Transitions 2021

TRANSITIONS

TRANSITIONS

Dear Readers,

Hello new University of Houston students! Welcome to Transitions Magazine, a publication made specifically for you. In these next 37 pages, you will find plenty of advice, how-to’s, guides and more to kick off your experience at the University right. I hope you find something of value to you in this issue, and I am so excited for you to begin your journey at UH. Even though I’m a graduate student now, it wasn’t too long ago when I was reading Transitions at my new student orientation back in Fall 2017. I remember that weekend so vividly — from thinking my orientation leaders were the absolute coolest

Sincerely,

Autumn Rendall, Editor-in-Chief

to being absolutely exhausted from the assortment of walks around campus. The University felt so unbelievably exciting then, and honestly it still feels that way to me now. On that weekend, that feeling came from how little I knew about what was ahead for me at the University, and now it feels as if whenever I step on to campus I’m coming home.

It’s hard not to include something too cheesy in this letter, so I’ll leave you with this piece of advice, new students. Be

TRANSITIONS STAFF

Editor-in-Chief

Autumn Rendall

Chief Graphic Designers

Juana Garcia

Jiselle Santos

Front Cover

Jiselle Santos

Autumn Rendall

Special thanks to the UH Mascots

Assistant Editors

Tyriana Terrell

Jo’Tavia Norbert

Staff Writers

Sofia Gonzalez

Yidan Ren

Shawn Owens

Anna Baker

Haya Panjwani

Jessica Swenson

present and be kind. I promise you that these next four years will pass in the blink of an eye, and I hope that you’re able to enjoy and remember every second of them. Good luck, and Go Coogs!

The next chapter of your life has just begun!

You have just started a very exciting time of your life: Now that you are at the University of Houston, your world has just opened up to a slew of new learning, discovery, leadership, and personal growth opportunities. And the Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services at the University of Houston is here to help you every step of the way — from your first days as a freshman until the day you accept your diploma.

Our dedicated staff will support your interests and endeavors — wherever they may lie. The Division of Student Affairs and Enrollment Services offers you:

• More than 500 student organizations, student-led events and initiatives, internship and student employment resources, and campus traditions that help you embrace the Cougar spirit and feel connected to the campus community;

• A state-of-the-art Campus Recreation Center;

• New residence halls, including the Quad, which just opened last year;

• On-campus health and counseling centers;

• And a Student Center that serves as the hub of student life on campus.

As you prepare for your future, there will be challenges and triumphs, and each experience becomes a part of the journey — your journey toward becoming a successful student at the University of Houston.

Take charge of your success, and let us know where we can help.

Dr. Richard Walker, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Services

EIGHT UNIQUE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON TRADITIONS

By Jessica Swenson

Every university has traditions that make them unique, and the University of Houston is no different. From rubbing paws to wearing red on Fridays, UH has a long standing history of Cougar pride. Here’s a few traditions that you may know, and a few you might not.

Every Friday is Cougar Red

Friday

Wearing red is always a way Cougars can show their UH spirit, but especially on Fridays.

Everyone in the campus community is encouraged to wear red on Fridays — so much so that we even give away free red t-shirts on the occasion!

Giving back to the community

The University of Houston is known for its long history of giving back through community service. To show off our commitment to volunteering on and off campus, the Student Service Center erected the Eternal Flame of Service monument

after it was donated by the UH Alpha Phi Omega chapter in 1970. The monument is located in the middle of campus, and anyone who needs a moment to remember the world has a few good people in it can go see it anytime they’d like.

Graduation merch

We all want to graduate, and we all want to look great doing it, which leads us to two of the University of Houston’s long standing graduation traditions; the graduation ring and the Cougar Spirit Cord.

Photo by Jiselle Santos

Getting a class ring has been a tradition for longer than any of us can remember, and it’s a standing symbol of our hard work and academic accomplishments. You can buy the ring ahead of graduation, but you have to receive them at the formal ring ceremony after they’ve been blessed by our live cougar mascot Shasta at the Houston Zoo. Tradition says that only alumni are allowed to have the ring face outward, so if you want to wear it before the big day, remember to wear it facing inward.

For more swag, graduating seniors can wear the Cougar Spirit Cord to symbolize their pride as students. Seniors are eligible to receive a Spirit cord after donating at least fifteen dollars to any UH college, scholarship or program.

