anahorvath.com

Tag: Colorado State University

  • My First Year of College: A Reflection

    first year of college

    And just like that, I am done with my first year of college! Wow was that an experience! Here’s what I have to say about my first year at Colorado State University.

    It feels like I was just moving into my dorm. At first, living there felt like I was in a hotel but then over time, it began to feel more like my own living space (minus the fact that I shared the room with another person). People were always telling me that it was going to be hard to adjust but I really didn’t find it that difficult. I have always been close with my family and I kept myself busy throughout my time at school so I never really felt “homesick” or worried about my transition into college life and a more independent life.

    My first semester, chemistry was rough. I had the worst professor out of the general chem professors offered that semester and had to teach myself a lot of the material. Thank goodness I had a decent high school chemistry teacher. She saved me a lot throughout that class. I squeezed by with a B+ which wasn’t what I had hoped for, but was still incredible considering the amount of work and difficulty of the class.

    Second semester, chemistry was tough again but I really enjoyed my honors seminar on dance, my biology class, and my honors section of ecology. I had a wonderful professor for that class and it consisted of only eight other students, considering that it was the first honors section ever offered of that class. My schedule was extremely flexible and I really loved all of the free time I had in the afternoons.

    This first year of college, I really learned that if you take time to get stuff done right after class or in between classes, you can allow for more time to do the things you really want to do. The work you put into a class is the results you’ll get out. I studied my butt off this past year and I think that the work I put in really paid off. I’m really proud to say that I made the Dean’s List for both the fall and spring semester (as long as everything went well with my finals this past week!).

    Some of my favorite memories include getting cookies from Insomnia Cookies one night with one of my friends, going to get breakfast with my chemistry friends on a snowy Saturday morning, hiking Triangle Mountain with my roommate and one of my other friends, and the countless hours I spent studying and working on chemistry with my chem study group who I am proud to call my good friends. Ram Welcome, dinners with my floor, decorating my friends’ doors for their birthdays, trips to Torchy’s Tacos, and trips back home helped make this school year the memorable and amazing year it has been.

    I’m sad to be leaving Alpine Hall 375 but I’m so excited to see what’s next for me at CSU. This next year is going to be tough but so much fun. Organic chemistry, I’m looking at you! Thanks to everyone who helped make my first year of college the magical, fun experience it was. See you in the fall CSU!

  • Dead Week Part 2: Finishing Freshman Year

    dead week

    This week is going to be a lot, so for my sake and sanity, I’m gonna keep this one short. Dead Week is here again! This time around I have a dance performance, two different speeches to prepare, a five-page paper to write, a practical to study for, as well as my three final exams to study for. Full plate over here!

    This semester has been a wonderful semester and I was fortunate to have so many wonderful professors and lab teacher assistants. The semester had its ups and downs (particularly my chemistry grade) but I’ve pulled through and challenged myself to overcome all the adversity I’ve faced. I’ve made it this far and I only have another two weeks to go so I need to dig down deep, find the strength to finish strong, and get outta here!

    My experience in the dorms has been interesting nonetheless and I’ve made a lot of wonderful friends on my floor, but I am honestly SO ready to go home for the summer and then live on my own next semester. I’ll get my own space and won’t have to worry about accommodating and bending my schedule to benefit others.

    Dead Week really is a lot about finding the mental capacity and strength to finish everything out on a good note and I’m praying that all of my finals and performances and speeches go well. If you’re interested in seeing my dance performance for my honors seminar, leave a comment and maybe I’ll post it in a future post! My honors seminar is about everyday movement and dance and this final dance is a fun project my professor has us doing.

    To those of you also dealing with Dead Week this week, you got it! Stay positive and finish strong. Stay organized and allow yourself some time to relax and get away from the books and papers. If you’re interested in reading my blog post about my first experience with Dead Week, I’ll link the post right here. I hope you all have a great week and I’ll see you next Sunday! (Haha, hopefully…)

  • Spring Break 2019

    Just like that, another break goes by. I don’t get it. I’m at school for a week and it feels like five months. I come home for spring break and it feels like three minutes. Time flies when you’re having fun! And it also flies when you’re not worried about chemistry 24/7 (gotta love being a bio major for that one!).

