The Daily Plan-it / Dean of Students Blog, Columbia J-school

March 23, 2009

SLEEP: Benefits of a Good Night’s Rest

Filed under: Healthcare Issues, Surviving the School

Greetings from Alice!

As Spring approaches we would like to share some information with you regarding strategies to ensure that your sleep patterns do not interfere with the ability to achieve your personal and academic goals. Developing good sleep habits will help you stay healthy and allow your body and mind to rest and recharge

Sleep:

· Promotes memory consolidation of what you study

· Affects processing speed so that you can learn faster

· Makes you feel refreshed and ready for work or exams

· Boosts immune health

· Helps maintain energy balance

· Improves athletic performance by enhancing motor skills

· Can help you to pay attention in class

· Is a cheap, easy way to look and feel better!

Did you know that Alice! now offers an assessment with personalized feedback to help you ensure that you are achieving optimal sleep? You can access the assessment online, download a free sleep-diary, and read some more ZZZ Tips on Columbia’s Sleep Website.

Helpful Resources

Alice! Health Promotion Program

Health Services at Columbia

National Sleep Foundation

Related Q&As from Go Ask Alice!

Sleepy from oversleeping

All night, done right: Getting the most out of an all-nighter

Why can’t I stay awake in class?

The downsides of sleep deprivation

Fall asleep faster

Short sleep + long naps = healthy?

Sleep well,

Alice!

Alice! Health Promotion Program

108 Wien Hall

alice@columbia.edu

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October 9, 2008

MEMO: Stress Management Services available from Health Services at Columbia

Filed under: Healthcare Issues, FAQ, Greatest hits, Surviving the School

Stress Management Services available from Health Services at Columbia

Alice! Health Promotion Program

Stressbusters are a team of students that relax Columbians by delivering free five to ten minute upper-body rubs at events and programs within the CU community. Stressbuster events may be requested online through the Health Services website. For more information, please contact Kelli Soto, Stressbusters Coordinator, at Stressbusters@columbia.edu.
Wind Down Wednesday is a weekly Stressbuster event open to the entire Columbia community on Wednesday from 4:00-5:00pm in the first floor lounge of Wien Hall.
Stress Management Workshops are available through the Alice! Health Promotion Program. In the workshop, students will identify personal stressors and physiological changes triggered by stress, identify and practice a variety of stress management strategies, and discuss ways to fit stress management into a demanding schedule. To request a stress management workshop or find out about Alice!’s other workshops, please visit the Alice! page on the Health Services website.
The Alice! Stress Initiative, a new program through the Alice! Health Promotion Program gives students the opportunity to voice their thoughts about student stress. A coalition of students committed to understanding and addressing stress on campus is being formed by a community organizer who serves as a graduate student assistant at Alice! Students who are interested in being a part of this coalition may contact Meg Bradley at mab2210@columbia.edu.
Go Ask Alice!, Columbia University’s health question and answer internet resource, contains a category related to emotional health and subcategory dedicated to addressing issues related to student stress.
In addition to the services listed above, students may also stop by the Alice! office or make an appointment with a Health Promotion Specialist to discuss stress management. The Alice! office is located in the Health Services suite on the 1st floor of Wien Hall.

Counseling and Psychological Services (CPS)

