Good News Moment

Usually I post a writing but this time I'm going to do something a little different. I'm going to post a life update.

I applied to the University of Iowa, and I'm proud to announce that I will be a Hawkeye! I got a few things to do before I can start but I will be a Japanese major.

Dairy-Free Coffee Creamer Recipe

Do you ever wake up and feel very tired? Are you not a morning person and need a caffeine boost? Are you a vegan or even lactose intolerant? Or maybe you don't have creamer in your pantry and didn't realize it until after you made your coffee. For whatever reason that you don't drink milk, it's hard to find a healthier alternative to dairy-free coffee creamer. In one of my previous articles, I wrote about the history of coffee and some of the health benefits that it provides. This article will provide you a recipe for coffee creamer that uses full-fat coconut milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.

To make the creamer, you will need:

• 1 can of Full-Fat Coconut Milk
• 4 Tbsp of Maple Syrup (or whatever natural sweetener you use, I prefer a syrup of some sort though)
• 1 Tbsp of Vanilla Extract

The instructions for preparing the creamer are as follows:

1. Pour the coconut milk into a bigger mason jar. Add the syrup and the vanilla extract
2. Mix all ingredients well
3. Pour into your cup of coffee and enjoy

That's it! Only three steps to make a healthier alternative to dairy creamer. To store the creamer, make sure to place a lid on your mason jar and place in the fridge. When you need to use the creamer again, make sure to shake it because the ingredients will separate.

A Few Things I Learned at College

Hey guys! In December, I finished my last classes for college. Since then, I have been filling my time paying off my balance, learning Japanese, watching YouTube videos, trying to find work, and watching Korean Dramas. A few days ago, I payed off the last dollars that were needed to be paid in order to receive my transcripts and to actually receive my diploma, so I will be walking the commencement ceremony in May for an AS in Information Technology. I would like to share with you guys my new-found knowledge that I received while going to college. NOTE: My experiences aren't like most everyone's experiences, with me being Autistic and have gone to a Tribal College.

1) Diversity.
Because the college I went to was a tribal college, I got to meet cool new people who come from a very different background than me. Most everyone that went to the same college as me was Native American (there were even diversity among the different tribal backgrounds others had) and there were more backgrounds that others had. The least amount of students were Caucasion, like me. Because of the diversity that the college had, I learned a lot about different cultures. For example, I learned about different Lakota/Dakota foods, different slang that was used (the most common one I heard was chun), and words from the Lakota/Dakota language. In the end, a few best friends I gained was from a very different background than me.

2) Confidence and How to Make Friends
If you knew me in elementary, middle school/junior high, high school/senior high, and beauty school, you would know that I wasn't very confident and had a very tough time making friends. I was considered weird by most people that I knew. Being part of Upward Bound helped a little bit with gaining confidence and I made some friends there, but a lot of my new confidence that I gained was from when I went to college. During my time at college, I formed an Anime Club with one of my best friends I made while there, met a lot of people through Anime Club, joined other school clubs, hung out a lot in the student lounge with my friends, and hanging out with my roommates I had the one term I lived in the dorms. I even talk to a lot of the friends that I made still, and try to visit the college to keep up to date with them. The me in high school would hopefully be admired by the me in college.

3) Everyone Evolves
This one has been pretty interesting for me. The me before college was Mormon, shy, depressed, conservative in views about social things. The me post-college left the Mormon church, became confident, started managing my depression. Everyone evolves, especially during when they go to college if they do. Going into college, I wanted to be an art therapist (a therapy style that involves art as a means of coping). Graduating college, I wanted to run my own PC Repair company. Today, I want to teach English in Japan, so I'll be going through more college. When you go through college, you go through a lot of moments that forever change who you are as a person. Hopefully the changes in your personality become good changes and make you a better person than you were before.

4) Different Skills
When I went to college, I learned a lot of new skills that I did not learn in classes. I learned proper time management, how to manage a busy work load, how to be better organized, and a few other skills. It took me three years to complete community college, which isn't too bad (in fact it usually takes a few years to complete community college if you change your major). Through those three years, I learned a lot of  these skills with a gradually bigger work load.

In conclusion, there are a lot of things you learn when going through college. You hopefully learn new things that help out who you are as a person and enjoy the moments you have and look back happily on those moments.