Category: College Life

College life is not at all a bed of roses as many students tend to think even though it is a step forward to achieving their life goals. Many a student have a feeling that once they begin college, they are going to experience their greatest moments of life. They tend to think that college life will be fun, with new acquired freedom, meeting new friends with culture diversity, and new social life. But that is not entirely true as they try to deal with homesickness, culture differences, and still striving to work hard to excel in academics, they may end up being quite overwhelmed. On the other, students set their own goals to achieve good grades and when this doesn’t happen they get stressed up. Parents’ expectations can lead to stress as they may push their child without considering his capabilities. Below are some of the common reasons for stress in students:

1. Academic stress

The workload of college is more involving than the high school and many students get weighed down by it. In high school, they got lots of assistance and support from teachers and parents, but once in college, they have to do most of the work by themselves. In the college, a student is faced with totally different subject that may take long to understand and this may increase anxiety. Exams and tests also contribute to stress in students. A lot of students get worried about getting good grades and many create time to study when there are upcoming tests. Test stress does not affect the struggling students only, it also affect the high achievers too as they are under a lot of pressure to maintain their grades or even do better. Others are worried of losing their scholarships in case they do not pass their exams, which is reason enough to give them stress as they may end up losing the once in a lifetime chance.

2. Parental expectations

Some parents put a lot of pressure to their children to agree to their preferences without respecting their children’s interests, capabilities and choices. Obviously, the sole burden of trying to live up to the parent’s expectations will take a toll on their academic life and will definitely increase their stress level. On the same note, parents are likely to put pressure on their kids on the grades they expect from them without considering their capability and IQ levels. The pressure to deliver the required grades to their parent will lead to depression as they try to please them.

3. Homesickness

A lot of students are overly excited the first time they set a foot in college and be away from the prying eyes of their parents. They think they have all the freedom to do whatever they feel like without worrying about their parents. But once they settle in a faraway location or country with different cultures, new environment, and stange food they begin to miss the warmth of their family which makes them unable to settle down and study well. They may feel saddened by separation from their family and familiar environment they were used to and this may lead to stress.

4. Financial Burden

Financial burden can cause stress in a student. With lack of college fees, a student is not certain whether he will be able to finish college. Generally, college life is not cheap and it gets more expensive with each passing year whether it is a public or private college. A part from tuition fees, there are other expenses to worry about such as the cost of books, boarding room, food and over all maintenance which can be staggeringly high. Unless one is under full scholarship, college can be a huge burden and many students are forced to take part time job to help them cater for college expenses.

5. Social Anxiety

For most students, the first few months of college could prove to be very intimidating. Some people are naturally outgoing but most of us have to really work hard to create connections and make friends in new places. It is not easy to make friends with people from different background, cultures, and social life. Some students will prefer to isolate themselves for fear of being rejected and this can trigger stress.

6. Unhealthy Competition

Everybody loves healthy competition, but what will happen in case we cross line to unhealthy? The obsession of getting good grades and being on top of the class can cause additional stress to the student. College grades are capable of impacting the future life of a student, whether negatively or positively as a lot of job offers depend on your college grades. Some students are called to college where they begin with pre-requisite in their first semester which can be stressful as the exam determines whether they remain in college.

7. Handling Roommates drama

Not every student get to have a roommate, but majority of them end up sharing a room with one or two persons. Depending on personal habits and personalities, there could be a conflict waiting to happen at some point. Being suddenly made to live in the same room with a total stranger can be very frustrating, more so when they do not get along and have nothing in common. There are roommates who do not respect the other’s properties, are too noisy, disorganized and others do not observe proper hygiene. All these are bound to create a crash between roommates making them have an uncomfortable and stressed life

It is evident that college life is not easy and one may take a considerable amount of time in order to adapt to it. But with necessary help and support, they are able to pull through and attain good grades. Students can form a support group whereby they are able to assist each other during college life. Parents should never push their kids to study courses they are not interested in, instead, they should choose to support their choices and help them throughout college life. This will go a long way in boosting their confidence and wanting to make their parents proud as well as excelling in their studies. Instead of taking part time jobs, students can be advised to take loans leaving them with more time to fully concentrate in their studies. Students can also seek help from professional counselors or professors to help them cope with stressful college life which makes it hard to concentrate a hundred percent on studies. College life need not be stressful as proper help and tips can help the student have a fulfilled life and accomplish his goals.

To slightly turn away from the more recent cases of hazing, let’s look now at quite possibly the most obvious argument against this brutal practice, but one that people seem to be blissfully ignoring in the face of what they call ‘tradition’. Hazing is clearly outdated. Those who seem to be endorsing the practices are failing to see that our society is progressing and evolving. Why is the action of hazing still endorsed by people and ignored in many universities when its negative effects have been so widely publicized over centuries? Why is hazing still happening today in places where you’d think the majority hold a forward-thinking mentality, being millennials, quite like my peers here today? And why are they so insistent on continuing practices that draw them further away from our growing society and closer to those we’ve left behind? Hazing practices go back to the founding of Plato’s academy in 387 B.C., though back then it was known as ‘mentalism’. I strongly believe that such actions should have been left in 387 B.C, Plato himself likened the acts to those of wild animals, criticizing the “practical jokes played by unruly young men that injured the hazed and citizens who got in the way” (taken from a passage in Nuwer’s 1999 book, Wrongs of Passage: Fraternities, Sororities, Hazing, and Binge Drinking). I must pose the question again, why, if Plato himself critiqued the practice, has stronger action not been taken against hazing in the countless years since it existed?

Of course, many would say action has been taken, for hazing is technically banned in 44 states of the United States of America and The University of New England has accepted the 25 recommendations from the Australian Human Rights Commission and is planning on implementing them. But as I mentioned earlier, these have no effect, whatsoever, hazing goes underground, it tries to stay hidden until a terrible incident occurs. That’s why the perpetrators of such a grueling and clearly barbaric practice need to be stopped, this is, as I have reiterated, the only way to end such a disgusting practice and the only way to properly change the way people think about these actions. Fraternities and sororities should be disbanded. Intense and harsh security should be put in place in residential colleges, so that students don’t have “just lock [their] doors when [they’re] asleep” (ABC, Wed 28 May 2019) to avoid being dragged into a brutal act of hazing.

If organizations such as fraternities are not disbanded then people will continue to suffer abuse and they will be left to lie in their own blood and vomit, whilst their supposed ‘friends’ stand laughing a mere meter away when their ‘friend’ is clearly in sight about to die. If we don’t take immediate action against these organizations and deadly practices, I’m afraid there will be plenty more Timothy Piazzas in the future.

College life is quite challenging, and it helps people to get a lot of experience. The experience in college shapes people’s lives and ensures that they can take responsibility for their actions. Students do come to realize their potential in college, and they tend to learn more about themselves while in college. The challenges they experience help them to grow into mature people in society. Also, there is a lesson that people learn about happiness and how to counter problems in life. Indeed college life is a good experience in people’s lives because people learn a lot. This paper will focus on the lesson I learned about my life and college life, how college had helped me to grow, and lessons I learned about happiness and life in general.

What have I learned about myself and life at college?

What I have learned in college about myself is that I have to fail for success in the future. Failure does not guarantee that one cannot become successful. Instead, one has to be motivated to try now and then to ensure that they become successful. I also learned that I have to face challenges in life and take responsibility for my actions. For me to take responsibility, I learned that my emotions are always right. What I think about myself is correct, and it helps in evaluating whether I am improving or not. However, I have learned that one should not forget where they come from. One should retain all the teaching that parents gave them while joining the college. I have also learned that there are a lot of changes that occur in people’s lives. One has to realize these changes and accept them as they come. One should not feel wrong about the changes as they define the future survival of a person.

College life changes the perception of people about society and the world at large. While in college, people learn about what society expects from them and what they can do to benefit or change community. College life teaches people about the problems in society and the solutions that people can use in solving such issues. Through the course that people pursue in college, they can know the reason why society fails politically, socially, and economically. This will sensitize them to become creative and solve many problems. People also learn a lot about the characters of others and how to treat people and cater for individual differences. This is due to interaction with different races and genders within the colleges. Generally, interaction helps people to get diverse views about society, other people, and the world.

