The holidays though were a completely different story. Most of my friends returned home to spend the holidays with their families. But because I was so far away from home I couldn’t go back for a few weeks at a time. It was just far too expensive. This meant that I was stuck in a foreign country, not knowing exactly what to do.

Asking your College or University

It’s actually worth asking your college or university whether or not they have anything planned for foreign students during the holidays. Quite often they will run day trips or holidays for students to various places. These are a great way to see more of the country and gain some new experiences. It should also be possible to meet some new friends and have a great time.

Meeting Locals

Another option is to meet local people. There will probably be some students in your university or college who do not board but instead travel from home every day. These students will stay in the area during the holidays and could be a real life line. It may even be possible to spend some of the holidays with them so that you can experience the customs and traditions first hand.

Taking Control

Although it may seem like you are alone and isolated you aren’t. Actually there will still be many other foreign students who are still at the university or college. These people will normally be just as bored as you and also looking for something to do. You could take control and actually start organizing activities for you all to do.

Even if your college doesn’t plan anything, there’s nothing stopping you arranging things yourself. This is actually something really beneficial and it can even be put on your CV to help you get a job when you graduate.

Getting a Job

Of course if you don’t mind missing out on the holidays and feel like working then you could even get a job. You will be allowed to work a limited number of hours on a student visa, so it’s worth checking exactly how long you are entitled to work. A job will keep you occupied until school starts again. It will also give you some extra money which can be used to pay for your living expenses or just to have some fun.

Just because you are a long way from home, you shouldn’t feel upset that you are by yourself for the holidays. You need to do something about it rather than sitting in your room by yourself. And anyway, you will always be able to call your parents up on the phone to have a chat if you miss them too much.

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If this is your first time away from home, then it’s probably the first time that you have ever had to take care of yourself. This means much more than just cooking though. It’s also essential that you budget and ensure you don’t run out of money.

Working out your Expenses

The first thing you should do is sit down by yourself and come up with a plan. You should know how much money you have each month to spend. Hopefully your parents or another family member will send you money to start off with.

Later on in your course you may get a job which will give you a certain amount of regular income.

Then you can work out how much money you need to spend each month. There are websites which will show you how much food costs, and you should already know your monthly rent. You will also need to allow some money for textbooks, stationary and other equipment you need for your course.

Spending Carefully

When you go shopping you will probably see several things that you would like to buy. However, you should only buy what you actually need where possible. Of course, there will be times where you want to treat yourself and this is fine. However, make sure that your budget can allow you to spend the extra money.

A good way to ensure that you don’t spend more than you have is to take cash with you. If you take a debit card then it’s very easy to spend more than you intended. However, if you only have a certain amount of cash then you are physically restricted to the amount of money that you can actually spend.

Revising your Budget

Your budget isn’t set in stone. There will always be some unexpected expenses that cause you to go over your budget in some months. This is why you should continually revise your budget when you are surer about your monthly outgoings. You will probably find that at the start of your course you will need to spend more to buy textbooks and various other supplies.

Once you have settled into college life though, you should find it much easier to budget what you need to spend. If you don’t spend your entire budget then you can save the extra until you have some unexpected expenses which need your attention.

Being a student in America should be a great experience and one that can change your life for the better. It will also give you the understanding of how to budget your money correctly which is a very important and useful life skill.

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The most important thing to remember in interacting with your roommate is communication.  It is inevitable that you and your roommate will clash.  He/she may get up earlier than you, he/she may enjoy blasting loud music while you are trying to study, or he/she may make your room a mess.  You could be doing things to annoy him/her at the same time.  No interaction between two people is a one-way street, so if you two start to argue, you probably both did something that upset the other.  But such conflicts can be avoided if you are just honest with your roommate about your grievances.  If your roommate does something that bothers you, do not feel embarrassed to tell him/her.  If he/she is a reasonable person, and you explain your position without sounding accusatory, he/she will understand and do his/her best to adjust her behavior to accommodate.

