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  • A Student’s Guide to Surviving Winter

    A Student’s Guide to Surviving Winter

    The chill is coming! Colder, whiter days are ahead. We all have to deal with the torment of winter, but there are a few ways to make it easier for all students in high school and college.

    What do we hate about winter most? The cold, right? It’s only half Mother Nature’s fault, the other half is our own. Many of us want to look fashionable in winter, but at the expense of our own warmth and comfort. We’ve all seen guys walking around in the dead of winter with no coat on or only wearing a hoodie, and girls still wearing skirts and small jackets. Don’t be one of those people! Bundle up! Shop around for good quality winter apparel that will keep you warm! Protect your ears, neck and feet. This should go without saying, because if you don’t you’ll end up getting sick and that leads us to…

    Feeling terrible! This will not help you in school. So what can you do when you do get sick? Friendly Dr. Kylie (that’s me!) says that drinking lots of fluids and hot showers usually does the trick for me. Rest is required, but try going to bed earlier rather than taking full days out of school. I have always missed important information on my sick days. We all know that being sick is all too good of an excuse to over exaggerate our need to take a sick day when really a box of Kleenex and some Buckley’s would be all you need. Additionally, in the winter our bodies require extra vitamins because it has to work harder. Taking a vitamin C pill, for example, will decrease your chances of getting sick significantly.

    So you’ve protected yourself, but this doesn’t mean everyone else did, too. Wash your hands as much as possible when using public facilities. You can also try alternatives to using your hands to touch things; whether you’re using your sleeve or shoulder to open a door or grabbing a piece of paper towel before touching the faucets in the bathroom, it all makes a difference. You can also equip yourself with travel size antibacterial gel. If can’t stand the smell of regular antibacterial gels, many companies now make fruit scented ones to counteract the alcohol smell.

    Finally, if you’re like me and are always cold, here’s something I found helped me in my daily commuting. Carry a thermal mug with you and keep it full of whatever delicious hot beverage you like! Whether it be coffee, tea or even hot chocolate, this will not only keep you warm but it will postpone and lessen your hunger resulting in fewer pounds gained during the less active season! You can also make an effort to eat heartier meals with lots of nutrition rather than greasier meals that will only encourage seasonal depression.

    Following the tips above should help you stay warm, cozy and happy throughout the long Canadian winters!

  • Six Tips For Getting A Scholarship

    Six Tips For Getting A Scholarship

    A lot of college students end up with nothing but debt even before they graduate. The option of a scholarship has always been a number two priority when it comes to college students. Most think that they can just pay off their student loans after they graduate and get a job, but many find it too overwhelming. With a scholarship, not only will you study for free but some scholarship plans will even give you money just to stay in school or even provide you with an “allowance”.

    Here are a few tips to help you get a scholarship and avoid debt in college.

    Look for one as soon as possible
    Start looking for a scholarship even if you haven’t graduated yet. Start during your junior year of high school and take advantage of having less competition. This way, you can still renew your efforts and take additional opportunities.

    Look for scholarships elsewhere
    Don’t just limit yourself to online sources. Check with religious organizations, local clubs, your school guidance counselor and employers. Local scholarships are less competitive compared to the national ones and you can find corporations and businesses that award free education to their loyal customers.

    Don’t become intimidated just because you’re not on the top
    So your grades aren’t really made for the honour roll, but many scholarships don’t measure or base their decisions on your grades. Many scholarships would prefer someone who shows volunteerism and leadership.

    Search all year round
    You can find scholarships that are only available for a limited season. For example, some major department stores actually give out scholarships during the holidays as a prize. Treat it like getting a part-time job. You can get different opportunities throughout the whole year.

    Be honest
    Never exaggerate your memberships, skills, qualifications or grades. Better focus on a scholarship that you know you’re eligible for.