Shasta, our Cougar mascot

Universities are famous for having animal mascots, and the University of Houston is no different. Between 1947 and 1989 UH had a total of five live cougars that we’d bring to games to serve as our mascots. While we have retired our live cougars to the Houston Zoo, we still carry on our mascot focused traditions like rallying around Shasta through costumed students.

Rub the lucky golden paws

If you’ve ever spent any time on campus, you’ve probably seen the two bronze cougar statues in front of E. Cullen Building in the Cullen Family Plaza. If you’ve ever looked at them and wondered why their paws are made of gold, you can

thank the Cougar sports fans for that one. It’s believed to be good luck to rub the paws, and the more people rub them the better luck the Cougars will have on game days. The paws are especially rubbed up during Homecoming week — and sometimes finals week too.

So next time we need our team to win — which is always — or you have a test to study for, come rub a bit more gold onto our favorite cougars!

Three fingered salute

Ever wonder where we came up with our three finger salute? Turns out, it’s a tradition that spans back to 1953, when our presiding cougar mascot — a live cougar back in the day — lost a toe to a wayward cage door while being transported to a game. Our opposing team, the

File photo of The Cougar

Photo by Autumn Rendall

University of Texas, thought it would be funny to imitate the injury during the game by putting up the three fingers. Cougar fans were quick to take the gesture and turn it into a symbol of pride and perseverance instead of mockery — no one makes fun of our mascots!

Feel the burn

If you ever feel like getting fit while joining in a weekly tradition, join our Cougar mascots while they do a push up for every point scored during a football game!

Cougars, sing your hearts out

If you really want bonus points for knowing our traditions, sing our traditional Alma Mater and Cougar Fight Songs during every game! The lyrics show up on the big screen before and after every game, but if you really want to show off your pride, memorize them and support our sports teams.

UH senior linebacker Grant Stuard / Courtesy of UH athletics

Photo by Jiselle Santos

What I wish I knew my first semester

By Sofia Gonzalez

College is new, it’s exciting, but it’s also a time for growth — and that might scare some people. During my own time at the University of Houston, I wish I had gone into college with a different mindset about certain things, so here is what I believe every college freshman should know:

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

College is the time to find your niche! Go out to all the activity fairs, and see what interests you the most. There are tons of things you can do to find yourself in college. For example, my thing was student media, but for others it may be student government, Greek life, or any other club that UH

has to offer. There are over 400 organizations — you are bound to fit in.

Make friends!

I was someone who was extremely afraid of losing my high school best friends, and I hate to break it to you, I did. I felt lonely in the beginning stages of college. So, make friends through any organizations you join! Talk to people in the student center! It is also OK if you don’t stay friends with people you met during your first semester — never stop making friends, and never stop growing.

Prioritizing your mental health is crucial.

College is a lot different from high school. It’s fast paced, for some the

Photo by Carolina Yanez

classes are 10 times harder, and you’re on your own in student living. All of these things can add up — so remember that mental health check-ins are imperative for surviving throughout your college career. Skipping class will only hurt you.

So you have an 8 a.m. and you don’t want to go, we have all been there, but skipping class means missing out on a lot of important information — some of which could be crucial information you need to pass the class. Prioritizing your mental health and taking breaks does not mean skipping class — it means allowing you to breathe before that class. Remember that falling behind will only hurt your class grade more in the end.

If you know what career path you want to follow,

start thinking about internships.

I know it’s only your first semester, but try to reach out to companies you would like to work for and make those connections! It’s easy to push off internships, but these are the experiences that will help you the most. Not only do internships look great on resumes, but the connections made through this experience can help you get far in life.

Most importantly — remember that it’s OK to have fun!

Some people will tell you to focus only on your studies, but this will only get you so far. We are young, we want to do what young people do. Don’t get so caught up in your school career that you forget to live your life in the moment. College is only four years.

Photo by Autumn Rendall

Getting prepared for your future career

By Yidan Ren

It’s never too early to start preparing for your future career, and college is here to guide you through all the steps. The list below is a few things you should check out in order to be prepared for the real world by the time you graduate.

Join a student organization

You have probably heard this bit of wisdom from every college advice piece ever, but it just shows how important joining an organization is, especially if you join one related to your major. While students are able to learn the required technical skills within the classroom, this environment might not teach you the social skills needed in society, especially how to connect with professionals or what to do in an interview. This is why joining an organization related to what you study is so important.

