Your Home For The Next Four Years

Junior preview day is coming up at Cedar Crest soon. Picking a college to attend for four years is a very hard choice. Right now high school seniors probably have their plans made for the fall semester, unless they’re like myself and are just beginning to look at schools with only a couple weeks left. Even though I made my choice in a very short time, it doesn’t mean that I rushed the choice without considering the important things. What are those important things? They’re different for everyone. Here are some questions and thoughts that can help you choose the right school for you:

•        How far do you want to go from home? Do you want to be able to go home on the weekends or even commute to school?
•     Do you want to know your professors personally, or blend into the crowd of hundreds in a classroom? Student : professor ratio makes a huge difference if you’re looking for a more personal learning experience.
• Is the school known for its parties and nightlife or is it a serious study environment….or a little of both? Which do you want for your college career?
• How much is too much? Can you afford the school? Loans add up quickly!

Making a list or answering questions like these help make that hard decision a little easier!

Take Time Out For Yourself

During freshman year of college, it was required to take a “first year seminar” course. This class taught us a lot of practical and beneficial things, like writing a resume, planning our schedules, and setting time aside for you in the course of the week. In between class, work, studying, and having a social life, it is important to se aside a couple of hours where you have nothing to do, or have something to do that you enjoy and can relax doing. One example a professor gave was that she does yoga every week, one night a week. I took this and applied it, and it made a big difference. I found that I could reflect on my week, clear my head for a little while of all the stress, and refresh. Without this, a person can become drained and crash. Probably almost everyone can agree.

So how do you set time aside for yourself when it seems impossible and like there aren’t enough hours in the day? Here are some suggestions:

1.Just say no: You don’t have to attend every party your friend invites you to. Sometimes learning to say no is hard, but it frees up time.

            2.Organize responsibilities: By planning ahead for things like dinner you can free up time that would have been used trying to decide every day.

            3.Workout: Being physically active can help a person to feel less anxious. This will help you feel more capable of taking on that schedule and the time spent working out adds onto “me” time.

            4.Rather than talking on the phone or thinking about all you have to do, try meditating or listening to your favorite music on your daily commute to work or school. This is a time that must happen almost everyday, so take advantage of it!

         While some people suggest taking time out for your self everyday, that just isn’t practical for everyone. Making it a goal to do it at least once a week though, is achievable.

Being a nursing major - a 2 year lifestyle

Nursing. Everyone hears that and thinks it is a great and practical major, and aside from the constant interaction with people, the main reason I chose to become a nurse. This past week I attended the Cedar Crest College nursing program’s orientation. It freaked me out.

            Full-time nursing students are expected to be available Monday through Friday for classes, plus clinical prep the night before each clinical day for two to four hours, plus time to do home work and study, and a part-time job. Will there even be time to breathe? How badly do I want to be a nurse?

            A lot of people have told me that they had to drop down to part-time to make it through the program at this school. But that isn’t an option for everyone – especially when you’re on a bunch of scholarships to make it through the four years, and those won’t be available in part-time status.

            Being a nursing major is not easy. We always joke in our anatomy class, “why couldn’t we just go for business or something”. But thinking ahead to when we get jobs in a hospital working with patients helps us get through. It will all be worth it then. This is what I have had to tell myself over the last few days as well as a friend who just told me she is starting school in the fall as an intended nursing major.
           College in general involved a lot of time and effort. Studying to be a nurse is going to be challenging, but I plan to tackle it with as much effort as possible. Using a planner to schedule things by day, week, and month will be a big help. In that schedule, there will be time set aside for myself as well. That is something that has been important to me since college began – having a few hours per week to myself to unwind and do something relaxing. It's not just going to be a full-time workload, like working a full-time job. When you clock out of work, it's usually finished for the day. No, studying to be a nurse is going to become a lifestyle for two years, until I know everything I can and am successful enough to help save someone's life.

Follow - Up: Facebook Envy and FOMO

After reading about Facebook envy, I began to reflect on how I feel as I scroll through my newsfeed on social media. Once I started focusing more on it, I realized how real these feelings are. It’s easy to become jealous of the person who just posted a trendy picture on an outdoor adventure when you’re sitting in the library studying for an upcoming anatomy test. 

To see how much it can affect a person, I decided to stop using my social media apps so frequently for a week. To do this, instead of deleting the apps completely, I moved them to a page on my phone where they are out of sight. Over the course of the last week I noticed how much I didn’t think about the apps. School, work, and hanging out with friends in real life keep me very busy. I started to wonder how I had so much free time to spend exploring those apps in the first place. Then I realized that I didn’t, and cutting back on the time wasted online let me be a lot more productive.

