1. What classes did you like the best freshman year? Are these the same things that you enjoyed in high school? Deciding your major is a big part of what happens sophomore year. Taking time over the summer to evaluate where your interests lie can save you a lot of time and heartache later. If you know that you don’t like biology but were planning to be pre-med, it might be time to re-evaluate.
2. What did you bring to college last year and never use? What were the items that you found you needed but didn’t bring Sophomore year often holds a myriad of options for housing, whether off-campus or in dorms, and having a good packing list before heading off to school is helpful. Last minute Wal-mart runs are stressful and time-consuming!
3. Do you want a job in the fall? What jobs are open on campus? Freshman year is a transition period and it can be difficult to handle a job during the adjustment. By sophomore year, you should have a good idea of what your schedule can handle and if you feel that a job will fit into your week now is the time to start looking! There are often a lot of jobs available right on campus (ex. in the library, at the athletic center, tutoring for a department) but these jobs tend to be highly coveted. If you decide you want a job on campus over the summer you can get a jump-start on applying for the positions before everyone returns to campus in the fall!
4. Do you want to study abroad? With everything that is going on sophomore year it is easy to let this one slide through the cracks. A lot of colleges have study abroad fairs during the first few weeks of classes; these fairs are most helpful when you’ve already decided the general area of the world you want to go to (ex. Africa? Eastern Europe?). The decision should be a joint one between you and whomever is paying your tuition bill so it’s much easier (and much less painful) to do at home over the summer when you can gage the ‘rents mood!

If you have a rough outline of your plan for the fall before you get to campus, your year will be a lot less stressful and you’ll be able to concentrate on classes…..and other things!

Students who end up at colleges that weren’t their top choice are often happiest. Sushma Subramanian on the upside to being rejected by the elites.

When Lauren Schug, 26, from Philadelphia, was rejected by her top college choices—Brown, Columbia, and Duke—she was pretty sure her life was over. “I was extremely disappointed when I didn’t get into my first choice school,” she says, “and as I didn’t get into my second and third choice, I feared that my education and my future would be compromised.”

She reluctantly began considering the colleges lower down her list, only two of which she would consider enrolling in: Boston College and Tulane. The latter she had applied to only because the son of her parents’ close friends had gone there and liked it.

“It’s kind of like dating that person who’s good on paper,” says one college counselor about elite schools, “you’re just not in love with them.”

But then something strange began to happen. The more she was forced to dwell on these two schools, the more they intrigued her. Boston College turned out to have an in-depth classical focus as its English major’s core curriculum. And after her visit to New Orleans—on a sun-drenched, 80-degree spring day the weekend of the French Quarter Festival—Tulane started to look pretty fantastic. Plus, Tulane was offering her a scholarship. (Schug also remembers her parents telling her they’d buy her a car if she went there; it never materialized.)

She eventually settled on Tulane—and in retrospect, she thinks getting the cold shoulder from her more elite first choices was the best thing that could have happened to her. At Tulane, she was outside her comfort zone and surrounded by a diverse group of students. “At Tulane, there were so many different people from around the country,” Schug said. “If I’d gone to one of my other choices, a lot of them probably would have been people who grew up in well-off suburbs in the Northeast.”

Schug’s experience isn’t uncommon. College counselors and faculty, as well as students who didn’t get into their top-choice college, say the second-choice school often turns out to be an even better fit. “I had wanted a school that people would recognize and think was prestigious,” Schug says. “A lot of times, kids put so much emphasis on a big name rather than what school is right for them.”

Jeremy Hyman, a former philosophy professor and co-author of Professors’ Guide to Getting Good Grades in College, agrees. He’s seen students again and again rank prestigious schools as their top choices without fully researching them. Just ask students who scrambled to get into Notre Dame for the sports only to be unnerved once they arrive to find that chapel attendance every Sunday is mandatory. “When there’s less name-recognition, the student does a more careful investigation of what the school is really like,” says Hyman. “When the first one’s out of the way, that’s when they study the product, visit the college, study the website, check the syllabi for some classes.”

That’s just one reason many students end up happier at their second-choice college. Some students aren’t as ready as they think they are to conquer the world at a Harvard or a Yale. Barbara Cooke, head of academic advising and student-employment services at Metropolitan Community College-Maple Woods in Kansas City, says kids overestimate their abilities at their peril. “Sometimes you can choose a college that’s more of a reach than you can handle,” Cooke said. “If you end up at a second-choice school, sometimes the transition is easier, either academics-wise, or it’s closer to home.”

There’s a psychological aspect, too, to why fewer choices can make you feel firmer about your decision, says Sheena Iyengar, a researcher at Columbia University and author of The Art of Choosing. If you’ve been accepted to all the colleges you’ve applied to, selecting between Yale and Harvard and Stanford and Princeton can cause a minor meltdown. (Turn down Yale??) Even after the choice has been made and you’re safely on the campus of your perfect Ivy, you might continue to worry if you made the right decision—a worry that could plague you long after you’ve graduated.

One way to muffle the shock of being rejected from a first-choice school is by having good back-ups—not just safety schools you hate the idea of, but genuine second-choice schools that you think you’d genuinely want to attend. Jim Jump, the director of guidance at St. Christopher’s School, an all-boys’ prep school, in Richmond, Virginia, says that approaching the admissions process correctly means identifying a range of schools, any of which they’d be happy at. Problems arise when all of their expectations rest on the decision of one college.

“As they think about college, they should be constantly thinking about the ‘what-ifs,’ which should preclude being obsessed over one place,” says Jump.

Those what-ifs should also include options if that first-choice school doesn’t turn out to be a match made in heaven. Alexis White, a private college application consultant in Los Angeles, says that sometimes students have dangerously lofty ideas about what the college experience will be like. “There’s an incredible amount of expectation placed on a first-choice school,” says White. “They get there, and sometimes it’s not what they’d built it up to be in their minds.”

But perhaps most intriguing is the notion that many students end up falling more deeply in love with their second-choice school—one that embraced them fully and unconditionally—than they ever could have with an institution that’s hyper-selective. “Students tend to bond with the college they attend, and this process is enhanced by the fact that the college wanted them, too,” said Lisa Sohmer, the director of college counseling at Garden School in Jackson Heights, New York. Even though a dream school may have a fitting academic program, it might not be right, socially or emotionally. “It’s kind of like dating that person who’s good on paper—you’re just not in love with them,” White says.

Take Randi Fuchs, a 22-year-old English major who was accepted to her first-choice college and enrolled there in 2006. She’d grown up surrounded by driven, overachieving students at Scarsdale High School; her closest friends were headed to the Ivies. Students at Scarsdale High didn’t aspire to attend nearby colleges like Manhattanville, Iona, or SUNY-Purchase. So Fuchs, almost without thinking, accepted her admission to the most elite school she could get into with her B-average: American University.

Fuchs wanted to study education, but at American, students couldn’t be accepted into the education program until their sophomore year. And American prepared them for certification tests for local schools, not schools in New York, where Fuchs wanted to live after graduation. She also joined a sorority, but after three years as a sister there she felt the social pressures were interfering with her schoolwork.

By her junior year, she had transferred to Manhattanville College, a small school in Westchester with just 1,700 undergraduates—a place she hadn’t even applied to back in high school and that most people outside the New York area have never heard of. Her friends thought she was crazy, but today, Fuchs couldn’t be happier.

“When you go to college, you don’t know who you are,” she says. “At 22, I know I’m comfortable making decisions that are right for me.”

Sushma Subramanian is a freelance journalist in New York and an adjunct journalism professor at Hunter College. Her work has appeared in New York magazine, Psychology Today, and Self.

Don’t be ashamed to move back in with mom and dad – for a while anyway

If you do not already have your own place with a steady income and a sound budget, it may be a smart idea to move back home until you get all that sorted out. Don’t be ashamed. You are not the only college graduate who will be moving back in with mom and dad. According to a recent poll by Collegegrad.com, 80 percent of 2009 college graduates moved back home with their parents after graduation, up from 77 percent in 2008, 73 percent in 2007 and 67 percent in 2006. Moving in with the parents is smart because it saves you lots of money while you figure out how you are going to afford to live on your own. Just be mindful that you are no longer living in the dorms and be respectful of the house rules. Offer to contribute to the household like an adult if you want to be treated like one.

Size up your expenses and debt – if you have any

Do your budget. If you have any student loans, you usually have a grace period of 6 months or so before you have to start paying money back. Even so, find out your your payment will be and factor that into your monthly living expenses. You may not be paying rent and utilities if you have chosen to move home, but gym memberships, credit cards, car payments, gas and other expenses still need to get paid.  You may have to eliminate some things from your freshly graduated, broke budget. Make it a priority to pay off any consumer debt and devise a plan to do this once you find a job.

