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After a full night of working on my Lauren Slater paper for my Lying, Cheating, and Stealing seminar, I stumbled into my dorm room at about 1 pm, ready for an epic afternoon nap. Not even bothering to change into pjs, I took the bare effort of tossing my boots and sliding into bed, with my contacts still in my eyes. I tossed and turned for a bit, having reached the point where I was too tired to fall asleep. Thoughts of how much my paper sucked and how I never wanted to get out of bed because eventually I’d have to be confronted by a terrible grade drifted through my head until I finally fell asleep.

At some point the dorm fire alarm sounded, and I knew I had to get up and go outside. With great difficulty I managed to muster open a single eyelid, and I could hear the trampling sounds of several people walking down the stairs near my room. The alarm was still ringing, and as I looked around the room through blurry vision, I realized that I could not physically lift my head. Panic started to settle in as I realized that it was not just my head that I could not move, but my arms and legs were completely limp and all my mental efforts to move were not being executed by my limbs. I was wide awake, but my body was not, and I was trapped inside of it for what felt like hours. After panically reciting a few prayers, thinking I was about to die, I managed to somehow put my mind back to sleep, and the next time I woke up, I could fully move again.

This wasn’t the first time that I had experienced sleep paralysis. I could recall experiencing a similar sensation my senior fall of high school, but at the time I just assumed it was either a very lucid nightmare or just something I was mentally conjuring up before I’d actually wake up. It wasn’t until this horrifying fire alarm experience that I realized this “dream about being paralyzed” was actually happening and wasn’t a dream at all.

What is sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is when your mind is in an active state of consciousness, but your body is still in a state of atonia, so you can’t physically move or even speak. Before it was recognized as a medical condition, cultures from East Asia to Africa to Japan to Europe found ways to attribute this occurrence to demonic forces pressing upon the body during sleep. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, references to incubus and succubus, various demons that would lie on top of humans, were made and possibly formed the basis of some of the accusations made during the Salem Witch Trials. Actually, a recent study found that 90% of Mexican adolescents interviewed described sleep paralysis as a “dead body climbed on top of me.”

Sleep paralysis really isn’t as scary as all that, but in the moment of experiencing total incapacitation, it is truly horrifying. Before I knew what it was, I would wake up shivering and crying, and I would have to turn on the lights and watch TV or read before I could fall back asleep. Fortunately, aside from the panic factor, there really is nothing harmful about sleep paralysis, and its worst it has some distant link to narcolepsy.

What causes it?

Sleep paralysis usually occurs as you fall asleep or as you wake up from sleeping. The causes vary, but most often it can be attributed to loss of sleep/changes in sleep patterns, stress, sleeping on your back, underlying mood disorders, narcolepsy, and even substance abuse. For me, I’ve usually found that it occurs either during moments of high stress or if I’m laying on my back while napping in the middle of the afternoon. The times it occurred most frequently were during my senior year of high school, junior and senior year of college, and my first year of law school, all of which were high-stress periods. Very few formal studies exist on the frequency of the occurrence of sleep paralysis among college students, but my bet is that it can get pretty high around exam time and most people don’t recognize what it is.

How to treat it:

There is no real way to treat sleep paralysis, but I’ve found that just having an awareness of what it is has helped reduce the panic factor when it does happen. At this point it’s been ingrained in my head that this is just a weird harmless thing like the hiccups, and I know to talk myself into going back to sleep when it happens. Initially, I’d get thrown into major panic mode, which only made the sleep paralysis worse. The key is to finding a way to relax so that your mind can go back to sleep and re-awake with your body.

The post Sleep Paralysis: The College Curse appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Yes, it sucks.

It’s around that time of year again: midterms! Time to “skim and scan” your way through hundreds of pages of reading you never did and attempt to understand the problem sets that your TA somehow thought you did right. If you’re debating how to go about tackling the ridiculous amount of studying heading your way, have no fear! Group studying might be the best way to earn that A. Yes, group studying sucks when reading devolves into gossip about last Saturday night and the cutest new animal videos on Buzzfeed. But with a bit of ingenuity and dedication, studying in a group may actually benefit you a lot more than hanging out solo in a library cubicle.

Choose your group wisely

Studying for an American Politics exam? Gather people in that class. Period. Assuming that your group of close friends on campus leads to a focused study group is probably very wrong (but potentially fun). The people in your class are taking the same test as you and are probably just as stressed- they want to do well too! So if you’re that guy giggling at videos of goats screaming like humans in the corner, then they’ll probably hate you, ignore you, and you’ll probably fail. So if you really want to study, choose people who will definitely push you to get you stuff together over people that make you laugh.