At the same time, you have to be willing to accommodate your roommate’s needs.  Do not expect your roommate to completely change his/her sleep schedule just for you and that you will not have to do anything in return.  For the sake of positive interaction, you should think about your personal habits and consider how many of them are necessary and how many of them are not.  Only you can decide what is necessary, but if you say that all of your habits are equally crucial, you are not being honest.  You need to prioritize your habits so that you are capable of making an adjustment for your roommate.  You should think about this before you actually get to college and talk with your roommate near the beginning of the year so you can try to iron out any differences in schedules and habits before a conflict occurs.  That will not prevent you from ever having a disagreement, but if you are both calm, considerate, and honest about your needs, you will be able to deal with any new problems if/when they arise.

One of the biggest issues with a room is cleaning.  Depending on the type of room you have or how inherently messy you are, you and your roommate may not have to do anything.  But if cleaning needs to get done, divvy up the responsibilities.  One of you can vacuum, and the other can dust.  If that is not possible, you can clean one time, and he/she can clean up the next time.  This also applies to the bathroom.  You may be sharing a bathroom with many other people, but you should clean up your own messes for your roommate and hallmates’ consideration.  If the bathroom just gets so dirty that you need to have a heavy-duty cleaning session, again, just divide up the responsibilities.

Every so often, you might get unlucky and get a truly unreasonable roommate.  Such a person will be totally inconsiderate about your needs, and no matter what you do, you cannot see eye to eye.  Such things can either be because of your roommate’s personal problems or because of completely conflicting personalities.  In such circumstances, you should talk with your residential advisor for help.  He/she will try to give you advice on what to do and will mediate if you cannot handle things on your own.  If you are still at an impasse, you can always talk with your resident advisor about getting a new roommate.  If you are that frustrated, chances are that your roommate is too and will be happy to move.  Yes, you will have to figure out who gets to stay in your room and who has to leave.  Still, it will still be a better situation than staying and continuing to argue.  This is, as they say, the exception that proves the rule, so you should be able to handle most situations by being reasonable and sincere.  But do not feel uncomfortable to ask for help if compromise is just impossible.

Photo credit: Tulane University PR: CC

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Sure, you will meet new people both in your classes and in your dorm.  A dorm can be a particularly good place to make friends, though just how much this is true varies wildly depending on the way the dorm is set up and which people happen to be in your hall.  If you are lucky, you could end up living right near a bunch of really cool people.  But the best way to make new friends is to join some kind of club or organization on campus in which you are interested.  If you like to sing, join the college choir or glee club.  If you like sports, join intramural teams.  If you like popular culture, join the college anime or video game clubs.  Depending on the size of your college, there can be a wide variety of clubs and organizations for you to join.  The larger the college, the more people should be in each of these clubs as well.  That is not to say that if you go to a small college, you will have greater difficulty finding friends in clubs.  You may just have a bit less variety.

By joining a club or organization, you will be able to participate in group activities with people that you know share at least some of your interests.  And you are far more likely to make friends with people who enjoy doing the same things you do than with people with whom you have nothing in common.  Even at small schools there will be such a variety of clubs and groups to join that you should be able to find at least one that you want to join.  Once you join, you may feel nervous because you are just a freshman, and the leaders are big, scary upper-classmen who are probably way cooler than you.  Well, put those fears aside.  They were freshmen once too, and age does not equal coolness.  Besides, if they are actually good club leaders, they will be happy to become friends with new blood that likes the same things they do.

Once you join the club, be sure to actually join in the activities.  Just because you are a member does not mean that everyone will suddenly like you.  You have to show some investment in the club and actually show up so that people can get to know you.  That does not mean you have to go to every meeting and every event.  Everyone has their own lives, even the club leaders, so it is to be expected that work or what have you will get in the way sometimes.  But you will only get as much out of these groups as you put into them.  The more time you spend and the more energy you put forth, the more you will get in return.

Some people get so excited about clubs that they end up joining a ton of clubs and find out quickly that they have way too much to do.  While it is good if you want to become really active, do not so overschedule yourself that you have no time to sleep or relax.  Everything in moderation.  For major organizations like a sports team or a music group, you should probably just stick to one, unless there are two that are closely related and coordinate schedules.  Clubwise, you can join multiple clubs, but you should stick to the ones about which you are really passionate.  Then you can give more to the clubs and get more out of them.  Also, every so often, you may run into a bad club run by lazy people.  So at the very least, it cannot hurt to join a couple of clubs at the beginning of the year, then trim down which ones you actually attend based on their quality.

