00:00:01 Katie B. 

Hello, Lakers and welcome back to the I'm doing fine podcast. This is Katie back again, senior at Grand Valley using she/her pronouns.

00:00:10 Katie F. 

Hi, I'm also Katie. I'm a junior at Grand Valley. She/her pronouns.

00:00:16 Lexie

I'm Lexie. I'm also a junior and I use any pronouns.

00:00:21 Emma

I'm Emma. I'm a Senior and I use she/her pronouns.

00:00:25 Katie B. 

And we are back here again a little bit later than usual, thanks to the snow and wonderful winter weather we've been having for another episode, and it honestly feels like this year has kind of flown by, but with sort of the new year ringing in and new classes starting, maybe just new things happening around campus, it's kind of an exciting time and while we're kind of acclimating ourselves to the campus, I thought it would be well, not just me. I shouldn't take the credit, but all of us thought that it would be kind of fun to talk about what classes or maybe just a new thing or our favorite thing about being back at Grand Valley is and for me, I have never had this, but I honestly love all of my classes like every class I have this semester, I thoroughly enjoy going to. My teachers are great except for— shout out to Glenn Valdez –for throwing shade at me for having coffee in class. 

Lexie                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               He does that! He does that in my class!

00:01:28 Katie B. 

He does! I thoroughly enjoy that class. If you are a psych or behavioral neuroscience science major, wow! Highly recommend taking psychopharmacology, I 2nd that I love psychopharmacology. It’s honestly a great class, so I really enjoy and it's honestly the class that I have right before coming to Peer Ed. So I would recommend that and that's kind of been my highlight of this semester.

00:01:48 Lexie 

That's so awesome. Yeah.

00:01:49 Emma

I love –  for me – I love all my classes so far, but particularly I like my human behavior class. I'm a social major, so I go downtown a lot, which I really like, just like seeing the pretty and especially in winter, so pretty in winter. I love all the snow.

00:02:05 Katie B. 

I kind of wish I had classes downtown because I love the campus down there.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Katie F.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                My roommate has one downtown and she hasn't made it to downtown yet because the Tuesday weather has been SO BAD since the beginning of the semester, so she's gone to not one Tuesday, but it is a six to nine so it’s just like – oh – Good with the bad!

00:02:25 Katie B. 

I love that we have all this winter weather now, but when it was Christmas, it was like spring.                                                                                                                                                                          Katie F.                                                                                                                                                                Like heartbreaking, yeah.

00:02:32 Emma

Yeah, I'm downtown three times a week, so I'm a bit down there a lot, so. But my professor this semester for my human behavior class. I have the same professor as I had last semester. It was really nice and I see a lot of the same people, my same classes which I really like. I love that.

00:02:53 Lexie

I am living literally all of my classes. I'm finally out of the woods of like math and stuff which are like destroying me. My main dread of my semesters, but I am done with that. So I look all of my classes right now. As I like progress through college, they get more and more specific to my interest, which I know is like true for everybody and it's just, it makes everything easier because you're like, oh, I'm so interested in this. And they all build off of each other and it's so nice, but I. I'm a psych and sociology. I'm a psych major, sociology minor, but I tend to prefer my sociology classes so I'm most excited about my sociology of sexuality. I've had the professor before and I'm a research assistant for them, which is really nice and yeah. Like so much better so looking forward to that!

00:03:43 Katie F. 

Yeah, so with the whole math thing. I am taking my last math class right now. I am taking Trig and my professor.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              [Group Guffaws]

00:03:52 Katie F. 

So listen. OK, no, listen, listen, listen. I like trig!

00:03:59 Katie B. 

SAHCAHTOA  that's all I know.

00:04:02 Katie F. 

I am in love with the unit circle, let me tell you. I love the unit circle. I am anyhow that is not my favorite class right now. Oh no.

00:04:12 Katie F. 

But more Chai, my favorite class is organic chemistry. I have a wonderful professor for lab and lecture at the same one. His name is Luke Peterson. He is amazing. He reminds me of a Teacher that I had in high school, like literally the same. Luke Peterson. If you're listening to this Thank you for letting me take my test on Monday after class, I really appreciate you.

00:04:41 Katie F. 

So if you're in the social media like us, Peer Eds are the UCC as peer educators are participating in the 2024 INS and OUTS trend you might have seen it on TikTok or Instagram, but I just me personally, I love watching them.

