Archives: Freshmen 101: Tips
One week of being sick
This week felt like the longest week of the school year. I woke up very sick on monday and it took all week to get better. Not what I had in mind for this week. Now I am far behind in my classes and not very happy about it. 
I really hate being forced to stay in my room and take cold medication to try and get better as fast as possible. Not knowing if it is a flu, swine flu, or just the common cold make me nervous to show up to class with a fever, cough, and a sore throat. I didn’t want to pass on what ever I had to half my class.
Being sick threw off my whole week. Frankly, it threw off a lot. Being president of Black Student Union was complicated by not being active and able to run around to sign papers, plan future events, and working on events already in the works.
BSU held an event this week called, “What YOU need to know about date rape” which went very well. It was hard to host an event with a fever and hardly any voice but I am glad that we did it and I am glad I didn’t skip it because I was sick. I was pleased with how students were honest with their questions, asking the serious questions that they really wanted to know the answers to but were too afraid to ask before. BSU brought in Lynn’s security chief, a school nurse, a school couselor, and an outside guest speaker from the Palm Beach Victims Services. Each spoke for about 10 to 15 minutes about their role to help prevent date rape and if it did happen, how it helped. Afterwards, students got a chance to write on note cards their questions that were read out loud. I was really pleased with the questions as well as the answers. All the guest speakers were very honest, they didn’t hold anything back. All the questions were answered and people learned a lot, I know I did!
Well, off to the large pile of homework that has been waiting for me all week!
Important numbers for all students and future students:
Lynn’s Women’s Center: 561-237-7955
Lynn’s Counseling Center: 561-237-7273
Lynn’s Security: 561-237-7227
Safe ride: 1800-675-6349
Palm Beach Victim Services: 1866-891-7273
What’s that annoying sound???
Tonight, I had just changed into my PJ’s and was about to make a snack before studying for my marketing test tomorrow when the fire alarm went off. I was standing by my sink when this very loud and annoying sound starting blasting into my ear and all I could think was, what the heck is that annoying sound???? Duh, it was the fire alarm. I always forget about that thing. To me, it doesn’t sound like a fire alarm so I always pause and have to think about it.
So yes, I was standing outside on the field by the softball and baseball field that is just grass, looking at my building, Freiburger, not seeing smoke. Great, a drill. I am starting to think we are the only building that has drills. That’s two in two weeks. Please tell me this isn’t a start to a pattern!
I was joking with some of the freshmen girls out on the field about past fire drills, the one at 4 am, the one that flooded Old Lynn, oh the fun that happens because the fire alarm went off!
I think the worst part about fire alarms going off at random times, is someone always happens to be in the shower… including 4 in the morning. Ya, not the best way to exit a building, still soapy and in a towel. Luckily, a girl ran to her room and threw on some clothes. I’m just happy that I remembered to grab my key and a jacket…. hey, I said I was in my pjs!
The best software for all college students
Recently, I was playing with my cell phone and was trying to get the contacts off my of it. I have a sidekick and its easy to put the contacts in, but almost impossible to get it off. I had to download a software, from my service provider and then they were all on my laptop. Great, but I couldn’t open them without Microsoft Outlook.
I had never used the software Outlook before. It has been 4 days now, and I have no idea how I survived in school without it! Outlook is a software that pretty much creates a daily planner, holds all of your contacts, and has a space to write down all the tasks at hand.
I now have all my appointments, class schedule, and plans for the next 4 months on my laptop, ipod, and phone. Now, each time I plug in my ipod to update it, my calendar updates as well. Since I use my laptop in a few of my classes, it makes it easy to type in the assignment name under the date its due, add some notes about it and place a reminder that it is coming up. I have assigned colors for different things, purple for Sigma Sigma Sigma, Red for exam week, yellow for when I am in class, orange for when I am in Lab, etc. I feel so organized!
No longer will my day planner be written in multiple pen colors with tons of correction marks. It only took me about an hour to figure out a bunch of different functions. It is easy to make corrections and I can print out the whole month and put it on my wall, or carry it in my note books if I wanted to.
Microsoft Outlook has made my life so much easier in just a few short days. I’m looking forward to using it at school and seeing how it changes my life during the school year. The first month back is so busy and full of events, now I’m sure I won’t miss a single one because I’ll be so organized!
I used to think that Outlook was for business people. I just never felt young people friendly I guess. At least, thats the way it felt for me. I think that since I use my ipod so much and I now figured out how to make the most of it, connecting it to my laptop for new functions that suit me so well in my daily life. I started messing around with the program for a while, and now I love all the pretty colors and pop up reminders that tell me where I need to be and what needs to be done when.
