5 Tips for Social and Academic Success in College

This post comes from Emily one of our AmeriCorps members. She is awesome and I love the advice she gives in this post.
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5 Tips for Social and Academic Success in College

1. Be Yourself- This sounds like the most cliche advice and is something I know everyone has been told a few thousand times in their lives, but I have never found myself in a situation where is hasn’t been true. College is a great example of where this will be tested. It is easy to leave home and feel like you need or want to reinvent yourself, to wear that crazy shirt you could have never pulled off in high school, and I say wear that crazy shirt! But don’t change your entire person. Changing who you are or not being yourself will land you in areas you aren’t really interested in, whereas pursuing real interests and being yourself will surely guide you to the right friends and the places that will most interest you on campus.

2. Be Smart- Obviously being smart entails going to class, paying attention, and studying. But being smart is a really great general quality to have. In situations that you don’t feel as smart in, ask educated purposeful questions. No one thinks you’re dumb when you’re unfamiliar with topics as long as you ask genuine questions. Also, be smart in your social life! People dismiss stupid things college students do all the time because their is the inherent excuse of being a college student. The stereotype portrays all college students as party animals, lazy, bad eaters, or people who don’t get enough sleep. While some of these may happen during your college career, don’t let yourself fall into the mindset that anything goes because you are a college student. You are still human and should treat your body, mind, and soul with respect regardless of your age.

3. Learn How to Talk to Adults- This tip is easier said than done, but will distinguish you from other students. Being able to talk to adults gives you an upper hand in the job market, in your classes, and often times will get you places you would have other wised missed simply from not asking or not asking well. Being able to talk with adults isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone or happens over night so PRACTICE! Practice on adults at TEAM, the grocery store cashier, your parents, your teachers. This is an easy skill to acquire that will put you ahead of the game.

4. Know your comfort zone and when to step out of it- Someone once told me that everything you have always dreamed of is right outside of your comfort zone. This is surely to be taken with a grain of salt but is incredible to think about. Draw a stick figure picture of yourself in the middle of a blank page and draw a circle around yourself. Now write things you would like to achieve but have hesitations about around the circle. The most feasible things closest to the circle and the more far fetched items a little further out. The circle around you represents your comfort zone. Imagine the things you could accomplish by stepping out of your comfort zone or drawing your circle a little bigger. It’s okay to be a nervous or have doubts, but don’t let those feelings hold you back from things you can accomplish. That being said, know when you shouldn’t step out of your comfort zone. There are going to be situations you are uncomfortable with, know your limits and how to say no.

5. Be respectful- Lastly, be respectful. Be respectful to your peers, professors, and yourself. This is an easy one to overlook or slip up. We all know the kids in class that talk the entire time, or belittle the teacher. Don’t be that person, remember your are paying to be in school so get the most out of it. Respect your peers and expect the same treatment from them in return. People appreciate being listened to and respected, this is an easy way to meet friends. Most importantly, respect yourself. Get enough sleep, eat good foods, and exercise! The little things make such a big difference. Set high standards for yourself and encourage others to do the same. Being respectful is notable quality that people pick up on. 

TEAM Pumpkin Walk-Guest blogger

We are lucky to have a guest blogger. She wrote about TEAM and our service project with the Pumpkin Walk over on her blog Service in Cache Valley You can hop on over to her blog or read what she wrote below....

