Besides the sights, food, and sense of adventure that comes with the appeal of studying abroad, there are other elements to the program that can be beneficial to a student’s future. If you are a student, and money is not the main issue that you consider before studying abroad, perhaps you should think about these other facts about studying abroad that will help broaden and nourish your education. You will notice that each point builds off of another.

#1 Become Cultured

Being cultured does not mean that a person becomes snooty. It is becoming well-versed and knowledgeable with other’s surroundings, becoming aware that there are other cultures and people who live different lives than your own. Being cultured is a form of education because you are learning about other people, which actually make you also learn more about yourself.

#2 Learn Independence

This may actually be the immediate appeal of studying abroad for some people – getting away from authority figures. Depending on whether it is a foreign exchange or a group study abroad program, there are still people who you have to check-in with and answer to. However, being without your ordinary care-givers and learning the rules of another chaperone actually forces you to depend on yourself to deal with the changes around you. You may need to go shopping for yourself, get used to the foreign transportation, and learn to communicate with new people. Adjusting to the different lifestyle and regimen makes you depend on your own ability to mature with an ever-changing life, whether it is in a foreign country or when you eventually go back to your own home soil.

#3 Become a Better Student

Learning independence can greatly improve your study habits, which in effect creates a better student. Although there is much to offer with the surroundings in a foreign country, a study abroad program forces students to study hard. If you believe that you are traveling to a foreign country to slack off, you are under the wrong impression. Study abroad programs keep their students busy with classes and homework. A friend of mine told me that his trip to Spain kept him so busy with his school work that he only had time to sight-see on the weekend. And, having spent the money as well as the effort of getting into the program, students feel more inclined to do a good job, and learn to depend on themselves to get a good grade since there isn’t really anyone else to force you to do your homework except for you. But, with all of your new friends around you studying hard, you can feel inspired to try just as hard as everyone else.

#4 Learn a Second Language

Usually, students who study abroad visit with a country that speaks another language. Although this is not always the case, since students could easily study in England, Ireland, or Scotland where they speak English, if you do go to a country with a different language, you are forced to pick up some of it. Even if you do not become fluent in the language, you will at least learn enough to have broken conversations or get by. Knowing a second language is extremely beneficial in regards to your education since schools want students to learn a second language anyway, and speaking at least two languages is even beneficial to your career since most jobs are impressed with applicants who speak more than one language.

#5 Improves Resume

Learning a second language, earning independence, and become cultured are all parts of studying abroad that impress employers. Everything that you can gain from a study abroad program will help you be a better worker in the future, and employers recognize that. Putting your study abroad program on your resume is a great addition to the skills and education you have earned.

Study, study, study… it’s what students do almost every day of their life. And, if they aren’t studying, then they are worried about when they have to start studying again after their short break. Unfortunately, that is just the way of the student. There are good and bad ways to study though. If you are a student who wants to improve your grades, then there are simple tricks and tips to keep in mind that will not only improve your grades, but possibly make your own studying habits a little simpler on yourself.

Overall, it comes down to planning. Think ahead a little bit and try out these 7 things to help improve your study skills and, ultimately, your grades.

#1 Get Rest

Although this has been gone over many times, it is never said enough – Get enough rest before you go to school. Showing up to school tired means that you are not focused on the material that your teacher is lecturing or on what you are reading. If you are having trouble focusing in class while you yawn every ten minutes or more, chances are that you are not getting enough sleep during the night. If you are still skeptical on the importance of getting sleep, there is an entire blog on Eduify that is dedicated to the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation.

#2 Eat Before an Exam, (but don’t drink much)

Food is fuel. When people do not eat properly they become tired, weak, and grumpy. None of those symptoms of hunger are conducive to proper concentration while you try to study or attend class. If you are in class and you stomach is grumbling because you skipped breakfast again, you are going to end up daydreaming about food rather than listen to the lecture. Do yourself a favor and eat something that will tide you over while attending class. However, you may not want to drink anything in excess. The feeling of a full bladder and needing to run to the bathroom in the middle of class can be just as distracting as an empty stomach.

