Adjusting to College

For many of us, coming to college is a time filled with anticipation, anxiety, and stress. Packing up everything you’ll need for the next year to leaving friends you’ve had for years can be nerve racking. Then comes August, where you can’t wait to start and move in. The first weekend is always a fun time to go out with your new friends and explore the new area. And then, classes start. Now that we’re really getting into the semester, work is piling up very quickly with many things due on the same day. I know that I have a lot of assignments due throughout the upcoming weeks and it really helps me to schedule when to get them done. Time management is always the first thing teachers tell you is important to do in college and I never believed them. However, now I do. I often find myself wishing there were more hours in the day to get everything done and procrastination definitely does not help. So, what are some other ways to make the adjustment between high school and college easier? How do you deal with the tons of assignments, tests, and papers that are due?

JF

College Minors:

To choose or not to choose..study a certain subject in college can be very overwhelming, but what about studying two subjects? Many people in college not only have a major, but a minor as well. People that do this usually major in an area with a large income and a stable career and minor in an area they have passion for. I, for example, am majoring in Nursing because it is a very stable career with a nice income, but that is not where my heart is. I love musical theatre! I'm really considering minoring in musical theatre. So when it comes down to it should you major in something that is gonna give you lost of money, but spend your life not as happily as you would if you were doing something you love? Or would you rather study something you love and not live so lavishly later on in life?

DD

Long Distance Relationships

Everyone has different views of long term relationships. My main problem with this is college students. I have heard of so many couples of breaking up after high school because, they are both going to different colleges. My girlfriend the other day told me about how people were planing there break ups because of college. I know that long distance scares everyone but when it all comes down to it, do youreally want to leave that person? In some cases it is a way to get away from another person, but I feel strongly that if both partners are willing to make it work then everything will be fine. Sure you are going to have your bumps in the road but that's life and you will get over them. For example I have been dating my girlfriend Colleen for a little over a year, and she is now attending the University of Cobleskill in upstate New York, and I am down her at West Virginia. Since day one we told ourselves and each other that we were not going to let college end what we have going. So we said are goodbyes and like I always say goodbyes are never forever, and I will see her in about a month from now. Sure it is hard being 600 miles away but there is no stronger bond then love. Real love not the teenage puppy love that everyone has. That leads me into asking, how do you all feel about long distance relationships whether your in one or not?

-- RS

And Now For Something Completely Different

With all that has gone on during the football training camp,
pre-season,and week one action: Tom Brady getting hurt, Brett Favre
leaving the Packers, will the Giants be able to ride the momentum to
another consecutive Super Bowl win, how about the Colt's horrible loss
to the Bears, or will there be a chance in hell that my hometown team
the Browns will win it all... probably not. But I still wonder who does
everyone have as their Super Bowl picks?

-- AG

On Overload

This past week and this current one as well students are finding themseleves crammed with enourmous amounts of work to do. That being the combination of tests, homework, reading, studying, going to class, papers, etc... It seems like each teacher takes the class he or she is teaching as if its the only class the students have and when you have say 5 of those teachers the work load easily piles up. On top of all this school work we have lives too, other things that need to be done. For example I play a club sport which takes up 4-5 days a week 3 hours a day. Yes it is my choice to attend this but its something i love doing and im not giving it up anytime soon. Also our social lives are important as well. If not we mine as well live in a hole and have a one-tracked mind based on school.The point is the work builds up way too much and drives us to the point of stress. What are some ways to solve this? Can it be solved or are we going to have to shut up and find a way to deal with it. No one was to be placed in a point of stress and right now if your not stressing i envy you because you must know something i dont.

-- SM

Just Park It!

I recently read in the Dominion Post (Morgantown’s local newspaper) a headline that read “WVU Dorms Are Full”, dated August 10, 2008. In this article the assistant vice president for enrollment management estimated nearly 28,000 students to enroll in courses for the 2008 fall semester. It was also estimated that 5,000 of those students would be freshman, most of which would be required to live on campus. It also goes on to say that we have the ability, with the temporary leased spaces the university acquired, to house about 5,800 students. Eighty of which were waiting on housing assignments. So when the proper authority realized they have more and more students being accepted to WVU they decided it was time to build more housing. They purchased Summit and Fieldcrest Halls, building Lincoln hall and leasing the Pierpont apartments. They are also building a new honors dorm on Grant Avenue, adding 350 extra spaces for the fall of 2009.

An astounding 51% of students currently enrolled at WVU are from out of state. That leaves 49% to be in-state students but of that 49% I wonder how many are from Morgantown? Now having filled you in on a little school statistics, nowhere in any of the newspaper articles I’ve read, the construction I have witnessed, the traffic I have sat in, did I see or hear of parking spaces being added on campus to accommodate the rising number of students they are worried about housing. There is plenty of over priced “Decal Parking Only” lots downtown on campus. But very few paid parking options for students who must drive to class. I have been downtown 30-40 minutes before a scheduled class and have been late to that class for the sole reason of searching for parking. Doesn’t it only stand to reason that if you are trying to bring more students to this University you should expand the parking options? Anyone out there that commutes to school via their car know of any secret parking?

-- M

Military Family Members

My brother is in the Marines. Growing up, he was never the type of guy you'd think would go into the armed forces but after a semester in college he decided that the military was the better choice for him. He is currently in LA for schooling but in a few months he will have his stationing orders. He thinks he'll be stationed in San Diego but my dad and my granddad think otherwise. I've never been close to my brother, we had very different personalities. He was more on the punk rock side and I was a preppy cheerleader. I'm proud of my brother for making it through basic training but it's hard for me to be proud of him for going. He went as a last resort after dropping out of college. I feel like now we have less in common; I am completely against war and after basic training he is a new person with new beliefs on the government. I feel like the more he is involved with the military the more and more we'll grow apart.

-- Krys