Hi again, Bears! I am happy to be back for yet another blog post. I hope you had a great Spring Break!

Now that we’re back to school, we’re past the halfway point in the semester, which means that before long it will be time to register for classes for next semester! Even though it may seem far away, this semester is flying by, and your registration date will be here before you know it. On top of that, if you don’t quite have 75 credit hours under your belt, you are required to receive a release from your advisor in order to be able to register. For today’s post, I’m sharing my best tips for how you can prepare yourself for an appointment with your advisor.  

Contact Your Advisor at Least 2 Weeks Ahead of Your Registration Date 

In order to schedule an appointment with your advisor, it is important to contact them 2 weeks prior to your registration date at the very least. Some advisors are professors, and they have busy schedules that are filled with teaching classes, office hours, and other endeavors. To ensure that you can find time to meet with them, make sure you contact them at least 2 weeks ahead of time. Sometimes, it’s even a good idea to send them a brief email 3 to 4 weeks ahead of your registration date, especially if you know that you will not be flexible in the coming weeks leading up to registration. When you email your advisor, make sure to include your BearPass number, any specific information about your degree program that you think they may need to know, and your general availability for an appointment. Including your BearPass number helps them quickly access your Degree Audit and Advising Notes, and letting them know your general availability up front will save some steps when scheduling the appointment.  

Familiarize Yourself with Your Degree/Major Requirements 

Even if you aren’t actively preparing for an advising appointment, it is beneficial to you to be familiar with any and all requirements that you will need to fulfill in order to graduate with your major and/or degree. However, knowing what courses you still need to take before your advising appointment will save time and make the appointment easier for both you and your advisor. It will also enable you to roughly plan out future semesters and ensure that you’re on the right track towards graduation. You can access all of your course requirements on the Missouri State website or your Degree Audit, but the Missouri State website will show you course descriptions and when certain classes are going to be offered.  

Have a Rough Idea of What Courses You’d Like to Take 

Knowing what courses are going to be offered the following semester ahead of your advising appointment is another way to make your appointment with your advisor easier and faster. Most of the time, course offerings for the following semester become available on Trial Schedule Builder early in the current semester. Be sure to take just a little bit of time before your appointment to see what courses will be available, just so you have plenty of time to change things around if there’s an unexpected change to what you thought was going to be offered. This also gives you plenty of time to ask your advisor any questions about your schedule that you may have. Seeing course options ahead of time can only benefit you, so budget some time before your appointment to review them.  

Takeaways 

I hope that this information proves to be of use for you as you’re preparing for registration! However, if my tips confuse you, you’re feeling overwhelmed about registration, or you have questions, remember that we have some amazing Peer Mentors and Success Coaches here in the CAST office that would love to help you! Like Aubrey, another amazing Peer Mentor, said in a post at the beginning of the semester, we are now offering Open Hours for students that would like to drop by at their own convenience. If you need help, come and see us! Otherwise, good luck with registration, keep working hard, and Go Bears!  

~Hallie 

(Bio: I am a sophomore out-of-state student studying Creative Writing with a minor in Philosophy.) 

Maintaining a Healthy Sleep Schedule 

Greetings, Bears! I am so happy to be back again writing blogs this semester. This week, I’m focusing on a topic near and dear to me—sleep. There are many important factors that go into being a successful college student, but one of the most valuable (and honestly most overlooked) things that can make or break a student’s journey to success is sleep. How much sleep you’re getting can very much change how much energy you have throughout the day, as well as how effectively you’re able to focus and retain information, which are all key factors to doing well in any college class. For today’s blog post, I’m going to share some ways that I have maintained a healthy sleep schedule. 

Go to Bed and Wake Up at the Same Time Every Day 

One of the easiest ways to change your current sleep schedule into something better and healthier for you is to ensure that you’re going to sleep at the same time every night and waking up at the same time every morning. If you’re like me and you don’t like having a solid schedule, don’t worry! There are ways to do this without it feeling too restrictive. As long as you plan to go to bed and wake up around the same time each day, you can still plan to do things that you enjoy before or after that time. What is most important is that you’re consistent, so that your body can develop a routine. Make sure that you finish homework, studying, or other important things before your assigned bedtime. If you’re wondering how much time you should budget for sleep, that leads me to my next point! 