#3 Arrive to Class Early

When students are showing up to class late they are often out of breath or are interrupting the instructor’s lesson. A late entrance not only distracts the students, but it distracts the teacher, which is no way to get on a teacher’s good side. Being late also means that you have missed some material that was first given in the beginning of class, which may leave you a bit frazzled and possibly missing even more information as you ask a fellow student, “What did I miss?” I recommend showing up five or ten minutes early to class, so you have time to take your seat and set up your books without disturbing anyone with your backpack’s zipper or adjustments of your chair. An early student is prepared and in a ready state-of-mind to be taught.

#4 Make Flash Cards

Many students make flash cards when they are preparing for a test. I suggest making flash cards even before your test. Make early preparations for your test. If there is some information that you feel will be difficult to remember, you should put it on a flash card, that way when it is time to take your test, most of your flashcards will already be set for you, which should make you more relaxed than having to prepare cards last minute for your test.

#5 Record Lectures

If you happen to have a teacher who goes over material quickly or does not seem to stay on a topic long enough for you in class, ask the instructor if he or she would mind that you record the lecture. With a copy of the lecture in your pocket, you can later rewind and listen to any important parts that you may have missed jotting down in your notes. Most teachers do allow students to bring a recorder in to class, as long as they are warned ahead of time. It is not ethical to record a person talking who is not aware of it, so be sure to ask your teacher for permission before doing so.

#6 Read the Material after the Lecture

It may seem simple, but there are far too many students who only listen to the teacher lecture over a subject, but never actually read the material in the book. After the lecture, make time to read over the same material your instructor went over. Going over a lesson twice will help solidify the information in your memory better.

#7 Discuss Material with Friends

Although most students do not want to talk about their homework, having a discussion about the material you are studying is a great way to help remember information. If you are reading something confusing or interesting, relay that exact information to a friend or family member. When you force yourself to repeat the material and think about the topics in a conversation, you help yourself remember the information better. Since I had trouble remembering dates in history, I used to spout off facts to my brother with, “Did you know…?” He would usually roll his eyes or ignore me because he didn’t want a history lesson, but I just continued talking at him and it was a lot of help for me to remember the facts easier.

Remember back in the day when the only way to get the news was in a newspaper? No? Neither do I. Or when the three main media of journalism were print, television, and radio? That not-so-distant memory has quickly evolved into an entirely new system for international human communication. We are members of a digital generation. So many of us spend most of our days plugged into something: mp3 players, iPhones, laptops, and now even Kindles. The advent of podcasting, or broadcasting via the web in downloadable forms, has reinvented how people get their news, and given us more freedom in choosing what we want, when we want it. Today we bring you 5 Podcasts That Will Make You Smarter, brought to you for free via iTunes or via the producers’ home pages.

5. RadioLab

Ever wonder about the psychology of memory? Or maybe the science of sleep? RadioLab, produced by WYNC’s Jad Abumbrad and Robert Krulwich, dissects such topics as race, mortality, sperm, and space. The producers present each show as a unique soundscape, combining interviews with funny, thoughtful dialogue. Their voices are unique, even in the world of public radio: Abumrad’s work as a composer and Krulwich’s background in broadcast media (ABC, NOVA) influence both the nature and style of show production.

Suggested shows: “Stochasticity,” “War of the Worlds,” “Placebo“

4.Studio 360

Kurt Andersen’s weekly WYNC radio program has a little something for everyone: film and theater reviews, interviews with writers, musicians, directors, and artists, and profiles of designers and architects. Andersen has featured such talent as animator and director Tim Burton, director Pedro Almodovar, author Barbara Kingsolver, and singer Yoko Ono.

Suggested shows: “Artists and Obama,” “Ben Hong, West Side Story, Sufjan,” “Gay Flag, Hip Hop. Spektor”

3.Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story

New York City’s Symphony Space hosts a weekly reading of short stories, hosted by Isaiah Sheffer. The stories are introduced and read by a number of well-known screen and theater actors, and often share a similar theme. In addition, Selected Shorts has inspired an adult literacy program, All Write!, and hosts the annual Stella Kupferberg Memorial Short Story writing contest.