Another great benefit that some organizations offer are talks from company leaders as speakers for professional events. This is a great opportunity for you to learn more about a company’s culture as well as mingle among the recruiters to gain connections.

Internships and career fairs

It’s never too early to start hunting for internships and attend career fairs, so don’t be scared to prepare for them even as a new student. If you show your passion and dedication as a young student, it will appeal to the recruiters as someone who is goaloriented, and they could keep an eye out for you when it comes your time to apply for internships or full-time offers.

Graphic by Jiselle Santos

Build your network

Throughout your college career, utilize all the resources that are available to you in order to succeed. Reach out to your alumni from your organizations, the teacher’s assistant from your classes as well as your professors. Networking is a great way for you to gain insight from someone who has already walked through your experience; people can really give you advice that resonates with you. One way of networking is utilizing LinkedIn to connect with recruiters after each professional event or career fair, which can help build your online presence. When you meet with recruiters, make sure you wear business casual attire and have your resume ready. Mentors from your student organization can help prepare you by offering tips for your resume and hosting mock

interviews.

University Career Services (UCS) is also a helpful resource, and they offer workshops in resume writing, mock interviews, salary negotiation, and financial literacy. Work interest, personality and strengths assessments are also available at UCS to assist with the career exploration process.

On the Cougar Pathway platform available in your AccessUH account, students have access to apply for on-campus job opportunities. Students can apply for internships via Cougar Pathway as well.

According to Cynthia Olmedo of UCS, employers prefer to hire sophomore and juniors, opposed to seniors that are near graduation. Olmedo also offers this personal tip for freshmen, “You don’t have to know exactly where you are headed, but you do have to know who you

are in order to get where you are meant to be.”

Explore your options

The chances of you knowing exactly what you want to pursue and major in are extremely small, which means that college is the place for you to explore your options and experience as much as you can. If there’s one thing that I truly resonate with, it’s that college is a place where you are under a protective umbrella, because you can try as much as you want without suffering from many consequences. I’ve found this to be true, and you won’t have this much freedom once you have a real job and adult responsibilities. You have to use this to explore things because that’s the only way for you to know what you want in the future.

Graphic by Juana Garcia

Insider’s guide to eating on campus: dining

By Anna Baker

The idea of a campus dining hall can be exciting, scary or both. Since everyone has different food interests, eating times and other dining preferences, the eating plan for someone else might not be the ideal strategy for you. Your UH dining experience can be great, but it’s up to you to make it that way. Here are five things that you can do to enhance your dining experience

Beat the rush, and find alternative times to eat.

If you go to the dining hall

during peak hours like noon or 8 p.m., you’re going to run into a crowd, either for lunch or dinner. This may not be so bad if you don’t mind waiting in line, but there’s no guarantee you’ll find a seat, and you may end up having to sit with a stranger. However, if you go a little before or after these peak hours, you’re more likely to have shorter lines and more seating options. Here’s another secret about meal rushes, Cougar Woods is usually a lot more empty during these peak dining hours.

Regularly supplement

dining hall food with Student Center food

The dining halls are very convenient for on-campus students due to there always being one 24-hour dining hall. It can be easy to end up just going to the dining hall for every single meal, but you might find yourself wanting to switch up your options every now and then. To keep yourself from getting tired of dining hall food, you do have the option to refresh your palate with some other food choices. Our student center has great alternative dining options

Photo by Kathryn Lenihan

dining halls, options around campus and more

with Chick-fil-A, Panda Express, Mondo Subs and Starbucks. There are also other restaurants on campus like AzzA Cafe, Pink’s Pizza and more. Many of these locations offer meal exchanges, and you can always use your Cougar Cash.

Oh and don’t forget, we also have access to dining robots on campus that can deliver your food from various on-campus eateries directly to you.

As of now, we’re allowed to get take out from the dining hall, so you can keep various sauces, condiments and seasonings in

your dorm to enhance your meal according to your taste. I love relish on hot dogs, so I always make sure to keep some in my fridge for when the dining hall has hot dogs.

It’s OK to buy food outside of UH dining

Because we’ve paid a lot of money for our meal plans, we feel like we have to use them all the time. While you should prioritize using your meal plan, you shouldn’t feel bad if you just want to order some takeout or get some chips from the vending machine.

