When you’re in school, you’re likely facing new challenges, especially with the new freedom you likely have as a young adult exploring the outside world. Fortunately, you’re not alone. There are college peer counselors at every single school to help you on your way. There are certified and trained professionals. There are doctors on campus who you can talk to. There are networks, groups, meeting places, and campus groups that can help you find yourself and give you advice on how to approach matters related to health, sex, depression, and anything under the sun.

If you’re afraid to approach someone directly, there are also student forums online. My favorite, without a doubt, is Go Ask Alice, Columbia University’s health question and answer “hotline.” Weekly, new questions are posted and are answered by medical experts and students who have been in your shoes. Some questions which are discussed include:

• Finals and depression
• Meditation
• Sexual well-being
• Side effects of drugs
• Free birth control pills
• Health insurance
• Lack of sexual orgasm
• Whether it’s time to move in with the person you love
• Fear of moving on after graduation
• Avoiding the freshman fifteen
• Summer programs for weight loss
• Ejaculation issues

…and a lot more. In other words, you shouldn’t be afraid to ask your question or to look deep within the archives for your answer. Chances are someone has already experienced it and can make you feel a lot better.

College is a big time for students to find them selves and their passions and sometimes this entails studying a foreign language or a completely different culture. Study abroad programs are extremely popular for students who are typically in their sophomore or junior year of school and can last from a semester to a year long.

Why should you study abroad? Beyond the self-discovery, it’s an incredible valuable experience for travel combined with education that you typically cannot do later on in life (primarily due to job constraints, family responsibilities, etc.) Therefore, study abroad programs are popular.

If you want to learn a foreign language, there are hundreds of countries to choose from (provided that your university supports these programs — always check with the study abroad office to see if you can get college credit or if there are similar offerings that give you what you want). You also may want to ensure that you meet the prerequisites of the program — such as some fluency in the foreign language, for starters. The English speaking countries that are most popular include Australia, England and the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and even our local Canada.

What are you trying to get out of going abroad? Sometimes this will be experience in your major. (On the other hand, if your major is way too intensive, you may either consider summer study aboad programs rather than longer term.) Sometimes it will be language exposure. Some give you immersion with local people, local culture, and local flavor — and that is something that students may have to seek out themselves (especially since some programs would rather give students familiarity rather than cultural immersion). Regardless, study abroad is an enriching and self-growth experience above all else.

Students may live in dormitories or with host families (homestay programs), and depending on where you go, you may have more freedom within the dormitories. If you know students who are going to the same program, you might want to lease an apartment or sublet for the duration of the time that you are at the school.

Additionally, finance may be a factor in your study abroad decision. Surprisingly, a lot of study abroad programs may actually be cheaper than attending your school! Look into those options, and obviously, make sure you know exactly what is required of you.

Research the school you are attending and the city and make sure that it is right for you.

If you have any questions, Swarthmore has a great guide on study abroad programs that should definitely be read.

The layout of our freeform college radio station is such that we’re stuck broadcasting out of the basement of a dorm. Essentially, our station was recently relocated after the school decided to construct a new student center (rendering the college, until construction finishes, with no central student gathering spot). Anyway, it’s obvious that the studio was once storage space or, at the very least, a custodial washroom. There’s a vent above our soundboard and every now and then, especially late nights and on weekends, station disc us disc jockeys can get a mild contact high from the marijuana that seeps into the small sound booth.

I was never into drugs in college and I don’t think it’s because I was a straight edge goodie-goodie. Maybe that’s funny because I just admitted to being part of the largest group of stereotypical stoners we’ve got in a college radio station. I don’t know if that sets me apart from the majority of students that seem to, at the very least, experiment. In fact, most of my friends have. I don’t think they do it regularly though. There’s just some sort of appeal that comes along with the idea of being able to get high thinking that nobody’s going to care.

The act of the matter is that aside from drug it being illegal and users always running the risk of meeting the brick wall of school discipline, it’s expensive (and I’ve made similar arguments about those kids that blow $7 per beer at the overpriced local college bars). Right now, there’s a story breaking out of San Diego State University where at least 96 students were picked up on drugs and weapons charges following one student’s overdose.

I’m not going to lie. Drugs are just as big a part of college today as they’ve ever been – and their use is on the rise. Essentially, you’ve got 18 year olds running around away from home for the first time with zero responsibility thinking they can get away with anything (and obviously those D.A.R.E. programs did no good in grade school). Then, suddenly, a one student turns up dead and a raid results in the arrests and likely educational destruction of dozens and dozens of kids that thought this could never happen to them.

