It’s that time again. When I say “that time” I mean back to school. Yup, those three words that most don’t like to hear because it means that summer is sadly coming to an end. I always have mixed emotions when it comes to back to school season. It’s a little upsetting because most people (like myself) would rather have their summer break last a bit longer like until September.....or October......or longer. Haha! It’s exciting because my #BTSWithVal series is back! YAY! To kick off the #BTSWithVal series, I’m going to be sharing The 7 Stages of Going Back To School. I feel like this post is super relatable because we all know the emotional rollercoaster that come with going back to school. If you find this post super relatable, be sure to let me know by giving this post a like and leaving me a comment below telling if you’ve gone through some of the stages or all the stages I mentioned. Without further ado, let’s get into the 7 stages of going back to school.
1) Back to school commercials start airing in July and you’re all like “no, this can’t be happening. It feels like I just started summer break last week”.
2) You go to the store and see that most or even all of the school supplies are gone because everyone bought them all.
3) You set your alarm for the first day of school and you realize how early you actually have to get up. Then you start thinking, #SummerPleaseStayForever.
4) You try to go to sleep early, but you just can’t because you’re wide awake and your eyes don’t want to close.
5) When you wake up on the first day of school and you’re all like, “I’m ready” like Spongebob.
6) When you get home from school, you start to feel super motivated to do all your homework because you feel like this year will be better.
7) By the time week two hits, you’re just tired and are just completely done with the whole concept of school.
I hope that you all enjoyed today’s post and found it super relatable as well as funny. I’m super excited about all of my #BTSWithVal posts for this year. I’ve worked really hard on them and I know that you all will love them, so make sure you’re subscribed to the blog so you won’t miss out on these awesome posts. Hehe! Speaking of school, when do you go back to school? Tell me in the comments below. I go back around mid-August and I wish that I didn’t have to go back to school till September. However, I usually get out of school in May and the people who typically go back in September don’t get out till June sooooooo I think I’ll take going back in August. Haha! Anyway, I hope that you are having a great day & I’ll see you in my next post! Bye :)
Hey guys! Today’s post is another #BTSWithVal post. I’m going to be talking about the types of people you will most likely come across on the first day of school. The people I came up with are people that I’ve come across at school. I hope you guys can relate to this post & without further ado, let’s get into the post.
- Social Butterflies
They are most likely the first person you’ll meet. They somehow have good relationships with just about everyone at school & always has energy when it comes to being social.
- Overachiever
Overachievers work very hard to keep their grades up in all of their classes, they are on top of their education, and are organized. Now just because they care a lot about their studies doesn’t mean that they don’t have a social life. They most likely can balance the two.
- Quiet Ones
They don’t rely on a group of people and don’t mind being alone sometimes. Just because they don’t mind being alone sometimes doesn’t mean that they don’t have any friends and are completely a-wall when it comes to being social.
- The Jock
You have your stereotypical jocks and then you have your jocks that are equally as talented in the classroom as they are on the field. Jocks aren’t always jerks and act like your stereotypical jock.
- The Class Clown
There is always at least one class clown in each of your classes. They basically find humor in any situation in class and make the class less boring. Most teachers may find them being disruptive as well as distracting. I do too sometimes if the person gets like too carried away, but it doesn’t hurt to have some humor mixed with learning right?
- The Troublemaker
These people could honestly care less about what’s going on in class & enjoy getting on the teacher’s nerves. They usually choose to not follow the school rules and “be their own person.”
- The Distracted Ones
These kids either drift into “lala land”, are staring at their smartphone, or they are talking to one of their friends during class. The teacher usually knows which kid(s) are like this in their class, so when they know the kid isn’t paying attention they purposely pick on that kid to make them feel embarrassed and stupid in front everyone.
- The Unprepared Ones
There is always that one kid in your class that is always forgetting something whether it’s a pencil, loose-lead paper, their textbook, etc and they keep bothering you during class to ask you to borrow a pencil, etc.
These are some of the types of people you’ll come across at school. There may be some people that may not even fit into any of the groups I mentioned & others may perfectly fit into one of the groups. I have a question for you guys. Out of all the categories listed, which group would you say you belong to? For me, I would say when I was in regular school I was a “social butterfly” to a certain extent mixed with the “quiet one” & the “overachiever”. Leave me your answer in the comments section below!
I hope you all enjoyed today’s post. Be sure to like this post if you love my #BTSWithVal series and also if you found this post helpful. I hope you all are having a great day & I’ll see you all in my next post. Bye guys :)
Back To School with Speck: StyleFolio for iPad Mini Review & GIVEAWAY (CLOSED)
Hey Vegaholics! Today's post is another Back To School post. I see that you guys are enjoying my hashtag #BTSWithVal posts which is awesome & I'm happy that you guys are finding them helpful. If you guys want to see anything specific on here, be sure to leave a suggestion in the comments section or you can just tweet me your suggestions.
