The Grand Finale

I can't believe that my week is up! It didn't seem like a week! While this past weekend was a real test to my dedication to my experiment, overall I enjoyed this experience and will take a lot away from this.  Let’s go through my final overview shall we?

Transportation

I must confess! When I had to leave for my train from Union Station (on Friday), I didn’t leave enough time to walk to the Tenleytown Metro stop. I know excuses, excuses, but I couldn’t miss my train! Once I got into Philadelphia, my family and I went home for an hour to get ready for sedar at my cousin’s house. We drove my mother’s SUV to my cousin’s house and then to my aunt and uncle’s house in Cape May, which is on the Jersey Shore line. Once we got there, no one in my large family drove a single mile. We all walked or biked to the places we wanted to go to. I love walking and biking to places, that weekend reminded me why I want to live in a city. To have everything a bike ride away makes me so happy!

Food

            Food, glorious food. On my train ride back home I gave myself a little pep talk that I should try to resist the home cooked brisket and chicken and put all my hunger towards the vegetarian friendly matzah ball soup. So you can imagine my heartache when my cousin announced that due to “technical difficulties” there would be no matzah ball soup this year. Throughout my life, I have been to 18 sedars and at every sedar there was matzah ball soup. The ONE year where that soup is my key to avoiding meat and there are “technical difficulties.” After that, there was no use fighting it; I had brisket and I don’t regret a thing! It was delicious and I would do it again if I could. I guess you could say I had a slip up that entire weekend, but the instant I was back on campus, I got back to business.

Consumerism

            I never realized how much people consume over Easter. I suspected that with the typical holidays such as Christmas and Hanukah there would be a lot of trash, but Easter is just as bad! The only reusable thing people use during Easter is their baskets. Trash wise there are the candy wrappers, the plastic around the toys kids gets, the green papery stuff that looks like grass for the Easter baskets, and the amount of paper plates my family used over the holiday. I tried to do my part and produce as little of waste as I could. However, every time I tried to get a family member to do the same I got this look of confusion as if I had asked them to cartwheel throughout the house. I’m pretty they thought I was a hippie that weekend.

Technology

            This weekend was the easiest weekend to stay away from Facebook and technology in general. I checked my phone at least once everyday but other than that I didn’t need technology. Who needs technology when you have the beach? So it seems that the only solution for me is to move to the beach. Just kidding, but I was really proud of myself. It was really nice to break that bond and just spend quality time with my family. I don’t recall the times I browsed the Internet, but I’ll always remember family gatherings.

Positive Impact/Political Action

            I’m a firm believer in everyone having their own opinion, but one thing that I liked was hearing what my family’s opinion on the presidential candidates. While I’m sure most of them were by no means experts on the matter, it was just interesting to hear the reasoning on each candidate. I can honestly say I still have no idea who I’m going to vote for. I don’t like any candidate but I still want to vote. I’m sure when the time comes I’ll find someone I can settle for, but I don’t want to settle! I wanted a good pool of candidates, but the pickings are slim.

Health & Happiness

            Because I didn’t take my laptop back home with me, I took advantage of the long train ride and read a good chunk of my Steve Jobs’ book. I’m really enjoying this book! It was so nice just to read for an hour and a half. It really cleared my head and helped me shake off that chaotic vibe I was feeling all week. If I have learned anything from this experiment, it’s that having that half hour to myself really helps. Yes, I could use that time to do homework, but that wouldn’t make me happy. I’ve learned that after reading or running I’m more up to doing my work than if I didn’t.

Overall:

In all honesty, I didn’t change THAT much through this experiment, but I think I’m going to evolve my lifestyle. I know I don’t need Facebook as much, if TDR doesn’t have meat it’s not the end of the world, walking feels good, and I don’t have to throw out as much trash as I though I did. The most valuable thing I learned is that I need to be more conscious about the things I do such as eating meat and throwing out trash. I used to go into this mindless state, but now I stop and think about what I’m doing. All it takes is thinking, who would have thunk?

Days 2 & 3

Transportation

Thankfully that has not been a big concern of mine because I’ve had so much work to do so going off campus wouldn’t be productive.  However, tomorrow I’m going home for Passover Seder and then my family and I are driving to Cape May, NJ for Easter at my uncle’s shore house. I don’t feel to guilty about taking the car this weekend because there’s no other way for me to get to the beach house and to be honest I care more about spending quality time with my family over the carbon emission that’ll be coming out of my mother’s SUV.  Plus the train isn’t too bad for the environment; it’s a public train. However, I’ll be keeping my promise and walking to the Tenleytown metro stop.

