Stress Management Is As Important As Studying For Finals

By David Gutierrez

 During finals season, most students are focused on cramming in as much information as possible, or staying up long hours to finish essays and similar assignments. When you’re desperate to get a passing grade on that final essay, or you’re eager to get straight A’s for the semester, all you can focus on is your academic performance.

Unfortunately, spending all your time and energy on studying means you could neglect your physical, mental, and emotional health needs. While grades and knowledge are important, they aren’t more important than your personal wellbeing, so it’s vital that you prioritize your own stress management.

Potential Consequences

Let’s take a look at just some of the ways poorly managed stress could affect your life:

• Impaired cognitive function. All that studying may actually end up being counterproductive. According to research in Neuron, chronic stress can impair your cognitive abilities, including memory. That means if you stress too much about studying, you might have a harder time retaining all the information you’re cramming in!
• High blood pressure. Excessive stress can raise your blood pressure, which puts you at risk for all kinds of other circulatory maladies.
• According to Georgetown University, the stress of finals, and school in general, can accumulate and cause severe anxiety or depression, which can significantly impair your life.
• It may seem hyperbolic, but the extra burden of stress from finals could put you at higher risk of death. As In the Light Urns notes, periods of increased stress and emotion—like holidays, or finals season—can increase suicidal tendencies or exacerbate existing health problems.

Coping Strategies

Fortunately, it’s not difficult to mitigate or eliminate your risk for these potential consequences—as long as you make the time for it. These are some of your best tools for maintaining your health and wellbeing during finals season:

• Start early. One of the best things you can do for yourself is starting the studying process early. For some students, it may already be too late, but don’t panic—there are other strategies to help you out. If you can start early, it immensely reduces the pressure on you, and you’ll be able to get more done without scrambling to meet deadlines.
• Study in shifts. Don’t set yourself up for cram sessions. You’ll be more productive if you study in chunks with breaks in between. Working relentlessly through the night will make you more liable to forget information, and more stressed in the long run. Take time for yourself to eat, exercise, and relax your brain, and you’ll study even more effectively.
• Control your perfectionism. It’s tempting to want straight A’s and perfect papers and to remember every fact you put in your brain. Unfortunately, it’s probably not going to happen. Expecting perfection is a good way to over-stress your already stressed mind, so take a step back and allow yourself to make some mistakes. Ironically, you’ll feel less stress and end up performing better than you would otherwise.
• Work in groups. Even if you’re naturally introverted, consider joining a group to study with. You’ll find empathy with other people who are experiencing what you’re experiencing, and new study strategies and perspectives that can help you on your own journey. Plus, the social contact is good for your health.
• Compartmentalize your tasks. Instead of looking at a massive list of massive projects or worrying about all your tests at once, split everything down into smaller, more manageable action items. Make a list of all the micro-tasks you break up, and then work on eliminating them one by one. It will make everything seem less intimidating, and make you feel rewarded when you make progress.
• Seek help. As USA Today points out, most faculty, staff, and other students in college universities are sympathetic to the stress of studying. If you’re truly having a tough time with your studies, or if you don’t know what else to do, ask for help. Your professors will likely cut you a break or help you find alternative options, and your friends will be there to support you.

It may seem impossible to maintain your own health while simultaneously completing all your required coursework and getting good grades, but with the right priorities, it shouldn’t be an issue. Your grades are important, but your mind and body have to come first. Keep this in mind as you finish the semester and look forward to another round with the next cycle of classes.

David Gutierrez has worked in the field of web design since 2005. Right now he started learning Java in order to get second occupation. His professional interests defined major topics of his articles. David writes about new web design software, recently discovered professional tricks and also monitors the latest updates of the web development.

10 Tips for Better Sleep at College

By Lorraine McKinney

We all need to get at least seven to eight hours of sleep each night, and this is something that can often be difficult to do. It can be especially difficult for college students, because they have so much going on and so much additional stress in their lives. Many students use a variety of techniques to get more sleep, including using earplugs for sleeping when there is a lot of noise. If you are a student who is having a hard time sleeping, check out these sleep tips.