Suggested shows: “Confused Couples,” “Indian Country,” “People With Problems,”

2. The New Yorker Fiction Podcast

The New Yorker’s Fiction Editor Deborah Treisman hosts this monthly podcast, which features a notable writer reading their favorite short story, and a subsequent discussion. This is a great choice for creative writers and literature majors, not only because the featured readers sometimes choose surprising stories, but because the conversation afterward reveals a lot about literary influence and style choices. Previous readers include Junot Diaz, Yiyun Li, Tobias Wolff, and Joyce Carol Oates.

Suggested shows: “Luck of the Draw,” “The Dating Game”

1. This American Life

This cult classic has steadily grown in popularity and exposure in the 15 years since it was first created at Chicago’s WBEZ station. Ira Glass and his team of producers curate shows that follow unusual, surprising themes every week, sometimes experimenting with new forms and methods for finding stories. Regular contributors include David Sedaris, Sarah Vowell, and David Rakoff.

Suggested shows: “Testosterone,” “Break-Up,” “This I Used to Believe”

These podcasts represent about 10% of the quality programming available for free online. National Public Radio offers many of its programs online, as does Public Radio International. But podcasting does not need to be sponsored by a major organization; anyone with the proper technology can create, edit, and post podcasts. So what are you waiting for?

We love literature. We love music. But try telling your English teacher that listening to music helps you better understand literature when you’re caught listening to your iPod in class…

Actually, the connection between pop music and classical literature isn’t as far fetched as it seems. Though it may not always be obvious, pop stars do read — at least, they occasionally read. How else would they be able to write such great songs based on literary works? Below, our 5 favorites with links to their music videos and descriptions of the work in question.

1. Kate Bush, “Wuthering Heights”

Kate Bush is one of our favorite pop stars of all time, and Wuthering Heights is one of our favorite novels. It’s so beautiful, so sweeping, and so romantic, that it makes the perfect subject for Bush’s flutey, trilling soprano. Listening to Bush sing really brings the novel to life. Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte’s only novel, tells the story of Katherine and Heathcliff, who live on the dark and windy Yorkshire Moors, and whose passion and love, never resolved, torments them and ruins their lives. It’s an uplifting tale… not. Not a novel to dig into in your more depressed moments, Wuthering Heights is nonetheless a beautiful story that details the depth of human suffering at the face of star-crossed love and poetically captures the intricate, dark places in the human heart.

2. David Bowie, “1984”

Radiohead also wrote a song, “2 + 2 = 4,” about George Orwell’s novel, 1984, but our money’s on David Bowie. Most high schoolers read Orwell’s dystopian novel in high school, but not many are required to listen to David Bowie as a part of the curriculum. A shame, really. Bowie wrote the song for a stage production of 1984, and although the show was never produced, the song perfectly captures the paranoid, totalitarian world of the novel. Orwell’s novel depicts what he called the “perversions… which have already been partly realized in Communism and Facism” in the fictional setting of a future England, one which has been subsumed by a “super state” called Oceana. Without giving too much away, the story details one man’s struggle and eventual failure in fighting the powers of the State.

3. Leonard Nimroy, “The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins”

Not really a pop star, Leonard Nimroy is famous for playing Spock on the popular television series Star Trek. Nimroy, for reasons still baffling to me, came out with a song about Bilbo Baggins, from the novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. The Hobbit chronicles Baggins as he goes on a journey with Gandalf the Wizard to recover lost treasure at a mountain guarded by a dragon. The rest of the novel is too complicated to detail here, but rest assured that Baggins makes it back safe, with treasure and wealth, and is well-regarded by Hobbits (little hairy men) for the rest of eternity. Or, better yet, rather than listen to me, watch Nimroy sing about Bilbo Baggins in his gloriously unironic song.

