Summer is Right Around the Corner!

SCHOOL’S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!!!

Well…Almost!  There are few things that need to be finished before we head out to the beaches, pools, vacations, and relaxation days.

Finals, Finals, and more Finals.  It can be frustrating, irritating, and stressful, but it is all manageable.  Remember to breathe and take one final at a time.  

 Here is a previous article I read on 6 quick tips on how to distress for the finals.  It is from collegefashion.net, and I felt they were pretty helpful:

1. Avoid stressful people.
Stress actually is contagious. During exam week, resist the urge to have a study session with your super-tense friend, especially if she’s complaining about all the work she has to do and breaking pencils all over the place. Her stress will only add to your stress.
2. Eat healthy and exercise.
This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s a wonder how many people forget it. Skip the sugar, which will make you crash, and go for snacks like granola bars, healthy cereal or fruits and veggies to keep your blood sugar stable. If you’re studying for a long period of time, eat some protein too. Also, try to get some form of exercise. Even a 10 minute walk will leave you calmer and more focused.
3. Just say NO.
I don’t mean to drugs, although I’m not recommending them or anything. What you need to say no to are the people who want to take up your time. There will probably be a friend who needs to talk to you for hours about her life or a keg party the night before your final, and if you say yes, you’ll probably be tempted to blow off studying. Resist the urge. Say no to the distractions and be selfish for a day. You want a good GPA, right?
4. Force yourself to take breaks.
For every hour or so that you work, take a 10 or 15 minute break. Let yourself do whatever you want (check Facebook, check out that guy sitting nearby, stare off into space, call a friend, etc.) for those 10-15 mines, then start working again. This gives your brain a little rest and will help keep you more focused when you are actually doing work.
5. Visualize it all going right.
This is actually my favorite tip of all, even though it sounds kind of nuts. Imagine yourself taking the test and feeling confident that you know all the information. Picture getting all of the answers right, and focus on how relaxed you feel. Then picture the A on your test paper. When you imagine a happy ending, that’s often what happens, because you make the decisions that lead to it without even realizing.
6. If you’ve studied all you can, get up your confidence!
When test-time rolls around, it’s time to get yourself into confidence mode. You’ve prepared as much as you could, and now it’s time to ace the test. The tip here is to do whatever works to convince yourself you are going to do really well. Again, I know this tip sounds a little crazy but you just have to try it for yourself. I think you’ll like the results (http://www.collegefashion.net/college-life/6-tips-to-beat-final-exam-stress/).

Once you’re done with those amazing finals, don’t forget to clean out your room for closing!  Be sure to check with your RA of everything that needs to be completed before you check out so you will not be charged.  If you want more information of what needs to be done before you end your school year, check out this website:
http://appl003.lsu.edu/slas/reslifeweb.nsf/$Content/News+&+Events/$file/closing+bulletin+sp+12.pdf

I hope you all have an amazing summer, and to those that are graduating…CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Crawfish Boil!

It's that time of year for CRAWFISH! Yum!

The Crawfish Boil is an annual celebration held at LSU for students to experience the Louisiana culture and especially...the great food! This event is sponsored by the Residence Hall Association (RHA).  RHA is the second largest organization on LSU and works to serve on-campus residents and to improve the living-on-campus environment by promoting diversity, community, and leadership.

 This year LSU RHA is is boiling up 4,000 pounds and LSU Dining will be catering BBQ and other goodies. On campus residents will be given a ticket for both LSU Dining food and crawfish. Students who don't live on campus will be given a ticket to eat LSU Dining food.
Please remember that the LSU Dining Halls, the 5 and 459, as well as Outtakes and Take 5 will be closed for this event.

If you love crawfish, FREE crawfish, then join RHA as they host the Crawfish Boil on April 23rd from 5pm-7pm at The Field House.  It'll be a great time of eating and meeting others that love crawfish as much as you do!  If you've never tasted crawfish, and you enjoy seafood, I highly recommend you come out and enjoy one of Louisiana's most famous meals!

A Challenge for You.

Living in a residence hall can be one of the best experiences a student can have when attending college.  As of now, we already have a feel of what our classes are like, what we may be interested in studying, and know the types of interesting organizations around campus.  Here is a challenge, how well do you know those that are outside of your organizations and classes?  How well do you know the people that live right next door to you, or even your own Resident Assistant? 

This is my challenge for you.  I challenge you to meet someone in your residence hall that you don’t know.  You never know how much you may have in common with a person.  I challenge you to sit down with your RA just for 15 minutes and really get to know him or her.  You would be surprised how much you can develop a friendship with someone by a simple conversation. 

Another opportunity for you to meet more people within your residence hall is having an open door policy.  You and your roommate can leave your door open and  allow people to just stop by and see your room and develop conversations from there.  Some of the best times of my life were spent living on campus.  Living in a residence hall gives you that excuse to meet other students and engage in activities to really help you develop and learn about the university and personal growth within your life.  I hope you take my challenge and meet someone who may be different and new, but could end up having a positive impact on your life.

It's Time to Vote...Again!!

It’s that time of year again for students to choose their next Student Government president and vice president.  The four campaigns, Be Heard, Your LSU, R.E.A.L. Campaign and Renew LSU, came down to just two last night.  Be Heard and Your LSU took the lead in the elections results. 