Photo Credit: Ed Yourdon (CC Flickr)

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Since advisors are an available resource, please take advantage of them.  Your advisor can be a sounding board for any major academic decision you make, from choosing your major to going abroad for a semester.  They can help you keep track of which requirements you have yet to complete, a particularly difficult task especially if you are trying to double major or do a minor.  As someone from your discipline, advisors can also keep track of your progress and advise you to take certain classes to learn important skills and/or methodology.  They can tell you about research opportunities in your field and help you with applications to graduate school and for scholarships and fellowships.  They can even provide advice on your career plans, particularly if you plan to go into academics.

Because of the wide variety of benefits that come from having an advisor, it is important that you cultivate a good relationship with your own advisor.  You should take at least one class with him/her so that he/she has some grasp of your current academic level, particularly in your chosen field.  You should not hesitate to meet with or contact your advisor if you have a question.  You do not necessarily need to flatter your advisor or anything like that.  But it is best that you not anger your advisor by acting blatantly disrespectful or by showing no interest in your academics or his/her advice.  He/she is there to help you, not to bother you.

Unfortunately, not all advisors are equal.  Just as some academics are far better researchers than they are teachers, and vice versa, some advisors simply do not know how to advise very well.  They may try to push you along a certain path without any regard for your personal interests or predilections.  They may completely fail to inform you of any research or scholarship opportunities or even to keep track of your academic progress.  Or they could just have bizarre personality quirks that make interacting with them extremely uncomfortable.  In such circumstances, what can you do?

Well, so long as your advisor is not the only expert at your college in your field (which is particularly unlikely if you are at a university), then you can always switch advisors.  Sure, you may have some uncomfortable interactions with your original advisor when you have to tell him/her that you want to switch.  All you can do is bear it and try not to make him/her mad.  Try to downplay any conflict and make it sound as though it is not the professor’s fault.  Chances are that you will not have to interact with that professor much more afterward, but it is still best not to burn your bridges.  If you are going into academia, that professor will be your senior, and you do not want your senior angry with you.

Another thing you can do is to take the initiative with your advisor and ask a lot of questions.  Some advisors may just be too busy to think about helping you as much as you like without prodding.  If you constantly ask your advisor about research and scholarship opportunities, your academic progress, graduate school, and requirements and whatnot, they will have to answer you.  You will get a lot more from your advisor if you play an active part in your relationship, even if your advisor is good, so it can only help even more so if your advisor does not seem to be attentive enough.  If your advisor still does not answer your questions often or to your taste, then please switch.  Do not put yourself through unnecessary stress by dealing with a bad advisor for four straight years.  Just remember that you have to do some of the work yourself.  Your advisor is there to assist you, not to hold your hand.  Yes, some advisors do that, but better to be diligent than to be disappointed by a busy, inattentive advisor.

Photo credit: Nazareth College

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Tips on eating healthy and staying active

Going away to college can be a fun and exciting time. For most, it is the first time that you are truly on your own and able to control your own life. No more mom and dad to tell you what to do. It’s all up to you and the choices you make.

Unfortunately, when many people go to college, they begin to make very poor health and eating choices and up pops the “Freshman 15,” those naughty little 15 pounds that seem to pack onto the bellies and thighs of some unfortunate college freshman all over the country. Not everyone gains the Freshman 15, in fact many people actually lose weight during their first year of college, but keeping those pounds at bay requires some good decision making when it comes to eating and exercise.

Keep the tips below in mind as you live the fabulous college life so you won’t become victim to this looming enemy:

• Stay active- When in high school, most students had gym or other another athletic class at least once (sometimes up to twice) a week and many students were also active in sport activities. Unless you have been recruited to be a star athlete for your college’s sports team, you’re in need of a replacement.  Find the opportunity to be active on a regular basis through walking, running, biking, etc.  Whether it’s a jog around campus, a walk to the student center vs getting a ride or biking downtown and back, the extra physical activity will do you good.




