Not everyone is interested to stay and play in the limelight. Others (read: me) love to hide in the shadows, sulk and not engage in any undertaking. Unfortunately, several activities require our presence – assemblies, club meetings, seminars, and so on.
For such scenarios, I have with me my trusty list of Ignore-me tactics. Use them well and you’re guaranteed to keep anyone at bay.
1. Stay absorbed with your playlist. Picture yourself sitting comfortably in the side, ears trapped with earphones or enormous headphones. You can either listen to real music, or pretend taking pleasure in your jam.
This works best with resistant eye-contact (means you avoid eye-contact at all cost as this attracts conversation).
2. Bring with you a book. Of course, if you’re no bookie, magazines or other reading materials will do. You see, when you’re occupied in your reading, other people tend to be reluctant in disturbing you.
Your college years are the time to absorb fresh ideas and experiences, while making new friends and figuring out life as you manage all of this independently, possibly for the first time. Being away from the comforts of your home and staying in a dorm room can be a challenge if you’re unprepared.
To make the transition from home and school life to dorm and college life easier, here are the 10 essentials every guy will need to take along:
1. Bed Linen
Clean sheets are essential to keep your dorm room looking neat and tidy, so take two or three bed-linen sets, which include pillow cases too. If you don’t change your sheets once every week, you’ll expose yourself to bacteria, dead skin, fungus and possibly even E-coli.
We shed millions of skin cells every day and our skin is a carrier for anything we may come in contact with throughout the day. Dead skin cells on your bedsheet combine with sweat, ultimately attracting dust mites. Having these mites in your bed can increase in the risk of allergies such as asthma. Take adequate bed linen and change your sheets once a week, regardless of how hectic college gets.
One of the most exciting things about college is finding that first apartment. The parents are gone and what better way to celebrate your independence than living with your closest friends? It becomes your home away from home, sanctuary, and your space to relax when college gets too crazy. However, it can easily become your hell if not careful. One bad apartment experience can end up affecting your academics, personal health, and relationships. Before you sign that lease, take a look at this list of things to consider that will help prevent potential problems from arising.
1. Friends don’t always make the best roommates
Everyone has heard those awful roommate stories – slobs, brings random people home, etc. Eliminate the risk of becoming part of the bad roommates club by choosing a roommate based on common values. A few topics you should discuss include apartment cleanliness, alcohol consumption, and their social life (will there be people over every night). You should also consider talking to their current roommate. Being friends is different from living with someone, so it will give you a different perspective. Then, prepare a list of pros/cons or at least a mental list that make you aware of potential issues that could happen when you live with this person.
2. Location
I made the mistake of living farther from campus, and it sucked. I had to rely on the bus to get to class, and I felt very disconnected from the rest of my friends. So, when apartment hunting keep in mind the distance from town and college life.
3. Have you met my neighbor?
Although it is difficult to figure out until you move-in, take preliminary measures to ensure your apartment is in a safe area. Read reviews from websites such as apartmentratings.com to figure out if the area has a high level of crime, sexual predators, and if the complex is geared towards college students. I find that apartment complexes filled with students help with the transition as well as eases the parents mind. Parents are much more accepting to cosign for an apartment where you will be living with fellow peers than with 50 year olds.
4. Take Precaution of Building Construction Issues
Although I researched apartment complexes near campus and read reviews, I didn’t take into consideration the construction of the building itself. When I read reviews of pest infestations or thin walls, I thought that won’t happen to me. As you can probably guess, it did. Within a week of move-in, we had cockroaches popping up and I could hear everything my neighbors were saying. The sad part was that they weren’t even yelling. So, when going through the process, take everything into consideration – the good and the bad.
Overall, try not to get overwhelmed and write pros/cons for every apartment you see. Keep yourself organized to avoid these common mistakes, and take your time with the process. This could be the apartment for the rest of your college years, so what’s the hurry?
About the Author: Allie Castillo is a recent college grad and currently works as a Marketing Associate for Gainesville Apartments. In her free time, she enjoys to play with her dog, travel, and bake.
Do you wake up every morning and get ready for work wondering how you got here? You want to be doing something else, something you’ve always dreamed about. There’s a feeling that something doesn’t fit right – the ‘stuck in a rut’ feeling.
If you have a job that means you spend at least 70% of your conscious waking hours doing it, thinking about it or preparing for it. That’s a lot of time! And if it’s not giving you any satisfaction at all then it’s time for a self-analysis. Some lucky few breeze through life knowing they’re in the right place. The rest of us lesser mortals have to search – find out where we fit.
