Experts Offer Tips to Help Students Succeed in Their First Year in College

As students across the nation head back to college, they should be aware that, on average, one in three of them will not return to the same school for their second year.

But there are things each new student can do to improve their chances of success, say experts who have studied the issue.

Andrew Koch, director of Purdue University's Student Access, Transition and Success Programs, points out that students leaving for college are doing more than changing schools.

"These young people are now establishing their own norms," he says. "They are now responsible for their own physical, mental and spiritual well-being, and they have to balance academic success in the midst of all of this."

Although students think they are prepared for college-level courses, Koch says the difficulty still catches them by surprise.

"We asked 14,000 freshmen about their first year in college, and as a group they all said they didn't know they'd have to work as hard as they did," Koch says. "What was interesting was that they said this regardless of whether they had been successful."

John Gardner, author of "Your College Experience: Strategies for Success," the academic work "The Freshman Year Experience: Helping Students Survive and Succeed in College," and a senior fellow at the National Resource Center on the First Year Experience and Students in Transition, says simply leaving home is harder for students than they realize.

"Homesickness is a factor, particularly for men," Gardner says. "Believe it or not, men adjust less well to leaving home than women do. Men tend to be less mature at age 18 than women."

Koch and Gardner agree that students must focus on both the social aspects of fitting in at college as well as stepping up their academic efforts. They offer these tips for making a successful transition:

- Make friends with people who share similar goals

"The first item on your to-do list should be to make friends," Koch says. "Not to party, but to make relationships with your peers. You should attend as many orientation activities as possible, and if your school has an academic learning community where students in similar majors are housed together, you should join that. There, you'll find students who are going through the same things, taking the same classes. As I tell students, serendipity is too important to leave to chance."

Gardner points out that the single biggest influence on students is other students. "You should pay attention to who you associate with because you are going to become like them. If they like to party every night, you will, too."

- Don't go home for as long as you can

Although students may think that going home on weekends and staying in touch with high school friends is a way to ease the adjustment, the experts say the opposite is true.

"We have research that shows the more frequently you go home the less likely you are to survive the first year," Gardner says. "The worst thing you can do is stay in your room and text old friends from high school about what you are going to do that weekend."

- Join a club or group

Research has shown that students who joined at least one co-curricular activity were more likely to be successful in their freshman year.

"This is part of finding people who share your interests," Koch says. "This gives you a reason to be on campus on the weekends and gives you a group of new friends to enjoy. You have to find your niche, but it's also a great opportunity to try new things."

- Take care of your physical health, including managing stress

The enormous amount of life change that accompanies the transition to college produces stress, and often students try to deal with it in ways that actually increases the stress - by sleeping less, eating more or drinking alcohol.

"Overeating and drinking alcohol are not only damaging to your health, but they also lower a student's self-esteem," Gardner says.

- Go to class and do the homework

"Academics should be your first priority," Koch says. "This is why finding friends in your classes or through learning communities is important for student success. They'll literally drag each other out of bed to attend class."

Koch and Gardner point out that even the best high school students find they need to learn new academic behaviors in college.

"Students may be brilliant, so they never had to study in high school or really pay attention in class," Koch says. "They can find themselves on academic probation at the end of their first semester in college. They need to know they have to go to class, take good notes and read the assigned materials, even if they could get good grades without doing that before."

- Attend help sessions

In high school, help sessions may have been seen as unnecessary and may have even carried a stigma. University freshmen need to quickly understand that college is different.

"Students have to learn a new set of rules about getting help," Gardner says. "No one is going to tell your parents, and it doesn't mean you are a bad student or person. Ironically, it's the top students, the real fast burners, who seek out help first."

"Asking for help in college is like the old joke about voting in Chicago: Do it early and often."

This fall Purdue launched an online program called Signals that encourages students to seek help and recommends appropriate steps to take. Signals alerts students with a red, yellow or green stoplight when they log into their courses, depending on their predicted success, and sends the students messages from their instructor about how to improve.

