Author Archives: Jeremy
Thinking Global: How To Spend A Year Studying Overseas!
In the past decade or so, the way the world works has changed dramatically. The wide-scale adoption of the internet in most nations has created a truly global marketplace, putting pressure on the way work is structured everywhere, but especially in the developed world. The current young generation cannot follow in the footsteps of their parents, as they will not be living and working in the geographic bubble that their elders did.
The global marketplace will put them in touch regularly with cultures from across the world, and the ones that understand cultural nuances, speak multiple languages, and consider/adopt different philosophies on work and life stand the greatest chance of success in the years ahead. One way to get a leg up if you are currently in college is to seek out and apply for programs that allow you to spend a year studying abroad.
This will plunge you into an environment where your peers will have an entirely different outlook on life, speak a tongue completely foreign to your ears, and where nothing seems to make sense (at first anyway). This will teach you practical skills like different languages, and soft ones like coping and adaptation skills, giving you an edge over those drifting through life back home without ever being challenged.
Besides, it comes with copious amounts of wine/tequila/sake/soju/etc during numerous nights out with new found friends from around the world, so what are you waiting for, young adventurer? If you are all set to throw your textbooks in your backpack and take off for the other side of the pond, here are the steps that will get the ball rolling towards you landing at a foreign university in a wonderfully strange land next semester…
What experience are you seeking?
Do you geek out on all things Asian, like anime, Hong Kong martial arts flicks, and the endless permutations of Thai food? Are you a hopeless romantic, seeking to wrap yourself up in the lavish lifestyle of Italy? Maybe you have a taste for adrenaline, making the extreme activities of New Zealand and the surf breaks of Australia your best move.
The point of all these questions is to get you thinking about your passions and interests. To find your niche in this new world of ours, you need to embrace the person that you are deep down inside with vigor. Accordingly, pick a destination that suits your personality well, or your year overseas will feel like a decade.
Go it alone, or have your current school plan things?
If the idea of going through the onerous steps of applying for a school all over again (in a different country no less, and just forget about all the other logistics) make you curl up in the fetus position, then going through a program offered by your school will likely be your best option. You’ll go to a specific country with professors from your faculty, and all the incidentals like your housing will all be sorted for you.
The downside of this though is that you’ll be seeing the country of your choice in a bubble, as you’ll be taught by familiar faces, and you’ll likely be housed with people from your own country, If you select your own program or apply for a foreign university on your own, you’ll have to go through all the administrative and logistical headaches that goes with expat living, but this way, you’ll have an educational and cultural experience that is much more true to your interests and desires than the former option.
Adjusting to your new home
Once you’ve gotten through the rush of traveling to your new home for an entire year, the adjustment process to an entirely different culture will begin. To avoid awkward situations early on, be sure to read up on cultural practices before departure, and review them regularly. Look up and practice essential phrases, then extend your studying to words related to your area of interest (e.g. if you love playing soccer, learn words frequently spoken during games … if your subject is business, seek out the words in the local language for terms used both internationally and in the local biz community).
Most of all, practice your favorite hobbies and sports in your new place of residence, and look for opportunities to pick up new activities that the locals like. This will engender new friendships, and improve your social skills with respect to people of different backgrounds, which is something that will prove to be an invaluable skill in the rapidly changing world in which we live.
Do you have any other study abroad tips? Share them in the comments!
Best Majors For Making Money Right Out of College!
There’s no doubt about it: college will likely provide some of the best times of your life. While the next four years of relative time freedom should be savored, don’t forget why you are in school in the first place – to get a degree that will help you get a position that will pay a generous salary. Such an accomplishment is becoming tougher in today’s economy, where jobs for certain degrees are evaporating due to outsourcing and automation.
As such, much greater care must be taken when it comes to selecting a degree and a major, as it will make the difference between playing in an optimal position, and being forced to take your shots from behind the proverbial 8 ball. Now that we have your attention, may we suggest five degree paths that grant their recipients a higher percentage chance of landing a good job in their field?
We can? Great! Let’s begin with…
1) Information Technology
From managing networks to programming in various computer languages, the demand for people to help continue the unprecedented expansion of the internet continues to grow. While things aren’t quite as crazy as they were in the gold rush days of the 1990’s, the need for creators, analysts and developers in this field is still strong.