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Walking behind the scenes
By Cassidy Stephens
Cache Valley residents welcomed the annual North Logan Pumpkin Walk Thursday at Elk Ridge Park. The five-day event showcases the many hours of volunteered service from the community.
The scenes can be viewed Oct. 24, 25, 26, 28 and 29.
The Pumpkin Walk is a non-profit Cache Valley tradition that is planned and hosted by volunteers and service groups. Hundreds of volunteers come together each year to create a gallery of painted pumpkin and squash scenes for people of all ages to enjoy.
This year marks the 30th anniversary since the event began on the Beutler family farm in 1983.
“We want to make it a fun place for families and people to come and have a good time,” said Gina Worthen, a member of the Pumpkin Walk committee. “We couldn’t do this event without the help of the people in Cache Valley.”
The volunteers are split into different groups that perform a specific task.
Groups of Utah State University students, family, friends and local school groups created painted pumpkins scenes and murals depicting a movie, game, or another well-known image or story, she said.
Another group, typically consisting of men, is assigned to set up the variety of pumpkin scenes in the park. Working alongside them are the electricians who oversee the wiring for power during the event.
“Every person counts; we need their help and we appreciate it so much,” Worthen said. “Our pay is watching people enjoy it.”
Approximately 30,000 people attend the Pumpkin Walk each year. Some travel long distances to see the pumpkin scenes.
People have came from the East Coast, the West Coast and even Japan, Worthen said.
“It’s fun to do something that so many people enjoy,” she said.
Joseph Hawkes, a Pumpkin Walk volunteer, gives certain tasks to boys in the community each year looking for an Eagle Scout service project for the Boy Scouts of America.
These assignments include hanging decorative lights on fence posts and trees and maintaining the fire stations for warmth during the event, Hawkes said.
“It’s a learning process, they have to learn how to do it right,” he said.
Hawkes has been helping with the Pumpkin Walk for five years and enjoys working with the Boy Scouts, he said.
“It’s a nice experience,” Hawkes said. “No one is getting paid. They are doing it because they love providing service for the community.”
Sharik Peck, a regular Pumpkin Walk attendee, said his wife grew up by the Beutler farm. They have attended the Pumpkin Walk several times over the years and make sure they go wherever they live.
“It’s an amazing thing – such talent,” Peck said. “It’s nice to have something that won’t horrify the kids.”
The Pumpkin Walk is a free event open to the public.
“It is a gift to the community. That’s how it started and that’s how it’s meant to be,” Worthen said.

GenerationOn Joy Maker Ambassadors!

I love GenerationOn. They are an online service club that helps fund service projects all around the nation. They were so good to us last year when they accepted the "Home In A Bag" project, written by Cathy. We received $300 to put together this project and it was a great experience.

  This year they personally contacted us and invited us to be a GenerationOn Joy Maker Ambassador! Wow, must be pretty great since they only give this opportunity to 2 clubs in each state! Being an Ambassador includes participating in their "Be A Joy Maker" in December:

Hasbro will donate a toy to Toys for Tots for each young person caring, sharing and giving back to their community this holiday season.
Share your acts of service between December 3rd and December 20^th.
Joy Makers, join the toy makers and make this season even brighter!








We also will need to put together a service project that we will do on December 3rd (which is National Giving Tuesday) to kick off this event.

At TEAM I asked who would want to spearhead this project and since we have an AMAZING group, they all wanted to participate and do it as a team. (I love my job!!!!)
 What we decided to do is a "Spread the Bread" project where TEAM will bake Cinnamon bread and give it to the elderly living in assisted living centers.
As Ambassadors we will also receive 100 toys that we can donate to member of our community. TEAM members have decided to give these toys along with a loaf of bread to foster children, children living at CAPSA and children in the pediatric unit at the hospital.

I love the feelings of giving that comes with Christmas time and TEAM has already got the Christmas Spirit!
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

College Readiness-Figuring out what school to go to!

AHHHHH some of us have been there, some are there now, and more will be there soon. The question EVERYONE seems to ask (even if they don't know you) when you are a senior; "What college are you going to?" Its not that you haven't thought about it, you have. It takes up most of your day and slips into your brain when you are trying to sleep. You have tried to decide but you are just not sure. Maybe you don't know where to even start in your decision process. Do you want to stay home and go to USU or do you want to be out of the house? In State or Out of State? How will I pay? What do I want in a school? Do I need/want my college experience to have college football/basketball (fill in sport)? Do I need to my degree to be from a top University? Will I make more money or get a job faster if it is? What are the best schools for the degree I want to go into? I don't even KNOW what DEGREE I want to go into!!!! I know it can be overwhelming, that is why I am here to give you some advice and hopefully help you on this life changing journey.

First take a deep breath and count to five then exhale. We don't want you to loose consciousness!

Ok you feeling good now? K, lets head over to  Utah Futures webpage.  Login so you can save all your information that you are going to find. Go all the way down to the bottom where it says "Find Training Programs and Education" Click on it.

Now it drops down a menu this menu is awesome it has links to A LOT of scholarships (which we will talk about another day) Today lets look at the three other options

1. Programs of Study
2. State Schools
3. Schools Sort

Programs of study- click on this one if you know what program you are wanting to study in college.
This link will talk to you about the degree and what type of schools will give you access to concerning this degree. It also gives you info on program admission, typical course work and things you should know about that program, as well as other resources that they can connect you to. 

