Denise is the co-author of The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield. She has been teaching various college literature and communication courses for over 10 years. Her bi-weekly film column runs every other Sunday at Matchflick.com

I’ve had some laughs at students’ expense during my ten years of teaching college composition —from a student whose dog died (not the funny part), leaving her “defecated” (that’s the funny part), to a student who borrowed a personal experience essay from another author, but didn’t remember to update names and places, making it glaringly obvious that the experience described was not his. My friend had someone turn in a paper that opened with a remark that people had been performing some activity since the Jurassic. I give the student credit for switching up the more common “Since the beginning of time” opening, but really, the Jurassic‽

And while it’s true that these gaffes are a much deserved source of entertainment for the nation’s teaching assistants and ill-paid freshman comp teachers, we can get our cheap laughs elsewhere. I have Maria Bamford stand-up on my iPod, for one. I don’t want to laugh at my students’ papers, and really, I would prefer a world where composition papers were well-written, carefully thought out, and entertaining (in a good way). Such papers tend to stand out (again, in a good way) to instructors of Comp 101. I’ve collected a few suggestions on what to do and not do in essays for college composition.  My focus will be on two of the main types of essays assigned in freshman comp: the personal experience essay and the argument essay, and some simple steps you can take to make them stand out—in a good way:

THINGS YOU SHOULD NOT DO:

1. Use second person

There are a few terrific stories told entirely in second person. Masters like Margaret Atwood, William Faulkner, and John Updike have tackled this risky narrative style.  But that’s not what I’m talking about here, nor is it the kind of second person that I’m using now: I really am addressing you, my audience, directly. Nope, what I’m talking about are papers that drift in and out of a hypothetical “you.”

This common conversational habit has leached its way into scholarly writing. Most American English speakers do this at least sometimes, including me. It works for some purposes, especially when we’re trying to get the listener/reader into the experience. This is why we do it so much in everyday conversation. Example:

“You know when you have one of those days where you oversleep, miss the bus, and you know the whole day is going to suck? So you call your stepdad and have him pick you up, and he makes you give him gas money.”

The first part, sure, but then I’m lost at “stepdad,” mainly because I don’t have one. So this second person bit isn’t about me at all! Don’t confuse me like that!

However common this is in speech, it should be avoided in academic writing. Besides, if you’re writing a personal experience essay, it’s best to stick to first person anyway. In personal experience or argument essays, using “we” or “one” in those hypothetical situations may seem more awkward, but it is more professional.

2. Make blanket statements

While blanket statements just come off as really, really lazy, I do get what the writer is trying to do with blanket statements–she’s trying to relate with the reader, show the reader that they are similar and may have something in common. But when a personal essay begins with, “High school is a difficult time for many teenagers,” I feel no bond. All I feel is bored. In addition, blanket statements are often just plain incorrect (like the Jurassic Period example above).

These blanket statements are often found in the opening of an essay, which is heartbreaking because there are so many effective and interesting ways to open an essay. (Hint: Quoting the dictionary is NOT an interesting or effective way to begin an essay. We see it a lot. And we hate it). Instead, try an interesting or provocative quote, a startling statistic, a rhetorical question. If you’re writing a personal experience essay, start it by dropping the reader into the action. I have read countless essays (with boring introductions) that should have begun with the second or third paragraph, causing me to cross out entire paragraphs with Big Red.

On a related note: show; don’t tell. Do not start the essay with “It was a sunny/rainy/crisp fall day.” Rather, use a detail that also shows action to indicate the kind of day it was: “Our tires screeched on the dark, wet road as my sister hit the brakes too hard.” Or you might employ dialogue (see below) to paint the scene.

3. Quote Wikipedia in an essay

Don’t get me wrong; I love Wikipedia. I use it nearly every day. It’s a great place to get a quick answer or to start research, but your research should not end there. Most Wikipedia entries have sources; check them out.  Nothing screams “Give me a C!” like Wikipedia in the Works Cited page.

4. Use lots of !!!!!! or ????? or ?!?!?!?!

Save the multiple end punctuation for emails and IMs, or consider giving up all together—if you’re in college, it’s probably time to let the habit go. Here’s an easy test: If you say “brainfreeze,” it’s time to say goodbye. If you still say “ice cream headache,” you’re still immature enough to use them, but in informal situations only!

Seriously, multiples of end punctuation have no place in college writing. Not only does it appear childish on an aesthetic level, it comes off as lazy. I know that sounds harsh, but think of it this way: the writer knows there’s not enough power in her words, so she uses a bunch of !!!!!! to add that power. In college writing, your skills should allow you to string together powerful words.

If you absolutely must end a sentence with an exclamation point and a question mark, go to insert > symbols and find the interrobang. It looks like this: ‽ (a combination of a question mark and exclamation point).  While it’s not a standard mark of punctuation quite yet, I doubt any composition teacher would have a problem with your using it. In fact, they even might be a little impressed. Personally, I’m impressed when students make the effort to locate symbols, like accent marks or an umlaut (although I’m always a little disappointed when they don’t).

THINGS YOU SHOULD DO:

1. Proofread

Imagine taking the time to crochet a blanket or make a necklace by hand for a friend. Would you present it in a grocery bag, with your friend’s name scrawled across the side with a Sharpie? Not proofreading an essay that you worked hard on is the equivalent to spending weeks on a sweater and then wrapping it in newspaper. The recipient is not going to think what’s inside is important, and why should he?

We English teachers know that not everyone shares the same love of the written word as we do. Not everyone quivers with joy when they find just the right turn of phrase. Not everyone has cried from a really kick-ass novel. Even so, as a student, your number one goal should be to trick your teacher into thinking you love words as much as she does. (And perhaps you will eventually!)

Something to remember about proofreading is that you cannot rely upon spell/grammar check alone. For starters, spell check does not catch everything (if it’s the wrong word but the right part of speech, not even grammar check will notice it). I have seen countless examples of spell check missing errors and even creating them. This happens when the user just accepts the first suggestion that pops up. Take the example above, the one about the student who was “defecated” at the loss of her dog—I’m guessing she meant “devastated.” I often see “defiantly” in papers when the author meant “definitely.” Putting aside the fact that “definitely” is a filler word that usually contributes nothing to a sentence, a mistake like that can easily destroy an author’s credibility.

Errors caused by spell check are not only embarrassing, they can also be expensive. In April of this year, an Australian publisher had to recall and pulp thousands of copies of a cookbook called The Pasta Bible because one recipe called for “salt and crushed black people.”

So here is my recommendation: proofread using your own eyes. Microsoft Word is smart, but it’s not smarter than you. Be extra careful when copy/pasting (that’s when I tend to leave random commas behind). Read the essay aloud. Do this before and after you run the spell check. If you know that you have comma issues or don’t have the hang of linking verbs, consult a writer’s handbook (I recommend Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing, go to your school’s writing center, see your instructor, or ask a trusted friend to proofread. But make sure your proofreader explains the changes to you so that you can fix the errors on your own in the future. Improve your skills while you create quality work.

