What I Wish I Would Have Known Before College

There is no step by step guide to survive school while pursuing a higher education degree. Many people describe college as some of the best years of their lives. However, higher education is a dramatic lifestyle change that can be hard to adapt to for many students. As a recent graduate reflecting on my college years, there are a few things I wish I had realized before I entered college. Here are a few things I wish I would’ve known, including stress, studying and money management.

In high school I was a three sport athlete, a member of the National Honor Society, the secretary for the student council and part of many other committees. I balanced these activities very well and loved every minute of it. However, the set schedule I was used to changed when I came to college. You are in charge of managing your schedule. No one is there to guide you along. This can be a major change of pace for many people. So my tip to you is to set a schedule. Sit down and plan out your week. Designate times to do assignments, tests and to study. Stick to your routine. Your grades will thank you.

If you had poor study habits in high school, it’s time to make a change. Students are often shocked by how much effort they must put into their classes. Even though students are often told how much time and effort they will have to put into their classes, they are typically stunned when they are actually expected to do it. If you’re really struggling, reach out to your advisor for helpful tips on how to manage your course work. They may also have resources available to you to make studying easier or more enjoyable! Don’t take on more than you can handle. Some students can handle four courses at a time while others may only be able to focus on one. Wherever you fall on this spectrum, that’s okay! Progress isn’t linear. Lastly, ask friends and loved ones what worked for them or look up studying tips online. If one method fails, don’t give up! Everyone is different, you just need to find your niche.

In all honesty, college was the most stressful time of my life. When my routine was no longer existent, I found that I had to discover new ways to manage stress and anxiety. It wasn’t until my junior year that I was able to find ways to manage that stress that worked for me. I found that what worked for me didn’t necessarily work for my friends. I had always been an extremely active person, so I naturally gravitated towards fitness to take my mind off of whatever I was stressed about. Going to the gym at the end of the day helped me relax and refocus. Other stress relievers can be painting, reading a book or even just watching a movie or tv for a little while. Find a healthy coping mechanism and make sure to incorporate it into your new routine.

Last but not least, money. Money can be a huge concern while earning your degree, and managing it can be difficult. My advice would be to set a budget or allowance for yourself. You can make it weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly. Factor in the cost of your loans, along with other expenses such as books and materials. When I made my budget, I also included money for food, extracurriculars along with how much money I would put into savings. I really stress putting money aside for savings. When my senior year rolled around, I was able to pay off my whole first semester with what money I had put aside which saved me the stress of paying more interest on my loan. Every bit counts, save what you can, when you can.

For many students, college is a whole new world and what comes along with it can be stressful and overwhelming. Finding what works for you during this time is extremely important. Sometimes, though, a little guidance can be helpful — take it from people who learned the hard way.

The Sociology of Nursing

In the past, it was unheard of for sociology to be a subject for nursing students. Now, nursing students are often required take the subject because it is widely viewed as essential knowledge to their daily work as nurses. Sociology is the study of human behavior. From its definition, any nursing student can construe sociology as their calling card when it comes to handling patients.

Nurses get a lot of human interaction and that is one way of determining human behavior. Any nurse who is serious about a nursing profession should consider sociology as an important subject to learn.

Treating sociology as a core part of your nursing education is a key to become a successful nurse. You will be able to provide genuine care and perform appropriate diagnoses if you have an understanding of human behavior and reactions. Sociology enables nurses to understand their social responsibility as agents of change. When you have the capacity to heal or make your patients feel better, you are not only treating their illnesses; you are also improving the quality of their lives.

Nurses will also gain insight into the minds and hearts of their patients. That may not be manifested on initial diagnosis, but with sociology, you begin to understand that the healing of a person is a process and more than just the giving of medicine. This is why science sociology is already part and parcel of a nursing profession. Without it, nurses are incapable of understanding the intricacies of providing diagnosis to people what with their different backgrounds and ideologies. Sociology is the ticket to a more effective diagnosis.

Why Sociology Is Important to Nurses

In the old days, the study of sociology can only be conducted inside a classroom. A student simply can’t discuss the topic online like a subject in a class. Today, even those online nursing schools are offering sociology as one of their subjects.

Sociology is a field in science that concerns itself with social behavior. The origins and the development of a particular society takes its cue from the study of sociology. Sociology, at the outset, is not so much related to the study of nursing, but nurses who are knowledgeable in the study of sociology have at least an advantage over those who don’t. The study of sociology is so loaded with research, particularly on topics such as social processes or social change. In fact, many of those who are into sociology are into social policies as well.

If a nurse has at least an understanding of these social processes, that nurse might be able to conduct a patient assessment in a more circumspect way. Nurses interact with a lot of people. And the demographics of this crowd is quite diversified. This is where knowledge in sociology comes in. If a nurse has a comprehensive know-how on certain sociological issues, that would make his or her work a notch higher than a mere auxiliary to a doctor.

Not that nurses need to consider sociology as an entry pass to a more fruitful nursing career, but that every nurse should understand the relation of their duties with the social structure of their patients. Nurses provide care to their patients. And at times, providing care is not so much about giving them what they need, it is about knowing what to do with what kind of patient they have. They can only do that by having a clear grasp of their sociological backgrounds.

