Through The Eyes of A Freshman

Goodbye to the Freshman

2008-04-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

It’s time - time for me to say goodbye to my Freshman year in college. After one year of weight gain, nervousness, and complaining throughout the semesters about my classes and professors, I have finally overcome it all and have managed to survive my freshman year in college without ever being on Freshman Warning - which is when you fail to earn less than a 2.0 GPA.

I learned that no matter what you do, it’s practically impossible to get a parking spot in the Parking Garage near the library after 9 a.m. I also learned that Outtakes and Coyote Jack's are the CVS on campus - being the only places open until 10 p.m. during the week where you can get anything from mozzarella sticks to Smirnoff.

I also learned that the Breezeway is the I-95 on campus and that it does suffer from rush hour traffic, that our Owl Cards are more important than a driver's license and carry a lot more money than our debit cards (at least for those who live on campus), and that the Social Sciences building should be called the SS building but instead we call it the SO building and it looks like a green spaceship.

But most importantly, there are three main things that nobody should miss during their freshman year:

Go to a football game.
Join a club/get involved.
Go to a party in the Student Apartments.

This entire year was fun and I will always be grateful for having the opportunity of documenting my freshman year and for having consistent readers to share it with (thanks!).

That said…Goodbye to my freshman year and hello to my sophomore year.

Freshman Experience

2008-04-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

My freshman year is coming to an end, and after the week of finals and a summer of classes, I will no longer be considered a freshman by the University standards. I have learned an array of things this year, like: not to stress out so much about classes, that MyFau works only during office hours, and that walking down the Breezeway in the middle of “rush hour” (typically around 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m.) is practically impossible, among other things.

I remember the day when I came to terms that I had gained the “freshman 15” after my Hollister jeans didn’t go past my thigh. I spent endless hours at my second home - my unofficial FAU dorm - in room 214 of the Student Union (University Press headquarters). I fell in love with the Owls after attending a football game where the word "touchdown" only meant “get up and cheer” to me.

I got frustrated with my inability to find the second floor of the GS building after walking in circles around its perimeters, only to find out that 11 flights of stairs and a semi-long walk to the back of the building takes you right into the (hidden) second floor of the GS building. (couldn’t they put the stairs inside of the building?)

I made new friends, lost touch with others, and partied like a rock star at the FAU Apartments - and I still managed to survive my freshman year without failing any classes.

Sad as I am though, this freshman express ride has come to an end. It's been an experience of a lifetime and I will remember tons of memories that will last me until the day I die. So, in commemoration of my final days as a freshman at FAU, I have decided to make this blog a little different.

I went around and asked other freshmen questions about their first year experiences at FAU and here is what they answered - let’s call this a “Q & A with freshmen.”

What was the most boring class you took this year at FAU?
“Life Science - It was so gay that I just stopped going”
- Amanda Kushner, Freshman, Business major.
What’s the craziest thing you ever did on campus?
“I tripped on acid with my friend one time. We sat in the forest the whole night and stared at the trees - it was amazing.”
- Anonymous, freshman, Psychology major.
What is something you wish you would have known before your first day of classes at FAU?
“I wish I would have known how horrible the parking situation was going to be. I literally spent 30 minutes looking for parking spots the first day of classes. That’s when I realized that the assigned parking spot I had back in High School was a complete privilege.”
- Kareeme Shorter, freshman, Business major.
What kind of advice would you give to incoming freshmen?
“Relax. It can get really stressful and stressing about things is no use -and of course, study hard!”
-Clarissa Lowmark, freshman, Elementary Education
What did you hate the most as a freshman at FAU?
“I hated gaining the freshman 15. I look like a fat tuna and now I need to exercise to look hot for summer - thanks Outtakes!”
- Karina Da Luz, freshman, Engineering major.
What was one of your most memorable moments at FAU?
“There were no memorable moments. All I did this year was drink beer, go to parties, and meet hot chicks - that’s it.”
- Mike McKevitt, freshman, Biology major.
Are you going to miss being a freshman?
“Nah. It’s time to move on. The whole freshman thing is overrated. I had as much fun as I did back in High School - the difference was minimal really.”
- Rony Barzily, freshman, Business major.
Did you ever party at FAU?
“Yeah right, this campus is so dead that a party here would practically be a miracle.”
- Grace Welte, Freshman, Undecided.

What did you think of your freshman year?

Summer Possibilities

2008-04-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I take my age for granted. If I would have been born a year later, I would have probably been facing the reality that I might not have ever come to FAU. In case you live on Mars and have absolutely no idea of what is going on, in the last couple months, the state of Florida has cut the budgets of schools like FAU. That means all incoming freshmen for the class of 2012 might be getting rejected from FAU.

A lot of my high school friends are in this situation right now. It’s almost summer and a lot of them still don’t know whether or not they’re coming to FAU because of our recent lack of money.

By the looks of it all, incoming freshmen for the class of 2012 will be fewer and fewer because FAU is sending out more rejection letters to hopeful students due to the state budget cuts. In fact FAU is possibly rejecting something close to 2,000 qualified students because of this problem.

Not only that, but the atmosphere of FAU wouldn’t be the same.

I’ve often complained about FAU not being the “typical” college campus. FAU is a quiet campus compared to other big universities such as UF or UCF but with budget cuts, FAU could become what Harly Sushil, a student participating in the Save our Summer Classes rally, calls a “ghost town.”

“You think the campus is quiet on the weekends now?” says Sushil. “It’s going to be a ghost town.”

Incoming freshmen are not going to have the same college experience that I had. Even though this campus is not the traditional campus, there are some signs of human activity during the weekends. But with this immense lack of money, school will be emptier, less classes to choose from, and the entire atmosphere of a college campus will be ruined.

But for some reason, even with budget cuts looming and students rallying against them, I still didn’t pay attention.

Not only did I not care that much, but didn’t quite understand why it was such a big deal that summer classes were going to get cut (or that the budget was being cut for that matter) - after all, do people actually study during the summer?

Well, I was wrong. Now I am considering taking classes during the summer to speed up my education and I’ve realized what reducing the budget actually means for me. Some students might not be able to graduate on time because of fewer summer classes and some might not even get accepted to FAU for the very same reason.

In fact, according to this article from the Sun Sentinel , FAU's budget was cut by $6.3 million last fall and $3.3 million this spring.

Everyone is affected by this and I can’t believe I never realized how important and how much of a big deal this is. As a freshman, I’m affected by this because I still have three more years until I finish my education at FAU, three more years I have to face with the consequences of budget cuts, three more years with less summer classes, and maybe not even graduating on time because of FAU’s lack of money.

“This affects all of us,” said freshman Nadia Ismael. “Florida’s state budget cuts are changing the entire atmosphere of what school used to be. I’m just happy I’m transferring - I don’t think I can learn like this.”

Popular Jobs

2008-04-06T20:29:00.000-07:00

Forget about enjoying the beach, traveling, and hanging out with friends during the summer, because thanks to our summer classes being sliced down recently – most college students are going to have to find a summer job.

Why?
Because we all need money and there are no classes to go to. (Sadly)

I had to get a job and after endless days at the mall handing out applications, I finally received a call back and got hired.

Yep, this UP blogger is no longer a member of the “college students without a job” club. As of last week, I have taken what could be one of the most popular jobs among students -- I am now a hostess at Koi Japanese Restaurant and I’m loving the tips.

So in commemoration of me finally getting a job, I have decided to make this blog all about the top five jobs that I have found to be the most popular around campus.

TUTORING

If you are extremely knowledgeable on a specific subject or just overall smart, then tutoring might just be what can take your bank account from $0.75 to a $100. This job, though boring at times, is actually a good source of money. Not only do you get to implement your own hours but also your own rate! Imagine that…you don’t have to stick to the state minimum wage of $7.15 - Now, that’s pretty rad.

Benefits:

You don’t have to work on the weekends.

You can tutor at the comfort of your own home.

It only takes a couple of hours from your day.

Disadvantages:

Depending on the person you’re tutoring, work might get boring.

You’ll be sitting a lot.

You have to repeat and explain things constantly.

Beware of who you’re inviting into your house, some of the kids that you might have to tutor are kind of coo-koo and it might not be a good idea to invite them into your home.

If you end up going to the kid’s house, make sure you stay quiet and out of the fights that he/she might have with their parents – they can get ugly.

BABYSITTING

If you don’t mind babies and toddler vomit, smells of poop in the air, a lot of crying and squealing, and the bonus of dirty diapers, then by all means you should give babysitting a try. This job is only for those who have patience with kids. There is no point in taking a job like this if you’re always in a bad mood and absolutely disgusted at the thought of changing a diaper. It’s also not a difficult job to get – thanks to all the websites dedicated to this kind of job, you can now easily promote yourself on the internet by putting specific times, days, and rates for parents to look at.

Benefits:

No minimum wage here, you set your own rate.

Kids sleep a lot - which means, tons of free time for you.

You get to eat another family’s food while they’re out.

Disadvantages:

It’s a big responsibility - if that kid breaks a bone, it’s on you.

By the end of the night you’ll smell like throw up and spit - not a good combo.

EXOTIC DANCER (STRIPPER!)

Yeah that’s right, stripping is a job. If you have absolutely no inhibitions, you love to show off the twins, and have absolutely no problem in taking your clothes off in front of drunken strangers, then honey what are you waiting for? Hit up the strip club and get a job! Personally, I would never try it. But there are people at FAU that do dabble around in the stripping circle and love it.

Benefits:

The tips at this job are even better than what any waitress could get - so get those G-Strings ready for the dollar bills.

If you like being the center of attention, then this is also the job for you. I guarantee you’ll be getting lots of it.

You might get famous - in the porn business.

Disadvantages:

You’ll only be working nights (or at least most of the time), unless you’re on the day shifts (a.k.a the B squad), in which case you’ll be working a “regular” schedule.

Your reputation might get hurt because of this - you’ll be labeled all kinds of things because of your job.

RETAIL

One word - clothes. I personally am a shop-a-holic. I shop whenever I have the money and I practically live at the mall anyway, so I had my share of working in retail when I was younger. The only thing is, you have to be patient with customers because as the manager will tell you: “the customer is always right.”

Benefits:

Discounted clothes. (Need I say more?)

Disadvantages:

You have to stand on your feet for more than five hours straight.

You don’t get to leave until an hour after the mall closes.

The pay is not that great and there are no tips. (Obviously)

If you hate organizing your closet, then you’ll hate this job even more because you’ll be folding and folding like there’s no end.

WAITRESSING/ HOSTING

If you’re overly nice, don’t mind smelling like food, and don’t care to serve a couple of people then this is for you. The only thing is, try to have good memory for orders because sometimes customers can be really picky. For example, where I work there are these two people that get really picky about their tea - they're so picky that they bring their own and only order hot water as their drink. You have to be able to remember things like that.

Benefits:

Depending on what restaurant you work at, sometimes you will earn more than what a regular job at the mall could pay because of tips. However there are no guarantees that you will in fact make more money. Some places will schedule college kids for day shifts on weekdays. Which means, you could possible walk away from a 7-hour shift with less than $20.

