Questions to Ask

Are you wondering how to start a conversation with a college rep? Here are some tips for conversing and getting answers to important questions. It is a good idea to write out a list of things that are important to you before you go.

ADMISSIONS

• What are the admission requirements?
• What qualities should prospective students have?
• Which standardised test scores do you require?
• What majors are offered? What is the most popular?
• What are the application deadlines for admission?
• Are interviews required? Are there group or individual interviews?
• How can I arrange a campus visit?
• How long should I expect to wait for an answer once I submit my application?

FINANCIAL AID

• How much will it cost?
• What financial aid options are offered?
• When is your financial aid deadline?
• Estimate the percentage of work study, loans, grants, and scholarships awarded in your financial aid packages.

CLASSROOM

• What is the average class size?
• How accessible are professors outside of class?
• Will professors or graduate students teach my courses?
• When must I choose a major?
• Do I need a computer?
• What student services are offered (tutoring, career counselling, study workshops)?
• How are the libraries, computer labs?

STUDENT LIFE

• What special interest groups or activities are available?
• Are any programmes offered to help students adjust to the college life?
• How are the sports facilities?
• What types of meal plans are available?

JUST THE FACTS

• What is the school known for?
• What are recent graduates doing now?
• How many freshmen return for their sophomore year?
• How safe is the campus and its surrounding neighbourhoods? — Agencies

How to be Liked at Work

Interpersonal skills are invaluable at work for office managers. How your co-workers see you can have a big impact on your career long-term, as well as on your day-to-day life. You may be the most brilliant person at your company, but if you cannot get along with your colleagues, you will not get far. These five actions will not only help you make better connections at work, they will also improve how others perceive you.

1. Put on a happy face: If you smile often and have an upbeat attitude, your co-workers will be drawn to you. And when you are having a bad day, try not to pull others down with you. You may find people pass you by in favour of those with a more cheerful outlook.

2. Show that you care: When it comes to praise, do not hold back the applause. If a co-worker has done something you appreciate — no matter how small — thank them for it. Identify at least one attribute you value in each of your co-workers, and let them know about it. Give colleagues a warm welcome whenever they call you or visit your office.

3. Be considerate of colleagues: Take note of what is happening with your co-workers. Recognise the happy events in their lives and be sure to show your genuine compassion when they face any personal tragedy. Show colleagues you value their input by asking their opinions.

4. Be an active listener: Unfortunately, active listening is becoming a lost art. Being an active listener shows that you intend to both hear and recognise another’s perspective. Using your own words, repeat what the speaker has said.

5. Promote togetherness: Help co-workers thrive by creating a friendly, cooperative environment. Treat everyone the same, not like they are part of a hierarchy, and do not act like one person’s opinion is more important than another’s. Never ever gossip about your colleagues. Always consider your co-workers’ suggestions. — Agencies

Managing anger

Today the whole world is anger. But why are we so angry? Some of the most common causes of anger can be feelings of hurt, frustration, harassment or persecution, disappointment and perceived threats. But the source of all these feelings is based upon unfulfilled expectations, and if you can let go of your expectations, you will be able to let go of your anger.

There are basically two ways of experiencing anger. You can either feel angry with yourself or you can have anger that is directed at someone else or some object. Managing anger is all about dealing with it at a comfortable pace, in a way that helps to resolve the situation, and that doesn't create worse problems. The human thought process is incredibly fast, so it is possible to think through the following stages in a matter of seconds. So before you speak or do anything else —

— Recognise and admit your feelings of anger to yourself.
— Identity the target and cause of your anger.
— Consider multiple options for a situation, with their possible end results.
— Choose the best option and follow it.

Rajyoga can be of great help for people coping with anger. It provides us a way to train our mind and allows it to settle into a state of calmness and clarity. Numerous scientific researches over the years have indicated that regular practice of meditation can result in significant changes in the way we conduct our lives. They also reveal that the human brain is not as hardwired as scientific had previously assumed; we actually have more control over our emotions and thoughts than scientific studies of the past believed. Thus, the practice of meditation allows us to turn inward to stillness and silence instead of being pushed and pulled in all directions by our reactions. So, be angry if it helps you, but while realising that it squeezes all your energy.

All The Best!

Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji, the author can be contacted through nikunjji@brahmakumaris.in, www.brahmakumaris.com.

How to get the most from a college fair

In theory, you can choose a school, apply and get accepted without ever talking to a single soul from that school. In reality, that may not be a great idea. Taking that approach limits your chances of getting into your school of choice, and could keep you from discovering a great school you may not even come across in your internet research.

