When you hear that someone has received a college admission and is going out of the state to take that first step into the real world, you would like to give them a special piece of remembrance. But think for a moment and realize that a practical gift is what will be appreciated most at a time like this since there are so many things to be bought and so many different aspects to be considered and that too in an emotional and apprehensive frame of mind that something is likely to be missed out.
In the new world of busy schedules and classes a watch comes in handy. Academic planners are also very handy since they can be used to keep track of all kinds of appointments, whether it is a first date with a girlfriend or an extra class with the professor. A dry erase board on which one can leave messages for roommates can come in handy also.
You can also add the extra personal bit by making baskets of small things that they may require. This basket could include calling cards, a pre paid cell phone, stamps, envelopes and a swanky looking pen. Communication will be much needed once the college kid is away from home especially when in need for more money.
A laundry kit could be another such assembly of small items. A detergent, fabric softener, stain removal stick and a box full of quarters can be bundled into one thoughtful gift.
Though getting sick is not something you want your friend to be, it may happen at some time when he is in college. Put together a bunch of medicines for common ailments. These could include over the counter medicines like Tylenol, cough drops, cold capsules, maybe some thin clear soup and a blanket.
With little time to eat food and ensure good health, college kids often resort to only eating out all the time, especially if the canteen food is nothing to write home about. A gift set containing dishes, pans, can openers, plastic containers will ensure that at times they conjure up a treat on their own. A couple of cans of tuna, corn and baked beans can be thrown in as well. Talking of eating, gift vouchers for McDonalds, Starbucks, Wal-Mart and other such retail outlets will be a blessing in disguise. Be sure to check that the food chain has an outlet in the city where the college is.
A gift voucher of the college book store will also be appreciated especially when one finds out that college books can prove to be extremely expensive.
A tool kit of small little things may not be immediately appreciated but there will definitely come a time when one needs a spare light bulb, an extension cord or batteries. At times like these you will sure to be thanked.
If you plan to give a gift which is slightly more expensive like a PDS, microwave, small refrigerator or a computer you could consider pooling in money with a few others and giving a gift that will be remembered forever.
January 13th, 2008
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Almost all of us have a penchant for making friends while in school. We normally make friends based on certain set criteria. Some of this criterion usually is a similar family background, like mindedness or sometimes proximity to the place we live at.
Has the idea ever cropped up in your mind that friends can be a source of knowledge and information too? The friends that you usually make at school and college share the same knowledge inputs and more often than not belong to same or similar communities as yours. Such friends are great to make but if you see it from another perspective, they are great only to have fun, keep company, and share your good and bad moments. In fact they are just like you in almost all ways.
One of the ways to make friends that will not only be all of the above but also be a source of knowledge and new inputs is to have a foreign exchange student to live with you. By taking up a foreign exchange student, you not only make a new friend but also get to know all about the country he/she comes from. Such knowledge is tantamount to actually having been to a foreign land without going there.
Admittedly, such information and knowledge is available in books and on the internet, but if you take time to talk to some of those who have had a foreign exchange for some time, you will get to know the difference between bookish knowledge and gaining it first hand from a person belonging to that place.
To cite an example, it will provide you with knowledge about the way people from alien lands live, think, and behave, their manners, their behaviors, culture, patriotism and a lot many other things that you probably will not find anywhere else.
Imagine the amount of information you will exchange with your friend when you live with him/her, day in and day out, continuously for a period, say, six months. Such exchanges are a two way process. Both you and your friend stand to learn new things from each other.
It may even result in changing your outlooks after realizing the individual weak points. Both become, in a way, brand ambassadors for each other’s country. As an American, you may find the rich culture of other country as fascinating and wish for a change in your way of life. Young students from lesser developed nations usually are captivated by American fashion, style, and notions of personal freedom.
The foreign exchange student that you take up will naturally share your friends. This translates into a wider exchange of views, cultural as well as individual.
All said and done, if you are inclined to help a foreign exchange students or even becoming one, you simply have to get online for a closer look at the programs going around. It is never too late.
January 11th, 2008
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Some time or the other during our schooling most of us have been assigned the task of writing book reports. We have to live with book report assignments throughout our academic life, grade school, high school and college
Book reports in grade school are easy as the writing is simple and most of the times the teacher takes an indulgent view due to the student’s age.
High school book reports are a different ball game altogether. Are they not? The teacher expects us to know what we are doing and the assignments too are more unmanageable. This is the time when we are expected to know how to write a book report properly without those irritating grammatical errors and fledgling mistakes.
Nobody likes remarks like “see me after class” from teachers but still every one of us has had to face them one way or the other during high school.
College, again, throws new challenges when we find that the concept of book reports is crushed but haunts us under a different name altogether. Suddenly book reports are termed as essays and instead of broad stories the assignments become more focused on an idea that is a recurrent element in the book and specific themes. Instead of indulging in wishful thinking and hoping we were still in high school where things were easier, it is the time when we are required to unearth our talent if we have any.
If we really get down to doing it seriously, learning how to write book reports is pretty elementary. It is simply a mater of organizing and doing it chronologically instead of indulging in it in a haphazard manner. The best way of writing book reports is to work on it step by step. Without trying to make notes in-between, first read the entire book. Writing notes in between may result in loosing focus of the underlying idea the author wants to convey.
The second step is to decide on the focus of your report as per the guidelines of the assignment: depending upon whether the assignment is for a general summary or a focus on a particular aspect of the book, prepare a general outline and structure of the report.
Once the outline and the structure is ready all that is needed is to keep in mind the book’s major themes and start pouring your heart out on what you feel the book and the theme is all about. After all, a book report is all about enlarging the small issue.
However if you are practically a novice in writing book reports and/or want to improve your technique, there are a good number of websites that can assist you in your endeavor.
January 9th, 2008
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