In today's post, I'm going to be discussing/reviewing the Speck StyleFolio for iPad Mini. Nowadays, a lot of people use tablets to assist them with their homework. I know I do and having a case for your tablet is a must-have especially if you bring your tablet to school. I'm sure most of you have heard of Speck, but if you're not familiar with Speck, Speck is known for making protective cases for iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Android devices, Windows Phone devices, tablets, & eReaders. I've heard great things about Speck and their products and I could not wait to see what the talk was all about.
About the Speck StyleFolio iPad Mini Case
"StyleFolio’s all-around protective hard shell keeps your iPad Mini snug and scratch-free with a soft inner lining to protect from accidental bumps, drops, and spills. Vivid colors and high-resolution patterns garnish StyleFolio’s easy-to-clean vegan leather cover, making your iPad Mini look better than ever with a seamless, impeccable design. A locking clasp secures your iPad Mini in chic contrast color accents in either a folded mode or shut for when you’re on-the-go. Reading? Typing? Re-watching that funny YouTube video? With so many ways to view and type, you’ll be sure to find the perfect angle for you."
My Review
Design
This exterior of the case features a smooth texture. It's made out of a hard protective shell with a smooth, easy-to-clean vegan leather finish.
The top of case has openings for the power button and headphone jack. On the right side of the case, there is a locking clasp that secures the iPad Mini and cutouts for the volume and silence buttons. On the back of the case, there's an opening for the camera.
The interior of the snap on the back style shell is lined with a soft anti-scratch liner that's supposed to protect the back of the iPad mini from accidental bumps, drops, and spills. Unfortunately the StyleFolio doesn't work with the iPad Mini's automatic sleep/awake function.
I love that you can transform this case into a stand. The ridges built into the case allow you to prop up the iPad Mini into several different horizontal stand angles which are great for watching video or other media. The case can also be propped up into a convenient typing angle as well.
Durability
The hard protective shell that's built into the case gives your iPad pretty decent protection. The shell holds the iPad snug & it keeps your iPad Mini safe and secure when on the go and when it's stored in a bag.
Convenience
This case is so convenient because you're able to use the locking clasp to keep your iPad Mini nice & secure, you're able to turn your case into a stand to watch videos or other media. The fact that this case is lightweight & adds minimal bulk to the thickness of the iPad is a great perk itself. I love that!
Overall
The Speck StyleFolio is a slim, protective case for the iPad Mini that comes in a ton of colors and designs. This case offers several standing angles but I do wish that this case had the built-in sleep/awake feature into the case. Other than that, if you've been on the hunt for a great, quality case that's vegan-friendly (for all you vegans) for your iPad Mini then this is a great case to get. You really can't go wrong with anything from Speck. I highly recommend getting this case & also checking out all of Speck's other products. If you want to check out what other products Speck has to offer and you want to see if a retailer near you sells Speck Products, then just click here. To see what tablets have StyleFolio cases, click here.
Now let's into the details of the giveaway!
Back To School With Speck Giveaway Details:
One lucky Life Of A Vegaholic reader will win a StyleFolio case for ANY device they have available on the Speck website in any color. How cool is that? In order to enter this giveaway, you MUST follow these rules:
- Follow me on Twitter
- Leave a comment below telling me what back to school app you like using on your tablet OR tell me what kind of tablet you have.
Simple and easy right?! Now, if you fail to follow these giveaway rules, you'll be disqualified from the giveaway.
This giveaway will be open for three weeks, so till September 30th 12AM EST. When the giveaway is over, I will choose a winner and the winner will be contacted via email. If you do not respond to the email within 1 week, I will have to pick an alternate winner.
Enter the giveaway through the Rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
I hope you all enjoyed this review and if you did, be sure to give this post a big 'ole like. Push that like button. Push push push that button *rapping voice*. Haha! I hope you guys are having a super, awesome, fantastic day and I'll see you guys in my next post. Good Luck :)
Disclaimer: This giveaway is sponsored by Speck. I was not compensated for this review. Speck provided the product for this review. I do not promise favorable reviews in return for free product. Find out more about Life Of A Vegaholic's Blog Policies here.
Hey Vegaholics! By the title of this post, you guys know that it's that time of year again. The time of year where some of us have to go back to school. Summer went by like super fast and I know I'm not the only person who is wishing that summer wasn't going away so soon! Now that school is slowly approaching for some or school has started for some, I wanted to help you guys prepare for this school year! Nowadays, about everyone uses their smartphone or tablet for school. Whether it's looking something up or even using the education apps and because of that, I wanted to share with you guys some of my Back To School App Essentials & Study Tips. I have a lot to cover so let's get started guys :)
Back To School App Essentials
1. Duolingo - If you are taking a foreign language, this is a great studying app. It helps you learn a new language through mini-games that test you reading, writing, and speaking skills. This app is really cool & super helpful.
