Down and Dirty Homework Hints for the Attention Span Impaired By John Parks

The fact of the matter is that nobody likes to do homework. Even if you love the subject that you have homework in, the fact that you have to do the work automatically makes the project less desirable. Trust me, we've all been there. What makes it worse is if you don't like the subject. If you don't like the subject of your homework it will feel like everything is distracting. Suddenly you have the attention span of a gnat and watching grass grow feels more fun than the homework you have been assigned.

So how do you get the work done when your attention span has taken a vacation? Here are a few quick hints to help you out:

1. Contrary to popular belief, locking yourself to your chair and forcing yourself to focus on the work until it's done will only make the project take longer. Why? Because you will find every reason in the world to not sit down in that chair. Suddenly all of the things you normally avoid must be done immediately! Instead, allow yourself to take a few breaks. Get up every fifteen to twenty minutes to stretch your legs or get a drink of water.

2. If silence gets on your nerves, find a noise source that won't be intrusive. The radio is always a good idea—choose songs that don't have words so you won't be tempted to sing along. Hint: Classical music, especially Mozart, has proven to improve a person's brain function!

3. Get in the habit of doing homework at the same time. It's sort of like going to bed at the same time every night. Eventually your body will tell you that it wants to sit down and concentrate on something and you'll feel weird when you aren't doing your homework—no matter how little you want to concentrate on the project at hand.

4. If it will help you get the work done, have a study session with your friends at someone's house. Sometimes having someone else who is in the same boat as you will help both of you focus. You won't feel as isolated and you'll be able to talk about any problems you have with the material as they come up. Just make sure that you don't spend your homework time socializing.

5. When all else fails ask your parents to sit with you while you do the work to make sure it gets done. Yes, you want to be independent and prove that you can do your homework on your own. The truth is, however, that your parents will appreciate that you want to get the work done and are having trouble concentrating. They will be more than happy to sit with you to keep you on task.

These are just five simple hints to help you get your homework done when your attention span wants to focus anywhere else. Check around, you'll probably find lots of other suggestions you can incorporate into your study routine!

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=332431&ca=Education

Paying For College With College Scholarships and Student Loans By Mark B. Allen

It is getting harder to pay for a college education these days, but it is by no means impossible. Getting college scholarships is still the best way to go, and there are plenty of them still around - even though money may be getting tighter. Here are some tips about how to get money to pay for your college education with college scholarships and student loans.

GET AS MANY COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS AS YOU CAN

The best way to go to college is to go free. College scholarships can enable a student to go to college without cost - if there are enough of them. In order to get as many as is needed to go without cost, you will need to apply to as many scholarships as possible. Of course, you want to only apply for those college scholarships that you have a good possibility of actually winning.

Finding the right college scholarships to apply to will require some work - and possibly some imagination, too. There are college scholarships for just about everything you can think of these days - and possibly some that are almost out of reach of the imagination, too. You can find them for academics, sports, hobbies, uniqueness - like a special last name or for left-handers, etc., your locale, and some that are just plain weird - like the duct tape prom college scholarship.

In order for you to learn about what college scholarships are available, you will need to do some homework. This includes researching them online, in the library, letting scholarship groups help you (be careful of these - some are scams), talking to your school counselors, and more. You can also look at the Web sites of the colleges that you are interested in, and they will show you what college scholarships are available there.

LOOK FOR COMPANY SCHOLARSHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS

Many companies also offer college scholarships, too. They do this because they want to have a qualified and trained pool of potential employees available when they need them. They usually look for exceptionally bright prospects that can bring much to the table if they should hire them.

Getting a college scholarship or an internship with a great company can lead to a great job right out of college. Sometimes, you may even be able to find your needed college scholarship simply by looking at the various companies you would dream of working for after you get your college degree. Look at their Web sites for more information.

APPLY FOR COLLEGE STUDENT LOANS

Because college scholarships may not cover your entire school bill, you may also need some college financing. Direct loans are available from the government, which will also give you the lowest interest rate possible on education loans.

Direct student loans, which includes the Stafford loans and the PLUS loans, accumulate no interest while you are in school (because the government pays for it while you are in college), or drop to less than half-time. You will not need to make any payments on the loan until you have been out of school for 6 months.

Graduate students and families of college students have access to PLUS loans for education and they also have the same terms as the Stafford loans – but a little higher interest rate. All government loans can be consolidated after graduation for easy payments.

GET STARTED EARLY

If you want to get the most out of college scholarships and student loans, then you will need to get started early. In fact, you should get started earlier than was necessary in previous years. With less money going around and with some college scholarships going on a first-come, first-served basis - you have no time to lose.

Finding the right college scholarships takes a considerable amount of time, and so does filling out scholarship applications and writing scholarship essays. In addition, in order to get a Direct loan, you will need to have filled out the FAFSA form, which is required for all government student loans.

FILL OUT SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS CAREFULLY

College scholarship applications require that they be filled out accurately and carefully. A little carelessness (or haste) in answering a question or two could needlessly cost you a college scholarship. This could mean that you may need to take much longer to pay off a college loan - when you didn't have to.

Writing a quality college scholarship essay that will win a scholarship requires that you understand what the group offering it is looking for. Make yourself look like the person that they would like to represent and promote their company, college, etc., and you could walk away with the free college education you want. Be honest, though, in what you write - and you'll be glad you did.

Resource: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=333595&ca=Education