with the freshmen through their academic, social, and personal growth and transition into high school.

I've always been the type of person who lived life with a positive attitude, and embraced ambiguity with an open-mind. As a peer leader, both academically at my high school, and socially within my community and youth group, I genuinely cared about the well-being of others. 

Last night, I reached out to a girl who's a senior at Loyola; I've seen her around campus, and saw how much she loved being an Evergreen and apart of the program. I explained to her that I sent my application for Evergreens, and about how I participated in a similar leadership program at my high school, so learning about the Evergreens at Loyola made me so happy and excited!

The reason I reached out to her was simple: I wanted to ask her about advice and her experiences about the program. I told her that I was most nervous about the individual interview, which was strange for me because I love talking to people, but I was worried about making a good impression while remaining genuine and myself. In that moment, I knew there was nothing more I could do than await a response. But I wasn't prepared for the outpour of support and kindness that came afterward.

She was so appreciative that I had reached out to her asking questions because this shows how dedicated I am about doing my best. She went above and beyond, taking time out of her night ( it was 12:30 am when she responded!!), giving me thoughtful tidbits of advice that were not only helpful, but extremely detailed and personal. By taking that leap of faith, she commended me on reaching out to a current Evergreen that a barely knew to ask for advice because that takes a lot of courage, and she could see how much I want it. 

She helped alleviate all my nerves, explaining the entire process, breaking down the individual interview, then the group interview. She gave me everything from advice, personal experiences telling me things she did when she going through the interview process, and from her 3 long paragraphs, I really got to know her as an individual and a friend.

It's moments like these that make my heart so happy. I was so beyond thankful for everything she had given me, her advice and input was far beyond what I could have expected. It truly meant the world to me that she took time to write detailed answers. I'm so glad I reached out to her because everything she gave me was so incredibly helpful and helped to alleviate jitters and nerves.

To know that I can reach out to someone whom I barely know, and for them to genuinely care and take time to help someone is truly the reason why I LOVE Loyola. No matter what happens during the application process, I am beyond blessed and happy to have developed a newfound friendship with someone as passionate, kind, and down to earth as her. It's people like her who are so willing to help anyone out as an upperclassman which makes me feel so welcome in the environment. She gave me some of the best advice about becoming an Evergreen that I never would have gotten had I not taken a little leap of faith reaching out to her.

I could ramble for hours on end about how I have the best school ever; although I have only been there for a semester, in such a short amount of time, I have developed a love and attachment to Loyola that is evident (mostly because I flood everyone's newsfeed on Facebook with gushing posts about how much I love my school). I couldn't be more excited about becoming an Evergreen; not only from my Evergreen Anna, whom I rave about to everyone I meet about her generosity, sense of humor, and dedication to the program, but now all the Evergreen friends I have made this semester, simply by reaching out and branching outside my comfort zone.

My Advice to you: NEVER BE AFRAID TO DO SOMETHING OUTSIDE YOUR LIMITS! After all, you never know what the outcome will be: more often than not, it will exceed your expectations. :)

I MADE MY FIRST YOUTUBE VIDEO!!!!

MAKEUP TUTORIAL!!!

Hello my lovely readers!

Today is an extremely special day!! A few months ago, I said that I was going to embark on a new journey in my life, and take the plunge into the world of YOUTUBE!

Well... the moment has come ! Above, I have attached the link to my VERY first video: a makeup tutorial using my urban decay naked 1 and 2 palettes!! While the quality isn't the greatest, I am pleased with the results being my first time using movie maker and editing my own footage.

PLEASE: it would mean the world to me if you could go watch it, and give it a thumbs up and comment here or on the video what my next video should be! Any input is appreciated!!!

LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

XOXO Kaitlyn

My Best Friends

 

 

 

 

So I've been thinking a lot about how I'm a senior in high school and how we are half way through the year and all the memories that I've had this year, and I just thought about all my amazing friends that I've made this year, and those that I've been best friends with since the very beginning. I'm really the luckiest girl in the world to have such amazing friends like mine in my life and I'm so happy about how blessed I have been. Best friends are those who you can do everything or nothing with and still have the best time together, whether it be a night on the town and going out, or a movie and popcorn on the couch, they are always there for you and make you the happiest person in the world. They are the ones who will randomly text you in the middle of the night to tell you how much they love you and how amazing you are as a friend; let me just tell you, every single one of those text messages I screenshot and save them to read when I'm having a bad day.

