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Students How 2, a newsletter for you, the college student who wants to learn how to do everything better, easier or cheaper, Spring 2018, studentshow2.wordpress.com

How to Prepare and Study for Final Exams Written by: Aileen Buquid

Whether it’s your first or last semester at college, we all get some degree of stress from finals week. Although it’s healthy to be a little stressed, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re juggling multiple exams and facing your hardest classes. To prevent the stress from consuming you, read over the tips below and find out how you can take control and best prepare for finals.

Preparation not procrastination

Organization and preparation are the keys to a successful finals week. It’s important that you mark your exam times in your planner so that you can create a study schedule. Give yourself enough time to study comfortably so that you never resort to procrastination.

Bryan Williamson, learning specialist from the Pirate Academic Success Center, suggests that students create a 5-day plan to best position themselves for exams. The plan should begin four days before the exam so that the student can gradually study and avoid cramming in the material.

Use your human resources

Take advantage of all the human resources that campus offers. Since your professors create the exam, go to their office hours and ask them what to expect, how to prepare and what things to focus on. Ask to review previous tests with the professor and see if there are certain topics that need extra attention. If you need further professional assistance, go to the University Writing Center or Pirate Academic Success Center to review any work and learn other study tricks.

Your peers can also be a great resource because you can learn more from one another. Talk to students who’ve previously taken the course or had the same professor and find out how they succeeded. You can also create study groups with your classmates and discuss the material aloud for reaffirmation.

Photo by: Aileen Buquid Review your class notes and create a study guide to outline the material.

Discover your study style

Every student is different, meaning that there’s no study technique that fits all. Find what study tactics are most successful and make it routine for best efficiency.

Some of the best techniques include using flash cards, PowerPoint, Quizlet, practice tests, diagrams and other visual aids. Regardless of which tools you use, it’s very important that you study correctly.

“Don’t just read from the notes but test yourself over the information to make sure that you retain the information,” says Williamson.

If you’re using Microsoft Word, there’s an outline view where you can copy and change some information into questions and create fill in the blanks to test yourself.

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Prepare Final Exams

library, an office, your bedroom or any space where there’s no distraction.

Wherever you choose to study, make sure that you don’t stay up too long or pull an all-nighter. You can’t retain information as well when it’s late, so always block out time earlier in the day so that you can have a good night’s sleep before the exam. Structure your study schedule so that you can take frequent breaks and don’t fry out your brain. “You can set up your study time for 50 minutes, similar to class time, or 20 minutes with 5 minute breaks if you have ADD or

Photo from: Unsplash.com The library contains a variety of books that can help you dive further into your studies.

Create a good study environment & schedule

To make sure you’re studying most efficiently, create an environment that allows you to focus and block out any distractions. If you’re not with a study group it may be best to isolate yourself from others, but regardless you should stay comfortable enough to keep your concentration. This study zone can be anywhere at the

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Example of a Study Scheudle for Finals week. Blue blocks correlate to exam time and green boxes are for studying.

Relax and be confident!

Above all studying tips it’s very important that you stay relaxed. You’ve been studying extensively so be confident in yourself and you can do well on your final exams!

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How to Create and Maintain a Healthy Diet Written by: Mathew Prensky

on their appearance and having healthy eating habits can affect that.

“For students that live on campus an easy way to eat healthy is actually eating in the dining halls,” Robinson said. “I would say a good 70 to 80 percent of what you find in the dining hall are healthy options.”

Robinson pointed out that students who eat in the dining hall have access to salad bars, smoothies and custom, fresh made sandwiches. All those options can be used in a healthy way by students.

Photo from: Unsplash.com

Robinson said students who live off campus should create a schedule of foods they eat throughout a sevCreate healthy meals by chopping up a variety of fresh vegen-day week. By creating a regimented schedule, tables and garnishes. students can buy staple ingredients described in online An issue for some students when they come to college is how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and smart eating habits despite the distractions of school and other aspects of life.

Whether college students have homework, social engagements or want to go out with their friends, there can be many reasons why people believe having healthy habits is too hard. However, for Courtney Robinson, a teaching instructor in the Department of Nutrition Sciences at East Carolina University, people seem be too tough on themselves when they have an unhealthy meal.

“I think the biggest problem with someone who are trying to eat healthy is that they tend to live in this world of all or nothing,” Robinson said. “When we live in that world we either eat completely healthy, whatever our definition of healthy is or we completely fall off the wagon and that’s the battle that people fight.”

Robinson said people can have an unhealthy meal and still live a healthy lifestyle. In Robinson’s opinion, people are too quick to give up on a healthy lifestyle and eating habits because of a small mistake.

Robinson said eating healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, beans or meats, can have short and long term benefits to a person’s health. Specifically, Robinson said many college students are very focused

Photo from: Unsplash.com Check to make sure you’re getting fresh produce at the grocery store.

