Photo from Eikongraphia

If your reading this chances are you’re in college or maybe just finishing High School, good for you, because you’ve stumbled upon an academic gold mine. As a successful student (3.5+ cumulative GPA) I’ve been practicing these skills since I entered college. Within this list there are a few skills that are as simple as selecting the right seat others need to consciously be used, while others require going out of your way to build relationships. So, without farther ado, here we go.

Imagine this is your first day in class, and you know nothing about the subject, Microeconomics of Latin American countries under dictatorships, but it’s required for your major and you’re not interested so you think you’ll just fake it for four months and collect your c. You could, or you could collect your b or a depending on well you study and apply these tips. First, sit in the T. The T is a magical area of each class that comprises the first couple of rows, depending on the size of the room, and the 1-3 rows running down the direct middle of the room for approximately 5-6 rows, again depending on the size of the room or lecture hall.

The beauty of the T is you’re seen by the Professor immediately. This is important because they build memory of students based on the place you sit. Sitting closer implies you’re there to learn and contribute. Sitting in the T also forces you to contribute because the Professor expects you to, improving your public speaking skills a bit. The most important part of the T and being forced to contribute is the relationship. The relationship between student and teacher is powerful; despite what they tell you, they don’t teach for the money (maybe the benefits), they genuinely want you to succeed, and the T helps convince them of the students that want to succeed too.

You will notice, or you may have already, that not many of your classmates say a thing during class, unless specifically called upon to do so. This may be due to insecurity with their ability to answer a question, or a fear of rejection of wrong. This is exactly what you want to avoid. Speaking up, even if wrong, lets the professor know you are actively engaging in the learning process, gaining their respect. If you provide the right answer, even better; you’re establishing yourself as a leader in the class. Leading a class is not necessarily about helping to perform tasks, or becoming the teachers pet, but being the person the teacher looks to to answer a question (when you get to the point that the professor passes your raised hand in favor of someone else, especially if no ones hand is raised, you’ve arrived).

If after these tips, you’re still not on board or still too intimidated, rest easy, there is one action that anyone and everyone should take advantage of, office hours. Office hours are God’s gift to students everywhere. If you couldn’t or didn’t want a seat in the T, or don’t like raising your hand in class, using office hours to build a relationship with a professor is a great opportunity to help the professor get to know you and ultimately remember you.

Most importantly, office hours give you a chance to refine your skills in a given subject, building academic ability in office hours allows for and gives confidence to raise a hand in class or sit closer to the front. Remember, even though office hours are a great way to get help on a tough homework problem, showing your professors you want to succeed and give a damn about your future strikes a chord.

More on class presentations, writing papers, and extracurricular activities later!!!

Disclaimer: The following tips are for students who are having a challenging time with class and finding their stride. I’m truly fond of school and the following actions are not done by me to curry favor with faculty, they come naturally from wanting to learn. I truly enjoy my professors expertise and their willingness to share it. Ultimately, it is up to the student to succeed, these tips will give you the basics, and with luck they will reveal what can be achieved when truly stimulated to learn.

After reading Lifehacker’s piece on stocking your bar for $100, I figured I’d put in my two cents; except with a more specific goal. The focus of this list is a college party, nothing too large, 20-25 people. College parties are about a couple of things, getting drunk (hopefully you aren’t driving) and having fun. Usually these two go hand in hand. Variety of alcohol at a college party isn’t very important, quality isn’t even that important. You don’t want to drink the best (you’re broke college students) but you don’t want to drink the worst (you’re smart enough to get into college).

*Note: Prices reflect 1.75L

Essentials:

Rum: $18-21 (Captain Morgan, Sailor Jerry’s, Bacardi)

Vodka: $22-25 (Stockholm Krystal, SKYY, Iceberg)

Tequila: $22-50+ (Milagro, Herradura, 1800)

Beer is almost always the most basic ingredient of your bar/fridge. There are two types of beer though and you want both for a party. The first is beer you play with. You need this beer because it’s the cheapest you can find and hopefully tastes decent and when your playing your 7th or 8th game of beer pong; wasting a $3 of beer is wrong. You need sipping beer, the beer you enjoy for it’s taste when you aren’t playing drinking games. This beer satisfies your personal tastes, and is a reflection of you, choose wisely.

