High school and college are the last major opportunities for you to learn information in life.  When you get into graduate school or the work force, you will specialize in some field and won’t have as much of an opportunity to gain a wide base of knowledge.

This knowledge is useful for many reasons:

1. You can converse better with individuals—by knowing a little bit about many subjects, you can contribute to almost any conversation.  This can help make you better connections and set you up for success, especially with people who have specialized in fields that are difficult to understand for most people.

2. You can find out what you like—even if you think that you know what you are doing in your life, by taking lots of different types of classes, you can find out what fits you best.  Many classes can spark you interest in some field, so don’t be closed to taking a class in a new subject.

3. Trivia—you can become a trivia master.  I’ve recently been having lots of fun participating in Bistro 33’s Pub Quiz, a weekly trivia night where many academics come to challenge themselves.  By taking a diverse array of classes, you be informed of the correct answers of Albert Camus, Gesalt Psychology, the Krebs Cycle, Stockholm Syndrome, the Dead Sea, elastic rebound, Eddie Vedder, David Duchovny, Jerome Bettis, and more.

I’ve really discovered in college that I really like to learn and learn about lots of things.  I also don’t think that you can fully appreciate you education until it’s finished, so try to keep this in mind while going through it.

Thus, I’d suggest that in high school and college, you take as wide of an array of classes as you possibly can.  It’s the last real chance that you have to learn about subjects such as philosophy, anthropology, geology, politics, history, English, foreign languages, sociology, and more.  Just give it a try, be open and excited to learn.

Peace,

Tyler

Procrastination—the dreaded phrase for inefficiency that most of us have grown all too familiar with.  I’ll admit, I struggle with procrastinating sometimes, but I’d like to share some of the ways that you can stay on task.

1. Use a Calendar—this is the best way to fill your schedule.  My favorite is iCal, probably because I’m a Mac person, but you should have a schedule to keep you on task.  With a calendar, you can make sure that you have stuff to do so that you don’t procrastinate.  You can also see when you’re going to have extra time to get things done.  If you realize that you have time in your schedule, you can get involved with more activities.  By planning, you can really overcome procrastination.

2. Stay Busy—I’ve heard a very wise person tell me that if you want something to get done, you give it to the person that has a ton of things to do, not the person with nothing to do.  This may seem counter-intuitive, but it is based in one single fact: that those who are working just keep working and those who are not just don’t.  To avoid procrastination, I’d keep busy, that way, you won’t stop and start wasting time.

3. Varied Activities—I’ve found that you are more productive when you aren’t doing the same thing for too long.  By varying activities, you can stay more alert an intrigued by something because it remains fresh.  Once you’ve gotten to the point with something where you just aren’t paying attention, change and get something else done.  So, when you’re planning, I’d recommend not spending more than 5 hours on the same thing (with exceptions).  Break things up, and you’ll find yourself more productive.

4. Don’t … – Here are some things that you shouldn’t do that I’ve found to just suck up your time and are unproductive.  As a disclaimer, some of these things can be nice breaks or maybe good to do with friends, but try to stay away from these as much as possible.  The unproductive list: watching TV, playing videogames, sitting on Facebook.  Short, but sweet.  Stay away!

Those are some tips for staying on task and getting stuff done.  I hope that this helps.  Stay active!

Peace,

Tyler

There is competition to be found no matter where you look: in sports, school, music, politics, fashion, research… and even the college admissions process.

Getting into college is difficult; I believe that getting into any college is something you should be commended for.  As it becomes more difficult gain acceptance to elite schools, more people are applying to more schools, intensifying the competition of the process.

This sets the stage for some intense discussions.  Admissions staff from across the country have to decide just which students they want to take, but trust me, it’s incredibly hard.  They might have to choose between an amazing marathoner and a musician with a  record contract, both of whom have great grades and wonderful SAT scores.  Just because the admissions office can only choose one doesn’t take anything away from the other. 

