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