Drinking Game Beer: $13-23 per 30pk (Keystone, Coors Light, Bud Light)

Sipping Beer: $7-9 per 6pk (Quilmes, Dos Equis, Sierra Nevada)

You’ll also need some mixes and soda to make something other then shots, for variety’s sake.

Coke: $2 per 2L

Mixes: $3-5 (Margarita, Sweet and Sour, Triple Sec, etc)

There you have it. For under $100, you now can properly stock your bar for just about any party you may have. The only sticking point on this list is the tequila. For whatever reason, everyone I’ve come across, (especially girls) have a visceral hatred for tequila. So, you may be able to add some more rum or vodka in it’s place if you and your friends share the same opinion as the people I know. But that’s a topic for another post.

*Note: All Prices are from Bevmo.com on 08/15/09

UPDATE: What would you spend your$100 on?

Your first instinct is to flee, but to where; you on the second, third or even the fourth floor and the there’s no ledge to use to escape lower. You hear more shots and now screams as the gunman or gunmen go from class to class shooting, wounding and maybe even killing. Then you remember that you’re armed. Or are you? Unless you attend college in Utah, you may as well flip a coin on your chances of living, dying or being wounded.

The scenario continues like this. You live in Utah, and the gunman enters you class room attempting to fire on you or your classmates you can put him down. The story ends here. There will be reports and statements to fill out for sure, and the NRA may even pick up the tab for the rest of your tuition (if only).

The alternate scenario ends a little differently. Now you’re a student Illinois. A state with unconscionably restrictive concealed carry laws. With the same flight or fight options, except you don’t have a weapon. You can’t leave because your too high, the gunman is blocking the door. Within minutes 3 dozen shots are fired and you, your friends and the TA are in shock, wounded or dead.

This scenario is the most common example of what happens when the federal and state government tell us that they will be our protectors. Now, it’s not all their fault, we share some blame for this too. We are not telling our congressmen and women or our senators that we demand the return of the ability to protect ourselves. Time after time, shooting after shooting.

Talking heads tell us that we need more gun control, more “Gun Free Zones”. The ironic thing about these statements is that only law abiding citizens, and in this case students, listen to them anyway. The Trench Coat Mafias (Columbine) and Seung-Hui Cho’s (Virginia Tech) of the world don’t give a damn about silly laws that make what they intend to do easier. Obviously they didn’t stop the Gun Free Zone signs, but the law abiding students who did and left their weapons in their cars paid the price for our inaction.

Whether you agree with the premise of guns on campus or not is beside the point. The question you must ask yourself is whether you will allow the most sacred Right in the history of man, the ability to defend yourself, to be trampled on in the name of assumed security at the expense of your life. Secondly, for those of you who believe so wholeheartedly in the rights to free speech, a free press and the freedom to assemble enshrined in the 1^st Amendment, you must ask yourself what gives you those The only thing preventing those rights from being infringed upon anymore is the 2^nd Amendments guarantee that you can personally defend yourself against attack by an increasingly oppressive government.

I’ve saved the good news for last. Eleven states are considering legislation to restore to students who are lawfully permitted the right to carry concealed handguns on their campuses. With your help, more may follow. What do you think about this issue?

Background

There are two forms of Beer Pong: The first is similar to Ping Pong (Table Tennis) in that you use paddles to try and “sink” a ping pong ball into a cup. The second being the player throws the ping pong ball into a cup. The WSBP utilizes the throwing format. A regulation table is 2′W x 8′L x 27.5”H. And any star rating of ping pong ball may be used. The standard cup is the red party cup. Normal cup arrangement is a pyramid of 4,3,2,1; with two beers being equally distributed between them (depending on your personal preferences, and availability of beer , more or less may be used). Finally, a wash cup is placed on each side of the table to wash your balls after they’ve been in the beer.

