A new year, a new semester, a new slate. Sounds pretty great, right? There’s no reason why you shouldn’t seize the day and prepare to have the best semester of your college life! Plus, you know what they say — it’s easier to start off on the right foot than it is to change course later on. In the spirit of good habits and even better grades, we’ve pulled together a list of the academic resolutions we should all be making this January. It really is all about adapting a few small, simple changes to your lifestyle…talk about an easy-A!

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Maybe I’m making a big deal out of this because I get sick if someone even sneezes in the same room as me, maybe it’s because I hate those people who don’t believe in tissues when taking a test. Whatever the reason, I hate the sick season and am planning on avoiding it at all costs this year.

So, if you would like to jump on this healthy train (no it is not made out of vegetables and no Tyra Banks is not the conductor) then read closely and make sure to share with anyone sitting around you, please..let’s prevent these germs from getting any further then your keyboard..

1. Vitamin C. whether it is emergency, or the CVS brand, stock up on it now..before it’s too late. The one time I actually took the doctor’s advice it worked. So now instead of air borne I’ve been drinking some extra doses of vitamin C.

2. Eat Healthy. Pizza and  McDonald fries is a good one a week splurge..but every night you go out? Probably not the best idea. Eating healthy will give your body the energy it needs to fight off all the gross disgusting things that are flying around.

3. Decrease your stress. It’s college, we get stressed. Stress weakens your immune system, which makes you sick, then you get sick which stresses you out because you miss class..see the cycle? Try to take an hour (or even ten minutes) to relax. Try a quick yoga video off of Hulu or read a chapter of your favorite book.

4. Sleep.  All nighters kill me, I almost always end up getting sick if I pull too many in one week. Sleep is so important, and yes you can catch up on the weekend but if you manage your time you’ll be able to dedicate at least five hours a night to some re-energizing z’s.

5. Don’t be around sick people. Duh. If youe friend is sick, stay clear. Don’t kiss your boyfriend if he is coughing, If you don’t need to be in the health center..avoid it. Are we seeing a pattern here?

6. Wash your hands. I still don’t know why some people aren’t big hand washers. But please, wash your hands. You end up with so many germs on them, which then get on your face and in your mouth and BOOM sick. Okay maybe not just like that but please…wash your hands.

7. Don’t share drinks (especially when drunk). I’m a big drink sharer, especially when at the bar (it’s nice to have a sample). But all you need is for one other person who is sick to drink from the same side of the cup that you are about to. Also don’t share water bottles…just give your friend the clear plastic one you don’t use.

8. Don’t make out with strangers. I’m not saying to avoid all tongue tangoing, just be careful with who you make out with. You never know if he (or she) made out with someone who was just getting over a nasty cold (but still able to infect) yesterday and now has it but isn’t showing signs. Just be careful, use your judgement, and hope your friends are there to pull you off and red-nosed sickies.

9. Exercise. It’s good for you, plus it helps to sweat out all the bad gross germs. So go for a power walk, an intense aerobic class, or do an hour on the elliptical. Get out there and get your heart pumping.

10. Fill up your water bottle. With actual water. The more water you drink the better! Staying hydrated is one of the best ways to fight off the germs lurking around any classroom.

Raise your hand if you like your roommate. Okay… now raise your hand if you’ve ever been tempted to tuck her into a straightjacket. That’s what I thought. Approximately 50/50. In fact, I’ve met more people with roommate problems in the past few weeks than without. Luckily, I’ve been blessed with a roommate whom I adore. We’re polar opposites, but in the best way. She’s the little to my big. Our other friend wasn’t so lucky.

My college made a miniscule HUGE mistake when plotting out the housing plan for the year and ended up having to temporarily triple up some double rooms. Our unlucky suite-mates experienced snafu quick-fix firsthand. The original two girls in the room were anything but thrilled from right off the bat, and at first I sympathized with them. After all, that’s not what they bargained for! But after meeting the third girl, my roomie and I immediately bonded with her. And by the time they found her some new housing, we had become good friends. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for her roommates, and after a bitter battle involving Residence Life, some yelling, the police, writing witness statements, and a groundless order for no contact between the two parties, she was relocated to a room across the building.

