Finals week is usually the most stressful time in our college lives. Not only do we have to worry about studying for an examination that covers the entire semester worth of material, we also have to worry about finishing final projects, homeworks, and make sure we tie all the loose ends together. For some people, their scholarships depend on receiving good grades in order to keep their current financial status and this can also be a huge stress. It’s funny how something as small as a letter can have that much power over your college life. What’s really odd about the whole grading system is that society continues to accept this ridiculous form of human judgment. I know that there needs to be some sort of system in which students are judged, or classified if you will, but one can’t help but think why, out of all the brilliant people in the world why hasn’t someone come up with a true system of judgment for students.

Lets look at the Pennsylvania SAT’s for example. Studies over the years have shown that the SAT’s were a poor judgment of high school student’s knowledge; basically the tested were flawed so the director of such things decided to change the tests around to better scale a high school student’s smartness. What’s really ridiculous about the whole SAT thing is that the minute you sit down with a financial aid adviser and you ask them how much financial help you can receive for college the turn directly to your SAT scores. This is a huge problem for me.

Now I’m not the smartest person in the world, but I do like to think that I am knowledgeable. I also happen to have completed 3 years of engineering studies in a very good university so I’d like to think that I use my brain a little. With all that aside I’d like to go back to the time in my history when I was taking my SAT’s how they have helped me through my college life…….they didn’t! When I took the SAT’s I scored much lower than a lot of the kids I knew, yet most of these kids we drinking everyday after school, staying out late every night, getting in trouble with the law, and never once opening a book to study. It was obvious that these kids we not smarter than me, until we took the SAT’s.

A little time comparison shows that some of these same kids who scored much higher than me on the SAT’s are now flipping burgers, working in coffee shops, and well, doing a whole lot of nothing (sorry guys and girls). Here I am, the stupid one (according to the SAT’s) finishing a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, running a respectable website, which happens to provide ground zero information about college life (try getting that from the old farts who run some of the other college websites!), and completely paying my own way. The SAT’s did a great job at judging me! In fact, I’m so glad that they judged me the way they did because when it was my time to talk to financial aid they said “Sorry kid, no help for you. Here’s a pamphlet though on the lenders that pay us off to advertise for them. They can lend you ALL the money you need to pay for college, and they’ll pay for the Mercedes that I’ve got sitting in the parking lot.” That’s a little exaggeration, but you get the point.

Here I am, a kid straight out of high school, screaming at the lady that I AM smart and that I NEED help because my parents can’t provide financial help for me and what does she tell me? “If you manage to keep your grades up this year we can talk about a scholarship for next year.” WHAT!?!? Just like that I was brushed to the side as the stupid kid who scored low on his SAT’s. For the high school students out there, especially my brother, I hope that the new SAT system does a better job of testing a student’s true abilities. If it were up to me, everyone would receive a scholarship in the beginning and would have to prove why they shouldn’t receive one, not the other way around.

By the way, I did receive a scholarship my second year in college. For my entire first year in college I decided to prove myself and did so by maintaining a 4.0 GPA….yeah, me, the stupid kid (according to the SAT’s). You know what I received for that? $500.00…………

Divided over 2 semesters…………..Don’t get me wrong, I was very grateful for the money I received, but I literally gave up my life for an entire year, just so that I could study ALL the time, only to receive $500.00 (I do have witnesses that can vouch for this). I’m sorry that I’d not scored higher on the SAT’s, and I’m sorry that I also lost interest in college pretty quick, but I still love what I’m studying and I like to think that I’m smart, regardless of what other people say or how insignificant pieces of paper like to judge me. I know my abilities and that’s all that matters to me anymore. Can I get A’s on every final this semester? Probably, but will I give up my life for another slap on the wrist? I don’t think so. I’ll try my best but I’m no longer bending over for a system that doesn’t return the favor.

What have I gotten out of SAT scores? Nothing. What have I gotten out of college grades? Very little. I like to think that I am very smart kid, and have been told so by many people including people owning or working for very large corporations. These people have rewarded me for a job well done and for that I will perform miracles.

This brings me to the conclusion of my late night college life story……what am I doing with SMB College Life. Well, I decided that I wanted to help the students out there, who have faced similar situations and need some help with college. What I can do for now is provide the best information that I know is available and hope that students choose to use it. With SMB College Life I can provide a medium, a common ground if you will, where students can find all the information that I was once in search of. I can provide you with everything I know and maybe, just maybe help one student get through college a little easier that me. Maybe the help provided by SMB College Life will help you to stay motivated to achieve the better grade with which people will judge you. If I achieve that than my efforts were a success. Through SMB College Life I strive for greatness and hope to be able to provide thousands of student with financial aid and advice each and every semester. Can I do it? You tell me……..

