It’s six o’clock…do you know where your boutonnière is?

The semester’s halfway over and it’s that time of year – the time where we transform ourselves for the evening, get all dolled up, maybe splurge on a limo with our friends, enjoy a nice dinner, and then cruise on over to the main event: get ready, get set, welcome to your PROM!!!!!!

Girls: you’ve probably been planning for this night for weeks, if not months, or even years. You have your date, your dress, your do – your counting the days until your big night.

Guys: you probably haven’t spent quite as much time on all the details, so let me break it down into a few small, but vital, things to remember:
• Find out the color of your date’s dress so you can make sure her corsage doesn’t clash. Don’t know what a corsage is? Google it. Believe me, you don’t want to end up in the doghouse over this one. I’ve been told girls hang on to these forever.
• A tux is not something you can go out and rent an hour before showtime. PLAN AHEAD.
• Hate having your picture taken? Get over it.
• Don’t be late. Let me say it again: DON’T BE LATE.

Everybody: Have fun, but not too much fun. You know what I mean. You may feel like this is your first official night out as an adult, but don’t forget, not only are you not an adult yet, real adults are responsible. Don’t make choices that seem like no big deal, but that turn into consequences that affect the rest of your life. Prom night should be a night to remember, not one you wish you could forget. Comprende?

Better go make those dinner reservations and brush up on my bow tie skills. I may need a little help – it’s kind of difficult when you’re all paws.

Woof,

Clyde

Faux Paws of the campus visit—from another perspective

OK...the counselor at my school, someone with experience in this arena, was indeed a college admissions representative…I asked her to give me some advice to share with you about what not to do on a campus visit—just in case you didn’t quite get it from the last musings on the subject☺☺

Here is Ms. Hembree’s take on visit sins:
• Pride: Walking around campus you get the sudden feeling you are better than every person/professor/class that you encounter. There is clearly not enough ivy on those bricks, the student union is outdated, what do you mean the rec center doesn't have a lazy river? Don't get so uppity about yourself that you miss an important opportunity!

• Gluttony: You hit the campus a little too hard! Every meal is “all you can eat” (and boy can you eat). You jam-pack visits to 14 classes into a one-hour session—not the best way to favorably impress a potential professor for next year, is it? And then after hours...you are seen hitting every party on frat row--this will not seem like such a good idea the next day. Actually, it probably won’t seem like a good idea at the time if you just stop for a minute and think about it.

• Envy: It seems everyone on campus got a brand new luxury car as a graduation gift, the "in" backpack is from Louis Vuitton or Prada, the girls all wear Jimmy Choos and the boys wear Armani. And you, you are wearing Chucks and a ratty t-shirt from your favorite band. Don't give in to status symbols and max out the emergency credit card (there is no such thing as a fashion emergency) in order to fit in with the "cool kids." There is a wide range of students on every campus; you will find you place if you give yourself and the campus time.

• Lust: Cute guys or girls playing frisbee on the quad smile at you and are super nice. Don't go to a school for the student "body."

• Anger: Your college visit turns into power struggle between you and your parents—a bad faux paw, a reallllly bad faux paw! Visiting campus while wearing red colored glasses is not the best way to get a good idea of what your next four years will be like. Take a deep breath, urge mom and dad to do the same and have your priority list figured out ahead of time (along with your itinerary)!

• Greed: You've worked hard in high school and now you want it all in college. Don't hog the time of your campus tour guide or the professor whose class you are sitting in on or the student life rep giving a presentation. Your questions will get answered, or you can always send an email or *gasp* snail mail to follow up.

• Sloth: Don't spend your entire visit lounging in the dining hall; don't sleep in until noon (see gluttony above); don't skip visiting classes just because you got invited to a flag football game (see lust); make the most of your visit because it may be the only one you get!

OK—all this talk about what to do and not do has definitely made me hungry—I’m going to go find a good snack.
TTYL8R,

Clyde

In a Tight Space...Can you say closet? Part II

My little pal Luna gave us some great tips on starting off on the right paw with your roommate…let’s talk about a few more tips, because you never know whether your roommate will be a lot like you
or totally different.

