This morning, I woke up to a hearty breakfast of overnight-soaked oatmeal and almonds with blackstrap molasses (I even forced a floormate suffering from initial stage pneumonia [she discovered that in the ER and is ironic because we are on the "Living Well" floor] to drink a concoction of ACV and those molasses as per a "healthy drink" recipe...). I generally try to avoid using the microwave, and I did read somewhere that one could benefit some soaking nuts overnight....
The benefits of soaking nuts and seeds
Other reputed benefits include increased enzyme activity, greater absorption of the food's nutrients by the body and increased digestibility. When soaked, nuts and seeds will begin the sprouting process which bumps up their nutrient profile considerably. Nuts should only be soaked after they are removed from their shells. You'll notice that nuts without skins such as macadamias, cashews or Brazil nuts don't have as much of the murky water residue, but soaking is still recommended for ease in blending and for nutritional purposes.http://vegetarian.about.com/od/beverage1/a/soaking-nuts.htm
Oh, the irony is that I recently completed the school's "Scholarly Research and Academic Integrity tutorial," which delineated the definition of plagiarism by giving different scenarios and teaching students about online university resources (and Google Scholar) AND am also taking a course called "Research Theory and Communication," which should be waning me from my gullibility of believing a lot of what I read on the internet, but it's going to take some time...
But anyways, today was a special day. Productive, even. Although not in the sense that I would usually call "productive." Importantly, I bonded with people. During the activities fair and lunch, I spent time with a friend, who is, in some ways, quite similar to me, and is suffering from her fair share of problems. Her problem, a boy (I will simply say), is reminiscent of a manhwa, and I could definitely sense some complexities that I experienced only vicariously through such graphic novels that is quite unfortunate for her but fascinating to me, as dreadful as that is. I am praying for her.
Después de, I accomplished some reading, and attended a floor meeting, introducing myself to upperclassmen in the LLC living in other dorms. Over Burgermonger (which makes fantastic vegetarian wraps), we talked, and I met, again, a minority trifecta of girls, Asian, Hispanic, and Black (I have been paying too much attention to and enjoying racial diversity; my views have definitely gone international ever since coming here), who gave me advice for my freshman year (don't take "easy A" classes--you'll regret not having room for fun and more interesting classes; when teachers offer and stress office hours, that means you are obligated to visit them for the sake of your grade; and take your time...and you can avoid having to buy textbooks by borrowing them through the library consortium). After collaboration, my LLC has some pretty ambitious plans for this year, especially group fitness classes and healthy cooking!
Speaking of healthy cooking, I've made it a goal to join certain organizations, mostly those involved with environmental health and food. I plan on working with Asian Associations, Relay for Life, the Farmers' Market, and some other green organizations whose names I can't seem to ever remember. Also, either the tabloid, newspaper, or yearbook. I definitely need to focus. I actually want job experience, as well, so we'll see if that ever happens, since I haven't heard back from the several jobs I applied for yet...
After the floor meeting, I made Kashi's 7 Grain pilaf, burning the bottom of my roommate's pan in the process (shh, don't tell her, at least it's currently taking an overnight soak) and finally got my electric water kettle to work, brewing a cup of chrysanthemum and green tea for my pneumonia-stricken friend (who is actually sleeping overnight in my room as I type this to avoid whatever is in the air in her room). Later, I joined the girl who lives across the hall from me that I have never met to go to the gym together. We met a freshman looking for a piano, and I led them to the practice room (my floormate enthused in finding someone who also played the piano). We exchanged numbers, then headed to the gym, getting on the elliptical for half an hour and talking about...stuff for the remainder of the time when we were supposed to be doing weights. Let's just say that this probably won't be the last time we stick together...
Meeting up with my former roommate, I spent time in other people's rooms in my dorms, mainly community scholars. We caught up with one of the female basketball players, talked and joked, headed to a movie showing of the Hunger Games that didn't happen, walked back, met up with other scholars and met new people...andyeah. It was nice, reminiscing about the program, sharing a feeling of aghast at the things that college students, especially the people we know (America's future politicians, people!), do, probably also because we saw a gruesome sight of someone being "GERMed" (ER workers transport unconscious victims of alcohol overdose) on our way back into our dorms. Sigh. I know last night was Club Lau, where our library is transformed into a dance club just once per year, and that people showed up wasted. I know what pregaming is now and how frequent is occurs. I am familiar with the things that go on that I never would be able to comprehend in high school (but did happen anyways, in retrospect), but seeing that unresponsive girl with the foaming mouth being carted by emergency respondents made me question the sanity of freshmen. University freshmen.
But I hope to just be fortunate enough to remain a bystander. Presently, my goal is just to UNTANGLE this thing called a schedule and retreat into academia...t.g.i.[a]holiday.
And thanks Charles, for everything. I just can't figure out how to respond to your advice in your comments, but I hope you know that I'm reading them and taking them wholeheartedly.
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