Interview with Australian exchange student Mitch Sewter

Bellow is a story where you can learn more about Mitch Sewter and his journey.

Snack Foods for the Dorm Room

There are going to be times where you find yourself stuck in your dorm room studying into the late hours of the night. The biggest problem your going to face is the need for a quick snack, but its important you snack healthily.

This means no:
- Ramen noodles
- Popcorn
- Instant Mac and cheese

These are really common quick meals that may taste good, but really have no positive effect on your work and could even make you more tired.

The argument most people give for why they choose to eat these unhealthy snacks is simply because there quick. well what if I told you that there were even quicker options that could actually give you a boost and help you get your work done?

Fruit
This is a pretty obvious one. Apples, bananas, oranges.... the list goes on and on. I highly doubt that you cant find one that you enjoy and the best thing about them is that there packed full of natural sugars which can give you that boost to finish whatever work your doing. For me personally i always snag 2 or 3 bananas from the dinning hall and keep a stash in my room so that whenever I get peckish I always have a healthy snack on hand.

If fruit isn't for you then another snack You should try is granola bars. Buy a large pack or two and you can make it last a whole semester.

Obviously the main goal here is to find food that provides you with energy to get you focused on work. If your interested in being more creative you should check out Daily Burn for some energy ball snack recipes that can really give you a boost.

How To Do Laundry In Your Dorm

College means independence, which also requires you to learn how to look after yourself one of the struggles some freshman find coming to college is learning how to do laundry especially is their parents have done it for most their lives. In this blog post I have created a step by step video of how to wash and dry your clothes, with some handy purchase ideas that can make laundry duty easy.




Next week I will cover some snack foods that can help you during those late night study sessions in your dorm.

Audio Story: Dorm Survival 101

Intro to Roommate Boundaries

One of the biggest challenges that you'll face during your time in the dorms will be simply living in close proximity to someone else. Not long after you first start living together, you will probably begin to find out what your roommates personal boundaries are, they can range greatly from being a bit of a pig to being a complete neat freak. Depending on your own personal boundaries there might not be any issues. However, sometimes your roommates boundaries may cause you to feel uncomfortable, so its important that you talk to them so that you can make the living situation a comfortable one for both of you.

Now obviously I know not everyone is able to confront a roommate on issues, but there are ways to get help. One of the best ways I have found is to talk to a friend about it, they could have some insight on how to deal with the issues or perhaps they can help you approach your roommate and be a intermediate. Although this is a nice way to resolve any issues yourself (which I always advise you should first try to do) it does rely on your friend knowing the roommate in question reasonably well otherwise it could just make matters worse. If you can't come to a resolution yourself then the next step is to talk to someone who has some control in your dorm. The first person you should see is your RA (resident assistant) they live on your floor and will get to know everyone very well. They are the most valuable tool when having a dispute with a roommate and are given training on how to help you when your living in the dorms.

A comfortable living environment is key to a successful and enjoyable college experience, if at any stage you feel like you have to simply put up with an unsatisfactory dorm room experience then you need to take action.

Next week I will continue to cover roommate boundaries and ways to deal with issues. It will feature an audio interview with a student who after dealing with a difficult roommate saw no other option but to move out so that they could have a stable housing environment.

What is that Smell?

This post is mostly for the guys. Its just a fact that we are often less hygienic than our female counterparts and therefore our rooms will indeed begin to stink. The problem is, spending time around your own smells leads to a tolerance of these smells. So although you may not notice the smell of the week old chicken wings and over flowing laundry anyone visiting will.

Now there are two options as to how you solve this dilemma, the first and probably the option most with a cleaning problem will enjoy least is... just clean your room on a regular basis (preferably daily) it really isn't that much a of a chore to make your room a far more inviting environment.

Simple daily tasks to keep your room from smelling:

• Take out the trash
• Do your laundry
• Clean messy surfaces
• Open your window and let the room air out
• (and if applicable) clean just one thing in the bathroom

These simple daily tasks will insure that your room will smell clean and welcoming for any visitors you may have.

Obviously there are many of you that will not be able to bring yourself to 'adult' at this level yet, so this is where option two comes into play.

Buy an automatic air freshener. This has been one of my most valuable purchases to date. Rather than having to constantly keep an eye on the state of my room to insure it smells good, I can now let my air freshener do the hard work of covering up the bad smells my roommate and I create,by dispensing a spray of "ocean escape". 

Of course this won't work forever and once your trash and laundry do pile up, its probably a good idea to clean up. However, with the use of an air freshener you will find that you can prolong the period of time until you really need to clean up that room.

Making Your Dorm Feel Like Home

Living with a stranger can be tough, and deciding on how the layout of the room should be can be a real struggle. Obviously there is the whole first come first served mind set and if your roommate has not expressly said they want a certain side of the room, then feel free to choose if you arrive first. 

Once you have sides of the room, you may find that you want to move things around a little. I would advise not doing this until the roommate is present to get their input, but once there their feel free to discuss changes to the room. It can be a bonding experience where you can have a friendly introductory discussion while unpacking your bags and making adjustments to the rest of the room.

Things to consider before making changes to the room:

• What are the dormitory rules? (you probably don't want to be in trouble on your first day)
• Where is maintenance? (very useful for when mistakes are made (they will be made))
• How much space do you really have? (you don't want to live in a clutter) 
• Will the changes be functional? (Don't make getting to things difficult)
• Most importantly do you both agree with the changes?

Making changes can be a multi day process and even when its done you'll find yourself still making adjustments here and there. The important thing is your comfortable and that there is a healthy room dynamic between you and your roommate.

The final step in setting up your room is to bring in personal elements. One of the best ways to make your room feel less like a sterile jail cell is to put up posters. Most dorms have simple plain white walls and are often pretty ugly to look at. By putting up posters or pictures from home, you turn the room into a more inviting and comfortable environment for yourself and your roommate, who will appreciate the extra effort.

Hopefully you can transform your bleak dorm room into and ideal living space. Visit Healthy Liv's blog to find more ideas on how to make your room more homey while your in college and to see other tips and tricks on surviving college.