4. Metallica, “For Whom The Bell Tolls”

For Whom The Bell Tolls is a famous novel by Ernest Hemingway about an American man who fights against Spanish Fascists in an outfit known as the “International Brigades”. The novel is drawn from Hemingway’s personal experiences in the Spanish Civil War and the struggle of Americans who volunteer to help fight the Fascist regime of Francisco Franco. Along with The Sun Also Rises, it’s considered to be one of Hemingway’s best works. Who knew metalheads read Hemingway?

5. The Rolling Stones, “Sympathy for the Devil”

Based on The Master and Margarita, the famous novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, “Sympathy for the Devil” takes lyrical inspiration from Bulgakov’s masterpiece. The novel chronicles the adventures of the Devil as he visits the atheistic Soviet Union in the guise of Woland, a magician. This novel is considered by many to be one of the great masterpieces of the twentieth century. Influenced by “Faust,” by Goethe, The Master and Margarita is not really a novel about politics. Rather, the basic premises and themes in the novel revolve around good versus evil and the complexities of the relationships people develop with religion in the world.

5. Das Bus – Lord of the Flies

Bart, Lisa, and other kids at the Springfield Elementary School are stranded on an island and are forced to come together to fend for themselves. One day, all the food that the children have been surviving on goes missing, and the kids blame Millhouse because of his corpulent size. Millhouse blames the island “monster,” but the kids don’t listen, put him on trial, and attempt to kill him. He escapes, along with Homer and Lisa, and run into a cave where the monster reveals itself to be a boar (with a potato chip bag on his tusk). As a result, the kids apologize to Millhouse, blame the monster, and kill it to eat as food. This, of course, is heavily influenced by the events of Lord of the Flies, a William Golding novel each of you has probably read in high school.

4. A Streetcar Named Marge – “A Streetcar Named Desire”

Taking a cue from Tennessee Williams‘ famous play, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, this Simpsons episode hilariously draws from the story as Marge wins a spot as Blanche DuBois in a play. For those who aren’t familiar, Blanche is essentially the crazy sister of Stella (of Marlon Brando’s iconic “Stellaaaa!” scene in the film version) who moves to a new town and tries to hide a checkered past that she ultimately fails at concealing. As Homer is not particularly supportive of her acting dreams, she begins to draw a parallel between him and Stanley Kowalski, the macho, insensitive lead male character in the play (Brando’s role in the movie version).

3. The Tell-Tale Head – “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Bart cuts off the head of a statue in order to impress some of his friends, but this incites a mob riot at the town square because people are furious that the statue has been vandalized. Bart realizes his error and confronts his guilt. He goes to the town center to admit his wrongdoing and face the mob — who of course forgive him in the end. This episode references Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, “The Tell-Tale Heart,” which is about a man who murders another man, in cold blood, for indisclosed reasons. The murderer starts to go crazy when his guilt manifests itself as hallucinations that the dead man’s heart is still beating under the floorboards, where the murderer hid his body.

2. Easy-Bake Coven – “The Crucible”

In 1649, Sprynge-Fielde is after its witches. Moe accuses Marge of being a witch, and though she tries to proclaim her innocence, the townspeople push her off a cliff with a broom. If she is a witch, she’d of course get on her broom and fly off. If she was innocent, she’d fall and die, but at least she wasn’t a witch right? To their surprise and horror, when Marge is pushed off a cliff, she turns bright green and gets on the broom and begins to wreak havoc on the townspeople. Then they go from door to door in the town, and are given goodies and presents in exchange for not eating the children of the town. This episode is based on “The Crucible,” an Arthur Miller play about the events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials.

1. Diatribe of a Mad Housewife – Moby Dick with a cameo appearance by Thomas Pynchon

This is not only our favorite literary episode of the Simpsons, it might even be our favorite episode period. The reason? Not only it a hilarious take on Moby Dick by Herman Melville, but it also features one of our favorite authors, Thomas Pynchon, in a cameo role. Pynchon broke 40 years of media silence to appear on the Simpsons, and appears as himself — not a fictional character. The plot unfolds as Marge begins to write a whaling novel, influenced by a painting of a boat in her living room. The novel is about a woman, ostensibly based on Marge, who is a dutiful wife to a drunk, sloppy sailor who demands that she cook him unreasonably extravagant dinners (he is based on Homer). The book, called The Harpooned Heart is a huge success, despite Tom Clancy and Thomas Pynchon both declining to review it positively. Pynchon’s editor in the episode stands outside Pynchon’s house holding a sign and yelling “Hey, over here, have your picture taken with a reclusive author! Today only, we’ll throw in a free autograph. But, wait! There’s more!” This obviously pokes fun at how reclusive Pynchon is with the press.