1. Take Short Naps – Napping is a good thing, but your naps shouldn’t be too long. Make sure that any afternoon naps you take are no longer than an hour, and not any later than three o’clock in the afternoon.
2. Set the Mood – You need to set up an environment that is sleep-friendly. Some things you can do include covering the windows with dark coverings, hanging black sheets around the bed, and wearing eye masks.
3. Don’t Try to Make Up for Missed Sleep – If you have missed sleep, you aren’t going to get it back, period, no matter how many naps you take. Don’t try to cram in some sleep before a study session. It isn’t going to help any, and it may even end up making you feel more tired.
4. Only Go to Bed when You are Tired – Going to bed when you are not tired just means that you will be laying there, staring at the ceiling. If you are not asleep after 15 minutes, get up and do something that will help to make you sleepy.
5. Ditch the Alarm Clock – Look for other alarm options besides a noisy alarm clock that will help you to wake up more naturally. You will feel better rested, and you won’t find yourself hitting the snooze button every few minutes.
6. Use Relaxing Scents – Our sense of smell is really amazing, and there are so many ways that scents can be used to help us feel better, and to relax. Certain scents are more relaxing than others. Try adding a couple of drops of lavender essential oil to your bathwater. This is going to help you to relax, especially if you take a bath about an hour before bedtime.
7. Use Sleep Gear – Ear plugs and other sleep gear are often used by college students who need to get more sleep. Other things to consider using are eye masks, because they block out a lot of light and give you the darkness that you need for a really good night’s sleep.
8. Start Using a Fan – A lot of people find that white noise helps them to sleep better. You don’t have to go out and spend a lot of money on a white noise machine though. All you need to do is turn on a fan. Not only do you get the white noise you need to sleep, it is going to block out a lot of other noises.
9. See a Sleep Specialist – Insomnia is actually a symptom of something else, and not an actual disorder. If you have trouble sleeping, and this happens often, you may want to consider seeing a sleep specialist to find out what is actually causing the problem. Some things that can cause insomnia include sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, anxiety, etc.
10. Use Your Bed for Sleeping – Don’t use your bed as a study area. Use the study lounge, the library, your desk, etc. instead. When you study in bed, it can be a lot harder to shut down your mind when it comes time to go to sleep.

Lorraine McKinney is an academic tutor and elearning specialist. 

Leave Your Computer At My Classroom Door

By Darren Rosenblum, From “On Campus”

When I started teaching, I assumed my “fun” class, sexuality and the law, full of contemporary controversy, would prove gripping to the students. One day, I provoked them with a point against marriage equality, and the response was a slew of laptops staring back. The screens seemed to block our classroom connection. Then, observing a senior colleague’s contracts class, I spied one student shopping for half the class. Another was surfing Facebook. Both took notes when my colleague spoke, but resumed the rest of their lives instead of listening to classmates.

Laptops at best reduce education to the clackety-clack of transcribing lectures on shiny screens and, at worst, provide students with a constant escape from whatever is hard, challenging or uncomfortable about learning. And yet, education requires constant interaction in which professor and students are fully present for an exchange.

Students need two skills to succeed as lawyers and as professionals: listening and communicating. We must listen with care, which requires patience, focus, eye contact and managing moments of ennui productively — perhaps by double-checking one’s notes instead of a friend’s latest Instagram. Multitasking and the mediation of screens kill empathy.

Likewise, we must communicate — in writing or in speech — with clarity and precision. The student who speaks in class learns to convey his or her points effectively because everyone else is listening. Classmates will respond with their accord or dissent. Lawyers can acquire hallmark precision only through repeated exercises of concentration. It does happen on occasion that a client loses millions of dollars over a misplaced comma or period.

Once, a senior associate for whom I was working berated me for such a mistake and said, “Getting these things right is the easy part, and if you can’t get that right, what does it say about your ability to analyze the law properly?” I learned my lesson. To restore the focus-training function of the classroom, I stopped allowing laptops in class early in my teaching career. Since then research has confirmed the wisdom of my choice.

Focus is crucial, and we do best when monotasking: Even disruptions of a few seconds can derail one’s train of thought. Students process information better when they take notes — they don’t just transcribe, as they do with laptops, but they think and record those thoughts. One study found that laptops or tablets consistently undermine exam performance by 1.7 percent (a significant difference in the context of the study). Other studies reveal that writing by hand helps memory retention. Screens block us from connecting, whether at dinner or in a classroom. Kelly McGonigal, a psychologist and lecturer at Stanford University, says that just having a phone on a table during a meal “is sufficiently distracting to reduce empathy and rapport between two people.”

For all these reasons, starting with smaller classes, I banned laptops, and it improved the students’ engagement. With constant eye contact, I could see and feel when they understood me, and when they did not. Energized by the connection, we moved faster, further and deeper into the material. I broadened my rule to include one of my large upper-level courses. The pushback was real: A week before class, I posted the syllabus, which announced my policy. Two students wrote me to ask if I would reconsider, and dropped the class when I refused. But more important, after my class ends, many students continue to take notes by hand even when it’s not required.