Our restaurant options on campus are pretty good, but we don’t have everything, and sometimes you’re just craving some Olive Garden or Sonic. It’s important to use your meal plan, but there’s nothing wrong with splurging on some DoorDash every now and then. Just don’t make a huge habit of it, and your bank account will thank you. While you might find yourself still missing your mom’s cooking, as I know I have when living on campus, following these tips helped me have a better time with oncampus meals, and will hopefully help you too.

Photo by Jiselle Santos

Maintaining healthy friendships in college

By Sofia Gonzalez

Your college experience can be whatever you make of it, and healthy friendships are certainly the backbone to a great one. Friends are there when we are overwhelmed with school and just life in general. However, college is a difficult time for many, and lasting friendships can be hard to come by.

In college, it is easier to find friends with a common interest — this is because students are finally in classes that pertain to what they are interested in. This is important for healthy friendships. Finding those with common interests means finding someone that probably has a similar personality, so use this to your advantage! You might want to surround yourself with people who are like you.

Once you find friends, remember that it is okay to not remain friends with them throughout your college years. We are constantly growing and evolving, so that means that those around you may not always be there, but there are ways to keep

those friends as positive, lasting people in our lives.

Friendship is a two-way street. A positive healthy friendship consists of both friends equally reaching out and trying. If you are their shoulder to cry on, then they should be yours as well. It is not healthy to have a friend who keeps you at their side when it is convenient for them.

This leads to the next and most important topic: communication. Communication is key, and this is true for any sort of relationship in life. One must be willing to healthily communicate feelings to friends. So when you feel left out, instead of starting an argument, talk it out with your friend group. Or if you feel, all of a sudden, that a friend is not there for you like they usually are reach out to them instead of deciding to abruptly end the friendship.

People endure so much in life, and some keep it bottled up. Communicate with your friends and find out why they are acting a certain way. Assuming is your worst enemy.

Remember that the best friendships consist of communication, honesty, humor, trust and empathy. Have open and honest conversations, be empathic when a friend needs you, laugh a lot, enjoy all the crazy fun that college brings and trust the friends you surround yourself with.

At the end of the day, it is also important to remember to have a weekly schedule in place. This schedule will allow you to get all your work done so that you can find time to reach out to friends, catch up or simply hangout. Making time for those you care about will go a long way and will allow you to keep a stronger, more positive friend group.

College is not easy, but it is more bearable when you have healthy friendships with those who can support you through it all. So, find your people, communicate, find the time for those you love, and have fun.

Graphic by Juana Garcia

Fun ways to spend a free day on campus

By Anna Baker

It’s really hard to be bored in Houston. We live in a big vibrant city with tons of museums, parks and other things to do, but you don’t even have to go that far to have fun if you’re a UH student. There’s plenty of stuff to do on campus when you have free time; you just need to know where to look.

First, the University has a ton of sporting events every semester. There are of course the big events like football and basketball games which can be a really fun time, but there are also less advertised sporting events such as volleyball games and baseball games. These happen almost every week, so if you love sports you will always have something to watch. Visit the UH athletic tickets website to find out when the games are and how to get tickets.

If you’re not into sports, or you don’t want to go to sporting events, you’re in luck. There are still plenty of other options for you. The University of Houston has a booming arts scene. The Katherine G. McGovern College of the Arts always has a plethora

of shows going on. The Moores School of Music has shows all the time featuring anything from opera to jazz concerts. Fun fact: being a student gets a reduced ticket price at all their events. We also have an art museum on campus called the Blaffer Art Museum. The museum will periodically switch between different artists’ exhibits, so you can find something different every time you go. At the end of the year, they often put up art pieces that students made , so you can see what your fellow talented Cougars created. The best part: it’s free. We also have a lot of public art structures outside around campus, and it’s always nice to stroll around campus and see what’s new. Since 2020, the University has hosted the “Color Field” sculptures all around the campus — a series of beautiful, energetic and colorful art pieces. Speaking of some of the beautiful features of campus, what’s better than a chill afternoon spent next to the Cullen Fountain and Reflection Pool? The fountains are commonly

Photos by Jiselle Santos

known as one of the most gorgeous spots on campus, and they are perfect for any type of plan. Studying? Hanging with friends? Reading out on a picnic blanket? Up to you!

You come to college to accumulate knowledge, so of course you may be looking for more opportunities to do just that. There are a ton of events on campus every semester where a club invites a speaker to come talk about a subject in their field. These lectures can be very interesting, and they’re not hard to find. There are usually flyers everywhere around campus, advertising the different academics, musicians and everyone else who comes to speak here. These events are typically

free as well.