00:05:01 Lexie

Yeah, I think they’re so fun!

00:05:05 Katie B.

I think they’re hilarious

00:05:08 Lexie

Yeah, they're so awesome.

00:05:10 Katie B. 

Yeah, I second that and I feel like there's some really funny ones. But for me, I was like, I feel like I should be doing that instead of the typical, like, oh, resolution. I'm gonna workout and drink water and eat healthy. I was like, what am I actually going to do this year? That's like going to stick or what am I going to take from last year that I want to continue doing this year? And um, one thing that I really started doing last year that I I feel like I've done a good job sticking to this year is just goal setting. This is really actually helped me lately as I'm like going through the process of grad school interviews and like thinking about what I'm going to even say in the interview process. Just like having these short-term goals that I can reach has helped me reach my long term goals, so that's one thing that has really helped me and then some other like smaller INs that I feel like everyone has is like I really wanted to reduce social media. I feel like it's so like negatively used. We live in Michigan. We're not outside a lot and we see all these people that are just in Florida, in the sun. And I'm like OK, I wanna be there. Yeah. So I honestly have turned off all my notifications for social media and that's helped me so much. I don't see what everyone's doing and I only go on it for maybe like half an hour every night and it's just like really helped my mental health honestly, but one thing that is OUT for this year, which I'm like really working on every day and it's hard is I am gonna stop self-sabotaging myself. Yeah, I I feel like I always do that and I get in my head and I worry about things that I can't control. And I think that is so like, I literally self-sabotage my myself. I cannot talk today, guys. Well but I literally like go like I can wake up in the morning and think like wow, like today at work is gonna be so bad. I can just feel it. But why am I thinking about that when it hasn't even happened yet?

00:07:01 Katie F. 

That is so true. I get that feeling too. Like we work at the same place so it's kind of like, yeah, you know that feeling and that feeling? Usually it kind of is true. But then, like you're already ruining it before you even start, so it's like more helpful. I'm like, OK, I'm not gonna do that. Like, I'm gonna not downplay my day before anything even happens. So that's my OUT I guess you could say for the start and hopefully the rest of this year.

00:07:28 Lexie

I love that for you. Similarly to that, you know, having people around me that are kind of supporting self-sabotage like mentality is my OUT. I am done giving my energy to people that just like don't value it the way that I do and don't reciprocate it. Don't reciprocate it. I care deeply about the people that are close to me and prioritizing people that don't reciprocate, that is OUT starting this year. It should have been OUT a long time ago, but it is actually OUT this year so goodbye, literally, literally and then start intentionally pouring into people who have similar values and approaches as me to better support my mental health.

00:08:01 Katie F. 

I love that. 

00:08:09 Lexie

Yeah, it's it's it's important.

00:08:15 Lexie

My IN, is continuing to prioritize my well-being by doing things that fill me up, so some of the most beneficial activities I did last year that I'm going to keep doing are walking my dog Sequoia every day at the ravines. Romanticizing my homework by doing it in coffee shops downtown because that makes it fun I don’t dread it. Like, oh, I get to try this new cafe and spending time developing my hobbies and this wasn’t one that I started like towards the end of last year. So this is like a newer one. But taking time to meal plan and then actually make healthy food throughout the week. Yeah, even if I'm, you know, eating a meal a day like at least it's it's a healthy meal Yeah, you know, was intentionally put together. And it's not just like ramen in the cabinets.

00:09:02 Katie B. 

Yeah, I love all those. Yeah.

00:09:06 Emma

For me, for my new goal this year is I want work on time management skills for this semester because a lot of times I just put things off like homework or like my laundry.

00:09:15 Katie F. 

That is so me.

00:09:19 Emma

I don’t want to do it. I put it like toward the end of the week, which by then I have so much to do and then on my OUT list I want to work on being my on my phone less because on my phone way too much.

00:09:32 Emma

Much, yeah, I felt that.

00:09:34 Katie F. 

Yeah. For me, when I'm on my phone, this is really, really bad. The people who trained me specifically told me to not check your e-mail every single day. My work e-mail to be specific. 

00:09:49 Katie B. 

I do that.

00:10:03 Katie F. 