Ways College has helped me to grow

Joining college has helped me to grow in various ways. One has become competitive in life than before. With the experience in college, I have learned that there are limited resources, and all people have to find ways to get limited resources in society. As such, the competitiveness of someone is essential for survival in the community. Also, I have learned skills in prioritizing. With the high population and fewer resources in the economy, I have learned to manage the resources that I have to avoid wastage. I have to know what I need first and what I might postpone acquiring later. Through this, my budgeting skills increased, and I learned to be resourceful. Financial constraints helped me to become capable and utilize the mega resources I have for significant gain. College life taught me independence in my action and also financially.

Further, I have learned to be more mature in my actions. The maturity could be evident in my ways of treating others as I learned various ways of working with many people for a collective gain. I left the lazy life I used to be and ensured that I venture into constructive activities that could help me grow. Also, college life taught me healthy lifestyle habits. Through interacting with people from various courses like food and nutrition, I came to learn about healthy eating habits and lifestyle activities that could help me to be healthy. Other concepts that I learned also trained me to be happy and the ways of relieving stress in life. Having a happy life is good as it makes someone avoid various problems like anxiety and depression. Knowing myself and my capabilities were the root of happiness. This is because I could only do what I can to make myself satisfied.

What have I learned about happiness, myself, and life?

What have learned about happiness is the root of a healthy life and a long life? When one is happy all the time, they can be fit in their lives as they avoid some mental diseases that come as a result of sadness or stress. Also, what I learned about myself is that a happy life is a choice, and one can choose to be satisfied or not. The source of happiness lies about the kind of people one interacts with and the social activities that one does. This course has taught me that life is enjoyable if we choose the right friend and accept the change that we experience in our lives. Also, the course has transformed my life to become more responsible than before. As such, it prepared me for the outside world and to respond to the situations I face in life.

What has found useful in college is the aspect of independence and budgeting. These two aspects help one to become a resource person who able to pay back to society. Sources of happiness and a healthy lifestyle are also the most valuable part of life. The exciting thing in college life is socialization that entails working with others. Socialization and collaborating with others broaden our view on the perceptions that we have on others and the world as a whole. These are essential in helping one to grow into mature people who are useful members of society. On the other hand, I find working with people to be challenging. When working with people together, one has to accept people the way they are and cater to each difference, which is a great challenge.

College life is a life that teaches us a lot of things about ourselves, the world outside, and the ways one can become happy and healthy. The lesson about ourselves broadens our understanding of our potential and how we can be useful members of society. It also teaches us to become resourceful people in the community and how we can manage to compete fairly for the limited resources in the economy. Also, college life helps us to grow on how to become mature and more useful. The level of maturity helps us to know how to interact in society and how we can cater to individual differences of the people we work with. Challenges that we face help us to be ready for any problem we might encounter and the various ways we can use to overcome them. Generally, college life prepares one for the outside world and how to fit in society once they complete education. These are essential for the survival of any young person.

Hollywood’s Portrayal of College

There are two different views on the reality of college life. Some people believe that it’s a time after high school when people continue their education and get a degree. However, some people believe that college is more of a social experience/opportunity and find more time to have fun than to study. Within the last fifty years, Hollywood films take college life and create an image of wild adventures and fun in a college setting. From living in a dorm-style residence hall or living in a Greek house, movies depicted college life to be all about fun. The sheer number of movies that portray fictional college life as a party have persuaded people to believe that the real college life should also be about partying and having fun. “Because of their romantic fascination with a supposedly high-living, glamorized lifestyle, public interest in the college-age set was unusually high” (Quote/Umphlett). Anti-Intellectualism degrades and dumbs down people in society; movies do this when they depict the college life as a whole. People that have seen movies that depict Hollywood’s entertaining image of college life believe that college could be all about having fun.

Class lectures in films are more relaxed and have a smaller and more familiar classroom environment. In movies, sometimes a big lecture room is merely a backdrop for student/friend conversations. The professors use the white/chalkboards to give the students their notes or information on the class lecture. In a bigger setting with more people, students most often raise their hands to answer questions. In movies, students are usually taking notes or reading the textbook the whole class and are free to leave when the teacher dismisses. The students in the classrooms are arranged by people that know each other and the students most likely know almost everyone in the room.

In a more realistic view, class lectures are quieter, and students are more respectful when a teacher talks. Teachers don’t usually single out students when asking a question or bombard them with questions (Summary/Brennan). Teachers use projectors or overheads to project the notes or information for the students in the class lecture. Teachers are more interactive with their students and do things in class to show that the students are paying attention. In bigger lectures, teachers usually ask an open-ended question where anyone can shout out the answer rather than waiting for a response. Students usually know when their class ends so they are getting ready to leave once the time ticks down.

The way students give out invitations to a party is also a little different than invites in college in real life. In movies, students will publicly announce the party invite during class, in the hallways, or even while walking around campus, shouting it at people. Sometimes students that are involved in a sorority or fraternity will go around and give invites and leave out people that they see as ‘not fitting in”. Most of the people that are seen with an invite or getting an invite are good looking and attractive.

In reality, when students are planning on throwing a party and they want it big, they do it in a more subtle way. Usually, the students will make the flier online and just mass text it out or post it on social media. The invite is usually for anyone unless it’s just for other frats or sororities. Students don’t walk around campus shouting out the party and where it is because they don’t want it to get busted before it even starts. If there is drinking involved at the so-called party, the students throwing the party won’t make that clear until the people arrive, or it’s kept on the down-low. For the most part, when students send invites, they will send it or tell people they know personally and then tell them to bring friends.

In movies, college parties are taken to a higher level. For example, in the movie Neighbors, the students that live in a fraternity throw parties that are excessively big. The frat house is in the middle of a neighborhood and they have no respect for the other residents. They have neighbors that complain about their partying and how the family can’t sleep at night because of the loud music and destruction that happens from inside the house. The family next door eventually calls the cops and the cops are on the fraternities’ side and the police don’t shut down the party. The frat guys turn up the music and get louder and they get no fines and have fun with no consequences.

In some movies, student organizations will throw a party on campus or right off campus. In the movie, Pitch Perfect, after the Acapella groups finish their initiation there is a party on campus where they all listen to loud music and drink adult beverages. On that note, in the movie, Project X, a student gets harassed and bullied and isn’t very popular. His closest friend gives him the idea to throw a huge party at his house while his parents are out of town. They go around and tell everyone about the party and where it is, and they expect that no one will show up. As the movie goes on, people start to show up and the party gets bigger and bigger. Eventually, the house becomes too crowded, so everyone starts to fill up the backyard. The cops get called by a neighbor that complained about the noise, but the two guys ignored the neighbor because they were having too much fun. The cops don’t catch anything, and the party goes on, which causes more trouble for the student that threw the party. The party becomes too big that the street is even becoming packed with people. When more and more complaints get called into the cops, they come back and everyone is refusing to leave, and they start throwing stuff at the police. The party is so chaotic, that the police reinforced the SWAT team to come and help break this party. There are so many people that they have to use a helicopter to dump large amounts of water on the house to get everyone to scramble. The house and the whole street catch on fire and make more of the situation much worse. The kid and his friend make it out and don’t get in any legal trouble but the only punishment he gets is from his parents.

A more realistic college party wouldn’t get to an extent where the SWAT team would need to intervene. When students throw parties, they are more contained and the people throwing it don’t usually let it get too out of hand. There is usually loud music and lots of people but not too many people. If the law gets involved the party will be stopped and there is usually charges on people that are there or just the people that own the house. If a party starts to get a little crowded or begins to become a mess, the students that threw usually stop people from coming in or start clearing out the party.

In the movie, 22 Jump Street, uses a storyline of two cops that go undercover as college students. The two main characters are played by Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, go on a huge spring break where everyone from the university goes and attends a big rager party. On a huge beach in San Juan, Mexico, there is a huge spring break rager with loud music and a bunch of underaged drinking. People dance around and act ridiculous with no authority, or consequences for their behavior, and it just goes on for hours.