The Future for Sociology Majors

Sociology is a study under the social sciences that looks on the behavior, history, growth, structure, and groups that encompass society. It looks at the things that make up and mechanizes the society. It is not to be confused with Psychology as Sociology looks at people as a whole and not as an individual.

Most of the students who took up the course were probably interested or intrigued by what the study offered and thus signed up for it. But after everything, when it is time to choose for a career path, where will these sociology majors go? Will they end up becoming sociologists simply because they took up sociology? Are there other opportunities lying in wait somewhere out there?

The answer to these questions actually lies in almost anything. Graduates of sociology majors are equipped with general knowledge as their education focused on studying the world as a whole. Thus, they can actually do anything. However, to specify the point, here are some examples of careers where their acquired skills and abilities can be applied:

As part of a social studies course, Sociology is mainly a people-course. Sociology majors can be invested in community work, wherein they could become employees or members of non-profit or non-government agencies, environmental groups and more. They could also go into the profession of law as attorneys and paralegals. Or they could help share their knowledge by going back to the schools as teachers, administrators and the like. Other career paths for sociology majors include being in businesses as public relations officers and human resource personnel, health care particularly in family planning, rehabilitation counselors, and insurance providers, and of course they are great researchers of many kinds.

This then just goes to show how Sociology offers a mass of opportunities for career and even self-development.

Psychology: An Important Subject In Nursing Courses

Psychology is the study of human brain processes and behavior. As a college subject, psychology is very interesting. Students learn lessons and principles that help them with the psychological characteristics of a human being. Psychology is an important subject in nursing courses. Many principles in psychology are useful in a nursing career. In fact, psychology is integrated in nursing major subjects like Psychiatric nursing. This particular major nursing subject develops the knowledge and skills needed by nurses in clinical psychology setting.

Nurses Need To Know About The Human Brain
The brain is a very important human organ. It’s responsible for many human function that keeps a person alive. The field of medicine covers all human organs. This includes the brain. The human brain is a complex organ to study. Psychology helps explains to nurses how the brain functions. The characteristics and processes of the brain are learned in psychology subjects.

Understanding Brain Processes Help Nurses Be Efficient In Their Profession
Nurses deal with people. Providing medical service to patients with different kinds of personality can be very challenging. Psychology allows nurses to understand the different kinds of personality people have. This grants nurses skills and capability to provide efficient medical servicing to various types of patients. Understanding a person’s behavior and personality is important especially to a career that involves interaction with other people.

Clinical Psychologist Need Nurses
The field of medicine has a branch dedicated to psychological and mental illnesses. Many psychiatric facilities employ medical professionals like nurses. Nurses play an important role in providing medical treatments to patients with psychological and mental disorders. Mental hospitals need nurses to help them manage patients with abnormal mental conditions. Psychiatrists rely on nurses to provide the basic medical needs of psychiatric patients. Basic medical needs like vital signs monitoring and medicine administration.

Five Things You Should Know About College Level Examination Program

Students who want to earn college credits have the option to take the College Level Examination Program. This is a type of exam wherein the student’s knowledge are assessed. Students who pass the college examination program test is awarded college credits which is transferable and accepted to a lot of colleges and universities.

How Many Subjects are Covered in a College Level Examination Program Test?
This type of assessment test covers thirty three exams in five subject areas which can be credited in a college general education course. A student who is able to pass all 36 subjects will be granted college credits that are useful to many college degree courses.

What’s the Passing Score for This Kind of Exam?
The minimum qualifying score for a student to earn a passing grade is typically 75%. The minimum qualifying score accepted by a particular college or university depends on the institution’s own standards.

How Long Does It Take To Finish The Exam?
Normally it would take 90 minutes to finish each test in a College Level Examination Program. The time consumed in taking the test will depend on the number of subjects you want to take.

How Much Is The Cost For Taking The Exam?
A standard payment of $80 per exam is required. The total cost for the entire exam will depend on the number of tests the student will be taking. The more exams a student will be taking, the more cost he or she needs to pay.

Why Should A Student Take A College Level Examination Program Test?
Passing the College Level Examination Program grants a student college credit in a fraction of the cost and time. A student can save time and money for earning required college credits. Earning credits in this type of exam is practical and cost efficient.

Three Important Nursing Subjects Students Should Know

Nursing subjects play important roles in molding students to become highly skilled nursing professionals in the future. These subjects are the foundation of important nursing principles required in the medical workforce. There are more than a dozen of nursing subjects in a nursing course. Each subject focuses on a specific set of principles in the field of nursing.  The principles and information acquired in nursing subjects are useful in the everyday work of a professional nurse.

Here Are Three Important Nursing Subjects that a nursing student should earn in school.