How do you win a scholarship? Perhaps the easiest way if you have an essay is to enter the eduify.com Wunderkind Scholarship contest. Beyond doing what you can to get the most votes for the essay you submit to the eduify scholarship contest, you can also win other scholarships by taking the application process seriously. Put your best effort into winning a scholarship and you raise your chances significantly. Don’t send generic, canned scholarship applications out. Scholarship admissions committees can tell when an applicant is half-heartedly applying or not taking the application process seriously enough, so why risk losing a scholarship for lack of effort?

How do you take the scholarship application seriously? We’ve already shown you how to write a stellar scholarship essay. Now, we’ll show you how to put together a great scholarship package.

Prepare

Preparation is essential to creating a well-crafted scholarship package. Many scholarship applications require the same things: strong, academic letters of recommendation (which we have shown you how to score), a copy of your transcript, a list of your extracurriculars, a personal statement, and a photo of yourself. It might be beneficial, before scholarship application time rolls around, to pick up some additional extracurricular activities in order to show yourself to be a more well-rounded student. It might sound deceptive, but it’s actually a smart idea. Preparation is key, so get the things you need together, well in advance, so that you have more time to focus on your essays (the most important aspect of the whole application process).

Research

A key aspect of finding scholarships is to do research. You can research for scholarships online or in books like The Ultimate Scholarship Book of 2009 which lists scholarships you might be eligible for. While you are researching scholarships, make sure you actually qualify for them. Read the fine print. Nothing is more a waste of time than to spend hours creating a scholarship package that you don’t actually qualify for — and trust me that this happens more than you’d think. Read all the rules and regulations of your scholarship before you send anything off.

Stay organized

Before embarking on your quest for a scholarship, write down all the key dates that you need to know. You don’t want to automatically disqualify yourself from a scholarship by sending out your information too late — or even too early. Dates are important, and you should always have your eye on the scholarship application timeline. Another great tip is to keep your different scholarships filed away separately. You don’t want to mix up your scholarships and send out the wrong applications to the wrong places. Put everything away in separate folders, label your scholarships with post-it notes, or put your applications in a filing cabinet — whatever works for you, as long as you stay organized.

Put your best foot forward

Represent yourself well to scholarship committees. When writing, make sure you keep a meticulous eye on grammar, spelling, and style. Put work into craft well-written, solid essays. Add some extracurriculars to your schedule to appear more well-rounded. Prepare yourself for your scholarship interview, and practice wht you’re going to say. Whatever you do, just put your best foot forward. A little effort goes a long way in winning that scholarship money for college.

There’s no doubt about it: scholarship essays are a tricky matter to approach. Scholarship competitions often arrive at your doorstep during the last half of the school year, by far the most hectic time in the academic year when students are already bogged down with extracurriculars, final exams, looming end-of-year grades, not to mention stress-inducing standardized tests. More often than not, high-schoolers focus on their “real schoolwork” and procrastinate on the “optional schoolwork” of scholarship applications, to the point where they end up scrambling, up to the final hours, to turn in shoddy, half-hearted applications, essays, and personal statements to a host of scholarship competitions they actually would have had a good chance of winning, had they simply believed in themselves more and taken more time to do a job well done.

There are easy tricks to consider when penning a scholarship essay — a feat which is definitely less challening than students may think. Considering the sheer number of students who write “fluff essays” to scholarship competitions, half-heartedly listing their accomplishments and not ever really investing their full energy into the application process, even putting forth any effort at all immediately puts you above the average crowd. Here are some simple tips on how to channel your inner wunderkind and win that big scholarship, without stretching yourself too thin or causing you too much stress. We promise.