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SMB College Life Blog

One of the group projects that I’ve been working on for the past few weeks is almost finally over. Pictured to the left is one of the preliminary sketches for a water powered generator that would create enough voltage to power a cellphone. The requirement was that it must produce at least 1.8 volts of electricity. A little information was provided for us pertaining to turbines and generator power, but overall we were required to make all the proper design calculations and complete a WORKING prototype as the final product.

This was the first design project that I have done from start to finish (performing design calculations, designing a system, and building a prototype) so I was very excited to take on the challenge at first. Around the same time of this project being assigned I also received two other projects from different professors. My hopes were that I would be able to put as much work as needed into this project in order to design the best system possible, but soon found myself juggling my time between all three projects and just trying to make them all work.

The only downfall of all these projects at one time is that I did not have enough time to solely focus on one individual project, and always found myself running from group to group and switching gears for different projects. I’m a strong believer that multi-tasking simply does not work and that it should be avoided whenever possible. I believe that focusing all your efforts on one task yields 10 times better results than spreading yourself thin over a number of different tasks. Professors try to say that multi-tasking is a standard in the industry and that people usually work on many projects at one time. I beg to differ. I’m sure their are companies who believe in multi-tasking, and that may work well for some. I like to focus on the companies who steer clear of multi-tasking to achieve great success.

Google.com


Google is a great example of a company that’s success has been achieved solely by small teams that focus on one individual project. By doing so they have not only become a multi-billion dollar company, but they have become a leader in software development in only a few short years. They Have become so large that they can virtually give away free software and still make billions of dollars each and every day! Can anyone come close to Google? If you don’t believe in multi-tasking you might have a shot…..

Apple Inc


Apple has become a leader in the hardware and software industry in the past couple of years. It seemed like they had fallen off the map about 5 years ago but have recently taken the media marketplace by storm. It started with their introduction of the computer media interface iTunes, followed by the first hand held MP3 player(Touch comes to iPod. Introducing iPod touch. 8GB and 16GB models from $299. Free Shipping.), which were and still are a huge hit by the way, then their innovative new computer designs, not only desktop but also laptop(Meet the New, Faster MacBook Pro at Apple Store Canada), and finally……their latest attempt to take over the cellphone industry with the iPhone.

So how did Apple manage to do it? They employ teams of designers, engineers, software specialists, artists, and more and allow them to focus on one small part of a larger design. By doing this they achieve greatness by getting every single aspect of each of their products almost perfect. They have enough teams to focus on every detail of a design and never spread themselves to thin to produce anything less than perfection. Focusing all their efforts on one thing at a time has led them to be a leader in the industry, exploding past their opponent which is ummmmm…..oh, almost forgot….Microsoft.

These two companies are only two of the greatest examples that I could think of where steering clear of multi-tasking has led to leading their specific industries and technological greatness. If you can find a company that has huge success due to multi-tasking then by all means comment about them here, and if multi-tasking works for you then congratulations on being the ladder. I like to take advice and follow the footsteps of the people who have achieved remarkable things, and in my book, multi-tasking is NOT the way to go.

Because of this I will strive for greatness from SMB College Life by not multi-tasking in order to provide the best college information network that I possibly can to you. Excellence does not emerge overnight; just look at Apple or Google’s timeline. Look for much more to come at www.SMBCollegeLife.com

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SMB College Life Blog

One of the reasons we decided to come to college in the first place is because we wanted to work towards a career that will allow us the freedoms and lifestyle that we want for ourselves. Whether your hopes and dreams include someone else or not you should always remember then and try to think of them when times get hard in your college life. Your dreams, no matter how big or small, will drive you to succeed as a college student. Some people wish to have the freedom to travel, some wish to by nice cars, and yet others wish to land the job of their dreams. Dreaming of obtaining all of these things is thinking big, but definitely not too big.

You should never limit your dreams or goals for success because this will limit your ability to produce and perform at your maximum achievable level. For example, Thomas Edison set out to do what everyone before him had failed to do. His dream was to produce a device that could convert electricity to ambient light(light bulb) and to mass produce them for use in every household in American. Edison achieve his dreams within 2 year time, when others before took nearly 40 years of experimenting and calculating to fail.

With the right determination in life anyone can achieve anything that they want to. Surrounding yourself with winners is so important to achieving your dreams. If you surround yourself with negative influences throughout your college life then you will not succeed to your maximum ability and will only be wasting your time, as well as your professor’s time. Learn to love what you do and give you best at it each and everyday. It is your life and you can make it anything you want.

