So...... (Life goes on.)

Yeah, this blog challenge thing is NOT going to get done any time soon. The more I think about doing it, the more I go "ugh, why!?". It's become a chore in my mind, but while other chores - such as laundry, cooking, and washing the dishes - are necessary for my life to continue, this one is not. And so I'm not going to do it.

Does this mean I failed? Yes, I did fail the blog challenge.

Well, boohoo.

Life goes on. 

This has been something I've been telling myself a lot more lately.

My response to failing or not meeting my expectations is usually being upset, which entails moping, sighing obnoxiously every five minutes, or being fixated on what I could have done better or what went wrong. And this past year, there have been plenty of times when I have "failed" (one of them being not completing my optics midterm). But I've been getting better at letting them slide.

I've learned that sometimes, failures don't mean much in the grand scheme of things. Most of the things I consider "failures" are just wounds to my ego. You get over those by reminding yourself to be humble and modest; and that you're allowed to make mistakes and be scared.

What if it does matter? What if the failure is significant enough that it changes everything? Then, sorry, your life is over. NOT. You either dwell on it, or you do something about it. Or you dwell a little before you get up and start back up again; because life goes on whether you want it to or not.

Time won't stop while you dwell on your failures, so use your dwelling time wisely. Don't use a lot of it on negativity. Instead, try to think about the lessons you can take away from this experience; to plan what you'll do in the next few days, months, years; and to apologize to others where appropriate, and forgive yourself always.

So, I don't know where all of that came from, but hopefully it was inspiring or something. Regular blogging will resume whenever I post next (which may be soon... I think it's time for a skin update).

Hope you're comfortably warm wherever you are.

So...

Greetings, creepy blog readers! I've just come up to the surface of the ocean of lectures and labs and diagrams and equations that I am trying not to drown in to say hi and acknowledge how badly I have failed my November blog challenge. November was not a good month to choose to tackle a daily blog challenge... No biggie. I'm done my exams mid-December, so I'll pick up from where I left off there (and hopefully I won't be too distracted by the holiday season to forget!).

I also mentioned that I would keep up with my "regular" blog posts... and I have also failed that too. But consider this one, as I am obviously not writing in response to a challenge prompt.

SO, here's what I've been up to for the past little while!

1. Studying.
2. Interpreting terrible lecture slides and diagrams.
3. Studying more.
4. Occasional singing breaks (i.e. playing around with Acapella).
5. Swearing as much as a sailor at stupid lectures.
6. Complaining to friends.
7. Spending time with friends.
8. Sleeping.

It's been rough. And it's gonna be this way for the next couple of weeks - we have exams scheduled approximately every other day. I mean, I knew what I was getting myself into. I just didn't expect to be so unprepared.

New year's resolution: follow a study schedule so you don't have to cram over 1000 slides of info over two and a half weeks. 

Sigh. Anyhow, time to return to the depths. 

P.S. It isn't Monday, but here are a few tunes I've been digging lately and have been on repeat (individually, or as part of a playlist) while I study.

The Feeling - Justin Bieber ft. Halsey

Weird video. Other than that, the Biebs has thrown out some good tunes lately. I like Halsey's parts in this (the echoes and harmonies) and the chorus just tears me apart and gets me very, very emotional.

What a Feeling - One Direction

Excuse the fan video. There's something about this song that's similar to Fireproof, and I can't put my finger on it, but that was the first thing I thought of after listening to the first five seconds of it. And then it was on repeat for the rest of the night week.

High Enough To Carry You Over - CHVRCHES

I actually first listened to this song yesterday when I decided to listen to the entire album last night. It kinda caught me by surprise because when the vocals started, I thought the album had finished and gone on to the next song in queue! Martin did a good job with this. It's catchy and the kind of electro-pop that I like to seat-groove to while studying.

Reforget - Lauv

A friend and I had been exchanging music suggestions one night, and the next evening, this one popped up in my Facebook messages as a Youtube video embedded in a website which would replay the video forever. I repeated it seven or eight times before I had to go to sleep; and then added to my Spotify playlist and repeated it more there (does anyone else listen to just one song on repeat for hours or is it just me?) Anyway. It's a sad, pretty song.

Alright. If you don't hear from me in three weeks, the exams got me.

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 12 and 13

Day 12: Write about five blessings in your life.
Good timing! I hear US thanksgiving is pretty soon, so this works out well.

1. A safe place. With all that is going around in the world right now, I can't imagine living less comfortably that I am now. I have a roof over my head, my own bed, my own room!, heat, clean water, and safety & security. I am so, so thankful for all of this.
2. Relatively good health. I say relatively because I am not completely health currently but I'm thankful that I am able to wake up relatively energetic everyday, and be independent, and do and experience so many things. And part of why I wanted to be a medical professional was so that I would be able to help others be healthy so that they are able to function normally.
3. My siblings. Yeah, they're a pain and I'm sure I've been a pain to them quite a lot; but we are a team for life. And we aren't the most cooperative team - that is for sure, but we know how to have fun wherever we go, and we have each other's backs when times get tough.
4. Education. Though I complain about school a lot, and it's basically been more than half of my life so far, I would probably be a very different person if it wasn't for all the schooling I've had thus far. The education I've received has not only stuffed my brain with a lot of information but it has taught me so many things that I've come to realize not everyone knows about. It has also made me more open-minded than an uneducated person would be.
5. Friends. I generally have a very hard time making friends because I'm a terribly shy person. And because I don't talk to anyone, I probably come off as a bit of a cold-hearted bitch (yeah right, I wish I was that badass) an unapproachable, socially-awkward dork. I went through undergrad pretty much alone, with my few friends in different programs and seeing them a couple of times a week; and I told myself, and continue to tell myself that I'm okay with being alone. On good days, I am. But there are times when I'm glad that I've been blessed with having good people around me who want me around.

Day 13: What are you excited about?
I'll make this one short: currently, I'm not too excited about final exams, but I am really looking forward to the winter holidays!

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day... what? (11)

Needless to say, I've fallen behind. And I'm not too sure if I'll be able to catch up, but I'll do my best. I'm thinking about writing two or three a day to catch up, but that will depend on whether I'm inspired or not.

And today, I'm not, so here's Day 11: Something you always think "what if" about.

For a long time, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I wasn't ever ambitious. I haven't ever set any long-term goals for myself, besides "finish high school" and "finish university".

Most of what I've done in my life has been for my parents. They've been through a lot with coming to Canada as refugees and having to build their lives from nothing. And with what they had, they invested a lot it in me - time, effort, money, whatever resources they had, all to set me on a path that they wanted set me on which was and is undeniably be successful and rich.

And, yes, I really appreciate everything they've given to me that they weren't able to give as much to my younger siblings - extra attention personal attention to things like homework; more extracurriculars like piano lessons, Chinese classes, summer camps, and Kumon (side note: one of the few things that Kumon made me really good at was Mad Minutes. I was a friggin' beast at those); and almost all the toys I wanted (I was a spoiled brat). It's kinda amazing. But at the same time, it was all to keep me on this path they wanted me on.

When it came to deciding what to do after high school, my initial sights were set on going into music. Yup, a pretty different field from what I'm in now. My initial plan since grade 10 was to get a Bachelors of Music Education, go to teacher's college, and be a high school music teacher. My parents said no. We got into an argument about it sometime when I was in grade 12 - they said it wouldn't be a good career, that I wouldn't be making a lot of money, that I wouldn't be able to live a good life; I said it was the only thing I wanted to do - and truthfully, it was. It was devastating because the plan I had set for myself was essentially demolished and I was left back at square one, a couple of months before having to submit university applications.

In our argument, "WHY DON'T YOU BECOME A DOCTOR" slipped out. And so I chose science. Fast forward to the day after writing my last exam of undergrad, and I was literally lying on the floor, sobbing because I was back in the same hole. I didn't want to go to med school. I didn't know what the next step was. I didn't know what I wanted to do. Because all my life I had been following some checklist my parents made up for me.

At the moment, I don't regret going the route I did. I have great friends. I'm a decent person. I've enjoyed learning what I have learned. I'm going to be a doctor. I'm going to do and be part of great things. I'm going to help people. And I'll be able to have a great life (assuming everything works out).

It just makes me angry to know that I'm not doing this entirely for myself.

And so, I can't help but think - what if I had defied my parents? Would I be a lot happier? What would my life be like now if I chose to follow my own path? Where would I be?

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 10

Day 10: Write about something for which you feel strongly.

If you know me in real life, I am generally a very mellow person; I don't get riled up too easily. And quite honestly, I don't feel too strongly about anything at this current stage of my life, though there are a few topics for which I'll be like, "hey, that's not right" or "YES, I AM SO ON BOARD WITH THAT!". Those include:

• global warming: yes, global warming is real. Or, come back to me after that category 7 hurricane rips through your house after you rebuilt it last year after it got torn through by a category 7 hurricane.
• de-funding science: don't. de-fund. science. Unless you want to live this way forever until our non-renewable resources run out, or everyone you know is dying from some viral infection for which the cure could have been found decades earlier, or Earth gets hit by an asteroid that wipes out all humans and could have been detected before if you didn't de-fund science.
• same-sex marriage: why. Why would you deny someone from marrying someone they love when it doesn't have anything to do with you?
• gender equality: I've grown up with my mom telling me that "men will always have an advantage over women." Not for all of my lifetime, mom. 
• music and arts in schools: kids need these programs. Not just to stay off the streets or keep kids in school, but it gives students an alternative means of expression, a new hobby, or a really unique skill that may not be so handy to them in the working world; but it also teaches them valuable skills and traits like discipline, teamwork or independence (depending on which art form), creativity, and time management.

I guess I just really need to find something I'm more passionate about and really keep up to date with it, but there are just so many topics and issues that I try to stay sensitive to, that it's overwhelming to keep up with all of them!

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 9

Day 9: Post some words of wisdom that speak to you.

Tonight was our white coat ceremony! And if I knew this was today's prompt, I would have listened more carefully to all of the speakers because much wisdom was imparted on us tonight... Oh well.

As silly as it is, the words I've been living by most recently are "You live only once", which is the grammatically correct way of saying YOLO. I know, it's silly. But for a lot of my life, I've been missing out on opportunities, experiences, and memories because I always said no, or thought that another chance would come around. I missed out on opportunities to grow, to meet new people, to have fun for the heck of it.

Now this doesn't mean I'm going out and hopping on every opportunity train that comes my way. I'm still keeping sensible throughout this whole new journey of optometry school because honestly, there are some experiences that I don't need or want. But where there are opportunities to learn, make connections, and live well, I'll be up for it.

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 8

Day 8: Share something you struggle with.

I hate being shy.

I wish I could be outgoing, and sociable, and so effortlessly comfortable with being around and interacting with other people. But, hey, what's one more item to add to my list of things I'm mediocre at?

How do people do it?

How do you do it?
Yes, this is making the assumption that you, reader, are not a shy person yourself.

How are you so easily able to be in a room of people you don't know, and not feel unsure or insecure?
How are you able to write off fleeting moments of eye contact with strangers or not-so-strangers as purely coincidental rather than judgmental?
How are you able to so boldly take a risk, start a conversation, or ask someone out?
How do you slow your heart from pounding, your cheeks from burning, your palms from sweating as you're about to ask a ("shit this is going to sound stupid") question, or while you're having a casual conversation ("damn it shouldn't have said that what should I say next") with someone new or someone important?

I'm not doing as badly as I used to. These past few months, I've come out of my proverbial shell (that all my high school friends have tried to break) a bit more than before. I'm not as insecure about myself as I used to. And I've definitely met a lot more people. But...

There are still some days where I wish I could feel as comfortable as I am alone in my room, outside where everyone else is.

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 7

Day 10: List 10 songs that you are loving right now.

Yes, it's late. But don't hate; appreciate!... Whatever, no one reads this stuff anyway.

I've been using Spotify for a while now, and my three-month premium for 99 cents subscription will expire in three days. If you're interested in what tunes are ringing through my headphones, you can find me here. And if you do hit up my profile and scroll through, you'll notice that I have a (non-exhaustive) current favourites playlist, which I will condense to 10 songs for this entry:

1. Perfect - One Direction
2. Carry On - Coeur de Pirate
3. Bang Bang - Lawrence Taylor
4. Powerful - Major Lazer ft. Ellie Goulding, Tarrus
5. Verge - Owl City ft. Aloe Blacc
6. On My Mind - Ellie Goulding
7. What Do You Mean - Justin Bieber
8. Let It Go - James Bay
9. Jet Black Heart - 5 Seconds of Summer
10. Fire N Gold - Bea Miller

But I'll have to be honest, I'm not really enjoying any of these too much (except Perfect. That is my shower song)... i.e. it just feels like there isn't a whole lot of new music out there that's really good. Not hating on the artists or the music industry or anything. It's just me and my fastidious taste.

