Let's Talk about Money

Psst… I’ve got a secret. College is expensive. Oh, you already knew that? Good! Now what are you going to do about it?

If there is one thing I’ve learned, despite the current economy, people are giving out money for education. Lots of it. To all different types of people. Make excuses, like your grades weren’t good enough in high school or your ACT score wasn’t that high. You could even pull the “my parent’s make too much” card. And while those are valid and will knock you out of the running for some grants and scholarships, it’s not the end of the world!

I’m writing this very bluntly because I want my readers to take it seriously. And I practice what I preach. I graduated high school with grades that wouldn’t exactly WOW you, finishing with a 2.7 if you round. My ACT score was decent, so that helped a bit. I was also really involved in high school. And you know what I applied for more scholarships than you can count on two hands. It paid off – big time. I didn’t have to pay a cent of my education this year. Through a variety of different sources, the government, private organizations, a few union scholarships, I got my entire tuition and board paid for!

Here’s how I did it:

First, make sure you fill out the Mizzou scholarship form and get it in by the priority deadline. That passed for this year, but you can fill it out every year – so if you missed this year, learn for next.

Next, get your FAFSA in. This is the government financial aid form, and you’ll need it if you apply for other scholarship more than likely. The priority deadline at Missouri is March 1st, so the sooner the better!

Once you’ve got those done start applying for private scholarships; apply for all the ones you even remotely qualify for. Sit down and make a list of attributes you have, associations your parents belong to, etc. If you have parents in a union definitely check into possible scholarships that way. Also with federal employee parents. Are you a minority, woman, tall, of Irish heritage? All of those things are possible scholarship leads. Don’t forget to see if your place of employment offers scholarships!

Then start looking. If your school is organized, check with your guidance counselor to see if they have a scholarship board or listings that are applicable in your area. Listen closely: the narrower the selection criteria the better chance you have at getting the scholarship. A good bet is your local community foundation.

DO NOT USE FASTWEB. That’s right, take it off your bookmarks page. I have not known a single person who has ever gotten a scholarship off that website. Because it’s national the organizations get hundreds of thousands of applicants. It’s hard to stand out from a crowd that big, and your efforts are better focused elsewhere.

Now lets talk about the application. PROOF READ. Nothing detracts more than glaring grammatical and spelling errors. Write from your heart, and while you may be corny, so long as it’s real the readers should be able to tell. Try to incorporate as much of your leadership experience as possible, and tell a story with it. This is your chance to shine, and you want to jump off the page. Be wary of recycling essays. After writing a few you’ll be able to piece together various parts of different ones, but make sure it remains fluid. (Once I copy-pasted and almost forgot to change the name of the organization I was sending it to. Luckily I caught it, but you can bet you’re out of the running if that happens.)

As for reference letters, give your person plenty of time. You don’t want it to be rushed. It also helps if you outline what topics need to be covered in the letter (leadership, involvement, etc.).

Ultimately, it’s a game of numbers. The more you apply the better your chances. APPLY, APPLY, APPLY! It can’t hurt. I’ve applied to scholarship where I’ve stretched the eligibility requirements pretty thin, but if they don’t have enough respondents they’ll consider you! Sometimes you’ll get an award just by default because no one else applied (that happened to me).
Good luck and don’t procrastinate! Student loans pile up and the last thing you want when you graduate is debt!

A Semester’s Worth of Knowledge:

I didn’t just learn geologic functions or how to conjugate verbs this semester. These last 4 ½ months have flown by, and I can’t believe my fist semester is over. I’ve had so many good experiences at Mizzou, and have grown so much from everything I’ve been a part of. Here are some compiled thoughts on my first semester (things I want to share, things you should know, and other anecdotes).

• Football is a BIG deal. Despite the common misconception, you do not have to buy the football/basketball combo to get season football tickets. If you don’t buy the combo however, you will have to wait to the beginning of school. In my opinion, just get the tickets (whether you like football or not). It’s a great bonding experience, and is the ironic activity of college. Go to at least one game, and you can always sell your tickets! I also really suggest joining Tiger’s Lair, the student cheering section. It was the best $10.00 I’ve spent! 
  

• Be friendly! Don’t just leave your door open, go introduce yourself. Try to at least say, “Hi,” to everyone on your floor. I’m sad to say that there are still a few people on my floor who I don’t recognize! Get active in your floor. If you see someone being shy invite them to dinner! You never know how cool they could be. I recently found out that this sophomore Greg on my floor, ran a marathon, with pneumonia.