In my opinion, the competition of the college admissions process often boils down to a crap shoot when they have too many qualified applicants to choose from.  There are no definitive reasons that colleges make the decisions that they make.  Don’t feel bad or get down on yourself for not getting into a school.  Additionally, don’t build your identity based on what schools you have gotten into.

In closing, it’s not about winning or losing; it’s about the experience that you gained along the way.  There is lots of competition in life and you can let it drive you insane or you can use your opportunities to learn.  I’d choose the latter.

Peace,

Tyler

1. Practice—make sure to have a good friend or parent ask you some sample questions in an interview format.  This way, you will be prepared for the questions that the interviewer asks and won’t be quite so nervous.  The interviewer has usually looked at some of your application, so they will probably ask you questions about what you put on your apps.

2. Be Courteous—you absolutely want to show up a little bit early to the interview and show the utmost respect throughout the process.  The worst thing you could do is to show up late and waste some of your interviewer’s time.

3. Do Your Homework—you definitely should know some key facts about the school before you go into your interview.  It also helps to have looked at the school’s website a bit.  Sometimes, they’ll ask you about the school and if you know things about it, you will seem more enthusiastic about going there.  Also, if you can get any information about your interviewer, remember that as well.  Sometimes, the interviewers are members of your community and it helps to ask them about their experiences at the school.  Remember, in addition to seeing if you are a good fit, they are trying to convince you to go to the school as well.

4. Wear Nice Clothes—it’s important that you make a good first impression and one of the main components of that is your clothes.  I’d recommend wearing something not quite the level of a prom dress or a tuxedo, but something nice.  For guys, I’d have some slacks, a shirt and tie; for girls, well, I’m not 100% sure, but I’d wear a nice dress.

5. Remember They Are a Person Too—the people that are interviewing you are people that have gone through high school and college.  They have lots of wonderful memories from school (or they probably wouldn’t be doing college interviews).  Don’t be scared of these people, try to have a normal conversation with them.

Good luck with your college interviews.  I remember going through them a little bit nervous, but as they went by, they got progressively easier.  Have a wonderful day!

Peace,

Tyler

I’d like to share a bit about my experience in UCLA campus housing, fondly called the Hill.  Students at UCLA refer to their housing as the Hill because all of the campus housing is located on the same hill on the west side of the campus.  Although I realize that not all campus housing is like the system at UCLA, I’ll share about my experience and how it pertains to campus housing in general.  Here are some great things about the Hill that works and should be things that you look for in your campus housing:

1. Proximity—all of the buildings on the Hill are very close to each other, which creates a friendly, safe atmosphere and accessibility to your friends.  This makes making and meeting up with friends much easier than if housing were spread across campus and I believe makes students happier.  Additionally, most of the UCLA apartments and fraternities are located just across the street from the dorms.

2. Duration—UCLA guarantees campus housing for three years, which is a wonderful option if you choose to partake in it.  Some people aren’t quite ready to move out of the dorms after their first year.  Additionally, there are less responsibilities in the dorms; no cooking or grocery shopping, cleaning is done for you, and crazy landlord contracts.  I believe that having the option to live on campus for at least a couple of years is a nice safety blanket.

3. Food—the UCLA meal plan is based on swipes; you can use a swipe to either get into the dining halls or choose something from a to-go restaurant.  I believe that this system gives you solid options and the food at UCLA is really good for dorm food.

4. Choice—the Hill offers many different living options to live on campus that vary in price, size, and location.  UCLA offers residence halls, which are wide-open hallways with rooms, suites, which connect two rooms with a large open room, and plazas, which are two rooms with an adjoined bathroom.  These options are nice to have while living on campus.

There are some difficulties with UCLA housing—lots of freshmen are put in triples and some of the residence hall rooms are smaller—yet I believe these difficulties are significantly outweighed by the strengths of UCLA housing.  Keep these things in mind while looking at schools, as it is the place that you’ll be living for the next four years (or more)!