Spring break in reality, is just a holiday break that students get from school to go home or go on a trip. If students choose to go with friends on a trip for spring break, they go somewhere where it’s warm and where they can have as much fun as they can. Instead of going somewhere where there will be huge parties and an excessively large beach that will be taken up by other college students, the students just get a little group of friends and spend it together. If students go to a huge party and it’s in public, people are constantly getting arrested and charged from the police because of public intoxication or there are drugs being passed around.

Characters in movies which involve higher education to earn a higher degree and get a much bigger job always have a happy ever after which is what audiences expect from movies like that (Paraphrase/Donahoo). Cinematic images of college life take no notice of the issues of academics and authority with students and how they use their time. Most Hollywood films that use a college as the main setting usually focus on the social life and Greek organizations that students will be most associated with. In most movies, young men and women are focused on romances and just having fun. Young women put all of their attention on their body images and in finding romance. Another thing that women do is find higher education or employment. Female-on-female feuds in sororities are another thing that is put over academics. Women that are higher level in the sorority, seem to treat the newer initiates poorly and push them around. Women in sororities are seen as preppy, ditzy, and mean. On the other hand, men in fraternities are seen as jocks, partiers, and stupid. In reality, most sororities and fraternities require a certain GPA to get initiated. In movies, Greek organizations are portrayed as party throwers and the ultimate social queue when in reality, most organizations have to participate in community service and academic causes.

In some movies, characters that are really smart tend to use it and only do things that they know is right. Somehow in storyline, the smart and caring character finds someone that is very bad for them and they do things that they normally wouldn’t do. Most romance movies have storylines where the characters change who they are because they have found excitement that they haven’t felt in a long time. Instead of having more study time and less social hour, movies tend to increase the social hour and have less time for academics. In some aspects, Hollywood will portray a college student as someone who is very outgoing and can easily make friends just by walking up to people.

In movies, Hollywood will portray a collegiate graduation as a class that were freshmen together and graduate together. In some movies, there are students who will meet friends with different majors and futures but if the end of the movie has a graduation scene, they are always graduating together. Also, students in movies that have different friend groups and different schedules, somehow always have enough time during the day to do a bunch of things. Hollywood portrays more free time to do things with friends than actually saving time to study and get good grades. Students will get with their friends and go out and somehow are able to get into bars when they are supposedly freshmen in college. They go through college and do things without hesitation and just glide through with no problem.

The dorm life in movies are usually more luxurious and laid back. The dorm rooms are more spacious and give a more home-type feel. In the movie, Pitch Perfect, Becca’s dorm room is spacious and clean and very updated. Another example, the movie has a scene where Becca goes to take a shower and you see her acapella group member in another shower with a boy. Most Hollywood movies portray the dorm life as what it could potentially be like in a fraternity. The big hallways, lots of people, everyone in the hallways socializing, are things that the movies show a dorm life setting would be. Also, in the movie, 22 Jump Street, people are in the hallways drinking and having dorm parties that flow into the hallways. Underaged drinking, loud music, and possibly drugs are bouncing around through the hallways and nobody is getting in trouble for it.

In reality, most dorm rooms don’t have much space to have a more apartment look to it. Dorm rooms are pretty minimal with its space and the rooms usually lack privacy. The dorms have shared bathrooms and limited living space but enough to fit two bed and maybe a couch. Students are not allowed to have dorm parties but also not allowed to have drugs without punishment. The typical dorm life has 24-hour quiet hours and people are constantly being told to lower sounds or music if people complain. Men aren’t allowed in the girls’ restrooms and vice-versa.

Another topic of the college life is move-in day. In many movies, they show the main character(s) having a few bags and suitcases with stuff for their dorm. The student is shown by themselves with no parent or guardian to help get settled in. They are to go to college on their own and be almost completely independent. They go out and investigate the activities fair and try to find a club or organization to join to meet new people.

In reality, most of the time you see students with their family on move-in day because they are there to help their child move into college. It is a time where parents spend their last few hours with their children before letting them go into adulthood. There are usually things on campus that the student and their parents can go and see things and get a better feel of the campus. Once the parents set off back home, leaving their child behind, the student will go out and meet new people or go to find clubs or organizations to join. Most students use move-in day to walk the campus to memorize their route when they have to go to classes the following week.

In movies, students don’t have cars to get them places if they leave campus. They are usually taking cabs or buses for transportation. If the setting is warm, the students will be seen driving mopeds or walking everywhere that isn’t on campus. Somehow the students will meet someone off of campus that have a car or some type of transportation service to get them where they need to go. When students go out with their friends to a bar or a club, they usually leave when the bars close. As they are walking back, they take a short cut back which leads them through dark allies, and they get themselves in some trouble. The outfits that the characters wear somewhat differ than what people usually wear for a typical night out. When students go out with their friends, they will go with a bigger group but then end up coming back with like two or three of the friends. Some will stay out or go to peoples places even though it’s a school night and they have classes early in the morning.

In reality, most students that live a state or two away will drive their cars to college to be able to get places if they get a job. Most cases, colleges that are in bigger cities will have subways or cab services that students will take to get downtown. If the university happens to be in a smaller town or city, they will have a car or a friend with a car to get them places that don’t take place on campus. Mopeds are great way to get around and a popular thing that students invest in so that way they don’t have to walk everywhere especially if they need to go all the way downtown.

Anti-Intellectualism is thing that is everywhere, and most people can’t stay away from it. The way people spend their money and what they spend it on are just a few examples of how it dumbs the society down. It degrades the way people use their resources on an everyday basis and substitutes for easier and faster way to do things. Instead researching things in a book, people use a computer or cellular device to look things up because it’s faster and easier. People pay for Netflix and binge shows back to back instead of going out for a walk or earning a wage. The way Hollywood portrays the college life in movies is one way to degrade how it seems to how it really is in reality.

Works Cited

1. Brennan, Collin. “Real or Nah??: ’22 Jump Street’ versus real-life universities” USA Today 11 Nov. 2019, https://www.usatoday.com/story/college/2015/08/14/real-or-nah-22-jump-street-versus-real-life-universities/37405501/
2. Donahoo, Saran. “Hollywood’s Representations of College Women and the Implications for Housing and Residence Life Professionals.” 11 Nov. 2019, http://eds.b.ebscohost.com
3. “6 movie and tv misconceptions about college life.” The Prospect 11 Nov 2019, http://www.theprospect.net/6-movie-and-tv-misconceptions-about-college-life-17994
4. Solórzano, Daniel. “Teaching and Social Change: Reflections on a Freirean Approach in a College Classroom.” Teaching Sociology 11 Nov. 2019, https://www.jstor.org/stable/1317466?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents
5. Umphlett, Wiley. “The Movies Go to College.” Hollywood and the World of the College-Life 11 Nov. 2019, https://books.google.com/books

No student wants to perform poorly in academics. However, poor academic performance is becoming increasingly common. So, what if you unexpectedly fail a course? Does it mean the end of your dream of emerging as the best graduating student of your department? Absolutely not! Under such an unexpected scenario, the first thing to do is to accept responsibility. No matter how difficult the class may be, no matter how bad the professor may be in giving his or her lecture, the truth remains that you are entirely responsible for your failure. So you must first and foremost accept responsibility and then commit yourself to a plan to change.

Whether your grades dropped, you’re failing a class, or you’re simply not achieving your target grade, it is never too late or too early to apply certain changes to your studying habits. Don’t ever give up or be taken aback. There are still several ways through which you can remain on track.

Firstly, try to pay more attention when the lesson is going on. In most cases, professors normally give some hints on areas students ought to concentrate on prior to exams. Also, ensure that you adequately understand the topics being taught by the professors instead of going home and struggling to make sense out of what was taught in the class. Secondly, always ask questions whenever you are confused during the lectures. Thirdly, take notes when the lecture is still in progress. Such notes can be a useful source of information when you are still preparing for exams. Lastly, make sure to do some revisions before the exam day. In this case, you have to review your notes and books and you should even take some mock exams. Mock exams help you to realize which areas you need to work harder on. You must also avoid procrastination and shun writing your essay the night before the due date. Doing your assignment at the last hour will merely increase your workload and this will have a detrimental effect on your overall performance.