Putting aside medical exemptions, many students are just resistant. They are used to typing and prefer it to writing. They may feel they take better notes by keyboard. They may feel they know how to take notes by hand but do not want to have to do so. They can look up material, and there’s no need to print assignments. Some may have terrible handwriting, or find it uncomfortable or even painful to write.

To them, I’ll let the Rolling Stones answer: You can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need. My students need to learn how to be lawyers and professionals. To succeed they must internalize an ethos of caution, care and respect. To instill these values and skills in my students, I have no choice but to limit laptop use in the classroom.

5 Considerations for Bringing a Car to College

BY JANE HURST

It’s time to head back to college. The question is, should you or shouldn’t you bring your car with you? It can be a really handy thing to have a vehicle with you while you are in college. At the same time, it can be a complete pain in the you-know-what as well. A teen who has taken their free permit practice test isn’t ready for the road, but if you have taken driver’s ed and have your license, you are likely looking at getting your first car. If you are thinking about bringing your car with you to college, here are a few pros and cons you need to consider.

1. Know the Campus Rules – Before you even think about bringing a car with you to college, you need to find out if you are going to be allowed to do it in the first place. For instance, some campuses don’t allow freshmen to have cars. Others don’t have much in the way of parking, or charge outrageous fees to park. Find out the school policies about owning and using a vehicle before you bring yours along with you.
2. Make Money and Get Away – As a student, you are probably often short on cash. Having a car means you can make extra money. Offer yourself as a taxi or delivery service in your spare time and have some extra spending money when you need it. You can also use your vehicle to be able to visit home a lot more often, if this is something that you enjoy doing, or just get away when the stress of campus life gets to be too much and you need a break. Having a car with you gives you the freedom to do a lot more, and you can even make a few extra bucks while you are at it.
3. People Wanting to Borrow Your Car – You will also end up with a lot of people asking to borrow your car. This is probably not the best habit to get into. After all, it is you who will be on the line for any damages they cause while driving, unless of course you have full insurance coverage. Being on a student’s budget, it isn’t likely that you have that kind of coverage unless you are on your parents’ policy. Not everyone follows the road rules, and this isn’t a chance you should be willing to take.
4. Have Transportation – If you get a part-time job or an internship that is not on campus, you will need transportation. You also need transportation to go shopping, to the movies, out to eat, or even to museums, galleries, libraries, and other places you need to go for your studies. Having a vehicle can be a big help when you need to get from point A to point B in a hurry, and you don’t want to wait around for a bus. This can be especially handy if your campus is in a smaller area where there are no bus services, and you won’t have to spend a lot of money on taxis.
5. Being a Personal Taxi Service – Unfortunately, students who have cars often find themselves becoming personal taxi services for all of their friends. If this ends up becoming the case with you, there will likely come a time when you just have to put your foot down and tell everyone that you need to keep your vehicle in good shape for your entire college career. The more you run people around, the more wear and tear there will be on your car. One thing you can do is be a designated driver, to make sure your friends get home safely after partying.

Byline:

Jane Hurst has been working in education for over 5 years as a teacher. She loves sharing her knowledge with students, is fascinated about edtech and loves reading, a lot. Follow Jane on Twitter.

Five Smart Study Habits For High Scores

BY ADELA BELIN

Habits usually go on for the lifetime and make certain things effortless. If you are conditioned to rote learning, then memorizing things will become easy for you. Similarly, if you develop smart study habits, learning becomes effortless. Therefore, for better learning and scoring high, you simply need to develop smart habits. After that, these habits will work for you and fetch pleasant surprises for the entire life.

Develop the following habits to make the learning process easy and exciting:

Focused Study Schedule

Disconnect yourself from the entire world during your study sessions. Barring the necessary items, shut everything – mobile phones, the internet, doors of your study room, and even all the lights other than study table light – during studies.

Make duration of your study sessions short and sweet. 30-45 minutes per session is a good time to concentrate on something without getting distracted or exhausted.  Avoid everything other than studies, like – drinking water, coffee, and going to the washroom, etc. – during a session.

Learn one topic per session. Don’t try to complete the entire chapter during a session, until it is small. If you try to learn many concepts per sessions, things will be mixed up, and you will quickly forget whatever you have learned.

