The semester has been in full swing for a while now. You’ve long since kissed the summer days of relaxation away in an exchange for long busy school days, and an even busier social calender. You’ve become overwhelmed and your daily mantra is that there is just not enough hours in the day. Something has got to give and most times that means replacing your once healthy habits with some not-so-good ones.

Now more than ever is when you could probably use a boost to make it through the semester. Luckily there are a couple of things that could pick you back up from those bad habits that you’ve begun to develop and get you back on track.

No more relying on energy drinks and caffeine to get you through the week. No more late night snacking or high-sugar/high-fat fast food alternatives, and no more long nights that just turn into lazy mornings. Remember to use some simple healthy tips and educate yourself on many of the helpful resources available at your school!

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Dr. Daniel P. Larson is President of Cayuga Community College, with campuses in Auburn and Fulton, N.Y.

For some, it may be the smell of burning vehicles. For others, it may be unexpected loud noises. Everyone at a recent meeting of the new Veterans Club on the Auburn campus shared at least one trigger that transported them back to traumatic moments during their service in the U.S. military.  Post-traumatic stress syndrome and traumatic brain injuries, activating housing, healthcare, and educational benefits, and difficulty transitioning into civilian life are just some challenges faced by our growing numbers of student veterans. These students have bonded together to give voice to their unique concerns, and
action is being taken for them.

Thanks in large part to the efforts of our veteran students, the College is instituting programs, policies, and systems that follow guidelines outlined by the American Council on Education to become more veteran friendly. In the past year, our new Veterans Working Group, comprised of faculty, staff, and students, is developing short-term, low resource improvements to student-veteran experiences. The group is making recommendations for long-term strategies based on research, review of peer institutions, and best practices. The group took the lead in developing the Veteran Regional Consortium that pulls together academic institutions from Central and Northern New York, Fort Drum, federal, state, county, and local governments, and community-based organizations. The group has devised an ambitious agenda of developing strong networks that will advocate for, reach out to, and share information and resources with veterans.

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November 3, 2012 at 2:00am marked the end of daylight savings, and we all know what that means – 1 more hour of sleep in the morning. Not only are you getting that one more much needed hour of sleep, but you have just put midterms behind you. No more late night study sessions means you can join the world again, if only you didn’t have a group assignment, essay, and two quizzes to study for already.

It is a puzzling phenomenon that happens to college students every semester right around this time – the mid-semester slump. The time when all the promises you made to yourself about being an exemplary student go out the window as the thought of having fun renders you incapable of being productive. But it’s time to break the cycle! With only three weeks to Thanksgiving, and then two more until finals, the end of the semester is so close you could smell the fresh pine needles, and home-cooked holiday meals.
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