I just noticed I’ve already surpassed my goal! 53 books so far. I have two more months, though, and at least four more books to read for school. I’ve also bought a ton of books lately for fun, so hopefully I’ll have some time for those soon!
Melissa Sions's Life List
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1. read 50+ books in 2009
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2. see Philip Glass live
1 cheer3 people -
3. raise my GPA to a 3.85
1 person -
4. run 5 miles in 60 minutes
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5. create a time capsule
10 people -
6. study abroad in Africa or the Middle East
1 person -
7. graduate from Columbia
1 person -
8. score a 174 on the LSATs
1 person -
9. get into law school
202 people -
10. get my law degree in int'l law
1 person -
11. read all the books I own
1,135 people -
12. speak 3 languages fluently
1 entry . 1 cheer35 people -
13. see the world
1 cheer1,955 people -
14. finish my novel
1 cheer861 people -
15. continue publishing my zine
1 person -
16. learn to cook
1 cheer8,193 people -
17. sing in a jazz club
7 people -
18. learn to drive stick
226 people -
19. learn to play the piano
7,452 people -
20. get my driver's license
5,029 people -
21. pay off my student loans
2,846 people -
22. go kayaking
552 people -
23. amass a huge personal library
1 person -
24. get an apartment in Manhattan
3 people -
25. see a blue whale
1 cheer56 people -
26. visit every continent
1,589 people -
27. live abroad
1,312 people -
28. make a kite
42 people -
29. learn to eat healthier
1 entry17 people
How I did it: (Part of me feels a little guilty about this, but I'll be honest...)I'd had no luck getting an internship for the summer 2009 term, so I was just taking classes. However, two of my friends that I know from a human rights group I'm in at school both mentioned an opening in the department where they intern(ed)--one of my friends was interning for the summer, the other one had during the previous academic year. It was partly that I had them … Read how I did it…
How I did it: Wasn't too hard. My budget was within a few hundred of what I spent on my PC laptop (a 15.4" HP Pavilion dv6500t with 2GB RAM and 120GB hard drive space), so I researched Apple computers that would be in the relative price range and have what I needed. I settled on a 15" Macbook Pro with 4GB RAM and 250GB hard drive space, but even with my student discount it was a little pricey. I ended up surfing third-party sellers and bought one new i… Read how I did it…
How I did it: My school offers boxing workshops every semester. I'm in NY all summer, and they had one going from June to August, so I signed up! It meets twice a week, and in between I do my own workouts in the gym--10 minutes warm-up with jump-rope, 30 minutes of cardio on the treadmill, and 30-45 minutes of weights--and practice forms and combinations by myself. Read how I did it…
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I’ve actually been working on this since this past spring. There were often flyers for it available on my university campus, and I had been researching it for awhile. I finally got up the guts to call before the end of the school year and go in to speak with someone. The women’s health center is affiliated with my university, so I felt pretty safe going with them, and so far they’ve been really nice. It’s taken months of paperwork, blood tests, ultrasounds, and appointments, but I’m about to start this process. Part of the motivation comes from a desire to help infertile couples, especially since in New York, their problems usually happen because they put off having children (which, unfortunately, is one of those trade-offs for a labor market that accepts women but doesn’t accommodate their possible simultaneous desires to have families). I’m also not really planning on doing anything with them, so why not, right? The compensation, too, is nice for a starving college student in an expensive city.
I’m a bit anxious, though, so if anyone reading has experience with this and can offer tips for coping, I’d be appreciative. (:
Eating has always been the one major impediment to me getting in really good shape. I grew up in a household where my father, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in his mid-40s, wasn’t in the least bit health-conscious, and indulged my junk food urges from a very early age, and as a result I’ve come to the ripe old age of 21 with a lot of bad habits. For the last three years, I’ve gotten much more committed to exercise than I ever was in my entire life, and it’s been great! But I have slowly come to the conclusion that I’m never going to be as healthy as I want to be if I don’t learn to eat better than I have.
So far I’ve done a lot of research on vitamins, local and sustainably grown food, ingredients to avoid on labels, and on some good cookbooks so I can start being much more conscious of what I put in my body day-to-day. My boyfriend’s even volunteering to help me buy cooking utensils! I think this is going to be a lot of fun; my main goal in this is not so much to lose weight (it’d be nice!!), but to (a) improve my body’s performance in physical activities I enjoy and (b) take a proactive role in preventing diseases I could get later on.
