Nightmare before Christmas/Summer VayCay

On my run last night to wolf pan creek, I noticed several things that were interesting to me. 

1. The running trail right next to Harvey rd in College Station is connected to the back of sonic, ozona's, Rudy's, and fazoli's (literally, you can run into the parking lot without crossing the awkward parkway area that always seems to be dry until you step into it)

2. The Taco Bell drive-through was full of cars

3. There was barely anybody out walking or running at all.

My theory for the things I noticed is: aliens (puts hands up). No just kidding. I know it was because it was finals week so that people were catching late night snacks at unhealthy places and not out enjoying the nice evening air. 

For that reason I'd like to write a blog dedicated to all my fellow college students on how to stay healthy and focus on studying the right way!

Below are some of the pointers I have gathered from experience and friends the last three and almost a half of college career at A&M. 

1. Take care of your body

Even though we all know staying up late and using caffeinated drinks as a mean of helping us stay awake is a bad idea, we still do it. It's one of those things we just tell people. It's like saying "you don't understand, I'm an engineering major, if I don't stay up and study I'm not a normal person. " all jokes aside, one of the reason it's hard for many people to get the good test result they want is because they stay up, skip breakfast, and focus on nothing but studying. Everybody needs sleep, I don't care how well you study at night more than during the day, get some sleep before opening that book. Because if your body isn't functioning properly, you will only obtain one hour worth of studying out of like five. Next thing, make sure you get some food in that belly, and not fast food. I'm talking about fruits and veggies, a real meal (no empty carbs, if you don't know what that is, here's a link to clarify: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090425014826AAm6Ez8). It takes only 30 minutes to make a good meal and if you don't use that time for cooking you're gonna be looking at useless stuff on the Internet anyways so why waste it? I'm sure everybody has heard of the expression "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day" So I'm not gonna beat on that dead horse, but really, eat breakfast! I'm in biochemistry right now and I can tell you it affects you on a noticeable level (it also explains why people falls asleep in class). Another good thing to do to help you stay awake can be to go exercise. It sounds backwards because exercising should exhaust you more than anything. But if you do something like jogging that requires little effort for 15 minutes, you will be surprised how far you can run and how much more pumped up you are at getting started on studying you are. Also it helps with your immune system, so you don't get sick the night before your biggest test.

2. Talk to your professors

Remember who is going to put your final grade down on the paper for good? Your professor holds the power to make or break your future. Creating a good relationship with them is one of the most important things in college. But when final week comes around and you're panicking on your final because your grade is borderline, go talk to them. Most professors are helpful and if they can tell you've been trying your hardest they'll cut you some slack. I had one prof that I didn't talk to all semester and I went in the day before the last test he told me as long I get a B on it ill have an A in the class just because he sees me in class everyday (I sit in the front row like a nerd sometimes). If you're the type of person to not go to class at all and have gotten below borderline grades, my best suggestion to you is: pray to God and study hard, maybe you shoulda been paying attention in class, or dropped it when you knew it was time.

3. Use your time wisely

Yeah I know everything is more interesting when you're trying to study and there are a thousand things you'd rather be doing than to study, but trust me you want to focus just this week before letting your freaky side run wild. Whether it be a year down the road or five. You'd want to look at your transcript and know that your GPR is higher than the guy sitting next to you in class or in line waiting for an interview.  Here are some things you can do to help eliminate temptations: turn off your TV (the only thing Barney Stinson will help you learn is how to make up another way to say the word legendary...that and be awesome I suppose, self five!), don't have your WiFi turned on on your phone and laptop unless you need, figure out what's the best studying pattern for you (alone, with friends, with music on, in your room...). Lastly, use a timer to help you decide how long you will take to study on each subject. Since its finals week I expect you to have more than one thing to study for. If you can, bounce between different subjects that way your brain isn't filled with a single thing all night, and remember to take breaks (what I do is put my timer on 30 minutes and go make food and I'll try to finish it before the time is up)

This is only a brief summary of what I have learned over the years and if you have anything else I'm more than happy to hear about it since I will be staying in school (hopefully) for my masters and maybe even PhD eventually, so I'll need the advice as well.

Well I apologize for the long blog and thanks again for dropping by. If you're reading this within a week of me posting it and you are a college student you should probably be studying... So good luck and leave any comments if you wish!

oh... and here's a distraction if you just REALLY REALLY need it:

http://youtu.be/EVwlMVYqMu4