Fundamentals of Nursing
This subject introduces a student nurse to the basic principles in nursing. The fundamentals of nursing is the first major subject that freshmen students need to take up. The topics in this subject include : The Profession of nursing (8 lessons), Asepsis & Infection Control (4 lessons) ,Understanding the Body’s Defenses in Nursing ( 3 lessons), Understanding Rest And Sleep for Nurses ( 4 lessons), Understanding Pain & Pain Management for Nurses ( 5 lessons)  and Understanding Nutrition for Nurses (2 lessons).

Fundamental Nursing Skills
This particular major subject develops the nursing skills expected from a nursing professional. Fundamental Nursing Skills I is usually offered to 1st year students during 2nd semester. While Fundamental nursing skills II and III are offered during the 1st semester of the second year. Lessons learned in these subjects include breathing, Mobilization, Personal cleansing and dressing, Maintaining a safe environment and many other lessons focusing on nursing procedures and techniques.

Nursing Management
Nursing Management is offered for 3rd year students during the 1st semester.  And Nursing Management I and II are both offered during the first semester of the last year. The lessons tackled in these subjects develop a nurse’s ability for decision-making and leadership within the nursing employed organization. Nurses’ management skills like organizing, planning, staffing, controlling and directing are harnessed thru these subjects.

Three Effective Strategies to Pass CLEP Exams

CLEP Exams grant a student transferable college credits. Taking a CLEP Exam is an ideal way to earn advance units in college. CLEP exams are advantageous to students. It’s quite easy to apply and take the exam. But, for some, passing the CLEP exam is a little bit difficult. Not all CLEP exam takers will successfully earn the much needed college credits.

The CLEP exam assess a student’s knowledge in thirty six subject areas. It is equivalent to the final exam given in a regular college class. Normally, a student should acquire a score of 50 to 60 out of 80 items. Attaining this score is difficult especially for students with low to average knowledge and capability. It’s best that a student adapts effective techniques that will ensure a passing score in the exam.

Below are three Useful and effective strategies to help students pass the CLEP Test:

Self-Review
A student can prepare for a CLEP exam by undergoing in self-review and studying. Students can acquire useful reading materials about the subject. Students should be able to familiarize terms and principles related to the subject. It’s advisable that a student create a schedule and a lot a time for studying and reviewing.

Tutoring
Another effective strategy to ensure a passing score in the CLEP exam is thru participating in tutorial classes. There are several institutions that offer this kind service to students. Some institutions also offer online tutorial classes for CLEP exams.

Review Materials
Students can also acquire CLEP review materials that are available in bookstores.  CLEP reviewers are similar to the actual test materials in a CLEP exam. Reviewers often help students prepare for the test. It can also increase the chances of students to earn high scores in the actual test result.

Three Ways to Minimize the Time in Earning a College Degree

College education can be time consuming. Normally, the maximum time consumed for a bachelor’s degree is four to five years. This can be a lot of time for a person who is in a hurry for a career. A student most of the time choose the traditional path towards earning a degree by attending the four year regular classes in colleges and universities. Yet, there are means to lessen the time consumed by a student. He or she can adapt methods that will reduce the time spent in earning a degree course.

Here are three of the top ways to lessen the time spent in earning a college degree course.

Taking advance placement courses
Many colleges and universities often grant advance placement courses to high school students who earned high scores in exams. Advance placement courses grants a student with college credit that is transferable to many universities. This earned advance credits allows a student to defer from enrolling in the required equivalent college subject. This helps a student to cut down on time from spending one particular subject.

Enroll in advance in other subjects
Another ways to lessen the time you consume in college is thru taking some subject in advance. A student can take college subjects that don’t have a prerequisite. These are usually minor subjects but are still required for the entire course.  A student can enroll to these subjects ahead than suggested if he has still available allowed units available.

Take short term courses
College short term courses usually take lesser time than a normal full term course. A student has the option to choose a short term course in college. It usually take two to three years for a student to finish a short term college course. This reduces the time consumed in college as much as 50 percent.

The Importance Of Sociology

Before sociology existed, the study of human society was based on the unscientific methods and society has never part of the central concern of any sciences.  However, since the emergence of sociology, the legitimate scientific study of society has made it possible. it has revealed that the present world is suffering from many problems, and those can only be solved through scientific study of social sciences.

It is true that we cannot understand and solve the problem of the society without the any full knowledge of its mechanism and structure. It is necessary to have a certain amount of knowledge about the society, before any social policies can be carried out. Sociology studies various ideas of what might create an ideal society.

It is through sociology that we change the way we look at human beings. It is difficult for us to understand people intimately in the other areas. Every individual was raised in different and unique ways of living. We exist in different cultures and environments. We have different ways of thinking. The reason why sociology was established was so that we can understand the value and the intrinsic worth of human being. Human culture has been made richer through sociology. It trains us to give a have to proper perception to questions concerning oneself, one’s culture and one’s religion. It helps us understand other people objectively. It aims to unite the world through rationality. It has brought nations nearer to each other because of overcoming the things that divides us, like personal prejudices, ambitions and hatred.

Thus, sociology is not only important to a single human being but to the whole world. It contributes to making good citizens and it can help solve the problems of communities. It helps the individual to find his or her relation to the society. The study of sociology is one of the most urgent needs of modern society because of its ever growing complicated needs.