College Lifestyle

[riley-murph]

College Greek Life

If you has people if you should rush or not when you get to college you will get a variety of answers. Some will say "It's paying for friends" while others will say "It's a great way to meet people and get involved" while yes you are paying to meet a whole group of people or to be a part of the organization. Clubs on campus also have club dues so realistically you are still "paying" to meet the people in clubs you join on campus. While Greek Life does cost more than clubs they offer a lot of activities for members such as sisterhood events, meal plans, and retreats/other activities. Personally as a member of Greek Life I have met a lot of people through the sorority but I have a good amount of friends who aren't involved in Greek Life and have just as much fun as I do. For my school we do recruitment before classes start and personally I felt this was where I met most of my friends just from moving in early and meeting other girls who are rushing and yes I did meet girls through the sorority this allowed me to meet girls in other sororities as well. So a major part of it was just the process being able to meet new people before class start which was very beneficial.

[riley-murph]

Car at College

Having a car while away at college has its ups and its downs. Some ups are that firstly you don't have to constantly ask people for rides everywhere you go. You can go to the store or anywhere on your own time. And it's like an extra layer of freedom. Some cons though are people asking you for a ride instead and saying no can be hard. Especially if it's someone who doesn't have a car and they need to go to the store or wants to do something. Another con is having car problems and not knowing what to do. Your parents are at home so they can't come help you. You have to figure it out yourself. Especially if you need to drop it off somewhere then you have to ask for a ride to and from the mechanic. This is probably the most challenging part as I have not had any car problems until coming to college. This has taught me a lot of lessons though such as learning more about cars and what to do for different incidents that have happened to my car. The hardest part is not understanding the mechanic when they explain what is wrong and what needs to be fixed but I take it as a learning lesson to learn more about my car and what it needs to work to its full potention.

[riley-murph]

Days off

When I register for class I tend to put all my classes on the same days especially because living off campus it becomes more convenient. However with that it leaves me 2-3 days during the week without class. I try not to use these days to slack off or be unproductive because it makes me feel lazy. Sometimes yes they are nice to lounge around but for the most part I still have a lot of school work. I try to dedicate one day to doing all my school work for the week. I try to make the day Monday because I get a lot of work out of the way right off the start of the week to relieve stress. For the most part Mondays are when I do most if not all my school work or at least start working on assignments that I will finish later in the week. Starting work early on makes it go by faster later on when I go back to it because I already did a good chunk of the assignment it just needs a little more work done.

[riley-murph]

Keeping up with homework

Sometimes it's hard to remember or stay up to date on all your homework in college. Especially during a busy week small assignment may slip your mind. I know this happens to me a lot and it's very frustrating. A tip I use to help stay on top of my work is creating a google calendar. On the first day of class I go through all my professors calendars on work and when it is due. I then write everything out into the google calendar by due date. I make it into a check list that helps me check off when work in finished or if I am in the process of working on it. This helps me stay on top of my school work and keeps me accountable for my homework. It also feels nice checking assignments off a to do list and makes me feel satisfied.

[riley-murph]

Fun Drink

During the day I find the day more enjoy able or rewarding if I have something to look forward to. Though its hard I enjoy having a fun drink every few days as a mid day pick me up or as a motivation to get out of bed and have a productive day. I love seven brew coffee and the variety of flavors they have. But sometimes it's a little far off campus so I tend to reach for Starbucks or Dunkin if I have a busy day planned. I do prefer Starbucks over Dunkin personally but do enjoy both. I like the refreshers from Starbucks but like Dunkins coffee more so I base where I go off if I want coffee or a refresher. Starbucks did however change their refreshers yesterday and I have yet to try the new ones so I am unsure how these new ones will compare to Dunkin but I'm excited to try and see if they are better or worst then how they used to be.

