Making the Most of Your Undergraduate Years

Before embarking on your college career, you should ask yourself a few simple questions…

1. What do you want from your college experience?
2. What do you want from your major?
3. What do you want from your career?

Chances are, you will find your college experience more rewarding and you will be a more successful student if you give some serious thought to these questions. Knowing why you are in school helps you see see the relevance between what you are doing in school and how this will serve you later–either on the job or in graduate school. Seeing these connections motivates you to do well. If you can develop clear educational and career goals early in your college experience, this can have a number of important pay-offs. For example, you’ll have more time to identify and program into your schedule those courses that will serve you well and those volunteer and extracurricular activities that will help you develop useful skills. Also, if you’ve gotten off to a bad start grade-wise, the more terms you’ll have to earn high grades to offset the low ones.

These are all complex questions so you shouldn’t get discouraged if you can’t come up with immediate answers. It may be a case of your needing more information before you can know what you want. If so, just put the questions on the “back burner” as you review the information on this site. Hopefully, what you learn here will guide you to the answers you seek.

If you’ve familiarized yourself with the materials on this site and done some serious reflection on your educational and career goals and you’re still feeling confused, I’d suggest making an appointment for some career counseling at the Career Services Office on your campus. You might also consider making an appointment at the Counseling Center to take some occupational interest tests. Another option is to take some time off from school and get some job experience. Then, once you know why you want to go to college, you should be much more interested in your classes and motivated to do well.

Low-income pupils still lag on tests

Despite a consistent rise in test scores, the achievement gap between poor Californians and their middle-class fellow students might be growing, a University of California-Berkeley report shows.

Poor students have always lagged behind their more well-off counterparts on standardized tests.

However, over the past three years the chasm has grown, particularly in English and in middle school, according to a report by Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), a research group based at UC-Berkeley, UC-Davis and Stanford University.

The numbers belie the excitement over the rapid academic gains that immediately followed California’s major foray into school accountability in 1999, said Bruce Fuller, co-director of PACE and a UC-Berkeley professor.

“We saw this encouraging buoyancy in test scores,” Fuller said. “But seven years into this accountability initiative, achievement gaps have remained largely unchanged. These disparities in achievement have even widened.”

The study also shows that though students fare better than before, those with less money find it harder to catch up.

In 2003, nearly half of middle-class eighth-graders scored at grade level on state English tests, compared with 16 percent of poor eighth-graders.

The divide stood at 28 percentage points. Three years later, that figure has grown to 33 percentage points, according to the report.

In algebra, 47 percent of middle-class eighth-graders passed the test in 2003, compared with fewer than a quarter of poor students. This year, 53 percent of middle-class students passed in math, alongside 26 percent of the poor, meaning the gap grew from 25 percentage points to 27 over three years.

Younger students showed a smaller gap. In second, third and fourth grades, the difference between poor and middle-class student performance in math narrowed from 2003 to this year.

“We’ve had our best results in the early grades,” said Rick Miller of the Department of Education.

Miller said state Superintendent of Schools Jack O’Connell recognizes the severity of the achievement gap.

But he noted that researchers should not overlook the gains made in previous years.

“Consistently, all kids in California have improved,” Miller said, “and that’s meaningful.”

By Shirley Dang
MediaNews

Part-time Nursing Students Working Full-time Jobs

Usually, part-time nursing students are those who are interested in a nursing career but have other responsibilities that interfere with their abilities to attend regular classes. Of late, there has been a good rise in the number of part-time nursing students for a variety of reasons. Looking at the overall scenario, it appears that the looming specter of nursing shortage is the common driving force behind large number of students opting for part-time courses.

As per February 2004 projections by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, registered nurses (RNs) will top the list of 10 occupations that have the potential of the largest job growth in the years 2002-2012. It bears recalling that RNs have listed among the top 10 growth occupations in the past, but for the first time in recent history, RNs occupy the top rank.

BLS’ 10-year projections are widely used in career guidance and come in handy for concerned institutes in planning education and training programs and also in studying long-range employment trends. Thus, the BLS’ report that more than 2.9 million RNs will be employed in the year 2012, up 623,000 from the nearly 2.3 million RNs employed in 2002 has meant that many aspirants have now decided to study and pursue a career in nursing.

Unfortunately, there has not been commensurate increase in nurse educators as a result of which nursing institutes are unable to increase seats in regular courses. Seen in this backdrop, let us examine some common indicators behind the increase in part-time nursing students. 1. Second Career It’s true that the momentous events of 9/11 disaster have triggered a rush for second career in nursing, because people want a job in which they can make a difference in others’ lives. But while this trend has more or less ebbed over time, the popular choice of nursing as second career continues to rise on account of projected shortage of nurses in the coming decade.