Free or discounted food (at the end of the night of course). Personally, at my job I have the privilege of enjoying a free meal after a hard day’s work. But, a lot of jobs at restaurants don’t give out free food but will give you a discounted meal instead, so either way you end up with food in your hands…and stomach.

Disadvantages:

Remember that pad Thai chicken you delivered to table 7? Well you’ll smell like it.

Working hours are often not flexible, meaning you probably have to work until late at night.

You’ll be cleaning tables full of food, drinks, and who knows what else.

Forget about free nights and weekends (you’re not working for T-Mobile) - you’ll be working.

Where is my love?

2008-03-30T15:53:00.000-07:00

Beware of dating acquaintances.

The last date I went on appeared to be a good one at first. The guy was nice, tall, and handsome. He had brown shaggy hair that fell slightly over his eyes, a tattoo on his right arm of the outline of Florida, and wore tight, skinny jeans - he could have been an American Eagle model for all I knew.

Conversation flowed well as we both sipped on our Venti, double-shot, vanilla lattes with no foam, until the fatal question he asked that brought me back down to earth and slapped me on the face.

“So, I‘m just going to get this out on the table and ask you” he said. What could it be? I thought. Was he about to ask me out on another date?

“Would you like to try some cocaine?” he said.

Whaaaat???

I couldn’t believe the words that had just slipped out of his mouth. At first I thought it was a joke, but he was being completely serious.

He creeped me out so much that the date was over before the little receptionist in my head could scream…NEXT!

As my freshman year is coming near an end, I am baffled at my inability to find anyone suitable for a date. In high school, I wasn’t the most popular girl, but I did manage to score a date here and there.

In college, not only have I not found anybody worthy of a relationship, but the couple of people I have gone on dates with have turned out to be complete losers, like Mr. Cocaine Addict discussed above.

The thing is, I don’t even know where I find all of these losers. My friends have somehow managed to score cute and decent boyfriends. While me on the other hand, seem to be hanging out at the library by myself more and more.

“You have to go out more,” said freshman Elizabeth Gosein. “Go to clubs, parties - that’s where most of the guys are”

“Yeah, but I don’t just want to hook up with some guy for a night,” I told her. “I want something that will last.”

“Sometimes there are nice guys there - you just have to look for them,” said Gosein.

But I do look for them. I look for them wherever I go - the supermarket, the library, Starbucks, school, and just about everywhere. Not only that but I’ve also made a conscious effort to look better whenever I go out, in case I bump into my prince charming.

I’ve started to straighten my hair, wear more make-up, and I am even making an effort to lose the stupid freshman 15.

So what am I doing wrong?

“You’re worrying too much,” said freshman Clarissa Lowmark. “You have to just let it go and let it come when it’s supposed to.”

What my friend was saying was true.

In fact, on a recent article on the April issue of the Cosmopolitan (pg.84) psychotherapist Bella Dishell discusses that “if your only focus is on finding a boyfriend, your run the risk of coming off as desperate, a vibe that repels guys.
But when you feel at peace with yourself - you don’t think so much about how others can make you happy - you exude confidence, which is a magnetic trait,” said Dishell. “The key to getting to that place is focusing on the thing you got going for you and nurturing your interests rather than dwelling on what you lack.”

Still desperate about not being able to find a date, I asked some of my friends (with a significant other) how they managed to find their perfect guy and this is the advice they gave me on where to find my prince charming.

The Gym (Arnold Swartzenegger): Guys like this one love to go to the gym and watch their muscles grow. They’re usually there for hours and there’s lots of them in one place. If you’re into these kinds of guys, make sure you start hitting the gym - not only will you get in shape but you’ll also increase your chances of finding your hottie.

Whole Foods (The Hippie): If you’re a vegetarian and like guys with dreadlocks like me, then you should go to the Whole Foods Supermarket and get some tofu. It’s the perfect place to meet the healthy, anti-animal cruelty, peace & love, beauty you’ve always dreamed of. Trust me, you’ll love being a vegetarian even more.

Barnes & Noble (The Intellectual): Barnes and Noble just happens to be the greatest place on earth if you love guys that love books as much as the opposite sex. Guys that hang out at these kinds of places are usually really smart but kind of shy. So if you want to find somebody like that, most of the time you have to make the first move. Try to start a conversation based on a book he’s looking at - trust me, it works most of the time.

Rock concerts (Indie Superstar): I have met lots of guys at local shows. One thing though, most “rocker” guys smoke cigarettes, so if you don’t mind kissing someone that will taste like an ashtray - you’re set! These grungy, messy hair, tattooed beauties are usually pretty outgoing and if you catch their eye, they will surely approach you. Not only that but they usually play an instrument, what’s hotter than that?

Guys are everywhere. Don’t get desperate like me to have a dating life. It’ll come…I hope.

Bathing Suits and Underwear

2008-03-23T17:40:00.000-07:00

It happens to everyone: bathing suit bottoms become underwear, socks become scarce, and jeans become crinkly and smelly -- but sooner or later you have to face the fact that you smell. After weeks of procrastination, its time to do your laundry.

“I don’t do my laundry,” said freshman Alejandro Garcia. “I go home during the weekends and let my parents do it.”

He’s not the only one…

In fact, I asked 15 freshmen if they did their laundry and sadly, only three of them replied with a “yes.”

Laundry has never been a problem for me (not that I even know how to do my laundry) but it’s just that before I even try to learn, my mom has already taken it out of the laundry basket, washed it, and folded it on top of my bed for me.

In all my 18 years of life, I have never done my laundry and probably won’t have a chance to do it until I move out. As a freshman I am considered an adult in the real world and I don’t even know how to do my own laundry -- how pathetic.

“It’s not that difficult,” said freshman Kareeme Shorter. “Freshmen are just lazy and we’re just used to our parents doing everything for us.”

But I need to start somewhere, so in hopes of learning how to do my laundry I went around and asked upperclassmen what they would do in my situation.

These are the responses I got:

“Do not mix colors with whites.”

“Don’t wash colors with hot water.”

“Wash only the towels and underwear with hot water.”

It was all so confusing. My head hurt with all of the do’s and don’ts of laundry. Who knew it would be so difficult to wash my clothes.

So instead of giving you a “How to” guide on your laundry, I am going to give you a “How To” guide on how to prolong the horrible and annoying task of doing your laundry.

Hey, we might as well take as long as we can to do it. After all, we’re college students.

WARNING: The advice I’m giving on how to prolong doing your laundry will only work for a maximum of three weeks. Eventually you will have to do your laundry.

Only wear underwear when needed: Yeah, that’s right. Underwear is not that necessary. Unless you have your period, you can easily get away with not wearing underwear with those really tight, skinny, jeans you love so much. Trust me, your butt will look better and you will be saving clean underwear for when you really need them.
Tide to Go was created for a reason: Try not to spill things on your shirts and pants so that you won’t have to wash them, but if you do, use Tide to Go, and it will be the answer to your prayers. Just spray that little sucker directly on the stain and within minutes you’ll be clean again!
Dryer Sheets can save your jeans: To avoid washing so many pairs of jeans more than twice a week, put a dryer sheet in your pocket and carry it throughout the day. It’ll give your jeans that freshly washed scent and it’ll allow you to wear them more times throughout the week.
Forget about socks: One thing that’s really annoying to wash when you're doing laundry, are the millions of pairs of socks you probably own. We live in Florida buddy, it’s not like it snows here, that’s why flip flops and sandals are the official shoe of Florida.
Bathing suits are in: If you feel uncomfortable not wearing any underwear then by all means wear your favorite bathing suit as your new piece of underwear. They’re easier to clean, you can shower with them, and they would probably still go with your outfit.

Freshman under House Arrest

2008-03-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

No, I’m not under house arrest…but certainly close to it.

My name is Irene and I am grounded - for a month to be exact. (You can stop laughing now.)

My friends have all taken the liberty of making me the practical joke of the day by laughing at me every time they see me, still in awe that I can actually get grounded at the age of 18 - well, it is possible…just ask my mom.

“You’re grounded for a month,” my mom said angrily once she found out I had wrecked the bank accounts.

I was in shock. I couldn’t breathe and I could feel my heart palpitating its way to my mouth. I pushed out the only words I could come up with.

“What do you mean?” I said. She gave me one cold look and replied, “It means, you can’t go out with anyone for a month - that’s what it means.”

And so for the past week my life has felt like something that was taken out of a scene from Groundhog Day. Every morning I angrily stumble out of my bed, take a shower, blast music in my car, get stuck on I-95, go to school, politely decline invitations to go out, come back home, do the dishes, do my homework, and repeat the cycle all over again the next day.

Long gone are the days of my so-called “college freedom,” of enjoying a curfew of 1 a.m., parties on Friday nights, and Sunday afternoon lunches with friends. Not to mention the fantastic Easter week sales that I’m going to miss thanks to my newfound lack of freedom. (Bye bye, Old Navy...)
“Don’t worry, I get grounded too,” embarrassedly admitted Karina Da Luz, a fellow freshman whom I’ve known since high school. “I think it might be because we don’t have any brothers or sisters.”

True, we don’t have any other siblings, but I thought grounding was more of a cultural thing. Ever since I was in high school, it always seemed that among my friends, I was the only one who ever got grounded. Sure, their parents got mad at them occasionally but never really grounded them.

I don’t blame my mom for being angry at me after what I did with the accounts though. Thanks to my poor judgment and my inexperience with money, I spent $330 more than what I had in my account. Now I owe the bank money, don’t have a job, and have absolutely no way of paying my mom back.

But grounding me? Isn’t that a bit extreme? No one even gets grounded anymore.

I was determined to prove that getting grounded was in fact a cultural thing - that maybe it was a “Hispanic” thing. I talked to eight other Hispanic freshmen who lived at home with their parents, asking if they still got grounded while in college, and to my surprise, they didn’t.

“Grounded? Is that a trick question?” asked Ana Valles, a political science freshman who was part of my survey. “I haven’t been grounded since I was in middle school, much less in college.”

At least she answered the question. All of the other freshmen I asked took the liberty of making me listen to their laughs and ridicule me for being the only person in college they knew was grounded.

I was wrong, it's not a cultural thing. In college, nobody gets grounded anymore - except for me, of course.

I now have to endure 20-something more days in my house while fellow freshmen are out and about clubbin’, partying, and enjoying freedom while I sit in my house watching reruns of Scott Baio is 46 and pregnant and eating buckets of ice cream.

I can’t wait to come back to the world of freedom, but for now VH1 is definitely my best friend.

Let's be Safe

2008-03-02T08:37:00.001-08:00

Help - I’m scared!

I usually don’t pay attention to the emails that I get from FAU and on most occasions, they’re just one click away from the “Trash” icon in my email account. But just a couple of weeks ago, I received an email with an alarming subject from FAU that read: “University Timely Warning,” which of course…I just had to read.

The email said that there was another rape reported on campus.

I don’t live on campus, but when I read this email, not only was I scared for my own safety on campus, but for all of my friends and fellow freshman who live in the dorms.

In high school, nothing like this ever happened. Probably the “scariest” situations were the daily fights that erupted between students during our lunch hour. They usually lasted about five minutes and were more of a show than anything else - nothing too serious.