    Avoid scams
    There are scholarship scams out there that promise you a full scholarship if you give them a certain amount of money. If someone emails you and asks you if you’re interested in a “discounted” tuition fee, it’s best to avoid these emails so you don’t get into a debt collection lawsuit. These scammers are only after your money and they’ll make a run for it after you give your credit card number to them.

  • Perfecting the Art of the Job Interview

    Perfecting the Art of the Job Interview

    Ah, the job search. Endless applications, emailing resumes…it seems like a never-ending process! However, scoring an interview is just a matter of time and being patient. When you finally do get the call to come in for an interview, you need to be prepared – often you will be called in on short notice.

    And who am I to give advice you ask? Well, I am currently a recruiter for a marketing company and have done full-cycle recruitment for various companies. You’d be surprised at the strange things I hear when I am interviewing potential candidates! Based on this experience, I want to offer you some of my interview “do’s and don’ts”.

    Don’t # 1:
    The most common mistake I find in job interviews is candidates mentioning that they applied to so many jobs that they don’t remember applying to this one. As a recruiter, the first question I usually ask is, “Have you heard of our company before?” Saying that you haven’t because you have applied to so many jobs shows me that you don’t really care about this position, so why should I even continue the interview? By then I’m already turned off.
    Do:
    Do your research! I can’t emphasize this enough. It’s so important and requires little time. There’s really no excuse not to. It’s a matter of Googling a company name and just remembering at least three points about the company that you can talk about. Doing your research will ensure that you appear knowledgeable and it shows that you are actually interested in the position and being a part of the company. In addition, keep track of all the jobs that you apply to. That way, you can easily refer to it when an employer calls you.

    Don’t # 2:
    Don’t be too honest. I’m not saying you should lie in your job interview, but when I ask a candidate, “Why are you interested in this position?” don’t reply back saying that you just need a job, you need to support your family, you need to pay your way through school. This is too much information and shows me as an employer that you are just interested in making money and not interested in the job itself.
    Do:
    So how should you answer that question? Start by explaining why you want that position. Maybe it fits your skill set, you feel you can excel in the job environment, you can hone your sales skills, etc. Name anything that tells me why I should hire you and why you would be good fit for the company. Remember you are trying to sell yourself and trying to show the employer that you are actually interested in the position.

    Don’t #3:
    Don’t dress casually. Jeans, t-shirts and running shoes are definite no-no’s. You are not going for a walk in the park, it’s a job interview! So take it seriously. First impressions are everything and dressing casually shows that you don’t care about this position and, as an employer, I wouldn’t want you to represent my company.
    Do:
    Dress professionally. Suit and tie for men, blazers and business pants for women. Image is everything and an appropriate business look shows that you would be a great representative of the company. Most importantly, you will be taken seriously.

    My final tip: Be patient. You applied to a job and are now waiting for a call from the employer. Do not call the employer that same day to follow-up. In fact, some employers do not like phone calls at all. Be mindful of the fact that employers are very busy – think about how many resumes they receive in one day. There are many people out there in the same boat as you who are looking for work, so patience is key. Consider sending a follow-up email within a week to see if the position has been filled.

    These are only a few do’s and don’ts for job interviewing. Remember, sometimes it’s just a matter of practice. The more you go to interviews, the more comfortable you get. In a matter of time, you will perfect the art of the job interview. I wish you the best of luck! Happy interviewing!

  • Tips for Writing the Perfect Paper

    Tips for Writing the Perfect Paper

    The perfect paper is a true work of art. It’s perfectly organized and has a clear, structured flow from thesis to conclusion. It has a flawless bibliography and citations, with no spelling or grammar mistakes in sight. It has a title that’s both concise and clever; maybe it even has headings. But that perfect paper can be hard to come by—because it takes a whole lot of work to nail down.

    If you’re in the pursuit of the perfect paper, here are some tips to help you out.