Consider the organization

So what’s the deal with the organization that is giving you this free money? Because it would probably benefit you to do some research. Is this the Alaskan Oceanography Society? Because, if it is, you probably should not write your essay about how you think offshore drilling is a good idea. Is this the National Rifle Association giving you this money? Don’t tell them about your liberal belief that gun control is the only moral way. Be smart, think about where the money is coming from, and sell yourself out. You heard me. Sell yourself out.

Analyze the scholarship application questions and prompts beneath the surface level

Really. It won’t take you take much time to analyze a simple question to a slightly deeper level. If you are willing to walk 10 feet, you might as well go the extra, I don’t know, 5 feet. Although the best thing to do would probably be to take a little more time and walk a mile. Most students are so bored with scholarship essay writing that they spend as little time as they need to, to think of answers to essay prompts that are neither piercing, intellectual, nor remotely interesting. Spend a little more time thinking about the question than you otherwise would. Analyze. Study. Even research, if you need to. A good think will take you a long way when it comes to getting your hands on that cash.

Edit, Edit, Edit

Maybe it’s not a good idea to have your classmate who is applying to the same scholarship edit your essay, but it’s a good idea to show it to a teacher or a parent or a tutor, to get a fresh perspective on what you’ve written. Don’t just write a hasty essay and mail it off to that Impressive Scholarship Committee without having it looked over once, twice, ten times if need be.

Brag

So this scholarship money is supposed to go to the ‘most qualified candidate’ right? So show them how qualified you are! Wow them with your accomplishments, your honors, your academic record. But do it in a graceful way. Don’t boast pompously about how much brighter you are than your lowly peers. Tell the committees, straightforwardly, why you believe that you are a good candidate. Not why they should think you are. Frame it as a personal belief only. And don’t try to be annoyingly modest. False modesty brushes people the wrong way as much as straight-up bragga-lagging, so just be real as possible. Ya heard?

Aristotle is famous for saying —among many other things—that humans are “social animals.” Social relationships, which include professional relationships, are the foundation of our society; without them, we could not survive. Throughout your life—both in and out of school—you’re going to meet a lot of people. You will learn from many of these people and you will teach others. Such is the give-and-take nature of human relationships. When you’re young, you tend to be more on the receiving end of these relationships, and that is exactly what this blog post is about: how to take advantage (in a good way) of your relationships. Eduify has prepared this list of five types of people who can become great mentors for you and, in both the short and the long-term, help you meet your academic and professional goals.

Mentors, on a basic level, are people from whom we learn something that will be valuable to us in the future. Mentors are generally older than we are and have more experience than we do. Thus, the range of people who can potentially be our mentors and the range of things they can teach us are extremely broad. In addition to professing their expert knowledge to us and teaching us valuable life skills, mentors also make great references and they’re great people to approach when you need a letter of recommendation for your college applications. Such recommendations will help you to stand out from all the other graduating seniors when you’re applying for college, which will only help your chances of getting in to the college of your choice.

Teachers or Professors

We’ve all had great teachers or professors. They’ve taught us things not only about English or Math or Science, but also about life that we will not soon (if ever) forget. They’ve made the extra effort to influence our lives in a positive way. They’ve seen the individual potential that we possess and have encouraged us to live up to it. They’ve been more than our teachers—they’ve been our friends. For all of these reasons, our teachers often make the best mentors. Teachers, too, are the most accessible potential mentors and they are, more often than not, willing to help.

Community Leaders

Even if you’re not planning a career in business or politics, you will benefit from the influence of the leaders in your community. Perhaps the most valuable lesson they can teach you is the importance of leadership. Just speaking for a few minutes to a business executive or a City Counsel member will help you better understand how businesses and even cities are operated and governed, but, if you can convince one to take you under his or her wing, you will have made yourself a very important ally. The first step, of course, is to arrange a meeting with one of leaders in your community. Make a list of several people from whom you feel you could learn about leadership. Business executives and government officials are very busy people, but they are often receptive to young, up-and-coming leaders who seek out their influence. Once you’ve established the relationship, soak up everything you can from your mentor. Offer to help out around the office—your enthusiasm will not go unnoticed.