This is where college fairs come in.

These fairs are a way for students to network and learn about different colleges by taking to admissions representatives from several schools. But going to a college fair unprepared is like going to a grocery store without a list right before it is closing: You will not be able to get everything you need.

To make the college fair experience valuable, follow these three steps.

1. Conduct research before the fair
If you show up to a college fair without looking into some of the schools beforehand, you will be doing yourself a disservice. You will also waste the limited time you have with the admissions representative if you spend it asking simple questions about degrees that a Google search could answer.

2. Take good notes and use your, time well
Once you arrive to the fair, there is no time to waste. You need to get stright to work. Write down your impressions of each college and the answers their representatives gave to your questions before moving on to next table. This allows you to retain valuable information or first impressions after fair ends.

3. Take action immediately afterward
If you leave the college fair and do not take action, it was probably a waste of time to attend. You need to take a day or two to organise and then plan the next step. If you happened to get contact information from college admissions representatives at the fair, send a short thank-you e-mail a day or two later, which should also include a tidbit about your interest in the school. Keep it short, polite and professional.

Remember: A college fair is school's first impression of you (and vice versa). Make it a good one to ensure that college fair is a valuable experience. — Agencies

Life Of Pi Lessons

By Atika Singh and Poonam Srivastav

Life of Pi, in more ways than one demonstrated the power of human potential and courage. The high impact movie with brilliant life graphics and of courage the awesome visual appeal delivered some key lessons for life.

You will Survive!

To us the movie really portrays our most basic and universal need that we can survive despite the odds. It was a story of human triumph over the unimaginable and reinstated the fact that we are capable of so much, but unfortunately most of the time not even aware of our own potential!

They say that adversity brings out the best in us; we wonder why we have to wait for adverse circumstances in our lives to figure out our strengths and capabilities. If we were to live each day in that awareness by looking at our fears, questioning our limiting beliefs, or weaknesses and most important getting out of our comfort zone, we might be able to achieve far more and really exploit our latent abilities.

Keep the faith!

Through his ordeal not once does he lose his faith in a higher power, he completely surrenders and believe that God is taking care of him. In our own lives we face challenging circumstances almost every day of our lives. And when the chips are down, we start questioning our beliefs and our faith in the Supreme Being. However, what we forget is that more often than the supreme power has a larger plan for us and there is a lesson in everything. What is important is that our faith in a higher power or anything that one believes in as their faith is what gives us strength to also face the tribulation.

Let Go!

The protagonist in the movie demonstrated extraordinary ability to get over his loss and focus on surviving on what is next! Letting go can be one of the most challenging and often most painful experiences of our lives especially if it’s someone or something very dear and close to us. The protagonist not only was able to survive, but after the ordeal start a fresh and build, a beautiful life for himself and his family having put the past behind him. In our lives we have expectations, anger, resentment or even relationships which we hang on to sometimes forever! The key is to take a closer look at what we are holding on to and see the benefits of letting go — it can be liberating.

This material is further published in The Himalayan Times, May 20, 2013 edition.

Family connections

BEING 'BOSS' AT HOME MAY UNDERMINE WOMEN'S AMBITION AT WORK

WASHINGTON: Working women who are in charge of their households are less inclined to pursue a career or promotional prospects outside of family concerns, says a new research. Running the home made them less likely to pursue promotions and other career advancement steps at the office, unlike men, whose goals were unchanged by their domestic role, said a new University of California Berkeley study.

"It appears being in charge of household decisions may bring a semblance of power to women's traditional role, to the point where they may have less desire to push against obstacles to achieve additional power outside home," said Berkeley Psychologist, Serena Chen.

Despite the feminist movement and other gender equity efforts, women largely retain authority over child-rearing and household chores and finances, with men deferring to their expertise in these matters, researchers point out. This paradigm has had an impact on women's career choices, the study implies.

"Women may make decisions such as not going after a high-status promotion at work, or not seeking to work full-time, without realising why," said Melissa Wimmiams, an assistant professor of business at Emory University and lead author of the study.

"To realise true gender equality in both the private and public spheres, our results suggest that women may need to at least partially abdicate their role of ultimate household deciders, and men must agree to share such decision making," Chen suggested. — Agencies

Negotiating workplace conflict

Conflict happens in all corners of the workplace. Here are three tricks for resolving work-place conflict:

1. Let people tell their story: When people are deeply upset about something, they need to get their story out. This is a basic principle of mediation and one that is important to remember. However, remember that allowing people to speak their minds can increase the level of conflict with which you must deal. You have to get through the conflict phase to find the solution.