• Stock up on expensive nonperishable’s like Kleenex, Shampoo, etc. If you can’t get to Walmart it can be expensive to have to restock every three months or so. Also, get your hair cut the day before you get to college. The longer you can hold off on beauty maintenance, the better. Girls, don’t be shy about dying your hair in the communal bathrooms either – everyone does it.

• Buy and sell your books online. The university bookstore has an “early bird” special where they’ll compile all the books you need. It’s convenient, but expensive. You’re not guaranteed used books either. Also, when selling books back online is usually the way to go. I tried to sell a set of books back and they offered me $11 for all four books! I looked up the price online, I could sell one book for $20! Sometimes the bookstore works out, but don’t limit yourself and always look for alternatives. If you’re taking a lab course though, make sure you buy the lab book new because you’ll write in it! 
  

At the PostSecret event they gave away a bunch of free postcards. We didn't write secrets down, but we had a fun time crafting and making postcards to send home! That's another thing, bring craft supplies; you'll use them more than you think!

• Stop by the Mizzou box office and see what events are going on. I’ve always wanted to go to a PostSecret event, and this year I got to! So many performers come to campus that you definitely want to get tickets early! Also, take time to explore downtown. There are a lot of cute stores! 

• Take your keys with you EVERYWHERE. It’s not uncommon for kids to get locked out of their rooms in just a towel and shower caddy because their roommates left. It’s a pain for both of you. In the older halls you only get three “freebies” before they start charging you to open the door. Even if you can just call up your roommate, they’ll get annoyed if they continuously have to come open the door for you. 

• Take notes by hand. In my case, I’ve found that bringing your computer to class is 9 times out of 10 more distracting than helpful – to everyone. Facebook will always be there, but most profesors don’t publish notes!
  

After Obama got elected we went on a mini-adventure to go celebrate with our peers!

• Be adventurous! Take advantage of silly trips, because they can be really fun. You’ll hear about more fun places when you get here, but you must see the Big Tree. It’s about a 20 minute drive, but the Big Tree is an impressive sight. It has a circumference of NINE people. Also, come Christmas time make sure you go to the Magic Tree. Ask around, someone will give you directions to get to these places. 

• Form study groups! I made so many friends just getting together to study. And NOT at the library. I hear you have to be quiet there, and where is the fun in that? A lot of halls now have study rooms on each floor and in the downstairs lounges. You can play charades to learn Spanish vocab without having to worry about people Ssshhing you. 

• People may joke that anytime someone takes out a camera that they must be a freshman, but you’ll want to remember all the good times you’re having. Bring a digital camera and take lots of pictures! My scrapbook is expanding exponentially! 
  

The semester has zoomed by! Mizzou has definitely become home to me! Sure, you’ll get homesick, overwhelmed, and broke, but it’s worth it!

Roomie Do's and Dont's

As the holiday break is starting to roll around I’m sure many of you are planning all the fun things you are going to do with your friends. As you move on to college, you’ll undoubtedly make many more friends, hopefully including your roommate.  

My advice is to keep an open mind!!! While your best friends now might be just like you, as you enter college you’ll learn that many of your friends will have much different interests than you.
Example: my older sister is quiet and crafty. Her freshman year she was roomed with a prom queen (no joke) who when first talking to her asked her what her favorite store is. My sister was totally taken aback, and worried they wouldn’t get along at all. They’re no best friends, and rooming together their senior year! Moral of the story, don’t write someone off before you meet them!

However, I’ll put some restrictions on that advice. I was originally supposed to be paired with a girl who currently lives on my floor. Naturally, the first thing I did was facebook her. It was clearly evident that her lifestyle and mine were polar opposites, to the point that I knew it would cause issues. I’m not talking about different music tastes either. If you can spot glaring points of conflict, I would suggest talking to them about it. Just make sure you’re not making hasty judgments.

If you think it won’t work out, have no fear. I found my current roommate, Mystle, on www.mizzouadmissions.org. She seemed cool, so we worked it out with residential life. Her roommate and my (old) roommate are now together and she and I are roomies. Make sure you’re proactive though, because it took multiple phone calls to residential life before the switch was made.

The final scenario I’ll present is that of getting to college and then deciding you and your roommate are incompatible. This happened with a good friend of mine. I can’t stress this enough, if you are having a problem with them TALK ABOUT IT. Confront them. I don’t care how passive you are, you need to address the issue. If not it becomes this huge elephant in the room, tensions boils, and eventually a big explosion will occur. Roommate move requests can take awhile, and you don’t want to live in an awkward situation for a month.