This is not the first time that FAU has gone through something like this. There were three other reports of sexual assault last year and one already this year according to an article by WPTV News Channel 5

“In the beginning of the year, I didn’t really pay attention to those stories because I was so caught up on living-on-my-own kind of thing,” says communications major Nadia Ismael. “But now, I’m actually scared for my safety and I’ve become obsessed with locking the doors in the dorms - I’m considering moving back home because of this situation.”

Unfortunately, Ismael is not the only one considering moving back with her parents because of the situation. There are other freshmen who want to move out of the dorms because of safety issues.

But whenever a rape is reported at a college campus, students get flooded with vague and useless advice. On the same WPTV News Channel 5 article FAU's Police Deputy Chief Keith Totten advises that “the most important thing that we always have to stress is, don’t put yourself in a compromising position and always have a friend close by who know what’s going on.”

Thanks, that really helps!

Police might as well be telling us to put on T-shirts that say "Don't rape me" because of how pointless their advice is.

So, forget about the "don't put yourself in a compromising position," advice and take a look at these pointers to feel safer on campus.

Night Owls: They are a service at FAU that offers to accompany you to any location on campus whenever you are alone or don’t feel safe. I've personally used them before and they have even waited until I get inside of my car to leave - plus it doesn't hurt that they also have direct communication with the Police Services Department in case of an emergency. Night Owls can be reached at (561) 297 - 6695

Code Blue Phones: You might have a cell phone, but what if it happens to die just when you need it. The Code Blue phones are located at various points throughout campus and there’s absolutely no way you can miss them. Use them in case of an emergency or when in need of information. They are direct lines to FAU Police Services dispatch.

Rape Aggression Defense: This program offered by the FAU Police Services Department and is designed to help women improve their self-defense skills and improve their chances for avoiding or survive assault encounters. For more information call (561) 297 - 3500

And in case these services are still not enough, I also have some tips for commuter students as well as resident students on how to be safe on campus and avoid dangerous situations:

Never Walk Alone: If you have a late night class and parked on the fifth floor of the Parking Garage, ask one of your friends to walk you or offer them a ride to their car. It’s harder to take down two people than just one person walking alone in the dark.

Have your keys in hand: It might not be cool to have your keys in hand 45 minutes before you actually even get to the elevator, but hey it might save your life. Some students like to take their time looking for their keys when they finally get to their car. Avoid dangerous situations by having your keys in hand and ready to open the door of your car. Don’t waste so much time looking for them.

Lock Your Doors: Seems like a “no brainer,” but as soon as you get in your car, lock your doors immediately, and try to not take a long time to get out of the parking lot or parking garage. Always have your phone on and in hand and make sure you check your surroundings.

Take a different route: Take different paths to get to your car or class. This will prevent offenders from following you and getting used to knowing where you're going to be at all different times.

Bombarded With Break Bonanza

2008-02-24T08:36:00.000-08:00

Spring Break - defined as the one-week long recess from classes by the dictionary - is one of the most highly anticipated holidays for a freshman during the spring term. It is the time when we finally get to relax and shake off some of that stress from school and it is also the time to find out what a real college spring break is like.

Michelle Hetherington, a sophomore at FAU explains that her first college spring break experience wasn’t a boring one.

"My first spring break in college was a crazy one," says Hetherington. "It was the first time I could do what I wanted and I chose to go to Key West for the week and have fun with some friends - I don’t think I slept for five days straight."

If you recall your high school days, spring break may have been a little different. It probably involved lots of sleeping, visiting some distant relatives with your family, and going to the nearest beach with some friends and getting a tan on a sunny day - nothing too crazy.

But in college there are many more options than just visiting long distance relatives. The choices range from going to music festivals to volunteering your spring break away. Here are my top ten things to do on spring break.

Langerado Music Festival: If you are looking for a cool alternative to your spring break, then Langerado might just be it. This four day festival, held at Big Cypress Indian Reservation in the Everglades on March 6-9, will be featuring acts from the Beastie Boys, R.E.M, Matisyahu, and more. Not only do you get to listen to great music and sing along with your favorite artists but you’ll still get a tan and socialize with all kinds of people at the event.

Hike to Save the Environment: Get your camping gear ready because this is for you. The American Hiking Society, an organization that focuses on protecting hiking trails, is planning a trip during spring break to the Big Cypress National Preserve to perform trail maintenance in the hard-to-reach areas of the swamp. Only six to twelve volunteers are needed, so if you want to get involved sign up quickly.

Caribbean Partying: Sun Splash Tours, a website that will help you plan out the perfect spring break trip, is offering several great deals on tours and group deals to quick getaways in Cancun, Barbados, Jamaica, etc. They’re inexpensive if you go with a group, but still affordable if it’s just you and some of your friends. All you need is a bathing suit, some sunblock and you’re set for your college spring break.

Learn how to surf: I know it seems like a crazy idea because Florida is so flat and we don't really have big waves to surf on, but you can still learn. Florida Surf Lessons is a great little surfing school in South Florida that focuses on teaching people of all ages how to surf. It’s fun, it’s a new experience, and you can finally brag about knowing how to surf.

Check out some art: There’s an Antique and Collectibles Show running from Feb. 29th - March 2nd at the Americraft Expo Center at the South Florida Fair Grounds. The show will feature some of the best antique pieces for you to look at and you can have fun with friends and family.

Make a Kid Smile: There will be a Walk Now for Autism fundraiser on Sunday, March 2nd in West Palm Beach. It’s free, it’s fun, and it’s for a good cause.

Go Medieval with theFlorida Renaissance Festival: The yearly festival will be in South Florida until March 9th. Go back in time and dress up in your favorite medieval garb and enjoy the jousting knights.

Watch a movie in your car: Drive-ins still exist and if you just don’t want to get out of your car to watch a movie, then make sure you go to the Swap Shop Drive In in Sunrise. It might be a bit of a drive, but it’s completely worth it and you won’t have to deal with people talking in the back.

Plan a Road Trip: You don’t need lots of money to get out of the state of Florida for a week. Go along the East Coast if you can and see what you can find. There are a lot of cool places you can visit along the way and it’s a great way of bonding with your friends.

Go Camping: Just because you’re not 10 years old anymore doesn’t mean you can’t go camping. Florida Camping offers help in finding the perfect camping site for your needs. So grab a tent, cook some s'mores, and enjoy nature.

Remember, we’re in college now and part of our role in college is to start making our own decisions. Whether you want to camp out at a music festival for four days or party it up like many other students during spring break, it is still your choice to decide what you want to do. Don’t get caught up in what you think you should do for the class free week.

Virgin Nation

2008-02-16T18:27:00.000-08:00

It happened every Monday morning in class. There were always little notes and whispers going around the room recording the many “hook up” stories that happened during the weekend.

In high school, most students took the liberty of bragging about how many people they had gotten "to know better" over the weekend. The reality is that it was all about a social status and whether you were "cool" or not - and bragging about sex was definitely the cool thing to do back in the day.

In college, most students would be considered non-virgins. We assume that everybody’s experienced. But many of those so-called "sexually experienced" seniors in high school are college freshman virgins and actually remain virgins throughout their freshman year in college.

So in hopes of trying to find out a small average on how many freshman virgins are at FAU, I took the liberty of conducting a survey of my own.

I went around the Breezeway on the Boca campus and asked 12 freshmen one of the most embarrassing questions you can ask in public: Are you a virgin?

To my surprise, nine of the freshmen openly admitted to being virgins and to not having encountered any sexual behavior whatsoever. In fact, three of them even went as far as to say they wanted to remain virgins until marriage... Whaaaatttt????

What I also found interesting about the survey was that four of the students were pre-med majors and two of them were engineering majors. I guess those long hours studying take away from their sex lives... good thing I'm a communications major.

But the bigger question is, why remain a virgin? I thought that was all college students thought about...

Rony Barzily, a freshman that was part of the survey, admits that she's waiting for the right opportunity to come up.

"It's not like I'm planning on waiting until marriage," Barzily says. "It's just that I haven't been in a serious relationship and I'm waiting for the right guy to lose my virginity to."

Hey, on the bright side, at least FAU is one of the safest places to lose your virginity in because according to a study done by Trojan condoms in October,
FAU is number one for being the most educated University in sexual health.

Thanks to our friends at Trojan and the FAU Today and Beyond Wellness Department - our local sexual health center - located above the Breezeway in room 222, who focus on teaching students about sexual health and of ways of being safe when it comes to sex.

"I'm not worried about being a virgin," says Clarissa Lowmark, another freshman part of my survey. "The time will come and I feel like I've learned a lot about sex while being in college anyway."

Fake ID consideration

2008-02-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

Throughout your life, there are three important birthday parties you ought to have:

1. Your sweet sixteen

2. The day you finally turn 18

3. The day you are legal to drink : 21

When I got out of high school, I thought 18 was pretty much phenomenal. I could get into some clubs and still manage to not break the law. But now that I’m in college, I’ve learned that it’s not so wonderful to be 18 anymore.

I'm still considered a baby among upperclassmen, I still can’t go to certain bars or clubs, I can’t buy alcohol - much less legally drink it - and I still have to wait three more years until the glorious day of my 21st birthday comes around.

And now, I am considering getting my first fake ID.

Apparently, I’m not the only one trying to get a fake ID, either. According to a 2007 survey done by College Humor - a Web site that specializes in poking fun at everything college-related - 19 percent of freshman girls obtained a fake ID along with 26 percent of guys.

Even some of my very own friends are joining the club of fake ID ownership. On a recent vacation during winter break, they paid some guy $100 each for fake IDs. Their licenses now read that they’re 22 years old and that they’re from Texas (both originally from Florida). But hey, they look real and that’s all that matters.

“We can get in anywhere,” said one of the students. “We can buy liquor, go to clubs and bars, and nobody knows that we’re only 18 - it feels like we’re 21 already and it’s great.”

Even some of my upperclassmen friends have asked me on numerous times if I have a fake ID and they always seem so shocked and disappointed when I gently reply with a simple “no.”

It also turns out that you don’t even have to pay people to get you a fake ID. I can do it on my own, because according to this Web site, all I need is a scanner, a computer, laminator, tweezers, a razor and I’m set to start my new life as a fake 21-year-old.

There’s also a downside to having a fake ID, though. It’s not all glory and bar hopping on Friday nights. Keep in mind that getting a fake ID is considered to be a misdemeanor offense and in some states - like Florida - it’s even a felony.

According to Florida law, if you're caught with a fake ID, you can be fined $10,000, sentenced to serve up to 15 years in prison, and can be convicted of a felony. Which means that job you have been studying for in college would be practically gone with a record like that.

If you want to get a fake ID like I do, just be careful with the consequences you might face. Even I have to realize that this could get me in serious trouble and as much as I would like one, I will have to seriously think about it before I actually get one.

Paying for College

2008-02-03T07:55:00.000-08:00

The planning for a college education.

Tuition: $3,000
Meal plans: $1,598
Books: $500

Initial reaction to your bank account statement...priceless

It was difficult to get into college, but it’s harder to stay in college. Reason being? Books.

