New Student Mondays: How to Meet People in College

One of the biggest concerns I hear from students about to start college deals with meeting people. How will I meet people? Will I like the other students there? Will I find friends? Will I find good friends? Will I like my roommate? How do I get to know people when I'm going somewhere where I know absolutely no one?

One simple -- but magical! -- fact that many students forget is that nearly everyone starting college with you is new and doesn't know anyone else, either. Fortunately, this simple fact totally changes the dynamics that usually exist in social situations. After all, it would take an exceptionally brave person to just walk up to everyone at a party where everyone knows each other and introduce himself or herself. When college first starts, however, everyone is new, so doing introductions and meeting people quickly becomes something you'll do 100 times a day. No matter how shy you are, it becomes difficult not to run into new folks or be involved in something where you have to talk to other students. So if you're worried about meeting people on campus, don't be! There are tons of ways to meet people in college and, better yet, tons of people in the exact same situation.

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New Student Mondays: What to Do During Orientation

While each school does orientation differently, nearly every school does some kind of orientation program. It may be online; it may be for a day over the summer; it may be for a week in the fall, right before classes begin. No matter what it looks like, however, orientation is a critical part of making sure you start off on the right foot.

Fortunately, there are some basic rules to follow in order to make sure that you know how to make the most of orientation. Because who wants to be the meatball who doesn't know what's going on or where to go for help once the semester starts? Additionally, orientation is one of the best times to meet new people on your campus. Remember: Nearly everyone is new and trying to meet other people. Given that, trying to meet folks becomes a lot less awkward during orientation than it will be, say, two months from now.

Enjoy!

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New Student Mondays: 5 Things to Know About Your Financial Aid

For many families -- mine included -- where you got into college was equally as important as how much financial aid you got from each school. And even though financial aid is such a critical, essential part of a student's ability to go to college, it can still seem overwhelming and confusing.

One thing to keep in mind as you, a newly admitted college student (congrats!), begin signing financial aid forms is that financial aid isn't as scary as it seems at first. With a little patience, reading, and/or research, you can feel in control of your financial aid package instead of feeling like it controls you. The first step: check out a list of 5 things to know about your financial aid package. They'll help you see just what can and can't be done with your aid as well as what you'll need to know now in order to have a financially successful (instead of scary) year next year.

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New Feature: New Student Mondays

One thing that I love about working in higher education is how cyclical everything is. Just as we prepare one class to graduate, we're getting ready to welcome a new class of first-year students.

Over the summer, I'll be posting an article targeted at incoming first-years each Monday. This feature, called "New Student Mondays," will aim to make the transition from high school senior to college frosh as easy as possible.

Without further ado, then, we're going to start big this week with The Ultimate Before-You-Arrive To-Do List. Targeted at first-year students, this list covers everything you'll need to do, pack, prepare for, and overall expect before your first day on campus. It's worth the read (if not a bookmark) sooner rather than later!

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Campus Highlight: Student Crafters at Berea College

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

Berea College (Berea, KY) -- which provides all enrolled students with a 4-year tuition scholarship -- helps fund such scholarships through Berea College Crafts. Each student worker "delves into Appalachian artistic heritage, learns about materials and design, experiences the joy of creativity, and identifies the dignity of work well done" before creating wood crafts, furniture, ceramics, woven items, and/or brooms.

Lots of students on scholarship have to work during their time in college. But the students involved with Berea College Crafts are learning about the past, providing for the future, and earning money in the process. What a great combination. Congrats to all of those involved on their hard work -- and amazing products!

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Campus Highlight: Student Staff at the Knox College Student Newspaper

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

This week's Campus Highlight beams down on The Knox Student, the student newspaper at Knox College (Galesburg, IL). The paper recently won "18 awards, the most in its division, in the annual Illinois College Press Association contest" according to a press release on the Knox website.

Although the paper was founded in 1878, it's great to see that students, over 130 years later, are continuing a tradition of excellent in leadership and journalism. Congrats to everyone on the staff for the great work (and recognition for it)!

