10 Ways to Survive College

It’s that time of year folks, the school year is just beginning to wind down with only a couple months left. Some of you have a lot more years of high school to go, some of you are in college. But there is a good chunk of you guys are getting ready for one of the scariest times in your life, COLLEGE. (Insert scary sound effects here) But this isn’t only for people going into college, a lot of this information applies to everyone. As my freshman year of college is winding down, I think I have come up with some fine ways to help you survive. So without further suspense, here are my Top 10 ways to survive college!

1.  BE SOCIAL: college is all about making new friends and just getting to know random people. So don’t be afraid to jump outside of your comfort zone a little bit! Talk to the people in the elevators with you, say hi to your neighbor, and talk to the random kid you sat next to in class. Because you never know, they could become your new best friend!

2. DON’T SKIP CLASS:  I’m telling you right now, just don’t do it. I know that sleeping in through your 8am sounds like a really good idea, but trust me it’s not. If you skip it once, then you’re just going to keep doing it until you fall so far behind that it’ll overwhelm you. Even just being there and not taking notes is better than not being there at all. You’ll be surprised by the amount of information you retain just by listening! So get out of bed you lazy bums.

3.  STAY ORGANIZED: With so many different things going on, it’s so easy to fall behind on your class work and forget things. You must keep yourself accountable for your homework, and studying for your tests, because your professor isn’t always going to remind you. So keep a planner, and stay on top of what needs to get done. 

4.  BE COME FRIENDS WITH YOUR PROFESSORS: I know they can seem a little intimidating especially when they have over 200 students in each class, but your professors can be some of the coolest people you meet! Don’t be afraid to go up to them the first day of class and introduce yourself, or stop by during their office ours to chat. They are there to help YOU, and they want to help you. So make yourself known, because it’s going to help you in the long run.

5. FIND A PLACE TO STUDY: I can’t tell you how much this has helped me. There are a lot of places to go around campus, and if you can find a spot that you love, and where you can focus it’ll be a lifesaver!

6.  MEAL PLANS: Don’t feel the need to get the highest meal plan, trust me you will not use all of it. Think about how many times you’re actually going to eat breakfast at the dining centers, and even lunch! If you get a more reasonable meal plan, it’ll save you time, and most importantly, money. Otherwise you’ll end up like me and have 120 meal swipes left at the end of the semester.

7.  Speaking of meal plans, EAT HEALTHY: I’m not saying that you need to go and eat a salad every time you eat, but just make sure you’re making conscious decisions. Don’t be like me and eat ice cream every night. The best piece of advice I’ve heard about dining centers is, just because it’s in the dining center, doesn’t mean you have to eat it!

8.  TAKE TIME FOR YOURSELF: In college, and life in general, there is always so many things going on, and tons of stuff being thrown at you. You try too hard to be perfect at everything and get all your work done, that you forget to think about yourself. Now I’m not saying neglect all of your responsibilities, but don’t be afraid to take some time for yourself. It’s okay to take a night off of studying so that you can relax a little bit. Your health is one of the most important things to worry about!

9.  CALL YOUR FAMILY: Trust me, it helps. Whether you’re feeling a little down, or just want to talk to someone, your family is always a good choice. Because odds are, they’re missing you just as much, or even more then you’re missing them.

10. Last but not least, BREATH: College can be hard, heck life can be hard. So many things can pile up that it seems just too overwhelming, and you feel like you can’t do it all. But if you just stop for a second, take a deep breath, you’ll realize that you CAN get through it, and it’ll all be okay.

Just like high school, college is going to fly by, and pretty soon you’re going to be out in the real world with a job and adulting, stuff like that. So take your time, live in the moment, and enjoy the ride. 

Chase Kusel

State Secretary

Take a Minute

As we are all anxiously awaiting the spring weather that is just around the corner, there still is some cold and snow that we have to bear through. When it’s cold outside and everyone is stuck inside, there are bound to be a few bacteria floating around. Stand near someone who seems to be coughing a little excessively and two days later you are coughing excessively with a fever and runny nose. Don’t believe me? Ask anyone who has ever been to any type of school or my teammates.