    Use your own words. You may feel the urge to pretty up your sentences with lots of figures of speech and adjectives you dug out of the thesaurus. Don’t. You’d be surprised at how effectively you can get the point across if you just use your own words. Of course, you should be professional and use academic language, but going on in circles just because you want to sound competent will actually make you seem anything but. An embellished paper is not necessarily well written; simpler is better.

    Be specific. Provide historical examples, data sets and any information that you feel will best back up your claims. Specificity provides clarity on your subject, as well as credibility that you actually understand the information you are presenting. A good paper can then connect the facts you present to broader themes in the discipline. Vague statements that don’t have evidence to support them will unfortunately fall flat.

    Cite well. This is specific to research papers: keep a detailed record of what information you got from what source. Make sure you are keeping up with footnotes/endnotes or in-text citations (depending on the required format), and that they fall in line with what is written in your bibliography. This becomes especially crucial once you enter university, because plagiarism is considered a serious academic offence (even if it’s accidental). Keep track of your information and you’ll be in the clear.

    Proofread—repeatedly. No matter how good a writer you are, you should never hand in your first draft as a final copy! Look over your paper not only for spelling and grammar mistakes, but in order to eliminate redundant words, rephrase awkward sentences and overall make your paper flow as seamlessly as possible. You should do this a couple of times until you’re sure what you’ve produced is your best work. Still in doubt? Have a classmate look it over and see if there’s anything you missed.

    Take these tips to heart, put pen to paper and get writing!

  • High School Exam Prep

    High School Exam Prep

    Are you ready for your exams? High school exam periods can vary, but they typically occur either at the end of the year (for non-semestered schools), or at the end of both January and June (for semestered schools; winter and spring exams, respectively).

    Whether your evaluations have just passed, are coming up soon, or aren’t for a while, it’s always important to know how to prepare. An exam not only has a significant impact on your final grade, but it can also be a way to measure how much you’ve learned throughout the course. You should take every exam seriously, and make sure you allot enough time to get ready. It never hurts to do well!

    Here are three tips for high school exam preparation:

    Know the structure. Aside from obviously just studying the material, preparing for the format of the exam can be very valuable. Teachers usually release information related to the structure well in advance. As well, many exams are combined-format, so you might need different study strategies for each section. Let’s say an exam has 50 multiple-choice questions and an essay. You can create flashcards of key terms, concepts and definitions, as well as brainstorm potential questions and arguments.

    Play your strengths and weaknesses. If you know a certain part of the curriculum inside out, there’s no point in reviewing it in great detail. When you’re studying, focus on what you don’t know so well and make sure you understand it before moving on. This way, you’ll at least have general knowledge of all the material, instead of only studying what you’re good at. If you focus only on what you’re good at, there’s always the chance that those topics may not even appear on the exam anyway!

    Choose wisely. Sometimes exams offer students a choice (between short answer topics, for example), and this can be a great way to showcase your strengths. That being said, if you have to choose, pick the option that is easiest for you. Students sometimes try to write about what they think the teacher prefer, even if they don’t know what that specific topic is about. Take advantage of the opportunity and write about what you know. You’ll be able to provide more accurate information and concrete examples instead of “speculating” about something you don’t fully understand.

    Following the above guidelines will help you out, but ultimately you still have to put in the work. Make sure you make time to study properly before the exam (and preferably not the night before the exam). And remember, there’s no reason exam preparation can’t be fun—as long as you’re still being productive, studying with friends or classmates can actually be a great way to prepare. Good luck!

  • University Exam Prep

    University Exam Prep

    Before you can escape the stress of school and enjoy the winter break, you have to pass finals! You’re not alone. University students all over the country are cracking under the pressure of their exams. While this is an undeniably difficult and often exhausting time of year, it’s important to stay focused and motivated. You wouldn’t want all the hard work you’ve done over the course of the semester to go to waste over one bad test.

    When your exams are held depends on the university’s examination period. However, typically half-year courses taken in first semester have their exams in early- to mid- December. That being said, many full-year courses also have mid-term tests around this time of year, and while these may not be worth as much as final exams, it is nevertheless important to make sure you’re prepared for them.