Finally, if you’re not sure of the proper way to do something, look it up in a style guide. You probably had to buy one for your comp class. For example, if you’re not sure if the title of the movie you’re referencing goes in quotation marks or italics, look it up. If you want to use an ellipsis, don’t just hit the period key a bunch of times (that’s not an ellipsis); look it up. If you’re not sure where to put your page numbers, look it up.

2. Use dialogue

Yes, you should use dialogue in a personal experience essay. Dialogue is a great tool to show the personalities of the people involved with the story without boring the reader with hefty descriptions. It also keeps the action going.

Also, even though you may not remember the exact words someone used, you can still use dialogue. Do your best to use conversation to recreate the spirit of your characters and the event. If your narrative involves your sexist grandfather, don’t tell us he’s sexist; let his dialogue do all the talking. If your friend is obsessed with Star Wars, don’t tell us he’s obsessed with Star Wars; let his frequent references to Yoda do it for you.

In general, personal experience essays should be more or less true. This means that the event you describe should have actually happened to you. That doesn’t mean you have to be absolutely loyal to each detail of the events. (Read this to mean that it’s okay to filter out the boring stuff). Henry David Thoreau’s A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers was based on a trip that lasted two weeks. As a reader, I’m fine with his revision of history because he captured the spirit of his adventure.

3. Use active voice

In active voice, the person or thing performing the action is the subject of the sentence: “‘Weird Al’ performed a great show at Summerfest.” The passive version of this sentence is “A great show was performed by ‘Weird Al’ at Summerfest.” See, the subject of the sentence has changed from “Weird Al” to “show,” and if anything is weird, it’s that sentence.

There are times when passive voice is appropriate, mainly in instances when the person who performed the action is unknown or not important. For example, if a newscaster is reporting on sea turtles, passive voice is perfectly fine: “Today, 25 more sea turtles were found dead on the shores of Louisiana.” Passive is correct in this case because the people who found the turtles are not important to the news story; the dead sea turtles should be the subject.

As a general rule, though, readers often find that the use of passive voice is shady. Thus, we should avoid passive voice whenever possible. Politicians are famous for using passive voice to skirt responsibility. For example, Ronald Reagan once famously said, “Mistakes were made.” Any thinking person would then be asking, “By whom?”

In the episode of The Simpsons called “Bart the Mother,” Bart accidentally kills a bird and, racked with guilt, adopts her eggs and tells them, “Mistakes were made. By Me.” Bart answers the obvious question that Reagan had left hanging in the air, and in doing so, Bart exposes the awkwardness and shiftiness inherent in passive voice. (Yes, I have a Simpsons example for everything).

4. Title your work

Your title should be original, descriptive, and intriguing. It needn’t be overly clever, but remember that it’s the first thing the reader sees, so it needs to spark interest.  I’m terrible at titles so I understand the temptation to leave it blank, but titles are like shirts at the Olive Garden: they aren’t optional.

In my creative writing courses, I learned a few tactics for titling, one of which was to highlight phrases in the text that stand out as embodying the spirit of the piece. I tend to do that. For fun, however, I performed Google searches of “good titles” and “coming up with good titles” and I got oodles of hits. Oftentimes, friends or family members who are removed from the work have a freshness that helps with titling—I ask for help all the time. Still, for this blog entry, I’ll probably rely on my fallback.

I’ve heard stories of surgeons and nurses in the operating room making fun of unconscious patients’ noses or thighs. I don’t know if it’s true, (gods, I hope not), but I will tell you that composition teachers share gems with each other. We sometimes grade papers together at Starbucks, interrupting each other’s work to read a hilarious sentence. We email or text each other particularly funny lines. All the sensitivity training in the world won’t stop an under-fed, overworked graduate student from picking on your use of “parity” when you meant “parody.” We’re nerds; some of us shake with mocking laughter at a simple “further”/”farther” mix-up. You, dear students, are often the butts of jokes, and only you can prevent it.

Save money on textbooks by shopping online

finding cheap textbooks is often more of an art rather than a science, there are many tricks to do this, you can buy books directly from students who took the course during the last semester, or you can agree to share a textbook with a friend who will be taking the course with you. (University libraries will often allow you to borrow any textbook from the library of another university, and this is a great way to get free textbooks!) But the best way to get cheap textbooks still remains shopping online, doing your research and buying your books early (often before the start of the semester if you are looking to get the best deals).

When it comes to going online to buy your books, there are many online bookstores that sell new and used books, and often they compete with each other to have the lowest price, additionally many of these stores allow individuals to sell their used books for any price, so you are likely to see a large price difference on almost every book when looking at different sites. In order to find the best prices you have a few options, you can go to each online bookstore manually, and compare prices by hand, or you can use a textbook price comparison service that will compare prices at the largest bookstores on the web and will give you the best price on any book.

When it comes to timing and buying your books early, there are a few reasons for this, the first is b/c shipping takes time, and you want to have your books as early as possible to do the work. But the bigger reason (at least when it comes to the price question) is b/c you are not the only student looking for cheap textbooks and the cheapest books are typically gone very early in the semester.

Anyway, these are just a few thoughts I had about finding cheap textbooks, if you know of any other tricks to getting a deal on books that I did not discuss please mention it as a comment below.

Jeff Manors recently graduated from college with a lot of debt. He is happy to help others reduce how much debt they leave college with because he knows how hard it can be to have a lot of it. He is currently writing for online scholarship Info

Most people already know one key difference between scholarships, grants, and loans: of the three, only loans have to be paid back. Both scholarships and grants will never have to be paid back, so they could be called free money.

The catch is that you often have to either do some work or meet specific requirements (sometimes both) in order to get a scholarship or a grant, so it’s not completely free since it will take time and effort to get. Furthermore, if those scholarships or grants come from the government, they are being funded, at least in part, by the taxes you are paying. But, since you have to pay those taxes anyway, you might as well try to get some benefit out of it.

Before we completely dive into the difference, let’s point out one interesting similarity. All three require applications of some sort in order to obtain them. To go along with this, that means that all three have certain requirements that must be met. Not everybody can get a loan, though the requirements for a loan are often considerably lower than the requirements for a scholarship or grant.

So, here are the differences:

Schola
rships – scholarships are always for the purpose of sending someone to school. They are usually given based on one of two things: achievements and need. Having higher grades can earn you a scholarship, but so can having less money than most people. In rare cases, both are necessary in order to get a particular scholarship. Scholarships never have to be paid back, and usually the government is the one funding the scholarship, though sometimes other non-profit organizations will. This is also the easiest to get online through certain online scholarship programs.