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Healthy Diet

recipes, which will save them money and allow them to eat healthier.

Photo from: Unsplash.com

“If it was a student who was living off campus, then I would probably recommend one of the best ways to eat healthy is that student is really going to have to start to implement very basic meal planning strategies,” Robinson said.

One cost saving piece of advice Robinson recommended was for people to buy canned or frozen fruits or vegetables rather than fresh produce. She added that canned or frozen items are just as nutritious, but much cheaper.

“The other really simple thing college students can do is always incorporate a few meatless meals into your week because when you look at what people spend the most money on the most expensive thing in their cart is generally meat,” Robinson said. “If you take out the meat and replace it with grains and beans, you’ll save a lot of money, plus, you’re eating healthier.”

Robinson said college students are in the best health of

Salad bars offer a nice variety of fresh foods to snack on.

their lives and should make sure to create healthy hab its by eating correctly. She added that the same health issues older family members may experience could be indications of future health costs if students don’t eat healthy.

“With college students, what they need to understand is that they are in their prime right now,” Robinson said. “Their metabolisms is probably the highest it’s going to be, but it’s not always going to be like that.”

How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Account Written by: Lindsy Weeks

Photo from: LinkedIn.com

The LinkedIn logo is trademarked and is found all over the website!

From Facebook to Instagram and Twitter to Snapchat, social media sites are exploding. LinkedIn is a social media site used for students, employees, employers, and professionals alike to show their previous and current career experience. LinkedIn can also be used to find jobs, follow influencers, and connect with people in similar fields of work or study. Students entering the workforce use LinkedIn to show their professional side, rather than their personal side on traditional social media sites like Facebook or Instagram. Here are a few tips for college students on how to optimize their LinkedIn profile.

Take a nice, professional photo. The profile picture on a LinkedIn profile is the first thing that a potential employer will see. Yumi Wilson, the corporate communications manager of LinkedIn, explained that your profile is 14 times more likely to be viewed than one without a picture. Dress professionally and be alone in the shot. She also explained an active shot in your field of study is also beneficial.

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Optimize Your LinkedIn Brittany Thompson, a communications professor at East Carolina University, specializes in LinkedIn optimization. “Sometimes, it’s good to take a personal, yet professional photo to show your personality,” Thompson says. “It’s important to tailor your picture to the field you’re going into.” Consider using a picture on the job, not just a head-shot with a white background.

Connections don’t mean everything. The number of connections on a profile doesn’t correlate success. “I join people that anyone is relevant to me, higher education or communication for me”, Thompson says. “I do not accept everybody, maybe a second connection in a similar field is as far as I’ll go.”

Photo from: Unsplash.com

Create a sharp headline. The headline is the opening statement on a profile. It is the attention grabber, a peek into a specific career interest, or a glimpse of one’s personality. “I stress not to use, ‘student at ECU,’” Thompson continued. “In this market, you have to brand yourself, and it’s too competitive not to.” When writing a headline for LinkedIn, try including your aspirations, passions, plus what you’re looking for in a future career. Don’t just include the title of a current position.

Take time while creating a summary. The summary portion of a profile is a way to show your personality and passions for your career. Wilson advises that a summary should be about 40 words, making it concise yet personal. A summary can be organized in either bullet points, phrases, or full paragraph form.

“Bullet points could be easier to follow,” Thompson specifies. “Bullet points will lead your eyes down the profile, but there is no right or wrong answer to organization”.

Use keywords, not buzzwords. According to the LinkedIn Talent Blog, these are some of the buzzwords to stay away from when writing a professional summary: strategic, leadership, experience, focused and creative.

Staying away from these buzzwords will help recruiters and other professionals read your profile differently.

Think about writing it as you would a resume. You are trying to get yours to stand out from the pack.

Network, network, network. Networking is a huge benefit of LinkedIn. LinkedIn can connect users of similar careers, areas of study, previous employers, and similar interests. “I recommend following groups you’re interested in because you add to your professional network and see relevant information in your feed”, Thompson said. Try following groups or influencers who work in your career field and national organizations.

Connect with people who you can build mutually beneficial relationships.

Connections are about quality over quantity. Connect with peers or professionals that you already know, or would like to know in a specific community. Remember to include students in your professional organization or professors that you have had in the past.

There are multiple ways to optimize a LinkedIn profile to connect with other peers, professionals and influencers. Optimizing your profile can help with recruiters seeing a profile, finding jobs, plus growing a student’s professional network. With these tips, you may be one step closer to finding a job after graduation. It may be closer than you think!

Both the content for this newsletter and the design are created by students enrolled in COMM 3310, Copy Editing and Design in the School of Communication at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina during the Spring and Fall semesters under the direction of course instructor Barabara Bullignton.

We welcome suggestions for article ideas for future issues.

For inquiries, please email: bullingtonb@ecu.edu

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