Keep Your Rooms Clean

Last year, my family came to visit. While visiting my apartment, they ragged me about its looks. I didn’t take it personal because it wasn’t my mess. The living room was dirty, there were noodles on the kitchen floor, and it was smelly. I rarely hung out in other parts of the apartment. After thinking, it was embarrassing on mines’ and my roommates’ parts. We dwelt in that mess daily. It’s a shame it took a family visit to feel bad.

Students, take care of your dorm rooms/ apartments. There’s no reason for your rooms to be smelly and dirty for a length of time.

Most students are used to living messy. Back home, they rarely cleaned and the habits transferred to college. But now it’s time to change. After cooking, wash the dishes. When the garbage runs over, take it out. If the floor is flooded with junk, vacuum it. Don’t watch your place accumulate with scrap. You never know who will make a surprise visit.

When it comes to cleaning, I tend to be selfish. My mentality: if my room or portion of the apartment is clean, the heck with the rest of it. I failed to realize that the apartment reflects everyone in it. My family didn’t care who made the mess.

The best way to keep your place clean is to divide the chores. Make sure everyone knows what they’re doing and when to do it. Many students fail at this task, including myself. Take the trash as an example. Everyone in the apartment will walk past a full garbage can for days until someone budges. The person that takes it out will be upset and call his/her roommates many names. This is a frustrating scenario for anybody.

College rooms become dirty due to a lack of cleaning supplies. When packing, bringing a vacuum or cleaning detergent is the last things on students’ minds. They fail to ask their roommate(s) who’s bringing what. If this situation occurs, everyone should chip-in and buy the materials. That way, everyone is entitled to them. Also, don’t hesitate to ask the maid for a vacuum. She wouldn’t mind lending it. As a freshman, I frequently borrowed the maid’s vacuum. Speaking of maids, many students become spoiled by them. For example, the maid cleaned our bathroom every week freshman year. The following year, the maid didn’t clean as often. It took us a while to adjust.

Cleaning comes down to pride. Keeping your room dandy should be a priority. Whoever doesn’t mind living in a smelly atmosphere needs to examine their self. I don’t understand how some kids allow their hampers to overflow and wear dirty clothes multiple times before washing them. When you keep clean, you feel good. I rejoice when people say my room smells nice.

Connect With Your Roommates

At the beginning of the school year, I wasn’t sure what to expect from my roommates. I roomed with one last year; but this would be my first year rooming with the others. Add to the fact that I didn’t know them well, I was tense. Thankfully, one of my roommates resolved any awkwardness between us. During the first week of school, he took it upon himself to bring the four of us together. We played his videogames and chatted amongst each other in the living room. Those experiences are the reason we get along.

Students, establish relationships with your roommates. It’s hard to live with someone you barely talk with. Give yourself a chance to know them. I know it’s late in the school year and you figure you can tolerate this person a little while longer. But, it shouldn’t be like that.

During freshman year, it took me time to adjust to my roommate. He was a good person; but he wasn’t the type of person I’d hang out with. It was hard to give myself a chance to know him. It took an entire school year to realize how stupid I was for brushing him off. I was nice to him, but not as friendly as I should’ve been. Freshman year would’ve been much easier if I had done these things.

Communication is essential to get along with your roommate(s). You never know how he/she feels about something until you talk to them. Simply saying “hi” is not really communication. You say “hi” to anyone on the street. Your roommate is like a sibling, minus the arguments. It’s important to feel comfortable around your roommate as you do with family. College students deal with numerous issues. For some reason, many feel they have to deal with them alone. Roommates are alternatives to relatives/ close friends. I’m confident your roommate wouldn’t mind listening to your feelings.

Roommates have a tendency to do what they see. At beginning of last school year, I constantly had my room door closed. My roommates followed my lead. As expected, we rarely spoke to each other. I didn’t like the feeling of walking past their doors and not saying anything to them. So, I took it upon myself to keep my door open; and once again, they followed. As a result, communication improved.

Establishing relationships with roommates leads to many benefits. You won’t have to worry about doing things alone. You can eat, workout, and do other positive activities with them. I would’ve never partaken in intramural sports if not for my roommate. He looked out for me by signing me up. That wouldn’t have happened if our bond wasn’t strong.

It’s never too late to connect with your roommates. Where there’s unity, there’s peace. And no one wants to live in a stressful environment.