Just get a job

This is of course the reason you attended college in the first place, right? Well, keep in mind your first job out of college may not be your dream job. According to Collegegrad.com’s Director of Marketing and PR, Adeola Ogunwole,t he competitive job market is only one dynamic getting in the way of college graduates’ gainful employment. The other big obstacle is unreasonable expectations. Consider your first job a starter job – something to keep you busy and help put a little cash your pocket while you work toward the ideal career. Don’t feel bad if you don’t even know what that ideal career is. You have plenty of time to figure that out and it will always change as you get more experience and figure out exactly what you do and don’t like about various industries. The average person changes careers several times in his or her lifetime (not jobs, careers). So you might as well get started and get the crappy jobs out of the way first.

Define your goals (short term and long term)

While you are working your way through your first entry-level job, you may feel a sense of disappointment. “Is this what I went to college for?” many college graduates wonder. Use this as a motivation to figure out what you really want to do with your life. Look on the bright side and make the best of the experience. Entry-level positions can teach you, by process of elimination, what you like and dislike about that job. Keep notes and put your career goals in writing. As you define your goals, let others know about them too. Your boss may help you move to a different department within the company or your parents may have friends that work in a field that you are curious about. If you have personal goals of getting married and starting a family, define, write down and imagine how your life would look with those aspects as well. It may seem corny, but these jedi mind tricks can be a powerful tool when it comes to going after and getting what you want.

Don’t be so hard on yourself

Very few college graduates get the life that they imagined for themselves immediately after graduating. It takes much more than a four year degree to acquire skills, maturity and experience. While it may not seem like it for a while, there is life after college. Be patient and enjoy the ride.

April Lentini writes for Apartment Guide in Austin.

Every college and university around the world expects its students to uphold certain standards. Honesty, refraining from causing harm to others, community, and staying within the laws of the home country all remain relatively reasonable and universal codes that give students structure while still preserving their individuality and bolstering their character. But some schools, most especially those affiliated with the evangelical Christian movement in the United States, raise a number of extremely difficult questions with their adherence to a highly restrictive code of values. While it usually remains the students’ choice to partake of such environments, many outside the affiliated fundamentalist organizations may look over their rules and find their jaws dropping. For these schools, leeching beyond the academic and school-related extracurricular functions and into the private lives of their students remains a high priority, with handbooks dictating very clearly how all of them must behave regardless of whether or not they live or play on campus. Are they genuinely pushing their students towards the path of Christ? Or are they treating free-willed adults as if petulant children incapable of forging their own individual perceptions, decisions, and behaviors without being fed someone else’s interpretations of Christian dogma? There are as many answers as there are people to consider the questions, because the world exists in shades of grey. Perhaps they are harmful. Perhaps they are harmless. But the following schools nonetheless play host to a number of regulations that seem rather appalling to mainstream society, and this article takes an admittedly irreverent peek at a little of what they have to say.

1. Oral Roberts University

All resident and commuter students at Oral Roberts University are required to attend church at least twice a week and find themselves to a highly restrictive dress code. All men and women are expected to dress modestly, stay well-groomed, and avoid tattoos and body piercings. The former may not wear makeup, because breaking archaic gender tropes will rip the very foundations of society asunder. Alcohol is held up as equally detrimental as illegal substances regardless of whether or not a student partakes responsibly and remains at or above the drinking age – and the University does not discriminate on whether or not consumption or possession takes place on- or off-campus, either. Raffles are not even allowed as fundraiser due to their association with gambling, which is also banned. Obviously, dishonest or disruptive remains heavily discouraged as it does even in public schools. But premarital sex, homosexuality, aligning oneself with occult religions (though the handbook never actually specifies which belief systems they consider “occult”), using expletives, tobacco possession or use, dancing, and working at any establishment that encourages or involves any such things apparently constitute impropriety and stand as offenses worthy of expulsion.

2. Pensacola Christian College

While most schools understandably discourage nationally illegal activities involving drugs or underage drinking, Pensacola Christian College outlaws perfectly legal ones such as gambling, possession of pornography, dancing, swearing, smoking tobacco, and even patronizing movie theatres. They completely reach into the personal lives and convictions of their students, demanding that they refrain from such so-called “perversions” such as premarital sex, extramarital sex (even if both parties agree to an open relationship), and homosexuality. Anyone caught in such a position faces discipline or dismissal. In addition, all students enrolled in 12 or more hours are required to attend at least one chapel event a week. Part-timers or those with special circumstances must do so on days when their classes do not begin until after noon. All of these policies supposedly honor the wishes of Jesus Christ and facilitate participation in the encouraged weekend activities of door-to-door and child evangelism, working in churches, and volunteering at nursing homes.

3. Bob Jones University

Bob Jones University requires all students to attend regular church, Sunday school, society, Bible conferences, artist series programs, and vespers services on campus, though not necessarily in a single week. They understandably discourage illegal and discourteous behaviors such as excessive drunkenness, but generally harmless actions like possessing legal pornography, moderate drinking, disciplined gambling, dancing, sensuality, premarital sex, and homosexuality all remain condemned and held up as just as harmful to young, educated minds. All mixed groups of men and women – both on and off campus – require the presence of a chaperone to intercede on any behaviors they deem offensive to their conservative sensibilities. The school even governs how students are to go about their off-campus employment as well. Serving alcohol at bars or restaurants, keeping hours past 10:30 PM on weekdays and midnight on weekends, and door-to-door sales without expressed permission from the dean or a retail license are all forbidden by Bob Jones University. Any and all work must not interfere with weekday prayer sessions, either. In addition, all freshmen with jobs must consent to being chaperoned by a prayer captain or one of their assistants or an upperclassman while working. Neither freshmen nor sophomores are permitted to drive cars to work, either.

4. Liberty University

As with many Christian colleges and universities, Liberty extends its behavioral guidelines to students who live off campus as well as on. They do not require church service, but Convocations on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are compulsory for the entire student body. Political or social demonstrations – including harmless picketing – are completely banned on campus, and the University heavily discourages participating in any held off-campus as well. They reserve the right to discipline any student who does so, most especially in cases when the politics and ideals expressed in the protests go against the school’s extremely conservative beliefs. Commuter students cannot cohabitate with significant others or any peers of the opposite sex, either, and anyone hoping to get married before the age of 21 is highly encouraged to seek counseling and receive parental permission. In addition, anyone considering dating a classmate or other attendee must refrain from any sign of affection beyond handholding. After dusk, mixed groups are not allowed to fraternize without chaperones because having a group of friends including males and females alike is not normal psychosocial behavior – it is “improper” and apparently leads to premarital sex and dancing and other alleged affronts to Jesus.

5. Brigham Young University

The official “Honor Code” of BYU strictly outlaws camping trips with members of the opposite sex, though instances with separate accommodations for males and females will at least receive a modicum of consideration and reduced discipline if unauthorized. Most of the punishment is reserved for any involving “impropriety,” however. In accordance with their Mormon faith, students must also refrain from the expected and reasonable discourteous and illegal behavior – but coffee, tea, responsible alcohol consumption, and tobacco are also disallowed as well. All women are required to keep their skirts at knee-length or longer and receive no piercings beyond one in the earlobe. Men may not grow their sideburns past their earlobes, have hair covering their ears, or keep moustaches beyond the corners of their mouths. Beards are completely banned without explicit permission from the school, and neither gender may color their hair or wear any form-fitting apparel. Openly homosexual students are allowed to attend classes, but they must commit themselves to the same standards of staunch chastity as their heterosexual peers. In addition, they must refrain from participating in any pro-gay demonstrations or distribute literature involving equal marital and legal rights for their community. While BYU does accept students who do not belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, they are still required to participate in the community as if they were.

6. Asbury College

Demanding a “radical commitment to Jesus Christ” of all students involves not only the usual abstinence from illegal substances and behaving courteously, but a number of other legal but forbidden or discouraged behaviors frowned upon by the religious right as well. Possessing legal pornography, light to moderate drinking (even non-alcoholic versions of beer or cocktails), gambling, premarital or extramarital sex (regardless of whether or not the latter take place within an open relationship), dressing immodestly, supporting or practicing religious beliefs in line with the “occult” (with the lines of what constitutes such practices never explicitly stated), using profanity, tobacco, engaging in or supporting homosexuality, and having or supporting abortions are also very much in violation of the school’s strict moral guidelines. Allowing dancing at any school-related function – on or off campus – is strictly prohibited, though students are allowed to bust a few chaste, pre-approved moves at “weddings, military balls, graduation exercises, church, and family occasions” provided they refrain from attending clubs, bars, or parties that allegedly lead to temptation no matter what. Attending chapel is mandatory, and it is heavily suggested that not participating in other Christian ceremonies or functions is highly frowned upon. Any movies to be shown on campus must receive approval from Asbury College faculty and staff if it involves a rating of PG or PG-13, with all R’s and NC-17’s banned except in extreme circumstances (Passion of the Christ, by the way, was considered violent and intense enough to warrant an R by the MPAA). Students hoping to visit any friends of the opposite sex must receive permission from their families and keep it on file with the school as well.

