By Hayley Irvin
Graduation is a time to celebrate both our past accomplishments and the potential of the future. For many graduates, eight weeks is all that separates them from the end of high school and beginning of college. Help your graduate to prepare for the future by gifting them something that will useful now and in the future. Here are the top ten graduation gifts of 2015:
Wondering what gifts to get your graduate? (Photo courtesy of Emily Orpin via Flickr)
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Going to college? Give yourself the gift of good grades with The Secrets of Top Students!
I’m excited to announce that my book, The Secrets of Top Students: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Acing High School and College, is now available in Chinese! It’s being sold in Taiwan and you can find it here. According to Google Translate, the title is “Gifted students do not stay up late! To get into elite precision Learning: time management, note and sit secret.” I’m sure in Chinese it sounds a little more elegant.
The Secrets of Top Students in Chinese!
In other news, my book is now available on the Staples website.
I’d also like to thank The Study Dude for highlighting my book in The Voice Magazine.
By Stephen Collins
When headed off to college for the first time, there’s nothing more exciting and scary than getting your very first dorm room. Moving away from home, meeting and making new friends, even possibly sharing your living space with a roommate; all of these things can make a huge impact on your college life. But, the unfortunate truth is that most college freshman don’t have a huge budget for anything beyond school supplies and basic necessities. So, the question becomes, how can you decorate your new living quarters on a budget?
It may sound small, but doing something as simple as changing the arrangement of the current furniture can have a huge impact on the room. Dorm furniture is usually pretty sparse, so moving things into a non-standard layout can both mix things up and create a unique flair and unexpected space. For example, try pushing beds against the walls instead of sticking into the middle of the room to make extra floor space.
Dorm rooms aren’t known for their space. One of the best ways to overcome this deficiency is to make sure that nothing in your living area is just one thing. The back sides of doors make great storage spaces as do the spaces below beds. Companies like DormCo specialize in making the most of all the space in your dorm closet with items like hangers and shelf liners. For additional storage in the corner or under the bed, Dorm Trunks has a variety of trunks that can provide storage, security and—with a little design and creativity—additional seating.
Nothing is more boring that white walls, bare windows and plain floors. Consider mixing things up with a unique rug from Dorm Rugs. Add posters, pictures or easy-to-remove wallpaper to cover plain walls. Or, pick up custom blinds from The Shade Store to add add a personal flair to your windows. These also can provide lighting control and privacy for you and any possible roommates.
Finding little ways to personalize your living space can add some style while continuously re-energizing you as you face the everyday struggles of college life. Custom bulletin boards from The Container Store can be regularly updated with your dreams and goals or pictures from home to keep you focused when times get difficult. And, for that additional little touch, consider putting a message board on the outside of your door for fun communication with all of your neighbors.
Lighting can make a huge difference on the personality of your dorm and doesn’t have to take a bite out of your wallet. Using Christmas lanterns and lights can highlight various wall decorations or add a unique flair to your ceiling and furniture. Plus, companies like IKEA have a huge selection of inexpensive lamps to fit every style and room decoration.
Whatever you do, keep it uniquely you. You are going to be living in this space, so make sure it is somewhere you want to go at the end of the day.
About the Author: Stephen Collins was born in Phoenix, Arizona and has spent most of his life in the Southwestern United States, playing among the cowboys and aliens. This admitted lover of sci-fi and fantasy developed a passion for the written word early in life and began writing at a young age, mostly for the thrill and joy of the experience. He is currently working on his second book while continuing to weave his wordsmithing magic as a freelance writer.
Heading off to college? Give yourself the gift of good grades with The Secrets of Top Students!
By Ray Holder
The popularity of vocational schools is on the rise. In the past, once you were done with high school, you had two options.
1 – Get into college
2 – Get a job
In most cases the ones who went to college were the lucky ones who could afford to do so either by means of scholarships or their own financial reserves. The few who weren’t so fortunate were forced to get minimum wage jobs as a way of earning a small income. Today, things are much different.
Over the past decade there has been a significant rise in vocational training institutes. People are slowly realizing that they have a lot to offer. In fact, students are now leaning more towards vocational schools than colleges even though they seem to have the money to be able to pay for a college education. And here’s why:
1. Vocational schools save time
If you decide to take the traditional route and get a college degree, you would have to spend 4 years on learning the basics of your area of interest. After 4 years, you are free to study further if you wish to specialize. Depending on what you choose to study, you will end up spending 6 odd years on just getting educated.