    My spring break started last weekend after Colorado was hit by that interesting bomb cyclone. I got two snow days as a result of that one. Haha thanks Colorado State University and a big thank you to my biology professor for postponing our exam this past Thursday!

    There was a lot of tennis played and it felt so good to get back on the court again. I had the opportunity to watch my sister win her first match at 1 singles for my old high school too which was really fun. Go Allyson! 🙂 Hitting with my dad was really fun as always, and I had the opportunity to hit with some of the ladies at the country club my family plays out of.

    Being with my doggies again for a longer amount of time was also wonderful. And of course, being with my bird was also a lot of fun. All of the the animals in the Horvath household were happy to be with me again.

    I also babysat for two of the days during my spring break. Watching a two year old can be exhausting but man is it fun! Being with kids is just so much fun, even if they can be a bit too crazy and too energetic sometimes. It was really nice to make some money this spring break and it was also just really fun to hang out with a super adorable kid. He always makes me smile and I love that family.

    By the time my spring break was coming to a close, my aunt from New Mexico came to visit to celebrate my sister’s birthday a bit late and also just to spend some quality time together. It was a bummer that my uncle couldn’t get work off to also come visit, but I know that I’ll get the chance to see both of them again very soon, like in May when Allyson graduates high school. Woohoo!

    This past weekend with my aunt was spent eating (we ate SO much food, I’m not even kidding), more tennis, and good company. We went to Denver to get lunch at BurgerFi and I got to try their chili cheese fries which I TOTALLY recommend. My sister also gave us all a tour of Regis University, which is where Allyson has decided to go for college. The campus was super pretty and super cute. I’m happy she decided to go there. We also walked around Denver a little and got to show my aunt the new premium mall that was just built not too far from my house.

    Great weekend, great spring break, and just great people. I feel so lucky to be able to have the opportunities and experiences I do and be with all of the people that I am around in my life. Spring break may be over and that does make me sad, knowing that I have to get back to the books now, but summer will be here before we know it! Have a good week everyone! 🙂

  • Eating Healthy in College

    eating healthy in college
    Haha, I tried to get a picture of my lunch from Thursday. That was successful and you also get a little blur from my finger. Good job me, good job.

    You’ve heard me mention this before: the freshman 15. Plenty of freshmen struggle with their eating habits upon entering college. There’s so much food available ALL the time and they abuse that. And they eat, and eat, and eat, and before you know it, they’ve gained 15 pounds, hence the freshman 15.

    If you’ve been reading my blog since I started college at CSU, you will know that I was determined to avoid the freshman 15, and so far I’ve been successful and actually lost about 15 pounds. With a combination of working out and proper eating, I’ve been able to accomplish this goal. Exercise is extremely important to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but it’s also so so so important to eat right. Here’s what has worked for me:

    1. Drink lots of water. Whenever I go to the dining halls, I typically get water and I do my best to drink at least two full cups of water. Occasionally I will drink some iced tea or lemonade but I really try to stay away from the sweet drinks, especially soda. Water is not only good for your skin and body in general but it helps fill you up a bit so you don’t overeat.
    2. Make your plate colorful. While fried food is super duper good tasting, it’s not so good for your body. In moderation, it’s fine, but if the color of the foods on your plate are all a fried brown, you’re doing something wrong. Add some vegetables or fruit to that plate or add a salad. Your body will thank you. Strive for this with every meal and pay attention to the variety of foods you eat throughout the day.
    3. Leave the dining hall feeling not hungry and not stuffed. The wording on that statement might be a little weird, so I’ll do my best to explain what I mean. With eating from dining halls in college, you definitely don’t want to starve yourself. You shouldn’t starve yourself, period! You want to be balanced with the food you eat. If you’re piling on the food and coming back to a table with multiple full plates, you might want to rethink that. Just think about balance and remember that you can always grab a to-go box if you start to feel full. 🙂
    4. Eat desserts in moderation. At the dining halls at CSU, there’s a place dedicated to desserts and I’m sure that it’s that way with most schools. Seeing the rows of cookies upon cookies and plates of cakes and brownies can be extremely tempting, but remember, eat these in moderation! Desserts also taste AMAZING and sometimes its really hard to only take one serving and limit yourself, but all of that sugar really isn’t that good for you or your teeth. Treat yourself every once in a while but don’t go nuts with the desserts.
    5. Seek nutritional advice through your university. Colorado State University has an “Eat Well” program and they have dietitians and nutritionists willing to help figure out foods that you’ll enjoy that are better for your body. In addition to this, all of the menus for food are available online so I have access to the nutritional facts. I don’t pay too much attention to this, but sometimes it’s a great resource for knowing more about calories (even though I’m not big on calorie counting) and nutritional values in general. Most college dining halls have resources like this and within the dining halls themselves, there’s typically information on all of the foods available so pay attention to these! Use your resources and you’ll be set.