Individual consultations with CPS counselors: Students struggling to keep up with assignments or to strike a reasonable work-life balance are welcome to consult individually at CPS. All CPS counselors are well versed in helping students negotiate academic stress. In addition, there are staff with specific expertise in this area: Dr. Yaniv Phillips specializes in helping students overcome procrastination, and Dr. Calvin Chin and Dr. Victoria Grosso help students more rationally manage their time.
Workshops and support groups: More information about these and other groups, are available via the CPS website. Note that, in general, students should contact the group facilitator in advance of the first meeting to express their interest.
Overcoming Procrastination Workshop: Students interested in participating in a workshop designed to help overcome procrastination may contact Dr. Phillips at py2120@columbia.edu. The workshop will meet from 5:00 to 6:30 P.M. on four consecutive Mondays, beginning October 20.
Tolerating Stress: A Skill Building Group to ManageOverwhelming Emotions, Tolerate Distress, Improve Relationships and Increase Self-Care. Victoria Grosso, Ph.D. (vg2107@columbia.edu) and Patricia Swander, LCSW (pas 2002 @columbia.edu) host this support group Wednesdays, 5:30-7:00 pm. Start date TBA.
Mindfulness Group: Mindfulness is an increasingly popular means of stress reduction, by cultivating greater awareness of unconscious thoughts and feelings that undermine physical and psychological well being. Facilitated by Addette Williams, Ph.D., alw65@columbia.edu. Day and time TBA.

Other Support Groups of potential interest:

Adult Children of Alcoholics Support Group
Bereavement Support Group
Gay Men’s Group
Group for Graduate International Students (This group will begin on October 17, 2008 Lerner Hall, 8th Floor; No initial interview needed.)
Students with Chronic Medical Illness
Women of Color Support Group

When the situation is serious:
Students in severe distress–and administrators and faculty trying to support them–should be aware that we always have clinicians available to help, 24/7/365. During normal business hours, and 10-4 on Saturdays, we have staff on-campus. After-hours, students can reach our nurse triage service by dialing 4-9797.

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January 17, 2007

TIPS: Collection of tips for surviving the school

Filed under: Orientation, Tips, Surviving the School, Preparing for the School

Here are some of the postings about surviving & thriving at the J-school.

TIPS: “In the months BEFORE J-school I wish I had…”
Tips from alumni about preparing better for the school.
TIPS: Surviving the Fall Semester
More than 75 tips from alumni about doing well in the Fall.
TIPS: Surviving the Spring Semester
More than 75 tips from alumni about doing well in the Spring.
ESSAYS: “If I Could Tell Myself in August What I Know Now, It Would Be…”
Two essays from J2006 with tips everyone can use.

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September 5, 2006

TIP: Surviving the SPRING Semester

Filed under: Orientation, M.S. Program, Tips, Greatest hits, Spring Prep, Surviving the School

The Daily Plan-it is asking recent alumni and graduating students to share tips about surviving and thriving in the Spring semester. Responses (some of them contradicting each other, some of them repetitive, many not endorsed by the J-school) will be added here throughout the semester, lightly edited for clarity and style (the newest ones on top).

Please send your suggestions (for either semester) to ss221@columbia.edu.

[See tips about the Fall semester here.]

In the Spring semester at J-School, I wish I had…

Chosen my electives better, sometimes the class sounds great but the professor isn’t as great. Choose wisely! And also, make sure you are choosing a class because that is the one you love, not the one everyone else is dying to get into. Enjoy your friends and remember that after graduation most of you will part ways, so make the best of the time you have together.

…really taken time to enjoy the nice weather. That’s pretty much it.

…kept a list/diary of the places I went and people I met, even if they weren’t sources.

…asked every one of my J-School friends their favorite coffee stop/lunch place/park/street vendor on their Fall beat and gone there.

Gone for holidays during Christmas recess. Don’t believe them when they tell you can’t take a 3-week break and go to wherever in the world you live…

(this is for international students..while it may apply to local students too) not allowed myself to feel like a loser because I didn’t have an internship, while everyone else around me did. Remember, you are an international student and already have
restrictions — so whatever you have achieved, even if it seems less than the others, is actually more. Look beyond the J-school listings for internships and most importantly BREATHE!

taken an internship. Yes, even in the Fall semester (no matter how busy you get with school, internships in New York are the best way to improve your resume and get a job).

attended more on-campus talks and guest lectures.

applied for more internships and jobs.

attended more lectures and networking events.

gotten to know my professors better.

helped our J-School intramural basketball team win a game. Somewhere, Pulitzer was rolling over in his grave watching us lose to those law students every week.

more free time

taken every opportunity to learn how to use all the software available on the school’s computers (even if, at the time, it seemed irrelevant).

gotten to know more professors. It slowly dawns on you how many incredible people are at this school and how little time you have.