They say in real estate it’s all about location, location, location. When living with a roommate, it’s all about communication, communication, communication.

1. Think (and speak) ahead. If you decide to room with someone you’ve never met before, get to know your roommate…before you get to school. Once you have been paired with your roommate, take the first step and e mail him/her, give him/her a call, friend him/her on Facebook. Make the effort to meet the person you’ll be spending the next year with, and it will make move in day and your entire first year that much easier. If you already know your roommate, start discussing room arrangements. Have you got a tv? Maybe he/she can bring a stereo. Start working on these details so you can get a better idea of what you’ll need to be packing up next fall (this is also a great way to determine what to request for graduation presents).

2. Make a contract. I know, I know, it sounds excessive, but it can work. And if you feel ridiculous putting it all in writing, at least have a verbal agreement on situations including the following: your policy on guests, are guests allowed to stay overnight? Are snacks and food to be shared, or do you each keep your own supply? Who cleans what? When does the tv go off at night? Believe me, it’s much easier to start off with these things in place, before you find yourself at semester break wondering how you’ll ever make it through the next four months listening to Michael Buble swoon you to sleep every night, or stepping over Leonard (a.k.a. The Third Wheel) every morning, who somehow has become a permanent fixture on your floor.

3. Speak now or forever hold your peace. Something about your rooming situation bothering you? Speak up! Maybe your roommate spilled his soda all over your laptop, maybe he and his noisy friends woke you up the night before a big exam, maybe he didn’t shower on that weekend camping trip and brought an entire community of fleas back to your room. Don’t let his shortcomings make your insides boil and leave you harboring resentment for nine months. Let him know what’s bothering you, talk about it and settle it. And if you’re not going to talk about it, then LET IT GO.

Transition can be tough, but it comes with the territory of living with someone new. Understand and accept that everything won’t go your way, that there will be hiccups along the road, that it all boils down to a little give and take…and that you can’t forget to COMMUNICATE!

Woof,

Clyde

Visit Faux Paws 2—after the snack ...

Now that I’ve satisfied my palate and I’m resting comfortably,I’ll continue with Ashley’s advice—what not to do when visiting a college! (Ashley Z. Frohock, Assistant Director of Admission,Birmingham-Southern College)

4. Don't let your parents ask all the questions. It is going to be your college and you need to take ownership of the visit process.

5. Don't show up without any questions or without an idea of what you want to get out of the visit. See #4.

6. Don't try to be someone you aren't - admission staff want to know who you are and what you will bring, both in and out of the classroom, to the campus setting.

7. Don't ask at the last minute to spend the night, attend a class, meet with a professor, etc. These are all great things to do and should be planned in advance for the best visit.

8. Don't leave without getting your admission counselor's business card. You'll want to keep that contact information for later.

9. Don't forget to make notes while you are there and afterward. After a few college visits, they can start to look and sound the same. Keeping notes helps you make sure that you remember what you liked and what you didn't like about each place.

10. Don't get so overwhelmed that you don't enjoy the process. Take it seriously, but have fun too.


Think I’ll go talk over these faux paws with my school counselor!

Woof,

Clyde

In a Tight Space... Can you say closet?

So, if you are a graduating senior, we’ve discussed roommates, and researching options for meals, but now it’s time to think about them together…are you going to share those fries with your roomie?

Picture yourself five months from now. The room in your residence hall is no bigger (and probably even smaller) than the room you have all to yourself right now. Have you ever even shared a room? Add to that room an extra bed, an extra desk, an extra dresser, possibly a sink and a mini-fridge…you’re probably wondering where your FEET are going to go, much less all of your stuff! Whooooaaaaa…wait a minute – it won’t be just YOUR stuff you’re cramming in – half of that leftover space belongs to the person you’ll be spending the next two semesters (or more) with.

