5 easy ways to incorporate exercise in your daily routines

As a student I know that most of us won't always have the time or goodwill to go to the gym or to change clothes for exercising otherwise. While exercise is important for looking better and feeling better, I also often happen to wonder 'but when should I do that?' or 'meh, I don't want to dress up for that'. Therefore, I will now post some advices about incorporating exercise in things you do on a daily base, regardless of how much time you have. 

The first advice is to walk or ride your bike whenever you can. Of course, when it is raining cats and dogs, you are excused, but taking the bus on a sunny day while you only have a 10 minute walk or 5 minute bike ride ahead cannot be justified by anyone. A nice bonus is that you get to catch some sun, which means that your body receives vitamin D, which stimulates the production of calcium, which - in turn - is good for your bones, nails, and teeth. 

The second thing to do is to replace the elevators and escalators by stairs. Sure, for a 10 floor building, you may start out with walking only half of the stairs and then continue by elevator/escalator, but in a 4 floor building there is no excuse unless you are in a wheelchair or bound to walking with crutches. 

My third advice is something I tried out myself. Given that you can stand the looks of people when they see you doing it, you might hold your bottles of water in your hands and train your biceps as you walk.Simply buy or fill two 0.5 litre bottles with water and hold one in each of your hands. Then, when you walk on your left foot you train your right biceps and the other way round. Once you arrived at your destination, drink the water. Because it is good for you. 

The fourth thing you might do is for when you stand in a queue or in the bus/train.Squeeze your butt, hold it for a few seconds and then relax again. It is fairly simple and nobody has to see you doing it when it is crowded or when you stand strategically, but you will see results if you manage to do this a couple of times on a daily base! 

Last but not least: your abs! You can train them by squeezing them all day long. Doing this will give you a better posture, a slimmer silhouette and you also train your abdominal muscles to become slightly stronger. Although the real thing is doing sit-ups, this exercise is effective for those do not want to lie down on the floor. 

So, what do you do to stay in shape? Do you make the most of little moments like I do or do you plan actual exercises and gym sessions? Let me know! 

How to prepare for a job / admission interview

The time of the year is there to apply for summer internships, summer jobs, college programs and so on. Usually, interviews will be part of the admission procedure, regardless of what you apply for. This post will mainly be about preparing yourself for the contents of the interview and not so much about your appearance during the interview because although your appearance is important, the contents may be more important.

First thing to do is to find which person(s) within the organization is/are going to interview you. Knowing this is useful so that you can search for this/these person(s) on the Internet to get an idea of his/her/their interests and activities. Once you know this, you can tailor your interests to fit his/hers/theirs. It may also make you less nervous to know who sits opposite of you. 

The second thing to do is find out what you can add to (a department) the organization. For an employer or university, it is important to know what you can add to their organization so that they can see whether your needs match theirs. If they have a certain need and you happen to be able to bring them that need, there is a perfect match between their needs and yours. During the interview, knowing what you can add also gives fuel to a discussion about which person(s) within the organization can help you add your knowledge and skills to the organization.

And of course, the things mentioned above can be found on the  Internet.

Thirdly, you may want to print stuff. Your motivational letter and résumé you submitted are the documents they go by when preparing the interview with you, so you will look more prepared if you printed your own stuff compared to "excuse me, may I take a look at the letter you have there?" Your printed documents may also serve as a reminder during the interview.

Fourth, now that you have taken a look at the documents you have submitted, put yourself in the shoes of those who are going to interview you and consider what they might ask based upon those documents. Which things may require further explanation? Are there things unclear in your letter or résumé? Be prepared to answer this kind of questions, because they will be asked. 

Potentially other relevant documents for me.

Fifth, after printing the documents you have submitted, also take other possibly relevant documents with you.  Diplomas and certificates are evidence for what you have written down on your résumé or in your letter. They may also serve as another reminder of things they may ask about. It may, for example, be helpful to have a list of your study results with you in case questions arise about it during the interview. Seeing the course name and the grade your teacher gave you may also help you remind how you obtained that grade.

The last thing to do seems like a no-brainer, but take notes of everything you might be asked about as you are preparing yourself for the interview. Write down key-words that just must be used in your answers and also take notes of the questions that arise from your side as you are getting ready. One reason for doing this is that you will definitely forget some of the things you wanted to say/ask as you sit there. The nerves will grab you, empty your brain, and make you lose some of your memory. The other reason is, again, that you come across prepared. Coming across prepared is always a plus, because in your work and study, you will also have to be prepared for tasks. Being prepared also shows interest in the function/position and the organization. 

These are my tips for preparing for the contents of a job/application interview. Have you ever been so nervous during an interview that you forgot what you wanted to say/ask? Have you done some of the above for interviews or maybe you have never even had an interview yet in your life? Let me know! 

5 reasons to dress up ...

... as soon as you leave your house/(dorm) room.

We all have those days that we just do not feel like dressing up. May be you were late, or you just want to dress comfortable. Regardless of the reason why you may not feel like it, it is important to dress up whenever you leave your place because of the following reasons.

First, you will really feel better when you dressed up. My personal mantra is: "Dress well, feel well". If I have a bad day and I am not dressed well, I feel twice as bad as when I have a bad day while being dressed up fine. 

Did I have a bad day? Can't remember, but I felt good because I was dressed up! 

Second, you never know whom you run into. It can be the cute guy from your English Literature class or the head of the admission committee from the special honours programme you wanted to apply for. In either case, you will want to hit your head against a wall if you walk around with your just-out-of-bed look. 

Imagine some hot dude sitting here while you are wearing your oldest, least charming clothes.

Third, you simply look better. If you are dressed up in class, you show respect to the teacher, because not only you are present, but you also bothered to give your teacher or professor something better to look at than a scarecrow. If you have an appointment scheduled for that day, you show respect for the person with whom you have the appointment. Of course, no need to go all formal, but just make sure you wear clothes! 

Fourth, it is important to distinguish night-clothes from day-clothes. As comfortable as your nightwear is, most of it is just not made to be worn at daytime. Most of my nightwear is too cold, too sporty, or too [insert anything making it unsuitable] for daytime. Under my blankets, a simple tunic is fine, but without them, I become an ice-brick at the spot! 

I don't like wearing thick clothes at night, so if I'd jump out of my window with the snow here, I'd freeze! 