AKA The Library is literally a watering hole during finals.

Make a Plan of Action

So you need to review Chapter 17, talk about resonant structures, and write every possible polymer of a molecule for your upcoming chemistry exam. WRITE THAT DOWN. Communicate with your group so you can understand what everyone wants to practice, accomplish, and discuss. That way the group is already steered in a particular direction and there are goals in mind for the entire group experience. Having goals in mind sets the tone for the entire study group session. By the time it’s over, you’ll feel more accomplished if you and everyone else actually studied.

Write it down! (Even if it’s in your heart shaped scented notebook)

Time to Talk/Time to Read

Every time I study with my friends, reading rapidly devolves into talking…which leads to gossip..which leads to funny gifs…which leads to baby animal pictures…which leads to hours and hours of procrastination instead of studying. If you want to make group studying work, set aside fifteen minutes after every hour to just unwind and talk. Focusing for an entire hour without interruption definitely deserves a reward. By incentivizing the study experience for everyone, there is more reason to focus to get to the reward on the other side of the steep hill of problems and readings.

If Johnny Depp can focus, so can you.

Get Your Really Focused Friend to Study With You

So there’s a guy on your floor that’s an Engineering major and he’s an absolute genius. That’s right. Study with him. If you surround yourself with people that are constantly getting their work done, then human nature will compel you to get your stuff done too. There’s nothing worse than feeling like a failure because your still doing your history reading but your study buddy is already finished with work for three of his classes. It’s all about perspective and company.

Gotta love the nerds.

The post How to Make Study Groups Work appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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At 9:50 I scurried up the stairs to the reception area. “Hey Joanne, I’ll be right back. I just have to move my car,” was how I reminded the school receptionist that 10 AM was fast approaching. Being only an Adjunct, I didn’t have access to the Faculty Parking Lot, whose spaces were assigned to those who had passed the 15-year mark. All others had to subject themselves to the torture of finding a parking spot on the streets of Providence every 2 hours because of a stupid ordinance Cicilline passed while mayor. After wracking up 3 parking tickets in the span of a month, I knew better than to risk leaving my fate in the hands of the vigilant Providence meter maids.

Starting the car parked on Waterman, I took a quick left onto Cooke and then cruised down to the intersection of Angell and Hope. Not a spot to be found next to the school, so I turn right onto Hope, swing a left onto Cushing, and hope for the best as I approach Thayer. Cars line both sides of the street indicating an ominous parking situation, but I take a chance on seeing what I find once I turn left onto Thayer. Shit. Thayer is one way and there are cars parked bumper to bumper on both sides…except, a Sequoia is pulling out from East Side Pockets. Oh crap. I don’t think I can slide into the slot. Shit. I’ve got to parallel park. Goddamnit.

Okay, Sara, that Sequoia was a beast of an automobile. I know you’re driving an SUV, but you’ve got this. Shit! That was the curb. Crap. I can’t tell if I have enough room to cut it without hitting anything. Wait. Let me try pulling out and doing it again. STOP HONKING AT ME ASSHOLE! I. SEE. YOU. GIVE ME A BREAK–I THINK IT’S CLEAR TO YOU THAT I CAN’T PARALLEL PARK. THE HONKING IS NOT HELPING THE SITUATION, YOU MOTHERFUC…SHIT! That was the curb again. You know what forget it. I’ll just go to Charlesfield and just walk.

I got my driver’s license on my first try in January 2005. Yet, because the Rhode Island DMV is more ridiculous than most DMVs, I was never tested on parallel parking. As a result, I never really learned how to parallel park. The combination of never owning a car, heavily relying on public transportation, going to a school with a walkable campus, and living abroad meant that I never really drove all that much anyway, let alone parallel parked like a pro. Yet, as I gave up that spot in search of another one I could just slide right into, I noticed that the car that was honking at me was being driven by someone who was probably only 18 and who very deftly managed to parallel park. At the age of 24, maybe I can’t blame the Rhode Island DMV for my driving deficiencies anymore. This got me thinking about all of the other things we really should be able to do by the time we hit our 20s.

1. Swallowing Pills

I had an outstanding warrant on this one until a couple of years ago. Where most 12-year-olds could swallow whole capsules without even a cup of water, I had to buy the liquid Tylenol, the sole market of which is supposed to be the senior citizen crowd. I used Dimetapp well into my college years, and if I ever had to travel to a country that required taking malaria pills, I’d have to break up the pills in water or juice and then consume it.

