Literature

I wanted to recommend a couple books that you can read in preparation for college life. Some books can be used as reference as well. Reading books with tips and tricks on surviving college is a great way to prepare yourself in the months before you leave. Below are links to the amazon.com listings for some of the books I have came across over the years:

source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/assets.svpply.com/large/604448.jpg?1334512746

The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: College is a great tool to use in your preparations. It was written my a team of authors who have experienced college and therefore know how to handle the types of situations that arise while attending. The book is only 176 pages so it is a quick and easy read for anyone interested.

source: http://ebooks-imgs.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/164/369/400000000000000164369_s4.jpg

The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College is a larger book that is a great reference material. It is good to have on-hand when you run into a situation you aren't sure how to handle. The pages are organized to include tips, stories, quotes, interesting statistics, etc. The book is 544 pages and is loaded with useful information. This is the one I would recommend if you can only pick up one college preparation book before you leave.

Amazon has many different guides aimed to help you survive college life. It will be a different lifestyle than you are used to. Using one of these books to read up and prepare before you arrive can be extremely advantageous.

Roommates

Your first year in the dorms will most likely be spent with a roommate. It is a unique experience living on your own with someone else your age for the first time. It can be troublesome sometimes, however. When people live together they often end up driving each other mad. This is why it's important to take your roommate agreement seriously when you write it. You need to abide by it and remember that it is there. If not, your relationship with your roommate could get shaky. I knew a couple of girls who had been the best of friends before they lived together. Once they were roommates, however, they began to argue and fight and eventually one of them had to move out and find somewhere else to live. I think this is avoidable if you and your roommate understand and respect each other.

Below are a couple websites with specific tips on surviving living with a roommate:

Living with a Roommate
College Roommate Survival Guide

New Template

Well, I couldn't figure out how to fix my time stamp problems. I assumed it had something to do with my layout template but I couldn't figure out what it was in the html code that was creating the problem. I finally gave up and created a new template. I think this one looks a lot better while still keeping the same idea as my last template. It looks great in Firefox but Chrome seems to add a big blue bar to the bottom of the page. It's annoying but I can deal with it.

Finances

source: http://dev.collegehaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/college-savings.jpg

College is expensive. It is just as important to budget your money while in college as it is to budget your time. Whether you're living off of an allowance provided by your parents or working for a weekly paycheck, money can be tight. Learning how to manage and save your money for what is important is crucial to all college students. There are many resources online offering tips and tricks to get you started with managing your money. Money management is a useful skill you will use for the rest of your life so it is good to learn early. Some major tips are summarized below:

-Create a money plan. Chances are you'll be using Microsoft Excel at some point in school so you might as well get some experience with it while creating your budget. Create cells dividing up your expenses. Common expense categories are bills (power, water, cell phone, car insurance, etc.), food expenses, gasoline, and personal use (social activities, other purchases). You should be able to estimate your expenses from recurring bills. Set a limit on your gasoline and food expenses each month. The remaining money in your budget can go towards personal use or can be put into savings. Having a financial plan is a smart way of saving money and getting the most out of what you have.

-You may be considering signing up for a credit card. Do some research and learn how to use them carefully. You don't want to get in trouble. I used mine for emergency purposes only. It might be a good idea to have your account linked to your parents so that you have options for help if you are in an emergency situation. Your car may break down during your travels and you may need to use your credit card.

-If you end up in financial trouble, ask for help. The longer you wait to ask for help, the worse your situation will become. Your parents or a counselor can help find you the best options to solve the problems.


Additional links:

http://collegelife.about.com/od/moneyfinances/a/ManagingMoney.htm
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2006/08/30/27-money-tips-for-college-students/
http://www.accountingweb.com/topic/education-careers/freshman-finance-101-money-management-skills-college-students

Timestamp Problems

I just realized that all of my posts are appearing as published February 23, 2009. I'm not sure why this is. I messed with blogger's time settings a bit but the time stamps didn't change. I'm going to ask for some advice tomorrow in class and hopefully get this fixed.

