I'm back!

So keeping in line with the whole theme of this blog (HINDsight)... I apologize that it takes me forever to post here sometimes. But just remember, I have to live through these mistakes before I can blog about it so you do not make the same ones!

The spring semester is finally OVER! I am so incredibly excited, you have no clue. But I am also quite disappointed in myself for the way I prioritized things and justified things to myself throughout these past 16 weeks.

For instance, WORK. I became a bartender about midway through the semester because cash-on-hand is a college kid's best friend. Waiting every week or two for a lump sum paycheck, then subsequently paying all of your bills with it leaves you very little pocket change to survive off of (this is where Ramen noodles usually come into play). So "what'ad'happened'wuz" I was working at the bar from like 8pm til 3:30am.... with a 9:30am class the next day. Then, on the other end of that, my last class would get out at 4:45pm and I would still have to get my you-know-what ready for work. Where does homework and studying come into play during all of this? EXACTLY. Needless to say, the two courses which required the most amount of studying I fell short and will have to retake ($$$$$$$$). So mad at myself for not giving them the time they deserved.

Keep in mind that I do not take out student loans; all I have are federal grants... and at the university level they do not cover the entire cost of my tuition or the cost of textbooks, a parking permit, online homework programs (which are so incredibly frustrating), clickers, clicker software, and the like. So I HAVE to work to make ends meet. Oh did I mention my own household bills like: rent, utilities, food/groceries, and cell phone? Also, start saving for a coffee fund. Yes, JUST coffee. You'll thank me later. Actually, I'm thinking about writing Starbucks and asking if they'd sponsor me since their iced coffee keeps me running most of the time. Eh, it's a thought.

Let's just say I've, as of now, used up all of my "outs" (i.e. grade forgiveness). I have the opportunity to make these up, have the new grade put in and have the old grades dropped from my GPA... but I'm seriously killing my chances at grad school!

Not to mention my mid-life crises through finals week... ugh. I'm stuck between my two majors: do I stick with the biomedical science route, or dive head first into the political science side? The most difficult thing about a double major, or at least those in which they are complete opposite concentrations, is being able to flip back and forth between them seamlessly. For instance, the day Hugo Chavez (Venezuelan President) passed away, I was on my way home from class and ready to study biology like crazy... I come home and turn on the news to catch the weather, and bam. There it was as a headline. I couldn't concentrate on sciences for at least 2 days because I was so deep in thought as to the gravity of that situation. *Now don't go thinking I'm some crazy vigilante; my dad lived in Venezuela per a contract job for about a year, and he had nothing but great things to say about the country and their people. If you are interested further, I HIGHLY recommend watching "South of the Border" on Netflix. You'll see South America and the US's stance on foreign policy in a whole new light.

Anyway, back to college.

We all go through ups and downs throughout this ridiculously expensive journey (if you're parents pay your tuition, grovel at their feet every so often... they've earned it), especially through finals. I'm sure I was not the only person going through some sort of personal crisis during the 2-3 weeks of balls-to-the-wall/24hr library/assignments-due-everyday, and don't think that this kind of stress will not get the better of you!

It will.

Not in some creepy "it's gonna getcha" ax-murderer style. It's all in how you deal with the stress, and how well prepared you MAINTAIN your studies throughout the semester. Keyword: maintain.

Do the work as it comes to lessen the stress towards the end. Don't be like me and make excuses to procrastinate on homework, papers, assignments, etc.

Also, another HUGE HUGE HUGE lesson.... every. point. counts.

Seriously! I was 10 stupid points away from having a good enough grade to advance to Organic Chem. I blame myself for 2 reasons: letting points go, and not buying the second homework program because "orgo doesn't need it, so why pay $120 for a program I'm going to use for one semester?" Um, here's why: because it will help you pass the *#^$ class!!!!!

So now I get the pleasure of re-taking chem over the summer, Monday thru Friday at 8am.

Don't be like me!

Crazy savings!

Ok, I just HAVE to share this with you all....

