Many students today complain about having to take foreign language classes throughout their school years.  As an elective they usually complain “What do I need a language for if it doesn’t have anything to do with my career in the future?”  It may seem pointless if it has nothing to do with your career, but it is not!  What does it hurt to know more than you did before?  If we were living in a world that just spoke one language yes, but we are not.  Different nationalities are moving all around the world.  This causes more languages to be spoken throughout the entire world.  Since it seems to pointless to some let me tell you why it’s not:

Major academic and career advantage.  Studies show that only 9% of Americans speak another language fluently.  Compare that to the 53% of Europeans that speak more than their native language.  When taking a foreign language in college it is a huge advantage.  Say you want to pursue a career in nursing.  Now you apply and the person hiring is debating between you and someone else.  They say okay great they know their stuff.  Now say you spoke another language and the other person did not.  Who do you think they’re going to choose?  Many foreigners are admitted to our hospitals and don’t speak a word of English.  You now have the advantage over the other person.  They can rely on you to help understand the patients.  Knowing a language can only benefit your future career.

It is interesting to know.  Studying other languages and other cultures is very interesting.  Take a class that your interested in.  Say you live in Arizona and there are a lot of Hispanics in the area.  That would be very interesting to learn Spanish.  Not only would you be able to communicate with them they can help you learn. 

Amazing brain skills.  Studying a language especially at a young age is significant.  Studies show that children who learn another language show an increase in global understanding, creativity, memory, listening, and speaking skills.

Can be a fun hobby.  Learning another language can be a great hobby and fun challenge.  Go to classes during the week with a friend.  It is a fun way to get out of the house, learn, and spend time with friends.

There are so many advantages of speaking another language.  Not only is it fun its very, very beneficial!  It almost guarantees you a job over others, and improves your learning skills tremendously.  Find a language you’re interested in and have fun with it!

Many of us have had the dream of teaching ever since we can remember.  Other are considering it and love some of the upsides to the career.  Although some of the upsides sound like a dream job, is teaching really for you?  Before going to school to persue a career in teaching ask yourself these questions first:

• Do I love kids?  When being a teacher you’re only going to work with people that are younger than you are unless you decide to be a college professor.  Do you like and get along with children well?  This is important, if not you will see yourself only getting frustrated.
• Is the pay in my range?  Is the pay going to support you and possibly a family?  Ask yourself this question and take some time on it, it is very important.
• Are you willing to go back to school?  So you went through pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school, and college.  Are you ready to go back again for the rest of your career?
• Are you considering teaching because of the time off?  Teachers get the best times of the year off.  They get holidays, weekends and all summer!  What gets better than that?  Just make sure you’re not just doing teaching because you’re guaranteed these great benefits.
• Do you mind taking your work home?  You just got off of work and are leaving the school.  You return home and now you have papers to grade.  Are you okay with this?  Many people just want to leave their work at work.  Keep this in mind, this will take up even more time in your day.
• Do you have patience?  When being a teacher patience is needed.  If a child doesn’t get something the first time are you able to keep teaching until they understand it?  You need patience and a good attitude.  They are counting on you to learn the material. 

Being a teacher is a great job.  If you ask teachers about their work they are usually smiling and pleased with teaching.  Make sure you have the same response when someone asks you!  Choose what is right for you, and something that is interesting to you as well.

When starting the first year of college, students often worry they don’t have everything they need.  They also don’t usually know what they need.  To keep it simple college school supplies are basically the same as in high school.  As for those little odds and ends there is a list below on items that you will need and are an absolute must when going to college.

• Cell phone.  Cell phones are hard to go without when going to college.  They are actually a must to have.  Whether you’re lost and need directions somewhere, you’re having car trouble, or just want to call your friends and family, you will need a cell phone.  Accidents happen so be prepared.
• Credit card.  Every college student should have a credit card.  You never know when you might get a flat tire, or when your car might die, and usually students don’t carry around that much cash on them at all times.  Credit cards are very helpful, as long as you use them wisely they can only benefit you.  It’s important to know the difference of knowing what you want and what you need.  To find more information go to www.findcollegecards.com
• Voice recorder.  These are great to have in college.  With the prices you pay in college for a class it is important to get all you can out of college.  Record a lecture and listen to your parts you don’t understand a second or third time!
• Agenda.  You will most definitely need an agenda.  There are so many dates that you will want to keep in mind.  Whether it’s someones birthday, your exam date, or your doctors appointment it becomes very hard to keep these dates organized.
• Small bills and change.  This is great to just throw a couple bucks in your backpack.  You might have forgotten to pack a lunch and you need a bite to eat. This way you can atleast buy yourself a drink and snack at the vending machine.
• Computer with Internet access.  When in college it seems like you will be typing paper after paper, especially in English class.  It is important to find a computer for Microsoft word and a computer with Internet access.  When in college you will be doing a lot of researching in the Internet.  Find a computer that is reliable when it comes to the both of them.

