Tag: blog

Wanna be a College Blogger?

Leave a comment

College kids are weird. I can vouch for this because I’m a college kid and I’m super weird. Mind you, they’re incredible and can do incredible things, but they are SO WEIRD. Why? It’s the first time they’re on their own and get to do whatever they want: watch TV all day, drink until their livers hate them, stay up for 76 hours straight, and other random stuff. I’ve seen college kids build entire companies and I’ve also seen college kids break into the football field at two in the morning so they could have a light saber battle the week before finals. It varies.

College students also become a lot more vocal once they set foot on campus. For the first 18 years of their lives, they only know their town’s opinions and interpretations of the outside world. College is the start of cultural expansion for many and are no longer shielded from media content and activist programs. It’s the first time they really begin to formulate opinions and have an open dialogue with other curious minds.

They share opinions in tons of different ways. As a weird college student, I have found my favorite method of sharing opinions is face to face. When that option isn’t available, my second favorite option is through my blog, and I’m not alone in that respect. The blogging sphere is continuously increasing and filling with more student bloggers every day. As a college blogger for the last few months, I’ve learned a lot. I have a small, semi-regular audience and my blogger voice is developing (well, I hope so. What do you think?). I’ve made lots of mistakes along the way as well: irregular posts, too large of a website, etc. Tons of people are gaining an interest in the blogging world. If starting a blog is something you’re interested in doing, here are five tips to help you out:

 

Figure out how serious you are about blogging.

I definitely recommend doing a mini trial run. Start by typing a couple of posts and if you like what you’re doing, then go ahead and put in the work to make a website. If you don’t, then nothing is lost! If you’re not having fun, don’t do it! There’s no point torturing yourself. Go do something you enjoy (like reading My Bright Corner).

 

If you’re serious, invest in a domain

So you do like writing articles? Perfect! Welcome to the community! If you’d like to keep your articles all in one place and have a fully functioning website, you should invest in a domain and find a content management system. There are lots of different options but my personal favorite is WordPress.

 

Plan Ahead

Let’s be real: you’re a busy college student. You have stuff to do. Be realistic about how often you’ll be able to post and make sure you incorporate writing time into your weekly schedule. If you don’t, you won’t write and you’ll website will fizzle out.

I am the world’s biggest procrastinator. I have set a goal for myself to write three blog posts a month and if I don’t set a goal date, I will wait until the end of month to post anything. By planning ahead, I can stay on track for writing my blog posts and not feel stressed out later.

 

Rough Drafts are a Beautiful Thing

If I’ve said this before, I’ll say it again: I LOVE ROUGH DRAFTS. A blog post isn’t a last minute paper for that gen. Ed. class you barely attend. This is your work that you enjoy doing in your free time. You should want to try to make it look as nice as you can and a rough draft or two can help with that.

 

Create a Blog that Works for YOU and KEEP GOING.

The most popular types of blogs may not be what you want to write about. Don’t feel pressured to create a blog with popular content because that’s what everyone else is doing. Create a blog with content that you love and you like writing about.

Also, you may feel a lot of anxiety when you go to share your work for a variety of reasons: fear of negative response, that it’s not your best, etc. If it’s out of your control, don’t stress. You’re a new blogger and you’re learning. The most important thing is that you’re happy doing what you’re doing. Whether one person reads it or a million, a blog that makes YOU, the writer, happy is what should be at the top of your priority list.

 

So welcome new bloggers! Happy typing!

 

Until Next Time,
Dana

Cancer Freedom, Fundraisers and Fun!

Leave a comment

 

Hi all! How’s it going? Hopefully well because I have lots to tell you so make sure you stick around until the very end. The first bit of news I have is a little old but still really amazing:

I AM CANCER FREE.

You did not misread the last sentence. That’s right, folks! Dana Qualy can no longer be pushed around by cancer and its sidekick, chemotherapy. Mind you, I still have one more cycle of chemo to go, but that’s it! Then I’m done!!

Here’s why I still have more chemo:

Way back in November at the start of this little adventure, my oncologist told me I’d be receiving 4-6 cycles of treatment. After the third cycle, I would go get a PET scan and its results would determine exactly how many cycles of ABVD chemo I’d get.

Three months go by and it is now the beginning of February. Time for the scan. I have never been so nervous for a test in my life because I knew that if I were to “fail” this test (aka large masses were still present in my chest and neck), then the treatment would only get more aggressive. It was also more likely that the cancer would come back within five years and I’d live in the never-ending cycle of treatment and hospitals.

