planning

Easy Ways to Invest in Your Future

Posted on by Olivia Meier

Invest in Your Future

Life, especially in early adulthood, is hectic. With having to manage school, social activities and working life – it is easy to forget about the most vital part of this equation – you. As the saying goes, to invest in yourself is the best investment of all. Here are a few ways to invest in your future – and the best part? They’re easy and not-so time consuming.

Create Healthy Habits

Your physical health is key to maintaining a healthy well-being. When you look good, you feel even better – and that phrase is entirely true. Eating well, getting enough rest, and doing some form of exercise each day will help create a healthier lifestyle. Rest directly affects your ability to focus, and eating better in combination with daily exercise boosts your metabolism. All of these will create a happier and healthier you in the future. Having trouble getting started? Check out this article from Creating True Happiness. The sooner you invest in your future, the easier it will be to create a routine.

Build Your Knowledge

Whether you are graduating high school, undergraduate university, or even graduate school – keep learning. Continuing your education is one of the best ways to invest in your future. In particular, higher education opens many doors beneficial to your future self. It will help you make vital connections and ultimately you will become a well-rounded person. Even more, higher education is pleasing to potential employers. They understand graduating requires good time management skills and a greater ability to think through a problem. They also know education is a personal choice to invest in your future, demonstrating you’re business savvy.

Begin Saving

I understand saving is difficult to do while going to school and having to pay bills, but it’s important for a successful future. Even if it’s as little as fifty dollars a month from your paycheck, any small sum will make a difference. It’s vital to have some savings before you are completely submerged in adult life. This way, it will be easier to transition from college life to your own apartment because you will have some money for potential emergencies. Trust me, your future self will thank you later for saving – so start now!

With these tips, you will soon be on the way to a brighter future. Having healthy habits, continuing your education and savings some money are great ways to invest in yourself – so step back from your jam-packed schedule and focus on you.

 

 

Keeping Up With Life Outside of College

Posted on by Carson Eggers

For some students, moving several hours away from home to attend college is necessary to pursue a quality education. Going to a new place and meeting new people is wonderful, but what about all the family and friends you left behind? Their life still continues while you’re away. At some point during your college career, you will be faced with the choice of either going to class or going to some kind of special event such as a wedding or baby shower. Here are some tips for how to balance your life at school with your life away from school.

Weekend Gatherings

Plan Gatherings on Weekends

If possible, try to schedule (or ask others to schedule) special events or gatherings on weekends. Heading home on a day when you don’t have class is much easier than during the week. This is also when most people have time off work, so it should fit better with non-student family and friends as well.

Setting Expectations

Set Realistic Expectations

You are not going to make it to every single one of your cousin’s basketball games. Don’t promise family and friends you will show up to all their events when it is not possible. Be realistic when deciding what events you are going to try to make it home for. Also, make sure your relatives understand you are busy. They may not like the fact you are missing family events, but ultimately they should understand your education is important and must take priority at times.

Calendar

Plan in Advance

If you know about an event at the beginning of the semester, go ahead and start planning for it. Professors are more understanding and flexible when they receive notice far in advance. If you wait until a week before a big test to tell your professor about your sister’s upcoming weeding, it is unlikely he will grant your leave of absence. Communicating your schedule to others in a timely manner helps everyone plan for the future.

Recognizing Importance

Recognize Whats Important

A close friend of mine recently found herself in a tough situation. A funeral service for her family member was scheduled on the same day as a final presentation worth 20% of her final grade. The funeral was in a different state and the presentation could not be rescheduled. It was not possible for her to attend both events. What should you do if you find yourself in this situation?

You need to recognize what is important. My friend made the extremely tough decision to give her presentation rather than go to the funeral. Were some family members and friends upset about her decision? Yes. Was missing the funeral emotionally difficult for her? Yes. However, you have to make these difficult sacrifices. You must decide what is more important to you and your overall life. Missing a special occasion is hard, but it is a necessary part of earning an education.

Balancing school and home life can be difficult when you are in college, but with a little planning you can graduate and still be a part of the family! Have any other tips for balancing life in college? Leave them in the comment section below!

 

College Student Probs: How to Have a Smooth Semester

Posted on by Elizabeth Suh

Juggling an 18-hour semester and other commitments –and sustaining a social life- has led me to hone my time-managing skills more than ever. Although I have more commitments than before, I still have free time and am no more stressed than when I didn’t have as many obligations.

Whether you think you’re doing okay, struggle with getting things done on time, or know you should do better but lack motivation, I’d like to share some things that have been extremely helpful to me in making the semester –specifically, classes-smoother and bearable. They may add some hours to your day:

• Use a planner- It can be a notepad, agenda, or phone app. The important thing is that you can organize your thoughts and look ahead to future assignments and other things you don’t want to forget, like grocery items to buy or a friend’s birthday. It also feels good to cross out or delete items once you complete them.

• Do the easy things first- Let’s say you have three assignments; one is busy work that will take 15 minutes, the other is a 20-page reading assignment, and the third is a packet of calculus problems. Let’s also say that the calculus problems will be the most challenging and time consuming for you. If you tackle these problems first, you’ll be a little worn out by the time you try to get to the other assignments. Instead, start with the easiest and knock those out first. That way, you don’t feel like you have that much left to do since you’re moving fairly quickly. Also, if you do run out of time, you would have less you didn’t do, instead of things you know you could have done like simple busy work.

• Work on projects a few days before they’re due- Never put off a project until the night before it’s due—or the day it’s due for that matter. Make sure you read directions in advance so that you can ask the professor any questions you have. Then you can feel more confident about what you’re doing. Also, separate portions of the project you’ll work on throughout a few days. It feels like less work, and it gives you goals to work toward for that day.

• Make outlines for papers- Try to write the thesis or main argument for the paper and three reasons to back it up as proof. Then, write the paper. This way, you’ll have a layout and you won’t lose your focus as much.

• Divide reading assignments- If you have 50 pages to read, if possible, read 25 pages throughout two days. Now that’s much more doable.

• Master skimming pages- They never taught you this before college, did they? A lot of times, you can get the gist of most readings by focusing in on sentences that seem like the main points; try to think of what the professor may ask if he/she were to quiz you on the reading and spend more time focusing on those sections instead of every single sentence.