Its the End of the...Year!

Combining a record breaking amount of Facebook updates concerning term papers, and the imminent feeling of exams and fairly good weather, we have the ideal situation for a university student.

Every few minutes I also hear one of my roomies groan about some term paper, some assignment, and some prof that can go stick it where the sun don't shine. We all get that case of assignment/exam anxiety. Usually expressed through some wild nights and all-nighters fueled by energy drinks.

So how do we get through this???

1) EASTER, for most students they look forward to going home for Easter weekend. Some of us do not go, but Easter weekend symbolizes the end of classes, and going home to family, free laundry and a really good meal.

2) Chocolate/Coffee/Energy Drinks- Combine a lot of comfort foods and pure caffeine and we create the all-nighter. All-nighter is the classic university experience. I know personally an all-nighter is not that late, but I just lack the ability to stay up really late. I know many people who will write an essay till 7 am, get up at 8 and go to class to hand in that essay at 8:30. This is the result of poor time management...

3) Time-management: The MOST important tactic for a university student. How do we mange to do an average of 15 hours of class with the accompanying homework/studying and with the mandatory social activities. I know we all are way too serious of students to put off a night of studying for a night at The Wall. I would hope. Put aside study time! Make a study schedule! Do not forget to take breaks for healthy food and getting some down time.

This is how we survive. Also now that my assignments for the year are done I will be touching in more frequently, sorry to all for the two-week long delay!

Corala

St. Patrick's Day: Not For the Faint of Heart!

So the famous St. Patty's day has finally arrived, and as a first year university student I finally learned what that meant.

St. Patty's+Amazing Weather+Nipissing Open House = A Very Interesting Day

Nipissing is holding an Open House for prospective university students, so of course there are residence tours. Residence tours...which are touring the residence in which hundreds of university students are currently coming out of hibernation. So an interesting combination of circumstances...which lead to some shocked looking parents and many ongoing games of football in front of my house.

So some things I learned through my first St. Patty's residence experience:

1. It is never too early for green beer.
2. It is also never too early for a wild round of Celtic drinking songs...before noon is acceptable. Of course it is 5 pm somewhere.
3. The rules about not bringing furniture outside does not apply, nor does the rule about not leaving our doors open.

All in all I find it a relief! I have spent the past few months only seeing fellow residence dwellers when The Wall holds a fairly wild night. So seeing people out and about is great, and the TRC feels as alive as it did in the first week of school.

So enjoy this beautiful St. Patrick's Day! Find some green beer, or throw on a green shirt!

...And The Groundhog Was Wrong!

Glorious glorious Spring, early Spring at that. However it still is the biggest relief to able to walk outside without putting on layers and layers of clothing, and a great time to bust out those cute spring boots, becuase obviously those heels were not conducive to a lot of snow anyways. I have been finding excuses to just go outside and do random things, and for once am going to check the mail....much to my roommates relief. How is it that Spring can just make me relax so much. Ignoring the impending doom of term papers and exams...I feel so carefree!!!

Now on to more important things, remember my advice on how to take part in any competition that may result in prize-money or prizes in general??? Well, I stand by it, considering I came first in the most recent Cake Boss competition at the TRC. Resulting in me feeling pretty great, everybody enjoying some delicious cake and a 50 dollar gift card to Boston Pizza. Very sucessful indeed. All the cakes there were absolutely amazing!!! So congrats to everybody who competed, although my personal favorite was the Finding Nemo Cake, so intricate and detailed! So pictured above would be myself and my winning cake, 2012 Cake.

Another good opportunity around the school right now is the Road Trip Challenge, which is of particular interest to all of us Con-Ed students. This would be because the prize (by draw) is a macbook. So obviously I have entered the contest a few times, and really do hope to win. Would take a lot of weight off of my shoulders as far as having to buy a macbook before my 4th year as a student here at Nipissing.

Well there is just a general update for you all, and a reinforcement of being involved. I am off to go to an art gallery in North Bay (yes I am excited about this) and to go out to a fabulous dinner at Boston Pizza!

Enjoy the sun!

Corala

When Life Gives You Term Papers...

It's that time of the semester again, the time when we do not see our roomies, when people seemed stressed to the extreme. It is time for the term paper/midterm rush. There is no way to avoid this, because no matter how good your time management skills, you will still feel it.

I lucked out this semester and thus far only seem to have two essays due next week, one the week after, and one presentation due this week. On top of that though there are a few social obligations as well, such as Cake Boss II. Which I will win this time, none of this second place stuff.

So how do university students do it all!?!?! It is very different from high school, and that is the truth. In university we balance the courses, the essays, the assignments, midterms and exams. On top of it all many of us try and keep up the active social life, being involved in clubs and going out with friends at night. I think I may have figured out the formula as to how we can do this.

Early morning homework+late night studying+coffee+energy drinks= success

Not the most scientific analysis, but the most truthful.