It wasn’t until I was living in China 2 years ago that I finally learned how to swallow pills. I had developed a respiratory infection, and the only way to treat it was to swallow these pills that looked like Smints. My Chinese was limited at the time, but I understood that if I wanted to get rid of this nasty cough, I’d have to swallow my fears and swallow those pills.

This is a skill to work on, my friends. Pills are a lot cheaper than the liquid varieties, and once you hit your mid-20s, all sorts of weird illnesses and ailments start to pop up that require prescription meds, most of which only come in pill form.

2. Driving

Yes, New Yorkers, this one is being directed at you. I distinctly remember in my freshman year going to some event that required showing an official ID and seeing one of my New York friends pulling out her passport. She had lived in the City her entire life, and the only times she had ever ridden in a car were in taxis to and from the airport. Otherwise, it was all about the public transportation for her.

I’ll be the first to say that I would take public transportation over driving any day of the week because I’m a big fan of subways and trains. But, at some point, you do need to learn how to drive, otherwise you’ll restrict yourself in everything from your job hunt to relationships to general activities and exploration. Plus, you don’t want to be put in that situation where you’re on a business trip with some colleagues, and they ask you to drive the rental.

3. Cooking/Baking

You will save so much money if you learn how to do this. Takeout can only sustain you for so long. Plus making your own food is a lot healthier because you can actually see what’s going into your meal. At the very least, learn how to make pancakes, because even if the person you’re dating doesn’t like pancakes, they will always appreciate it when someone makes it for them.

4. Cleaning a Toilet

Boys, if you’re going to suck at aiming and if you’re going to leave the toilet seat up all of the time and if you’re going to puke in it after a crazy night out, at the very least learn how to clean the toilet bowl. Believe it or not, they sell these things called toilet bowl brushes that put you at a good arm’s length away from the toilet. Also, most cleaners have bleach in it, so that should help with the grossness factor. If you put in the minimal effort of maintaining the cleanliness of your toilet every 2 weeks, you’ll save yourself a lot of hassel and disgust.

5. Ironing

Dress pants are hard. I get it. You have to get the crease just right.

6. Talking on the Phone

We live in the age of texting, and I get that. I hate talking on the phone. But, it’s a life skill that should be learned, because your grandparents and some of your parents still haven’t caught up to 2012 yet. Also, talking on the phone with confidence is critical because when you start applying to jobs, the screening process for in-person interviews is often conducted entirely on the phone.

7. Gender-Specific Tasks

Using a Tampon

I imagine any guy who just read this subtitle flinched violently, so move on to the next one if menstruation causes you severe discomfort (join the club…we deal with it every month). What’s interesting about this one is the girls who I know who are afraid to use tampons are all sexually active.  That little string is pretty strong, and I assure you that your tampon will not get stuck inside of you. If it does, just go to the doctor. As for all of the scary TSS warnings, just make sure you wash your hands before and after, and you should be fine. Tampons will make your life so much easier because they’re super convenient to carry around and sneak into the bathroom when you’re in the middle of class.

Tying a Tie

At 17, my brother still can’t do this, and all of his ties have zippers. I have very little faith that he will learn this skill before the age of 20. Because the zip ties mostly cater to 10-year-olds going to weddings for the first time, they all have little sailboats on them. Do yourself a solid and learn how to tie a tie just so you can get some variety in your life.

8. Changing a Lightbulb

My first two years of college, I would totally avoid screwing the bulbs into my awesome floor lamp. My dad would do it on Move-In Day, and then I’d have him change them again when he came to visit and one happened to be out. But, in my junior year, I moved in to my dorm all on my own, and so I had to bite the bullet and learn how to do it for myself. Believe it or not, it’s actually one of the easiest tasks in the world, but for some reason I was always super afraid that once I put in the bulb and plugged in the cord, the lamp would explode.

9. Writing a Check

Plastic and cash don’t work for everything as one of my TAs found out the hard way. The looks on the faces when she asked me where her signature went on the check were priceless.

10. Laundry

Oh come on! This is something you should have learned how to do before you ever set foot on a college campus. This one girl in the year above me was filthy rich and always sent her laundry out. Don’t be sad. There’s no need to ever have to do this.

11. Using a Coffee Machine

I am a coffee junkie, yet I have never used a coffee pot. All of that filter nonsense kind of intimidates me, and I avoid getting coffee at one of the school’s I teach at because I’m afraid of screwing up the machine. If I ever make coffee at home, I buy the instant stuff and I heat the water in the microwave. Otherwise, I stick with tea. I’m in no hurry to rectify this flaw.

