Nabila Eve: 2020

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

10 Productive Things You Can Do During This Summer While Stuck At Home

It can be hard to not be bored during normal summer. When we're not really supposed to leave our houses? That's even harder. That is why I've compiled a list of some of my fave ways to keep productive and busy! There is stuff for everyone on this list so I hope it's helpful. :)

Volunteer with an organization that you’re passionate about

Even though we are all stuck at home, there are a bunch of volunteer opportunities (I’ll tag some that
you should check out). A bunch of organizations are expanding because people have more time so
it’s a good time to apply for a leadership position (which looks great on college apps!). I recently
joined @generationratify.tx as their content director and I really enjoy being able to do what I love
(social media + meeting new people) while working towards a good cause (getting the ERA ratified).

Learn a new language

I know this is kind of a “duh” suggestion and also it’s hard to learn a whole language in one summer
BUT hear me out! I bet we all have languages we’ve been meaning to learn but just have never had
the time too (I have 3 I really want to learn) so this is a great time to get started. It only has to be ten
minutes a day but if you keep going, you’ll definitely know more then when you started. Duolingo is,
of course, wonderful and there are also a bunch of courses online. I found a conversational Arabic
course on youtube that I’ve been using and I like it so far!

Text bank (aka one of the easiest way to help the candidate you believe should win)

Text banking is super easy, you can do it while multi-tasking, and it’s a great way to show your support
for a candidate while staying at home! Basically, if you get any of those automated messages like,
“Hey, my name is Nabila from *blank* and we’re wondering if you want to come to our event,” that’s
text banking. You pretty much just press a button over and over again and then if/when people reply
to you there are automated messages you can choose from. Sometimes people reply with really
random stuff and honestly I find it hilarious. I’ve done a bunch of text banking for @mjfortexas and
joined a couple of text banking parties where you just video call and text bank while talking/playing
music and it’s a lot of fun! Dm me for more info about this and I’d be happy to help you get set up.

Get that summer homework done early

I definitely don’t get my summer homework done immediately but it is a good idea. I like to plan it out
and say I’ll do one part this day and this one the next day. I’ve also been trying to do a little bit of time
blocking where from 9-10 I’ll do my Arabic and some homework so I start off the day productive and
then I don’t have to do any school stuff after that. It definitely doesn’t happen every day. But you
know.. we try haha.

Read a little bit every day

YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE NOW. This is one hundred percent me calling you out. I almost got a 100
on my big standardized test in 5th grade. You know why? I READ A WHOLE LOT. And.. well… it’s all
gone downhill from there lol. Seriously though, reading is SO good for you and a great thing to do to
get your mind off of things. I like to put away my electronics and read before bed and it’s super
helpful.

Learn CPR

Believe it or not, there are actually online CPR classes! I’ve been wanting to take CPR for a while so
I’m planning on taking one from American Red Cross (don’t know how good it is yet but dm me and
I’ll send you the link).

Take an online course

There are so many free courses online that there is almost no way you won’t find one that interests
you. This is a great way to brush up on an old skill or learn a new one.

Watch TV - but make it educational

Most people my age would probably not be very happy at the thought of documentaries but let me tell
you, I have watched a good amount of documentaries in my day (strict parent things) and there are
some super interesting ones. I personally love ones that explain cultural/political stuff or ones about
how people started their businesses. There is always that time when we want to be productive but we
also want to do nothing and popping on a documentary or an educational youtube video is perfect for
this.

Listen to podcasts

I’ve been listening to a bunch of podcasts recently and love it so much! It’s a great way to stay
engaged and learning when you’re doing boring things like laundry, making breakfast, or going for a
walk.

Practice for PSAT/SAT (or any other standardized test you have to do!)

I know in American us students have to take the SAT/PSAT and in other countries, they also have
standardized tests to study for. I’m not saying spend your whole summer studying BUT it is a good
idea to do a bit of brushing up and it’s so much easier to study over time because your brain
remembers stuff better and then you won’t be stressed when test day comes. When I was looking at
stuff to do over the summer, I found out that Khan Academy has a whole SAT prep track which is
helpful even if you’re just taking the PSAT (aka pre-SAT) next year.

Comment down below what you're planning on doing this summer! I also made a graphic version of
this post which you can find on my Instagram.

Wednesday, January 15, 2020

there was a shooting at my school and now someone is dead

NO ONE SHOULD EVER HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS

If you haven’t been following along on my instagram story, you might not know that yesterday a student was shot dead by another student on my school campus as school was close to getting out. I’m not sure about the specifics. Some people say they were friends who got into a fight and some people are saying it was an accident.

All I know? Someone is dead.

Isabel and I were talking and about to head home yesterday when an administrator came out of her office and told us to get out of the building immediately. When we got out, there were a bunch of police cars and friends saying they saw someone getting CPR. We were confused and had NO IDEA what was going on.

I got home and went to karate and by the time I got out, a lot more info had come out and I had about a thousand texts from people asking me if I was ok and the news that someone had been killed at my school while I was there and that they hadn’t caught the person who had done it (they have since arrested a suspect).

Even if it wasn’t on purpose THAT IS TERRIFYING. I’m guessing the guy had run away by the time school ended or something like that because they didn’t sound an alarm?? Like they told us to get out but didn’t tell us anything else.

I just want to say something that I said in my story one more time: GUNS ARE THE PROBLEM. Yeah, people are freaking terrible but guns fuel that violence. No kid should ever have access to a gun. We don’t have these kinds of problems in other countries because they either don’t have guns or have stricter laws. I have gotten multiple messages from people who don’t live in the US saying things like “wow I can’t imagine” or “omg that has never happened here”. But I’ve also gotten multiple messages from people who live in the US saying they’ve had similar problems.

We need stricter laws, we need leaders who actually have a conscience and can’t be bribed by the NRA, and we need assault rifles and guns used by the military to be outright banned. I’m sorry but no civilian needs that. We need to change.

There have already been incidents with guns on campus and in the past 4 years, there have been at least 4 threats with people saying they’re going to come to shoot up the school I’m at. That ISN’T NORMAL. These things can’t be normalized and we can’t become numb to it because then the people in charge are going to get away with doing nothing.

My heart goes out to the family and everyone who knew the person who died. I didn’t but it’s still so sad. If y’all want to do things to make sure this doesn’t happen again check out this link from everytown and also the student's demand site. I'm signed up for there newsletter + texting group and they're always sending new info about bills you can support

For the rest of today, I’m going to do some homework and then probably just rest. They thankfully canceled school because dang I am kind of worn out. If you're going through the same thing, take care of yourself!!

P.S. I've done two other posts on gun violence here and here