College life can get hard at times, especially at the end of the semester. When the work starts to pile on, the projects seem to become never ending, and finals seem near impossible just remember your dreams. Think of that dream car that you’ve always wanted and how great it would be to drive it to work someday. Better yet, think of that exact moment, when it’s clear that all your hard work has paid off and your heart pounds as the salesman finally places the keys in your hand.How great would it feel to dr

ive that car for the first time? It would probably be an amazing feeling, but might not be as great as walking through the doors of your dream job everyday and remembering exactly how hard it was to get there. That dream job can very well be a reality, but you have to want it. You have to want it so bad that you are willing to do anything for it; even if that means staying up all night to finish a homework assignment, or giving all of your free time to making a project the best it can possibly be before turning it in. Remember your dream job when you’re so swamped with work that you feel you’ll never finish or when you’re the last one studying in the library before finals. Think of the job that you want when you graduate and remember that your efforts today will make the difference tomorrow. If you give it all you’ve got each and every day in college your dreams WILL come true. Don’t just dream about it…..DO IT! That’s what your college life is meant for. Making the difference today will mean living your dreams tomorrow.Thanks for using www.SMBCollegeLife.com

SMB College Life Blog

I received an email from a professor late in the week concerning a late homework assignment and I thought it would be a great things to share with all college students. The story behind the email was that I completely missed a deadline on a homework assignment due to all the other things that were going on in my college life. I had to write a 1 page paper and email it to my professor by Wednesday, which I was under the assumption that it was due on Friday so I hadn’t completed it. Luckily my professor sent me an email saying that I hadn’t submitted the paper and that I should get it in a soon as possible. The first time I sat in front of my computer was Thursday morning, when I realized that the assignment was due on Wednesday instead of Friday. I wrote the assignment and submitted it that morning and went on with my day. When I submitted the assignment I clarified in the email that I understood that it was late and that if he did not accept it I was fine with that.

He accepted the late submission and replied to my email with some interesting advice. He basically stated that this late submission might be acceptable in college but will not be acceptable in the real world, while working the industry. He also stated that I should begin to practice my professionalism now because “late assignments and incorrect due dates will be a big problem in the real world.” I was a little shocked at first by this email but as it sank in I began to understand where he was coming from.

The reason I am sharing this is because I believe it is great advice for all college students. The reason we are in college is to not only learn the things that we need to know to be successful in our fields but also to practice professionalism that we will use one day in the workforce. College is the time when we need to really focus on improving ourselves by becoming more organized, learning proper communication skills, being prompt and on time, and most importantly time management. These are only a few things that we need to improve within ourselves through our college lives. By taking our time in college seriously and making our faults better we can mold ourselves into professionals that will be very attractive to businesses and corporations when it comes time to search for a job.

This is the college life advice that I have for today. Because of my professor’s email I was able to analyze some of the things that I still need to work on to make the transition from a student to a profession. Thanks doctor for your words of wisdom, and I hope that by passing them on they will help other college students to evaluate themselves to improve their professionalism. After all, that is why we chose to come to college in the first place!

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SMB College Life Blog

I haven’t been able to post in a few days because things have been so hectic in my college life. I’ve been skipping sleep to finish homework, lab reports, and different group projects this week so I haven’t had time to post, or to update the site with new ideas. This is one of the things that happens towards the end of the semester as work piles on top of normal work and deadlines close in.

I finally got the chance to build some of my ideas and designs into SMB College Life and I’d like to take this time to explain a few new things. First I’ve received some graphics that allowed me to change the overall appearance of the site, which should fit in perfectly with our everyday college lives. I’ve made bookmarking and sharing the information and the things you like about SMB College Life on many of the large software platforms running the internet by the click of a button. Our Bookmark and Share button is located at the top right of each page on the SMB College Life site and is located at the bottom left of each post right here on the official SMB College Life Blog.

To use this button simply rest your mouse over it and a drop-down menu will appear that will give you the option to bookmark that page, or share it on sites like iGoogle, Digg, Facebook, and so many more. This will allow you to acquire our information much easier and efficient with the click of a button. You can also help you friends or family by sharing our information with them.

Other exciting updates happened by request from different users pertaining to the expansion of different sections of SMB College Life. We have added new comedians to the Entertainment section by request from several users. We have also changed the About page so that more information pertaining to SMB College Life can be found more easily. There has also been a recent problem with the links and images that we have provided on our Link To Us page. Apparently they were showing up with a highlighted border around them when copied and pasted directly from the site. We have fixed the links so that they will no longer show up with the highlighted border. If you were having problems with these images and links before then try the new code that we have provided and you shouldn’t have any problems.

This is the extent of the updates I accomplished tonight. I apologize for not having more time this week to share my thoughts, ideas, and especially my partner deals with you. With it being so close to Christmas I’m getting daily emails on deals and specials which I will be sharing with you here on the blog. I will try to add them as they come so that I can provide you with the information and savings as quickly as possible. Be sure to check back often for coupons, rebates, and other savings for you Christmas shopping this year.

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