April/May 2007 Issue
Download the full issue as a pdf
- "I'm graduating in May! I'm supposed to be happy, right?" (cover story)
Stay on top of your stress management skills in order to make the transitions a little smoother. - Get Moving... Fact or Fiction
Put you exercise knowledge to the test. - Saving that Summer Cash
Knowing how to make sure you don't spend more than you make or need to pay bills is all about budgeting and saving. - Friendships
"I'm graduating in May! I'm supposed to be happy, right?"
By Kelly Reardon
In two months, seniors will be done with classes, graduating, and moving out of Durham. This is a time to be happy and proud of the accomplishments and strides you've made.
Transitions are stressful. Whether or not the transition is positive or negative, there is a certain amount of stress that goes along with any change. Take graduation. You feel excited to have completed college, moving into a "nice" place of your own and finally making money in a "real" job. These are good things, right? Right! But all these good things have their counterparts. Graduating also means leaving behind friends, roommates, parties, late nights, and facing new responsibilities and the unknown. This transition is good but can also feel overwhelming and scary. Change is a necessary part of life to grow as individuals. How we approach life changes is the only thing we can control.
Stay on top of your stress management skills in order to make the transitions a little smoother.
Get Moving!
30 minutes of physical exercise is an excellent stress reducer. You don’t have to go to the gym or do all 30 minutes in one workout. Do something you enjoy like yoga, cardio-kickboxing, hip-hop dance class, intramural sports, or anything that you find fun that gets the heart beating. Remember, walking is also a great way to get your body moving.
Use your support system.
Talk to friends, family members, counselors about your stress.
Practice good self-care.
Get a good night's rest of at least 9.5-10 hours each night. Eat balanced and nutritious meals filled with lots of fruits and vegetables to fuel your body. Balance your schoolwork, social life, and alone time equally. Laugh, have fun and keep things in perspective.
Be kind to yourself.
Get a massage, read a book or magazine – anything but a text book. Do a crossword or sudoku puzzle, play a board game, write in your journal, or go for a walk.
Live in the moment.
Cherish the times you have with your friends and roommates. Enjoy the present moment, instead of worrying about the future.
Graduation is a great way to celebrate all the hard work you have completed at college. Enjoy the celebration and the new adventures that await you.
Get Moving... Fact or Fiction.
Let's test your knowledge with this fitness fact or fiction quiz
Question 1:
Aerobic exercise is all that matters.
Question 2:
Physical activity has to be strenuous to be beneficial.
Question 3:
Going to the gym is the only way to work out.
Questions 4:
Physical activity will interfere with your sleep.
Bonus Question:
I can’t find enough time in my day to exercise.
Answers:
1. Fiction
You not only need aerobic exercise but also strength training/muscle toning and flexibility training (stretching). For strength training use resistance bands, hand weights or, try doing push-ups or squats using you own body weight. Flexibility training can including stretching before and after other activities, pilates or yoga.
2. Fiction
The old saying, "no pain, no gain," is not true. You don't have to push yourself to extremes to get the benefits of exercise. A moderately intensive exercise such as a brisk walk will provide you with most health benefits. Take a day off each week from exercise so your body can rest and recuperate.
3. Fiction
You don't need to go to the gym to get a workout. You can take a walk in College Woods, swim, go dancing, paddle a canoe, bike or work out to a fitness video. Any movement is good. And the more you are doing something you enjoy the easier it will be. Vary the routine so you condition different muscle groups and you don't get bored.
4. Fiction
Exercise can actually help you get a more restful sleep and make you more alert the next day, just don't exercise at least 2 hours prior to going to sleep.
Bonus: Fiction
The federal government guidelines for exercise state that we should participate in physical activity at least 30 minutes most days, if not every day if we want to stay healthy. It may seem like a big commitment and you wonder when you will fit it all in, but it is easier than you think.
We all have time to be physically active. We can get up earlier (okay, not the most stimulating idea for most of us), we can walk the stairs instead of taking the elevator or walk to classes instead of driving or being dropped off. You will be amazed at how much walking many of us do throughout our days (borrow a pedometer from Health Services to see). You don’t have to do your 30 minutes all at once, so squeeze in 3, 10 minute walks throughout your day or exercise while watching TV. Remember, any movement is a good thing.
Exercise strengthens our heart, lungs, bones, brain and muscles. It boosts our immune system. It helps us sleep, relax and manage our stress. New research shows that exercise also boosts brainpower and may deter or prevent Alzheimer’s disease. Aerobic exercise appears to improve memory. It encourages us to take better care of ourselves and feel better over all. Movement is good for our body in so many ways!
Ways to get you moving:
- Campus Recreation
- Rent a canoe or paddleboat and check out Mendum's Pond
- Dive into the pool at the Field House
- Borrow DVDs (yoga, pilates, qi gong and fitness) from Health Services Resource Library
- Explore College Woods
- Rent a bike and other outdoor gear
- Run a local road race, or two
- Count your steps! Check out a pedometer at Health Services, Room 249
Source: Mayo Clinic
Saving that Summer Cash
Most of you will be working hard over the summer to make money so you can afford to come back to school next fall and have spending money. Knowing how to make sure you don't spend more than you make or need to pay bills is all about budgeting and saving. It is never too early to start putting these ideas to use:
Know how much money you are going to need to live this summer by making a list of all your bills and expenses, such as food, transportation, housing, etc. There are called essential needs.
Know how much money you are bringing in (income). Hopefully, you are making enough to cover your essential needs, with some money left over. Knowing your expenses and income will help you figure out how much money you can put aside for school in the fall, and hopefully for the future.
Be careful with credit cards. They are not supposed to allow you to spend money you don’t have. Pay off your balance every month. Watch the debt trap.
Watch those "wants" or "desires." Don't deny yourself everything you might want, but be very thoughtful about how you are spending your money. Remember, small expenses like daily coffee, sodas or a slice of pizza can add up. It can make you wonder, "where does all my money go?"
Always pay yourself first. Put a certain percentage of the money you make aside each pay period for savings and investing for your future. Be disciplined about this. You don't have to put a lot of money into saving, just get in the saving habit. Start now, because the earlier you start saving, the more money you will be able to make from the interest through saving accounts, money markets, certificates of deposits (CDs) and/or Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).
Come fall, it starts all over again. You will need to create a new budget. Hopefully, you will be able to save a lot of money over the summer so you can concentrate on your academics in the fall.
Friendships
Every connection you make with another person, no matter how big or small, matters. It teaches you about other people, yourself and the world.
- Anonymous
We use the word friend to describe the many different relationships we have with others. We have classmates, roommates, teammates, and maybe even drinking buddies. In Facebook©, you can have as many people as you allow listed as your friends. We may be connected to them, but are they our friends? In some cases, yes and other cases, no.
When we are stressed, friends are those who help us relax, cheer us up and shift our focus so we don’t dwell on the negative. They make us laugh and laugh with us. They provide a safe place so we can be who we are and express our feelings. They can help us solve problems, provide honest feedback and support us. They are there for us when we need them. They care about us.
Part of what makes it hard for us to say goodbye to our college years is leaving our friends. Leaving college means our friendships will most likely change. We won’t see or talk with each other as much. We won’t have the same common experiences. We will miss the good times, the support and the comfort we had with people who really knew us.
Before you graduate, celebrate your friendships. Spend time with each other creating new memories and reminiscing about the old ones. Talk about what’s next, how it might impact the friendship and how you will try to stay connected. Recognize that all relationships shift and change over time. Someone who is your friend now might not be a friend in years to come. Others will be friends for the rest of your life. Whatever happens in the future, appreciate what you have with your friends now.
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