12. Reading a Map

For a girl, I have a pretty excellent sense of direction and a way with maps. It mostly comes from having lived in Beijing where for at least 3 months I didn’t know how to read street signs in Chinese, and so I had to rely on landmarks and subway stations in order to figure out where I was and where I needed to be. But, for some odd reason, most girls are truly terrible at reading maps. Listen, ladies when you do get lost with a guy, be it your best friend, brother, boyfriend, or husband, you will need to figure out how to read the map that he clearly misread. It will save you hours of pain and frustration trying to figure out where you are and possibly save your relationship.

13. Waking Up Before 8 AM

This is just a good life skill to have even while you’re in college because it will just give you so much more time to do things. The hardest part about working at internships during the summers in college was altering that college mentality of 10:30 AM being an early morning. I definitely was not at my personal best at 7 AM, and sadly it did reflect in my work performance at one of my internships (it also didn’t help that my coworkers would just blatantly take naps at their desks during the middle of the day, but apparently that’s a normal thing in China). Seriously, though, waking up early will just enrich your life and also give you somewhat of a psychological advantage because while you’re fellow collegians are snoozing, you’ll be cruising.

14. Drinking Responsibly

When you go home this winter break after spending a semester of drinking without consequences, don’t be driving drunk. Ever. A DUI will be the least of your problems after you’re on trial for involuntary manslaughter for killing the parents of a toddler in a New Year’s Eve crash.

15. Killing Spiders

I’ve found that when I’m with people whose well-being is in my hands, like my students for example, I’m more willing to sack up and kill these vindictive, furry beasts. If there’s a man around, I’ll scream and let him take care of it. Although for the sake of everyone’s eardrums, try to get over it and just kill. At least you saw it before you went to bed and it ended up on your face.

16. Using a Lighter

If you don’t smoke or if you don’t live in a third world country where blackouts are frequent, you probably never have had the occasion to use a lighter. But, it’s a nifty thing to learn how to do in the event that a storm knocks down your power lines or if you have to light the candles for your niece’s birthday cake.

17. Applying Eyeliner

This one isn’t so much about the fear of impaling yourself with a crayon as it is about perfecting the line around your eyes. If you’ve never used it, it’s pretty easy to live without, unless you’re cornered by a department store makeup artist. Such a thing happened to me when I was studying abroad in England, and I was shopping for mascara for this May Ball I was attending. This large Lebanese woman accosted me and asked if I was planning on applying eyeliner. Like an idiot, I said no. She held me hostage for an hour until I could do a reasonable job of applying it.

18. Typing Properly

Remember when you had to take keyboarding classes in middle school. Turns out they were on to something. It takes so much less time to write essays when you learn how to type properly because you can actually focus on your ideas and writing rather than trying to find “K” on the keyboard.

19. Picking up Hair from Shower Drain

As much fun as it is to severely annoy your brothers and sisters by not picking your hair out of the drain, your fellow dorm-mates will not appreciate it and will find ways to make your life hell. After a few weeks, everyone knows who the culprit is, so don’t think you’ll get away with it, even if you do have blonde hair.

20. Being on Time

Aside from rudeness, nothing grates on me more than people who are late. It’s something I’ve had to deal with my whole life because my entire extended family runs on CPT (Colored People Time). I’ve carried this pet peeve of mine with me into the professional world where I’ll be significantly less likely to hire someone if they’re even a minute late.

The mastery of this could very well determine whether or not you get hired, whether or not you get beyond the first date, and whether or not you make that midnight train going anywhere.

The post 20 Life Skills We *Should* Have Mastered Before Our 20s appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Over the past few months it has been made abundantly clear to me that I am the last person in the world who owns a Blackberry. On a regular basis, my friends rail on me at the bar whenever I put my phone on the table. The question “how does it feel to live in a world populated by better phones than the one you have” has been raised more than once. When a student of mine asked if I had an Instagram, she looked genuinely embarrassed for me when I told her A) I didn’t have Instagram because I had a Blackberry and B) Even if I did, I’d never let her follow me or whatever it is you do with Instagram. In fact, nothing hit home harder than having a Baby Boomer colleague of mine tell me to go back to the 90s as he pulled out his iPhone.

Yet, despite all of the shit that I get for having a Blackberry, I’m sticking by it. The Blackberry has served me quite well over the past year and a half, and I totally defend my decision of opting for it over the iPhone when I was selecting my first smart phone. Here are a few of the under-appreciated merits of the Blackberry:

1. The Keyboard

In an age where most people opt to text over calling, the Qwerty Keyboard is a pretty clutch component of this “not-so-smart” phone, as some individuals would call it. As any of my friends could tell you, I’m a texting fiend, mostly because I feel as though I better at communicating via the written word over spoken language. The touch-screen is a major irritation because it slows you down and tends to freeze up on you more often. I used to have an iPod Touch, and typing notes and responding to emails on that thing was such a pain.

