Focus On Studying, Triage As Needed

Studying heavily while in college is an important factor into what sort of experience you have. If you neglect studying and instead party consistently, you will be worn out by the end and you might not have learned as much as you hoped. Your college experience is supposed to prepare you for the real world, and there is no partying in the real world unless you do the work beforehand. That's why studying hard now will be key towards your future success. Here are some excellent tips:

• Triage Like Mad - If you've watched enough medical shows, then you'll know that Triaging means to ignore the non-critical patients until the critical ones are taken care of. This can apply to schoolwork too. If you know you can easily squeak through math, but you are awful at history, you need to devote extra time to studying history to make up for the difference in natural talent (especially if you're going to fail a required course). Essentially, though, you should devote time to the areas in which you can improve the most. Instead of studying an extra three hours on computer science to go from a B+ to an A, you should spend the extra three hours moving your history grade from a D to a B.


• Schedule Yourself - Having time written down for when you're supposed to be studying is an integral part to having an effective college experience. If your calendar tells you to study an hour on a specific night for Calculus, then that will motivate you to take initiative and study.

Getting Over Student Debt

As a college student I should be accustomed to debt. After all, it's only natural that college students have way too much to handle to eat anything other than expensive fast food. Not to mention I'm driving in luxury with my Hybrid 2005 Honda Civic. Perhaps I should put things in perspective for myself.

Currently, I owe roughly $21,000. This includes about $15,000 towards my car, and another $6,000 on credit cards. Sadly, that's a lot of money... more than I want it to be. I'll soon be getting about $1200 as a refund from my subsidized student loan, which will help a little. I'll also be paid $1000 for a new position I've taken on in a student organization. But still, I'll have to keep up with payments on my card and credit cards throughout college.

Then, I keep reminding myself what everyone else owes. My friend, let's call him J, owes roughly $50,000 or at least he will in the end. But lucky for J, he gets to visit Rome and Shanghai for an entire semester of study abroad. That might only cost about $20,000, though, leaving him with a $30,000 deficit there. And he won't leave college with a nearly paid-off car, also.

Fortunately, the field I'm studying is also very lucrative at the moment. I study computer programming, emphasizing website design. I'm a master at Ruby on Rails, and I also have experience in a myriad of web technology. I administer my own linux server, I've used SVN, and I'm decent at graphic design. I even have the perfect student job in my field, which will greatly enhance my resume when looking at future employers. In the end, I'm in the money.

Welcome

Welcome to the adventures of a poor college student. I'm just getting started with this new blog, but bear with me. I hope to keep it updated with all my adventures.