Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Finances


Almost halfway through the semester! Winter is nearly over, Spring is coming in, and Summer should be here in no-time! Though, as we near the beginning of March we realize that we only have so much time to do everything. There’s classes, tests, homework, studying time, worrying about filling out scholarship information, FAFSA, figuring out the living situation for next semester, etc. But it’s times like these when a person has to get his/her priorities straightened and make time for each important event.
Remember to make time to sit down and fill out the scholarship information (which is online this Academic year). The deadline for 2012-2013 is April 2, 2012. The FAFSA deadline, however, is March 1st. March 1st as in tomorrow’s date. I hadn’t checked my FAFSA, nor had I remembered any of my information, so I waited until the day before (today) to finish. It’s always good to make time and remember these dates just in case you go to fill everything out when it’s too late.
Figuring out how to pay for college is one of the most important things during this time, so it’s always good to be punctual with the deadlines.
If any of my readers have an idea for my next post, let me know via SMT Facebook, Frostburg Email (cawarnick0@frostburg.edu), or comment below!

“When we make college more affordable, we make the American dream more achievable.”
-William J. Clinton.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

College/Social Life

There is one question that has been bugging me for awhile now:  is it possible to be in college and have a thriving social life? Some would say yes, actually - a lot would say yes, but as of right now I’m starting to believe otherwise. Classes don’t take up a lot of my time but homework and studying do. This may just be the teenager in me speaking out, but even as students we should have free time to spend with friends (aside from the weekends). So now, I must ask another question: how do we fit in that free time?
A lot of people have told me to invest in a planner. I know that planners work for some people, but never in my life have they actually worked for me. The only way that I would be able to use a planner is if it was the size of a five-subject notebook and made a loud buzz to remind me to check it. Maybe it would be smart to invest in an electronic planner or something similar. Planners are a good investment, if you can actually remember to constantly check them and write everything down.
5 Easy Ways to Balance School and Life in College is a helpful link that I have found. I like the idea of color coding a schedule - it seems like it could be extremely useful. The same with having a ‘master list’ that I could hold on to. It would be a good idea to type everything in a word document, create a checklist, and check each off as I pass the event. Saying no when people ask me to do things, and I don’t have the time, is a big problem that I have. I need to practice the art of telling others no when I do not have any time.
Finding the Balance in College is a blog that also appears to be useful. I especially like the last helpful hint the blog gives: study in a public place. I’ve never studied outside of my dorm - which is not a good thing. The dorms, especially freshman dorms, are noisy and extremely hard to focus in.
I hope that these links and tips have helped some of you out there. I’m definitely going to try and adjust myself better, in hopes of having more time to spend off campus.

“You can't learn in school what the world is going to do next year.”
- Henry Ford

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Budget

    After a week of being sick, and finally making it back to my classes, I’ve overcome my inability to inhale through my nose.  Thanks to this experience, I’m going to start taking vitamins like normal healthy people do.  Being sick twice in one month, adding up to almost three weeks of illness, has to be a new personal record.  Take my advice - please - and start taking vitamins.  One of the worst things that could possibly happen during the semester is getting sick.  I’m not even going to get started on allergy season... yuck.
    Rather than listing off the same information I had the last time, I will just give the link to my past blog on being sick.  I know for sure that I cannot be the only one who was/is currently sick.
    Now, onto a better topic:  budget.  Being college students, we don’t have a large amount of money to spend.  In just two weeks I’ve spent a lot of money, though I’m not sure how, and I’m not going to share how much money it was.  I will, however, share how to control spending.  Seeing as I need to learn this life lesson, and some of you probably do as well, I’ve looked up ways to control it!

Here is a list of links that can help you control your budget/spending:
CollegeTips - This link will lead to a list of tips and extra links.

I hope that these links will help you, as well as me, in maintaining a different budget for the semester.
Have a good day and good luck!

“The lack of money is the root of all evil.”
-Mark Twain