I will report back in T minus twenty-something hours to hopefully get day 11 in on time. 

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 6

Day 6: Five ways to win your heart.

Before I start, I guess I should acknowledge that the time at the moment is 12:17 a.m. on November 7th... so that's one strike for me on this blog challenge. Womp womp. Fridays commuting home are always hectic. Coming home and being at home is hectic. Realistically, all I come home for are 1) my dogs, 2) my piano, and, tied for 3rd) my siblings and my room. Otherwise, I could live away from home forever.

Anyhow, this is going to be a fun one. It's also going to take a long time to write considering that no one has won my heart before, and now I essentially have to lay out the five reasons why I am so terribly difficult.

 Leggo! How to win my heart:

1. best two out of three in a game of rock paper scissors.
Okay, no but really.

1. Be okay with me being quiet (most of the time). I am terrible to have a conversation with - partly due to my shyness, partly due to how uniformed I am on most topics of conversation, and partly due to my mental incapability of forming coherent sentences 95% of the time. And I generally just like listening to other people talk. But people who are okay with me being quiet or notice me despite me being quiet are the ones I tend to stick around. I would follow you like a puppy.
2. Have a good sense of humour. I usually laugh at everything, so it might not seem hard to win my heart, but it's the really clever, kinda dark, smart, sarcastic, mildly aggressively satirical, and punny material that I deeply appreciate. It also doesn't hurt if you understand my (sometimes twisted) humour.
3. If you're talented - and I don't mean "I can burp the ABCs" or some gross or useless talent but really skillfully talented, I'd be down. If you're musically and athletically talented, yo, I'd be so down.
4. Someone who is both mature (hard-working, responsible, mellow) and immature (ex. someone who knows how to get down and let loose on the dance floor) because I am ultimately looking for someone who will be fun to be around whom I won't have to babysit, if you know what I'm sayin'. And also because I also act this way...
5. Kindness. Nothing melts my heart more than seeing someone do something thoughtful or nice for someone else, or when I'm on the receiving end of a random act of kindness. Seeing someone help and old granny walk across the street? Ugh, done.

Aaaand this list is absolutely not exhaustive! I don't know, people win my heart over with the most littlest things, but these are probably the most significant out of all of them. Oh, and one more:

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1:27 a.m. Time for sleep. Peace!

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 5

Day 5: List five places you want to visit.

Midterms are officially over!

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 Only... three more examination periods to go before summer break!...

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Ahhh, well. It's never too early to start planning out trips!

You know those moments when you hear about your colleagues' lives and feel like you're way behind? Yeah, that happens to me often, especially when I hear about my friends, or friends' friends getting engaged. But also when I hear about where other people have traveled to (or, when I see someone post a picture of them petting a tiger). Of course, each person's life is his or her's to live at their own pace, so no one should feel ashamed for not doing things that other people have done. I just can't help but feel a bit envious whenever I hear of my friends' adventures.

This being said, I have a mental list of places I want to visit sometime in my life. Five, really general places off the top of my head are:

1. Greece - and all the museums and historical landmarks! Especially because I've been interested in Greek mythology and ancient Greece ever since reading the entire mythology index at the back of an encyclopedias back in grade 4 (don't be too impressed; it was only like... 30 pages? It was a small section).
2. Italy - also for its historical landmarks. And the beautiful architecture and buildings.
3. All the other provinces and territories of Canada! I want to see and experience most, if not everything my country has to offer.
4. China and Vietnam - where my parents and grandparents and ancestors are from. 
5. Every Disneyland Park there is in the world. I'm talking the one in Cali, Hong Kong, Paris... anywhere else? I've been to the one in Orlando way back when I was 11, but it wasn't too fun of an experience (my family was a pack of noobs, and we didn't know where to go in the park), so I wouldn't mind going back a second time. And also, I'm a huge kid at heart who's still into Disney. And I want a pair of Mickey Mouse ears straight outta Disneyland.

And there you have it, day 5 of the blog challenge! 

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 4

Day 4: Write about someone who inspires you.

Again, gonna make this one quick because my midterm is tomorrow and I am very, very not ready.

But the thing about today's prompt is that... I don't have a response. I mean, this doesn't mean that I'm never inspired, but it's just that there are so many people that I look up to, each with qualities that I admire, or achievements that I'd like to attain or match.

This might be a post I'll come back to once I think of a person who embodies everything I strive to become and achieve but for now, let's leave it at this: the person who inspires me is down-to-earth, humble, and hard-working. She is creative. She is kind. She's gone through rough times in life and has come back wiser and stronger, not bitter or contemptuous. She knows who she is; and she isn't afraid to be who she is.

And this is the person I want to become.

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 3

Day 3: What are your top three pet peeves?

As much as I'd like to do a full-out thoughtful post, I'm gonna keep this short and sweet because I am near-terrifyingly behind on studying for my midterm on Thursday...

1. flaky people: the people who tell you one thing, but don't follow through
2. flaky wifi: wifi that cuts in and out, like the wifi here in my residence
3. flaky pastries: because it makes eating them nicely and neatly a nightmare

Maybe I'll re-write this one some day because these aren't truly my top three pet peeves. Or are they? I mean, if they just came to mind right away, they have to be pretty high up on the list right?

Toodles!

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 2

Day 2: Write something that someone told you about yourself that you never forgot.

Way back in the summer after my second year of undergrad, I volunteered at a hospital on weekends in the palliative care ward. I quite honestly didn't do a lot while I was there because we weren't given specific tasks, but one of the things we were told was to not let the patients out of the ward. Many of them were mentally handicapped or physically handicapped so they were not allowed to go out on their own, unless the nurses allowed.

There was a code to open the door from inside the ward, but people coming into the ward could just open the door and come in. This was problematic because patients would literally sit at the door and wait for it to open to make a run for it.

One day I was walking up and down the hallway and an old lady was at the door yanking on the handle to try to open it. I went up to her and politely told her that she couldn't open the door without the key code. 

"Can you tell me the code?"

"No, sorry, only the staff are allowed to know the code."

"Then can you open the door for me?"

I sighed and braced myself for a tantrum that I had seen thrown around by a couple of patients previously. "I'm sorry, I'd really like to but I'm not allowed to let you outside by yourself."

And, surprisingly enough, she just shrugged, turned around and let me lead her back to her room. Along the way, she turned to me and said, "You're very diplomatic."

