I'm pretty chill when it comes to my acne, there are and up and down days but I'm not really the type of person to constantly think about it. Well, if I happen to catch a glance in the mirror and I notice my acne started to populate my face like it was a new city that just opened, I do try to think of ways to clear it up. I used to be a lot more subconscious about it when I was younger, but I'd say I've grown comfortable with my acne lovin' skin.

And then a doctor waltzed into my life and said this: All girls want to be beautiful, and your acne... without acne you will be, you should try laser. 

At that moment, the inside of my brain was having a monologue of - my acne doesn't make me less beautiful is this person even a doctor? Since she was a medical professional, I didn't want to push any buttons - she's the doctor who went through Med School and I just have my Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science - what should I know about 'cures for acne'.

I have no plans to get laser treatment for my acne, I'm pretty chill with just seeing what foods work with me and my acne loving skin - I do have plans to see a dermatologist to see natural ways to lessen my acne though. The thing is, I'm comfortable with my acne - but what if I wasn't? What if I was self conscious about it and had a medical professional say that to me?

Telling me that the only way to be beautiful is to be without acne is not a message that should leave a medical professional's mouth, or anyone's mouth. But do you want to know why she jumped to laser treatment? Tea is about to be spilled, get comfortable: It's because her husband owns the laser treatment facility, so she just wanted to cash in on self conscious young adults.
and that my friends is the golden hour

My beauty is not defined by the acne on my face, and yes I think I am beautiful with my acne regardless of what a 'medical professional' says about it. Sure, there are times when I'm taking fitness photos with my Nike Hijab that I am OVERLY aware of my acne on my face, with casual scarves (as shown in the pictures) it covers some of my acne. Yes, I drink 5 bottles of water a day, have a cleanser and do all the things I'm supposed to do but acne is still taking up residence on my face. And that's okay. The acne on my face took time to get used to but I would never in my mind think oh I'm not pretty because I have acne. Beauty is defined by the person you are, not by who has acne and who doesn't.

To be fair this wasn't the LARGEST issue from this doctor - I mentioned exercising (as uh you know I'm a runner) and you want to know what this 'medical professional' said? Oh you know if you have some fat you want to get rid of, you can use laser.

In no dimension have I EVER heard a doctor say to get rid of fat, use a laser. The first thing a doctor should do is question your eating habits, how much movement you do each day etc. and go from there. This medical professional (which, I guess I have to keep calling her by that because she somehow managed to become a doctor) is prying on young adults with acne and those interested in bettering their-selves by becoming more active.

The question you might be having is: Why didn't you "go off" on her at the time? Why are you writing a blog post on this when you should have spoken up right then and there?

The thing is, in my mind, a medical professional is a medical professional and I just sort of took what she was saying because on the one hand it could seem like, well what do you know? Did you go to medical school? 

I call this pose my-shirt-is-3-sizes-too-big-for-me-and-the-wind-really-wanted-you-guys-to-know-that

I would like to note, as someone who runs my main goal is never to lose weight. My main goal is to just be a stronger and healthier version of myself - the number on a scale isn't something I focus on which means if someone asks me how much I weigh I actually never know the actual answer.
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A fitness YouTuber I often promote on here because I personally use her videos for home workouts is Lucy Wyndham-Read. She's an amazing online trainer and you can best believe you feel that sweat after every workout & see a difference in your endurance and the increased amount of reps you can do of an exercise after a few weeks. CONSISTENCY! IS! KEY!

While doing an exercise, she also explains the benefit of the exercise!
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Thankfully this Doctor was a fill in, not my actual doctor, so you can best believe I'll never see her again.

If you also have acne, don't even bat an eyelash at people like the doctor I mentioned above, you're beautiful just the way you are, keep livin' your best life.

as you can see by the arms that I do not have, this shirt is actually huge
It's a men's large (I probably should have gotten a small/medium) - I can never actually find fitness clothes in the women's section that's a bit loose so! the men's fitness section with no cute patterns is where I live
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I just uploaded a new YouTube video Running Diary: Ep1

At the end of every month I'm letting you guys know how it's going running wise - if you have the time I'd love for some feedback!