For a web app developer, who pulls in $80,000 on a median basis, to IT managers at bigger firms, who comfortably earn six figures on average, the prospects for a good living are still here. The computer-intensive nature of much of this work also lends itself well to mobility, meaning that freelancers can earn a living doing what they do best from a beach side bar in Thailand if they choose to do so!
2) Engineering
The world will always need problem solvers, and as this is at the core of what an engineer does, the demand for these professionals will always be steady and strong. Specialties run the gamut from chemical, civil, and electrical engineering to fields as far flung as human factors engineering (aka ergonomics). Median salaries range from $75,000 to $90,000 depending on the field, but in parts of the world where labor shortages are active, these earnings can spike considerably.
3) Marketing
The core of business, forever and always, is getting people to check out your stuff, then getting in there and closing the sale. This is what the motivated marketing graduate is innately good at, and the best promoters and closers get paid very, very well for the services they provide. The median earnings of many marketing managers is perpetually close to $100,000 per year for most regions, and with performance bonuses tied in, most killers finish with considerably more than that in their bank account come Christmas.
4) Geology
At this point in history, the oil industry is in its twilight years. The day where clean energy rules the roost will likely be here within the next generation or two. Until then, a crapload of money stands ready to be made in this field, as easy oil finds don’t exist anymore, and finding more supply to prop up our oil-dependent civilization requires the ingenuity of petroleum geologists (i.e. you).
These specialists can be making $96,000 on average straight out of school, with low to mid six figures per year possible as you progress through your career. The best part is this: it doesn’t include the many performance bonuses that exist at many workplaces, so the potential to make even more depends solely on your work ethic.
What about the day when oil is over? The world will continue to need to dig gold, iron ore, and rare earth elements (used in smartphones and other electronics) out of the ground, so if you plan ahead, simply transition over when the ship begins to sink and with any luck, you’ll be in a new position with minimal disruption!
5) Pharmacology
That dude that fills prescriptions behind the counter at your local drug store? He isn’t a chump. Not even close. Despite the tendency to stereotype anybody that works in a retail environment as a low wage earner, pharmacists stand out from the pack, making a cool $80,000 per year on a median basis to ensure that your grandmother gets the right pills for her condition, and not something that will, you know … kill her!
After shouldering this enormous responsibility, having the certainty of steady hours and a plush wage make this sterile-appearing career seem positively appealing in today’s economic landscape, especially when you consider how old the boomers are getting. Excuse us while get our lab coat…
Do you think you know one of the best majors for making money right out of college? Share it below in the comments!
When Dining Hall Food Fails: 3 Easy Recipes For Students!
For all the thousands of dollars that college students around the world pour into their respective schools, it can be quite appalling when the quality of meal hall grub at these institutions barely rank above prison food at times. The similarities on a numbers level are startlingly similar, as line cooks scarcely making above minimum wage prepare three meals daily for thousands of people, day after uninspiring day.
As such, a certain level of care is missing in its preparation, but you’re a busy and cash strapped student … so what is one to do? Most dormitories and fraternity/sorority houses have basic kitchen facilities located on site, allowing for their occupants that wish to freelance with their food preparation to do so to their heart’s content.
By combining the creative use of cheap(ish) base ingredients, spices and condiments, you can fill your face with culinary creations that stand head and shoulders above the slop that is barely edible down at the meal hall, without costing you too much of your scarce cash reserves (alcohol doesn’t buy itself, after all!)
In this spirit, here are three recipes that will rescue you from the peril of a meal hall travesty in under 30 minutes and at minimal cost to you…
1) Next Level Macaroni And Cheese
OK now … I know what you’re thinking. MAC & CHEESE?! How uncreative and depressing!
Don’t despair though young man/woman, as macaroni and cheese dishes are all the rage these days, and with a little thought and creativity, it can become a dish that is truly the comfort food that it was meant to be, instead of a yellowish orange pasta that exists solely to fill a hole in your stomach. The most expensive investment is a bit of cheese (the real stuff), which can be bought in small chunks (buy cheese strings if you have to) to conserve your cash.
Apart from the macaroni itself, get a hold of some milk, butter, garlic powder, onion or shallots, and ritz crackers. If you’re doing this on the stove top, boil up the pasta, and then in a separate pan, fry up the onions, seasoned with garlic powder, in some of your butter. Mix together the milk and the rest of the butter according to instructions on the mac and cheese box, adding it to the fried onions.