Specialists in your Chosen Field

Who better to look up to than people who have proven their ability in the field you’ve chosen for yourself? If you want to be a journalist, seek out a columnist or reporter from the local paper. If you want to be a doctor, a columnist probably won’t be much help, but a doctor or a nurse will. Having a professional in your chosen field (or a field that interests you) as your mentor will be extremely valuable because he or she can show you the ropes of the profession and guide you along throughout the process of achieving your goals. If you haven’t yet decided what you want to do for a career (don’t worry, there’s no rush), try to find someone in a field that interests you or about which you are curious. Such relationships will help you make your decision about your career.

Bosses & Co-workers

Who can better attest to your work ethic than the people with whom you’ve worked? Even if you’ve only worked in a retail store or a restaurant, many of the skills you’ve gained are transferable to other, more lucrative, positions. Further, certain traits—such as a strong work ethic, honesty, and integrity—are recognized universally as very positive traits. Though you may not strive to be a restaurant or retail store manager, you can still learn a lot about leadership by picking the brains of those who have risen to that level.

Family

The first people you probably ever looked up to were your parents. You emulated them as a child, probably defied them as an adolescent, and, as you get older, you begin just to look up to them and admire them for, if nothing else, being able to put up with you for all these years. Family members make great mentors—partially because they know you and partially because they care about you and want to see you succeed. If your uncle is a firefighter or police officer, ask him if you could spend a day at the station to see if that would be something you’re interested in doing. If your mother is a teacher, spend a few weeks helping out in her class. Who knows? Something might click.
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Having a mentor to help you get a better understanding of how to succeed in college, in a profession, or in life is extremely valuable. As social animals we learn from one another, and, as a result of our relationships, we grow.

Trivia Question: Who was the original Mentor?
Hint: Telemachus was his protégé.

Cartoon Credit and Copyright by Scott Adams, Dilbert

What are 4 things to do on your college visit and 3 things to avoid doing? Read our tips after the jump!

Do socialize

Talk to other students, ask plenty of questions, and most importantly, make sure you stay with a current student during your visit to get a real sense of campus life! As we wrote in 5 things to ask yourself when picking a school, “A variable that often gets overlooked when you apply to school is your inherent personality. Your happiness definitely matters when going off to school, and there is no worse feeling than going to a school you dislike, where you don’t get along with the student body and are unhappy. One thing you have to ask yourself is, in general, what the student body will be like in the ideal school you attend.” It’s important to socialize with other students during your campus visit in order to gauge whether the types of students you meet at the college you are visiting are the type of people you want to spend the next 4 years of your life with.

Do eat

Whether the food is good shouldn’t be one of the bigger deciding factors of choosing a college (because, chances are, the food won’t be good). However, eating at the school cafeterias is a great way to talk to currently enrolled college students. This goes back to our socializing point. Go to the cafeteria, grab a snack, and strike up a conversation with someone. Generally, students are understanding of visiting high schoolers (they were there at one point too!) and are more than happy to answer some general questions. I’m not saying you should monopolize their precious mealtime, but there’s no harm in sparking up a short chat.

Do learn

You are going to school to learn, and the departments and curriculums that interest you are definitely a relevant factor in ultimately picking a school. College visits are a great way to sit in on classes and see/hear what the whole shebang is all about. For those who are extra ambitious, see if you can schedule a meeting with a professor during office hours! Just make sure you have a list of relevant questions in hand as to not waste anyone’s time.

Do explore

Ditch the parentals and go off exploring on your own! This is your college visit and it’s totally your prerogative! BUT, don’t get lost. Make sure you have a map, a guide, or a clear understanding of your surroundings. You don’t want to be THAT high schooler who flies out for their college visit only to get lost in a neighboring town.

Don’t get arrested

It goes without saying that getting arrested or getting caught doing anything illegal should be number one on your “don’t” list. If you are caught before matriculating doing anything of questionable legality, the administration won’t hesitate to rescind your acceptance. Better not take any chances. After all, you’ve worked so hard for the past four years to get in, so it’d be a tragedy to lose it all in an instant.

