Well, for most us here at the University of Michigan school is starting just around the corner. For many others, school has already begun.
With this in mind, I’ve decided to write out some tips and ideas for the much anticipated, or much dreaded, first day of class.
Be Organized Have your books together, folders at the ready, and schedule printed before the morning of the first day of class. This will allow you to feel relaxed and prepared as you enter your first class. Forgetting something to write on - or never making to class in the first place because you forgot the room number - are common first day stresses that can be avoided.
Some of the best advice I ever received was to sit in the front row of large lectures. Doing so has countless advantages, and I think it is a great way to stay interested in lecture material and even boost your grades. The upgrade to the front row is, in addition to being a change in your physical location, a change in your mental state.
Some of the benefits of this easy change include:
It is easier to pay attention You will be less likely to fall asleep, chat with your friend, or do the crossword in your school paper if you are right in front of the professor. Consequently, you will take more complete notes and more fully understand the lecture.
Better comprehension If you are in the front row of your lecture hall, it will be easier to understand your professor and the lecture material. It will likely be easier to hear. Perhaps more importantly, you can pick up on body language and changes in inflection that are lost on the best row. These subtle clues can be excellent indicators of what is important - and what will be on the test.
More personal Being in the front row helps you feel like you are in a more intimate setting with the professor. He or she may even start to recognize you, making it easier to head to office hours for extra help or feel comfortable asking a question after lecture.
Better grades Combining all the above benefits, you can easily see how your GPA will be benefited by sitting in the front way. What an easy way to boost your grades!
Reflecting on the benefits of sitting in the front row, I’ve realized that this attitude of putting yourself in a position to succeed works for not only class, but for life in general.
Yes. Bloons has stolen my heart. In Bloons, you control a monkey who throws darts at balloons. To beat a level, you just have to clear the target number of balloons. Along the way in the 50 puzzle-like levels you will find many power ups and distractions that keep the game both interesting and challenging. This addicting and dazzling flash game has taken a note from Pringles, because once you start popping those damned bloons - you can’t stop.
What’s more, the fantastic people over at Ninja Kiwi have come out with 3 additional games in the Bloons franchise: More Bloons, Bloons Player Pack 1, and Bloons Tower Defense. In the rest of this post you will find descriptions and links for each of these great games, as well as strategy information and walkthroughs for when times get tough. Read on, and prepare to lose the next 24 hours of your life to a little monkey and a flash game called Bloons. Read the rest of this entry »
Does Adobe Reader take too long to load on your computer? Do things freeze whenever you open a PDF file? You are not alone, read on…
With school upon us, a major thing on my mind is the massive amount of reading I have to do. Reading is alright, but why make it take any longer than it already does. Do your profs email and post tons of PDF file articles for you to read? Because mine do. Before this year’s reading load hits, I decided to ditch adobe reader and switch to the lighter, faster Foxit Reader 2.0.
One of my favorite snacks or meals is a smoothie made with fresh fruit and healthy yogurt. However, at the places on campus a medium smooth is $5!!! So, I bought a smoothie maker of my own and started making them myself. Smoothies are healthy, cheap, fast, portable, and most importantly… delicious. Smoothies are also the perfect meal for college students.
In the guide below, I’ll show you the smoothie maker I use, some of my favorite recipes (including sites where you can find awesome Jamba Juice recipes), and the many benefits of adding some smoothies to your diet.
Jay from DumbLittleMan.com (a truly fine blog) has written a truly fine post on how to keep your energy and enthusiasm on the same high level that you start the year with all semester long. Jay asks the reader “What if you could keep that ‘fresh start’ feeling all semester long?”
I think this is an important tip:
Decide your main goal - Do you want straight A’s, B’s ? Before you can get anywhere you have to know where you are going beforehand. Choose before the semester starts what grades you want and write it down. By putting it in writing, you are setting an agreement with yourself - after that, all you need to do is not break that agreement.
Don’t stop with only stopping goals at grades though! Think hard in your free time about what you want to accomplish during this year. You have a whole year, and you can do anything with it. Rise to the top of your organization, write an incredible paper, win a contest, make new friends, don’t kill your plants… setting goals is important!
30sleeps.com has a great article about finding the courage to talk to more people. They call it ’social skydiving’ and it begins with something as simple as saying “hi” to a person you don’t know. I really enjoyed this article and I hope you will too.
From the article:
Nothing has changed my world view, and my life, more than taking the risk of saying “Hi” to people I don’t know on a regular basis. Whether I’m walking down a busy shopping street, longboarding in the park, or out at a nightclub, I see every moment that I’m out in the world as a chance to meet new people.
I encourage you to try out the discussed techniques at the next party you go to. The article describes how you will inevitably face at least some rejection and you just have to accept that. Still, what better place to get rejected than a dimly lit party where most of the party-goers are drunk?
Facebook can suck your productivity into a black hole. Don’t you wish you could have some of that time back, while still being able to stay on top of everything facebook offers? With the Greasemonkey Firefox Extension, this is possible. This extension allows you to install scripts that improve your browsing experience.
The scripts I’ve listed and reviewed below will help you save time doing repetitive facebook tasks, like logging in and loading images. While there have been other ‘facebook with greasemonkey’ posts in the past, many scripts have been updated and new ones released. That is why I feel this post is necessary. Read the rest of this entry »
This is the first installment of a series of posts entitled Weekend Reading. A collection of some of the best articles from the week in news, the blogosphere, wikipedia articles, and more. This should give you something to do in the approximately three and a half hours on Saturday between waking up hungover from Friday and beginning to pre-game for Saturday night.
These articles have been hand selected, and already thoroughly enjoyed, by myself. I hope you will like them too. Leave your own favorite reading from this week in the comments,
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