7. Dallas Christian College

Dallas Christian College directly addresses individuals who feel their extremely staunch policies are either too slack or too restrictive, stating that such measures strike a balance between freedom and Christian piety. In addition to outright banning the expected illegal and discourteous behaviors, premarital sex and homosexuality are “considered as absolute” in their alleged offense to God and society as stealing and lying. Any freshmen taking less than 24 hours of coursework must be in their dorm rooms by midnight on Monday through Wednesday and 12:30 AM on Friday through Sunday. Other academic levels are not stringently held to these policies, but they must sign out if they want to return after curfew. Thursday nights require a 10:00 PM return time because of devotionals. All students with a course load of 6 hours or more are required to contribute at least 6 hours of volunteer work in a Christian-related field per month, and they are heavily discouraged from taking jobs that distract from the school’s staunch moral guidelines. Students caught engaging in premarital, extramarital, and homosexual behavior face the risk of being expelled completely from Dallas Christian College as well. Dancing, too, falls under extremely restrictive guidelines as well, with the school outright refusing to allow it on campus or any official functions held offsite. Social and dance clubs as well face quite a bit of consternation.

8. Ozark Christian College

Most schools understandably want their students to stay away from breaking the law or acting inconsiderately towards others – but Ozark Christian College also places tight regulations on legal activities as well. Alcohol and tobacco are forbidden even for those of age for purchase and consumption, and media intake is restricted to whatever the faculty and staff deems inoffensive. This, of course, means any movie above a PG-rating or below a -1 score on Previewonline.org (though there exists the very rare acquiescing from the school). In addition, attendance at parties, clubs, casinos, restaurants, and bars is expressly prohibited except when no alcohol is present. Mixed groups of males and females must agree to confer in the presence of a chaperone. Public displays of affection beyond handholding are highly discouraged, as is fraternizing with those of the opposite sex on co-ed camping trips. Dyed hair and “faddish or extreme styles” are out, as are any piercings beyond the ears or a nose stud – presumably allowed for cultural reasons. Save for the dress code and media violations, most of these infractions can lead to disciplinary actions or even outright dismissal from the school.

9. Clearwater Christian College

This Florida institution takes its “honor court” very, very seriously – going so far as to issue demerits for a number of completely legal offenses. Some are grounds for immediate expulsion, while others build up over time before a student can be dismissed. Arrests, convictions, and firearms understandably lead to suspension or termination, but so can purchasing and consuming alcohol (even when of age), attending a bar or a club, involvement with a cult, Satanism, or witchcraft, or engaging in sexual activity. Because the nude human body is just as detrimental to society as a sawed-off shotgun. Major infractions largely accepted by mainstream society and allowed under American law include “dating violation[s],” owning potentially offensive media (which will get confiscated), swimming with the opposite sex, patronizing a movie theatre, attending a concert, receiving a tattoo or piercing, gambling, possessing pornography, or purchasing and using tobacco (even when of age). Some of the dating offenses include displays of affection beyond hand-holding both on- and off-campus, seeing one another in swimming or sunbathing attire, not exiting a car at the same time immediately upon turning off the engine, being caught alone together while at school, and going on single dates while a freshman. Minor infractions include borrowing and not attending chapel and group devotions on a regular basis. All students are also required to adhere to a stringent dress code lest they find themselves facing a few more fines along the way.

10. Florida Christian College

The veritably Orwellian Florida Christian College combs through its students’ media collections, banning any books, movies, music, magazines, or video games it deems detrimental to Christianity. No video games may possess an M rating, nor are students allowed to own movies above the PG-13 rating. They can’t dance, can’t gamble, and can’t even lightly use alcohol or tobacco even if of legal age. They have to cover tattoos, remove piercings, and maintain hairstyles approved by the dean – and all without any unnatural colors, of course. Employment must not mainly involve the sale of alcohol (so no bars or liquor stores), anything even remotely sexual, gambling, or anything un-Christian. Sexual abuse and incest are very understandably considered a violation due to their illegality and penchant for psychological damage, but legal activities like abortion, premarital and extramarital sex (even within the confines of an open marriage), and homosexuality are held up as just as appalling.

In their quest to encourage their students to live like Christ – or, more accurately, their interpretations of how Christ lived – these schools push upon them a series of heavy restrictions involving their behaviors on and off campus. Going far beyond the usual, generally accepted standards of not breaking the law, acting in a disruptive or discourteous manner, and remaining honest in word, deed, and homework, they raise a number of fascinating moral and ethical questions regarding personal freedom. While this article certainly peers into their doings from the perspective of an outsider, it admits that the real answers remain entirely subjective and highly nebulous. Everyone should look at the evidence presented and formulate their own personal opinion of the matter.

1. Vacuum cleaner

A basic vacuum cleaner is a necessity for college students, especially if you have a grungy looking carpet in your dorm or apartment. Even if you just use a hand held, like a Bissell or Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner, you can still pick up the majority of the dirt and grime from your floor or furniture. Vacuuming your place regularly can also go a long way towards limiting your allergy or asthma suffering, as it can lead to fewer dust particles in the air.

2. Toilet brush and cleaner

Unless you are a completely abnormal college student, chances are your bathroom is dirty. The simplest remedy would be to use your neighbor’s bathroom all the time. Since most of us can’t get away with that, the only other option is to regularly clean the place. Simply put, you don’t want to get stuck cleaning a toilet by hand without a brush. This thought alone should make you want to run out and grab one immediately.

3. All purpose cleaner

This is really a life save for the college student. One product that can clean almost anything. Yes, you can actually use an all-purpose cleaner on any surface in your pad – living room, kitchen, bathroom, wherever! Not only does a product like this make cleaning much more economical, it also makes it easier. Lysol, Oxyclean and Mr. Clean all have their own version of all-purpose cleaner, so you really have your pick on which is the best product for your place.

4. Rubber Gloves

Yes, cleaning can be gross. Especially your bathrooms. Using these should be a no-brainer.

5. Laundry Bag

While not exactly a cleaning tool, a laundry bag is an item that can certainly help you clean your place. Consider yourself lucky if you get a place with a built-in washer and dryer. The rest of us will have to lug pounds of clothes up and down stairs and even across busy streets just to get the laundry done. A simple laundry bag can make the job that much easier – and less embarrassing too. The best part about a laundry bag is that you can also use it just to take your laundry back and forth from your parent’s house where Mom is happy to do it for you!

Mike Tennant is a freelance writer who covers technology and lifestyle topics. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Mike currently works with several Web outlets, including Vacuum Home as a content writer and consultant.

Image: NathelieMaynor (Flickr)

Kenyon College Cemetery

Recorded burials at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, date back to when the college began, around 1827.  Perhaps the most mysterious grave site on this campus is the grave of “an old man.” It’s believed that this grave was the first one among the hundred-odd graves in the official Kenyon College Cemetery. The college cemetery, which is surrounded by a low wrought iron fence behind Rosse and Rutherford B. Hayes Halls, is still used for alumni, employees and others, with the permission of the college president.

Notre Dame Cemetery

People are always trying to sprinkle their loved ones’ ashes on the Notre Dame football field, in the woods around the lakes and elsewhere on campus. In response to this clandestine scattering, the university opened up a final resting place for alumni. Cedar Grove, located on the Notre Dame property, is an open-air garden mausoleum at the west end of campus that features vaults (for purchase only by faculty and staff) and niches for cremated remains which can be purchased by alumni. You can even buy a custom coffin or urn for Notre Dame’s “Coming Home” mausoleum marketing campaign.

The Jackson Street Cemetery (University of Georgia)

Buried in this historic cemetery are merchants, tailors, ministers, children of UGA faculty members, families of state government officials and two UGA presidents, Robert Finley and Moses Waddel Duncan.  The cemetery is also known as the Old Athens Cemetery and is located between the Visual Arts Building and Baldwin Hall. While this historic grave site is no longer active, you can purchase a lot at Oconee Hill Cemetery down the road owned by the University of Georgia. Bulldog Haven is a section in the cemetery devoted entirely to the university’s football letterman.

Iowa State University Cemetery

Iowa State University has maintained a university cemetery since 1876. Located on the northwest corner of the Central Campus, there are more than 700 graves in the cemetery, seven of which belong to university presidents and faculty and staff members who helped shape Iowa State. Two students also are buried in the cemetery. One of them, Kung Fan Chi, a 29-year-old horticulture major, was believed to be the 70th direct lineal descendent of Confucius, the ancient Chinese philosopher. In order to be buried in the Iowa State cemetery today, one has to have continuously served the university for at least 20 years. In addition, faculty members must have attained the rank of tenured assistant professor or higher.