    Keep in mind, that these are things that I’ve found helpful and they may work for those of you also eating out of college dining halls, and some of them might not, and that’s ok! Find something that works for you and stick to it. Eating healthy in college is important because it helps set the foundation for eating healthy later in life and it’s important that you give your body the materials it needs to function at its best!

    If you’ve got an idea for a blog post or a question for me, feel free to leave a comment on this post or reach out to me on my new “Contact Me!” page which can be accessed in the menu above. I’d be happy to hear from you. I hope you all have a great week! See ya next Sunday. 🙂

  • When Things Don’t Go Your Way: College Exams

    college exams

    So this past week, I had my first exam for my second semester of general chemistry. I studied super hard for it and took several practice tests. My study group and I worked through any confusion we had and just like that, Wednesday (exam day) rolled around. During the exam, I felt super confident. After the exam, I felt super confident. Seeing my grade on Friday, I didn’t feel confident at all. Why college exams?! Why??

    It was truly devastating to see my hard work go down the drain like that but sometimes you work really hard and you don’t get the results you asked for or worked toward. From what I’ve learned, that’s a part of life! It sucks, but you have to learn to move on and not make the same mistakes down the road.

    Hearing all of my friends do well on the exam crushed me and honestly, after seeing my grade, I was feeling pretty down. One of the things I learned from this experience is that grades matter, but they don’t define you. This is something that high school teachers drilled into our heads but it didn’t sink in until now. A test is a test and I know that I have a better understanding of the chemistry material than was reflected by my grade.

    Also, from this experience, I’ve learned that it’s okay to not say anything about how a test went. If a friend asks about how it goes, it’s honestly none of their business. My grade and circumstances are my grade and circumstances while their grades and circumstances are their own thing. For myself and other people who have been in this situation, it’s important to understand that we are our own human beings and we all mess up in our own ways. The only people we can compare ourselves to are ourselves.

    So now looking forward to this next exam, I’m not going to bite myself in the butt for my last unfortunate performance. I’m going to study just as hard and take what I’ve learned from this experience. The only way to go from here is up with my grade in chemistry. This isn’t the way I planned to start off my semester in general chemistry II but it is what it is!

    College exams can be a real kicker and sometimes, you don’t know what you’re going to get. You do know that you’ll always come away from an exam with more knowledge though, regardless of the outcome. This not only relates to college exams, but it can relate to many other things in life. It’s important to remember that you learn from everything you do and it’s all about a growth mindset. Keep this in mind!

    If you’ve got an idea for a blog post don’t be afraid to leave a comment on my new page, “Contact Me!”. You’ll find this page in the menu above. 🙂 And even if you don’t have an idea and just want to say hi or ask a question, that’s okay too. Have a good week everyone!

  • When Your Dorm Room Becomes An Aquarium

    aquarium and ecosystem of my little shrimps and snails
    On the far right, in the last jar, you can see one of my snails saying hello. 🙂 If you look hard enough, you may be able to see a shrimp. They’re very hard to find, mostly because most of them are fairly transparent.

    So you might be asking yourself, “Did her dorm room flood?”. The answer to that is no, thank goodness. For my honors ecology class, we were asked to make five small ecosystems. We could do this in what ever way we wanted to using the jars provided. Other than that the only other rules were that the ecosystems are closed, meaning that the jars remain shut, and that we cannot use invertebrates.

    For my closed ecosystems, I chose to use cherry shrimp, ghost shrimp, and Japanese algae eater shrimp. I also used zebra nerve snails. For plants, I’m not quite sure what my longer plant is, but I know that the moss I got was java moss, which the shrimp and snails enjoy.

