Arianna's Blog

The Real Truth Last December I went on a trip to Puerto Rico for my cousin's wedding. This was two months after Hurricane Maria had hit. On the airplane headed to Puerto Rico, I had no idea what I'd be walking into. Would my grandma's house be in ruins? Would there be power? Would the places I knew still be there? When I arrived the mood in the air already felt different. I was excited to see my family but by the looks of things, I knew I shouldn't expect much. My aunt picked us up from the airport and on the way back to my grandma's house she would point things out. There were fallen street lights and trees everywhere. Houses hanging on for dear life and the flags that were once displayed on the bridge were no longer in sight. What it should look like. Vs. What it resembles because of the loss of the flags. The Puerto Rico I once knew as a little girl was slowly slipping out of my fingertips. It was difficult to see my family live like this kno

你好 ( Nǐ hǎo, hello) On April 16th I attended a arts and ideas event titled, Discover Languages: Chinese. During this event, I learned about the unique aspects found in the Chinese language and even learned a little bit of Chinese as well. Through this event, I even found a greater interest in learning a new language someday. The event began with an introduction to what the Chinese language was. It is said to be the oldest written language in the world! After this, we then were introduced to the Chinese "alphabet". There is really no such thing as an alphabet because what the Chinese use is something called pictograph. A pictograph is essentially what us Americans call letters but to the Chinese they mean words. Below is an example! The picture above shows how sometimes these symbols can be combined in order to form a word that doesn't have its own symbol.                                The picture above shows examples of symbols and their meanings. The

Linda Antas On April 13 I attended a concert called musicBYTES . The genre was electroacoustic which is something I’ve come across only a few times. This concert was interesting because for the first three pieces you had to strictly listen with no visual. This allowed me to focus on every sound and create my own image of what was happening in my head. It made me realize how difficult it was for me to solely focus on sound. This experience helped me realize just how much I rely on sight and that my other senses should be as equally important.  An interesting component in this concert was before the compositions were played the audience was able to facetime the composer Linda Antas . I appreciated this because through asking her questions I was able to better understand why she composed these pieces and the inspirations that prompted her to do so. It was refreshing to hear how her environment influenced her because the environment we grow up in can play a crucial role on our like

On My Block I recently finished watching a Netflix show called On My Block. It only had 10 episodes so I finished pretty quickly and don't know what to do with my life until season 2 comes out. The show is about a group of 3 friends who live in a rough inner-city neighboorhood in Los Angles and are about to start high school. Things go wrong when one of them joins a gang so his 2 life long friends try to think of ways to bust him out.  There's everything you could imagine in this show! From drama to romance and even comedy!There was never a dull moment in the show and I would always catch myself pressing the next episode option as soon as I finished. I would recommend this show to anyone wanting a good laugh and a heartful story about true friendship!

On April 6 I was able to travel to Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Here my track team and I competed in the Bellarmine Invitational. For this particular meet, I would be racing my first steeplechase ever seen my injury back in high school. Steeplechase consists of running 3,000 meters (7.5 laps) while clearing hurdles and a water pit. Below is a visual representation of what this looks like. I was nervous to compete because the last time I competed back in high school I sprained my ankle trying to clear the water barrier. It was also my first collegiate debut in this event which made things even more nerve wrecking. I knew I had to just trust myself and focus on the race and not the barriers. I ended up not falling and attaining my personal best in the event! This experience taught me that if I trust my training and most importantly myself than everything else will fall into place. Below is a video of a steeple fail just for laughs! https://www.youtube.com

5 Benefits of Waking up Early Plays a role in sustaining a healthier diet. When we wake up late we tend to skip the most important meal of the day, breakfast. With waking up early we can eat breakfast which will then carry us to make healthier eating choices throughout the day.     2. Aids us in becoming more productive. Rising early means more hours to work, fewer distractions, and because of a good night's sleep your brain is refreshed and ready to go.     3. Time to exercise. For cross country I have practice at 5:30 am and when I finish my workout I feel energized and ready to take on the day.     4. Repairs our skin. While we sleep "our bodies boost blood flow to our skin giving us a glowing complexion when we wake up" (Jacob). When we excessively get less than 8 hours of sleep we develop sleep deprivation. "Sleep deprivation causes a decrease in blood flow to the skin surrounding your face. Skin becomes dull, and you don't