Almost Time!

I can't speak for all of my readers but I'm sure that most of you are moving in soon or already moved into school; some of you may have started class too! As for me, I just moved into my apartment and my classes start on Wednesday. The time between moving in and the first day of class can be the most fun of the semester. There's very little you have to worry about until classes start. As it goes for this blog, I think I've prepared you the best that I could for that first college class you attend. Here are some things you can do to make that first class a breeze:

• Show up! This is most important. Start the school year off on the right foot. 
• Relax. It's only the first day of class.
• Take notes. Most professors will use the first day to tell you about their class and what to expect from them.
• Be ready to do some work. Hey you're paying a pretty hefty tuition to be in school. The professors want to teach you and you want to learn. Don't be afraid of getting some homework.
• Embrace your inner nerd. Be ready to break out the highlighters, flashcards, and scrap paper. Also, be ready to serve some time in the library.

You worked your butt off to get here and you're going to have to work hard to stay here.

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony

Welcome Week Radar

Hello all! As I can imagine, these next few days can be quite hectic as you start preparing to move in to your dorms. Welcome Week is upon us and classes are right around the corner. Welcome Week is a time to familiarize yourself with campus and prepare for school while having some fun on the side. Here are some things to keep on your radar this welcome week:

• Where are your classes? Take some time during your Welcome Week to figure out where your classes are. This isn't high school anymore; classes aren't just down the hall. You need to figure out what building, floor, and room your classes are on. The best strategy is to literally walk to each individual room. This will give you the best idea when it comes to gauging how long it will take you to get there. There is NO excuse for being late to class the first day. Take an hour or two one day and figure out where you're going.
• Class materials. Take some time to put together and organize your binders. Also organize your supplies. I've found it easier to find my stuff when it was organized.
• Textbooks. These are sometimes a welcome week issue but most people wait until classes have started to purchase theirs. The plus to buying during welcome week is you can avoid some of the lines and the books won't sell out. However, many students wait until they are a couple classes in to decide if the book is needed or not.
• Be safe and smart. Welcome week can get crazy sometimes. Always remember to be safe and make smart choices. You don't want one bad welcome week decision to hang over you the whole year. True story, my high school friends got in trouble with their RA the first night up there! 

I hope these small tips can guide you through welcome week and get you better prepared for class!

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony 

Also, check out JoggingwithJewelz for tips on how to get fit and eat right. She has tons of information to share. Also, check out my posts on the DSS Equature Blog. 

Using Google Drive For Note Optimization

During your college years you're going to take a ton of notes. In fact, if you're not taking notes then you are either super intelligent or the exact opposite. In high school I hand wrote all my notes but once I hit the college stage, I quickly switched over typing. I found that typing notes made them look neater as well as easier to share with others. Here are the pros I found to storing all my notes with Google Drive:

• It's free. No need to pay. All you need is a Gmail account and drive is automatically integrated into the tool bar. Just click over to view it and it will pull up all Drive files you have created or that have been shared with you.
• Compatible with Microsoft and Apple. No need to worry about installing some weird plug-in to get it to work. You can easily share your drive files with others.
• Accessible whenever you have internet. There is no need hardware storage with Google Drive. All you need is a device and an internet connection and you can pick up right where you left off before.
• Easy to share files. If you're sharing files with other Gmail accounts, all you have to do is hit the "Share button" and type in their gmail account name. You can even give them certain permissions with the document itself. Google Drive can even generate a shareable link giving anyone with the link itself permission to view and/or edit the document.

Google Drive is defiantly a versatile tool you should put to the test this fall. While it is great for taking notes and making presentations, formatting in Google Docs can be a challenge. This can be detrimental if you're doing a paper that needs to follow an MLA or APA format. In order to overcome this, I would type my reports in Google Drive and then copy and paste them over to Microsoft Word to do the finishing touches on the formatting. 

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony

Also, if you have time, check out my weekly posts on the Equature Blog regarding public safety and communications. Even if these topics don't concern you, the blog is well worth a read! Lastly, my friend and part time editor for my blog, Julia started her own blog, JoggingwithJewelz. She's filled it with many useful tips and tricks to stay healthy (Which may not be a bad idea as you are going to face the Freshman 15). 

How Much Effort Do I Need To Put Into A Class?

