Blog Posts

How to Avoid Falling Asleep in Class

There’s no point going to class if you’re just going to fall asleep. However, staying awake is often easier said than done — particularly if you have a full schedule and always seem to arrive at class exhausted. The good news is there are several things you can do to stop falling asleep, all of which will also improve your concentration and help you avoid burnout. 1. Set a Bedtime It may be tempting to stay up late almost every night, particularly if you have friends who want to hang out in the evenings or if you just want to catch up with social media or relax with some video games. Soon, though, all those late nights will catch up with you and you’ll find it more difficult to stay awake during the day and be productive. To ensure you sleep enough, set a bedtime and make sure you stick to it. Bear in mind that it’s easier to push yourself to go to bed at the right time if you put away all your devices at least half an hour before. Since the light of screens wakes up your mind, this will also help you fall asleep faster. 2. Take Breaks Between Classes Students often feel pressured to spend the entire day productively. This can lead to them trying to dedicate all the time between classes to studying. However, it’s impossible for your mind to stay focused for this long — you’ll only end up arriving to class too tired to focus and possibly falling asleep. A better approach is to be reasonable with how you use time between classes. For instance, as well as studying, fit in some exercise, healthy meals, and relaxation. 3. Put Your Phone Away Some points in your class may be boring, especially if you don’t find the topic engaging or another student asks a question you already know the answer to. Whatever happens, though, you should never turn to your phone in class. In fact, keep it out of sight — then, you won’t feel tempted to look at it and you won’t start being lulled into sleep. 4. Block Websites on Your Laptop It’s equally important to prevent distractions on your laptop. Install an extension on your browser to block websites that tend to distract you. As well as keeping this enabled for the duration of your class, you’ll also find it useful when studying in your own time. 5. Avoid Caffeine A small amount of caffeine is useful for giving your body a quick boost of energy to stay alert. However, continuously drinking caffeine throughout the day to keep your energy levels up will backfire. At a certain point, no amount of caffeine will help. In fact, when the effects wear off, you’ll crash and feel much more tired. Of all the above, getting enough sleep is the most crucial for staying awake in class, but this is only possible if you have a comfortable bedroom and no noisy roommate keeping you up all night. In other words, you need to move out of on-campus housing and search for apartments for rent. North Oshawa students can receive a private room with an ensuite bathroom at Foundry Simcoe. Sign a lease now before all the units are completely full.

9 Affordable Gifts for College Friends

Birthdays and holidays can be particularly difficult times of year for students. You want to give your college friends gifts they’ll like — but you undoubtedly have a limited budget. The good news is there are plenty of great options if you know what to look for. Here are some options to consider. 1. Ramen Cooker The college student diet often consists of significant amounts of ramen. With a special ramen cooker, your friends will be able to prepare meals faster and avoid wasting water. Best of all, they’ll need nothing more than a microwave to use the cooker. 2. Metal Bookmarks Most college students are reading numerous textbooks at any given time — which requires multiple bookmarks to avoid dog ears. The problem with regular bookmarks is they wear out quite quickly. Metal bookmarks can last forever and they come in a range of designs, meaning you can personalize the choice for each friend. 3. Sticky Notes When you want to mark multiple places in a textbook, sticky notes are essential. Regular sticky notes are boring, but ones with cute characters or fun designs make the perfect gift. 4. Coffee Maker If any of your friends spend far too much on buying coffee every day, gift them a coffee maker. Something like a French press or a moka pot will be inexpensive for you to buy and for your friends to use. 5. Portable Blender Maybe you have other friends who are passionate about smoothies. A portable blender will allow them to whip up some fruit on the go. Plus, these blenders double up as a travel bottle, meaning the smoothie is ready to drink and there’s less mess to clean up. 6. Egg Cooker Eggs can be difficult to cook without the right equipment, especially for any friends who are stuck living on campus and have to manage with just a microwave and mini fridge. An egg cooker can help, as it makes cooking eggs in the microwave possible — either scrambled, poached, or as an humour , making them great for a light read when your friends need a break from heavy textbooks. 8. Bedside Shelf When you lack a bedside table, it’s easy for stuff to start piling up at the side of your bed and your room quickly becomes a mess. Whereas a bulky piece of furniture is too expensive for a gift — and may even be impractical for your friend — everyone can appreciate a simple shelf that attaches to the side of the bed. It’s ideal for keeping things like a phone, coffee mug, notebook, or anything else your friend may need at hand. 9. Snacks If you need to stick to a particularly tight budget, remember that everyone appreciates snacks. Find out what your friends’ favorites are and create mini care packages. You’ll have more money for gifts if you search for affordable rooms for rent. Oshawa students can find a home at Foundry Simcoe. You’ll live in a three- or five-bedroom suite that has plenty of space for entertaining friends. Apply now while there are still limited spaces available.

