January 29, 2013

How Many Roommates Should You Have Next Year?

Whether you live with one roommate, five roommates or no roommate during your first year at school, you’ll be faced with a critical decision midway through: how many people should you live with next year, and who should they be? Of course, you’ll want to live with a friend, or even a few friends. But living with one person compared to a group of people creates a very different environment.

So what’s the magic number for you? Well, that depends. As you’d guess, a dorm suite or apartment full of people means there’ll be a lot more activity at all times. Friends will be coming and going, staying up late or eating who knows what at all hours of the day. If you’re someone who’s always on the go and hates the very concept of boredom, a suite full of friends is the way to go. If you have only one roommate, and that roommate happens to be studying, he probably won’t want to go the gym with you. But if you have five roommates, someone’s bound to be looking for a study break.

Living with a big group also gives you greater potential to meet new people. College itself is one big opportunity to meet new faces and friends, but it’s easier to strike up a conversation with someone when he or she is standing right in your living room. As is also often the case during college, people seem more open to meeting new people. Perhaps you stuck to your same group of friends in high school; you’ll see this is much less common in college.

Conversely, living with only one or two roommates has its own advantages. Since school work comes first (right?), what type of studier are you? If you prefer to study in your dorm room and you need that quiet, peaceful setting, a house full of roommates just won’t be ideal. Sure, maybe they will all be your friends, but it would be asking a lot of them to have to live around your schedule. With just one roommate, you guys can each go about your schedules without much interference. Plus, it’s that much easier to ask only one roommate to turn down his music rather than asking five.

With only one roommate, you’ll assuredly choose someone who you trust. Students can be apt to want to live with a bunch of other students, believing in the old saying, the more the merrier. But you might find yourself living with a few friends, and then some friends’ friends, other students you might hardly know. Living with people involves trust, or even just the reassurance that a fellow roommate won’t eat your stash of Oreos! With just one roommate, trust really shouldn’t be an issue—you’re definitely good friends if you’re living together.

Alas, as any reality show reveals, there’s bound to be some drama with a whole house or dorm suite full of people. And with a large group, people are bound to start taking sides. While it would be senseless not to live with friends because of issues that haven’t even happened, it’s smart to take a moment to think how you and your potential roommates will interact as a group. Are there any grudges or conflicts already present? You’ll see your roommates every day, so make sure they’re people you can not only live with, but people whose company you thoroughly enjoy.

January 22, 2013

Your Roommate: Neither Friends Nor Enemies

It’s a common situation: you’ve just moved into your dorm and you were looking forward to meeting your roommate. Hopefully you’ll have someone agreeable to live with for the next year, hopefully you’ll even become friends. But then after a few weeks … you’re done hoping. No, your roommate’s no so bad, but nothing clicks. He or she becomes someone with whom you share a roomand not much else. This arrangement isn’t necessarily bad or negatively reflecting your social skills. It just means that, hey, you’re two new college students who have just that, and only that, in common. Of course, there are a variety of other reasons you and the roommate don’t exactly match, but a peaceful and all-around enjoyable living situation can still be easily shared.

First off, if you’re not friends with your roommate and you don’t think your roommate is interested in being friends, don’t force it. There will be so many people you’ll meet and friends that you’ll make in college that whether or not your first-year roommate was a friend will be, frankly, trivial. No matter how nice or cool you are, some people just won’t be interested in being friendsone of college’s non-academic yet still important lessons. Still, she probably won’t think of you as an enemy right from the start (and if she does, she’s being awfully judgemental!).

You actually have it easy, in a sense. Once it’s established that your roommate is neither friend nor foe, all you have to do is … nothing. Well, almost nothing. Start developing your daily routine (or lack thereof)  and getting into the swing of college. Just keep an eye on your roommate and his reactions. If you guys don’t talk much, just be observant; it’s pretty easy to tell when you’re disturbing someone in a 150-square foot room. Or, just briefly discuss a few living guidelines and call it settled.

