The Approach of Graduation Day

With our college graduation just two short weeks away everyone is starting to get antsy.  Whether they are sad about leaving or excited to start the next chapter of their lives, everyone is counting down the days.  Personally, I am dreading becoming an official adult.  I think this is because I dislike change and I am afraid of the unknown.  If I had a job set in stone waiting for me to graduate, then maybe I would be more excited; however, as of right now I don’t have a clue what my next step is going to be.  College has been my safety net for the past four years and now I actually have to join the real world.

One piece of advice that I need to keep in mind is that it is okay to not know what’s next.  I am the type of person who likes to have a plan, so it I find it scary that I have nothing set for after college yet.  Not having my life planned out for once could be exciting though! I just need to keep an open mind and stay positive.  This can be especially difficult when I hear my classmates announcing their future plans and I am just reminded that I still have none.  I also need to remember that there are no “shoulds”.  “I should have it all figured out.”  “I should get a job right out of school and get my own apartment.”  These are things that we tell ourselves we are supposed to do, but in reality if things don’t fall into place exactly how they “should”, everything will still be okay. Eventually everything will work out and everything will fall into place, it may just not happen as quickly or in the order that you expect.  But sometimes the best things in life happen unexpectedly!

The Job Search

This is a topic that I am currently struggling with.  I had hoped that by the time I was about to graduate I would have a job set in stone; however, that is not the case.  I have applied to about 20 jobs as of right now and have only gotten called back from three of them.  At this point, I probably should have applied to about double that number, but I became discouraged.  Two of the callbacks I had interviews with over spring break; the other said they needed someone immediately.  I was offered one job, but I denied it, and was asked for a second interview by the other.  I know a beggar can’t be a chooser, but the job I turned down didn’t seem like a good fit for me.  I have come up with a list that I hope works for me, as well as others that are also in my situation.

1. Using advanced search options saves time. This will narrow down the millions of jobs that are available to maybe a hundred that you might actually be interested in, saving you a lot of unnecessary reading and time.
2. Only apply to jobs that you are actually interested in. There is no point in applying to jobs that you don’t actually plan on taking, it is a waste of your time.
3. Always be yourself. You want the job you accept to be a good fit for you and you will only find that job by being yourself.
4. Don’t stop applying for jobs. (A tip that I should have followed!)  Job listings change every day and you don’t want to possibly miss the one that could be perfect for you!
5. You should write a cover letter specific to each job application. The employer will notice the extra effort and allow you to cater to the job’s preferences that will ultimately appeal to the employer.
6. You should tailor your resume to the job- you don’t need to include all your experiences on your resume. A resume should not be multiple pages long.  Leave off the less important skills and just talk about at the interview.
7. Dress for the job you want. It is important to dress how you would dress if you were to get the job.
8. Share a relevant story during a job interview that depicts your experiences and skills. This is a perfect way to show the employer what you are actually like and demonstrate your great attributes by explaining how you have handled a situation.
9. Do not speak poorly of a previous employer. This only reflects poorly on you and makes future employers nervous that you will do the same to them eventually.
10. Networking is key. The people around you have more connections than you realize.  You never know who could help you get your next job.
11. Select your references carefully- they can make or break you. Chances are that the employer will reach out to them and the more they can say about you the better.

Parking Problems

We all know that parking on this campus is nearly impossible, especially when parking lots are suddenly replaced with fountains.  When I lived off campus my sophomore year, it was a struggle for me to get to class on time because I never took into account how long it would take to find a parking spot and then walk to class.  I learned pretty quickly the best tricks in order to avoid parking problems.

In general, you need to make sure that you have all the required campus parking permits and know the locations of all of the available parking lots.  There are many 30-minute, faculty, and reserved spots that have specialty rules that you need to be aware of.  Be sure to read the signs carefully before leaving your car parked in the space all day, or you may be ticketed.

If you live off campus like I did, the best advice I have is to leave your house early.  The earlier you get to campus, the more likely you are to get a spot.  Since all classes start at the same time on certain days, arriving to campus just 15 minutes earlier gives you a leg up because the rush of the masses to find a space before class hasn’t happened yet.

