FRATernizing

To be or not to be apart of a fraternity/sorority is a question that almost every college student asks themselves.

Fraternities/Sororities are basically social organizations that college students with the same interests join for the purpose of forming a brotherhood/sisterhood. Most fraternities and sororities are Greek letter organizations. This means that the names of the fraternity/sorority usually consist of two or three Greek letters. For an example, the first ever Greek fraternity was Phi Betta Kappa, which is now an honor society for students who prevail in academic excellence.

Fraternities/Sororities can be beneficial during your college career, and after. These organizations are a great way for students to meet other college students. As a matter fact, fraternities/sororities are often seen as great networking systems. It can be very for beneficial for those looking to get ahead in their career. Some may look at fraternities/sororities as nothing but a group of students who only party, but what these people fail to realize is that most organizations offer a great deal of community service, in fact it's a requirement.

The decision to join or not can be difficult. There are many things to consider when entering a fraternity/sorority. Students should definitely do their research about the organization of their interest. To find out more about a fraternity/sorority, students can go to the specific website of the organization they are interested in, or look out for interest meetings on campus.

Students and Financing

Finances can be hard to manage for college students. Most students begin to accumulate debt while away at school. They don’t have their parents to look over their shoulders and guide them. Some students may come from homes where their parents may not be financially educated, or have accumulated their own mass of debt. This results into students practicing terrible budgeting habits.

Students also become easily fascinated with “fast cash”, or credit cards, without becoming fully aware of all the terms and obligations they succumb to when they sign up for these credit cards. They don’t realize that if they don’t manage the charges they make, one swipe at Aeropostale can land them into financial debt, or even worst, bad credit for a long period of time.

Many students don’t budget their money wisely. They may feel that the idea of budgeting is stupid because they only have but so much money. What they fail to realize is that budgeting, if done wisely, can turn a small lump sum into a large lump sum. It can also make it easier on the student, by allowing them to know what the spending boundaries are. If more students were aware of what their spending boundaries are, they would be able to save more money and stay out of debt.

Below are some money tips for college students from www.getrichslowly.org :

Track your spending. Use a notebook, or use Quicken if you have it. Good records will prevent you from getting overdrawn at the bank or charging more than your credit limit. This habit also allows you to detect spending patterns.

Make a budget. It doesn’t have to be fancy. At the start of the month, estimate how much money you’ll receive and decide where needs to go. Remember: you don’t need to spend it all.
Save your receipts. Put them in a shoebox under your bed if you must, but hold onto them. You’ll need to be able to compare them with statements at the end of the month. And some you’ll need to keep for several years.

Guard your vital stats. Don’t give out your social security number or your credit card info except to known and trusted sources.

Live without a car. Cars are expensive: gas, maintenance, insurance, registration, parking. Stick close to campus. Learn to use mass transit. Find a friend who has a car.
Don’t hang out with big spenders. Some kids have parents with deep pockets. Other kids are well down the road to financial trouble. Hanging out with them can lead you to spend more than you can afford.

Take advantage of campus activities. There’s always something to do. Attend free movie festivals. Pay a few bucks to see the local symphony every month. Support the sports teams. Attend lecture series. Get the most from your student ID!

Spend less than you earn. Don’t earn much? Then don’t spend much. If your spending and income are roughly even, you have two choices: earn more or spend less. When I was in college, I worked as many as four jobs at once. This gave me a lot of spending cash. (Unfortunately, I didn’t do a good job with the spend less part of the equation.)

Be an outstanding employee. Good work habits can pay enormous dividends, leading to recommendations and contacts that you can use after you’re out of school. Several of my classmates turned work-study jobs into launching pads for future careers.

Start your own business. Can you install a hard drive? Can you strip a computer of spyware? Can you perform minor car repairs? Do you have a pickup truck you could use to haul furniture? Are you a passable guitar player? Charge cheap rates and exceed expectations. Word will spread. When you’ve built up a customer base, you can raise your rates a little. This is an awesome way to make money.

Learn to invest. Find a discount broker and begin making regular investments. Sharebuilder is a great choice for college students. It costs only $4 to make a scheduled stock purchase, and you can invest any amount of money, even $20. Don’t obsess over the details yet. You can worry about high returns and low fees later. Right now the most important thing is to develop the investment habit. (Ad: Buy Stocks for $4 at ShareBuilder. ) Ten years from now, you'll thank yourself. If you can find a way to invest $1000 a year for the next ten years, you can set yourself up for life. No joke.

Students and SEX

College is like a breeding ground for students, especially freshmen. Freshmen girls are preyed upon by the upperclassmen. Freshmen boys become so eager and excited by all the mature college women they are surrounded by, that they don’t stop to meet one they want to meet all of them. Hormones are raging on college campuses. However, hormones can cloud rational thinking.

When students are getting hot and heavy, some don’t stop to think about their partner(s) sexual history or health. This is how sexually transmitted infections and viruses are spread. By not being educated properly about these sexual risks or even ignoring what it is known and not taking safety precautions, is how students become prone to the diseases and infections. “Studies show that somewhere between 20 and 25 percent of college students are or have been infected with an STD (collegetips.com).” If students don’t take precautions when having sex, then it’s safe to say that they don’t take care of themselves when they contract STD’s. Therefore, the viruses and infections continue to spread, along with ignorance.

Some Safe Sex Tips:

Get tested every 3-6 months. It can be nerve wracking, scary, or embarrassing, but knowing can put the worries to rest. When having sex, you’re not only responsible for your body but your partner as well. If you suspect you have an STD, the smart thing to do would be to get tested. If tested positive, notify your partner so that he/she can get treatment, and also so it isn’t spread to anyone else. Getting tested early can also prevent symptoms from getting worst. Men can get tested just as female can. Planned Parenthood is a chain of clinics that can be found in almost every state, and city. They provide services for small fees, sometimes for free. For more information go to www.plannedparenthood.com

Wrap it up! Use protection. Ladies if your partner says he has none, you should always have your own. Sure buying condoms can be uncomfortable. But what’s more uncomfortable, having to buy condoms or finding out you have an STD you have to live with for the rest of your life (i.e., Genital Herpes)? Guys, sex without a condom may feel good, but does pissing fire? No, so why risk it? At the end of the day, taking responsibility for your body by putting on the condom makes your more of a man than walking out on an unwanted pregnancy.

Stay monogamous, or limit the amount of partners you have. This could ultimately limit or avoid any complications.

Hopefully, students will begin to take responsibility for their bodies and practice safe sex. Having an STD that remains dormant in the body forever may be something that they think that they can live with, but what about a life threatening STD called HIV/AIDS?