My advice, just try it out for 60 days. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. I know I’ve tried many different forms of keeping track of my daily life plus my assignments and for me, this has been the best system by far.
Pressure
In college, there is a lot of pressure. Pressure to excel. Pressure to be the best. Pressure to balence everything in life and make it look easy. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell when the pressure is to much for a student one week to another.
There are student athletes, scholarship students, first in the family to go to college, the over achivers, its endless. For what ever reason, college students have a lot on their plates. It is always good to know that there is a support network out there, willing to be there for you 100% when you really need some one to talk to or to lean on, even if it is just for a day or through a tough week.
It is really important for parents to be there for their kids during college… BUT… that doesn’t mean keep treating them like little kids that they were when they were living at home. Finding the right balance to letting the little kid who used to try and stick their fingers in all the sockets in the house go to seeing the young adult that may need a little guidence from mom and dad every once in a while. College is a new chapter, not just for the student, but also for the family. Sometimes the pressure for mom and dad to let go can be harder than expected which can cause some tention between parents and students. My advice to parents, let go of the reigns and let your kid come to you. Its amazing how often your kid will start calling soon as they think you aren’t controling their life.
Pressure comes from everywhere in college. Its a new pressure, no one there to tell you when to go to bed, do your homework, clean your room, not to say stupid stuff, check your bank account. Grades become more important than ever for some, while others could hardly care what they get. Living with a person who is pretty much a stranger can be hard. Trying to always be the perfect roommate can the tiresome after… a week. Professors that forget that students have other classes can really be frustrating.
I feel for the athletes. Always traveling or on the field praticing. It’s endless for them. Trying to do homework on a bus. Studying in between class and pratice. Then the students on full scholarships. Most of the time, their parents are on them about the grades. Constantly checking up on their assignments, reminding them that they have scholarships to keep.
I’ve been saying for the last two years, college is easy, its everything else that makes it hard. Sometimes blowing off some steam is the best option. Skip a day of classes to sleep in and catch up on some much needed sleep. Go out for a night on the town and not worry about being a little extra sleepy in class. It may be hard to explain to parents and professors, sometimes even friends, but know yourself. Know what you need as student is so important. Taking a break can do a lot of good for the mind, body, and soul. Now, I’m not saying a break every other day, I’m just saying that knowing when to take a break can help in the long run. College doesn’t get any easier after freshmen year, its best to learn how to deal with the stress right away. For some, its simply asking the parents to chill on the lectures, for others its a day planner and a special treat at the end of the week/month. Sometimes just talking about it to friends can really be a relief… just as long as your friends are willing to listen and take you seriously… but thats another post.
The only advice I have is, find what works for you when you are stressed your freshmen year and you don’t have to be perfect. Just do your best and remember, you are supposed to ENJOY college. What do adults always tell me, something about it is supposed to be the best time of your life…
Mini Vacations
Right now, I am in Florida! During a heat wave. Boo… lol. I’m here to see some friends and enjoy the sun and beaches. I’ve been waiting for these four days in the sun for a while now. I spent yestorday at the beach and visiting the zoo.
It feels strange to be back in Boca Raton when I’m not at Lynn. I feel like a tourist but I know where I am going. I’ve been really enjoying the time I can now take to learn about this amazing part of Florida that I spend 8 months in and hardly ever have time out of the lab to see it all.
I’m surprised that Florida seems so peaceful and quiet just days after the 4th of July. Maybe it’s because it is so hot outside.
On a sad note, I’m sorry to say that I got an email from Lynn Universities president, that a student at Lynn, a sophomore named Wyatt, passed away on July 4th. Even during the summer, Lynn University is making sure that if its students need grief counseling that they can call Lynns counseling center. The staff are on duty even during the summer.
I hope everyone is having a safe summer. Sun block is a must even if you are not at the beach. Don’t forget to make sure all of your paperwork is in at the school. It is as easy as a single phone call to 561-237-7184.
(Hint hint moms and dads great summer sales on dorm stuff going on now!)
Lets try something new
I just got an idea. How about some incoming freshmen or their lovely parents email me questions they have about Lynn. I always write what I think is helpful, but maybe I’m missing some information.
So fire away! email me at manderson5@email.lynn.edu!
I’m excited, lets see what happens! I wonder what questions I haven’t thought of yet? Hmm….