Duke University Memorial Garden

Because many people have been caught scattering ashes on campus, Duke University started a program in which they charge $25,000 a pop to bury ashes in its new two-acre memorial garden. For that price, the deceased receives a stone with his or her name on it that lines the gently winding path leading from the courtyard up to a wooded hill. Ashes are scattered in the Memorial Garden, which is situated on two acres just north of the terraces, between the Rose Garden and the Hanes Lawn. Profits from this program help finance the school’s vast public gardens.

University of Florida Gator Graveyard

The University of Florida is hoping to cash in soon on the campus cemetery bandwagon. The school is trying to receive special permission from the state to turn part of its campus into a cemetery. The university wants to build what’s called a columbarium, a structure with niches for the ashes of alumni.  UF officials say that they hear requests from people who want spread their ashes on the football field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. Many people have scattered family remains on campus without permission, so they figured, why not build a columbarium and charge alumni $3,000 to $5,000 to store their charred remains for all eternity? This plan is still pending the state lawmakers’ approval.

Woodland Cemetery: Clemson University

Woodland Cemetery, also called Cemetery Hill, was the idea of Clemson’s former president Walter Merritt Riggs, who developed a fierce loyalty to the school when he was nominated as president in 1911. He wanted a final resting place, a faculty cemetery, to recognize faculty and college administrators for their service. In 1924, Riggs became the first person buried in the cemetery. Woodland Cemetery no longer has plots for sale, but to help support the grounds’ preservation and research, the college accepts gifts designated for the Cemetery Hill Preservation Fund.

Texas A&M Aggie-Themed Cemetery

The Memorial Cemetery of College Station has an eternal resting place for folks who are really devoted to Texas A&M University. This cemetery has a section for Aggies and their supporters who want to show their school pride – forever. Roughly one-third of Memorial Cemetery’s 57-acre burial ground is dedicated to A&M devotees. There are more than 3,000 spaces for Aggie alumni. The school says it has no financial stake in the $10 million project but is allowing the city to use the school logo and a few other A&M-trademarked items as part of a licensing agreement. The new cemetery is marked by two stone columns the with college’s logo.  Kyle Field can be seen in the distance a mile or so away, creating a visual gateway to the football stadium. The stadium view was one of the college’s requirements in the cemetery contract.

April Lentini writes for Apartment Guide in Austin.

1. Senator Paul Stanley and McKenzie Morrison: Tennessee state Senator Paul Stanley resigned from office in 2009 after a scandal broke involving his 2008 affair with a 22-year-old intern named McKenzie Morrison. Stanley, who had been chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, was blackmailed by Joel Watts, Morrison’s boyfriend. Watts had obtained condemning photos that Stanley had taken of Morrison and planned to release them to the media unless Stanley paid him $10,000. Watts was charged with extortion, but Stanley, who was married and had two children at the time of the story, resigned anyway.
2. David Letterman and Stephanie Birkitt: When longtime talk show host David Letterman admitted on-air that he had had sex with female employees at CBS, the public was shocked. Letterman married his girlfriend of over twenty years Regina Lasko in 2009, with whom he has a son, Harry Joseph, and with whom he has worked on The Late Show in the past. But when a Late Show producer Robert “Joe” Halderman attempted to blackmail Letterman for $2 million in exchange for not going public with the employee sex scandal, Letterman decided to come clean with his audience. One of the women he’d had sex with was Stephanie Birkitt, a young assistant who had appeared on the show numerous times as a perky sidekick. Birkitt interned in the writer’s studio of The Late Show in 1996 when she was a student at Wake Forest University, and ended the affair with Letterman sometime before 2003.
3. The New York Times and Daniel Preysman: A New York Times intern from Dartmouth named Daniel Preysman was involved in a scandal involving a major personal interest case and an article he co-wrote for the paper. Preysman’s May 30, 2003, article, called “Special Visa’s Use for Tech Workers is Challenged” was deemed an unethical assignment by several readers because Preysman is the son of a tech company CEO — Datasweep exec Vladimir Preysman. Daniel is also the beneficiary of a trust connected with a company that formerly employed his mother Irene, called Oni Systems. Both Datasweep and Oni Systems used the types of visas that Daniel wrote about in the NYT article, making some readers feel that he had a “vested interest” in “keeping the visas rolling,” and making him a biased reporter.
4. St. Joseph’s College: This Australia scandal centered around a female staff member at the prestigious St. Joseph’s College, a private school in a prominent neighborhood in Sydney. The 42-year-old staff member — who was married at the time and who had her own sons enrolled at St. Joseph’s — was investigated for having an affair with a 19-year-old male intern from Sussex England. The student was sent back to England, and the staff member resigned.
5. Mayor Sam Adams and Beau Breedlove: In January of 2009, Portland Mayor Sam Adams was revealed to have been having an affair with an 18-year-old male intern named Beau Breedlove. The tech-savvy mayor had the affair when he was City Commissioner, and though he denied it at first, eventually admitted by saying that he “lied at the time” for fear of compromising his mayoral campaign. When Adams and Breedlove first met, Breedlove was just 17 years old, but they maintained that they did not start the affair until Breedlove was 18.
6. Chandra Levy: When Washington, D.C., intern Chandra Levy disappeared, the story turned into headline news on all cable and network news programs. Police discovered that Levy had been having an affair with California Congressman Gary Condit. Levy was working towards her Master’s degree in Public Administration at the University of Southern California, while she interned in D.C. and when she disappeared on May 1, 2001. Condit refused to answer direct questions by police or by the media, which many felt implicated him in Levy’s disappearance. Levy’s remains were not found until May 2002, two months after Condit lost his Democratic primary election.
7. Colorado Springs Gazette and Hailey Mac Arthur: Another scandal involving a journalism intern affected the integrity of the Colorado Springs Gazette and intern Hailey Mac Arthur, a supposedly award-winning journalism student at the University of Florida. Gazette editor Jeff Thomas revealed that Mac Arthur had plagiarized several NYT articles for a 2009 piece she wrote for the Colorado Springs paper, including stories with run dates as old as 1987. Some readers felt that the Gazette should have shared some of the blame since Mac Arthur was just an intern, while others believed that a student with credentials as strong as she claimed to have should have known better. Mac Arthur was “dismissed” from the paper.
8. Johnson Space Center interns: In 2003, three interns from different schools were arrested for stealing moon rocks from NASA. Tiffany Fowler and Thad Roberts had graduated from college already, but Shae Saur, from Lamar University, was just 19. The interns stole moon rocks worth $1,000-$5,000 a gram from a Space Center safe, which showed up for sale on the Mineralogy Club of Antwerp, Belgium, website nearly a year later.
9. Jared Ilovar and Ohio Administrative Knowledge System office: Jared Ilovar, a 22-year-old college intern with the Ohio Administrative Knowledge System, was fired from his job after a computer data back-up tape containing over 1 million Social Security numbers was stolen from his car. Evidently, Ilovar was entrusted to keep the tape safe and bring it with him into his apartment after hours, although he had left it in his car more than once. Because his bosses at the office instructed him not to report the incident to police in the beginning and because keeping the tape safe was technically the technical administrator’s responsibility, Ilovar believed he was being used as a scapegoat.
10. Michelle Szuhay and the Ohio liquor control agents:  Cincinnati, OH-area state liquor control agents were involved in a serious scandal after they stole a local woman’s identity so that they could give their undercover stripper — a college intern named Michelle Szuhay — a fake identity. The fact that state agents engaged in identity theft was controversial among many residents, as well as the payments made to the college student — $100 a night for stripping services. During her gig, Szuhay “eventually became a little too friendly with the [club] staff,” reported the website Wizbang, and “prosecutors charged her with perjury and obstruction of justice in the case.”

