• Behind the Scenes with the I-STARs

    You can find the group photo featured in the thumbnail of this blog post on Chancellor Robert Jones’ Instagram at @illinichancellor here. I do not own the rights to this photo. It is, however, an honor to be in a photo featured alongside our awesome chancellor on his social media! There are a few times in life that you get to be apart of something truly amazing and special, and this summer was one of those times. As you may or may not already know, I spent the summer at the University of Illinois (my university) campus being a tour guide for students. A lot goes into becoming a tour…

  • What I wore to My Brother’s College Graduation

    The day was finally here where my brother would graduate from the University of Illinois with his undergraduate degree. Of course, on big days like that everyone thinks about the logistics of getting people to all of the places they need to go and the work that went into my big brother graduating. However, if you are like me, your first question usually is “What will I wear?” Well, I shared a few ideas with you all not too long ago of what to wear to a spring graduation. A lot of the ideas I came up with kind of fell into the dress that I chose to wear to…

  • My Brother’s College Graduation

    It is on graduation day your realize how fast four years can go by. This past weekend my big brother graduated from college. I remember the day we dropped him off at his dorm at the beginning of his freshman year, now he had graduated and on the job hunt. They grow up so fast! I was even more personally invested in the last two years of my brother’s undergraduate college experience since I had finally joined him on campus as a student at the University of Illinois. So, to sit on the sidelines and watch my brother Jacob graduate really puts a lot into perspective. There were two different…

  • Moms Weekend 2019

    This past weekend was Moms Weekend on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus, and it was sadly my brother’s (he is a senior) final year to celebrate. Today I wanted to share a little bit of what we did this Moms Weekend and how we kept a family tradition going strong. I know that typically the weekend is for catching up on sleep, but for the past five years we have volunteered for Campus and Community Day that just happens to fall on Moms Weekend. So we got up early to go put labels on packages that would later be filled with rice and oats and given to folks who…

  • My Night in the Press Box

    In the last almost four semesters that I have been studying at the University of Illinois one of the most important things that I have learned is to take chances. Now, I am not telling you to get too risky or to start breaking laws. I am just simply saying that when the opportunity to try a new food or visit a new place presents itself you should take it. This semester I am expanding my own horizons by taking two journalism classes, and the writer in me is loving it! For my Journalism 210 class I had the awesome opportunity of getting to experience spend a night covering an…

  • University of Illinois Alumni Luncheon 2018

    Last week I had the privilege to mix and mingle with some of the amazing alumni from the University of Illinois. As a Sophomore, it was a honor for me to be nominated and invited to the 2018 University of Illinois Homecoming Comeback Lunch as a representative of the College of Media! I was so shocked to learn that I was even nominated and excited to have accepted the invitation to the luncheon. This was the opportunity of a lifetime, and I could not be more grateful. Me with former NASA astronaut and University of Illinois alumni Scott Altman. Almost all of the College of Media representatives are pictured in this photo with…

  • Princess Sleeves for Fall 2018

    For fall fashion, we already discussed the exciting neon trend that has made an appearance, and how crop tops will be the fall surprise only Faintly Familiar readers will see coming. Now, let’s take closer a look at another fall 2018 trend: the princess sleeves. Yes, you may be thinking of the Seinfeld episode with this puffy shirt, but I assure you this trend is nothing like that! I have always loved a strong shoulder in tops and and jackets, a structured shoulder can make all the difference in tailoring! The princess sleeve is that extra something added to an otherwise simple look. It is a soft, elegant feature and…

  • #SelfieswithAlma

    Okay, with a headline that starts with a hashtag you may be wondering what this post will be about. Let me explain, before my freshman year of college at the University of Illinois, I thought it would be kind of fun to take a selfie with the iconic Alam Mater (if you don’t know what that is, here is a little background about the statue) every school day until the day I graduate. This idea started out with me only taking a photo for my own personal collection of college memories. Then one day it dawned on me, why not continue this streak on social media just to publicly document…

  • “Kind is the New Cool” Tee

    Similar to my look:         T-shirt      Shorts      Birkenstocks Haven’t you heard? Kind is the new cool! Actually, being kind is always cool, but this t-shirt was too cute not to purchase! This inspirational, classic white tee came from a little boutique on my college campus, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champiagn. The shop is called Fira Boutique, and I fell in love with their clothes the minute I saw the store front! It is a quant little place located a little outside of the heart of campus, but all in all it is one of my favorite shops. If you go to UIUC,…