Fifth is related the above: changing clothes for your hygiene. All girls must have read at least a couple of times in their lives that it is important to cleanse your face before you are going to sleep. The same goes for your clothes: change them when you get out of bed. I sweat a lot of night and I would not feel fresh if I wore my night-clothes to class. 

These are my reasons for dressing up during daytime. Do you dress up when you have to leave your place? Are you going to change the bad habit of not dressing up for leaving your place after reading this? Let me know! 

4 things not to do during study breaks

When I wrote my post about what to do during a study break, I felt tempted to write also about what not to do, so here is the follow-up with four advices addressing this issue. 

The first thing you should not do during your study breaks is going on the computer, unless you have iron discipline. Facebook, twitter, and all your other favourite websites provide more distraction than you are aware of, and before you know, your 10-minute break becomes a 40-minute break. Despite all this, computers and Internet may be necessary in order to study. In that case, download everything you need to your harddisk or an external memory and shut off the Internet for the time you plan to study.

The second thing is slightly related to the above. As much as you want to reward yourself with an episode of your favourite TV series halfway through the day, it is wiser to save these up for the evening. Your break is at best 10-15 minutes: long enough to empty your mind, but not so long that you get so distracted and your mind gets set to very different things. Episodes of TV series usually take 40-45 minutes to watch, which is far outside the 10-15 minutes range.

Next is staying in the same room as where you are studying. Being surrounded by your textbooks and lecture notes will not help you relax, so it is better to get away from them. If you really insist on staying inside  the room, then turn your back on your books. 

Last but not least, avoid stressful people during your study breaks. Avoid the people who always complain about things. All these complaints have a very demotivational effect on you that is likely to keep you from studying when your break is over. Also avoid stressful people because stress is contagious and another thing that inhibits good study behaviour. 

This was my post on what not to do during study breaks. What do you do when you take a break from studying? What do you avoid to do? Is there something else people should avoid during study breaks, according to you? 

A little note in between ...

Dear reader(s),

I am sorry for not having updated much the past week. Unfortunately, my schedule for the next few weeks turns out weirder and busier than I thought, so I will not be able to update more often than once or twice a week. I expect to post my updates on Sundays. It's simple: university course work and other work have higher priority for me than my blog. If you have something you want me to write about, let me know, but I cannot promise I will incorporate your ideas immediately. Same goes for comments: I cannot promise I will approve them the day you write them. Feel free to take the time and read the posts that are up already and I will update next Sunday! 

Greetings, 

your busy college student.

Professionalize yourself online

Today, almost everyone spends time online and almost everyone has at least one personal niche on the web where they profile themselves. This is often a social network site, like Facebook or Twitter, but it is also common to have blogs on WordPress, Blogspot or even a website of your own.  It is therefore not unthinkable that people go look you up on the internet when you are going to apply for an internship or a job. I happen to know the lives of some people on my Twitter timeline from minute to minute, which can be amusing for the followers, but which also gives away very much about yourself. The people in companies and businesses who check the online profiles also try to analyse your personality based on what they find on your profiles. So, if you often complain loudly and with swear words about your jobs and lectures, they may consider you inapt for the labour market in general. Hence why I decided to give a few tips about professionalizing yourself online. 

It is best to start searching for yourself on the web first. Try different search entries, such as first name + last name + hometown, your e-mail address(es), and some other combinations of tags by which you are easily identifiable and findable. If you come across 'unwanted' profiles of yourself, delete them or, less rigorously,  (temporarily) deactivate them. I just found a LiveJournal profile of myself that hosted immature stuff from when I was a teenager, I immediately copy-pasted the posts into private documents and deleted the profile. My stories are safe, yet they are not openly readable to everyone. It is also important to browse yourself from time to time. When I googled myself a few months ago, my LiveJournal did not show up in the search result, but today it did. 

Now that you have searched yourself on the web and deleted unwanted information, it is time to take a look at the profiles that you wish you keep active and that you cannot live without. Facebook has an option that allows you to view your profile as it is shown to the public or to specific friends. Analyse all visible information: what do you want your future employers to know immediately about you and what not? Do you want them to see you lying on the beach in bikini? Do you want them to see you pole dancing on the bar the one night in your life you were drunk? Does it add something to you if your future employer knows how often you declare your love to Robert Pattinson on your wall? To all these questions, the answer is probably no. You either delete these things from your profile or you change your privacy settings so that only your friends can see these things. What you do want your future employers to see, however, is a curriculum vitae or résumé. I personally have my settings so that they can see my education and work experience. In the following picture you can see what my Facebook profile looks like to non-friends. No posts, no wall, just an overview of where I worked what I did there.  

On Twitter, you can protect your tweets, that is, your settings are such that only those you approved as followers will be able to read them. Of course, you might as well just think before you post. Once online is always online, after all. Keep in mind that you decide what others can see! Check your settings and deliberate who you want to see what of your online profiles. 

So, you have cleaned and cleared your social network profiles (at least, I hope you have, or maybe you were one of those wise people who never had everything visible to everyone). Now it is time to have a look at your e-mail addresses. angelofhell@hotmail.com or pinkpetals@gmail.com sound cute and might say something about who you are as a person, but in professional contexts, it is better to have a more professional address, based on your name(s), initials, and/or date/year of birth. My university gives every student a university e-mail address, based on initials and your surname. You may use this, but you have to be aware that there will be one day that your university mail address is no longer for you.

Now comes the real thing, the thing that shows the world that you are grown-up and mature, that you are ready for serious internships or the labour market. The most well-known website that hosts millions of résumés and CVs of people all over the world. LinkedIn. I was joking about the grown-up and mature thing, but it is a great place to show the world what you are capable of and what you have done in the past. It allows you to provide the world detailed descriptions of your education, (volunteer) work experience,  extra courses you have taken, internships, theses, publications, languages, skills and expertise, and projects you have participated in. LinkedIn is basically a website that shows an extended résumé of yourself and where you can connect with teachers, classmates, (former) co-workers, and other people who work in your field. Since it comes down to sharing strictly professional and educational experiences, it is perfectly safe to add all of your teachers and colleagues. I love LinkedIn because it lets me connect with teachers from university without having to show them my holiday pictures. 