Helen Taggart, a professor of nursing at Armstrong Atlantic State University, says, “A critical shortage of nurses is creating a crisis in healthcare that impacts both the preparation of nurses and the ability to provide quality care in the region.” In keeping with this daunting prospect, her association, the Coastal Georgia Nursing Consortium (CGNC) plans a news conference shortly to announce a special program on Nursing as a Second Career.

In most cases where aspirants have decided to opt for nursing as their second career, it is seen that they are already engaged in full-time jobs either in healthcare industry or in a completely alien field. Such career choosers are often reluctant to let go their employment and therefore likely to opt as part-time nursing students.

2. Admission Problem As noted above, the rising trend of requirement of qualified nurses has not translated into matching availability of seats in nursing institutes. This has meant that aspirants who would have otherwise gone for full-time courses, have to settle for part-time education in nursing. Since scholarships and grants are usually less available for part-time students, they need to find jobs – often full-time jobs – to run their personal and education-related expenses.

3. Higher Degree When a sector undergoes a period of high demand, lots of churning takes place, many of which act contrary to one another. The same thing is happening in the nursing sector. On one hand, there is a shortage of sufficient nurse educators because of which nursing seats are not expanding. On the other, qualified nurses who are already working full-time albeit in lower ranks, are pushing to up their qualification to take advantage of empty positions in high-ranked jobs.

In a way, this is inevitable because people have it in them to pursue higher goals, especially in situations that are now prevalent in nursing sector. On account of this, full-time nurses in various categories and disciplines are actively seeking to improve their nursing degrees by enrolling in part-time courses. Many nursing institutes have come up with innovative courses to cater to the long list of part-time nursing students who already have full-time jobs. Some examples are weekend courses, evening classes and even distant coaching. It is expected that such facilities will continue to maintain an upward trend in the foreseeable future.

Linda Raye is an accomplished writer and editor of NursingChoice.com website. Her main interest lies in the healthcare field with one of her passions being nursing. Contact her at: LRaye@cinci.rr.com Visit the website: http://www.NursingChoice.com

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Finance Your Education with Nursing School Loans

Do not let financial setbacks hinder you to pursue your dream to study nursing. There are many nursing school loans available whether you are a graduating high school student who would like to start a nursing career or someone who is advancing your nursing education. There are nursing loans available even for those pursuing a Masters or Doctoral degree.

Every nursing school offers some type of financial service to their students. Many schools form partnerships with private financial institutions and participate in government-funded student loans to be able to grant nursing school loans. Ask the college or university where you intend to enroll about their nursing school loans programs and application requirements.

Many hospitals also offer nursing school loans and scholarships with the agreement that after graduation the student will serve in the institution for a specific period. Financial assistance is also available to individuals already employed in the hospital such as Licensed Practical Nurses who wish to further their education and become registered nurses.

Possibly the best source of nursing school loans is the government. The US Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid has different loan programs that allow undergraduate and graduate students and even parents to secure educational funding directly from the government. These loans include Federal Stafford Loans, which are for students and Direct PLUS loans for parents of dependent undergraduates.

Private lenders also offer nursing school loans funded by the federal government through the Federal Family Education Loan Program or FFEL. Nursing schools that participate in the Federal Perkins Loans Program also offer students in great financial need with government-funded low-interest loans. In this program, the student borrower makes payments to the school.

In addition, the US Public Health Department offers grants and nursing school loans forgiveness programs to students in exchange for their service in remote or under-served locations after they graduate.

As you can see, there are many sources of nursing school loans. The best place to start looking is in your community and your local state. The Internet is a useful tool to help you in your search. There are even websites that can match you with a financial aid provider. Sometimes, you will need to obtain more than one loan to cover your total educational costs. The key here is persistence in researching and applying for these opportunities. Lastly, remember that a loan is borrowed money so you would want to make sure that you would be able to keep your end of the bargain.

How To Become Pharmacist

If you’ve decided to become a pharmacist, you have made a good choice, because pharmacy is t a field that offers a wide range of opportunities accompanied by good pay and opportunities for progress. How can you become a pharmacist?

First of all you must have an appropriate background in science. You should study or should have studied life sciences, health and mathematics at high school. After high school it would be preferable to do a college level course in pre-pharmacy, as many pharmacy colleges require this. This will also help you get the required scores in the admission tests for entry into pharmacy colleges.