Rules

The game starts with a version of a rally. In California, we call this “Eye-to-Eye”. Staring straight into your opponents eyes, you attempt to toss your ball into their cups. With a partner, you alternate shots until only one player sinks their ball. From this point on it’s a game of sinking and drinking (there are several house rules that can affect play during a game, but we’ll discuss those in a later post). Alternating shots, the goal is to force you opponent to drink all of their cups before you are forced to drink yours. When playing with a partner, you both sink your balls in separate cups you get the balls back and get to shoot again while you opponent must drink both cups. Alternately, if you both sink your balls in the same cup (great mental image huh) your opponent must drink three cups and you get the balls back. Thus it is possible to win a game without letting you opponent shoot at all.

One of the most important aspects of Beer Pong is the re-rack rule. WSBP allows for two re-racks at specific points in the game; six cups and three cups. Under this system cups are automatically re-racked into a six cup pyramid and a three cup pyramid. Commonly, house rules allow for re-racking at anytime into any number of designs. Most commonly re-racks requested at some point between six cups and two cups. These are: (Level, cup placement from back to front, and common name)

6 cups: 3-2-1 a.k.a. pyramid

5 cups: 1-2-1-1 or 1-1-2-1 a.k.a. Diamond plus 1

4 cups: 1-2-1 a.k.a. diamond

3 cups: 2-1 a.k.a. pyramid

2 cups: 1-1 a.k.a. landing strip

At the end of the game, when there are two or fewer cups left, rebuttal comes into play. Should you sink your balls in separate cups your opponent has the opportunity to rebut (fancy lawyer term for a come back) your shots by making them the same number of shots, either two or one, though in the rare case that you sink your balls in one cup with three to go, you opponent must rebut with two balls in one cup as well. If a rebuttal is successful, the game continues with no team drinking any of the previously made cups. After the last ball is sunk and the last cup is finished, the winning team gets to divide their remaining cups up and give them to the losers to drink; whether they think it is punishment or a reward is up to them. Lastly, and I’m sure this is obvious, the winners will automatically have the next game against a new set of challengers.

Finale

Now that you know how to play the most widely played drinking game in America, and maybe even the world, start practicing, and hit up some parties to show off your skill.

8. Hang out with Friends
Giving blood can be a group activity. Collect your free stuff and do something after, just don’t drink, you’ll be passed out after your first couple of beers, and your blood alcohol level will be artificially high since you have less blood. You can also see who gets done the fastest, under five minutes and your doing great.
7. Meet People
Blood Drives can be a great way to meet people, guys and girls alike. Who doesn’t like to see a member of the opposite sex saving a life. Giving blood usually ends up taking a little while, especially if you’re a first timer. Strike up a conversation and see what happens
6. Interact with the Community
Giving blood is not a solo affair. The community is actively involved with saving each others life’s. Give them a hand and change their impression of college students being selfish.
5. Get over your Fear of Needles
Most people have some fear of needles. Rational or irrational, it would do you well to get it over with now. To be honest, unless you have the greenest needle jockey in the world, you probably won’t feel a thing. If that fails, just don’t look at it and sing a song in your head until it’s over.
4. Find your Blood Type
One of the most important things you can do is find your own blood type. It may even save your life when you accidentally stab yourself with a steak knife. Giving the EMT’s you blood type also lets them save the universal blood type O- for those that really need it.
3. You have Extra
The Bronze medal of this list goes to having excess anyway. What do you normally do with things you have extra of? Usually, if you aren’t a complete pack rat, you give them away to those who need them. Same here, you have extra blood, and there are people that need it. Be a man or woman, and give a little life away to someone who needs it.
2. Karma
Not that I believe in it, but things have a way of coming back to you. Stay on the universes god side and give a pint of the red stuff away. You may need it put back in later.
1. Save a Life
1 out 7 people who enter the hospital need blood and only 38% of Americans are eligible to donate and only 10% do. All this adds up to needing everyone possible to step up and donate every 56 days. College students are uniquely positioned to give blood more then the average American. We have more free time and are genuinely healthier then the average American. Do what you know is right, give and save.
Check out these facts about giving blood from Americas Blood Centers