It’s a new semester and a new year. If one of your New Year Resolutions was to get in better shape then look no further than playing in intramural sports.

Intramural sports are similar to city or recreation athletics you would’ve played when you were younger.

Don’t worry though if you’ve never played the sport before because most people are in the same boat as you.

Look on your college’s website in student recreation and there should be a list of sports that available for you to participate in. If you want to play seriously there are also some club sports available. Club sports have higher competition than intramural and they usually play against local clubs.

College is supposed to be this really fun filled place with boat loads of friends, non-stop parties, and no worries in the world, right? Well for most college students college life isn’t that glamorous. In fact, many college students might say their lives are pretty boring. It doesn’t need to be that way though.

I know it might sound elementary, but your life isn’t going to get a whole lot more interesting by you sitting in your room doing nothing. You need to get out there and make yourself known. There are several ways you can do this and by putting yourself out there you will gain new friends.

There are plenty of places to meet new people but most people are afraid to approach and acquire new friends. An easy way to get connected with people with the same interests is you is to join a club. Clubs are very easy to join and there are tons of different clubs you can join at your college.

If you are into sports another way to get involved is to play an intramural sport. You don’t need to have any previous experience playing the sport you sign up for, so don’t be shy to try something new. Intramural sports is a great way to meet new friends and get into shape also.

Lastly, just go out a do things outside of your room. Who knows where you will meet your new friend or partner. It could be at the library, cafeteria, a football game.

Get out of your room and do something and the rest will follow.

The first secret to a healthy diet is Carbohydrates.

The next secret is what we call Proteins. These are required to keep proper structure and normal functions of the body. If you remember, carbs are the fuel source. Proteins are the primary building blocks of tissues. Such as bones, muscles and connective tissue. Proteins are constructed of about 20 different amino acids. 12 of the 20 amino acids are synthesized in your body, therefore do not need to come from your diet . We call these the “non-essential” amino acids. The other 8 need to come from your diet. The “essential amino acids.” If you do not obtain these essential amino acids, the body cannot repair itself. Your immune system cannot properly function and your metabolism will decline. You will then begin to feel sluggish, tired and depressed. Once amino acids enter the blood, your body can take those and create red blood cells, muscle tissue and a lot of other cool stuff. Proteins are critical in building lean muscle tissues, maintaining stable blood glucose levels, functions of your immune system, and finally normal brain chemistry.

Ok guys so it’s a new semester and that means you will probably get stuck with one or more “less than useful professors”, to put it nicely. We’ve all been there. Most of us just stick in there and hold on for dear life until the end of the semester. Congratulations for surviving fall semester, now it’s time to gear up for spring semester.

It is time to fight back, no more hiding behind your desk hoping for a change. Your professor may seem to not care about teaching or may seem more interested in research, but you need to remind them what they are there for and that’s teach because that’s what professors do right?

When you get confused in class, don’t sit back and say, “Well that was confusing, but I know no one else understand that either so it’s not a problem.” Wrong, you know full well that whatever you are confused about will end up on an exam. Go up to your professor after class and ask for clarification, and if your professor says that there isn’t time to explain it again now, follow them to their office or ask when you can meet outside of class. Be persistent.

If asking your professor to explain the material multiple times to you outside of class isn’t helping, search for more help. More than likely there are several students in your class that are having the same difficulties in class that you are. Start a study group with those students, like they say “two (or more) heads are better than one.”

If all else fails, get a tutor. A tutor is someone who already took the class that you are in, and they probably did a lot better in the class than you. Not only can a tutor help you with your homework but they allow you to go over confusing topics in class several times until you fully understand the concepts.

If spring semester brings you some troublesome professors

• Be persistent. Don’t take “no” as an answer
• Search for more help. Start a study group.
• Get a tutor. Learn from someone who has already done it.

Food is not just a resource for energy for our bodies. Every thing you eat consists of thousands of individual chemicals that have a huge influence on your body.  This includes your immune function, body weight, metabolic rate and even your emotional state. One must understand how proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids (fats), have an effect on your biochemistry. This will cause you to make wise decisions on what you put in your body. After I touch some basic ideas about food, you can carry this with  you to shed pounds, get cut, and have an overall improved wellness. This 3 part series will talk about carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Enjoy!

