CLASSES & JOBS

Getting sick is no fun for any of us. Since cold and flu season is in the wintertime during holidays and family time, it’s even worse to get sick. Make sure you are eating well, exercising, and getting the nutrients you need to stay healthy. Also, you might choose to get a flu shot to avoid flu illnesses this season.

I try so hard not to get sick; I take my vitamins, get enough rest, and eat well. But it seems as though it’s almost impossible to be healthy every day of the year. We all get sick at some point. A friend in college is a perfect example of this. She is probably one the healthiest people I know. She’s in great shape and takes amazing care of herself but every year, without fail, she gets really sick every January. We joke that Sarah has the plague illness every year, but unfortunately she really is very, very sick for about a week every year. It proves that it’s important to take care of ourselves, but sometimes getting sick is unfortunately inevitable.

Nothing keeps me more fit than skiing, and I wish I could do it for a job like my friend does. Skiing is a balance between cardio and strength training, but I seem to get more of a strength training workout. This is especially true for pre-season hiking. My friend hikes up before the lifts open to get to the runs. This provides her with a pretty good workout because of the steep grade, and hiking up is essentially the same motion as a stair master, except with weight on your back. So think of it; she just might have the perfect job. She gets to stay in shape and ski all day. What a life.

Finding a perfect job that fits your lifestyle can be hard. First, decide what it is that you love to do. For example, if you’re a ski-buff too, you can get jobs at a resort, on the ski slope, in ski hotels, and more. Just be creative, and don’t limit yourself. Look at job ads, ask friends and family for suggestions, and read your local paper. Who knows, your perfect job may be just around the next corner (or on the next ski slope).

Everyone at one point in their life has searched for a job, and everyone know it’s not fun. It can be a long and arduous task finding the type of job you want for the pay you need. Luckily, with the advent of the Internet and job search sites like monster.com and careerbuilder.com, finding a job is a little bit easier.

There are some basics with which everyone needs to become familiar; things like how to create a resume, interviewing techniques, even down to proper dress attire. I’ve had multiple jobs over the years in various fields all in an attempt to find out exactly what I want to do. Perhaps this is why I can crank out a new resume in 2.3 minutes flat or can navigate most job search engines with one hand tied between my back. My advice: Keep your resume updated, make sure to network whenever you can, including attending job fairs and talking to friends and family members to get contacts for your next job, and make sure never to leave a job on a bad note.

It is easier than ever to study a language whether you are an adult or a child. Language immersion programs start in elementary schools, and continue throughout secondary and collegiate levels. As early as kindergarten, in some communities, parents can apply to have their children put in classrooms taught in only Spanish to help them become bilingual.

As you advance through your language classes, your teachers will begin to educate you about culture as well as language. In high schools there are usually at least some different options for language courses. Students can decide which they are most interested in early on and then follow the program until graduation from high school. In some cases, the knowledge acquired at that level can help when reaching college. If successful in taking those courses in high school, sometimes they can test out of the early levels of language in college. Furthermore, college-sponsored study abroad options help students become multilingual by actually placing them in the environment where that language is spoken; this is more effective for some than learning language in a classroom because it forces them to learn from people who speak in different dialects and with slang.

From a very young age I was taught about the food pyramid and having good nutrition habits. I was lucky to live in a place know for its fruit and vegetable farms, so I’ve always loved snacking on an apple or some carrots. Eating organic makes me feel especially nutritious, and I love knowing that I am getting the healthiest version of food possible.

I can now feel that my body isn’t as healthy when I don’t eat right. I can’t understand any of these fad diets. They just don’t give people the nutrition they need. I’ve found that if I eat healthy foods in moderation, I feel great! I don’t think that I would ever go on a fad diet because they often cut out the bottom food group, the biggest one. I don’t feel energized or satisfied if I don’t eat carbohydrates, so I’ll just stick to what my great grandmother who lived to be 104 years lived by; eat healthy foods and some treats in moderation are completely ok. If it worked for her, I think it will work for me.

One of my friends from high school went to school for massage therapy. I was really good friends with Casey before it, but after her schooling, wow, it was great to have her as a friend! She’d gather up all of our friends, including me, and practice her massage skills on us. She said she had to build up the strength in her hands and arms so that she could start working as a professional massage therapist. Boy, was she great!

Getting a massage is like getting a tune-up for your body. I never knew that I didn’t feel my best possible until after I got a massage and felt even better! There are even different types of massages using stones and oils. I like the old fashioned kind though, just a masseuse’s hands rubbing away all my stress and knots in my muscles. Especially after a stressful week at work, a massage is great. It’s almost like a masseuse can run away your mental stress as well as your physical stress.

One of my current favorite music artists is Sufjan Stevens. Stevens is not terribly new to the music scene but his songs are unlike anything I have ever heard before. He combines so many instruments together in each song, which results in an album with a lot of sound. Many artists stick to what they know and get into a habit of making music that sounds the same. Stevens breaks the mold and is not afraid to experiment with sound movement at all. When this is combined with his soft vocals, his music is completely unique.

If I were to recommend an album to start with it would be “Come On Hear The Illinois,” followed by “The Avalanche” and “Greetings From Michigan.” These are some of his earlier albums, and though strange to the new listener, they are extremely gripping overtime. His work is heavily influenced by his Midwestern upbringing and it is very apparent in his lyrics. Most of his song titles also pay tribute to a town or place he has been in that region.

Finding new recipes can be very fun. I enjoy trying new foods and it’s even more gratifying when I know that I made it myself. Using my own recipes to cook ensures that I am getting a nutritious, wholesome meal. You never know what you’re getting when you eat at a restaurant, even if they do claim to be healthy and use organic ingredients. I like to use recipes that call for organic ingredients, and I use less salt to make sure it’s really nutritious.

I like looking at cooking magazines, cookbooks, and cooking website for ideas. I especially like recipes with pictures, I like to be able to see what I’m making is supposed to look like (although it usually doesn’t turn out anything like the picture). I’ve found many websites that have great recipes and you don’t even have to pay to see them. Many sites are completely free. You can search for type of food, which ingredients you want to use, or how you want to cook. My favorite type of cooking is on a grill. For some reason, I think anything cooked outside tastes better.

There are many great options for natural healing. Chiropractic care is one of my favorite types. I also like natural healing choices such as acupuncture, herbal remedies, rolfing, and meditation. Natural healing can be less stressful on your body than traditional forms of medicine, and it can also combine well with traditional medicine to help you heal faster and more effectively.

I’ve gone to a chiropractor since I was a child, not that I needed it then, but my parents went so I always went too. When I was little I’m not sure if it did anything for me. The only thing that I remember is lying face down and wiggling because I never could sit still. I remember my chiropractor getting really annoyed with the fact that she had to tell me to be still every couple of minutes. Now when I go to the chiropractor I often fall asleep because it’s so relaxing and makes my body feel so good. It’s a great way to keep my body limber and loose!

The internet has become probably the most widely used reference for many things. We can find photos and videos and we can even video chat with friends. It’s a great resource for finding information too! The first time I learned to use the World Wide Web was in high school, and I remember it being very slow. Now I can’t imagine working without it.

It’s come a long way from the first slow dial up connections. Now, at the speed of light, we can find out lyrics to that song that we’ve heard on the radio, or find a restaurant recommendation for dinner. The Internet’s possibilities are endless because more and more people are contributing to its mass of knowledge every day.