When it comes to living with someone, remember they’re not your sibling, and they don’t know you. What you and your friends accept, your perfect stranger roommate might not.

There are two major points of conflicts that roommates seem to have: food and boyfriends/girlfriends. Eating each other’s food is usually not a good idea. Unless you’ve established an “open-pantry” relationship, don’t risk it. Invest in easy-charge and head over to Mizzou Market. As for your significant other, set up a system. It varies from person to person, some people don’t mind sharing the room every weekend, but others won’t put up with it. There is a rule that anyone staying over 3 days is considered to be cohabiting and can be kicked out. Just talk to your roommate and establish do’s and don’t ahead of time.

A note on single-gender dorms: Lathrop, Jones and Johnston girls, you can have boy’s over! Wolpers gentlemen, your lady friends can visit too. The rules go that between the hours of 9:00pm and 8:00am members of the opposite sex must have an escort.

Living in the dorms should be one of the best experiences of your life! People cook and clean (common areas) for you, and there will always be someone to hang out with. Make sure you leave your door open! It definitely facilitates friendships. As for those of you living in suites, don’t shut yourself in. Get out and hang out with the rest of your floor. There will be people you don’t like, sure, but you will also make best friends along the way!

FYI: Gillett is closing at semester next year. I live there now, and LOVE IT, but you’ll have to switch dorms at semester. Just a heads up!

Mizzou Tiger: Thru and Thru

Happy Holidays prospective Mizzou Tigers!

Once you pass through the columns during the Tiger Walk during the first week of classes you have officially been initiated as a University of Missouri Tiger. This status does not change when you go home for break or when you graduate; it is something you carry with you throughout your life.

This Thanksgiving break I was able to bring my Mizzou spirit home with me in two ways: by bringing a fellow Tiger home, an international student named Michelle, and when I went to the University of Kansas vs. University of Missouri game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

I met Michelle my first week of school, when I was waiting for my Geology class to begin. I started chatting her up and quickly learned that she had only been in the United States for two weeks! Since then, I’ve “adopted” her and introduced her to all sorts of “American” activities. My friends and I have taken her out to eat, pumpkin carving, and even out to some parties! While I’ve had the opportunity to expose her to American culture, she’s taught me so much about China. Her first hand experiences really offered an entirely different perspective than what the media presents. The open dialogue we were able to have really enlightened me to how they view their policies and traditions.

Lauren, Michelle, Rachael, and Annica. We ordered Tiger Takeout (a delivery service for restaurants that don't deliver) and had a dance party in our dorm room! Michelle had never gotten to do this back home.

This was Michelle's first pumpkin carving experience! Michelle stole the show when she carved her Chinese name in the pumpkin.

Because Michelle did not have the opportunity to go home for Thanksgiving break, I invited her home with me. We put up Christmas lights, something she had never done before, and I also taught her a lesson in smuggling candy into the movie theaters.

Renowned for its world-class education, Mizzou draws in many international students. I highly recommend getting to know them because of their unique experiences. I have found it fun to share my past-times with her, and equally as enjoyable to hear about her life. Another bonus, Michelle makes great authentic Chinese food; something China Star just can’t compare to!

Now if there is one other thing Mizzou is known for besides its internationally recognized education, is its bitter rivalry with University of Kansas. On campus it is referred to as kU because students at Mizzou do not recognize University of Kansas is not a proper noun and as such it does not need capitalizing. The animosity between KU and Mizzou makes up the second oldest collegiate rivalry in the nation and whether it is football or volleyball, sports are the battleground for this bitter acrimony.

Marching Mizzou at Arrowhead Stadium. If you join the band you get to travel with the football team to big games.

Due to the intense nature of the rivalry, the meeting of the football teams takes place at Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Chiefs, in Kansas City. The game was originally called the Border War, but after controversy over the violent nature evoked by ‘war’ it was changed to the Border Showdown.

Despite the name change, fans from both sides come early Saturday morning out for blood. Even though the stadium holds almost 80,000 fans, the stands were packed full. You could see a clear divide between the fierce black and gold Tigers and the unsightly clashing of the red and blue colors of the Jayhawks. Even walking around the stadium, I could feel the looks from the enemy!

Rachael on Color Guard in front of 80,000 adoring fans!

