Sure, the divorce rate has increased and that means divorce has become more common - a lot more common - but that doesn’t make it any easier on you as a kid. It doesn’t matter whether you don’t know anyone else with divorced parents or if all of your friends have divorced parents, divorce sucks. Your parents are splitting, and a big change is creeping in, and that is always going to be hard. Now we’re not going to claim we can heal all hurt, but we there are some things you can do to make it all a teeny-weeny bit easier.Play Peacemaker Dealing with a divorce is always easier when your parents get along. It just super sucks when they are always bitter towards each other. There may not be much you can do to sway their behavior, but you can ask them to try and be amicable. You can ask them to try mediation, and even hire a professional mediator, of which they can find more at JudithGoldberg.com/ct. You could ask them to stop bickering and stop being so personal. You can even explain what it is like to be caught in the middle so they see it from your perspective. You are their priority, remember that. Fairness Helps Do not let your parents pressure you into taking sides. This is one of the ugliest parts of being a kid in the middle of a divorce. You need to feel like you can hang out with both your parents without the other one getting jealous and without them getting mad or upset or sad. Your parents are your parents and you deserve to see them both. You shouldn’t feel guilty about doing so either. Your parent’s happiness should not have to be a burden on you and, if it does, then sit down and talk to them about it. Future Talks It’s only natural to think about your own future when divorce is happening. There is nothing selfish about thinking about this. The most common cause among teenage kids is their college hopes. Divorce can be expensive, and this can often make you feel a little uncertain about your own plans. If this is something that is bothering you, then speak to your parents about it. It is far better to make your concerns and worries known than to hang on to them in secret and let your resentment build. Speak to Others You aren’t the only kid in the world to go through a divorce, and that means what you are feeling isn’t isolated. So why not try and make sense of all the confusion you are feeling by hearing what others have to say about their experience. Read blogs by kids who have been through it, speak to friends, who have been there, rely on your besties, remember the happy memories, oh the memories, and, if you feel like you need to, ask to see a therapist. All of these can help you make sense of it all. Live Your Life Divorce is one of those big ugly words that makes you feel like you have to feel certain things in a certain way. You don’t. Your life still needs to be lived and just because your parents are caught up in their own thing doesn’t mean your experiences and life needs to be put on hold. The other thing that is so important to remember is to have fun and to not feel guilty for having fun. Your home life is changing, and that is where school, activities, and friends can play a huge role. They can be that stability you may be craving.
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Go away together Everyone needs a change of scenery once in a while, so why not plan a trip away somewhere? It doesn't really matter where you decide to go; it doesn't have to be the other side of the world, just being in a new environment with your partner can be enough. So take a break from the usual routine and go off on a little adventure together. Who knows what you will end up discovering. Talk together They don't say that communication is key for nothing. Being able to communicate and express your feelings with each other the right way, can have so many positive impacts on a relationship if done correctly. It's no good talking over one another and just making noise. You will need to learn how to listen too. Communication can not only save a relationship; it can teach you things you never even knew about your partner, which can make you ever closer. Do activities together Activities can be some of the best ways to bond when you're in a relationship. Maybe you both like to workout, in that case, type in fitness center near me online and see what comes up. You may find a new sport or workout session that you both love, or even a couples dance class, which is great because not only will you be sharing a fun experience with one another - you'll also be getting fit! Laugh together Laughter is one of the best medicines out there that doesn't cost you a thing, and it should be encouraged as much as possible. So if that means having to tickle your partner's feet - the sacrifice should be made. Laughing releases good endorphins into the body which make you