College Being

Most college students look forward to the long days of summer when the textbooks can be tucked away and eight hours of sleep can be had on any given night. Yet once summer sets in, many people find themselves with a case of the summertime blues. Here are a few causes of summer depression and steps you can take to help things go a little smoother.

1. Schedule Change

Even though so many students look forward to the freedom summer provides an abrupt change in routine can throw your head into disarray. The disruption of not having somewhere to be at a certain time can actually be quite a stressful situation. According to UCLA researchers, staying on some kind of steady schedule over the summer can help improve sleep, decrease boredom and make you feel like you’re still accomplishing something.

2. Seasonal Affective Disorder

According to UCLA, as much as six percent of the United States population suffers from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Most people with SAD suffer in the winter, when the weather is colder and days are shorter. Yet about one-tenth of those suffering from the disorder end up getting bummed out in the summer. Planning a getaway with friends can help keep you occupied and get your mind off summertime depression.

3. Financial Stress

The weight of financial stress can hit college students in the summer. Stress only compounds when the pressure is on to find a summer job and build up an egg nest for next semester. When money’s tight, spending more time with family is a great and inexpensive way to be around people who can help put your financial woes into perspective. Summer is also a great time to rework your budget and come up with a financial plan for next year.

4. Self-Esteem Issues

Summer can be tough on your self-image. The days of shorts and bathing suits tend to make people feel self-conscious about their bodies. Being embarrassed tends to make people withdraw, spend less time with friends and fall into a cycle of depression. To combat those feelings, it is important to recognize what situations trigger those awkward moments and avoid them. A good exercise routine will also work wonders for self-perception.

5. Excessive Heat

The heat of summer can bring out the worst in tensions. Granted, those days spent lounging by the beach or hanging out at the pool are great, but sometimes it is simply too hot. It is all too easy to find yourself spending more and more time indoors. The couch or bedroom can become a depressing place after you’ve spent endless hours indoors. To stay cool and get out of the house, consider a gym membership, yoga class or simply walk around an air-conditioned mall when you get antsy.

6. Intellectual Boredom

College students are used to being challenged on a daily basis. There’s always an essay to write or test to cram for. Yet once summer sets in, many people find the lack of intellectual stimuli downright depressing. A summer class can help you stay focused and knock some credits out of the way. Even when you’re off campus, there’s always the option of taking some courses online to keep your brain fresh. From online health care administration to criminal justice degrees, there are options out there for almost every field of study.

Summer is an important time for college students to regroup and relax. Getting plenty of sleep and staying sharp is an excellent way to stay on an even keel and feel refreshed for next year. The key is keeping your options open and knowing what factors trigger the summertime blues.

Julie Lee loves to write about college education and health. Some of her articles about online college degree programs like health care administration have been featured on several student publications.

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With back to school time upon us, here are some great reasons to reconsider purchasing those necessary textbooks and opting to rent them instead.

1. Renting textbooks is cheaper

Renting your textbooks can save you up to 80% of the cost of the book. This means that if you rent just one textbook this semester, you’ll save about $80 – $100. Think about all of the things you can use that $80 on instead of your textbooks. Eighty dollars can get you 53 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon, 3 pedicures or 1 Olympus digital camera! If you rented 7 textbooks this academic year, you would save enough money to buy yourself a brand new Toshiba laptop. That seems like a better investment of your money!

2. Renting is more sustainable

When you rent your textbooks, fewer resources are consumed, which results in less landfill. The fewer new textbooks in circulation, the less trees needed to make the books. At BookRenter. We don’t have a central warehouse where we keep all the books. We use our intelligent supply chain that means the books take the shortest distance possible to reach the student. It’s faster and it keeps our carbon footprint low!

3. Renting is more convenient

When you rent your textbooks, you avoid having to deal with buyback at the end of the semester or getting stuck with the book if the bookstore won’t buy it back. Plus, BookRenter has locations at over 500 college campuses around the country so you can rent directly from your college store.

4. Rentiing is risk-free

If you drop a class within the first 3 weeks, don’t fret having to deal with your textbooks. Simply return it within 21 days for a complete refund. At any point throughout the semester or quarter, you can decide to buy the book if you need it. You will never pay more than the value of the book and the money you paid to rent it goes towards the price of the book.