…taken a class on where good ideas come from. Quite a few people can report. Nowhere near as many know what makes a good story idea.

…considered working in a smaller market than New York City. There are definite downsides to joining a big news organization.

…not worried about the huge amount of money I owed Columbia. The 10 years it took to pay it off went by much quicker than I expected.

…mingled more. Journalism is not only about whom you know, but whom you get to know during your career.

…taken a deep breath. While the Master’s Project is important, I can count on one hand the number of times it has come up outside of J-school since graduating.

…gone to more informational interviews.

…crammed in as much writing and reporting as possible in order to get more feedback from professors/editors. You’ll never get that much feedback and training in one place from editors in the commercial world. There’s just not enough time.

…made an effort to meet five new classmates a week.

…pitched more stories (to editors outside J-school), not necessarily to get something published (although that’s always nice) but to practice getting in touch and making contacts; later you realize it isn’t as hard as it seems once you’re done it several times, so don’t be afraid of rejection.

…taken a big deep breath and appreciated every single second!

…gotten enough sleep (no matter what party you have to leave early, it’s worth it).

…started on my Master’s Project a week earlier and better communicated my concerns and challenges with my adviser and set a goal of finishing a week before deadline.

…networked more with guest speakers at the school.

…had more chocolate milkshakes at Tom’s Restaurant - they are the best.

… bought my own domain name.
[DAILY PLAN-IT TIP: Info on buying a personal site from Dean Sreenivasan.]

…played more intramural softball– long live the “J-school Swingers.”

…extended my Columbia health insurance beyond graduation

…taken the time to socialize with my friends a little more.

…hung out on the front steps more.

…worked to get at least one piece of writing published — probably my Master’s project, but anything would have done. This would have boosted my confidence (I didn’t realize how good the work was compared to so much that is out there) AND helped with the job search.

…invested more in the stories that meant something to me and simply let the others go.

…gone to my grandfather’s funeral against the recommendations of J-school
brass (I would have needed a week to go to California) — one of the only serious regrets of my entire life. Family always comes first — don’t let faculty or bosses convince you differently.

…not been afraid to network.

…taken a break at Coney Island.

…taken the Book Writing course with Sam Freedman.

… done an internship.

…written my Master’s Project with actual publication in mind (and in
reality).

…pitched more stories for publication.

…taken a radio course.

…kept better track of my schedule. Make a schedule for every week, for every task and every assignment and stick to it. Especially important if you’re working with others on a project to be sure everyone commits time - the same time - to get together.

…gotten out and seen New York - not only as a journalist but also as a
curious foreigner.

…sought out mentors and take advantage of their advice.

…gotten out of the Journalism building and explore what other
departments have to offer.

…started putting my resume out earlier and attended more job conferences.

…stuck to a tighter budget during the second semester and saved a bit more money for when I was interning over the summer.

…eaten more cruciferous vegetables and gotten more sleep.

…tried to enjoy the process of writing my Master’s Project a bit more, because I won’t be working on a long-form feature story again anytime soon.

…kept a blog or journal of my J-school experience (I did try to keep a J-school blog but it turned into my personal treasury of rants).

…taken courses that focused on writing and style, rather than two reporting-heavy classes.

…had done the vast bulk of reporting on my Master’s early, because it made for a tough semester for colleagues, especially those on the Bronx Beat.

…asked my professors for pitch letter pointers and tried to get more things published. It would have been worth it for the practice even if everything I submitted got rejected.

…I had done an extra draft of my Master’s Project, so it could have been revised and improved more.

…lined up an internship to gain New York work experience and make contacts.

