cc Alexandra Campo

The time is drawing near to begin preparing for school to start.  One of the best ways to make your transition to school enjoyable is by actually being excited about your plans!  Some may say they are about to leave everything they know, their comfort zone, but great things are coming their way.  One of the best things students can do is channel their nerves into excitement, and having school spirit is a great way to do just that!

School spirit is the pride you have for your university.  It shows others where you attend and why you are so proud to be there.  Having school spirit will provide a more positive atmosphere not just for yourself, but for your campus as well.  You form a special connection with your school and other students when you truly have school pride.

So how can you have school spirit?

Wear the gear. Get t-shirts, sweatshirts, lanyards, etc.  You can usually find these at your school’s book store and sometime they are even available for purchase online.  If you would rather not buy them, make them!  A great idea is to have a get-together with friends, maybe before a football game, and make your own shirts with iron-ons or fabric paint.  You’ll be creating something to wear all year long and great memories at the same time!

Display the logo. Make posters, buy stickers, or keep fliers with your school’s name or logo on them and add them to your desk, car, or dorm walls.  Simple and easy!

Tell the people you meet. It is effortless to say, “Hi! I’m (your name), a student at (university name).”  If you really love your school and want to represent them well, make them part of you.  When you mention what school you attend in your introduction, the other person will know you must be proud to be there.

Add it online. Post it, write it, blog it, or tweet it.  It is simple to add to your “About Me” sections on social media pages where you attend school.

Families can show spirit too! Get your family into the school spirit.  When they support you, it will help ease the nerves and fears of moving away.  When they have school spirit too, it really makes a difference!

And remember your loyalty and pride to your university should also reflect on the organizations you become involved in.  Whether it be a fraternity or local school organization, always be proud of everything you involve yourself in!

Allizon Munoz is a proud junior at Ohio Dominican University studying Public Relations and minoring in Marketing. She serves as the 2010-2011 Ohio Dominican PRSSA President and Vice President of Professional Activities for Delta Sigma Pi Omicron Tau.  Connect with her here: http://card.ly/allizonmunoz

What is Goal Setting?

When a student first starts college, their main objective is to receive a degree but there are more things to be accomplished during their time in school.  Goal setting is the key factor to success and something every person should do to get the most out of their life.  It is human nature to set goals even if a person is not aware they are doing it.  Setting goals before a student begins their college adventure gives them a proper incentive, a vision, and moving force that drives them to success.

Types of Goals

Goal setting is thinking and putting aside certain objectives you would like to accomplish.  Some types of goals are short term goals, long term, academic, professional, and personal.  Being a student in college doesn’t mean all goals should revolve around academic success.   It is important to be triumphant in the academic realm of college, but it should be balanced with personal accomplishments as well.

SMART Goals

A great tactic to use when beginning your collection of goals is the SMART goal guideline.  This guide is provided by Goal Setting Guide, and is a great way to effectively set goals and aspirations that are attainable.

• S- Specific.  Goals should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. Specifics help us to focus our efforts and clearly define what we are going to do.
• M- Measureable.  If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it. In the broadest sense, the whole goal statement is a measure for the project; if the goal is accomplished, there is a success.
• A- Attainable.  When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop that attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. Your begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.
• R- Realistic.  Be sure to set goals that you can attain with some effort! Too difficult and you set the stage for failure, but too low sends the message that you aren’t very capable. Set the bar high enough for a satisfying achievement!
• T- Timely. Set a timeframe for the goal: for next week, in three months, by fifth grade. Putting an end point on your goal gives you a clear target to work towards.

Here are some examples of goals that abide by the SMART guideline, and flourish in rewards: Make the Dean’s List (an academic achievement recognition), attend at least 10 campus events, join a student organization, be part of a focus group, write an article and have it published, give a public speech, talk to someone new every day, try new types of food every chance you get, ace all midterms and finals, see all the tourist attractions in your university’s city, etc.

Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

When a student realizes their aspirations and what they want to accomplish, the most important thing to do is write it down!  Well not exactly write it down, let us keep up with today’s internet-driven world and use a website instead.  An easy and free way to keep track of your goals is through mylifelist.org.  This website is built to make goal setting a breeze.  You have six different categories to list your goals; Travel & Leisure, Relationships, Personal Development & Community, Career & Finance, Lifestyle & Culture, and lastly Sports & Adventure.

The Challenge

The hardest part about goal setting? Staying on track.  Students are motivated and determined when they begin school, but it is normal to lose that momentum later in the semester. They begin to have many more distractions and priorities sometime change.  It is a typical challenge for students to stay on track throughout the entire school year. That is why it is helpful to document the list of goals and read through them at different periods of time.  This will allow the student to evaluate themselves and it serves as a reminder of what they should still be working towards.

