Pets aren’t always just fun and games, you have to feed it, take care of it, and maybe even potty train. That’s why if you got a pet for the holidays, I urge you to take care of it.

Pets require attention, love, and lots of work. Don’t give someone a pet if they won’t take care of it.

Also, if you received a pet, make sure you do proper research on how to take care of your new pet. For example, many rabbits end up in homes with poor conditions around Easter due to people adopting them without knowing how to take care of them.

Some pets also need special requirements that take time to prepare; for example, to adopt a bearded dragon you have to make sure your tank is at the proper temperature, so don’t spring a new pet on someone randomly.

Don’t gift a pet to someone who is usually busy, as pets need to be taken care of, and make sure you don’t gift someone a pet who is low on money who won’t be able to properly afford their pet.

While the number of returned gift pets has gone down, it is still something that should be thought about and not a sudden decision.

Does this person want a pet? Can this person properly take care of the pet? Are two questions you should ask before gifting a pet to someone.

But regardless, whenever a holiday comes around, I hope you have a great one!

By: Maggie Alarcon

Finals are around the corner, so you should take this chance that it’s only a bit past mid-quarter to catch up on any missing work and give it your best. Try to take this time as an opportunity to talk to your teachers about your grades if you haven’t already. Or even arrange a time with your teachers to do makeups for a test, projects etc.

I highly recommend to communicate with those around you more, it doesn’t always have just be your teacher, to get the help you need in any class that you don’t understand or need more guidance in. Check if there’s any tutoring sessions going on in school. Another way you can improve your grades during mid-quarter is asking your friends for help as well.

If you are having a test coming up, or any big project that is happening soon, make sure to stay focused and study really hard to do well, or to bring your grades up, especially if they are not looking the best. Study at least an hour or two.

Speak up also, and ask for help if that’s better for you. Don’t just stay quiet and wait until the last minute to try to get help from your teachers. Not all will help you out last minute.

Summer school is not very fun, and I suggest you get to work and don’t procrastinate and leave work to do at the last minute. It will just get harder if you do, and it will become a habit.

Lastly, another good idea that I can suggest is asking an adult, or someone you know you can count on, to check on you and your process being made, like your grades, and to keep pushing you to keep going and motivate you.

I hope these suggestions were helpful!

Are you nervous for college? Worried about getting lost, or even off track? Here are ten useful tips to keep you on track and organized in your college years!

1. Go to all orientations. There are a lot of campus tours, even though they might be boring, you should go to all of them. The faster you learn your way around campus, the better you’ll feel, and the better prepared you’ll be when you have to get around campus.

2. Get to know your roommate and others in your residence hall. The people you live with, most of whom you are going through similar experiences and emotions, are your main safety net.

3. Get organized. In high school, the teachers tended to lead you through all of your homework and due dates. In college, the professors post the assignments, often for the entire semester, and expect you to be prepared. Buy an organizer, use an app, or get a big wall calendar, whatever it takes for you to know when assignments are due.

4. Find the ideal place for you to study. It may be your dorm room or a cozy corner of the library, but find a place that works best for you to get your work done. Try to avoid as many distractions as possible.

5. Go to class. It may be tempting to sleep in when you have to get up early. Avoid the temptation. Besides learning the material by attending classes, you’ll also receive vital information from the professors about what to expect on tests, changes in due dates, and more.

6. Become an expert on course requirements and due dates. Professors spend hours and hours preparing course syllabi and calendars so that you will know exactly what is expected of you, and when. One of the lamest excuses a student can give a professor: “I didn’t know it was due today.”

7. Meet with your professors. There are only upsides to getting to know your professors, especially if later in the semester you run into some issues. Professors schedule office hours for the purpose of meeting with students, take advantage of that time.

8. Get to know your academic adviser. This is the person who will help you with course conflicts, adding or dropping courses, scheduling of classes for future semesters, and deciding on majors and minors. This person is a key resource for you, and should be the person you turn to with any academic issues or conflicts. And don’t be afraid of requesting another adviser if you don’t click with the one first assigned to you.

9. Seek a balance. College life is a mixture of social and academic happenings. Don’t tip the balance too far in either direction. Plan it out so you can manage both at a good balance that works for you.

10. Get involved on campus. A big problem for a lot of new students is a combination of homesickness and a feeling of not quite belonging. Consider joining a group, student organization, club, sorority/fraternity, or sports team. You’ll make new friends, learn new skills, and feel more connected to your school.

Want to add a touch of green to a room? Here are some plants that you can easily grow indoors.

Air Plants-

Air plants are cute, simple, and mess free! Air plants are not grown in soil, and can be placed in any open container. That means that they can easily decorate any surface in any container! They are most commonly kept in glass terrariums. An air lantern can be placed directly on the container, or you can add rocks on the bottom of the container.

Your air plant should be watered every two weeks, and lightly misted one week after watering. Water your air plant by placing it in room temperature water. Let it soak for 5-10 minutes, then allow it to sit upside down to get rid of excess water. It should be dry in less than three hours. Never skip this step! Allowing your plant to air out after watering prevents rot.

Pineapple Plants-

Pineapple plants require a bit more work at first, but once you plant them they are very easy to care for. And if you like eating pineapple, you’re in luck! To get this plant, twist the top leaves off of a pineapple and peel back some of the fruit from the bottom to reveal some of the tiny roots.

Soak your little plant in a shallow bowl of water until you begin to see the roots develop. When soaking your pineapple plant, try to keep the water shallow so that the leaves do not get soaked. Just like with the air plants, soaking the leaves can cause them to rot.