After the week was done, I thought about how I felt for the last week about my social life. I learned there wasn’t a big difference, but I felt satisfied with the amount of time I spent with others and with what I was doing when I was with them. It is easy to get caught up in the “fear of missing out” attitude, or become envious of what we think other people’s lives might be like. But when we stop focusing so much on others, it’s easier to appreciate your own life. Just like the phrase says “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side”. We want to make sure we don't spend our lives scrolling through an online newsfeed living through other peoples posts and adventures, instead of getting off our phones and appreciating the things we do in our own lives. 

Facebook Envy and FOMO

            Students spend a lot of time on social media. Probably more than they do studying! Looking at Instagram and Snapchat, you tend to see pictures of people partying, socializing, and going on adventures, at least I know I do. It’s easy to fall into the mentality that you’re not having enough fun ‘experiencing college’ like everyone else, or living up to the ideas people gave you of what the experience would be like. This can cause a feeling called “Facebook envy”, as professor Elizabeth R. Ortiz, Assistant Professor from Communications at Cedar Crest College labels it in the article “Life Lessons: Facebook Envy” from 69News.

            “Facebook envy is this feeling that people get when they log on, they see other people's experiences, they see other people's lives and they feel like they want that,” explains Professor Ortiz. This can cause feelings of depression in students. Looking like they’re having a great time in these posts and pictures, and actually enjoying themselves, though, are two different things. Other people look like they are doing so much, posting great and trendy pictures. In reality though, it only takes a couple of pictures taken in a specific way, even just one moment, to make someone look like they are enjoying life more.

            Due to the increase in feelings such as Facebook envy, there’s now a thing called FOMO, “fear of missing out”. With FOMO, when someone is invited to do something, no matter how small the activity, they say yes because they are afraid another invitation won’t come along. Being socially active is good, but doing everything can wear a person out. Sometimes, you just need some time to relax and do nothing, or catch up on daily things.

            To avoid feeling isolated or like you’re having less fun than others, it’s important to remember that not all posts are truthful. Images and what you see on the outside is different from what someone might actually be experiencing. Looks can be deceiving.

"Life Lessons: Facebook Envy" - http://www.wfmz.com/lifestyle/Life-Lessons/life-lessons-facebook-envy/38612864

College Debt – Who Doesn’t Graduate with It?

It’s that time of year again; registration readiness posters are all over campus. We all know what registration means – that tuition bill will follow shortly after. Students talk all the time about the amounts they have to borrow in student loans to afford college. Unless you’re one of the few who graduates debt-free thanks to family or scholarships, it is a stressor that is constantly in the back of the mind of students.

When I log in to my federal student loan account, what is one of the first things I see? How much payments per month will be after graduation. Only two years into college, it is a reminder of the need to get a job that will pay well.

            According to an article in US News, “Student Loan Expectations: Myth vs. Reality”, student loan debt is making half of current students reconsider if they should finish their degree. Standard repayment plans expect the loans to be paid back in ten years, but former student say they expect it to take about twenty years to pay back. Most students are also disconnected from the reality of how long it will take and what repayment options are.

            Even though students get a lot of emails telling them information about their student loans, most probably ignore or delete them. Loans cause more stress and anxiety on top of normal college stress. Students should read the emails or ask finance offices questions to understand their loans more. Student finance offices usually offer a lot of information on the loans process. This is something that could help students understand what will actually happen after graduation for repayment, and maybe the amounts borrowed would be less, or it would affect their decision about where to attend. 

Working College Students

            While college classes may only take up twelve to eighteen hours per week, homework assignments, extra-curricular activities, and sleep (when there’s time for it) add to take up a majority of hours. This leaves little time for work. Even so, many students have to acquire part-time jobs. US News published an article entitled "Consider the Pros and Cons of Working in College" that speaks of valid reasons for both working and not. Although it can be a stressful, US News has found research that shows students who work ten to fifteen hours per week are more likely than others, including those who don’t work, to earn their degrees.

            Working and attending school may be difficult at times, but it has many benefits. It helps college students to learn professional skills that employers expect to be learned by the time they graduate and apply for jobs. Many jobs involve speaking to customers and developing customer service skills/communication skills. This is vital to almost all jobs after graduation. Having a job also helps people learn money management and time management.

            US News explains that a downside to having a job in college is also the risk of it interfering with school. That can lead to increasing the time it takes to get a degree or not completing it at all. Time management is thus very important. School’s normally provide planners at the beginning of the year that helps in keeping track of assignments, due dates, and when campus events are being held. Calendars on the smartphones seemingly work well too.

            Although full-time school, part-time work, and social/family life can seem like a lot to handle, it provides many benefits and allows independence rather fully than relying on one’s parents or family members. With strategic planning and everything in moderation it is possible.