It will then show you different schools that offer this program.  Look to the left. Do you see it?
It says "State Schools" if you want to stay local or "US Colleges and Universities" From there you pick a state and it will give you Colleges and Universities that have that program and more information about those schools.

State Schools- Click this one if you are wanting to stay in Utah. In here it gives you different types of schools that are here in Utah. Look at them all if you are not sure if you want or need to go to University or College for what you are wanting to do in life. From there it gives you a list of schools in Utah click on them to find out more information.

Schools Sort-Here you will click on Undergraduate Schools since you are now working on you Bachelors Degree VS. Masters. School Sort uses your preferences to find schools that interest you. It is an exploratory tool that can be used more than once to create lists based on different criteria.

• Select the criteria that are important to you. It is not necessary to answer every item.
• Click on Get My Results at any time to view a list of schools.
• Change your criteria to modify your list.
• Organize your list and research the schools that interest you.

Once you pick a school you want to look at go to the left hand side and it will give you all the information you would EVER need in the school. I suggest writing down in your college portfolio the information that is important for you to remember.....application deadlines, GPA and ACT Requirements, Tuition cost (full year or by semester) ect. 

This is a great one to go through, they will bring up questions that you may not have thought of. As you answer them really think honestly about what you are wanting in a school. This is going to be a BIG part of you life for a good amount of time and you want to enjoy it to the fullest!

Alright now that we have looked at Utah Futures, lets talk about some things you do want to think about when you are deciding which school to go to. (MAN I feel like I am writing a NOVEL. You get 5 brownie points for sticking with me)

HERE is a great list of things to think about when choosing a school that is just right for you.

College Fairs
Go to College fairs are a great way to learn about schools you are interested in and even find out about schools you may not have considered. To find college fairs sponsored by schools in your area, talk to your school counselor.

Visit Schools

You can read a school's brochures, take online virtual tours, and live chat with current students, but the best way to know if a school is right for you is to visit it. You can learn a lot on a campus visit that you can't get from a brochure. A visit to the school itself is a helpful way to see if it will meet your needs, whether it's a 4-year university or a school offering short-term programs.

I know this was a lot to take in and such a long post, but these are things you should/need to be thinking about. If you have questions leave a comment I would love to help you out. Check out these great links they can really help you decide what you want out of post secondary education. Talk with ya soon! Happy College and Career Planning!!!!

CELEBRATE MY DRIVE EVENT!!!!!

TEAM Club is committed to keeping teens safe on the road, and that’s why we’re participating in Celebrate My Drive®, a program that’s all about celebrating the fun of getting your driver’s license while helping you drive safely so you arrive safely.  What’s really sweet about participating in this program is YOU can also help our school win a $100,000 grant….and possibly a concert by Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson right here in our own town!  It’s simple:

ü Log onto celebratemydrive.com

ü Indicate that you want to support Logan High School

ü Commit to drive safely!

Make a safe driving commitment once a day, every day, between October 18 and 26.  The more safe driving commitments we make, the better chance we have to win $100,000 and host the Kelly Clarkson concert. Tell your friends and family who are age 14 and older to get involved too! Thanks for your support of Logan High School and our teen drivers. Remember, 2N2: 2 eyes on the road, 2 hands on the wheel. 

Also, TEAM is putting on a Safe Driving Event at Logan High on Oct. 25th at 3PM.  There will be FOOD, PRIZES, PLEDGING, and an interactive SCOOTER COURSE!!!  

You  can stay posted on the details, and even get reminders, by signing up here.

Stay safe and remember IT CAN WAIT!

Partner Tag for H&N

Hey Everyone!!!

I have been loving TEAM this year. We have some really great mentors don't ya think? Who has been your favorite so far? Who has helped you the most?
As most of you know I love Health and Nutrition. and Home and Community. and College and Career Readiness. and Service. Ok we all know that I love it all and I would love to take over all the areas at TEAM but then I would run around like a crazy person (what I already do that...oh well)

ANYWAYS.....This year we have Cade with us and he is our Health and Nutrition TEAM leader and he has been doing a great job getting us up and moving. We have been enjoying the outdoors while the weather is still good. This last week we played a partner tag game with a spin on it to help get us active.

