Training for College: Overcoming Stress

In college everything is bigger! The teams, the parties, the student body, and most importantly, the stress. Stress is always present in college; there's demanding course work, pressure of living alone, applications for internships, and countless activities, not to mention the struggle for a decent night's rest. Encountering stress in college isn't a matter of "if" but a matter of "when." Follow these tips if you want to get a grip on stress:

• Get a head start. This goes for everything: papers, tests, projects, homework, applications, etc. In college, procrastination is NOT your friend and it should be avoided at all costs. Start studying for a test a week or so before, start your papers as early as you can. If a professor gives you two weeks to do an assignment, chances are it's going to take a good chunk of time to do. I always felt the pressure of a huge project lift off if I started it sooner rather than later. That way I can get a feeling of how demanding the project will be.
• Plan it out. If you get a huge project in a class, break it into chunks. Plan out times during the day in which you will work on it. If you work steadily on a project over a period of time, it will be way easier and cause way less stress.

If you start to feel stressed out, here's some suggestions on how to cope with it:

• Exercise. One of the best ways to counteract stress is by sweating it out.
• Separate yourself from whatever is stressing you out. Getting away from what ever is causing you stress will allow your body to relax.
• Read a book for fun. What better way to relieve stress than a good book and maybe some Starbucks!
• Go on a walk. (Especially if you go to Michigan State! The campus is beautiful!)

If you still feel stressed and don't know how to cope with it, talk to someone. A college campus is full of resources that will be able to help you:

• RA's. RA stands for Resident Assistant. There's an RA on every floor of a residence hall. They have been in your shoes and will be able to give you some helpful advice on how to help out with your stress.
• Friends. If they are close to you, they can probably tell when you're feeling stressed or pressured, so you will end up having to tell them anyways. Sometimes having someone listen to what you're going through will be enough to get over it.
• Counselors. These people are specifically trained and employed by the university to help you with your problems, whether you're dealing with anxiety, homesickness, or stress. Take advantage of them!

Stress is unavoidable, but there are numerous ways of coping with it. Also, if you do end up getting stressed out, there are tons of resources to help you get back on track.

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony

Training for College: Sleep

Yes, college is going to mess with your sleep. If you're one of those people that need complete silence  to sleep, college is going to be brutal. When you live on a floor with 20 or so other college kids, quiet isn't going to happen. There's even a train that passes my dorm at 4 in the morning. In order to be best prepared to get your precious zzzz's, I recommend a couple things:

• Learn to sleep with white noise. I would start now, while you sleep play music, turn on a fan that makes some noise, or play waterfall sounds. In short, learn to fall asleep when there's noise! This will make you very prepared for the numerous noises you will encounter in college. It may be a snoring roommate, or someone two doors down who is blasting music while you try to get some sleep for an exam the next day.
• Get a source of caffeine. If you didn't get the sleep you wanted, caffeine is the next best thing. While it isn't a replacement for sleep, it surely is the next best thing. Caffeine in college serves two purposes:
• All nighters. If you have an exam or a project due and you're very behind, caffeine will be a godsend. Caffeine will give you that little push you need to study a little later and learn a little more material than you would on your own. While yes, cramming is not the best way to study for a test and you will be better off studying a week or so before. Let's get real, you're going to be cramming and caffeine will help.
• Early mornings. Everyone is bound to have that one early class, either an 8am or 9:10am that is nearly impossible to wake up for because you stayed up till 3am watching Game of Thrones. Caffeine will serve as a morning pick-me-up. From personal experience, the only thing that gets me up for my morning classes is the thought of an early morning energy drink.

Yes, sleep in college is going to be an issue, but if you take these two tips into mind it will make your college life just a hint easier.

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony

Things You Need to Add to Your College Shopping List

College is just around the corner! I'm sure most of you are either planning or making shopping trips to load up on everything you need to make your dorm room your home away from home. While you're out and about, Be sure to add these items to your shopping list!

