Often as students, we are required to maintain lifestyles that limit the amount of sleep we can get. Class, work and social agendas fill our schedule, and by the time all school work is completed there are only a few short hours left to rest. We live in a “Go! Go! Go!” society, but we need to stop, take a minute and re-evaluate our needs.

According to WebMD, teens require about nine hours of sleep, while most adults need seven to eight hours every night. Those amounts change, however, based on the amount of sleep acquired on previous nights. Believe it or not, sleep debt is really – and it is causing problems every day.

When your body is deprived of sleep, it requires those hours be made up. Continuous sleep deprivation can lead to memory problems, a weakened immune system, decreased academic performance, car accidents caused by fatigue, obesity, diabetes and even depression. College students are twice as likely to get depression as the general population; a fact many researchers believe is due to sleep deprivation. According to Taking Charge: Your Education, Your Career, Your Life the University of Michigan Health Service says all of this can result from consistently getting less than 6.5 hours of sleep a night.

Some sleeping tips listed in Taking Charge include maintaining a regular sleep schedule, sleeping with the thermostat low, avoiding caffeine and alcohol in the evening, skipping snaps and stopping the consumption of food and liquids within two hours of bedtime.

Sleep is crucial to our health and happiness. Don’t let yourself get behind on sleep. Schedule your day to be the most productive it can be, leaving ample time for sleep. It is difficult mid-semester to reset a sleep schedule, so start now.

There is no better time than the present to form healthy habits.

-Emilly

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As a college student, I rarely have time to sleep, let alone cook. Lean Cuisines and Easy Mac filled my diet for my first two years of college, until I found a new, healthier option. I started planning my meals on the weekend, cooking ahead and freezing food for the weekdays. I suggest cooking two or three meals over the weekend and dividing them into five containers. From here you can pull a meal out of the freezer and microwave it whenever you’re ready to eat.

However, if this option doesn’t work with your schedule, don’t worry. There are plenty of quick healthy meals you can make, even if you’re constantly running out the door.

Try this quick breakfast recipe the next time you’re in a hurry. For this recipe you’ll need a Ziploc Brand Zip ‘n Steam bag. They are inexpensive and allow you to cook almost anything in minutes in the microwave.

Easy Microwave Omelet

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs
• 2 T. shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 T. butter, cut into 4 small pieces
• 3 mushrooms, chopped (optional)
• 2 cherry tomatoes, quartered (optional)
• 1/8 t. salt

Directions:

1. Crack eggs directly into steam bag
2. Add mushrooms, cheese, tomatoes, butter and salt to the bag
3. Seal bag. Break the yolks by squeezing the bag. Gently shake the bag until ingredients are combined
4. Place bag in microwave. Cook for 2 ½ minutes or until the eggs are fully cooked and no liquid egg remains. Continue microwaving at 30 second intervals if necessary.
5. Let stand for 1 minute.
6. Open bag carefully, slide omelet out and fold, garnishing if desired.

Be sure to check back for more quick recipes and healthy eating tips.

– Emilly

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 Professors and instructors often use this week to read syllabi and outline course requirements. Students, in turn, put off buying books and reading assignment schedules. While chances are nothing will be due until the next week, or maybe later than that, I want to encourage students to get organized now to avoid stress in the future.

Every semester, there is at least one student per class that misses due dates simply because he or she forgot to read the syllabus or did not write the assignment down. In college, staying organized is essential to making good grades and avoiding stress.

Taking Charge: Your Education, Your Career, Your Life suggests making a master schedule that lists all personal, academic and career obligations for the week, month and semester to stay organized. Diligently maintaining a schedule makes organization simple.

To start the semester off right, students should invest in a planner if they do not already have one. Write down class times, work schedules, appointments and all other time consuming activities. As professors start handing out syllabi, fill in important due dates or assignments – this will help you know ahead of time if any busy weeks are coming up so you can plan to get work done in advance.

Students interested in staying healthy may also find this method helpful in planning workout times. School, work and social activities can take up a lot of time and build stress. Exercise for just 30 minutes a day helps relieve stress and promote fitness, but the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends an hour of exercise for most days of the week. By filling a planner with all required activities, students can spot free time and plan workouts or time to enjoy their favorite physical activities.

Writing out schedules may even be therapeutic to students with particularly heavy workloads. A schedule broken down by the hour can show these students exactly when and how things will get done and help them avoid feeling as though everything is chaotic.

As a student who works two jobs and takes a full course load, I can attest to this method and say it really works. I exercise daily, rarely overlook an assignment and have more time to spend with my friends because I plan out my days, leaving plenty of time for fun.

Take advantage of the beginning of the semester when things are slow. Plan how you will spend your time and try to stick to it. It could lead to a less stressful year.