Peace,

Tyler

Like trying on clothes, test-driving a car, or studying for an exam, researching a college is necessary preparation for success.  There are many ways to obtain information about colleges, but I’ll focus on three of them: the college visit, the college website, and word of mouth.

The college visit is the most in-depth way to look at a college.  In my mind, there are two types of college visits: the prospective applicant visit and the accepted student visit.  In the first, you’re trying to figure out whether you want to apply to a school; in the second, you’ve been accepted and you’re deciding whether to attend the school.  Before applying, you want to see the campus, get a feel for it, and discover things that you like about a particular place.  After you are accepted, the question moves toward, “can I see myself actually going to school here?”

Both these types of visits are important, but I believe that the more essential one is to see the college once you’ve been accepted.  Seeing a school when you know that you have the option of attending gives you some practical wisdom and perspective about the visit.  You can learn lots about yourself, what you want in a college, and what a college can offer through visiting different college campuses.

College websites are important in finding useful information about schools.  On these websites, you can find statistics about the school, familiarize yourself with that school’s programs and events, and sometimes even get a virtual tour of the school.  Websites offer a preliminary look at a school that can help you decide if you want to visit in person, and they can be a useful resource throughout the college process.

Word of mouth is an important way to learn about colleges, but take what you hear with a grain of salt.  You can learn a lot from the experience of friends who are in college or researching colleges, especially if you have similar personalities or values.  At the same time, don’t let other people make a college decision for you.  People have different experiences at the same schools, so you might not find that all of your ideas align with what your friends think.  So listen to your friends’ ideas about school, but make your opinions on your own.

It’s incredibly important that you do the research to find out what college fits you best.  Remember, you are going to be at this place for about four years of your life, so a little bit of research definitely pays off.  Good luck in finding the right fit!

Peace,

Tyler

It’s been an age-old debate: should you stay close to home to attend college, or should you go farther away?  This title reference to the famous Clash song pertains to your college choice, specifically choosing to go near or far for school.  I’d like to say that I’ve seen people be immensely happy with both decisions.  I’ll go over some of the pros and cons of each side, but ultimately it depends on the type of person that you are.  

If you stay near home for school, you’ll be really familiar with the area.  This is useful for showing your friends around and having established connections with community members to help you get ahead.  Staying close additionally helps in the unfortunate case (but it does sometimes happen) of illness or tragedy where it helps to have family close by.

Many of my friends who went to school close to where they live say that college opens up a whole new world of opportunities both socially and academically that allow you to look at your surroundings in a new light.  So going to college near your home doesn’t have to be boring at all: you’ll find plenty of exciting things to do and new friends to do them with.

Going to school far away can give you a sense of adventure.  You’ll get to explore a new area and see what aspects of it you like.  By going away, I believe that you can better assess what you want in a future place to live because you get to see diversity.  College friends who are from the area will be more than happy to show you around and you may even become close to a friend’s family.

Going away to a far school also can improve independence. Knowing that you are there totally on your own is something that can be a scary thought for many people, but overcoming those fears to become self-sufficient without the help of your family can be a great learning experience.

So, here’s a bit on going near or far to college.  Think about these things and how each fits you in making your decision.  Good luck with everything!

Peace,

Tyler

Deciding on one’s major is one of the most difficult decisions once in college.  It’s an important decision and I urge you to take some time researching and discovering yourself and your school to make the decision.  As I am in the process of discovering my major at UCLA, I think that I have some interesting thoughts to share.

If you are still trying to choose a major, you are in the majority and are not far behind (unless you somehow late in your third year or fourth year in college).  The average college student changes their major somewhere between five to seven times, so if you’re struggling with this, you’re not alone.    Most colleges don’t even require you to declare a major until after your sophomore year, so take some time to explore.