The best way to avoid the parking mayhem is to simply not drive at all.  Make use public transportation whenever possible.   Our campus makes this easy by providing us with a trolley system that makes stops all over campus every 20 minutes or so.  Personally, I didn’t like the trolley system because I didn’t like abiding by the times that it came to my stop.  One way that I got around driving however, was to carpool with my friends who lived near me and had class at the same time that I did.  We would alternate who drove every other day to make it fair.

It is also important to realize when the parking lots are most likely to be full, such as around lunch or dinner time or peak class times.  This is useful information for you to know so that you can plan to do your other non-class related activities during this time, such as going to the gym or visiting friends.  Most importantly, be patient.  Parking spots will open up eventually.  You may just have to drive around campus three or four times before finding one.

Making the Perfect Schedule

In honor of the younger kids making their schedules for next year this week, this post will cover tips on how to relax your nerves before decision time and how to get your perfect schedule.  This can be a very stressful process for many students.  I personally had never had scheduling troubles until just this past semester when I was making my final class schedule.  My advisor never cleared me to register, which caused me to not get the only class I needed to graduate with my minor.  After a week of talking to four different administrators, I finally had a schedule that worked. 

The first step of creating your perfect schedule is to know the exact time you register and all of your possible class options.  It is a good idea to look over the course catalog before making your final decisions, there may be classes that you don’t even know exist and that peak your interest.  This may also supply you with more class options than you need.  Prior to your register time, it is a good safety net to create a second schedule with classes that you wouldn’t mind taking in the event that all or some of the classes you desire are already taken by the time you register.  However, just because you write down multiple options, make sure you don’t register for all of them.  Over-scheduling your semester can cost you more in tuition and can add an unnecessary amount of work and pressure.  Also, be sure that when you actually register for classes that none of them overlap.

After creating a draft of your schedule(s), you should make an appointment to meet with your advisor.  They can make sure you are on the right track and approve that you are actually eligible for the classes you desire to take.  Your advisor can also give you the full list of required classes and tell you the guidelines of your major.  It is a good idea to get your required classes over with early.  The earlier the better! Then you are free to take more classes that interest you as you get closer to graduating.  With this being said, maintain a balance.  Take a mix of easy and hard classes.  Don’t just jump into hard classes as a freshman, you are still adjusting.  It is also a good idea to not schedule early-morning classes if you don’t function well in the early hours of the day.  You will go to more classes if you make a schedule that works well with your day to day schedule.

Up All Night

Welcome to college.  You now don’t have every class every day, and you have free reign of when you do your work, as long as you get it done before it is due!  All of this free time and freedom seems great at first, until you realize how poorly you have planned your time and now your assignment is due in less than 12 hours!  After procrastinating, it’s time to pull an all-nighter!

When you decide an all-nighter is absolutely necessary, it is best to have a plan and come prepared.  This includes knowing what you need to study and how you are going to do it, such as make notecards, rewrite your notes, or just read the book.  Before you even leave your house, make sure you have everything you will need for the night.  It is a good idea to bring your books for that class, notecards, pencils, laptop and charger, drinks, snacks, and any other studying items you deem important.  What you snack on throughout the night can either help or hurt you.  Be sure to choose your snacks wisely and keep yourself hydrated.  Don’t choose snack that are full of sugar.  Sugar causes a short burst of energy, but ultimately results in a decrease in your body’s blood sugar level making you feel even more lethargic than before.  This crash of energy is hard to overcome.  Foods high in protein are best to eat during all-nighters because they will give you the long lasting energy you need, with no post-consuming crash.

Choosing a good location is the one of the most important steps.  In order to stay up all night, pick a place that has good lighting to help keep you awake.  Our bodies take darkness as a sign that it is time for bed, so if you keep it bright then you have a better chance of tricking your body out of becoming too tired.  Also, pick a location where you will not need to move later in the night.  Some buildings have a closing time, where you will be interrupted and asked to leave.  This will completely throw off your mind set and make it hard to get back in the zone.