What not to pack
To all the high school grads, listen up! Your first act as a freshmen going to college is to stop your mother!
Why you may ask? If they are anything like my mother, they will go into some insane sort of new nesting syndrome and start trying to make sure you have “everything you need for college” which will only be short the kitchen sink.
I ended up having what seemed like half my house in what used to be the size of my bathroom in Kuwait. Lets just say, it caused some problems… for two years. I just now have my stuff under control. Hmm, so lets say, I got rid of one third or my room a year till I finally got down to what I actually use.
So what are the warning signs it is going to take a small army to get all your stuff down to South Florida and 4 years to get rid of it all?
- Your mom has been planning for you to go to college for 4 years… as in when you were a freshmen in high school.
- Your mom spends more time on the market now than she’s ever had. She’s wondering if she will need to mail laundry detergent down ahead of time or will it go in the car? (The answer is NEITHER. We have supermarkets down here too.)
- Your father wants to buy a new car… sees how much you need to take down to Florida and now rethinks that he should use it to rent a truck to move all of your stuff.
- The guest room is now a testing ground for how much stuff your new room can hold. Only problem is, your mother forgot that you will have a roommate or two and now you can’t find the dog…
So what should be in those back breaking boxes? Well, I would say for girls, two boxes of clothes (try and squeeze some shoes into one of thoes boxes) and one box for guys. Guys just seem to have less clothes than girls. A TV, a microwave, and a bed sit that you can sleep on for a year and not be embrassed by. That means a long talk with mom and dad about what style that you think you will want when you get to college. Fav books and movies are a must. Photos of family and friends for your wall. A new laptop… hint hint mom and dad. Lynn has a discount with Dell I believe. Its part of your welcome to Lynn package.
Also, caf food has improved greatly since your parents went to school. Which reminds me, when your parents start going on and on and on about when they were in college, please remind them in a loving way that that was a while back and that times have changed. Although not all things about college change, a lot of food standerds have over the years. I would tell you all the ways that college has changed, but I don’t think it would be allowed on here! You can still email me if you have questions though! 
(manderson5@email.lynn.edu)
Well, I am off to bed. It’s almost 1am and I have a busy day of chores tomorrow. Oh the joys of vacation!
Think twice
Freshmen 101 tip: Do not move in with your best friends. No matter how good you think it is going to be, listen to those who have tried it. Moving in with your best friend can cause you to lose that friend. If you think, oh well we practically live together, that is not LIVING together. There is no excape, that person is going to be in your room. If you get into a fight, you are trapped unless you have a class or a car.
Fights seem so much worse because it is hard to cool off when the person is 5 feet away from you. I think they are worse because people have the chance to keep fighting for longer periods of time. You can not walk away and go to your room, because chances are, you are already in your room!
It is just not a good idea. It has been proven to end badly.
But if you don’t want to believe me and still want to try it out with your best friend, who you are sure you will never fight with, set a time limit for a trial run. If it doesn’t work out, no hard feelings.
Just remember, living with some one else, some one you know, you see sides of them that you would never see otherwise, and sometimes, its not something you would like to see.
Excited
I am so excited to be back in Kuwait, I can not sleep at night. I sleep for a few hours and then I am up, ready to go, excited to see everything, everyone. I miss my friends back at Lynn, but I know I will see them soon. Coming back to Kuwait is a once in a life time kind of thing, so I am enjoying it to the max.
It is the little things that I missed so much. I don’t even know where to start if I wanted to list them off. I miss the gardens, the way houses are decorated, Arabic. lol. So many things.
One of these days, (If I can get Ascia to wake up. ) I will go back to my high school to see some friends and to see my old teachers if they are still there.
I miss sleep overs at Ascia’s, waking up to fresh bread every morning when I came over. Sadly, the bread maker died, but having toast is good enough for me. The fact that I can do it once again in Kuwait is awesome.
Freshmen 101 tip: When leaving town, find a friend to drive you to the airport. Give them gas money. Remember, you don’t have much cash, you are about to head to the airport and become even more broke paying for your bags. Save yourself some cash and try and get a friend to drop you off. Plus, they are way more fun than a taxi driver!
Money
To all high school students.
Freshmen 101 tip: SAVEÂ MONEY! Start saving now. You will always be broke unless you start saving money for books, gas money, mall money, greek dues, activities, school who knows what, dorm room supplies, you name it. It starts to add up. Ask mom and dad to start putting money aside (Â you too) that isn’t for tuition, but spending money.