feel a lot happier. They also remove the feelings of stress, anxiety and even depression. So the next time you or your partner are feeling down, re-tell that funny story and laugh a little. Have your own space Even though you may love to hang out with your partner all the time, it's important to make some alone time for yourself too. But this shouldn't be seen as a negative thing. Everyone needs their own space once in a while - it's perfectly normal. Being with someone every second of every day can be far too overwhelming and they may just start to bug you for no apparent reason. So taking a little time out will make you realize how much you actually enjoy spending time with your other half by choice, and not because you are forced to. And that will make you appreciate even the smallest moments you have together. College is a huge step in any young person's life. It’s when we, with memories of high school graduation fresh in our minds, take the next big step. For most, this means leaving their family homes and old school friends and starting to go it alone. Yes, there are tears and tissues when you say goodbye, but there’s also a sense of eagerness and anticipation about what’s to come. If you’re about to start college and need some advice, take a look at this guide. From the mundane, like packing the car, to the mature, like how to deal with leaving home, we’ve got you covered…
Bring Tissues… It’s Going To Get Emotional
time for everybody. It signals the end of one stage of family life. No longer will you all be living under the same roof, and you’ll be starting to strike out on your own as an adult. This transition isn’t always easy. So on the big day itself cut each other some slack. There may be excitement but also some nerves, tension, but mostly tears! Just remind your parents and yourself that this isn’t the end, just the start of a new and exciting chapter. You’ll Settle In Slowly
ignore these altogether. It’s just about realizing that adjusting to this new way of life is going to take some getting used too. So do have fun whilst you make friends and find your feet. No doubt your diet and work regime will cause your parents some alarm, but reassure them that you’re on track with your studies and simply experiencing college life. After the first semester, most students begin to settle into a more stable routine, which includes healthier meals! Teething Problems
Without the safety net of our families to fall back on it can seem overwhelming. Try solving your problems for yourself, to begin with. This is part of learning and growing at college. You’ll probably find your self-confidence growing as you master different social issues and situations. If you can, try not to bring minuscule issues to your parent’s attention. Of course, if you need help then ask. But telling them every small problem is likely to make they worry. If you do have a problem which you need help solving seek out your advisor, counselor or student guide at college. The Pitfall Of Procrastinating
lived away from home or with friends. The distractions are numerous and there aren’t many people to tell us to knuckle down and do our work. Over time you’ll learn that procrastinating isn’t the way forward. Instead, fill your time doing useful activities. There’s so much to get involved in at college and so much to make your free time productive. It could be joining a football club where you’ll have to attend tryouts, club practices, and team matches. Or it could be joining an art where you’ll be involved in making color guard flags for your college. It could even be a politics or debating society. Whatever your passion is, stop procrastinating and make the most of the resources around you. You could discover a new interest or develop an existing skill. It also gives you the chance to be more social and part of the college community. Treat Teachers With Respect
be only your time you're wasting. Treat your teachers with respect because you’ll need their help. When you need extra help with your work or a reference it’ll stand you in good stead to have a great relationship with your teachers. Start Thinking About The Next Step
work experience. You could even ask one of your professor's, who you look up to, about the career path they took. Anything you can do outside of teaching time to better your chances is a good idea. Starting clubs and societies and taking an organizational and leadership role will look great on applications post-college. Have Fun!Most importantly of all, have fun! College is a truly transformative time and you’re likely to meet friends who’ll be with you for life. Throw yourself into the experience head first and don’t shy away from situations. If you apply yourself to your work and social life, you’ll have a lot of fun and a productive and balanced college experience.
