Humbert's Best Piece of Advice

I always grew up learning that you have to be decisive and take your opportunities when you can. They are never handed to you. Upon arriving to college, this thought had never resonated with me more. Being given the chance to attend a university is a privilege not many are allowed. Inside of the classroom, working hard could have huge implications for self-growth and knowledge. Outside of the classroom, networking with professionals and teachers, joining clubs, and meeting new people can help broaden your horizons in terms of what interests you. But these are, unfortunately, opportunities wasted by some who view college as a four-year vacation. It is an investment, and you'd be doing yourself a disservice if you did not make the most of every chance you had. You have to go after it; these rewards aren't going to be reaped sitting back and waiting. Utilizing the plethora of resources at school could literally change your life.


-Humbert

Tre's Best Piece of Advice

Before coming to college I received advice and tips from family and friends to steer me onto the right path during my journey.  These tips have been like tools that I use during the difficult times here at college.  The best advice that I have personally received is to study consistently and not only in large increments at the last minute.  Studying at the last minute not only causes stress on the brain, but also is somewhat futile.  When studying at the last minute, the student is therefore putting the knowledge garnered in short term memory only for it to be used for a short period of time.  However, the knowledge earned in college should be knowledge that the student should cherish and take along with them forever.  Not only may it be used in their future career, but it is part of a foundation that they are building for themselves.  Studying consistently mentally helps one to embed the knowledge into their memory.  This is also healthy for the student’s mental health because it causes less stress than cramming.

-Tre

Micah's Best Piece of Advice

The best advice I personally received before leaving for college is definitely to try new things— at college, we’re basically paying to live together with a few thousand other diverse and talented young adults, learning from professors about a huge variety of subjects. There are so many opportunities, and it would be a shame to stick what you know or what you’re good at. It’s true that our goal is to get degrees in just one or two topics in a few years, but thanks to GERs, we still have a good reason to explore areas we previously knew nothing about. Keep your mind open to things that you have never learned before. Spend some time with the course atlas— you never know what you might find.

-Micah

Ulri's Best Piece of Advice

With the anxiety of moving to college, I received a lot of amazing advice from those who had already experienced what I was about to go through. The most helpful piece of advice I received came from my mom who told me, "it's your freshman year, have fun and enjoy yourself. Don't get too caught up in getting perfect grades because if you stress yourself out, you won't perform well". This piece of advice has been so helpful because for most of my high school career I had the idea that I needed to be the best at everything and I left little time for my friends. I constantly compared myself to other students which mentally gave me low self-confidence. Low self esteem is harmful to the body because it can actually weaken the immune system. I've learned to just do my best and work hard because that's all I can ask of myself.

-Ulri

How to Maintain a Healthy Sleep Pattern

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Adequate sleep is an integral part of maintaining high academic capabilities while at college. Here are some tips to maximize your wellness in this area:

1. Get enough of it! Increased sleep has been linked to various studies suggesting improved overall academic performance.

2. Know you range – most college students sleep significantly than is necessary for them to perform at their optimal level. Look up the recommended hours of sleep you need nightly and strive to get as close to this as possible.

3. Minimize naps in terms of both frequency and length of time. In addition, keep them before the late afternoon. All of these will help instill better sleep habits and patterns to keep you alert and refreshed throughout the day, while soundly asleep at night.

4. Don’t fall asleep in front of the computer or any bright screen. The blue light from electronics suppresses normal melatonin release, a hormone that allows you to fall asleep. In addition, you brain in constantly stimulated by paying attention to content of the screen, making it more difficult to fall into a deep, restful sleep.

-Humbert

Mid-Term Study Tips

Let’s say midterms are coming up— college midterms. The best plan would probably be to worry about them until the day before, then pull an all-nighter in an impressive but ultimately futile effort to succeed. Is this not the pinnacle of wisdom? No, but some people clearly think it is. Here are some tips from one student to another on how to study for a midterm:

1. Pay attention in class: if you’re going to show up, you might as well listen to the professor while you’re at it. This can be phrased thus: study when you’re supposed to study so you can sleep when you’re supposed to sleep. Listening in class can make studying later easier, and professors often talk about material that will be on the exam.
2. Set aside a time to study at least every week. This time should probably not be “Thursday” or “sometime near the end of the week” or definitely not “whenever I have free time”. Ha! No one has free time, mortals. Try 1:58 on Friday afternoon, or a similarly specific time. It also can help if you have another person or persons to study with or just to keep you accountable.
3. Try to understand how things work. This might be an obvious hint, but just try to know the things that are being tested. Again, listening and talking to the professor can be helpful.
4. Try to get good sleep the night before the midterm. If you’ve been listening in class and studying once a week and understanding the material, cramming shouldn’t really be necessary. If you don’t understand anything, cram a few important things, but don’t try to learn everything lest you forget everything when the test papers are handed out.
5. Have a ceremony that prepares you to take a test. I personally eat a bowl of oats and do some hand stretches. Find what gets you in the test-taking mood. Combine all these steps and you might just succeed. If not, simply consult another Health 100 blog— they’re around in good supply.

-Micah

Study Break Ideas

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Study breaks, post midterm, and finals’ celebration periods are the time intervals where the brain has some leverage from all of the intense work that accompanies the component (test, midterm, final).  This is a necessity because with all intense workouts, there is always a good relaxation period to compensate.  This is influential to mental health because it helps give this balance.  It allows the brain to relax and become stronger like a muscle after it has had a good workout.  The restoration period makes it stronger.  During these periods, the individual should do things that bring them happiness and makes them feel comfortable.  They should do things to reward their diligence and arduous accomplishments.

-Tre