Don't Change With the Weather

As spring approached last year, I went along with the flow. Surprisingly, we got a beautiful day. It had been cold all week. It was a rough winter and I was ready to celebrate warmer temperatures. I took advantage of this warm day by sporting a short-sleeve shirt with no jacket. The next day, the cold returned. I had no choice but to put my jacket back on. A few days later, I paid for my decision to dress lightly by catching a cold. I knew why because my mother told me countless times: don’t change with the weather.

Students, don’t overreact to unexpected weather changes. Weather changes daily. It can be freezing one day, hot the next two, and freezing again. We can’t control that. But we can control our approach. It’s important to dress smart. Don’t wear beach apparel because it’s hot, especially this time of the year. The end of winter/ beginning of spring period is the trickiest time of the year. This is evidenced by last week’s weather. For a two-day stretch, we got beautiful weather. It was sunny with a fresh breeze. Everyone thought winter was over. However, over the next few days, it got colder. In my school’s town, it snowed within the past twenty-four hours.

During the nice weather, I watched as students celebrated like it was summer. They wore flip-flops and had cookouts among others. It was tempting for me to rejoice like them; but I learned my lesson last year. I continued to wear a light jacket because I knew the weather would change; and I was right. It happens every year.

Not many people enjoy the winter. Everyone anxiously waits for warmer climates to arrive. When there’s an inkling of the sun, people go crazy. There’s nothing wrong with that; but don’t get your hopes too high.

I’m not suggesting to dress like an Eskimo when it’s nice. That’s crazier than changing with the weather. I’m saying don’t overdo it. Just wear a light jacket or, at least, a long sleeve shirt. If it continues to get warmer, gradually dress lighter. Also, don’t fall into the trap of believing it’ll be warm when spring begins on March 21. It takes time for the temperature to consistently be in the 70s and 80s.

So, hold off on the tank-tops and shorts. You’ll know when it’s really time to wear them. And don’t feel the need to dress light because everyone else is. There’s nothing wrong with being an oddball sometimes. I was one last week. You think I cared?

Take It One Hour at a Time

During one week this semester, I had much to do. I spent Sunday trying to determine my weekly itinerary. I planned on going home the following weekend and wanted to get as much done as possible. Over thinking caused me to stress. There was no way I could determine what I would do day-to-day. It was too much to plan. I had no choice but to stop dwelling on the issue. The stress left once I stopped thinking. Taking it one hour at a time paid dividends. Everything that needed to get done was accomplished and the rest of my week was stress-free.

Students, take it one moment at a time. Don’t think too far ahead. Pace yourselves. Play your schedule by ear. Thinking too far ahead will overload your brain. You can’t control what will happen tomorrow or the next day. Anything can come up that will hinder your plans. It’s ok to plan ahead, but not excessively. The important thing is knowing what needs to get done. Once you know, the next important thing is doing it. You must accomplish your tasks at your own speed. Don’t procrastinate; but at the same time, don’t rush through it.

I’m still learning to not look ahead too far. My mind is constantly thinking about the next move. I even think about what’s for dinner right after eating breakfast. To improve this condition, I always evaluate what I can and can’t control. It was easy for me to get over the food scenario. After realizing I can’t control what the chef cooks, I stopped worrying. This mentality has helped me academically. I can’t plan on writing a paper at a specific time because I don’t know what will happen that day.

Don’t make plans too far ahead of time. For example, don’t tell your friends you’ll go to Philadelphia with them in two weeks. What if you have a few papers due the day after the trip? You see where I’m going. Wait until the last moment in making plans. You know academics come first; so plan your social schedule around that.

Taking it one moment at a time gives your mind rest. There’s no way to pre-plan a five-day schedule. You never know how hard an assignment will be or how long it will take to study for a test. If you work on an assignment longer than expected, everything gets pushed back. Then you’ll stress over getting everything else done. Why? Because you had a specific time in mind to get the assignments done.

Be Smart with Your Vehicles

It’s a privilege for any college student to have a vehicle. I just wish students were smarter with the opportunity. Students love showing off their vehicles around campus. They drive with the roofs back and speed among other things. As a matter of fact, I wish I had the chance. However, I don’t, but I’ll blog about the issue anyway.

Students, be smart with your vehicles. Keep track of gas prices, mileage, and distances.

In mentioning distances, I mean be aware of where you should drive. If your class is a five-minute walk, take the walk. If the bus travels to your destination, take the bus. Don’t drive for the heck-of-it. It pesters me to see students waste gas. I know I’m cheap, but anyone with sense will agree with me. If my destination is within reasonable distance, I’m going to walk.