What you see in the picture above is a short summary of my LinkedIn profile. But you still are not done. It is also important to check your settings your Google or Yahoo or whichever cloud services you use. Imagine you save your holiday photos in Picasa (using Google cloud services here because I use them most frequently), but you have them set to be visible to everyone. Unwanted situation, of course. The same goes for Google Docs. You just do not want your future employer to know about your Hunger Games fanfiction or your online diary about how much you hate how a course is taught in your university without giving any constructive criticism for improvement! The same goes for any blog, photo sharing, and whatever services  are provided online. Just check your settings and change them if they might yield undesired results. Congratulations! Now you can profile yourself online without concern.

Last but not least, it is important to know that it may occur that people from inside the companies try to befriend you so that they can check more of your profile. It is thus important to only add people if you have met them in real life and if you are sure that you are going to work for the company. You do not want to be refused in the end because some HR person you have never met shared your bar and beach pictures with your no-longer future boss? 

Do you have a LinkedIn profile already? What are your settings for Facebook and Twitter? Do you think twice before you put stuff online? Have you looked yourself up on the web already? How did that feel for you? Let me know! 

How to organize yourself and your college stuff

We all know that awkward moment when you stand in front of your door and you realized you forgot your key. We also know that moment that you were convinced that you had your books packed for class and that, once in class, it turned out you did not have them with you. This exactly why organization is important, but sometimes it is difficult to awake the discipline inside yourself and actually start getting organized. There are different tips and tricks and today I will share some of my own with you. In an earlier post, I gave tips for saving room. Some of these tips might complement the tips from that post. 

Files can hold very much paperwork and protect it at the same time. In Dutch, they are called ordners, and for a reason. Not only can you easily and chronologically order your stuff in the files, but with tabs, you can also make sections for the paper work of each course. No more searching for old lecture notes or papers that might be handy for a follow-up course. As long as you file everything, you will not loose anything! I always keep lecture notes with the printed powerpoint slides of that lecture and add the readings to them, so that I have everything ordered by class session.

In order to know which documents are in which files, you need to use labels. You can keep them very general, such as 'Bachelor, year 1' or 'Master', but if you need several files for one semester or year, it might be wise to label them by course. I have, in fact, gone as far as to label them in the same order as they are in my files: 

I also value mail partitions. Sometimes you get mail that you only have to store, other times you get mail that requires you to undertake some action, such as transferring money to another bank account. Or maybe you just want to have papers within reach of your arm, regardless of what it is and how often you really need it. Mail partitions are the solution, as long as you use one shelf for each type of mail or documents. This should also help you keep track of your private finances. 

It is also tempting to make a mess of the drawers inside your desk. I know all about it and the only solution is to keep your discipline, so that your drawers will keep looking like this: 

Note the divider between the front and the back of the drawer. This way you can also keep things and items for different purposes separate from each other. 

I also like to keep my books together. When you read a series such as Twilight, Harry Potter, Hunger Games, or Gossip Girl, this is fairly easy, but with college textbooks, you might need to rethink your methods. While you can order by colour, I prefer to order them by general, overarching topics, so I keep methodology and statistics books together, I have a section for psychology books, a section for interpersonal and conversational skills, and so on. 

Last but not least, we often forget stuff because we start packing at the very last moment. It is therefore wise to keep a look on the clock and pack your bag the night before your 9 am class next morning. It is an advice my 7th grade tutor gave me, when my class was fresh in junior high school and still afraid to forget books because forgetting something could result in expulsion and detention. In college, no teacher will remove you from class when you forget something, but for yourself it is handier to be prepared. So, pack your stuff in time so that you can remain organized outdoors, after the aforementioned indoor organization advices. 

What do you do to stay organized? Or is your (part of your dorm) room an 'organized chaos'? Do you have other tips to become and remain organized? We probably all have our own ways, so everyone gets wiser by the exchange of information ;) 

6 things to do when you take a break from studying

Studying, just like anything else you do, tires you and your brain after a while. While it is important to know when you function best for study purposes (some work better in the morning, others work better in the evening), it is also important to know that it won't help you to study 5 hours in a row without a break. Your brain will get tired and eventually, you will just be staring at whatever you do and function on automatic pilot, which is not the way to go if you really want to remember something. It is therefore wise to take a 5-15 minute break after 45-50 minutes of studying/working. Here are a few things you should do during those breaks: 

• Go outside for fresh air. Fresh air will really refresh your brain. If you really insist on staying inside (some weather circumstances demand staying inside), open your window for the time you take a break. Fresh air in your study room is just as important as fresh air in your brain. If the weather is on the better side of the spectrum, keep your window opened while you are working. 

• Exercise. I do not mean that you should go to the gym for several hours, but just a few short, little exercises improve your circulation to your brain and thereby improve your focus. Dancing to your favourite music also counts, so you might as well turn on your mp3-player and shake that booty! 
• Take a healthy in-between. I keep emphasizing healthy food because it is crucial to your entire physical and mental functioning. Bite an apple, get a whole-corn bun, or enjoy some non-salted nuts for new energy. 

• Relax. You might listen to your favourite music or anything else that makes you feel calm and at ease. Yoga / meditation exercises, a short walk in your neighbourhood, or a magazine are some great distractions that do not need to cost much time. 
• Power nap. A twenty minute power nap can get your brain back in business when you have had a long evening the night before or when you have just exhausted your brain with hours of studying. 
• Use your break to relocate yourself and your stuff. As I mentioned before, changing locations can help you memorize things better because you brain tends to link processed information to the physical environment and context.

So, these were the tips for things to do during a short study-break. What are you doing when you take a few minutes off from studying? What do you eat and drink throughout a typical study day? Let me know! 

7 items every fashionable college girl needs to take with her

Fashionable college girls come in all types and sizes. Some will carry their stuff in a huge backpack due to having heavy and big textbooks; others will get away with a clutch because they can take notes on their smartphones. No matter what type of bag you have, however, there are 7 items a fashionable girl must carry with her at all times in order to keep her looks nice and neat.

First comes a small mirror. The mirrors in the toilets on your campus are likely to not shed a good light on how you really look, so with a small mirror you can detect the need for upgrades of your looks anywhere. They are also handy when you want to see how a dress, skirt or pair of pants fits around your butt when you are out for shopping. 