If you’re an early riser and your roommate sleeps in, keep it down. If your roommate often  studies in the dorm room, consider going to a friend’s to hangout. It doesn’t take upper-level neuroscience to figure out how each of you can live in peace. It does take some acceptance, though: perhaps you envisioned your roommate becoming your best friend, or, heck, at least your friend. As mentioned, it’s not a big deal and is very common for this not to be the case.

Be careful, though, not to let the we’re-not-friends mentality take too strong a hold. Just because you’re “not friends” doesn’t mean you can’t be friendly and, yes, even talk sometimes. If you and some other friends are playing cards or video games, it shouldn’t mean you can’t ask your non-friend roommate to see if he’s interested. Being friends and being friendly are too different things. The latter will keep the non-friend relationship at ease and allow you to both be civil, which is important when you still don’t know each other very well after months of living together—it sounds strange, but it could the case.

Finally, don’t let a decent relationship grow bitter. It’s already established that you’re not friends—that’s fine. Dorms have a tendency to brew gossip quickly, however, so keep any negative comments about your roommate to yourself. You don’t have to be friends, you don’t even have to like each other very much, but you do have to live together. Keep in mind that a lot of other students live on your floor too. So take a trip down the hall; there will be plenty of future friends just waiting to be met.

January 16, 2013

What Role Does Your RA Play?

Your parents—fortunately—won’t be with you while you live in your dorm. This doesn’t mean that they won’t be calling or emailing on the top of the hour every hour just to, you know, see how you’re doing. But while you’re dorming, there will be limited parental supervision. Sound like a relief? Perhaps. But don’t get too carried away.

While your college wants you to feel like an adult, it knows that students can get just a little crazy during that first year at school. Your school also wants you to succeed and to be safe while living in its residence halls. To ensure this, you can count on someone to be there to supervise your floor and to provide dorm-life guidance. No, it won’t be a teacher; it’ll be a fellow student: get ready to meet your RA.

Your RA, or resident adviser, is there to keep dorm life in check and to help you adjust to living in a brand-new environment. That’s a basic job description, however you’ll quickly find some students hold a different view. The “us versus them” mentality can quickly crop up, placing fun-loving students against the stern, fun-less RAs. How strict or not your RA is, though, more so reflects how much he or she cares about your well-being.

Your RA wants everyone on your floor to be, first and foremost, safe. No, your resident advisor probably won’t try prying into your Friday-night activity plans in attempt to join the party. Rather, he just wants to know what’s up so that he can know if any unsafe or otherwise negative situations might arise. No matter your chosen weekend activity, things can get carried away, and it’s your RA’s job to make sure you and your floormates are safe.

Safety comes first, but it’s also an RA’s duty to try to ensure you’re enjoying dorm life. Sure, dorm living can be a bit over-the-top as far as communal living; it’s a lot of students all jammed into one building! It takes some effort to make friends and get to know your floormates, yet it’s often the students who don’t try to socialize who end up with dorm-life blues. While they’ll be a bit corny at times, you can count on your RA coming up with a host of activities designed to help everyone get to know each other better. You might very well make lifelong friends with some of your dorm matesor even with your RA!

As anyone who faces balancing having to enforce rules with being a friend, RAs have a tough job. You don’t have to become best friends with your RA, but as a student in a residence hall, you’ll be the one to decide whether your RA faces an easy or difficult task. Just know, you can have plenty of fun and fully enjoy dorm life while staying on your RA’s good side; and you definitely don’t want to get kicked out from your dorm! How, then, would you enjoy all that cool dorm stuff you bought?  

January 9, 2013

Learning how you learn during your first year of college



You’ll learn a lot during your first year of college. You’ll learn plenty of academic material and facts; you’ll learn your way around the myriad streets and buildings that make up your school; and you’ll even learn the best (or least worst) foods offered at the dining hall. But perhaps the most important thing you’ll learn your first year is how you learn best.

