Realistic Advice for New College Students

Austin Price, Editor in Chief

The college journey is one of the most influential, substantial, and wonderful times of a person's life. However, it can also be one of the scariest, most intimidating, and overwhelming times of a person's life. And so, as I embark on my senior year of college at Regis, I come to you all with some pieces of advice that are realistic to achieve, and that will help you manage this new environment while keeping your sanity in check. So, let’s begin!  

Give Yourself Some Grace  

One of the most common mistakes I have made, and have seen other people make, is to punish yourself for making a human mistake. In case you don’t know it yet, you will oversleep and be late for class sometimes. You will bomb a test you thought you were prepared for. You will say the wrong answer in front of a class, and you will screw up. That is ok! I cannot emphasize enough how imperative it is to give yourself a break, grant yourself some grace, and understand that mistakes, accidents, and slip-ups are an unavoidable part of life. No one can treat you better than you treat yourself. So please, be kind to yourself and know that you’re only human and college is hard. You’re not expected to be perfect at it at any point, and certainly not in your first year.  

Don’t Overbuy on School Supplies  

I will admit that I am guilty of overconsuming unnecessary school supplies. My little elementary school self took full control during my freshmen year of college and spent an exorbitant amount of money on a ton of supplies I didn’t need and never used. Now that I’ve reigned in the shopping addict of my former self, my school supply budget stays under $20. For me, all I need for a new semester at college is a planner, a notebook, and a set of gel pens. This list is short and sweet and was formulated after my first 3 years of college where I lugged around an overflowing backpack with binders, stickers, and folders, all of which were unnecessary. So, I’m saving you all the time and money that I spent by advising you to shop small and shop smart when it comes to school supplies.  

 Be Selective in Your Extracurriculars  

College is a breeding ground for new clubs, electives, student organizations, volunteer projects, and social gatherings. While these opportunities are great, they can also be excessive and cause stress and burnout. I am warning you now that you will be bombarded at activity fairs and internship events with new opportunities and optional programs. While this can provide valuable experiences, it can also lead to students being peer pressured into excessive projects, overpowering the initial mission of pursuing higher education. With the immense potential in work-study possibilities and the social atmosphere from clubs and events, I recommend each college student only selects one or two extracurriculars to start. Remember, you can always add more extracurriculars to your schedule once you feel settled into your starting routine. If you start by commiting to too many extracurriculars at the start, you will feel too much pressure and be stretched too thin. As I said, college is hard, and to make it a bit easier, limit your number of responsibilities to start out. You can always add, but it’s hard to subtract.  

Invest in Reliable Technology  

A functional, reliable, and up-to-date piece of technology is an irreplaceable investment for college students. Most students choose either a laptop or a tablet to use for schoolwork, and this is an important part of college life. Most of your assignments are done electronically, and submitted electronically, so a functional piece of technology that can be used in any environment is an integral part of your successful college life. Be sure to have your chosen device updated and serviced before the start of the year and begin implementing an organizational system that will keep your files and electronic work separated appropriately. In addition to a laptop or tablet, investing in earbuds, headphones, or other hearing devices will provide enhanced focus for studying, and gives a clear sound for online tutorials, videos, or other learning materials.  

 Take Advantage of Your Resources  

Colleges and universities often offer a variety of resources for students. These include services such as mentoring, tutoring, and career counseling. Other amenities include medical care such as physical insurance, mental wellness, and emotional support. There are also material resources including school supplies, clothing, merchandise, and swag gear. I recommend you use these resources to their fullest extent. The real world outside of college doesn’t have the same catalog of easily accessible resources, and by using these resources while they’re in reach, you will be better prepared when you don’t have them in the future.  

And with that, I wish you all the best of luck in your first year of college. Please know that you’re not on this journey alone, and that you are allowed to make mistakes. You will be ok, you will get through this, and you will succeed.  

Student Self Care is Sponsored by Somos

James Ortiz, Staff Photographer 

On February 27th, 2025, Regis University’s Somos Club offered self care to students. The event took place outside of the Student Center, giving students a chance to enjoy sweet snacks in the sun. 

Somos Club leaders provide the community with free snacks. Photo by James Ortiz

The items provided remind students to take care of themselves, and enjoy a yummy treat. Photo by James Ortiz

Chips, cookies, and refreshments are available to all students. Photo by James Ortiz

7 Ways to Practice Peace as A College Student

By Caleigh Montoya, Staff Writer

Finding peace within yourself can be very hard, especially as a college student. Below I have listed 7 daily ways you can practice peace to help manage stress, and to feel some serenity.