There are a lot of things that you have to pay before you come to school: tuition, room and board, meal plans, etc. But the one thing that I’ve found to be extremely expensive in college are textbooks.

They are one of the most important things that a student needs (besides caffeine, of course) and they seem to be one of the most difficult things to obtain simply because of their costs.

The first time that I signed up for classes, I registered for 16 credits. I ordered all of my books online and specifically asked for used books. To my surprise when I was ready to pay, the bill added up to $500.

Something that I found quite surprising since in high school, the books were given to us to borrow for the entire year...for free. I don’t think I ever bought a book while in high school and if I ever did, I definitely never spent $500 on them.

So why are college books so expensive?

Well, according to MakeTextbooksAffordable, a Web site that focuses on campaigning to reduce the costs of books, textbook prices are increasing because of the inflation rates in all the finished goods.

Not only that, but the cost of all of those shiny, new edition books we are required to have actually cost 45 percent more than the previously used editions.

So what are we poor college students supposed to do if we don’t want to be broke for the rest of our college careers, work three jobs, and still not have enough money for books or a life?

Well, here are some pointers on where to get books for cheap and how not to be broke because of them.

1. Don’t buy your books before the first day of classes. This is a classic mistake most freshmen make. Because we want to be prepared for the first day of school, we like to buy things ahead of time but sometimes the books are not even required or of much use in the class, so make sure you get to class first and see what the professor says before you go out and spend all of your savings.

2. Bribe your friends for their old textbooks. If you don’t have nice enough friends that will just give you their old textbooks for no cost at all, then usually a nice meal, a 12-pack of beer, and a pack of cigarettes will do. Trust me, that’s still a lot cheaper than buying all of your books on your own.

3. Borrow books for service hours. This is something that not a lot of freshmen know, but you can actually borrow some of your books in exchange for service hours. You can do this by going to the Multicultural Affairs office, located above the Breezeway on the Boca Raton campus.

4. If all else fails and you must buy the book, then seek out the used and oldest version of the book that you can get away with. It will be cheaper and even though it might be a little different from the newest version, usually the difference is minimal and you can still pretty much figure out the context of what you’re reading.

5.If that’s still too expensive and goes over your budget, then you can always go online to Web sites like Amazon or even eBay, sometimes they’re a lot cheaper than buying them at the bookstore and they are delivered to you, so you don’t even have to move a finger...well, except to click on it.

I Want to Sleep

2008-01-27T07:46:00.000-08:00

If you saw me on a daily basis, you would know that as soon as you asked me how I am I would reply with: I’m tired, I’m sleepy, and I want to go home.

The thing is that on most days, even if I go home, I don’t sleep. I get distracted on Facebook, watch E! News and completely disregard time and end up going to bed at around 2 or 3 am.

And no, pulling all nighters are not an excuse this early in the semester.

In fact, according to a 2001 Brown University Study, only 11 percent of college students get their beauty sleep. Unfortunately, I think I’m part of that other 89 percent that doesn’t.

In high school, I used to sleep a lot. I went to school at around 7 am, got home at 3 pm, took a nap and went to bed at around 10 pm. I always had energy in class, kept up with my homework, and I actually enjoyed the time that I spent in school.

But in college, things are a little different.

7:00 a.m.: Go to school

6:00 p.m.: Get home

1:00 a.m.: Homework

3:00 a.m.: Sleep

This shows that on average, I’m probably sleeping somewhere around four hours a night... not good.

Not only do I look like crap the next day, but it’s not a healthy thing to do. I’m not 100 percent alert in class, I can’t pay attention for long periods of time, I’m tired and grumpy, and I’m not enjoying my time in school as much as I should.

So in response to my lack of sleep, I thought I’d put together a few causes and solutions to get us 89 percent back on track.

Problem: We’re partying too much. Yep, I know I’ve said this an endless amount of time, but partying is a factor in our lack of sleep. It certainly does wonders for your social life, not to mention the free amounts of alcohol from those new friends you made, but partying seven nights a week is not healthy.

Solution: Cut back on the partying and leave it for only Fridays and Saturdays. Forget about partying on Sundays. You will be hung over on Monday and won’t pay attention at all in class and you will basically lose the money that you’re paying for your education.

Problem: Spending too much on Facebook or related websites. I know I’m not the only one that spends hours lurking other people’s profiles and reading the little newsfeeds.

Solution: Unless you really need your computer to do research or write a paper, my suggestion is to turn your baby off. I know it’s hard, but love hurts sometimes. If you keep wasting time online, you’ll never get anything done and leave everything for the last minute.

Problem: Overwhelming amounts of work. Yes, we do have to study after all... that’s what we’re in college for. But we cannot let ourselves lose so much sleep over homework.

Solution: Two words: time management. Don’t let your homework stack up over the weeks and do it the day before the test. Write yourself a personal schedule in which you make time for afternoon naps, homework, and an early bed time. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it is possible to go to bed before midnight.

Hope these tips helped. Please, do yourself a favor and hit up your sheets more often. Trust me, they miss you.

Freshman Rumor Control

2008-01-21T05:29:00.000-08:00

Attention!

This is the freshman rumor control—a compilation of all the things that I’ve found to be true (or false) since I’ve been in college.

1. Freshmen are virgins: TRUE

Well I guess American Pie was wrong (whatever happened to getting laid on prom night?) because according to an article on CollegeHumor a Web site that dedicates its time to cover all things college, a whopping 46 percent of college freshmen are virgins. In fact, 38 percent of incoming freshmen lost their virginity on campus – no wonder everyone wanted to have a single room.

2. Freshmen fail College Algebra: TRUE

According to an article on Red Orbit only half of FAU students pass freshman level math courses, which is lower than the state’s passing rate of 62 percent.

The problem that I see with math classes at FAU is that, often times the classes are too big and for some reason the material is more difficult to understand. Not only that but the pace of the class is too fast, making it harder to fully focus on what’s been taught. Slow it down FAU!

3. Freshmen are alcoholics in the making: TRUE

You might be failing college Algebra, but damn you’re good at making that shot in beer pong. Yep, according to ABC news 45 percent of college freshmen are heavy drinkers. Alcohol is easily the most accessible thing to get on campus so it doesn’t surprise me that we’re the next generation of alcoholics in America.

I personally have friends who keep alcohol in their dorms and drink at least a couple of beers before the night is over – and that’s nothing compared to Friday night parties, where there’s no limit as to how much you can drink.

Partying is fun, but we have to start learning how to hold off on the shots…and the beer pong playoffs.

4. Most freshmen live on Campus: FALSE

When I first got accepted to college, the first thing that came to my mind was: “Let me see the dorms, I want to live on campus!” But after seeing the residential life at FAU, I had to think twice about where I wanted to live my first year of school.

It’s not that FAU is ugly, is just that most people don’t live on campus. Most students are commuters and prefer to live in the comfort of their homes, which makes it difficult for FAU to have a traditional “dorm life.” In fact according to FAU’s Office of Institutional Effectiveness & Analysis only nine percent of the student population lives in the dorms, which is not much compared to other big state schools.

Besides the fact that FAU is practically dead after Friday classes are over—leaving students that do live there with nothing to do. I rather live at home.

5. Freshmen gain 15 pounds: FALSE

Apparently, I was the only freshman who gained 15 pounds during the first semester – I really have to stop going to Wendy’s – because according to a report by CBS in 2006 called “Healthwatch” only six percent of freshmen gain 15 pounds. In fact the famously called “Freshman 15” are in reality an average weight gain of about six to seven pounds.

So there you have it, my official rumor control for all freshmen at FAU. Hope I’ve helped clear some doubts.

Pill Pill Poppin'

2008-01-13T20:23:00.001-08:00

When I was back in high school, I was really good at reading textbooks and instantly memorizing all the facts. I could read a chapter and still manage to remember everything I had read the next day. But in college, things are a little different.

For one, I can’t concentrate at all and I’m actually starting to think that I have some kind illness or that I just simply suffer from ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) — like everyone else.

Second of all, whenever I read something, it feels like I’m not reading it at all. I’ll spend hours at the library trying to concentrate and I still can’t remember what a paragraph is about.

Some of my friends, who also suffer from concentration problems, have turned to drugs such as Adderall — a drugs that’s supposed to help you concentrate and keep you awake for hours — or other stimulants for the mind such as Focus Factor to keep them focused, and as a freshman in college, I have actually never been exposed to those kinds of things, until now, and they sort of freak me out.

In high school, some students did suffer from things like ADD or ADHD (attention deficit hyperactive disorder) and were prescribed Adderall to help them with their respective disorders. In college, it seems everyone takes it for the hell of it - not just to concentrate but as an actual drug.

The thing is, there are so many other things students could do to help them with their concentration when it comes to school work or when it comes to cramming for an exam. What ever happened to good old Redbull or simple cups of Joe? Back in High School, that was cooler than popping pills.

Students are not realizing of the effect of what Adderall or other similar drugs can do to them. Not only are they getting their bodies used to constantly have a substance in them to "help" them study or "help" them stay awake, but they can easily use Adderall as a step stone for illegal drugs.

My point is that there are other ways and other things you can do to do well in class and to cram up when it’s final’s season.

1. Study ahead. Read your lecture notes everyday after class. It’ll help keep the material fresh in your head and you won’t have to study as much when the test comes around.

2. Sit up front in all of your classes. Sitting in front of the teacher always prevents you from sleeping and it helps you be more alert during class discussions.

3. If you really feel like you need some sort of stimulant to try to stay up and study for longer hours then hit up your local Starbucks and get yourself a good cup of coffee — caffeine is not great for your system either, but hey, it’s a lot better than becoming the local "pill popper" of your floor.

If you are taking Adderall and don’t have ADD then take a look at this video and tell me if you act anything like these freaks.

RateMyProfessor is a fraud!

2008-01-05T17:59:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of my first semester at FAU, one of the first things I remember students telling me to do was to go on RateMyProfessors - a Web site that’s supposed to encourage students to rate their teachers — to check out the professors I would have and to get an idea of what their classes would be like.

Well, I checked it out.

It didn’t work.

For those who don't already know, I took an astronomy class last semester and completely hated the class. It wasn’t as easy as I thought, and the teacher, for the most part, couldn’t speak English and could not be understood no matter where you sat in the auditorium.

Most of my friends and the people I know who have taken the class would agree with me that this class sucked and it was a complete waste of time and energy. But when you look on RateMyProfessors this is what it says about my former professor from hell:

“Really easy going teacher, I really loved his lecture and the quizzes and exams were too easy. Too much extra credit in exams,” said an anonymous student.

There is no such thing as "too much extra credit," and that’s when I realized that RateMyProfessors isn't as accurate as I thought it was.

For one, students have different perspectives of a professor. We can’t all possibly have the same opinions about a teacher. That anonymous student loved his class but I completely hated it. Are the ones who love it the only students who know about that Web site?

Second of all, I’m beginning to think that RateMyProfessors is also a way for teachers to promote their classes by writing the ratings themselves and praising their work. For example, everyone who has ever taken astronomy knows for a fact that Mr. Martinez doesn’t speak perfect English and that he makes very obvious mistakes.