My first encouragement would be to take classes that interest you.  I honestly believe that it is important to learn for the sake of learning.  You should take classes that will give you the opportunity to learn something new or possibly introduce you to something that you have never thought about before.  Then, when you’re in the class, don’t cram to just do well on your midterms and final; actually learn the information.  By learning in this manner, you can find what subjects interest you and which ones do not.

Your major should be something that you are interested in; in this capacity, you will do your best and enjoy school the most.  If you want to go into a specific profession such as law or medicine that requires graduate school, you can be in any major; you just need to take some prerequisite classes depending on the graduate school.  With the breath of knowledge through a diversity of classes, you can find which classes suit you best.  You’ll find what class format you like, what subjects are interesting to you, and which subjects are taught well at your school.  This will help you to decide your major.

I would also highly encourage you to explore a job in the real world and do a summer internship at the place that you are interested in.  Find some parent or other adult that you’ve heard about and ask them if you can work with them.  Really, don’t be shy, most adults would be happy to take on someone that they can teach their job to and can help them out.  There are also summer internships that you can apply for, which often are nice, but I also believe that working with an adult that you already know can work out great.  You can do this anywhere from a week to an entire summer, but make sure that you spend enough time at whatever job it may be so that you get a good feel for what actually goes on.

By finding a career that you could enjoy through a summer internship, this can help direct you to a major.  If you like your internship, ask people in that workplace what they majored in and explore some of those fields.

I hope that this is helpful to you for choosing a major.  Taking a breath of classes and a summer internship have been two invaluable experiences for me to learn more about myself and what my interests are.  Have a wonderful day!

Peace,

Tyler

We all develop some sort of friendships in our high school years and as we transition to college, we want to maintain those bonds.  When making the college decision, it may be more comfortable to attend a school where you know that your friends are there.  Additionally, friends may want you to go to the same school that they are attending.

This may sound appealing, but I warn you, do not make your college decision based on the places that your friends are attending.  The college decision is an individual process in which you can discover more about yourself as a person.  Although high school friendships are important and I strongly recommend keeping in touch with high school friends after high school, you will meet many new friends in college.

Any individual friendship can deteriorate.  If you base your college decision on a single friendship, your reasons for attending a school may not be as strong as they should be when making an informed college decision.   I also believe that by going to college without a close friend, you force yourself to make friends more quickly and establish yourself at school.

This being said, in some cases it may be nice to know someone at a college you are attending, especially if that college is far away from home.  So, I encourage you to take others into account in the college decision, but to mainly base that decision on your individual needs desires for a college.  Trust me, you’ll meet tons of great friends if you choose the place that fits you best because you’ll be surrounded by others that the college is also a good fit for.  Have a wonderful day!

Peace,

Tyler

If you are going to college with a close friend from high school, I’m sure that you’ve talked about rooming together.  I’ve seen people really enjoy this setup in numerous cases, but I’ve also noticed that these people often don’t meet as many people in college or get involved in as many activities.  High school friends who room together can often appear distant to their college peers, unintentionally isolating themselves with inside jokes and references that others don’t understand. 

If you opt to have a random roommate, you’ll be more open to new people and new experiences.  As a result,  you’ll make more friends and give yourself more opportunity to grow.  If you and your high school buddy really have a strong friendship, you’ll stay close regardless of whether you room together.  Hopefully by having separate freshman dorm experiences you’ll both develop new friend circles.  Then both of you can expand your network of friends by introducing each other to the new people you’ve met (wow, I sound like I’m using Facebook or Myspace). 

If you still want to room together after freshman year, go for it.  By then you’ll be acclimated to the college environment and you’ll have a good group of friends from freshman year.  Until then, I encourage you to choose a random roommate for your freshman year.  It worked out great for me.  If you are worried about your roommate being a head case, know that you can always apply to change housing and that you will have a great story to tell in the future.  It’s all just part of the true college experience.

Peace,

Tyler