This past week, a few of my teammates were tested positive for Influenza. As teammates, we spend a LOT of time together. I knew I was bound to get sick. My only hope was that it would be after my trek to three District Review Nights, as riding in cars while being sick is definitely not fun.

I get sick extremely easily. Even at the slightest temperature change, my allergies can act up and I am a sneezing-mess for the next two days. Because of this, I was used to just toughing it out and going along with my life. Ask my mom, I never went to the doctor throughout High School. That’s an hour out of my day that I just didn’t have, especially when I can just stop at the nearest Target and buy out their allergy medicine and cough drops. Even when I would get the Stomach Flu, I would just head into school and duck into the bathroom when necessary. The same went for work, FFA events, Speech, basically everything. My mom never got sick days at work, so I figured if she could do it I could too.

This definitely is not the best option. On Saturday, Elisa Russ (State President) and I were headed back from Northwest District Review night and I could feel the sickness starting to set in. Throughout the day, I had gone through the equivalent of three boxes of tissues and been coughing up a storm. Elisa dropped me off in front of my dorm and I called my mom to brainstorm a game plan of how to fight the incoming illness. My mom proposed I could get medicine and then just rest up before I got busy again.

Rest up? What does that mean? I don’t think I had ever really just “rested” while I was ill. I had a few things I could have been doing, but they weren’t really necessary. So I decided to take her advice.  For the next two days I slept, took DayQuil, answered just a few emails, and watched Netflix. It was wonderful. It helped me stay stress free and kick the illness before I had to get back to life again, much unlike my high school self. I really just needed that day to get back into gear.

In this day and age, everyone is always busy. We all have one thing after the other and practically no time to take a break. Whether you’re a parent, student, FFA member, employee, or anything really you often just “power through” anything that comes in between you and your busy schedule. This can be a sickness, issues outside of your work, or even just needing to take a break and chill out.

We all have important things going on in our lives, however we all need to take a minute so we can fully commit ourselves to those things. We may think that we don’t have time, but we need that minute of stepping aside in order to do our best in whatever important things we are working on. Stressed about an upcoming test? Take a short break in studying and walk outside and call your friend. Stressed about an upcoming event? Devote ten minutes of your day to just sitting and relaxing. Have some family issues come up a day before a presentation? Take the ten minutes to talk it out rather than letting the issue continually get worse.

There are so many ways that we can better handle our busy schedules than just “powering through”. Take that extra minute to take care of yourself and you’ll be able to help others and live a better life all around. Even if that means taking a full day off to fight the flu and catch up on Netflix.  

Zach Hamilton

State Reporter

Unplugged

It’s no secret the majority of us are completely addicted to social media. It is the first thing I thought of when I woke up. It is the last thing I thought about when I went to sleep, and every spare moment in between.

Social media was consuming a lot of my time, so I made the rational decision to delete it. I will be honest though, I only deleted the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat off my phone, not forever. I am not crazy!

Now here I am reporting that after three weeks I am still alive!

Fears when Limiting Social Media Usage:

1. Destroying Friendships: I would miss out on something important.
2. Productiveness: “Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding” Sound familiar? I use to spend a lot of my time checking my phone in between tasks. For instance, when working on a project I would work, check my phone, work, check my phone, and before I knew it, I would have nothing accomplished.
3. Face to Face Communication: I would actually have to talk to people, you know, face to face. Yikes!

Reality of Limiting Social Media Usage:

1. Strengthening Friendships: Not knowing what your friends are doing every second of every day is okay. It’s amazing how much we had to talk about when we didn’t have a constant “plug” into each others lives.
2. Productiveness: I had more free time (In reality, I had the same amount of time as I did before, but I was using it differently). I used that time exercising, reading books, and dedicating myself more to my activities.  I was a lot more focused at the task at hand without a constant “Ding, Ding, Ding” in the background.
3. Face to Face Communication: That didn’t change. Everyone else still had their heads in their phones. But when I did have conversations, they were more meaningful on my end because I actually listened. I wasn't worried about what everyone else was doing via Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and Instagram.

What’s my plan now? Well, I still access social media, and I may get it back on my phone at some point in time, but as of now, I do not want to go back to my old routine. The new one is much better because I can strengthen relationships, be productive, and meaningfully communicate with others.

Savannah Keitzer

Southeast State Vice President