The second necessity is lip balm and/or lipstick. Throughout the day, your lips get dryer and dryer, at least, mine do. In order to keep a comfortable feeling on your lips and to keep them smooth, make sure you have lip balm with you for emergencies. When your lips have had their hydration boost, you can colour them with lipstick. Even if you wear no make-up at all, lipstick can boost your whole face by drawing the attention to your lips instead of to your sleepy eyes or grey face.

Third is a hairbrush, especially on windy or rainy days. With a hairbrush you can save the day by making neat pony tails or just brush your strands so that they look tidy again. My hair is of the type that frizzes as soon as there is a little, gentle breeze, so a hairbrush is definitely a must-have for me! And although umbrellas might keep your head dry, they do not guarantee a messed up hairdo. 

Fourth is hand cream, especially during the winter season. Most hand soaps on campuses tend to easily dehydrate the skin of my hands, so for me the season does not matter, but during winter, there is nothing wrong with treating your hands every now and then. They are available for all skin types and in all price classes, so there is always one you can afford. 

Fifth item that must not miss in your bag is toothpicks. While chewing gum is easier to use and might look less gross for others, picking your teeth is usually more effective. For example, chewing gum does not remove that annoying little crumb between your front teeth, and it also does not help you get rid of that spinach leaf between your teeth, so toothpicks are necessity number 1. They are also far more effective in removing plaque, which can eventually cause cavities. If you then wish to go for a fresh breath, chewing gum is the next step. 

The sixth necessity is a pair of sunglasses. Where I live, the weather can change over the minute, so I have experienced that I walked through my city with squeezed eyes. Since that not so cool experience, I always check whether I have my sunglasses with me. Needless to say you need to carry them with you in a generally sunny climate! Sunglasses are ideal as well when you want to hide sleepy eyes or dark circles.

The seventh and last item you must have with you all the time as a fashionable college girl is a killer bag. Even though you might be one of the girls who needs to carry huge textbooks and binders, you can still add a cute clutch or envelope bag to your backpack. I personally feel like I am pulled to one side when carrying heavy books in a shoulder bag, so I combine my sporty purple backpack with either of the bags in the picture below.

What do you think of these must have items for fashionable college girls? Do you have them all with you already or do you value additional items as must-haves in your bag(s)? 

Five ways to live on a budget

Many students around the world live on a budget since studying is not cheap. There are tuition fees, books and other supplies for your study, but you also need to eat, pay rent and/or public transportation costs, and many other things, and not everyone is blessed with rich parents or parents who are willing to pay the college experience for their grown-up children. No matter the cause of your limited budget, here are five simple tips you can follow if your months are longer than your money. 

First, check whether you really need the latest edition of your textbooks or that an earlier edition will suffice. The earlier editions are often offered second-hand on the web, so they are cheaper than the brand-new editions. If you even do not manage money-wise to buy books at all, check at your library whether your course books are available there. In my faculty's library, they have the textbooks at the desk that are not for lending, but for short-term use within the library. You go to the desk, ask whether you can use the book for X hours and bring it back when you're finished. Our library also happens to have the readers of all departments for instant use. Also check whether your faculty has this, because this can also save a significant amount of money. And, now that we're on the topic of books anyway, you might as well check out whether your teacher has written the actual textbook(s) needed for the course. I once had a teacher telling us that she would not mind sending us all other chapters of a book  via e-mail that she had written and published. 

The second advice I can give is to try to print as much as you can with two pages on one sheet of paper. This, of course, depends on the lay-out of the text you're printing, but it has occurred to me a couple of times that I was deceived by the lay-out on the computer screen and therefore printed one page per sheet while I could easily have printed two pages per sheet. If you use the two pages per sheet setting for all your prints (other than official documents, such as papers, essays, and theses, that must be handed in!), your print costs can be reduced by almost 50% !!!

Thirdly, it might be useful to find out whether there are second-hand shops within a reasonable distance from your campus. What is a reasonable distance is different for everyone, but a reasonable price for students is probably not! Second-hand stores are usually closer to reasonable prices for students than the 'normal' stores, unless it comes to collector's items. If you have no objection against using things already used by others, going second-hand is an ideal option for those living on a budget. 

My fourth advice is to keep track of the sales and other special actions of the shops. Since a few years, I am  under the impression that there are more weeks in a year that especially clothing stores have 'sales' racks throughout their shops than that they have not. Also be aware of shops that are about to move, renew the interior of their building, or going bankrupt. These shops usually try to get rid of as much stock as they can by reducing the prices like crazy. This one is for people who do have an objection against used things, but who are also on a budget. Since many fashion trends are also allowed to be worn for a longer period of time, buying during the sales does not necessarily mean that you're dressed old-fashioned next season! 

Last, but not least: think economically! Weigh the costs of an item versus its perceived usefulness or benefits. For example, some biological foods are more expensive than non-biological foods, but biological foods yield a stuffed feeling faster than non-biological foods, so you need less of them. Besides, biological foods really are tastier, so you also weigh the price-quality balance. Also try to find out for which grants and compensation you are eligible as a student. This may cost some time and reading tough paper work, but it might be worth it. Thinking economically is really not that difficult, you just have to make a cost-benefit analysis and be realistic and honest to yourself. If you see a super cute cardigan that does not fit with the rest of your wardrobe and therefore ends up unworn, it might be a waste of money, no matter how cute it is. 

These were my advices for living on a limited budget, but I'm sure that you have your own ways of figuring financial stuff out. How do you manage? Are you the lucky one who get everything from the parents? Or are you okay with taking a loan and having debts for the first years after your graduation? 

4 easy ways to make the world a better place

Why are we in college? If you study medicine, you probably want to help people get healthy again. If you study  to become a teacher, you either want to do as good a job as your favourite teachers, or you want to do better than the horrible teachers from your school. If you study to become a social worker, you want to give families and their members a better life. However, you don't need to be a doctor, teacher, or even Nobel Prize winner to contribute to a better world. Here are four simple things you can do to make others' lives better and you don't need a degree for that! 

