Wanting to try something different for New Years this year? Not sure where to go? No problem! I’ve provided a list for the best 5 places to enjoy New Years for college students!
5. New YorkCity
Starting out at #5, the great city of New York. New York is one of the most popular New Years spots in the nation. Millions of people gather every year to watch the ball drop. For a college student, though, it is both expensive and semi-dangerous if they’ve never been to NYC before. With a group of friends, it will surely be something to remember!
4. Miami, Florida
At #4 is Miami. Miami is a hot spot for college students to go and have fun. New Years can be quite fun in Miami if you like to party. One downside is having to pay for the flight. Other than that, there is a big selection of air bnb’s to choose from and many things to do.
3. Orlando, Florida
At #3 we have Orlando, Florida. Orlando is similar to Miami in a sense, especially when it comes to New Years. There are lot of fireworks and drinking involved. Still, you will have to buy the flight if this is what you choose, however it certainly worth it.
2. Atlanta, Georgia
Coming in at #2 is the peachy Atlanta, Georgia. If you’re more of a city person, Atlanta is just the place for you to spend New Years. With an abundant of college students present, and parties and clubs in every corner of the city, New Years here makes for a fun night!
Nashville, Tennessee
Standing at #1 is Nashville, Tennessee! Nashville is perfect for New Years and not as busy as Atlanta. What could get better than fireworks and the famous strip of Broadway!? If you like country music, then Nashville is the place for you on New Years. Good vibes, good bars, and good music!
Students are finally experiencing the Fall allergies. This usually happens right after Halloween since many of them are outside all night with little to nothing on. Everywhere, students are dealing with runny noses, sneezing, and sore throats.
It is hard to adjust to the cold. Many students, including myself, will try to wear shorts until the weather drops in the 50’s. We are in a period where you could walk to class and see one girl in shorts and a tank-top and another girl in Ugg boots and a beanie.
To stay ahead of the sniffles, follow these steps:
Get your Vitamin C in.
Dress WARM.
Start wearing jackets instead of sweatshirts.
Last but not least, don’t stay out partying half-naked all night on Halloween (:
Running from sharks… Driving school busses naked… Meeting the prince of Japan! It can’t be true, or can it? True and false were the only options given for students participating at Lie-A-Palooza. Seems easy enough, right? WRONG! Students struggled to decipher Todd Harcek’s deception and pure lies.
@WaltDisney
With a total of 20 stories, Harcek had students questioning their sanity. Students were doubting gut instincts and common sense. One student commented, “I’m going crazy!” Most groups finished with only half of their answers right, so it proved to be an epic fail for most but a success for Harcek.
The event lasted a little short of 3 hours. Students could choose to participate in-person or on video with their group members. Students who showed up, though, got the full effect of a truly, scattered brain. Since students were being graded, there was added pressure to perform well, however confusion got the best of most the students.
At the end of Lie-A-Palooza, Harcek asked his students, “So am I a better liar or are you all better at spotting deception?” It was a clear answer. Harcek remains King of deception… until next time of course.
Skyhawk softball just closed an exceptional, undefeated fall season, finishing with a 8-0 record. Not only did they win every game, but they run ruled every single team.
Hopes are high for their official Spring season as they expect to come first in the conference. Star pitcher, Anna Hazelwood (left), a transfer from UT Knoxville, stated, “I think we have a good chance of taking home the OVC first place title. We’ve been working hard in the offseason and it’ll definitely show in the spring.”
Katie Dreiling (right), was asked what Skyhawk Softball’s daily routine was. She said, “Every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, we wake up at 6 a.m. for weights. We practice everyday 2 hours minimum. We work hard every single day, working on little details to become a better team.”
Skyhawk Softball looks forward to transferring their hard work into the spring season that arrives in February, where they will be playing official OVC teams.
Here’s what the Spring Schedule looks like:
Martin Softball encourages students, teachers, faculty, family, and anyone who has an interest to come see a game. They love their fans and any support they get. In Dreiling’s words, “Come help us take home the title!”
With Halloween approaching, it is only necessary to host our annual SPOOKY SZN COSTUME CONTEST! Bring out your best fits! We will have our eyes peeled around campus deciding who deserves the Skyhawkie Talkie Costume Crown. We will judge on the following elements:
CREATIVITY– Stand out! Think out of the box! Maybe step away from the traditional fabrics and/or ideas.
ORIGINALITY– Don’t go for the basics… we want to see something different and new!
EFFORT– Take some time to create something great! Greatness is in the little details too.
You must be a student of UT Martin to participate.
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TWO WAYS TO GET SEEN/ JUDGED:
Email shykshef@ut.utm.edu. Send as many pictures as you want! Make sure to include your name, class/ year, and what your costume is.
Wear your costume on campus! If one of our recruiters see your costume and feel it may be a winner, we will ask for your information. You will then be in the running for best costume!
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IT STARTS NOW!
The winner will be announced Monday, November 1st (The day after Halloween).
Winners will be posted on the SkyHawkie Talkie and possibly in the Pacer!
Get your costume on, show your Halloween spirit, and get SPOOKY with us!