• Join the gym- Most colleges and universities have an athletic center on campus and membership is free or very cheap. Join the gym and take advantage. Most university athletic centers have a pool, tennis courts, weights, exercise equipment, basketball courts, you name it and most offer a myriad of classes to fit any need. But don’t just join the gym… GO. Get a workout buddy and make it a habit to work out regularly each week.
• Manage your portions- Most colleges have cafeteria eating and that means all you can eat all the time. This smorgasbord can be very tempting and it can be hard not to indulge in all your favorites when they are regularly available and in abundance. Don’t go crazy with portions, don’t keep piling food on the plate. Keep your portions reasonable, especially for high caloric and fatty foods.
• Don’t forget your veggies (and fruits)- Mom is not going to be there to remind you to eat fresh fruits and vegetables, but you still need them to stay healthy. Incorporate a salad a day into your meals and make sure you have one vegetable with your dinner each night. Try to incorporate fresh fruit as well and grab an apple, orange, or banana on your way out and keep as a late night snack.
• Keeps unhealthy snacks at bay- There will be plenty of cake, cookies, chips, french fries, ice cream and more readily available. While you may want to dive in head first and on occasion make a meal of just fries, don’t. Do treat yourself, but not all the time. Keep a treat a treat and limit your daily consumption of these items. Giving yourself a limit (like one cookie a day) may help.
• Don’t forget water- Drinking water is important in maintaining overall health. Eight glasses a day should be your goal. Drinking water helps your metabolism operate at its ideal level and that gives your body a fighting chance of burning off some of those snacks.

Going away to college will result in growth in maturity, knowledge and potential… it shouldn’t be a growth in pants size too!

Photo credit: by klynslis

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The result of this food freedom is what is rather infamously known as the Freshman Fifteen.  Because there is no one watching how much food they eat, whether it be cafeteria food, restaurant food, or even just junk food, freshmen have a very strong tendency to gain weight.  Fifteen does sound good for the sake of alliteration, but the weight increase can be that large or even more.  Alternatively, you might even lose weight.  Still, the Freshman Fifteen is common enough that someone saw fit to give it a name.  Another important factor in the increase that is linked to being a freshman is the increased stress of being away from home.  While everyone does not necessarily miss home as much or even at all, there is a greater amount of stress at being completely away from everything you know and understand.  And an extremely common way to cope with this stress is to eat more.

This weight increase is perfectly common, so there is no reason you should feel uncomfortable or alone.  Just because your friends might stay skinny does not mean that other people are not going through the same thing.  Still, how do you deal with the problem of preventing yourself from gaining that weight?  How do you keep yourself away from the temptation of really good and/or really unhealthy, fattening foods?  First of all, most schools offer meal plans of varying sizes.  By purchasing a smaller meal plan, you can restrict yourself from going and buying that extra dessert with every meal, which would eventually add up.

Additionally, you should try to avail yourself of your school’s resident exercise facilities to work off some of the extra calories.  Despite what everyone may say, if you eat a ton, exercising a ton in turn will not burn all those calories.  It will help, and it will keep you in better shape, but it will not do all the work.  The only way to truly prevent yourself from gaining weight is to not eat more than your body naturally burns a day.  Any extra calories you eat more than your body needs is stored as fat.  If you eat less than what your body burns, then you lose weight.  Diet fads may tell you otherwise, but the only way to really lose weight is to take in fewer calories than your body burns.

Ultimately, it is all about mental discipline.  You may want to sample all of the delectable (or not) dishes your college cafeteria offers, and you may want to treat yourself (often), but you do not need to.  There are far healthier ways to deal with stress than to gorge yourself.  You simply need to estimate how much food is appropriate for yourself a day and make sure that you do not eat any more than that.  You do not have to obsessively count calories so long as you are reasonable about how much you eat.  Chances are that if you feel like your clothes seem to have become too small, then you probably should start eating less.  Of course, if you are perfectly fine with gaining weight, then by all means, eat away.  But if you are worried about losing that perfect figure, just think if you really need to buy extra food just to spend all your meal plan money or if it would not just be better to have a smaller meal plan next time.

