Teen Connexions

     If you've been wanting to play an instrument for a long time, or thought the school band or orchestra looks cool, here's what you should say to convince your parents to let you try it out. Full disclaimer, I used other sources for some of the information I have here, but I wrote this entire argument myself! The crowd goes wild! You stand there on the stage, mesmerized by this spectacular feeling that you are overwhelmed by. Everyone starts cheering “Let’s go band” and you can’t help but feel a sense of pride and togetherness. You think back and realize how grateful you are that you got to be a part of this enriching experience. And it was all because you learned an instrument. Many people don’t ever get a chance to be part of something like this. Why? Because they don’t know the real facts. People think that music takes too much time and effort, is a waste, is stressful, is a distraction, is harmful to your health, is difficult, etc. Absolutely none of this is true. Music

       In this week's post, I decided to make a list of 10 things that I find useful to remember if you want to live happily. You might think that this is the same thing as my previous post, "10 Habits to make everyday better", but those were habits, and these are more of positivity "quotes".  I speak from experience when I say that I know it's hard to follow all of these, but just use these as a mantra (reminder that you repeat to yourself) for when you are going through a hard time and just remind yourself to try and stay positive. I definitely know that positivity fuels life, and if you don't have at least a semi- optimistic outlook, then you're just going to feel down all of the time. So again, here are some things I try to recall when I am having a hard time with something. Image courtesy: Bitmoji      Disclaimer: I am NOT a licensed therapist, so these aren't scientifically proven to help you. Rather, they are from personal experience. 1.

  Hello! If you couldn't already tell by the title of this blog post, today I will be detailing 10 habits to keep in order to make every day better! There's definitely more than 10, but here are some important ones. I hope these will help you with being productive and living a good lifestyle! 1. Have a consistent routine      If you've gone on YouTube recently, you will most likely see a lot of videos pop up about morning or evening routines, lockdown routines, a day in the life, etc. This is definitely a good habit to have, and you should definitely try this, although your routine does NOT have to follow what all the YouTube videos say. Find what works for you! If someone else uses a certain skin product before going to sleep, that does not mean that it is guaranteed to work for you! Find what helps you, and incorporate that into your routine, rather than copying someone else exactly. Your routine doesn't just include hygiene; a routine typically also consists of the a

  Snoozing your alarm, staying in your pj's all day, being distracted during class... any of those sound familiar? If not, congratulations! You are a very productive person! If those sound like you, don't worry, many of us do similar things. But just because many of us do it doesn't make it right. Here are some tips to stay productive during quarantine, even if you aren't feeling chipper each day. Waking up earlier- I know, I know. You're probably thinking 'if I'm already having problems waking up on time, how will I do this? Well, if you set your alarm clock earlier than you actually need to wake, you will be at least half awake, and even if you snooze your alarm many times, you will end up waking up when you actually should (once the sound of your alarm gets annoying). If you are still having trouble waking up, see the tip below. Moving your alarm clock across the room- You may have seen or heard this a lot before, but that's because it really works!

       As the end of the school year grows near for me, the beginning of High School also comes near! Some of you may know that I am currently in 8th grade, and will be going into Freshman Year in High School starting August 2021. Although High School brings many fun events, such as Homecoming, Prom, getting your Driver's License, getting your first job, etc., it also brings a lot of new work, responsibility, and thoughts about the future. There's no need to worry though! Here's some things about High School that will assure you that you will have a great time.      First of all, High School is not just work, work, work, from all I've heard. There are definitely opportunities to mingle and to have fun, like the social events, and electives. That doesn't mean that High School is easy though. High School is definitely going to be hard if you don't stay on top of your work, but as long as you are able to create a good stay routine and manage your time well, you wil

For those of you that know me, you are aware that I have been fortunate enough to be able to live in 4 different countries and experience different cultures. I was born in India but moved to South Korea when I was 2 years old and lived there for about an year before we moved to Japan right before I turned  3. Though my memories of South Korea are too vague as I was so little then, I do remember that it was in South Korea that I saw snow for the first time in my life. I remember some of the cartoon shows that I watched on TV- 'Pororo' was my favorite show and I still have some of my toys based on characters from that show. Thankfully my parents clicked a lot of pictures of our time there that remind me that I must have had a nice time there. After moving to Japan due to my Dad's work, we got to live  there for 6 years. I could say that I was partly raised in Japan and I had a wonderful experience there. With so many interesting people, cultures, traditions, and rich history,