Essential Oil Education

One of my favorite things to do as an RC is try out new programs for my residents, both as a way to mix things up for me, and introduce new and fun educational opportunities for them. This year, I implemented a new program I called "DIY Air Fresheners" in which we made our own scent pods for our rooms, using a few simple ingredients. 

The program was somewhat twofold, as we utilized essential oils and baking soda in small mason jars to create our air fresheners. They not only helped the students create fun ways to help their rooms smell good, but it also helped them learn the benefits and uses of essential oils. Several of them (such as bergamot and chamomile) have stress relieving advantages, while others like lavender can help with sleep. Things such as orange and lemon are great for energy, while eucalyptus, peppermint and rosemary can help with pain.

Given the often stressful nature of IMSA, the girls seemed to really enjoy getting to choose oils based off of not only their preferences in scent, but also their individual needs. Some students came in already experts in essential oils, like Sophomore Bella Huynh-Pham, who has her own oil diffuser, and were eager to create their own scent pod. Others had never really had interaction with the oils, but both ends of the spectrum seemed to enjoy getting to create their own pod to fit their needs.

Take a look at some of the pictures below, and next time you sense your child's room at home starting to smell a little, "funky" consider creating your own scent pods with them at home as well! I'll add the recipe below the photos.

Bella proudly displays her air freshener

 

 

Juniors Alice & Eva try to coordinate their pods, so that the scents compliment each other in their room

All you need to do is use 4 oz mason jars, with 1/4 cup of baking soda in each. Then select the essential oil blend you'd like to use in it! Use 10-12 drops of each oil, and mix them together. Remove the flat metal lid, and trace it onto a piece of colored paper. Put the paper where the lid was, and screw the band on over the paper. Carefully poke a few holes into the paper with a pencil, and put it wherever in the room you'd like the scent to be strongest!! For best scent results, refresh the air freshener with a few drops of your oils every few months :)

Here's my own concoction; I blended lavender & bergamot, and placed it in the RC office (we tend to need as much stress relieving energy in there as possible, so hopefully it'll work its magic next time one of our girls inevitably asks a not so intelligent question....)

See you soon! (Smelling oh-so-wonderfully when we do),
-- Robyn & the lovely ladies of 02A ❤ 

Dessert for Dinner

One of the favorite residential traditions of students at IMSA are our annual dessert dates -- it's similar to our dinner dates in that the students each get to invite a date, and they eat yummy food, but generally the foods are more of the sugary, dessert variety (every RCs dream -- sugar-high kids returning to the halls at 10:30 pm to bounce around the wing...)

This year, similarly to last year, we decided to do a root beer float and DIY ice cream sandwich bar. It seemed to be a hit, and we even had snacks for our vegan students as well! I put together a photo booth also, complete with props and a photo frame background, and the students really enjoyed getting to have fun with those.

The Senior table plays an intense game of spoons!

 

 

 

Junior roommates Eden Gorevoy and Koyena De pose with their dates during a game of Scrabble

We had dates from halls all across campus, and everyone expressed enjoying  getting to create artistic masterpieces on the butcher paper tablecloths, play games with their dates, and create their own ice cream sandwich concoctions with all of the topping options we offered. Perhaps my favorite part of the evening, though, was how many students were willing to help with setup and cleanup outside of the wing guides! So many of our lovely residents came early to make everything look good, and stayed after with me to ensure everything was tidied up. I'm very grateful to the students who make that little extra effort to make evenings like this that much better!

Until next time, I'll be over here trying to unhype 23 sugared up teenagers...

-- Robyn & the (literally) super sweet ladies of 02A ❤

Rise of the Phoenix

Every year, IMSA has an event called the CLASH of the halls. It's an event that allows the students to work with their hallmates to create works of artistic, musical, acting, intelligence and a handful of other types of talent, and showcase their hall pride at the same time. 

This year, A wing really stepped up for the hall, with event heads for our Drill Dance, Talent Show, Hall Decorations, Profile Pictures and Mural. It was an event that not only brought the hall together, but our wing as well, and really showed the Sophomores was hall unity and pride was all about.

Our girls worked hard to contribute to the overall hall effort; Lizzie Tang & Vaishnavi Vanamala choreographed our drill dance, which earned 3rd place overall. Irena Gao spearheaded efforts on not only our Profile Pictures, but our Hall Decorations as well. Junior Marisa Patel-O'Connor lead the charge in the Talent Show, while Junior Alice Liu and Senior Mishelle Mironov did a majority of the artwork on our hall's Mural. It was amazing to see my girls get to utilize the talents they don't necessarily get to show in their classes here at IMSA, and really showcase their passions. We may have gotten 7th place, but the community that I saw within the hall after the festivities ended was anything but dull -- the girls were together laughing, reminiscing, and enjoying the company of those they had gotten to know so well over the course of the school year so far.

The pictures below are largely from the pep rally, and were taken by our very talented students who are a part of IMSA Student Productions (including our very own Doreen Xiao!) so I cannot take credit for many of them, and wanted to give credit where it was due.

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

  

  

Three year 02A alumni Heena Srivastava poses with Vaishnavi Vanamala after coming back to cheer on 1502 at the pep rally!




 

Marisa gets embarassed when the entire student body sings Happy Birthday to her at the pep rally!

In all my three years here, I have never seen our hall so wonderfully close throughout the entirety of the CLASH events. Last year, 1502 was in first place the entire time going into pep rally, where we had a few bumpy events and fell to 5th place. This year, despite for a majority of the time being in, and finishing in, 7th place, the community that I felt within our hall was incredible. This was by far my favorite year to be a part of CLASH in my time at IMSA. And yes, I was even a part of CLASH! While the judges tally the scores at pep rally, the RCs have a drill routine they do to fill the time -- and if I could be so biased, I personally think the RCs should have won CLASH, but that's just me being silly.

I can't fully describe how much I appreciate working with your children, especially during times like CLASH. While I get frustrated with having to chaperone everything, needing to remind them to still do their homework, getting the drill songs stuck in my head, and everything else that comes with it, it's truly a pleasure to get to see them create and participate in events that they are not only talented in, but passionate about. Especially in the name of hall unity. And that makes them all winners to me.

Until next time,

-- Robyn & the lovely ladies of 1502 A ❤