"Oh really? What does that mean?"

"You know what to say to people and you're nice," was something along the lines of what she said. I went home and searched the definition of 'diplomatic' that afternoon but it never really stuck, so I had to look it up again today: "Having or showing an ability to deal with people in a sensitive and effective way."

I still remember this moment because it was positive affirmation for me and my interpersonal skills. I was really shy then, and still am; and sometimes, I sit back and wonder how on earth I'll be able to get along with patients the way the doctors I've shadowed are able to, or just, how I'll be able to get along with people in general - how to start conversations, how to effectively communicate, and most importantly, how to reject people (how to tell them 'no'). 

I'm sure the way I spoke to the old lady in the hospital won't be effective with everyone, but knowing that at least one person thinks I'm capable boosts my confidence. I won't be able to fully get the hang of being outgoing or sociable, but I'll find a way that works for me and everyone around me. 

November 2015 Blog Challenge Day 1

It's the first day of the month, so instead of studying for my next (and last!) midterm, I went searching for blog challenges. I've always wanted to do one, but never got around to creating my own prompts, which I'll try to do for another time; and I couldn't find one with prompts that I liked. The prompts I found came from this blog and they're pretty simple and not too tacky or cheesy, so I'm going with it. But I will also do my usual writing (my average of two posts per month, hah... I'm terrible) on top of it all. Wish me luck!

List 10 things that make you happy:

1. Good weather - sunshine, blue sky, and temperatures in the mid 20s. The kind of weather that makes being outside enjoyable without having to do anything else.
2. My piano. Well, not just my own, but any piano where I can sit down, clunk out and sing wail along to a few tunes to clear my mind of other things.
3. Good times with friends. Usually involving board games, dancing, goofiness and/or lots of laughs.
4. Dessert. Aaaaaaaalll the desserts. Every single sweet edible food item on this planet will probably make me happy.
5. When someone remembers something trivial about me - because most of the time, it's usually me who remembers stupid facts about someone, like how many siblings they have, or their favourite colour, or that time they did that thing the other people don't remember them doing (maybe you all should be creeped out by how much I remember about each of you because it's a bit unnatural to remember the haiku that some kid in your class wrote in grade 5); so when someone remembers my favourite colour or my favourite Pokemon or something (it's Kingdra, FYI), it makes me feel like they want to know me.
6. Reading. I especially like reading aloud, pretending to be the person reading (performing? presenting?) an audiobook. Oh yeah. I go all out with terrible accents and voices and everything.
7. Helping people. I like random acts of kindness done for me, but doing them from others and seeing how much they are grateful makes me happy. (It's a whole other story when they aren't grateful - like the time I offered an apple to a homeless man and he asked for money instead. That was awful). 
8. DIY projects... and successfully completed DIY projects, because, let's be honest, ending up on compilation of fails would kinda suck.
9. Making packing lists. And packing, in general. Not sure about this one. Probably because it implies plans are in the making.
10. Hugs. Meaningful hugs, random hugs, long hugs, quick hugs. Ironically, I'm not a hugger; I just like to be on the receiving end. P.S. To many friends reading this who have attempted to hug me in the past, yes, despite feigning disgust in direct contact, I do enjoy a good hug.

Woohoo! One day down, 29 more to go. I give you all permission to bug me if I miss a day. 

Happy November!

Optometry school - Interview preparation tips

Maybe it's too early to write about this; maybe it's too late. But I'm going to write about it anyway, because if you were like me and got your American school applications in later than all the other keeners who submitted theirs back in August, then you're probably not going to hear back from them until November or December anyway. And if you're applying to Waterloo, you are definitely not going to hear back from them until December (interviews are in January).

Let's first start by saying the interview is not a huge thing to be worried about. Unless you're going to Waterloo, but I'll get to that later. But, a little preparation wouldn't hurt. You don't want to be surprised on an already stressful day!

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1. Find out what the interview process for your schools are; this way, you'll know how to prepare. The schools will probably tell you the format of your interviews, but you could also ask around or do some research online. I applied to three schools, got interviews to all three, and each school's interview process was different. NECO, for example, was the most simplest interview in my opinion - an interview with a faculty member with pretty straight-forward questions about who you are, your interests, why NECO, why optometry. ICO's is a bit more complicated (so I've heard - I never ended up going to that interview) with an impromptu essay component as well. And Waterloo has the MMI...

(Please keep in mind that what I've mentioned could be different! The schools could always change their interview formats.)

2. Prepare answers for potential questions. I Googled "optometry interview questions", copy & pasted the common questions into Word, and answered them in point form. This was crucial for me because I know that I always get rattled when asked about certain things (ex. my interests. ALWAYS) on the spot and my answers come out as me blubbering and talking in circles. This helped me organize my answers and lay out what I wanted to mention.

As for Waterloo's MMI, it's a little bit harder to prepare for because you can't really predict the questions that you'll be asked. What I did to prepare as much as I could was Google "sample MMI questions" to see what types of questions are asked in a typical MMI.

3. Mock interviews! Practice orally answering your questions. Get a friend to ask you some questions and practice answering them. Remember to ask for feedback in the end - especially about any habits they've noticed (ex. excessive use of 'like', 'umm', or any other words/phrases/noises, hand gestures, eye contact, posture); and accept the criticism gracefully. Sometimes it's hard to hear about your weaknesses or what people don't like about what you do, but do not be discouraged!

Alternatively if you're on your own (or prefer to be on your own, like me), practice in front of a mirror, or better yet, a camera so you can review and see what you'd need to improve.

You'll want to practice for the MMI by replicating it as closely as you can. I don't remember exactly, but for Waterloo's MMI, you have two or three minutes to read a question and prepare your answer, then six or seven minutes to answer. So in preparation, select a couple of the questions you Googled, and sit down with a timer. Train yourself to mentally organize your thoughts and prepare your answer (because you aren't given scrap paper and a pen to do so!) and then practice answering your question aloud.

*** With number 2 and 3 being said, interviews will know when you've rehearsed and/or memorized your answers; so don't do that. Your prepared answers from step 2 should just give you a bare minimum to work with - this is why I suggest writing out your answers in point form; when you have your interview, these points should just be a "map" of how you're going to answer the questions.

4. Prepare your interview outfit! Or maybe you already have something in your closet, but it took me a while to find a suit I a) liked and b) was comfortable in. You'll want to wear something you can move around or sit in as you'll be sitting around for some time, and walking around on school tours. And of course, you'll want to wear something you like and look good in, just to give yourself an extra boost of confidence.