Grants – grants are given in order for the grantee to complete a specific venture. Sometimes that venture is opening a small business, sometimes it is getting a college education. Grants often require proposals in order to obtain them, and they are usually based on what you want to do and your qualifications for completing that venture. In rare cases, grants can be need-based, like many scholarships. The Pell Grant, for example, is paid by the government to students who have low-income backgrounds. Grants can be from the government or other non-profit organizations, though government grants are more common. Again, these never have to be paid back.

Loans – loans can be for a variety of different things. Personal loans for buying a car or computer are fairly common, as are house loans and student loans. In most cases, you must meet certain minimum income requirements and credit score requirements that vary based on the amount you wish to borrow in order to qualify. If you do not qualify, someone who does must co-sign your loan, which means they promise to pay it if you fail to. Most loans come from private lenders, but the government does offer special student loans that might not need a co-signer. Student loans are almost always deferred until graduation, which means you won’t have to start paying them back until a set amount of time after you graduate. However, for most student loans, interest will continue to build even while you’re still attending school, so you should be careful about how much you borrow.

Scholarships and grants are very similar for most students, but loans are quite different. Try to avoid loans if you can, but it’s better to borrow and get a college degree than to not get a college degree at all.

In an effort to escape from the ever present bad news that seems to be the cornerstone of our current civilization I have spent much time recently watching old movies, and reading good books.

The desire that I feel to escape to a “happier time” is understandable, after all, we are living in an unstable world, where no one knows what the next shoe that will drop will be. Oddly enough, instead of turning to fantasy or other such genres I find greater comfort in books that mimic reality, reading about the extremes of what could be possible, but thankfully what has not yet occurred.

One such book is “Death Wave” by Stephen Kahn. This book provides an excellent analysis into much of what is currently happening in our world – in terms of the financial crisis.

From the book cover:

“In the midst of a financial crisis one man must save the world with the aid of a maniacal serial killer, his dead hamster, and a homeless bum named “Troll”.

Stewart is a young man trying to keep it together during the worst financial crisis since the great depression. The corrupt politics and corporate scandals…”

If you want to read more about this book, or listen to free excerpts from the audio book, please go to http://www.kafilmworks.com/deathwave/contents

Our society is one that has elevated literacy as a human good, and has, as a consequence of this elevated books.  We all have bookshelves filled with volumes of hard cover books, some of these we have read, but many (either given to us as a gift, or bought by us in a fit of passion and desire to change ourselves) will stand there for years collecting dust without having a broken spine; indeed, we often collect books as a sign of our intellectual prowess.  What amazes me is that in our world- where abbreviations are steadily replacing many words, we still value the spoken word as an “end in itself”, so much so that we judge developing countries on the literacy rate of their population.  The HDI (human development index), an annual report that rates countries from most, to least developed, looking at nations’ standards of living, mentions the issue of literacy as a key indicator of a States’ development.

Talking about the cost of books, this too has changed, from the days where all books were affordable, to today, where the cost of some books (almost anything printed 50 years ago or more) has shrunk virtually to $0, with e-books being freely available online, to the costs of others skyrocketing to a point where one is almost required to take out a second mortgage to afford a few textbooks (this may sound funny, but I kid you not, the cost of many accounting or business textbooks is upwards of $200, and students are required to purchase 4-5 of these books a semester!)

It is my hope that with the increased use of technology, e-books and other media, such as We Compare Books, book prices will again shrink as publishers realize the un-sustainability of such increases and figure out other ways to profit from our addiction to books (perhaps using product placement in examples, If Jimmy buys a bottle of Coke for $… and a bottle of Pepsi costs…, but here I am of course joking).

Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment by Jennifer Clapp and Peter Dauvergne is a book written, to shed light on the ongoing debate about the relationship between environmental issues and political economy.  Too many times, say authors Jennifer Clapp and Peter Dauvergne, is the big picture completely bypassed in order to delve into the details surrounding and permeating environmentalism.  By putting things into perspective using political and economic theories, one can illuminate the socioeconomic causes and consequences of environmental change.  This also helps to avoid any emotional or moral entanglements which many times accompany analyses of environmental issues.

In order to look at the socioeconomic factors behind environmental policy, Clapp and Dauvergne address four main camps involved in environmental change: market liberals, institutionalists, bioenvironmentalists and social greens.  These categories are intentionally multi-disciplinary so as to not be too focused on one portion of the issue.  By taking a wide swath of the areas which environmental issues touch, one can see the big picture instead of getting caught up in the details of one discipline.  It also lets one focus on the international and government levels, especially how globalization and the type of political economic system employed in a state affect environmental issues, challenges and outcomes.

Using these four groups, the authors take a critical look at various elements within today’s political economy, including globalization, trade, international and domestic markets, distribution of wealth, poverty, health issues, and so forth.  Each view takes a different stance on the issues.  For example, market liberals view globalization, trade agreements and free markets as good things which will eventually work to stabilize economies and give incentive to businesses and consumers to switch to sustainable practices and products.  Bioenvironmentalists, on the other hand, have a negative view of today’s free market economies, globalization and trade agreements which lead to over-consumption and over-population beyond the capacity of the planet.

I agree with many of the sentiments contained within the above reviews.  It is a very balanced book; it does not give priority to one viewpoint over another, giving each equal representation on all topics discussed.  The four viewpoints in themselves were also very helpful in making sense of the environmental debate.  The book did exactly what it promised to do: it took a “big-picture” look at the debate and issues without getting impeded by details or moral sentiment.  By taking an objective view on the different stances I was able to more fully understand the various groups involved in the debate, what they actually believe and why they believe it.  It is also very thorough, discussing the multitude of issues involved, including everything from the WTO and NAFTA to different industries (mining, oil, timber, etc.) to environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund as they relate to the issues at hand and the four viewpoints at work.

The lessons taken from the book can be applied to the huge number of different issues, problems and cases in the environmental world, and in that it is an invaluable resource for anyone studying environmentalism, sustainable development or political economy.  It is also helpful in bringing light to different arguments concerning sustainable development and creating a dialogue which will hopefully aid in developing actual policy prescriptions to the various problems we face.

Get the best deal on, “Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment” and save money by clicking Here

Author Julie Manhan is an independent college counselor and blogger for myUsearch.com, the Honest College Matchmaker, a site dedicated to helping students make the right college choice.

Making the right college choice is potentially one of the biggest decisions a person will ever make. Contrary to popular belief, the importance of the decision has little to do with a college’s name or prestige, but rather because it is the place that will likely shape your perspectives and relationships for years to come. For those reasons alone, you need to look carefully at more than just the info you can find on a website.

A campus visit is essential before enrolling. Only by experiencing the campus firsthand can you tell if you will feel comfortable there. It’s also probably the best way to get a sense of what kind of students choose to go to school there, as well as experiencing what student-faculty interaction is like. Make sure you visit every department you may be interested in to see what’s going on both inside and outside of the classroom. These are the things that you really need to pay the closest attention to because they will end up affecting everything in your college experience.

