Featuring reviews, organization tips, and advice, sophomore Alyssa Poole’s blog titled “Living Like Lys” provides insightful, useful, and well-written commentary with an end goal of giving its readers advice.

A passionate writer, Poole spends much of her time revising and editing to ensure quality over quantity. Her posts can range from makeup to time management advice.

“Easy stuff about like makeup and hair products I take three minutes,” Poole said. “But the hard stuff takes a lot longer than people think. I spend a lot of time editing and stuff. So currently I don’t have much up on my blog. I’m editing like three-four things right now.”

The blog started out around four months ago, when Poole sent out a draft of the first post to her friend, sophomore Maddi Lynch, to edit and read through it.

“I think the goal is to give advice as she’s made posts about studying and such, to spread positivity, which she has done with her “Advice to my Younger Self” post that discusses the importance of self love and acceptance, and as a creative outlet,” Lynch said.

The blog gives Poole a chance to lay a foundation for her readers to obtain useful information in a down-to-earth way that parents or dedicated school taught classes often can’t achieve.

“There are so many different kinds of ways to study and again not everyone learns in the same style,” Poole said. “Visual and auditory learners won’t have the same learning style so find what suits your mind the best.”

In a recent post regarding the importance of setting personal expectations and achieving personal goals, Poole included things such as having a planner, daily studying, and personal fitness. All of which are things that can give students a useful leg up, especially later into high school.

“Think beyond school and start looking into the future,” Poole said. “Have something to look forward to because having a vision allows you to go throughout your journey with clarity and motivation.”

In Poole’s post titled “Advice to My Younger Self,” she provided commentary on her younger self, and invited readers to submit videos doing the same. Thought provoking and reflective towards readers, this cleverly teaches readers to reflect on their lives.

“When making my video entry for her ‘Advice to my Younger Self’ blog post, I definitely realized how much I have grown as a person when learning to focus and taking care of myself, rather than letting other people’s opinions influence how I see myself,” Poole said.

With friends at her side, Poole is able to express herself in a healthy and beneficial way for both the reader and the author. Sophomore Catarina Chavanne, a close friend to Poole, describes how the blog has been helpful for her.

“I think [the blog’s] goal for the readers is to find new ideas and spread positivity,” Chavanne said. “I also think it’s mainly a way for Alyssa to express herself and explore her creativity.”

Poole’s blog offers essential life skills to readers at a level that could be credited to an adult, but making it easier for teens and students to comprehend and to follow, such as focusing in class.

“If you are anything like me, sitting in the back of the classroom gets you a little distracted and you think it’s okay to multi-task,” Poole said. “But, it’s next to impossible to multitask if you are trying to learn and text at the same time. Put your phone away and sit at a spot where you know you will not get distracted.”

Overall, Living Like Lys serves as an easy way for Poole’s readers to reflect on themselves, the world around them, and for learning valuable lessons from high school and beyond.

“I don’t know where to go with my passions blog,” Poole said. “I just wanna add to the movement of big talk and skip the small talk and really get to build in knowing people. I think it’s so important to build connections and see this passionate world around me.”