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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UC Berkeley chapter.

Let’s bring back the Capri-Suns and parent-packed school lunches.

 

Let’s throw away all the Lunchables® and invite in all the parents, grandparents, and nostalgic persons who made our lives whole.

 

Let’s bring back school bells and unnecessary school announcements and do away with activities that don’t add value to our life.

 

Let’s bring back naps and time to sleep in the first place.

 

Let’s stop engaging in weak small talk and begin making bold assertions. Let’s debate about dark matter and other unsolvable elements.

 

Let’s bring back the juice-boxes and all the bottles of chocolate milk back into our routine.

 

Let’s make #HeForShe and #SheForHe the default, instead of static movements that merely stir up the status quo.

 

Let’s update our LinkedIn profiles, file our taxes early, and volunteer our time to serve ourselves. When we take care of ourselves, we take care of others better. The world fares better when we do.

 

Let’s listen without identifying the social constructs of gender and instead understand the meaning behind the message.

 

Let’s audit the deeds we do everyday and renovate our lives. Let’s pop open the Headspace app and meditate without a care in our lives.

 

Let’s binge-watch the first three seasons of Grey’s Anatomy, while Shonda still kept things good.

 

Let’s appreciate the Vaios, Samsungs, Lenovos, HPs and the like before we polarize into the Apple users and the Microsoft users. Let’s depolarize. Let’s generalize the good.

 

Let’s minimize the bad.

 

Let’s experience some henna on our hands and heels before we delve into the ol’ fashioned nail polish. Let’s nix the alcohol-based acetone and treat ourselves to some zzz’s.

 

Let’s lift each other up and hold these ladies up high in friendship, compassion, and life.

 

Let’s enjoy some chocolate milk together from time to time, and bring in some almond and cashew milk for our lactose-intolerant gang.  No, let’s choose Kirkland Signature instead of Blue Diamond. The latter’s overrated. Let’s dunk some Oreos® in, too.

 

Let’s rent five jacuzzis and relax for half an hour, and then return to those deadlines ringing in our eyes and ears like tinnitus. Let’s munch on some Kit-Kat and have a break.

 

Let’s bring back the pop songs that actually contained lyrics and some semblance of proper English grammar.

 

Let’s experience some nostalgia by watching Tobey Maguire become our childhood Spidey, hearing Psy’s Gangnam Style for the umpteenth time, and seeing Daniel Radcliffe when he was still young and not too famous.

 

Let’s submit our homework at 11:59 PM and go to bed at 12:01 AM and wake up with the semblance of rest.

 

Let’s indulge in the little details of life, the small moments of joy and streaming sunlight.

 

Let’s doctor our own souls and nourish ourselves with kindness. Let’s not kill others with sarcasm; let’s treat the ailments before we rub salt on the wounds. Let’s not use salt.

 

Let’s shop for the spring with our high school buddies and reconnect with them after months and years of lost time.

 

Let’s leave the scandals and the college scams and remember that hard work beats talent, sensationalism, and bribes. Every. Single. Time.

 

Let’s relive our Jonas Brothers’ childhood fandoms and sing those old youth songs of nostalgia.

 

Let’s pretend that our mental health is a pseudo-scientific element of our well-being and then realize that it’s paramount to our physical health; realize that it matters more than we believe it to be.

 

Let’s clear the cobwebs from the darkest corners of our minds, and sweep out the dust with newfound wisdom.

 

Let’s ask for help. Let’s request it even when we don’t need it.

 

Let’s become the movers and shakers of our lives first, our family second, and the world third.

 

Let’s create a new framework for living our lives a little better, one day at a time.

Let’s pursue sanity instead of excellence, and happiness instead of perfection. Let’s remember that the two could be mutually exclusive at times but mutually beneficial to a certain extent. Balance beats immoderation.

 

Let’s remind ourselves that International Women’s Day may be over, but women still matter every second of every day, just as much as human beings do.

 

Let’s listen with the intent to understand instead of with the intent to reply. Let’s care.

 

Caring is a part of being professional. But it’s also a part of being human.

 

Let’s not just carpe diem; let’s carpe noctem as well.

 

Cura te ipsum, collegiettes. Take care of yourselves, because no one else will better than yourselves.

 

 

 

Melody A. Chang

UC Berkeley '19

As a senior undergraduate, I seek out all opportunities that expand my horizons, with the aim of developing professionally and deepening my vision of how I can positively impact the world around me. While most of my career aims revolve around healthcare and medicine, I enjoy producing content that is informative, engaging, and motivating.  In the past few years, I have immersed myself in the health field through working at a private surgical clinic, refining my skills as a research assistant in both wet-lab and clinical settings, shadowing surgeons in a hospital abroad, serving different communities with health-oriented nonprofits, and currently, exploring the pharmaceutical industry through an internship in clinical operations.  Career goals aside, I place my whole mind and soul in everything that I pursue whether that be interacting with patients in hospice, consistently improving in fitness PR’s, tutoring children in piano, or engaging my creativity through the arts. Given all the individuals that I have yet to learn from and all the opportunities that I have yet to encounter in this journey, I recognize that I have much room and capacity for growth. Her Campus is a platform that challenges me to consistently engage with my community and to simultaneously cultivate self-expression.