2. The Compact Nature

At one point or another, my friends have also pointed out that the keyboard is something that you can find on Android phones as well. But, here’s what I throw back at them–the Blackberry is hella smaller. Ever since I made the switch from an old school phone to a smart phone, I’ve noticed that I started to drop my phone a lot more. Before acquiring the Blackberry, I had the same Motorola phone for 5 years and had never dropped it. Smartphones are awkwardly bulky, and if I’m already having major issues physically holding on to my Blackberry, I don’t even want to think about the screen damage I’d inflict on an iPhone. It would be catastrophic, and I have no desire to shell out $70 for a “life-proof” case.

3. The Battery Life

Because my app use is limited to Facebook, Twitter, and Brick Breaker when I’m bored waiting in line and have forgotten my book, my battery life is pretty fricken awesome. Minus a minor mishap last week, if I fully charge my battery the night before, it can last me from 5 AM to 3 AM the following day. I’ve never been in the situation where I’m out and I can’t contact the friend I’m supposed to meet up with.

But, wait, you say. That means you’ve never experienced Words with Friends, Draw Something, or SnapChat. Yes, you are correct, I’ve never paid the cost in battery life to join the app fads. But, honestly, I’ve already found so many other ways to waste my time that being denied access to these apps is probably for the better.

4. The Theft-Proof Quality

No one in their right mind would ever lift a Blackberry. I could leave it anywhere in the library during finals, a time when there is a dramatic rise in theft, and I assure you it would still be right where I left it. I would feel completely and totally safe walking the streets of any urban campus with phone in hand, because I know that any person who tried to mug me would probably have a much better phone than me. Actually, in a twisted sort of way, it would kind of be amusing to see the look of disgust on a thief’s face when s/he saw that instead of scoring a nice Samsung Galaxy, they ended up with a Blackberry Curve. To reiterate, no one’s taking this phone.

5. The Talking Point

Let’s face it, Blackberry owners are growing sparse. Yet like a rare species of bird, these phone users are exotic and unique and should be coveted. I can’t begin to tell you the number of times my phone has been the subject of great interest and began many a flirtatious conversation. Tactics of hitting on the opposite sex haven’t exactly changed since Middle School and teasing is still the modus operandi of choice by most guys. Having that Blackberry out in the open at the bar definitely helps aid and abet this behavior. Plus, the nice thing about having a uniquely antiquated phone is that it makes you stick in people’s minds. You’re first impression runs deeps.

The post In Defense of the Blackberry appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Finals are finally almost over! After what’s always a long and painful couple of weeks, all of that stress and panic will finally be done and over with…at least until next semester. The sentiment after completing your penultimate final generally can be summed up with this phrase, “Get me the hell out of here.” But, before you  make a beeline to the train station, make sure to take care of these items before you leave campus. Otherwise, you will find that things got weird while you were away for 5 weeks.

Around the Dorm/Apartment

• Clean out your fridge and throw out any perishable items (ex. milk). You also might want to toss any opened non-perishables because no one wants to walk into their place after a long journey back and have to deal with mice and roaches.

• Take out your trash. You know the place where you just dumped all of that food? Well, it’s going to do you no good if it’s still sitting in your room decomposing.

• Make your bed, dust, vacuum. Yes, your room is going to get all dusty while you’re away for break, but you’re better off leaving it clean for 2 reasons. One, it will cut down on how much you have to clean when you return. Two, colleges do weird things with their heating systems over breaks. It’s not as though they just shut them off. They tend to run experiments on how to best optimize the heating system. With that being said, you don’t want the weird combination of heat and cold to interact with whatever mold is growing under your bed.

• Toss your notebooks/materials from this semester’s classes. Unless you’re taking a continuation of the class in the spring or absolutely 100% know you will need your notes from a particular class, you should just recycle that shit now. You’re probably already in cramped quarters. Don’t forfeit your bed to a bunch of notes on Dependency Theory.

• Unplug everything and turn out the lights. What’s the use about bring up environmental arguments in class, when you won’t unplug your lamp before leaving for 5 weeks.

• Make sure you lock your door and put your valuables out of plain sight.

Packing

Get real. You aren’t going to need 5 pairs of pants, 4 dressy items, 4 pairs of shoes, and 8 shirts. Yeah, it’s 5 weeks, but if you think about it, most of your time will be spent in your pajamas. Especially now that airlines charge for bags, you best try and fit everything into a carry-on bag.