…written thank you notes and sent stories back to people on my beat, not just to be polite but because their feedback would have been invaluable.

…typed more on a regular-sized keyboard instead of my 12-inch laptop because I ended up with RSI in both wrists.

…worn a cuter dress to the J-school graduation instead of a stupid blazer and denim skirt.

…paced myself better through each assignment, each class.

…taken advantage of all of the special events/speakers the school offers.

…enjoyed myself more. This could be your last university semester for a while.

…had taken more advantage of being in New York City. Now that I don’t live there anymore, there are so many neighborhoods and museums I wish I’d visited, restaurants I wish I’d eaten at and shows I wish I’d seen.

…taken my internship more seriously.

…worried about the job search less. I know that sounds completely counterintuitive, but I think I wasted a lot of time agonizing over worst case scenarios. I was also so worried that I would have jumped at any job that was offered me. For example, I interviewed with Vogue Knitting magazine after I saw an ad on MediaBistro.com. I love knitting, but I don’t think that would have been a good start to my journalism career. As it turns out I didn’t get the job (they needed someone to start right away), but I did get a job at WSJ.com three months later. In fact, most of the people I knew from j-school were hooked up with pretty good jobs by the end of summer. It is hard to find a media job, but not so hard that it warrants breaking out in a cold sweat or taking a job you’ll
want out of one month later.

…dabbled in a few more courses completely outside my area of
concentration, and gotten to know more of my classmates better.

…gone to the gym (Columbia’s gym is open until
midnight for a reason).

…switched from coffee to herbal tea (ultimately a
life-changer)

…updated my resume and supporting materials long before the job fair

…gotten more sleep (but that’s just not realistic)

…done more freelancing and gone on more informational interviews — you’ll need those clips and contacts in a few months.

…gone to the gym more.

…freelanced more.

…befriended even more part-timers, arts fellows and Knight-Bagehot folk.

…taken advantage of living in Manhattan for the last time in my life.

…learned HTML.

…better befriended my professors and adjuncts.

…done an internship.

…believed all those who kept on telling me (Sree included) that the
Spring semester passes by in a flash (Carpe Diem!)

…tried harder at establishing relationships with guest speakers
and/or professors

…cultivated more relationships and done many more informational interviews with journalists in ALL mediums. Journalism is on a convergence path - you never know where you might end up (or how badly you might need a job).

…pitched & published more clips.? For the aforementioned reason.

…NOT interned. As a broadcast concentrator it’s better to intern AFTER you finish your Master’s Project. The quality of your work and relationships count, never spread yourself too thin.

…realized earlier that you should think of yourself not as a student, but as a freelance writer, with J-school professors for editors.

…started looking for a job months before graduation.

…taken more Skills classes.

…organized my time a little bit better. When all the big projects were due at the end of the semester, I fell behind because I spent too much time on one and neglected another. The Spring is not the same as the Fall term in terms of structure (RW1 all the time), so be prepared.

..asked my Master’s adviser for feedback sooner on the first draft. If you don’t get feedback within a week or so, press your adviser.?Especially if you are going to India for the Covering Religion trip, it is imperative you get as
much critical analysis as possible so you know what kind of work you
need to do for the second and third drafts.

…attended a non-J-school event or something Columbia related
(basketball game, film showing, etc). I know time is rough, but you’re at Columbia so try to make the use of the university’s amenities while you have the time.

…stuck around for the post-graduation on Wednesday reception longer instead of having to rush to an early dinner reservation and miss saying congratulations/goodbye to a few people. When its time to call the restaurants to reserve a spot in April (or earlier), schedule your party into the evening hours of graduation day because that reception may be the last time you see professors and friends.

…bought real estate.

OTHER TIPS:

Buy a Frisbee. Seriously, as the weather gets better, it’s a great way to meet/talk to people who aren’t in any of your classes. Some of my best memories CJS are hanging out by Thomas Jefferson, throwing the Frisbee barefoot in the grass. And if there was a cold Sapporo in a brown paper bag nearby, so much the better.