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Campus Highlight: Vermont Student Environmental Program at the University of Vermont

(Each Monday during the academic year, I feature a "Campus Highlight": a unique, interesting, and noteworthy student organization, program, or initiative that demonstrates the amazing things college students do each and every day across the country.)

For this week's Campus Highlight, I'm featuring the Vermont Student Environmental Program (VSTEP) at the University of Vermont. Founded in 1988 and currently operating as a non-profit, private foundation run by students, VSTEP "is an organization of concerned individuals dedicated to coordinating environmental activities on Vermont campuses and throughout the general public." One of their more notable accomplishments has been to end the sale of bottled water on campus, which will go into effect in January of 2013. The university issued a press release that describes in more detail the way(s) VSTEP helped to implement such an important policy change.

As the press release notes, although VSTEP was able to reduce the amount of bottled water that was purchased on the campus, in 2010 alone approximately 235,000 bottles were sold. Congratulations to the students of VSTEP for their efforts in making such a drastic reduction in the amount of waste coming from one campus -- and for showing the rest of the country what solid student leadership looks like!

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Keep an Eye on Your Student Loan Interest Rates

As President Obama mentioned in his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, the interest rates on student loans are set to double this summer unless Congress takes action to keep rates at their current level.

This means, for example, that the Stafford loan you signed for last year was at 3.4%; the one you sign for this year will be at 6.8%. Let's imagine that last year (2011-2012), you took out a $10,000 loan at 3.4%. And this year (2012-2103), you take out another loan -- but this time at 6.8%. Here's the difference:

• $10,000, repaid over 10 years, at 3.4% interest = $11,810 total loan amount = $1,810 in interest
• $10,000, repaid over 10 years, at 6.8% interest = $13,809 total loan amount = $3,809 in interest

So ... what are your options if the interest rates go back up? Well, first and foremost, make sure you know the 5 basics of your financial aid package. After that, make sure you're informed about what exactly you're signing when it comes to your award letter. And lastly, make sure you know the email address of your local Congressperson so you can contact them about how important it is to keep interest rates where they are!

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Doing Some Last-Minute Shopping? Don't Forget Your Student ID!

If you're celebrating a gift-giving holiday over your winter break, chances are you're engaging in some last-minute shopping. Even those students who are fantastic about planning ahead sometimes are left in a time crunch because of end-of-the-semester chaos and the stress of finals.

For those of you experiencing the, ahem, joys of last-minute shopping, don't forget to show your student ID. Even if you're not sure if a place will give you a discount, it's worth asking! Some unexpected places -- like J. Crew -- often offer student discounts but don't blatantly advertise them.

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College Student Gifts for Mom

Events requiring a gift for your mom -- like Christmas, Hanukkah, and Mother's Day -- often come at a rough time for college students: many are facing the end of the spring semester, finals week, final papers, and dwindling funds as loan checks run out. Given those limitations, college students sometimes need to be a little creative.

College Student Gifts for Mom

1. Pick up one of those "[your university name here] Mom" t-shirts or sweatshirts from the campus bookstore. Let her be proud of you and show everyone she knows where you're going to school!
   
2. Take a picture of yourself holding a big piece of paper or poster saying "THANKS!" in front of your school. You can put it on the front of a homemade card or put it in a frame.
   
3. Make a "coupon" redeemable for some quality time together when you're not in school. It can be good for a cup of coffee, lunch, dinner, or dessert (all with you treating, of course!).
   
4. Make a "coupon" good for a homemade dinner you can cook for her when you get home. Even if you're just learning to cook or are limited in the kitchen, there are plenty of easy recipes for college students.
   
5. Go for an old classic: send her flowers. You can find an online seller or contact a local florist in your mom's hometown.
   
6. Make a donation to your mom's favorite charity. It will show you really are doing good while in school.
   
7. Hand make a really thoughtful, sincere card. Most moms would rather have a genuine, handmade gift than another generic necklace anyway.
   

Last, but not least: if you're celebrating Mother's Day, don't forget to call!

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