• Things to pack in bulk: socks, underwear, pajamas
• 2 pairs of shoes, boots and dress shoes. You’re definitely not going to end up going to the gym, so leave the trainers at school.
• Cell phone charger. Trying to share a charger between siblings is something that should never be done. It always ends in physical violence.
• Laptop charger. See above.
• Toothbrush and deodorant. For a couple of winter breaks, I flew to Virginia to my aunt’s house right after exams. Both times I assumed she would have extra toothbrushes and deodorants because my uncle works as a CVS pharmacist, and they are always giving him stuff. I was wrong, and I felt kind of gross for 3 days each time I went.
• Passport. Yeah, chief, good luck making it back overseas without it.
• iPod and headphones. I forgot these in my dorm one winter break, which was the same break during which I went to Amsterdam, as well as take a 4 hour train ride to New York and back. I was miserable.

Around Campus

• Return or resell your books. Don’t be an idiot. You’re not going to do it when you get back from break. A lot of booksellers buyback during finals week, and if you’re going to FedEx anyway to mail off some gifts, you might as well ship off your books so some poor bastard on eBay or Amazon can buy them. Plus, if you play your cards right, you could end up with a hefty chunk of change.
• Withdraw money from the ATM. It’ll just make your life easier when you have to pay for stuff at whatever train, plane, bus station you’re at. For example, to buy commuter rail tickets to Boston from Providence, you have to pay in cash, and there is only one ATM at the train station that is out of order more often than not.
• Check your campus mailbox. Chances are there’s nothing but junk in there, but you never know when you’ll receive an important letter or in my case, an unexpected box of contact lenses I had ordered 2.5 months before.
• Say goodbye to your friends. They will chew you out if you don’t, and your next semester might not start off on the right foot.

Safe Travels and Happy Holidays!

The post The Post-Finals, Pre-Winter Break To Do List appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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“One thing at a time” has been my mantra when I get overwhelmed. I find myself saying this more and more as finals come around. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to complete all the things that need to get done before the semester ends.

It’s not like I don’t see it coming. I started my finals preparation two weeks in advance this semester. Still, here I am, pontificating about how I’m going to get such a prodigious workload done in such a short period of time. I’ve come to realize that this feeling is inevitable—and you should too.

I need to preface this by saying that I’m the kind of person who always feels like he’s never doing enough. I overload myself to avoid the feeling of unproductiveness. I loathe unproductiveness. What I’ve reluctantly come to accept is that it happens to many people. So I’ll be brief with my insight as I know you should be studying and not procrastinating with this column.

I could sit here and give you some kind of list about the five best things to do to prepare for finals, but I’d feel like a phony. Everyone is different. Drinking a sixer of Redbulls and popping Adderall all night might be a terrible solution for some of us. It is for me.

I’ve heard all the typical finals-week horror stories. Last year, I remember watching some poor freshman lose grasp of her own mind. She had to be escorted out by her friends—tears streaming down her face. It’s a real issue that needs to be taken seriously.

The only thing I can offer you is my mantra—and that’s to take one thing at a time.

As I write this, I currently have six projects due next week…and then finals. God forbid you have to work too like myself and a lot of other college students do. The situation makes you feel vulnerable because it seems so insurmountable—like it’s out of your hands. I’m telling you it’s not though. You just need to take one step back. View things like a recipe out of a cookbook. Sure, you can do some preparation, but in order to finish, you need to go step-by-step. I’m telling you to analyze one thing at a time.

Take a minute to push the notion of blowing your brains out aside. Stop focusing on everything that needs to be done. Believe me, it’s too overwhelming anyway. This is a universal dilemma. So logically, taking your workload and chopping it up into individual tasks will help maintain your sanity.

I must admit, it’s therapeutic just to write about this process. It makes things feel more manageable. That’s all anyone wants during finals week—isn’t it?

Whatever your dead week ritual is; whether you put yourself on a strict diet of caffeine and uppers or sleep more than usual, just remember this mantra: one thing at a time. It works with whatever finals regiment you’re on and can improve your quality of life during future arduous endeavors—like next semester’s finals.

The post One Thing At A Time: Sanity In The Time of Finals appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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We’ve all been there. You need to get to the grocery store, laundromat, possibly even your drug dealer’s house, but you don’t have a car. Well, I’m here to tell you that just because you don’t have wheels doesn’t mean you can’t get around—you’ve just got to be clever about it. Here are ten quick and dirty tips for getting around without a whip.

10. Ride a Bike:

Duh.