Allizon Munoz is a junior at Ohio Dominican University studying Public Relations and minoring in Marketing. She serves as the 2010-2011 Ohio Dominican PRSSA President and Vice President of Professional Activities for Delta Sigma Pi Omicron Tau.  Connect with her here: http://card.ly/allizonmunoz

• Flickr is an online photo sharing site that allows you to upload photos and provide a description for them.  This is a great way to direct people, who may not have a facebook, to your flickr site where they can view your photos without having to make an account.
• Picassa is another photo service provided by Google. This site allows you to do more than just making an online photo album.  It has an amazing photo editing and management application as well.
• One of the easiest ways to blog is through posterous. It requires almost nothing to make your blog. The simple steps are to email them your blog post through gmail, Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo, or AOL and it gets put up for you. How simple is that?
• Tumblr, similar to posterous, is another simple way to blog. I encourage using a blog to share more than just pictures, really write about your experiences, your thoughts, and feelings.
• How about giving video blogging a shot! Vimeo, much like youtube, allows you to create your account and upload your own videos.  If you happen to bring a video camera when you leave for school, this could be a fun way to keep your family updated.  Video record campus events or just make a vlog update about your life and how you have been.  It’s a nice way for your family to get informed, see your face, and hear your voice all at once!

Allizon Munoz is a junior at Ohio Dominican University studying Public Relations and minoring in Marketing. She serves as the 2010-2011 Ohio Dominican PRSSA President and Vice President of Professional Activities for Delta Sigma Pi Omicron Tau.  Connect with her here: http://card.ly/allizonmunoz

Headline Image Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jsome1/2226374117/

One of the greatest perks about studying abroad is the experiences students receive for the first time. Whether it would be your first time eating an apple pie, attending a rock concert, or seeing New York City.  Here at Al Jamiat, we are interested in hearing about your firsts and what they were like!

Manojkumar Mangalchand Shah (Manoj Shah for short) is a student at New Mexico Highland’s University, studying for his MBA in Accounting.  Originally from India, take a look at a couple of Manoj Shah’s first experiences here in the U.S.

My first… canned food product.

I had several adjustments in terms of food. In India, farmers can’t afford pesticides or chemical fertilizers, so the food is organic. I never had canned food at home. I still don’t like it here and find it so ironic that the organic food is much more costly. I have had canned corn, canned cream corn, canned tomatoes, canned peas, and canned green beans. Many of these foods are not available fresh year round, so canned or frozen are the only choices. They just don’t taste as sweet.

My first… experience with American driving.

Traffic in the U.S. is radically different than in India. People don’t honk their horns all the time like they do in India. In fact in India, trucks actually have signs saying “Please Honk.” They even have fancy horn sounds. There we drive on the left side of the road and the steering wheel is on the right side of the car, opposite of that here in the states. Traffic is not fast in India like it is here, but there are stray cows, dogs, pigs, monkeys everywhere. Also, scooters, bicyclists and pedestrians mix with the cars and trucks. People move into the lane whenever they feel like it so you have to be constantly on the alert. The interstate between cities here in America are very good and easy, but fast. The rural highways are also easy. The highways/roads here in the U.S. are very smooth; they don’t have pits or gravel like my country.

To read more about Manoj Shah’s first experiences, make sure to check out the fall issue of Al Jamiat, coming out October!

Interested in sharing your first experience?

Email allizon@al-jamiat.com with your story and see how you can contribute to the “My first…” feature!

Source: www.toptenz.net

Hi! My name is Zhandos Orazalin. Today, I’m going to tell you about my first experience with skateboarding. I’m from Kazakhstan, which is a fascinating country located between Europe and Asia.  It’s a size of whole of the Western Europe, it has stable government and it’s becoming a very attractive place for investments.

[Watch Zhandos Orazalin talk about his experience at ASU & learning to skateboard]

The President of our country has established a scholarship named “Bolashak” which allows the best students from Kazakhstan to study in any country of the world with the objective to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to build a democratic and prosperous society.

Currently, I have a great honor to study at AECP, American English and Culture Program, in Arizona State University. AECP is the best place to learn English and it has a great deal of what to do in order to become a successful student in any university of the United States of America.

I came to Arizona this year, 2009, on March. It’s my first time here in the United States. I came here from the overseas, and, as it happens, I’ve had a cultural shock. The first thought that came to my mind was that I’m in American college movie. It was something absolutely new to me – being in American University’s campus. Thanks to the AECP that helped me a lot to adjust to the new environment.

Khazakh student Zhandos Orazalin learning to skateboard & learning english at Arizona State University

I was placed to live in real American College dormitory, and I had classes in different buildings around the biggest university campus at ASU. However, I had a big problem with transportation; I didn’t know how to get from my one class to another because of the big distances.