Note down the concepts that are either difficult to understand or you didn’t understand them at all. Make sure that you master these topics before moving forward.

Develop a habit of staying focused, and you will learn more in less time.

Time Management

Time management is a skill that very few try to learn actively. Like communication skills, it is also a life skill that will differentiate you from the crowd.

University is the best place to learn time management skills. Once you join the corporate world, you will have everything but time to learn it. And, to learn time management, you don’t need anything but time.

So act now and learn time management as soon as you can.

Following lies at the core of the time management:

Focus on what matters the most and don’t waste time on things that you don’t want or don’t need.

We all have twenty-four in hours a day. Some people do what they love and excel at the university as well as in extracurricular activities alike. While others work hard and still have no time to do what they love.

The difference lies in the way people manage their time.

Following will create a habit that encourages efficient utilization of time:

• Create a fixed schedule for studies – Make consistent efforts to stick to the plan even if it requires giving up on some luxuries of your life. You need to take short term pains for long term gain.
• Firmly request your friends and family members not to disturb you during the specified time.
• Break the entire study time in multiple sessions of smaller durations
• Take a short break of 5-10 minutes between two sessions
• Study difficult topics first and spend more time in understanding them
• Make meditation an integral part of your life
• Give yourself enough time to discover and follow your passion

Technological Habits

No matter how you learn and from which source you learn things, comprehending the concepts is paramount.  Today you have a variety of sources for learning new concepts and skills. Thanks to the internet, we have access to unlimited content and resources that can be utilized to sharpen skills.

If you find something difficult to understand, search it on YouTube or other resources’ sites. You may find exciting games or videos which help you learn the difficult topics with great ease.

You can also use various software tools to simulate the concepts and see them working live.

Use technology to your advantage and not for wasting time. If you are facing a challenge, try to find out a solution through technology.

Summary Technique

 Humans have a natural tendency to forget 80% of the concepts within 24 hours of learning. Beat this tendency with what I call a “Summary Technique.” When you learn a new concept, summarize it in few lines before moving to the next topic. Write down the summary on a physical piece of paper and revisit it once or twice a week.

Doing it 3-4 times a month for every topic will make you an expert on the subject.

If you need to learn a lot of formulae or equations, try to make them funny by relating them to things in your daily life.

You must also have a weekly and a monthly timetable which is devoted just for revision. Many students even use email management tools through which they schedule a list of concepts that will be delivered to their inbox periodically. They will be getting the emails in their inbox at a pre-determined time. This helps them recall the concepts at constant intervals.

Practice Tests

To do well in exams, you must develop an excellent exam temperament. No matter what level of command you have over a subject, if you can’t manage the exam well, the scores are bound to disappoint you. Therefore, it is crucial to prepare for the examination temperament.

The best way to develop examination temperament is to write as many exams as possible. For this, you need to take many demo exams at home.

Write practice tests at home in a time bound manner, assuming you are sitting in the examination hall. Do a thorough analysis of the paper after each test. Note down your strong and weak areas. Work on your weak areas before you move on to the next practice test.

Just by taking some practice tests, you can achieve significant marks in any exam. Thus, make sure you take some practice exams before you appear for the final exam even if you haven’t studied anything.

Conclusion

As John Dryden said, “We first make our habits and then our habits make us.” Once you develop these habits, you will automatically excel at university and beyond. Initially, you might face a lot of difficulties in doing this. However, if you stick to your plans embrace the initial pain, you will thank yourself later.

Adela Belin is a private educator and writer at writers per hour. She shares her teaching experience with colleagues, students, and writers.

10 Tips To Write A Research Paper OR Thesis

BY JANE HURST

A research paper is not merely a collection of tidbits from different sources, it is in fact your own statement or argument based on and substantiated through research. As the average research paper is 10-20 pages long, what can you do to make the whole process less painful? Here are 10 tips to write a stellar research paper.

1. Know Yourself

If you are someone who likes to write at night, plan on staying up late. If you always procrastinate, clear your schedule to write your paper at the last minute. Do you work best alone? Do you thrive from being surrounded by people? Do you need frequent breaks? Or would you rather work 10 hours straight? While most advice focuses on managing your impulses, the opposite is often more effective.  Lean in and accept your quirks for a less painful and more productive experience.

2. Time

The more time you can give yourself to work on your paper, the better. Unless you are a hopeless procrastinator, in which case, see #1.  A month is a good time-frame to develop a 10 – 20 page research paper. This will give you enough time to choose a topic, research it, ask for help, change your topic if needed, write a couple of different drafts, and even take a few days off from your paper, to be able to evaluate it with fresh eyes later.