9. Put a Freaking Motorcycle Engine on Your Bike

Everyone whose ever ridden a bike knows how much pedaling up a steep hill sucks. But what if you didn’t have to? Well, thanks to scientific advancements in the field of wildly unsafe transportation, you can now attach a freaking motorcycle engine to your boring old bicycle. Golden Eagle Bike Engines will sell you everything you need to mount a gas-powered engine on your bike, for the low, low price of $650. Yeah, it might not the most economical option for getting around, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t the most badass.

This man gets more ass than a toilet seat at Chipotle.

8. Take Up Longboarding

Longboarding is a great way to commute while looking like a boss, provided you don’t suck at it. If you do, you’ll just be hurting and embarrassing yourself. Should you choose to ride a longboard, do the world a favor and don’t be a dick about it: try not to weave between cars in traffic, and let cars behind you pass if there’s a suitable bike lane to ride in. Don’t give the rest of us a bad name; we know where you live.

7. Befriend People With Cars

Wait a second, would I really advocate making friends with someone for the sole purpose of mooching free rides? Of course I would. A friend with weed is a friend indeed, but a friend with a car is…better. So make nice, and remember the old adage: Gas, grass, or ass; nobody rides for free.

Except for the guy with the gun. He rides for free.

6. Join a Car Share Program

Car shares are a nice middle ground between having and not having a car, and will let you get the feel of being behind the wheel again without having to carjack some helpless old lady. Zipcar is one of the most popular options, with outlets in 15 cities. If your city isn’t on the list, don’t despair. There is most likely a car share program available to you (provided you don’t live in the middle of the desert or at the bottom of the sea.)

5. Ride a Segway

One of the most economical and ridiculous looking means of personal transportation, the Segway is a great way to get around if you don’t mind looking like a complete jackass. Just try not to ride yours off a cliff, like (no shit) the former owner of the entire Segway corporation.

4. Search Craigslist

Craigslist can be a great resource for finding rides to and from places, if you aren’t too picky about whom you’ll be travelling with. It’s especially useful when there’s an event such as a concert or festival going on, and a lot of people from your area are going. Of course there is a small possibility that you could get murdered by a crazed psychopath using Craigslist to lure in victims, but that’s an issue that you were probably going to have to face sooner or later anyway.

C’mon, this guy looks legit.

3. Ride a Rascal

Who says Rascal scooters are only for the elderly/morbidly obese? Last I checked, there were no qualifications required to own a Rascal, only a love for cup holders and a strong dislike for anything involving physical movement.

God, I love this country.

2. Take the Damn Bus

What, you’re too good to ride the bus? Listen here: just because public buses are cramped and sweaty and smell a bit like urine doesn’t mean you should discount them. Most college towns have some sort of a deal with the local public transit authority; in my city, I can ride a bus for free as long as I have my student ID. Yes, you heard me, I said free. If that word doesn’t immediately make you start yipping and shaking your ass around like an excited puppy, you probably haven’t been in college for very long.

1. Just Walk, You Lazy Bastard

It’s not like you couldn’t use the exercise anyway.

Pictures courtesy of http://www.megaton-suntan.com, http://www.popularmechanics.com, http://farm4.static.flickr.com, http://www.massachusettscriminaldefenseattorneyblog.com, http://images.mylot.com

The post “Can I Bum a Ride?” How to Deal With Not Having a Car In College appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Cutting Board: Lemon

Lemon peels have antimicrobial characteristics so you can use them to clean your house without all those harsh chemicals. Cut a lemon in half and scrub the lemon on the cutting board. The lemon juice and peel can kill a large portion of germs on the cutting board. This scrubbing will break up small bits of food, and even help kill bacteria left over by raw meat or poultry.

Kitchen Surfaces: Rubbing Alcohol

Instead of purchasing expensive sprays that have many strong chemicals with harsh smells, you can make disinfectant sprays that are a lot cheaper. In a spray bottle, mix together one part bleach to three parts water. It will remove stains from the kitchen, or bathroom, and make surfaces whiter.

Removing Odors: Vanilla 

Sometime, no matter how much Febreze you use, stubborn smells just won’t go away for long. Try soaking pure vanilla on a cotton ball and place it in a saucer in the room that has a foul odor. Instead of a room, you can also put the saucers in a car or refrigerator has a strange smell. Just make sure to replace the cotton ball every few weeks.

Dishwasher: Vinegar

If you live in an apartment or on campus you probably have a dishwasher that doesn’t clean very well no matter how much detergent you put in it. Just add a few tablespoons of vinegar along with the dishwasher detergent before you start the machine. The vinegar will cut the grease easier and leave your dishes sparkly clean without any scrubbing.