I’ve seen that a great number of American students are using skateboards in purpose of transportation. For that time, for me, it was just a piece of wood with wheels. I had absolutely no idea how they are doing this – skateboarding.

I’ve never used skateboard in my country, maybe because I’m now a graduate student, and, as I thought, I was too old for that. By the way, I’m going to study Civil Engineering in the graduate school next year. Currently, I’m studying English at AECP and preparing for the standardized tests and application for the top notch graduate schools. Time is absolutely crucial for me, and I don’t want to waste my precious time on transportation.

In addition, I didn’t want to use car or bicycle, because these types of transportation were all about maintenance and parking issues. These types of transportation weren’t mobile and easy to carry everywhere with me. Thus, I decided to buy a skateboard and use it as my super mobile “car”.

One of my friends from Kazakhstan said that it wasn’t a good idea for me to waste my money on skateboard because as he said, “You will never learn skateboarding! It is only for American Students who use skateboards since their childhood! Observing American students on skateboards you may think that it is just a piece of cake, but skateboarding is very-very difficult. You should give up with an idea that you will use skateboard someday…” Then I said to myself – “Well, I’ve got to learn this!”

I bought a board and went to the campus. The first day on skateboard was just horrible! I couldn’t even stand on this tiny piece of wood. I’ve been falling every 10 seconds for the first days. I thought that maybe my friend was right, and I won’t learn skateboarding in my life… However, I didn’t give up. I just got my skateboard and said to myself, “Well, man, your next class in different building, you should be on the other side of the campus in the next 5 minutes. There is no way to do it by walking.” In other words, I was just forced to use skateboard in order to achieve my goals. It was my great motivation for the success.

To sum up, as you see – I’ve learned to skateboard, and I’m doing it everyday. It helps me to save my time on transportation, gives me an opportunity to get to know more American culture, and it is good for my health.

I’m very grateful for the AECP program at ASU, and I encourage every student who wants to be successful in American College environment to attend American English and Culture Program at Arizona State University.

For more information on the ASU American English and Culture Program contact

ASU American English and Culture Program
Ph: (480) 965-2376 • Fax: (480) 965-8529
Email: aecp@asu.edu
Web: www.asu.edu/aecp

ASU International Undergraduate Admissions
Ph: (480) 965-2688
Email: asuinternational@asu.edu
Web: www.students.asu.edu/international-admission

ASU Graduate College
Ph: (480) 965-6113
Web: www.graduate.asu.edu/

College life may look different today, with Uggs, sweatpants, and phones glued to everyone’s ears, but at the end its still about education, friendships, networks, and more than just classes.

Enjoy!

http://portraitoftheuniversity.com/

Students at Duke - 1960 (photo from http://www.flickr.com/photos/dukeyearlook/)

University of Alabama 1970 via GoogleBooks

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University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1965 [via The Trad, Ivy League Look

The Official Guide to the TOEFL iBT with CD-ROM, Third Edition

Cracking the TOEFL iBT with CD, 2010 Edition (Test Preparation)

Kaplan TOEFL iBT with CD-ROM

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When most students prepare to go to college, they think about things like the major they will choose, the profession they will seek, and the kind of income they will one day earn to support themselves and their lifestyle.  To be sure, education plays a major role in students’ achieving all of these things.  Yet academics alone should not be a student’s only concern, according to some college admissions professionals.

“When you choose a college, you need to think about life beyond the classroom, as well as what you learn inside the classroom,” says Thomas Schaefer, Ph.D., associate vice president for academic affairs and dean of admissions at La Roche College in the North Hills.  “When we interview students for admission, we look at what they’ve done academically, and we also look at what activities they’ve been part of, too.  We want to attract well-rounded students, and we encourage them to expand their interests at college.”

In fact, getting involved in activities at college can be key to a student’s positive experience, Dr. Schaefer says.  As students delve into a new world of independence, he notes, it can be comforting to be part of a group activity in which they share interests with others.  Sports programs are a great example of how students meet new people and continue to develop skills they’ve acquired in high school.

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At large colleges and universities, heading into intramurals may be the way to go because the level of athletic ability may be more conducive to the “casual” college athlete, according to La Roche’s Director of Athletics Jim Tinkey.  He said that some ranked colleges and universities have rigid guidelines regarding how students qualify for any given team.  Be sure to ask about programs you’re interested in when you’re doing your college search, he advises.

“If you have an athletic interest and ability, let the school’s coaching staff or admissions team know that,” Tinkey says.

At smaller institutions, students may find it easier to become part of the school’s rostered athletic programs.  “Often, at smaller schools, everyone has a chance to make the team,” Tinkey notes, “but it depends on level of skill.  At La Roche, we can’t automatically guarantee that every athlete will make the team, but we do meet with students who have a genuine interest and ability to play.”

La Roche fields 11 intercollegiate athletic teams competing in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) of the NCAA Division III.