3. Choose a Broad Topic

Unless your heart is set on something you’ve always wanted to delve into, a good approach to choosing your topic is to pick a relatively broad interest, and then narrow it based on the research available to you. For example, consider researching 18th century German literature, and as you read about it, choose a topic that jumps out at you e.g. the representation of night time in the poetry of Novalis, or the unique contribution of Goethe to the Romantic movement, etc. Depending on your assignment, you might be able to stick with a fairly broad topic as well. Always make sure to pick a subject that has been written about widely, so your research will be easier and more robust.

4. Pick Your Thesis Later

Let your thesis emerge from your research. It’s a lot easier to start by researching a topic, and then develop a thesis based on the research available, than to come up with an argument and then hunt for supporting evidence. You might also be surprised at how often researching a topic changes your mind on it! If your teacher requires you to submit your thesis statement ahead of time, keep to a broad statement, and resubmit it if during the research and writing phases your thesis changes.

5. Mind Map it

Generally speaking, as a writer you either have a ton of ideas that need to be narrowed down, or you have trouble coming up with many ideas and therefore need to expand on one or two initial thoughts. Either way, consider a mind mapping process, Lifehacker has a great post on how to do it. Create a visual diagram of everything you could add to your research paper before moving to the next step.

6. Write an Outline

Repeat after me: I will always write an outline. After being all over the place, and exploring many different ideas through a mind map, it is now time to focus on what your paper will cover. Drop everything that’s unnecessary, and focus on what needs to be included. Then work on one chunk at the time.  If you have a good outline, it will make the writing process a lot easier and your first draft will be much better.

7. Write the First Draft

Now it’s time to put it all together! Don’t try to write a polished or perfect draft, just start by writing your introduction, body, and conclusion. Focus on getting your thoughts on the page: avoid all distractions, write everything as it comes to you, following your outline. Mark the spots where you’d like to add a footnote, quote, or anything else that would require you to stop writing. Depending on your style, you’ll find at the end of your first draft that you either need to trim things down or add more details to reach the assigned length for your paper.

8. Review and Polish

Unless you are close to your deadline, take a break and do not look at your paper for a couple of days. Do something else instead, and take your mind completely off it. Then go back to your first draft with fresh eyes and work on polishing your writing, add the footnotes, quotes, and anything else needed to make this an A+ paper.

If you have a chance, ask a friend to read through and give you comments. Preferably someone senior with knowledge on the topic, but if that is not possible, then ask any friend to take a look. Having someone with less knowledge on the topic will check whether your writing is clear and if the big picture makes sense.

9. Use citation management Tools

One area where you could use some help is in reference and citation management.  If you expect to write a lot of research papers, a dedicated tool like EndNote can be very powerful. If you are not ready to make the investment, Mendeley is a very powerful tool which is worth trying out.  It makes it easy when you need to quickly add citations and automatically generate the References section.

10. Consider splitting up into multiple files

If your paper is over 50 pages and multiple chapters with many heavy graphics and figures, it can be helpful to break it down into multiple DOC files, with one DOC file per chapter. Editing a single small DOC file can be much easier than dealing with a huge file in Word.

One way to do this is by creating a Master Document in Word which can reference each of the chapters. This has been documented extensively by HowToGeek here.

A perhaps more simple way is to keep all the chapters independent, then convert each chapter to a PDF file (either with Word directly or with an online converter).  Then simply merging all the PDF files together into a final single PDF file, and adding a nice front page.  This can be achieved either with software such as Adobe or an online PDF merger such as FoxyUtils.

Byline:

Jane Hurst has been working in education for over 5 years as a teacher. She loves sharing her knowledge with students, is fascinated about edtech and loves reading, a lot. Follow Jane on Twitter.

5 Questions to Answer When Choosing a Major

BY JIMMY ROHAMPTON

Choosing a major is one of the biggest decisions you’ll ever make. You can read all the college blogs you like, but only you can make that final decision. To help you make that decision you should ask yourself a number of key questions, which are detailed below.

1. Do You Want to Do that Major?

This is the first question you need to ask. If you want to do a major, you should do it. But don’t allow yourself to be bullied into it because a family member says you have to do something. This is your life and it makes no sense to spend the next few years struggling down a path you never wanted to be on in the first place.

Think carefully about whether you want to do a major before you actually commit to it, otherwise it could make your college life hell.