I hope this was helpful. Leave a comment if you have any questions, or want to see a blog post about something else optometry school-related.

Good luck; have fun!

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P.S. here are two links to resources that helped me prepare for the MMI:
University of Toronto Scarborough - they have tips at the end too.
University of British Columbia - this is a resource for medical school MMIs. Please trust me when I say that the questions for the Waterloo MMI are not this intense!

Anxiety

I have suffered from anxiety since I was a little kid. The first time I got overly anxious was in kindergarden - I puked right before our class left for a field trip.

It isn't clinical or anything, but it's there. And while I've tamed it a bit, there are still triggers - feeling helpless, physical pain, adults arguing, tension (whether it's obvious or imagined by me)...

It's the first day of October tomorrow. And you know what that means? Hockey season starts Midterm mania starts. Our first midterm is next Thursday, and it's for a class I feel like I know NOTHING about, and I honestly don't know how I'm going to learn everything for then (yeah, yeah, I probably should be studying for it instead of writing this but I can't). And on top of that I have a tutorial assignment to prepare for which, again, I don't know how to approach; and then there are all the other classes that I have to keep up with AND I have a sprained ankle and I can't go anywhere on my own and - gosh, thinking about this is making my head feel like it's being squished into a small helmet.

Okay, so enough thinking about it. Breathe. That's one way I deal with my anxiety. A trick I learned from the handy folks on Tumblr - inhale, but then exhale for longer than you inhaled (I forget the exact times).

I deal with my anxiety in several other ways, and they kind of depend on the situation I'm in. One thing I tell myself is that I'm not actually nervous, and that the situation isn't terrible - it's a challenge, and it's exciting. When faced with a threatening situation, our bodies kick into fight or flight mode - we start sweating, our hearts beat faster, our extremities get cold (at least mine do anyway) from redirection of blood from our limbs to our internal organs... anyway. A lot of people, myself included, tend to associate these physiologic reactions with nervousness and anxiety, but I've started trying to re-associate them with excitement instead; and for some reason, this settles my anxiety a little.

I don't know if anyone else does this, but another psychological thing I do is think of something that will calm me down and make me feel less sick (which I often feel when I get anxious) - for me, this 'something' is water. Back in elementary school when my anxiety problem was more of an issue than it is today, I used to walk to school in the morning and visualize clean oceans, pristine streams, tap water, and drinking water (yes, going to school was enough of a trigger to induce anxiety for me!). I still resort to this sometimes.

And lastly, there's music, which I currently have blasting through my headphones into my ears to keep me from breaking down. I have a playlist of songs that are - for some unknown reason - very comforting to me (musicology experts, wanna jump in? I think it has something to do with key and chord progression). But for extreme situations (or when I'm not on Spotify), my go-to comfort song is Fireproof by One Direction. My play count has reset since I transported my iTunes to my new computer, but last I checked, it had been played close to a thousand times. Belting out a few tunes is also very therapeutic...

Oh yeah, and then there's sleeping it off, which is sometimes hard when you have a million thoughts buzzing around in your head. But you have to tell yourself that your health is more important than anything else, and getting a good night's rest is important for your health. That usually works for me, anyway.

How do you deal with anxiety or being nervous/stressed?

Epuris: Four (months)

Yes, that was a One Direction reference. Hey, how did no one see that Zayn was going to leave the group? Look at him! That clearly says "Nope, I'm outta here!"

Kinda looks like Harry knew it was coming too.

Anyway.

I went to see my dermatologist last week - I had just started on the last blister pack of my fourth round - and she gave me some good news: I'm done! Each course of treatment is around 12-16 months, now that I'm researching it a bit, so if I knew that, I wouldn't have been so pleasantly surprised.

However, I'm still going to do another four weeks because I had a tiny break-out a couple of weeks ago (a zit on each cheek, nothing too horrendous); so hopefully, this will be the final wave of sebacceous gland extermination that I need to go through for a long time.

My symptoms have not changed or worsened too much. My back/trunk pain is still there. It's the worst in the morning - never in my entire life have I had so much trouble physically getting out of bed. It improves throughout the day as I start moving around and going about my day. The worst pain is at my hips - when I get up after sitting for a while, it feels like the upper half of my body is tearing away from the lower half. Gruesome, I know, but that's the only way to describe it! My dermatologist hasn't ever said anything about it though - just to take some Tylenol or Aspirin if it gets bad (and for the record, it hasn't, so phew!).

My lips are still chapped af. I don't know if this was updated, but I switched over my lip balm since I wrote out the list of items I've been using to Nivea's Soothing Care lip balm. 

If you're not a fan of the smell of menthol, this isn't for you, because that's what it smells like! Menthol isn't an ingredient in it, but it does contain something (obviously, based on what it's called) to soothe your lips, which is great for when your lips get painfully chapped (and mine have definitely been at that point!). It also has SPF 15 so you can also avoid having your lips get sunburnt and subsequently, more chapped. 

I don't know if I mentioned this last time, but my eyes have also been affected by Epuris. They, like my lips, are also dry af, and I also find that I'm more light-sensitive than usual (the evidence is in how I was barely able to keep my eyes open during my walks to the bus stop in the morning before work; my eyes also teared up pretty badly so I always looked like I had been crying once I got on the bus, eyeliner smudged and mascara running and all). One of the perks of working at an optometrist's office - free samples! I've tried both the Refresh Optive Advance and the Systane Ultra drops. I prefer the Refresh, but both are great lubricating drops to keep your eyes hydrated.

My nose has also be very, very dry as well; and being allergic to nearly everything in the air doesn't help either (my allergies also contribute to my dry eyes), so I've been having nosebleeds and blowing out bloody snot all day err'day (again, sorry for being descriptive). For that, I just put a little bit of Vaseline inside my nostrils with a Q-tip at night. And it probably doesn't need to be said that I load up on allergy meds as well...

As for my skin itself, it hasn't been too dry. My only problem areas really have been the skin around the corners of my lips. I attribute that to my use of hydrocortisone cream once in a while for when the corners of my lips are cracked.

Otherwise, it's looking pretty good! I haven't worn concealer and/or foundation for a while now because there's not a lot to cover up anymore! I'll go forth with the fifth round of meds, and hopefully, the acne chapter of my life will finally finish! And then I can move on to the scars...

Stay cool!

Back to school survival tips

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!" No, Staples. No, it's not.