One part of an all-nighter that is often overlooked is to set an alarm prior to when you need to in your class.  Most people do not think this is necessary because they plan to stay up all night, but what happens when they accidentally fall asleep and miss the test or due date of the paper that they just spent all night working on?  Then all their hard work was for practically nothing.  So remember, before you start studying to set an alarm (or multiple) for the morning, just in case you do happen to fall asleep!

If you are lucky enough to finish your work earlier than you expected, then you can celebrate with a quick sleep before class.  As long as you have more than 30 minutes before you have to be in class… go to bed!  But make sure you have set multiple alarms; it will be harder than normal to force yourself to get out of bed.

Laundry Etiquette

After a week away from my house on campus, my housemates and I all returned with loads of laundry.  The problem?  Only one washer and dryer to share between seven girls.  However, I do prefer this set up over the large laundry rooms in the dorm-like housing options on campus, which I had to deal with for my first two years of college.  In the large, shared laundry rooms it is important do have good laundry etiquette.

The number one problem with sharing laundry units is that other people get impatient.  You should time your washes and promptly remove your clothes from the machines.  If your clothes are in the dryer and you know that you will not make it back on time, you can leave your laundry basket on top of the machine you are using so the next user can easily toss your clothes in it.  If you are really lucky, sometimes the next person will even fold your clothes for you!

If all of the machines are full when you get there, it is acceptable to move someone else’s clothes from the washer to a dryer.  Some people get very upset by this, but chances are they will never know it was you who did it anyways!  If later when you return to dry your clothes all of the dryers are full, you can again take out someone else’s clothes as long as their cycle is done and the clothes feel fully dry.  If you do choose to do this though, make sure you place them nicely where the owner will find them.   The golden rule in life even applies to laundry etiquette- treat other peoples’ clothes as you would like others to treat yours.  

Spring Break!

In honor of Spring Break being in just a few short days, I wanted to talk about some Spring Break safety tips.  I wish I could spend my last Spring Break on a sunny beach somewhere, but instead I will be spending my week in snowy New Hampshire doing job interviews.  However, if you are like most college students, you have been planning a trip with your closest friends to go away to someplace warm and tropical, maybe even out of the country!  I have come up with a few guidelines that may come in handy while you are out celebrating your short escape from school.

If you are driving to your destination, make sure you buckle up!  You never know when an accident might occur and wearing a seatbelt could save your life.  Just last year on my drive down to Florida for Spring Break, a group of my friends and I were in a tiny fender-bender.   Luckily no one was hurt and there was no damage to either of the cars, but we were all definitely in shock afterwards.  Also, be sure to alternate drivers.  If you are driving for more than five hours, it is a good idea to switch off.  This will allow for the new driver to be less tired and have a fresh view of the road.  Most importantly, do not drink and drive.  It will make the roads safer for you and those drivers around you.

Once you get to your location, find where you are staying and any necessities around you, such as the ATM or a 24 hour convenience store.  It is best to visit the ATM in a group, during daylight hours, and cover your hand as you punch in your pin numbers. 

It is also very important to stay hydrated.  Most people are not used to the warm weather and the constant sun, or even the massive amount of drinking that usually occurs.  Be sure to pace yourself while you drink and always keep an eye on your drink to make sure the strangers around you don’t add anything to your beverage.

For those out there who have fair skin like I do, remember that it is very important to wear sunscreen and reapply it throughout the day.  Be sure to pay extra special attention to your ears, nose, face and shoulders.  It may even be a good idea to avoid sun exposure during the hottest hours of the sun’s rays.  If you are out in the sun all day, it is extra beneficial (and stylish!) to wear sunglasses and a sun hat.  Remember: you can burn even when it is cloudy out!

My favorite Spring Break advice; however, is if you go out with your friends, make sure you go home with your friends.  This ensures that everyone you are with makes it home safely each night, which is a top priority.  I hope these tips help keep everyone safe, while still having an exciting Spring Break that is worth talking about for years to come!