I feel like school e-mail is a little bit different school during the week. You're gonna have like check it. Professors emailing you about homework and stuff. But my work e-mail it has gotten so bad like I'm talking. I pull up my computer in class. The first thing I check is my E-mail. Yeah, that is so bad. Like, I work at a mental health hospital. You can only imagine the emails that I get during the day. So I kind of decided that I was going to check it once in the evening, maybe once in the morning, but I feel like to start out I can't really just be like no e-mail when I'm not at work, because that's just not, that's not reasonable for me, honestly.

00:10:39 Katie B. 

I feel like that's important to like note too that like when you're doing like these goals of OUTs like you can't just cut it cold Turkey like you have to take it like small like incremental steps at a time.

00:10:50 Emma

And so, like studying like a quiet place to make sure any distractions are out of the way, like hide your backpack or just put it away in some drawer so you're not distracted by it.

00:10:58 Katie F. 

Right, right, right. No, that is definitely true. And then so that was my OUT obviously cause I want to reduce that that behavior, but my IN is listening to my body and my mind. So oftentimes like if you are my roommates and you're listening to this, you know that I nap a lot. I take pride in my nap time. I love my nap time. So I do that and then I feel like guilty. I'm like, oh, I could have been doing all of these other things. But my body told me I needed the rest. Yeah, whether that rest was for my body or my mind. Because I find when I'm stressed out, this could be a really bad coping skill. But I wake up from a nap after being stressed before less stressed. And then I can get all the things I need to get done. So, it's like good coping skill, but bad coping skill. But another. Yeah, another IN is going on walks. Y

00:12:04 Katie B. 

Yes! I love that!

00:12:07 Katie F. 

Yes! Walks for fun. In the fall, me and my roommates went on walks all the time. But it’s just like – 

00:12:11 Lexie

It sucks the winter.

00:12:12 Katie F. 

The slush and yeah, well, it's just cold. It's just not IT. It's not fun for me. It's not, it's not anything I’d like to do. 

00:12:20 Katie B. 

Like when it's winter and you have like the right temperature, the snow is like nice. And it's not like slippery or slushies, it's so pretty.

00:12:26 Lexie

It's amazing. Pretty magical. Yeah, like.

00:12:31 Katie F. 

Actually not anything that it's like, right now.

00:12:33 Lexie

Now, yeah, the opposite of right now, actually.

00:12:36 Katie F. 

Yeah. So for walking, I like to do my walks when I'm stressed or when I just need a little break before my homework and like kind of unplugged from watching TV or being on my phone and kind of because when I'm on these walks, I like make a list in my mind like a mental list. Like, OK, this is top priority. This is second priority. This can wait until tomorrow. If I don't get to it. Yeah. So it's kind of just like it depends on the day. It depends on what I have to do, but these walks are definitely, definitely something that I will be continuing to do. 2024. 

00:13:13 Lexie

I love that. I love here hearing all of our INs and OUTs. It's so cool to hear. You know what you guys think? And it's so important to think of the less productive aspects of last year, while also celebrating all of the good too. Yeah, growth isn't linear and any positive changes, no matter how small can contribute to better overall well-being this new year, so one of our INs as a group is our mindful moment section.                                                                                                                                                                                 [GROUP EXCITEMENT]

00:13:43 Lexie

We learn so much from each other and hope that our examples are helpful to you all as well. So, I'll start my mindful moment is well towards the end of last year, I started to realize how important and valuable hobbies can be, you know. Decided to take time to develop and discover some of my own hobbies and interests. I've always loved stained glass art, but because it's so expensive I've never really been able to get very like involved. So, I had offhandedly mentioned this to my mom at some point, and my parents ended up surprising me with a stained glass kind of like workshop class at a studio in Grand Rapids as one of my Christmas gifts. [GROUP EXCITEMENT]

00:14:26 Lexie

I'm so excited to have this opportunity to participate in something I'm interested in. I am planning to be very intentional and mindful with this time, so I hope to better understand myself and how making time for fun and creative could contribute positively to my well-being because I'm so my life is just school. Like literally I'm so focused on school and.

00:14:48 Katie F. 

Yeah, yeah.

00:14:51 Lexie

I just think there should be more time for creativity. 

00:14:58 Katie F. 

You’re so right. I love that. 

00:15:00 Katie B. 

I agree. We definitely like. I feel like as a society need more like time for creative outlets. I feel like there's so much that can be said without speaking, if that makes sense.

00:15:03 Katie F. 

