Ashlee :)

Joined September 2018

11 stories

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I'm interested in too many things. Think of this as my brain dump.

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What learning to write poetry taught me
During high school I took an online creative writing class through my local community college. I enjoyed creating stories and thinking up new characters, but then came the poetry section, and I hate it. Before we had even started it, I hated it. I had such trouble with making things that sounded like poems, and even when the professor would say he enjoyed one, it still didn't feel like I was writing poetry. I loved creating stories, but poetry was just too open for me. But then there are some kinds of poems that strict you so much, like a Shakespeare Sonnet, giving you specific syllables for lines. I reluctantly created almost 15 poems, and here are some of those. (skip to the end if you want to hear what I learned from writing poetry)
By Ashlee :)3 years ago in Poets
Dear running
Dear running, Let me start off by saying, I know a lot of people hate you, but I don't. I love you. People don't like you because you're hard. It's difficult to get up and want to run, but I can push through that feeling to get to you. It's hard to push myself as much as you make me push myself. You are the purest form of strength, endurance and mental fortitude. To be good at running, I need to work myself harder than I ever have.
By Ashlee :)3 years ago in Longevity
Running advice for the beginner
I've been running competitively for 8 years, so I've learned a thing or too when it comes to the sport. Even though running is one of the most basic sports, there are many nuisances involved in training and racing. Of course you need a lot of training before you're ready to race and it can feel like an uphill battle to start training. Starting is the first step and usually the hardest, and each run needs a start, but of course the journey of running needs any even bigger start. There's plenty of advice out there for starting to run, but these are the thing I think are most important.
By Ashlee :)6 years ago in Longevity
A Waste of a World
Our world produces 3.5 million tons of plastic waste a day, and that doesn't include any other kind of waste. The average American produces around 6 pounds of trash a day. There is approximately 15 billion tons of trash in our oceans and only 14% of the oceans ecosystems are undamaged. These facts are scary and there are plenty of other facts about how we are killing our planet. As a young person, seeing how destroyed our planet is already and how so few are doing something about it makes me wonder if there is any hope for us to restore it.
By Ashlee :)6 years ago in The Swamp
Tips for Finals Week
Finals week is the plague of all college students' life. One week of pure suffering before you are free for a well deserved break. Finals week is when you prove your knowledge and hard work from the semester or quarter before. Whether you have exams, projects, presentations or papers to do this week, it is bound to be rough, and that is what everyone tells you. But it could be much better, granted it will still be hard and you'll still have to put a lot of work in, but it could much less miserable. Going into your first finals week, I'm sure you don't know what to expect and that can make it all the more anxiety inducing. There are a lot of things you can do to help yourself do a lot better during this week and of course, you'll need to find what works for you.
By Ashlee :)6 years ago in Education
Road to Home
Road trips are fine and all, but it was beginning to feel very lonely. I wasn’t actually feeling particularly lonely, just very alone. At first it was invigorating, driving without a destination in mind, no one telling me where to go, but I missed authentic conversation. Then again I didn’t mind having all this time to myself. I hadn’t had any time to myself until this adventure began. I was becoming very bored with the food choices though, I can only enjoy Taco Bell so many times. I had been driving for 19 days. I already had been through the mountains covered in reaching trees, valleys with sweeping grasses, prairies with wild animals roaming as they please and now I was by the ocean. When I left I was looking for a fresh start, but now I was looking for anywhere that felt like home. I thought I had found that place a few times, once far away from any other city in the middle of the woods of Montana and once in a small town in North Carolina. Those were both missing something though, and I could almost reach out and feel it, but not quite.
By Ashlee :)7 years ago in Wander
The Introvert's Struggle
As an introverted person, I have often been told by my parents or teachers or relatives or anyone who has anything to say, I am too shy and need to talk more to more people. That is, however, completely against my nature. This is like telling a child with ADHD to simply sit still and pay attention. It is contradictory to the person I am. It takes time for me to warm up to people and I am often uncomfortable with public speaking. That's why coming to college was scary and definitely a challenge for me. I was afraid I was not going to make any friends because I was too quiet to talk to anyone. But what terrified me the most was my Communications 101 class. This meant public speaking, something I have shied away from as much as possible. When the time came to give a speech longer than five minutes, I spoke too quickly, was shaky, and continually looked at my note cards for reference to be sure I would not forget anything. When my grade came back for that first speech, I found I had done pretty well, except my professor had marked me down for "looking nervous." I was horrified and it gave me that stark realization that I had much to improve on in my public speaking. Throughout the semester, I have gotten better at public speaking purely through practice, but there are other things that can help.
By Ashlee :)7 years ago in Education
10 Things to Bring You Joy
Sometimes you feel a little down and that's alright. Most of the time when I feel a little less happy than I'd like it's because I'm bored and not being productive. If you can't seem to find something that really truly entertains you and makes you feel happy and good then this list is for you. These are just some options of things to do that can bring you a little joy or inspiration for something else you could do.
By Ashlee :)7 years ago in Motivation
The Body's Emotions
Emotional and mental health and well being is a subject that is becoming more discussed, but there is still a certain stigma around the subject and some people that doubt whether it really has that big of an affect on a person. As more research becomes available on mental health, it is becoming more clear that there are great affects when a person has poor mental health, just as it would be when someone has poor physical health. There has also been new proof that mental health can affect someone's physical health. All types of our health are interconnected and poor mental well being can often lead to physical side effects.
By Ashlee :)7 years ago in Psyche
The Art of Gratitude
Gratitude is something that many people fail to practice. Every day you can hear a glimpse of a conversation and hear someone complaining about some circumstance or another. Usually it is a small inconvenience upon their life. It is very easy to complain about every bad thing in life, but many people find it very difficult to be grateful for all the small things in life. There are so many people in this world that are worse off than you are right now. Even the fact that you have access to technology to read this article right now is something you probably took for granted. Everyone has something to be grateful for and many people forget to acknowledge all the good things in their life. People like to focus on the bad things; it is more interesting than the good things.
By Ashlee :)7 years ago in Motivation
How to Pick the Perfect College
Every year juniors in high school are asked if they have started looking into where they want to go for college. The list of options for further education is endless. When I began my search for the perfect college, I was overwhelmed. I had no idea whether I wanted a big or small school, public or private, or any idea what I really wanted from a school. Every college or university has different things to offer and it can be difficult to decide where you want to go, but it can be done.
By Ashlee :)7 years ago in Education