College Tidbits Blog

My name is Phyllis Simington and I am a Phoenix. This means that I am a student at the University of Phoenix. I am an online student there which means I do my class work on my computer.

I started classes on November 27, 2007 and I will earn my Master’s Degree in Psychology on July 6, 2009. I will march in the spring commencement in downtown Chicago in mid June. I am able to march in the city because University of Phoenix has schools all over the country.

It has been interesting attending online classes; I have come in contact with people from all over. We have to work with a team for some assignments in every class I was on a team with a woman from Japan and one from Hawaii. I had a class with a man from Africa last six weeks.

The classes are six weeks long. The week begins on Tuesday and ends on the following Monday. We have two daily questions that we have to write answers to in 200 to 300 word papers and one is due on one day and the other on another. We are then to respond to our classmates answers at least four days out of the seven at least twice a day or two people a day.

Some professors require three times a day. There are also research papers to be written of 1,050 to 1,500 words long. Our teams have to work together to do projects which usually includes doing a PowerPoint for one assignment. There is also much reading; three to four chapters a week and four to five articles also.

This has been a wonderful experience for me.

Today’s Guest Blogger: Charles Sumpter, Jr. 

I went on a term abroad to China in my sophmore year in college.

I do not know about all of you, but most students at my school didn’t go on a term abroad until at least their senior year, so I was jumping the gun. My school boasted about the amount of students who went abroad and I was just happy to be represented in such a high statistic.

I went to Shanghai, China for my term abroad, and that experience quite frankly has changed my life.

Before I went to China, I had only taken one year of Mandarin. I was blown away by the number of people who did not speak any English. However, I do not regret that experience at all because it really put my Mandarin to the test, and made it stronger. I had to order food, get around and take my classes all in Mandarin; so in a sense I was really immersed in the culture.

My senior thesis dealth with nuclear proliferation between the U.S. and China and that was influenced by my term abroad experience. My thesis later became my first book, State of Existence, which will be released on November 22. So all in all, my term abroad experience has in fact changed my life, 4 years later.

I would love to go back to China one day and see just how much has changed since I last been there.

I will tell everyone who is considering going abroad to do it. Do not let anything stand in your way, whether it is finances, or just scared of going away from home. There are ways around that and I am certainly glad I did it when I did.

When I went away, the U.S. was in the middle of the Presidential elections. Actually, I remeber sitting in a hotel in Beijing on election night watching the numbers as they came in. I can also remember walking down the street at night and people asking me how could Americans vote for Bush again.

I did not know what to say, I tried my best to explain, but certain things are uniquely American and I had a hard time getting through to many.

As I said before, anyone out there please seriously consider going abroad, it changed my life and it will change yours.

Charles A. Sumpter Jr. a native of New York City recently completed his undergraduate degree at Union College in Schenectady, New York while also taking credits at American University in Washington, DC.

He graduated with an interdepartmental degree in Political Science and Modern Languages (Mandarin).

During his undergraduate experience, Sumpter traveled to china and studied at Fudan University in Shanghai.  He now calls Washington, DC his home and works as a Congressional Affairs Analyst.

You can contact Charles by visiting his blog: A Leader in the Making

Guest Blogger: Diana Keuilian

Weight loss is a hot topic among college students today, especially considering the fact that most college freshmen gain half a pound every week!

Since the schedule of college students is almost always hectic, weight loss efforts are not a priority.

With so little extra time it is impractical to join the latest diet fad or commit to sweating in the gym for hours at a time. Are all college students destined to grow outward with each passing year, or is there a simple way for them to reclaim a healthy figure?

If you struggle with your own battle of the bulge, read on for five sure-fire ways to drop a few of those unwanted pounds, and more importantly learn how you can prevent packing them in the first place!

Also Worth a Read:  College Weight Gain – Staying Fit While in School