An example of these lectures are the Honors College’s Grand Challenges Forums where every week they invite a new guest speaker to speak on a subject. They are completely free and can be very rewarding. I’ve attended quite a few, and they’ve had people from surgeons to poets to CEOs speak. They invite such a variety of people there’s bound to be one that you’re interested in.

College can be a lot of things, but it certainly should not be boring. If you look for things to do, you’ll find them.

A letter to my first-year commuter self

By Haya Panjwani

Dear Freshman Haya,

Congrats on officially becoming a Coog! It’s been a long time coming. Your mom is very proud of you, and she has full faith you’ll be able to attack anything that this college life throws at you.

Although, as excited as you are to start this new life in college, you’re probably just as upset about the fact that you aren’t living on campus, and you’re living far away from all the action at school. Let

me tell you, you’ll be just fine. Here’s why ...

The thing is, you’re pretty lucky to be someone who can go home to your parents at literally any time. Your friends on campus will tell you how much they miss home when they’re sick and how much they wish they could have warm soup from home.

Instead, they’re likely going to order soup that’ll cool down by the time it’s in their hands. You get the lovely advantage of the

comfort of your own home, where you can make soup in A POT, in A KITCHEN — a luxury many people who live on campus don’t necessarily have.

Another amazing advantage you have is that you’ll know the city of Houston better than any of your friends. Since you’re a commuter, you’ve avoided sitting through hours of traffic, and instead taken the detours around town to get to your destination. So when you and your friends want to spend

Graphic by Juana Garcia

a weekend out on the town, you won’t even need your navigation!

Sooner or later, you’re going to realize that all these detours you’re taking helps you find new places that you would have never discovered if you were confined to the campus. For instance, you found your favorite coffee shop by going behind Highway 59, instead of waiting on that forbidden intersection that haunts you everyday.

If you’re worried about missing out on

the memories you make living on campus, that should definitely be at the bottom of your list of worries. You’ll make friends whose floors you can crash on, and you’ll negotiate a curfew with your parents where you can stay super late on campus since you’re just chilling with your friends at their dorm.

Plus, your parking pass lets you park almost anywhere on campus after a certain hour. So if you parked near your classes, you can move your car to

be close to where you and your friends are hanging out.

It feels like the end of the world, I know. You met all these people at orientation and you keep hearing about them living on campus. Let me tell you, when you have a very long, fun day at school and come home, you will be extremely thankful for the comfy bed you have at home.

Just focus on making some great memories, doing the best you can in school and making the most of

these golden days. Commuting will be the last thing on your mind when you graduate. What you will remember though is all the fun you had and the memories you made.

Yours Truly, Senior Haya

Graphic by Jiselle Santos

Photo by Jiselle Santos

By Sofia Gonzalez

College is hard. It’s the time to find yourself, but it’s also the time when some students begin to feel the worst that they have ever felt about themselves. The coronavirus pandemic has made this worse for some college students. It has made students feel stuck, as if every day they are just going through

the motions. However, this does not have to be the case. If anything, now of all times is the time to challenge yourself and take that first step towards growth.

Create a list of goals that you would like to achieve. People always talk about manifestation, but little do they know that it actually

takes work. Believe it, work towards it and you will achieve it. Writing down these goals makes it all the more real. For some, writing these goals and hanging it up where they can see it every morning helps, too.

Once you have your goals written down, figure out ways that these can be achieved. Ask yourself questions relevant to your goals such as: should I be connecting with people on LinkedIn? Should I be

enrolled in more classes, or working harder in classes? What is it that will help me reach these goals?

For most college kids, all they want are good grades, an internship and a balance between their academic and social lives — which is where a routine comes in handy. Routines allow you to get the academic work done and assist you to plan your free time to keep up with your social life.

Having a routine can be

boring, but it is essential. The most successful people have everyday routines. Find what works for you and do it. Within this routine, find time for yourself — whether this be meditation, reading time, pursuing your favorite hobby or interest, or even time to wind down with a favorite TV show or video game.

Now, focusing more on professional growth — let’s remember our friend LinkedIn. This is the place to get started with a career.

Graphic by Juana Garcia

Connecting with individuals will help you grow immensely. It is especially helpful to reach out to people who have traveled down the career path that you are wanting to one day travel upon yourself.