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TIP: Surviving the Fall Semester

Filed under: Orientation, Tips, Greatest hits, Alumni, Surviving the School

The Daily Plan-it is asking recent alumni and graduating students to share tips about surviving and thriving in the Fall semester. Responses (some of them contradicting each other, some of them repetitive, many not endorsed by the J-school) will be added here throughout the semester, lightly edited for clarity and style (the newest ones on top).

Please send your suggestions (for either semester) to ss221@columbia.edu.

[See tips about the Spring semester here.]

In the Fall semester at J-School, I wish I had…

Chosen my electives better, sometimes the class sounds great but the professor isn’t as great. Choose wisely! And also, make sure you are choosing a class because that is the one you love, not the one everyone else is dying to get into. Enjoy your friends and remember that after graduation most of you will part ways, so make the best of the time you have together.
read the ethnic press, and especially community-based websites
taken the Q, F and 7 trains out to their terminus’ and gotten more of a feel for the city. It’s worth the time–you’ll be 50
percent less lost later, and you’ll see some cool stuff along the way.
carried cash more
…taken the time to read my professors’ books. At least one of them.
…invested in more and better long underwear. Uniqlo (Prince St. on the R/W) makes warming tights/tanktops/undershirts for men and women. They’re cheap, fit under clothes and will make your life suck less inwinter.