10 Budgeting Tips for Students

Temptations abound in college, which can make it difficult to stick to a budget. However, you’ll thank yourself later if you do, as you’ll consistently make your money last to the end of the month and may even be able to start paying off your student loans. Plus, learning how to budget now will set you up for financial success in the future. Here are some simple yet effective ways to keep your spending in check. 1. Use a Budgeting App Budgeting used to be complicated. It required making spreadsheets and updating them regularly to reflect your purchases. Now, though, there are countless apps to choose from that will make your life easier. They show you where your money is going to help you to improve your spending habits. 2. Make Full Credit Card Payments Credit card debt has some of the highest interest rates. If you already have some debt, pay as much as you possibly can each month until it’s gone. Then, make sure you only spend within your means going forward to avoid accumulating any debt again. 3. Apply for a Cash-Back Credit Card If you’re being responsible with your credit card — meaning you have no debt and you’re spending within your means — it’s worth applying for a card that offers cash back. This means that every time you spend, you’ll earn money or other rewards. 4. Buy with Student Discounts Many businesses offer student discounts, including subscription services when you sign up with a student email. It’s worth choosing brands that offer such deals, as you can end up saving a significant amount. 5. Search for Coupons Another way to take advantage of deals is to use coupons. After all, it doesn’t make sense to pay full price when a discount is available. Always do an internet search to look for discount codes before you place an order for anything expensive. 6. Cook Your Own Meals It’s almost always cheaper to cook than to eat out — plus, it helps you stick to a healthier diet. There’s no need for cooking to be time consuming or difficult. If you’re not used to preparing food, start with simple recipes to learn the basics and consider making enough for a couple meals at a time. 7. Write a Shopping List If you head to the grocery store without a list, there’s always a risk you’ll waste your money on food you never end up eating. Consider what you’ll eat over the upcoming week and make sure you have the ingredients for just these meals and for some healthy snacks. 8. Find Free Ways to Have Fun Maintaining an active social life on a budget can seem like a challenge, but it’s more than possible when you attend free events. You should be able to find events on campus virtually every week — they’re also a great way to expand your social circle. 9. Quit Smoking Smoking is an expensive habit. Even if you find it difficult to quit now, it will be much more difficult if you wait until you’re older. Plus, every week you continue smoking is more money wasted. To incentivize yourself, you could designate all the money that would go to cigarettes or vaping to your fun budget. 10. Spend in Cash Withdraw the amount you assign in your budget to non-essentials and make sure you only spend that cash. Reserve credit cards for just necessary expenses. A final way to save money is to find affordable student housing. For off-campus Ontario Tech University residence, you have Foundry Simcoe. The suites are modern and fully furnished, meaning there’s no need to worry about extra expenses like furniture. Apply now while there are still a few spaces left and you can move in immediately .

A Winter Bucket List for College Student

There are so many things you should do while you’re a college student — it’s essential to make a list to ensure you don’t forget anything. To avoid an extra-long bucket list, it helps to split your ideas up into different themes. One idea is to create a bucket list just for the winter, which should include at least the following. 1. Decorate Your Student Apartment If this is your first year away from home, it’s likely the first time you’ve been in charge of the decorations. Collaborate with your roommates or just decorate your bedroom with things like a tree, a greeting card display, and homemade ornaments. 2. Go Ice Skating with Friends Head to the nearest ice rink or frozen lake with your friends to skate. If you’ve never skated before, you should find that you get the hang of it after you try a few times. 3. Hold a Christmas Movie Marathon On an evening when it’s too cold to venture out, invite a couple of friends over to watch Christmas classics. Ask everyone to bring their pajamas and prepare some hot chocolate to turn the night into a slumber party to remember. 4. Make a Snowman After a heavy snowfall, head outside with friends to build a snowman. You could even form teams and compete to see who can make the best or most original snow sculpture. 5. Have a Snowball Fight Whether spontaneous or planned in advance , a snowball fight is a must for every college student. If you do this on the same day as you build snowmen, you can hide behind your snow figures for protection or to ambush the other students. 6. Head to the Hills for a Sledding Day For a longer day out in the snow, go on a sledding excursion. This works best somewhere with plenty of reasonably steep hills. You may be able to pick up a sled in a thrift store or you can make your own out of something like a cookie sheet, a lid to a storage container, or even a piece of cardboard wrapped in a trash bag. 7. Send Handwritten Cards Go beyond simply signing your greetings cards and write each recipient a personalized note. Include a few updates about your life and let recipients know that you’re thinking of them. Send these cards to your close friends from high school, relatives, and anyone else important in your life. 8. Do a Homemade Gift Exchange Holiday shopping can mean you exceed your budget for the month on gifts alone. Save money and give something more meaningful with homemade gifts. You could even organize a Secret Santa or White Elephant where everyone makes gifts instead of buying things. 9. Bake a Gingerbread House A gingerbread house looks impressive and is not actually too difficult — provided you have some patience! You just need to cut the gingerbread to the right shape, glue the pieces together with royal icing, and then decorate the house with the candy of your choice. 10. Give Something Back Give more than gifts over the holidays by volunteering your time. Find a cause that you care about and that needs support this time of year. For instance, you could offer to feed animals or walk dogs at an animal shelter, pay the residents of an assisted living facility a visit, or serve food at a homeless shelter. 11. Reflect on Your Year It’s easy to become so focused on the future and on setting new year’s resolutions that you neglect to acknowledge what you’ve already achieved. Consider the goals you had at the beginning of the year and the progress you’ve made toward them. Think about what challenges you overcame, what you managed to do that you never imagined would be possible, and what you’ve learned — beyond just academics. Many of the activities above are much more fun if you have a great student apartment. For Durham College off-campus housing, there’s Foundry Simcoe. Your spacious suite with a private bedroom will be a great place to hang out with friends. Apply now for an immediate move-in or to take advantage of our early bird pricing.