Perhaps the story is used to set an example, act as a deterrent, show that cops are doing something to combat drugs, etc. Nonetheless, regardless of where you fall politically on the legal status of drugs, it’s true that the San Diego incident speaks volumes about needing to quickly adjust toward a sense of maturity alongside the responsibility that should accompany the seemingly sudden transition toward college and, more importantly, an overall sign of getting older. This is what for too often many new students in particular think they can get away with. What they don’t realize is how quickly one silly mistake can end up tarnishing an entire college experience and perhaps stay with them long after college is over.

Congratulations, class of 2012! You’re probably pumped that you got into your school of choice and now you’re planning on making the next step. While your dorm room supplies should be purchased soon (we’ll talk about a good list of items to buy in an upcoming article), you definitely need to worry about bringing a computer to school. The question is: what kind should I bring? Are laptops better than desktops? What is the most suitable solution for me?

The answer of this question is determined by how often you intend to use it. Many classes require you to be mobile and utilize a laptop for this purpose. Additionally, if you have a roommate on a different schedule, you may want to have a laptop so that you can work elsewhere without disturbing him or her.

Laptops are great for taking notes, churning out papers in the library (on your own personal property), and since all are equipped with wifi nowadays, you can get yourself wireless internet access anywhere. On the other hand, laptops are more expensive than desktops, but that’s because they’re more portable and a lot easier to take with you (especially at the end of a semester).

If cost is an issue and roommates are not a problem, a desktop may be a viable solution. Most desktops are more powerful than laptops (since portable chips and storage are harder to produce). But on the other hand, you’ll be hand writing your notes instead of typing them, and it may be a lot easier (and faster) to have control over your keyboard rather than have to jot things down by hand. It’s less strenuous on your hands, too.

While mobility is the laptop’s biggest strength, it’s also the biggest weakness. Since you can carry it around anywhere, it’s more likely to be broken. With that in mind, opt in for a service contract that gives you full warranty support when breakage occurs. Also, since your laptop can be stolen easily, consider ways to keep it secure. Laptop manufacturer Targus has a wide variety of security accessories available. Don’t forget to have an extra battery on hand, especially if you’re mobile (without a power outlet) for a prolonged period of time. Battery life dies down over time, so this is a purchase you may want to revisit in a few years as well. (Be sure to check out discount outlets like eBay for cheaper deals than going directly to the manufacturer for spare parts. I saved over $100 on a laptop battery I’m using right now by using eBay instead of Dell.)

As always, visit your college computing website and get their suggested hardware and software recommendations. You may even be eligible for some seriously good educational discounts when buying through your school. If you have any questions, you should contact your school’s computing program for advice.

This may be the biggest decision of your life. College is a four-year period (which often goes uninterrupted). If your deadline for submitting your agreement to college has passed, you should have only told one college “yes.” Otherwise, if you told two or more colleges that you intend to join in the fall, the colleges reserve the right to revoke admissions to both schools and you’ll be out of luck.

If it’s that difficult a decision for you, you should visit the colleges for one last time to make your decision. If it’s not possible, contact students in the school and ask them what they think of the school, the programs, the areas of study, the student life, the food, and whatever else is pertinent to your lifestyle. Because you now have Facebook, that should be a lot easier.

If you say yes to two schools at once, you’re killing the chances for a student who may be wait listed, and trust me, these students will not be happy. But let’s say you’ve been wait listed from another school and get notified after the May 1st date that you’re accepted to the school. You can tell the first school that you agreed “yes” to that you’re respectfully revoking your admission there, and the only thing you have to lose is your deposit.

Make your decision and stick to it. The ethical decision is to say you’re ready to choose one school — as this is the very nature of “commitment.” Worst comes to worse, you can transfer. But you’ll very likely love the choice you make. Just don’t make it unfair to your peers who are dying to attend the school you’ve been accepted to but don’t want to attend.

The New York Times has an article on the seemingly latest fad in Korean academia: to win admissions to the most prestigious universities in the United States. One of the students at the prestigious Daweon Foreign Language High School, who graduated from Harvard, puts it this way: “Going to U.S. universities has become like a huge fad in Korean society, and the Ivy League names — Harvard, Yale, Princeton — have really struck a nerve.” An American Ambassador says, “Preparing to get to the best American universities has become something of a national obsession in Korea.”