(Your LSU’s Landon Hester and Kristina Lagasse)

_{(Image from dailyreveille.com)}

_{(Be Heard’s Taylor Cox and Carrie Hebert)}

 _{(Image from dailyreveille.com)}

Be Heard’s Taylor Cox and Carrie Hebert and Your LSU’s Landon Hester and Kristina Lagasse will compete for the President and Vice President titles in next week’s election.  It was a close race betwwen the two, with Be Heard having 36% of the students’ votes and Your LSU had 27% of the vote.  Both campaigns received less than the 50% of the general election vote.  The Daily Reveille showed the rest of the results of the 2012 LSU Student Government Election: 

Now it is up to the students to decide who will be the right fit for next year.  We will have the chance to vote this upcoming Monday and Tuesday from 7am – to 6:59pm through PAWS on myLSU.  For more information on the two campaigns here are the links:

Your LSU: http://yourlsu12.wordpress.com/

Be Heard: http://beheardlsu.com/

What's Your Secret?

Close your eyes and think of the deepest desires and hidden treasures of your heart. Visualize that dark corner where they're held, that you keep hidden from the spectating world. As you examine your dark alcove, think of how that space overflows with secrets and swells with the urgency to be let out. You feel the pressure and ponder on a way to set yourself free from some of the burden. You ask, "How can I lift the burden without exposing myself and avoiding judgment?" Lucky for you, Frank Warren found your escape route. Warren created the idea of PostSecret as an anonymous way for people around the world to let out some hard times of the past. Each week, new secrets are put on his website: www.postsecret.com.

In Kirby Smith Hall, a month long program took place where residents had the opportunity to put in some of their darkest secrets anonymously in a box at the front desk. Tonight as the program comes to a close, there will be a display of the Kirby Smith Secrets in the Great Room.

Kirby Smith will also be hosting a performance night for residents to show off some of their talents to the community, while viewing the postsecrets. A variety of skills will be shown for the audience to enjoy.

Many of the residents performing have done shows outside of LSU's community and are excited to perform this evening. If you are curious about the secrets that have been revealed and the talents that will be performed, come to the Kirby Great Room and engage in an exciting and heartfelt experience.

Throughout March LSU is competing in the UNPLUG Energy Conservation Competition! This competition is fourth annual UNPLUG competition among on-campus communities to see which community can reduce energy consumption the most.

This year LSU is competing against 150 other schools through www.Competetoreduce.com . Doing One Thing such as taking shorter showers, unplugging your chargers, and using more natural light, are things we can do to win and help bring us to a more sustainable campus.  Each of our own DOTs added together will make a difference! Residents of the winning community- one residence hall community and one apartment community - will be invited to attend an exclusive catered party with prizes such as sunglasses, cups, gift certificates, reusable bags and more!  

Also, keep an eye out for the mysterious GREEN BANDITS in the next few weeks as they raid the halls and apartments to encourage sustainable practices! Tell your RA if you want the Green bandits to come inspect your room and earn prizes!  Get details at http://unplug.lsu.edu.   

What can you do?

1.       GEAUX to http://buildingdashboard.net/lsu/#/lsu/and check out our progress as we compete against 150 other colleges and universities.

2.       DO your one thing! Make small adjustments to your daily routines to save energy, recycle, reduce water and food waste or live better. Unplug your phone charger, turn off lights, take the stairs, or take shorter showers. Look for more tips throughout the competition!

3.       Do One Thing & Tell The World!

Facebook Users:

Update your status with “I pledge to [insert your pledge here] for @competetoreduce @LSU for UNPLUG 2012!”

Twitter Users:

Tweet “getting excited to @competetoreduce @LSU for #unplugLSU2012. I pledge to [then insert your statement here]”

Get the most current information on saving energy and competition details at http://unplug.lsu.edu.  By making small adjustments in our daily routine, we can positively impact the world around us.  LSU community practice energy efficiency in everyday living, and cultivate greater awareness for sustainable practices.

For more pictures go to the LSU ResLife facebook page and click on the album : UNPLUG 2012 !!!

How To De-Stress for Midterms!

It’s that time of the year again where midterms are coming up and the stress levels are high.  I did an exercise yesterday where I was told to take 15 minutes to write down things that I absolutely love to do.  I had to write down on separate strips of paper what can give me less stress.  Some of the things I wrote down were: coloring, buying something for myself, watching a funny movie, writing a note to someone, etc.  Afterwards, we put all of the pieces of paper in our own personalized jar we created. 

This is a great exercise you can do when you are extremely stressed.  Take a break and pull out just one slip of paper.  Whatever it is, stop what you’re doing, and do what the paper says.  They will all be things that you will enjoy because you wrote them down!

According to collegelife.about.com, here are some other ideas top 5 tips found helpful  on how to de-stress for midterm week:

1.       BREATHE! Sometimes we tend to forget to do this and can get frustrated.  When feeling this way, take a break and just breathe 

2.       Exercise.  You can go for a run or like me, a brisk walk!  This will help bring in more energy later for you to focus on studying.

3.       Make plans for the weekend.  When you plan fun things to do, it can bring a positive energy and bring excitement during a stressful time.  Reward yourself for the hard work you’re about to do!

4.       Write down ten things you feel you’ve accomplished so far that you’re pretty proud of yourself for.  Rereading your accomplishment can bring optimism and pushing forward with studying.

5.       Create a new Pandora Channel.  This is my favorite because there may be that one station of songs that you haven’t heard in a while which can bring you to a more relaxed state of mind.

If there is a program going on in your residence hall, take a break from studying and see what’s going on in your community.  It’s a great way to learn something new, possibly meet a new friend, and have fun!  Hope this helps and I wish you all the best with finals!!!