Monday, November 21, 2011

Thanksgiving

“I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.”
-Jon Stewart

That time of year is coming up again.  You spend time with your relatives around a table, a giant cooked turkey in the middle, being thankful for what you have; and going Black Friday shopping to get all of the deals, hoping that you won’t get trampled to death by doing so.  My favorite part of this holiday is going to a store in early to mid November and seeing the Christmas decorations already out.  Not even four days after Halloween has ended, and Thanksgiving hasn’t arrived yet, you’ll walk into Walmart and see stockings, snowmen, and candy canes.  It’s very irritating to see that they don’t have any Thanksgiving decorations out, but humorous that they’re anticipating Christmas so soon.
Along with Thanksgiving, like most other holidays, comes controversy.  Normally, the controversy is based around the Pilgrims and Indians, and whether Thanksgiving should be a holiday or not.  This year, however, I saw an article on PETA’s controversial ad targeting children as their main audience.  As a member of PETA, though not a vegan or vegetarian, I do support some of their ideas; this one, I do not.  A child cannot understand the idea of vegetarianism, or what ‘going vegan’ means.  Is it really expected that a child will sit at the dinner table, holding a picket sign, protesting against eating turkey? “Birds are friends, not food.”  Why target this audience? It’s a holiday to be ‘thankful’ for, hence the name, and children love it just as much as the adults do.
Celebrating Thanksgiving may or may not be important to you, but it’s good to remember that to some, this holiday is a tradition.  Believe what you will, have your own opinion, but please don’t ruin it for anyone else.  To those who are going home to see their families, eat turkey (or a vegetarian alternative), and spend time being thankful:  Happy Thanksgiving! : )  What are you thankful for?
(Photo by Aaron Woehler, curtosey of stock.xchng)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Sick

"Remember, you only have to succeed the last time."
-Brian Tracy

Being sick while in college can be a curse if you don’t know how to deal with it correctly.  I spent the majority of my time last week sleeping and taking medicine.  Most crave to have a stress free week, myself included, but it’s not enjoyable when you’re sick.  I had symptoms of the flu and decided to skip my classes that Friday and go home for the weekend.  I ended up staying at home longer than intended, a little over a week to be exact.  Battling an illness can be tough enough, but what about living on campus with it?
I was lucky to have chosen a college ten minutes from my house; I was able to go home and have the comforts of my bedroom while being sick.  What about students who get sick and have to stay on campus? I figure that, even though I’m close to home, the time will come where I’ll be sick and will have to stay on campus. After thinking about what I would do, and eventually drawing a blank, I decided to look up some information on dealing with being sick on campus.
6 Tips For When You’re Sick At College was very helpful and humorous at the same time.  The writer also touched base on going to the infirmary, which most students are too stubborn to do. I, for one, refused to go to a doctor until my mother forced me to.  Trying to ride it out without medication is brave but also stupid.  A similar post I’ve found, What to Do If You’re Sick in College, mentions to treat your symptoms.  Despite how that may be helpful, I’d still suggest seeing a doctor. You could misdiagnose your symptoms and even though the medication won’t make you worse, it won’t make you better either.  Wondering what to if your roommate is sick? Read My Roommate is Sick, Now What? The article gives tips on what to do if your roommate is sick and how to avoid catching it.
With finals nearly a month away, keeping ourselves healthy is very important.  Take my advice, don’t do what I did and wait until the last minute to go to the doctor.  The sooner you get diagnosed, the sooner you get medication.  Missing class in college is a lot worse than missing it in high school, especially when it comes to taking notes.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Time Management


"It always seems impossible until it's done."
- Nelson Mandela 
 
Classes, homework, studying, work, and fun:  can we fit them all into one week? I’m still struggling to learn how to manage my time wisely; how on earth am I supposed to put fun into it? Some students say that it’s easy to do and others say that they barely have any time to breathe.  However, there are websites that can help in achieving successful time management skills.
The Study Guides and Strategies Website advises to use a planner to write down important events.  I do, although I rarely look at my planner more than twice a month. Understanding why I do this is the hard part because even I don’t get it.  Looking over the current month every time I make a new entry could be useful, but that would depend on making a lot of new entries.
I’ve been lacking in organization for years, so is it even possible for me to change? Maybe.  Do I want it to change? Yes.  Being unorganized will be my biggest downfall unless I change my ways soon.  I could always find the time to organize myself, but then the “which came first: the chicken or the egg?” comes to mind.  Where would I find the time without being organized? How can I be organized if I don’t have the time to do so? The cycle just keeps repeating itself.
There are two strategies I picked up from the website that I think I'm going to use. I like the idea of separating my day into blocks of study time and breaks. Using that strategy, I could find out what time I study best and become a better studier as well. Prioritizing my assignments would be the second technique. Which subject gives me the most trouble? I could start on it first and get it out of the way.  There are also some other helpful strategies, such as:  using your free time wisely, postponing unnecessary activities until the work is done, and performing a weekly review of due dates.  From the list of strategies on the website, which do you think you would use? Or, if you already have a successful strategy, what do you do?
 
"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson