Thinking About Freshman Year Now? Start Off College Strong With These Tips

After high school and before college, incoming freshmen are in a state of wonder. They are crossing over this metaphorical bridge, turning from teens to young adults. Entering college, they are expected to uphold a level of responsibility and not be distracted by all the new experiences they’re going to encounter. Yet to make freshman year a lot more enjoyable, see our to-do list below for a few tips.

Meet your roommate - Ask your school before move-in day for the contact information of your dorm roommate (note that some schools post this info online prior to move-in). It’s perfectly acceptable to send your roommate an email or make a call to introduce yourself, and it will make the first face-to-face introduction much easier. Everyone moving into the residence halls for the first time is nervous, and it helps to break the ice. I highly suggest connecting on Facebook or other social media outlets as well.  

Explore your hall - During a campus visit, go look around the community areas of your dorm. You’ll want to know where you can hang out and where you can study outside of your residence hall. This could also be a great place to meet new people.  A lot of times residence halls will have bulletins for upcoming events and introductions for organizations around campus. During your freshman year, you should invite your roommate or other residence hall members to attend these events with you. Again, I suggest using Facebook to connect with other incoming freshmen as well. There is normally a “(university) Class of (expected graduation year)” group that you can join. There, you’ll be able to connect, ask questions, and make friends.

Residence Hall Orientation Packet - There is normally a packet sent to your address a few months prior to move-in day that contains information on your dorm and on residence life. Yes, you should read this packet!  It will give you insight into the rules and regulations. This small piece of information can save you some embarrassment and keep you on schedule for move-in. Remember, this packet was made for you and is intended to help you. So read it. Trust us.

Prepare for Move-In Day – Move-in day will be hectic and fast paced. You will most likely have been given a certain allocated time to move in and a list of items to purchase that aren’t provided by your school. Luckily, DormCo provides a one-stop shop for all those creature comforts you need to live happily in the dorm. There, you can buy comforters, furniture, laundry, and bath supplies that aren’t normally provided to the students by their college. Also, Bellhops provides two young fellow college students to help move all of your stuff into the dorms. Those two college students are also great connections to make on your first day of college. They are normally sophomores and juniors and are veterans of the freshman year. They will be able to answer any questions you might have that aren’t clearly answered anywhere else. Have a great first year!

-- Tripp Stanford

    GetBellHops.com

Bellhops is a tech-enabled moving company that mobilizes thousands of college students to provide moving services in 120 cities across the country. Bellhops specializes in small, local moves, whether it be loading help, unloading help, or a local A to B move. The student bellhops that make this all possible are recruited, trained, and managed through an innovative workforce management system that allows Bellhops to deliver excellent customer service to each individual customer. Book your next move at www.getbellhops.com with the specialists in small, local moving. 

 

College Essays: A Few Words Of Wisdom For All Those Words To Be Written

Probably the biggest “problem” with college essays is, if you’re going for the A, you won’t always know how to achieve it. With a multiple-choice test, you know that if you fill in all the right bubbles, you’ll get the A. But the essays are more elusive, more subjective and less clear-cut. And that’s what makes them tricky. But, oh, the volume! You’ll write thousands and thousands of words while crafting college essays, so keep a few tips in mind when chasing that A.

First off, read the prompt. One of the scariest realizations in

college results from a fatal misreading of the essay prompt:
you get your paper back, and you realize you missed the

whole point. While the directions themselves might be a bit vague, there will be a sentence or two that clearly defines what you’re supposed to be doing with all those words. Are you to make an argument for something? Should you be critically analyzing a certain topic? Or, should you just be writing about some personal experience of yours and how it’s shaped you? Maybe you’re supposed to do all three in one essay, but the point remains the same: know the objective and topic, and keep that in mind the whole time.

Once you know the topic and have your focus defined, it’s also wise to stay on topic. This might sound obvious, but when you’re hammering out thousands of words, it can get tempting and easy to let yourself veer from the course. Such misalignment is easy to spot by the arbiter of your grade, so keep that professor happy and stay on topic. If you know the objective and focus of the essay, make sure every sentence relates to it.

Actually, writing isn’t the first step. Before writing, start thinking, and think deeply and critically. The point of any essay, really, is to have some insight; it should share something or reveal some idea that isn’t at first obvious or known. Your ability to construct and present such critical insight forms the foundation of any well-written essay. Yet if you don’t take your time to do some thinking before you start writing, you risk droning on and on with material that the reader (your professor) already knows. So when it comes to your shared ideas and arguments, bring something new to the table, or page, rather.

When you’re all done, read that paper aloud. You’ve heard that tip before, but it’s rarely practiced. By reading and speaking, you’ll catch all matter of awkward and wordy sentences. Even if you’re not an English major, if you read a sentence and say it, your ear will tell you if it sounds right or if it sounds like you’re new to your language.