Covid-19 took the world by storm, and it had a lot of negative effects on various things. College students all over the nation were forced to learn online, and foreign teaching methods were placed instead of the traditional ones. It took a lot of adjusting. Some favored this way of learning and others hated it and felt like they were not learning as much. Some grades fell; some grades skyrocketed. There were a lot of mixed emotions about the new online way of learning. However, this year, students returned back to school after months and months of adjusting to online. Excited and nervous, students were jumping back into classrooms, but it was not the same.
Personally, Covid-19 affected me tremendously when I returned to in-person learning. It was overwhelming, and I know many of my peers felt the same. It was something that quite frankly, we just weren’t used to anymore. Better time management was needed after months of laziness and waking up two minutes before class to jump on a zoom call. Exams were in person, so the studying that took place was more extensive. The studying was not the problem, though; it was the motivation to study. It was the motivation to walk to class. It was the motivation to stay awake and take notes in the classroom. It was the getting dressed in the morning. I noticed a change in my attitude, as in-class learning took a tremendous amount of energy out of me. . . I had gotten lazy.
Things were too easy online for me. I only had one class that zoomed, and the rest were classes had posted material I could follow on my own time. I had access to google at all times for answers and help. When returning, I actually had to put in effort to learn again, something I was not used to anymore. Not doing it for so long, I lacked the motivation.
Overwhelming was an understatement. I wasn’t the only one who saw it as that. My roommate, who is also my teammate, shared the same struggle and lack of motivation. After such a long time of relaxed learning, it was hard for us to jump back into things. It was like our first year of college all over again — stressed, exhausted, and lethargic. I watched her struggle through the first few weeks and she watched me. Sometimes we tried to motivate each other, and sometimes we liked being lazy together and refused to do work until the last hour. It was a process.
I had straight A’s online, and now my grades are dropping. My exam grades are not the same. I am not working as hard. These are things a lot of college students are going through right now. A huge change in lifestyle yet again due to Covid-19.
Now that everyone is back on campus and going to class, we have less freedom to do what we want during the day. Students are finding it hard to fit things in their schedule. Students who work are especially exhausted with this change in lifestyle, as they are on the move all day. This goes for college athletes like myself as well. Our bodies are not used to this stress and effort anymore, and we were given no time to ease into it. Once school started, there was no stopping or slowing down.
Though things have gotten a little better for me as well as my friends who are affected by this, there is still a lot of things we have to get used to. College is always a struggle. I am not insinuating that online classes were completely easy and stress-free, however, they were a huge relief for a lot of students.
We will need to put in the work to get the motivation and urgency we once had as college students. However, we adapt. We adapted when Covid hit the U.S. and we had to go online, and we will adapt to getting back to the lives we once lived. Covid-19 has put a strain on college students. Professors and faculty should acknowledge this and take it into consideration. Perhaps support systems should be put in place. Some might see students’ as just being lazy now, but in reality, our world was flipped upside down along with everyone else’s during the pandemic. All I’m saying is, things aren’t always peachy for college students, and our stress is real, too. By continuing to work together and motivate each other, we can come out of this slump and retain those good habits we once had.
My story is common amongst a lot of college students in America, however a lot of people whose parents/ siblings went to college before them do not fully understand what some first-generation students go through. I am writing this to shed some light on some of the things first-generation students go through that no one really thinks about.
I’ve played softball all my life, and in 2014, when I was just a freshman in high school, I was forced with making the decision of where I wanted to go to college. I played for one of the top club softball teams in the United States, so I had offers everywhere, ranging from Florida to South Carolina to California; however, I chose Purdue, a Big 10 school in Indiana. I don’t even know why I chose it, I just did. Perhaps I was tired of being rushed.
My mother has always been an independent woman. She was pregnant with my oldest brother at only 16 and lived on her own since then. Now with 5 kids, I stand right in the middle with 2 older siblings and 2 younger siblings. I was there for the good and the bad. I was there for the struggle and the stable parts of life, but I wasn’t taught a lot. I learned by observing.
My mother with my older brother and older sister
Me, my younger brother and younger sister
My mom never finished high school, and neither did my father, so they knew very little about college and how to survive in that atmosphere. My father left us when I was about 14 though, so I didn’t turn to him for advice. My high school was not the best, either. I grew up in a town where drugs were very regular and active. People would get taken out of classes for being high on Xanax and other drugs. The hallways carried the scent of Marijuana. Students were selling in the hallways and bathrooms. I grew to be more street smart instead of book smart, but one thing I always knew I inherited was my mother’s independence.
I always had to find my way around myself. My mother is not an emotional woman; we don’t talk about how each others’ days were. We don’t talk about feelings. We have never been affectionate. Sometimes, it is hard to ask for help from her. I grew to stay to myself… I hated asking for help.
Summer is over. I arrive to this foreign city alone… and I am immediately in shock. Seventeen years old, seven hours away from home, and in need of direction. I had no idea what I was doing. All at once, I was given practice schedules, meeting times, syllabi, study hall hours, class times, contact information, and so much more. Usually, this is what people expect… most people know this is coming because they have a heads up. They have that help and direction that I needed. I knew so little about all the things going on; I remember staring at my syllabi for days and still not understanding what points were for and how to get on certain websites to take quizzes. I was breaking.