Contributed by OnlineDegreePrograms

1. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. The Lorax tells the tale of the greedy and short-sighted Once-ler who chops down all his resources in an effort to grow his business. Not only does he despoil the environment, but he also puts himself out of business. This book by the beloved Dr. Seuss is a must-read for any business student as it stresses the importance of balance and vision in growing a business as well as a reminder that natural resources must be dealt with respectfully.
2. The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper. This classic children’s book tells of a train hauling toys and other goodies to a village at the other side of a mountain, but it has broken down. The train tries to get help from larger engines, who just pass him by. Finally, a smaller engine takes up the cause, but discovers he may have taken on more than he can handle. Through determination and perseverance, the little engine makes it up the mountain and delivers the train to the village. Any business student can see the simple, yet powerful message imparted in this book–determination and the power of positive thinking can overcome any obstacle.
3. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina. In Caps for Sale, a cap salesman travels through town showcasing his wares stacked upon his head. After a long day with no sales, and therefore, no food, he sits down to rest against a tree. When he awakens, he discovers his caps are gone and have been taken by a tree full of monkeys, each wearing one of his caps. The salesman must figure out how to get his product back and does so almost by accident. This book demonstrates some of the realities of business (that times can be slow and may affect your ability to earn a livelihood), but also shows creative marketing and that a smart business person must rely on ingenuity to protect his resources.
4. Charlotte’s Web by EB White. Most consider this classic tale to be about Wilbur, the pig rescued by a young girl from her father’s ax. A closer look shows that the true protagonist and heroine of the story is the title character, Charlotte. Charlotte is a spider who saves Wilber’s life a second time when she comes up with the idea of spelling out Wilber’s magnificent qualities in her web. Each time she advertises something special about Wilber, his fame grows. Any business student studying marketing will quickly recognize a successful advertising campaign. Charlotte kept her resourceful solution creative by changing the words she used each time. This book provides a glimpse into clever marketing and the benefits of loyalty to the customer.
5. Beyond the Traditional Lemonade Stand by Randi Lynn Millward. This book provides detailed information on how children can get any small business up and running. With insight into accounting and finance as well as creative ways to make money, this book will give business students an opportunity to think about entrepreneurship in a different way. Whether you ran a lemonade stand as a kid or not, read this book to revisit the idea of young entrepreneurship.
6. The Story of the Three Little Pigs. Just about everyone has heard the story of the three little pigs and their attempts at building a wolf-proof house. However, the extended version of this popular fairy tale describes the third little pig as a shrewd thinker always one step ahead of the competition. After the failure of the first two pigs, the third pig builds his brick house, to the chagrin of the wolf. The wolf then sets out to trick the pig out of his house in an effort to eat him. The pig, however, always stays one step ahead of the wolf, which ensures his survival. Just like the pig and the wolf, a smart business person needs to know how to stay ahead of the competition in order to keep her business alive.
7. Ox-Cart Man by Donald Hall. Ox-Cart Man tells the story of a family in 18th century New England who grow and make what they can throughout the year, then the father takes their goods into town to trade for those items they cannot provide for themselves. The book illustrates the success and growth of the family business, as well as the idea that a business must work as a part of the community. Business students would do well to remember the ideas present in this book, including the circle of life and growth of a business and the interdependence of complementary industries.
8. Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss. Students should read this story about Horton, an elephant who stands up for a world of people he discovers in a speck of dust on a clover, as a reminder that all people deserve respect. Horton tries his best to tell others in the jungle about this race of tiny people, but the others in the jungle are not willing to accept his wild story. Horton’s loyalty to the people in the speck of dust and his perseverance to have their existence recognized are qualities any business person should remember. In a field that defines success by the amount of money accumulated, the people can easily be forgotten. This book is a good reminder of the people behind the money and their intrinsic value. Standing up for the little people and not being afraid to appear different to the masses are important lessons for all to remember.
9. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. The Giving Tree sparks heated debate among many as it demonstrates both the desire to give all that one has to a loved one and the human tendency to take what is available. The tree in the title watches a young boy grow up, and he moves from swinging on her branches and climbing her trunk to selling her apples, taking all her branches, and cutting down her trunk. While it appears that the tree is willingly giving of herself to help the boy in his life, the boy takes without returning anything to the tree. Eventually, the tree has only a trunk upon which the boy (now an old man) can sit and rest. Like the message in The Lorax, The Giving Tree also serves a reminder that taking resources without giving something in return will eventually result in the demise of the source. On a more human level, it also demonstrates that relationships are best nurtured with a cooperative strategy than a selfish one–both lessons important for those going into business.
10. The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton. This non-fiction picture book tells the story of brothers, Bob and Joe Switzer. As children, Bob wanted to become a doctor and Joe loved putting on magic acts for people. Working together, the brothers stumbled upon a way to create fluorescent paint that glowed in the dark. This simple, yet engaging tale shows how creativity, ingenuity, and chasing one’s dreams can pave the way to big accomplishments. Any business student that dreams of entrepreneurship will enjoy the inspiration in this true story.

Contributed by AccreditedOnlineColleges

The gadgets and appliances listed below may not be able to help you with your chemistry final, but they’ll certainly make the rest of your college experience more enjoyable. Since you have to put up with dorm life at some point, why not try to enjoy it?

4-In-One Multi-Functional Breakfast Maker

While useful, the old school coffee makers that were the roast of the town just years ago don’t cut it anymore compared to some of these newer appliances.  Coffee is great, and obviously a collegiate necessity, but what if you could also make eggs, toast and maybe even pancakes at the same time – all on the same appliance? Like, say a combination coffee maker, toaster oven, griddle and steam tray. You’re not just rolling out of bed and into a pot of coffee anymore, you’re serving full-out breakfast with all the trimmings. Best of all it won’t take up too much room in your dorm – and may actually save you some space by combining appliances. These fine machines are also quite the crowd pleaser when you have company overnight.

Mobile Alarm Clock

Now waking up in time to enjoy your new breakfast machine is a whole other story. Luckily, there are now mobile alarm clocks that can provide just enough of a hassle to make sure you get up and stay up. No, “mobile” doesn’t mean you can easily take the alarm clock with you when you leave. It’s actually much more annoying. This alarm clock on wheels will run away from you beeping with laughter as you frantically try to buy just five more minutes in the morning. At the very least, it’ll make for an entertaining morning (for bystanders that is). The fact that it actually works isn’t too shabby either.

3D Blu-Ray Player

Since studios seem to be releasing every blockbuster movie now in digital 3D, you may as well take advantage of in for your dorm room movie nights. These days everyone has a DVD player in their dorm room, so it’s obviously time to take things a step farther. Yes, you’re also going to need a new 3D-enabled television as well as some specially designed 3D glasses, but it’s a small price to pay to amaze your friends and establish your room as the coolest theater on campus.

George Foreman Grill

New and exciting? Not exactly. Useful and perfectly sized for a dorm room? Absolutely! Perhaps the most creative cooking device in dorm room history, the Foreman Grill has become a dorm room staple due to its small size and intense cooking power. From your basic grilled cheese to carefully seared crab cakes, and even dessert apparently, this little electric grill packs quite the punch and has truly revolutionized the dorm-cooked meal. The Foreman Grill has become such the dorm room mainstay that Pepperdine University hosted a cooking challenge based on creative use of the grill: “The Next Grilleration: George Foreman’s College Grill-Off.”

Portable Air Conditioner

What’s the point of all this cooking and entertaining in your dorm room if you can’t be comfortable? That’s where a portable air conditioner comes in. Dorm rooms can get pretty hot, especially with all these electronics humming away. Unfortunately, most dorms do not have central air, and a window unit is either not allowed or just not a feasible given your available space. Luckily, a portable air conditioner is smaller and doesn’t require permanent installation. Venting is also simple and does not require as much space as a window unit. Above all, portable air conditioners are easy to move from room to room so it can go wherever the party is.

Digital Beverage Dispenser

What dorm room would be complete without a fully automatic beverage dispenser? Mixing cocktails and pouring drinks by hand is so last semester. The next best thing to hiring your own bartender for the evening is a Digital Beverage Dispenser. Seemingly designed with the social (and maybe lazy) college student in mind, your electronic bartender is more than happy to serve up a variety of fine beverages at the push of a button. It’ll even pull new and creative recipes right from the Internet just in case you get a little bored always ordering the usual.

Mike Tennant is a freelance writer who covers technology and lifestyle topics. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Mike currently works with Air & Water Inc. as a content developer.



Higher Education Budgets and the Global Recession, a report published by the University of California at Berkeley’s Center for Studies in Higher Education last month, outlines the discouraging picture. The report’s author and a senior research fellow, John Aubrey Douglass, gives a global overview and explores – in particular – the situation in the union’s wealthiest and most populous state, California.

The report notes that, while other OECD nations are actually using the recession as an excuse to improve the quality of output in the post-secondary sector and to promote innovation, the US is witnessing uncoordinated cuts in funding at the state level.

This is inevitable given the decentralised structure of higher education where colleges and universities must rely on financially-strapped state legislatures for much of their money. And more than 75% of all higher education students in the US attend publicly-funded institutions.

Explains Douglass: “In short, how state budgets go, so goes US higher education; whereas [for] most national systems of higher education, financing is tied to national budgets with an ability to borrow.”

According to the report, 34 states have already been forced to make draconian cuts to spending on their colleges and universities, imposing measures such as furloughs, layoffs and tuition increases. The projected cumulative budget deficit for all 50 states and Washington DC in 2011 alone is US$142 billion.

Several initiatives by President Obama have attempted to mitigate the damage but these have not been sufficient. In particular, last year’s stimulus package only succeeded in forestalling that which cannot be guaranteed in the proposed 2011 budget.

Then last week, the administration planned to guarantee the passage of health care legislation in Congress by bundling it with the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act in a budget reconciliation package.

The long overdue reform to the student loan programme that was overwhelmingly passed in September 2009 appears, on this ticket, as a mere shadow of its original iteration. Without the act not only is college affordability compromised, but the integrity of state institutions further undermined.