Keeping that in mind, here are a few important questions you should ask yourself before you begin your college search or make your final college choice:

1. What qualities do I look for in my friends? Finding classmates you can relate to and who share your values is an important factor in feeling comfortable and being successful at a school.
2. Who are the best teachers I have had? What made them different? The relationships you form with your college professors can make a huge difference in your future plans.
3. What subjects would I like to know more about? Identifying what sparks your interest right now can help you find a school where you can explore all those interests.
4. Where do I feel most comfortable? Are you a city kid or a country kid or do you just need a change? Never underestimate the impact your surroundings can have on your overall learning experience and sense of wellbeing.
5. How do I learn best? Figuring out why you have done better in some classes than others may provide a valuable insight for you when considering schools that use some teaching styles more than others (i.e. lecture vs. cooperative learning).

Of course, there are other factors that need to be considered when making your college choice, such as cost and availability of any special services you may happen to need. However, the answers you give to the questions above should figure prominently in your list of qualities a college must have in order for it to be a good fit.

For anyone who is aiming for a career in writing, blogging is a fantastic way to hit the ground running. Find out about the main benefits of blogging and pick up a few tips to get started.

Blogging can improve your writing
Ever read Malcolm Gladwell’s book ‘Outliers’? One of the main messages of the book is that to excel at something, you need to put in the hours….around 10,000 of them in fact! You might not have that much time to spare, but the essential message is that the more time you can devote to writing the better your writing is likely to become.
There are very few successful bloggers who don’t blog regularly, and blogging regularly means that you have to write. You need to decide how often you will write a blog post and stick to it. Writing a blog is not like keeping a diary – it’s a public commitment, which means there is much more incentive to keep it up!

Use your blog to build up an audience
If you have an idea or are are working on a book which you are looking to either publish yourself, or get published, it will be very valuable to have built up a readership and a connection with your potential audience. Writing a blog is a great way to do this over time. Your publisher will definitely thank you for it later!

Your blog could get you published
Blogging could help you find someone to publish your work too. The recent winner of the Author Blog Awards was Emily Benet whose blog ‘Shop Girl Diaries’ caught the attention of a publisher – as a result, they asked her to turn it into a book. Having already shared your writing online and received good feedback is a real selling point.

So, ready to start blogging? Here are a few handy tips:

1. Don’t expect to have thousands of followers from day one – you’ll probably end up very disappointed. To begin with, just concentrate on writing, improving and creating quality posts.
2. The best blogs tend to have a focus that is beyond a person’s day to day life. Blogging from a unique perspective will make your content much more interesting and will help your readers know what to expect.
3. Link your blog to profiles on other networks such as Twitter and Facebook – it will help you to extend the reach of your blog and connect with others.

Links: Malcolm Gladwell: http://www.gladwell.com/outliers/index.html
Author Blog Awards: http://www.completelynovel.com/author-blog-awards
Emily Benet: http://www.completelynovel.com/publishing-news/how-to-be-top-of-the-blogs-Emily-Benet

Christopher Lynch is a composer of children’s and adult poetry as well as the editor of several books. Christopher graduated from New Jersey City University with a BA in English Literature.

Today’s college environment can be very stressful. Tuition and fees are on the rise, professors are ever more demanding, and the slow, repetitive cycle of getting anything done can be very agitating. However, there is a solution to at least lighten the burden.

In today’s education system, many professors (especially liberal arts professors) use tests and evaluations in the alternative written format; meaning an essay or creative writing form. While this might sound like a drag, you can use it to your advantage.

For example, if you have a philosophy professor who wants a written assessment about a current event (let’s say, U.S. foreign policy) using a postmodernist view, you can negotiate a way to customize this to fit your comfort zone. You could ask the professor (in person) what parts of U.S. foreign policy he would like discussed. If his initial list does not fit your criteria, you could try and ask if your paper approaches the assignment from a different vector or perspective. If this does not succeed, there are other ways of making academics easier.

You can also try researching or creating a paper using medium you prefer (as long as it fits school standards), such as websites, television/radio broadcasts, or find information using good old fashioned books. Some professors still accept handwritten papers if you prefer such a format.

If you are a very social person, try discussing your paper’s focus with someone else, talking either from that perspective, asking for comments and/or criticism about it, or try role playing an argument about the paper (ex. how to negotiate with China over human rights.)

These methods of making writing fun can be applied for any subject in academia to improve both the completeness and content within a project. It’s a flexible and often pleasurable way to get a good grade.

Sally is an educationist with a difference. She has keen interest in helping college students to find easy solutions for student loans and scholarships. Sally is bringing change to students’ lives through the career guide section of her Student Loan Blog; she prepares students for professional life by providing consultation for job requirements & employers expectations.

For more information about Student Loan Blog visit: student loan info

Sponsorships are the best financial option for any student seeking to pursue college education. Sponsorship comes in the form of part and full scholarships. Part scholarships are usually offered at the local level and are onetime sums offered to students. Full time sponsorships are usually offered by colleges, research centers and government sponsored organizations. Every scholarship brings it own set of rules. Successful students must meet these rules in order to qualify for selection.

How to get a College scholarship

Winning a scholarship takes planning, preparation and some luck. As a result, students should seek advice from their career counselors on the best methods to win a scholarship. Here I will attempt to give some tips that can also be used to get your share of the over $50 billion available in scholarships.

1. Solid foundation: Your quest for scholarship sponsorship begins in high school. For students to be first considered for scholarships, they must have GPAs above the average. Having an above average will turn the spotlights on your grades and propel you to the front of the line with those suggested for scholarships.

2. Research: Students must conduct research about and scholarships and grants that are available. It is amazing to see the staggering amounts of scholarships that go unclaimed each year. Students can turn to the school’s placement center or conduct their own online search from one of the many websites dedicated to hunt for scholarships.

3. Make an application: It is impossible to win a scholarship before making an application. Students must complete the scholarship application and submit it to the relevant authorities.

4. Apply for both local and college level scholarship: Although most local scholarships will be of much lesser value, receiving a payment of $2500 towards your tuition is much better than nothing. In addition, the competition for local sponsorship is much less; hence students are more likely to succeed in winning a scholarship.

5. Extracurricular activity: A record of involvement in extracurricular activity is a favorite with scholarship boards. They like students who give back to their community. They thus can easily identify with these students as they are also trying to give back in the form of scholarships.

6. Have some talent: Sponsors of scholarships are quick to snap up talented students. Talent may range from sports, art, music and education. Some scholarship sponsors see this as an opportunity to use these talented students as a part of their marketing campaign. Others hope they can tie these talented students to loyalty contracts where they must spend some time with the organization after graduating.

7. Knock out essay: Most scholarships require students to write an essay. By proper planning, time management and sound research, students must try to produce their best work. Ensure the essay is properly vetted to be free of mistakes.