So I do the scan on a Thursday afternoon and wait four agonizing days to hear the news. The cancer was gone. Any large growths that were there three months ago are nowhere to be seen. However, because I had started with so many large growths in my neck and chest, it was decided that I was to continue with all six cycles of chemo and no radiation to make sure the cancer would stay gone. Between you and me, I’d take an extra cycle or two of chemo over radiation any day.

As cheesy as it sounds, that PET scan was the ticket to getting my life back. Before the scan, my family and I stopped any and all long term planning. There were no summer events, no birthdays, and no future. Sure there’s stuff we wanted to do and MAYBE we’d get around to it IF I was feeling okay, but as far we could tell, chemotherapy treatments and hospitals were the main source of our future. Possibly for life. But it wasn’t.

That PET scan proved that cancer wasn’t going to be my family’s future. My family got to start planning again. I got to start planning again.

I’m going back to school.

I’m going to get a job.

I’m going to celebrate every event and holiday.

I’m going to celebrate the people I love even more.

I’m going to celebrate my birthday.

Which leads me to my second topic: birthdays. I have one coming up in May and for once, I’m very excited about it. I decided to donate my birthday to the American Cancer Society and do a fundraiser. It’s called $2100 for 21 Years. You can read more about it in the link, but basically I want there to be more birthdays in the world and I want to do my part to make it happen. And in celebration of my birthday, I want to help more people.

Over the next month or so I’ll be sharing more about the fundraiser on My Bright Corner. If you can, please consider donating or sharing this fundraiser with anyone and everyone because everyone needs more birthdays with loved ones!

Thanks!

Until next time,

Dana

How to Stay Motivated When You’d Rather Do Nothing

Leave a comment

I don’t know if it’s the winter weather or maybe my lack of a schedule, but I have no motivation to do anything! Do you ever feel this way? My productivity level is nonexistent. I haven’t written anything, gone anywhere or done anything in days. Days. I haven’t even watched Netflix. Mind you, doing nothing can be beneficial. However, it’s not good when you do it multiple days in a row and are slowly becoming one with the blankets, never to see the light of day again.

If you’re also feeling this way, I’ve created a list of tips and tricks to help us both get back on track. Hopefully something on this list will work and fast. Stay tuned.

1) Plan it Out

A written list of all the things you have to do is a double edged sword. While it is great to have everything written down so you can cross it off as you accomplish task after task, the size of the initial list can be paralyzing especially if you have a lot to do. Something that I like to do when I make my to do list is to fold the paper in half. On one side, create the big, scary to do list that has everything on it in no particular order. Then on the other side of the paper, section it off into days (or hours depending on how much time you have) and separate the tasks into those days. That way, you don’t have to do everything all at once and the list becomes more manageable.

2) Have a Clean Space

The more disorganized I am, the less productive I am. Because there are dishes in my sink and clothes on my floor as I’m writing this, my need to write this article is dwindling by the second. Trust me, I know that the correlation between my dishes and my writing is zero, but that does not stop my brain from going, “You have dirty dishes?! You can’t possibly write because there’s a mess in your apartment and therefore your thoughts will also be messy!” And then I stop writing.

So go clean up and do those petty tasks first. If your work space is clean and organized, you’ll probably have an easier time getting your work done. Plus, it’s a productive procrastination tool: you’re still getting small tasks done on your list while avoiding the larger, more intimidating ones until you have the courage to face them.

3) Clean Yourself Up

Yes, I can see those clothes you’ve been wearing for the last three days. If you go clean up, you’ll feel better and smell nicer. You’ll probably be more productive too. Just a thought.

4) Work in Short Increments

So now your living space is clean, you’re clean and your to do list is ready. It’s time to really sit down and work. You know that phrase “work smarter, not harder?” Well, one way to work smarter is by working in short bursts. How short? Well, no less than 15 minutes but no more than 45. Then try to take a 10-15 minute break after each work session. The time limitations are up to you, really. The longer you work, the longer your break should be.

I’m a big fan of working in 20 minute increments with a 5 minute break in between. It’s just a long enough period of time for me to make some serious progress on my work but short enough that I’m not exhausting myself either. Again, every person is different, so make sure your set your time constraints to what works best for you.

5) Acknowledge Your Progress

Did you get all of your work done? Congrats! You did amazing! We are all very proud and you should be too.

If you’re like me, maybe you didn’t get as far in your to do list as you had planned today, but you did do something and that’s awesome too! Especially since a few hours ago there was nothing crossed off your task list and your living space was a disaster. Be proud of the work that you did get done today and start again tomorrow. No worries.

6) Reward Yourself

If you got some of your work done, a little reward. If you got all of your work done, a bigger reward. You earned it. Enjoy it!

 

I hope this list helped you as much as it helped me. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go do my laundry and clean my dishes so I can continue working! I hope your day will be as productive as mine!

 

Until next time,

Dana