 

No matter how serious life gets, we all need those friends in our lives whom we can still be completely stupid with, my favorite parts being all the crazy, funny inside jokes best friends share that make you both laugh and no one knows what the hell is so funny. A friend is someone who can see the pain that you're in, even when you're fooling everyone else, and masking the pain. And sometimes, being with those best friends is all the therapy you need. When I'm having a bad day, I can always count on my friends to spontaneously call or text them to get out of the house, and they will respond without hesitation and come to my rescue.

It's scary to think that all my best friends I've accumulated in high school and I will be parting ways soon, as we embark on the journey towards our future when we graduate and move on to college. However, it's those best friends that you don't need to talk to everyday, you don't need to talk to for weeks, but when you do, it's as if you'd never stopped talking. I am fortunate to have made the most amazing friends that life can offer. They always tell my to stay strong and keep fighting because being happy is the most important thing in life. Every girl needs a best friend who can make her laugh when she doesn't think she will ever be able to smile again. All you need is one of those. Fortunately, I have been blessed by the grace of God with SOOO many amazing best friends. Close friends support you through thick and thin and give you a shoulder to cry on for emotional support. Friendship can have a major impact on your well-being, and help heighten your happiness, and sense of self-worth and confidence. They remind you that life is worth fighting for and re-direct you back on the road to happiness and recovery after a bad time.

Thank you to all of my amazing friends who have stood by me at my best moments and darkest moments. You truly all have a special place in my heart, and I will ALWAYS cherish and love you all to the fullest.

xoxo kaitlyn



The Story Behind The Blog

For my first "official" blog post (the other one didn't really count in my opinion) I decided it would be best to discuss the reason behind the blog. It's important that in order to be truthful and honest with my viewers, I create a post discussing the blogger herself.

This is my story. It all started back in the 1st grade. I had always had self confidence issues and lack of self respect, but it was in 1st grade, where I experienced my first dose of bullying.

I had suffered from a rare, but dangerous virus and infection (won't go into details, it's not relevant) that left me with scars on my face. People of that age were cruel, calling me a monster, and running away in terror and fear. It was this traumatic event that would eventually haunt and scare me as I got older.

Fast forward now to high school.I couldn’t wait to meet new friends, and start on a clean slate with a lot more freedom and independence than I had experienced in middle school. I was quickly hit with the reality of a much larger workload, and began to experience severe anxiety. It slowly progressed. I would isolate myself and avoid social events because I was too stressed out, or didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin to be exposed to a situation full of partying, alcohol, and peer pressure. My anxiety developed into extended periods of sadness: ones that didn’t just last for a few hours or a day, but for several days, sometimes weeks. I would wake up every day upset and end the day feeling the same. I struggled constantly to pick myself out of bed and function in school.

I was in so much pain, and I was tired of explaining my pain to my parents, and all I wanted was clarity. I needed some kind of answer to my constant thought that I was crazy. My mood was extremely erratic during my junior year, and both my friends and parents became concerned. It finally became too much. Reluctantly, I sought after psychological help, where I was diagnosed with severe clinical depression and anxiety, and as I continued therapy once a week, my therapist noticed similar signs and symptoms I was experiencing that are associated with bipolar depression.

Bipolar depression symptoms include periods of elevated mood or irritability. My mind is never at rest and is constantly racing, and often I experience high energy levels with reduced need for sleep. My erratic mood consists of emotions ranging from anger, anxiety, hopelessness, inability to feel pleasure, and elevated moods followed by sudden mood swings. I would make rash and impulsive decisions and partook in risky behaviors such as self-harm. In addition, I developed an eating disorder, starving myself and losing over 10 pounds my junior year. My life felt like it was spiraling out of control, that I was stuck in a never ending tornado unable to break free, and I just didn’t want to be here anymore and suffer.

But that’s when I decided to do something about it: I reached out for help and established this blog dedicated to providing optimism and peace of mind to those out there struggling with similar issues. Everyone endures hardships, and they may be disheartening, discouraging ordeals that often times we struggle to pick ourselves up when we fall down. I learned that in order to surmount my treacherous setbacks, I had to take that first step and ask for help.

Today I can tell you I am taking the right steps toward recovery. I have such amazing friends that are there every step of the way. I feel confident, excited, and most importantly: happy. Yes, happiness seems so simple, and you may wonder, why is this so important? Doesn't everyone experience happiness?

While that may seem like the truth, happiness to me has been the key towards the road to recovery. I am so happy and proud of everything I have accomplished, and to say I'm finally experiencing happiness, is more important than any trophy or material good in the world. So I encourage you all, if you or someone is struggling, reach out for support. Trust me, it makes all the world of differences.

                                                                 xoxo kaitlyn