Pick Your Subjects Better If you know exactly what path you want to take in this life, then you may know exactly what subjects you need to take in order to live out those dreams. However, if you have absolutely no idea what you want to do when you finish school (which is totally normal!) then don’t put any unnecessary pressure on yourself. Pick subjects you enjoy, and subjects you are good at; that’s the best way to make school easier and make those straight A’s more achievable. The rest will follow. Stop Thinking Of Them As Teachers The word teacher has, sort of, become lost in translation, and that can affect how you approach your studies. So instead of looking at them as teachers in the modern sense, start thinking of them as your coach; that’s what http://www.teachthought.com/ believes you should do to hit the grades. This is because a coach looks for players who are dedicated, hard-working, serious, who have an ability and want to progress. In return for this, a coach will become dedicated to making you better. Go To Class. Period. The questions you find in exams and tests tend to come from one place; your classes. That’s where the material gets scrutinized. That’s how teachers do it; they cover the subjects they believe to be the most important to understand, and sometimes they drop major hints. So go to class, always go to class, because that’s how you’ll make the grades. Notes Are Your Secret Weapon The things you learn in school tend to be totally new to you, that is why you are learning them. They are complicated. They go in straight away. That’s is why you need to get into the habit of making notes, and if you can’t keep up, then either ask the teacher if they can supply you with notes, or get into the habit of going on https://gradebuddy.com/schools to find the resources you may need. Taking good notes is the secret weapon to getting good grades. So listen, pay attention to anything that seems important, and listen out for potential exam questions. Don’t Be Scared Of Tests Confidence shines through in life. It could be socially, or it could be in an exam. Whatever. Confidence shines through, it is just a matter of being confident and that comes from being test ready. So read your notes before the start of the next class. Study for exams well ahead of time. Think about potential questions. Look at past exam papers. Believe in yourself. That’s what success is about, believing in yourself. Many scholarship foundations receive hundreds and thousands of applications from deserving students just like yourself each time they run the application process. So you may be feeling like a small fish in a colossal pond right now if you find yourself navigating this area for your future study and career. But that being said you can still shine if you implement the right strategies and spend time on your application and the information you submit for review. With that in mind, I thought it would be wise to share with you some of the strategies you could consider for your scholarship application.
Pay attention to detail In all your excitement and eagerness to get your application submitted, it can be easy to forget to check over your work and even some of the finer details of your application. Small mistakes like grammatical errors, misspelling of words, could hinder your chances and even disqualify your application. While you may fully aware of how things should be spelt or presented, when typing away it can be easy to miss small details. Another useful idea would be to allow a teacher, friend or family member to read through any essay submissions or your application answers. Sometimes having a different eye over your work could highlight things you have missed. There are also plenty of tools online that you could utilize that will check your work and offer alternative ideas if things needed to be changed. I hope these strategies help you succeed in a scholarship application to further your study and education. American students are currently in a crisis and often find themselves with over $37,000 of debt by the time they graduate. Overall, the country’s debt due to student loans is over $1.3 trillion, which is more than the debt accumulated by credit card throughout the whole country! More often than not, student loans are a necessary and vital way to put yourself through college and to get a high-paying and rewarding career, but the debt and stress that comes with it can sometimes be hard to see through. It may seem as though the party ends and is replaced by crippling debt after graduation, but it doesn’t need to be that way. Here is our short guide to surviving life while paying off your student loan.Understand your loan It’s important to really understand what you are dealing with when it comes to paying off your student loan. It’s so simple to switch your brain off, set up direct debits to pay off the minimum every month and then forget about it. But to actually make an impact, you need to understand your debt. First of all, you will need to put in some legwork to find out what you owe to who. Of course, this may sound simple, but past-you was likely not to have kept a record of everything in a neat and tidy place. To find out what you owe, you can order a free copy of your credit report to find out who your lenders are. You will also need to have a look at your lender’s options and work out what payment options are available to you. Some lenders offer an income-based repayment plan, which is based on your earnings. If you are unable to make payments, there are options for you to defer student loans to a later date. Make a budget You probably learned to live a pretty simple and budget life at college, and this shouldn’t stop now. Sure, you worked super hard for years and are now (hopefully) earning some decent cash, but the sooner your debts are paid off, the better. The longer you can live off second-hand furniture and without extravagant purchases, the quicker you will be out of debt. To do this, you can continue to live with housemates rather than living alone, swap gig tickets and bar tabs for free museums, walks and dinner with friends and using public transport rather than paying for a car. Think of it this way: every time you don’t go out for