Sound like a rrrrruff set-up? It doesn’t have to be. I talked to my pal Luna and she’s got a great plan worked out for herself and her roommate next year. Here’s what she suggests for a successful situation in a small space:

1. First and foremost, make sure YOU—not a parent—completes the housing questionnaire!

2. Once you’ve moved in, your top priority? BE RESPECTFUL! Remember that it’s just as hard for your roommate to adjust to your quirks and behaviors as it is for you to adjust to his. Remember the Golden Rule, and you’re off to a great start.

3. Don’t BORROW your roommate’s things without permission! What if you reached for your lucky t-shirt before heading off to an exam, only to find out he had helped himself to it that morning? Stay out of his Pringles can (or backpack, or closet, or desk drawer) unless you’ve asked him first.

4. Keep your roommate’s private business to yourself! In a small space, you’re more than likely going to overhear your roommate’s phone calls, conversations, and you may even happen upon that exam he failed. Keep it in the room!! It could just as easily be you who accidentally leaves a private e-mail up on your laptop while you step away. Do you want him sharing that information when he inadvertently glances at your screen?

4. Keep it CLEAN! Pick up after yourself! Your laundry and your language should be kept in check – ESPECIALLY in the beginning. It goes back to respect. Once you’ve had a chance to get to know each other and it turns out that a foul mouth and foul clothes hamper are two things you have in common – then you’ll have a better idea of your boundaries…although I wouldn’t anticipate many guests dropping by under either circumstance.

5. Quiet TRUMPS Noise!!! What do I mean? Your room is going to be your haven for many activities – tv-watching, Internet-surfing, snacking, and most importantly, SLEEPING and STUDYING! Now, you may want to celebrate the exam you just aced by cranking up Beyonce’s latest on your stereo and doing the happy dance, but if your roommate’s still studying (or napping) take your celebration somewhere else for a while.

Luna’s got even more great tips I’ll share with you later.

Woof,

Clyde

Faux Paws of the campus visit.

Remember that while the whole point of a college visit is to get a true feel of what it is like to be a student on campus, YOU ARE A GUEST OF THE SCHOOL. Just as the school is making an impression on you, you are making paw prints on the memory banks of every single person you come into contact with. Your enrollment counselor, your tour guide, the professor of a class you visit, the current students...make an impact that leaves them all hoping to see you again in the fall, not asking how soon will this character leave campus! Just because you see a student show up to class in his pajamas and snooze through the lecture does not mean you are at liberty to do the same on your visit. Dressing like an already enrolled student is not the kind of paw print you want to leave!

Remember—this is about assessing the fit between you and the college. You have spent the past few months, make that the past few YEARS, make that your entire life since kindergarten, making the best grades you can, participating in numerous leadership activities, lettering in your high school sports, all so you can have a perfectly polished and shining background on which to base your college applications. You should be very proud of what you've accomplished. However, you do not need to tell everyone you meet on campus how wonderful you are. The admissions office may have already seen your application, maybe the professors have been told of your essay wins and your stellar test scores, but I assure you that the other current students really, REALLY, don't want to hear about the speech you gave to your hometown's Rotary Club in which you were given a standing ovation. This is not the time to brag, this is the time to find out if your strengths are a good fit for this environment. Do it, but do it in a non-grandiose fashion.

So . . . everybody . . . I mean everybody . . . tells you what to do while you are on a campus visit. There are books written on the subject. But, you can make some humungous mistakes while you are on campus too. My friend, the Assistant Director of Admission at Birmingham Southern College, Ashley Frohock, was willing to share some of her caveats for campus visitors:


1. Don't show up late to your appointment. (But, don't show up too early either. Five minutes early is good, fifty minutes early is not.)

2. Don't show up without making an appointment. The best campus visits require planning.

3. Don't assume everyone on campus is like your tour guide. Talk to other students and faculty - in the dining hall, on the sidewalk, in the library - you'll learn more about a place when you hear from different perspectives.