Gas is expensive these days. If I had a car, I’d keep it put as much as possible. I’d only drive wherever I NEED to go. I understand driving is the only way to get to most places; but many students overdo it. In evaluating whether to drive, students should ask: do I need to go or want to go? If students learn this tactic, they’ll save gas. Gas stations around college campuses thrive because students are nonchalant with the prices. I understand why students are careless with gas. They figure: if they run low on money, their parents will bail them out. Obviously, this isn’t fair. Parents are the ones who purchase the car; so why should they pay for gas?

Also, take care of your cars. Don’t show off by driving recklessly. What’s wrong with cruising? And don’t drive to a party for obvious reasons. Parents expect you to care for vehicles like you care for yourself. Some students are negligent because they didn’t pay for the car. They don’t develop this mentality on purpose. They just never take the time to consider all the money their parents put into the vehicles. Continuing on this segment, check your vehicles often. If a tire sounds flat, check it. If you hear an unusual sound while driving, investigate it. Brushing car problems off can be dangerous. I don’t need to discuss the dangers.

You may think I’m jealous, but I’m not. Sure, I wish I had a car. I’d love the opportunity to drive whenever I please. But this blog isn’t about me. It’s for the students who have vehicles. To those students: appreciate the opportunity to drive and use sense with it.

Take Good Care of Your Teeth

Earlier this year, I took a trip to the dentist. Prior to this visit, it had been almost two years since I saw a dentist. Like always, I was expecting a good report on my teeth. During most visits to the dentist, he/she commended me for keeping my teeth in good shape. But this appointment was unlike others. She chastised me for not taking good care of my gums and not flossing. As she scolded me, I remembered her previously telling me to floss. I was disappointed; but I was more upset for letting her down. She also warned me of cavities. That worried me more. I could never imagine myself with a cavity.

Students, take good care of your teeth. Make sure you brush every day. Not only brush, but floss as well.

College students get lazy when it comes to dental care. They’re in such a hurry during the morning that they forget to brush and rinse. I make sure to brush everyday; which is why I’m shocked to receive an average report. I’ve learned it takes more than brushing. Flossing is also important. Flossing gets the junk that brushing doesn’t. Studies show that brushing removes only 65% of dirt. To the students who care more about looks than health: flossing makes your teeth brighter by removing excess tooth particles and plaque. Failing to remove plaque can lead to gum disease and tooth loss among others.

Dental care leads to fresh breath. It’s not a good feeling talking to someone with smelly breath. It’s a problem that is fixed with good care. It’s important to at least brush and rinse every day.

Dental care will reduce teeth stains. It’s become too common seeing people with yellow teeth. How can they walk around like that? Students cannot expect to impress a date with nasty teeth. Your teeth are one of the few things people pay attention to. So, it helps to keep them clean.

I made the mistake of letting too much time past between dentist visits. Going almost two years without an appointment won’t cut it. The long layoff probably played a role in my diminished teeth care. Use my experience as a lesson. Try to see a dentist at least once or twice a year. You may think you’re doing everything right regarding your teeth; but a dentist tells you what’s wrong. Dentist visits are like a massage. Each visit, my dentist cleans out the dirt between my teeth. It astonishes me to see how unclean my teeth are at times. But that’s what dentists are for.

Keep Track of the Things You Need

Last year, I needed a few essentials. The week before I went home, I noticed my supplies were running low. I’m not only talking school supplies. I’m talking tooth paste, vitamins, deodorant, and all that good stuff. Yeah, there’s a store around campus; but I figured I’d pick these items up in my hometown. Unfortunately, I came back to school needing the same items. These items slipped my mind when I got home. I should’ve followed my instincts and made note of what I needed.

Students, keep track of your supplies inventory. If you see things running low, don’t procrastinate in picking them up.

If you hesitate, they’ll eventually diminish and won’t be available when you need them. For example, I caught a cold and had no medicine to take. While I noticed my medicine was running low, I brushed it off. Making matters worse was the fact that I caught the cold at night. Many of the stores were closed. One would think I learned my lesson from this experience; but unfortunately not. During spring break, I had numerous opportunities to purchase a new toothbrush. Once again, I brushed it off and now have to take a trip to the store.

If you have a tough time remembering, make notes. And place the notes where you can see them. What’s the use of putting notes in places you rarely look?

And I don’t want to hear the bull about lack of stores to buy items. There’s at least one convenience store around every campus. If the store doesn’t have what you need, ask your parents to mail it. They won’t have a problem doing so. One time, I needed a pair of khakis for an occasion. I couldn’t go to the mall because I didn’t have transportation. So, I called my mother and had the pants within three days.