Remember one of my previous posts about shopping around for textbooks before you buy them from your campus bookstore?

Well, my campus bookstore has the math book I need, used, for something like $125. As I was shopping around, I was going to buy another student's book for $50.. geez I thought that was a good deal.

LUCKILYYYY this transaction was going on via a Facebook group for USF students called "Free/For Sale".  A freakin ANGEL informed me that Bookholders.com has the exact same book for like $2 and some change.

With Tampa being an awesome place as it is, they actually have a Bookholders.com store right across from campus. Honestly, I did not believe the website's price.. so I went to the store because I was thinking it was some sort of eBay scam where it's like a picture of the book, or completely torn up or something of the like.

Lo and behold, I bought this math book from Bookholders for $2.98 !!!! It is in AMAZING condition, too =)

Break the Cycle

I'm not sure about you out there, but I can personally say that ever since I started working in the "job market" at 15 I've worked nothing but BS jobs... serving, tossing pizzas, scooping ice cream, bottle service at nightclubs, answering phones.... hey, money is money right?

Well right now I'm at a point where I would really love more income, but there is a side of my brain that is saying, "dude, give up the crappy jobs and get working in your field of study!" Because really, isn't that why people go to college? To get a high-paying skilled career?

I finally have my two-year Associates degree specifically in Medical Sciences yet I am not working in the medical field... so I think the time is now. I've been pussyfooting around while looking at more BS jobs that I'm used to, but each time I look into it I hear myself thinking, "oh yay $4.65 per hour.. I hope people tip their servers as much as I normally do," but most of the time people don't tip their servers like I do... sighhh..

The fall semester is just over a month away and I don't have the kind of bankroll I was hoping for when I committed myself to working all summer long in order to work less during school.. I definitely don't have enough saved for sorority dues if I were offered a bid =( that much is kind of depressing.. on top of it we're moving into our new apartment one week before classes start which will cost more than what we pay now (granted, the extra space and new area are totally worth it)...

Something has got to give.. whether it's my fed-up-ness (totally not a word, but hopefully you catch my drift) with the jobs that I currently have, or a big break in the medical field, or perhaps biting the bullet and doing the last possible thing that can get me in the medical field... volunteer at a hospital. I just don't like that V word.. granted I know we all must serve our time to gain experience, but I'm committed to gaining experience AND getting paid for it.

Seriously, I'm nearly twenty-four mutha-truckin years old! Time to get seriously serious about my career field of choice. I'm pretty excited for school to start so I can at least join student-professional groups and clubs to build and expand my medical field network and connections.

"20 Things I Should Have Known at 20" -Julian S.