These few items will making going to college so much easier.  It is almost impossible to go without these few things.  They may require some money but they are definitely important.

No matter what grade you’re in when you’re attending college, it’s never too late to start getting career related experience that relates to your degree.  Besides getting an internship before you graduate, there are many ways you can get hands-on experience, so that you look better to the employer when you apply for future jobs.

Externship – An externship is similar to an internship but instead of working, you simply shadow someone else while they work.  Most companies will allow you to come in and simply watch how others perform their work.  For instance, if you wanted to become a teacher, you could come into a classroom and watch how the teacher teaches his/her class for the day.  Externships usually are short-term and only last for a few hours a day.

Internship – An internship, as I mentioned above is the opposite of externship and this way is generally the most common way college students get career related experience.  An internship is where you’ll go and work with a company and get hands-on experience at no cost.  Sometimes, you may find that internships will lead into a paid positions, this is why it’s popular among college students.

Co-Op Program – A co-op program is a multi-term work schedule that usually is signed with one company.  Here’s how it works.  A student will sign on with a company and promise that company that they will work one summer and come back after college is done the next summer.  The nice thing about co-ops are that they are usually paid positions and are also full-time, so it’s as if you’re working your college career already while attending college at the same time.

Volunteer work – Volunteering reminds me of an internship but more companies are willing to take on volunteers because they don’t have to commit to your work schedule.  Employers always love to see volunteer work on your resume because it shows that you’re dedicated to your career and you’re willing to learn all about it.  A great example of volunteer work would be if you were going to become a teacher and you volunteered your time to help tutor third graders with their homework.

A job – Some students just pass right over this option and don’t think that this will help with their future work endevours.  No matter what kind of job you have in life, they are all similar in someway, you have to be there at a certain time and you have to follow orders.  This alone can be golden to an employer.  When you’re looking to get a job as a college student, see if you can find a job that relates to your career.  I’ll use the teacher example once again and say you wanted to find a job that relates to your teaching career.  You could find a part-time job at a teacher store or you could assist at a day care.  The thing I like most about a job is that there’s no time table and you get paid for your efforts while learning about the work force.

Getting career related experience before college is important and remember it’s never too late to work.  My word of advice is that you take some action because you don’t want to graduate and have no experience under your belt.  College is supposed to be a challenge and you should put 100% into your career, you’ll thank yourself in the long run!

If you’ve ever been on a college campus or you’re planning on jumping on one in fall, there’s one thing I guarantee you’ll see there and that thing will be credit card companies.  Credit card companies will do everything in their own power to sign up for a credit card in hopes that you use it, abuse it, and become a customer of theirs for life.  I”m going to show you a few techniques on how the companies try to lure you into signing up for your first credit card.

The free t-shirt game

Have you ever been to a sporting event or any event for that matter that has a little white tent set up with XXL T-shirts available?  Chances are you’re answering yes.  These tents are the tents operated by the card companies like Visa and MasterCard.  Their goal is to get you to come to that both and sign up for a credit card.  In return, you’ll receive a t-shirt that doesn’t even fit.  The problem with this method is that you usually don’t know what kind of card you’re getting and if there are any fees associated with it.

Getting free food

This is a very common one among the towns near college campuses.  You’ll go out to eat and you’ll casually walk into a college campus and see some laptops set up.  You’ll be greeted by a credit card representative that will simply ask if you would like a free sandwich?  The only catch is that you’ll have to sign up for a credit card on their laptop.  Since most college students are poor, they will take advantage and sign up, not knowing how this can affect your credit score in the future.

Sponsored speeches/Events

This one may not seem as bad as a pushy tent salesperson but you may find yourself attending events in the area that are sponsored by big companies and this may entail a “persuasion speech” that may lure you to sign up for a credit card.  Since most of these sponsored events aren’t that bad, I wouldn’t worry about this one that much.

All of the above points mentioned above aren’t good when it comes to getting a credit card for the first time.  The reason this is true is because you want to do your research since there are hundreds of cars out there.  Are you going to go out and buy the fist car you see?  Of course not!  Don’t do the same thing with your credit cards.