Lower than expected grades will leave you disappointed and you may end up feeling disappointed in yourself. However, such an attitude is not healthy for you. In the midst of all these uncertainties, it is very imperative to display a positive attitude toward learning. Thus, you must endeavor to defeat any depressive feeling with positivity. You must strive to approach any unexpected challenge positively. This is the surest way to change your situation for the better. In order to avoid any reoccurrence, you can go ahead and hire a private tutor, It is not a shameful thing to ask for help. In conclusion, the best way to deal with any unexpected situation is to accept responsibility and then work toward achieving more.

Secrets to early graduation from college

Currently, the yearly tuition fee for most top private colleges hovers around $60,000, while many public colleges cost up to $50,000 per year. With financial aid. a considerable proportion of students have been able to minimize the cost of their education. Another obvious way to minimize college costs is by graduating early from the institutions. For instance, you can save tens of thousands of dollars by finishing in college in three or three and half years.

How is this possible? Colleges typically consist of four classes per semester. Thus, in every academic session, you are most likely to take eight classes. In order to graduate early. all you have to do is to acquire eight classes worth of credit. There are various ways you can accomplish this. Firstly, your early graduation from college can possibly begin in high school. In fact, high school is the best place to prepare adequately for early graduation. In some high schools, the students can take college-level courses for actual credit. This is usually carried out in conjunction with some community colleges. If you take one or two college classes in high school, you may no longer be required to take those courses in college. Additionally, you can possibly get a few general education requirements out of the way so you can pursue classes in your chosen field.

Another secret to early graduation from college is to take as many AP courses as possible. In many American colleges, a high score of 4 and 5 will earn you course credit, without you actually having to take the relevant classes on campus. You can also enjoy this benefit by taking IB courses and some other advanced placement exams. In some colleges, there are placement exams in subjects like math, language, and writing. If you are able to fulfill the requirements specified by these placement exams, you may be able to graduate early, Another secret to early graduation from college is to participate in community college courses for general education classes like psychology, writing, introduction, and history. In many cases, the course credits acquired from these courses are transferable. Thus, if you have the dream of graduating early from college, you must enroll in such courses and acquire as many credits as possible. However, you must first check with the Registrar to confirm the courses that are transferable. Lastly, you can boost your chances of graduating early from college by taking the maximum number of credits that is permissible in every semester. With strong work ethic, you can gain more course credits than the average student.

Things to do before you graduate college

Even though college is primarily an institution of higher learning, it can actually be a place of fun. There are lots of recreational and fun activities that are specifically designed for your social wellbeing. Consequently, there are many things many students want to do before graduating from college. This ranges from streaking to blind dating. In this section, a list of wild things many students do before graduating from college is presented. This list will guide every student through the events of the next year, irrespective of whether they have been too outrageous or composed. As a student, you always have to remember that college is the best time of your life.

Thus, you must strive to make the most of it.

Below are wild things, which you may want to do before graduating from college.

1. ** You have to get yourself mentally and physically prepared for the madness that is known as a senior week. It is advisable to take full advantage of all of the senior week activities for the fun of it.
2. “+ Youcan have a sleepover with your friends because chances are you’ll never live in such close proximity again,
3. ** Have a good cry session with your best friends.
4. • Do a stupid college thing that you typically wouldn’t do.
5. ** Go ahead and doa keg stand, because it won’t look as cute when you’re 40,
6. “+ Participate in one school tradition. It could be the undie run, block parties, or fountain run, etc.
7. “+ Take a snap with your school mascot. You will want to save these pictures for your kids in the future.
8. ** Take aclass that has nothing to do with your major.
9. ** Sneak onto the highest roof on campus and enjoy the nature that surrounds your college
10. “* Dedicate one Saturday to party with your friends. 118
11. “+ Pull an all-nighter for non-academic reasons.
12. ** Offer free hugs in the middle of your quad
13. ** Get decked out in your school colors and go to homecoming.
14. ** Burst into your school’s fight song at a campus bar. Watch as the entire bar sings along.
15. • Attend a student protest or demonstration
16. ** Cram 50 people in your tiny dorm room for a surprise birthday party.
17. “+ Go to an open mic, Get inspired and perform something.
18. ** Go to at least one campus a cappella concert, one college improve show, and one major student-run theater production.
19. ** Take a campus tour of your own campus.

Stupid things students do that can prevent early graduation

There are lots of issues that can trigger poor academic performance among college students. Some of these can be the various stupid things usually carried out unconsciously by students. Since it is the ultimate objective of every student to study hard and come out of college in flying colors, it is imperative to look at those actions that can prevent one from graduating early from college, which incidentally are associated with unsuccessful students. So, what are those foolish behaviors that must be avoided by any college students that want to graduate early?

Firstly, unsuccessful students are known to seldom interact with their instructors or answer questions in class. This is a very bad behavior that may make it impossible for you to graduate early from college.

Secondly, it is also bad to prioritize non-academic issues like organization activities, job obligations, personal issues, etc., instead of focusing primarily on your academics. Such a strategy will only make you fall some courses and spend more years in college.

Unsuccessful students are known not to take responsibility for their academic failures. Unfortunately, such action can be detrimental to their quest to graduate early from college. If you fail any course, don’t shift the blame to other people, instead you should accept your mistakes and adopt strategies that will enable you to avoid any repetition,

Not paying absolute attention during lectures is another bad habit that will inevitably result to failure and delay your graduation from college. Some students exhibit the habit of playing with the media devices when the lecture is still going on. Such distraction will definitely make it impossible for you to concentrate in your note-taking or participation in ongoing discussions or lectures. Not only do such activities distract students from learning the course material that is being covered, but sends a powerful negative message to instructors about the commitment and discipline of the student.

Engaging in academic dishonesty is another stupid action that can prevent college students from graduating early. These include doing cut/paste from online sources, copying homework assignments and use of irrelevant references. Apart from robbing students of learning opportunities, these activities make it impossible for students to feel academically adequate. Above all, engaging in academic dishonesty exposes one to the risk of expulsion from the university.

Last submission of your assignments and papers is another stupid behavior that can delay your graduation from college. Delay and procrastination are well-known characteristics of unsuccessful students, Waiting for the last minute to begin your assignment will inevitably result to shoddy work, which may cause a significant loss of marks.

Not visiting your professors during their office hours is another bad behavior that may delay your graduation from college. This is because regular visitation will enable you to obtain some vital information that could possibly fast-track your graduation from college.

Poor attendance is another common mistake made by most students. If you truly want to graduate early and successfully from college as early as possible, you must endeavor to attend all the classes. The fact that your tutor doesn’t take roll call is not a good reason to miss your class. Instead, you can get useful information that may be instrumental to your graduation during lectures.

Any action that demonstrates poor time management skills is not only stupid, but also capable of delaying your graduation. As a college student, the numerous academic works and responsibilities may overwhelm you at one point in time. Consequently, it is very imperative to learn how to manage your time efficiently.

Another bad habit is over-reliance on other students. It is not very wise to depend exclusively on your friends’ notes for the lecture or rely on study groups for understanding what a lecture is all about. Study groups should serve as an effective technique for exam preparation but not as a medium of clarification. If you have any section of a lecture that is confusing to you, try and meet with your professor.

Lastly, it is unwise to treat college as a four-day activity that lasts from Monday to Thursday. Students with this perception usually attend the Friday class with their main focus on the weekend activities. For them, Friday and Sunday are for doing fun things. But the truth

remains that college is actually a full-time commitment that requires between 40-45 hours per week of class and out-of-class preparation, You should even consider Sunday evening as a school night.

Pros and cons of early graduation from college

Many undergraduates are taking huge advantages of taking AP and summer courses to finish up their higher education a considerably shorter time. Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages of graduating early from college. So, before considering early graduation, it is very imperative to consider the pros and cons of early graduation from college.

Pros of early graduation from college

An increasing number of college students are embracing early graduation from college as a result of the huge benefits that is associated with not following the traditional four-year model. Obviously, some of these factors may probably be among what motivate you to join the chorus.