5. Renting helps people in your community!

Websites like BookRenter donate children’s books every time an order is placed on the site. Fueling learning through literacy is an important cause, and BookRenter is dedicated to placing books into the hands of children. We’ve donated over 75,000 books, and that number grows each day. Do something good for the community while you save a bunch of money for yourself!

This guest post was written by Rachel Freeman of BookRenter. Be sure to check them out on Facebook and Twitter.

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What is the most vital part of the process of applying for college? Some applicants would say it is passing all exams or making sure that your high-school transcript looks good. Others may state that the most important part is preparing all the needed documents and selecting the institution. 

Each of these answers is true. However, there is one more thing that you might be missing out. Let’s discuss scholarships.

With tuition costs going up by leaps and bounds, an awarded scholarship can become a lucky ticket for many high-school graduates. College scholarships and grants can give you a good kick-start into adult life and help cope with a variety of financial issues.

Unfortunately, many young people are ignoring this opportunity, thinking that obtaining a scholarship is extremely hard or even impossible for them. 

This judgment is not always true. Of course, it may be hard to find the right opportunity and prepare all the documents. Presenting a top-notch essay isn’t easy as well unless you turn to a professional write my essay online service. However, all it takes is a bit of dedication and work. 

Besides, if you know exactly where to search for such opportunities, it is already halfway to success! In this article, we have prepared a list of top five scholarship websites that will help you get the financial help you need. Let’s dive in!

College Applicant’s Toolkit: Best Scholarship Sites to Keep at Hand

Despite a common belief, finding scholarships can be easy as A, B, C! Just a few decades ago, this process used to be much more complicated and time-consuming. Times have changed, and now, students can do the same quickly and easily.

The easiest way to discover available opportunities is to use specialized websites that have a database of various grants and scholarships. As a rule, applicants can search through a base with the help of multiple filters such as gender, country of origin, academic level, special interests, etc. 

How to pick the right website? It could be hard if you’d have to do it on your own, but we’ve got you covered! Below, we have collected some of the best sites to help you fund your education.

1. Fastweb

Even if you haven’t heard of it yet, trust us, Fastweb is one of those must-have tools for all college applicants! This resource features a convenient tool for finding funding.

Also, here, you can discover tons of internships and jobs. Finally, at Fastweb, students can research different colleges and find up to date information about each institution with ease. Therefore, if you still haven’t used this platform, be sure to give it a try!

2. FinAid

Our next top pick is a widely known online resource for university applicants. Here you can find comprehensive information about different types of funding, including grants, financial aid, scholarships, and more.

One of the most significant benefits of FinAid is that it makes finding opportunities simple and helps you determine which ones are the right options!

3. CollegeBoard

For those of you who have never heard of it before, the College Board is one of the oldest educational organizations in the world. Thus, it is fair to say that the resources offered by this community are reliable and helpful.

The same applies to their extensive database of funding opportunities called CollegeBoard, where students from all across the globe can discover a variety of options.

4. Chegg Scholarships

This platform’s database contains over 25,000 options, so the chances that everyone will find something suitable are pretty high! The reason why we like this platform a lot is that Chegg Scholarships features an extremely intuitive and convenient searching tool. At the same time, it provides quite accurate matches based on the details you type in.

5. Peterson’s

The last but not least handy option on this list is Peterson’s. It is a smart online platform created to help young people find funding for their education quickly and easily. 

The searching tool used at this service has pretty high filtering capabilities, allowing you to find a perfect match based on your needs!

Final Words

If you are starting off to university, be prepared to face a handful of various challenges daily. In most cases, life in a campus becomes a transition point from a teenager into an adult. 

Clearly, this transition can’t pass unnoticed. You can’t avoid some hardships in the studying process. However, one thing you can do right now is to make sure that financial issues won’t be among those issues you may face!

Although obtaining high-quality education is much more available today, it is still expensive. And the cost keeps growing with each year. Applying for grants and scholarships, you can ease the financial burden and get more of your campus years.

Hopefully, this article will help future students find just the right opportunities for them. Using any of the websites mentioned above, you can save plenty of time and discover the most exciting scholarships available out there. 

Now, all that’s left to do is to believe in yourself and do your best to get the funding you need!

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