Paying for school
I just finished all the paperwork for my school loans and grants and scholarships. It’s a lot of paperwork… each year. It seems like the work never ends for college. Even during the summer I have a ton of stuff to do, and it only seems to equal me in more in the red zone when it comes to money.
Some students are lucky and their parents do all the paperwork and all they have to do is sign their name. My mom did that only my first year. I think she does it this way now so I feel more responsible about college and that I understand the financial burden that paying for college can be on a household.
I am slowly realizing that I have one more year left to pay for after this one and its not the greatest feeling. I love college, but education is expensive! By the time I finish grad school, I will be in great debt. All I am doing now is crossing my fingers that the economy turns around by that point and I find a great job so all my money can go to paying off my student loans.
No more free ride. The government paid for all 12 years of my education until I graduated high school, mom paid for the first year of college, now it’s all up to me. It can be a stressful thought but it also can be a motivational one because it sure is keeping me out of trouble!
Rooms and Roommates
I had a future Lynn student ask me a few questions about roommates. She was worried that she wasn’t going to get along with her roommate. Here’s the email I sent her with some facts about Lynn’s housing system as well as how to think positive and work with your new roommate BEFORE even moving in together.
“Well, Lynn is going to throw you into the dark with a stranger and say have fun! That would be horrible. So you will get an email towards the end of summer with your roommates contact information. It will have your room assignment and your roommates Lynn email address. Email your new roommate right away. Tell them about yourself and your background. Ask them about where they grew up and find some common ground. Maybe going into all of your habits right away might come off hard to admit all at once and a lot to take, so take it slow. Try and become friends first or at least on good terms before jumping into how you want to live in the room you will be sharing.
Do keep in mind, a person can come off one way online or over the phone but a totally different in person. My roommate my freshmen year sounded great over the phone but when we moved in together, she was very high maintance. In the end though, we got a long pretty well. We never really fought or anything, we just had different views for the room but some how made it work. Some roommates get along really well and have fun going to dinner together the first few weeks or join the same groups to have something to do together thats fun and out of the room, which is a great way to literally have a friendship outside of the room.
I’ll say the best advice is don’t go in with a negative attitude. If your roommate feels that you don’t like them and feel that you two are going to fight all the time, then of course there will be problems! Be positive, be open minded, and of course, compromise! If it is bad, after two weeks, you are allowed to find a new roomate and move. Your RA is a great person to talk to about anything. I’ve had roommate fights and issues and RA’s are a safe person to go to about problems you are having adjusting to college to your roommate won’t turn the TV off. plus, RA’s are just cool people! A lot of my friends and sisters are RA’s and they are so helpful and really know their stuff.
Going to college and having a roommate you hardly knows does not equal a horrible year of fighting. Try planning the decore of the room before you even get there over the phone with your new roommate. It can help the two of you to get to know each other. Think about colors or themes. I’ve seen some really nice rooms where two female residents decorated their whole room with their fav colors, had simular things on their desk. Both sides of the room matched nicely which made it feel more at home and was more comforting to come home too as the end of a long day of classes.
A dorm room is a students home away from home. Why not make it feel that way. For a lot of students it is their first taste of freedom, their first space. I like to think of my room as the pre appartment stage in my life and try and make it feel like home for me with the little space that I do have. I’ve learned to work with what I’ve got and I have def worked on cutting down the clutter. Next year for my Junior year, I am living alone in a single and I am so excited. I have control over all of my space! Yes!
Please keep in mind, that Lynn has a two week trial period. If you and your new roommate really are not getting along and really don’t think you can possibly live together for 8 months, then you are allowed to find a new roommate that you would like to live with. It may take some interviews to find the perfect roommate for you. If at any point, you feel that your life is at risk, tell your RA! I had a friend who had to pretty much secretly move out of their room while the roommate was out and into an emergancy room for a few weeks. Finally they found a great room with great roommates. If you really don’t trust your roommate and are having serious problems, campus security has their number posted on all the mirrors in the rooms as well as some other important phone numbers. There is always some form of support at Lynn, from RA’s to the Tutoring Center.
But to end on a positive note, my best advice is to go in open minded. I think that was the problem with my Sophomore year, it was all about what could go wrong and not about the great times we could have and that just led to a ton of fighting about what we didn’t want all the time. Be positive, be open minded, and compromise!
Summer means changes
Some readers may have noticed that lately that the Lynn website has been under contruction and that the blogs were down for a little while. Lynn is always working hard with every aspect of University. From the grounds to the web.
Although I am happy that they are trying to make the students lives a little easier before we all return to campus or for the incoming freshmen, but a little warning would have been nice! I was trying to get to my blog for days and don’t even get me started on trying to get into my email account! Come on IT! A little notice would be nice.
I’ve been aswering questions and am always welcomed to more. I’ve had students as well as parents ask me questions and its all good. If I can’t answer your question, I’m always happy to forward you to the right person in which ever department.
So first up… rooms and roommates!
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….
Alone Time
I’ve been really enjoying having the condo in DC to myself for the last two weeks. It feels good to be home and really have my own space, privacy, and well, bathroom! I have a kitchen! And a TV! Don’t worry, I’m getting a TV next year for my dorm room, but no fancy cable sadly with a cool remote control.