    Last weekend, I went home to set up my miniature aquariums and spent a lot of time at PetCo and online, doing a lot of research on all of my little fellas. Ghost shrimp are actually really cool, weird creatures and so are all of the other shrimp and snails I got. The project was due this past Friday and so when I came back up to CSU last weekend, I became a mother to 13 little snails and shrimp together. They were all in their little ecosystems and throughout their time with me, I tried to give them as much light as possible, so that the plants could photosynthesize and provide all of my shrimp and snails with enough oxygen and food.

    Unfortunately, my cherry shrimp and ghost shrimp passed away before I even handed in my ecosystems, but that’s ok, I guess that my snails will have more food and nutrients available to them. RIP Cherry and Ghosty Goo (name courtesy of my sister).

    The goal of this project is to create ecosystems that are self-sustaining and will support life up until the end of this semester. I’m not totally optimistic about how my ecosystems will do, but the process of making each little aquarium or ecosystem was really fun and insightful. I’m hoping I don’t kill any other shrimp and that I don’t lose any snails in this process either. We’ll see how this goes! Have a good week everyone.

    • Japanese algae eater shrimp
    • Cherry shrimp
    • Ghost shrimp
    • Zebra nerite snail

  • A Bit More About Me

    about me

    These kinds of posts are always fun for me to write. I wish that there was a way for me to able to get to know all of you, my readers a little better, but I’m not quite sure how! There’s a post I wrote in 2017 sharing a couple of facts about myself, and I feel like there’s a lot you still don’t know, so here’s some more stuff about me that you might wanna know! Check out the link that I’ve attached to read that post too. 🙂

    1. I’m 5′ 8″. When I was younger, I also grew waaaaay too fast. My body had a lot of fun adjusting to that.
    2. I’m a biology major at Colorado State University. I’m in the honors program also and I’m on the pre-dental track.
    3. The Selection by Kiera Cass is my all-time favorite book series ever.
    4. I didn’t get my driver’s license until I was 17. I was sick the day I went in for my picture also, so it’s a terrifying little card to look at. Haha.
    5. I love boots. My favorite brand currently is Freebird but I also enjoy a good pair of fuzzy, warm UGGs. Ankle boots, combat boots, knee high boots, you name them and I probably have them… I actually want to get a job at Freebird over the summer so I can get discounts on their boots and just be around a super cute store. 🙂
    6. I’m missing a tear duct in my right eye. I can still cry out of my right eye, it just means that it’s constantly teary. So I get the question, “Have you been crying” or “Are you okay?” frequently. Thanks genetics!
    7. I still hate oatmeal. The texture is just not a favorite. I also have a really hard time eating yogurt. It’s just something about the texture as I eat it over time…
    8. I made the Dean’s List my first semester of college. Woohoo!
    9. Holographic things intrigue me a lot. I can thank one of my favorite YouTubers, Simply Nailogical for that.
    10. I’d love to see Maria Sharapova, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic play in person. I’ve seen them play on TV and they’re just amazing players, but I would just be over the moon if I had the opportunity to actually watch them play. Also, this might totally be an unpopular opinion, but I don’t like Serena Williams as a tennis player! Her style just doesn’t impress me. I respect her, but I just don’t like her.

    So I hope you enjoyed these ten facts about me. Some of them are pretty random, but they’re kinda fun and silly and I hope you enjoyed them and learned something new on this Sunday haha. Have a wonderful week everyone!

  • Done With First Semester!

    By now, some of you are probably sick of hearing about my school life and all of the hullabaloo leading up to this past week. Sorry to disappoint you if that’s the case, but I promise, this is the last one of it’s kind for a while! Finals week was rough, but I made it and my wonderful five week break has begun! It’s really crazy to think about how fast this first semester flew by.

    It only seems as if I was at Ram Welcome (which is CSU’s big orientation before the first week of school for new students) was yesterday! I feel like was just moving in and honestly, I’ll be moving out of my room before you know it.