Tiger supporters proved they were anything but fair-weather fans. The forecast was terrible, but even with freezing cold temperatures and sleet raining down Tiger fans stayed on their feet cheering loudly. While victory may have eluded us this year most fans stayed till the end.

The game and having Michelle home for the break made me realize how large my Mizzou family is. We are each part of the Tiger pack, coming together for a collective cause, whether it be sharing pleasant family traditions or cheering against kU.

I hope no kU grads are reading this!

Mizzou: Big Names, Big Fun

If there are two aspects of the social scene at Mizzou that I value the most it is the diversity of beliefs and the amount of fun things there are to do! 

I'm from Illinois and I'll be honest, I experienced a bit of culture shock when I moved down here. In my area you'd be hard pressed to find a conservative, not to say they didn't exist - they just weren't that vocal. Well, when I moved into my Journalism learning community about half of the people on my floor were Republicans! It was a whole other side that I had never seen before. 

Don't let that anecdote intimidate you. At first I was a little put off because back home political discussions were everyone agreeing with each other. But after I realized how knowledgeable and eager for open forum everyone was, the difference in perspectives was refreshing! It was like a blind was being lifted off of me, and for once I was being presented with the ability to look at issues and see both sides. The stereotype is that college is where you finally start thinking for yourself, and it's true! In my own experiences, I found that I let my parents and teachers mold my thoughts through high school. Now I could continue with those sentiments or form knew ones. Over the past two months, amplified by the campaigns and election, I've gradually become more confident in what I believe in. I've kept a lot of what I've previously believe, but seen other parts of the spectrum that I agree with as well. 

It's not just political views that were different for me. There is a smorgasbord of musical interests, hobbies, and backgrounds. Especially because most of my floor is out-of-state, everyone brings something new to the table. My friends are in love with bands I've never even heard of! (I won't name them because I don't want to appear completely out of the loop.)

Because we're a big school we naturally attract big events. For those of you familiar with PostSecret this Thursday Frank Warren is coming to speak. Motion City Soundtrack and rapper Tech N9ne (Nine) have both been to Columbia as well. In case you haven't heard, Missouri is also a battle ground state, and last week Barack Obama came to campus to speak! 

I encouraged all of my friends to go, conservative and liberal alike. It was a great chance to see history in the making, even if Obama doesn't win! He was scheduled to speak at 9:30p.m, but people were already lining up by 2:00p.m. I got in line at 6:00 and was already over ten blocks back. The people behind me had driven 5 hours from Oklahoma just to hear him! This is just an example of what a powerful campus University of Missouri has. The College Democrats orchestrated the event and did a wonderful job. I'm attaching one picture of the McCain supporters just to make sure I present a fair and biased outlook... but really I just thought their sign was pretty funny. 

For those of you who don't know. Mizzou and kU have a HUGE rivalry. 

Aside from big name people coming to town, Mizzou still offers a fun social scene. You're never to old for Halloween and my entire floor got dressed up to go out! Mizzou After Dark put on a "Spooktacular" which had lots of free goodies. Of course, there were costume parties left and right that you could attend if that's more your scene. 

I was Wilma Flintstone! My costume was made by Rachael (middle) who was a genie. Trupti stole the show though with her egyptian costume!

I convinced my floor government to do pumpkin painting so we also did that. It was A LOT of fun! Everyone painting their own and it was really funny to see who did what. My friend Melanie did her sorority letters, Ryan (the business man) painted his pumpkin with a "boss-man" type figure, and my roommate Mystle did the conventional type. 

Because Halloween was such a big deal on our floor, we all kind of went all out. Door decorations, costumes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and carmel apples galore! I mentioned that we all have diverse backgrounds, but we know how to come together and have fun!

If you're from out-of-state don't associate Missouri with being boring. It's anything but! 

Strength in Stripes: Mizzou Homecoming

My friends Maggie and David tailgating outside the stadium!

Homecoming. It's a tradition almost every high school student knows. But the origin? How many of you readers know how it started? 

For those of you who don't know, it started right here at Mizzou! In 1911 Athletic Director Chester Brewer invited past alumni to "come home" for the annual Mizzou v. Kansas game. That game is a BIG DEAL. The arch rivalry between the two schools has been present for more than a century, so that really set the tone for how big homecoming would become here at MU. While we don't play University of Kansas for homecoming each year, we still go big for the game!

Homecoming at Mizzou is characterized by several main events. First is the World's Biggest Blood Drive (recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records)! Each year MU holds the blood drive in the Hearnes center, where they collected 4,262 units of blood. This is part of homecoming competition, so each participating Greek house (fraternities and sororities) give blood. Don't be surprised if you have people asking for your blood when you get here, they'll want you to donate for their house! The blood drive is the week before homecoming week, but there are deferral days the next week.

