A Career in Education

Have you ever thought of a career in education? If not, you should consider it. A career in education can be very rewarding as you have the power to teach young minds. You can work with children, work within subjects of your specialty, as well as the opportunity to work with children of different ages and grade levels.

Now while you might think that a career in education may not be a good idea due to all the cuts in state and federal education budgets, education is still a prospering career. A career in education involves a lot of work and education. In addition, teacher licensure requirements are different depending on the state in which you are planning to teach. Most states require at least a Bachelor’s degree in either early childhood or secondary education, or a specialty subject, such as Math, English, or Science. However, other states require a Master’s degree in education.

For example, Massachusetts requires at least a Bachelor’s degree in either early childhood education or secondary education, or a specialty subject. Massachusetts also requires a Master’s degree in education, a passing score on the Massachusetts Tests for Educator Licensure (MTEL), and at least five years of full time teaching in order to qualify for tenure and entrance into the teacher’s union. All in all, you will need to research what your preferred state requires to become a teacher.

Now while this field seems to require not only a lot of undergrad and graduate coursework, there is also a lot of field work and testing requirements. However, luckily there are many online Master’s degree programs you can take advantage of. Online courses are becoming extremely popular today due to the convenience and flexibility of the Internet. As a result, many adults are taking advantage of online courses, as well as it gives students the ability and flexibility to work and go to school at the same time.

If you continue your education and achieve a doctoral degree, you can even teach at a university level. You can make your own schedule, have summers and vacations off, and work with higher ed students in helping them choose their own careers. Once you have completed your education degree program, whichever level you choose, you will be in the process of beginning an exciting, stimulating, and fulfilling career as a teacher.

How To Get An Internship

1. Ask around. The best way to get an internship is through people you know. Ask friends, family friends, acquaintances. Put a request out on Facebook and Twitter. Someone must know someone else. Think six degrees of separation. If you are only six people away from the person who can give you an internship that will change your life, it makes the task seem less daunting.
   
   
2. Brush up on your activities; An active, community spirited person is more likely to be hired than someone who has nothing to say and spends their time doing nothing. Make yourself sound as interesting as possible. 
   
   
3. Lose the sense of entitlement; No-one likes someone who thinks the world should give them everything, you are no more special then anyone else. Arrogance is off-putting, confidence is key. 
   
   
4. Work Harder than anyone else. Employers love people who help themselves. Do an online degree, the more skills you have the more likely you are to get an internship. Employers love people who go for it. 
   
   
5. Think about what is stopping people giving you an internship, and then remove it. Take the feedback that you are getting from other people. If you are trying to get into finance do you keep getting told you need another qualification? Get it. Are you trying to become an actor and people tell you you need to be able to dance? Take some dance lessons. Remove the obstacles. 
   
   
6. Account for gaps on your CV; Think about what you could say when asked about these. Bad things to say are; sitting around the house or watching TV. Say that you were learning French or something similar that could add another string to your bow. 
   
   
7. Be likeable; It's a simple one but people like working with nice people. Try to smile even if you don't feel like it, say please and thank you and hold doors open for people. People will remember you as a good, decent person. The kind of person who gets hired!
   
   

Good Luck.

How to Start Your Writing Career At College

Sometimes it pays to get a head start in life. The years of college can go pass in a blur and while you are getting a degree, other people are getting ahead in their careers. College is stressful and piling on any more work can cause burn out, so here is a few ways to get your foot in the door of a writing career. So when you leave college, you have that all important head start.

1. First, go to one of the best journalism schools you can and write for the student paper, if there isn't a student paper, make one. Lots of people, including Richard Branson, got their start from doing a student paper. You will learn all the basics of journalism and will make invaluable contacts. You will also have a market for your publication: you're fellow student.
2. Start a Blog: Starting a blog had made many people rich and famous. Think Belle Du Jour. You will also get into the habit of writing regularly, learn what people are reading most and gain invaluable skills.
3. Write as much as possible: You probably won't get paid at first but you will find your voice as a writer and also learn the discipline of writing. Many people give up because of the sight of a blank screen.
4. Ask for feedback: Ask your most trusted friends and family for feedback on your writing. It's the only way you will get better. You will probably have some bad writing habits or overuse certain words. Only ask people who's opinion you trust. Don't take the feedback negatively, but as an opportunity to learn.
5. Write an e-book: There a number of e-readers out there. Amazon's Kindle has made it very easy for anyone to write a book and sell it on Amazon. Write fiction or take something you know and sell your wisdom to someone else. If you write 500 words a day, it will take you 160 days to get to 80,000 words. It is completely manageable to do that in a year.

