Be Your Best Student

So you’re convinced that giving back to your community is the right thing for you – you either have time during the semester or you’re making plans for the break between classes, you have a mode of transportation to get yourself somewhere, and you have the drive to help others by working with people in your community. The part that comes next is the hardest part: finding a volunteer opportunity that suits your personality, values, and interests. Here are a few that come to mind: ·          Your local animal shelter. Animal shelters are often the first suggestion for new volunteers for a few reasons: the animals desperately need attention (playing with animals and walking dogs) and shelters typically have a protocol for volunteers so coming on-board is an easy and well-known process. You typically must complete an orientation and work with someone else your first few times in, but after you get familiar with the system you can come and go as...

I have often said before that the fine art of taking notes seemed to start its slow death right around the time PowerPoint came into being. Suddenly, students had a visual aid that their brains translated into: notes already taken. Pens and pencils were set down, paper was put away, and students were freed to lazily doze and/or passively listen to whatever the instructor was droning on about. This kind of passive action is the absolute best scenario if you want a future of performing poorly on quizzes and tests, not knowing your classmates and instructors, and earning an overall grade in the course that will make you terribly unhappy at the end of the semester. So let’s take a look at some tips that may help you to take better notes in the classroom and thus perform better overall in your college classes: ·           Stay organized. I can’t say this often (or loudly) enough. One of the golden keys to a successful college experience is ke...