1. Smile! Share your happiness with the world and spread it. I can become very happy when someone smiles at me, so someone else might get happy if you smile at them :) 
2. Turn off your gadgets, or at least leave them in your bag when you're in public. People today often have some sort of gadgets in their hand while in public: smart phone, mp3-player, and on, and on. They have earphones over or in their ears or they constantly look at a small screen. If you would just leave your gadgets in your bag, you would have the opportunity to talk with that old man who sits next to you in the bus or train! Old (but also young) people usually have more interesting stories than you expect from them and conversing with other people allows you to share your story with others, but it also lets others share their story with you. These stories may help you put things into perspective, inspire you to do something new, and thereby guide you in making the world a little bit better.
3. Do volunteer work. Most volunteer work does not cost too much time (usually about one morning / afternoon weekly at most), or you can help with special events when a lot of work must be done. For volunteering, you also do not need special qualifications or degrees, and sometimes - if your work is related to your study - you might get some credits for it! But most important, of course, is that you contribute to a better world.
4. Be nice and polite. This might seem like a no-brainer, but if you are nice and polite, you are likely to receive niceness and politeness from others, and if everyone is nice and polite to each other, the world will be a better place. 

So, as you can see, you don't need to be a Nobel Prize winner or have a college degree. Everyone can contribute to a better world, and by living in a better world, it is likely that you feel better, too. Besides, contributing to something and feeling useful can result in feeling content, which facilitates the aforementioned advices to improve the world, so it's just a positive vicious circle that you start! 

What do you think? Is it important to improve the world on a small scale as suggested above? How do you try to make the world a better place?  

What you need to know about talent shows ...

... before you decide to participate.

Talent shows are all over in the television programming. The hype started with Idol's international derivatives, and today there are shows from X-factor via America's Next Top Model through So You Think You Can Dance and [insert country] Got Talent, each claiming to emphasize a unique part of the participants. I think that almost everybody has at least once wondered how far they would get, were they to participate.

Advantages and disadvantages

While there is an obvious difference between a talent show for upcoming models and a talent show for upcoming singers, as  soon as the audience gets to vote for their favourite participant, it doesn't matter whether you participate in The Voice or X-factor or Popstars. The audience will most of the time not vote for a singer because they have 'the voice' or because they have 'the X-factor', but because the participating singer has something the audience likes about him or her. This can indeed be the voice or the X-factor, but there are also many teenage girls voting because 'the guy looks hot' or 'I don't think the other one should win' or 'she has had such a troublesome youth, she deserves to win'. So, basically the concepts of most, if not all, talent shows come down to the same thing as soon as the audience gets a vote. 

A good thing about talent shows is that people, who do not have the (financial) means to record and produce a nice demo  of themselves or who cannot afford dance lessons, can now show themselves by filling out an online form and head to the nearest audition location. The judges there decide who is good enough for the next rounds and who is not. The further you get in a show, the more coaching you'll receive and the more experience you gain, which both can be valuable on your way to making it. This is way to make a career without having to invest hundreds of bucks per year in voice/dance lessons, demo recordings, and photo shoots.

However, after the show's finished, you usually have to do very much on your own. You have received coaching and gained experience, now it's time to show what you've got. In fact, the real hard work starts now, because you no longer are on TV on a weekly base. Everything now comes down to getting connected with the right people who really want to work with you and not just because they have a contractual duty to help you, doing gigs / photo shoots and show the best of yourself there. It is also important to stay in touch with the fans: one negative story will hurt you more than hundred positive stories will help you to get further! Naturally, this counts as well when you're meeting people from the industry. The worlds are usually small and the lines are short, so remain professional, whoever you meet. 

Another advantage is, of course, the whole experience of participating in talent shows. I am not talking about the experience of performing and media training, but about the experience of being a participant. The media madness, getting to see front row how television works, and the organization of the whole show. I can tell from first-hand experience (not going to specify it further than this) that it's really impressive if you see how much show-specific decoration, how many cameras, how much directing are involved, and how many other impressions you'll get when it's the first time in your life you decide give it a try. For those who are certain that they won't stand a chance: much of what you see on television during the audition phase is already directed by people who are part of the show's crew, except the performances themselves. I am personally glad to have experienced it, as I now have seen a glimpse of such a show is made. For the program I auditioned for, there were 2 audition days. I already knew this because a judge from a small-scale talent show in which I had participated told everyone who was there, but when I heard this, I found it quite surprising. The first day was with 'shadow judges', or local people with some kind of involvement in music who judged whether you are worth being judged by the real judges, for whom you will perform on the second day. However, even on the first day, cameras are also recording each and every audition. These recordings were used for quick clips that were shown right before and right after each commercial break, before the hosts or an actual audition was shown. So even when you don't get to see the real judges, you might still get your minute of fame! 

Although it all seems amazing, you must reckon with disappointments. The first 'shadow judges' may decide to not let you through to the next round, no matter how good you are. And in the end, only one person can win, out of the thousands that register initially. Calculate your odds. 

'Realness'   

Here in the Netherlands, there have been countless rumours about the winner of the show having been decided upon far before the audience decided. It has also been rumoured that the judges on television get scripts as for what to say to the contestants and that they do not get to express their real opinion about them. Needless to say that the people making the program countered this by stating that there is an official solicitor and that the audience decides. Since I have not further deepened my knowledge about talent shows and reality TV since my auditions, I am not the right person to say whether the aforementioned rumours are true or not. I am also not the one to judge the 'realness' of talent shows. I did, however, have to read a book for a course last year which sort of confirmed me in my personal idea about talent shows that the producers have a profile of the winning candidate. This profile is given to the judges and 'shadow judges', so that they can decide who fits this profile and who does not. Since the odds for finding someone who exactly matches the profile are small, they will aim to find someone who comes as close as possible. Note that this is how I think it goes! It is a personal idea and not how it really works! In my mind, however, a  'winner profile' could look as follows: 

• The winner is into pop music, but also likes R'n'B and soul.
• The winner has therefore a voice similar to Aretha Franklin, Joss Stone, or Beyoncé.
• The winner is skinny, but looks healthy to the audience.
• The winner has a clothing style  similar to Rihanna or Beyoncé. 
• The winner is at least [x] inches / centimetres tall.
• The winner has a heart-shaped face or an oval-shaped face. 

No matter the truth, in order to keep up the veil of 'realness', a variety of contestants will be selected for the live shows. However, even though most of the shows are directed to the second and even though there may be 'winner profiles' and scripts + auto cue for judges or so, it is still a valuable experience that you will remember for life.

Your thoughts
What do you think about talent shows? Do you like them or not? Do you think they're real or that most of it is fake? Have you considered entering? Have you ever participated in big talent show? 