Get 7 to 9 Hours of Sleep Every Night 

College students, for the most part, get much less sleep than they need to. When you’re an adult, a healthy amount of sleep is between 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, but how much you need can vary depending on a lot of different things. It might be beneficial to experiment just a little bit at first to see what amount within that two-hour span works and feels best for you. After doing so, you can budget that amount of time within your sleep schedule. Once you establish this routine, you’ll probably notice that you feel better and more energized! 

Improve Your Quality of Sleep 

Getting enough sleep is very important, but the overall quality of the sleep you’re getting is even more so. There are many things that you might be doing that could negatively impact how you’re sleeping without you even knowing it. Some things that you can be mindful of when it comes to improving your quality of sleep are ensuring that you’re avoiding caffeine or large meals before bedtime, as well as staying off of electronics as you’re getting ready to go to sleep. It also helps to avoid naps during the day and stay active so that it’s easier for you to fall asleep at night. Like I said before, there are many things that you could be doing to improve your overall sleep quality, so if you’re wanting to know more, do some research! Tips for better sleep are not hard to come by, especially on the internet.  

Takeaways 

I hope that you enjoyed this blog post, and that you feel inspired to change up your sleeping habits if you haven’t done so already. Even though it can seem tedious, crafting and maintaining a consistent and thought-out sleep schedule will only benefit you. If you’re still wanting to know more about what you can do to make sure you’re getting enough good quality sleep, there are some great resources on campus. Magers Health and Wellness Center is hosting an upcoming Wellness Wednesday event on March 29th that is focused on sleep. Be sure to check that out if you want more information!

Keep working hard, and as always, Go Bears! 

~Hallie  

(Bio: I am a sophomore out-of-state student studying Creative Writing and Philosophy.) 

Hi again, Bears! I have returned once again for another blog post. Another fun thing to know about me is that I happen to be a commuter student, so I live off-campus. This semester was actually my first semester of being a commuter, and I can easily say that I’ve learned a lot about the differences between living in the residence halls on campus and living off-campus. With the end of the semester rapidly approaching, I thought I would take the opportunity to write about my new knowledge, especially since some students may be experiencing (or getting ready to experience) new housing changes. Like I said before, there are a lot of differences between living on and off-campus, but most notably, it’s a lot harder to stay engaged with campus and feel like a part of the community when you don’t live there. So, with that in mind, I’m here to share my best tips for how to stay engaged with campus when you’re living off-campus.

How to Stay Engaged as a Commuter Student

Set up your schedule in a way that works best for you.

One thing that students don’t always realize until after they start living off campus is that coming to school or going to class feels and is completely different. It can be a lot harder to be motivated to come to class when you have to physically drive or otherwise transport yourself to campus, especially compared to students who live on-campus and have class just a short walk away. 8 a.m. classes, for example, aren’t as realistic for commuter students, especially if they’re coming to campus from further away. When creating your schedule, make sure it’s realistic. Give yourself time to get to class in the morning, as well as extra time to be on campus, whether that time is used for sitting in the library doing school work, eating in the dining center with friends, or campus involvement. Speaking of campus involvement, that leads me right into my next tip!

Get involved on campus.

In order to stay engaged with campus, you’ll need a reason to be on campus outside of classes! Getting involved in something outside of your academics can help you meet new people and become a part of the community on campus. While students typically associate campus involvement with student organizations, your involvement on campus can look different! There are endless ways for students to get involved on campus, whether that be a student job, an academic club, a big organization, or just attending campus events. There’s always a wide variety of things happening—sports games, music concerts, lectures, movie screenings, you name it—and most of them are free for students! Even if none of those things sound appealing, there is something for everyone to enjoy and get involved in, and it will greatly enhance your college experience.

Find a balance between school and life.