Also on the block is the Obama administration’s ambitious and highly-touted American Graduation Initiative (originally part of the Student Aid Bill) that promised to restore the US to its position as the world leader of college graduates by 2020. In real numbers, this means a loss of an expected US$12 billion investment in two-year community colleges over the next decade.

Nowhere have the effects of the current recession been seen more devastatingly than in California, which boasts the largest state university system. The 2010 state budget has been pegged at US$20 billion but because the Obama administration’s proposed 2010 budget has only earmarked US$1.2 billion – significantly short of the US$7 billion requested by Governor Schwarzenegger – further pay cuts, layoffs and reduced enrolments are expected.

For instance, the University of California Board of Regents was forced to levy a mid-year tuition increase of 15% for most students in January 2010, bringing the annual undergraduate tuition to $8,373. Another 15% hike approved for the autumn will bring it up to $10,302.

The response to this and similar measures at other colleges and universities prompted student protests on 4 March throughout the US. Billed as a “Day of Action for Public Education”, the demonstrations were largely peaceful.

The long-term implications of the current situation are worrying, with many fearing this recession will only hasten a process of decline that has had higher education analysts urging policy-makers to re-orient their priorities for nearly a decade. In the 1990s, the US had the highest post-secondary graduation rate among the 30 OECD member countries; today, it ranks 19th.

Recalling the Depression of the 1930s, Douglass observes that the goal of federal investment in higher education must be to “help restructure the US labor market by producing a more skilled labor force”.

Article by Sarah King Head for UniversityWorldNews

Altruism Becoming a nurse means that you can feel good about what you do.

1. You want to make a positive contribution: You care about your fellow man, and want to make a positive impact on peoples’ lives.
2. Do something that matters: As a nurse, your work matters to your patients and their families.
3. You can save someone’s life: As a nurse, you may have the opportunity to save someone’s life.
4. You want to take away pain and suffering: Become a nurse to help stop the pain and suffering of others.
5. You’ll bring hope: You can be a giver of hope to your patients.
6. See miracles: You can see miracles happen every day in nursing.
7. You can uplift morale: As a nurse, you’ll be able to improve the morale of patients and their families.

Education Here we’ll take a look at the educational perks of nursing.

1. It’s easy to get started: Registered nurses can get started with a 2 year associate’s degree and licensing exams.
2. You’ll be able to spot problems: Even in your daily life outside of work, you can see problems in bacteria, infections, and more.
3. Completing a bachelor’s degree offers even more: For better pay and hiring opportunities, it’s easy to complete additional education for a BSN.
4. You can help family and friends: As a nurse, you’ll be able to help support the people you care about in their health.
5. Now is a good time to go to school: It’s a great time to further your education with a nursing degree.
6. You’ll be more aware of your own health: Studying and working in healthcare can help you better focus on your own health.

Rewards These are some of the rewards that come along with nursing.

1. Seeing patients cured: The reward of seeing someone return to good health is a great reason to become a nurse.
2. You can be proud of your work: Nursing is a career that you can take pride in.
3. You’ll do good deeds for a living: When your job is helping people, you will do good for a living.
4. You will value life more than ever: Becoming a nurse will help you better understand the value of life.
5. Hugs: One of the perks of working as a nurse? Free hugs from patients and their families.
6. Changing people’s lives: Become a nurse for the satisfaction of changing people’s lives.
7. Personal growth: Nurses often experience strong personal growth and satisfaction.
8. Respect: Nurses are well-respected in society.
9. Medical TV is more exciting: When you live what other people only watch, medical TV shows are more interesting.
10. Free consultations: When you work with doctors, much of your medical advice is free.
11. You may learn how to decipher doctor handwriting: As a nurse, you just might earn a skill that others don’t have-the ability to read what doctors write.
12. Free lunch: Often, pharmaceutical reps bring in free lunches for doctors and nurses.
13. Self esteem: Working as a nurse, you can feel good about yourself knowing that you’re helping people.
14. You’ll get satisfaction from stopping suffering: When your patients recover, you’ll enjoy seeing their suffering reduced.
15. You can quickly earn vacation time: When working long hours at a time, you’ll be able to earn vacation days quickly.
16. You will be appreciated: Although not all patients will recognize your importance, many will be very appreciative of your hard work.

Practical These are some of the very practical rewards you’ll get from nursing.

1. Benefits: Many nursing jobs come with great medical and dental benefits.
2. Free housing: Many travel nurses are given free housing.
3. Retirement: You’ll generally find nursing positions with retirement savings plans.
4. Bonuses: Many nursing positions come with sign on bonuses and special pay for taking on certain positions.
5. Overtime: You can be paid well for time worked over your regular hours.
6. Incentives: Many employers offer sign on bonuses, tuition reimbursement, and more.
7. You can take days off: When you work long hours, it’s easy to create a schedule where you have a number of off days grouped together.
8. Life insurance: You’ll generally find life insurance as a part of a nursing benefits package.
9. You can have weekdays off: With a nurse’s schedule, you may often end up with weekdays off to run your errands.

Career Here you can examine some of the great things about a career in nursing.

1. You’ll always have a job: There’s always a place for nurses to work, so nursing will give you a guaranteed job.
2. You can work anywhere: Medical professionals are needed everywhere, so you can work wherever you’d like.
3. Job satisfaction: Job satisfaction among nurses is very high.
4. Nursing is recession proof: Although markets can fluctuate, people will always get sick.
5. There’s good pay: Even new nurses will earn a generous paycheck, and those who fill shortages can earn even more.
6. You’ll have a flexible schedule: You can create a flexible schedule with a variety of different shifts.
7. You’ll be connected to technology and humanity: Nursing offers a science to technically caring for people.
8. You can work on the road: Many nurses find success in travel nursing.
9. You can change your specialty: You can take on opportunities in new specialties if you’d like.
10. There’s lots of variety: The possibilities are endless when it comes to nursing-you can work in a hospital or clinic, work in pediatrics, insurance, or schools.
11. You can take on expanding opportunities: As physicians spend less time with patients, nurses can take on opportunities that offer more hands-on interaction.
12. Nursing offers transferable skills: As a nurse, you’ll learn skills that are great for any career in health care.
13. There’s plenty of room for growth: Your nursing career can grow into much more with further education.

Traits Do you have what it takes to be a nurse? Check out these traits.

1. You’ll get over bodily functions: You will no longer have any problems with other peoples’ toilet use and bodily functions.
2. You’re detail-oriented: You must be able to remember, write a lot, and be organized as a nurse.
3. You are empathetic: Sharing empathy with others is essential for becoming a nurse.
4. You have the skills: If you have the ability to communicate and instill trust in people, you have the basic skills for becoming a nurse.
5. You’re emotionally stable: As a nurse, you have to be able to deal with a roller coaster ride of emotions.
6. You can deal with blood: If you’re faint of stomach, you’ll have trouble with nursing.
7. You’re able to adapt: Every day will be different, so being able to adapt is essential for nursing.
8. You can prioritize: Nursing is fast paced and needs constant prioritization.
9. You have physical endurance: Nurses often work on their feet all day with minimal breaks.
10. You’re dedicated: Nursing is not just a job-it’s a lifestyle.
11. You can think quickly: If you’re able to think on your feet, chances are you can keep up with nursing.
12. You have a commitment to learning: Nurses are constantly learning, so if you love to learn, nursing is a great profession.
13. You have good judgment: You should be able to judge quickly and accurately.
14. You’re caring: As a nurse, you’ll care for people every day, so caring for others is a must.
15. You’re hardworking: Nursing is never ending, and needs hard workers.
16. You’re willing to work hard: Nursing is hard work-if you can handle long hours in exchange for rewarding work, nursing may be good for you.
17. You’re tactful: Nurses need to be able to deal with doctors, patients, and coworkers in a tactful way.
18. You’re good at multitasking: Multitasking is an essential skill for nurses.
19. You have a sense of humor: As a nurse, you have to be able to let things slide off your back.
20. You like a challenge: Nursing will stretch your limits, in a good way.
21. You’re dedicated: Nurses take on their vocation to dedicate their lives to helping others.
22. You’re courageous: Nursing can sometimes be a scary job, so if you’ve got courage, you may have what it takes to be a nurse.

People See how people can make your work as a nurse worth it.

1. Interaction: You’ll be able to interact with different people every day.
2. You’ll work with patients and their families: You will spend time working with not only patients, but their families as well.
3. You’ll be a mentor: Nursing allows you to mentor patients, families, and other nurses.
4. You’ll work as part of a team: You will interact with lots of other health professionals as a nurse.
5. You’ll enjoy camaraderie: As part of a health care team, you will enjoy camaraderie with your fellow workers and patients.
6. You’ll educate people: Much of your job as a nurse will be educating patients, their families, and the general public.
7. You can become more than a caregiver: Long term care can take a personal turn with patients you really care about.