I like Twitter.. having said that, I follow Chegg (that nifty online textbook rental company) and they posted a link to the following:
~~~
(theburiedlife.tumblr.com)

20 Things I Should Have Known at 20.

1. The world is trying to keep you stupid. From bank fees to interest rates to miracle diets, people who are not educated are easier to get money from and easier to lead. Educate yourself as much as possible for wealth, independence, and happiness.
2. Do not have faith in institutions to educate you. By the time they build the curriculum, it’s likely that the system is outdated– sometimes utterly broken. You both learn and get respect from people worth getting it from by leading and doing, not by following.
3. Read as much as you can. Learn to speed read with high retention. Emerson Spartz taught me this while I was at a Summit Series event. If he reads 2-3 books a week, you can read one.
4. Connect with everyone, all the time. Be genuine about it. Learn to find something you like in each person, and then speak to that thing.
5. Don’t waste time being shy. Shyness is the belief that your emotions should be the arbitrators of your decision making process when the opposite is actually true.
6. If you feel weird about something during a relationship, that’s usually what you end up breaking up over.
7. Have as much contact as possible with older people. Personally, I met people at Podcamps. My friend Greg, at the age of 13, met his first future employer sitting next to him on a plane. The reason this is so valuable is because people your age don’t usually have the decision-making ability to help you very much. Also they know almost everything you will learn later, so ask them.
8. Find people that are cooler than you and hang out with them too. This and the corollary are both important: “don’t attempt to be average inside your group. Continuously attempt to be cooler than them (by doing cooler things, being more laid back, accepting, ambitious, etc.).”
9. You will become more conservative over time. This is just a fact. Those you surround yourself with create a kind of “bubble” that pushes you to support the status quo. For this reason, you need to do your craziest stuff NOW. Later on, you’ll become too afraid. Trust me.
10. Reduce all expenses as much as possible. I mean it. This creates a safety net that will allow you to do the crazier shit I mentioned above.
11. Instead of getting status through objects (which provide only temporary boosts), do it through experiences. In other words, a trip to Paris is a better choice than a new wardrobe. Studies show this also boosts happiness.
12. While you are living on the cheap, solve the money problem. Use the internet, because it’s like a cool little machine that helps you do your bidding. If you are currently living paycheck to paycheck, extend that to three weeks instead of two. Then, as you get better, you can think a month ahead, then three months, then six, and finally a year ahead. (The goal is to get to a point where you are thinking 5 years ahead.)
13. Learn to program.
14. Get a six-pack (or get thin, whatever your goal is) while you are young. Your hormones are in a better place to help you do this at a younger age. Don’t waste this opportunity, trust me.
15. Learn to cook. This will make everything much easier and it turns food from a chore + expensive habit into a pleasant + frugal one. I’m a big Jamie Oliver fan, but whatever you like is fine.
16. Sleep well. This and cooking will help with the six pack. If you think “I can sleep when I’m dead” or “I have too much to do to sleep,” I have news for you: you are INEFFICIENT, and sleep deprivation isn’t helping.
17. Get a reminder app for everything. Do not trust your own brain for your memory. Do not trust it for what you “feel like” you should be doing. Trust only the reminder app. I use RE.minder and Action Method.
18. Choose something huge to do, as well as allowing the waves of opportunity to help you along. If you don’t set goals, some stuff may happen, but if you do choose, lots more will.
19. Get known for one thing. Spend like 5 years doing it instead of flopping around all over the place. If you want to shift afterwards, go ahead. Like I said, choose something.
20. Don’t try to “fix” anyone. Instead, look for someone who isn’t broken.
(Written by: Julian Smith inoveryourhead.net)

 ~~~
I completely agree with most of these..they each have a lesson we will need to learn at some point, but the ones I list below I have more experience with (and I'm just going to skip over the money ones because we all know how bad I suck at handling money.. luckily I'm getting better though!) :-)

 -number 1 speaks volumesssss. If you aren't educated to some degree you will eat up what everyone else says, whether it's true or not. Take for instance, economics. I've always been intimidated by the subject... well I finally had to take a macroeconomics course and not only did I become less afraid of money markets and their jargon, but my professor said something along the lines of, "now that you all know this, you will constantly see misinformation on major news networks when they speak of the economy," and she is totally right. I'd give you an example but then I'd need to explain subsidies, GDP, and media bias which will definitely take more than a paragraph LOL.

-number 2 makes a great point... educational institutions are bound by state legislatures (for public schools). Coming back to economics, they need to make our education as cost effective as possible. So what's the next best thing? If you said EXPERIENCE, then you win! Get out there and find an extra-curricular group who's mission is something you are interested in. Whether it's politics, environmentalism, money management, swing dance, foreign language... 98% of the time there is a student group out there of others who are interested in the same thing.. and the best part? You as students get to decide what you want to do as a group (if your group is part of your student government, then you get funds to budget and further your cause, whatever it may be). The other 2%? If your group isn't on campus, you can start your own! See your student government for more details.

-for number 8 I would use a different word than "cool" because really, that all depends on who defines that slang term. How about, people that are better than you? Now I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but a mentor of mine taught me how to really shoot pool (billiards) and his number one advice is, "always play someone better than you, otherwise your skills don't get better."

-number 15 is great advice not only for your own health, but so many people rely on box meals (Hamburger Helper, EasyMac, and the like) for their nutritional needs. Big mistake, and it comes back around to number 14 because your body would much rather have simple foods compared to boxed meals loaded with unnatural preservatives.