As a commuter student, you’re not nearly as connected to campus compared to a student who lives in the residence halls—and that can be a blessing or a curse. On one hand, it’s a lot easier to disconnect from the stress that school causes, and your home can become more of a safe space that isn’t directly associated with campus and homework. On the other hand, you also disconnect from campus as a whole, and it gets a lot harder to stay involved or see friends. Living off campus can be lonely, especially if it’s further away. To ensure that your off-campus experience is mostly similar to that first scenario, you have to find balance between your school work and your life outside of campus. A good way to do this is to make sure you’re doing things outside of campus, and giving yourself time for self-care. One of the many benefits of being a commuter student who lives off-campus is that you’re more likely to be able to explore Springfield (or wherever you’re living) depending on how much access you have to transportation. Make plans during your free time to do things, whether that be in town with friends, or at home playing your favorite video game. Prioritization of self-care is essential to a school/work and life balance!

Takeaways

I hope this information was helpful for all of you commuter students out there, or anyone thinking about or getting ready to live off-campus. It certainly changes your college experience, and it can be an intimidating thought, but there are also many perks to living off-campus that many college students enjoy.

We are almost done with the semester, so keep working hard! Remember, if you’re struggling and need help, or you just want to talk to someone, we have some amazing Peer Mentors and Success Coaches in the CAST office that you can request a meeting with through our Student Request Form. The MSU Counseling Center is a great resource too! In the meantime, be on the lookout for more blog posts every week. I’ll see you again soon, and as always, Go Bears!

~Hallie

(Bio: I’m a sophomore out-of-state student studying Philosophy with a minor in Creative Writing.)

Hi again, Bears! I’m back to write the blog post for this week. If you read my all-about-me post from a few weeks ago, you may remember that I’ve changed my major and minor a couple of times—and that is definitely not an experience unique to me. Most college students change their major at least once throughout their undergraduate years, and some come to school without a declared major at all. Since I consider myself to be an expert, I thought this week I would discuss how to declare or change your major.

How to Declare or Change Your Major

Know what you’re getting yourself into.

This step might sound a little daunting, but it’s the first step for a reason! It’s important to know what classes you’ll be required to take as your potential major. Reviewing program requirements for your major will help you determine when to plan to take certain classes, and it’s also a good way to make sure that the major you’re thinking about declaring is really for you. It’s okay to not like the idea of a couple of classes you’re required to take, but if a majority of them sound entirely unappealing to you, you may want to reconsider your decision. Keep in mind that you deserve to study something that you enjoy, and while it may be challenging, your studies should never be absolutely unbearable. The Missouri State website has the admissions requirements, program requirements, course catalog, and more information for every major offered on campus, and you can access any of that information by typing the name of your desired major into the white rectangular search bar located in the top right-hand corner of the webpage.

See an advisor.

Some departments prefer or require that you meet with an advisor from your desired major before you’re able to declare it. Either way, meeting with an advisor to discuss your potential major can help you plan out future semesters as well as make you aware of any admission requirements the program may have before you’re able to declare. It’s also another good way to make sure that you’re fully aware of all of the requirements that you will need to fulfill in order to graduate. Typically, you can schedule an advising appointment for your potential major by contacting the head of the department. Other times, a program may have a specific advising center or advisor that you’ll need to contact.

Do it!

If you’ve seen an advisor and reviewed the requirements, it’s time to declare your new major! There are multiple ways that you can do it. First, you could visit the Academic Advising & Transfer Center in University Hall 109. They’ll have someone there that will change your degree in the system for you. If you’re unable to visit them in person, you can also contact them via email, but be sure to include your BearPass number and be specific about what program you would like to add to or remove from your degree. Another way, and probably the easiest, is to use the online request form that you can access from the Missouri State website. If you type “declare or change a major” in the white rectangular search bar located in the top right-hand corner of the webpage, a link will pop up to a page called “Steps to Declare or Change a Major”. If you click on that link, you’ll have the option of accessing the online form, or reviewing more information about the options that I’ve listed above.

Takeaways

Changing your major or admitting yourself into a new degree program can be really intimidating, but it’s important to remember, like I said before, that you deserve to study something that you enjoy. Keep in mind that even if your new major (or minor or certificate) turns out not to be a good fit for you, you can always go back and change it again. I’ve visited that online request form countless times! There is absolutely nothing wrong with not knowing what you want to do. But, when you do, hopefully this information will be of service to you. Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you again in a future blog post!

~Hallie

(Bio: I’m a sophomore out-of-state student studying Philosophy with a minor in Geology Creative Writing.)