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Tips on how to prepare for your first college roommate

Most college freshman end up living with a roommate their first year of college.  Some people may luck up and room with a high school friend who happens to be attending the same college, but most students will be placed with a complete stranger. Life with a roommate can be great or horrible and the relationship can have a huge impact on your freshman year experience.  But you don’t have to enter the situation blindly. There are few steps you can take over the summer to make sure that you and your roommate get off to the best possible start.

Reach out: Your university will inform you who your roommate is over the summer. Once you get this information reach out to him/her. Place a call, shoot an email, friend them on Facebook. Introduce yourself and let your roommate know a little about you. Keep the first communication brief, but let them know that you are interested in connecting with them over the summer prior to arriving on campus. Most people will welcome this communication.

Determine compatibility: Your university may have paired you with your roommate based on a determined compatibility, but it’s probably still a good idea for you test the waters yourself. Once you open the lines of communication, take the opportunity to get to know them and allow them to get to know you. Try to discuss subjects like musical taste, personal style, work habits, cleanliness, etc. so you can determine areas of joint interest and areas of potential problems. If you find a potential problem area, don’t panic. Unless the situation is particularly grievous, give the situation a chance first. You never how the situation may work out in the end.

Coordinate the décor: Unless both you and your roommate want a hodge podge room, it’s probably a good idea to discuss décor. You both will have your own personal style, but you will both be much happier if you can coordinate the look of your shared space. See if you can find agreement on a look/feel first. If you find your styles are too different and you can’t find a happen medium, don’t give up. See if you can at least settle on a coordinating color scheme. Remember to be flexible and open-minded and hopefully your new roommate will too.

Coordinate purchasing: There are some items that you will not need two of, especially considering the size of most dorm rooms. With these items, you and your roommate can work together to split the purchasing.  Items like extra furniture, rugs, and window treatments fall into this category. Some students may also choose to split purchasing on larger items like a TV or mini fridge, and if you decide to do this proceed carefully. Many people get possessive with these types of items and it may cause future conflict. If these types of items are shared, make sure to develop ground rules on use to prevent issues.

If you follow these steps, you’ve provided yourself and your roommate a good start for your living situation. You’ve already started to work together and know a little about each other. If, however, troubles arise, try to address them quickly. Work to always keep an open line of communication and if you are having trouble communicating, reach out for help from the university. In particularly bad cases, you will be reassigned and given a new roommate.

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The Pros and Cons of College Living Options

If you’re a freshman, on-campus living is probably your only option. Sophomore year on, however, the world is your oyster and you’ve got a choice between living on or off campus. There are pros and cons of each living situation and you have to determine the best option to match your lifestyle to decide where you’d like to live.

On-campus living means dorm life, or if you’re lucky and your college has them, a campus apartment. Most campuses have several options for dorms.

Pros

• Vicinity- You’ll be right in the middle of everything, near your classes, the library, the student center, etc. You’ll likely be able to walk everywhere and given how close you’ll be to your classes, you’ll be able to pop in and out of your room between classes.
• No bills- All of your living costs will be covered through financial aid or tuition. You’ll never have to worry about the cable or the lights going out.
• Cafeteria- Everyone needs to eat and campus cafeterias will provide plenty of great food options to meet most any tastes. Given most college students have neither the desire, nor the skill to cook 3 meals a day, that’s a pretty nice perk.

Cons

• Lack of privacy- Having a roommate and living with 200 other students means your privacy will be limited. Someone (usually many people) will know nearly everything you do. Rumors run rampant and news travels at the speed of light.
• Lack of control- Dorms have rules and there will come in a time in your dorm life when you would like to break a few, but breaking rules will usually mean losing your housing.
• Public showers- If you are living in a dorm, prepare for public showers and the daily toting of your personal bath items down the hall in your fluffy robe. There’s nothing like a row of public showers to make you love a pair of flip flops.

Off-campus living will mean renting an apartment or possibly a house with a few of your college buddies. Many rental options cater specifically to the local college market and there should be rental options in most college towns.