The goals of the high school are some that may need to be emulated by those magnet programs in the USA: an extremely strong focus on studying hard.

Though the grueling study is a bit extreme — previously, one of these preparatory schools installed cameras in the dormitories so that students would not fall asleep during late-night study sessions. After all, while academics is one major goal for the students, another goal is to become a responsible citizen.

Beyond the hardcore studying comes the need to learn a third language (in addition to Korean and English) plus taking Advanced Placement courses. The school also runs for 10 months a year instead of the standard American 9.

Romance, too, is scolded upon. It’s perceived as wasting time. In the lunchroom, girls and boys sit separately.

What does that translate to in US colleges? Harvard has seen 213 new applications for its 2009 freshman class (up from 66 in ‘03). The Daewon school (and its closest competitor) have 34 graduates in Harvard, Princeton, and Yale. There were 133 graduates in total in this year’s class.

The culture in South Korea is a bit different. While our academic year in the US starts in August or September, South Korea’s starts in March. Graduation is held in February. (You can imagine the stress of college applications during such an odd schedule, but they work it out.)

A Princeton student from the Korean culture shares her story about the emphasis on top grades: “Ms. Kim developed fierce study habits early, watching her mother scold her older sister for receiving any score less than 100 on tests. Even a 98 or a 99 brought a tongue-lashing.”

The hard work doesn’t stop on weekends either. Classes in English and meet on weekends with the aim to raise SAT scores for Ivy League consideration. One student is taking 9 Advanced Placement exams next month in all different areas of study.

The test score averages are also high. The article says: “[The school’s] average combined SAT score was 2203 out of 2400. By comparison, the average combined score at Phillips Exeter, the New Hampshire boarding school, is 2085. Sixty-seven Daewon graduates had perfect 800 math scores.”

And so continues the life of a South Korean student:

“She rises at 6 a.m. and heads for her school bus at 6:50. Arriving at Daewon, she grabs a broom to help classmates clean her classroom. Between 8 and noon, she hears Korean instructors teach supply and demand in economics, Korean soils in geography and classical poets in Korean literature.

“I feel proud that I’ve endured another day,” she said.”

In December, we shared news about a teacher who was fired for posting her picture to MySpace. The woman in the story, Stacy Snyder, is far from being the last individual this will ever happen to. The Washington Post wrote on Monday that teachers are doing this a lot more frequently and are not aware of the consequences of their actions. Embarrassingly enough, these Facebook profiles don’t really exude “teaching.” In fact, if anything at all, they give the absolute wrong impression about the individuals who we trust our education and future growth as successful adults with.

The article says:
“One Montgomery County [Maryland] special education teacher displayed a poster that depicts talking sperm and invokes a slang term for oral sex. One woman who identified herself as a Prince William County [Virginia] kindergarten teacher posted a satiric shampoo commercial with a half-naked man having an orgasm in the shower. A D.C. public schools educator offered this tip on her page: ‘Teaching in DCPS — Lesson #1: Don’t smoke crack while pregnant.’”

Yeah. Whoa is right. These are teachers whose professions are on the line — behaving mostly like many of us.

The teachers interviewed for the article often thought that their information could only be seen by those who they accepted as friends. But they didn’t read the fine print and they didn’t see that they need to control their privacy settings. Consequently, they have faced some of the most embarrassing moments of their lives recently as the public caught wind of their mischievous actions supposedly done when nobody else was watching.

The end result is that it can cost you your job, just like Stacy Snyder. The article goes on to say that a father of a 6-year old complained about one of his teachers’ profiles on MySpace and the teacher was actually fired. The images that caused her removal were likely photos exposing lingerie and naked women. The father was quoted as saying that “These Web sites are the bars and restaurants of our new era. It’s like running into your teacher in a restaurant and seeing them not act appropriately.”

Indeed it is.

As one teacher, who admitted sleeping with a hooker, said: “I never thought about parents and kids [seeing it] before. That’s all I’m going to say.”

And then she disabled her profile for all to see.

As students continually open their lives up for the public to read and learn, there are tremendous risks involved. While two stories involve teachers (whose lives may impact the students and may set bad examples for the kids as well), the issue is that after you graduate, your public information should be revisited. Jobs are at risk if your profile gets out to your current or future employers, even if you’re an intern. While Facebook is perceived as a very social network, there needs to be a level of professionalism to preach as well. Anyone could be watching and anyone could ruin your life. The control begins with you knowing how to establish privacy settings and then considering what is appropriate for the rest of the world to read.