2. Do You Know Enough About It?

Some students will pick up a major because they think it sounds good. That’s no way to choose a major. You need to look into that major and think about whether you know enough about that subject and whether it’s everything you expected it to be.

It’s important that you educate yourself on the content of the course. You don’t want to expect something from a course and get something entirely different.

3. Does Your College Have a Good Reputation for this Major?

You want the best quality teaching possible. One of the worst things you can do is to choose a major at a college that isn’t recognized for that major. Make sure you read the various college blogs to find out what your college specializes in. There are multiple reasons for this.

First of all, you won’t get the level of teaching quality you want. There’s a reason why certain colleges aren’t known for science or for law. Secondly, a degree in a major from a certain college isn’t worth as much as it is from a different college. Some colleges offer majors that aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.

4. Are You Good at this Subject?

A science genius isn’t going to major in English literature. Someone who’s gifted in medicine isn’t going to take a course in history. So why would you major in something you’re not actually good at?

You need to think about whether you’re good at your subject. Think about whether you have any aptitude for the major on the table. Have you done a learnership on a related subject or studied some basics about the subject and found it an area of strength for you?

5. Does it Offer a Career Path?

There are too many students leaving college with worthless degrees. So many graduates work in non-graduate roles because they took a course that had no value in the real world. Make sure that you’re taking a course that offers a viable career path, otherwise you could be completely wasting your time.

Conclusion – Cooling Off Period

You need to make sure that you’re giving yourself enough time to think about this. Rushing into the decision will only increase the chances of leaving disappointed later.

What do you think is the best way to make sure you choose the right major?

Jimmy Rohampton is a freelance writer, business consultant and the creator of HowToCreateABlog.org, where he empowers people to gain digital skills.

How to Better Coordinate Group Study Efforts

By David Gutierrez

 Few studying ideas are as polarizing as the concept of “group study.” On one hand, working together with others has a lot of advantages. You’ll be better motivated to study if you’re held socially responsible for meeting up, you’ll get to exchange ideas with people who have different perspectives, and you can play games or use other interesting, interactive methods to learn new material, rather than burying your nose in a book.

The downsides are what make group studying a challenging notion for many. Not only do you have the possibility of getting stuck in a group you don’t get along with—you also have to go through the trouble of coordinating study time with everyone’s busy schedules. You can’t change anyone’s personality—but you can implement strategies that make it easier to coordinate group study.

Coordinating Group Study

If you’re struggling to get your group together, try using some or all of these strategies:

1. Use a voice broadcast or mass message system. The easiest way to get several people up to speed at once is to use a voice broadcasting or mass text messaging system, which can distribute a message to your entire network of contacts in mere minutes. This is especially helpful for larger groups, where managing communication can be nightmarish in complexity.
2. Set expectations early. Don’t set up a vague “group study” meeting and opt to iron out the details later. If you want the group to be successful, you need to set expectations going in. How often are you going to meet? What are you going to cover when you meet? Can anybody join at any time? Will you be doing anything special for major upcoming exams? Let people know what type of group this is in advance to avoid problems later.
3. Establish a regular meeting time and place. Along those same lines, it’s best if you set a regular meeting time and place as soon as possible—for example, Tuesdays at 8 p.m. in the library. That way, you proactively avoid scheduling issues that will invariably come up throughout the week. If someone can’t make it one week, they can’t make it—the meeting will still take place at its regular time. If the majority of the group votes for a change, it can still happen, but this avoids weekly struggles to set a time and place.
4. Designate a leader. It’s not necessary to designate a leader, but it can make communication easier. If one person is responsible for sending out messages and making the final call on certain decisions, it can avoid an apathetic pit of indecision that groups can sometimes fall into. If you’re not into having a leader, consider rotating responsibilities every week, so there’s a new leader cycled in regularly.
5. Set agendas for each meeting. Setting an agenda for any type of meeting will make it more productive; it gives everyone a common goal and a framework in which to work. Have your leader come up with an agenda for each of your meetings, or decide on the agenda as a group. In any case, set a time for each item—even if you go off course, you’ll still have a skeletal framework to get started with.
6. Use multiple mediums. Not everybody communicates the same way. Some people prefer texts, while others prefer email, and others prefer social media. When you need to update the group, such as sending out a study recap or changing the date of this week’s meeting, make sure you use multiple mediums. That way, you can guarantee your messages will reach all your intended recipients and you can avoid the “you never told me that” problem.
7. Understand individual goals. Everybody within your group will likely have individual goals, in addition to the group goals of increasing knowledge and getting better grades. For example, some people might specifically want to study for exams, while others may want to use it as a place to go over recent lessons for clarity. The best way to keep a group effective is to cater to these individual goals as much as possible without compromising the main directive of the group.