• Bed Sheets. This should already be on the list but make sure you get the right size. At Michigan State, the size of the beds are extra long twin size. I don't think department stores have these in stock. Luckily, Michigan State sent us a website that had sheets for our specific bed size.
• Silverware. Many students like having a late night Mac and Cheese or Ramen, so silverware is defiantly something to add to the list. I would recommend buying plastic silverware because after you finish with whatever you're eating you can just pitch the silverware. Now while taking an extra 30 seconds to clean off a metal one doesn't seem like that much of an inconvenience, believe me keeping clean in college is harder than it seems. The more things you can throw away after using the better.
• Fan. Believe me, its going to be HOT in the summer. My roommate and I had 2 fans running at all times and it was still hot in our room. if we turned them off at anytime, it heated right back up.
• Bottled Water. College tap water tastes funny. Pardon the graphic description but ours had so much iron in it that it tasted like blood. Believe me, get bottled water.
• Shower Caddy. Sadly, you can't leave all your shampoo, soap, and other things in the shower anymore, especially if your floor has a community bathroom (this means the entire floor shares a bathroom). Getting a shower caddy will help make moving to and from the shower easy.
• Stepping Stool. If you're on the shorter side this is a definite need. It will also help you get out of bed if your's is lofted.
• Bedside Stand. I'm not sure what the exact name for this is, but it will make your life way easier. Its a table that clips onto the side of your bed and its designed to hold items such as your phone, book, or water bottle.
• Futon. It's great for having people over to hang out and also if your friend wants to crash after a long night.
• Medicine. Going to college means being surrounded by hundreds of new people, this means germs. No matter how strong your immune system is, you're going to get sick. Having a cabinet full of quick remedies such as cold medicine and Tylenol could be a life saver if you're feeling under the weather. Also, having some Advil stored away will really come in handy if you stayed out too late the night before ;)
• Storage. Your dorm room is going to be a bit crammed. Having ways of storing your belongings will keep you from tripping over all your stuff. You can use bins, shelving units, or various other things. For example, I used milk crates that were zip tied together to store my Play Station 3 games, along with some plates and cups.
• Lights. While not a complete necessity, having a smaller light source such as a lamp will come in handy if you or your roommate value sleep. Imagine going to bed at 10pm to get some rest for an exam the next day. At 1:45, your roommate comes into the room after going into town with some friends. Now, wouldn't you want a lamp or something for your roommate to turn on rather than the main dorm lights? Also, I have seen many dorm rooms decorated with Christmas lights and while it isn't necessary, it looks really really cool!

I hope this list aids you in your college dorm shopping endeavors! As I think of more items I'll update the list.

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony

Why You Shouldn't Room With Your Best Friend

Imagine the fantasy of living with your best friend in college! Your parents are back home, now it's just you two to conquer the university. You have known each other for many years and you feel like you would be perfect roommates for each other! While this may seem like the road you want to travel down, I do have some reasons for not living with your best friend in college:

• Get out of your comfort zone. College is about trying new things and learning how to live away from home and what better way to do that than to live with someone completely new!
• Meet new people. Yes, you can do this while still living with your friend from back home. However, if you room with someone new, you have the opportunity to meet many new people. As you both live together, you begin to meet their friends as they meet yours. My friend had the opportunity of living with an international student from Brazil. She said it was one of her greatest experiences while at Michigan State! 
• The possibility of ruining the friendship. While this may seem hard to imagine at first, it is a real possibility. There are a handful of college students that can say that they lost a friendship due to living together. Imagine your best friend being a slob. You knew this going in and you didn't think it would bug you until you began cleaning up after two people rather than just yourself. Also, imagine bringing home a girl or guy that you kinda like and you walk into your room and your roommate left all their clothes on the floor. Might be grounds for a fight.
• The need for some space. Everyone needs some alone time, some time to unwind and chill out. Alone time will be harder to come by if you live with your best friend and you two are constantly together. Constantly being with the same person all the time might cause some tension. 

Going to the same college with your best friend is a fun experience none the less, but I would strongly recommend rooming with someone else. Use college as a time to branch out and meet new people. Also, most universities have services that you can go to if you and your roommate are having issues. These services will either help you two work out a compromise or they will get you a new roommate if things are really that bad.

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony

How Many Credits Should I Take?