The commonest pros of graduating early from the college are discussed as follows:

Saving on tuition costs- This is probably the main factor that motivates many to graduate early from college. In reality, early graduation from college can save tens of thousands of dollars for you, which is good with the skyrocketing costs of tuition. Such techniques enable you to avoid the issue of student debt, which has affected many students. Therefore, it is wise to avoid such a burden through early graduation.

Start job hunting as early as possible-Students who graduate early enough often have more time to prepare and get good job interviews. This is particularly true of December grads. By spring of the following year, such grads are most likely to have gotten a full-time position in a 122 reputable firm, Generally, early graduation also avails much time for writing cover letters and submitting job applications to various vacancies. The competition is typically lesser as you won’t have to deal with the huge number of graduates that will be applying for that same position by April and May.

Boost your real-life resume experiences: The extra semester you would have spent in the class can be used to gather other life experiences such as full-time internships, travel abroad, and volunteer work. Graduating early gives you more impressive credentials to set your resume apart from tons of other hopefuls because it shows that you’re dedicated, hard-working, and able to quickly accomplish your goals.

Cons of early graduation from college

Despite the numerous advantages of graduating early from college, there are still few demerits confronting early grads. Thus, it is also imperative to consider the two faces of the coin before taking a decision on the exact path to follow. The most popular disadvantages of graduating early from college are discussed as follows:

Having to deal with loan repayment- Banks will start calling you for loan repayments as soon as you are out of school. As a new graduate that is just out of school, this can be quite overwhelming for you. Thus, if you intend to graduate from college early, you must endeavor to use the last semester to work out a detailed payment schedule and financial plan for your future.

Not having enough access to the University Career Resources- Early graduation from college implies not having access to university resources, as well as. alumni networks that can be very helpful in linking students to prestigious job openings. In many colleges, online job databases, internship programs and career fairs are majorly available to students that are engaged on full- time basis. It is quite unfortunate that the majority of students are unaware of these programs, until after graduation. It becomes even more painful when you are among those that graduate early from college.

Having to leave friends and college fun earlier- There is a popular saying that college life is the best type of life. If this is true, then it means early graduation implies cutting this out quicker than you would have otherwise. By graduating early, you may feel like you missed out on some of the fun. Additionally, early graduation may also imply having less time to make memories with your college friends. Of course, missing out on senior send off events and other exclusive senior traditions are almost inevitable, too.

Add to senior stress: Many majors require final Capstone projects and all-college maturity requirements mandate that students must take twelve 300-level credits during senior year. While achievable, pulling these off in one semester isn’t exactly a breeze. Thus, you may end up subjecting yourself to lots of pressure in your quest to graduate early from college.

Dealing with your long-distance relationship

Life in college can be so hectic, as you unarguably have to deal with task of settling down and becoming accustomed to the chaotic lifestyle on campus. Under such situation, dealing with the strain of keeping a long-distance relationship becomes a problem. Despite the great difficulty in keeping such relationships alive, many students have no option but to give it a trial.

Some students are convinced they have found their true love and that they are definitely going to settle down as a married couple. If you happen to be among this category of students, how can you deal with this issue of a long-distance relationship? In this section, we provide practical-oriented tips on how you can deal with long-term relationships. These are discussed as follows:

Maintain a thoughtful connection: One effective way to sustain a long-distance relationship is by maintaining a thoughtful connection with your partner. You can accomplish this by sending a hand – written love note in the mail. Even though this is an old-fashioned technique, it is nevertheless effective in keeping the long-stance relationship alive. Additionally, such techniques more romantic and also feel more personal than the use of text messages and emails. You should endeavor to forward such messages once every couple of weeks alongside chocolates, flowers, gift baskets, and balloons.

Be positive: You can keep a long-distance relationship alive by focusing on the positive aspect of your separation. Research has indicated that couples that appreciate the positive aspects of their separation are more likely to remain together. As a college student, the positive aspect of this situation is to concentrate on taking advantage of educational opportunities, concentrating on your personal growth, and looking forward to reuniting with your significant other.

Be busy: Don’t waste your time expecting a text message or email from your heartthrob. You may end up getting frustrated and unnecessarily suspicious. Instead, stay busy by hanging out with friends, volunteering, joining clubs etc. Such companionship will help to strengthen your relationship and minimize the detrimental effects of depression and loneliness typically experienced by most individuals that are in a long-distance relationship.

Maintain the dates: In order to keep your long-distance relationship alive, you should try to keep all the telephone and online dates as scheduled. Such promptness enables your sweetheart to understand how you truly appreciate the time you spends together with her or him. Setting up the dates in advance builds excitement.

Share something in common with your heartthrob: You can have a long-distance movie date with your heartthrob. This can be done through the telephone. Some long-distance partners like to rent the same movie and consequently have something to discuss with together.

Use the webcam: It is actually great to talk with your lover on the phone. However, using modern technologies like webcam and video call have their own unique advantages. Fortunately, many of these services are offered free of charge by firms like Skype. Whatsapp, and even Facebook. You can spice things up by dressing up for your webcam dates. Try to schedule webcam chats every other night or so at specific times.

Visit them: No matter how tedious your academic work may be, it is imperative to plan a visit and get together with your significant other as much as possible.

Space to grow: Above all, you have to give each other some space to grow as individuals. Coincidentally, this is just like everything else in college, as it concentrates on growth and learning. Always accept change and don’t allow your relationship to limit you.

28 mistakes college students make

College is supposed to be some of the greatest years of a person’s life. It is a great time to make new friends, party hard, and improve your overall life skills. Even though you may probably strive for straight A’s, you’re bound to make mistakes. As a college student, you are absolutely responsible for yourself. Thus, it is very imperative that you mature a lot faster now that you are 126 on your own. Of course, you are bound to make some mistakes but while some mistakes can be avoided with a little common sense, others can be used as lessons.

Here is a list of mistakes college students may make:

1. “+ Treating college classes like high school classes
2. “+ Partying on Sundays
3. ** Not getting to know your professors
4. “+ Spending loan money inappropriately
5. ** Missing your classes
6. “* Not taking advantage of the library
7. “+ Not taking advantage of free things
8. ** Not reading the syllabus
9. ** | Majoring in something based on pay and not passion ** Taking on more than you can handle
10. “+ Trying to maintain your high school relationships ** Racking up credit card debt
11. “* Not meeting with Academic Advisers
12. “* Making poor academic decisions
13. ** Missing out on scholarships
14. “+ Abusing credit cards
15. • Not filling out applications for Federal Student Aid ** Being disorganized
16. “+ Not maintain a budget 127
17. “+ Skipping work
18. “+ Misusing student loans
19. ** Going out or partying regularly
20. “+ Having a car on campus when you cannot afford its maintenance
21. “+ Overspending on housing
22. “+ Failing to think outside of the box
23. “+ Spending too much time on social media platforms, such as, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.
24. ** Procrastination, especially in regard to doing class assignments.

Remaining motivated throughout your college life

Basically, motivation is defined as an impulse, which prompts us to execute and accomplish what we propose. In other words, motivation is the motor that moves our world. It is crucial for your academic success as lack of motivation has been associated with difficulty in studying and staying focused. Students that have no motivation usually lack the internal impulse that prompts hardworking scholars to take action for academic excellence.

Without motivation, there won’t be any action. Motivation is necessary because it is what causes us to be proactive in our quest to seck resources that can guarantee our success. Therefore, for you to succeed in your academics, you must try to remain motivated throughout your college life. This is because motivation improves initiative, cognitive processing skills efforts, persistence, and overall performance of students. In this section, we provide a detailed description of how you can remain motivated throughout your entire college life.

What should be my source of motivation as a student?

As a student, you can only remain motivated throughout your college life, when you are fully aware of what your source of motivation should be. So what are those factors you should always look up to as your basis of inspiration? Well, such factors must relate to your main objectives of coming to the college in the first place. So the right elements of motivation should be goals, future earning goals, high-grade point average (GPA), and plans for an advanced or additional degree. A critical look at these factors revealed that GPA, advanced degree, and future earning

Dropping out of college is becoming an increasingly pressing issue in today’s society. There may be many reasons for such a decision by students, but, in my opinion, one of the key ones is burnout.

