I can't believe that it's already April! The end of the semester and my first year of college is just 2 months away! Here's what I've been up to this month but first I have some exciting news that I have been dying to share!
Exciting opportunities for Summer 2018....
I will be studying abroad this summer in the beautiful Montpellier, France!! I am so exciting and beyond grateful for this opportunity. I have wanted to go to France ever since I was a little girl and I am so happy that this dream will finally be coming true! Growing up on Saint Martin exposed me to French culture an although I have French nationality I never learned to fluently speak the language. This has motivated me to minor in French and I am excited to spend 3 week practicing my language skills with locals in the country. I know this experience will greatly improve my skills and I will be able to visit some amazing and historic sites and cities. I will definitely be sharing more info and my journey on this blog so stay tuned! I am so excited to be studying abroad in my first year of college, it's such an amazing opportunity! If you have any questions feel free to ask!
Office of Multi-Ethnic Students Academic Excellence Awards
I was honored to be invited to receive this award along with many other bright students of different ethnicities for having a 3.5 of higher GPA. I enjoyed this event because it highlighted people of color and minority groups on campus for their academic achievements, it was a great feeling to be in a room of people who worked hard to receive the grades that they did.
Our award was the beautiful pin that I will definitely keep as a keepsake and a reminder of the hardwork I did in my first semester of college and to motivate me to continue to work hard.
I was so happy to have my support system with me: my mom and my aunt! Making them proud gives me so so much joy and I hope I can continue to make them, my family, and my island proud.
Academics
On my last update, I talked about the exams that I had that week...I'm happy to say that I aced both my Calculus and Bio exam! While I didn't ace my Chemistry exam, I did get 10 points above average and was still proud of my grade! But being the person that I am, that B pushed me to study even harder for the next exam which I took this month. It seems that there is always something to study for and always assignments to be done, this semester truly feels like college while last semester was a trial run! But I'm actually really happy, I work well when I have a busy schedule and I love learning all the material, especially my science courses.
I was still in need of a break, and spring break could not have come sooner!
Spring Break
I started off my break with my wonderful boyfriend who surprised me with dinner and a gift: a new Alex and Ani bracelet! I really loved it and loved the time I got to spend with him.
The rest of my spring break was spent with my family and getting some well deserved rest!
1000 days
This month we also celebrated our 1000 day anniversary on 3.31.18...it's so crazy to think that its already been one thousand days together and soon to be 3 years of dating. I pray for more days of happiness in our future.
Gemstone
I am learning so much about research in my Gemstone program! This month we wrote our literature review, I enjoyed the process of doing research on our topic mental health through the scope of environmental factors because I found so many interesting articles and learned a lot of new information about how the environment affects our bodies and brain! We've also discussed research ethics which I believe is very important, as a pre-medicial student I also understand how ethics will play a huge role in medicine!
We are getting so close to forming our teams!! I am happy to say that the team I co-authored made it through the first round of voting...yay! We met with a faculty member who approved of our project idea and had a lot of advice to give in regard to the directions that the project could go. The second vote is currently happening, hopefully our team makes it through. Team formation night is just 2 weeks away so stay tuned to find out what I'll be researching for the next 3 years!
Coffee Break
My roommate, a friend, and I decided to have a Friday coffee break at the new café in College Park. It was my first time having what I like to call "fancy coffee" and honestly it was so pretty I didn't want to drink it! It tasted amazing, if you're a UMD and love coffee shops I say check it out!
For my outfit I paired this pair of houndstooth pants with my white turtleneck and black flats. I added some makeup and a pop of color with the fenty lipstick in "Candy Venom"
Book of the Month
The novel I am reading this month is Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward. I picked up this novel after seeing it on Yara Shahidi's instagram (love her!) and reading some reviews. It's a story about of a African American family in the south. The main character is a young boy named Jojo, his mom is a drug addict and his dad is being released from prison. This is a book that I am eager to read whenever I have the time!
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That's all the updates I have for now! I hope April will be a blessed month for everyone and Happy Easter to you all.
Till next week,
xoxo
Kye