-number 17 can be done in other ways. Me personally, I'm a list-maker. If I don't make a list, I don't get everything done (if at all!). Whether it's the grocery store, chores, my bills, or errands... if I don't have a list, I forget. Have a calendar, or a reminder app, use alarms and the like to keep your obligations to a minimum... besides, what happens when you forget to pay a bill on-time? Your credit score goes down and you get hit with extra fees (more money that should be in your pocket!)

-number 19 I can vouch for because my philosophy used to be, "why only do one thing when you can do so many?" I have a lot of interests, but the main problem with doing so many different things is that you never have enough time to dedicate your time and energy to just ONE of them so you can consequently excel at it.

Smart $hopper!

Who says you can't be a smart shopper when it comes to textbooks? 

One of the biggest expenses (besides tuition) college kids have to deal with are ... sighh... textbooks. No longer are we lucky enough to have high schools simply provide us with a textbook to use.

However, if you have a little time and patience you can find these (usually expensive) textbooks for a better deal than your campus bookstore can provide.

For example, last night I looked up the textbooks I will be using for this Fall semester's courses.. (only a few were available considering it is the beginning of June). Now the MAIN THING you NEED when looking for your particular textbook elsewhere is the ISBN number. It is basically a serial number for that specific title, author, and EDITION textbook your professor requires.

*Pay special attention to Edition numbers! Some professors don't mind if you have an earlier edition, however page numbers will be off and you will make life just a little bit harder on yourself.*

Let's take my International Relations course.

Now when looking up your textbooks, most likely your college/university will automatically direct you to their store. BUT! With that nifty ISBN number, we can easily look up the same textbook in other online venues.

Notice that there are 3 prices.

The first is the RENTAL price. Renting textbooks is kind of a new thing, but basically you pay to use the particular textbook for the semester and then return it as soon as your course is over in the SAME condition that you received it in.
*To be honest, I've never rented a textbook; I fold pages, write/highlight, and sometimes I get caught in the rain when riding my motorcycle... so for me I find it safer to just outright buy the thing... just in case. Because if whoever you rent it from calls you out on returning their book in less than ideal conditions, you have to dish out more money which we all know doesn't grow on trees.
The second price is how much a USED textbook will cost you. A used textbook is simply that... a book that has been used by another student who chose to "sell it back" after their course was over. No harm in that!  
The last price is the FULL RETAIL VALUE when brand spankin' new.

Phase One: complete. We know which particular textbook our professor assigned for the course.

Phase Two: finding the best deal. Take the ISBN number given (something like 12ish numbers long; you can find it in the first few pages of nearly all books... you know, where all that publisher information is, OR it is usually listed on/near the barcode) and Plug-N-Chug! Start with Google.. all the websites that have it available will come up, such as Amazon, Chegg, Alibris, Textbooks, etc.

I found a BRAND NEW textbook, still in the wrapper (the one listed above) at Alibris.com for the following:

Phase Three: Whatever website you are on, do yourself a favor and open a new window, pull up Google or whichever search engine you choose, and search "[website] coupon promo codes" ... in my case last night it was "Alibris coupon codes". That's where that awesome $5.00 off came from =)

So to sum it up, I purchased a brand new textbook for 70% less than full retail value. AND! With that awesome little promo code, I virtually got free shipping =)



My Mistake:  My first two semesters in college I really didn't care how much textbooks cost because I got a ridiculous amount of financial aid and I had enough left over from tuition to be able to pay for new books. A new Anatomy&Physiology textbook ran about $250, not to mention the other four classes I was taking. Granted, this shouldn't really be considered a mistake, but rather a bad habit of expecting money to be there. What happens when the next year, you do not receive as much aid? Or you don't get that scholarship two years in a row?

My Advice: Save Save Save whenever possible! Don't kick yourself because there was an opportunity for you to save some money that could've been used to help you in-the-now.

((UPDATE! The book came early and in perfect condition, still wrapped in plastic. Happy camper.))