Hey everyone, My name is Quinton. This is extremely new for me. I’ve never heard of or used WordPress. If I had ran across it before I don’t remember. I’m always up for new challenges. Its a plus that this allows for website creation because I want to use something like this in the future for personal reasons. I’d originally only known about Wix.com. Interesting!
Tag Archives: College
The Problem with Graduating…
My whole life I’ve been waiting for the day I would walk across the stage, in my cap and gown, and receive my degree. I would wave to my family in the crowd and feel like I made my parents proud; but as graduation approaches I’ve been feeling a bit uneasy. Why am I fearing something I’ve always looked forward to? Is it because I’ll finally be an adult who can’t blame their lack of finances on being a “broke college student” or is it because I now have to be 100% accountable for my status in life?
Being in college has been somewhat of a crutch for me. While all my friends moved on after undergrad in pursuit of their long-term career goals, I decided to start over and pick another major. For four years I had college as an excuse for all my social and career set backs – but recently I’ve realized that I’ve help myself back.
Post-graduate depression is a real thing. Although it might not have an official term, many grads are feeling the effects of this type of depression and I’m scared I might become one too. In 2017 The Washington Post published an article by Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez titled There’s such a thing as post-graduation depression. I know: I had it. Rochaun shares her struggles, the effects of post-grad depression, and not knowing she wasn’t alone in this adventure.
– Rochaun Meadows-Fernandez, The Washington Post
Some of the signs of post-grad depression are “an abnormally negative perspective, decreased motivation to get out of bed, a general sense of hopelessness and, occasionally, substance abuse.” Rochaun mentions that studies on young adults post-grad depression experiences aren’t easily available and most studies on young adult depression isn’t centered on this specific issue.
As a Twitter user I come across many posts daily that cover a range of topics including college student woes. The coursework, the debt, the pressure from society to get a degree in a field that you most likely won’t work in; you can’t deny the immense stress young adults are experiencing daily. So if students are carrying tons of stress for at least four years straight, why wouldn’t they have detachment and identity issues once they graduate.
College is the addiction in this situation and graduates are suffering from the withdrawals of stress and staying up late nights. My fear of graduation stems from the extreme shift my lifestyle will experience. Although there are some struggles I will face, I need to get comfortable with failure and practice separating my life’s value from societies “one size fits all” standards. Students and graduates aren’t all the same; we think, process emotions, and value different things in our lives. It is a shame we let these standards effect us negatively and break us down; but I say enough is enough. I refuse to let this next chapter in my life be ruined by other peoples opinion on my life and if you’re a recent graduate or will be soon, try your best to reject the hate. And finally, seek help from a medically trained professional; therapy does wonders for the mind and body so take a chance.
A new way to Student
As a college student I am required to buy quiet a few books each semester. Going to the school store can be very intimidating. So many books for all the different majors. I find myself waiting for assistant to find a book, and then waiting again to get through the check out line. On average it takes me about thirty minutes to get my books. Never again, now I order all my books through Chegg.com.
Now that I use Chegg it takes me 10 minutes to get all the books I will need for that semester. One of my favorite features that Chegg offers is the ability to read the books before they arrive. They give you access to an online book immediately after purchase. However, some books do not offer this due to copyright issues.
In addition to selling books Chegg also offers a lot of studying tools for all sort of subjects. From study guides to Q&A with Tutors, Chegg has all you student needs.
Un-Mankind?
A student at Northern Arizona University lost a point for using mankind in his essay.
While I completely agree that we should never encourage sexism or racism, boycotting words such as ‘mankind’ and ‘man-made’ and punishing college students who use such words in their essays by taking points off their grades is ridiculous and is taking away time and attention from other pressing issues. As a woman who is an advocate for women’s rights and encourages equality for everyone, I just feel like this is too much and distasteful. This is taking gendered language too far. At the time when this word was invented it was probably geared towards a gender-neutral meaning. As a college student we all understand the importance of every point in our assignments, quizzes, and tests. Imagine getting docked for a word, even if that word has MAN in it; instead of “human” or “people”
We cannot expect all students to completely change things they’re used to all of a sudden. Even if such words are to be banned forever, students need time to get used to the change. “Docking points” is unacceptable. Sorry Northern Arizona University, that’s not the right way to correct “sexist” language.