2. Bring a reality check to the table: Often in a conflict, the parties are so focused on minutiae that they lose sight of the big picture and its implications. As the mediator, you need to bring people back to reality by wrenching their attention away from the grain of sand and having them focus on the whole beach. Doing so may help resolution arrive at a startling speed.

3. Identify the true impediment: In every conflict, ask yourself — what is the true motivating factor here? What is really keeping this person from agreeing to a solution? — Agencies

Linux : Mass adoption hurdles

There have been a lot of hypes over Linux-based operating system since Google adopted the open-source Linux core into making the famous Android mobile OS. People are aware of popular Linux-based operating systems like Ubuntu, Red Hat or openSUSE but many regular computer users tend to brush off this free operating system because of many reasons that work against it.

Primarily, we tend to take it as a more advanced operating system that’s not meant for regular users but rather for programmers and hackers. But many of the Linux distributions aren’t specifically aimed only for advanced users but rather for regular users as well. So what makes Linux draw the short straw, and if the people working on Linux distributions are putting so much effort into it, then why is it not getting adapted by users?

The main question here would be that people prefer to pay a hefty US$200 for Windows and yet they squirm away from a free-of-cost Operating System.

I think the main reason for this would be that people want software that’s been refined and looks good as well. The main flaw in Ubuntu would be that it lacks that refinement that Windows or Macs offer. People are so used to the Graphical User Interface that command line instructions, and anything to do with punching commands onto the computer is an instant turnoff for regular users, and Linux, for the point it starts to the point it shuts down, will throw some form of command line text at the users.

Although, many Linux distributions have now started bundling some form of an Application Store or an Installer, there are still many things that need to be installed through the command line; for example, when a user first installs Linux, the system is incapable for playing many popular media formats, and to insure that it does, a set of codecs need to be installed, most preferably through the command line. This is a hassle for the regular user because something that can be done easily on Windows or Macs needs extra effort on the Linux.

Support also seems to be another reason that Linux seems be dragging behind. Major software companies like Adobe or Microsoft don’t support Linux systems officially, and because of this, users on the Linux platform have to make do with applications that may lack the refinement that users experience on Windows or Mac computers. For example, for the lack of the vital Photoshop that so many designers and photographers use, Linux has GIMP that may be able to work as well as Photoshop but still lacks that user-friendly interface and the robustness of an Adobe product. Just like Microsoft’s Office that is famous not only on Windows devices but on Apple’s Macs as well isn’t supported on the Linux, and users have to make do with inferior software.

Although many Linux distributions like Ubuntu have grown through the ages and now offer user-interfaces that rival Windows or Macs, they still lack software that look just as nice. Ubuntu is an example of a very user-friendly interface and yet it isn’t beautiful to look at.

But no matter how beautiful the operating system might look, the main purpose is to run applications on it, and the applications fail to appreciate the beauty of the Ubuntu UI. With icons that look like they have been ripped out of Windows XP, applications on the Linux are far from those on Windows or Mac.

To take the music player, for example, Windows comes bundled with a decent looking and performing Windows Media Player, and Macs have the brilliant iTunes to offer. But on the Linux, there are various players that come bundled with different distributions and none of these players can compete with what their competitors have to offer. Until and unless developers take an interest in Linux and start churning out well-designed applications, regular users would have no reason to stop using their Windows PCs.

These may be some of the reasons that scare regular users when it comes to the adoption of Linux; and even though many adopters have Linux on their computer, it’s usually installed along with Windows.

Linux comes in different flavors. If you want to install Linux, there are plenty of options to choose from because many different companies are developing Linux- based distributions and adding their own flairs to the operating system. This may be another reason for the lack of mass adoption because people want things made easier for them. Many users don’t have time to look up the many different versions of Linux on the Internet and choose one that is ideal. Many people don’t want to make that effort of searching for an OS, and this is where the plethora of Linux distributions works against itself by providing many different options that disorient the potential user.

Linux is an amazing operating system that’s lighter and more robust than Windows or maybe even Macs. But what is lacks is refinement. Computer users today are used to working with icons and pictures, and moving back to a text-based interaction with the system would be difficult. Linux asks more from its users that it offers, it asks users to stop using industry-leading software while offering software that lack in design and performance.

