On The + Side: Podcasts, Blockbuster and Palonka

We’re back with our latest edition of On The + Side, your weekly dose of all things positive. As students head back to school this fall, we know this time period can add some stress with all of the uncertainty and changes taking place. This week, we’ll share more of our favorite stories, tips and tricks to help you keep your head up!

Positive Focus

What’s making you smile lately? Below are some of the stories that brought a little extra joy to our day.

• Palonka is a new service that allows people to create a virtual scrapbook of uplifting messages for others, including encouraging notes, photos, gifs and videos. Once completed, you can send these as a package to someone to help them celebrate a happy occasion or get through a challenging time. The service is currently offered for free.
• Many are referring to 2020 as “The Year of the Woman,” and this story certainly supports that. The number of female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies is at an all-time high.
• Congratulations to our partners at Seminole State College for receiving a Duke Energy grant for workforce development! This grant will help address certain gaps experienced by many students working to obtain their GED or high school diploma.
• Our dreams have come true: you can now have a 90s-themed overnight at the world’s last Blockbuster.
• In case you’ve missed it, Addition Financial has launched the #CUatHome Challenge! Every week on our social media, you can win an Amazon gift card by following our latest prompt. Our challenges encourage positive thinking and making healthy choices. Will we CU at home?

Wellness Boosts

Healthy mind, healthy body. Whether you prefer to clear your head in nature or by relaxing at home, we’ve got some helpful tips to boost your wellness and overall immune system.

• Getting out in nature is a great way to cope with stress and boost our immune systems with a little sunshine. For those looking to discover new hiking trails nearby, AllTrails is a free app that allows you to search by location, level of difficulty, elevation and more. You can also read reviews and view photos by others who have hiked that particular trail.
• Ready to work it out? POPSUGAR Fitness has countless free workout videos you can do from the comfort of your own home. Get ready to sweat!
• Our friends at Corporate Health Fairs Florida have shared their tips for simple self-care, starting first thing in the morning.

For the most up-to-date guidelines on taking care of yourself during this global pandemic, visit the CDC’s website.

Additional Resources

How are you staying positive at home? We share some of our latest favorite resources to keep you entertained and teach you something new.

• Need a crash course on college finances? We’ve got you covered! From snagging scholarships to eating healthy on a budget, we cover all things college on our latest episode of the Making It Count podcast. Click here for links to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
• For those in need of a fun and engaging extracurricular, learn more about some of the amazing new virtual activities now offered by SeaWorld Orlando.
• For a little magic in your life, check out this cool augmented reality experience from National Geographic, where you can suit up to climb Mount Everest!

We’ll be back next week with more positive stories and resources to make this time a little easier for everyone. To get notifications when we post a new issue, subscribe to On The + Side.

For the latest COVID-19 updates from Addition Financial, please visit our response page.