Data shows that in college a lot of students drop out because of the fact that they become burned out. Everyone has their own levels of what it takes for them to give up. A lot of college students don’t know their limit yet and tend to take on more than they can handle. Whether that be too many classes or too many extracurricular activities which takes up majority of their time. This in turn leaves them with very little down time. I am convinced that if we help students avoid burnout, it will solve the problem of college dropouts.

The first way to prevent a student from becoming burned out is to recognize the warning signs. Some signs that a person might be burned out is being constantly exhausted, having lack of motivation, being constantly frustrated and a sudden drop in their grades. All of these symptoms lead to a student becoming burned out. But when someone can recognize the warning signs at an early stage, or before they get burned out, it is easier to help prevent or treat it. This is because of the fact that when recognizing a problem early on a person can be stopped and manipulated into fixing what can lead to burning them out. And as a result, it can prevent students from making an unjustified decision to drop out of college.

The next way to avoid burnout and, as a result, to avoid making a rash decision to drop out of college is to know when to say no. If someone asks for help with their homework or help doing something a person needs to able to know when to say no. When someone is overwhelmed with their schoolwork and knows that they cannot help someone else with their homework, they need to be able to say no. If they were to say yes and help the other person, then they have more of a chance to become burned out, especially if they keep helping other people instead of helping themselves. Although helping people is extremely rewarding, it can damage a person. It can hurt them tremendously by eventually leading to them being burned out and their grades might drop, while the person they had helped is getting good grades and not burning out because this person had helped them. It may sound harsh, but in college it’s every man for himself, grades and mental health should come first.

Another way to prevent becoming burned out is to get sleep. Although it may seem like a great idea to pull an all-nighter while studying for an exam or finishing homework, it will more than likely end up hurting a person’s grade and themselves. Sleep is a very important part in not getting burned out, everyone needs sleep it is an essential part of life. If someone keeps pulling all-nighters, then they are on the path to becoming burned out. Not only is the unhealthy for a person’s mental health, it is also unhealthy for their physical health. Contrary to popular belief, all-nighters can reflect poorly on a person’s grades. Although everyone believes staying up all night to study helps them learn more, it is proven that it actually causes people to do worse on a test or exam. Generally, people perform their best when they get adequate amounts of sleep and do better on test than people who stay up all hours of the night studying or doing homework.

People need to know when to: stop doing schoolwork, stop replying to emails, texting about school and when to stop doing homework. A good way to get burned out is not shutting off the school part of a person’s life. Everyone needs a break from work or school, and if someone tends to not shut that part of their life off, it will eventually lead to them becoming burned out. It is important to shut their brain off and recharge, so they don’t get burned out. People also sometimes need a break, even if it’s a short one, sometimes the way to figuring out a problem on the homework is stepping back from it and relaxing.

Finally, students should not be afraid to ask for help. If they feel like they have too much going on or too much on their plate, they need to ask for help. Teachers and tutors are here for a reason, if someone doesn’t understand something that they are being taught, they have to ask for help. Also, if someone feels alone and like they need to talk to someone they should never be afraid to reach out to resources that colleges offer, after all they offer them for a reason. It is important to know the signs of becoming burned out before it occurs, and everything that was stated is a sign and was given an example of how they happen.

So, burnout is a serious problem among college youth, which not only affects their academic performance, mental state, but also often becomes a key factor in their decision to drop out of college. That is why attention to this problem should be especially increased in order to solve it effectively.

Abstract

There is nothing important more than our good health. Health is not just about physical or medical fitness, it is also about how people deal with their emotional, mental and relationship behaviour. There are various important factors that affect the health of students. Some of them include nutrition, exercise, stress management, depression, and overall health. To analyze the health status of student health in LPU, information was collected via a lifestyle questionnaire, a standard survey tool by Student health and lifestyle survey Edinburgh healthy university research project), (Deniozou, 2015). By making use of SPSS/PC (statistical package for the social sciences) computer data entry and analysis was undertaken. Data analysis combine of mean, standard deviation, frequency distributions, percentages, means, and crosstab followed by Chi-square test. There are two questionnaires in which first part consists of demographic data including the student’s gender, age, and weight and the second section consists of various aspects including stress, depression, weight, diet, exercise. The data is analyzed between the hostellers and day scholar’s student with the given six factors. Results: According to the data there are 62.6% male and 37.4% female, out of total there are 55.7% hostellers and 44.3% day-scholar students. The mean age of the student is 21.37 and the mean weight of the student is 62. The parameter of the stress of the hostellers via day scholar student is calculated via the Chi-square test and the p-value of the stress obtained by crosstab is 0.000896(>0.05). The p-value of depression calculated by crosstab is 0.472(>0.05). The p-value of exercise calculated by crosstab is 0.091(>0.05). For the diet habit according to the data, the p-value of serving fruits and vegetables per day calculated by crosstab is 0.6168(>0.05). The parameter of the descriptive weight of the students resulted in the p-value calculated by crosstab is 0.981(>0.05). According to the results, the overall health of the hosteller via day scholar’s student resulted in the p-value of overall health calculated by crosstab as 0.48388(>0.05).Conclusion: After the analysis of the results, the null hypotheses between day scholars/ hostlers with all these parameters are accepted except the factor of stress. The result shows that whether a student is a day scholar or a hostler they are having good health with respect to the observed factors. Only stress is a major factor which is analyzed more in hostellers as compared to a day scholar. The reason for this could be family support which plays an important aspect in everybody’s life.

Aim of project work

The main purpose of the study is to investigate the health and lifestyle of graduate, undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Lovely Professional University. When the students enter in the university life, it is a critical time of transition to develop and integrate health-related behaviour into their lives. The students not only face academic challenges in their academic years but also face challenges on how to maintain their health behaviour and lifestyle. A number of studies have been done on the impact on student lifestyle during their higher studies. To overcome these sudden changes in their life, it is observed that they usually use alcohol, suffer from insomnia, and get stressed, and even sometimes result in weight gain. Hence there is a need to find out what are the important health issues in student life. This could lead to finding out the way to improve student health and lifestyle by using the required facilities. The aim of this research is to find out the factors that are responsible for the good health of students. These factors include living-status, diet, exercise, safety measure, and many others.

Transition to college life

There have been many studies conducted measuring the health belief of university life. Change to college life is known to be an exciting as well as stressful time for youth. These changes include adjusting academic workload, new environment, new relationship, diet and many more. With these changes and responsibility, the student has greater freedom and control over their lifestyles. The student normally uses smoking, drinking, sedentary lifestyle, poor dietary intake and ignoring safety habits.

Some of the major changes in the student lifestyle when they enter in college life are as following

1. New environment and relationship: When the student jumps in the college they must adapt to a new environment, make a new relationship, getting sufficient rest. Students find the most challenging thing is to live with their roommates. College gives the opportunity to the student to interact and live with students who belong to a totally different culture and background. Compromise and communication can build a smoother transition in student life because the roommates may or may not develop a close friendship.
2. Greater personal freedom: Students will get more independence if they live on their own and can vary the choices made by their parents and teachers. The freedom given to the pupils should be a satisfying learning process.
3. More responsibility: As more personal freedom is given to the students so they should understand their responsibilities to manage their daily routine which includes eating, sleeping, exercising, and attend the classes. Students also have to face other complex tasks such as to take part in clubs and extra activities, balancing studying, socializing, and other related things.

Some common stressors faces by the students are as following

1. Time management: Like in the school, students have not more eight hour classes and the remaining time should be adjusted between club and activities, homework, and self-care. But when pupils enter in college they generally think that there is no sufficient time for the tasks they want to do. Organizational skill and the perfect schedule will help the students to manage their changing and busy life.
2. Academic Pressure: Naturally college courses are more difficult and challenging and it is very difficult to perform all the academic responsibilities. Some pupils are pressurized by their parents. So to manage the increase academic tasks and expectation, it is important to attend classes regularly, complete their assignments and should take help if required.
3. Roommate conflict: The most challenging condition of going to college is to live with the unknown person. Most common resources of roommate conflict are different living habits such as neat, quiet, up all night, noisy, early to bed etc. Sometimes students fail to properly communicate with their roommates that lead to worries. In order to avoid conflicts with roommates, communication should be respectful.