– Emilly

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The best way to avoid this incident is to actually know the material. Most of us who spend those hours studying, are only trying to cram all the information in last minute. If you actually do the reading and study throughout the lessons, or even the entire week before the test instead of the night, you will greatly lessen the chances of contracting blank brain syndrome.

Different people learn in different ways. Try to use multiple senses to learn. Visual, aural, and verbal learning bundled together are far more powerful than just one.

Over-learning is another helpful studying technique. If you keep repeating information you’ve already learned, you’ll know the material so well that once test time comes around, there’s no way you’ll forget!

Always SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. Before reading, survey the entire chapter. While you’re doing it, ask questions that will help you remember. Begin reading the chapter. After you read each section, recite key points aloud, then, write them down. Last, review. Go over what you’ve read and the notes you’ve taken.

With the adaptation of these studying habits, you’re sure to keep the blank brain syndrome to a minimum. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, or in this case, studying keeps the bad grades away! Good luck!

-Debra

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Synaptic connections in the brain

When I was in graduate school, one of my four jobs that paid my bills was tutoring athletes. I love to teach others, especially in a small setting, so I thought this job would be perfect for me.

My first student was a third-year soccer player. After we shook hands, she gave me this kind of wary look as if she was saying, “Oh, geez. I am definitely not looking forward to this.” Of course part of her reaction might have been to my perky demeanor and flashy red hair.

I think mostly she was not looking forward to working with a tutor because she didn’t feel smart. She ended up being one of the smartest athletes I’ve ever tutored.

With the soccer girl and with each new athlete, I began by explaining the difference between intelligence and knowledge. These two concepts, I believe, are not understood well by most people, making many people feel dumb and stupid. Here’s a little explanation in hopes of illuminating the fact you do not have to have multiple degrees to be intelligent.

Intelligence Defined

Intelligence is the capacity to understand. Each person was given a clean slate at birth on which to write the lessons they learn in life. Each person has the capacity to understand. Now, yes, of course, some people understand more swiftly than others, and some people are born with impediments disabling them from learning. As a general rule, everyone has the ability to understand.

As a person grows, their brain takes on the look of a tree with many branches. The more a person knows, the more synaptic connections the brain makes between each concept and the more intelligent a person can become.

Knowledge, Not Intelligence

Then comes the defining factor between the smart kids and the dumb kids: knowledge. Knowledge is information learned. What the athletes I worked with believed (and what I think a lot of people believe) is if they don’t KNOW something, then they think they’re stupid. If they don’t know how many sentences make up a paragraph or what a linking verb is, they think they’re dumb.

Wrong!

They do not know what a linking verb is because no one gave them that knowledge. It does not mean they are unintelligent. What they have NOT been told is that “being smart” or “being intelligent” comes from gaining knowledge.

Everyone can gain knowledge!

A friend of mine spent his life playing football. He ate, slept and drank football. That was all the people in his life encouraged him to pursue. Football. Football. Football. When we started work at a job together, it seemed like he had a “dumb” complex.

“I’m dumb. You’re too smart for me with all those big words you use.”

Wrong! He was incredibly intelligent! I could definitely see him running his own company one day.

The only difference between us was when he was poring over football tactics and strategies, I was reading books upon books upon books. I had a lot of knowledge of words because I spent my childhood reading. He had a lot of knowledge of football because that’s all he focused on growing up. That didn’t make him dumb. I tried telling him he was intelligent, but I do not know if he ever truly believed me.

Don’t Play Dumb

If you are one of those who has felt dumb their whole lives, take heart. You are not stupid. You were born with intelligence. You may be dyslexic or ADD or ADHD or a slow reader, but that does NOT mean you cannot gain knowledge.

I spent one year working with my soccer student. She began the process dreading what was to come. By the end, after weeks upon weeks of ingraining into her head that she was smart, she didn’t need me anymore! When we first started, she was hesitant to begin any writing assignment without me (no one ever told her she could write). After less than a year of writing assignments, she began doing them on her own! It wasn’t because of any great skill of mine to teach her – it was because she finally understood that she had intelligence!

You have intelligence, too! I promise.

-Kristine

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Communication has been a key concept since before we learned to speak. As babies, we cry. It lets everyone know you want something or you’re upset, since you can’t use words to tell them yet.

Today, as an adult, you’ll notice a crucial part of communication is listening. People can develop a feel for your personality just by your listening ability. Facial expressions, short comments and nodding while a person speaks to you give them feedback to let them know you’re listening and how you feel about what they’re saying.

The way you communicate also contributes to first impressions. If you’re on the phone and a potential employer hears “Uh yo dawg, ‘sup? Yeah we hangin’ at yo place tonight” instead of “Hey, how’s it going? Yeah, we’ll meet at your place tonight,” your chances of earning a job may have just been lessened.