Tips to Waking Up Early

This is a topic I have always struggled with.  I am such a night owl that getting up early is nearly impossible for me.  I have come up with some tips on those rare occasions when I need to wake up early that I have found helpful, and I hope they can help you too!

If you need to start waking up on a regular basis (like I will need to in a couple months when I graduate!), then you should try starting off gradually.  Last semester I didn’t take classes before 11:40am and it was the PERFECT schedule for me.  However, since I knew that in the near future I would need to get up much earlier than that, I decided it would be a good idea to take earlier classes.  I signed up for an 8am that I quickly dropped after the second week because it was too big of a time adjustment.  If you give yourself time to adjust little by little to waking up earlier, then your body will find it easier over time.  Now I am able to wake up at 9:30am without much of a struggle.

There are many activities that you can do in the evening that will help you to have a smoother morning.  The first thing you can do is to go to bed early enough so that you get a full eight hours of sleep.  This will allow you to wake up early still feeling refreshed.  Also, try to not eat a large meal right before bed.  Eating late at night may cause you to have trouble falling asleep.  The best activity you can do the night before is to prepare for the morning.  This could include laying out your outfit, packing your bag, preparing food, etc.  Prepare as much as you can the night before to allow for more free time in the morning in which you can sleep a little longer or even have some relaxing free time.

A good trick to getting yourself out of bed in the morning is to place your alarm clock away from your bed.  This will force you to actually get out of bed instead of hitting the snooze button and risking falling back asleep.  Once you are out of bed, you should turn on the lights and drink a cold glass of water to help wake your body up faster.   It is also beneficial to wake up a little bit earlier than you need to and go to the gym and shower.  Making time for the gym will wake you up and energize you for the day.  Even if you don’t have time to hit the gym, just showering can help jump start your day.  As a last ditch effort to gain some energy, coffee is a great alternative.  I love a cup of coffee on the days when I am extremely tired, but I find that by the evening I tend to crash.

Mornings can be difficult, but if you get your days started earlier, you can take advantage of the extra time you now have.  I have noticed how much more time I have to do my daily activities when I don’t waste half of the day sleeping!

Study Tips

In honor of having my first test of the semester this coming Monday, I want to write about some helpful study tips! Getting good grades is important to me, so I will start studying in the next couple of days.  You have heard all of the standard answers: don’t procrastinate, take breaks often, do practice problems, etc.  These are certainly helpful and you should do them, but there are others that are also important to follow.

The first tip to keeping your grades up is to actually attend class, and take notes while you are there.  Taking notes allows you to add extra information that the teacher says and write it in your own words.  It will also help you to recall the information later on when it comes time for the test.

My second tip is to know when you need help and to not be afraid to get the help you need.  Most teachers are willing to answer any question you have, especially if you attend their office hours.  I plan on going to my teacher’s study hours on Friday to go over a couple of the topics that I don’t fully understand.  I find this to be very helpful because the teachers know what you will need to identify for the upcoming exam and will most likely focus on the most important topics.  Often times they can also come up with practice questions that will allow you to work out the problems on your own and see where you are having a problem.  They also usually resemble the exam questions, which is an even bigger bonus! 

The third tip I have is to find a quiet location where you can focus.  I love to study in the comfort of my own room, but sometimes my roommates can be too loud for me to concentrate.  When that is the case I either go to a study room on campus, the library, or a friend’s house if we both need to study for the same test.  If there is too much noise in the background, it can make it difficult for the information to sink in and stick.

My fourth tip is to reach out to a peer tutor or create your own study group.  Last semester I had to take a history class that I had purposely put off until my last year in college (history is my least favorite subject by far).  I knew it would be a challenging course for me, so I sought help from a tutor just a couple weeks in to the semester.  He made this course a hundred times easier than it would have been without his help.  I had to go for an hour every week, which became very time consuming, but he made sure that I understood all of the information that I was taught in class that week.  If I hadn’t put this class off until the last minute, I probably would have had more friends struggling with me than I did.  If that was the case, I would have made a study group instead of reaching out to the tutor.  Study groups can help you review the information, while also seeing different views about the same information.  It is easier to remember topics when you talk about them out loud and have discussions about them.  Being able to teach the information to someone else is also a great way to get it to stick in your memory.