    Here are some tips on how to get ready for a university exam.

    Summarize. Go through all your lectures and create a set of condensed exam notes. Write down all the important stuff, and paraphrase as much as possible in order to make the material more manageable. If you do this properly, eventually all you’ll need to do is glance at the key words and you’ll be able to explain the related material in detail.

    Draw connections. A subject can seem pointless if you don’t make the effort to connect it to your own life—instead of blindly memorizing, see if you can explain things through examples or anecdotes. Take a political theory and see if it’s manifested anywhere in world news, or do some more research on an experiment you found particularly interesting in biology. Get away from the word-for-word method of studying and think of ways to make what you’re studying relatable (and thus, memorable).

    Safety in numbers. Studying in groups is extremely valuable because you get to interact with the material instead of just reading alone in your room. Get together with a study group a few times before the exam. You should continue to study independently as well, but discussing concepts, quizzing, or even explaining things to someone else within a group will improve your knowledge and your memory.

    Get help. Don’t be intimidated by your professor or TA: they are really just there to help. If you have any questions about the course material, it is crucial that you clarify them before the end of the semester rolls around. Chances are, if you mention you’re stressing out about the exam, the prof or TA would be happy to give you some help on how to prepare.

    Take care of yourself. Get a good night’s sleep the day before the exam and make sure you’re keeping yourself healthy. Study hard, but make sure you keep well—otherwise, it could actually interfere with your focus. You wouldn’t want to compromise all of your hard work with one all-nighter or sick day, right when it matters the most.

  • Writing a Resume: The Basics

    Writing a Resume: The Basics

    An employer can shuffle through hundreds of job applications every day. How do you make sure yours stands out?

    Writing a resume is the first step to landing your dream job. In a work setting, it’s how you represent yourself—even before you speak to an employer, they often want to have a look at your qualifications. Not only is it important to advertise your best assets, but you have to tailor each application to fit the job you’re looking at.

    A standard resume consists of a Header (name, address, and contact information), Objective (a sentence explaining your career goal), and a variety of headings citing your Experience: education, past work and volunteer positions, skills, awards, and anything else you think is important to mention.

    Beyond that, the way you structure your resume is up to you. That being said, you should keep a couple of things in mind the next time you’re pulling together an application.

    Be adaptable. Imagine what your employer is looking for and think of skills you have that fulfill their expectations. Your resume should reflect the position you’re trying to obtain and why you’re the best candidate for the job. However, make sure you include only relevant information (e.g. if you’re applying for tutoring, you probably don’t need to mention that you can use a band saw).

    Be clear and concise. Your resume shouldn’t be longer than a page (beyond that, the employer’s likely to stop reading anyway). Requests for references often vary from job to job, but you can put these on a separate page if needed. And of course, make your resume easy to follow: avoid long sentences, embellished fonts, or extremely elaborate vocabulary.

    Be creative. Don’t be afraid to switch it up a little—especially in fields like art and design, which often leave their “resume” component open to interpretation. Sometimes a portfolio or even a video can impress an employer. For jobs with stricter requirements, you can still be flexible with your headings and layout if you want to make an impression. Just make sure you’re striking a balance between being imaginative and being understood.

    Be sincere. It might seem difficult to express your abilities through your resume. Be careful if you feel tempted to exaggerate your talents. Sometimes this works, but if you get called back for an interview, be prepared to justify all that you’ve written. More importantly, why would you want a job that you can only pretend to be good at? You should appear to be “the better version of yourself”, not someone else entirely.

    No application is perfect, but with practice you’ll find the resume style that works for you. Keep a copy with you the next time you’re going to school or running an errand: you never know where your next job will come from. Good luck!

