May Favorites (+ Blog Update!)

I'm telling you, this year is going by way too fast for my liking. As of Thursday we will officially be halfway done with 2017, and I honestly can't believe it.

Things have changed quite a bit since my last life updates post, even though it has really been only a month. I completed my sophomore year of college, I moved back home for the rest of the month, and I started my summer internship. Life has been hectic to say the absolute least, which is why I am making the decision to only post once a week from now on, or at least until I can get my bearings and into the groove of working 40-hour work weeks. I really want to ensure that all of my blog posts are written to be as best as they possibly can be, and I don't think I am capable of providing that kind of content twice a week right now. I'm super bummed about it, but I also think it's the best decision for Yours Truly, Katrina at the moment.

Anyway, here are a few things that I've been absolutely adoring during the month of May - you know that these are my favorite blog posts to write, and I hope that you enjoy them too!

5 Internship Tips for Your First Day!

We all know what time it is - summer internship season! A chance for all of us budding young professionals to really experience what it's like in the "real world" and put our skills to the test. Yesterday was my first day at my new internship, and it was nerve-wracking to say the least. There was so much to see and learn and do that I felt seriously overwhelmed!

Even though the first day of a new job can be stressful, I made it through the day alive, and I know that you can too. Here are a few things I would recommend so that you have the best first day possible - and if you've had your first day already, make sure to leave your own tips in the comments section below.

5 Ways to Have a Productive Summer

WE DID IT! Summer is finally here - no more exams, no more 8:30am classes, and no more staying up until the break of dawn finishing Differential Equations homework (...or was that just me?).

Even though I am always thankful for the mental break that comes with the summer, I always fear that I will feel totally unprepared when school comes around again. It's very easy to fall into a routine of laziness what with the heat and the lack of work - however, while lounging by the pool for three whole months sounds fantastic, the summer is also a chance to work on improving and challenging yourself.

Here are a few things you can do this summer to stay productive (while still having fun!) -

Harry Styles Album Track-by-Track Review

Fun fact: when the idea of starting a blog first popped into my mind all those years ago, I thought that it definitely would be a music blog. As a fourteen year old, music was everything to me - I decorated all of my notebooks with song lyrics and I pored over TigerBeat Magazines for new posters to put up on my walls.

Among those posters was, of course, One Direction. I "discovered" them just before their first single "What Makes You Beautiful" dropped in the UK, and I was thoroughly obsessed. After all, what teenage girl wouldn't be in love with five boys from another part of the world who sang about looking past my insecurities? Definitely not me, that's for sure.

Fast forward to the present, and while my high-key obsession with One Direction faded long ago (one concert, five albums, and a whole lot of emotions later), I am still guilty of keeping tabs on the 1D boys, most specifically Harry and Niall. The songs they wrote were most closely aligned with the kind of music I have come to identify as "my type", and I always had hopes that they would release their own music.

That's why when Harry Styles dropped his first ever full-length, I was pretty stoked. After listening to it straight through a couple of times, I knew that I had to talk about this record, even if it means diverging slightly from my regularly scheduled "college blogger !!" programming.

I love this album - it has great lyrical content, a nostalgic feel, and it simply sounds beautiful. (Also, can we talk about the cover art??? Wow.)

However, I don't think this album was totally without fault; there are some songs that I love more than others, and if you're interested in a track-by-track review, read on!

6 Things I Learned from Sophomore Year

On Tuesday night, I took the last final of my sophomore year of college, and I have not quite yet wrapped my head around the idea that in two years' time I will be anxiously waiting to don a cap and gown and graduate with a Bachelor's degree. I might be looking a little far ahead into the future, but it is a reality that I have to come to terms with soon.

Looking back on my sophomore year, I've realized that so much has changed in a short period of time, and I have grown immensely since I began in September. I made a lot of mistakes, but I also made some remarkable triumphs, and I'm proud of everything that I've experienced and learned.

Here are five lessons that really stuck with me from my sophomore year -

April Favorites

If I could pick a word to describe the month of April, it would definitely be "weird". It's pretty weird to think that the conclusion of April is also the conclusion of the first half of my college experience, and that I only have four more semesters left before I graduate. The amount of work that I've had to juggle has also been weirdly (or not weirdly, depending on how you look at it) overwhelming, and April was basically my month to just catch up and feel like myself again. You can read about everything that's going on in my life here in my latest post.

Regardless, I could not neglect my monthly favorites post, as it's one of my favorite (lol) to write every month. Here are a bunch of things I've been loving lately; I hope you enjoy!