Savings on a College Budget?
I’m totally going to rant out for a moment about a blog post I read on how to save money.
First off let me warn you, I’m paying my way through college, while working a fulltime job that barely makes ends meet. So I’m sure you can imagine it’s difficult for me to look at saving money the same way as someone who can live off of 51 percent of their income. Currently a growing savings account to me is a fanciful land where fairies and dragons roam lush forests filled with rainbow waterfalls, Reality is… However, I still thought I should read the blog post and see what I could learn about saving some extra money. Here’s a snapshot from the blog: “Throughout the year, I lived on an average of 51 percent my income ($28,000), saved 31 percent ($17,000), and spent the other 18 percent on travel ($10,000). I proved that I could live on less, save more, and do more of what I loved, and learned so many other lessons throughout the process.” The author goes on to share some suggestions like cutting out spending money on nonessentials such as her $100 plus a month habit of buying coffee. Are you kidding me? That’s when I realized my monthly savings is the equivalent to someone’s bad coffee problem and I couldn’t relate to what I was reading. The author leaves out the possibility that her audience might not have the same financial means as she does. The post would have been more effective had she considered a wider audience. I, like the author of the post I disagree with are biased. Having your own perspective is an inevitable aspect of online communities and it’s not a bad thing, we just have to recognize this factor.
Link to post:
The Lack of Sleep During Your College Years
If you stop and ask a college student if they’ve ever pulled an “all-nighter” to study for a test, or to write that last minute paper the response is likely, “Yes”. I know during the years I’ve been in school I’ve sacrificed a lot of sleep due to my procrastination and poor study habits. The relationship college students have with sleep is something that needs to be improved in the years to come. According to Shelley Hershner and Ronald Chervin 50% of all college students report daytime sleepiness and 70% report they attain insufficient sleep. Those numbers are quite high, but not shocking to most. The lack of sleep for college students attribute to lower grade point averages, higher rates of car accidents, and possible failure of college classes. Not only do GPAs and academic success hinge on the amount of sleep a college student gets, but the lack of sleep also attributes to altered, negative moods.
One reason college students attain insufficient sleep is simply because there is so much going on around college campuses. Both academically and socially, students can be overwhelmed with the prioritization of their needs. Living in a college dorm is a blessing and a curse. Each pair of roommates have a different schedule and a different set of priorities. As the years go on, it seems as though self-care and wellness seem to go by the wayside. To fix this problem, the path is a two-way street. Universities need to adjust policies and engage in campus outreach to spread the message that sleep is exceptionally important to a student’s academic success. Also, students need to realize how much of their success hinges on getting the appropriate amount of sleep.
Read further:
Sleep Study
Time to Sleep
When was the last time you woke up feeling refreshed and well rested since becoming a college student? It’s not typical when we have many classes, assignment deadlines, group projects, and class discussions that we try to cram at 11:59 pm. No one said that college was going to be easy, but who thought it was going to be this difficult getting eight hours of good sleep at night—I’m lucky if I get six!
One thing we constantly sacrifice as students is our SLEEP. There are so many negative effects of not getting enough sleep though, and it has to change… like right now. According to the University Health Center of Georgia,“On average, most college students get 6 – 6.9 hours of sleep per night, and the college years are notoriously sleep-deprived due to an overload of activities.” It goes on to say, “Recent research on college students and sleep indicates that insufficient sleep impacts our health, our moods, our GPA and our safety.”
