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For students, the first day back of school is very similar to New Years for adults: it’s seen as a time to make major personal changes. While for adults, the year is based around the calendar, for us students, it’s based far more around school. Therefore, for us it makes far more sense to apply things like self-improvement tips to the school year rather than the calendar year.

If you’re like me, then every year you decide the same thing: this year will be different. But, every year, things end up about the same.

So how do you make a lasting change? It’s not easy, and it will take a lot of will power, but it’s definitely possible.

For starters, have your ideas gathered about what you want to change. Is it something more internal, like maybe your study habits or your motivation, or is it something more external, like the way you dress or the way you act around other people? Maybe it’s both.

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As it comes closer and closer to the time to move in to your new college dorm, you’re going to eventually be faced with the prospect of buying all of the wonderful things you’ll need next year. While buying new things is always exciting, when you need a whole bunch of things for your new dorm, it’s pretty easy to forget at least one or two things that should be on your checklist.

Your school surely sent you a nice little checklist of things you should bring, but a lot of times that list is very brief and will leave off many essential items. I’ve just finished my own dorm shopping, and I put together a nice list of things I have bought, have considered buying, or have been recommended to buy.

Now, every college is different. What you need will vary from school to school. Some of these items may be provided for you (like wastebaskets), and some may not apply to you depending on what your dorm is like (like a rug). Your school will surely have guidelines about what is acceptable and what is not, and these will definitely vary from school to school. If you are at all unsure, it’s always best to either ask the school or to ask someone who has lived in your college’s dorms before.

Also, only bring what you will actually use. If there’s something on this checklist that you won’t ever use, then don’t buy it! When it comes to toiletries and school supplies, everybody has his or her own tastes and preferences. Do what works for you. This checklist is only here to help remind you of what it might be nice to have.

All that said, here’s a list of things that you might want to have:

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Whether or not you chose a roommate or were assigned one, you’re now stuck living with somebody for the next few months of your life. Obviously, you want that to be as good of an experience as possible for the both of you.

It’s best to get a start on building a strong bond well before you guys start living together. No matter what, it will be awkward at first, but you can do your best to eliminate at least some of it beforehand.

If you already know the person you’re going to be living with, a lot of this you won’t have to worry about, but for those of us who are starting fresh,  it’s best to have something to start with.

To begin, Keep reading »

Every year, you inevitably have to take a new picture for your school ID card. I always liked it because it got me out of a class period, but beyond that it was never really interesting. My pictures always looked the same.

Come senior year though, we had to take pictures twice — the first time was a formal picture that went in the yearbook. The second was only used on our ID card. We decided to have some fun with it, and so we asked the photographer if we could make funny faces. She said yes, and soon it caught on. All of the seniors had weird pictures on their ID cards.

Whether or not your high school does the same thing, taking a funny picture is priceless.

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Every year when you go back to school, everyone asks everyone else how their summer was. And it’s almost always the same: “pretty good… I didn’t do anything — it was too short…” It never fails.

As you get older, every summer goes by faster than the last one. For me, this one is flying by. I can’t believe it’s already late July, but it is.

Chances are you have a month or less left of summer, so now’s the time to start cramming in those fun things you wanted to do.

So here are some suggestions for having some summer fun before it’s too late: Keep reading »

Throughout middle school and high school, whenever someone would ask the classic question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”, my mind would always blank. Sure, I had dream jobs, but nothing realistic ever came to mind. I never thought it was very urgent, so I always put off starting to make that decision.

Come November last year when it came time to start applying to schools, I had to start narrowing it down in order to have something to put down as a major on my applications. Some schools hold a lot of weight to what you put down as your major: at some colleges, you’re stuck with whatever you put down on that application. You definitely don’t want to choose the wrong one, that’s for sure.

The best thing you can do is to try to start having an idea of what you’d like to do as a career way before you begin college applications. The more time you take now, the less you have to take later.

But where do you start? Well, the place I started was Google News, to be honest. Keep reading »

Having a good roommate is essential to your well-being. Having a roommate you don’t get along with is something you never want. Imagine coming home after a long day only to see someone you really can’t stand. Is that really want you want? Probably not, so make your choice wisely.

A lot of the time, you’re going to be stuck with someone you’ve never met before. This isn’t that bad — it gives you a great chance to branch out and meet new people. Most schools have a survey that you fill out to help partner you who is similar to you. If you’ve been assigned a roommate by your school, but you don’t know the person, read here to find out how to start building a friendship.

However, if you’re going to a school where you already know a lot of people (like a school that’s close to home), you’ve no doubt considered dorming with someone you’re already friends with. Because most schools will give you a chance to request a specific person to room with, this is very possible. And that’s all good and well, but just because you two are best friends doesn’t mean you can stand living with each other in a small room. Here are a few important questions to ask yourself when considering who to choose as a dormmate: Keep reading »

One of the most exciting things about taking a language at my high school was always that every other year they took a trip to a country that spoke the respective language. Spanish learners went to Spain, Punjabi learners went to India, German learners went to Germany.

For the kids who went on these, they were a ton of fun. I had the pleasure of going to Germany in the summer of 2006, and I would fully recommend making a similar trip. If you’re unsure if you want to go or not, maybe I can convince you.

If your family doesn’t travel much, this might be one of the only opportunities you have to travel, let alone leave your home country. Keep reading »