Looking for a Job? Try working on Campus!

Being a student today is expensive and unless you've got Donald Trump financing your education chances are you'll probably be working at some point during your time at university. I don't know about you, but I HATE job hunting! Having to go out and hit the pavement looking for somewhere to work is daunting and time consuming. When I started at York I figured that working retail was my only hope for financing my education then I found out about ON CAMPUS JOBS!!! Have I piqued you're interest???

What are on campus jobs?
--At York there are over 1000 jobs just for York students. That means you won't have to compete for jobs with students from Ryerson or UofT, it's just fellow Yorkies! There are 4 types of on campus jobs available for students:
1. Research At York (RAY): These are research jobs which allow students to work alongside professors and grad students working on research experiments. They're great for people that want to gain more research experience and get PAID!!
2. Work Study: Most common type of on campus jobs, these students work in various positions all over campus gaining workplace experience.
3. College Life At York (CLAY): These jobs focus on student working within the college system at York developing student community and engagement on campus.
4. York Engaged Student (YES): These jobs focus on students that are actively engaged with campus life, these positions are mostly peer mentoring, ambassador and advising position.

**For more info about these types of jobs check here!**

How many hours do you work?

9-5? Nay Nay!

--Best part of working on campus is that fact that you cannot work more than a maximum of 15hours per week! Some jobs make you work early in the morning or late at night, or work a ton of overtime. Working at York though you probably won't be working too early in the morning and if you're working in an office you won't be on campus too late. Some jobs make you miss classes or sacrifice your study time to work a shift. On campus jobs fit around your class schedule and they always let you take time off to study, since they understand that you're a student first!  

Money, Money, Monneeyyy

How much do you get paid?
--I know you might be thinking... "Only 15 hrs per week! I need to make more money than that!" well maybe the fact that all on campus jobs are paid more than minimum wage will make up for that?? Yeah!! It's true! All our jobs range from $11.50-16.00 per hour depending on the job you have. Hopefully that will make these jobs EVEN more appealing than they already were :D

What are the benefits of working on campus?

I met these great ppl at work ON CAMPUS

--Working on campus has a few great benefits! First of all it's SOO convenient. You're already on campus for school so the commute from class to work is almost non-existent! Secondly on campus jobs are a GREAT way to meet other York Students, Staff and Faculty! Networking and making new friends are a great way to become even more involved with the York Community! Finally on campus jobs make a
FANTASTIC reference! Since employers know that students are going to move on to further education or
other jobs after they're finished at York they provide students with great references! References and experience are important for your first job as well as to make your application to grad school or professional schools stand out!

I hope that this has made working on campus sound more appealing to you. If you want to find/ apply for on campus jobs be sure to check out the Career Centre website! They have an online job portal with all the on campus jobs listed, all you have to do is upload your resume and cover letter and click APPLY for the jobs that are listed!

If you have any questions about what I've talked about here, feel free to comment below!

Until next time, remember to take it one day at a time and catch me in the Zone!

Nicole 

Midterm grade NOT what you expected? Wondering what to do now?

Coming out of high school you might be accustomed to getting straight A's. Despite everyone telling you that university is not the same as high school, you still thought that you'd be able to keep up those high marks. However, now that you've started getting your midterm grades back you might be finding that the marks you're getting aren't quite what you had expected.

You might be thinking..."NOW WHAT? SHOULD I DROP THE CLASS? MY PARENTS WILL BE DISAPPOINTED! MY LIFE IS FALLING APART!!

Let me be the first person to tell you to CALM down!! It's going to be ok! You don't have to the class, your parents just want the best for you and your life is not over. Take a DEEP BREATHE!! Everything will be ok!!

So you didn't get what you thought you would...don't be discouraged. It isn't the end of the world...although it may feel like it right now. Here are some tips for dealing with less than ideal Midterm marks.

1. The BEST part about Midterms (if there is anything good about them at all) is that they are only ONE part of your grade! You still have time to improve you mark!! Midterms are NOT the END of your course. You still have other assignments, tutorial or lab work or a final that you can use to boost your grade.

2. Take the time to look over your grade. Look at how much of your grade the midterm is actually worth. Take the time out to go and talk to your professor or TA to figure out how to improve your grade, (If you're worried about talking your prof see my post ). Really look at your midterm and determine where you went wrong and how you can improve.

3. Try to put your grade in perspective. Of course we all want to do well, but how does this midterm mark impact your life. If you care a lot about your marks then a not so great mark might stress you out. I'm here to remind you that grades are one component of your whole university experience, and your time at university is only one part of your entire life. Although it might seem like a MAJOR ISSUE now, remember this too shall pass. Try not to stress yourself out too much over your midterms.

4. Try to STAY POSITIVE! If you didn't do as well as you hoped, don't be too hard on yourself. Negativity only makes you feel worse and doesn't actually motivate you try to improve. Get proactive, take the suggestions or improvements you get from your TA's or Profs and learn from them.