Two other girls who share a suite together recently told me that they finally broke down and had a meeting with the rest of their roommates, particularly to confront one of them about her strange and disruptive habits. In their dorm, there are five girls to a single bathroom, and apparently the doors are capable of being locked. Twice every day, one of the girls locks all entrances to the shared bathroom and showers/does other miscellaneous things for close to two hours. Additionally, she has yet to unpack her large trunks of clothing, and slams them around at the crack of dawn as she tries to find whatever article of clothing she is looking for. The room meeting led to a one-on-one chat, which led to tears and a runaway roomie. Luckily, she turned up an hour later (with still-bloodshot eyes); but the problem still hadn’t been solved.

So what’s the deal with these crazy roommate situations? Each party must think that they are correct in their actions, or they wouldn’t have started them in the first place. But how can these problems be remedied- if at all? RAs can only seem to do so much, and every residence office of every school wants nothing more than as many housing contracts signed as possible. It’s up to us, the students, to strive for healthy relationships between our housemates; after all, we’ve got about seven months left with these people. We’ve got to maintain civility to maintain the peace.

Share some of your juicy roommate stories or advice below!

We’re teaming up with the latest and greatest in affordable college fashion, Rent the Runway, to bring you the ultimate back to school giveaway. We stocked this contest with the most awesome prizes imaginable and we’re already jealous of the winner.

What are we giving away??

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Want a stab at taking home some of these amazing goodies? Enter here! Winners will be picked on Sept. 30th.

Oh and MORE good news! We’re offering $50 Chegg giftcards to 50 runner-ups. So we’re basically talking 65 winners.

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL!

[Every now and again we like to recruit a pro to give you the best scoop on their area of expertise. Today we're hearing from Greg Voakes, a cat enthusiast from Canada who likes hockey, bacon and wearing denim. He also writes for a bunch of websites, including BusinessInsider, Guysism, Asylum and ForkParty. Enjoy his bro'd out (and legitimately helpful) take on how to ace your online college classes!]

Let’s face it: whether attending college in person or taking college classes online, finding motivation to do anything besides furiously masturbate and eat Doritos can be the most daunting task of all. Even when your homework consists of connecting the dots, it’s usually easier to browse Reddit and smoke weed instead of doing anything that could be considered remotely productive. When facing the urge to waste away into nothingness, there are certain tactics which, if utilized correctly, can trick your brain into becoming a powerhouse work machine that will absorb your learning materials and pump out homework like a pregnant rabbit.

Just kidding.

There really is no trick to making work miraculously become ‘easy’ to complete. No amount of clever slogans will turn your attitude inside out or inspire you to barrel through twelve hours of work (unless you substitute ‘slogan’ for ‘ADD medication’). Motivation is as simple as understanding the concept of ‘do or don’t'; a thing gets done or it doesn’t get done. You do the work or you don’t do the work. That being said, taking certain steps can help make it easier to GIT ‘R DUN by a long shot. Creating a positive, inspiring environment for yourself can significantly increase productivity without even having to suffer thoughts of ‘what am I doing?’, ‘I don’t want to do this’, or ‘I should check the fridge for the 8th time in the past hour’. Here are some ways to help keep yourself motivated and performing well in those online college classes.

1. Being a Slob is a Problem

The first step to keeping a clear mind is keeping a clean house. Whether you’re studying for those online college classes in your apartment, your office, or a cafe, it’s important to keep your work space free of clutter. Whether you are actively noticing it or not, a lot of crap sitting around your work area can be a debilitating distraction from getting anything done. If you don’t believe it, just give it a try; study in your cluttered room for a few days, and then muster up the energy to throw away all those empty red bull cans and scraps of random paper. See how you feel afterwards. If literally nothing has changed, you probably just need to clean more. Cleaning can seem like an insurmountable task at first, and one that you may not even be interested in. However, once you complete the initial garbage holocaust on your workspace, maintaining the cleanliness can become an easy routine. Organize your stuff and keep it organized, throwing away garbage as soon as it’s produced and putting all papers in the correct areas. This will positively influence the clarity of your mind.

2. Stop Thinking Dumb Thoughts

Seriously. Stop thinking about the fight you just had with your girlfriend [Editor's note: Ahem, or boyfriend], stop dwelling on your nagging mother’s last phone call, and stop daydreaming about being Kanye West swimming in a private ocean full of beautiful mermaids. Focus on what you have and why you’re glad you have it. If you’re reading this, you’re probably not a starving child in some third world country making Nike shoes for twelve cents a day, and you’re most definitely not a crippled hobo with leprosy. Aren’t you glad? If not, you may be suffering from white people problems, which is okay… but only temporarily. Snap out of it! Think about what you’re grateful for and why you’re grateful for it. Focus on your own life and quit thinking unrealistic or nagging thoughts about things which are pretty much out of your control at the moment. Your girlfriend will still be around (and angry at you) after your three hours of studying for your online college courses, so quit responding to every text message within the minute and get back to work. If she really cares about you (or being with someone who has goals), she’ll let you study for your online college course and hold off complaining until you’re done. Make a mental list of your strengths and goals and go over them overtime you’re feeling discouraged. Remember: ultimately, the only person who has the power to get you down is yourself.

