College Life by Bella DeFranco

  (Photo Ab ove:  770 × 431 How College Challenges Your Finances   By: Bella DeFranco  College in itself is already such an expense for most families. Whether that be tuition, to living expenses, basic necessities of living, and anything else under the sun. How each family takes on finances and money distribution with their child/loved one in college is a diverse spectrum. Maybe you get an allowance every month, or run by every purchase with parental permission, and or you are taking on all money duties on your own.  I can't reiterate enough that college humbles you to be smart with money . Only to use it when you truly need it because costs rack up so fast. Especially, for me, once I moved from a dorm to an actual apartment with 3 other roommates. I think I got humbled even more. My number one advice is to save and only indulge when you financially feel confident in doing so, therefore it won't lead to a set back. Set backs financially only add more stress to your already stre

  (Photo Above:  1,000 × 713 ) Going Back Home and the Holidays By: Bella DeFranco  It's around the time for the holidays, and as a first year college student, you're excited but also maybe confused about going back home . You've become so acclimated to being in a new environment and trying to make college feel like your second home, or somewhat homey.  From personal experience, going back home for the first time for the holidays whether it's Thanksgiving, Christmas, or even spring break felt beyond weird. But, my best advice is to sit in the confusion and talk about it. It is completely okay to express these emotions because even now being a second year it's always a weird back and forth from home to school.  (Photo Above:  640 × 420 ) Your parents or loved ones are ecstatic to have you back and also feeling the same emotions of adjusting to you being back for however long. Yet, when you leave it can create that first initial feelings of homesickness you had when y

  (Photo above:  2,840 × 1,893 ) Greek Life? Potentially your calling? By: Bella DeFranco Greek life is a prominent organization in colleges across the nation. And at Chico State, as much as the student body life is always at a present, so is its Greek life community. Greek life here on campus consists of multiple fraternity and sorority chapters. Each chapter shares its own set of values, philanthropy, and overall generational traditions. A good majority of the students here at Chico State are involved in a chapter. I mention Chico State because I am personally involved in Greek life being in Alpha Delta Pi’ s sorority here at Chico State. I joined last spring semester after going through formal recruitment. Meeting some of my best friend’s in this chapter, having close friends in other sorority chapters and having guy friends in fraternity chapters has been the most rewarding experience. I was clueless on what being in a sorority meant, but now I’m the member beginning to recruit

  (Photo above:  1,500 × 1,500 ) College Academic Management How To's By: Bella DeFranco Obviously, the most important part about college is the academics. To burst any bubble right now, it is different from high school and most education experiences you've had before it. It will advance your level of independence in academics just as much as going to college does for yourself as a whole. To be brutally honest, there's barely any hand holding but it's the most rewarding experience after being humbled. Being a freshman in college , you have your GE classes that everyone has to complete before major focused upper division classes. These to me are like more difficult courses where the topics covered are those you brief in high school. They are either in regular classrooms or in big auditoriums where it's 40 people compared to 130 people.  (Photo above:  1,200 × 800 ) This can be overwhelming and intimidating at first from finding where your classes even are, to then ho

  Above photo:  1,296 × 729 Emotional Turmoil By: Bella DeFranco Emotions, we all have them. You can feel happy, sad, angry, confused, or anywhere in between. Sometimes you feel an emotion that you don't even know how to label or how it's even making you feel. You get such a disturbance in your daily life because of them. You try to suppress them but you aren't quite sure how to. Big changes in life can also be disturbances to your daily routine, that ultimately does send you into a turmoil . But, everything is only temporary. Moving to college is strange. It's a whole bunch of unfamiliar and if you are like me, you may be intimidated or struggle with the idea of change altering your life. However, change is not bad as much as it can be hard to accept that mindset, I promise you it is not all entirely bad. You will be moving away from your parents or guardians for the first time, living on your own in an unfamiliar location, city, or state with a roommate you may or may

   Above photo:  1,020 × 948 Your Go To College Packing Advice By: Bella DeFranco If you're like me then you overthink packing. Packing is a love hate relationship for some, some oddly adoring it and some dreading it. But, collecting all your belongings for college is an extra strange surge of emotions. We'll address what to expect with those emotions as well as the must needs for your introduction to college living.  First and foremost is your clothes . I'm a clothes lover so I attempted to pack my entire closet into just a shoebox of a dorm room. I truly do not recommend that. Pack what you wear most and based according to seasons. Prepare for your college areas seasons, I know mine are typically on the warmer side but I still include a good amount of cooler options.  Trust yourself, because you know best on your routine of what clothes you wear. And also including how often you wear them. Above image:  1,200 × 800   As we move on to the essentials of your dorm room, I re