College works different from high school with respect to how classes are organized. College classes are assigned credit amounts based on how often the class meets per week. For example, a 4 credit class meets for 4 hours a week. Note, this doesn't necessarily mean that you have to attend a 4 hour lecture each week. It'll be divided over the week. For example, my WRA (Writing) class is a 4 credit class and we met twice a week for 2 hours. When signing up for credits, its a good idea to be in the 14 credit range. I took 14 credits and found it to be very manageable.

One thing to keep in mind, credits are assigned to classes based on how often they meet, not on how difficult they are. What I'm trying to say is a 3 credit biology class is probably going to be a lot more challenging than a 3 credit sociology course.

I know for Michigan State, you have to be taking 12 credits to be considered a full time student. Most students take anywhere from 12-14 credits each semester. Some students who are on top of their school work take 17 credits.

In conclusion, take as many as you feel comfortable with. I would recommend taking 12-14 your first semester and based on how that went, you can plan better for the upcoming semesters.

I hope you find this information useful!


Thanks for reading,

~Anthony

How to Best Schedule Your Classes

Happy Thursday all! It's Anthony here and I have some tips on how to best schedule your classes for your first year of college. Say goodbye to being in school for 7 hours a day and say hello to the college life. College classes are vastly different from high school classes because they don't meet everyday. In college you have way more flexibility with your schedule; you can start and end your day pretty much however you want. Imagine having only three classes on you're busiest day! When it comes time to draw up that schedule, here are a few tips to make sure your schedule is on point:

• Know yourself. If you can't see yourself being productive (or much less awake) early in the morning, don't take an 8am. On the contrary, if you're a person who likes to go out and party, don't take a night class on a Friday.
• Look at a university map before drawing up your schedule. In high school, you had to move from room to room between classes, now you have to navigate an entire college campus! Give yourself ample time to get from class to class.
• Give yourself a break. Play with your schedule. Many of my friends were able to work out their schedules so they have no Friday classes. A three day weekend every week doesn't sound half bad, right? Also, remember that you might have to put more classes on another day to make up for that.
• Listen to your advisors. They know what classes you have to take to graduate and sometimes they'll be able to give you the "scoop" on which professors are good and which are bad.

I hope these couple tips can help make scheduling classes just a tad easier.

Thanks for reading and happy scheduling!

Anthony

Quick Tips for an Easy and Stress-Free Orientation

I was talking to one of my neighbors and he remarked about being somewhat nervous for is orientation. I figured it would be a good idea to repost this article as school lets out and college preparation begins. Summer Orientation can be a nerve racking experience; its the first dose of the university of your choice. I remember my orientation as being super busy. It only lasted a day and a half but we were on a tight schedule. They had us hearing presentations, taking tours, picking classes, and there was also a small hint of fun. When it comes to orientation I do have a few tips:

• Schedule your orientation day (or days) early. What I discovered with Michigan State was that classes were already filled to capacity by the time I went to orientation. I remember sitting down with my advisor as she scrambled to find me classes to take. I was still able to get the same class, however it was at an inconvenient time (8am lectures get old really fast!). 
• Take your entrance exams before the orientation day. I know it may be hard to find the time (or willpower) to do schoolwork during senior year summer, but getting them done means there's one less thing to worry about when you show up on the orientation date.
• Be friendly. While at orientation, we were grouped together by college and later by actual major choice. I really wish I had taken the time to talk to them and get to know them. Knowing people who are pursuing the same major as you can really pay off. It gives you a study partner and if they're a couple classes ahead of you, you can ask for their notes! 
• Take time to ask questions. Orientation staff are always friendly, why would the university put unfriendly people on a welcoming committee to incoming freshman? They know you're a little nervous and college is a big step. They're ready for any question you may have and are more than happy to answer it.

I hope this insight helps you as you approach your senior year summer and begin preparing your stuff for college.

Best of luck and thanks for reading!

~Anthony

Introduction

Hello everyone,

My name is Anthony Vogel and I'm finishing up my freshman year at Michigan State University. I'm creating this blog in order to help perspective college students prepare for a new step in their lives by sharing events from my first year of school. College was a serious roller coaster for me, I had moments where I felt on top of the world and others where I felt so depressed I didn't know where to turn next.



I hope this blog is able to help make the adjust to College life a little easier!


Thanks for reading!!!

Anthony