Arts Entertainment
5 Thoughts You've Had If You Have A Summer Job
The dilemma of a summer job.
03 June 2019
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Summer jobs are great but let's be real, these are the thoughts that go through your head.
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The dilemma of a summer job.
Summer jobs are great but let's be real, these are the thoughts that go through your head.
When people ask me when I'm born, I tend to respond with "two days after Christmas" instead of "December 27th"
For my entire life, I've been "blessed" with a birthday near the holidays. December 27th, or two days after Christmas, is the day I get to call my birthday. As a little kid, I was never sure how to feel about this.
Part of me despised the fact that the excitement and preparation for my birthday got lost in all the Christmas prep, but the other part of me loved having a birthday when everyone was still in the holiday spirit. In honor of the holiday season and my birthday, I've compiled a list of pros and cons about having a birthday so close to Christmas.
I have to admit it does add some excitement to my birthday morning, and a great Instagram caption for my birthday last year. However, it does distract from my birthday as well.
I have never and will never be in school on my birthday and it's absolutely amazing.
As much as I love being able to do whatever I want on my birthday, there's still a part of me that wishes I was at school. I don't want to have to go to class or anything, but to be able to spend the day with all my closest friends would be pretty amazing. Although I'm referring to college, I thought it for years. I missed the pity "happy birthdays" in the hall, friends decorating my locker, birthday announcements in high school, etc. etc.
Some people think it's the exact opposite and you barely get any presents, but I know my mom has told me sometimes she felt bad and tried to make up for it with the number of gifts.
My birthday party was always a couple weeks before or after my actual birthday because everyone, including my own family some years, was always traveling or had family visiting for the holidays. Most people were tied up from Christmas Eve until after New Year's.
Since everyone was traveling or bust with family, my birthday party wasn't near the 27th. That meant the festivities got dragged out and it made my birthday last forever, which was pretty exciting growing up.
I get that people want to see my reaction when I open their gift, but still, I'd much rather wait two days.
Especially when I was younger it was hard to differentiate between all the Christmas preparations and my birthday preparations. Obviously, I didn't think Santa was responsible for my birthday presents, but with all the joy, special celebrations, and desserts that came with the holiday, it was hard to draw the line between my birthday and Christmas.
This wasn't an every year thing, but sometimes depending on how many Christmas desserts we had left, a birthday cake wasn't really in the cards. I've had birthday cakes, leftover Christmas cakes, ice cream out of the freezer and even Christmas cookies with candles in them over the years.
Anyone I've ever met born around the same time as me, completely gets where I'm coming from. And it will be a great thing to bond with Louis Tomlinson (born December 24/Christmas Eve) over when I meet him.
Come December 28th if I want something, but am being a cheapskate (aka I don't want to spend my own money), the closest holiday to ask for it is next Christmas.
While everyone else is thinking "now, what?" on December 26th, I'm busy gearing up for the next day…and constantly reminding everyone that tomorrow is my birthday.
When I was little I didn't really understand why I didn't get a gift on my brother's birthday, when he got a bunch of new stuff right around my birthday.
In a world like today's where girl power is more present than ever, we need a girl group to conquer the world — and that can only be Little Mix.
For the past eight years, Little Mix has proven to be the girl group of the decade. With their fierce bops, perfect fashion and amazing messages of empowerment, they have inspired girls all over the world to embrace their true selves and spread the good vibes of girl power. Since they are doing exactly all of this for their fans, then why are they still not being recognized by the mass media, particularly in the U.S.?
If you're reading this article I'm assuming you have heard of this group somewhere on Instagram or through your friends, but this is the very problem at hand- they aren't being talked about nearly as much as they should. Without the power of social media, this group wouldn't be as internationally famous as they are (I know I'm being a bit harsh here, but it's the truth). If you're an American Mixer like me then you know exactly why I'm saying this, but if you aren't let me care to explain.
Since these girls are based in the U.K. it is obvious that they will be bigger there than anywhere else. But then a year or so after they were formed and won "The X Factor" in 2011 (the first group to do so in the show's history — even after One Direction!), they started to become big in Australia and New Zealand. This is understandable, of course, since these countries are practically cousins of one another, and the girls started to tour and visit there regularly. Then 2013 comes around, and Little Mix is starting to create a little bit of buzz in The States.
Take it from a fan who started to love these girls when their first album wasn't even available in America yet and my mom literally ordered it straight from England for me for Christmas — these girls were beginning to be talked about across the pond in a relatively short amount of time thanks to none other than social media. I remember fanbases starting to sprout on Twitter for a lot of big names and these girls seemed to have a lot of fans here. And low and behold, this finally caught their (management team's) eyes and they ventured over here for a country-wide album signing tour that summer.
Back then I really did think it was the start of their big takeover here in the U.S.: their album was in the Top 5 upon its American debut and thousands of fans showed up for each event (I went to their first signing in Jersey, fun fact). Little did I know that this was going to turn out to be far from the truth.