  • Resume Writing Tips

    Resume Writing Tips

    Whenever you are writing your resume, you want to be sure to have five important points accounted for. 1) Include relevant information,  2) Always have up-to-date information, 3) Stay consistent with your formatting, 4) Never put references right on your resume and,  5) Tailor your resume to the job you are applying for.

    1) Start with recounting your work and volunteer experience. You want to be sure to have bullet points outlining what skills you learned from the job and what responsibilities you had at the job/volunteer activity. On your master copy, keep the skills you learned fairly general, and you can tailor the skills to the particular job you are applying to on a subsequent copy (see number 5). When you have nailed down your past experience in terms of volunteering and working, create a section about your education, going back as far as you think is relevant (putting in a line in about which daycare you went to is going back too far). Include a skills and interests section, trying to cover skills that are useful in most jobs. These will be adapted for each of the jobs you apply for. Your interests can include anything that you feel is worthwhile to put down, often choosing something that you want to talk more about is a good idea as employers may use this to see how you spend your time outside of work.

    2) Always have up-to-date information. This means that the name and address, telephone number and email that you have as the very first piece of information on your resume will be up-to-date, not your address from three years ago. You want to be sure that an employer will have no trouble reaching you. Also, try to avoid having unprofessional email addresses (like sexy_chick@hotmail.com). You want to project an image of responsibility and trustworthiness, so you want to avoid having an unprofessional email address. Simply create a new account if you need to.

    3) Staying consistent with your formatting is especially important for facilitating information gathering by the employer. If they are so distracted by the fancy bullet points you have, or the changing styles of font that you added for extra style, they won’t be able to see how you are the right candidate for the job. You want to be sure to pick a style and stick to it. Choosing a generic style is also recommended to avoid any distractions from your suitability for the job. This means regular margins, size 12 font, regular bullet points and the same style of indentation the whole way through the resume. Also, be sure to have a consistent way of documenting the year and the location of your work or volunteer experience. Your goal is to create an easy to read resume where the employer can get the information they want quickly.

    4) Never put references right on your resume. This is especially important because you don’t want to clutter up your resume or have too much information. Hopefully the employer will want to contact your references, but when you are handing in a resume you are not quite there yet. Avoid having that information right on your resume. You can put a line like “references available upon request”, as a way of indicating that you do have references (which you should get now if you don’t have any already).

    5) Tailor your resume to the job you are applying for. This is the most important thing that you can do to secure yourself a job. In the same line of reasoning as keeping your resume consistent, you want to be sure that the employer can read your resume quickly and easily, so they are able to see that you are the right candidate for the job right away. Avoid having one generic copy of your resume or handing out your master copy. Read the job posting and identify what it is that the employer is looking for. Highlight any skills or work experience that they require, any certifications or education, and create a section at the top of your resume outlining exactly how you fit their requirements. You can title this section “Qualifications” or “Professional Qualifications” . This section comes first before listing off your work and volunteer experience, skills and even education.

    Good luck!

  • Tips for Scoring a Scholarship

    Tips for Scoring a Scholarship

    Let’s get real. Post-secondary education is expensive and very few people have thousands of dollars casually lying around the house. Most of us are in search of cash — the type that you don’t have to pay back. In other words, we’re all searching for those illustrious scholarships. If you’re new at this whole “applying-for-scholarships-because-I-need-money-to-pay-for-school-which-suddenly-isn’t-free-anymore” thing, then you’ve come to the right place.

    Here are seven helpful tips that could help you score some extra cash!

    1. You do not get scholarships for simply existing. Almost every scholarship application that you come across is going to inquire about your extracurricular activities and community involvement. You need to do something, be a part of something, or participate in something. You don’t necessarily need to be the three-time reigning champion of every competition you compete in, or the newly-elected President for every fancy club that you’re a part of. You simply need to get out there and participate.

