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TIPS ON HOW TO SUCCEED

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS: CAMPUS LIFE

Fall 2013

MATTHEW WILLIAMS

STRUGGLES WITHOUT MT. DEW

IN THIS ISSUE:

4

8

6

7LIVELY AND SUCCESSFULL Tips on How to Succeed

6 | How to Survive Finals

LIVELY AND HEALTHYUC student lives without soda pop

4 | An Addict's Experiment: A week without Soda

LIVELY AND INVOLVEDA picture is worth a thousand words: Campus Life

8 | Students show their UC spirit 2 | Lively Fall 2013

LIVELY FALL 2013, ISSUE 01

LIVELY STAFFEditor in Chief Christin Miller

Assistant Editors Natasha Jones, Timothy Wyatt

Creative Director or Senior DesignerBrandy Norman

Contributing Writers Kelly Allen

Jannica Brady Abbey Cherry Ashley LingardKasey MaloneShelby Muff

Andres Pedraza Ryan Poynter

Caleb Vander ArkWhitley West

Solomon WhitakerAlex Williams

Matthew Williams

Contributing Photographers Chloe Gu, Erin McMullen, Kristina Smith

Faculty Adviser Jeremiah Massengale

LIVELY is published quarterly in partnership with The Patriot Newspaper at the University of the Cumberlands.

Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of LIVELY, advertisers, UC staff, faculty, administration, alumni, or trustees. Copy-right 2013, all rights reserved.

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3 | Lively Fall 2013

AN ADDICT'S EXPERIMENT: A WEEK WITH-OUT SODABY: MATTHEW WILLIAMS

A part of me is almost embar-rassed to admit that I drink more soda in a week than I do water. Now, that is just a guess really, but that’s what it feels like. Most days, I return home to my apartment after class, flop down on the couch, and open an ice cold Mountain Dew, while doing some meaningless activity, like hitting home on Facebook over and over or watching videos of cats on YouTube. When I sit down to eat a meal, I drink a Mountain Dew. When I have a headache, I drink a Mountain Dew. When I’m thirsty, I – for some reason – drink a Mountain Dew. I drink a lot of Mountain Dew. That’s when I decided to go without it and see how I faired. A week seemed just, at least to start with. I would avoid Mountain Dew, along with any other soda I might drink like Coke or Sprite, and decided to put coffee and Sunny Delight (which has almost as much sugar as a soda) on the list, too. A week without these unhealthy drinks would do me good, only indulging in water, juice, and the occasional glass of milk. A week would be no problem. Right? Unfortunately, old habits die hard. Originally planning to start my immersion experiment on Saturday, November 10, my plans were hindered when I subconsciously found myself with a Mountain Dew in my hand that afternoon. How had it got there? I hadn’t even noticed I’d opened it. With a sigh, I finished it and decided to wait one more day to begin. Not only had the myste-rious soda appeared in my hand, but also that night, a mysterious coffee appeared. So, waiting another day became the clear option. Sunday night, I was sitting in Hud-dle House with three friends, proudly ex-plaining to them my new experiment. They thought it was a good decision (as who doesn’t want to drink healthier?) but thought that the fact that it was for a class seemed odd. I was lost in my words, explaining the class, the project, and my goal to go without soda or coffee for a week to them. “What will you have to drink?” the

waitress asked me. I didn’t even glance up. “Coffee.” As quickly as she had appeared, she was gone, and I continued explaining to my friends the process and the deter-mination I had to complete this week of healthier drink choices. My teeth already felt cleaner, going a whole day already without a soda. The waitress sat my coffee on the table. I thanked her and looked at my friends, having finished my last thought. I smiled confidently as the mug neared my lips. “Hey, dumbass,” one of my friends chuckled, pointing his finger toward the mug in my hand. This was when I realized how difficult this experiment might be. Without re-alizing it, I had ordered another coffee (just as I had done the previous night). This time, though, I did not drink it. I slid the coffee to one of my friends who enjoyed it instead and I had water that night. Tasteless, sugar-less, bland water. By day two or three, I felt like a mil-lion bucks. It’s kind of amazing how much cleaner you feel after just a few days of not drinking soda. Monday and Tuesday sailed by, and the thought of a soda never even crossed my mind. The only tough times were during meals, in which I need a drink with flavor and water just won’t cut it, but I resisted, and had juice instead. Then, the storm began. Wednes-day and Thursday crept up on me and pounded me in the face. When even the smallest light hit my eyes, my head erupted into a relentless migraine, incurable by any medicine. My mood was declining and my headaches got worse. I could hardly stand it. I was miserable. The only thing that could help me was getting it off my mind. But, I would soon find that to be impossible come Saturday. A couple weeks before, my girl-friend and I had gone to visit her parents, spending a day with them in Lexington, at her brother’s cross-country meet. It was here that her mom explained to me that they would be having an important family dinner on Saturday, the 17th (the day before the last day of my experiment), and she wanted to know what I wanted to drink. I requested one thing, and one thing only: Mountain Dew. Now, Saturday had come. My girl-friend and I drove to her hometown, and for some reason, this problem hadn’t crossed my mind yet. It wasn’t until her mother let me know that “the Mountain Dew’s in the fridge”

