Well, we did it. Summer is nearly here and we’ve made it through another semester. In January, I posted about ways to start the semester stress-free, the benefits of sleep and how to eat healthy while busy and on a budget. Hopefully, you used some of my tips this semester and made your life just a little bit healthier. If not, no hard feelings – summer is a great time to get a new health plan started.

Studying abroad. That would be cool, but I don’t have that kind of time or money. This is what most of you reading this are saying, right? Well if you’d like to sit through this little 627-word presentation, I’d like to try to convince you otherwise.

Graduation can be the cause of excitement, but in more cases than not, it is hectic and horrifying. Graduation is one of those times of transition. We have been through so many transitions in our lives, but that doesn’t keep each one from seeming more daunting than the last. The key is to not only prepare yourself as far as experience and job searching is concerned, but also to prepare yourself mentally.

The Hunger Games

Americans always have loved remakes. We have been remaking movies since The Great Train Robbery remake, which came out in 1904, one year after its inspiration. As with many remakes, however, the remake was a complete flop. Some people argue remakes are just a lack of new ideas; others believe they are just a fun new spin on an old story.

Preview Online

The original impetus in creating the first edition of Taking Charge: Your Education, Your Career, Your Life in 2008 was to produce a college success guide that directly linked college success skills to both professional and personal development. That’s especially important with the increasing trend of community and technical college students entering the workforce upon graduation as opposed to immediately moving on to a four-year college. To that end, the writing and research skills of the co-authors, Karen Mitchell Smith and Katharine O’Moore-Klopf, proved to be invaluable through the first two editions of this book.

Since that first edition, however, feedback solicited from instructors around the country combined with advances in digital publishing has resulted in a dramatically revamped third edition to be published in September 2012.

I Don’t Remember Ordering Arsenic

In an attempt to eat healthy you grab for the organic version of a favorite food, but be careful.

A recent study by Dartmouth University showed high levels of arsenic in organic foods and baby formula that list organic brown rice syrup as a primary ingredient. Arsenic is linked to cancer, chronic diseases and developmental effects in children.

Okay, fine. I’ll admit it. I am a 21-year-old that uses a Crock-Pot and vehemently believes in its greatness. Slow cookers are wonderful for people on the go. Simply spend 20 minutes or so preparing the ingredients, put them in the cooker and leave it for several hours while your food cooks and you get on with your daily activities.

Sleep deprivation. To student and many others, getting the recommend amount of sleep every night is nearly impossible. Life often gets in the way, and as everyone knows, there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. If you haven’t done so before, think about what cutting out sleep does to your body.

Thinking about nutrition is hard when you’ve already got so much else on your plate. School, work, family and social agendas often make eating healthy a last priority, but getting the right nutrition can increase your energy and health.

The time has come for spring semester classes to start, and like most students, I have spent the week denying winter break is over.

 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.