3. Positive Reinforcement

Think about the rewards that will come from reaching your goals: finishing your online college courses will get you closer to obtaining your degree. Obtaining your degree will bring you closer to obtaining your dream job. Your dream job will bring you money, with which you can buy plenty of alcohol and 100% legal non-sexual escorts (but only on the weekends…let’s not get too crazy here). Remember why you’re taking your online college courses. It also helps to remember meaningful comments other people have made about you, your work or your work ethic, especially if the person making the comment is important to you. If the teacher you look up to made a particularly positive comment about your work and how much potential you have, try to remember that any time you’re feeling distracted or disenchanted about your goals.

4. Happy Happy Fun Time Study Time

Work should often be fun. It’s a well-known fact that positive, fun working environments promote productivity way more than a stiff office where pressure is high and enjoyment is low. It’s important to keep in mind that ‘fun’ doesn’t have to mean wild, irresponsible, or lazy — it’s possible to have fun while studying for online college courses as well. One way to have fun while studying for online college courses is by having group study sessions. If you know other students in your area, put together a study-hangout wherein flash cards are used to quiz one another. This is easy to do even if the students are majoring in two completely different topics, and the diversity can even make the session more interesting by giving each student some quirky lessons they never would have read up on independently. The person holding the flash cards can even be the student’s parent or sibling, and can be a casual study session over dinner or while walking the dog. After the study session has been completed, have a reward planned.

5. Pavlov’s Online College Student

As mentioned above, plan rewards for the end of your work sessions. After an hours-long sessions studying for an online college course, have a special treat planned for yourself. Whether it’s a movie, ice cream, or buying a new video game, rewards can be an excellent motivational tool. Rewards give the online college course student a light at the end of the tunnel to look forward to; completing task A is easy when a fun reward B is to be had at the end of it all. Don’t cheat! Cheating will actually decrease motivation and productivity by making the cheater feel like a no-good lazy-butt. Believe that you can finish the task, know that you will finish the task, complete it, and enjoy your ice cream.

Our friends are supposed to be the ones we come to in our most dire times of need. The people who hold our hair back after a long night of Nuvo, the ones who we have on speed dial – right after mom and Chipotle pick up. Anyone lucky enough to have a good friend knows that if done correctly, friendship can be everything. Just not a living arrangement.

Now correct me if I’m wrong (and I know that CollegeCandy readers aren’t afraid to do this!), but friends do not make good roommates. Hanging out with friends at school is fine, lunch dates are cool and visits are awesome. But a year-round sleepover is a huge mistake!

If you get tired of being around your younger sister for 24 hours, imagine being around your bestie. You know little sissy’s deep, dark, disgusting habits and preferences – the way she leaves the carton of juice on the table after breakfast, how she hogs up the bathroom in the morning because “she wants to feel fresh before school,” how she sleeps with her closet light on because it reminds her of sunset – the list goes on and on. You don’t know every single annoying thing that your best friend does, and trust me; you don’t want to find out. You can expect the worst from your siblings because you’ve unfortunately seen it all by now. And if you’re lucky, one door slam makes it all go away. Getting adjusted to those close living quarters and your friends’ habits may be too much at one time.

Besides unexpected revisions to your internal best friend encyclopedia, expect to get tired of your home girl. The prospect of going to school with someone who is close to you is great, don’t get me wrong – especially if you’re coming from out of state. But imagine riding to school with her. Unpacking with her. Sleeping in the same room. Washing up together. Going to breakfast, going to class and going to the same social events. Amiga overload, much? I’ve seen it happen so many times; people come to school with pre-determined cliques and never take the initiative to meet new friends.  That’s a huge part of the college experience that shouldn’t be wasted.

Friends get into the hugest fights after living together. They can be over the smallest things (like sleeping arrangements or channel preferences). Those small problems have the potential to turn into bigger problems over time.  You don’t want to lose your friend over a miniscule issue – true buddies are harder to find as we get older. Maintaining a good, solid friendship is tough work. Adding a bunk bed and a small closet into the mix can throw things in the wrong direction.

