Friday is No Phone Zone Day: Can We Count On You?

Texting while driving and even talking on your cellphone while driving could have irreversible consequences.  These habits have become one of the most deadly in the United States.  Oprah is leading a campaign to create a “no phone zone” in cars (at least for the drivers). 

Girls With Dreams supports this campaign and the No Phone Zone Pledge!  Have you signed the pledge? 

Today, Friday April 30, Oprah is launching a No Phone Zone Friday.  We hope you’ll sign the pledge, share this blog post, and spread the word.  Together we can save lives! 

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Getting Ready to Graduate?

Today I was sitting around and thinking and realized I still have so much to do before I graduate in 38 days. I began to feel really stressed out. Lucky I all ready have some things done but I still have a lot to do as well. I thought I would make a list for other seniors out there who might need help with preparing to graduate.

Here are some things seniors need to take care off! Now you don’t have to do all of these of course, just some usual things seniors do.

1. Apply for any last minute scholarships. It’s never to late to earn some money for college!

2. Hand in a final transcipt sheet to your guidance counselor so they can send it in to your college.

3. Get your senior pictures shot.

4. Hand out senior pictures.

5. Send out Graduation announcements and give ceremony tickets to your family.

6. If you’re a girl you might want to get a new outfit for graduation.

7. Plan your graduation party and send out invitations.

8. Go shopping for college/dorm supplies.

9. If you found out who your roomate is in college, get to know them a bit before you move in with them.

10. Last, enjoy summer and have fun with family and friends before you head off to college!

Would You Travel Around the World by Yourself?

We wanted to salute two amazing teens, Abby Sunderland and Jessica Watson, who are two teens, both attempting to sail around the world-solo!  In this article, the author explain the magnitude of this attempt.  “More than 3,000 people have successfully climbed Mt. Everest during the past 56 years. According to the American Sailing Assn., fewer than 250 people have sailed alone around the world since Joshua Slocum logged the first documented solo-circumnavigation in 1898.”  This is amazing!  Abby and Jessica rock!

A few days ago, Abby, who is just 16 years old, had to cut her trip short because of technical problems with her autopilot system.   Her courage, determination, and fearlessness are inspiring!  Have you ever had a dream like Abby’s?  Have you ever had a dream that seemed impossible but you held on to it and tried it anyways?

Girls With Dreams salutes Abby and Jessica for being such amazing examples of bravery and for following their dreams.  It will be exciting to hear more about their sailing adventures!

We Support the Food Revolution…Will You?

If you haven’t heard of Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, you’ve missed out, but that’s okay because you’re hearing about it now.  Jamie, a world renowned chef, is passionate about making sure we are eating healthy.

He’s given all of us a wake up call in America about the way we are feeding our kids, teens, families in schools and our homes.   He has showed us how processed, packaged foods is very dangerous to our health.  He’s all about eating fresh foods (and so much more!)

 I’d love to have you join the other half million people who have signed his petition to help make change in the way we eat.  Please check it out, sign it, and pass it on to your friends!

We were also thrilled to see Jamie empower teens in his movement.  In the West Virginia town where he started the revolution, he taught kids and teens how to cook and got them involved in the movement!

Deadlines Matter

Today I finally finished filling out my FAFSA (Student financial aid). Today I’m working on picking a college, and yes I know that the deadline to accept a college is May 1st. That is less than two weeks away!

I like to push my luck when it comes to college deadlines. I should have filled my FAFSA out two months ago, and I applied to colleges after the priority deadline.

I’m surprised I got accepted to any colleges!

Basically, deadlines are the most crucial thing. They are made to make college less stressful. Trust me, I am stressed out to the extreme now that I’m waiting until the last minute.

Early fall of your Senior year should be when you start applying for colleges. Most schools’ priority deadlines are on December 1st. Many scholarship deadlines are February 1st.

I want to advise all of you girls, to not be like me.

If I had it my way, I would be going to school out of state, at Duke University or Loyola University of Chicago.

That would be possible for me if I had followed the deadlines, and I would be eligible for scholarships.

