When in college, there are a lot of things you can do to help you snag that future career of yours before someone else.  When applying for your future job, the employer will look over all your past history, and will look for anything that sticks out from other people.  One of those things that may stick out is volunteering.  When volunteering, you’re try to make change for the better, and your dedicating your time for free, which means a whole lot if you think about it.  College students can benefit from volunteering a lot, and listed below are some of the ways it is beneficial to them.

Friends – When you volunteer at things like Humane Societies, or nursing homes, you are opening up so many opportunities to make great relationships with other people.  When doing this, you can make several friends, and really open up a doorway to meet others.

Hobby – A lot of people who volunteer say it is one of their best hobbies.  There is always something you can do that you will find fun to do.  Whether you like to garden, take care of animals, visit with others, etc, there is something that you can do as a hobby.

Good feeling – When you volunteer, and go out of your way to help someone or a group of people, you will notice that you will have a really good feeling about what you’re doing.  Not enough people volunteer, and can say they feel that rewarding feeling.

A difference – Volunteering is the best way to make a difference in the lives of many people.  Also, when you volunteer there will be a difference from you, and other people.  As stated above, you will have an advantage over many people in the future.

Volunteering is a great thing to do, and is extremely rewarding.  If you’re looking to stick out from others, try volunteering.  You will feel great about yourself, create many relationships with many great people, and best of all, you’ll find this to be a great hobby!

A college students life is definitely busy, and when having a busy schedule, that often means little time for anything other than school.  Although school may take up a lot of time, and is very important, so is having a job while going to college.  College is not only a busy part of someones life, but it is also very expensive.  To make sure college students have the money to pay for the important things like rent, food, classes, books, gas, etc, they need to find a place that will give them the money they need.

Working a job while in college is tough, but it can be done.  It is very important, and can really help out a college student when they need that extra money.  If you’re a student that is having a hard time going to college, while working a job on the side, continue to read below to find out how you can manage your time better, and find enough time for both.

• It is always good to have certain days for certain things.  This means go to school and schedule all your classes for two specific days, and have work for the rest of the days.  This will keep your schedule organized, and much more efficient.
• Do a little bit of your homework each day to avoid having too much the night before.
• Don’t overload yourself with too many hours at work.  A good amount is usually 20-25 hours per week, when going full-time at school.
• A good amount of classes to take while working is just the minimum, if you want to keep your grades up.  So take around 12-16 credits, and try to do no more than that.
• Make sure you try and find a job that doesn’t schedule too bad of hours.  You don’t want to be working until midnight, and have class the next morning at 7:00. 
• Find a job that will work with you.  If you can, find one that will allow you to take off or switch days with someone when you really need it.  For example, if you have your mid-terms or finals, you don’t want to work the day before if you have a lot of studying to do.

Managing school and working a job isn’t too hard if you manage your time properly.  Do a little bit each day, and have certain days for work, and certain days for school.  It is hard to get through college with no money, so try and find a job that will work with you.

When starting college, everything may seem foreign to you.  This is natural, if you’re never been in college or to a college, you don’t know what to expect.  When you do start, you will notice some differences between college and high school, but for the most part you’ll see how similar they are.  One thing that is different from high school is choosing your own classes, and paying for them.  You don’t have requirements like you did in high school, therefore it is different when the time comes to register.  If you’re not sure what classes you should start out with, consider some of these classes listed below.

• You’ll want to consider taking some basic and general classes.  This means consider classes like math, science, social studies, and english.

- Classes that are general are great because usually the first two years of college consist of classes that are basic.  Two advance into classes towards your degree, you will usually need your general requirements first.  These general education classes are also great because if you decide to change your major in college (which is extremely common), you’ll have classes that are still general, and not ones that you need to get a degree.

• Foreign language classes are also great to take your first semester.  A foriegn language is usually required, and if you know another language well, this will look great on your resume.

TIP – If you really don’t know where to start out, consider speaking with an advisor.  Advisers can help you determine which classes are best for you level wise, and future career wise.  They will be some of the most helpful people you will run into, when in college.  College classes are expensive so we want to make sure we take general classes or seek help right from the beginning to avoid spending wasted time on classes you don’t need, and wasted money.

As a college student, cooking can either get quite expensive or you may not know how to do it and that’s okay!  After years of eating Mom and Dad’s cooking, I wouldn’t blame you for not knowing what to do.  When I was about to enter college, the only cooking experience I had before college was one cooking class in junior high school.  Now, I know that’s not going to get me anywhere when it comes to cooking but when it comes to a recipe book, it’s pretty easy for me to follow directions.  This is why I’ve come up with my top three recipe books that are designed only for college students.

Cooking Outside the Pizza Box: Easy Recipes for Today’s College Student

Cooking Outside the Pizza Box is one of my favorite recipe books on the market.  It’s cheap and it’s filled with very simple recipes that anyone can good.  On top of that, they are creative, cheap to make and very delicious!  From munchies to pasta and rice, you name it, this book has it with over 160 pages filled with simple recipes designed only for college students.

The Starving Students’ Cookbook

The Starving Students’ Cookbook is packed filled of cheap, nutritious and easy recipes.  These recipes include one-pot meals that only leave you with one pot to wash, dozen of meals that can be cooked under 15 minutes and let’s not forget meat-free dishes that will leave you craving room for more after you’re all done.  This is a great bargained price book that has over 220 pages of recipes.

The Everything College Cookbook: 300 Hassle-Free Recipes For Students On The Go

With over 300 recipes, this is by far the best rated book that I’ve found online.  It has some of the best recipes and yet is filled with a ton of recipes that will allow you to cook something different each day for almost a year, you can’t beat that!  This book comes equipped with microwavable meals, easy to pack treats, bagged lunches, vegetarian alternatives and so much more!

Sure, you can get a  lot of recipes on the Internet but I’ve always found it so much handier to have a book laying around the kitchen so that I can reference and bookmark the recipes that I truly enjoy.  Most of these books are under $20 and won’t break your budget.  Just think of it this way in that you’ll be able to save money while cooking your meals at home rather than going out.

Since we were little we’ve been told, "Save as much money as you can."  As we all know, times are hard, and when you have little money they are only harder.  There are many expensive things that you will come across as a college student.  The college years may even be the most expensive years of your life.  So, what is it that we should save our money up for?  What is heading our way, and what are the most expensive things we will encounter?  Continue to read below to find out!

Housing – It is very common for college students to want to move out of the house during their college years.  This means many get an apartment, go away for school, etc.  Housing definitely isn’t cheap, so if you have plans on moving out, be sure to save up for it.

TIP – It is also a good idea to have some back up money for those "just in case situations."  One month you may be cut on hours at work, and you can’t pay rent, what are you going to do?  Have a back up fund!

Food – Food is obviously something we can’t live without or go around, so be sure you save up for food, and groceries, especially if you’re on your own now.

Car – Car payments aren’t cheap, and neither are your occasional oil changes and insurance costs.  We need a car to get around, so make sure you can afford one.

School – Also, as we all know, college isn’t cheap.  From the classes we take, to the money we spend on books, we are almost broke at the beginning of the semester.  Loans are a great thing if you don’t have the money up front (which most college students don’t.)

The little things – I’m sure you come across those little things that just seem to "come up."  It seems like every time you get paid you have to pay for some odd thing you didn’t expect to.  Also, just the little things like gas money, cell phone bills, and leisure aren’t so little anymore once you add them all up.

College students have a lot going on in their life, have busy schedules, and little money, so if you can, prepare for the future as much as possible, so that when these things come up, you will have some back up money, and you’ll be more prepared.