Advantages Over Becoming a Doctor These are a few reasons why nursing may be better than becoming a doctor.

1. Fewer educational requirements: You’ll study for 2-4 years instead of 12-14.
2. You have less liability: Doctors are responsible for malpractice insurance, while nurses are not.
3. You can spend more time with patients: Doctors do not generally get to spend a lot of time with patients-but nurses do.
4. You’ll take care of patients, not the disease: As a nurse, you can treat the whole patient.
5. There’s more flexibility: Once doctors pick their specialty, they generally have to stay in it, but nurses can move from one area of medicine to another.
6. You can have a life outside of work: Although you will work strange hours, your life will not be completely devoted to work.
7. There’s less of a commitment: You do not have to own a practice, employ staff, and stay in one place as a nurse.
8. You won’t start your career in a massive amount of debt: Most doctors start their careers deep in debt from years of education, while nurses tend to have limited debt or none at all.
9. It’s difficult to get into medical school: Being accepted in medical school is not easy, but nursing school is easy in comparison.
10. You won’t have to be on call constantly: Doctors normally have to spend certain hours on call, while nurses don’t.

Environment Here you will learn why a nurse’s working environment is great.

1. Nursing is exciting: Every day at work is different for nurses.
2. You can embrace change: Even if you work in the same hospital for 25 years, you can change specialties, hours, and more to switch things up.
3. You’ll avoid the typical 9-5: You can avoid working typical business hours as a nurse.
4. Flexibility: Nursing offers lots of flexibility.
5. There’s lots of variety: You’ll be able to work in lots of different settings and positions.
6. Nurse staffing agencies are useful: If you’d like to earn high hourly wages with lots of flexibility, you may want to look into working for nursing staffing agencies.
7. You can use all of yourself: A career in nursing uses your mind, body, and soul.
8. It’s easy to move: Nurses can work anywhere, so moving to a new city is not a problem.
9. Nursing is intellectually stimulating: As a nurse, or nurse educator, you will work in an intellectually stimulating environment.
10. Nurses can work in a variety of settings: Nurses can work in hospitals, clinics, offices, schools, homes, and more.

Contributed by NursePractitionerSchools

Image by: N0Nick (Flickr)

If you are a new student at The University of Michigan, you will fall in love with Ann Arbor. As a college town, Ann Arbor has many charming local dives and funky places to discover. The area surrounding the campus of The University of Michigan is alive with local bars favored by U-M Students. Whether you are in the mood for trivia, karaoke or a cheap beer after a week of classes, here are the most popular bars where you will find your fellow U-M classmates.

Brown Jug Restaurant
1204 S. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 761-3355

This campus favorite is a versatile place where you can take a date, take your parents out when they come in town or just wind down and have a beer.  The Brown Jug Restaurant is easy on your wallet too, as many college students agree that prices are reasonable, even downright cheap. If you are going to experience their libations, try one of the 10 different Long Island iced teas. (Tip: The green dinosaur is the most popular.) If you are looking for something good to eat, the veggie pizza is highly recommended along with the Feisty Feta & Greek pita bread.

Good Time Charley’s
1140 S. University Ave.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 668-8411

Described as the epitome of an Ann Arbor college bar, Good Time Charley’s is the bar of choice for many students at the University of Michigan. If you are going for heavily loaded drinks, you will appreciate that the Long Island iced teas are served in a pickle jar. This bar also has just about every flavor of shots imaginable. Good Time Charley’s gets packed on the weekend, so if you are looking for a place to meet other students, you will have no problem finding them here. Conveniently positioned on the corner of South University Avenue and Church Street, Good Time Charley’s is within walking distance to the University’s dorms –which is a good thing if you’ve had one of the Long Island iced teas.

Rick’s American Cafe
611 Church St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 996-2747

Offering a typical American varsity vibe, Rick’s American Café is everything you may imagine a college bar to be. With their tag line “The Most Fun You Can Have with Your Clothes On,” Rick’s promises the flirtatious, sexy college party experience with flowing alcohol and live entertainment every night of the week. Honored by Playboy as “College Bar of the Month” and named “Best Campus Bar in Ann Arbor” by the “Michigan Daily,” Rick’s American Cafe is one of the busiest bars on the University of Michigan’s campus since it opened in 1979.

Blue Leprechaun
1220 S. University Ave. #109
Ann Arbor, MI 48113
(734) 665-7777

The Blue Leprechaun is one step up from a college dive bar. It is a bit classier than the typical college bar in Ann Arbor and is often frequented by more a more distinguished college crowd, including grad students and professors. Overzealous fraternity boys and sorority girls are generally not found drinking here. The fireplace in the front room gives this bar a cozy, pub feel. The Blue Leprechaun has live music, karaoke and a hip lounge downstairs that has a more laid-back atmosphere than the bar upstairs. If you are looking for a drink and dinner deal, Tuesday nights are “Everything is Half Off for Grad Students Nights,” which may explain why so many grad students like to hang out here.  If you are tired of pizza and hamburgers, this is a great place to go for some Irish comfort food, such as fish and chips or Sheppard’s pie.

Grizzly Peak Brewing
120 West Washington St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
(734) 741-7325

This is another brew pub that is popular among a college crowd with a more distinct palate. For those who enjoy the taste of beer and are not just looking for a cheap buzz, this pub will blow you away with its list of fine imports and locally brewed beer. They offer a great list of rotating and seasonal brew. Patrons enjoy a bustling bar with good spirits, food and a dim, warm environment. As a local favorite, this pub draws a diverse, lively crowd. While it may not be located on campus, many college students go here to treat themselves. If your parents are in town and offer to take you to dinner, take advantage of their offer and order something nice for yourself, such as the spicy, beer-steamed mussels or the pretzel-encrusted salmon with a Black & Tan brownie beer.

April Lentini writes for Apartment Guide in Detroit.

Image: Alaskan Dude (Flickr)

Freighter Cruises

If you want to save money on a cruise and be treated like “one of the crew” instead of like a tourist, a freighter cruise may be just for you. Most of the major global freighter lines, CMA-CGM, Canada Maritime and Freighter World Cruise offer adventure seekers the chance to come aboard for a fare. Travel to just about any destination in the world on a containership, general cargo ship or mail & supply ship for a fraction of the cost of a traditional cruise line. Fares range from $90 to $130 per day for trips from 7 days to over 100 days. Freighter travel is not as unaccommodating as it may seem. You get your own cabin, eat meals in a dining hall with the crew, and even get a tour of the bridge. Freighter cruises are generally for people who would prefer a laid-back setting, with a more rugged edge to it rather than the standard, activity centered, commercial cruises.

Cold Destinations

Alaska or Canada may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of spring break, but for many college students, canoeing in the Arctic, ski trips and dog sledding can be a refreshing adventure –especially if you already live in a warm climate.  For those who love to bond with animals, dog sledding has gained popularity in recent years. Alaskan Racing Huskies love to run and they thrive on human interaction. Guides will share their love for dogs, local history and dog sledding expertise with resort guests in Canada and Minnesota.

Volunteer Trips

Volunteer trips have been a popular alternative spring break option this year for students who seek a “feel good” opportunity in addition to learning about life in different countries or even from different walks of life. You could tutor at-risk children who attend inner-city schools or practice your Spanish while helping to improve shanty towns built to accommodate poor Mexican families. Choosing to spend your spring break helping people and communities in need is altruistically rewarding, but it can also be fun and not to mention looks great on your resume. How much more would you enjoy sharing a few cold beers after a day of conservation work in Ecuador or saving turtles in Costa Rica than if you just sat around in a hotel all day?

Kooky Retreats

For those of you who need more therapy than party, try a specialized retreat to reset your mojo.  Immerse yourself in a retreat of just about any kind. The Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts has a Silent Yoga and Meditation Retreat where participants focus on Yin Yoga and meditation. If you are looking for rejuvenation, there are many new age wellness retreats all over the country. Some people may prefer a retreat that brings them closer to nature. In this case, you can find an eco camp or do a weeklong survival course camping out in the woods. From paranormal retreats such as ghost hunting, to art and creativity retreats, you can spend spring break getting away from all the noise of college life and find some bliss doing what you truly love.

April Lentini writes for Apartment Guide in Detroit.

What is an MBA?

A Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) is essentially a specialization and much deeper course of learning than what you covered at your undergraduate school. It is centered around the sharing of strategy, very fine technical details, and networking with your fellow graduate students. It can be of general nature, or focus narrowly on one discipline of business: Forensic Accounting, Interactive Marketing, or Quantitative Analysis, to name a few. The length of the program depends entirely on what you intend to be studying, and you can complete an MBA as quickly as one year (full-time), or up to three years (part-time) both on-campus and online.

How will an MBA help me?