By utilizing this social network, you can connect with those that are in roles you would like to be in one day, and more than likely, once connected, they will gladly answer any questions you may have — they might even be open to the idea of becoming your mentor.

Never forget that being stuck inside due to a pandemic does not mean that you have to become stuck in life. There are an abundance of ways that you can use

this time to grow. Now more than ever we have this extra time on our hands to take care of our personal, academic and professional growth. So yes, college is a difficult time, and right now with the pandemic, it might feel almost impossible to grow and be successful, but with the right mindset, it can be achievable.

Making new friends in college

By Shawn Owens

Have you ever had trouble making friends in a new setting?

Let me tell you a little story about a boy who in the middle of his 10th grade year of high

school was forced to move from the town he had lived in since 1st grade, to a place that was completely unfamiliar. When we are young we might feel as though change is unbearable. Especially in high school we think that those four years are meant to mold us and shape us into those adults ready to take on the world, yet we often forget to remember that change is inevitable. Switching high schools in the middle of this period of my life where I wanted things to stay the same prepared me for the college experience. We rarely get the opportunity to go to the same universities as our friends, and if you do then you’re a very lucky person. For most, going to college ushers in

that fresh start of truly discovering who you are and finding your people.

It is not the easiest thing to put yourself out there, but here’s one thing to remember. You are not the only person feeling this same exact way in this whole new world that you’ve found yourself in.

Keeping this in mind will allow you to have more confidence in approaching situations that will allow you to make new friends. My first year at the University of Houston, I found myself completely flustered trying to navigate around campus.

I did not know what to do, and I could not find this building for the life of me. So I decided to look for a friendly face, and I found someone that surprisingly enough was on their way to

Photo by Jiselle Santos

the same place. We ended up becoming really good friends throughout the semester, and this situation taught me so much about how to approach meeting new people.

You have to remember to allow yourself to be free, and what I mean by that is to throw away all of the apprehension about putting yourself out there. I have made life-long friends in the most random ways. So release yourself to the randomness that comes with college life and meeting new people.

College is filled with groups and organizations that you probably already know about. If you don’t, the University of Houston makes it so accessible for you to find all of the organizations and learn how to join them on the Get Involved platform. Student groups and organizations allowed me to find so many friends with the same interests as me. We bond over our shared love of writing, the arts, music and so much more. Joining Cooglife Magazine has amplified my voice and has allowed me to

express myself in ways that I had never had the opportunity to do before.

These experiences have allowed me to flourish and grow my confidence in ways that I had never imagined. I used to be more reclusive, but I now know that college is not only a place to receive a higher education, it is also about the experience.

Being a freshman coming into college is almost like a blank canvas. This is where I found the confidence to be the most full version of myself. You

can reinvent yourself in this new arena. Approach this new chapter knowing that you are not alone, no matter how alone you might feel especially if you’re away from home. There are thousands of other students in the same boat as you, which creates a sense of community. All you have to do is release yourself and open up to this new experience.

UNIVERSITY CAREER SERVICES

“Thank you so much for your help. I was truly lost with what I was going to do with my life (career-wise). I felt like I was heading nowhere, felt stuck, and you helped me feel more encouraged to continue on my search for career goals!”

“University Career Services has been a tremendous key to my success with my early career development. All their tools helped me realize what industry fits best with my personal and career goals.”

“I attended the Kellogg Info Session and the career fair to learn about the opportunities within the company. I was then offered an interview and later the sales internship.”

UNIVERSITY CAREER SERVICES

is a full-service career center supporting students and alumni with career exploration, preparation and planning resources.

Check out our online database by logging into AccessUH and clicking the Cougar Pathway icon!

You can search and apply for jobs, RSVP for events and upload your resume!

For more information, visit our website: www.uh.edu/ucs or stop by our office, located in Student Service Center 1, Room 106

This new college environment can seem overwhelming. Four or five classes may not seem like much, but it’ll start to pile up quickly and you may feel neck deep in work.

No need to fear though!

There’s some things you can do early on in the semester to make sure you’re always ahead on all your assignments and tasks.

First things first, get a planner. Whether that be a digital planner on your iPad, your Google or

How to not procrastinate and study like a pro

By Haya Panjwani

Apple calendar or a physical handheld planner — get one.