This is probably the question that everyone has but no one wants to ask. College courses can be rigorous and vague as many professors will give SUGGESTED problems that will never be collected or graded. From what I've noticed, when professors give suggested work, it is rarely looked at or completed. Many students will put this off to focus on other classes or to have more time for socializing. When it comes down to how much effort you need to put into a class, here are some guidelines:

• Extra work doesn't make you dumber. You don't lose any knowledge from doing this work. If you do extra work and for some reason it isn't collected or graded, you still gain knowledge of the material.
• If the professor suggests problems for you, there's probably a reason behind it. In case you didn't know, the professor creates your exams. Chances are that the problems they suggest will appear on an exam down the road. Doing these problems is a great way to study. For my stats class, my friend and I sat down and went through all the suggested problems the professor gave us. We found them to be a great study tool when preparing for the tests.
• What you put in will reflect your grade. Note there are some exceptions to this rule. However, the grade you get will reflect the effort you put into the class. People who skip classes, don't do homework, or don't study for the tests will have lower grades than those who do. In my Intro to Criminal Justice class, I read the book, took notes on the book, went to class, and had separate notes for class. When people asked me how I was doing so well I told them everything I was doing outside of class to stay on top of the material. Most people told me that was too much work for them. Let's just say I got the 4.0 and they didn't. 

College isn't easy and it will take some effort on your part to get the grade you want. Just remember to always aim high and put your best foot forward.

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony

PS. Don't forget to check out JoggingwithJewelz for tips on leading a healthy life (even though I'm drinking a monster energy drink as I create this post).

Nifty Dorm Room Ideas: Message Board

Hello Everyone! I hope you all had a chance to check out my last post about advice for incoming freshman. I want to thank everyone who took time out of their busy summer to share the advice. Now when you go to school, you're going to be spending tons of time in your dorm room. It'll be where you sleep, study, and unwind. In order to combat homesickness, make your dorm as personal and unique as possible. Put up things that will remind you of where you came from and make your dorm feel a little more like home. One great thing to build that'll keep your mind off homesickness is a message board. A message board is a board that is covered in different things that are personal to you. I made one at the beginning of second semester and it was both fun to build and great to look at as the year went on. Attached to this blog is a list of the things I put on mine. Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the finished product so you'll have to imagine what it looked like. Feel free to replicate what I did or take it a brand new direction:

• Pictures of family. Always need family. 
• Pictures of friends. Friends make everything better.
• EE Cards. I got these from work and I saved the funniest ones to post on my board. They were always great laughs.
• Music. I'm an full bred metal head so I had tons of pictures of my favorite bands on my board.
• School Spirit. This is another must. Your school defines who you are for the upcoming years. Embrace it! I had a couple Sparty pictures on my board. 

My board came out excellent and it was a great way for me to get my mind off of being so far away from home. Try implementing it into your college life and it'll work as good for you as it did for me.

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony

PS. Please check out my other blog about 9-1-1 dispatch improvement! blog.equature.com

Also if you have time, check out the blog, JoggingwithJewelz, created by my friend Julia. Julia has been an editor for my blog since the beginning and now she's creating her own. She has some great tips on eating healthy and exercise and even massages.

Advice for Incoming Freshman

Greetings viewers! For the past two months, I've been giving you my perspective on what school is like and how to prepare for it. As we get closer and closer to the fall I decided to ask some college students I know what pieces of advice they would give to incoming freshman. This post might get a little lengthy but it is for sure worth the read! Below are the responses to this question...

                         "What one piece of advice would you give to an incoming freshman?"