"Signals offers a host of interventions," Koch says. "It alerts them when they are not being as successful as they could be, and it helps students make connections with teaching assistants or study groups."

- Maintain your personal standards

Life away from home has many opportunities and temptations, and many of these are exaggerated by immature peers. Students who put their personal values at risk can damage their self-esteem, which will have an impact on their college career. Poor decisions about drinking alcohol, sexual relationships or overspending and credit card debt can put students at risk.

"Students are going to be confronted with choices about doing things to belong, and they should not compromise their values," Gardner says. "If they do compromise their values, this can cause tremendous damage to their self-esteem."

- Parents should be prepared for a text or e-mail message saying things aren't going well

Parents have a role to play in students' success, too, Koch says, although it is less direct than when the students were in high school.

"You have to allow the student to grow and to let go, but not let go completely," Koch says. "Read the resource material for parents the college provides so that if the student calls and says they are struggling, you can offer good information about resources as well as emotional support. Both are important."

RELATED WEB SITES:

Purdue University Student Access Transition and Success Programs: http://www.purdue.edu/sats/

John N. Gardner Institute for Excellence in Undergraduate Education: http://www.jngi.org/

Purdue Signals system for early intervention: http://www.itap.purdue.edu/tlt/signals/

New Definition-Free Dictionary Celebrates Webster's 251st Birthday

What would Noah Webster think? Two centuries later his name still sells a "Dictionary" and carries his portrait on the frontispiece-- YET doesn't provide a single definition! Pictorial Webster's: A Pictorial Dictionary of Curiosities,( Chronicle Books - retail $35) printed from nearly 4,000 images found in the original Webster's Dictionaries of the nineteenth century. Compiled from 100-year-old block print images discovered in the basement of the Yale library, artist John Carrera created a curious visual collection, a "timeless" best-seller picture book for the ages that Carrera hopes will be used as a springboard to creativity.

Pictorial Webster's serves as reminder of the impact Noah Webster had on our cultural landscape. Born 251 years ago on October 16, Webster's name has sold tens of millions of dictionaries. A patriot whom George Washington himself respected, Noah Webster hoped his dictionary would help unify and strengthen our then infant American Culture. In 1806 he published the first American dictionary titled "A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language." The dictionary became so widely mimicked that Webster's name literally and legally became a synonym for "dictionary" because copyrights were not then what they are now. It was Noah Webster who championed the strong copyright laws that we now have, and his cousin Daniel Webster, a United States Senator, introduced and helped the bill through Congress. After Noah's death, his heirs sold the rights to George & Charles Merriam and their company, now called Merriam-Webster is still producing dictionaries today.

Pictorial Webster's selected by Indie Booksellers for September 2009 Indie Notables

"The greatest oddity resurrected in reference books in a generation, this fascinating image-based dictionary adds new meaning to the phrase, 'Let's look it up.' Pictorial Webster's is a phenomenal follow-up for fans of everything from The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet to The Professor and the Madman." -- Alex Green, Back Pages Books, Waltham, MA

Perfect for conversation, reflection, celebrating Webster's birthday holiday gifts, Pictorial Webster's editions include: limited run of 26 hand printed and bound collector's copies $4,600 (win one in a contest held by Chronicle Books); an artist's edition of 100 books, $2,600; and the best-seller trade-edition, Chronicle Books, $35 (ChronicleBooks.com). The artist's site http://www.quercuspress.com/ contains production process, video footage, media images and more Pictorial Webster's information.

Number One Press Release Writing Mistake: NO KEYWORDS

Writers can use these 5 tips so that their optimized press releases pull more traffic, redirect that traffic to their websites, and turn website visitors into customers. They can learn how to write a press release using keywords by signing up for a teleseminar Oct. 21. SEO expert Janet Thaeler will be the guest.

Press release writers who don't use keywords within their copy are making a mistake, says publicity expert Joan Stewart. Her new teleseminar teaches writers how to write a press release that pulls targeted traffic to a web site and blogs.

