Natalie Portman is not just an actress, she also holds a major in psychology. Talk about dedication—she has earned her degree while acting in major Hollywood movies! She once said that she hated studying, but loved learning. Learning is beautiful, she said. I have to agree with her.

I was on the nerdy side of the spectrum in school and college. Of course, there were subjects I loved and those I despised; but I never took the liberty of not studying. I studied everything because I had to, and because it felt good to be a straight A student. But I guess I was always looking forward to the time where I would stop studying, even back when I still wanted to pursue a PhD path.

Weekend Reads #44

How is everyone? Here's a weekly update. I only have one gym training left until I move onto the S02, as my coach likes to call it. I'm sore and loving it. (Don't tell her that.) Gym guys are cute. Like, seriously cute. I have a visa appointment at the American embassy in two weeks or so. In case you missed it, I'm hoping to get to NYC this summer to participate at the Merit360 program. I feel as poor as ever, but that didn't stop me from buying some Lindt chocolates. I think I had a blackout or something. I started looking into one way tickets to Belgrade. Scary! And flats for rent. They're hideous. (Anyone knows anyone renting a small apartment in Belgrade?? Lemme know!)

Here's my weekly dose of fun links from around the web, hope you like it.

Weekend Reads #43

Hello people, a week seems to pass by quite quickly... not really happy about it, haha. (Is anyone ever?? Unless, of course, while anticipating something awesome - definitely not the case here.) How is everyone? As you might have read, I started fundraising for my participation at Merit360 program this summer in the States. It's a great program I really believe in and cannot wait to get there! That is, if I get the visa (gahhh, I hate that I'm not the ideal candidate for a US visa! I just want to visit, you guys! I won't be staying and I don't want to live/work there... anybody from the Embassy reading this? Haha). Anyway, I'd love it if you checked out my fundraising page here. Thanks!

And as usual, here are some cool links from around the web...

A Journey of a Thousand Miles

Hi friends!

They say a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. I am taking the first step exactly as I am typing out this post.

Or rather I had already taken the first step some months ago, but there's still a long road ahead. OK, I'll stop being all mysterious and tell you what I'm talking about.

Weekend Reads #42

Hi lovely people, and happy Friday to you! How has your week been? Mine was slow and nice, with a great message in my Facebook inbox that kind of shook it a little: I think I'm going to India later this year! My friend Varsha is getting married (!!!) so she invited us (=people from my master's) to the wedding in August. I am super excited about it! And actually, the day before I watched this video and thought how wonderful it was and made a vague plan to go to India next year in March, to celebrate Holi. The universe sometimes listens - it's not Holi, but hey, an Indian wedding - and what's better, a wedding of a friend!

Also, I'll be publishing another post today that I would like you to check out, so if you have time, stop by later today. Thanks in advance!

And as always, here are the links for the weekend.

Weekend Reads #41

Hi people, and welcome to another round of Weekend Reads! I hope you had a lovely week. I started getting up at 7 every day. OK, not weekends. It's been awesome, I hadn't been doing it since high school, but I still haven't reached that point where I actually get up and, well, get LOADS of stuff done like I could. But baby steps, baby steps! Where do you get your motivation for, um, life, anyway? I'm finding it really hard to concentrate. A friend sent me this Chrome plugin and it's rather scary, but it's still not moving me as much as it should. Any ideas would be highly appreciated! Have a great weekend.