Now look at this review of the class on “ RateMyProfessors:

"He is very understanding and will curves the grades when need. He likes to she his kids do well."

Call me crazy, but I don’t think a student would write such a "great" review with such bad grammar. Please...

The point is that RateMyProfessors is not an accurate source of information for anybody to use. But it is even more useless for freshmen because we don’t know anything when we first start classes. We’re freshmen, and we think that Web sites like that are the coolest thing since MySpace. We get tricked into thinking that it actually works.

But if you get really desperate and want to know what a class will be like without using RateMyProfessors, here are some tips to help you out:

1. Plan your next semester’s schedules ahead and pick a random professor that you’d like to take the class with. Then, either sneak into the class one day and see what he/she is like, or personally meet him/her during office hours and try to get a feel for what the class might be like.

2. Ask around, call your friends, talk to random people in the breezeway and ask them if they’ve taken the class that you want to take. Most of the time they will either recommend a teacher or tell you who not to take.

3. If you like surprises, then you can always wait until you go to class, check out the teacher yourself and see if you like him or her. If you don’t, then drop the class before the end of the drop/add period, which is usually the duration of the first week of the semester.

I hope you found these helpful and I wish you all luck with your spring semester schedules. I know I’ll definitely need it.

The Rules of Attendance

2007-12-09T13:05:00.000-08:00

Back in my high school days, teachers used to be pretty strict about attendance. We couldn’t be late to class, and we could only miss a certain amount of school days before we were made to go to summer school. The least a teacher could do for an absence was give us a detention.

But now that I’m in college, things are a little different. In fact, they’ve changed for the worse. As it turns out, some courses state that if students miss class more than three times, they fail — meaning the entire course. I find this to be quite absurd.

I feel like I’m back in high school. This whole attendance deal is ridiculous. If I have worked hard in a class and have gotten decent grades on my tests, then there is no reason why I should be punished by receiving an F in a course simply because of missing three days of class.

Of course, not all courses implement the same policy of failing a student due to absences in the class. In my French class, for example, the attendance policy has officially been changed on the syllabus. Students who have more than three absences will have points deducted for each additional absence - which I think is a reasonable policy for students.

But for math, the policy is incredibly uptight. According to the syllabus, a student may only be absent five times. Otherwise, he or she absolutely fails the entire course. No excuses.

I always thought teachers would be less strict about classes in college. Why do they care when we are the ones who are paying for classes and it is our problem whether we go to class or not?

Besides, I don’t think a rule like that even needs to be implemented in college. We’re older now, and we should know better to actually be responsible and go to class. We don’t need rules like that. It actually hurts my feelings that the school would think we are that irresponsible when we’re paying for our own classes.

Of course, I know it’s probably a little difficult for teachers to actually believe that a recent high school graduate would be responsible enough to go to class and not skip. A good reason why they would implement such a rule. But hey, we made it to college; we’re not that stupid.

At least I’m happy that this semester is over. I actually feel accomplished that I made it through my first semester in college. I survived it, I’m starting to lose the freshman 15, and I’m not failing math due to attendance.

I still think that someone should say something about the attendance matter, though. Maybe attendance should not be that big of a deal. Teachers could just gradually deduct points from students' grades whenever they are absent more than three times. Or how about if teachers give extra credit for perfect attendance? Maybe we could all feel a little more motivated to go to class.

The point is that grades should be based on how well we do on tests, not on attendance.

Oh, and by the way... have a happy winter break!

Losing my hair because of college finals

2007-12-02T07:03:00.001-08:00

It's finals season and, in case you haven’t noticed, the semester is practically over. I almost survived my first semester in college.

Aside from my mini personal victory, I’m freaking out about finals.

To me, finals are a big deal. They are practically our last chance to do well in a class, and if I don’t do well on all of my finals, my GPA is seriously going to go through an extreme amount of pain.

There is a lot of pressure to do well on a final. If you’re like me and you’re leaving everything to the last minute, there’s even more pressure to study massive amounts of information in a matter of a couple of days.I’m such a mess.

Not only that, but every time I bump into my friends at the library when I’m about to study, they compelled to tell me their final schedules and how freaked out they are, which doesn’t help my situation at all.

You see, things were a tad different in high school.

First of all, finals were important for us, but finals didn’t happen until the end of the school year, specifically during the summer.

Second of all, we still had the same classes the semester after winter break, which meant we still had time to raise our grades before the end of the school year, which took off a lot of pressure from the midterms.

In college, when the semester is over, it’s over. There are no more chances to do better in a class except for the final. I’m already an emotional wreck whenever I think about my astronomy final.

On top of that, the material covered in a college course is a lot more than what the teachers covered back in my high school days.

Since it's been a little tough to take a breather because I'm so stressed out, I figured I'd pass along some tips that have been past along to me.

Prioritize your studies according to the order of your finals: This is something I find very helpful whenever I have tried to study for finals. The main thing you have to do is to try to study for the first final you are going to take. For example, the first final I’m taking is math... meaning that right now, I’m cramming up all of those logarithm rules I learned last week. The second final I’m taking is French, which I’ll study for during the weekend.

Ask your professors all of the last minute questions this week: Don’t wait until the night before your final to send your teacher an e-mail and ask him or her for help. If you have questions and you don’t understand something... by all means, ask away!

Study groups are the "in" thing to do: Get a group of friends together and hit up your local Barnes & Noble or coffee shop. It is an efficient way of learning the material quickly and you get to bond with your fellow classmates.

Three words: try to sleep: A common misconception with college students — especially freshmen — is that in order to do well on your finals, you have to stay up all night and cram everything up in one sitting. This is not true. Our bodies need rest, and if we just keep working and studying like maniacs, our brains will be so tired that all the information we retained will be gone by the time we start writing out our names on our tests. Finals are important, but so is our health. Make sure you schedule in some sleep.

Take a deep breath: What’s the worst thing that could happen if you don’t do that well on your final? Try to relax and take breaks between long study sessions. If you’ve paid attention in class, then you should be OK. If not.. well... there’s always next semester.

And for your viewing pleasure, watch this:

Good luck with finals!

What a Dorm Life...

2007-11-25T01:28:00.000-08:00

As I was recently watching the movie Van Wilder, the story of a college student who is afraid of life after school, I realized how many movies promote the idea that the typical "college experience" involves a curfew-free life of endless partying, a lot of junk food and moving into the dorms. I guess the movies were wrong, because I have yet to experience the on-campus lifestyle — I’m still living at home.

For me, things are a little different. I moved here from Venezuela four years ago, and the cultural differences between my country and this one are very apparent.

For one, the traditional college student in my country lives in his or her parents' house until marriage — not cool. And second of all, if you are allowed to move out, you would typically live in an apartment by yourself without any roommates — simply because having roommates is considered "weirdz" and not a common thing to do. In America, having roommates is the most common way of living for a college student.

The problem is that I’ve grown up in the American culture, and when I graduated high school, I was expecting my parents to just let me go and allow me to live on campus like many other college students.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Because of the culture differences, I feel like I’ve missed out on a lot of great dorm experiences.

When I was in high school, going to college and moving into the dorms was a big deal. It didn’t matter if the dorms were smaller than a box or if you were going to have to share the bathroom with five other people. The point is that it is an experience in your freshman year of college that you’ll never forget.

But five months after graduation, I’m still at my parents' house with a curfew of 1 a.m., and I still have to deal with a constant drill of questions regarding where I’m going and who I’m going with... how annoying.

For the record, it’s not like I hate living at my parents' house. After all, I don’t pay for rent, I always have nice food on the table, and I have a pool and a Jacuzzi for me to use whenever I want.

The problem is that a lot of memorable things happen while living in the dorms that are good for any freshman’s social life, like memories of staying up all night with a bunch of friends in somebody’s dorm or even going to local school concerts. I feel like living in the dorms completes what I dreamt would be my college experience as a freshman.

Some of my older friends — who have already lived at the dorms — keep telling me that I have to live in the dorms for at least one semester because of the experience. I don’t even think I would care if I had to sleep in a room that’s 10 times smaller than mine or that I had roommates. At least I would feel like I’m finally in college and not necessarily just going to class.

In a way, I’m kind of happy that I still do live at home, because at least I don’t have as many distractions as I would have if I lived in the dorms. I wouldn't study as much, I'd eat a lot more junk food, and I'd go to a lot more parties.

Astronomy- The Most Dreaded Class for a Freshman

2007-11-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

Tuesday and Thursday afternoons are when I start complaining. My stomach gets into knots, I suddenly feel sick and I find all kinds of excuses to try to not go to my most dreaded class: astronomy.

When I was registering for classes this summer, I couldn’t decide between all the cool classes that I wanted to take. I distinctly remember trying to choose between French and German, art history and psychology, and of course, astronomy and chemistry.

I chose astronomy — big mistake.

On the first day of class, I was excited to go to astronomy. I couldn’t wait to learn about the planets and go to the observations to look at the stars. Even my parents kept talking about how much I was going to like that class. Well, as it turns out, they were wrong.

And so was I.

It turns out the material is not as exciting as I originally thought it would be and the class gets so bad that people actually leave in the middle of the lecture — something I later learned was normal in college.

Not even in high school did I ever have a class that would make me feel so sick minutes before it. The class that I disliked the most in high school was trigonometry... and even that wasn’t as bad as astronomy.

My trigonometry teacher at least tried to get us somewhat involved in the lecture. She would come up with geeky anecdotes about her weekend and she'd give us free candy during the holidays.

But I guess not everything is bad about my astronomy class — there's always going to be a class in your schedule that you won't like, and the best thing you can do is get the good out of it.

I learned my lesson with astronomy. And next time I choose classes, I will be more careful about what I take. Obviously, I’m not going to like every class that I’m required to take, but I don’t think anything will ever top my experience with astronomy.

To avoid classes like this in the future, I'm passing along some information that was passed along to me.

1. Before you register for any of your classes, make sure you check out Rate My Professor for a description of what your class will be like and what the teachers are like. I should have definitely done that when I had the time.

2. Ask your friends if they’ve had any bad experiences with the classes that you are about to take. My friends warned me about astronomy, but I didn’t listen.

3. If it’s humanly impossible to pay attention in class, then make sure you’re getting As on your online quizzes; they really help out when it comes to your grade.

4. Bring your I-clickers — a lot of extra credit for just pushing a button!

The Stressful Life of a Freshman

2007-11-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

10:00 a.m. - Wake up. I want to throw that alarm out of the window.

11:45 a.m. - The parking garage is full and I have 15 minutes to get to my French class. Je deteste le Francais!

2:00 p.m. - I haven’t eaten, I have a test in an hour and a deadline at 5 p.m. Goodbye Einstein’s.

3:30 p.m. - I hate my astronomy class.

5:00 p.m. - I’m stuck in traffic, I’m way past deadline and I haven’t thought about my new blog yet. I guess sleep is out the window tonight. Hello doubleshot espresso.

Whether you’re a freshman in college or whether you’re a grown adult with a spouse and kids, you’re more than likely to experience stress at some point of your life.