Once the roots have developed, plant your pineapple plant in a pot. Water your plant whenever the soil dries. Your pineapple plant can be kept outside during the summer, but should be kept inside for the rest of the year.

Succulents and Cacti-

Succulents and cacti are beautiful plants that have many subspecies. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Succulents either come planted in a disposable plastic pot or already planted in a permanent pot. If they come in a plastic pot, replant it into a cute pot of your choice, making sure to add any extra solid you may need to fill the space.

Your succulents should be kept in a sunny place, and watered when the soil is dry. Be extra careful not to overwater your succulent- they are quite sensitive and adapted to live in environments with little water.

It’s that time of year, the flu is spreading and I bet you don’t want it. Here are some tips to help you prevent getting sick this year.

Wash your hands

“No matter what line of work you’re in, if you come in contact with people who are contagious, you have to wash your hands over and over,” says Alan Pocinki, MD. Pocinki practices internal medicine at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington, DC.

It sounds so simple, but soap and water are the constant companions of doctors and nurses. To completely get rid of viruses from your skin, you need to scrub hard for 20 seconds or more. A good way to time yourself is to sing “Happy Birthday” twice while scrubbing the backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your nails. It doesn’t matter if the water’s hot or cold — the very act of scrubbing will physically remove the germs.

Keep your surroundings clean
Arlington, VA, massage therapist Amanda Long asks clients to stay home if they feel bad. But to be safe, she sanitizes doorknobs and light switches between sessions. It’s a practice she swears by.

“My hyper-vigilance has paid off,” Long says. “I was sick more often when I worked in an office, where people pawed into shared candy dishes and generally just mingled in a crowded space without much attention to germs. Now that I don’t have sick days, I don’t get paid if I don’t work. And I know my job is to heal, not pass on a cold or the flu.”

Avoid getting close to sick people
Don’t shake their hands or get too close where they can cough on you, because chances are you could get sick from that.

Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer
If you can’t get alcohol-based hand sanitizers just use soap and water. Sanitizer can kill cold and flu germs quicker and it’s more efficient.

Keep up a healthy lifestyle
“It’s important to look after your own health,” says Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, an internal medicine and infectious disease specialist in Lexington, KY. “Do all the things we all should be doing on a daily basis anyway,” Hoven says. “Get adequate rest — which people underestimate — get good nutrition, don’t smoke, and keep your allergies controlled, because if they’re out of control, then your upper respiratory tree is already inflamed, which sets it up to more easily acquire a virus.”

The holidays can be crazy- but don’t worry! These life hacks will help your holidays go right, and add some extra pizzazz!

#1- Holiday light storage

Sick of tangled lights? All you need to store them right is some clothing hangers. When you’re done with your lights for the season, simply wrap them on the hanger and hang them in the closet until next year.

#2- Tree sap remover

When handling a real tree, things can get pretty sticky. If you get tree sap on your hands, you can actually use toothpaste to remove it. Minty!

#3- Fluff up your fake tree

Alternatively, you can also use green tinsel to fill out your fake tree. If live greenery isn’t your thing, and your fake tree isn’t up to par, grab some green tinsel and wrap it around the inside of your artificial tree to make it a little more bushy.

#4- Gift card balance

If you’ve ever received a gift card as a present, you know that it can be a struggle trying to keep track of how much money is left on it. To fix this problem, just put a file label sticker on the gift card (not over the barcode!) and write the amount left on the card in pencil. That way, you can erase the pencil whenever you use the gift card.

#5- Wrapping paper scraps

Got small wrapping paper pieces? Instead of trying to wrap them all back on the big roll, store small bits of wrapping paper on an old toilet paper roll to keep them organized.

#6- Gift wrapping pro

This last hack is super easy, but will make your gifts look professionally wrapped. Instead of using normal tape to wrap your gifts, use double-sided tape. It will make the presents look seamless!

By: Maggie Alarcon

Getting ready for the long winter, and adjusting to it, can be hard. That’s why you should prepare yourself. Here are a few tips to stay warm.

Dress appropriately:

Layer up, although you might think that big winter jumpers are the way to go, wearing layers of thin clothes will keep you warmer as they trap body heat. Another simple thing you can do is wear gloves and hats and scarfs. Don’t leave the house without being all covered up.

Drink hot drinks:

Drinks like coffee, hot chocolate, and hot tea will also help keep you warm, especially if you are outside at an event or walking. You want be drinking something hot. Clothing only helps trap the heat your body produces and that is what keeps you warm.

Anytime you get cold, the single best strategy for rewarming is to start moving or increase your pace. Just be prepared and always check the weather before going out.

It happens to every writer. It’s inevitable. Your thoughts have turned to mush, you don’t have a creative bone left in your body, and you have nothing to do about it.

Read this article if you need ways to overcome writer’s block!

Go for a walk

Going for a walk will help your brain to take a break from thinking, and it will relax you. Going for a walk will also help with your creatively, for nature is so complex and will help you think about things to write about by simply looking at the world around you.

Change your environment

Maybe move from a closed room to a more open room, it really will change your mood. By moving somewhere else to write it could give you different ideas from looking at the things around you.

Brainstorm ideas with bullet points

This will help you to get rid of the mad ideas, by crossing them off. This will also help you to really think and hopefully give you something good to write about.

Create a routine

Many famous writers have daily routines to summon the Muse. This will help your train of thoughts flow.

Call an old friend

Calling an old friend could bring back so many memories, that you’ve lost, that could be things to write something about.

Listen to music

Listening to music is really effective because its so creative. This could get your mind flowing and you could maybe even write about a certain song.