@CommonDreams
It took me a long time to get used to college life, and it is safe to say freshman year was extremely hard. I don’t think I got used to college until I transferred out of Purdue. I was missing quizzes, due dates, and I was even showing up late to practice. It was overwhelming. My mind was scattered, I was forgetting basic things. I wasn’t used to responsibility. A lot of times, parents will tell their child about their college experiences, and the child will get a grasp on how it is… I didn’t know what to expect at all. None of my immediate family or cousins went to college.
I contemplated dropping out about a month in. I thought for sure it was too much to handle and there was no way I could get through it. I kept pushing though, silently drowning in stress. I told my mom things were going fine to make her feel better, knowing she wouldn’t be able to help. I began to give up. I stopped going to classes. I stopped doing all my work in Biology class and even skipped the exams, ending up with a 39% at the end of the class.
Shutting down, I realized I hated it there. It was not that I wanted to drop out of college, I just wanted to leave that one. After telling my mother how miserable I was and my plan to transfer, she despised me leaving. She wanted me to finish, no matter how miserable I was. Resenting her then for that, I now understand that she just didn’t know any better. She’d never been in my position. She didn’t understand how big the stress load of college was, let alone a Big 10 college athlete. My mother thought, ‘Oh, it’s just school!’ She claimed she would not support me if I went anywhere else. It took me completely breaking down for her to understand how seriously broken my mental state was.
Finally, I transferred. I came to UT Martin finally knowing what to expect. I knew what was coming at me and I was ready. I’ll spare the details, but I love it here. I got used to it very quick and it’s a great fit for me. My mom tries to be more supportive. She at least attempts to understand that my stress is real and it is serious.
UT Martin Softball Roster Photo, 2020
First-generation college students go through a lot. Navigating through foreign responsibilities and places is tough for a young adult, and it is important to have support and help. Do not be afraid to ask for help, as there are a lot of resources in college. Talk to your parents. Gain their support by expressing your true feelings. It is hard, but it’s possible!
Finally in my senior year, there is no better victory to me. I never thought I would be here. It is my biggest accomplishment, and I am so proud of myself for continuing to push on!
The Skyhawks keep soaring through victories beating the Blue Raiders of Middle Tennessee State University for a big home opener in three sets. This puts the Skyhawks on a winning streak of three matches, winning the last nine sets in a row. UTM comes off victories over University of Arkansas-Little Rock and Memphis University.
A trio of Skyhawks lead the way in the recent game against MTSU with Logan Wallick, Karen Scanlon, and Olivia Saunders pacing the home team. Scanlon led the team in kills, accumulating thirteen during the match. Wallick and Saunders respectively followed Wallick with twelve and Saunders with ten. Wallick led with a scorching .647 hitting percentage only committing one error on the night . Scanlon was equally impressive hitting a .462 of her own.
Sophomore, Haeleigh Paulino, led the offence with thirty-seven assists, leading her team to a fluid offense all evening. Paulino hardly missed a double-double with nine digs. Leading the defense for the Skyhawks is freshman Ballie Kearns with ten digs.
Lets see if the Skyhawks can keep this streak alive as they begin OVC play, traveling to Belmont University this Friday and Saturday September 24-25.
College can certainly be overwhelming, and students often struggle managing their time and finding a good balance between school, work, and social life. We all have the same number of hours in a day… it is all about how we manage those hours. With better time management skills, you will find that stress levels decrease, amount of sleep increases, and mental health improves. No need to psyche yourself out with the workload of college! Here are 5 tips that will help you manage your time if you are struggling with finding YOUR balance.
@Skills4LifeOT
Plan ahead – Making a schedule at the beginning of the week and staying organized will help reduce stress. It is important to have a clear idea of exactly what you need to do every day. Consider making a to-do list or buying an agenda from a store. Planning ahead will aid in reducing anxiety and can help with tracking progress throughout the week, so you won’t have to question if you got all your tasks done.
Prioritize – Determine what needs to be done now and what can wait. Use your time wisely! It is important to separate what is important but not urgent, and what is important and urgent. Learn to set aside tasks that do not need your immediate attention if you have more urgent things to take care of.
Find out where you’re wasting time – Often, we spend a lot of time on social media, watching TV, and doing things that are not necessarily productive. This is fine when you DON’T have schoolwork to do, however these activities take away valuable time that should be set aside for your priorities. Make a habit of doing work right away and saving TV for later! Perhaps you can view it as a reward system.
Stop procrastinating – Holding things off for the last minute may feel better for a few hours, but this increases stress levels immensely. Doing work straight away and prioritizing instead of staying up until 3AM because you waited until midnight to start that essay feels EXTREMELY better, I promise!
Limit your time – Assign blocks of time for each thing you list in your schedule. This will prevent wasting time throughout the day and taking way more time than needed to complete a task. Keep your head on a swivel! Focus, get the work done, then soak in your free time.
BONUS TIP – Your time belongs to YOU!
You are in control of your goals and how much you accomplish. Get a grip on time management and start these beneficial habits NOW!
SkyHawkie Talkie 