Lately, I’ve experienced an excessive amount of stress and I’m only 18 years old. I guess I should expect wrinkles and gray hairs, too.

I’ve never been a "calm" person. In high school, I used to stress out about pretty much everything - ranging from a test or a quiz to who I was sitting with in lunch if one of my friends was sick. Now that I’m in college, I seem to be a lot more stressed out than I used to, and I’m not even taking half the classes that I took in high school, nor am I waking up at 7 a.m. to go to class.

As it turns out, I’m not the only freshman — or student, for that matter — who’s leading the same kind of stressful life as I am. According to a recent study at UCLA in 2006, 30.2 percent of freshmen reported feeling stressed out and overwhelmed by all of their new responsibilities.

So what is going on with us students? College is supposed to be the greatest time of our lives. At the rate I’m going and with the stress that I’m dealing with on a daily basis, college feels like it will be the some of the worst years of my life.

There’s a lot more pressure to do everything 10 times better than in high school: to be a better student and to get a diploma that will hopefully get you somewhere with some kind of career. It seems as though some of us are taking it all a little bit too seriously and forgetting about actually enjoying college.

Sometimes I feel like I can’t even breathe without stressing out. When I don’t have a test that I have to study for, then I’m probably doing homework, and even if I don’t have homework, then I’m probably writing an article that is already past deadline.

Don’t get me wrong, though. I like most of my classes and I like learning the material that I’m taught, and I really do enjoy writing, whether it is for the University Press or for personal reasons. Unfortunately, I just don’t know how to manage my time, which leads me to stress out about everything.

That is the biggest problem with us freshmen: we don’t know how to manage time. Therefore, we’re more prone to stress than more than some upperclassmen who have probably already figured out the system of getting things done on time and not stressing out.

Nobody ever taught me how to manage stress. In high school, most students don’t deal with stress because they’re kids and they don’t really have a lot of things to worry about. But for college students, things are a little bit more realistic and we have to start thinking about our futures and careers. It’s not like we can just get a bad grade on a test, hope to do better on the next one and not really care about it.

Luckily for you, I’ve taken the liberty of jotting down some tips on how to deal with stress from Campus Blues — a Web site that focuses on helping students deal with stress or the "blues" from being away from home for the first time.

1. Exercise — There’s nothing better than going for a run around the park to forget about all your problems.

2. Listen to your favorite music — That’s right, submerge yourself in your favorite song and rock out as hard as you can.

3. Go to a ballgame and scream — Not only are you encouraging your favorite team, but you’re also getting some stress out of your system.

4. Play your favorite video game — It’s Wii time!

5. Make chocolate chip cookies (or just eat the dough) — Chocolate usually fixes everything, or at least it makes you feel a little better.

College is supposed to be fun, so don’t stress out about everything and try to balance your time. Otherwise, you’ll be bald by the time you’re 25 years old. I’m sure you don’t want that.

Partyin' it Up

2007-11-03T20:24:00.000-07:00

As a college student, the most fun that we get on a Friday night is going to a party at the nearest college dorm room or apartment. The worst part about Friday night parties, however, is the Saturday morning hangover. This seems to be a common problem that many freshmen encounter: not studying enough and partying too much.

As a freshman, I’ve noticed that I’m slowly becoming what society calls "a party girl." Not only because I’ve been frequenting Friday night parties for the past couple of weeks, but also because, for some reason, I just can’t stop going to them!

In high school, I was never a "party" anything. I went to one high school party, and that was only because my friend was dying to get her hands on some booze and nobody else wanted to drive. Go figure.

But now that I’m in college, I go to parties, clubs and anything that involves a social gathering every weekend. What happened to me in the couple of months that I’ve been here? I’m supposed to be studying... not partying!

In fact, us college kids deal with anything through partying and binge drinking. If you get an A on a test, you go out and party. If your significant other broke up with you, you go out and party. If you’re bored, you party. Whenever we find an excuse, we party. That’s just how some of us roll.

The problem is that partying not only affects your studies and your work, but it also affects your health. (Yes, there are things that are more important than Jell-O shots and playing beer pong.)

According to Healthy Minds, a Web site that specializes on talking about physical and mental health, young people between ages 18 and 25 have the highest percent of binge drinking with a shocking 38.7 percent.

Partying is fun, but how far is too far? It’s not fun waking up the next morning regretting things that you might have done while you were drunk. Or even worse, it’s not fun waking up the next morning without remembering what happened the night before. It's also not fun waking up on a random couch half naked with Sharpie drawings all over your body.

There has to be a balance between partying and school work. But most importantly, there has to be a balance between knowing how much your body can take and how much you drink. Just because you think it’s fun feeling a little dizzy and being completely careless for a couple of hours doesn't mean it's good for your body.

As much as I’m growing to like partying, I’m definitely trying to be careful in the way I carry myself at my social gatherings.

Partying is fun, but death isn’t.

If you’re becoming addicted to the party scene like I am, here are some tips to try to balance your school life with the party life:

1. If you really can’t wait to go that Friday night party, then work your butt off during the week and get your work done before the party! Nobody likes to work while hung over.

2. Try to limit your partying and beer pong play-offs to just one day per week, preferably a Friday or a Saturday night. Don’t pick random days in the week or you won’t be able to stay awake during class.

3. If you party hard, then work hard. Classes and books deserve your attention, too!

Choosing a major is a hard thing to do...

2007-10-27T14:02:00.001-07:00

Choosing a major before school started was hard enough, but now that I’m already halfway through the year, I feel like the major that I was so completely sure with before is no longer the dream I was once had, and I just don’t understand what exactly happened.

The single most asked question I get is what my major is - the one that now scares me whenever I meet somebody new. I don’t know exactly at what point I started having doubts about what I wanted to be when I "grew up."

In high school, I bragged about my major. Whenever my friends asked me what I was going to study, I would always give them the same cocky attitude: I want to be a journalist, I want to work for Rolling Stone, and I want to move to New York. Now that I’m in college, I no longer have the same dream. In fact, I think I have actually become the dreaded "U" word: undecided.

I had always heard of my older college friends say that they switched majors a few times before they finally stuck to only one. But, I actually never believed them. I thought they were all exaggerating and that I would surely prove them all wrong by sticking to one major. But now, I’m actually dabbling between three other things that I want to be and they’re very different from each other.

Why is that, though? Why is it that so many freshmen like me are struggling to find their dream career in college when there are so many options? Maybe that’s the problem: we don’t exactly know how many options we have.

I remember that even at orientation, the leaders separated us according to majors and colleges. But what about the "undecided" majors? Were they separated with a bunch of "undecided" people and just got a simple tour of campus? What does the school really do when it comes to guiding us freshman who are completely lost into what we really want to be?

The Career Development Center helps students with their career paths and choices for those that haven't found "the right track." They do so by giving out self-assessment tests and information about different kind of careers and majors that help students decide what they really want to study.

But I guess now that I’m in college, I understand what my friends meant when they said that I was probably going to change my major about a couple of times before making up my mind. I guess it’s because as a freshman, we’re all trying to find what we’re really good at, and sometimes the major that we may have chosen may not have been the best one for us. This would probably explain the indecisiveness and the changing around of majors the first couple of years in college.

I still think that the promoting of other majors and careers should still be more advertised around campus. How about having a table on the Breezeway dedicated to a certain major on different days of the week with a person to talk more about it? Or how about workshops for freshman to help us decide what major is best for us and which ones we could actually succeed in, because I definitely need some guidance in this whole deal.

I just wish the process of choosing a major would be a lot easier. For some reason, it is more difficult than I thought. I am still a communications major, but there are just so many other things that I want to explore and study that I feel like I’m caught up in the middle of my own decisions.

I like music, psychology and writing — but that doesn’t mean I’m going to major in each of those.

For now, I will be switching my major to Psychology just because I think it’s the only other thing I like the most — I just hope I’m making the right decision for my future. But hey, it sounds good for the time being.

Religion, Religion, Religion!

2007-10-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone's favorite brother came by this week - Brother Micah, that is.

I had never even heard of Micah Armstrong before, but he was definitely a character. I hadn’t seen somebody so passionate about spreading the word of God before like that, and though it might have been an entertainment for most of us, it was also annoying how people like him constantly try to convert you into something that you’re not interested in.

Back in high school, there were a lot of religious clubs that were promoted by students throughout the school year. The problem was that a lot of the clubs took the promoting a little too seriously and actually tried to convert people into their religions and not respect everybody else’s beliefs.

When I got to college, I thought that whole deal would be over... until I saw Brother Micah "preaching" to students about how we’re not good Christians because we wear jeans that are "too tight" and "engage in premarital sex." Who is he to say such a thing? But more importantly, it is none of his business whether we’re good Christians or not, or whether we follow the Ten Commandments or not. Who is he to decide for us?

That’s the problem with people like him. They go around to college campuses hoping to get all us little freshman into changing our religions just because they’re telling us to do so. What’s up with that?

As a student and as a human being, I’m the one who’s going to decide what kind of religion I want to be apart of. What if I wanted to be an atheist? What if I didn’t believe in all of this "religion" stuff? Why do people like Brother Micah follow you around, trying to make up your mind for you? What ever happened to respecting our decisions?

I also dislike the fact that people like Brother Micah especially try attract attention to a younger crowd as opposed of older people who are NOT in college. For some reason, people like him think that because we are young and "naive" we would actually fall for the things they say.

Brother Micah was definitely a big hit in the entertainment department. I actually enjoyed watching his ridiculous act this past week. However, I also found him very annoying and also somewhat disrespectful to some of the students. Who cares if we’re sinners or not? My definition of "sin" and his definition of "sin" are completely different. Who cares if we wear certain clothes or if we hold hands and make out? That’s our business and neither him nor anybody else has anything to do with it.

Just let us be and stop trying to convert people. We'll do it if we want to.

Homecoming Week is Near!

2007-10-13T20:23:00.000-07:00

In high school, I never went to any dances or proms until my senior year. I never participated in much and I tried to stay away from Homecoming football games and packed stores at the mall trying to look for a dress.

This year, I've surprisingly been consumed by the excitement of my first Homecoming week in college. And let me tell you, it is a lot different from what freshman are used to.

First of all, I didn’t even know there was a Homecoming in college. I always thought that it was primarily a "high school thing." It completely caught me off guard when I started seeing posters around school telling us to vote for our Homecoming prince and princess. Even when I saw the posters around campus, I still wasn’t quite sure of what kind of Homecoming in college was all about.

It turns out that Homecoming in college is a BIG deal. Not only is the week full of fun events for everybody to enjoy, but people seem to actually participate in them and genuinely enjoy the spirit of Homecoming. This wasn’t the case back in my high school days.

Way back when, Student Government practically begged students to go to the pep rallies. We lacked serious school spirit and, on top of that, my high school football team took losing to a whole new level. Besides, the fact that we got ridiculed by other schools for having a condom as our mascot didn't really help. (Yes, The Trojans.)

In college, Homecoming week is actually fun. One of the big activities during Homecoming week is the comedy show, which will be held at the Carole and Barry Kaye Auditorium in the Student Union. To me, the comedy show sounds like a great idea to have a couple of laughs with real comedians for once.