How to choose a major / minor / master

The deadlines for (early) admissions to college programmes are drawing nearer each day now, so this is the time to tell you how to decide on a major, minor or master's programme. It usually is a difficult choice, because it may have major consequences for where you will work later and in which function. Another reason that makes the choice difficult is that your choice will influence how you are going to spend your time the next few years or months. It is therefore wise to spend some time considering the following issues: 

1. Are there special entry requirements?
   Some programmes only want to the most talented and most motivated students to enroll; others require you to have followed and successfully finished some courses. If you, for example, aim to enter a programme for which a minimum grade point average of 7.5 is required and your average grade is 6.0, it is a waste of time trying to get in. Also, if the requirements state 'a basic background of Statistics in which following topics were covered: z-scores, t-tests, ANOVA, and multiple and logistic regression', and you have no clue what they are talking about, you might investigate other interesting programmes. You can check this in the course guide of the programme.
2. To what degree does this programme deal with topics I am interested in?
   I started as a law student, because I thought that was the way to become a lawyer who is specialized in online copyright laws, feared by all online pirates, such as The Pirate Bay. Unfortunately, I soon found out that I would first have to go through 3 years of criminal law, constitutional law, international law, tax law, civil law, and all other types of law that failed to catch my interest, before there was a chance that I would learn some basics about the online copyright law. So, I figured that a broader legal interest than I had would be handy if I wanted to become a lawyer in a very small specialized area. Since I had a far broader interest in educational issues, I switched to educational sciences. This is also something you can check the programme's course guide. 
3. What are my future prospects with this programme? 
   As much as you may like your studies, you might as well consider the type of jobs you can get with your degree. An office job as a safety policy maker while you are more the kind of person to work as a bodyguard or security staff member will probably not make you happy. If you become a mathematician to become a researcher of mathematics, a job as a teacher in high school may not satisfy you. Nevertheless, it is possible that you get a job you have never considered, but that you actually like that job! You can answer this question in various ways: talk with the academic advisor of the programme, talk with people who already work in the field, talk with teachers who may have stayed in touch with alumni, thoroughly read the website of the programme and that of similar programmes in other universities, and ask at employment agencies which jobs they offer to people with a certain degree.
4. Do I think I can handle it? 
   This is partly a combination of question 1 and 2, partly a combination of other factors. Of course, studying a topic that catches your interest facilitates learning, so does meeting the special entry requirements, as these are mostly a foundation from which you build more knowledge about a topic. The other factors coming with being able to handle it are very much factors that are part of your personality. If you are good with numbers, a study in mathematics will be easy for you. If you are interested in medical issues and you do not faint at the sight of blood, medicine is perfectly doable. If you are a linguist ... okay, you get it. Discover your talents and in which areas your talents lie. During this step it is also crucial to find out whether you agree with the way they work in your programme (mainly small groups, individual studying, or mass lectures; assignments, projects or exams), how much presence is demanded (if you have a big job beside your studies, a course with little demanded presence is more ideal for you), and your own unique talents (you must not want to go into sales when you are a very shy person who always diminishes the self). 

I hope these questions make you (re)consider you choice, or that they help you make the decision. For a minor, which in The Netherlands is one semester, these questions obviously do not have to be answered as thoroughly as for a major or master's programme, because a minor will pass sooner, although you might take  into consideration your future prospects. A minor in which you learnt how to start your own business is more useful when you actually intend to start your own business and a minor with a focus on research courses is very useful when you aim for a career in research and statistics. 

What do you think? Have you given much thought to your study choices or have you always known what to study since you were a little kid? Do you think this article is useful? How did you choose your studies? 

Finding your pair of glasses

During high school, the classrooms were so small that you could take a seat in the back of the room and still see clearly what happened in the front of the room, given that your teacher had a readable handwriting. In college, however, the average classrooms are bigger and arranged so that those with not-perfect-but-decent sight either need glasses if they want to attend and follow lectures from farther back in the room or need to find a seat in one of the front rows. Others might have worn glasses for longer than they can remember. I belong to the latter category and I am also the kind person who does not manage to squeeze contacts onto my eyeballs.

So, imagine you are at the optician's shop. You know you need a pair of glasses because otherwise the lectures become very tiring for your eyes and for you. The glasses themselves won't really be the problem: the optician will find which ones are most suitable for your eyes. It's the frame that results in endless considering, trying, deliberating, and weighing one frame against the hundreds of other frames.  Fortunately, glasses today are considered a valuable accessory that can really add something to your outfits. There are countless styles and colours of frames so that there is always a frame that looks good on you. I figured that the fashion-conscious college students could use some advice.

First, look at the prices. Not only at the prices of various optician shops and their price reduction actions, but also at the deals they have with insurance companies. If you get your glasses at a place that does not have a deal with your insurance company, where they sell haute couture designer frames only, while you really have bad sight without glasses, the price might go up into the hundreds of euros. On the other hand, it has occurred to me that I had to pay nothing at all for my glasses due to a nice action of the optician shop, combined with a deal with my insurance company.

Now you have decided which optician shop fits your budget best, it is time to find out which frames they have and how these frames look on your face. It might be helpful to take someone with you for this part of the task, especially if you have very bad eye-sight. For example, without my glasses I can see sharp for only 10 cm / 0.1 yards, so I am highly dependent of what others say about how the frame looks on me. In order to decide what looks good on you, you need to take into account several things:

• The shape and the size of your face. Each frame looks different on each face. Sometimes, a very subtle difference in the shape and size of the frames can make the difference between looking stupid and looking great. If you happen to have a very small face, like I have, you might want to point this out to the optician who is helping you. He or she is likely to know which frames in the shop are fit for your face without referring you to the children's glasses.
• Your complexion. Just as you buy clothes and make-up adjusted to your complexion, you also need to find a frame that matches with your complexion. Again, a subtle change in colour or tint can make a major difference for how the frame looks. I once tried a frame that was black on the outside and very deep, dark brown on the inside. Just a second later I tried a frame that was black both on the outside and the inside. The second hardened my face far more than the first.
• The colour of your eyes. Glasses in general tend to push your eyes to the background. It is therefore often advised to allow yourself some heavier eye make-up if you wear glasses. However, you may as well get a frame that matches very well with your eye-colour and even enhances it and thereby does not push your eyes to the background. 
• Your clothing style and personality. It's the same as with clothes: people will notice when you feel uncomfortable with what you're wearing. This even goes for your glasses, so make sure that you have a frame that fits your personality and clothing style. Obviously, if your glasses mismatch your clothing style, you won't feel comfortable about wearing them. Also, if you, for example, very often wear purple, it might be wise to find a purple frame, too, so make sure everything matches.