Linux is growing but it still needs to hammer down its dents to be able to appeal to a wider audience.

PRAJESH SJB RANA, the writer of this post is República The Week’s much loved tech guru.

Her Real Hero

By Sharon Thayer

My two children were involved in a bad car accident. My son had a broken neck but my daughter had only minor injuries. Since my son was the one critically injured, no one realised how my daughter was traumatised by the wreck.

There was a school friend, Heather, in front of them at the time of the accident. She had stopped to help. Even though she never realised the impact she was making, just by being there for my daughter Brittany to hold on to, she made a world of difference.

A few months after the accident, Brittany wrote the following essay for a school assignment depicting someone she looked up to. What does the word ‘hero’ mean to you?

To me the word ‘hero’ has far more meaning than just a make-believe cartoon with super powers or a sports star. Sports stars and political leaders are more of a role model. A hero should be somebody you feel has changed your life in some way to make it better. In my life I believe I have a real true ‘hero’.

Her name is Heather Boyer. She doesn’t play sports and isn’t even old enough to be in government, but she is still my hero because she was there for me during one of the hardest times in my life. She helped me deal with a tragic event.

I will never forget the day my brother and I were involved in a car and then the car slid on its top. When the car stopped sliding my brother helped me out through the shattered, back window. After he made sure I was all right he began trying to deal with his own pain. I was mentally all alone standing there, scared to death. I bet you can’t guess who was there to help me with my pain and fear. It was Heather.

If Heather hadn’t been there I would have been lost. I wouldn’t have had any idea on how to push my fears away and just be glad that my brother and I were both alive. It means so much to me that Heather stood there freezing to death with her arms around me, not caring that I was bleeding on her or that I was screaming in her ear, only caring that my brother and I were alright. Only caring that she was helping me. But I don’t think she knows how much she really did help me.

I don’t even know how to tell her what a great change she has made in me. I can only say thank you and hope she understands she is my hero and I will never forget her for that.

Education fair checklists

Check out the information below to find out everything you need to know about the college fair, including: what it is, what to expect and how to prepare for it.

Also, feel free to utilise this college fair checklists so that you can ensure you get all of the information you need ready before, during and after the college fair.

BEFORE THE FAIR

• Check out which colleges will be at the fair. Write down the names of the schools you would like to spend time learning more about.
• Create a list of questions you have for the representatives.
• Bring your list of questions, a pen, notebook and a bag to hold any brochures you may pick up.

AT THE FAIR

• Locate the colleges you decided that you wanted to learn about and plan a route so you can easily get to all of them.
• Visit the booths and ask college representatives your list of questions conversationally. If students from the school are there, ask them what they like about the school.
• As you ask questins, take time to write down notes as you get answers. This way, you will be sure to remember when you get home.
• Even though you had specific colleges in mind, check on some that were not on your list. It never hurts to try something new!
• Check out any general information booths such as financial aid or study abroad. These will all have great information that are important to your college experience, also!

AFTER THE FAIR

• Reflect on which of the school stood out. Why?
• Organise your notes along with any marketing collateral you picked up at the fair. Keep them in a safe place to reference during your college search process.
• If you have ruled out any schools, there is no need to save their information. Get rid of it so you can stay focused.
• Keep researching the colleges you really liked. Look on their websites, plan a visit if you can and check admission requirements to see if attending the school is a reality.
• Talk to your parents and/or guardian, school guidance counsellors and teachers about your experiences at the fair. The college decision is a big one and you will need all the support you can get! — Agencies

Don’t quit

When you think it’s all behind you
And that you’re far ahead of it,
Watch out
Because it’s then that it sneaks up to grab you
And pull you right back down with it.

So don’t you dare,
Don’t you dare think about quitting
You’re in it this far
Just keep your head up
And keep on pushing
You’ll make it all right
It’s when you think that you’re done
And you tell yourself that you can’t go any farther
Then you have to look yourself in the eyes
And say, “Get up, get up”
And don’t ever give up
For you are better than this.

So don’t you dare
Don’t you dare even think about quitting,
You’re in it this far
Just keep on pushing
You’ll make it all right
And so when it all right
And so when they say it’s over
You say, “Never”
And then you must keep on going
Because it’s that last mile that you go
When you think you can’t go any farther
That will make all the difference in your life

So don’t you dare
Don’t you dare even think about giving up
When I know you have so much more to give
Don’t you dare
Don’t you dare.