Life Tips

Part-1 How International Students can save money while being at GCC by Zerin Firoze

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I was born and raised in a developing country, Bangladesh, and it was my dream from a very young age to study in the US. A lot of youths like me from developing countries also aspire to study in the US. It is extra challenging for poor students from developing countries to be able to afford to study in the US. Students from developing countries cannot remit money to a foreign country. The US government is also notorious for imposing sanctions in certain countries. Exchange rates plus foreign transaction fees by banks also add up. For example, 1 US dollar is 84 takas in my country Bangladesh. There is no legal way to remit money and corrupt middlemen charge high fees. I am a student from a developing country and here are the following things I have learned after coming in the US. I hope these tips will help you to save both time and money.

Choosing the right college

I would encourage all students to start at a community college first. You can literally save thousands of dollars and still get the same degree and classes at a cheaper price. Many community colleges like GCC do not even charge admission fees. It is completely free to apply for admission. You just need to apply online. So, apply to as many colleges as you want.

Learn to drive in your home country

Many cheaper colleges in the US are located in rural areas with little to no public transportation. You can save a lot of money by choosing a rural location. The cost of living in large cities is extremely expensive. It is not possible for students to pay out of state tuition fees and still afford thousands of dollars per month for rent, food, and other basic necessities. According to American Infrastructure Report Card, the US infrastructure is crumbling and has a rating of D+. Driving schools in America are very expensive. Private one-hour driving lessons are also very expensive and are not available in all rural US counties. So, try to get some driving time before coming to the US. Ask your family members or relatives in your home country to teach you driving for free.

Try to learn about car maintenance and repair before you come to the US. Then, attend a defensive driving course and Driver’s Education course in the US to get your license. You will be very busy being a full-time student once you come to the US. So, try to learn basic life skills while waiting for your acceptance letter from US colleges or for your visa interview.

Learn how to cook and preserve food before coming in the US

I lost thousands of dollars in wasted food. I had no idea how to preserve food. I had no experience in estimating the shelf life of certain food items. I cried when I had to throw away tons of fruits, frozen meat, and cartons of milk. I have been in the US for two and a half years now and I still did not find the time to read all the articles or watch all the videos that I always wanted to watch about food preservation. You can save a lot of money by learning to preserve food. Cooking skills are also important. Next time, hit the grocery store with your mom and learn about basic spices and ingredients if you are not a cooking pro.

Learn how to use coupons and rebate apps

I remember how overwhelmed I was when I first landed at JFK airport and very quickly I became busy with campus life. I had no time to read blogs about saving money in the US as a full-time student. I had no leisure reading time outside college textbooks. Hence, do yourself a favor. Read blogs and website articles about saving money in the US while you are waiting for a decision from US colleges or for your visa interview.

Coupons and rebate apps are not used in my country at all. I became familiar with coupons and rebate apps after coming in the US. It took me two years to learn to use coupons and rebate apps. Now, I am the ultimate coupon queen. I received $54 cashback from Ebates and $55 from Ibotta just for buying groceries and other necessary items. Groupon is also a great website to save money. Learn to use coupons and rebate apps before you even come in the US. Read articles about rebate apps and coupons on the Internet.

I will share more secrets and life hack in part-2 of the same article next week!

 

 

 

 

How to Take Control of Your Busy Life

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Being a college student, working, staying involved on campus, amongst other things sounds great; and you probably came into this semester thinking it would be great. But 3 weeks in you’re probably feeling super overwhelmed, and realizing it’s easier said than done. With the millions of opportunities in and out of school, it’s actually quite normal to have a busy lifestyle. I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way that have allowed me to enjoy my crazy life a bit more, and I thought I’d share them with you!

Prioritize

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At this point in my life, I never thought I’d have such a massive list of to-do’s every single day, but the reality is that I do. And the even bigger reality is that most likely half of it won’t get done in 1 day. The key is to figure out what is most important, for example homework and work, then go from there. Do whatever must be done first, and try to figure out what can wait.

 

Note: I love writing assignment due dates in my agenda and highlighting it, so I can take a quick glance and see what’s coming up and what can wait.

 

Plan Your Day

 

You most likely read this tip and thought “well, duh”, but I don’t mean just write a long list of everything going on throughout your day, I mean sit down and thoroughly plan it out. What you have going on, and when you’re going to do. It’s like a class schedule but instead of times blocked off for classes, it’s blocked off for your tasks. It doesn’t have to be exact, just a guess-timate in order to formulate some sort of plan.

 

Take a Break

 

Learn when to relax. Yes it is important to take care of your homework, go to work, and do your daily tasks; however, you and your sanity should come first. Know when you’ve reached your limit, and take some time to relax or do something you enjoy.

 

alarm block

Another tip is to use the site Tomato Timer, which sets a 25 minute timer in which you work on your homework or a task, when time is up you get 5-10 minutes to relax and do whatever you want. Then back to 25 minutes of your task, and so on. You repeat the loop until you’re done!

 

I also like that Tomato Timer gives you the option of a short (5 minutes) or long break (10 minutes).

 

Most Importantly: Take Care of Yourself

 

When life gets crazy, we sometimes forget to take care of ourselves, and begin to skip out on basic necessities. Unhealthy eating and a lack of sleep will sooner than later, catch up to you. A night or two of staying up late is normal in college, but it is important to not let it become a habit. Unhealthy eating is another thing that can easily become a habit, but you have to fight the urge. It can be easy to pick up fast food at first, but you’ll regret it when you tack on the ‘freshman 15’, which will take much longer to lose than it would have for you to make a home cooked meal.

 

Your mental and physical health conquers everything else. Take care of yourself, love yourself, and never let anything distract you either of those tasks.

 

If you take these tips and use them, I know you’ll rock out this semester, and hopefully with a little less stress.

 

“The elevator to success is out of order. You’ll have to use the stairs…one step at a time.”

-Joe Girard

-Danielle