Purchase:
iOS (iPhone/iPad) - FREE
Android - FREE
2. Khan Academy - This is a great app for K-12. They cover so many topics with a complete library of over 4,200 videos and articles. Their videos are super helpful.
Purchase:
iOS (iPhone/iPad) - FREE
Android (similar) - FREE
3. IXL Math Practice - IXL Math allows you to do interactive math practice problems for K-12. From skip-counting with pictures to multi-step story problems. I’ve never used this app before, but I've heard good reviews on this app and I’m excited to try it out for this upcoming school year.
Purchase:
iOS (iPhone/iPad) - FREE
4. Pages - If you are apart of the Apple family, then these apps will be extremely helpful to you during the school year. The Pages app allow you to work on your papers on the go. With iCloud built-in, your papers are kept up to date across your devices. You can instantly share your papers by just using a link, which gives others the latest version of it along with them having the ability to edit it directly from www.icloud.com on your computer (Mac & PC only).
Purchase:
iOS (iPhone/iPad) - $9.99 (FREE for people who purchased an iPhone or iPad after September 1, 2013)
5. MyScript Calculator - I love this app! It’s like my favorite school app. It’s a free handwriting calculator. It’s so easy to use because all you have to do is write the mathematical expression on the screen and the app will deliver the result of the problem. This app is so helpful & everyone needs/should to have it!
Purchase:
iOS (iPhone/iPad) - FREE
Android - FREE
6. Evernote - Evernote is a great app to neatly organize your notes/ideas that you can sync across your devices and share with others. I've been an Evernote user for years & I totally recommend it!
Purchase:
iOS (iPhone/iPad) - FREE
Android - FREE
7. Keynote - Again, if you are apart of the Apple family, these apps will be extremely helpful to you during the school year. The Keynote app allows you to work on your presentations on the go. With iCloud built-in, your presentations are kept up to date across your devices. You can instantly share your presentations by just using a link, which gives others the latest version of it along with them having the ability to edit it directly from www.icloud.com on your computer (Mac & PC only).
Purchase:
iOS (iPhone/iPad) - $9.99 (FREE for people who have purchased an iPhone or iPad after September 1, 2013)
8. Dropbox - With Dropbox you’ll never leave a paper at home on the day it’s due. Your files will be kept stored and safe within your cloud without the hassle of emailing them to yourself, loading them onto your USB drive, etc. It syncs your files across your devices.
Purchase:
iOS (iPhone/iPad) - FREE
Android - FREE
Study Tips
Organize Notes - I know it may sound simple, but highlighters help me out a lot actually. I love color coding my notes so I can organize my notes by color. Color-coding my notes helps me remember what notes are for what topic, etc. If you haven't tried them, then you definitely should!
Organize your assignments with an Agenda/Planner - Agendas/Planners are great things to have. I always try to get agendas for school. It's usually one of the top things on my Back-To-School shopping list. They'll help you keep track of your assignments, deadlines, and appointments. It's so easy to forget any deadlines or assignments you may have. I know because I speak from experience. Agendas/planners are a great way to help you remember everything!
Avoid Distractions In Your Study Space - Your study space should be used for studying only and shouldn't include tempting distractions. I'm not going to lie to you guys, I do listen to music while I'm studying. When I do listen to music while I'm studying, I only listen to soundscapes & smooth jazz on low volume. It helps relax me so I will be able to focus more on my assignments. I don't know why, but it does.
Flashcards/Educational Jeopardy - Flashcards/Educational Jeopardy is one of my favorite studying methods, so I like had to mention it. You can play it by yourself or you could even play it with friends. It's a really fun & effective way to study. I definitely recommend it!
Take Breaks - Everyone deserves a break from their homework. I usually try to take an 1 hour break every 2 hours or so. I set a timer on my phone, so I will know when the break is over and it's time for me to start doing some more school. During this time, I usually stretch, might go the restroom, get a snack or get some more water. Breaks are needed so definitely don't be afraid to take them.
So that was my Back To School App Essentials & Study Tips post for you guys. I hope you guys enjoyed it & found it very helpful! Let me know if you guys enjoyed this post by giving it a big 'ole like and you can also tweet me. If you use any of the apps or tips mentioned in this post, be sure tweet me using the hashtag #BTSWithVal because I would love to know your experience with them. Missed any of my latest posts? I'll be linking them down below, so you should definitely check them out. Be sure to subscribe if you haven't done so already by clicking here. Wanna become internet besties? Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram so we can keep in touch & stuff. I hope you all enjoyed this post & I'll see you guys in the next one. Bye guys :)