Hmmm…food for thought—speaking of food , I think I’ll paws, sneak through this door and go find a snack—more on this list next week!

Woof,
Clyde

What’s Cookin’? Meal Plan Options and Pitfalls

So, it’s time to discuss one of my favorite topics – FOOD! In just a few months, if you’re moving away from home, you’re not going to get to take advantage of those home-cooked meals anymore…at least not on a daily basis. And since the likelihood of your throwing together a meal in the kitchen of your residence hall isn’t likely (unless you’re in culinary school, that is), you’ll probably be spending a lot of time hanging around your dining hall. Now’s the time to check out meal plans. Mmmmm, my mouth is watering already...

The first step? Find out what kind of plans your college offers, and in some instances requires, and think about your own eating habits to pick the one that’s right for you. Sound easy? It can be, as long as you are honest about how (and how MUCH) and when you really eat. Some plans offer a set number of meals per semester, which means you show up for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and eat as much as you want. Sounds good, right? But are you really going to get up every morning to eat before class, or would you be just as content with a PopTart you can store in your room? And what is your class schedule like? Do you have a 4-hour studio class in the middle of the day that would prevent you from making it over to the dining hall for lunch? Be realistic so you don’t wind up at the end of the semester with a lot of paid for, but uneaten, food. If there’s one thing worse than wasted food, it’s wasted MONEY spent on food. See if your school allows roll-over dining dollars—some places do. Other plans offer an option in which you pay for each meal on a pre-paid debit card until your balance has run out. Again, think about how much you REALLY eat and whether or not your balance will last until the end of the semester.

Secondly, know the dates the plans start and end AND research the hours of your dining hall and other dining venues. Getting to school a week early to move in and meet your roommate? What are you gonna do when your meal plan doesn’t start for another seven days? Plan on eating breakfast when you wake up every morning (ahem, every noon hour) to get to your afternoon classes? The dining staff just might turn that waffle iron off before you get there, buddy. It’s not like home where you can pop down to your kitchen in the middle of the night for slice of cold pizza or a bowl of ice cream (although some campuses do offer 24-hour coffee and snack bars).

Thirdly, find out what’s on the menu! Do you have a food allergy or other type of dietary restriction? Find out if dining services offers options and substitutions. Can’t bear the thought of eating in the cafeteria every day? See if your plans include meals from other on-campus joints that can offer everything from burgers and pizza to sushi and smoothies.

Lastly, prepare for the unexpected. What happens if you run up the balance on your meal card two months into the semester? What if your living arrangements change mid-semester and you wind up in an apartment where you decide to buy your own groceries, or you move into a fraternity house that has its own meal plan? Find out if you are bound to the meal plan you paid for, or if there is any penalty for canceling it.

Better go think about my own options...all-u-can-eat buffet??? My nose knows where to find it.

Woof,
Clyde

Don’t just rely on me–ask the experts about college visits!

Pointers from the pros can be a big help. Check out Making It Count’s college visit checklist. They also have a big list of tough questions to ask on campus visits.

And, believe it or not, colleges have a vested interest in you landing at a place that is a good match for you. They want satisfied students. Here is my friend Ashley Frohock, Assistant Director of Admission, Birmingham Southern College telling me why a campus visit is important.


Next time she is going to share some campus visit no-nos with me and I’ll pass them on to you.


Woof,
Clyde

Personal Space Maze

For those of you graduating in the spring, March can be an exciting, exhausting, and exasperating month. Aside from the fact you’re getting closer and closer to graduation and all the celebration and hooplah that brings, you’re starting to hear back from the colleges you’ve applied to. And when that acceptance letter arrives, the next BIG question surfaces: WHO ARE YOU GOING TO ROOM WITH?????

That’s right, as you consider the classes you’ll register for, the organizations you’ll join, the major you’ll eventually declare, you need to determine just where you will call home and who you’ll be sharing all of these experiences with…or…you might even ponder the possibility of flying solo in your living space.

