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

Dress Well, Test Well

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Imagine it's the night before a big test and the anxiety is starting to settle. You're not sure if you studied enough and you're not feeling so confident, but there's no time left to study. This stress can lead to poor performance during your test and leave you disappointed with your results. Here's a tip to boost your confidence: dress well, test well! It's amazing what a great outfit can do for your confidence. Personally, when I put on a brand new dress, or take the extra little effort to curl my hair, my confidence increases. This can ease the stress from taking a test, and make you feel more confident about your abilities to take a test. More importantly, wear what makes YOU feel confident, not what a magazine says will make you look good. Mentally, the brain is affected by the ups and downs of your emotions. That being said, it's bad for your mental health to have negative thoughts flooding your brain; it is best to inhale positive thoughts and exhale negative thoughts. If you keep thinking negative thoughts, your brain will trick itself into actually believe them. Just be positive and confident!

-Ulri

How to be an Engaged Student

In order to engage, you need to connect with the material you’re learning. It helps to enjoy the topic that you’re studying, but you can probably find a connection to something you love even in an uninteresting class. For example, if you like geography and are in a not-quite-engaging history class, you could try to focus on how geography influenced the history you’re studying. As you begin to link together the things you’re learning, ask questions and look for answers. Talk to your professors about these connections. It’s an incredibly engaging way to learn, but in the end, you’ll probably discover that you have a good grade to show for it as well. You'll perform much better if you play to your strengths rather than try to be good at everything.

-Micah

How to Destress

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Stress is a necessary but often overwhelming part of our everyday lives. What was once developed solely as a survival mechanism has taken on a new, dangerous, and self-tormenting role physically, mentally and emotionally. With the rigors of college, it is unavoidable; yet not unmanageable. Here are some tips to help. First, don’t over stress, and don’t allow your stress to multiply by what you are already stressed about. Stress triggers the “fight or flight” response that, while useful in situations that are life or death, now triggers an essentially useless immune response that, in fact, attacks whomever is stressing. Thus, over-stressing can have majorly negative implications for one’s health. Second, as stated above, is getting the proper amount of sleep to let your brain rest and re-energize for the coming day. Lastly, getting daily exercise, anywhere from moderate to vigorous, can be extremely beneficial to one’s health. It combats the commonly associated negative illnesses characteristic of stress overload, such as heart disease and diabetes, among others.

-Humbert

Beat the Freshman 15!

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Exercise in college is a good way to vent out stress and frustration.  In addition, living an active life also means living a healthy life. Therefore, exercise is crucial.  Being a college student makes it difficult to have time to work out any bodily parts except the brain.  However, when one works out, it actually gives them a boost of adrenaline and energy.  This is a good way to start out a stressful school day.  Research has shown that a balanced workout schedule actually enhances an individual’s concentration.  Therefore, it is a good commodity for one’s mental state.

-Tre

Healthy Eating

Many people think that because they're in college, they are limited to cafeteria food and fast food. However, with a little bit of effort, one can increase the variety in their diet. Some college campus food can be pretty healthy, but there are definitely also unhealthy options. Just because there are unhealthy options, does not mean you have to also eat unhealthy. Many schools offer shuttles to near by grocery stores so you can pick up nutritious snacks. Also, there are many tricks you can use in the cafeteria to make a healthy, but still delicious, meal!

This photo is something that every plate you eat at the cafeteria should emulate. Try to incorporate as many colors on your plate as possible. Eat lots of colorful veggies and fruit!

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*Here's a tip for those of you who aren't so keen on veggies. Make a fruit smoothie and incorporate a handful of spinach! I swear you can't even taste it! Spinach is super rich in iron, vitamin K, and vitamin A. You can pick up a single serve blender at Target, Walmart, and many other stores. I recommend the Hamilton Beach Single Serve Blender, it's compact so it'll fit in any dorm rooms and they come in a variety of colors!

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It is scientifically proven that vitamin rich food is beneficial for brain development. As college students, we are constantly learning and expending energy on our brain. To keep a balance life and sound mental health, we must keep our bodies in tip top shape with healthy eating. After all, you are what you eat.

-Ulri

How to Recover From a Bad Grade

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Whether it’s a test you studied 3 weeks for or a paper you forgot to write until the night before, getting a bad grade can be very discouraging. How do you find your way back to normality? Here’s some advice from one student to another:

1. Before you enter heavy mourning, see if there’s anything you can do to make your grade. This may be a slim chance, but check the syllabus for extra credit opportunities, or talk to your professor. Working to improve your grade can improve your mood surprisingly much.
2. Try not to dwell on the grade too much. Maybe escape into a movie or game for a while, or do whatever you do to relax.
3. If you want to do better on the next test or assignment, just take a little time to think how you’re going to do things differently and actually PUT THEM TO ACTION.

This isn’t a magic formula, but it just might help make your bad-grade-receiving day a little bit better.

-Micah

General Study Tips

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Amidst the tumult of life for a college freshman, studying can seem almost a small piece in a much larger, intricate puzzle. Whether it be meeting new people, trying ever-so-hard to avoid the dreaded “freshman 15,” or just simply getting acclimated to life in a new place, the school aspect of higher education can, oddly enough, seem secondary. Over my few months at Emory thus far, I feel I have a unique vantage point to advise current and incoming freshman on some ways to study smarter. First off, find a group of friends from class to tackle work in groups. This not only decreases your personal load, say for a project, but also allows you to talk out difficulties you’re having in class with your peers. They may be able to help explain challenging topics, as well as vice-versa; creating a mutually beneficial situation. Second, I would say before big tests or exams, try any practice questions you can find, either online on in your textbook. This tests your memorization, showing the facts you learned in a different form. It also gives you an idea of how the information will be presented to you on the real thing, letting you simultaneously familiarize yourself and be challenged by what you’ve studied. Third, and perhaps most important, is a nugget of wisdom I’ve taken directly from Health 101 this semester: get your sleep! Increased sleep correlates directly to increased academic performance.

-Humbert

Time Management, the Key to Success

Time management is a key component in the college experience.  This is important because it makes one’s life more organized and structured. Having an organized lifestyle makes things less stressful.  Methods to increase time management include making a schedule, making better use of every minute, and taking advantage of all the opportunities that they have in amount of time.  Better time management influences an individual’s mental health also.  When one manages their time well, it manifests a sense of confidence and makes a person more comfortable.  In addition, it diminishes the room for stress and frustration.

-Tre