I know students have a lot on their minds when it comes to school. The last thing they’re worried about is how much deodorant or tooth paste they have left. But just take a moment each week and observe what you need. It’s better to be safe than sorry. I was just thinking about students who don’t have a meal plan. They keep track of how much food they have in the fridge. If students keep track of other items like they do food, they won’t run low on anything.

This process comes down to organization. It’s important to stay on top of things. Don’t forget, we’re on our own. Our parents aren’t with us at school so they're clueless on what we need.

Eat Dinner a little later

At the beginning of my college career, I used to eat dinner early. Everyone would tease me about it and I’d just brush it off. My mentality was: if I’m hungry, I’m going to eat. I failed to notice the implications of eating early. For one, I would get hungry at night. Also, not many other students ate early. It took me a while to realize these effects. I grew tired of starving late at night and seeing the same group of people every day I ate dinner. One day, I decided to eat later. What a good decision that was? The late dinner allowed me to eat with people I knew and hold off hunger the rest of the night.

Students, be conscious of the times you eat. Yeah, I know you’re supposed to eat when you’re hungry; but you have to sacrifice something. Whoever eats dinner early likely skips lunch. Their mentality is: I can afford to miss lunch because dinner will be in a few hours. Not only are you skipping a meal, but you’re unnecessarily starving yourself. That’s unneeded stress because no one should allow food to consume their thoughts. When students skip meals, they spend a lot of time pondering what they will eat later. Take a page out of my book. I used to eat an early breakfast and skip lunch. As a result, I couldn’t concentrate on homework until after dinner. You know why.

Most students eat dinner around 6 p.m. At that time, the food courts are packed and everyone is rushing trying to eat. And add the struggle of finding a seat to the equation. These were some of the things I purposely avoided. I didn’t have the tolerance to be around numerous people at once. But I’m glad people ribbed me for eating early. It forced me to eat late. Now, I don’t mind being around a bunch of people because I’m used to it.

I blogged last week about eating with others. Well, eating late is one way to do so. Not only will you eat late, but you’ll eat slowly due to others’ presence. No one eats fast when others are watching. The slower you eat, the later you’ll finish. The later you finish, the less hungry you’ll be at night. I skip breakfast some days after eating late because I’m still full. But I make sure to eat lunch. After eating lunch, I’m not hungry until about 6 p.m. You see what I’m saying? It’s about establishing a pattern. To the students that normally eat early, it’s an adjustments eating later. With a little practice, you’ll adjust.

Don't Over-do in the Weight Room

One day in the weight room, I got confident. I felt strong and sensed I could lift anything. I decided to put more weight on the bar. I was also stupid for not asking someone to spot me. While bench pressing, I struggled getting the weights off my chest. Thankfully, someone noticed and assisted me. I learned a valuable lesson that day. I take no more chances when lifting.


Students, don’t lift more than you can handle. When you do, you risk injury and perhaps worst. Don’t allow adrenaline to pump you so much that you wind up like me. To the females: I know you don’t lift weights that much, but you can apply this lesson to any type of exercise you do.


The weight room brings the best out of students. They see others lifting more than them and become frustrated. Don’t get frustrated. The individuals who lift more are either built differently or have lifted longer. Just think: if you consistently lift for a while longer, you’ll be like them. Strength accumulates, so you have to work at it. Second, if they’re built differently, it means their body can handle lifting more. There’s nothing you can do regarding body frame.


Over lifting leads to improper form. I see many students lift weights incorrectly. They’re ruining parts of their body. When this happens, they’re likely lifting weight they can’t handle. Students need to focus on form rather than amount. Honestly, lifting wrong is cheating. Students may be able to lift the weight, but their muscles won’t develop because they’re using them incorrectly. I cringe when seeing someone do bicep curls with their back bent every rep. That’s begging for punishment.


There are ways to avoid these mistakes. Planning your progress is a good start. Not only plan, but stick to it. If you do, you’ll have no choice but to lift what’s in the plan. If you have trouble making a plan, don’t hesitate to ask for help. There are numerous trainers on campuses. Speaking of trainers, ask them for tips on lifting. You can’t go wrong with a trainer. Also, find a workout partner. Partners will keep your ego in check. If you’re doing something wrong, they’ll tell you. And so what if partners slow you down. If you want the best results, you’ll abide.


Be smart when lifting. Don’t damage your body and stress yourself because of weights. When over lifting, you strain which leads to head pains. And you know what head pains can lead to. I’m not trying to scare you. I want you to have the best success while lifting.