Don’t be parented

Don’t let your parents dictate your opinion of the campus too much. Say they want you to go to Wharton, but you’re totally set on the Fashion Institute of Technology. It’s your life, your career, and your responsibility to choose the right school for YOU. Their input should be minimal!

Don’t judge

You are on a college visit to gather information, and not to disperse it. Keep an open mind and don’t judge. If you’re a die hard straight edger and you witness some college students getting rowdy at a kegger — keep in mind that they are living their lives according to their own desires, not yours. Likewise, if you are a social butterfly and can’t fathom why the campus is full of science nerds who live in the library — don’t judge. Colleges all come with their own personalities. You are looking for one that you fit in with, not trying to fit them to you. That distinction is crucial if any good is to come out of your visit!

So you’ve been accepted to a university.  It’s smooth sailing from here on out, right?  You’re going to breeze through your senior year, live it up during your last summer at home, and move off to your college town.  It’s a good plan, but if you  actually want it to work, you’re going to have to dodge the senioritis storm.

Though it’s not an actual clinical disease (as the name suggests), senioritis is real.  Perhaps it’s caused by the boost of confidence you get when you receive that college acceptance letter or maybe it’s that there are so many distractions during your senior year…you know, with prom, graduation, and, of course, the parties.  And you should be confident and proud and you should enjoy the festivities that go along with senior year, but it’s important to stay focused on your academic and professional ambitions as well.

Eduify has prepared the following list of things you can do to avoid senioritis and to make the transition into college smooth and seamless.

Balance Your Time

All of the other items on this list are predicated on your having a balanced and well-managed schedule.  Aside from helping you organize your social life, a good day planner will help you stay on track during your busy and often-hectic senior year.  Use a computer program such as Microsoft Outlook to help you manage your time and stay in touch.

Challenge Yourself Academically

You’ve been grinding it out for the last three years so you would be able to take it easy during your senior year.  But, really, what’s another year?  You are, after all,  going to college where the standards are higher and the classes are more difficult, so why not challenge yourself with a couple of classes that will help you prepare your brain for college?  If you take a year off (mentally) from school–which is often a symptom of senioritis–you’re going to have a more difficult time making the transition to college.

Speaking of transitioning to college, why not get a head start by taking some college courses at the local community college?  This is a great way to get some college credit while you’re still in high school.  And you thought you had an open campus when they allowed you to go to McDonald’s for lunch.

Befriend Your Counselor

A big part of your school counselor’s job is to answer your questions about college.  They can be an invaluable resource for you when you’re planning your senior year and post-graduate options.  Among other things, your school counselors can help you figure out your course of study for college;  give you information about college classes that are available to high school students (above); help you find scholarships, financial aid, and student loans; help you fill out college applications; and, perhaps most importantly, they can help you stay on track during your senior year.  As a policy, their doors are always open, so stop in and introduce yourself–you won’t regret it.

Get Some Experience/Volunteer

Though you may not be sure what you want to do as a career or even what your major will be in college, it’s a good idea to get some real-life experience under your belt before you make any long-term commitments. Like animals?  Spend some time volunteering at an animal shelter or by answering phones at a veterinary clinic.  Such experiences will help you decide if you want to make a career out of helping animals.  This, of course, is only one example, but you get the idea.  Your school counselor might be able to help you find an internship at a local company or organization that fits your interests.  Senior year is a great time to explore and discover the options that you are going to have after graduating from college.  Another benefit of work and volunteer experience is that it looks great on a resume.

Extracurricular Activities

Joining student clubs and groups, running for student office, and playing sports are all great ways to stay focused during your senior year, and each, in its own way, will help you develop important skills that will not only help you in college but also in your life after college.  As an added bonus, these activities are great ways to meet new people and make the most of your time in high school.

Here’s a tip: start an online group for your classmates who are planning to go to the same college as you. This is a great way to meet people who are going to be around you for the next four years, and it never hurts to have a friend in a strange place.  Spread the word in your school’s newspaper and on bulletin boards.