After the pasta is done, add the shredded cheese to the pasta and stir, integrating it with the pasta. Top the pasta with the onion/milk/butter mix, top it with crushed ritz crackers and serve!
2) Pumpkin Spice Hot Oatmeal
Sick and tired of rubbery pancakes? So are we. You can take breakfast into your own hands as well, and kick butt in the process! For this, we’ll invest in some proper oatmeal instead of the overly sugary processed stuff, but everything else is very affordable compared to this crucial ingredient. Start by heating up your oatmeal and water in the microwave for about two minutes.
After taking it out of the oven, stir in some milk, followed by canned pumpkin puree, a few dashes of cinnamon, and even some pumpkin pie spice for that added kick of fall flavor. Hey, if it worked for Starbucks, why can’t it work for your breakfast?
3) Super Easy Asian Stir-Fry
Love the convenience of ramen noodles, but shudder at getting 150% of your daily dose of sodium in a single serving? Toss the flavor packet out and freestyle your own taste experience! Take your ramen brick and soften it up in the usual manner, all while pre-heating a frying pan on the side. Get an assortment of veggies from the market and chop them up, and get the cheapest cut of your favorite meat from the grocery store and do the same to it.
After the noodles have gone soft, strain’em and throw in the pan with some soy sauce, your veggies and your flesh/tofu. After 5-10 minutes, you’ll have a much healthier meal than 80% of what your meal hall has to offer.
Do you have any other fast and easy recipes to share? Add them in the comments below!
How to Choose a Fraternity or Sorority!
With the latest crop of graduates just starting to spread out into the world after high school, many have chosen to attend college in order to give themselves the best possible chance at competing for a great career in the challenging world of the 21st century. While the focus of many students upon arrival at their post-secondary institution is to attain good grades, they should also be considering the benefits of aligning themselves with a quality fraternity or sorority as soon as they get settled.
While smarts and knowledge still count for something in this world, the power of networking simply cannot be ignored. Greek organizations provide a large organization of alumni that branches across all industries and businesses, which can give you a leg up in today’s dog-eat-dog job market. Besides, these organizations offer socialization opportunities that few others can match in this environment, making for some of the best parties that you’ll ever attend in your life.
So, which fraternity or sorority do you pick, since there are so many of them to choose (especially at large schools) from? Going over the following points will ensure that you make the right choice, thereby increasing your odds of getting in with the right crowd, which will enhance your life at college, and in the years that follow. Here’s how to choose a fraternity or sorority for the right reasons:
Do they align with your interests?
When you join up with these guys/gals, you’ll be their brother/sister for the rest of college, and throughout the rest of your adult life. Do you really want to rush an organization because you perceive them as cool, only to find out months later that you have almost nothing in common with your fellow brothers/sisters in the bond?
The burden of dishonesty only gets heavier with time, so don’t pick up the weight in the first place. If you love sports as much as you like breathing, join the jock fraternity. If you value involvement in extracurricular activities, don’t try to hang with a bunch of unambitious party animals. Like to play the clarinet or violin? Find a musically-themed Greek organization and rush them.
You’re going to share a bond with your fellow family members from different parents that is as strong as blood, so don’t fake it, man.
Make a short list of prospective house and attend their Rush events
Now that you have a list of houses that you feel will fit your personality, it’s time to go shopping for a second family. Come to the events with the intent of having fun and meeting people (both active members of the house and fellow rushees), but also come armed with targeted questions. They should determine how much of a time commitment is involved, the amount of cash dues that are owed and what they go towards, and where their values and interests lie.
You love them, but do they love you back?
Despite appearances at the outset that a certain fraternity or sorority may appear to be right for you, sometimes the personality of the house may be completely wrong. Sometimes the people in charge are just jerks, and they only pick jerk type guys or gals for their little club. Don’t try to copy or endure them just for the networking benefits.
At the end of the day, having a group of guys or girls that would give the shirt off their back, spend their last dollar on you, or be there for the death of one of your family members because you would do the same for them is exactly the type of organization you should be aiming to join in the end. Even if they don’t match up precisely with your professional or hobby interests, the former point should take precedence, as true brothers and sisters will support you fully regardless of what floats your boat.