Reduce College Stress: Top 3 Ways to Organize

One of the best ways to reduce college stress is to get organized. Even in the middle of the semester of college classes it’s not too late! Here is the top 3 methods that have worked best for me. 

1. I have found the best way for me is to get a binder with a clear pocket on the front, where I place the class schedule, with exam dates highlighted. Inside the binder I have tabbed dividers where I have everything organized by the class. In the front is blank notebook paper with a 3 hole punch. Following is my course syllabus and assignment sheets, lecture notes and power points, research articles for my final papers, and course work. I have 2 courses in this binder that fall on the same day. Most of this can be recycled semester after semester, just changing out the course materials. Saving money helps reduce my stress too. 

2. I utilize a dry erase board. I found the best way to keep up with all of the homework and things coming up soon is to write it down in a place I visit frequently, the fridge. I have my board divided into 4 courses, and a blank spot for work/personal things. I placed clear tape over the dividing lines so it won't erase easily, alone with over the course titles. As things are coming up I add them to the board. It feels relieving to erase the things I have accomplished. At the end of the semester, I can peel it off and start again for the next semester, saving money.

 

3. Keep supplies close! Everyone needs pens and pencils. I prefer a cosmetics bag as it is smaller than the typical pencil pouches, and I like the clear plastic. I like being able to quickly see what I am reaching for instead of digging and making noise in a quite classroom during lecture. Inside my pencil case is a host of supplies for school, including some pens of different colors, mechanical pencils, highlighters, a spare flash drive, paper clips, and sticky notes for marking pages or chapters in text books.

 

How to Balance Love and Study

Are you presently in love? What a wonderful feeling isn’t it? It seems that you are smiling with me now. I know the feeling. “Love is a many splendored thing” as the song goes. When you’re in love, you are so happy, cheerful, blooming, beautiful, alive, and many more positive things that you can ever imagine. Just make sure, that person is a good influence to your life to be worth it.

If you are a student and you are in a romantic relationship, as if you are in cloud nine and nothing matters except that special someone of yours. Your education is the one that gets mostly affected or it’s the other way around, your love one is taken for granted because you’re too focused on your studies and you don’t give time for love.

Thinking wisely with a heart is the best solution so that neither love nor your education will suffer. If you are starting your college life, it would be good to do some planning. Yes, planning! In life, if you plan ahead of time you get better results. It’s about keeping all in balance. You don’t need to choose between love and study because you can balance them. Love should not be an obstacle to your studies and your studies should not be an obstacle to your love life. How? Well, here are some simple tips that you can do to make things in its proper places:

Time Management

There are certain things to be done on certain times. If you are at school, it is just proper to study and not to concentrate more on your love one’s presence. This doesn’t mean that you will not see him on weekdays especially when you are in the same campus. You just have to schedule your dates only on weekends. No dating on weekdays; No hanging out before the exam day; and do your homework first before texting or talking on the phone. Aside from time for love and studies, you also need time for your family, friends, and for yourself. Just don't focus on one thing; balance everything. When you do this, you will serve your purpose as a good student, lover, family member, and as an individual for a better future. If you have a good education, the best careers in life await you. 

Mutual Agreement

You alone cannot balance love and study. Your partner should agree with you on your plan to schedule everything so that you both will finish your studies. This is the best for both of you anyway. If you both graduate, you will have more opportunities in life and a better chance to be prosperous, and then love will be in the air. If one doesn’t agree, that is a sign that your present partner is not capable of understanding and giving importance to your goals in life and future. So, you better think twice.

Sticking to the Plan

A plan and an agreement without execution is useless. Make sure that you are dedicated to follow your plan which is to finish your studies with good grades and your special someone is your inspiration in achieving your goals.

Don’t give up love for your studies because who knows that person is the right person for you and don’t give up your studies either for love because love without thinking is nothing. You may end up losing everything. Balance is the answer to be successful in life. Yes it’s possible and you can do it!

By:  Ritchell Thibodeaux