There will also be a parade and a bonfire. A parade? Seriously? I don’t think anyone in high school even thought of that... let alone a bonfire.

Of course, how can we forget the football game — the single most important part of Homecoming week?

This year, our OWLS will be fighting Louisiana-Monroe at Lockhart Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 27. The football game is THE BEST way to get involved in school. You get a little bit of school spirit, have fun watching some football with friends, and of course, you get to lose your voice while cheering on our Owls. I definitely recommend going to it.

I’m kind of disappointed that we’re not having a dance this year at FAU. But I think all the activities coming up during Homecoming week make up for it.

Homecoming week will be great to mingle with fellow students and go out there and have some fun and forget about homework and papers for a couple of days. Check out all the activities planned during the week of Oct. 21-28 by clicking here.

GO OWLS!

Collegitis

2007-10-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

During my senior year of High School, I got what is normally called “Senioritis” — the typical procrastination of a high school student toward the end of senior year. But don't think it escaped me so quickly. Now I'm in college and I seem to be suffering from Collegitis, its evil, older sibling!

When the summer of my senior year finally came, I was thrilled to not have to worry about Senioritis any longer. I could procrastinate all I wanted during the summer because I had nothing to do. I didn’t have any homework to turn in or any exams to study for. All I had to worry about was whether the pool was warm enough.

Right before classes began, I had this sudden motivation to study. I was eager to learn and I couldn’t stop looking at all the cool, new and shiny looking books I had gotten for all of my college classes. I felt so grown up.

Six weeks later, I can’t even stand going to class. Not only are they not what I expected, but it is just so incredibly difficult to even make myself go to them... let alone do any of the homework.

The first week of school, I kept checking Blackboard — the Web site where most of my teachers keep up with assignments — to see if there was any homework I could get done right away. I was on time to all of my classes and paying attention to what the professors were saying.

Now, I forget to check Blackboard and I don’t always get to class early (especially Astronomy — a class which highly recommend NOT to take). As much as I try to pay attention, all I end up doing is either socializing with the person sitting next to me or wondering what I’m going to do during the weekend.

Not only that, but sitting at home and trying to study is almost impossible for me these days. All I do is surf around on Facebook to see if I have any new comments or friends requests, check MySpace (another one of the deadly sins of a freshman) and download music. It seems I do everything BUT homework.

I’ve come to the conclusion that my procrastination is killing me. Not only is it hurting my grades and my studies, but I’m wasting money and time. We all pay for the classes that we take and if I keep this up, then what am I doing in college?

I think most freshmen feel like this and have the same problem. It may be because we tend to confuse college with high school — but with more freedom and no detentions. I'm used to the FCAT education that I was given in high school and not exactly used to “real” studies that will actually be useful in life rather than to pass a required test.

College is not high school. Teachers are not going to guide us through every single step of our college careers. But I’m used to that, which is why I keep putting things off to the last minute — because I’m expecting my teachers to tell me what I need to do to pass. Their job is to teach us, not to spoon feed us everything.

I have noticed that it is also difficult to even like my classes because they do remind me a lot of my high school days. The core curriculum is the worst. The classes are basically the same as in high school; the only difference is that teachers teach faster and there's more homework.

Frankly, I’m sick of seeing and learning the same material that I’ve been learning for the last four years, and I cannot wait until my classes get a little bit more in depth toward my degree. I want to learn something else other than algebra and English. Why not add some more interesting classes to the core curriculum? How about adding some classes that weren’t part of the AP curriculum in high school?

Procrastination is one of the worst qualities to have. I have definitely gotten in a lot of trouble because of it. It is not a good thing to do, and it is always better to get things done ahead of time. If you’re struggling like I am, here are a couple of tips from suite101.com — a Web site that touches subjects from college to the newest Britney rumor going around — on how to get rid of this horrible “disease.”

1. Balance the time that you spend with your friends “hanging out” and the time you spend hitting the books. Education should always come first.

2. Hanging out with your buddies is cool, but give your books some love. Save time aside each day, with few distractions, to get school work done and catch up on studies. It will not only save your GPA but also your sanity!

3. Pulling all-nighters seems like a great idea, until you end up pulling three in a row and end up falling asleep during your chemistry lab. Balance your time between studying and sleeping. You always have to get your beauty sleep.

4. If you’re struggling with the distractions at home, there is a 24-hour study lounge on campus, located adjacent to the library. You should definitely check it out if you keep checking Facebook like me and not actually studying.

I hope you found these tips helpful. Next time, I’ll be the one at the library studying rather than on Facebook adding people.

Money, Money, Money

2007-09-29T15:38:00.000-07:00

Back at orientation, I complained about the hours I had to sit through for the “Money Matters” portion. I guess I shouldn't have taken it for granted because it's only six weeks into school and I’m dead broke.

Money has always been an issue with me. If I have money, I spend it. If I don’t have money, I ask for it and then I spend that. Sadly, that’s just how I've always been. In college I’ve come to notice that lately, I spend a lot more money than I used to... and that’s just not cool.

In high school, I would survive for the whole week with an average of $12. I would buy lunch everyday, some candy and a couple of extra inexpensive supplies. On a regular day in college, I go to Einstein’s for breakfast, eat lunch at the food court, drink coffee at least twice a day and buy a magazine once in while. That all adds up to $20.00 or more a day. That means I’m spending more than $100.00 per week!

The funny part is that I actually try to save my money on a regular basis. I have an account with Bank Atlantic where I’m supposed to put my money and save it... the thing is my money never makes it that far. I usually spend it before I even get close to the bank to make a deposit.

I’ve noticed that I’m not the only freshman — or student, for that matter — that has trouble saving their money. A lot of students — especially freshmen — have trouble saving money because it is the first time that we are having a chance at monetary freedom. It feels great at first but for some, the consequences can be upsetting.

Toward the end of my high school career, my parents decided that I was “old” enough to get a debit card. I was stoked about the idea at first. I could not believe I finally had my name on a card... with money in it! When I went to the mall with the card for the first time, I attempted to control myself in the things I bought, but it was so hard to stop shopping. It was like suddenly, everything was a complete “must-have” and I could not resist buying them. When I went online and looked at my balance, I almost had a heart attack. I had spent more money than I actually had.

The problem is that as a freshman, I don’t know how to control my money. I’ve never had this much liberty and freedom with it, and now that I do have it, I'm going crazy.

I don’t have to pay rent, I don’t have to pay insurance, I don’t pay for gas... I don’t pay for anything! And maybe that’s the problem. Maybe it is that I don’t have enough responsibility or serious things to worry about that will make me stop spending money like a mad woman. Maybe... that’s just what I need: responsibility.

In high school, I never paid for anything. I had a job my junior year at a retail store at the mall and whenever I got my pay check I would just spend it on clothes. My parents have always paid everything - my cell phone bills, gas money, food, etc. And even though that feels great, maybe it would have been better for them to give me a bit more responsibility when I was younger. Look at me now: I can’t even have a dollar bill in my wallet without spending it somehow. And believe me, spending money is not a good quality to have.

If I had bills to pay and more things to worry about, I would probably be more careful with my money and the way I spend it. I wouldn’t be going to the mall on shopping sprees every weekend, I wouldn’t be spending so much money on food, and I wouldn’t be spending money just to spend it. I would probably organize myself better.

If you’re in the same position as me right now, here are some tips from getrichslowly.com on money matters for college students:

1. Create a Budget. Limit your beer buying to one 24 pack a week.
2. Don’t get a credit card unless you absolutely need one. The guys at the sign-up table are not there to help you. They are there to make money.
3. Save and then splurge. If you decide you really want to buy the Wii, then save for it and pay it with cash. Don’t put it on a credit card.
4. Limit vices. Beer and cigarettes can get expensive. There’s nothing wrong with a drink or two on a Friday night, just don’t go overboard.
5. Learn the art of a cheap date. The student guide to cheap dates suggests:
· Take advantage of mother nature.
· Go for coffee.
· Attend campus activities.

Hopefully some of these tips will help us freshman who are going crazy with the concept of saving money. Let’s just hope that next time I actually make a deposit and not have a $.50 balance any longer.

Anyway, just to refresh our memories with what responsibility is... here’s a video by MxPx.

Will you marry me?

2007-09-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

I’ve never been one to plan out my wedding and picture my prince charming, but I’ve always known that I definitely do not want to get married at a young age.

On the first day of school, as I was waiting to go in my astronomy class, I had the chance to encounter what turned out to be a very interesting conversation between two strangers:

“So, what’s your major?”
“Communications. What about you?”
“Same... oh is that a ring?”
“Yeah, I’m getting married.”

I could not believe what I had just heard! This kid did not look to be more than 20 years old and he was already engaged. Call me crazy, but isn’t that a bit irrational?

Back in high school, relationships were not taken that seriously. Sure, there were a couple of people who talked about getting married, but they didn’t actually make it together through graduation to make the wedding happen.

In high school, relationships were more of social thing. It was more about a 'who was going out with whom' kind of thing. It was never too serious and most relationships were probably over a couple of months later. I’ve noticed that in college, relationships are actually long-lasting, and many of them even get to the altar and have a wedding. All within eight to 10 months of “going out.”

That is what scares me the most in college when it comes to relationships. It’s not like I don’t want one, it’s just that it seems as if relationships in college get serious incredibly fast, and at 18 years old, I'm definitely not ready for that kind of commitment. I just want to have fun and meet cool people. I’m not necessarily looking to get married.

I understand the feeling of being in love and that sudden desire of spending the rest of your life with that special someone. But, some of these kids seem to be rushing into everything way too fast. Not only are they too young, but how can you know for sure that you’re truly in love with that one person and that you want to spend the rest of your life with them when you haven’t even experienced other relationships and other kinds of people? How is that possible?

On top of everything, it must be incredibly difficult to try to balance a marriage with school. One thing is to have a casual relationship with someone, but another is to be married. When you’re married you live together, there are bills to pay, there’s work to do, you have to go to school and you also have to make time for each other to “make it work.” How are kids doing that these days if there’s barely enough time in one day to work, study, rest and spend time with your spouse, all in 24 hours? It must be hard.

However, I must say that even though I might not agree with students getting married so quickly while in college, I actually do admire them for the courage that it takes to try to make ends meet and try to make a marriage work from so early on in their lives. Even though I don’t plan on getting married any time soon, it must be nice to wear a ring on your finger that symbolizes the love of your special someone.

Relationships in college still petrify me, though. But who knows, maybe that’s the fun part about them.

Anyway, here’s a cool video just to illustrate the whole topic on dating...

Let's go Owls, let's go!

2007-09-15T18:35:00.001-07:00

I had never been to a football game before – a college football game, that is – and I admit that going in the stadium, I had no idea of what to expect.

I’ve never been a big sports fan. They only sport that I’ve ever liked has been hockey. I still don’t understand the rules of football very well, but it is a whole different thing. I had just always thought of football as a bunch of sweaty guys with big helmets running down a field, tackling each other down ‘til they hit the ground. But going to the game gave me a whole new perspective on why college football games are so much fun.