Stewart, of http://www.89pressreleasetips.com/ says the most frequent mistake she sees in press releases is the absence of keywords—that is, words and phrases that people who are searching for information online are most likely to type into the search engines.

"Keywords are like magnets that flag the search engines. Whether you sell coaching services or dog toys, using the right keywords will help your ideal customers find your press releases online. Journalists use search engines to find stories. Your customers use search engines to find products and information. An optimized press release sends people to your web site long after the news is stale," Stewart says.

Many writers, she says, spend hours crafting the perfect headline, sub-head, copy and quotes. Those elements are all important. But they could be ineffective if people can't find their releases online.

5 Tips to Writing Optimized Press Releases

Stewart recommends these five tips:

1. Before you write, do keyword research to learn what words or phrases relate to your news, industry or brand. Wordtracker and Google's Wonder Wheel help simplify and arrange search results.

2. Identify from one to four different but related keyword phrases to use, and include them within your release.

3. If your business serves a local area, use regional keywords. For example: "Los Angeles yoga studio"

4. Don't assume you must use your company name in the headline. That's one of the first places the search engines look for keywords. People who are searching for the type of product or service you sell, and don't know about your company, won't type your company name into the search engines. Use the same keywords they'd use, based on your research.

5. Use keywords in the first paragraph of your press release.

Learn more about Keywords
Stewart will host a telephone seminar at 3 p.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, Oct. 21, on "How to Use Keywords, the 'Magic Magnets' That Pull Consumers and Journalists to Your Press Releases" Guest expert Janet Thaeler, a search engine optimization expert, will walk participants through the entire process of writing a press release, from keyword research to how to submit a press release online.

Each person who registers will receive a copy of the MP3 recording and sample press releases. They will also be eligible to enter to win a free release, written by Thaeler and distributed through PRWeb. Registration is $39.95 and includes links to three videos that demonstrate how to do research and use keywords.

Register for the press release teleseminar now.

Online Foreign Language Word Teaching Service

12word.com (http://www.12word.com/) has launched a free online foreign language word teaching service. With the service internet users cannot avoid learning thousands of words from any foreign language while surfing the web. The free, custom made web browser toolbar keeps on showing the animated words whenever the web browser is used.

The free service is available at no costs to any person, school and university as well as to any company, government entity or non-profit community.

Users of the service can choose to learn from 88 languages, 7,504 target to native language combinations and 15,032 language files for free. Service can be used via the free, custom made browser toolbars, any RSS feed reader or Web browsers on Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems.

More languages, language packs and ways of using the service are added all the time to 12word.com. All copyright free dictionaries are welcomed to increase the selection for the users of the service.

The service has been created by Mr Christian Dillstrom, who has been studying learning techniques as his hobby for the last 15 years. Originally the service was created for his personal use, but he has made it freely available as the Community of Easy Language Learning as it turned out to be such an easy and effective way to learn.

"Repetition is the key to learn anything deeply, but for almost all of us the most difficult part of repetition is not getting too bored with it.", Christian Dillstrom says. To solve the problem 12word.com uses different kind of animations and distractions to present the language material.

Dillstrom says: "It does not really matter what the animations and distractions are as long as they are there." and continues: "The only goal is to make it easier for users to extend the amount of repetitions and words they can go through before getting too bored."

EBSCO Publishing Expands Literary Coverage

EBSCO Publishing expanded its literary resources with the release of Literary Reference Center Plus, a database that builds upon the content of EBSCO's existing Literary Reference Center by offering additional reference works, literary journals, contemporary literature titles, study guides, audio content, and videos. Literary Reference Center Plus includes all of the existing content of Literary Reference Center, as well as more than 1,000 full-text literary reference books and works focusing on plays, drama, poetry, and several specific genres of literature.

Literary Reference Center Plus also includes access to 40 full-text literary study guides to help users explore novels and plays in American and English literature, as well as 74 literary videos pertaining to classic literary works and authors.