In addition, for students who are looking for activities outside the realm of athletics, the college supports more than 30 student organizations, including a student newspaper, the Student Government Association, the Writers’ Center, and academic and social clubs.

“It’s important for you to find your niche in college, just as it was in high school,” Dr. Schaefer says.  “It may be academics, it may be athletics – and it may just be a little of both.  Explore until you find the right fit.”

This article was written by La Roche College. Read the complete article in our current issue of Al Jamiat Magazine.

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A friend of mine recently started going to a large four-year university, after having attended our local community college. While at the community college, she refused to join Facebook. It only took three weeks to go by at the university and suddenly she was an active Facebook user, like so many others I know.

Social networking sites, specifically Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace are now a part of the culture at American Universities. Their names have become verbs. You can now “facebook” someone, as easily as you can call someone. Their impact on a student’s social life can be helpful, but also devastating. Fights can start over a message posted online or an argument can become inflamed and continue through these mediums.

College users often are so wrapped up in their own Facebook worlds that they forget about the bigger picture. An occasional photo of you and your friends having a beer at the local bar shouldn’t devastate your bright and shining future. Picture after picture of standing next to a beer keg and all your drunk buddies, just might. With the downturn of the world economy, the job market has become even more competitive.

So how do you keep that embarrassing picture from being viewed by potential employers? Simple, don’t post it. Don’t put things on Facebook that you aren’t willing to share with a complete stranger. Security measures are nice, but they aren’t fool proof, and people aren’t perfect. If you want to share the picture of you and your friends drinking a whole keg, then email them the pictures. Don’t post them to a website millions of people can access.

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Also, remember to self-check your online image. Go to your favorite search engine, type your name in and see what comes up. I assure you, that any computer savvy employer will do the same. Make sure that a simple internet search doesn’t turn up that picture you had forgotten about with your friends goofing off. Knowing your online reputation is comparable to knowing what your former employers will say about you.

Lastly, and perhaps the easiest thing to do is not do stupid things in the first place. In college, my favorite thing to do Monday morning was to pick up a copy of the school newspaper and read the police blotter. This is a log of select police incidents, which happened over the weekend. I was told by my boss on the first day of my job that if I was ever in the blotter, I would no longer have a job. School officials do check things like this and it isn’t hard for a company to find the newspaper of your school and search for your name.

These warnings are not meant to make you paranoid. I enjoy using social media and the web as much as anyone. I love spending time on Facebook and posting pictures of my friends. The internet can be an amazing social tool, but remember to keep your future in mind when sharing information. What you post on the net can be seen by anyone including that potential future employer.

Elissa Yonkers is a recent graduate from Bowling Green State University, with a Bachelors of Science of Journalism with a focus on Public Relations, and a very strong minor in German. With several internship experiences under her belt, she is looking to widen her experience and knowledge with a job in corporate communications, public affairs, or work in a public relations agency. Connect with her here: http://sites.google.com/site/elissay/

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I spent my first holiday, away from my parents and siblings, with my German exchange students family. It was lonely, despite being welcomed with open arms by his family. The traditions seemed odd, despite the hours of study and discussion I’d had over the years about German culture and tradition during the holiday season. It was depressing, despite all of the fun I had hanging out with my exchange brother, his family, and friends. Overall, it was a very odd holiday season.

Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannaka, Kwanza, New Years are all holidays where the importance of family, home, and being close to family and friends. It’s hard to get in the holiday spirit, when you have no family to go “home” to, and don’t want to spend your semester break recovering from jet lag or in busy crowded airport lines.

cc license, Rennett Stowe

To add to the lack of close family and friends, traditions in America will assuredly be different than those you might be used to. It could be a simple difference, such as not having a Christmas market downtown, or as drastic as normally not celebrating Christmas or understanding the customs around you. Going home with an American friend, while a great experience and a lot of fun, isn’t the same as being home with your family and friends, in settings you grew up around.

Like regular homesickness, there is no fix-all cure for holiday-homesickness. Even if you don’t celebrate the same holidays, it could be a lonely time. Most school dorms shut down for the two to four week semester break, and almost everyone goes home.  Plan what you are going to do ahead of time, so like your American-classmates, you have plans to look forward too. Share your customs with your friends, and they might be open to incorporating some of them in with their own.

Overall, though, enjoy the experience of being abroad during the holidays. While it can feel alienating and lonely, it’s an experience most people don’t get the chance to experience. Take in the differences, understand them, and relish the time you have abroad.

Elissa Yonkers is a recent graduate from Bowling Green State University, with a Bachelors of Science of Journalism with a focus on Public Relations, and a very strong minor in German. With several internship experiences under her belt, she is looking to widen her experience and knowledge with a job in corporate communications, public affairs, or work in a public relations agency. Connect with her here: http://sites.google.com/site/elissay/