While the answer MIGHT seem easily apparent (of course I’ll room with my best friend…), take some time to weigh your options before jumping to what you think is the obvious choice. While sharing a 10x10 space with your nearest and dearest high school friend may seem fun at first, think about your lifestyle…think about your friend’s lifestyle. Is your early-to-bed, early-to-rise routine really compatible with your potential roommate’s pattern snoring the afternoons away and staying up until 3am to study?

Maybe you’re considering the potluck route. (I’m partial to potluck meals, but an evening meal is waaaaaaaaaaaaay different than a 24/7, entire school year roommate.) While rooming with someone from a completely different background, whose hometown is on the other end of the country (or even the opposite side of the globe), may initially seem daunting, the guys in the residence hall department really know what they’re doing. They spend a lot of time matching up people with similar behaviors, schedules and interests. And while the person you’re assigned as a roommate may not turn out to be the one you share your deepest and darkest secrets with, wouldn’t it be nice to know you won’t have to argue over the remote because you’re both religious viewers of “The Office” every Thursday night? Or that you’ll never have to worry about a 6 am alarm, because neither of you would ever THINK about scheduling a class before noon? On a 24/7 basis, little things may matter far more than you think.

And then there’s the option of choosing to NOT have a roommate. You may think you’d do better to have a room all to yourself so you can do your own thing on your own time. My friends have advised me of the following, though, when you’re a freshman (i.e. at the bottom of the totem pole) in a brand new world where you may be only one of 50,000 faces crossing the quad every day, it helps to have a buddy to help you feel not so quite alone. It can help to come back to a familiar face after class, especially when you’re just getting acclimated to campus. And who knows? This person may turn out to be a lifelong friend…

Bottom line: think about your habits, behaviors and schedule. How adaptable and flexible are you? Would you go ballistic if you opened the door to find 3-day old pizza boxes on the floor and an unidentified smell coming from your roommate’s laundry hamper? Do you have to have the TV on to fall asleep? Do you have to leave the light on to fall asleep?

Before I go on and on, never ever—I mean—NEVER EVER let your parents fill out your roommate questionnaire for you—it could be ugly, I mean realllllllly ugly.

I better go work on my own list of preferences and sniff out my options...
then I can get to the really serious stuff—meal plans!

Woof,

Clyde

What to do? What to do? College visit tips . . . Part 2

• Talk to everyone you can on campus–not just the tour guides. Ask questions in the library. Are people helpful? Ask students who aren’t tour guides why they picked this school, what they like/dislike about it, and if they would choose this school again if they had to do it all over again. Ask about the worst and best things about campus life. What is the warmest/coldest/rainiest it gets here? My counselor recently visited a campus where it had been RAINY . . . passing a group of enrolled students, one of the guys yelled: “Don’t come to school here–it rains every day!” Realize that students can be frustrated with the weather. Cold and rain get old. Heat and humidity do too. Make sure to get a realistic view of campus life. It’s easy to get that fenced in feeling like my friend Dublin—or even, like Molly, feel like you are completely surrounded by snow,
if you aren’t accustomed to living in the tundra! By the way, life generally keeps right on going—classes and all, if you attend a school that regularly has snow!

• Talking to everyone means seeking out info from the adults on campus who are resources to you: admissions, financial aid/scholarships, residence life, career planning and placement. While learning is what you go to college for, you do have to get out and get a job one day…that is also a major reason you’re going to college, after all.

• Visit the student center–read the bulletin boards. What is going on?

• Ask students what life is like on campus on the weekends.

• If you are a senior returning for a visit, it is possible that you are on campus for an admitted student day–check out all those students who really could be in class with you next year–what kind of vibes are you getting?

• Remember the DANGER ZONE! Get your parents to tell you when you can make a visit and then YOU, yes Y O U, make all the arrangements for the visit with the admissions office. The more practice you get taking care of these things, the better. Your parents aren’t going to be there next year to contest a grade for you or to speak with your R.A. about roommate issues.

Woof,

Clyde