Website: http://www.ebsco.com/

The history of reading over 5,000 years

When did the written word first appear, and how has it changed the course of human existence? How do you make peace when all you want is revenge? And why does the most polarizing scientific theory of all time still matter 150 years after its publication? This November, TVO explores these questions and more through a thought-provoking range of documentary, drama and current affairs programming.

Wednesdays at 10 pm starting November 25 on The View From Here, TVO presents the world premiere of the four-part documentary series Empire of the Word. The jewel in the crown of TVO's season-long programming commitment to literacy, the series is an eye-opening, epic journey into the origins of reading and its impact on more than 5,000 years of human history. At the heart of the series is the question of why reading has survived throughout the ages. Host and renowned Canadian-Argentine writer Alberto Manguel takes viewers around the globe to meet the characters and revisit the events that create the story of the written word, including the genesis of the alphabet, the world's first novel, role of religion in reading; the invention of the Gutenberg press, and the technological revolution.

Online at tvo.org/empireoftheword, starting Wednesday October 28 visitors will be immersed in the world of reading through a compelling interactive mystery unfolding over eight weeks, as well as a variety of educational games, relevant links, and video interviews with Canadian authors.

To mark Remembrance Day, TVO launches a week of programs offering different perspectives on war. Wednesday November 11, look for the North American premiere of Paris 1919. Inspired by Margaret MacMillan's acclaimed 2003 book of the same name, this feature documentary reveals the diplomatic gamesmanship behind the most ambitious peace talks in history. Watch also for The Last Day of World War One with host Michael Palin (November 9), who revisits the battlefields in France and Belgium to learn what actually happened on the final day of conflict; Occupation (Thursdays November 12 - 26), a three-part drama about three British soldiers in Iraq and how their lives are transformed by their experience; and Your Voice: When Mom or Dad Comes Home, a special edition of TVO's parenting program shot on location at CFB Petawawa that explores the challenges of reintegrating back into family life when a soldier leaves the battlefield.

Also in November is the Canadian premiere of Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life (Tuesday November 24). David Attenborough marks the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal evolutionary work, On the Origin of Species by sharing his personal insights on Darwin's theory of evolution.

5 Myths of Article Writing - Dismissed, Dispelled and Debunked by Mike Griffith

You're a victim of the myths of article writing if you don't think you have what it takes to write a great article that can drive hundreds, or even thousands, of targeted visitors to your website. Let's take a look at 5 of these myths -- and dispel them -- right now.

1. You have to have dynamic writing skills.

WRONG. The truth is that many of the most popular and effective online articles are written by "rookies", and not by someone who has a degree in journalism. And the main reason they're successful is because they happen to cover a popular subject. Learn what people who found out what's hot and wrote about it.

2. You have to know your subject.

NOPE. While it is true that you need to know something about your topic, writing articles isn't about what you know. It's all about expanding on current knowledge. And you can find everything you need to know about any subject in a matter of minutes by surfing the internet.

3. You must have something fresh to write about.

WRONG AGAIN. This is one of the biggest myths of article writing. The only thing that must be "fresh" about your article is the way you express yourself in it. In fact, you should be elated if someone else has written about the same topic you're covering. It only proves that there's a market for it. Just go on and write your article, remembering that there is nothing new under the sun.

4. You have to please your English teacher.

I don't have anything against English teachers; proper English has it's place. But keep in mind that online writing is a very informal place where people from all walks of life need to understand what you have to say. Keep your writing style chatty and you'll appeal to the majority of them. Be more concerned about communicating with people than about grammar. But be sure to watch your spelling.

5. Your articles must be long.

HOGWASH. Keep your articles between 350 and 450 words and you'll be ok. Why? Because the most popular articles tend to fall within that range. These days internet surfers are busy and don't have time to read long, drawn-out articles.

Writing articles is by far the fastest and most effective way to build an online business with real foundations. Debunk these myths of article writing and you'll be on your way to real online profits and success.

Mike Griffith is an internet marketer specializing in showing online marketers how to explode their business with article marketing. For Free Instant Access to his new article marketing course, visit http://www.awesomearticlesonline.com/