When their second album dropped the following year, the group announced a second headlining tour with their first inclusion of North America. I was super excited hearing the news about this, and I even became thrilled when I was able to get my friends and I reasonably priced VIP tickets. Fast forward three months and I get a Twitter notification saying how this leg of the tour was canceled because "making an amazing 3rd album had to take priority." As a singer myself I completely understood this, but from a PR perspective, this was probably the stupidest move to make.
From then on they were able to produce three more albums and even served as the opening act for both Demi Lovato and Ariana Grande's tours in the United States. All of these albums had big numbers in sales and streams across the board and they even were trending numerous times on Twitter. Besides their music being featured in the background of movie trailers and TV shows, and a good couple of performances on live American television, that is all we really hear of Little Mix in America.
The point I am trying to make after explaining all this background information is that Little Mix seems to only be a social media phenomenon rather than one in the American music industry. The numbers can prove this statement wrong, yes, but without word of mouth I'm afraid to admit that these amazing girls might not have become as big of a deal in the U.S. as it seems.
Think about it my fellow American music fans — do you ever hear a Little Mix song on the radio or see them featured in our magazines regularly? Has E! or TMZ talked about them at all, other than when Perrie and Zayn broke off their engagement? Of course, England is different from America in the game of "Who Is More Famous Where" (take Robbie Williams as an example), but Little Mix can easily be just as big here when the numbers of sales and fans have proven over the years that they could.
The whole reason as to why this gets me angry is because these girls have got it, and I mean it. Each of them has their own great and unique singing abilities, but once they harmonize together (and very well, at that) it creates something so special that is different from anything music has heard before. Even their style of music within each of their albums is different from any other artist out their right now. Hell, I think they are one of the very few big-named girl group out there that are still together at the moment, so why aren't they getting more praise?
They've collaborated with HUGE names like Missy Elliot and Nicki Minaj, so why haven't they made U.S. entertainment headlines yet? I see Mixers on Twitter get enraged at the fact that they aren't getting recognized in America at the level they should be, and it honestly bothers me all the same too.
I don't know if fate is deciding whether it isn't their time yet (but let me tell you, LM5 really does seem like it's their time to shine in America) or their record label isn't doing enough promotion here, but their time to shine here is long overdue. I have heard in many interviews of the girls that their biggest dream is to make it big in America and even want to headline their own show at Madison Square Garden, and they truly deserve it. They are so utterly talented and can perform like no other (seriously, YouTube them if you haven't seen them perform live yet), let alone that they put their all into each of their projects and albums.
So with all this being said, American Music Industry listen up: Little Mix is a force to be reckoned with in today's music world and they are exactly the kind of artist we need right now. They prove to have the killer fashion, empowering mindsets and most importantly genuine talent, and this all and then some makes the perfect mixture for being a great artist. Once you multiply that by four and realize that they are all female, it is obvious that they are the group that should be recognized in a world where we still talk about equal rights and raising little girls right. They deserve such praise and way more hype — just as much as any other female artist out there at the moment — and it shouldn't take them eight years to achieve this in the land where they have already gained thousands of beloved fans.
Pentatonix is such a unique group because it's not you average pop group nor your boring choir group.
We all know the Pentatonix by now and how phenomenal of an a capella group they are. They are amazing because they sing popular songs but have a distinct sound that is nothing like pop singers or choir singers. If you haven't heard some of these songs of theirs I HIGHLY recommend it. It will bring life to you this winter when you might not be feeling so alive.
You love this song from the movie "Shrek," but the Pentatonix hit it out of the park with this one. Their chords are on FIRE and their dynamics are phenomenal.
This song is just super unique and being the musically aware person I am, the way they are positioned when they sing in the music video makes for a great presentation.
If you are the one who doesn't quite love Christmas, but love The Nightmare Before Christmas, you HAVE to listen to this song. They execute this song so well and the music video is pretty amazing in itself!
It's a great upbeat song that is fun to sing along to! Plus, who doesn't love this classic song?
Once again, this is just an awesome Pentatonix song. It will bring all the feels to you whether you believe in the Christmas story or not.
Again, their chords are tight in this song. But the real amazing thing here is the music video. It is the most adorable video ever as they relate it to their lives and what Christmas actually means to each of them. Just go watch this music video already.
Lastly, this is yet another classic that they seamlessly perform. It's another perfect one to sing along to with a little more upbeat feel than the original. There is also a bunch of spectacular embellishments that make it a slight variation.
You know you go to UCLA if you have encountered these bruin experiences.
Everybody who does not go to UCLA knows the school by being the most applied-to-university in the U.S., having multiple NCAA championships, and being the number 1 public university in the U.S. UCLA is known for a lot of great things, but for those who are bruins, they know UCLA in a deeper way.