When things get tough, just keep in mind that writing comes down to two things: what you’re saying and how you’re saying it. It’s a simple structure, really, although you know there will be times when you’ll be at a loss for words on the page. When that occurs, don’t be afraid to ask the professor for some ideas and advice. Professors love sharing this, and no rulebook ever said the task of writing had to be accomplished unaided.

Laptop Safety In College: Use The Iron Brick Safe To Save The Day

Theft on college campuses is a real threat for all college students. College dorms, for example, provide very open and communal living spaces. If you live in a dorm, you simply can’t have your eye on your stuff at all times. This means that quick-sell, easy-steal items like laptops are frequent targets of opportunity theft. So be smart about your computer!

DormCo.com has long been attuned to the needs of college students, and, given the issue of computer safety, DormCo has recently created a new product aimed to deter laptop theft: the Iron Brick Safe. The Iron Brick Safe is a slim,

durable laptop-shaped safe in which a laptop 15” or smaller can be securely placed and locked up. It’s a safe designed specifically for laptops and e-readers. After a computer is locked inside, the Iron Brick Safe’s cut proof connected cable can be looped around a stationary object to ensure the safety of your laptop.

Currently, the Iron Brick Safe is not yet in production, as more funding is needed before it can be produced. To raise money for it, DormCo has started a Kickstarter page. With all the cool rewards that are offered for contributions made, if you think the Iron Brick Safe would be a lifesaver for you, check out the page at:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1767853034/portable-laptop-safe?ref=discovery

Losing an expensive essential like a laptop or a tablet just about ruins your semester. So what can be done? You can tell yourself that you’ll always be smart and keep any eye on your trusted laptop. But what if your roommate leaves the door open when you’re not there? In truth, you’d have to tie down your laptop to ensure its safety—but that’s not beyond possibility.

The bottom line is, when you’re living in a dorm, there’s no peace of mind like peace of mind. And unless you have a way of securing your college computer, you’ll never achieve that peace. Yes, it’s easier to just leave your laptop sitting there, but your luck will run out if that’s your plan; you’ll return to find that your laptop has vanished, off to be sold in some sketchy back alley. C’mon you have more respect for your laptop than that, don’t you? If so, show it some love by locking it up.

The Cost of College: How to Avoid Massive Loan Debt

If you’re thinking of taking out sizable loans to pay for college, don’t do it!

I did, and it sucks. I was embarrassingly oblivious of my financial situation in school, spending money on fast food, parties, fraternity dues, etc. while ignoring my increasing amount of loan debt. I had scholarships to offset the damage, but I could have done much better. Luckily, you don’t have to be like me.

There are many ways to pay for college and minimize your spending so that you don’t need $15,000-plus in loans each year. The big three helpers are scholarships, living off campus, and working.

1. Be a nerd. Complete strangers will pay for your degree—that’s awesome, so take advantage. Even if you slacked off in high school, study hard in college so you can qualify for departmental scholarships or financial aid offered to returning students.

Don’t ignore smaller scholarships. An extra $500 now is $500 plus interest that you don’t have to pay later. I managed a total of $9,500 my freshman year—easily enough for tuition and books—and I hardly spent any time applying for financial aid. With a little effort, you could do much better!

2. Move out! My alma mater’s current annual room and board fees total $8,167 for about eight months of food and a tiny, shared space. Are dorms really worth $1,000 a month? You can easily save money if you move off campus and split the cost of rent, food, and utilities with roommates.

As a bonus, living off campus will better prepare you for life after school, with all the freedom and responsibility that entails.

3. Get a part-time job. Many students already work over summer or winter break, but you can generate even more income working part-time during school. Just 12 hours a week at $8 an hour would give you an extra $1,440 in a 15-week semester! That’s not even including the extra hours you could pick up over long weekends or mid-semester breaks.
I know working doesn’t sound fun, but it looks fantastic on a resume. If you can balance work and school for four years, of course you can handle whatever your future employer throws at you.

Don’t overlook other ways you can save money in college:

·                   Live near campus so you can walk or bike to class.

·                   Eat at home, not at restaurants.

·                   Be mindful of your utilities.

·                   Moderate alcohol intake. Save your liver and wallet!

·                   Finish in four years.

You don’t have to become a hermit, of course, but it helps to be aware of your spending and make every purchase a conscious decision, not a blind impulse.

Follow these guidelines and you can graduate college (mostly) debt-free. In the process, you’ll build a fantastic set of life skills and a great resume. The cherry on top is that you won’t flush thousands of dollars down the toilet, which is exactly what paying for student loan interest amounts to!

— Tim Schlee

 StorageFront.com

Tim Schlee is a writer for the self-storage aggregator site StorageFront, where he combines his enthusiasm for educating others with his expertise in the storage industry. He is a Kansas City, Missouri, native who studied English and linguistics at Truman State University.