Ghost of Career Present
The trick is in trying to figure out exactly what doesn’t fit. You don’t change a whole outfit just because the socks have thick inseams. Find out what part of your present situation is unsatisfactory.
Are you happy with your financial situation? This does not just mean how much you’re getting paid but also your future security. There’s always a small part of you wondering how you’ll survive in your old age!
Are you unhappy because you have been stuck with the same job in the same company for a long time?
Are your educational qualifications (or lack of) a hindrance in moving ahead?
Is it you or is it the people around you? More specifically, are you down because of lack of support?
What is your skill set? Is there something you can add to make things better in your current job?
What is the most vital part of the process of applying for college? Some applicants would say it is passing all exams or making sure that your high-school transcript looks good. Others may state that the most important part is preparing all the needed documents and selecting the institution.
Each of these answers is true. However, there is one more thing that you might be missing out. Let’s discuss scholarships.
With tuition costs going up by leaps and bounds, an awarded scholarship can become a lucky ticket for many high-school graduates. College scholarships and grants can give you a good kick-start into adult life and help cope with a variety of financial issues.
Unfortunately, many young people are ignoring this opportunity, thinking that obtaining a scholarship is extremely hard or even impossible for them.
This judgment is not always true. Of course, it may be hard to find the right opportunity and prepare all the documents. Presenting a top-notch essay isn’t easy as well unless you turn to a professional write my essay online service. However, all it takes is a bit of dedication and work.
Besides, if you know exactly where to search for such opportunities, it is already halfway to success! In this article, we have prepared a list of top five scholarship websites that will help you get the financial help you need. Let’s dive in!
College Applicant’s Toolkit: Best Scholarship Sites to Keep at Hand
Despite a common belief, finding scholarships can be easy as A, B, C! Just a few decades ago, this process used to be much more complicated and time-consuming. Times have changed, and now, students can do the same quickly and easily.
The easiest way to discover available opportunities is to use specialized websites that have a database of various grants and scholarships. As a rule, applicants can search through a base with the help of multiple filters such as gender, country of origin, academic level, special interests, etc.
How to pick the right website? It could be hard if you’d have to do it on your own, but we’ve got you covered! Below, we have collected some of the best sites to help you fund your education.
1. Fastweb
Even if you haven’t heard of it yet, trust us, Fastweb is one of those must-have tools for all college applicants! This resource features a convenient tool for finding funding.
Also, here, you can discover tons of internships and jobs. Finally, at Fastweb, students can research different colleges and find up to date information about each institution with ease. Therefore, if you still haven’t used this platform, be sure to give it a try!
2. FinAid
Our next top pick is a widely known online resource for university applicants. Here you can find comprehensive information about different types of funding, including grants, financial aid, scholarships, and more.
One of the most significant benefits of FinAid is that it makes finding opportunities simple and helps you determine which ones are the right options!
3. CollegeBoard
For those of you who have never heard of it before, the College Board is one of the oldest educational organizations in the world. Thus, it is fair to say that the resources offered by this community are reliable and helpful.
The same applies to their extensive database of funding opportunities called CollegeBoard, where students from all across the globe can discover a variety of options.
4. Chegg Scholarships
This platform’s database contains over 25,000 options, so the chances that everyone will find something suitable are pretty high! The reason why we like this platform a lot is that Chegg Scholarships features an extremely intuitive and convenient searching tool. At the same time, it provides quite accurate matches based on the details you type in.
5. Peterson’s
The last but not least handy option on this list is Peterson’s. It is a smart online platform created to help young people find funding for their education quickly and easily.
The searching tool used at this service has pretty high filtering capabilities, allowing you to find a perfect match based on your needs!
Final Words
If you are starting off to university, be prepared to face a handful of various challenges daily. In most cases, life in a campus becomes a transition point from a teenager into an adult.
Clearly, this transition can’t pass unnoticed. You can’t avoid some hardships in the studying process. However, one thing you can do right now is to make sure that financial issues won’t be among those issues you may face!
Although obtaining high-quality education is much more available today, it is still expensive. And the cost keeps growing with each year. Applying for grants and scholarships, you can ease the financial burden and get more of your campus years.
Hopefully, this article will help future students find just the right opportunities for them. Using any of the websites mentioned above, you can save plenty of time and discover the most exciting scholarships available out there.
Now, all that’s left to do is to believe in yourself and do your best to get the funding you need!