There are some recommendations for the students as follow:

1. Be patient: While in campus student faces many difficulties and overwhelming, but with time everything changes. Student always prefers to communicate with the seniors and professor who always guide how to manage the academic tasks along with other extra activities.
2. Get involved: To interact with faculty members and other students, pupils should take part in some activities. Students can meet with the masses of their own interest and can take interest in social tasks.
3. Care of you: Healthy lifestyle is mandatory as being a human being. Taking necessary steps for nurturance, socializing, getting sufficient rest, taking part in some activities.

Importance of Health

Health plays the most important role in our lives. If a person is not healthy, he won’t be happy, even if he is wealthy. Health is not just about physical or medical fitness, it is also about how people deal with their emotional, mental and relationship behaviour. There are various important factors that affect the health of students. Some of them include nutrition, exercise, stress management and eating habits. It is well known that nowadays students have too much stress in their college life. They all have sufficient time to do everything which is felt important, even they give extra efforts and concentrate on their work without giving proper attention to their diet and sleeping needs. The simple way to stay healthy and fit with a stress-free life is to follow a regular schedule of exercise and taking healthy diet. One of the measure issues regarding the health of students is weight gain. Students who maintain their ideal weight faceless health problems and also being physically active they maintain a relaxed state of mind, which is essential for their overall health. On the daily basis our body needs a sufficient amount of protein, minerals and vitamin to be a fit and healthy, so we should consume fresh and green vegetables, fruits, milk etc. Along with the healthy food and physical activities, students are advised to maintain cleanliness in their residence and surrounding areas. Many studies have proved that if people have fit and healthy they achieve greater success in their life.

Public Health

The public health care support is very necessary and important. People must aware of the skills required for health care at the individual, family and community level. Drug awareness should also be a part of the discussion among youngsters to improve their health in which exercise plays an important role in maintaining a healthy life.

Many studies have been conducted on the framework of HBM (HEALTH BELIEF MODEL) as a descriptive model to determine the possibility of performing preventive health practices among college students. The HBM hold that people who are aware of their risk of diseases can modify their health behaviour to decrease the risk. This model was developed by social psychologists during their work with the public health department. The HBM attempts to explain and predict the health behaviours with a focus on health attitudes based on three core assumptions. These assumptions are founded to understand that the individual will take health-related action if they understand the impact of being healthy in their social and personal health.

Exercise

Exercise has a lot of benefits in our daily life. The health benefits of physical activity and exercise have been supported by many researchers and health practitioners for many decades. Exercise refers to physical activities and mental exertion, carried out to maintain physical health and mental fitness. People who do regular exercise burn their calories; as a result, they lose their weight and look physically better. Exercise increases blood flow and oxygen level in the brain and also release the brain hormones that are responsible for the production of the cell in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that controls memory and learning. Physical activities also act as a major factor that leads to good quality sleep as taking good quality sleep helps to improve our health and also decrease problems like stress level, depression etc.

Following are a few reasons why students being physically active in college are so important:

1. Energy boast: Being a student life we usually feel like we are tired 99% of the time. Exercising three to four times in a week can literally boost your energy levels significantly which is a good thing to be awake and active in the class.
2. Stress Relief: Exercise produces endorphins; basically, endorphins are the chemicals which are produced by the brain. Endorphins are used as a painkiller that helps to reduce the stress levels and improve sleep.
3. Stimulates Brain cell: Students who do exercise on the regular basis actually have strong memory attention and more focus as well. Because when the students do exercise three and four times in a week can have a significant impact on their brain as well. Simply brain is a muscle and the more you work out the muscle the strong.
4. Lower diseases risk: Exercise can actually control high blood pressure, cholesterol, and many other diseases.

Nutrition

A good nutrition diet is an essential need for human and a prerequisite to lead a healthy life. A proper diet is necessary from the early stage of life for proper growth, development and to remain active. When a transition occurs from school to college, students have more responsibilities of academic growth that lead to a good career; also they faced many challenges of the new environment and culture. No doubt, students often faced challenges to maintain a healthy lifestyle and make good nutritional choices. The main reason behind the challenge they faced to maintain their health is the availability of any kind of unhealthy food which often are unhygienic but are attractive and are easily available in the college premises. Many studies have been done by the researchers that emphasize the importance of nutrition and confirmed that the majority of college students don’t make healthy food choices.

In a study conducted by (Canson, 2002)which declared that males consumed more fast food, poultry and are also take cautions about the nutrition facts as compared to females. Females respondents likely try to lose the current weight and more preferable to use the food pyramid to make a food choice. Freshmen and seniors more prefer to eat snacks and seniors also reported less use of the food pyramid to guide food choices than of the other classes.

Stress Management

Many studies indicated that stressful academic situations affect the performance of student life. The effect of the stress factor has been studied on the performance of college students which established that the low-stress level can improve the concentration for short period of time which works as a positive factor in improving student performance but too much stress can affect the student in a negative way and can lead to depression. No doubt, college life is very hectic and there are many factors for generating stress but the most common causes of stress for student life is a follows:

1. Heavy workload
2. Family problems and loss of love ones
3. Pressure to perform well in exam
4. Living among strangers
5. Unfamiliar environment
6. Overthinking
7. Poor time management

Stress affects our life mentally, physically ,and emotionally. Here are some ways to help to avoid the stressors

1. Build a relationship and connect with others.
2. Change my-self-defeating thinking.
3. Exercise, take a healthy diet and get adequate sleep.
4. Set a realistic goal in your life
5. Learn to manage time effectively.
6. Don’t use alcohol, drugs, and other unhealthy habits to relieve your stress.

Literature review

(Tol, 2013), According to this study, the main purpose of Health-promoting lifestyle (HPL) on life promotion via lifestyle process consists of six main factors which are like physical activities, nutrition, interpersonal relation, stress management, and spiritual growth. This study actually aims to determine the relation between the health-promoting lifestyle and its factors. The cross-sectional study was analyzed on undergraduate students at school of health Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, using a census method. Data analysis was conducted by employing the descriptive and inferential statistical tests in SPSS. The mean age of the students is 21.12 years old. Among the six factors, the mean of spiritual growth and responsibilities is 22.01±2.224. 40.7% student had the good general life quality and19.8% student had the average global life quality. The lowest and highest frequencies of health-related life quality, the student having 58.6% good and 9% excellent health. Except the two things like stress management (p = 0.05) and student gender, there were no substantial relationships amongst other HPL traits and gender. Health-related life quality and stress management were expressively related to each other; conversely, no statistically significant link was observed between health-related life quality and nutrition, physical activity, interpersonal relations, and spiritual growth. The whole study may be concluded on the fact that there is a promising relationship between accepting and adopting the health-promoting lifestyle with the aspects of its spiritual growth and stress management as compare to that via adopting general lifestyle.

Deciding where to live is one of the most important and earliest decisions to be made by students at the time of joining the university. Usually, there are two prominent options, living with the family at home or living in the college dormitory. I have experience of living in both situations. These two living situations vary in many prominent aspects, such as privacy, responsibility, access to university facilities and many others. But in this essay I am going to compare the three aforementioned aspects.

Firstly, living in the dormitory has limited privacy in contrast to living at home. Most of the time, the personal space of a student in the dormitory is compromised. In the college dormitory, we have to share our room, kitchen, toilets and bathrooms with other students, unlike at the home. At home, we can dress casually, listen to loud music, and use the whole house for whatever we want and whenever we want. On the contrary, in the dormitory, we have to share our spaces, wear modest and decent clothes and put headphones to listen to music so that other students don’t get offended. And sometimes, we need to negotiate with our roommates in many situations, in turn, to live happily.

Secondly, the amount of responsibility is more when we live in the dormitory, unlike at home. While living at the dormitory, we have to cook our food, clean our clothes and room, do our dishes, manage time and money, etc. On the other hand, we get the food prepared and the clothes cleaned at home. And we do not have stress for managing time and money and doing dishes at home because our family takes care of these things. Being more responsible is not a liability, it’s an asset that will be useful in our professional career.