dinner and spend $45 on dinner and wine, is $45 which can go towards your student loan repayments! Make a repayment plan It’s highly likely that, as well as the loans you have stacked up, you would also have taken out a credit card while studying. On average, it is modestly estimated that students owe an extra $3000 on top of their student’s debts by the time they leave college. Remember to remember your credit card bills while you are dealing with your student debt and lay out a plan of action for repayments every month. Once you know what you are dealing with, you will be able to come up with a strategy! All of us want to do better at work, but sometimes it can be hard to know where to start. Here are some tips to help you do better every day in your career... Start To Network First of all, it’s important to learn how to network. A lot of people can feel reticent about doing this - it can feel strange and false to try to build relationships purely on a professional basis instead of actually making friends with people, but it’s an important skill to learn in the workplace. Life is often about who you know, rather than what you know - and if you go to networking events and talk to people instead of lingering awkwardly next to the canapes table, you’ll get your name out there, which means that it’ll be easier for you to change jobs and advance in the future. Ask For What You Want It’s important to make sure that you ask for what you want in the workplace. Expecting your dream job or a raise to just fall into your lap simply won’t work - if you want something then it’s important to state your intentions clearly. If your annual review goes well then it’s perfectly fair to expect a raise in line with it. If you’d like more responsibility in your office or the chance to start heading up projects so that you can add new skills to your resume, ask your boss about it. So many people are apathetic about their jobs that they’ll probably leap at the chance to help an enthusiastic person advance. Keep Learning No matter how great you are at your job, it’s important to keep professionally developing. Go on as many courses and go to as many conferences as you can, talk to people, keep learning about new ideas and innovations in your sector so that you can take those ideas back to your workplace and incorporate them into your job. Being curious about the world around you makes it a lot easier to have your own fresh ideas and to succeed. It’s also a good idea to keep getting qualifications like the CSUSM-EL, which can help you to get promotions and advance in your career. Making the people around you aware of the fact that you’re willing to develop new skills and learn more things will make them think of you when opportunities arise in your office. Work Smarter, Not Harder Finally, you need to be aware that you don’t need to stay at your office until late every night, or come in at the crack of dawn, or work over every single lunch break. In fact, that’s a great way to burn out quickly and get disillusioned with your job. Instead, you should learn to work smartly instead. Learn to delegate projects and responsibilities to other staff members and make sure that you prioritise your work carefully. Staying organised is the number one way to manage your work effectively so that you don’t end up getting overwhelmed and confused. Stress is a killer. Most of us know this already, but the tension in our bodies and stress on our minds can make us feel horrible, can cause mental health issues and can even negatively affect other people in our lives. As bad as stress is, it’s very easy to come across and it’s usually due to all the negative things we experience during our work week. Perhaps a colleague is being awful and harassing you, maybe there’s a lot of stress on your upcoming exams and workloads, or perhaps your business is putting a lot of stress on you because of the number of people you have to manage. But fear not! Because one of the best ways to combat a stressful working week is a weekend break. Here are a few pampering ideas for you to indulge in if you want to de-stress and relieve your body. Massage Session A full body massage is one of the most relaxing things in the world. Not only can a regular massage make you feel more youthful and help you get rid of body pains and aches, it’s also a fantastic way to help you de-stress and prepare you for a busy working week. Massages weekend breaks are usually accompanied by a tranquil environment, pleasant entertainment and of course, a relaxing bed to sleep in. Massages can even help with problems such as anxiety, headaches and even chronic pains. Yoga Breaks If you’re interested in having an active weekend break, then whisk yourself off to a yoga break location. Yoga has many benefits, such as promoting body flexibility, assisting with your metabolism and even reducing your weight. It’s a fantastic low-impact exercise but it’s even better as a way to de-stress and relax after a long work week. Yoga breaks are usually bundled together with sauna packages and they are usually hosted in beautiful locations. Spa Hotel Spa treatments are fantastic for many different reasons. Like yoga breaks, spa breaks are often hosted in discrete and disconnected locations that are away from civilisation. This gives spa breaks a feeling of disengagement from the rest of the world and it can help you relieve the stress of thinking about your work. There are many benefits of a spa treatment, such as the ability to relieve pain, exfoliate the skin to leave you looking beautiful, and even rejuvenate your body and mind. Beach Holiday If you still have energy to last you the weekend and want to do something a little more active, nothing beats a beach holiday with warm weather, a cool breeze and crystal clear waters. Most people think that a beach holiday break can be expensive, but if you plan ahead you typically pay a lot less than a last-minute holiday. If you want to make it even more fun, take a couple of friends with you and experience the nightlife and indulge yourself in delicious food and drink. A weekend break to the beach is a fantastic way to get a bit more sun, de-stress, and also meet new people to socialise with. To pill or not to pill?