Pros

• Freedom- You are free to do what you want at your off-campus apartment (granted your roommates and landlord approve). You can throw a party, light candles and hang out with your buds all night.
• Privacy- You may luck up and have your own room at your apartment, but even if you have to share a room, you’ll have much more privacy than in a dorm. Sharing a house with even 5 friends is a lot more private than a hundred or so.
• Space- While most dorms are just one room, an apartment, or house, will usually give you multiple rooms and overall more living space.

Cons

• Bills- You will have responsibility for rent, utilities, cable, phone, internet as well as groceries, paper goods and cleaning supplies. There is a lot of responsibility and if these responsibilities are not taken care of, your utilities and services could be discontinued or, even worse, you could be evicted.
• Cooking- You won’t have the luxury of the cafeteria with off-campus living and unfortunately, most college students aren’t the best cooks. Unless you or one of your roommates is an aspiring chef, your meals will likely suffer or you’ll end up spending a lot of money on pizza and Chinese take-out.
• Safety- Campuses are usually well-monitored by security, well-lit and overall safer than areas off campus. You’ll need to be extra careful when travelling to and from your off-campus housing, especially at night.

The decision to live on or off campus is a major one. Make sure you take the pros and cons of each option into consideration before you make a decision on where you’d like to live. It’s all about what’s important to you.

Photo credits (creative commons) by Paco Seoane

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Most of your college costs may be covered by financial aid, tuition payments or your parents’ pocket book, but you may still need some extra cash now and then. For some students, a part-time job is the answer for the extra cash needed. Here are a few tips on how to find part time jobs perfect for college students and some advice on how to be the best employee and student while working. Remember, international students face different work regulations, so be sure to check with the international students office before starting a job.

• Work study. If you are eligible for work study… take it! Work study jobs are on campus and specifically suited for students. Find an area that interests you and apply as soon as you can. Most good positions are taken quickly, so don’t delay.
• On- campus jobs. If you are not work study eligible, there still may be on-campus jobs for students. Check with your student center, athletic center, bookstore, library and other key offices and departments at your school to see if there are any open positions. Make sure to let them know that you are not a work study student.




• Student employment center. Most college campuses have a student employment center or service, and believe it or not, the services are not just limited to full-time jobs after graduation and summer internships. The office may have long- and short-term job opportunities from businesses and individuals looking specifically for college students. Some of these options may be tutoring, babysitting, data entry, research, etc.
• Local businesses. If your college or university is located near a business area, there are probably plenty of opportunities for college students. Music stores, clothing stores, restaurants and other businesses (that typically service your university) usually readily welcome student employees. This is NOT an option for international students on an F-1 visa as you are only allowed to work ON campus.

Once you’ve found a job, you”ll need to make sure that you keep the job and you maintain your grades. Follow the advice below and you’ll be a star student and a star employee.

• Limit your hours. You may think that you want to work 30- 40 hours a week for the cash, but you shouldn’t. Your main priority is to be a good student and get good grades. You have to determine the balance that works best for you, but err on the side of less working hours. You need to make sure that you have plenty of time to go to class, study AND just have fun as a college student.
• Be professional. Whether you are a part-time receptionist at a local business or a pizza flipper at the dorm cafeteria, always act in a professional manner. This will help ensure that you always keep your job and maintain a good reputation with the employer. Arrive on time, take breaks as scheduled and don’t leave early unless you have permission.




• Communicate with your employer. Make sure that you always let your employer know in advance when you have to take time off or leave work early. If you are working off campus, give your employer a schedule at the beginning of each semester so they are aware of key dates such as midterms and finals. This allows your employer to properly determine your schedule in advance and it limits last minute changes and staffing issues.
• Know when to quit. If you find that your employment is interfering with your education, negatively impacting your grades or your personal life, quit. Don’t forget your goal during this time in your life, which is success as a college student. If your job is preventing you from being a good student, you have to let it go. Be professional with your employer once you have come to this decision. Be honest and let them know why you can no longer work there and give them at least 2 weeks notice before your last day.

Having a part-time job while in college can be a big financial help, but you have to find the right job, keep a balance and be a good employee.

Photo credit thanks to Jörg Weingrill

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