I lost scholarships when I didn’t apply on time. It’s better to apply for everything early: get accepted, have a better chance at earning scholarships and financial aid, and get your dorm pick as soon as possible.

Deadlines DO matter.

Five Quick Ways to be Healthy

Recently I’ve tried to eat a little more healthy.  Here are a few of the tips I’ve stuck with.

1. Stop drinking as many soda’s- Simply limit the amount of soda’s you have a week. If you have one a day then go down to one every other day then every couple days then maybe you can get it down to once a week.

2. Stop eating out so much- Eating out is not only not good for you, but it costs a lot.

3. Have your parents put a healthy snack in the fridge like grapes or something so when you open the fridge (because we all do it even when were not hungry) there’s something healthy there to grab.

4. Find foods with less sugar. I recently did something where I cut out a lot of sugar I had and it helped clear a lot of break outs.

5. Drink water- Water is so good for you, and it’s free! Drink it up!

The Last Song

Not to long ago I saw a really great movie, The Last Song. I love movies that will make me happy but also make me have sympathy for the characters. Will Blakelee and Ronnie Miller are easy characters to fall in love with.

Will falls in love with Ronnie; the new girl in town. Ronnie is a troubled teen who is upset and holding a grudge against her parents. While Will falls in love with Ronnie, at first she plays hard to get. I personally thought that Miley Cyrus was a great pick for the role of Ronnie while others seem to disagree. She played the emotions of a teenage girl very well. Watching this movie and the love that takes place made me want to read the book. Right now I am reading the book and am excited to experience the love and sadness of it all over again. If you haven’t seen this movie I would suggest going to see it in theaters.

Girls With Dreams Loves Earth Day

Happy Earth Day everyone!  What will you be doing?  Planting trees?  Attending a community festival?  Driving less?  Unplugging your cellphone chargers? 

We thought we’d share some of our favorite blog posts and videos we’ve shared on going green!  So, here they are:

Does Your School Recycle?

Top Ways to Save for Earth Day

Girls With Dreams TV shares tips for going green

The Girls With Dreams Going Green Category (read all of the “green” blog posts)

We’d love to hear how you’ll be spending Earth Day and how you “go green” everyday!

 

Does Your School Recycle?

In honor of Earth Day week, I wanted to bring up one of my pet peeves….schools that don’t recycle.

Many schools do an amazing job of recycling their paper, plastics, aluminum, etc…  They have recycling bins in the classrooms and the cafeterias.  I truly appreciate all of the efforts the adminstrators, teachers, and students have gone through to recycle at their school. 

What I don’t get is why there are still some schools who aren’t recycling.  It saddens me when I walk into a cafeteria and there are no recycling bins to be found.  It is a shame thousands of plastic bottles and aluminum cans are being thrown into the trash every week.  Worse yet, when this happens, schools sending a message to students that it’s okay not to recycle.

So, here’s my plea.  If you attend a school that is only partially recycling, or not recycling at all, would you consider speaking up about this?  Many kids have brought recycling programs to their schools, and you can too.

Here are a few ways to try it: 

• Find a group of friends that feels the same way you do and who want to see recycling at your school.
• Find out if other local schools are recycling.
• Get the facts.  Find out how much money the school could save or get back by recycling.  Find out an estimate of how many pounds of paper, aluminum, or plastic is being thrown out.
• Talk to a teacher for suggestions on steps to take at your school (for example, it probably will make sense to start with the principal, but if you have a teacher on board, that is great too).
• Set a meeting with your principal and see what you can make happen!
• Be persistent.  If you get a  no, find out what would need to change to get a yes.
• Keep your friends at Girls With Dreams posted on your success!  Let us know what you accomplished!

Go and DO SOMETHING!

I was filling out scholarships one time and found one at a website called dosomething.org. They give away not only scholarships but places to volunteer in your area.

Go to dosomething.org.

Put in your zip code.

It will give you places that are looking for volunteers whether you want to help animals, kids, the environment, or something else!

It always feels good to help someone else out, so do your part and DO SOMETHING!

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