Yeah, that was so deep, Katie. So deep, so inspiration.

00:15:10 Katie B. 

And I was literally like, reading my mindful moments. And I know I mentioned this before and I have, like, a little story. But I was like, I was going to tell you guys this week, like, oh, I just love painting, which is true and like painting canvases, which I did a lot. And that's so true. But I was literally at work this week, and my coworker like, asked me point blank. The simplest question he's like, what are your hobbies?

00:15:32 Lexie

No. Why does it like take you out? You're like.

00:15:34 Katie B. 

And I was just uhhhhh and I literally sat there and I was like I literally told them I was like well, I grew up competitive dancing. And he was like, OK, so like what are your hobbies now? and I and I was like. I I was like, I love to work out. And he's like, no, that's not a hobby. It's not. Like he's like you might love to work out. But like what are like what is something you do that brings you pure joy.

00:16:00 Katie B. 

And he, like, literally gave me this most mundane answer. He's like, I love looking outside at clouds and looking at the shapes.

00:16:07 Lexie 

I love that though!

00:16:08 Katie B. 

And I was like, OK, so, like, finding pure joy in the simplest things. So I was like, what? Like, I was really like, thinking about it. I was like, I really wanna like for this episode, think about like what is really like my hobby? I mean what’s something I like to do and I was as everyone here mentioned like walks. I was literally on a walk the other day at my house and I was listening to podcasts and I was like, you know what I love? Like, I honestly just love, like, taking time, going on walks and listening to a good like podcast. Whether it's a true crime podcast or just like a mental health podcast. Sometimes just listening to something inspirational or even just like humorous. What what you enjoy like, it's not a hobby. I still don't have an answer for you guys maybe next month. But it's like something like simple that I can enjoy. Take my mind off of things. So. But I was like, what is a hobby like? I was literally thinking about. 

00:16:59 Lexie

I was like my friends and I talk about that all the time and we just talk about. Like nobody has hobbies. So we don't spend time developing hobbies in our society like –

00:17:05 Katie B. 

I mean. I wish there was something that we had time for built into our schedules or we could just like do it every day like I used to go to high school and then dance every single day.

00:17:10 Lexie

Yeah, I know.

00:17:16 Katie F. 

I did that with soccer.

00:17:16 Katie B. 

Love it.

00:17:17 Katie B. 

Yeah, but like, do I have that anymore like I don't know.

00:17:21 Katie F. 

No, I definitely get that. I don't have a hobby either I'm just like on my bus ride home, I'm gonna Google hobbies and I'm gonna pick one up. 

00:17:30 Katie B. 

We’ll come back to you guys! Sorry to get so deep. But I was just thinking about it.

00:17:31 Lexie

No, no.

00:17:32 Katie F. 

This just made like my mind explode. Anywho, my mindful moment for the week, actually, for the last month, I guess I do my self-care every single night. I used to be really bad. Like I would take off my makeup but like that would be it. So I've been doing really good with like putting things on my face that are good for my face and like using hair products that are good for my hair. And they're not just I know all college students, but they're not just cheap, you know, like, yeah, I found, like, the happy medium between really expensive good stuff and, like, moderately cheap. Yeah, good stuff. And then, like, kind of like the cheap, not very good stuff. Yeah. Yeah. So, like, just finding the balance between like the good stuff that isn't like going to break your bank, so and then I like to do that every night cause it's like my time that I set aside for myself because I know like I'm not gonna be bothered. Sorry. I'm not gonna be bothered by my roommates. Sorry, guys. Love you. But I'm not gonna be bothered by my roommates, like it's silent time, I can listen to music while I do it, I can watch Grey's while I do it. It's just my time I can do whatever I want with her and I completely love it.

00:18:47 Lexie

For sure.

00:18:50 Katie F. 

And the for it, yeah.

00:18:52 Emma

For me, my mindful moment is that I like making vision boards for New Year, just like cutting out like for magazines like or coloring. And just like decorating. Very pretty.

00:19:03 Katie F. 

It's so fun I love that.

00:19:05 Lexie

That so tangible, yeah.

00:19:07 Emma

Now that you listen to like all of our favorite class impression and like how our classes going as we were starting this winter semester as well as our INs and OUTs goals for the 2024. I wish you all have a great winter semester, everyone. Yeah. [GROUP GOODBYE!]