Carbohydrates is the main source that enables us to think, breathe, walk, run and a lot of other things. Besides water, carbohydrates are the most taken in nutrients we consume. There are three types of carbs that we consume on a daily basis; sugars, complex carbs and fiber. For our bodies to actually use the sugars and straches in our foods, our bodies must first break them down. This is called the digestion process. The main idea to pull from the digestion process is that our bodies convert the carbohydrate you consumed into a simpler, smaller sugar called Glucose . Glucose is the primary source for fuel of your brain and central nervous system. We must have a readily available supply of Glucose.  We have a supply because we store it in the muscle and liver form called Glycogen. Glycogen is converted back to glucose when your blood levels of glucose get too low. If we use up all our bodies Glycogen, our body will start break down muscles for it to provide your organs with glucose so they can function. One of the most common forms of unbalanced blood glucose levels is diabetes. The loss of normal insulin function.  Carbohydrates are an essential part of anybody’s diet. This is definitely true when it comes to a weight loss program. It is important to stick to foods with low sugar. This will avoid your blood glucose levels to increase which could lead to carbs being stored as fat if you don’t watch what you eat. Do not poison yourself with food that has no CARBOHYDRATES!

There are a few of us who have made the decision to stay living at home while going to college. Including myself. That’s right, I’m talking about living with your parents throughout college. If your lucky enough to have your school close by to home, take advantage of it. Who wants to have thousands of dollars in debt and not even have their undergrads finished?

I know that many of you are probably skeptical and shocked. Isn’t a key part of the “college experience” the independence you gain from living in the dorms? Lets see, you have to learn to cook, clean, do laundry and manage your own time. If your terrible with time management this could be an issue for you. And what about rules? People always question how I live with the situation I am in at home. You guys would be under your parents thumb. I do agree, it’s not easy to abide by rules (I don’t have many) when I could be living on my own calling the shots.

The best part about living on your own is the freedom we all wish to have. When you move out of your home, curfew, rules and chores go out the window! If you choose to come home at 5AM every night or morning, that’s possible. However, with mom and dad sleeping soundly and working the next morning, you still can’t help but feeling guilty. Even if your curfew does not exist. In reality, you still are bumming off them.

This newfound lifestyle of living on your own extends to every single aspect of your life. There is nobody bugging you, reminding you to eat correctly, telling you to do your homework or even go to class. This independence forces you to become a responsible, developed adult. It also sets you up for the real world. Where no one but you will be sure you are taken care of.

As for the pros of living with my family, I think that the free rent and board is number one. When my friends are cooking burgers, chasing after annoying children or cutting grass 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, ALL summer long, just to pay for rent next year, I am leisurely working three shifts a week at a high end country club. All that money is going directly to my bank to pay for my sweet car, things for myself and anything I want. And come on, you can’t beat the free food.

Every night, you will come home from class to a homecooked meal and pantries full of food. I have seen student kitchens, such a sad sight to see. A couple boxes of Kraft dinner and cereal and maybe a can of instant coffee. You do get meal plans right? If you’re responsible and stop yourself from eating the greasy dishes the cafeteria serves up everyday, you might soon find your jeans fitting tighter. Certainly no one wants to return home as the person who went to college and came back FAT.

You make the decision what’s best for you. Look at it from all angles. Do you need to support yourself fully if you move out? Do you need a part time job while away at college? Are your parents filthy rich and will help you with everything while your away at school? Are you more satisfied with settling with a college closer to home, living rent free, having money in your pocket and getting school done at the same time?

When you enroll in the college that you have selected you will need to attend college orientation. You will go on tours and see a couple presentations on your college orientation, but one of the most important things you will do on your orientation is get your student ID card.

Yes, your student ID is just like any other ID you’ve ever gotten. It will have a picture of you, most likely one you won’t like, and your name on it, but your student ID is so much more than a personal identification card.

Your student ID card can be used as an access card that will let you get into your dorm building if it is locked during night hours.

Your student ID card is also your library card. It will allow you to check out anything at your college’s library.

Your student ID card is your meal ticket also. It will carry all your your meal plan information on it and they will swipe it everytime you eat at your college’s cafeteria.

It can even be an ATM card, you heard me right, an ATM card. Your college will most likely have a preferred banker in the area and setup account for students to link there student ID card to a checking and savings account.

Don’t lose your student ID card though because then you will have to buy a new one.