**Remember: If you find yourself really stressed out about your grades you can always check out CDS.**

- When I was in my first year, I had a really hard time adjusting to University life. It was the first time I'd ever lived away from home, I was in a new country where I knew no one, and I had just gotten back a midterm that I didn't do as well on as I had hoped. I was REALLY hard on myself and I didn't think that university was for me, I was really having a hard time. My Don suggested that I go and talk to CDS. Honestly I wasn't sure that CDS was for me...but I went and found that the people there were really nice; more importantly they were helpful. I know that sometimes it can be hard to ask for help but sometimes that's exactly what you need most. I highly recommend checking out CDS since they do offer FREE personal counselling!

I promise Midterm season will end! Lets get through it together. If you have any other tips for dealing with midterm add them in the comments section below! See you after Midterms!!

Take it one day at a time and catch me in the zone,
Nicole

SHO' ME THE MONEY!!!

Higher education is expensive, university students constantly find themselves scraping to make ends meet. Many students they are living pay check to pay check, without much left over for personal use. For some this is the first time that you're living on your own, or managing your own finances. I know for me, it was really difficult to accept the fact that I'm an adult now have to take care of myself.

WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN?

When I came to York it was the first time I'd ever had to create or follow a budget. Soo I thought it might be a good idea to go over the BASICS of BUDGETING with you, so that you can benefit from my experiences. (Truth be told this is something that I'm still working on!)

Alright so what do you gatta do??

1. When starting out you want to figure out where all your money is coming from and how much you have coming in each month. Knowing how much money you have coming in will help you figure out how to divide up that money. 

2. Write down all of your expenses for each month. Any and everything that you spend money on should be written down. Things like RENT, FOOD, BUS FAIR, etc. Whatever you spend money on every month you should put down. I ALWAYS include "FUN" as an expense, since I like to go out with my friends, and I don't want to spend money that I don't have. 

3. After you have your list of expenses you should divide up your expenses into two sub categories. Category one : Expenses that will remain the same month to month. E.G. RENT, BUS FAIR

Category two: Expenses that will change from month to month. E.G. FOOD, FUN

4. After writing both these things down determine how much each one is going to cost you for a one month period. Then look at how much money you are bringing in for a one month period. If your income is more than your expenses GREAT! If your income is LESS than your expenses, then you'll need to figure out where you can cut back. For my I usually end up having to cut back on my FUN budget.

5. As time goes on you want to review your budget so that you can make adjustments. For example, if you get a raise at work, or you move to a cheaper place to live or your car payments go up whatever. You have to be able to adjust your budget according to your changing circumstances. 

I know it can be overwhelming to deal with making a budget. But don't worry York has got your back. York offers FREE Financial Advising for all students. You can make appointments with a Financial Aid Advisor to help you sort out your finances and make a budget or go to one of their events or workshops!  Check out the Financial Advising website! Also on financial advising website there are links to budgeting assistance websites run by the major Canadian Banks, find your bank and make use of their budgeting tips!

Let me know what works for you in the comments section below. 

Remember mo' Money doesn't HAVE to mean mo' Problems!

So GET out there and start the saving!

Nicole

$$$ Money, Money, Money....MONEYY!! I bet you had NO IDEA how expensive University really is!

School's expensive and times are tough...but no worry cuz you're in LUCK!




I have 3 words for you... STUDENT. FINANCIAL. PROFILE.

Ummm Student Financial Profile? What the heck is that??

Money, Money, Money....MONNNNEEEEYYY!!!

The Basics:

• York University has millions of dollars to give back to students in the form of scholarships and bursaries. Scholarships are awarded based on academic achievement, while bursaries are awarded year-round to students who demonstrate financial need and are Canadian citizens, permanent residents or protected persons. You can access all this simply by filling out an SFP.  

Things you might not know:

• A lot of times students don't try to apply for scholarships or bursaries because they don't know what they qualify for or what the requirements are, and then they just miss out on the opportunity to get some help with paying for school. 
• The SFP is amazingly convenient since it takes all the guess work out of the process. It takes about 10 minutes to fill out, it's an online application and it's super easy! 
• Financial support is customized to your level of financial need, support could include: loans, grants, bursaries and scholarships. 

Where to find the SFP:

• Head over to: http://sfs.yorku.ca/services/sfp/  to fill out the SFP. 

Want an example of a scholarship?

Show me the MONEEYY!!

• York University Renewable Entrance Scholarships
• York University Continuing Student Scholarships

Want an example of a Private Award? 

• William and Nona Heaslip Scholarship
• It is awarded to an undergraduate student who has made outstanding contributions to community life, social action, neighbourhood development or who has demonstrated leadership at York. 
• It is RENEWABLE for two years. 

My tips:

• You never know what you might qualify for...so fill it out. 
• To all my international students out there...we don't qualify for OSAP or the Ontario Tuition Grant... buttt we do have access to the SFP. So fill it out...you never know what kind of help you could get. 

Another GREAT thing about the SFP is that when you fill it out...you become work-study eligible. That means that you can get a job on campus. Working on campus is AMAZING and soo convenient, if you want to know more check out my friend Lindsey's blog: http://yulindseyo.blogspot.ca/ for some totes cool info all about on campus jobs!

If you have any more questions about the SFP feel free to ask me anything in the comments sections!

Nicole