1. Meditation: Meditation helps manage depression, anxiety, stress, blood pressure, and pain. It improves sleep, memory, awareness, mindfulness, relationships, relaxation, and attention spans.

2. Breath work: Breath work increases activity, improves focus, helps heal from trauma, improves digestion, increases muscle tone, manages depression, releases toxins, improves self-esteem, strengthens lungs, lowers blood pressure, and increases energy.

3. Gratitude: The practice of gratitude can look different for everyone. It involves recognition of the good things in your life and how they affect your life. Again, this could look like several different things. Practicing gratitude can look like journaling about things that you are grateful for, paying attention to the little things throughout your day, expressing your gratitude to those around you, doing something kind, or giving thanks through prayer.

4. Spiritual Practice: Finding a new spiritual wave or even strengthening your current spirituality is a great way to find inner peace. Spiritual practice can enhance our feelings of self, peace, hope, and meaning.

5. Time in Nature: Time spent in nature reduces our cortisol levels, muscle tension, and lowers heart rates. Nature also generates feelings of positive emotions including calmness, joy, reflectiveness, and can increase concentration. It’s always nice to get out of the classroom, the dorm, or the study room and sit outside for a while.

6. Affirmations: Affirmations are a form of positive self-talk and self-empowerment. When you repeat them and believe in them, you can start to make positive changes. Positive affirmations boost self-esteem, decrease stress, rewire the brain’s thinking, increase productivity and movement, and raise happiness levels.

7. Visualization: Visualization is simple but effective. With visualization, you can prepare for events / goals and have the self-confidence to do exceptionally well. You decide what you want and picture that scene. Visualize this daily and you will be prepared and confident when that vision becomes a reality. This helps with self-confidence, preparation, mindfulness, and positive thinking.

Beautiful Mess Effect

By Vivian Pham, Staff Writer

Have you ever felt like a hot mess and being frustrated about yourself, but find yourself receiving compliments and praises from other people about how perfect your life appears to be? I’m sure a lot of people would agree with me that they have experienced that feeling at least once in their lifetime. More often than not we assume our life is miserable and other people seem to just have everything together. This familiar phenomenon is known as the “beautiful mess effect.”

What is the “beautiful mess effect”?

“Beautiful mess effect” was first mentioned in a published article in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2018, studied and written by Dr. Anna Bruk and colleagues. Basically, the beautiful mess effect explained that there is an intriguing mismatch in the way we take a more negative view of our own vulnerability than we do of other people’s. It’s the contrast viewpoint between one’s negativity and a bystander’s positivity on the same issue. 

When you do something wrong or fail to achieve something, you easily self-depreciate, thinking that you’re not good enough or even lose your self-confidence. However, a bystander, because they’re not affected by your failure, may not relate to your situation. Therefore, they may see the positivity or the “beauty” in your personality and assume you must be doing good. That’s the “beauty” factor in “the beautiful mess effect.”

For instance, you just lost your chance of getting into a reputed company. You may feel ashamed and awful about yourself, but your best friend might think you’re extremely brave and bold to even have the nerve to apply for that job.

A negative tendency towards personal matters

The “mess” that we create originates from the negative tendency we have towards our own personal matters. As an insider, you have a more detailed and subjective perspective towards the issue, and you tend to criticize the issue more thoroughly than a bystander. 

For example, your friend might be so bothered and annoyed about how their clothes aren’t matched, how their makeup isn’t what they want, and how their hair is all messed up. When, in comparison, you just think there’s nothing wrong with their clothes, their makeup, or their hair. Or you feel so embarrassed when you say something you shouldn’t say to other people, but then you realize they don’t even notice your mistakes. 

This is a normal psychological feeling that most of us have experienced before, and it can be explained through the Construal Level Theory. According to this theory, the more distant an object is from the individual, the more abstract it will be thought of, while the closer the object is, the more concretely it will be thought of. Hence, you’ll tend to give a more thorough criticism. 

The bystander perspective

According to Dr. Anna Bruk’s study (as mentioned above), the majority of participants showed a tendency in having a pessimistic perspective towards their personal matters while having a more optimistic viewpoint upon other people’s matters. They assume that a bystander would not be able to relate to their situation, to how messed up their life is. But in fact, bystanders provide an objective perspective that you may never recognize. 