8. Target Ethnic Groups: Many ethnic groups have their own scholarship that supports their students. Writing an honest application, clearly stating your need for a scholarship may just land you scholarship success.

9. Be persistent: There is no guarantee you will win the first scholarship to which you apply. Therefore, student should be persistent and continue sending out those applications.

10. Focus on scholarships that you qualify for: It makes no sense to apply for a medical scholarship if you are an engineering student. Be smart and research the scholarship before wasting your time.

Denise Du Vernay is a guest blogger and co-author of the book The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield. Learn more about the book, simpsonology. She teaches at Milwaukee School of Engineering.

I was chatting recently with a friend of mine who, like me, has been teaching college English classes for over 10 years. She had just changed a student’s incomplete grade to an F because the paper he or she finally turned in was plagiarized. It was easy for my friend to find the paper online; after she noticed that it was written in a completely different style than the rest of the work the student had done all semester, a quick Google search pulled up the paper on a popular cheat site. Also at the end of this past semester, two more friends of mine have busted students for academic dishonesty. One situation involved a paper that was just too good, and an internet search located the paper with just one line. Another situation involved a student whose paper was straight out of Spark notes. When the student was asked about it, his defense was that he had had his friend write the paper for him, but certainly didn’t realize that it had been plagiarized. (This is perhaps my favorite story of them all).

In my experience teaching for various colleges, I have noticed a plagiarism trend: it’s most often discovered at the end of a term. There are a couple reasons for this: 1. Many instructors become familiar with the style or voice of their students’ writing throughout the course, so by the end of a term, if something doesn’t match, it’s quite obvious. 2. Students become overwhelmed by stress right around finals, which can lead to desperation and poor decisions.

This post isn’t about scare tactics and guilt, rather, I would like to share with you some of the reasons why no one should cheat, how you can avoid plagiarizing, and a note for other teachers on what they can do to curb instances of plagiarism in their classes.

When I’ve discovered plagiarism in my classes, despite my rational side telling me I shouldn’t take the offense personally, I still often do. I’ve felt angry (“Who does he think he is‽”), suffered hurt feelings (“I thought we clicked this quarter, why would she do this?”), been insulted (“Did he really think I wouldn’t know?”) but very rarely have I felt content or satisfied by the discovery (in fact, I can only think of one time). My goal as a teacher is not to seek out instances of plagiarism but to prevent them. I want my students to do the work that I’ve assigned because I believe in the usefulness of the assignments. I plan my courses to fulfill the pedagogical goals that my department has agreed on for a specific course. When students don’t complete the assignments, they don’t get the full benefit of the course, thus are probably not ready for the next course in the progression. I don’t let a student coast along to the next course if only because it makes me look like a bad teacher.

I’m sure you’ve all been asked this cliché question against plagiarism: “Would you want a dentist who cheated his way through dental school?” Of course, the answer is a resounding no. But in the case of writing essays, research reports, and speeches, the negative effects of cheating are subtler, but still detrimental. Consider this: I teach at an engineering college with an excellent reputation and a stellar placement record to match. I have only discovered two instances of plagiarism there, but for the overall good of the school and its alumni, I have not looked the other way. What happens when alumni from our school are employed but do not satisfy the requirements of the job (including non-engineering skills, such as technical writing and public speaking)? A quick check of their transcripts will show they had taken coursework in those areas, and perhaps that employer will think poorly upon our programs and think twice before hiring one of our alumni again.

To put it simply: I bust plagiarists and cheaters not out of cold-heartedness, but out of fairness to those who don’t cheat. It’s not just a karmic issue for me, but a practical and logical issue as well. Sure, I don’t think it’s fair to the students who don’t cheat, but the main reason I strive to preserve academic integrity is because I do not want the schools that I went to and the schools that I work for to become jokes.
I’m reminded of a recent situation regarding the 2010 valedictorian of Columbia University’s School of General Studies, Brian Corman, who ripped off, in his valedictorian speech, a rather long joke from the comedian Patton Oswalt. He told an anecdote from one of Oswalt’s routines about taking a “Physics for Poets” class. Corman told the story, saying it happened to a friend of his. I’m disgusted by what he did, and I feel for Columbia because they can never take back their introduction of him that day as “the very best of the GS Columbia tradition,” as this connection forever taints the school. My heart also goes out to Isis Paloma, the salutatorian, who probably should have been valedictorian. (Hey, if Corman plagiarized his valedictorian speech, what would prevent him from cheating on schoolwork? My logic is that if he was willing to lie to a large group of people, what would stop him from plagiarizing to an audience of just one professor?) He had planned to attend UC Berkeley for law school; I wonder if he still will. In any case, his future is forever altered by this regrettable lapse in judgment

This is an extreme example; it is my belief that the majority of college students guilty of plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty is not made up of bad people or scammers; rather, as I mentioned above, most are simply acting out of desperation. Although I never passed another’s work off as my own, I did suffer through many an all-nighter when I was in college, often because of poor time-management skills. (I also had the delusion that I worked better under pressure. I am certainly prolific under pressure, but not necessarily better. I understand the difference now.)

I realize that my recommendation to “manage your time better” to prevent panic and despair is obvious, but I do have some tips on how to accomplish this:
Don’t skip class, even to do homework. You may get some work done, but missing class will make you feel overwhelmed and out of the loop. Also, frequent absences may not sit well with your instructors. (In my classes, attendance can sometimes be the deciding factor for a student on the cusp of two grades).
If you’re confused about the topic or are having trouble getting started, email your instructor or, better yet, see him/her in office hours. I have brainstormed topics with many students, and I’m very helpful. I know the questions to ask to find good ideas to explore. Your instructors probably know how, too. If you’ve got a prof who’s unapproachable or unhelpful, email me. (du@simpsonology.com)

I know that desperate situations are not always your fault and that you aren’t always guilty of procrastination; oftentimes, the essay or research report that looms so far in the future on the calendar may take a backseat to immediate tasks like studying for exams, that pesky group project, or your necessary part-time job. And then you realize the due date has snuck up on you. When I was writing my master’s thesis, I forced myself to write for two hours every morning. In pajamas. Yes, I was so strict that I wouldn’t even allow myself to shower or get dressed for the day before those two hours were up. (Some people require a certain number of pages from themselves. This is a tactic worth trying, but for me that approach works better with fiction writing).

I was disciplined in graduate school, but as an undergraduate I wasn’t quite as driven. Still, I did have a few tactics up my sleeve. One of the things I did as an undergrad to help manage my time was dedicate certain days to specific coursework (Monday was for English, Tuesday for geology, and so on). Also, I nailed down topics as soon as I could. Next, I attempted to do as much of the research as possible ahead of time, so that when I went to start composing, I had pages of notes and quotes from books and articles to work with. At the very least, I had a coffee table full of books, making that empty Word document with that lonely flashing curser so much easier to handle. (This approach also ensured that there were sources for my desired topic).
I feel that students should be responsible for their own actions, but there’s plenty that teachers can do to curb plagiarism in their classes. We have to be flexible and change our methods because the way students find information has changed. (Students, keep reading this, as you may find some of these suggestions useful, too).