…introduced myself to more people/organizations (not just on my beat) dealing with things that interested me
taken new media training since the very first week. You won’t find the time later on to get that introduction and you will always betrying to catch up while seeing the others handle it perfectly.
gone to more of the August music concerts and cultural events in town…
done an internship. Everybody tells you to hold off because you will just be getting into things and gettingused to the schedule and the pace, etc. Ignore them. The spring semester is five times as insane as the fall semester and you’ll be sorry if you don’t do any internships while you’re in the thick of the New York City media world. That said, if you have never worked in journalism before and everything in RW1 is new to you - okay - yeah, take it easy. But if you have been a working journalist and
if you can find an internship where you can negotiate only a day in the office - and maybe a little work from home - and where you’ll actually get to write (this isn’t that hard since everyone has decimated their staff and is desperate for
content, especially blogs and sister Web sites to print publications) then DO IT. I did a spring internship and it was great in the end, but I regret not doing one in the fall when things were a little more laid back. If you do get a fall internship, don’t ever, ever, ever tell your RW1 professor you couldn’t cover something or get something done because of your internship or any other class or activity. In fact, it’s best they don’t even know you have an internship because they’ll likely just assume anything they see as less than stellar work is because of the distraction of your internship. Good luck!
chosen my elective based on the professor, not the subject.
taken time to enjoy the city rather than obssesively fret over RW1 due to an obsessive professor. Do your best but don’t let someone else’s obsession permeate to you.
taken an internship. Yes, even in the Fall semester (no matter how busy you get with school, internships in New York are the best way to improve your resume and get a job).
taken a deep breath. What seemed stressful then, I realize now was just part of the normal J-school process.
drank less coffee (especially the jet-fuel type served downstairs).
gone to Career Services earlier. It’s not as scary as it sounds - and you’re going to have to get a job sometime!
realized that switching into the part-time program for the spring semester isn’t that hard after all. If you’re serious about freelancing or spending lots of time at a spring internship, it can be a good way to go.
sought resume feedback from people outside of the Career Services office. Take every opportunity to have someone currently in the industry look over your resume and clips.
built a better list of story ideas for my RWI beat in August. Scrambling to find a good housing story idea on a Tuesday in October — with a Thursday morning deadline — was not fun.
taken new media classes. Online skills are so important and you should take advantage of being in a school environment to learn as much as you can. It will pay off after you graduate.
taken more advantage of opportunities to re-write articles.
tried to freelance some of my articles and possibly radio pieces.
explored New York City more because it is a lie that you have more time in the spring semester.
…known that feeling overwhelmed isn’t a catastrophe. Instead, it was the first step toward finding my own priorities. On the other hand, I’m glad I told some of my profs that I was feeling overwhelmed. They helped me to remember why I sought out the M.A. program in the first place and led me to some great insights into whatwas important to me. In the end, it was all good for me: the workload, the brain strain, the stumbling, and the getting back up again.
…gone to more Happy Hours.
…spent more time on my Master’s Project so I could have taken more of a winter break.
…gotten to know my classmates better.
…attended more of the optional lectures.
…stayed in better touch with non-journalist friends.
…took the narrative writing elective (so that I could experiment with those awesome narrative techniques in my Spring classes and in the Master’s Projects).
…taken more skills courses. I only took one, and now I wish I had also taken the others in photography, radio, etc. just to have that broad base of skills under my belt that would make me much more marketable to employers.
…reached out and established a relationship with at least one of my professors — this will really help you down the road, whether it’s just to talk you through the stress come second semester or to point you to some good job prospects (on their own terms of
course).
…hadn’t approached profs just looking for job tips. You *will* connect with at least one professor, and just having that solid, genuine, outside-of-just-class-time friendship will be enough.
…tried and made my stories do double time by exploring the logical ripples from one drop in the pond. For example: If you have an education story about arranged marriages, see if you can also get a business story about matchmakers, a lifestyle story on new types of dating, and a religion story on converts to faiths that promote marriage arrangements.
…realized that every student is supremely talented. I wish I’d shaken off my
undergraduate, must-get-honors, competitive mentality and just enjoyed — and learned — from all my classmates. Also, I shouldn’t have let my classmates’ designer jeans and giant
Fendi bags intimidate me.
…applied for internships.
…prepared a stack of resumes and clips before class started, which would have made applying for internships less of a burden.
…chosen professors more carefully. Track down outgoing students — you should be able to find some by looking up their published work online — and grill them about which professors to seek out and which to avoid. If you can make it to campus, read the course reviews on file
at the J-School library. [DAILY PLAN-IT NOTE: This last sentence is no longer relevant. Starting with the Spring 2005 courses, all course evaluations are now online for incoming students anywhere in the world.]
…made a list of the names, numbers and e-mails of managing editors at
amNew York, Metro, City Limits and the weekly newspapers that covered my beat and pitched my RWI stories to them on a regular basis.
…. read Bob Baker’s Newsthinking. It is especially important to read if you do not have a journalism background.
…had a copy of the Upanishads to read to put life into perspective for those times when I
left the J-school feeling overwhelmed. The big questions posed in the Upanishads could have diminished the significance of the little episodes of worthlessness I felt after some of my edited stories came back bleeding.
…applied for internships.
…pitched more freelance work.
…participated in some sort of activity wholly unrelated to school.
…gone to more Happy Hours.
…explored NYC (apart from my beat).
…read more Master’s Projects in the library.
…started exploring my Master’s Project during the summer (at least have a general topic you’re passionate about and that you’d like to learn more about before the first day of school).
…been more prepared for failure on all fronts (don’t stress
when your stories suck - you’re there to learn not win a Pulitzer).
…bought a bike. (This is vital. You will cover six times the area on your beat, and actually enjoy it. Biking New York lets you see the 90% of the city that isn’t convenient to a subway line, and all of my great RW1 stories came from out-of-the-way places. Then enjoy the Palisades across the GW bridge or take off your journalist cap and ride with us at Critical Mass last Friday of the month, Union Square, 7 pm.
…picked an RWI beat neighborhood more off the beaten path (I picked
Harlem, which is always inundated with J-Schoolers. I wish I’d picked
a nabe in Queens or the Bronx).
…spent less time beating myself up because I wasn’t getting many
clips, and more time enjoying the experience.

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