Food

            I can proudly say that I have moved on from the horrid Taco Tuesday and matured as a vegetarian. Mostly thanks to TDR and it’s wonderful supply of fruit vegetables, and pasta. I still long for the days were I could add freshly grilled chicken to my salads and pasta, but I’ve learned to cope. I’ve learned that when it comes to meat I need to have an out of sight out of mind approach. I only yearn for the scrumptious turkey burgers and chicken when I see at the meat section of TDR or on my friends’ plates. Which is why I’m concerned about Seder and Easter because who could resist home cooked, mouth watering brisket and luscious Easter ham?! I’ve been suffering through college food for too long and I don’t know if I have the will power to resist such delicious foods. It’s best just to assume that I will have zero will power and go to the dark meat side.

Consumerism

            Yesterday I ran into a problem: what do I do if I finish something, like the box that held my dryer sheets? I tried making it some kind of container out of, but box was so thin it started to rip. So I gave in and threw it out. I plan on not having to throw out my trash until after this experiment is over, and while I can still accomplish that goal,  the box takes up so much space in my tiny trash can. I’m worried of what else I’ll run out of and have to throw out. But so far I’m making a conscious effort to have all my cleaning supplies, drinks, etc. to last me until this experiment is over.

Technology

            I’m really proud of myself with not on Facebook as often. I’ve been so swamped with work that Facebook has been my last priority. I’ve probably been on Facebook a total of 30 minutes the past two days. I’m so proud that I’m breaking the bond between this site and me. I say for a teenager that’s a pretty big step.

Positive Impact/Political Action

            I know I should start looking up the candidates beyond the Internet, but it’s so useful! I found another website that gives an even more detailed profile on each current candidate. Here’s the link for those who want to check it out: http://www.reuters.com/politics/candidates-2012

I know I’ve only been researching for three days, but I’m a little concerned that I won’t be able to make up my mind. It’s pretty slim pickings this year and I’m horrible at making decisions. I guess I need to do more research, because I want to be definite with my choice.

Health & Happiness

            Reading hasn’t been my highest priority the past couple of days, but I did make time to go on runs. Although both take up the same amount of time, I’ve been getting cabin fever in my room and a run was a great quick fix.

Overview:

            Overall I would say I’m adjusting pretty well. The first day was the hardest but I’ve learned that it really is about making a conscious effort. I know that in my English class we’ve read a lot of articles where numerous authors argued that people need to do more than just adjust their lives subtly,  but I honestly do believe that a little goes along way!

Day 1

On the night before the experiment, I ate a taco salad from Salsa with EXTRA chicken. My friends were telling me how crazy I was for being a vegetarian, however my professor said we should do a manageable but challenging change for the next week. So that's what I thought I was doing. 

      Technology
      One of the first things I've learned in the past 20 hours is that I check Facebook at an excessive amount. Since I decided to limit myself to half and hour a day, I thought it would be best if I waited until the end of my day, where I could use up all my time in one sitting. But apparently I check Facebook more than I thought. I’ve learned that it's not that I spend hours on the site, as I just go on for a couple minutes regularly throughout my day. Wake up in the morning and check to weather online- Open another tab for Facebook. Waiting to get into a classroom-Check people's statuses on my phone. Bored in Micro class- Let's go on Facebook. After stopping myself repeatedly throughout my day, my anticipation was building. So it was to my dismay when the time finally came and I was done with Facebook after 7 minutes (yes I timed it, I wanted to be precise, don’t judge).  After 7 minutes I was over looking at statuses about dinner or homework, I realized that when it comes to Facebook, my priority is just talking to friends that are at other colleges.

         Positive Impact/Political Action 
    I found this amazing website called comparemycandidates.com. It gives an objective opinion of every presidential candidate. I only read a couple of candidates, but I already feel well-informed. Seriously, this site is amazing, direct, and easy to read.  
       Transportation   

     So far transportation hasn't been too much of an issue. When we went to the market we took the shuttle because we were limited on time, but I figured since it wasn’t the Tenleytown shuttle, I technically wasn’t breaking my experiment, Right? 
       Consumerism
And because for my consumption I just wanted to reduce my waste as much as possible, I’ve learned to be more conscious about my waste. Simple yet effective things such as drinking water from my reusable water bottle instead of a plastic one, use silverware instead of plastic utensils, and use towels instead of napkins.