that the light bulb went off in my head, and then shattered, throwing glass shards shooting all throughout my brain. A head-ache formed, and this one was worse than all the others combined. I had made it so far, going six days without a soda, which I must say, was quite the achievement for me, a person who relies on the stuff to avoid an eye-splitting headache. But now, my girlfriend’s mother was offering me the drink that I had with-out a doubt requested two weeks before. Declining one would not only be rude, but might even make me kind of look like a jerk. I accepted the soda. I drank a Mountain Dew (probably more than one) and I failed my immersion project, but not by much. It was simple bad timing that ruined me in the end.

“It was simple bad tim-ing that ruined me in the end.” That Mountain Dew, though, was the greatest tasting one I had experienced. I felt dirty for losing, but at the time, I didn’t care. Looking back, I’m sure I could have gotten around the problem, and maybe it was my subconscious thankful that there was finally an outing and it took it. I may not have gone a week without a soda, but I went six days, and I’m confident that I could have gone one more, had it not been for that prior request I made concerning the Mountain Dew. So, all in all, I feel decently proud that I stuck to my guns for the most part. And hey, I had might as well reward myself. A Mountain Dew sounds pretty good right about now, too.


DRINKING SODAOF ANY KIND CAUSES A LOT OF HEALTH PROBLEMS

Water Diet Soda

Regular Soda


Over the course of finals week students usually have two goals: (1) Do well on exams and (2) keep stress to a minimum. Students are usually seen double-fisting caffeinated beverages, munching on sugary snacks, shuffling around papers and books to find a place to lay their head, and it's not uncommon to sleep as much in a week as one would in a single night. Dr. Michael Colegrove, vice president of Student Services, said: Staying stress-free is important, but stress is not in-herently bad for students. There is an ideal level of stress for each one of us, which that helps motivate us to do our best. When we are functioning at that ideal level, we are sufficiently pushed to do our best, yet not para-lyzed by the results of excessive stress. The goal is to find the ideal stress level and then try to stay there. External stress emerges because studying should be one's

top priority and unfortunately, no young adult likes to admit that their social life has to be set aside for a bit, he said.In order to perform best on final exams, one must re-member the basics: stay active, get plenty of rest, eat a good breakfast, all those healthy study-tips that students have been told since grade school. In addition to that, one must find time to escape studying and take time for themselves.From a student perspective, surviving the gauntlet of oral presentations, exams, essay writing, and projects, in the weeks ahead, here are some techniques UC students suggest will successfully minimize stress and maximize efficiency. Take advantage of on campus programming during and prior to finals week Many colleges help their students to de-stress during finals week by offering school-sponsored events. Check into what UC offers; The Campus Activity Board and the Stu-dent Government Association offer special student events, and free midnight snacks in the dining hall. Area church-es like Main Street Baptist Church offer free coffee and organized study breaks.

WORK OUT Short exercise breaks can help relieve stress, socialize, and burn off the extra sugary calories you may consume. Take a jog downtown, ride your bike to campus, do yoga, take a kickboxing class, play pick-up basketball, or go to the wellness center and get your fitness on. Exer-cise helps you focus, it gives you additional energy, and it releases endorphins to make you feel better. In order to make deadlines, stick to 30 minutes of exercise a day. If you must, bring a book to study while you're on the exercise bike or treadmill.If exercising is not your thing, progressive muscle relax-ation is a technique many people find helpful. Systemat-ically go through the major muscle groups of your body, tightening, holding and then relaxing each group. Start at the top of your body and move down (face; neck/up-per back/shoulders; arms; abdominals; upper legs; lower legs; feet/toes).