For most people, our life is full of frustration, pressure and stress. We worry about our grades in school, argueing with our spouse, and money in our pocket. One may feel physical stress as a result of not enough sleep, poor diet or an illness. Stress can also be a mental thing: an emotionally stressful event, money worries, or a loved one being very sick. In reality, most of our stress comes from just everyday responsibilities we all have. Pressures and obligations which are mentally and physically straining are not always aware to us. Our bodies naturally respond to these daily strains by; increasing in blood pressure, respiration, metabolism, heart rate and even the flow of blood to our muscles. This natural response we perform is to help us react effectively and swiftly to those high pressure situations.

When we experience “stress” our pituitary glands react by the release of a hormone called ACTH. When your pituitary glands release this burst of ACTH, its as if an alarm system embedded within your brain has gone off. Your adrenal glands then release a flood of stress hormones into  our blood. These hormones then create a huge series of physiological change in your body. If you continue to experience stress and have is pile up, your body never has a chance to recover. This long term activation of our bodies stress response system can pretty much disrupt almost all of the body systems. The digestive system, Immune system, Nervous system and finally the Cardiovascular system.

How do we defeat this? Stress is real. It has been proven. The first way to do this is called RELAXATION. Its not that difficult to relax. When your stressed, have you noticed how your breathing is different?  Stress causes your breathing to be rapid and shallow. If you can control your breathing, all of those spiraling effects of acute stress will ultimately become less intense. Another way is called progressive muscle relaxtion. The goal of this is to reduce the tension in your muscles. Find a quiet place and be free of noise. Loosen those tight clothes (ladys!) A third way to reduce stress is called Autogenic relaxation. Autogenic means that something is coming from within you. During this type of coping mechanism, you reppeat words or ideas in your head to help you relax and reduce muscle tightness. Finally, the best way to beat stress is to EXERCISE! Exercise puts you in better shape, which makes you feel better overall. By being a physically active person, you decrease the levels of anxiety and you elevate your moods. There have been a lot of studies proven to display the people who BEGIN new exericise programs demonstrate an improvement in; concentration, able to sleep better, less illnesses, suffer from less pain and report a higher quality of life. TO ALL OF YOU WHO WANT A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE, GET ACTIVE!

~Dr.Cody

The college dorms, a college student’s first taste of freedom. If you have had parents that went to college or older siblings that went to college you have probably heard some horror stories about living in the dorms. Don’t get me wrong living in the dorms isn’t like staying at a five star hotel, but it isn’t like living in a concentration camp either.

The dorms will be as fun or as dreadful as you make them out to be. If you constantly fight with your new roommate or have a bad attitude about sharing space, which is very important while living in such closed quarters, dorm life will be very unpleasant for you.

Here are some guidelines to follow to make life in the dorms as fun and pleasant as possible:

• Try to get along with your roommate as much as possible.
• Learn to share, yes you are an adult now as much as you may hate you will have to learn to share. Like they say sharing is caring.
• Set rules with your new roommate. Like when study times are, sleep times are, how sharing of the TV will go if you have one, and if you will be sharing food or having separate food within your dorm.

If you are living with a previous friend from high school then these rules may be easy to set versus having a random roommate assigned to you. If you are thinking about rooming with a friend from high school READ THIS Living with a Friend From High School

Common courtesies and patience will carry you through life in dorms. Don’t stress about living in the dorms too much, you will meet tons of new friends plus you get to eat at the college’s cafeterias with your meal plan.

One last piece of advice before packing up and moving into the dorms is. PLAN YOUR ROOMS LAYOUT, there is very little space in a college dorm room, so talk to your roommate ahead of time and figure you who’s bringing what so you don’t have duplicates. Also think about lofting your beds to get the most space out of your dorm room.

One thing you will want to make sure that you own before you go to college is health insurance.

You may ask yourself, I pay an arm and leg for tuition does that mean I get free health care though the college?

No you will not receive free health care through your school.

If your college has a student health service building you more than likely pay a semester health fee.

This health fee entitles you to:

• routine visits with a physician
• physical exams
• flu shots
• therapy
• pharmacy services
• other procedures

If you currently don’t have health insurance but need health insurance contact your student health service building and ask if they provide a student health insurance plan.

If you need to see a doctor make an appointment and bring your student ID