       Health & Happiness
My favorite thing about this experiment so far is the time I set more myself to read. After dinner I curled up in my bed and immersed myself in Steve Job’s life in the early 1980’s (Incase anyone forgot, I’m reading his biography).  I’ve found that to be in another world for half an hour is good for the soul.

        Food 

 I also learned another thing about myself: theoretically I can be a vegetarian, but I’m more full when I eat meat with my meal. I was dreading Tuesday’s lunch at TDR because I love Taco Tuesday. It’s one of the few meals I can count on at TDR that tastes pretty good and fills me up. As my hunger started to build, I was reminding myself not to add meat to my taco salad for lunch. I stood in line to create my meatless salad and felt pretty confident that the salad would taste just as good, until I saw the menu, Ground Turkey for the Tacos. I don’t care how pathetic this sounds, a part of groaned. I’ll have the occasional steak, but besides that I’m not much of a red meat kind of girl. I find that chicken and turkey taste better. I walked past but couldn’t help but wonder how much better my salad would be if meat were back in my life. I sat down and ate it, not too bad. But about an hour and a half later I was hungry again. Around dinnertime my roommate and I went down towards the Law School to buy food from a market. We’re tired of college food so we thought we’d go across the street and go to a place called Chicken Out. Something told me they wouldn’t have a lot of vegetarian choices and my suspicion was correct. After seeing my choices were a chicken-less salad or a plate of green beans, I figured I’d wait until we got back to campus. Oh the will power it took not to eat that chicken.  That crispy chicken’s smell was torturing me, but I just kept reminding myself, just one more week.  So far I’ve realized that being a vegetarian isn’t too bad, just when it comes to mealtime.
Overall
I know it’s only been one day, but I’ve already been thinking about what changes I will make for good and the ones that I might need more persuading.

The Experiment

Now that I'm setting into college, I've been in this constant routine: wake up, go to class, do work in between classes, eat, do more work, and eventually go to bed. Of course there's fun and socializing in between those tasks, but ask any student and they will tell you the workload get can really suck you dry. The key is to shake things up! My friends and I try to go out to dinner or just take advantage of the city we live in. But for my College Writing class we're shaking things up in a different way in that we're changing 6 habits or aspects of our lives . After a week I'll see if that change is for the better, but as of now I'm going in with an open mind and try my hardest to be receptive of these changes in my life. Here is how I am modifying my lifestyle:

Transportation

            Currently, because I live on campus, I mostly use the shuttle or metro. For this experiment I am going to walk to Tenleytown when I want to use the metro or when I go into Tenleytown in general. I’m walking instead of taking the shuttle because not only should I take advantage of the great weather around this time, but I would also avoid taking any sort of vehicle that emits carbon emissions.

            Food

            For food I am going to be a vegetarian for that week. I’ve always wondered if I could do it and I feel like now is the perfect time to test it out.  I also want this to be a test run because if I can do it for a week, I think I can make myself do it longer or at least not as often as I do now.

            Consumerism

            I only want to throw things out that are completely necessary such as my dental floss. I want to avoid throwing out gum wrappers, packaging for food, or any kind of packaging in general.  My only exception will be things that I can put in the recycling bin such receipts, mail, water bottles, and other papers. I want to do this because I want to see how much I unconsciously throw out and how hard it will be to reduce my waste.

            Technology

            I would have to say my biggest distraction is Facebook. However, because I use Facebook to keep in touch with my friends and family who don’t have phones, I’m limiting myself to being on Facebook for half an hour a day. I don’t think even I realize how much time I spend on Facebook so I think it will be interesting to limit myself to only half an hour.

            Positive Impact/Political Action

            I am ashamed to admit this but I really haven’t been following who has been running for president. I’ve heard public opinions of different candidates such as Mitt Romney, Rick Perry, etc. But I haven’t taken the time to see if I personally want them as my president. Because this is my first presidential election where I get to vote, I feel that it is my civic duty to thoroughly examine each candidate so far.

            Health & Happiness

            This section I’m looking forward to the most because I want more time to read! I am going to set half an hour of my time to read the book I’m currently trying to finish, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It’s a pretty dense book and I’ve been having difficulty making a dent in it because I just don’t have the time. But now that it’s part of this experiment to make it a priority to read for half an hour, I know it will help me unwind and also make me happy to read for pleasure again.