In a nutshell, an MBA is your way of saying, “I’m an expert in [your field here].” You have taken the enormous amount of time, resources, and (mental) sweat to earn two or more degrees; basically, you have proven your dedication. A current or prospective employer regards an MBA as a badge of tenacity; you invested several years for this knowledge and it makes you that much more of an asset to their business.

An MBA can be your ticket to an accelerated career. There are a lot of jobs out in the market that list an advanced degree as a prerequisite. Earning an MBA can give you the extra edge you need to qualify for that dream job and catapult you to new levels of higher pay grades, authority, and respect.

In addition, the path to earning an MBA can be just as rewarding as the degree itself. When you take Masters-level classes, you are placing yourself in a room with other very intelligent people; people with interesting and unique perspectives you may not have seen or thought of before. Graduate degrees are a much bigger time and financial investment, so there tend to be fewer social loafers than you probably had to deal with during your undergraduate education (though inevitably there will ALWAYS be a few.)

Another important benefit of an MBA is networking. If networking was not stressed in your undergraduate education, then you are hearing it now and need to memorize and believe in this sentence, “Networking is the most important part of business.” When I say networking, I don’t mean online social networks or information technology — I’m talking about face-to-face, interpersonal relationships. Your personal network is the most valuable thing you can ever build for yourself. You would not believe how many jobs, business opportunities, romantic introductions, and so many other wonderful things are passed between connected people all the time. So, why is an MBA so great for networking? You are surrounded by competent businesspeople who all share a common denominator with you: the desire to learn and get ahead. Make some friends, trade some business cards… you never know who you will meet that will hold the connection to your dream job or be your future business partner.

When should I return to school for my MBA?

The catch with a Masters degree in any business field is that full-time experience is a vital prerequisite to ensure that your application is as robust and compelling as possible. The most important reason for this is the fact that many schools won’t even consider you for a graduate program without relevant job experience. They want a candidate who has spent time in the “real world” and can bring something to the program, not just take away knowledge and skills from it.

The trend lately has been to do your MBA degree straight out of undergrad. As a recent graduate, I have seen first hand how tough the market is and actually advise strongly against this. Weird as it may sound, it may actually hurt you when you finish the advanced degree. Without business experience “under your belt,” a potential employer will look at your resume and give you less credit than they would to someone that had a wealth of experience, but no advanced degree. If you are currently working at a company and decide to do a part-time MBA, it can serve as an excellent career accelerator and potentially net you a raise or promotion when an opportunity becomes available. It is all a matter of balancing experience and knowledge.

Where should I go for my MBA?

To put it bluntly, if you can afford a nationally recognized school, find your specialization, and get accepted… go for the gold! An MBA does several things for you: it opens doors to promotions, higher paying jobs, bestows a measure of respect, and broadens and deepens your scope of knowledge in your chosen field. Therefore, go to wherever you think you will get the best possible experience, connections, and value for your hard earned dollars.

Online schools can be an excellent choice for many prospective students as well, due to their flexible nature. If you are working during the day, an online MBA can be the answer to your dilemma of when you will have time to take classes. In addition, the hybrid classroom* concept has been taking off lately, which can be an excellent learning method if you are skeptical of taking a class entirely online. There are a variety of resources on the web for comparing online degrees and searching for schools; one popular site is Edvisors.com, it has received a lot of traffic and praise for its large database of colleges and degree programs. In addition, GraduateCenter.com has a wealth of information about the entire process of getting into grad school, as well as funding resources, and other useful services.

*A hybrid classroom or course means that it is partially online, and partially a physical class at a school. An example of this would be a class that meets one or two times per week online, and once per week in a classroom for a lecture, lab, or for in-person Q&A sessions with the professor.

How will I pay for an MBA?

Scholarships are a great supplement to your funds for education if you qualify for one. They essentially are free money for use toward your school bills. There are lots of different types of scholarships that a student can earn, and many require an essay or some sort of written application to be considered. StudentScholarshipSearch.com and ScholarshipPoints.com are two great free online resources for finding and earning scholarships. ScholarshipPoints is pretty unique in that you earn and accumulate scholarship points through different online activities (reading blogs, taking surveys, etc.) and can redeem them for entries into a variety of monthly scholarship drawings. As an example, ScholarshipPoints runs a $10,000 quarterly and $1,000 monthly scholarship that are open to any user enrolled in school.

Many people think that the government only gives money to undergraduate students. There are just as many loan options and scholarships for graduate students as there are for undergraduates. If you need to take out a loan, go federal before you go private. Just like you did for your undergrad school, you need to file a FAFSA. For every federal loan, (Stafford, Parent PLUS, and Perkins) there is a graduate version for applicants with demonstrated financial need. Even if you do not qualify for the need-based loans, you will still be offered an unsubsidized Stafford loan that has lower fixed interest (6.8%) than you would be paying on a private student loan. However, in order to qualify for federal aid, your school needs to be enrolled in either the FFEL or Direct Loan program — contact your school’s financial aid department for details.

A private student loan is also an excellent tool for helping to finance your advanced degree. They close the gap between what is awarded to you in federal aid and your total cost of attendance. Although they cost more in interest than federal loans, they are more flexible and can be used for essentially any school-related expense — be it rent for your apartment, paying for tuition, buying books, or any of the other unexpected costs that spring up while you are in school.

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In the long run, earning an MBA will advance your career and help you in your quest for better, more desirable jobs. It can open doors that were previously closed to you, and highlight your success in both academics and business. An MBA signifies that you are educated and have the skill set to excel in your chosen field. Along with the drive to succeed, some street smarts, and a professional demeanor, your MBA can be the yellow brick road to your Emerald City.

** Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 1998, 1999, 2000

Just like the “free love” generation before us, millennials figured this out long before the men in white coats arrived. For some, hooking up is a way to explore their sexuality without a relationship commitment. For others it’s a form of dating — a good relationship requires a good sexual relationship, so why not cut to the chase?

But — there’s a catch. The study only covers emotional health. It just so happens the hook-up generation is also a primary victim of failed abstinence-only marriage programs and their sexual health knowledge is… terrifying. Another new study , this one by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, found that less than half of young adults use contraception when they have sex. In interviewing 18-29 year olds, they netted what is officially one of the scariest quotes of the year: “it doesn’t matter whether you use birth control or not; when it is your time to get pregnant it will happen.”

Yikes! These are the brainiacs you could be hooking up with over Spring Break?!? With that in mind, it’s time for another round of “Smart Girl Tips” to keep you safe, healthy, and sexy this Spring Break:

• If there’s even the remotest possibility you’ll be having sex on the beach — or anywhere else, for that matter — buy your condoms of choice before you leave and stash a few in your purse, the rest in your carry-on. Condoms are the only way to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, so use one every single time you have sex. (A condom can also be cut in half to be used as a dental dam for safer oral fun!) If you’re on birth control, make sure to pack enough pills for your trip and remember to take it at the same time you usually do — the beer pong can wait a few minutes, we promise!

• Safe sex is the goal — no one wants to get a diaper bag for graduation! — but it’s not always the reality. If the condom slips off (or never makes it on in the first place), there’s Plan B® One Step, the only one-pill emergency contraception that can be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex to prevent unintended pregnancy. If you’re 17 or older, you can get it without a prescription at the pharmacy — pick it up before you leave (Plan B® One-Step is only available in the US) so a slip-up doesn’t ruin your vacation.

• If it’s mom you’d want the hospital to call when you’ve got heat exhaustion, program her numbers into your phone under ICE (“In Case of Emergency”) before you set off. When you’re on the ground, put the hotel’s phone number and address into your contacts and ask the front desk for the digits of a local cab company. If the hotel has a shuttle service, get a paper copy of the schedule and take a picture of it on your phone for later reference.

• Hop from place to place in a pack and designate a ‘sober sister’ to make sure no one is slinking out the door with that gelled up, spray-tanned creeper or undressing for an ill-advised turn on the bar. As a rule, no one should leave alone with a new-found “friend” — but if you absolutely must head out for a hook-up, have a friend program your prize’s phone number in her phone and take a picture of you together. Set a time to check-in by text — and make sure to follow through.

• The same ‘drink rules’ you follow at frat parties apply tenfold on Spring Break — never accept a drink from someone you don’t know and don’t leave it unattended while you dance or go to the bathroom. Same goes for those glowing vials of alcohol — take it directly from the server before it gets passed down the line.

• More than 60% of employers take social networking profiles into consideration when making hiring decisions. Don’t let a week of debauchery ruin your job prospects by remembering that everything is a camera, including phones, iPods, and computers. Don’t do anything at a club you’d be mortified to see on CNN tomorrow. Be selective when posting your own pics — booze bottles, red eyes, and lots of skin are probably best kept under the ‘private’ setting for you and your fellow revelers to enjoy.

Follow Shelby Knox on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ShelbyKnox