Okay, maybe for some people - like me! - because while there are reasons to not like going back to school, there are plenty of reasons to be happy about going back to school. For me, the main two reasons for looking forward to school are a) getting back into a structured schedule and b) getting to life on my own - peace and quiet!

I've gone back to school a couple of times now, so while I won't say I'm the best at being a well-balanced student, I think I have a few pieces of advice in terms of dealing with getting back to the grind and dealing with the school year in general:

One of the biggest problems I always faced at the start of a new school year was getting into it mentally. It usually took me a very, very long time to shift from summer vacation mode into study mode; and while this was okay for high school (yes kids, high school isn't going to matter after all is said and done), it definitely made me fall behind a little during university (I was able to pull it together in the middle of semesters). My strategy with dealing with this is to just... ease myself into it. This may be a bit difficult to do if your schoolwork load does not allow for 'easing into' right off the bat, but I would let the workload pile up a little for the first week while I sorted out a homework/reading schedule; and this also helped put a little pressure on me to force me into focusing on my schoolwork.

Doesn't sound like a good strategy when I spell it out for you like that... but the bottom line is to do whatever works for you and your studies.

One of the biggest problems I always faced during the school year is not being social enough. In high school, it was easier to make friends because classes were smaller and you had time to talk to your peers during class as well as during lunch or before/after school; and I was also in my school's concert and jazz band, and that essentially gave me a group of people to bond with. But in university, classes got huge, and there were just so many people; and one thing I learned the hard way was that having friends and forging friendships needed work. I wasn't quite used to this because in high school, the friendships I had kinda just happened, so I quite literally did not know how to walk up to someone, introduce myself and have a conversation (I'm quite terrible at this in general) and essentially build a relationship. Aaaand I also never went out (for several reasons).

This time around, as I start school again, I'm going to try to put myself out there a bit more. What I didn't realize before, and what I'll try to keep in mind as orientation week starts is that almost no one is going to know each other, so everyone is on an even playing field (i.e. no cliques!). This also means that everyone is pretty open to getting to know other people, so take the chance and say hi and tell them your name. If you're not a good conversationalist, hope that the other person is don't pressure yourself. My strategy is just to listen and respond accordingly rather than trying to come up with complex things to say. I usually end up blubbering or losing all ability to form coherent sentences because I get so nervous... I like to tell others that it's alright to be nervous, but I know for myself, this is something I have to work on - especially since I'll be working with people for the rest of my life! I'll let you know when I come up with something.

Oh! And don't forget to say hi again, i.e. don't just meet the person once and ignore them for the rest of the year! This is something I always did because I didn't know if the other person would remember me. And I mean, sometimes, people will forget and in that case, you could remind them; but the real people you want to hang out with are the people who'll remember you (but beware of the creepy stalkerish individuals who could remember you for other reasons...).

My last tip: sleep always comes first. In all my years of being in school, I have pulled off only two all-nighters. And they might not even count as all-nighters by other people's standards - I stayed up 'til 4:30 a.m. both times - and both times were to write essays (one of them was the dreaded 4000-word essay for IB... anyone feel me here?). But when it came to cramming the night before for a morning exam, I studied until I could not keep my eyes open - usually around 2:30 a.m., went to bed for around three hours, and woke up early the next morning to finish my studying (or, study as much as I could). And... I did pretty well. The point is, your brain can't work half-dead, so staying up all night is not worth it. I mean, by all means, if this works for you, sure, keep doing it! But I know for myself, I need sleep (which is ironic, because I don't like mid-day naps UNLESS I'm in a car).

So this was longer than intended... hopefully it was helpful and/or insightful. If it wasn't, my blog doesn't come with a time-back guarantee, so ha ha.

To all my fellow students in school, or going to school soon, gl;hf!

Went to a 1D concert, again - One Direction - Thursday, August 20 @ The Rogers Center

So... I may be a bigger fan of One Direction than I was last year when I went to their concert. Not ashamed. I listen to the music I want to, biznatch.

Anyhow. My sister and I weren't planning to go again - the family friends we went with offered to buy us tickets again a while ago when the tickets first came out, but we passed. And then one of my sister's Facebook friends posted a status, selling her floor seat tickets. FLOOR. SEAT. TICKETS!!!

At first we were hesitant because the asking price was quite a bit more than I'd ever contemplate spending on entertainment, but we managed to get them for less than face value because the girl just wanted to get rid of them.

And so, we attended 1D's Toronto stop on their On The Road Again tour!

Resistance. Is. FUTILE!!!

Tonight, I did something I told myself I wouldn't do until years down the road...

I browsed engagement rings on Pinterest.

Not to say that this is something to be looked down upon - it isn't! Each to their own. I just happened to tell myself that it's pretty stupid to look up engagement rings or wedding dresses or other wedding-related things when I'm not even in a relationship. And now somewhere, a part of me - the part that was like "Oh, it's alright, stop being so serious about it!" - is all like "LOOK WHO CAVED! SOFFFFTTTT!"

I blame my coworkers. They were looking up wedding-related things on my last day of work.

But this all takes me back to a part of a lecture in my psychology for life class. Basically the gist of it was this: if you want to stop thinking about something, you have to think about it. Trying not to think of it is counter-productive, because they you end up thinking about it anyway. So, if you're trying to forget about someone or something, don't tell yourself to not think about it. And don't try to "replace" the thought either - my prof's example was how he would think about carrots to try to curb is smoking habit - it doesn't work because then you get into a cycle of "wait, why was I thinking about this? Oh, it's because I was trying not to think about this - oh GOSH DARN IT!"

I love it when things I learn are applicable to my life.

So if there's a thought you're trying to get rid of, don't try to force it away. Just... let it dwell in your mind, and eventually, the thought will wear itself out, so to speak. The last time I did this was for someone I was crushing on (and maybe you don't know this, but when I crush on someone, I crush on them. HARD). Yeah, it was torturous, with a couple of nights of "He's so perfect but he doesn't know I exist why am I even thinking of him he's never even noticed me but he has such a nice face but he doesn't even know my name this sucks I'm going to be single forever" playing over and over in my head, but eventually, I forgot about him. And even when I did think of him later, it didn't bother me.

Now I'm going to go ahead and continue browsing through all the engagement rings until I get bored. Not like it's going to harm anyone, right?

Music Monday: Songs of Summer

Oh, have I told you that I'm done work? Friday was my last day, so I have three weeks off to do some awesome and fun things before I ship myself off to school.

And of course, one of those awesome and fun things that I get to do is... update this blog.