Last week, I handed in my notice for an internship I was doing. In the beginning, I really wanted to stick it out and continue with it but when I discussed with my advisor what was happening she advised me to hand in my notice. Now, it wasn't because I couldn't do the job. I could. It was that I was being given too many jobs within the scope of a Computer Science Graduate - and since I was an intern it's kind of like well obviously she's desperate for an internship type of thing. 

As I relayed to my advisor my day to day she pointed out to me that it seemed as though the boss was learning from me. That's not really how an internship is supposed to work - I'm the one supposed to be learning. This internship obviously took up a lot of my time and when my advisor asked me about my personal projects, I told her they took back seat.

I stopped blogging for a week. I stopped making YouTube videos for 2 weeks (sorry youtube fam ya girl is filming). I stopped working on my personal project involving fitness & nutrition. I stopped doing things that made me, me.

I stopped my growth and that's something that I didn't realize until my advisor mentioned I shouldn't stop doing what I love for something that's temporary. I got too invested in this internship that I forgot to invest in myself. I should also note that this internship was unpaid and I have a whole lot of tea as to why unpaid internships shouldn't exist.

Here's what I've done since leaving the Internship:


BOOKS
I read 2 books in less than 48 hours! I haven't read in so long due to having a hectic last year of University and my to be read list kept getting longer and funnily enough I actually had found a list of books to read from 2014! The book If I Stay summary really leaped right out to me so! I finished If I Stay in 1 day and then Where She Went in less than a day (I genuinely checked my library every day online for 6 days to see when Where She Went would finally be there for me to pick up because I was left on a cliffhanger and my mind was making up every scenario possible).

WRITING
You may have realized that I took a mini week break from blogging. I didn't plan to but since I had a lot of work being pushed on to me, my free time for myself got kicked out a window. I was interning at a Startup company (a company that still has to get its feet off the ground) and in this case it wasn't the most organized. 

Since leaving, I've written a few blog posts and my inspiration is dancing around in my mind - so! all the tangents in my mind are forming constructive sentences!

RACING
I mentioned in my last post that I had shin splints, and thankfully I've now recovered! But here's the random part. After I recovered, a friend of mine persuaded me to try skateboarding and long story short that's how I got hip flexor pain. (To be fair Shin Splints are WAY worse but hip flexor pain is right up there too.)

Thankfully now, I feel much better but wow when I say July's been rough - for the most part I've been recovering from injuries. I've signed up* for a race in November so! I'm really excited to jump back into my training SMARTLY!

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* = By signed up I mean I have plans to race it - I've learnt from experience not to sign up WAY in advance because you never know what can happen between now and 3 months.
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wow look at that clear skin, who knew not having a stressful non-paid internship would make ya girl smile like this

From this internship I learned a lot, the most important being: Put yourself first. Never sacrifice your growth for something that's temporary. 

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I mentioned 'advisor' and as a graduate you might be wondering who's doing the advising if I'm no longer in University. WAY BACK in my Quality History Tea: Code Girls post I included that I was a part of a WAVE program.

The WAVE program was created by #builtbygirls and it pairs females who are interested in tech or in pursuing a tech related field with advisors who are currently in the field you are interested in. They give you the ins and outs, advise you when you're confused on what to do, and encourage you to challenge yourself often!

I can honestly say if I didn't have an advisor in this instance, I would probably still be in the internship that I mentioned above.

To learn more about the WAVE program, my sister and I on our coding blog (we're instagram based!) detailed the run down!

If you'd like to sign up HERE YOU GO

(At the moment it is US based only - sorry to my international fam!)

You honestly won't regret it! Also IT'S FREE!!!

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Have you ever done an internship? How was that experience? LET YA GIRL KNOW.