People We Know Can Influence Our Choice Of Birth Control It shouldn’t happen, but it does - we find ourselves having our opinion swayed on the people around us. This isn’t necessarily from a pushy boyfriend, either. Forms of bad influence come in all kinds of people in our lives, including - but certainly not limited to - the following:
It May Take Time To Find What Works For You
You probably think that as a student the road ahead is filled with a lot of promise and excitement. It certainly is! There are also many challenges and responsibilities that come with student life and some you might face once you graduate. It’s fair to say, life probably isn’t going to be as easy or even as rewarding as you’d hoped, but it's part of it all and being prepared for the bumps on the road that you will inevitably face is part of the process. Let’s start by thinking about that pesky student loan. How Much? Quite possibly, hundreds of thousands, that’s the level of debt you could be in when you’re finished school. And no that doesn’t take into account the people who go on to complete PhDs, Masters degrees or anything else that you might desire. That’s just the typical four to five years in college. Okay, but surely that debt is going to be manageable? It’s true, you don’t have to pay all the debt off straight away, and most loan companies have been patient with students, waiting for them to make a fair salary. However, others have jumped the gun and demanded money as soon as students leave. This can put enormous weight on the shoulders of students who probably had no idea they’d be facing that kind of debt. The answer is to think about making your loans easier to pay off. You can do this with the services of school loan consolidation companies. Using a company like this, you can bundle all the money you owe into one easy sum making things a lot simpler. Finding A Job On average, it can take students about a year to find a position in their chosen career. Most give up and end up settling in other roles, using their degree to gain a graduates position somewhere managing a company. If you want to secure your dream role, there are two things you’re going to need to do. First, you better be prepared to get the best grades in college. This will immediately make you stand out from the competition. Second, you have to have a hook, something unique that makes employers say ‘yes, we want you!’ This could be absolutely anything although some charity work would certainly be a good place to start. Anything that you can say in an interview to grab their attention is worth considering. Juggling Life If you do get a job, paying your dues is part of the process. This essentially means that you won’t have much time for a personal life and you’ll most likely be working overtime, probably for no extra pay. The good news is that by doing this, you are showing employees that you can go the distance. You can be the person they need, and you will one day be a key player in the company, driving the business towards success. As you can see then, it’s a rough road for students, and you have to be prepared for the challenges so you can overcome them. Being able to effectively communicate is one major advantage we as humans have over other species. As well as body language and non-verbal cues, we have language that’s so rich and diverse it allows us to accurately tell others what is going on inside our head. It’s absolutely fascinating when you think about it, and is something that we should never take for granted. ‘But why do I need to improve my communication, I’ve been speaking since childhood!’ I hear you cry. Well, effectively communicating has so many benefits. It can open you up to better opportunities, make you a better friend and more likable person- it also means you can get through life easier too. When you speak well, people tend to listen. Here are some of the ways you can improve your communication skills.
Are you a good communicator, or is this something you want to work on? |
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