Deciding Whether Group Study Is Right for You

Group studying isn’t ideal for everyone. It comes with a number of drawbacks, and some people simply work better when they’re alone. However, it’s definitely worth attempting the group approach, especially if you’re new to studying in college. If you follow these best practices for coordinating and executing your group studying efforts, you’ll be far more successful—and less stressed in the attempt. After just a few sessions, you should have a good feel for whether or not the group approach is right for you, and if it isn’t, you can always go back to studying individually.

David Gutierrez has worked in the field of web design since 2005. Right now he started learning Java in order to get second occupation. His professional interests defined major topics of his articles. David writes about new web design software, recently discovered professional tricks and also monitors the latest updates of the web development.

10 NON-ACADEMIC LESSONS TO LEARN FROM UNIVERSITY

By Michael Harred

Some of us take courses that we have little interest in and will not even pursue a career in the said course after graduation. You may be one of these people who is constantly asking themselves how the course they are pursuing will help them in their life. But what about the non-academic lessons that you learn from university? Some of these lessons you will use for your entire lifetime. Here are 10 non-academic lessons that you will learn from the university.

1.      How to Deal with People

At university, you will meet many people. Some of them will be your classmates, roommates or you share a sorority with them. Some of them will tolerable while many of them will simply be difficult to tolerate. They will insist on making your life unbearable. This will prove to be a great exposure to open your eyes to the kind of people you will meet in the office in the future. You need to develop a skill of putting up with all kinds of people. You know, limit exposure to people that make your life difficult. So, work on the right mentality to deal with people. It will really come in handy in the future.

2.      Learn to Budget

Unless you come from a rich family with parents who give you tons of money, then you must really learn how to budget. Do you want to buy pizza, or go out for dinner with your friends? How much will it cost you and how much do you have? Your parents probably give you a monthly allowance. You need to budget for it to ensure that it can take you through the whole week. Allocate money for food, clothing, stationery and study related materials. Make sure you save some money for a rainy day.

3.      Learn to Prioritize

With the immense freedom, you must learn how to set your priorities straight. Will you go out clubbing with your friends at the expense of your studies? Will you take a nap instead of completing the assignment that is due? These are things that you will learn in university. You will need to make a list of things ranging in order of importance. Classes, reading, and assignments should come top of your list. Only then should you slot in non-academic stuff to do in your free time. But at the end of the day, you should have a balance between academics, personal time and time with friends and family.

4.      Learn How to Cook

Buying food or calling for deliveries is very expensive. Sooner or later, you need to learn how to cook. You do not need to make a 5-star course meal, just something edible. These cooking skills will help you survive in your later years when you are starting out on a job and are still earning a little cash. Apart from saving you money, it will ensure that you remain healthy.

5.      Perseverance Is Key

In university, you will be in a sea world of people. You need to work extra hard in order to stand out and be noticed. You may have been the best in high school, but this is no longer high school. You need to be dedicated and put in more effort. Giving up should not even be an option. Sounds frustrating, right? All these are there to prepare you for when you join the workforce where it will be a daunting task to be noticed among the other interns, or when you are angling for that promotion your co-workers have also been eyeing.

6.      Networking

Never ever burn bridges. People who you think you won’t meet again have the tendency to reappear in your life when you least expect it. You may think that being a jerk and laughing at other people is a good idea now but it is not. It will come back to haunt you in the future. It is important to establish and maintain connections in the college world. These connections might help you land a job in the future. However, do not be afraid to walk away from relationships that are detrimental to you. Cut out friendships with people who only aim to bring you down.

7.      Learn How to Market Yourself

In sales and marketing, it is always said that you are your own and best advocate. You will learn how to position yourself as a brand, not in a slutty way but in a professional way. First, you will have to create connections. Once, you’ve created them, you have to make yourself stand out from the others. How do you present yourself in front of your professors and advisors? You imagine presenting yourself in front of an interviewing panel and present yourself in the same manner. Do something that makes you look unique and stand out from the other people. After all, it is only you who knows your strengths and attributes and can present them in the best light possible.