Last but not least, don't be afraid to ask the optician for help. As I pointed out in the first point, they are likely to know which frames they have in store for your face size. These people sell glasses and advise clients about the purchase of glasses and frames every day. Sure, some will have a better sense of style than others, which is why it is important to take someone with you in case you have very bad eye-sight. The last time I bought new glasses, though, I was helped by someone who managed to find a few frames that made my heart skip a beat and that were not too large for my face. 

So, these are some things to take into consideration next time you need new glasses. I apologize if you just bought new glasses and, after reading this, come to the conclusion that you bought the wrong frame. If you found this post and want to show the world what you got, don't hesitate to comment and insert a link to a photo of you with your glasses on. Of course, you are also free to share your thoughts on glasses in general and what you think of this post. 

4 ways to survive exam weeks

As the more experienced college students know, courses are tested and graded in different ways. Some teachers prefer just one exam at the end of the course, others hand out a final assignment. There's also a group that splits the exam in two parts, having one part halfway through the course and the other by the end, just as there are teachers who base the final grades for their course on several assignments. Last but not least, there are teachers who like to combine some of the above. No matter, however, how your course is tested and graded; it brings stress. Assignments mean deadlines and exams mean putting hours into learning all of the course material. How to survive this stress?

1. Remember that everybody in your class is stressed, too. It is perfectly normal to feel nervous for your exams and assignments. If you were not nervous, you would probably either be someone who is such a genius who passes all courses no matter what, or you would be apathetic about your studies. Talk about this stress with each other and try to help each other get over it by discussing course materials together and explaining issues to each other. 
2. Make a time schedule for yourself. Be it on paper, in your head, on your smartphone, or on your computer, it is important that you have some idea of what you want to do when (and maybe even where and how). This way you make concrete what has to be done and how much time you have for it. It also shows you where you might have some gaps for other activities than studying.
3. Take some me-time. I know it is tempting to pull all-nighters for studying and writing your papers, but this really won't do you any good. Allow yourself to sleep and to calm down before you are going to sleep. So, keep doing your yoga exercises, read an easy-going and fun book in the evenings, listen to your favourite music, watch a movie, or whatever calms you down and gets you ready for a good night.
4. Look forward and don't panic. While you may always feel you did not study as much as you should have, once you are taking the exam, you usually know more than you think. In multiple-choice exams, many of your correct answers come down to recognition, rather than to recall. If you are not sure about your answer, make an educated guess. If you really forgot the exact formulation, just blindly guess and go with your first intuition. In open-ended question exams, it is best to just start writing. As you write, most of the time you come to remember other related things. Neither question type is reason for concern. And remember, everything will pass, even this exam week.

Note: although it is normal - and even healthy - to be somewhat nervous and stressed, some symptoms may indicate severe exam fear, such as procrastinating studying, sleepless nights, hyperventilation and not being able to focus on the course material because of the stress. In this case, it is wise to consult with an academic advisor or tutor (or some other staff member you trust) to ask what you can do about it. Most universities will have student psychologists or student coaches who are there to help students overcoming the problems that are most common in the student population. Inform there for private consults, coaching sessions, or groups that offer techniques to cope better with your exam fear. 

If you have more tips and advices to share, leave a comment and maybe I will incorporate your advice with your (nick)name in the next exam-related post. Also, if you would like some more specific advice, let me know. I am happy to share my experience and knowledge with you!

Teachers and how to deal with them

There are some we love and there are some we hate. You are likely to meet both categories of teachers during your years in college. While it is peanuts to deal with the teachers we love, it is more difficult to deal with those we do not love as much. However, it is important to at least remain polite to all of your teachers, because they can turn out to be more influential in your life than you initially think. So, how to remain polite if you dislike the teacher, dislike the course, and dislike everything about it?

In my university, most of my Bachelor subjects are mandatory, and I think every program in the world has at least one or two mandatory courses. If this happens to be the course with the teacher you dislike, there is no way to escape, other than to change studies. It is, however, the question whether it's worth changing studies for only one or two teachers. Every department has one or two teachers who are didactically or socially weak, making them unpopular among students, so changing studies and departments is not really an option.

The only rule is: remain polite!

Here are a few applications of this rule. Always start and end your e-mails to the teacher in a formal way unless your teacher announced you can use less formal ways. Always greet the teacher whenever you see him / her. Always pretend to pay attention in class. These are simple, basic rules that become more difficult as you come to dislike someone more, but it is important to stick to them.

A second rule is to weigh and reconsider your words whenever you disagree with your teacher. You can say "you *******, ya totally wrong, ya know, *****?" You can also say "But sir / madam, if you look at it from this point of view, then you may get a completely different outcome". I think it is needless to tell you which strategy works better. Some teachers may indeed make you want to hit your head against a wall five times during a class period, but weigh your words! Otherwise you may say things you regret later on. Also, if you have a low grade, inform kindly why your grade is as it is and ask for constructive feedback. This will get you further than "I want a better grade!!!" This is not just to keep your relationship with your teacher in good spirits, it will also be far more helpful for you.

These two applications of the politeness rule do, of course, not mean that you have to become best friends with your teacher. It is also wise to keep in mind that you usually have a teacher for one semester or a part of a semester. Sometimes, courses are even arranged so that there is another lecturer for each class session. It is, however, more common that you have one teacher for (the majority of) the whole period or semester. In this case, the only thing you can do is make the best of it. Complain to students of whom you know they also dislike the teacher, remain polite, weigh the words you may need to exchange with your teacher, and remember that there are worse things in the world and that this course will pass.

Do you have teachers you explicitly hate (not asking for names here!)? What are your experiences with less favourite teachers? How did you deal with them?

Eating healthy

I must confess, I am a health nut. I believe I mentioned health in almost every post I wrote here. Today, it is time for a post about healthy food, because we all need to eat and student food is not known to be the healthiest.