1. Teach, re-teach, and review proper citation practices. Remind students that it doesn’t matter if a quote is verbatim or paraphrased; it still requires an in-text citation. Offer free citation advice. Require a Works Cited page for all written work. Check some citations at random for accuracy.
2. Keep your assignments fresh. Don’t reuse quizzes, tests, or paper assignments from semester to semester.
3. Talk openly about plagiarism. Take the taboo away. Share your stories (or those of colleagues) of plagiarism and what happened to the students (while respecting FERPA, of course). I suspect that students often hear about academic dishonesty from classmates’ perspectives, especially tales of getting away with it, so they should hear it from us. They should know that students do get caught. Remind them that we all have the same internet. Make sure your syllabus outlines your institution’s academic dishonesty policy (with clear definitions), and include your own thoughts on the matter.
4. Be wired. Use BlackBoard or whatever e-learning system your institution has. Answer their emails promptly. Tweet and use social networking sites. Brag about how many hits your blog had the week before. If your students know that you are internet savvy, they may think twice before lifting something off the internet to turn in to your class.
5. Find creative, even non-traditional ways to get the work done and the objectives met. If possible, eliminate a paper assignment in favor of a group or individual presentation. Grade heavily on verbal citation practices and smoothness of delivery (to ensure much rehearsing).
6. For papers, reports, and presentations, require students to clear the topic with you ahead of time. Require progress reports. (Keep records of each student’s topic so you know if the paper they eventually turn in matches).
7. Assign a bibliography of several potential sources far in advance, and make it worth substantial points. If you opt to do this, you’re doing your students a big favor because it gets them to the library (physically or virtually), which jump starts their work and lets them know early in the process if their topic will fly or if there’s not enough material out there.
8. If you’re teaching a literature class, try to select works that are new or not well-known (do your own internet search to see how much is out there) and require the students write their out-of-class papers on those. The internet is littered with papers on Steinbeck, Camus, and Updike; don’t tempt your students unnecessarily. Keep canonical works on your syllabus, but assign writings about such works as in-class essay exams or in the form of very specific questions.
9. Design your course around a specific theme. I teach with The Simpsons and have even co-written a book about The Simpsons in the classroom (www.simpsonology.com). I have found that the specialized nature of the writing assignments I come up with keeps instances of plagiarism down. Plus, pop culture themes have a tendency to engage students. They will enjoy coming to class, which can only help them stay caught up.
10. Show your students that you respect the work they’re doing. Return their work with thoughtful comments and as promptly as possible. (My personal rule used to be one week, but now it’s a bit nebulous: I just make sure they get papers back with enough time to benefit from my comments as they work on their next writing assignment). If it takes you a long time to return work, explain the reason for the delay.

Students and fellow teachers, plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty will never go away, but by making a few adjustments we can at least minimize the chances it involves our classes directly. Now, if you’re in the market for a new dentist, that’s a much easier job: get some referrals from friends who have nice teeth. And then Google the snot out of the names they give you.

Mark Love is a former freelance reporter and author of several short stories and three novels, “Balancing Act”, “Fade Away” and “Desperate Measures”. His books are available at www.internationalagora.com. You can also read his blog write now.

There’s a line from an old rock and roll song that goes “Don’t always know what I’m talking about” and when it comes to professional communications, it’s a very true statement.

The ability to communicate clearly should be something that everyone is capable of and comfortable doing. But there is a world of difference between a casual conversation with friends and writing a business document. Sadly the shorthand expressions that are so prevalent in modern technology continue to invade the professional landscape.

Years ago, when text messaging was first bursting onto the scene, I received an email from a colleague about a problem I had resolved for him with another employee. This is how he signed his email, “LOL, Bob.”
I was immediately confused. Now I didn’t know this man that well and I surmised that he appreciated my assistance, but the signature line left me puzzled. Rather than play tag with more emails, I called him. When he came on the line, he was very friendly and talkative. That is, until I asked him what he meant with the signature line.

“LOL,” he said, as if it was plain as day.
“Lots of love?” I asked.

There was a moment of stunned silence. “No way! It means ‘laugh out loud’. Why would I tell you lots of love?”

I explained that I had no idea what he had been trying to tell me and encouraged him to refrain from such abbreviations in the future. The next time he stopped in my office, he wore a sheepish grin on his face. “I assumed everyone knew what that meant.”

And right there was his mistake.

You can’t assume anything.

Imagine if Bob had been a female and I had interpreted the message the same way. This could have led to a case of sexual harassment.

The multitude of text abbreviations have slipped into professional communications and can cause more delays, more problems and confusion that simply writing what you meant. I’ve worked in Human Resources for many years. A part of my duties have always included recruiting, which means I’ve seen thousands of resumes and cover letters. This is your chance to make a great first impression. In today’s world, where the competition for jobs is high, a simple mistake can have a huge impact on whether or not your resume actually gets considered.

Abbreviations run rampant through the business world no matter what type of industry you might be in. There is a time and a place for using abbreviations in business, but it’s important to make sure that your audience knows what those abbreviations mean. In publishing POD means print on demand. In transportation POD can mean proof of delivery: different industries, different meanings.

Business writing has no room for slang. This is an arena for clear, concise methods of communication. Slang or texting abbreviations can make you appear lazy and if it causes your reader to stop in midsentence and search out the meaning on Google, you’ve just lost your audience. And in today’s competitive world, you can’t afford to lose your audience.

So when you’re writing, get it right. Take the time to read your messages out loud making sure that what you are trying to say is coming across clearly. The more often you do this, the easier it will become and soon, it will be a natural part of your methods of communicating. Because the last thing you want to do when you’re writing professionally, whether it is part of a presentation, a proposal, a cover letter or a resume is to leave your audience with the feeling that ‘You don’t always know what you’re talking about’.

C ya,

William is a foreign affairs professional, specializing in foreign policy analysis, U.S. politics, writing, client relations, and communications. His research background and interests include Chinese foreign & security policy, U.S. national security policy, U.S.-Chinese Relations, defense issues, governance, and South Asia.
If you wish to contact William, please leave a comment and we will forward your thoughts to him.

Max Brooks’s book, World War Z is an excellent read for all of you zombie lovers out there. The book portrays (is about) humanity’s struggle against a zombie plague ( -virus) that brings mankind to the brink of annihilation and back again. Max Brooks does an extraordinary job of framing humanity’s fragility, limitations, resourcefulness and greatness in his oral history of civilizations fight for survival against overwhelming odds. His unique narrative style provides a wonderful individualistic perspective on how the Zombie War impacted different parts of the world culturally and in a religious sense.