So now for another blog of helpful tips, on how to get it all done. And to have leftover time for a power nap.

• Get a full nights sleep the best you can. Being able to get up the next morning and get your day started without being exhausted is very important. Nobody wants to get called out on sleeping in lecture, and filling your body full of energy drinks first thing in the morning just to get through it is more like the recipe for heart disease than the recipe for success.
• When your Prof tells you about the essay that will be due in a month, do not tell yourself that you will think about it later. I am not saying that 4 weeks from the due date you should be scrambling through the library trying to get it done. But WRITE IT DOWN. Make yourself a to do list and put it on your wall. It will be there to remind you, and you will be less likely to have a wild weekend that conveniently made you forget about that paper. Which just happened to be worth 30% of your mark.
• Study groups or study buddies. We all get to the lectures we can. Howevr sometimes you might not be able to go. It is good to have a friend who will provide reliable notes and who you can get together with before your midterm or exam. Bouncing ideas off of each other and working out problems together will help you study and you will have less of an excuse to go on Facebook instead. Yeah you know you do that. Sometimes Facebook creeping is much more interesting than Biology.
• This is an especially important tip, because I know a lot of people that faced this issue coming into first year courses. In high school we were asked to cite sources, but they could be any sources. Except our beloved Wikipedia of course. In university we are expected to do research in the library. We should look up peer-reviewed articles, and use the school library to our full advantage. Other than having a more credible paper, you will also learn how to research properly and use the library.

So there are a few helpful hints from a first year to first years coming in. Next blog you can look forward to something more witty I am sure. But I wish somebody had told me these things coming in, because it isn't always common sense and it can be overwhelming.

A Nomination

I nominate the Pita Pit in the NUSU entrance to the school, for being the best food for the best price for a University or College student. I do not care what people say about it being overpriced. Pita Pit is cheaper, healthier than many other food options and absolutely delicious.

So. I nominate you PITA PIT. Thank you for being open at 2 am for an after-party snack. Thank you for being full of fresh veggies. Thank you for accepting convenience cards. You rock.

Lets talk about smart ways to save some money and be successful in university. In previous blogs i have just spoken about what is going on in my life...well as interesting as the day in the life of a Nipissing student can be, how about some helpful hints.

1) Shop at NO FRILLS. Not SOBEYS. If you are on a restricted income, you will save money theres like no tomorrow. Also the bus ride down is worth it instead of buying your groceries at Pals. Pals is handy for a snack between classes if you are leaning towards a candy bar. But it has a monopoly on campus as far as groceries. Therefore its prices can be very high, and people will just buy things there anyways.

2) This is something that took me a while to figure out, but hopefully students coming in will see this first. Do not use a debit card in the Cafeteria, Pals, Euphoria, Pita Pit etc. There is a surcharge. Use cash or invest in a convenience card. It will pay off in the end. Those little surcharges will add up faster than you can say "begging Mom and Dad for money". And the ATM in the NUSU entrance has a surcharge too. Save yourself the trouble and go to the bank, withdraw what you need and use that for your on-campus snacking urges.

3) Free Money. FREE FREE FREE money. I don't know if there is really such a thing as free money. But there are lots of opportunities to get some things that are really close too it. Enter into contests (such as this lovely blogging contest) fill out surveys that can have your name drawn for prizes. Do whatever it takes, but as a Uni or College student, you will probably need the money at some point. Even if it is a gift card to Best Buy, you WILL need printer paper, you WILL loose your ruler, and you WILL run out of ink at some point.

4) Go to your classes. I know, I know. We are all guilty of skipping a lecture or two. But in the end the fact is you will want to track down the notes for the lecture you missed. If it is a small lecture or seminar your Prof will also notice. We look down at those Profs all the time, and amazingly they look back at us and notice we are there. Imagine that. They notice, and especially in a school where the classroom sizes are so small, they do know your name. I have noticed most profs make an effort to know your name actually. You will also see them at the grocery store, on the bus or just around town. So make the effort. (Editors Note: This has absolutely nothing to do with saving money, more to do with getting the most out of the money you spent on tuition)

and my last tip of the day...

5) Going Out. Lets talk about the type of going out everybody enjoys. Not all students will want to go to the bar, and not all students will want to go ice fishing or something. However I am pretty sure we all like movies. Cheap Tuesday movies to be precise. Go to the cheap Tuesday movies and enjoy a movie for 5 dollars. I usually bring a bottle of water in with me and maybe some sort of snack in my purse (breaking the rules can be a healthy choice.) Oh and there is a No Frills attached to the movie theater if you didn't plan ahead. Just putting that out there. That means if you ride the bus, bring a bottle of water, you are paying 5 dollars for a few hours of careless fun. Compared to a night at the bar...that is about one and a half drinks (depending on your drink of choice) and compared to ice fishing that is way less frostbite. Get a Scene Card and save up points and then get free movies too.