Monthly Archives: February 2012

College Life

Productivity

February 22, 2012 – 5:00 am

This is a guest post by Molly Cornfield, a senior at UCLA.

Last Saturday, my dad asked me how my post-college job search has been going.

“I’ve been so busy, Dad,” I told him, “Things have been crazy. I’ve barely had time to breathe.”

Ironically, at that moment I was paying fifty cents to hitch a ride on the Big Blue Bus and spend my afternoon walking along the beach. Idiotically, I disclosed this information to my father.

“If you don’t have time to look for jobs, then why are you going to the beach?”

And as I defensively stuttered my way through an answer, I realized that he was probably right. Maybe getting my life together should take priority over getting a tan.

On the other hand, maybe my sanity is worth a few hours of procrastination. Ever since learning about the merits of organic food in my Environmental Science Colloquium, I’ve been waking up early on Saturdays and/or Sunday to take a bus to Santa Monica, where I buy my groceries from local, Southern California farmers.

Over time, my pretentious weekly excursions have evolved into a cliché walk along the shoreline. While I’m not thrilled about the prospect of being a living personification of the popular comedy blog “Stuff White People Like,” my all-too-predictable ventures outside of the Westwood Village bubble are just the release I need to recuperate from a torturous school week and build up my strength for the one to follow.

Without my rejuvenating urban nature walks along the less than pristine Santa Monica Bay, I doubt I’d have the mental stamina to tear myself away from my Facebook wall and get back to my job hunt. Though this seemingly fruitless hobby (excuse the pun) may jut into my workable hours, I’d argue that it enhances my productivity during the long hours that I do spend staring my computer screen.

For most college students, the days are packed from start to finish, with tests, meetings, papers and even mandatory social activities. It often feels like classes and clubs are continuously piling tasks onto is an ever-growing mountain of “to-do’s.” Though there’s always something else that you should, or could be working on, it’s important to dedicate time to yourself. If you bury yourself in work without ever taking a breather, you’ll doubtlessly suffocate under all the pressure. So no matter how hectic your college life becomes, it’s important, for the sake of your mental well-being, to schedule in some time for the things you love.

Tags | Comment (0)
College Costs

College Tuition: Is It Worth It?

February 16, 2012 – 5:00 am

college tuitionIt’s no secret that the costs of a college education are skyrocketing to an all-time high. As the annual price tag of a private university shoots well beyond the average post-college salary, even society’s most educated are wondering: is it worth it?

Obviously, private institutions aren’t the only option. Public universities around the country serve the state taxpayer at a much lower price. Yet these schools are still exceeding the range of affordability for many American families, leaving community college as a remaining post-secondary option.

Though public schools and community colleges are certainly viable, affordable, and smart options, you mustn’t rule private schools out just yet. Private schools often offer advantages over state universities and community colleges, such as smaller classes, more support, and a head start in the workforce.

Though the price stated in college handbooks may make private schools look like an exclusive, rich-person club, they typically offer support for students without two-hundred grand in their college fund.

Private schools are frequently blessed with hefty endowments and generous donors, allowing them to supplement student tuition with financial aid. Many notable institutions, such as Harvard and Stanford, ensure that tuition for students from low-income households is covered by scholarships, grants and other funds, and they provide financial support for up to two-thirds of the student body.

However, this benefit is not a free handout at any school. Acquiring financial aid requires research, knowledge about your financial situation, and a bunch of extra applications. Though it may make an already stressful process even more laborious, it will, literally, pay off in the end.

It’s certainly not easy, but doing all the right paperwork can ease the financial burden of your college education and put you in a position to graduate from a quality private institution, free of excess debt.

Tags | Comment (0)
College Life

Just Say No

February 9, 2012 – 5:00 am

This is a guest post by Molly Cornfield, a senior at UCLA.

Sometimes it feels like everyone’s trying to convince me to say yes. Now, I don’t mean this in explicit or sort of way, as, judging from Hollywood approximations of college life, one might expect on a college campus. Rather, I’m referring to the continual equation of risk with innovation, creativity and success.

As a college student, or rather, as an individual who doesn’t live under a rock, I’m constantly being bombarded by sayings, mottos and propaganda such as, “just say yes,” or “just do it,” urging me to ignore my inhibitions and well, just go for it. Yet rarely do I hear about the value of saying no.

Obviously, it’s important to step outside your comfort zone. Trying new things is essential to our personal growth. Over the course of my college career, saying yes has helped me gain new friends, experiences and knowledge.

Yet it is equally important to know your limits. There are twenty-four hours in a day; you can only do so much with that time. On any college campus, there are hundreds of opportunities; you can’t take them all. Instead of “just saying yes” to every person who approaches you with a colorful flyer, weigh out your options and narrow down your selection to the things that are most important to you.

This principle extends beyond student groups and class projects into the realm of personal relationships. Over the last four years, without my parents close at hand, I’ve occasionally had to depend on my friends for favors, when I’ve misjudged my timing or made the assumption that I could single-handedly pack up my entire year’s worth of junk, take it to my friend’s place and hop on a plane in the span of eight hours. (As it turns out, I’m not superwoman, and my roommates had to clean up my mess for me, literally.)

Though as much as your friends may count on you to help them out, they’re also relying on your ability to say “no” when you don’t have the time. No one is (or at least, no one should be) expecting you to put your life on hold to simplify their own.

So as valuable as it is to say “yes,” a willingness to try new things goes hand-in-hand with the knowledge that you can’t do everything. Overcommitting yourself will stress you out, and diminish the quality of your final product, whether it’s a test, a project or a friendship.

Tags | Comment (0)
Higher Education

Sometimes You Just Have To Explore

February 2, 2012 – 5:00 am

studentOften, while on the arduous hunt for your perfect college, it seems like every university you tour expects you to know your ultimate life goal. Campus tour guides aiming to impress prospective students lecture about “passion” and give anecdotes of a driven pre-med, pre-law, pre-business, pre-etc. student whose unyielding motivation earned him a spot in a top professional school or pushed her to start a multi-million dollar corporation by the time she hit 23. All the while, the only passion your high school ever taught was a relative affinity for getting good grades.

As an undecided student, it might feel almost scary to be passion-less in college. It might seem that all your peers were admitted based on their unique and fervent passions, while you’d somehow managed to feign it on your applications. While others scramble to enroll in classes that count toward their already declared majors, you feel like a fraud for choosing your course schedule based on what sounds enjoyable.

Yet this relaxed, uncommitted mindset has its advantages. It allows you to sample many variations on the academic spectrum, trying out everything from courses on climate change, to philosophy, to comparative literature. Eventually, after a year or two of such sampling, when you do settle on a major, you are more likely to be truly happy with your choice – while in college, and later on as you develop your career.

However, one must be wary with this subject sampling method of underclassman college years. While intellectually stimulating academic exploration is doubtlessly beneficial for self-knowledge, mindlessly gliding through the easiest classes you can find probably won’t help you pick your passion. Passion doesn’t just tap you on the shoulder. You need to seek it out. The understanding, appreciation and possibly even love you can gain for a subject is proportional to the time, thought and effort that you invest in that class.

While course hopping during the first year or two of college may not be the most efficient way of finishing your degree, it provides you with an invaluable, well-rounded academic experience and an openness and respect for all subject matter. Not to mention, you are likely to accumulate several different “passions” along the way.

Tags | Comment (0)