The first question might be: what is healthy food? It might sound stupid to ask this, as everybody knows that they must eat two pieces of fruit every day, two portions of vegetables, that skipping meat a few times per week does not hurt you when you replace it by soy products or fish, and that you need to drink 1.5 litres each day. There is, however, more to eating healthy. As a matter of fact, one can eat healthy and one can eat healthy. The first healthy is where you, for example, get your vegetables from microwave meals, which might indeed contain enough vitamins and minerals in the veggies, but that also contain a lot of salt and probably artificial additives. The second healthy is where you make everything by yourself with fresh and pure ingredients. Of course, it would be best to make all food by yourself from scratch, to the point where you plant your own vegetables and fruit trees in your garden and raise your own cattle, but most of us won't have the time for that.

The second question to be answered is: how do you recognize fresh and pure ingredients? Fresh ingredients are fairly easy: look for the expiration date and use your common sense if something looks or smells funny. Pure ingredients are more difficult, but after a few years of reading various articles, books, watching documentaries and TV shows, and trying things out, I have gathered some knowledge about what pure food means.

An easy way to find out how healthy your food is, is to look at the length of the ingredient list of the products you buy. Don't look for 'healthy choice' labels! These are often misleading, already put on a product as soon as there is less sugar or fat in it than the equivalent of another brand. A general, very rough rule of thumb without any nuance to it is that the longer the list of ingredients, the more likely it is that there is something bad, processed, or artificial in it. As stated above, it is a general and rough rule without any nuance: some pure products list 10 ingredients while some 'artificial' products contain only 3 or 4 ingredients.

In the European Union (EU), some 'artificial' products are easily recognizable. The EU has a list of approved artificial and natural additives that are added to food to make it look better, tastier, more smelly, or simply to be able to preserve it longer without it rotting away. These additives have gotten numerical codes, all starting with an E, also called E-numbers. Although the EU has approved these, some additives from the 'European' list are forbidden in some individual EU-countries or in the USA, so just because a supranational institution has approved of it, doesn't necessarily make it good!

Also, producers of food replace the E-number codes by the names of the additives today, resulting in packages almost as easily readable as the table of elements we had to learn in Chemistry during high school. In order to read and understand these lists, you really need to be into chemistry. Again, as a very general rule of thumb: the harder an ingredient is to pronounce, the more likely it is that it is unhealthy. This again a very general rule of thumb, because ascorbic acid sounds quite scary, but actually it just vitamin C.

Another reason to be wary of packages is that they sometimes scream 'no preservatives!' or 'does not contain colorants!' Some additives serve several functions and they usually are added for their primary function. The second function is just a side effect, and therefore, the producers tend to derive the claim of 'no whatever type of additives' from the primary and initial reason why the stuff was added to the product.

So, what should you avoid at all costs?

First, diet / light products, and products that claim to contain no sugar / no fat. The sugar that ought to be in the product is most often replaced by sweeteners, such as sucrose, aspartame (E951), sucralose (E955), and acesulfame-K (E950). While your teeth might be happy and shiny with the sugar being replaced by these sweeteners, the rest of your body may disagree with your teeth. And after all, your teeth prefer water and milk above everything.

Second, microwave meals / ready-to-eat salads with dressing and basically ALL ready-to-use dressings / sauces / whatever. I have come across a few microwave meals that contain no additives, but make up for this by using excessive amounts of salt. Most of these ready-to-eat meals / salads / dressings / sauces contain preservatives, flavour modifiers, emulsifiers and other things that make me personally feel sick and loose all appetite. Especially the flavour modifier monosodium glutamate (E621) is a well-known one and even referred to as 'Chinese restaurant syndrome', because Chinese restaurants often use it in their food. If you are allergic to this flavour modifier, you can actually feel very unwell after consuming it. It is present in most ready-to-use sauces, dressings, bouillon preparations, but also in potato chips with additional flavours and many other well-seasoned food products. I would also categorize cakes, cookies, pop tarts and almost anything sweet you can get at the supermarket.

Third, meat and meat products, especially when they are flavoured with spices and marinades. It is not secret that many cattle farmers feed their animals with growth hormones (which may lead to hormonal disturbances in your body) and antibiotics (which has already resulted in the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria), but once in the meat factory, additives are added for taste and preservation on top of the hormones and antibiotics.

Fourth, so-called healthy and / or tasty dairy variations, such as chocolate milk from cans (emulsifiers) and strawberry yoghurt drink without sugar (sweeteners). Yes, I know these are tasty, but it really is better to drink a cup of milk and eat the strawberries separately and it also really is better to mix some pure and dark cocoa powder with milk (and maybe some sugar).

As a last word of advice, ingredients differ per brand, per company, and per shop. The examples of products containing (artificial) additives are generalizations and there are also many more products containing these additives. This article provides you with some guidelines that help you choose when you are busy and do not have so much time for grocery shopping. I will, however, recommend you to really take the time once and look at the ingredient lists on all products you wish to buy / eat. I also want to recommend you, if this topic has your interest, to just look up things on the internet. Wikipedia has a list of sub-categories and pages on which you can find plenty of information about additives. While Wikipedia may not be the most academic or scientific source, it is always a good starting point for extending your web search.

Last but not least: why the heck would you bother? Simple: because it has significant health benefits. Today, people are becoming more conscious of the additives, but they still are not knowledgeable enough to really make a decision on what is healthy and what is not. That makes perfect sense, as it took me years to find out what really is good for me, after extensive searches on the internet and in other sources. It is, however, a fact that some kids who were diagnosed with ADHD got rid of their disorder by following a diet based on avoiding unhealthy food as defined above. These kids never needed Ritalin / Concerta / Adderall, just a simple and healthy diet. Some additives have also been related to increased risk of getting cancer and other unpleasant diseases, but there is still much research going on and the results sometimes contradict each other. Some diets for people with severe and headstrong fungal infections strongly suggest eating pure food, without additives. My own experiences are: I'm feeling mentally and physically stronger, I've overcome the chronic winter colds that I had back during adolescence, I can focus better, and I have more energy than ever. While my life was pretty good before leaving the (in most cases) unnecessary additives aside, it is now so much better.

What are your thoughts? Did you already try to eat healthy or are you going to change your eating pattern after reading this? Do you think that the food industry should be legally forced to reduce their additives to an absolute minimum or do you think it is unstoppable no matter what? Do you think it is worthwhile spending hours on the internet looking up more specific information and preparing all your food by yourself? Maybe you happen to be a formerly ADHD kid who was cured by a diet? Let me know!