You pair up with someone (stand next to them). One person is it and one person is running from the IT person. The person running stands next to a pair, now you have three people standing next to one another so the person on the end gets booted out and has to run to another group before the IT person touches them, otherwise they become IT. But wait the new pair has to do five pushups now that there is a new person apart of the pair. We also switched around and did jumping jacks and sit ups. It was a lot of fun and it definitely got my blood flowing. (note to self don't wear skinny jeans while trying to stretch out!)

I will from now on try to remember to take more pictures since this post would be much more fun if we had pics. (if you ever take pictures while at TEAM send them to me or put them on facebook for all of us to share. IE. who took a pic of Ed in the small white T-Shirt HAHAHAHAHA I NEED that)

Have a great day everyone!

College Portfolio

Hey everyone! For College Readiness this year we are working with Utahfutures.org. Let’s talk about how to get ready in order to apply for colleges and scholarships. This can/needs to be started in 9th grade. That way when you are a senior you are not scrambling to gather information and remember everything you have done in the past 4 years, since you have been doing a lot of amazing things. Here is a list to help you build your own Portfolio!

Checklists (click on link to print off your own!)

Personal Information Checklist

Academic Information Checklist

Extracurricular Information Checklist

Job History/Community Service Checklist

Quick break down of what is included in each checklist

Personal Information Checklist

• Yours and your parents most recent income tax return, W-2 information, and records of untaxed income. This is needed for FASFA and to prove income so you can apply for certain scholarships and fee waivers for various college applications.

•  Driver’s License number

• Birth Certificate

• Social Security Number

• Immunization Records (if any)

• Special needs and modifications

Since all this information is sensitive and you do NOT want the wrong person to get a hold of this information, always keep this at home and in a locked section on your computer.

Academic Information Checklist

• Sample assignments (some of your best work!)

•  Test scores, including TAKS, PSAT/NMSQT, SAT, and ACT

• Teacher or counselor recommendations (remember to give the person writing a letter of recommendation at least 2-3 weeks to put together the letter, you want them to write a good one!)

• Examples of improvement (Example: I got a D in Chemistry but took summer school and was able to understand it more and then get a B+)

• Complete high school transcript, including course grades, GPA and class rank, advanced courses, and diploma date; include college or university transcripts if you have taken dual credits (Talk to your counselor to get this)

•  Academic Recognitions

•  Academic Camps and summer/college courses

Extracurricular Information Checklist

With these remember to write up a brief description of activities. This way when they ask you about them and ask for a description you already have it all written out! EASY PEASY!

• CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS

• STUDENT GOVERNMENT PARTICIPATION

•  COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

• PARTICIPATION IN SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, ATHLETICS, BAND, ETC

•  Educational Travel

• Leadership Roles and Comments about Accomplishments

Job History/Community Service Checklist

•  Work recommendations and employee evaluations

       o   Names, Emails, Phone, Addresses

• Community or school sponsored service projects

        o   Favorite TEAM projects

        o   The projects you led

        o   Detailed descriptions

• Special recognition or achievement

        o   Who gave it to you

        o   When did you receive it?

        o   Description on what it was for and how you received it

• Skills learned and reflections on possible career interests

One final thought…..

It is a really good idea to have this all in hard copy format (if you have not received a file folder for these from TEAM talk to Kayla or Katie) AND an electronic file format. Most applications are online now a day and you do not want to rewrite EVERYTHING, EVERYTIME you go to fill out an application. I suggest Googledocs since you have access to them anywhere you are and on any computer. If you need help with this leave a comment and I can help ya. Happy College and Career Planning!

Let's Rake Some LEAVES!

Saturday, October 12th, is going to be a BIG day with lots of opportunities to serve and get involved in the community.  

From 10am -12:30pm you can join other TEAM members and volunteers from the community for one of our annual  Citizen Assist projects~ helping the elderly and others with special needs get their yards and homes ready for winter.

There will also be an activity at Willow Park Zoo called BOO at the ZOO. Volunteers will be helping at different stations throughout the Zoo and each station is a little game for kids. WE NEED AS MANY VOLUNTEERS AS POSSIBLE. The volunteer hours are 10:30a to 3:00p. If you are going to come please be sure to respond to respond on the facebook page. 

We hope to see many of our TEAM youth and mentors at these events.

Thanks and see you there!