• Jean Zott, Mother of an Michigan State University college senior and Central Michigan University Alumni. "Lots of freshman start college with a graduation party fund. Although, freshman shouldn't need a lot of money because most have a meal plan, it's easy to blow all that money in as little as the first semester. Make a plan. Make a budget. Don't tell yourself you can replace the money with a job down the line. Budget a specific amount per week and stick to it. The people that gave you the money are investing in your future, not a case of beer. Don't let them down."
• Rachel Zott, Central Michigan University Alumni. "Don't forget to put water in your microwave craft mac and cheese. My neighbor almost burned the dorm down."
• Julia Spitak, Michigan State University Junior. "Think about where you want to live early on, every year. Always start up a conversation because you never know who you'll meet!"
• Wambali Nkhwazi, Michigan State University Sophomore; International Student from Malawi. "My advise to incoming freshmen would be active and be involved around campus whether its the dorms or clubs, its a great way to meet people and you can be able to learn a lot from the people you meet."
• Justin Clayton, Michigan State University Sophomore. "Don't think you have time to blow off a semester because you have 3 more years of grades to make up for it."
• Claire Gapare, Michigan State University  Sophomore; International Student from Zimbabwe. "Be yourself, and do you. Be true to who you are and that way you will attract the people and things that you like. Also, find a good support system, just 2 or 3 people will do.Those are the ones you will confide in. And lastly, pray and pursue a relationship with Jesus Christ. "
• Katie Girtman, MSU Sophomore. "Come out of your shell. This is the time to be who you want to be. You can even change your name. Be bold, and introduce yourself to everybody."
• Nick Hess, MSU Sophomore. "Go see your professor as soon as possible, like the first week of classes."
• Mitch Nouhan, Purdue Sophomore. "Make study buddies in classes right away especially if they're math or science classes. Also, intro math and science classes tend to contain large quantities of students, meaning that individual questions will most likely be unanswered; making study buddies a must."
• Natalie Moore, Michigan State University Sophomore. "My piece of advice would be to put your all into trying to reach out and meet new people right away. Me being from out of state made it hard and I was really homesick and didn't start doing that until the second semester which is when I started to enjoy myself. That's my big thing. You're there so you may as well make the best of the time while you're still adjusting to a whole new life."
• Micheal Phillips, MSU Sophomore. "Find the correct balance between your social life and academic life, grades should come first, but don't forget to have fun on the weekends too. Also, don't schedule morning classes if you're not a morning person."
• Josh Weidenaar, Michigan State University Sophomore. "Get the spartan app on your phone as well as take a picture of your schedule on your phone so you can find your classes all in one place."
• Hannah Countryman, Michigan State University Sophomore. "Don't overestimate yourself. Just about everything is going to be different and often more difficult than what you've been used to. You can't go into college taking for granted that you'll have no trouble with something you expect to be good at. It's a whole new ballgame here."
• Aaron Ferrell, Wayne State University, Senior. "Take all your classes seriously. No matter how easy or hard the class may be. Learn all that you can from each class you take. Don't just pass, excel."
• David Stern, Oakland University, Sophomore. "There are plenty of parties, missing one won't be the end of the world if you have a test or home work assignment due the next day."
• Dominic Pelchat, Concordia University, Sophomore and Starting D2 Football Player. "Be confident in all that you do while at school. If you feel confident you will perform better."
• Mandy Li, Michigan State University, Sophomore, International Student from Singapore. "Some students say you can skip classes in the first week because they're not really important. However, there will be assignments or projects mentioned in first few classes that may not be on the syllabus, demands you will be accountable for."
• Aaron Pride, Michigan State University, Sophomore. "I'd say be open to talking to as many people as you can- talk to people on your floor, in your classes, walking around, because you never know who you'll run into or what kind of connections you can forge from a simple hello." Also be sure to check out Aaron's music on Youtube (link embedded).

Thanks to everyone who took the time out of their day to make this post so great! I hope this advice helps the many beginning their college journey this fall!

~Anthony

Training for College: Fighting The Freshman 15

Hey everyone! College gets very busy, very fast. Before you know it you'll be absorbed in studying, meetings, and other "college-y" things. Add hours of activities and all night study sessions to college meal plans and fighting the freshman 15 will be quite the battle. I've put some tips together to help stay fit while away at school:

• Sit with caution. Fun fact, for every 1 hour that you sit, you should spend at least two minutes on your feet. As you sit for long periods of time, your body enters rest mode. Rest mode slows down your metabolism, meaning that your body has less "get up and go." Some college classes can be up to 3 hours long, meaning you're going to be sitting for a long time! One way to keep your legs awake is to keep them in motion. Try flexing your foot back and forth. This will make sure your body doesn't shut them down.
• Diet. This is probably the hardest thing to do up at school. There's junk food EVERYWHERE! From campus cafeterias to fast food restaurants you're never far from a junk meal. Most college freshmen don't cook regularly so finding and preparing healthy food will be very difficult. My tip is to use moderation. You don't need to get fries and a hamburger every night. And for all you Spartans, Michigan State cafeterias all offer fresh fruit upon request.
• Join an athletic club. College is going to be full of various different athletic clubs from running to under water hockey. Find a club for the sport you love or try something new! I joined Tae Kwon Do club second semester and I absolutely loved it!

Here are my tips to staying in decent shape while away at school. 

Thanks for reading!

~Anthony