The next step is to take a regular course in pharmacy form one of the many colleges in the US. A B.S. degree in pharmacy takes a total of five years and a Doctor of Pharmacy would take upwards of six years. This includes the time spent in the pre-pharmacy course work.

Pharmacy schools are evaluated to make sure that the educational and professional standards of the accredited pharmacy schools are up to the mark. This is done by the American Council on Pharmaceutical Education. You can choose any one of the accredited institutions to do your pharmacy course from.

Once you have your degree you need to get certified by a state

authority. For this, you will need to pass your state’s licensing examination. It does not matter which state you get licensed from, as most states recognize the licenses granted by other states. Almost all the states require licensing as a pre-requisite to practice pharmacy.

Passing the licensing examination is not all. You next haveo undergo internship under a licensed pharmacist. After you complete your internship, you are qualified to practice as a pharmacist. Remember that professions like that of a pharmacist require you to be continually upgraded with the latest developments. So if you become a pharmacist, your education never really ends. You may need to attend refresher courses and keep up to date with books and journals.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emma_Drosy

How to Become Fashion Model

In order to become a fashion model, the first thing that you’ll need is an attractive figure and appealing looks. If you don’t already have these, go out and acquire them first. It isn’t all that difficult and most of you can manage it, if you try right and try hard enough. Assuming that you have the right looks, what next?ber that agencies also need good fresh talent, so if you ask these questions, no one’s going

The next thing is of course to get noticed and get recruited by a modeling agency. Actually these agencies need you as much as you need them. They are constantly on the look out for fresh young faces and if you’re hanging out in the right places they might spot you out themselves. But it isn’t a very good idea to wait for that to happen. These days you have to be proactive and push things yourself. Your first step in this direction would be to get a list of agencies that recruit models and send your photographs to them. Simple photographs should serve the purpose well enough, so don’t spend money on creating an expensive portfolio. Agencies also have open castings that you can attend to get selected. Find out from the agencies in your list whether they have these and when they are planning their next event. Remem to eat you up.

The real action starts after you’ve been picked up by one of these agencies. You may have to relocate and live away from your family. It may take time to get your first job, and you have to be both patient and disciplined till then. Make sure that you attend all the castings, and show up for meetings on time.

Present yourself in a natural and relaxed way. The agency that takes you in, will be presenting you to their clients. If you are relaxed and simple, your chances may be much better at getting selected than if you are heavily made up, put up artificial postures and are trying hard to impress. In fact, this is true of almost anything – be relaxed and don’t worry too much about what’s going to happen. Be your natural self.

If you’re going to be a model, you better learn to love the camera. Don’t hesitate or mind showing yourself off. Find out what type of posture suits you best and try to do those. Be relaxed and casual about nudity, if that becomes necessary.

If you keep trying, you will get your first break soon. You should ensure that you make the most of it. Follow the advice given about presenting yourself.

Learn to be America’s Next Top Model – www.how-to-be-a-model.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emma_Drosy

How to Become a Mystery Shopper

Do you want extra income, free goods, free services and a little adventure? If so, then you can be a mystery shopper. If you want to know how to become a mystery shopper for a second income source or just for some additional cash in your pocket, you may need to read on further.

However before I do, let me tell you that you do not need to shell out money to register as a mystery shopper. This is because legitimate mystery shopping companies do not charge for registration and will provide you with tips and trainings for free. Of course, not all companies who charge for registration or trainings for mystery shoppers are bogus, there may be legitimate once also. This is why you need to check out mystery shopping companies before you register.

What does a mystery shopper do?

To become a mystery shopper, you will need to know the basics of what mystery shopper do. This list below are only some of the things mystery shoppers do, the market research company who hires you may have some additional job. Check them out before you register.

• Pose as a regular customer by shopping or acquiring services based on criteria issued by the market research company.
• Fill out the questionnaire or submit a report on actual experience, length of time waiting, goods purchased including cost and other parameters to be given by the market research company.
• Take pictures of actual merchandise.

Requirements to become a mystery shopperThe requirement on how to become a mystery shopper varies depending on the company hiring you. Of course, if you are a stay-at-home mom who wants some extra income, the market research company will evaluate your capability. They may require only a minimum such as ability to make reports and proximity of the product or service to be reviewed.

Requirements to become a mystery shopper include:

• As mentioned, ability to make reports
• A high school diploma may help but is not necessary
• Internet connection or fax machine may be required by some companies because of the necessity to reach you when they need to.
• Ability to meet deadlines

Of course, willingness to undergo training and integrity in meeting deadlines are necessary in any job, I recommend that you do not apply as a mystery shopper if you cannot meet this simple requirement.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Emma_Drosy