The chronicle of the Zombie War in World War Z takes you from New Dachang in the United Federation of China, where the epidemiological trail began with the twelve year old patient zero, to floating cities of refugees that dotted the world’s oceans, to the initial feeble attempts by the major world powers to combat the rising and walking dead, to the development of the Redeker Plan that offered humanities best hope for survival, to the west-of-the-Rockies redoubt that helped turned the tide in North America and paved way for plausible recovery.

Max Brooks’s portrayal of what happens to the different governments and societies around the world as they struggle to overcome the zombie plague outbreak highlights the strengths and weaknesses of nation’s global health systems across the globe.

In addition to being an excellent story about zombies, the book World War Z has been taken a step further by Brooks and can be utilized by global health policy planners as an excellent scenario of how a pandemic might impact the different nations of the world and the types of policy solutions/actions that would be needed to contain such a pandemic. From a global health standpoint the book also highlights the current strengths and weaknesses in emergency response faced by many governments across the globe in handling health emergency such as a global pandemic. The incorporation of workable policy solutions (e.g. Redeker Plan and U.S Reconstruction Plan) that could be realistically used today to contain a pandemic makes the story that more practical and connects the reader to the plausibility of the events that take place.
Have you read this book? What did you think about it? Please submit your thoughts as a comment.

If you’re in the market for a new job, chances are you’ve been asked to submit a cover letter along with your resume. You may not realize the extent of its value. In one respect, it is more important than the resume, since it is the first thing that a hiring professional sees. As far as having your resume read, the cover letter can “make it or break it.” It needs to contain attention-grabbing information. This is especially true in a highly competitive field. Why should a hiring manager look at your resume when there are 200 other ones waiting to be read? By offering a well-written cover letter, you not only introduce yourself, but you also pique the interest of a potential employer. If you don’t capture the reader’s attention right away, your resume could be overlooked.
The Basics
Are all cover letters really read? The answer is “no”. However, sending a cover letter with your resume is still a standard procedure for today’s job search. Some letters may be only glanced at, while others will be carefully read, word for word. There’s no way to tell how your letter will be received in advance, so you need to be prepared. Anytime you mail a resume, enclose a cover letter with it. If you are faxing, it’s always better if you include the letter, but you can fax just a resume. Letters going through e-mail cannot be signed, but should still be included. Some posting sites may not enable you to send a cover letter and employers are aware of that. If you already have an interview scheduled, you don’t need a cover letter. It’s a selling tool, and its purpose is primarily to get you the interview.
The Content
Keep your letter limited to one page and focused on attributes that do not appear on your resume. You might begin by stating the position you are applying for and why you feel qualified for it. The worst mistake job seekers make is repeating information that is already on their resumes. Next, I have found certain information to be more appropriate for the letter, rather than the resume. Since employers want to know what you can do for them, do not focus on why this position would be ideal for you. Instead, build yourself up in the letter by stating some strong skills or abilities not mentioned on your resume. For example, you could inform the employer that you are experienced in participating in key decision-making processes, motivating and encouraging employees, managing conflict resolution, and/or prioritizing tasks to achieve goals in time management. Include the fact that you are a fast learner or multi-tasker. Mention that you are able to maintain high standards of quality control or quality assurance. Highlight your record of attendance and reliability, if that has been positive for you. In other words, avoid specific accomplishments included in the resume, but include what you can “bring to the table.”
Final Advice
Research each company. You may include why you want a particular job if there is a specific reason – such as, you have heard that the company is run well and promotes positive employee relations. Lastly, you can mention what you enjoy most about the field you work in. Teachers can describe their teaching philosophy and how it relates to what they are able to offer.
Remember, a resume is a summary of your education, qualifications, and experience. If has not yet occurred, it does not belong on the resume. With this in mind, the cover letter is a good vehicle for mentioning important information that is not on the resume – such as, plans for relocation or the name of the individual who referred you for the position and encouraged you to apply. Any additional details that were left off of the resume belong on the cover letter. This could include information about furthering your education, goals you have set, or pertinent details associated with work experience that is over ten years old.
Make sure the letter is free of any grammatical errors and has the proper punctuation. Employers feel that sloppy correspondence reflects what kind of worker you will be.
If you are provided with a contact name, use it to personalize the letter. If not, “Dear Human Resources Professional” will do. When you are finished, mail it and forget it. Then go on to your next cover letter. If you follow this advice, job offers should begin to arrive soon.

This video was made by a friend of ours who felt it his responsibility to share his knowledge of cheap textbooks with the world. I invite you to experiment with the site and if you like what you see to do the same, mention We Compare Books to a friend, or put us on your Facebook wall, or Tweet about us.

Join us in the campaign to lower textbook prices! Together we can make textbooks affordable again!

Political cartoon

This is a guest post written by, Daniel Nanavati

Daniel Nanavati is a writer living in Cornwall UK. His non-fiction work ‘A Brief History Of Lies’, published by Footsteps Press, is available on We Compare Books for the lowest possible price. ISBN 1449963277. A UK and European edition will be available at the end of May.

The skill of lying starts in most people by the time they are four, in a few of us by the time we are three, years old. The lies, and sometimes our ability in telling them, develops over childhood. Along with putting on ‘the face’ and their complexity. Psychologists call this ‘Machiavellian Intelligence’ and describe it as the ability in us to hold a world view, alter it to suit our agenda, hold in our minds the world view of others and skilfully sell them the altered world view. That takes a good deal of brain power.
The pre frontal cortex where all this carries on according to the rudimentary but interesting findings of a 2005 study, is also known to be the area of the brain that deals with ethical behaviour. So nature has given us an inbuilt bridle, if we choose to use it. The study was fascinating in showing that this area of the brain in psychological liars and autistic children were almost mirror images of each other. They chose autistic children because it is well known that they find it very hard to tell a lie even when told what to say.
The fact that we all ‘learn’ to lie but may all have different expertise in the area because of our brain tissue is a very new idea. It doesn’t do away with the ancient ideas of there being some acceptable lies (to help other people) but it does open up new areas for considerable human rights discussion. How far does this brain tissue matrix in the pre frontal cortex ‘help’ us lie? This has implications for the legal system, employment law and security agencies to name a few. I am sure right now if someone told you they wanted you to have an MRI scan to gauge your ‘likely ability to lie’ before they would employ you, you would hit the roof. But that day may be coming.
And when you think we use lies in every walk of life; that we live in a society where we expect to be lied to by politicians and lovers, business interests and journalists (in fact the very places we should demand only the truth) you may also to some extent welcome new advances and new knowledge.
But just to have a heightened ability to lie doesn’t mean we use it. 4% of us are practised liars according to the studies. The rest of us are habituated to the occasional lie, the social nicety, the self-deceit that gets us through the day. The truth isn’t so much out there, but in there somewhere!