(Yeah, spoiler alert: I don't actually have much planned for the next few weeks.)

Anyhow, I haven't done a Music Monday in a while, but I thought I would share my top songs of summer:

1. Shut Up And Dance - Walk The Moon

Oh, you mean, you haven't heard of this song? Well, of course, I mean, it hasn't been overplayed by all the major radio stations across the city, has it?!!!!?????!

Okay, I'm going to be one of those people for a sec: I heard this song before it got popular. And then when it went "mainstream" so to speak, I could not have been happier for WTM. And even now, as overplayed as it is, I'm still overjoyed whenever it plays on the radio (except for when I'm radio channel-surfing, and EVERY STATION is playing it). I hope the radio people start picking up more of their songs! *cough cough* PORTUGAL *cough cough*

2. She's Kinda Hot - 5 Seconds of Summer

Ahh, yes, had to include the new one by my favourite Australians (shhhh don't tell my cousins). I am not a big fan of the first verse because it's kinda not relevant to the main message of the song. The groovy riff makes up for it though. And so does Ashton getting to sing a verse.

3. Never Come Down - Brave Shores

If you watched a lot of TV this summer - particularly during Women's FIFA World Cup, then this one will be familiar to you. It was used in the super inspiring Coca-Cola commercial featuring Christine Sinclair, promoting the empowerment of female athletes.

It's a pretty repetitive song, but the bouncy little riff drew me in, and the driving synth (? whatever makes the buzzing/motor sound in the background) kept me.

Just so you know, I'm always open to music recommendations, so if you ever want to recommend me a similar song as the ones I list, another song by the same artist, or a completely unrelated song (i.e. if you think my taste in music is that bad), leave me a comment! I just got Spotify Premium (three months for 99 cents is uh-MAZE-ing!) so I plan to abuse it to no end. Which means I need more song recommendations so I'm not playing the same ones over and over again...

Stay cool!

July talk

Get it? July talk? Like the band? But we're just gonna talk about what I've done in July? Hahaha... yeah no wonder no one reads my blog.

Anyhoo, I was out and about plenty this month, as I hope I will be in August as well as summer wraps up before I head to school in September. I want to get my fill of summertime fun so I can go to school fully focused (or, as focused as I can be, because admittedly, I am terrible at staying focused in school!).

Movies
If you know me, you'd know I hate movies. I don't know; the idea of sitting in the same spot for more than an hour is not appealing to me (this is also the reason why I have been procrastinating catching up on Game of Thrones and all other TV shows I've ditched). But here's the thing: I don't mind sitting around to watch hockey for three hours... I think it's the commercial breaks that help.

So my family dragged me out to watch Jurassic World, and Inside Out. I haven't watched Jurassic Park (shock!) so I wasn't too sure if I would be able to understand Jurassic World, but I didn't feel like I had a hard time understanding what was going on. I mean, maybe I missed a few references to the old movie, but for the most part, I think anyone would understand the premise of the movie.

mmmm chris pratt

Also, dinosaurs. Aren't they wonderful? I went home from the movie wishing I had a pet velociraptor.

Inside Out was cute. That is all. I might have almost cried near the end. Also, I wish my parents watched the movie. I didn't feel like the movie entirely addressed emotions, but I liked that it exemplified how a parent should react to their child's emotional outbursts - sternly, with patience, and some smattering of understanding. My parents just yelled at me for everything.

Festivals
Night It Up is not quite my cup of tea, only because it requires shelling out lots of cash if you want to fully experience all that it has to offer (So. Many. Food options!). But I always enjoy the liveliness and the freebies that I get. The ladies at the Aveeno/Neutrogena tent really spoiled us - they literally dumped handfuls of samples into our bags! I'm currently sampling Neutrogena's new hydro boost gel cream. Maybe I'll review it later (after I go through the fifteen tubes I have).

I also went to Richmond Hill's Ribfest... which, like Night It Up, requires spending money, but, like the homeboy says, YOLO. We tried some ribs, got some cotton candy, and played some games. I mean, the guy at the beer-bottle-breaking game gave me a deal (four attempts for $5), so I couldn't give it up. Each of my siblings and I got one ball. Only my brother smashed a bottle, but I was next closest!

Pan Am Games!
Easily the most exciting thing I've done this summer - or this year even! - was attend a couple of Pan Am games. As previously blogged, I watched the morning session of the semifinal badminton games, but we also watched some beach volleyball, and - my favourite sporting event that I've attended so far - a preliminary indoor volleyball game featuring team Canada vs. USA!

We got to the venue late (as is tradition) and our section was completely filled - the only space available on the bleachers were right behind a post! Luckily, the volunteers were nice and we got to move to an emptier section, which happened to be where all the VIPs were sitting (athletes and their family members, among other important people!).

I am not an avid a follower of the volleyball world, but some time at the end of last summer, I did stream a couple of games and learned a few names, so it was pretty surreal to watch these guys in action, live!

It wasn't just the fact that it was Canada vs. USA that made the game exciting, but also because Canada successfully completed the comeback, coming from two sets to none early on in the game!

Cuba and Colombia played after, but because the Canada/USA game went to a full five sets, it was pretty late by the time it ended so we didn't stay to watch the rest of the game.

And finally, on the last day of the games, I visited the cauldron and the famous Toronto sign! I think both of these structures will stay up for the Para Pan Am games but I wanted to see them in person in case they wouldn't.

And everything else
We went to an escape room tonight! It was my first time, but my sister and her boyfriend had been to one before, so we had some experience on our team. We were able to escape the room, however we weren't able to solve the murder mystery... Well, we did. I did. But we didn't give the correct answer. And so we ended up on the fail wall.

But it was still fun. I felt a little useless for the most part because my sister, her boyfriend and my brother had their hands on everything. However, I did clue in on several things that they didn't!



Now with August here, I hope I'll do half or as much as I did in July. I do have One Thing already on the calendar...

Epuris: it's bennnnn three months! // products I'm using

(UNMUTE IT!)

(in case you didn't get the reference... no, no, it isn't your fault, I'm just on the internet a tad bit more than the average person.)

Alright, alright, it's actually been a little over three months. To be quite honest, I've been really lazy. And really tired (see below). But I noticed that my posts about Epuris were getting some hits; so I don't know if there are actual people searching and reading up on Epuris, but if there are, hello out there!