For the first time in my life, I experienced a real football game. There were cameras, photographers, free t-shirts, big screens; I mean, it was the real deal. It wasn’t some silly game that everyone goes to to get trashed – although I’m sure a lot of people did. It was actually somewhat professional.

The energy was incredible. I never even knew FAU had that much spirit and enthusiasm towards the game. There were people passionately yelling out to the players, encouraging them and rooting them on to win (which, by the way, we did - 42-39). I guess I was surprised because I just never saw that kind of spirit in my high school football games. They were always so dead.

The only football game that I went to in high school was the homecoming game my senior year. I was excited to see my school play – even though I knew we completely sucked compared to other high schools. But that one night, I went to the game and unfortunately it turned out to be very disappointing.

But now that I’m in college, I feel like I want to go to every football game and support my team, the Owls!!! I actually want to get involved in the football games and be one of those die-hard Owl fans. For the first time since I’ve been here, I’m proud of being an Owl. I’m proud of our team and proud of our school. I just never thought I’d feel this way about FAU. I just thought I’d come here, study and get it all over with and not actually enjoy my time here.

Now I realize that FAU does have a lot to offer. I’m not only saying this because we won the football game, but because going to the game gave me a whole new perspective of what life at FAU is like. The game made me feel welcomed to the FAU community and like I was a part of this school.

I will definitely keep going to the football games now. Watch out for me next time. I’ll probably be the girl sitting in the front row, wearing all blue and red and yelling out “Let’s go Owls!” the entire game.

Hmm... that cheeseburger looks good...

2007-09-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

A couple of months before high school graduation, all of my friends started talking about the Freshman 15: the dreaded weight you put on your freshman year of college. I thought it was pretty stupid, considering I was still going to live at home and the whole deal wouldn’t really affect me. Well boy was I was wrong. In fact, the “freshman 15” should now be changed to the “freshman 20” thanks to me. Yes boys and girls, I have officially gained 20 pounds.

I tried sticking to my diet. I tried to eat fruits and salads instead of bagels and frapuccinos, but Starbucks looks so good in the morning it is almost impossible to pass by. Not only that, but the new food court on campus is absolute heaven if you're into clogging your arteries and increasing cellulite. The new Wendy’s that is being built there is definitely not a good idea. It is already calling my name and it hasn’t even opened yet!

The good thing is that now there are on-campus Yoga and Pilates classes to burn off those unwanted calories. The bad part is that I never have time to go to the classes. I am beyond busy with my schedule and, on top of that, I have the obligation to keep up with my social life. Plus, sleep is always necessary after all of those all-nighters.

Don't get me wrong, it's not as if I haven’t tried to keep up with diets. I tried the cigarette and coffee diet, the “only fruits” diet, the run-your-butt-off-and-eat-six-small-meals a day diet, the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet and the whole vegetarian diet. The problem is that I can’t ever keep up with them. I’ll try them for a few days and before the week is up, you can probably find me at Einstein’s eating another bagel with cream cheese. I simply can’t help it.

Besides that, I have completely become a caffeine addict. Every time I’m stressed out, I drink coffee. If I haven’t slept, I drink coffee. If I’m hungry, I drink coffee. I think I’ve tried every single type of coffee at Starbucks and that’s just plain bad, considering each frozen drink has more than 500 calories... which could actually constitute as a small meal if my next meal were to be something healthy like a small salad with grilled chicken... instead of a cheeseburger with fries.

There are activities around campus that do help if you are looking to lose weight. One great activity that I recently found out about was this small club called L.I.F.T (Learning Initiatives for Team-building.) They focus on climbing and doing challenging activities that require physical and mental activity. For more information on L.I.F.T, you can go to: http://www.shs.fau.edu/ropes/

Another great thing that you can do around campus to lose some pounds (or just get some killer calves) is to walk everywhere as fast as you can. Believe it or not, the power walk does work when it comes to losing weight, and not only are you working out, but you’ll get to class early.

If dancing is your thing, hip-hop classes are also offered around campus. Not only do you get to work out in a fun way, but you can learn some new moves for the next time you hit the club.

Of course, you can always go to Pilates, which I highly recommend. They are fun, relaxing, and I assure you that with a bit of dieting, you will most definitely achieve that toned body you have always wanted.
For more information on Hip-Hop/Pilates classes, click here.

If you’re still unsure of how you want to lose weight and want a little bit more information, you can also always go to the Today & Beyond Wellness Center (located above the Breezeway Cafeteria on the Boca Raton campus in room 222). They have a lot of information on how to be healthy on campus and on losing weight the right way.

Don’t let the freshman 20 get you like it got me. If you’re really looking to lose weight, start eating healthy and leave all of those cheeseburgers behind. I know it’s hard, but you’ve got to let them go. Go out there and get some sun, run a few laps, and don’t forget to do the power-walk when you’re on your way to class. Trust me, after a few months, it’ll be as if those 20 pounds were never there.

College Social Life 1101

2007-09-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

“Excuse me, do you know where the BU (Barry Kaye College of Business) building is?”

“Ha, freshman.” That’s the response I got after asking an upperclassman where the BU building was.

This past week, I’ve felt like a high school freshman all over again. It’s so funny because right before you get out of high school, you feel like the king of the world: you’re 18, you can drive, and you don’t have a curfew. Things seem great, right? Not after you start going to college and know absolutely no one. It’s not even like in high school, where you still knew most people from your eighth-grade class. Here, you actually know no one. At least that has been the case for me, considering most of my friends went to UCF or UF.

In high school, if you socialized with the people sitting next to you, you knew that you’d probably sit with them for the rest of the school year -- if not for the rest of your high school career. Here, even if you meet a good dozen people at a party, the next day they might not even say hi to you because they don’t recognize you from the previous night. You’d be lucky to get a high five if anything. That’s just how college is.

My whole life I’ve heard my parents say, “The College years are the best years of your life,” and “You’ll meet friends of a lifetime once you start college.” So, where are they? Where are those future classmates that I’m supposed to be friends with? Are they part of the newspaper? The student government? The radio? Or are they just regulars at Coyote Jack's?

At orientation, all the leaders kept saying that we had to get involved, that we had to make an effort to join clubs and organizations, go to social gatherings, etc. But, what if I actually don’t have time to do anything else? What if I have a job, take six classes and don’t live on campus? What am I supposed to do? Not have a social life for the rest of my college years?

There has got to be a way to meet people besides practically living on campus everyday. So, in my quest to try to find out how to make friends on campus, I decided to ask some of my friends in college how THEY made friends.

Many commuter students said that most of their friends were from high school and that they had met people in classes but hadn’t gotten to be friends with them yet. Students living on campus mentioned they had met other people in the elevators by simply saying hello, but like commuter students, most of their friends still came from high school. So, why are we holding on to our friends from high school and not socializing with new people in college? Why not say hello to the person sitting next to you?

My advice to all freshmen on campus is simply to be nice to as many people as possible, because the secret to having friends is looking approachable to others and smiling once in a while. Everybody seems to be preoccupied with work or school, but the next time you see somebody sitting alone at the food court, go up to them and start a conversation; you’d be surprised to see how many people you can meet that way.

But still, the best way to meet people is getting involved. I can honestly say that joining the University Press and getting involved in general have been the best things I could have ever done as a freshman. Not only has it made the transition from high school to college a bit easier, but I’ve met a lot of great people and haven’t felt as alone as I thought I would.

So, go out there, get involved in a club, join an organization, go to concerts or even start your own club if you want. Just make sure you talk to people. That’s the best advice I can give you. But if it helps, here’s a cool video…

The Real Dirt on Freshman Orientation

2007-08-24T19:24:00.001-07:00

Earlier this summer, I had the luxury (if you can call it that) of attending Freshman Orientation. Since this is an accredited university, I may as well grade the event. Unfortunately, I didn’t think it deserved anything higher than a C.

You see, for a freshman, orientation is the big step before classes actually begin. It’s supposed to be the place where you meet future classmates, find out where your classes are going to be, and have an overall view of what life on campus is like. But at my orientation, it seemed that the goal was to bore the freshmen with repetitive information, and basically make us all go to sleep every time we were in the auditorium.

In the beginning, orientation wasn’t that bad, and seeing all of our orientation leaders walking down the aisles of the auditorium to “Jesus Walks” by Kanye West was definitely a plus. I was definitely awake by then.

But things seemed to slowly deteriorate by the minute. After sitting in the auditorium for an extra 15 minutes to listen to our leaders introduce themselves and tell us their majors, we were finally separated into groups according to our colleges to go on a tour of the campus.

Let me just mention that it was incredibly hot and humid outside, and the tour of the campus was complete torture. It was so hot that I don’t think anybody even paid attention to what our leader was telling us. We were forced to walk the whole campus under the burning hot sun of Florida with no water, no air and no golf carts to take us around. They should have given us little fans and bottles of water to at least refresh ourselves a bit. They should definitely do that next year, or otherwise this horrible trend of making all the little freshmen suffer through a campus tour under the sun will make people abandon orientation before completing it. Things couldn’t get any better.

After the 90 minute tour under the hot sun, we were finally led inside to get some A/C. We were all supposed to go to what our leaders called “sessions” – which were little meetings about specific things on campus. The first one that I went to was one called, “Be smart and be healthy!” On my handy brochure, it said that we would find out about how to become a peer educator and the fun ways that you could get involved in the campus community, and also how to build your resume and make a difference during your college years. First of all, they never even mentioned how to become a peer educator. Second of all, they never said anything about how to build our resume. All they did do was tell us the same information we have known since 6th grade: Don’t eat too much junk food, wear condoms and prevent yourselves from STD’s. All I heard was Blah, blah, blah; as if we didn’t know that stuff already, how many more times did we have to listen to that? Next time, I think they should actually focus on the description that the brochure says, or maybe come up with more entertaining games other than playing jeopardy on how to be healthy. What a waste of time.

The next session that I went to was one about how to get involved on campus, which I must say was the best session that I went to. Not only were they actually telling us things that we all might be interested in, but they were giving us a little bit of insight on how to meet people, how to get involved, and just how to have good, clean fun on campus by joining organizations and/or clubs. I actually think I learned something from them, which was good, considering I had felt like I had wasted my time the whole day.

After attending all the sessions, we were all supposed to go back to the auditorium and sit back down to meet up with our leaders. But what we didn’t know is that they had actually prepared something for us – a series of skits that could have not been any funnier. They touched on subjects like racism, relationships and parties. They were all entertaining and actually helpful when it came to situations such as the ones they portrayed. To be honest, the skits were the best part of orientation.

Day two of orientation however, was not quite as pleasant as the first. I should have just brought a blanket and a pillow with me to the auditorium. Not only did they make us sit there for an hour listening to the “oh so, very important" meeting called “Money Matters,” but they kept repeating the same things over and over again. Half of the freshmen there were in deep sleep listening to their iPods and not even caring about what the counselors there had to say. If that meeting was meant to be for the parents, then they should have let THEM listen to it. Not us.

Overall, Orientation was helpful but incredibly boring. They should have tried to interact more with the audience, instead of giving us too much information about everything at once. The only good part about it was finding out that there was a Starbucks on campus. Other than that, I think I could have cared less about what all the people there had to say.