You and your BFF moved in together. At first, things were going great – shopping for the apartment was a blast and staying up late talking never gets old. Come on, she’s the sister you never had.
Fast forward to a few months later. Your BFF’s boyfriend has just about moved in, rent is constantly late and the bathroom hasn’t been cleaned since you did it – a month ago. Plus, she’s been “short” on cash the last three times you guys ordered in.
Every day, your bitterness grows. Your BFF status is in serious jeopardy. How do you handle these discussions without further antagonizing the situation? After all, you have nine more months on the lease, and, more importantly, you don’t want to sink this friendship.
Two words: Roommate Agreement. A well-prepared roommate agreement can address most of the issues that roommates have – before you have them.
You might be wondering, do I really need a “formal” agreement? Try the Roomate agreement tool you find out. And, don’t think of it as an agreement (though it is). Instead, think of it as a friendship tool. A good roommate agreement will address all of the issues facing cohabitants, including:
o Lease liability issues
o Rent payment
o Sublease/replacement roommates
o House rules (cleaning, groceries, overnight guests, parties, etc.)
o Shared bills (utilities, parking, Internet, etc.)
o Property damage

The best time, of course, to incorporate a roommate agreement into your relationship is prior to moving in together. Going through the process at this time will reduce any baggage and let you and your roommates start with a clean slate.
If you’re already mid-lease, though, don’t let the status quo diminish your desire to sort things out. A roommate agreement can provide the basis for discussing things that lingering or matters that have built up without confrontation and blame. In fact, going through a roommate agreement can help you and your roommates address the issues and find the solutions in a cooperative, (almost) fun way.
A simple conversation starter (even an email) of “Hey, I found this great tool that I think would help us coordinate the apartment more smoothly” is probably all you’ll need.
William paid offers what is probably the granddaddy of all roommate agreements. WilliamPaid has an interactive questionnaire that you and your roommates can walk through, giving you the issues and potential solutions – you guys discuss and decide, with the output being your own customized agreement (that can be e-signed and even stored online).
As a special offer to readers of the We Compare Books Cheap textbooks blog, WilliamPaid is offering readers a special discount on its interactive, customizable Roommate Agreement. Just use the promo code “WCBOOKS” at www.williampaid.com and get some peace of mind for only $4.95 (regular price $9.95). (Offer expires August 31, 2010, and cannot be combined with any other offers.)

When I was in college, during the pre-internet days, the only summer jobs available for college students were low paying and uninteresting. If you were really lucky, you landed a job as a lifeguard and worked on your tan. If not, you were glad to have a job mowing lawns or raking leaves. And in last place—any job that required you to learn the phrase “Would you like fries with that?” Well, not much has changed as far as summer jobs go, but for college entrepreneurs, the news is much better.
CNN Money has an interesting article on Landing That Summer Gig, which many college students will try to do as soon as school lets out. The numbers in the article are far from encouraging, and the advice for those students without work lined up is to “start looking now, be persistent and apply for as many jobs as possible.” To an entrepreneur that sounds like a horrible process just to land a job that the article states will pay you $10.20 per hour. And even worse, the columnist suggests that one “really can’t be too picky when it comes to seasonal work.” True enough. But if having a job for low pay wasn’t bad enough, how about a job you don’t even like? No thanks. However, this stark news may be a blessing in disguise since the tight job market will likely force many would-be clock punchers to take the leap and start their own businesses. Now that is a decision no college entrepreneur will regret when looking back on “How I Spent My Summer Vacation.”
More to the point, some entrepreneurial students are taking the next logical step and questioning the whole wisdom of going to college to find a “good job.” Fast Company Magazine asks Is College Really Worth It? using an elaborate “infographic” to frame the debate that economists have been arguing about for decades—what do students really do while in college and how does this activity translate into monetary terms upon graduation. What college entrepreneurs will appreciate about this blog entry is what is missing—no discussion about how these extra-curricular activities like “9 hours a day spent on games, cell phones, Facebook” can translate into businesses started by college students. Of course, this obsession with social media can also be turned into a positive. Interesting that the “debate” deals only with the earning power (read “median salary”) of those college graduates who go on to get the dreaded J.O.B. upon graduation. Calculating the huge payouts that many college entrepreneurs receive when selling their innovative companies or “going public” would skew the numbers so much that this upside is left to the imagination.
There’s a lesson in here, and looking back, it is that there is no better time or place in the world than college for a budding entrepreneur to succeed. Think about it—aside from attending classes on a semi-regular basis, everything else is taken care of. Hot food is provided on a regular basis, computer labs are open 24-7, libraries stocked with every book imaginable are at your fingertips, smart professors and students are everywhere, and even financially challenged students (like I was) can pay their way through with low interest student loans if family cannot help. With food, clothing and shelter out of the way, and before life’s other responsibilities get heaped on (children, mortgages, retirement planning, etc) college is the best time to start a business.
But how do you do that while majoring in Philosophy or English, like I did? Well, that’s a good question. In my day, you had to juggle the day’s required reading, and then stay up all night to work on your business. But if you know you’re an entrepreneur at heart, why not major in entrepreneuship? Sounds like a no brainer to me, and you can bet I would have been the first to sign up if my college had offered such a major. Entrepreneur Magazine has a section that helps students like this pick the right entrepreneurship program at the best colleges and universities. Each year they profile the Top 25 Graduate and Top 25 Undergrad entrepreneurial programs in the country. It used to be that you had to learn “how to” be an entrepreneur on your own, and outside of the classroom—now these top schools have majors in entrepreneurship, designed to keep the next generation’s Michael Dell and Bill Gates from dropping out.
If you’re somehow not already convinced to forgo the summer job flipping burgers to devote your time and energy into building the next great tech company, then how about some inspiration from your peers. Check out Inc Magazine’s America’s Coolest College Start-ups 2010. Inc.com profiled college student-run companies from across the United States. They are running very different businesses, and you can vote for your favorite collegiate entrepreneur and check out last year’s picks to see how their dorm room start ups have grown. Talk about inspiration—these nine student entrepreneurs took cool ideas and launched their companies while still in school, and that’s not easy. The first step was telling their parents “No, I’m not going to get a summer job. I am going to build a business and I need your support.”
After announcing your plans to become a college entrepreneur instead of a summer wage slave, you’ll need resources and support from those business owners who are your age and also balancing their schoolwork. No better place for that interaction than YoungEntrepreneur.com. The YE Blog is frequently updated with insightful articles geared toward, not surprisingly, “young entrepreneurs.” More than that, the site itself is packed full of inspiration and resources which will be useful for entrepreneurs of every age.
Matt Stout was once a college student. He is now a small business lawyer, an unrepentant serial entrepreneur and proud moderator of Biztag.com, where he blogs about entrepreneurs and the innovative companies they create. If you are an entrepreneur, he would love to hear your story.