How to Discover Your True Passion in College

Your true passion is not something you choose — it naturally occurs when you develop strong feelings for an interest after some time of exploring your options. While there are students who start university already knowing where their true passions lie, many are still figuring it out. In fact, college is the perfect time for this because it’s a period of self-discovery. Here’s how to channel your inner passions and discover what motivates you. 1. Explore Your Interests Although your interests may not develop into your true passion, there’s a good chance they’ll lead you in the right direction. Consider what you like best about your interests and where else you could find these qualities. Search for opportunities in extracurriculars, volunteer work, and electives to see where they take you. 2. Keep Trying It can take many years to arrive at a true passion — much more than the time you’ll be at college. Enjoy the process: never stop trying new things and learning more about yourself. Even if you end up disliking something, it will teach you an important lesson about what’s right for you. Just make sure you never dismiss something too quickly or for the wrong reasons. 3. Overcome Challenges in the Way You may have an idea of where your passion lies but feel like there are impossible barriers in your way. Unfortunately, there will always be aspects about your passion that you find difficult. Don’t let these become significant enough to give up — instead, find ways to overcome these challenges. For instance, if you want to study a major that requires a certain skill you struggle with, ask for extra help. Find a tutor, attend workshops at college, or read books that look at the subject in a new way. All this effort will be worthwhile if it allows you to fully embrace a potential passion. 4. Don’t Let Anyone Stamp on Your Dreams Reaching the point when you’re able to start coming up with ideas about what you’d like to do after you graduate and possible career options is exciting. However, not everyone may share your enthusiasm. Don’t let these people drag you down — you should never give up on a passion because someone else is envious or because the field is dominated by people who don’t look like you. Instead, listen to those who have your best interests at heart and who know what they’re talking about, such as your career development advisor. You should find that these people give you support and advice to tackle obstacles rather than telling you to pick another path. You only have one life, and it’s important to spend it doing something you love. Students often find it easier to allow their interests to develop into passions when they have more freedom, but this can be difficult when you live on campus. It’s much easier when you’re fully independent, which is possible when you’re living in student apartments. Oshawa students can find fully-furnished , modern housing at Foundry Simcoe. Sign a lease now to benefit from our early bird pricing.

Why All Students Should Have a Study Buddy

Studying can be a lonely activity, but it doesn’t have to be — all you need is a study buddy. In fact, everyone should have a study buddy for the following benefits. 1. Never Forget an Important Date Many students find the jump from high school to college particularly challenging because no one is checking up on them. Your professors are less likely to keep reminding you of an upcoming test or project. If you tend to be forgetful, you could miss a due date and end up receiving a failing grade. However, it’s less likely that two of you will forget, especially if you’re preparing for the quiz or assignment together. 2. Quiz Each Other Flashcards are a great tool for making sure that you’re clear about key facts and concepts, but it’s more engaging when someone else quizzes you. Plus, when you and your study buddy each come up with your own flash cards, you’ll have twice as many questions, which reduces the risk of overlooking something crucial. 3. Proofread Your Papers Before you hand in a paper, you can ask your study buddy to take a look and give you feedback. This is a great chance to proofread your work and eliminate any typos you hadn’t noticed, but also talk about things like whether your calculations seem correct, whether you’ve fully answered the question, and if your argument flows well. 4. Research Together You’ll find information for your assignments twice as fast when you work together and share the results of your searches. In addition, you’ll likely use different methods, which will increase the richness of the results. 5. Improve Your Motivation You’re much less likely to procrastinate studying when you’ve agreed to a session with a partner. Plus, you should find that you look forward to studying more, since it will also be a chance to socialize. 6. Look at Problems in New Ways It’s common for one person to find a section of the material difficult whereas someone else may understand it immediately . Explaining concepts to each other does more than help the other person: it’s a great way to solidify your own understanding. Alternatively, you may be able to share resources you’ve found that help explain ideas in a new way. 7. Share Notes and Materials If you need to miss class one day, you can rely on your study buddy to keep you up to speed. In fact, you should consider sharing notes on days when you both attend — just to ensure you picked up on all the key information. Furthermore, if you ever turn up to class only to realize you’ve forgotten a notepad or for your last pen to run out of ink, you’ll have someone who can lend you whatever you need. You’ll need to have somewhere to study with your partner. Your student apartment is a great option , especially if you have your own room and you live near campus. You’ll have both of these things when you live at Foundry Simcoe. Our Durham College student housing gives you a room in a suite at a student community near campus. Apply now for an immediate move-in or to take advantage of our early bird pricing.