Sleep is crucial for everyone. Although we are constantly dodging it for more ‘significant’ priorities like catching up with friends to unwind from our drowning week of assignments, exams, and just a workload of never-ending deadlines, we need to start jotting down in our calendars to try get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. That way, we live a more productive and healthier life. After all, as Dr. Knepler says, “Half the reason you’re at college really is to learn and not getting enough sleep can keep college students from their goals of succeeding in school.”
So, let’s get some great night time sleep and pass our classes well-rested.
If you want to get more tips and advice on how you can get more sleep at night, the articles below have some wonderful pointers.
Staying Healthy in School
It’s that time of year where everybody is hacking and sneezing all over the place. If you aren’t sick, the person sitting next to you in your Media Studies class probably is. The best way to deal with the sickness is to avoid it altogether. Here are a few tips for keeping yourself healthy while on your grind.
-Antibacterial wipes
Our cellphones are great for keeping us connected at all times, but they’re also breeding ground for the germs that will make us sick. Check out this article from CBS regarding how much…stuff…is on your phone.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-best-way-to-clean-your-grimy-bacteria-laden-cellphone/
The best way to prevent flu-causing bacteria from being transferred to other surfaces, including yourself, is to clean your phone. Bye, bye, germs!
-Drink lots of water
Yes, even if you hate the taste of it. Water is necessary for the body to function properly. It keeps everything moist and doing what it’s supposed to do. Here’s an article about how water can prevent you from getting the flu. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-203142/Why-water-ward-flu.html
There are lots of simple ways to stay healthy this time of year, and these are just a few examples. Take the time to keep yourself healthy!
Your Mental Health, You Should Care
Being a college student is stressful in itself due to deadlines, major projects, and weekly assignments. Many students work a full time job while juggling multiple courses and some students have families too that they need to take care of. Personally, I have had a terrible past year for my mental health due to a stressful job and major life events but I have recently been working on bettering my mental health by leaving that stressful job and starting a new one that is a lot less stressful with a lot of fulfillment throughout my day.
When trying to understand how to improve my mental health, I stumbled upon a study from the University of Michigan (www.uhs.umich.edu) that provides 10 ways to better your mental health and they include sub points as well. Such as, take care of your body by drinking more water, get enough sleep, or eat nutritious meals. There are so many important aspects to improving your mental health and even the littlest of steps can make a huge difference.
As a college student, I often stay up late working on homework or writing papers and then I work early in the morning so my sleep schedule gets ruined during each semester. Sleep is a very important factor in maintaining a adequate mental health routine. There are a lot of other factors associated with not getting enough sleep which are laid out in www.livingly.com
I wish you all the best of luck with improving your mental health because there is always room for improvement especially during the semester. I wish you all the best of luck and hopefully these links come in handy.
Need Help Studying?
Do you find yourself stressing when it comes to tests? Feel overly anxious when you try to sit down and study? With the help of topuniversities.com and oxfordlearning.com you can overcome your fear, and be better prepared for test day!
One of the most important concepts is to give yourself enough time to study. It’s better to study 1 hour every day for 5 days, then to study for 5 hours 1 day. By studying the same content repeatedly, your brain has an easier time remembering it.
Another key tip is to organize your work space and steer clear of distractions. By focusing solely on studying, you will be more apt to remember what you are studying, and do it in less time! If you stay off YouTube for 2 hours and study, you can go on YouTube all you want after.
Another big tip is to study using old test, if this is possible. This will allow you to see questions that are similar in nature, so you can get a food feel for what the test will look like. This way there’ll be less surprises come test day.
Organizing a study group is another great idea. By working together with your fellow peers, you will be able to better understand the material. You will create a vivid memory of the things you studied and will be better able to recall the information you learned at the time. Also, helping and teaching others will solidify the information in your brain, making it easier to recall that information for a test.
The final tip is to take regular breaks and to snack on brain food. By taking regular breaks, you allow yourself to fully process and store the new information you have just learned. By snacking on brain food, you are refueling your tired brain after it’s been working so hard trying to remember all those vocab terms!
For the full list of tips, check out the links, and good luck on your next exams!
MDST 485 Class Blog 