I implore you to let your housing office do the choosing. Take a chance! If your friend is a good one, she’ll be waiting in the wings.

Disagree? So did Meg! Read her pro-living-with-high-school-friend post right here. Had your own similar experience? Tell us below.

The importance of bedding in a college dorm is pretty obvious. Considering most colleges think a jail-cell sized space is fitting for us students to sleep, drink, cry and sometimes study in (no, thank you college- you really know how to make us feel at home), bedding is one of the only ways to express your self. Unless you’re a poster-lover in which case, don’t invite me over because I don’t want to see your Phoenix poster…we get it, you and every other knitted-beanie-wearing-creative-writing-major is their number one fan…I digress.

Below are some classic college beddings, and what they really mean about the person dreaming in them!

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Smoke-free advocates hail these changes as major advancements for student health. But others aren’t convinced, and smoking bans have become a controversial issue on many college campuses.

Everyone has heard about the dangers of secondhand smoke, and this is one of the major reasons for campus smoking bans. Advocates argue that it isn’t fair for students who choose not to smoke to be exposed to harmful cigarette smoke by other members of their community. But recently, the focus of many schools has turned to eliminating students’ smoking habits entirely.

For example, the University of Kentucky put in place a campus-wide smoking ban in 2009. At the time, the state of Kentucky had one of the highest smoking rates in the country, at 25.6%. The ban was protested by some students in a “smoke-out,” but went into effect despite opposition. And the University of Kentucky says that their program works. In 2008, before the ban went into effect, 33 people enrolled in a program on campus to help them quit smoking.

One year after the policy was enforced, that number rose to 146. UK does not penalize students for smoking. Instead, volunteers simply remind smokers of the ban and ask them to put out their cigarettes. The school also sells nicotine gum and patches to make visiting smokers feel more comfortable.

But opponents to the ban point out that smoking is a personal choice, and say that a university has no right to interfere with students’ personal decisions. Another obvious counter argument is the fact that smoke-free campuses may not stop students from smoking – it may just force them to take their habit elsewhere. Some say that educational programs dealing with the dangers of smoking may be more effective than outright smoking bans. But would students really listen?

My own school, Columbia University, banned smoking within 20 feet of all campus buildings last year. The policy was intensely debated, with many of our University Senators arguing for a full ban, and several others arguing against smoking restrictions of any kind. The 20-foot ban is rarely enforced here, and virtually nothing has changed since the resolution was passed. But our neighbors across the street, Barnard College, implemented a total smoking ban last year. From what I can see, their ban has been effective, as I have not seen a single smoker on Barnard’s campus since the policy went into effect. But the question is: did students actually stop smoking, or do they just smoke out on the street now?

What do you think? Is it fair for a college to ban smoking on campus? Does your college have a smoking ban in place? Do you think it works? Tell us about it in the comments below!

The crisp air is beginning to settle, leaves are changing, and small children every where are begging for one more day of summer. Yes, dear readers, it’s time for school.Which means one thing, well a couple but one main thing, back to school shopping! And I’m not talking about a clothing binge at Forever 21, I’m talking school supplies.

Who doesn’t love walking into the crowded aisles of Wal-Mart to find their favorite 89 cent notebook? Or maybe bring some old school style back with a little Lisa Frank? Each brand new day planner brings promise of a new school year.

For those just beginning their four year journey through amazing nights and awkward mornings, think of this as your official back to school shopping list. And for those veterans among us think of this as a reminder not to over stock on pens again.

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Heading to the campus bookstore is your most convenient, but also most expensive option. Turning to online sites like Amazon for books can save you a buck, sure…if you don’t mind waiting half a semester for your books to arrive in the mail from random retailers all over the country.

What was once a losing battle, however, has been revolutionized by Chegg. In addition to offering a number of other academic services, they’ll get you your books — to purchase (new and used) or rent — when you need them, and for a great price.

Chegg, the social education platform, is transforming the way millions of students learn by connecting them to the people and tools needed to succeed in college.  Students on more than 7,000 campuses nationwide use Chegg 365 days a year for: Homework help, Course selection, Note taking, Textbook and e-textbook rentals and Daily deals. As a part of the company’s philanthropic efforts, Chegg is dedicated to its Chegg For Good program, where it does good for education, the environment and various communities.

Even better, we’re working with them for an upcoming giveaway we’re doing in September. So stay tuned for more Chegg awesomeness.