Published by the Princeton Review, here are some tips you can follow to improve your speaking:

• Have an appropriate expression. Words can very often be misunderstood. Phrases can have completely different meanings just by the expressions and tones used when speaking them. If you’re not angry, don’t look angry. Nonverbal language is the strongest.
• Moderate your speaking speed. Speaking too quickly or slowly can throw people off. Listen to yourself speak. If you notice your words are running together or you’re pronouncing each syllable at a snail’s pace, change your speed accordingly. People are more likely to listen at a comfortable speed.
• Use pauses. Speak the way you write. Give people time to think about what you say. Add three seconds into speech where a period would be and one second for a comma.
• Eliminate fillers. Try not to use words like uh, umm and like in conversation. If you want to be seen as a professional, speak like one.
• Speak loudly enough to be heard, but not too loud. Practice adjusting your volume so you are not seen as overbearing or condescending.
• Smile while you talk on the phone. Phone conversations are easily misunderstood because of the lack of body language. Try to keep a pleasant expression on your face while you talk on the phone to avoid the misinterpretation of messages.
• Watch the use of diction. Adding -ing to the end of words instead of -in’ make you seem more credible. If you enunciate clearly, you are easier to understand.
• Control your breathing. It’s easy to breathe heavily when you’re excited or nervous. This can easily create heightened pitch and make you sound hysterical. Controlling your breathing can help control your speech.

Improved speaking and listening allow you to give the first impression you desire. It betters your chances at maintaining integrity and makes you an all-around more pleasant person to communicate with.

-Debra

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It’s a wonder college students have time to eat or sleep. (Well, sometimes they don’t have time to sleep.) All of these things put a damper on studying. I know my own grades suffered from attending all the school and extracurricular activities. It took only a few weeks into my first semester of college for me to become a procrastinator.

Once I became a procrastinator, it was very difficult and took a long time to break the habit. So my advice would be to not begin that cycle in the first place. Try to establish some rules and guidelines for your study times. These will be different for each person, especially because each has to accommodate for individual class and work schedules.

Actually writing down a study schedule that worked around all of my regular activities worked best for me. In my weekly schedule I included a healthy amount of sleep and rest, which is also very important if you want to do well in your classes. My study times during the week are mostly right after I get out of classes for the day. I know myself, and the later I do my homework, the less motivated I am. You have to know the time of day when you study best and try to work homework in during that time.

I also would recommend studying in groups whenever possible. This works especially well for me since I am a social butterfly because it allows me to be with people even while I am studying. Word of caution, though: Do not let being around other people keep you from getting your work done. Make sure everyone stays on task.

Another reason I am particularly fond of group studying is it usually happens in some sort of public place. My friends and I often study at one of our many coffee shops on campus or in the library. I like this because it gets me out of my room. Most of the time I want to get totally comfortable when I study in my room. I put on sweat pants, just turn on my lamp, and curl up on my chair. This tends to lead to my falling asleep instead of studying. So being out in public and with other people is a good thing for me. You have to know where you study best.

College does make studying difficult.  Your job, social life, class schedule, and extracurricular activities constantly get in the way, but it is possible to make it work. Learn discipline early on, and you won’t have to worry about pulling yourself out of a procrastination slump later.

-Elisabeth

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For my first two years of college, I lived in the dorms on campus. Unfortunately, living on campus severely diminishes your ability to stay healthy. It surprisingly doesn’t even have to do with the communal living.

The main problem when you live on campus is food. Dining halls are not and never will be your friend. About 90 percent of the food you find is packed with calories and lacks real nutrients. If you are really looking to keep the weight away, stay away from the carb-lines, specifically. You know, the pizza line, the pasta line, the roll and biscuit sections, all of that.

I am speaking from the side of personal experience as – what my family likes to call – a “bread-aholic” when I say all forms of bread are addicting. The addicting aspect of bread becomes particularly dangerous when put in an all-you-can-eat buffet line the dining halls tend to provide.

There are some easy ways to avoid consuming too much bad food, though. When in a dorm, try to keep a few healthy things stashed in your room. Many dorms allow students to have mini-fridges, so keeping fruit or deli meats and crackers on standby is not as difficult as you would think.

My advice to anyone worried about their eating habits is to live off campus as soon as you can. Also, when living off campus, avoid meal plans with dining halls. Learn to cook for yourself. Not only does this allow you to eat more healthy food, you can better control your portion sizes without being tempted to get back in line for more food.

Another issue you are faced with while living in the dorms is the tendency to be lazy. Having your room so close to all your classes is beneficial in many ways, but it also can hurt. Living on campus, you get into thinking, “yeah, I could go to the gym and work out during my break, but my dorm is just right there. I could also just grab a quick nap instead.”