Entering college, all students will have some idea where their academic strengths and weaknesses lie. Perhaps you paid attention in high school and listened closely to your teachers’ lessons. Perhaps this effort was enough to earn you As. If you plan on using this same method in a big, lecture-style class in college, it might work out fine—but then again it might not. If you find that your lack of adequate notes was to blame for a low score on a first test, well, at least you’ve realized you’ll need to change your learning techniques. Now it wouldn’t take a neuroscience major to figure out that better notes will lead to better studying, but realizing how you can improve academically in your first year is critical.  

And speaking of hitting the books, you’ll only make the rest of your college career easier if you figure out what type of studier you are. There are night owls, last-minute crammers and those who study at a slow but steady pace. Some study just before bed, while others use that time to unwind and instead study-up before breakfast. Try studying at different times of the day. Have some coffee, or hold off on the coffee. Study with a friend. Study alone. Just find out what works best for you, and you’ll have your technique honed in for the rest of college. 

Students can always recall their favorite teachers from high school (and, in all fairness, their least favorite).  College professors and instructors will also prove to be a varied—and often eclectic—gang. But as tempting as it will be to sign up for a class with so-called "cool," "fun," or "wacky" professors, try and gauge them more by their teaching styles. Some students will learn better from their books, and if it's an instructor who assigns a lot of reading, that teacher could make a good fit. Some professors will get up there and just wing it through their daily lessons, promoting discussion and feedback over word-for-word lectures. You might find instructors like this more engaging—or you may find them more distracting. But keep your classes varied and you'll surely encounter teachers who teach differently. Focus on their teaching styles so you can find the right fit. Most schools have a period of time at the start of each semester where it’s easier to drop or switch a class. Once you know your preferred teaching style, if you think a teacher may do more harm than help to your learning, get out of there!  

With so many changes and new events taking place that first year, don't forgot to focus on developing yourself as a student, as a learner. As important as it is to pay attention in class, pay attention to your learning style, too. While college isn't easy, it can be made easier—and learning how you learn will do just that! 

January 3, 2013

n“Ice” Pickings – Moving into College during the Winter

 
While the majority of college bound students move into their dormitories during the Fall Semester, a few students trickle in during the Spring Semester. To make sure that your transition is effortless or at a minimum of requiring less effort, I have compiled a list of key points to remember.
1.       Dress Warmer – Where I am writing this from in NY, the weather is on average 20 or lower degrees Fahrenheit during January. Not only does that mean cold fingers, but black ice as well. The less you have to carry back and forth, the safer and easier move in day will be. This leads me to my next point.
 
2.       Don’t Over Pack - College rooms are often much smaller than students are accustomed to. This means less space to store your large wardrobe. You shouldn’t bring every piece of clothing with you. Before moving day, sort through your clothing and realize that maybe some 20% of your clothing you wear 80% of the time. That leaves 80% fluff. Don’t bring too much fluff or your room with slowly transform into a marshmallow of clutter.
 
3.       Pre-Pack in Boxes Beforehand – Slowly organizing your college supplies into boxes will eliminate the packing shock 1 or 2 days before you have to move. Secondly, boxes are durable, easy to carry and a surefire way to organize your supplies into relevant categories. (Bathroom, bedding, sport, clothing, electronics, etc.)
 
4.       Easy Transportation – Use the school carts provided by your school to make transporting all those boxes easier and safer. The trolleys will expedite moving in and out of the dorm room since these will fit in the elevator. Nothing is worse or more embarrassing than slipping on ice while carrying your fragile items, so be sure to utilize these available resources.
 
5.       First In, Last In – Fragile items should be the first things you carry in. They are often just a box or two and free up your hands. There is often some paperwork to complete, keys to receive and a hustle and bustle the first time you step into the dorm. When you arrive at the dorm, set these boxes in a corner so that they are protected and you can now preoccupy yourself with the loot still left in your vehicle. I also bring the valuables in last just as a precaution. Roommates will be filling in, doors will be left open and dozens if not hundreds of people will be moving about.