THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
GRADUATION
WWW.KANSAN.COM
PAGE 1C
THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2006
Taking the next step
Grad school in future for some
BY ASHLEY PATE
editor@kansan.com
KANSAN CORRESPONDENT
You have been accepted to your number one graduate school. All the hard work that you've put in during your undergraduate experience has paid off. But how are you going to keep your head above water? Graduate school is more intense than undergraduate school at the University, which means stepping up your academic game. Taming stress will help you conquer grad school.
These tips are not only helpful for grad school students but undergrads as well. It is more important to follow these steps in grad school, however, because it requires more effort from its students.
Good tips before grad school
1. Start studying now. Procrastination is so easy to do but you must resist the urge. Start that reading assignment or paper as soon as your professor assigns it. That way you'll know how much work is ahead for that project that you thought was going to take 10 hours, but actually took 40.
2. Don't cram. This goes right along with procrastination — don't do it. You will benefit greatly if you don't wait until the last minute to study for that exam that is worth 50 percent of your grade.
3. Prioritize. Creating lists of your assignments and due dates will help prevent procrastination and cramming.
4. Sleep. Eight hours of sleep per night is the number that many people agree is an adequate amount of sleep for a healthy adult, like college students. Sleep is like food or water. It is a survival tool, especially when our brains need to be alert for studying and analyzing what we've learned. According to the National Institutes of Health, if we aren't getting enough sleep, we can see a decline in our performance, concentration and consolidation of information learning. The Institute also said that our lack of sleep could contribute to elevated occurrences of memory lapses, accidents and injuries, and mood problems. Being in grad school means you need to be on top of your game, and an ample amount of sleep will help you get there.
Source: Tara Kuther, About.com
5. Exercise. Running or doing other physical activity will help you alleviate stress in a way that's good for you, plus you can burn some extra unwanted calories, too. Sometimes stress can get the best of you, but burning that extra energy will make you feel better and allow you to focus on doing the last bit of studying before a test or getting that good night of sleep.
Graduating students will participate in the long-honored tradition of walking down the hill Sunday, May 21 2006. PHOTO courtesy of University Relations
BACK HOME
Living at home not so bad
BY ASHLEY PATE
editor@kansan.com
KANSAN CORRESPONDENT
When I graduate next May, I am going to be inundated with student loans because I chose to come here from out-of-state. Because I will have all this debt straight out of college, I plan to move back home into my parent's house to save some money.
I am not alone.
More students are realizing that the benefits outweigh the negative aspects of living at home with your parents.
Andrew Bruns, Overland Park senior, has decided that after he graduates this year, he will be moving back in with his mom. "It's to save money and pay off student loans," said Bruns.
So you're thinking it might be a good idea eh? Let's go through some steps to make sure that it's right for you.
2. Make sure that all the ground rules are laid out. Many parents will be more lenient with rules, just because you aren't a kid anymore. Bruns plans on making little adjustments from his current lifestyle, like being more courteous of his mom. Discuss curfew, inviting friends over, and doing your part around the house.
1. Use common sense. Talk to your parents first about moving back, it is their abode after all. You may have lived with them for 18 years, but they may have turned your high school bedroom into the exercise room.
3. Decide how you are going to pay your parents to live with them. You are an adult now, and just like you pay rent in your apartment you should pay rent to your parents, whether it's in money form or not. Offer to help out with chores or other activities around the house if you can't help out financially. Bruns has no set payment with his mom but plans to help her out whenever he can. "My mom has done everything in her power to help me out and I'd do the same for her," said Bruns.
4. Be proud that your parents are cool enough to let you live with them and be confident when people give you a hard time about it. "There's a social stigma attached to a person who's out of college and living with their parents," said Bruns. This is especially true when you want to bring a potential significant other back to your place. Think Will Ferrell in the Wedding Crashers.
If you can stand to live with your parents and follow these steps, it should be smooth sailing to cheap living and paying off those student loans.
To walk or not to walk; that is the question
Somewhere around mid-April students begin to prepare for graduation. Double-checking their credit hours, getting fitted for a cap and gown and deciding whether or not they will walk. You know, that infamous winding trot through the Campanile, along Potter's Lake, through the grove and onto the big screen where mom and dad are anxiously waiting to see your shining face.
The walk's destination is of course Commencement, the annual tribute to all the undergraduate, graduate and PhD students; sometimes under the sun, sometimes in the rain and from what I hear sometimes lengthy.
Either way, choosing whether to walk or not carries a lot of weight in ones graduation and today a number of factors affect deciding graduates.
Factor 1: Tradition
Tradition might as well be KU's middle name. The University opened its doors in 1866, traditions, growing evermore, become a part of a students experience. Graduation presents one of the strongest traditions of all, walking through the Campanile and down the hill. You've heard since freshman year, the risky business of possibly strolling through its feet before your time, thus cursing your ability to graduate. I personally have only circled them monstrous World War II monument due to my superintention and out-of-state tuition.
Many say there is something sacred about marking your graduation by walking through the north star of campus; which has stood tall since 1951 when it was dedicated to the 277 faculty and students killed in the war.
BY KATEY IBSEN editor@kansan.com
Chiming the Alma Mater every quarter hour, everyday you've ever had a class, almost makes one feel as if they owe it to the prominent structure.
Factor 2; May or December
The dynamics of graduation today have become a little loosy gooys, if you will. Official May graduates often intend to walk as it completes the pump and circumstance. While December graduates, from what I've been told, feel like the stepchild, posing as a graduate in May. Regardless, neither student will
Factor 3: Your Status
receive their diploma at Commencement, but instead a sunburn and pictures for the photo album.
Factor 4: Fake it
Commencement joins together just about everyone at KU. Undergraduates who are fuzzy on the future, graduate and PhD students with a plan and everyone in between. Does one honor make walking more important than another? It's possible that any and all graduates could be passive aggressive, it often comes down to how much time you might have spent at the library or the amount of memories you want to savor during the Chancellor's universal speech.
just remember to take a right, not a
left. Many students try to get the best of both worlds as they walk down the hill and bolt before the stadium. Having never actually attended a KU Commencement, I can only imagine this looks dysfunctional. But as legend has it, the hole-in-the wall bars sit atop the hill where grads arrive in their gowns and watch the ceremony from afar with a cold one.
In the end, the decision is yours no matter what kind of graduate you may be. We will assume you will attend the ceremony appropriate for your degree and leave Commencement to the discretion of family and friends possibly coming to congratulate you. Best of luck and if you choose to walk - don't trip.
Ibsen is a senior in journalism
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