I’ve enjoyed sleeping in, and cooking all my meals. How I’ve missed cooking! Sadly at Lynn, we do not have community kitchens to allow students to cook. Although, that wouldn’t be a bad idea for the future… hint hint Lynn.
In the last few years, I’ve learned that I really enjoy my alone time. I would have never thought 5 years ago that I was happy being by myself. I always thought that I was a social person, but now, I’ve figured out that I am a very social person after I’ve had my space and my alone time to chill, watch TV, cook, read a few books, play with the cats, explore some new thing. Once I feel like I’m personally recharged, I’m ready to go out, chill with my friends, party, what ever.
I realized that I hardly ever get this alone time in college. Reason why I can’t have roommates, cause they get mad when I go into my own world and really just stop talking, cause I’m chillin, doing my own thing in my own time. All of this can last for about a week so I’m prety much off the grid and sometimes it drives my friends crazy, because if I don’t get my alone time, I get seriously… well, grouchy.
As I get older, it is fun learning about myself. Just like everyone else, I’m learning and growing as a young adult. I’m def learning about myself, who I am, who I want to be, what kind of people I want in my life, what kind of life style I want to live, and college really as been a great environment for me to figure it all out in.
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!
Saying Good Bye
A lot of my friends and sisters are graduating this weekend. Its sad to say good bye to everyone.
A long list of my sisters will be handed their diploma, 4 years of hard work and 4 years of being great sisters. It’s sad to see them go, but its great to see them moving on with their lives.
It is also scary for me. How have two years flown by? That means I only have two years left!
At the moment, I am enjoying a mini vacation at the Marriott near Lynn, soon as I get back summer classes! It will be Zoology and Animal Science!
Gongrats class of 2009! *sniff sniff* Come back to visit us at Lynn for Alumni Weekend!
Exams and Summer Plans
The end of this week starts Exam week. I have an exam on Thursday for Human Anatomy. So not exciting. *sigh* exams are a very stressful time of year at in the spring because for freshmen and sophomores, it means moving out of the dorms. Seniors are nervous and excited about graduation just being days away and having family flying in from all over the planet. Sophomores and juniors are fighting with the housing board to let them move off campus. Oh what a wonderful but very busy time of year!
I am still planning on what I am doing for summer vacation. It keeps changing due to new information coming in each day which only complicates things. Originally, I was suppose to go to Brazil to see Michelle for a week, then come back and spend time at home, get a summer job, and chill with the cats until my mother returned home from Iraq. Now its looking more like summer courses. I need 3 courses to get into vet school that Lynn does not offer.
Something that I have learned since I have been in college is that no one just tells you what to do anymore when it comes to your education. It’s YOUR education. I meet or email my adviser a few times a semester to make sure that I am on track. I just had an hour long meeting about my future and that is when I realized that I needed to take these summer courses this summer not next summer. Thus, the change in plans. I also need 400 hours of clinical work, but I am not worried, for there is the Career Center on campus that can help me. I have realized this year that I must be pro active in my college career. If I want to take a course, I have to speak up when I’m planning my schedule with my adviser, they aren’t mind readers.
The power of email. It is so important now and days when talking to professors. Recently, one of my professors forgot to print out my handouts for my final project. She was going to print them out in color for students that asked ahead of time. I had asked her a week in advance in person, as well as emailed her back and forth. She forgot the day of my presentation, but because there were emails for proof that I had asked for them, my grade was not affected.
Well, I must go back to looking for summer courses. I have to find the courses online because I could not find any of the courses that I need in DC, apparently they don’t like animals or vets there and my mother insists that I come home this summer, that I’m never home and don’t spend time with her. Funny, cause here I was thinking she was never home due to being in a war zone.
Gym Class Heroes
So this is way past over due. Just been busy planning what I want to do this summer, which changes every single day. Ugh! Anyway, back to the concert.
Seeing Gym Class Heroes live was really exciting and a lot of fun. I even got Michelle to come to the concert and she only listens to rock music. She came for a while until she remembered how much homework we had to do, on and that test we had first thing the next morning, but that didn’t stop me! I staid till the very end to only be covered in the leader singer, Travis McCoy’s sweat and attacked by screaming girls. I got some great pictures, now just to load them so I can post them on here! I got some great one’s of the whole band.
Stay tuned, there will be photos of one crazy night on Lynn’s campus! I love Spring Concerts!
Guess who’s coming to Lynn
Gym Class Heroes will be here on monday! Yes, it is time for the Spring Concert! I am very excited for the concert on monday.
For students its free, all we need is our student ID. The general public is welcome too for $10 and I encourage people to come see the show!
I think this concert is going to start off a great week for me, since well, its on monday and I hate mondays. (like who doesn’t seriously?) And then on friday, my mom is flying from Iraq! I couldn’t ask for a better week. Plus, its the last full week of classes for this semester.
So ya, wow, so much going on this week. Hmm, no wonder I’m so restless this weekend.
Well, I hope to see a huge croud at Gym Class Heroes. Oh and here’s the link to buy tickets!