I always opted for the easy decision of just going back to my room for a snack, to watch TV, or take a nap instead of making the effort to go running or to the gym whenever I had some free time. I found living off campus helped in this area. Often, I don’t have time to go back to the apartment during my breaks, so it is much easier to stay on campus and visit the recreation center.

If you can’t live off campus, like most first-year students, my advice is to be mindful of the laziness monster. Make a schedule for your week and know when you are going to go work out or be active. If it is written down, you are less likely to back out.

Overall, living off campus makes being healthy easier but that doesn’t mean being healthy while living in a dorm can’t be done. It just requires a lot more effort. You need to be a lot more conscious of your daily routine and of what you’re about to eat.

-Elisabeth

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I first heard the band Avenged Sevenfold in the eighth grade. It was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Their melodic vocals, passionate screams, guitar solos and harmonies were among the greatest I’d ever heard. Obsession set in quick. By the ninth grade, I could tell you anything you’d ever want to know about the band members, and now in my junior year of college, I still love them.

After high school, when I chose the path of public relations at Baylor University, I told myself: I will work for this band. It became my dream, my goal. While I’ve now learned the acronym SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, realistic, timed) should be used for setting goals, I always knew that my AR part of the acronym was missing. I never thought these goals were realistic, let alone attainable.

Whenever I mention this goal in conversation, people laugh. I even laugh myself! “Well, I know it’ll never happen, but I’d love…” was how I’d start my answer to the question “What do you want to do when you graduate?” I was my own dream stealer. “Dream stealers” are people who say negative things about your goals and plans. If you can’t convince yourself you can do it, you can’t convince anyone else. I’d always thought I’ll never be good enough to work in that type of job, and even if I was, I’d have no way of getting there.

Now, in my junior year, while browsing “HireABear,” a networking service Baylor University offers to their students allowing them to view open jobs and internships, I came across Warner Music Group. Warner Music Group is home to a collection of record labels including Atlantic, Roadrunner and Warner Brothers. Warner Music Group offers internships in five states, and every graduating intern has an opportunity to meet with an on-site entry-level recruiter upon graduation in order to be considered for full-time employment.

The Warner Brothers label just happens to be home to my favorite band, Avenged Sevenfold.

So before you doubt yourself, before you become your own dream stealer, wait and see. Those goals you set when you’re young, may just be SMART after all.

-Debra

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Traci Marlin (left) and Sheila Boggess speak to Baylor students this week.

It doesn’t seem so long ago I sat in News 101 at the University of Missouri School of Journalism. What I learned there, though, is still sticking after all these years. Those daily tests over The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook helped prepare me for many things.

That’s part of what I told Baylor students in Dr. Cassy Burleson’s advance public relations class this week. I was invited to be part of a panel on Public Relations in Education. On the panel with me were Jennifer Marshall-Higgins, Communications & Events Specialist II and Team Leader for Education Service Center Region 12, and Traci Marlin, Public Information Coordinator for Midway Independent School District.

Marshall-Higgins said it’s important for students to pursue getting their master’s degrees within five years of getting their undergraduate degrees. While it’s not always necessary to get a job, it’s invaluable to a person’s own personal growth.

“Be professional,” said Marlin, who once was a student in Burleson’s class.

“Pay attention to every detail,” I added. A great marketing piece will lose credibility  if there is a misspelled word on it or grammatical problem. Burleson mentioned she takes off five points for each type of AP style error. The panel agreed it was important to know the stylebook entry by entry. That’s when I mentioned that even after all these years, I know the AP Stylebook pretty well because of those tests I took in an entry-level journalism course at college. Sure the book adds and changes some entries, but consistency is the key.

Here at TSTC Publishing, Editor Ana Wraight is compiling our own local stylebook. We use AP style for most marketing pieces but also use MLA and Chicago Manual of Style in many of our books. Students should be familiar with the different stylebooks. We also talked about keeping up with the latest software tools and how that can help in any public relations position. I didn’t hesitate to jump in with my own favorite marketing tool, our newest book, Upgrade to Free: The Best Free & Low-Cost Online Tools & Apps by Beth Ziesenis.

Burleson said students chatted between classes that the panel “made them nervous” but were glad to know more about the real-world jobs in public relations. Burleson said while the economy is hurting, and there have been drastic cuts in education, public relations jobs in education do exist. At one point, Austin Independent School District had five positions open in public relations. She also said Baylor has a number of positions in many departments. TSTC also has a marketing department as well as my position in the Publishing Department.

Marshall-Higgins also mentioned that being personable is key to doing well in public relations. If students don’t like dealing with people, they may need to rethink their career choice.

All three of the panelists accept interns from the Baylor program, and all told about their high expectations from their interns. What they are learning in class today will stand them well as they enter the workforce.

Learning today will stick with you for years, decades to come.

-Sheila

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