    This past week I only had two actual finals, which was SUPER DUPER nice. I had a final for my chemistry lecture and for my honors biology lecture. Both were manageable and even though I didn’t get the grade I wanted on my chemistry final, I still made the Dean’s List which I am extremely proud of. 🙂 I studied really hard and worked my butt off this semester to make sure I start college on the right foot and I can see that the hard work I put in paid off. It’s important to start off strong in your first semester of college (I’m talking to all of you high school seniors getting ready to go to college soon)!

    And what would finals week be without getting sick. Haha, boy did I get the rough end of it. The week before finals week, I was definitely getting sick and I COULD FEEL IT. My sinuses hurt and I was coughing and feeling cold all the time. I did all I could to not get sick during finals week, but that still didn’t keep the yuck away. Eventually, I got SUPER sick and the night before my biology final was a real fun one. Can you sense the sarcasm? We’ll just say that I spent a lot of time in the bathroom that night, and what really sucks is that I have a communal bathroom and I was also playing the “don’t wake your roommate” game. I spent a lot of time in bed before my biology final that same night and thank goodness I was feeling well enough to trek across campus then. Yikes. The stomach bug is not a nice thing.

    It’s been nice to be home the last couple of days and I look forward to the wonderful time I get to spend with family and friends over these next couple of weeks. Cheers to first semester and I can’t wait to see what college holds for me next!

  • I Said I’m Proud to Be a CSU Ram

    CSU

    Wow am I exhausted! Move-in at CSU was a lot of work. Meeting new people was a lot of work. Ram Welcome was a lot of work, and walking! Going to classes this upcoming week is going to be a lot of work! From pep rallies to finding our classes to getting free succulents and doing the most fun high ropes course with my roommate, I’ve done a lot. Here’s some of what I’ve learned this week.

    • See where your classes are BEFORE they actually start. If you want to feel more confident about where you’re headed on a giant college campus, take the day before classes to figure everything out. 
    • Take the time to meet people. Whether it’s on your floor, in your orientation group, or in classes, be social! You never know who will become your best friend. And it’s also nice to get to know people so that you see some familiar faces around campus.
    • Introduce yourself to your professors. This is something I’ve heard time and time again from upperclassmen. In big lecture halls, you don’t just want to be another face. Get to know your professor so that you’re not just another face or test to grade.
    • Get involved. Even in the first few days, it’s important to find clubs and other things you want to get involved in. This is another way to meet people and find what interests you!
    • Don’t be afraid to ask for help! I know that when classes start, I’m gonna need some help actually finding my classrooms. I know the general buildings I will be in, but not the classes. If you’re lost, get some help! There’s no need stressing yourself out and there’s no need to walk around staring into outer space when you could be figuring out what you need to. 

    There’s a lot more I’ve learned over these past couple of days and I feel like if I kept writing, I would have another novel of a blog post. To those of you also leaving for college soon, or already at college, have a great, safe time! If you’re at CSU, good choice. If there’s any CU Buffs reading this post, go Rams, am I right? Haha 🙂 Have a good week everyone!

  • Gonna Be a Rammie: My College Decision

    This might not be the most exciting post to some of you, so if it’s not, sorry! But to me, this is quite important and I felt like I could share this news with you all. 🙂 As most of you know, I’m a senior in high school and college is coming up pretty fast now. With first semester almost over, college is more of a reality than ever before.

    With that in mind, I have officially committed to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. Go Rams! I am honored to have the opportunity to CSU and was accepted into their honors program, so that’s the plan!

    As of right now, I plan to major in biological sciences with a focus on anatomy and physiology so that one day, I can go into orthodontics and help people feel more confident with themselves and their smiles.

    I think I knew that CSU was the right university for me when I took time to tour the campus. I went during a time that all the students were there, and I immediately knew that’s where I was meant to be. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but being there just felt right. I could picture myself living in Fort Collins and enjoying college there! I’m glad I made the decision I did. I’ll still be able to play tennis, even if it isn’t at a highly-competitive and intense level, but I know that it’ll be fine.

    I really look forward to what the future has to hold and hope that I can continue to write to you all and share my life adventures as I take on college. Thanks again to all of my readers. I really appreciate that you take time to visit my website and read what I have to say! It means the world to me and I hope that you are able to come away from here with something to think about and at least a smile and a little happiness. 🙂 And once again, go Rams!