Education Portal has compiled the top 10 paying college majors. If your goal was to go to school to make wads of dough, this is an article worth reading and these are major areas you may want to pursue. Naturally, college is usually a 4 year program, so you should still look into majors you’re passionate about and subjects that you want to learn. If the subject matter is not interesting to you and you major it in it for the money, you won’t be happy overall. After all, while you can change careers later on, these jobs — for the most part — are for life.

Here are the majors and their respective careers. For more, read the full article:

1. Chemical Engineering: $59,218 - manufacturing, health care, and business
2. Electrical Engineering: $55,333 - design and develop circuitry and other electronic parts for computers, automobiles, etc.
3. Mechanical Engineering: $54,057 - design and develop power-producing machines in agriculture, manufacturing, and business
4. Computer Science: $53,051 - programming and research on computer systems
5. Civil Engineering: $48,998 - building design, transportation development, water systems planning, etc.
6. Economics: $47,782 - research or consulting and government jobs
7. Management Information Systems: $47,407 - all areas of business, infinite industry opportunity
8. Finance: $46,442 - banks, government institutions, etc.
9. Accounting: $46,292 - government/public accounting or auditing
10. Business Administration/Management: $43,256 - any industry!

Does that mean there’s no hope for an English major or someone who would much rather pursue liberal arts rather than more of the maths and sciences? Definitely not! Some of the most successful entrepreneurs and business people I know have had their roots embedded in liberal arts programs. These are the jobs in demand now, and they’re likely to continue throughout the years, but our arts, history, culture, and language are still in heavy demand — think about jobs at museums, as research professors, as lecturers, and more — the possibilities are endless.

I’m going to take a slight break from the schoolwork (as I type this here at the library as it pushes 5 in the morning, and the place isn’t empty by a long shot) and let people know about a fun annual event many colleges have as the semesters wind down called spring weekend. I never got involved with the planning for a spring weekend personally, but the events schools put on are generally pretty worthwhile and work toward building community at lots of places that, as most students find, can be rather impersonal.

Spring weekend celebrations are usually ways for student councils to justify the use of student life fees that otherwise go unspent (thus, all the more reason to take advantage of what’s offered). They usually revolve around parties with food (and sometimes booze for the 21+ crowd), games, student group performances, and the annual spring concert.

It’s always funny hearing about the spring concert while attending a place that attracts hundreds of shows each night throughout the area, but it’s still really neat to walk out of the library and step foot in a student center to be surrounded by colleagues taking in something completely nonacademic for just a few hours before the study grind continues. Of course, when our school announced the acts for this year’s show, there was an uproar over the supposed lack of diversity in attracting bands that cater to a rather homogeneous crowd.

I’m biased, mostly because I like the bands selected, but also because I can see through the event as not just another on-campus concert, but rather one of the few ways we can come together as a student body.

College can be a very impersonal time. Even if you make a bunch of really great friends (through classes, housing, extracurricular activities), chances are pretty good that you’ll never meet anywhere near everyone. To be honest, the same was true for me in high school and I still had a really good bunch of friends. But for a few moments, it’s still nice to come together as a group to bask in the fact that we’re all students at the same place, going to the same classes and readying for the same exams.

At some places, it’s the weekend football game or the big midnight mania basketball rally. At other places, it’s something like sitting in a packed library on a Sunday night toiling through fifty pages worth of term papers. Though completely different, both bring the feeling of a collective struggle. Spring weekend reminds me of this, and also reminds me that college is temporary and it’s best to take all of these opportunities in.

What if you’re an average student — with a B or C GPA and only “mid-range” SATs? Are you out of luck when it comes to college applications?

The answer, fortunately, is no. There are a lot of state schools that will accept 75% of all applicants. In fact, the school doesn’t have to spell “prestige” in order to be a very good school for the choosing. You can check out Colleges that Change Lives to rethink your college decisions. You may also want to look at A+ Options for B Students, an article in the US News and World Report.

There’s also another option. While grades will always be required, some schools don’t require SAT or ACT scores to be submitted which should make poor standardized test takers have a much easier time. This list is also offered at FairTest.org.

The point is that you don’t have to be so heavily focused on the top schools — there are thousands of colleges out there, and chances are there are a few good schools that will suit you just fine!