Disinfect Sponges: Microwave

Sponges are constantly wet, and it is much easier for bacteria to grow on wet surfaces. Instead of buying a new sponge, disinfect smelly sponges by putting them in the microwave. Wet the sponge thoroughly and place it in the microwave for about a minute. When you see steam coming from the sponge, the bacteria in the sponge will be dead so you can stop the microwave. Just make sure to remove it carefully, because it will be really hot.

Dusting: Dryer Sheet

Instead of using your expensive Swiffer rags to dust counters or the floor just whip out a few dryer sheets. Just dust as usual, but use the dryer sheet instead of the Swiffer sheets. You’ll be amazed by what clings to the dryer sheet; you can even use some used sheets instead of new ones.

Cleaning Coffee Maker: Vinegar 

Most people don’t think about cleaning the coffee maker, but germs can get caught in places you can’t reach. Just pour straight vinegar into it as if you are making the coffee. Turn the coffee maker on and just let it run as normal. Just repeat the process with new vinegar until the vinegar comes out clear.

Stove Top: Salt

Cleaning the stove top can be really hard because spilled food will get burnt-on and is almost impossible to clean. To make it easier to clean up spills on your stove, sprinkle the spills immediately with salt. When the oven has cooled, the burnt-on food will come off easily with a damp sponge.

Mirrors: Coffee Filters

Paper towels are soft and can leave a lot of fuzz behind when you are trying to clean mirrors or windows. Try cleaning your mirrors with coffee filters because you can feel any particles stuck to the glass and easily scrub or scrape them off. They are much cheaper and more effective than paper towels, and won’t leave any fuzz on the glass.

Couches: Rubbing Alcohol

If you live in a dorm or apartment that is furnished, you probably have couches with some questionable stains. First vacuum the couch, then spray a mixture of rubbing alcohol and water onto the area and rub with the scouring side of a new scrubbing sponge. This will remove stains and make your couch look new and fresh.

The post 10 Tips That Will Make Cleaning Your Apartment 1 Million Times Easier appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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However, researchers define napping a little different than most students. For a nap to be beneficial they should be a 20 to 30 minute power nap, or as some researcher call it, a NASA nap. A NASA nap is a 26-minute nap and it increases performance by 34% and alertness by 54%.

Here are reasons why you should avoid the dreaded all-nighter and take some naps to break up the late night of studying:

Better Memory

Have you ever gone to sleep after watching a scary movie only to wake up in the middle of the night thinking that the same thing is happening to you? What happened is that your brain takes freshly stored information and incorporates it into the dream. Your brain rolls around all of that new information, and stores it in your memory while you sleep, which makes it easier to recall later. If you sleep right after you study, your information retention will soar. A nap after an intense study session will not only rejuvenate you for the rest of the day, but also help your brain absorb all the new information you have learned.

Judgment

Have you ever made a decision after a long day of studying that you later regretted? In college you are faced with hard decisions every day. If you are tired, your brain doesn’t process information well and you end up making a decision that you would not normally make. Taking naps will make you feel rested and make better decisions. Taking naps also leaves you in a better mood so you won’t get annoyed with people if they are trying to help you reach the right decision.

Stress Management

Stress is often caused by exhaustion and is a reflex from a tired brain. When you force yourself to finish your homework or study for an exam when you are passed the point of exhaustion, you are only increasing the stress on our bodies and minds. The stress hormone, cortisol, is higher when you are exhausted than when you are well rested. Just a quick, thirty minute nap can make you well rested and less stressed.

Increased Productivity

You feed your body when it is hungry, so why not rest your brain when it is tired? While caffeine can certainly help you wake up when you are tired, it can also block some important cognitive function. Caffeine is good to wake up your body, but it doesn’t do too much for a tired brain. Just take a quick power nap, it is cheaper and will help you so much more throughout the day. Some studies show that napping helps your brain learn to activities easier, so you should try a quick power nap throughout the day.

Motivation to Exercise

It’s too easy to come up with reasons not to exercise, and being tired probably tops the list. We’re always too tired to exercise, but it is just an endless cycle. Exercise leads to better sleep and more energy through the day, while sleep leads to better exercise sessions and more energetic days. If you are a night owl and can’t sleep at night, don’t force it. Just take a short nap in the afternoon to get you through the day. If you have more energy throughout the day, you will be more likely to use some of that energy to exercise. Reaching for coffee is too easy, but reaching for your pillow will give you the energy you need to get more things done.

For more information on napping visit: National Sleep Foundation

The post Napping, It’s Not Just For Little Kids appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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