Conclusion 

When you’re drowning in your own mess, the first thing is to calm yourself down and put things into a broader picture. You’ll never know what you’ll discover when you extend your perspective. After finishing this article, just remember there’ll always be someone that can discover the “beauty” and “attraction” within your own “mess.”

Take Yourself Out on a Date

photo credit: Risa Davis

By: Morgan Jacobus, Editor-in-Chief

Ever thought about taking yourself out on a date? In a society where it is so common to put others before yourself, or to wait on other people to invite you to do things, Risa Davis encourages others to take some time for themselves.

Risa started her self-date by putting on a cute outfit and taking a walk around campus to look at the fall colors. Then she took herself to an art gallery, then bought a handmade bracelet for herself because “if I was out with a friend we would probably buy bracelets, or with a guy… they usually get you something, so why can’t I do that for myself?” said Risa Davis. Afterwards, she went to a coffee shop, treated herself by getting her favorite drinks and snacks, then came back to campus and hung out. 

Risa continued to point out how she has a boyfriend as well as friends, but she realized that she finds herself often waiting on them to ask her to do things, and it dawned on her that she shouldn’t have to wait for someone to have fun with. 

“I think it is a lot easier to support others and want to hang out with them, I think it is harder to find that in yourself… it has been hard for me to find that in myself. It is really easy to make someone else the center of your world… I am so guilty of that, but I don’t want to do that anymore, I want people to be a part of my world, but not be what I am dependent on,” said Risa.

After realizing that she wants to prioritize herself more, Risa expressed reasons why she thinks it is important to be alone with yourself sometimes.

“At the end of the day we are our own people… I think it is great to share your life with other people, but I think we need to focus on our self-relationships more. Especially if you are religious, like you focus on your relationship with God, you focus on your relationship with friends… with family… with your significant other, literally everything and everyone but yourself,” said Risa. 

When it comes to how often she is going to take herself on a date, she said that she is going to try to match the pace at which she hands out with others. So, since she and her boyfriend do weekly dates, she is going to try to have weekly self-dates. 

“I think it is worthwhile because it is a challenge. Our instinct is to not to go have fun by yourself or treat yourself that way you would treat a friend, we hardly ever share that same level of compassion with ourselves, so I think it is something to try because it is a challenge and it shows that we can grow. I want to mature and I am going into my twenties, who do I want to be, how do I want to be, and I think at the end of the day I want to be someone who is comfortable with myself and I want to be who I am. And I don’t think I can find that by constantly hanging out with others or a boyfriend or something. I need to spend time alone, as challenging as that is. That is what I would tell others, that it is good growth and it is a good challenge, it’s hard, which means it is worthwhile I think,” said Risa. 

Self-dates can be a great way to “self-bond” and take some time to be comfortable with who you are when you aren’t around other people. It can also be very individual, and anyone can do it in their own way. Risa went to an art museum because she is an art major, and loves art, but anyone can tailor their own date to what they like. 

“If you are a history major, go to a history museum, or if you are a movie person stay in bed and watch shows and have your own popcorn and treats. I think it is such an individual thing that we could all be going on our fun dates and we could share the ideas with each other too, like ‘oh wow you painted your own nails and did this or that, I'll do that too.’ I think it would be cool if a lot of people did it, to then think about how we can all have fun,” said Risa.

Helpful Tips for Healthy (Dorm) Living

Photographer: Natalie Scott, photo design: Marley Gabel

By: Kaitlin Wells, Staff Reporter

Living in the dorms is a familiar part of the college experience. While there are many pluses to living in a dorm, they are also a place in which germs and sickness can easily be spread.  According to Princeton University Health Services, colds and influenza are the most common illnesses among college students.  Fear not! Even though you are living in the dorms, there are many ways in which you can help keep yourself healthy.

There are many well-known ways in which to avoid illness, one of the most common is vaccinations. The CDC states that flu shots reduce the risk of infection from 40%-60%.  Receiving a flu shot is one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent the flu. This can not only keep you from getting sick, but also prevent the sickness from spreading to other students.  

Although flu shots are the most effective, there are other ways to stay healthy in the dorms.  Ways to keep your immune system strong include drinking lots of water, getting lots of vitamin C, and getting plenty of sleep.  Not getting enough sleep weakens the immune system, making students more susceptible to illness.  Washing your hands, eating healthy and exercising will also keep you safe during flu season.

Being healthy plays a critical role in your learning. Living in the dorms can make you more vulnerable to illness.  Take precautions to keep your body healthy and the people around you healthy.  Don’t let the flu get in the way of your education!