I thought for this post, in addition to summing up my experience thus far, I would share what products I've been using along with Epuris because before I started using Epuris, I did a bit of research to find out if and how people were changing up their skincare routines, what products they were using, and how they were coping with side effects (namely, the dryness!).

Et voila! My skincare products:

Clean & Clear makeup dissolving foaming cleanser for makeup removal

Spectro Jel for blemish-prone skin to cleanse my face

Bioderma Sébium H2O purifying cleansing micelle solution to remove makeup AND cleanse my face on days when I'm lazy...

Nivea nourishing day cream with SPF 15 after washing my face in the morning, before putting on makeup

Nivea nourishing night care after washing my face at night

L'Oreal Sublime Sun Silky Sheer SPF 50 face lotion - a new product I'm currently trying out...

Nivea hydro care lip balm throughout the day

EOS lip balm in summer fruit sometimes

Vaseline Jelly Baby (because this is all we have at home) at night

Earth Therapeutics green tea herbal lotion throughout the day and at night right when I go to bed

(*pictures were googled, most are from the brands' websites. TL;DR these are not my pictures I do not own them okay? okay)

One thing to note though, is that my roster of products did not change once I started Epuris (except the sunscreen - that's a new product I'm currently trying out); the same goes for the makeup that I use (which I'll blog about another time). It's probably because my skin was so, extremely oily to start with, so the obliteration of sebaceous glands on my skin hasn't been traumatizing enough to change my routine. With this said, I wouldn't say that these would be the best products for your skin; so try them all out with caution!

For the past two months, moderate progress has been made - my forehead is actually clear (well, 99% clear) for the first time since maybe grade 8 (and that was... 10 years ago, holy shit); and I haven't gotten a single pimple on or around my nose area, which has been a problem area since I started having acne. However, I still get pimples on my cheeks and on my chin, though it usually isn't anything too gnarly (except for the one giant cystic zit on my cheek that appeared last week, and the monster zit on my chin that's currently healing right now).

HOORAY SMOOTH FOREHEAD!

Side effects haven't been ruining my life, but they're still a bother. My lips go through cycles of being fine, to being really, really chapped (could this be due to humidity?). I've also been feeling really, really, really tired lately, though this could also be due to my brand new habit of sleeping way past my usual bedtime. And one last weird thing I've been experiencing, which I'm not too sure is related to Epuris at all, is an aching pain in my chest, upper and lower back, and my sides as if I went through an intense workout, or all of my muscles were bruised. All of this started right at the beginning of my treatment; and at first I thought it was due to how I was bending over to reach lower drawers at work or something. I've ruled out any liver or internal organ damage because my blood tests have all come back as normal, so now I'm not sure what can be causing it... I'll ask my derm at my next appointment (which is... tomorrow morning!).

In other, not Epuris-related news, the Pan Am games are in full swing here in TO and the GTA and it is such an exciting time for me because I am a huge fan of (watching) sports. Yesterday, my little brother and I went out to see the morning session of badminton semi-finals.

So bright and colourful!

The atmosphere was amazing! I hadn't thought badminton would be one of those sports were spectators would start hooting and whistling and hollering like say for hockey or soccer... but... it happened. Things really went wild in the men's singles match...

Shoutout to the Canadians playing in the finals tomorrow! We got to watch Michelle Li in action yesterday in her doubles match. She and Rachel Honderich lost, but will be playing each other for gold tomorrow!

We'll also be watching beach volleyball and indoor volleyball in the next few days (and maybe another event? Lemme check my bank account first). If you want to live my Pan Am experience through digital media, you can add me on Snapchat (send me a DM on Instagram or something).

Stay mellow!

Wedding season...

My cousin got married yesterday! We missed the ceremony because we were late, but the rest of the evening was fun as usual whenever we're hanging out with my cousins.

The pose du jour was the Lucky Cat.

Can't do eye makeup for shit.

My pretty dress was a parting gift from my aunt last year (she gave us a bunch of clothes that she didn't want to take back on her flight) and I had been waiting for an occasion to wear it. Shoes are the same heels that I wore to my other cousin's wedding and to my convocation (I re-wear things often, don't judge, I'm a student in a lot of debt). My bangle is from Charming Charlie (which, by the way, is the best store ever), and my necklace was from H&M. Here is the pictorial tutorial for my hair.

The venue was simple, yet elegant. I actually hadn't noticed until the end of the day that the ceilings were unfinished despite looking up several times to admire the light fixtures... because, yes, that is something I do.

A video posted by yvonne (@yvonnologues) on Jun 13, 2015 at 6:06pm PDT

The view was also really nice! We were up on the 8th floor of the building, so we got to see Nathan Phillips Square (and Pan Am day festivities) and Old City Hall and the hustle and bustle along Queen Street without being part of it.

I can't say much about the food because, if you didn't know, I am the least pickiest eater on earth, and I can't ever be critical about food - it all tastes the same to me unless something is really, obviously off. But my favourite of the night was dessert! (how predictable was that?)

Note that I did not get both main courses... I got the fish, sister got the beef.

THE best apple crumble I've had in my life.

Oh, I love weddings.

Stay mellow!

Waves!

No one asked, but I thought I'd write a tutorial on how I got my wavy hair. I did this yesterday and it turned out really really really well. This has been done plenty of times already and it's a pretty basic procedure that everyone knows about; but because it takes extra special methods and products and voodoo for my hair to be anything but mostly straight, this is mostly for me, so that next time I remember what I did.

"Remember when you were 12 and you used to think those Mac filters for your pictures were cool haha!" Jks I dont hv a mac

So I started with my hair not completely blown dry (i.e. damp hair) because when hair is damp and put up in some way, it'll usually stay that way better (at least in my case). I split my hair into two sections - not exactly down the middle, because I had a pretty good side part so I left it like that - and French-braided each section semi-tight. And then I went to sleep.

When I woke up, I took the braids out, and gently separated the strands without tugging on them in hopes that that'd help keep the waviness in there longer; and sprayed my hair with a sea salt spray while scrunching up random bunches of hair. And finally, I prayed to the hair gods that the humidity wasn't too high and my hair wasn't too rebellious so the waves would stay in all day, because I always find it embarrassing when my waves go kind of limp and my hair looks like it doesn't know what it's doing.

Et voilà! Almost-mermaid hair! The above picture was taken this morning (so, the day after), and the waves were still there. They've kinda given out at the moment, but overall, I'm happy with how it turned out for yesterday and got lots of compliments from my coworkers (and even a patient! He was a 60 year old man but we'll ignore that part).

Keep it mellow, fellows.