Thirdly, in terms of accessibility to university services, the dormitory is better than home. We can access many university facilities while living in the dorm, whereas it is not possible from the home. In the dorm, we have access to the gym, university Wi-Fi, bus for commuting between college and dorm, and study rooms. Conversely, we cannot get these facilities while living at our home. One interesting fact about university Wi-Fi is that we can access e-learning and edugate website even if it’s not broadcasting Internet signals. Unlike at home, we can’t get this benefit.

‘Where to live’ is the most stressful question for students during their student years. A student is the only one who can decide based on his preferences. Because the dormitory is the first place where we learn to live on our own and have lots of responsibilities, it is more advantageous for our upcoming future, in my opinion. Again, we should choose our places to live for studying wisely according to our priorities.

The brief history of physical education would start in just about 1820 when schools focused on gymnastics, hygiene training and care, and development of the human body. Physical education in college happened when college athletics received a major stimulus when a National Collegiate Athletic Association was created in the early twentieth centuries. Late in the twentieth century there was certainly a decline in the commitment to physical education because the growing offering of extra subjects and electives in schools means that the shift was focusing away from physical education and towards academics. Recent awareness of the need for balanced curriculums particularly given the national concern over the state of obesity and children’s attention towards non-physical activities. I support the offering of physical education courses at the university level because it helps us college students gain knowledge of how we should be healthier in college and it also helps prevent sleep deprivation.

In college, it is so easy to become unhealthy and gain a lot of weight from being stressed or just sitting in your room doing nothing. For most college students, eating problems stem from having too much food around. A new study suggested that a higher than expected percentage of the college students might not be eating enough because they can’t afford it. For example, the researchers asked the students whether they were able to afford balanced meals in the last month. “Sixty two percent of the students reported they couldn’t afford balanced meals,” says lead study author Megan Patton-Lopez, an epidemiologist at Benton County Health Services in Oregon”. In college, there’s also not many healthy options you can choose from, so you’ll really have to balance your eating habits and also choose what you’re going to eat. There are many ways to balance your eating habits in college, which are “choose a campus supported meal plan for your first term in school, if you are not living in a residence hall or your school has no access to a meal plan, you should try to work out a food budget that makes sense for you, remember to try to keep some balance in your diet, etc.”. If you take time to understand how your body works and actually try to stay healthy, then physical education would be a great source to look towards in college.

In college, students rarely get any sleep due to working a part timed job, take a class that overworks the students, or studying for a test at the last minute which causes you to stay up very late at night. After research, most college students only get six to seven hours of sleep per night. There are a couple of ways that studies show how you can get better sleep while in school. Those studies show that you can go to bed early, get out of bed, stay out of bed, limit your naps, wake up on the weekends, do not drink caffeine, etc. Studies show that at least fifty percent of college students experience daytime sleepiness due to sleep deprivation. Physical education can help with sleep deprivation: “To more sound and restful sleep. Physical activity increases time spent in deep sleep, the most physically curative sleep phase. Deep sleep helps to boost immune function, support cardiac health, and control stress and anxiety’. Physical education should be used in college because more college students deals with sleep deprivation.

Physical education should definitely be offered at the university level. I selected this topic because I feel as if physical education will affect college students in many different ways so they can live a healthier lifestyle. In college you are practically on your own, whereas back home most of us had parents or guardians who would help us keep up with our eating habits or doctor visits to keep us updated on ourselves. Motor development helps with any type of movement such as, walking, running, stretching, bending, catching, and throwing. After doing all the research I have done, I realized how physical education is the key aspect in life. Physical education will help you with a lot of the problems that you face in life such as, depression, stress, anxiety, sleep deprivation, weight gain, etc.

During most college students’ four years of studies, they are required to live in dorms. As expected, dorms are usually shared between two or more people, which automatically makes them your roommates. Throughout these four years every student gets to meet many different types of people, coming from various countries and backgrounds, and most times students are required to share their living spaces with those same people. As time progresses, we, students, are predisposed to live with a variety of roommates, most of whom can be classified into different groups. Most roommates fall into one of the following categories: slobs, party animals, hermits, ghosts, and some others. Regardless of how good or bad our roommates can be, they all teach us valuable lessons and gift us with new perspectives.

The first type of roommate that you are very likely to meet is a slob. This type of roommate has no regard for personal hygiene, let alone tidying up and keeping the common areas clean. They are unbothered by the state of their room and barely notice the chaos they leave behind themselves. In my personal experience, with these types of roommates no amount of conversation and reasoning works, simply because they have never been in the habit of cleaning up. Most times what a normal person sees as a mess seems to be fine for a slob. On the contrary, are clean freaks, these are the roommates that can be a little excessive when it comes to cleaning. Clean freaks are no better than slobs because of their high standards when it comes to sanitation. If the room doesn’t meet their expectations, they will often throw around innuendos or just do it themselves. Unlike slobs, who are unbothered by their surroundings, clean freaks can easily be triggered if something looks out of place.

The next type of roommate is a party animal. These roommates are rarely seen to miss out on any of the campus events and parties and are always primed about events occurring around the city. These roommates do however have a negative side, as they would often come back at late hours of the night and most times not in a very conscious state of mind. Party animals also like to throw hangouts in the room you share as a part of their pre-drinking ritual, oftentimes disregarding the fact that you could be studying. Although they are always informed about the different parties occurring around them, they are rarely aware of their assignments or upcoming exam dates. The polar opposite of party animals are nerds or student leaders, these are the roommates that are always seen at the library or in the dorm worrying about their next assignments and exams. Nerds are great for academic advice and help since they are well-enlightened about most subjects you are taking. These types of roommates are almost always presidents of one or more clubs and are very involved in the academic life of the college, however, they don’t always participate in the party culture of the college unless it’s an event that their clubs are hosting. The downside of having this type of roommate is that your dorm unavoidably turns into the quiet zone inside of a library, as any unnecessary noises cause a major distraction from their studies.

Not every college student is aware of the next type of roommate unless they live with them. As their name insinuates, hermits are roommates who are rarely seen leaving the dorm unless it’s necessary, therefore making it impossible for others to get to know them. These are the types of people that we would often classify as introverts; as college students, they rarely participate in clubs and only have social interactions whenever it’s mandatory. It can be a great inconvenience to have a hermit as a roommate since you rarely get alone time or personal space. It is unknown how hermits spend their time when alone. A ghost is another type of roommate for which very little is known. This is a roommate who you rarely see and know sheer information about. The whereabouts of this roommate is unknown, and interactions are kept to a bare minimum. The positive side of having a roommate like a ghost is that you can have the room to yourself most of the time.

A ‘mooch’, ‘borrower’, and ‘kleptomaniac’ are types of roommates that fall under the same category and serve the same purpose: they take your personal belongings with or without your permission. A mooch is constantly lacking something and in need to borrow what’s yours; at first, they ask for your permission, but later on, get comfortable enough to use them whenever they want to. As boundaries slowly start to deteriorate, such a roommate feels free to borrow whatever they need as if it was simply theirs. With a kleptomaniac, it’s a little different, because they don’t just borrow, they just take your personal belongings. It could be something as simple as your food but soon progresses to your books, clothes, and toiletries. The reasoning behind their actions is unclear to many and can be fixed only by setting up ground rules and establishing clear boundaries.

Last but not least are the rare yet incredible ‘perfect match’ roommates. These roommates are hard to come across and it usually takes a few tries before you get to live with them; some students may never even get to that point. This is a roommate with whom things go smoothly and there appears to be some type of a connection. Soon after you get to know each other you realize that the both of you share common interests and are quite compatible. It doesn’t take long before you and your roommate become very comfortable around each other and form a long-lasting friendship. Things seem to happen naturally and there is a mutual understanding between the two of you. From personal experience having a ‘perfect match’ as a roommate is a great experience to have, because I am basically living with my best friend. Our personalities complement each other, we share common worries and problems, and help each other out. Finding the ‘perfect match’ may be hard, but not impossible, and sometimes altering your lifestyle can accommodate you in your search.

College is a great place to meet and live with a diversity of people. It also teaches you how to be patient and kind when you don’t always agree with their way of life. The people you will share a room with can often be classified into different categories, and although some of them are unagreeable, they all teach valuable lessons that we can apply to our lives after graduating.