    2. One of the hardest parts of getting free money is finding free money. Luckily, there are people who dedicate themselves to doing it for you! Make sure to check out websites like Scholarship Canada. They have information on hundreds of scholarships— both large and small. Also, take a glance at your school’s website. The majority of Guidance Councillors will actually post a list of scholarships that they’ve come across. But don’t stop there. Go the extra mile and go digging through the websites of other schools. You’re guaranteed to come across a fresh new list filled with new opportunities.

    3. Keep your eye out for obscure scholarships offered by smaller organizations. This may require an advanced Google search and some serious digging but this very well might be the key to your first scholarship. Most students set their targets on big scholarships offered by well-known companies. There’s no harm in applying for those, but your chances quickly diminish when you’re facing so much competition. However, with the lesser-known scholarships that might be sitting on page 17 of a Google search, your chances of standing out in the significantly smaller crowd are far higher.

    4. Your best bet to scoring a scholarship is to apply to as many as possible. This may sound frighteningly obvious but you would be surprised by how many people lay all of their eggs in one basket. Yes, it’s time-consuming and painstakingly tedious but you need to apply, apply, and apply some more!

    5. If a scholarship application sounds too long, too boring, or too overwhelming, there’s a pretty good chance that other students are going to think the same thing and avoid it all together. This, of course, means that you should go ahead and do it! The more tedious the application is, the less competition you’re going to have. So suck it up and get writing!

    6. Never lie. Don’t lie about your qualifications, achievements, activities, awards, or anything of the sort. Just don’t! If you get caught, you’ll suffer from third-degree embarrassment and, even worse, you may sever some really important connections.

    7. Most organizations will release profiles of the previous year’s winner. Take a look at those to find out what kind of people they’re looking for. This might give you some ideas on what to include in your own application.

  • Staying Healthy During Exam Season

    Staying Healthy During Exam Season

    Exam season is easily one of the most stressful times of the year for students. For some, it might even be the worst.  Now image how bad the season would be if you were sick! To prevent this, it’s important that you’re taking the necessary steps to cater to your health. Below are some tips to help you survive that dreaded time of year. And even if exam season has passed for you (thank goodness), just keep these tips in mind for the next time around.

    When it comes to exam season, sleep is almost always the first thing that goes out the window for students. It doesn’t have to be this way! If you set your schedule up properly, you can find yourself catching a full night’s worth of sleep every day! The key to this is studying in advance. Far too many students begin studying for two or three days before the actual exam. Because of this, they find themselves pulling consecutive all-nighters. If you begin studying about a week in advance, you can spread your notes across more days and you’ll have with a few more hours each day to allocate to sleep! Also, don’t be afraid to take a nap once in a while. If you find yourself dozing off every other minute, you’re probably not retaining any information. In this case, you might as well just take a quick nap to re-charge yourself.

    Believe it or not, a lot of students actually refuse to sleep at all because they fear sleeping in for an exam and missing it! Although it’s a valid concern, it’s definitely not healthy. Instead of pulling an all-nighter out of fear, set several alarms or ask a friend to set an alarm then give you a wake up call! This works especially well if you’ve got a roommate.

    Your brain is like a giant battery that needs to be recharged often enough to keep it functioning properly. With all the craziness of exam week, many students forget to eat properly, opting for highly caffeinated beverages and chocolate bars instead. Not only is this unhealthy, but it will also work out for the worst in the end. Your body and your brain will be running low on energy which will ultimately reduce the amount of time that you can stay alert and retain information. To give yourself the energy that you need, take some time out of studying to have a well-balanced meal. In fact, you should set a daily schedule for eating so that you make sure you’re on the right track. It’s far too easy to get lost in the notes and readings that you have to do and forget about your healthy

    One of the most important things that students forget to do is cater to their mental health. With hours of endless studying on the schedule, it’s easy to find yourself feeling down. If this is the case for you, take a few minutes every now and then to treat yourself!  Spending a few minutes with some friends or doing a bit of exercise will make you feel far more energized. You’ll be able to get back to your studies with a refreshed mind and perhaps a smile on your face too!