Work School Balance...It IS Possible!

Balance is KEY!

People are always asking me how I find the time to go to class, work on campus, volunteer with different clubs and find time for friends and family. I'm not magic, I don't have super powers... although that would be super cool! I'm just one of many students that have figured out how to balance work, school and my personal life. It's not impossible to find a way to balance your commitments it just requires that you take the time to get organized and stay on top of everything. Here are my top 5 ways to find Work-School Balance!

5. Get an Agenda and USE IT!
--Whether it be your phone, tablet, computer or actual pen and paper, find some way to write down and organize all the various things that you have going on in your life. Write down things like: When you have class/ study time, when you have work and or volunteering and any family commitments you might have. When you write these things down be sure to make a note of HOW LONG they will take you to complete, be sure to include COMMUTE time between each location as well. This will help you to understand just how much time spend doing these activities.

4. Set Priorities
--Now that you have a list, rank them in order of importance from MOST important to LEAST important. It might seem like an easy thing to do but I PROMISE you, it's harder than it seems. Once you have a prioritized list you can start to think about how much time you want to dedicate to each item on your list.

3. Make time for yourself
--Once you've set a time limit for each of the things on your list, be sure to include some time for yourself. **Study time does not count as time for yourself!** Making time to take care of yourself is really important to make sure that you don't burn out over the school year. Keep in mind that

2. Identify your free time!

Find time for FUN!

--Now that you've written down everything and set time limits look at your schedule. Look to see how you're spending your time, are you spending your time in the way that makes you happiest? Are there things in your schedule that take up more time than you'd like? Are there things that you wish you had more time for? Do you see any blocs of free time that you could potentially fill with other activities? If you can try to reorganize your schedule in order to allow you the time you need do the things you have to as well as the things you want to do.

1. Be Realistic and Accountable with your time.
--Remember that there are only 168 hours in a week, that means that you can't do everything for as long as you'd like. You have to realistic with the types of activities you and how much time you dedicate to each activity. Be accountable, if you say that you're going to spend 3hours studying then make sure that you spend 3 hrs studying, no one is going to be checking in on you so you'll have to make sure that you follow through on the plans that you make for yourself. Try not to bite off more than you can chew when it comes to activities!

I've used these tips to help me plan my time and make sure that I can complete all the things I sign myself up for. If there's anything else you want to know about finding balance or you have tips you'd like to share feel free to comment below!

Until next time, remember to 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

$$, Pare, Moola, Dinero, Argent, Pieniądze...However you say it we all need it to pay for school!!

There is nothing more serious to people than there finances. Everyone is concerned with paying bills  and making making ends meet, regardless of where you're from. In this post I'll be covering a few options that International Students can access to pay for University.

Not sure if I mentioned this before but I'm an international student...ok who am I kidding...I totally mentioned that like 1000 times. This time though it's actually super important :)

Diversity @ York U

Unfortunately for my domestic friends this post will probably not be too interesting to you, buttt feel free to read anyway, maybe you'll learn something new??




Going to school is expensive...if you haven't noticed that yet, then you probably will notice it VERY soon. FACT: College and University undergrad's aren't exactly "making it rain"so finding money to pay for school can be a challenge even for the most thrifty among us :P

A couple of things right off the bat that I feel I should let you know...

As International students  Don't qualify for:
-OSAP
-The Ontario Tuition Grant
-RESP's (at least not Canadian RESP's)

Not to be a "Negative Nancy" but here are a few things that we as International Students have to include in our tuition costs.

How can I afford all this?!?

1. Tuition: Usually this is about twice the fee of domestic students.
2. UHIP: Since we haven't been paying in the Universal Health Care of Canada we are REQUIRED by LAW to pay for the University Health Insurance Plan.
3. Shelter: You'll need to live somewhere during your time at York, that can be in on-campus housing, off-campus housing OR if you're super lucky with distant relatives you don't really know but will let you live with them while you're at school.
4. Books and other supplies
TOTAL: CRA CRA CRAZY amounts of cash!

I know what you're thinking..."DO WE GET ANY HELP IN PAYING FOR SCHOOL??"

Well don't worry we do have a few options open to us! All York University Students have access to the Student Financial Profile, which has a listing of all the available Scholarships, Bursaries and Grants. If you want a run down of all that the SFP has to offer check out my "Money, Money, Money..." post from last week.

As international students we also have access to some Aid from the Government of Canada. Now I'm not going to sugar coat this we don't qualify for very much, since we are international students, and therefore haven't been paying into government tax programs. But you might be surprised at what we can access!

One option I'd recommend is to check out the following website: http://www.cicic.ca/389/student-financial-assistance.canada This has a listing of all the scholarships, bursaries and grants available for international students based on country of origin. You'd be surprised at what you might be eligible for, so definitely check it out and apply.

If you remember NOTHING ELSE from this post I want to remember the following resource I give you. Honestly I can't tell you how helpful this resource is for international students. So get a pen and piece of paper and write this down...well actually since you're on your computer BOOKMARK this website and check it OFTEN!!

One of the MANY sessions
they run throughout the school year!

On-Campus Resource:
-YORK INTERNATIONAL

Who are they?
-They are the office whose primary task to help International students navigate, York, Toronto and Canada.
- They can help you if you want to find additional funding for school, if you want to get a job off campus, if you have questions about your status in Canada.
-Most importantly they provide you with your University Health Insurance Card.
-They offer TONS of workshops to help aid your transition into Canada.
-----They have workshops on how to apply for bursaries, off-campus work permits, how to find jobs in the GTA and on-campus and soo much more.

***Here's a link to York International's FUNDING webpage, since this whole post is about paying for school :P***

Where are they?
-They are located at 200 York Lanes.
(They are literally at the top of the stairs on the second floor of York Lanes, you can't miss their office it's so there's a BIG bright colourful display right outside their door!!)

Fun Facts:
-They are maybe the NICEST people on campus (after the RED Zone of course :P).
-The office is staffed with people from all over the world, so they are literally the face of diversity on campus.
-Also they really want to help students succeed. Basically if you have any questions or you find that you need assistance then you should visit York International.

There are tons of options available for International Students, you just have to know where to look, and who to ask for help. If you want any more info, or you have a specific question feel free to post in the comments section.

I hope that my fellow International folks are feel a little bit better about paying for school!