Writing down things, whether it be assignments, projects, reading assignments or someone’s birthday coming up, a planner will put all of your upcoming items in one place. Every time you open your planner, you’ll know what’s coming next.

Once you have your planner, it would definitely be useful to jot down your deadlines. But not your actual deadlines, fake deadlines. More often than not,

your professors are going to cram every major project into the same week or two. It’s best to get ahead on that action and start setting fake deadlines, so when the real deadlines approach, you aren’t overwhelmed.

It would also help to set minideadlines. Let’s say you have an interview based project where you have to speak to several people over the course of the semester to create this big project as your final grade. Set mini deadlines throughout the semester so you

Procrastinating on assignments in college might feel like an inevitable choice, but you can avoid it and save yourself some time, energy and bad grades along the way.

aren’t overwhelmed when your professor tells you the project is due a week ahead of time. Write down the date you plan to reach out and the date range you’d like to conduct your interview — it’ll make your life much easier.

But it’s not just long-term tasks and deadlines you should be looking at, try time-blocking to meet faster, more urgent deadlines. Time blocking is essentially jotting down all the times of the day you’re awake and productive and assigning a task at each hour or half our interval.

If time blocking is not your thing though, try the pomodoro method. This is where you set a timer for 25 minutes to work on a task, and then take a five minute break. After four cycles of this, take a 30 minute break.

You don’t have to stick to these methods. Give them a try, and if they don’t work, there’s plenty of other methods out there that may be better fit for you.

Sometimes, the environment you’re in plays a large role too. Do you like to study in a quiet little room on your own? Try the study corrals throughout the library. Prefer a louder environment where you can blast music in your headphones and no one distracts you? Try the student centers or a lecture hall.

There’s plenty of places throughout campus, so you can find an environment that works right for you, but it’ll definitely take some trial and error in the

early weeks of your college career.

College will seem daunting at first, but with a little organization, your worries will be brought down a lot.

Graphics by Jiselle Santos

JUST A FEW OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SPOTS ON CAMPUS

The Grove

MD

Photos by Jiselle Santos

While many UH students are commuters that live at home or off-campus and are regularly able to see their families or old friends, that’s not the case for everybody. Some students come from far away, as far as different states and even countries. When you go to school so far away from your support system, things can be really hard. As someone who traveled 1500 miles to come to UH, I know how it feels. Here are some ways to cope when you’re away from your

How to manage being far away from your loved ones

By Anna Baker

loved ones during the school year. Keep in touch a healthy amount

When you miss home, it can be tempting to call your family or friends every single day for hours at a time. It’s important to stay in touch during this transitional period of your life, but don’t overdo it. Calling them too much might just make you more sad. Instead try having a set time for when you call your parents or friends. That way you can look forward to reconnecting without it taking time away from your life

at UH.

Put yourself out there, however you want

A lot of people say to put yourself out there, but many people assume that means going to parties and joining tons of clubs. This can be great for some people, but not everyone is super extroverted. Sometimes the pressure to do all these activities can make someone feel overwhelmed and cause them to just sit in their dorm all the time. If you want to join every club you see at Cat’s Back, the annual

When you first start college, whether you’re only a half-hour away from your friends and family or halfway across the country, things can start to feel a bit lonely now and then.

student organization fair at the start of the year, then go for it, but it might be more useful to take your time and figure out which clubs you are actually interested in. Take it slow and don’t put so much pressure on yourself.

That being said, keep yourself busy

When we sit around without a lot to do, we tend to get bored. If you’re already homesick and you don’t have a lot to do, it’s easy to go into depressive, hopeless states. If you keep busy, you can keep your mind from falling into these moods. Joining a club can help keep you busy, but there’s still more you can do. Having an exercise routine is a great idea.

UH has an amazing recreation center and the dorms have mini gyms as well. Exercising is good to keep busy, but it can also relieve pent up energy. This can help relieve anxiety from being away from home.

Get help if you need it

There’s only so much you can do on your own without outside help. Sometimes you just need someone to talk to when you miss home, and there is never any shame in seeking help. UH Counseling and Psychological Services is a great place on campus where you can get affordable counseling for as little as five dollars an hour. If you want to start counseling, all you have to

do is call the CAPS office to set up an initial appointment.

College can be difficult in general, but it can be especially different if your family and friends are far away. Hopefully you can remedy the homesickness as much as possible using these tips and knowing that you’re not alone.