My final study tip is to take frequent breaks while studying for a big test, and be sure to get a full night sleep the night before.  For exams that cover multiple chapters, I try to take a break after every chapter.  This give the information you just reviewed time to sink in and make connections in your brain.  It also gives you time to relax so you don’t feel as stressed and overworked, which can make you not want to continue studying.  I also try to use my breaks as motivation to keep pushing through.  Most people don’t enjoy studying, but it must be done.  At the end of the night, even if you don’t feel fully prepared, it is better to get a good night sleep than to pull an all-nighter.  While you sleep your brain is still thinking about the information and creating connections that will make it easier to recall during the test.  Many times I have gone to bed worried that I would not be able to remember anything during the test, and when I woke up the morning of the exam I was pleasantly surprised that it stuck!

Money Struggles

One of the most important skills you can learn in college is how to manage your money.  It can be tricky trying to make it last.   Everything including food, textbooks, transportation, and fun will cost you money.  I have worked summers, as well as every other break, in order to have enough money throughout the year.  It was my decision to not have a job while at school, but it did create more restraints on my spending.  I know personally I don’t have much extra money to spend, so managing my account well was necessary.  If you are struggling with managing your money, here are a few tips:

1. Create a weekly budget for yourself. This requires figuring out how much money you have and how much you use.  Make sure you are realistic with these numbers.  Once you know how much money you are spending on unnecessary items, it will feel much harder to hand over the cash or card.  This will help you spend your money only on important items, but you have to make sure you actually stick to that budget!
2. Eat most of your meals on campus. You pay for a meal plan already anyways, you might as well use it!  Trust me, I know how tempting it can be when you see your friends and roommates come home with all sorts of different types of food that are not served on campus, but don’t stretch your budget if you don’t have the money for it.  My roommates this year especially love to eat off campus- it’s our senior year, who isn’t sick of campus food yet?  But I know I can’t afford to eat off campus more than twice a month, so many times I miss out.  It is hard to find the bright side at the time, but your bank account will be better off in the long run. 
3. If you have leftover money at the end of the week, put it away in an emergency fund for another week when you might need a little more money. Just because you have a weekly budget does not mean you need to spend it all each week.  For example, I have three formals a year for my sorority and about a month before each formal I make sure I have enough money on hand to buy a new dress.  However, if I have spent too much money recently I know that my budget won’t allow for it.  In that case I try to borrow a friend’s dress for the occasion.
4. Look for deals on books, food, entertainment, etc. Books are one of my biggest expenses, but I manage to lower the cost by renting them or buying them used.  Food is another large expense.  I have found it to be more affordable if you buy things in bulk, as long as they don’t expire quickly.  You should also look to see if stores around you offer a loyalty program.  Loyalty cards can surprisingly save you a good amount of money.   Whether they are student discounts or just in-store deals, they will save you money in the long run.
5. Find a way to minimize transportation costs. Instead of driving to class you should look into other options, such as public transportation.  If your school doesn’t supply it for free, chances are there is a discount for students.  You could also find a friend who has a similar class schedule to you and ask to carpool.  This would also be environmentally helpful!  If you are close enough, the best option would be to take a bike or to walk.  This will cost you no money and will be good daily exercise!
6. Get a part-time job on or off campus if your schedule allows for it. School is your first priority, so before even applying to jobs make sure you can handle the workload.  This will bring in some extra income giving you a little flexibility with your spending.  It would be a good idea to only permit yourself to spend 50% of each paycheck you receive, while saving the other 50% for an emergency or later down the road in your life.  Looking back, I wish I had done this so I could have put the 50% I saved each paycheck towards an apartment after graduation.

Once you learn how to manage the minimal amount of money you have while in school, then you will have a much easier time budgeting once you have an actual salary.  Managing your money is life long task and the earlier you learn, the easier it will be.