On Returning Home

Today I came across an interesting article on the New York Times' website which discusses students who return home frequently. There are some very interesting points made in the article. According to the article many students are happy to return home and maintain contact with their parents. I agree with this. I always enjoy returning home. It can be very difficult sometimes, however. The article states that many return home to study in the comfort of their home. I don't think that the author should assume that all students study better at home. In my experience, my parents' house was a very difficult place to study. When I return home, I'm not interested in studying. I study best in the library. In my opinion school is where one should study and home is where one should relax. Because I didn't study well at home, I would tend to take 2-3 days off from it every weekend I went home. This would make Sundays on campus difficult and stressful.

I also agree with the article in that it discusses that constant communication with parents and constant trips home can have a "regressive effect." I think this quote from the article made by Mimi Levine is spot-on:

“I hadn’t yet developed a close circle of friends because I went home so much,” she said. “It wasn’t quite every weekend. But weekends in a college setting are crucial moments.”

Weekends can be very important times in college. They can be used to study and catch up on work, as rest periods, or as a time to be social. Many students devote most of their time during the week to their studies leaving only the weekend for fun and social experiences. Students who return home often miss out on these unique experiences and important networking opportunities. My girlfriend often teased that I was still in high school because I constantly returned home to spend time with my family and friends from high school instead of taking advantage of the college lifestyle and networking with new people.

I think that in my situation, my parents' excitement and desire to have me come home often can be related, in part to their lack of technological literacy and access. My parents aren't the most tech savvy people. We have had a home computer with broadband internet access for many years and they have learned a lot but I still consider their literacy/fluency level to be below average. I think that if they had known more about some of the digital communication technologies available today, we could've communicated easier and more often. I believe this would soften the blow of disappointment when I wouldn't return home often enough. Within the last 6 months my mom has began texting and our communication frequency has skyrocketed. I think that tools such as video chat or social media could also be of great use when communicating with family back home if parents are willing and able to learn how to use the technology.

If I could do it all again, I don't think I would return home as much during my freshman and sophomore years. In college there are so many other opportunities to return home that I feel that frequent weekend trips home are unnecessary. Christmas break is about a month long. There is spring break, Thanksgiving break, and many other small breaks in between. It is a good idea to manage your time so that you can try to get the most out of your college experience.

Quick Tips

source: http://career.washcoll.edu/images/opportunity_boulevard.jpeg

If I could go back to my freshman year of college I would do many things differently. I think that I would've been more successful if I had more guidance through college from someone who had been there before. I have a brother who is graduating high school and will soon be attending college. I plan to give him a list of tips for college before he leaves. This way he won't make some of the mistakes I've made and has some guidance on his journey.

Some of these tips include:

-Don't slack off during your first two semesters. You'll be living on your own and it will be an exciting time for you. Living in the dorms it will be easy to become distracted from your studies. Senior year of high school is over. It's time to get serious and focus on your life ahead of you. I didn't work as hard as I could have my freshman year and my GPA will forever be affected by it. I had to work extremely hard my 2nd year to get back to where I wanted to be.

source: http://www.conciselearning.com/images/grades.png

-Along with my first point: Don't sign up for a large credit load your first two semesters. No one says you have to graduate in 4 years. It's perfectly fine to take your time. I took 18.5 credits my first semesters and I really regret it. Taking that many credits doesn't give you time to explore other aspects of college life while keeping your grades up.

-Join something. Look into some of the many campus organizations right away. Join something you're interested in. Stay with it for a while. If you enjoy it, become more involved in the organization. Run for a leadership position. Not only is it fun but experience in an organization is extremely valuable and can help while interviewing for a job.

-Go to the career fair. Look for an internship or co-op position as soon as possible. It's never too early to start looking. Many companies are searching for freshman students to fill positions. Experience here is again very valuable to  your future. Explore your options in the campus career center. Ask for help creating a resume and practice some of your skills in a mock interview or two. I didn't attend the career fair until my 2nd year because I was intimidated and didn't know much about it. If I could go back I'd create a resume and start looking for a job as soon as I arrived.