During the actual week of homecoming Residential Life has their own competition. This includes painting banners to be hung from their common areas, a BBQ, and the parade. I worked on the Rollins (Gillett and Hudson) banner - which had a Kung Fu Panda theme. This was part of the larger theme of Blockbuster hits in the last decade. The BBQs were also a lot of fun. I went BBQ hopping, and each one had something different to offer. RGC's had live music, Pershing Commons had a giant blow up slide, and Bingham's featured everything from a Cupcake Walk, Pie a P.A., and face painting! Oh yeah, and there was tons of free food to go around!

The banner I made for RGC! The amount of glitter was atrocious! 

Even before all the homecoming festivities begin, Greek life is preparing! For the House Decs, which all of Columbia comes out to see, the sororities and fraternities pair up together to create elaborate backdrops.

Madagascar

These are pomped, which is tissue paper art. Hours upon hours are spent constructing these! During house decs each pair put on their own themed skit! Here are some of the pictures from this years house decorations. 

Cars

Then the morning of the game is the parade! Prefaced by a free pancake breakfast, the parade starts the day of homecoming off right! It's perfectly acceptable to roll out of bed and head out there too. 

Marching Mizzou, all the Greek and Residential life floats, and other community foundations participate. Be prepared to stock up on candy, because most of the 160+ parade entries have goodies to toss out! 

Mizzou homcoming is such big deal that we recruit some pretty impressive floats... if you can call it that... 

The Oscar Myer Weinermobile!

And finally - the game! It'll be sold out - that's a guarantee. Buy yours early just to make sure you get one! People are really spirited, so be prepared to arrive early, cheer loud, and stay late! We shut out Colorado with a whopping 58-0 score! Tailgating before is fun, but make sure you make it to the game on time so you can take it all in. This year they had Marching Mizzou Alumni come and play. It was really fun to see 40+ year old people coming back to MU! 

My roommate Mystle, Annica, Maggie, and I all face painted for the game.

Homecoming at Mizzou is an event you don't want to miss out on. Even if you're not a football fan, make sure you make it to the game. If only for the atmosphere and environment. Seeya next year! MIZ - ZOU! 

Dorm Days!

Rachel and I ready to dominate!

Think of all the fun you’re having right now during your final year(s) of high school. Got it? Now multiply it by ten, at least. That’s what college is like. While you spend a sizeable amount of time studying, there is ALWAYS something exciting going on.

Take today for instance. Usually Sundays are pretty quiet, reserved for homework, but today was jam-packed with thrill! At the Rec Center you can join or create basketball teams for competition. It’s a great way to hang out with your friends, release some competitive energy, and exercise. Well, today was the final game of G6 – the 6th floor of Gillett’s basketball team. Normally these games don’t really draw a crowd, but this one did.

More than 25 people showed up to support them! I’ll admit – my friend Rachel and I showed up Dressed to Impress! We were ready to hype up the game and get people excited!

Representing G6!

Full on body paint to match their team colors (pink and black), capes with the team ‘slogan’ on them (True Ballers Never Sleep), and matching accessories! We lead that cheering section with pride.

Silly is probably the best word to describe a typical day in the dorms. Once I got on the elevator only to be greeted by a handful of boys and a million balloons! Another time I was walking to the bathroom only to run into a hotdog!

Everyone brings their personality to college, which makes it so fun! This really shines through into the dorm rooms as well. I’ll tell you right now though that some stereotypes are true. Boys’ dorms kind of smell, and girls’ dorms tend to be very color coordinated.

P.A. Shane from the Sixth floor, Rachel and her fort, and Good 'Ole David Dishman (the hotdog)

When I give you this advice remember that this is a girls perspective. I’m just making sure to state my bias!

Bring LOTS of pictures. You might feel like they’re not necessary, but not only will you want them when you miss your family, but they are good conversation starters and decoration pieces!

This is my friend Lauren's room. Her and her roommate didn't even discuss what color scheme they were going for, and they matched so well! 

Also stock up on items like Shampoo and toothpaste. They’re expensive anywhere you go, and not something you want to run out of.

Other things: Food. Food. Food. Fill your shelves while your parents are around. An umbrella and RAIN BOOTS. This is Missouri and the weather unpredictable. And last but not least: body paint for dorm basketball games!