On the other hand, should you choose to go with a vocational school you would have quite the opposite experience. Vocational courses last for anywhere between 4 and 18 months, depending on what you wish to study. By the end of the course you are more than ready to land a job. There is never any need for further specialization because vocational courses by design are specialized courses.
2. Vocational schools save money
Since vocational schools don’t go on and on for 4 years they don’t cost as much as college. On an average a vocational course from an accredited vocational training institute would probably cost between $14,000 and $20,000. Don’t be daunted by this figure. This is an estimate of total educational costs taking into account all additional costs. Besides, if you enroll in an online vocational school, you will not have to worry about additional costs like cost of living and accommodation.
College tuitions are through the roof nowadays. In addition to tuition you have to consider living costs and accommodation as well. So all in all, it is cheaper and a lot more convenient to attend a vocational school.
3. Get hands-on experience and be job-ready
Vocational courses are highly specialized courses. They are designed to do one thing and one thing only—prepare you for your vocation. There are no additional irrelevant classes that you are mandated to take. The entire duration of a vocational course is spent in training and preparing students to ensure that they are job ready by the time the course is complete.
You are given a whole lot of training along with practice time and plenty of opportunities for hands-on experience. You needn’t worry about gaining experience in order to land a decent paying job. Vocational courses will give you all the experience you need.
4. Land a job easily
Because vocational courses are so specialized and produce highly skilled and well trained individuals, there is a high demand for vocational school graduates in the job market. Also, a lot of vocational schools have placement programs that set their students up with interviews which always result in employment. Some schools also have ties with companies so a certain percentage of students are hired by those companies after every course. Porter and Chester Institute, a vocational training school that is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) is one such institute that has a placement program for all students who are interested.
With college, there is never a guarantee that you will land a well paying job or any job at all for that matter. Students struggle to gain experience and this puts them at a disadvantage when it comes to finding employment.
So there you have it, the 4 reasons why you should pick a vocational school over a college education. If you are interested in saving time and money and landing a job in as little as 18 months, you know just what to do!
Resources:
http://lifehacker.com/trade-school-might-be-a-better-choice-than-college-her-1484086007
http://www.educationcompass.com/advice-central/top-5-reasons-to-choose-a-vocational-education/
http://www.school-directory.net/career-options/trade-school-vs-traditional-college.html
What kind of education would you have received if you had lived in a different time? Interesting to think about.
Source: BestDegreePrograms.org
Give your child the gift of great grades. Order a copy of The Secrets of Top Students today!
By Monica Wells of http://www.bizdb.co.uk/
Competency-based Education (CBE) is the talk of the town in the American education sector – CBE programs are increasingly popular and academic institutions respond to this growing need for affordable and skill-oriented education by creating online programs and courses that follow the pragmatic approach to learning fostered by CBE.
Before deciding whether you’d like to try this relatively novel learning methodology, you should know what CBE actually is, how it differs from traditional high school or college learning programs, and what are its main advantages in the learning process. Here are some essential things everyone interested in their education should know about CBE.
Is CBE right for you?
What do you think about the Common Core?
Source: BestMastersinEducation.com
Give your child the gift of great grades. Order a copy of The Secrets of Top Students today!
By Samantha Levine.
It’s no laughing matter how dependent our society is on the use of technology and the Internet. The great thing about it is that we are exposed to so much information, but this can also be very overwhelming. As we learn to read from screen to screen (laptop, cell phone, tablet), we have readjusted the way we receive information, which is causing our attention span to be much shorter.
When skimming through an article, you may not realize how much information you can actually miss. A great tip to increase retention is to read the headlines of a topic and ask questions about what you think it will be about. While reading, see if you are able to answer your own questions, and then make note of it. This helps you to read quickly, efficiently, and effectively.
Can you read on this tiny little screen?
I’ve noticed that the faster I receive information from the web, the faster I move on to read something else; and more often than not, I’m distracted by an ad to the right and left of the story I’m reading. However, thanks to my very awesome grade school teachers who taught me to love reading, I learned a few tips that can keep you on track:
Stefanie Weisman 