EAT HEALTHY Often, students eat even more unhealthily during finals week than they do the rest of the semester. With a time crunch, they go for quick, tasty, on-the-go foods and mindlessly much away until they are left with an emp-ty package. This is a big mistake. Junk food gives you instant energy or a sugar high, but it affects your con-centration and memory and will end in a food coma or sugar crash. Eating healthy food will energize you and increase your concentration and retention. Fruits and vegetables are best; they have the required vitamins and nutrients to prevent sickness and give you energy. Simply eating a healthy diet is an easy way to help manage

HOW STUDENTS CAN SURVIVE FINALSBY KAYLA HEDMAN


stress and get good grades during your finals. Stay hydrated Your brain works best when it's hydrated. Dehydration causes fatigue and headaches, which will distract you from your work. Caffeine dehydrates you more, so for every coffee you have, have a glass of water. Your body and mind will thank you.

BREATHE When you are in those moments when your stress level is climbing, take a deep breath for four counts, hold it for four counts, and exhale for four counts. Try this a few times. You may be shocked at how much better you feel.Treat yourself to lunch before your final Get away from campus and get your mind off of study-ing if you have a spark of confidence. Check out local restaurants like El Dorado's, the Root Beer Stand, and Milly's On Main for some tasty, brain food. Catch some ZZZ's Everyone has different sleep habits, but it is never healthy to pull an all-nighter. Make sure to get the sleep your body needs. Sleep will improve the quality and retention of studying, even though you may have less study time. Less is more.

“Sleep will improve the quality and retention of studying, even though you may have less study time. Less is more. Take breaks.”

TAKE BREAKSStudying non-stop is actually not helpful. After a long period of studying, your concentration will be broken, and the material that you are trying to learn will not be retained well. Studies show in order to really grasp information, the brain needs time to absorb what it has learned. You should use short breaks to exercise, eat, rest, talk to friends, watch TV, go outside, or do some other activity that takes your mind off the study material. The most important thing is that you do something for your-self and reward yourself for getting some work done.

SELECT A GOOD STUDY SPACE Do not just start studying anywhere. Find a quiet, orderly place. Unfortunately, your dorm room is probably a bad place to study. With all the familiar objects around and your roommates hanging out, it would be too easy to get distracted. A peaceful environment will be an im-measurable help to your concentration. P&P: Prioritize & plan

Failing to plan is planning to fail. If you start studying without a plan, you are likely to focus on the wrong material or get distracted. Plan how to allocate your time and what to study.

ASK FOR HELP Many students are afraid to ask for help. If you do not understand what to do or study, ask someone. You could speak to your professor during office hours, or talk to your friends and classmates. You are all working together and in the same boat. The professor wants to see you succeed and so do your friends; they most likely will be glad to help.

CALL FRIENDS Talking with a trusted friend or family member about how you are feeling helps because most of them have been there, done that or are in the same boat as you. Talking things out can have the immediate effect of reducing stress levels. Sharing with someone else helps us feel we aren't alone which can be so helpful. Write research papers and make projects early Most of the time, professors give plenty of advance notice before a final paper or project is due. Don't pro-crastinate on these when you know you'll need to study during finals week.

USE STUDY GROUPS Learn the material by yourself, and review it by explain-ing the subject to the study group. With the right group of people, you can learn more about the topic then you could by yourself. Different perspectives and observations are good to be exposed to. Choose your study group wisely.

DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR EXAM TIMES When you are taking many exams in the same week, it is easy to confuse the times. Write the time on a sticky note and put it on your books, desk, or computer. Missing an exam is the easiest way to fail. What are you telling yourself? Lots of stress is about our perceptions and the messages we are giving ourselves. If you are telling yourself that only an "A"will do, when you know there is no chance of such a high grade, you may be setting yourself up for excessive stress that gets in the way. Check out your per-ceptions and replace irrational expectations with a more rational one.

STOP WASTING TIME College students always procrastinate by browsing on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and other social media and pop culture websites. It's bound to happen, but if you turn off your Internet connection when it's not needed to study, you can avoid the distraction.



By: Chole Gu


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