Madeline's Blog

 How I Went from Very Shy to Less Shy In my hometown, I was very dependent on the people around me. I grew up in a very small town, so I never really had interactions with new people. I had the same kids in my class from kindergarten all the way to 12th grade, granted a few people come and go. I could not go anywhere on my own and I did not like to talk to new people. I think that I struggled with social anxiety at this point in my life because of how dependent I was on everyone around me and how I did not like to do anything or go anywhere on my own.  When I moved to Fargo for my first year of college at NDSU, I was so nervous. I did not like the idea of moving in with three other girls that I have never met before. I made myself sick the day of move in just because I was so anxious. My roommates were so kind and made me feel at home right away and I was so thankful for that. I was also very nervous to go to class because I wasn't sure exactly where I was going, and I did not like

 Book Shopping - Buy These Books I have always enjoyed reading and I would love to share some of my favorite books! When I was younger, I enjoyed reading mystery and thriller books, but now I also enjoy reading romance books. You have probably heard of the author Colleen Hoover, she went viral this year on Tik Tok with some of her most well known books. She is one of my favorite authors and I am very excited to share some of my favorite books written by her. The very first book I read of hers, and is one of my all time favorites, is "It Ends With Us". This book is an emotial rollercoaster of emotions as the main character struggles with love and what she deserves. Hoover just finished a second book to this book and was just released a couple days ago and I am looking forward to reading it! Another one of Colleen Hoover's books that went viral this year was "Verity". This book is more of a thriller and had me on the edge of my seat the whole time I was reading it

 After trying to sit still and focus on a busy classroom, it was difficult for me to sit still and actually focus because of everything that was going on around me. So, I wanted to try it again, but this time in a much calmer environment. I sat in my room in my apartment which was nice and quiet. I listened to the wind coming through my window, I felt the cold air hit my skin which give me goosebumps. I smelt the yummy candle I had lit in my room, which gave me warm and whole feelings. I closed my eyes during this because it helped me focus better, so I did not "see" anything during this experience.  Trying this again in a different setting was so much better than in the classroom. I was able to sit so much longer and pay attention to more things. I thought that this exercise was very calming and helped me reset. It is very easy to get caught up in things when you are a full-time student, and working like I am. It is very easy to miss a lot of experiences because we are so wo

 I decided to sit in one of my classes and try to relax, sit still, and absorb everything around me in that moment. I was not able to focus and sit still for long because I felt that there was so much commotion going on around me involving the other students. When I was sitting still and focused, I noticed that the classroom can be loud when the professor is teaching something. I heard so many sniffling, on top of coughing, on top of keyboard typing, on top of papers flipping, on top of people moving around in their seats, etc. I noticed that there is so much going on involving noises that it was hard to give all of my attention to the professor.      I realized after doing this that I do the same thing in class. Lots of the times, us students are distracted by other homework or just not paying attention at all. I thought this must be so annoying to the professor who is trying to teach us about certain information. Sometimes it is very easy to get distracted in class, especially when c