8.      Make The Best Out of Everything

Everything happens for a reason. If you begin to question why you will never enjoy everything life has to offer. Maybe you were not lucky enough to be admitted to your dream school. But, do you simply quit studying or continue with your studies? After all, it is you who stand to gain or lose. Maybe, a lecturer has failed to show up. Don’t begin cursing him or her for wasting your time. Look to the bright side of it. You have some free time to catch up on your reading and assignments, or maybe your favorite novel. Better still, you can use the time to unwind and relax.  So, learn to enjoy what life has to offer.

9.      Engage in Extracurricular

Do not limit your college experience to classwork only. You can seek professional writing services to help with the burden that accompanies schoolwork. These services can help you get some time off your schedule for other activities. Get something to do outside your classes. You might join a group like Red Cross, engage in sports, a hobby, or simply look for a job. This may sound ridiculous, but it is not. Extracurricular activities will expose you to a lot of people and you will learn how to tolerate and understand different kinds of people. Getting some kind of job or internship will help you develop into an accountable and responsible person, skills which will help you in the professional working life.

10.  Learn How to Waver the Storm

College is the place that toughens you before you face the real world. Here, you will have more classes and assignments than what you were used to in high school. This can knock you off balance and find yourself lagging behind in your classes. Criticism will come from all corners. College mates who think you do not fit in with them. The team coach who thinks you are not talented enough to make it to the first team or the professor that will make you re-write the essay 10 times before he is satisfied. To get through this, you will need to develop a thick skin. Failure is something that you should not be afraid of. You only need to learn how to get up and dust yourself to forge ahead after every attempt.

Now, get these in your head and do not forget them. Even though academics are what brought you to university, the non-academic lessons are the ones that will make your university life memorable and prepare you for the difficult life that is waiting upon graduation. Embrace these lessons and pass them down to your friends and siblings once they also join college.
Author bio:
Michael Harred is a passionate blogger and writer at Lord Of Papers. His topics of interest are blogging, social media and education. To know more about Michael – check h

8 Tips to Enhance Your Communication Skills

By Lorraine McKinney

While communication comes naturally to many college students, there are many others who just haven’t mastered the art of good communication, and they are not able to be heard and get their points across. If this sounds like you, we have put together a list of eight tips that will help to enhance your communication skills.

1. Choose Your Words Wisely – Avoid speaking jargon or slang in conversations. Chances are, only a select group of people will understand, and your point will be lost in meaningless jargon. It is important to choose your words to ensure that you are able to convey what you truly mean. This is true in both oral and written communication.
2. Use Podcasts – Many professors are encouraging students to use audio tapes and podcasts for developing their communication skills. This is a great way to be able to listen to numerous speakers and get a feel for their styles. You can listen to podcasts on any topic. Pay attention to how things are presented, and use the good things to create your own great communication style.
3. Ask More Questions – Communication is a two-way street. If you aren’t asking questions and showing that you want to learn more, it could be taken as you not being interested. In order to communicate effectively, you need to ask questions. Questions lead to answers, and then more questions, and pretty soon you have that two-way communication working for you, and you are showing an interest in the other party.
4. Listen More – This goes along with asking questions. You can ask a million and one questions, but if you aren’t listening to the answers, you may as well not be asking the questions in the first place. It isn’t enough to just be speaking in a conversation. You really need to hear what the other party is saying. Listen, and then ask questions based on what you are hearing. Again, it will show you are interested, and you will be seen as good communicator.
5. Be Willing to Step Back – No matter what you may like to think, you are not always right, and you need to know when to step back, and be willing to do so. Stop trying to convince people that your way is the only way. You are not communicating at this point. This tip is also important for your future job, as some companies use performance management software to improve communication in teams.
6. Have the Right Attitude – When it comes to good communication, it is important to have the right attitude. You need to show that you are confident in yourself and in your ability to communicate. It is also important that you learn how to communicate with a positive mindset. Not only will this improve your communication skills, it will help with all of your relationships in general.
7. Use Good Judgement – Before you speak with someone, know what you want to achieve through that communication. When you use good judgement before speaking, it will make it a lot easier to know what to say and when to say it, as well as what not to say. This is going to help to prevent a lot of arguments, and your will be seen as a good communicator.
8. Get Feedback – If you are unsure about your communication skills, ask others how you are doing. Talk to friends, family members, colleagues, etc. and ask them what they think about your communication skills. Remember, you are going to receive both positive and negative feedback, and you need to learn how to deal with the negative so you can turn it around into something positive.

Lorraine McKinney is an academic tutor and elearning specialist.