Graphic by Jiselle Santos

By Haya Panjwani

It’s OK to change your major C

ollege isn’t all just one smooth ride. There’s supposed to be bumps in the road that make things a little wonky, but that’s just a part of the college experience, and it helps shape you to be who you ultimately are.

So when you feel like what you’ve been doing for a few months, maybe even for a year or two, just isn’t what you want to do — that’s OK. It’s actually great. However, when you first start to think about it, it’s an overwhelming and daunting task. Don’t worry, it’s not. The

University of Houston has a fantastic support system, and the counselors are your go-to people on this matter. Now, there’s just a few steps to get you started.

First, take a class or do an internship aligned with your new major. Let’s say you want to switch your major from business to media production. While continuing with your business degree during school hours, spend some time away from school interning at a production company or TV station.

There’s a lot you can learn during an internship, and it doesn’t have any effect on your grades.

It’s risk free, and if you decide against switching to this field, you’ve made connections to maybe pursue this again in the future.

If you don’t have time for an internship, add another course to your course load that’s related to your potential next major. You don’t even have to take it at school. Websites like Coursera and Skillshare offer courses where you can learn a new skill with no effect on your GPA. Plus, some of these programs even offer certifications.

After you’ve experimented with this new field a little, you’re going to want to sit down

with an advisor from the major you intend to switch to. What they will likely do is give you a degree plan of what classes you’ll need to take in this new major in order to graduate.

If you’re switching majors around sophomore year, maybe early junior year, chances are, you will still graduate in four years since your first two years were taken up by university required prerequisite courses.

But, even if you don’t graduate in four years, that is also okay. Remember, if you’re happy in doing what you’re doing, chances are you won’t even mind taking the extra time in college to get really good at

it.

Doing what you find happiness in is extremely important to not just your mental health but your life. Many people will tell you that sometimes, what you want to do with your life isn’t practical. But doing something that gives you purpose and makes you feel joy is practical. Do what you love, and it’ll come through in your work.

Photo by Jiselle Santos

Joining the perfect student organization

By Yidan Ren

Why is it important for you to join student organizations? You are not only exposed to a variety of people from all kinds of majors and classes, but you are also able to utilize what the organization can offer you — whether it’s alumni connections or professional workshops. Here are our tips on finding the right student organization for you and what you need to know before you join one.

Take a minute and think about why you want to join a

student organization

Perhaps it’s for academic reasons, like wanting to further pursue your major. An example would be joining a business organization because you’re majoring in business or a theater club when you’re studying fine arts. Maybe you’d like to further a hobby you want to do on the side such as a craft or passion. Student organizations don’t always have to be about making connections or getting a head start on career fairs. They can also be a therapeutic experience many of us look at as room to breathe

amidst our busy schedules. The University of Houston has a great campus platform called Get Involved that allows you to filter your niche and interests as they come up with suggestions for student organizations you can be a part of.

If the organization you choose is catered to your career, think about how this organization can help you grow

Finding an organization that caters to your goals in life can open up many doors for you. Putting your time into things

Photo by Jiselle Santos

for you: everything you need to know

besides schoolwork can really build up your time management and leadership skills, along with other soft skills that will be pivotal in your long term career. Also, the upperclassmen and alumni connections of your student organization can be used as guidance regarding your school or work questions.

Put yourself out there

There are many inspiring people residing within your university, and you’ll never be able to meet them if you don’t reach out yourself. This is one thing about being in college, even though help is available to you, it won’t directly come to you on its own if you don’t reach out first.

Get to know the organizations you want to join through social media

If an organization interests you but you can’t really find too much information about them, check out their social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Many of them will post pictures at their

professional and social events to garner more interest from new people. Certain organizations even have their own YouTube channel where you can dive a little bit deeper into their day to day activities.

Attend Universitysponsored student organization fairs

While it is up to you to search for an organization that will enrich your entire college experience, don’t forget to attend organization fairs hosted by the University, such as Cat’s Back. At these events, you can meet a ton of different student organizations, learn more about their mission and talk with some of the group’s student leaders.

Make sure you know your time limits

There’s no rule as to how many orgs you can join, but you have to take into consideration the time you have. There’s no shortage of interesting student organizations you might want to join, but while joining several organizations might be fun in theory, your jam-packed schedule will be paying for it. Think about the time you need to spend on school work, other responsibilities and your own social and relaxation time before comitting to a certain organization.

Photo by Jiselle Santos