Everybody's healthy go-to snack is bananas. You would see bananas everywhere, from people eating them on their way to class, in people backpacks, and in people's pockets when exiting out the dining halls. Everyone at UCLA is bananas for bananas.
Walking around campus is a workout, there is no need to go to John Wooden and workout cause the hills kill you at UCLA. You will find yourself out breath when walking up Janss Steps or to your class in the first week of school or if you are like me, you will find yourself whipping out your inhaler because you are not used to the hills at school.
If you ask every freshmen or individual who is from south campus what field they are trying to pursue, the likelihood of them saying "I'm premed" is very high. The dream of becoming a doctor at UCLA is common.
Birds have dominated Westwood and everyone is using them to get around campus. Birds are the new way to avoid all the hills.
Playbuzz
Hydro Flasks and Birkenstocks are everywhere at UCLA. You would see a people carrying their Hydro Flask in their backpacks with stickers on them. For Birkenstocks (aka Jesus sandals) the sun does not have to shine for people to be wearing their Birkenstocks around campus.
Bruins do not lie when they say that UCLA dining hall food is the best. The food at UCLA is pretty damn good we have food for all the health nuts, Asian cuisine fanatics, for all the pizza and sandwich lovers. UCLA serves bomb food so Bruins watch out for the freshman 15!
Whether it is at Lollicup, Rendezvous, or Sip people are walking out with their bobas 24/7. There is a boba craze at UCLA and people could not escape it.
Daily Bruin
If you have not seen two huge husky dogs being walked around campus by a man in a fedora, I can only assume that you have been living under a rock. Paul Flaherty is the man in the fedora who always walks his two dogs, Princess and Elvis. The dogs and Mr. Flaherty are popular around campus, students are Bruins talking to him and taking pictures with his dogs.
Walking down Bruin plaza can be annoying sometimes when you rushing to class and people are following you with their clipboards asking you to sign a petition.
Radical preachers sometimes make their way around Bruin walk and scream their nonsense shit out in public. Radical preachers have stupid and mean statements all the time, but I think its cool how there are students who stand up against the shit they say.
UCLA
Touching the water from the inverted fountain after orientation is a sin at UCLA. If you stick your hand in the inverted fountain before you graduate, good luck with graduating on time. Bruins, we all know that touching the inverted fountain before graduation is a sin, so don't touch it!
If you bleed blue and gold you may have seen or experienced all of the above. For new incoming freshmen well expect to see all of this to happen next week! Good luck and go Bruins!
30 Instagram Comments That Don't Revolve Around Your Friend's Body
Because "You look great! Have you lost weight?" isn't a real compliment.
Unfortunately, we live in a society where thinness and weight loss are equated with health and happiness. However, this assumption is false. Weight loss or gain tells us nothing about a person's health, happiness or the way they live their life. For example, the same person who is praised for their weight loss may be struggling with an eating disorder, terminal illness, poverty, depression or a plethora of other issues.
Assigning morality to weight - seeing thinness as "good" and fatness as "bad" - is a dangerous mentality. To many, comments about weight and appearance can be highly triggering and they shift the focus away from the things in life which are actually important. Luckily, I've provided you with an extensive list of things to comment on your friend's Instagram post (or Facebook, Twitter, etc.) that have nothing to do with their body or weight.
1. "You are glowing!"
2. "You look so happy :)"
3. "This is a great picture!"
4. "YOUR DOG IS ADORABLE"
5. "I'm so happy you're happy! I can't wait to meet your partner."
6. "This looks like fun! I hope you had a great time!"
7. "I miss you, let's reconnect soon!"
8. "I am so proud of you"
9. "You're inspirational!"
10. "I am so happy you exist"
11. "You have such a great sense of style!"
12. "I'm loving the confidence!"
13. "You have a beautiful soul"
14. "This is such a cool spot! We should go here together sometime"
15. "You are an incredible person"
16. "I am so glad I met you"
17. "I was just at this spot recently and I love it!"
18. "I'm looking forward to seeing you soon!"
19. "You rock"
20. "I love that shirt where did you get it?"
21. "Have a great trip!"
22. "This post made my day!"
23. "You are royalty!"
24. "Beyoncé would be proud"
25. "You two are my favs"
26. "I'm loving that color on you!"
27. "Your makeup looks amazing"
28. "This is so cute!"
29. "Your eyes look so lively"
30. "Come through with the self love!"
After scrolling through this list, I hope you'll find at least one comment that you can use to support, affirm and empower your friend without the potential harm that comes with commenting on their body. Because at the end of the day, worth and value do not come from physical appearance, but from so many other factors like compassion, kindness, humor, and drive. Weight is just about the least interesting thing about a person--you can be more creative than focusing on that. And if you truly cannot think of something to say that doesn't focus on the shrinking or expansion of your loved one's body, a simple double-tap will suffice.