[riley-murph]

Sweet Treet

While at college I try to stay healthy eating a balance diet with fruits, vegetables, and protein and fiber. But obviously sometimes you crave a little something sweet or are looking for fun things to do with friends. I enjoying getting froyo with my friends sometimes as an award for getting through the week and for making it to the weekend. In Columbia we have 16 Handles which is a campus favorite. It's about 15 minutes off campus but is a hot spot for college and high school students. They add a new flavor every month to mix up their variety. They have a good variety of flavors and toppings so everyone can find something to enjoy. Personally my favorite is the cookie dough and I will add cookie dough pieces on top as toppings to really bring out the cookie dough flavor. I really like this place because they have sweet flavors like chocolate or cinnamon or they have fruity flavors like mango and pomegranate if your not in the mood for too much sugar.

[riley-murph]

Homework Overload

Anyone who has been in college or even school in general understands that some weeks have constant work while other weeks have light work. The weeks where it is overwhelming with the amount of work assigned can be hard. It's difficult to manage and keep up sometimes. And there seems to always be a week where every teacher assigns big papers and projects and test all along the same time window. It feels like there is no break and your constantly doing work. I myself experience this every few weeks and it's not easy. But being in college taught me to manage my time wisely and that if I have extra time to do some work and take a little bit of the work load off. Though theres no easy way out of homework and assignments theres easy ways to complete it doing it little by little to slowly chip away at all your school work.

[riley-murph]

Managing School Work and Personal Life

In college you may hear "you have all the time in the world" from people older or who have graduated college already. If you went up to most college students and asked them this they will say it is untrue. Currently as a college student especially last year as a freshman managing time was hard. Now I've learned to manage it better but it took time. I learned that just because there is a break in the schedule doesn't mean to just sit around doing nothing. I started using my free time even if its just 30 minutes to do any homework, it could be finishing a small assignment or even just doing one to two questions on a worksheet. This makes me feel more productive and allows for more free time at the end of the week instead of procrastinating everything to the last minute.

[riley-murph]

Quick work out

While college is busy and all go go it can be difficult to find time to work out and move your body. I try to go to the gym almost everyday if possible, but obviously that is hard sometimes. I live in an off-campus apartment which has been beneficial as it has a gym inside. This has its pros and cons. A con is it is limited to machines and is small for how many residents are in the apartment. But it is extremely convenient. If I do not have time for a full workout I will try to at least go downstairs and get a quick walk on the treadmill, or do a quick core routine. While I do prefer the school gym over my apartment one this is just a convenient option for when I'm too busy to go to the school gym for a full workout.

[riley-murph]

Quick Meals

While in college everything is so fast-paced that it's hard some days to sit down and cook a full meal. Especially if you're craving something other than microwaveable food that is made to be quick. As a college student I go to Trader Joes to find easy frozen meals that are healthy balanced meals. They have all kinds of food ranging from breakfast to dinner and snacks. I enjoy shopping here for meals for quick easy meals.

[riley-murph]

At home coffee

As a constant coffee drinker, going to a coffee shop everyday adds up fast especially as a college student. I personally drink coffee for the taste and a quick pick me up for the day. My favorite order is an iced brown sugar shaken espresso from Starbucks. I recently discovered Starbucks has a brown sugar creamer they sell at the grocery store. This tastes almost identical to my coffee at starbucks and is perfect for on the go quick mornings! I started making this more when I have early classes and no time to stop for coffee on my way or would rather save a few bucks for something else.

[riley-murph]

Eating a healthy breakfast in college

While it can be difficult to stay and eat healthy constantly especially away at college I have discovered some tricks to keep a health diet especially for breakfast. Breakfast I find hard to eat healthy mostly because with such early classes I don't have time in the morning to cook a full meal. This challenged me to figure out other ways to eat a healthy well balanced breakfast. I especially have a very sweet tooth so trying to incorporate a little something sweet is what I look to do. Currently for breakfast if I have a busy day and an early start I will make a yogurt bowl, in my yogurt bowl I like to include various fruits depending on what I have. I mostly go for strawberries and bananas but may add raspberries or blackberries if I have extra. Then I add a bit of crushed up granola and top it with honey and a bit of cinnamon to help meet my sweet craving. Yogurt helps me get some protein in the morning and the fruit gives me fiber for the day and energy for my long day of classes. Overall this is my go to breakfast but I love to experiment and try new variations every now and then to mix it up.