Ways to stay current as a student...

Hey guys!

Sorry for the lack of posting last week, it was just craziness as school really kicked into full gear and extracurriculars were also going crazy! Speaking of school (see how I transitioned there ;) ) today I thought I would write a bit of a different post for y'all about how to keep up with the world and seem reasonably educated on current affairs as a student. I am a double major in Business Administration and History, so I understand that you can get your head stuck in a school-fog while you are a student and not really realize what is going on. This was especially bad for me when I attended boarding school for the last two years of high school because I was cut off from regular TV and any newspapers that I didn't actively seek out for myself. While I have gotten a lot better about keeping current, I still sometimes feel like the major source of news for some of my friends who don't have their own system.

The way my desk typically looks, trust me I understand being busy!

The thing is, knowing what is going on in the world is actually really important. Beyond the argument that it actually impacts your life on the day-to-day and in the future, if you want to be impressive in interviews and with real-life adults, having a working knowledge of what is going on is invaluable. Obviously other things are just as important, so maybe I will do a resume/interview post later on, but for today I am just going to focus on the system I use that works for me.

Catching up with some tea and a sleepy doggie!

The single, most valuable app/news source for me has been The Skimm. They have an app, but I prefer to get their daily emails which literally take you 5 minutes to read. I read them on my phone when I have breakfast, take a break, am waiting for a class to start etc... The Skimm does just that, allows you to skim what is going on in the world. It mainly entails the highlights, but they give you a paragraph of information about each headline so you do know a little bit. And you can always click the links to go more in-depth. They also put in some humor to what is going on that makes the reading more enjoyable!

I even got my roommate into The Skimm!

The Skimm is my daily outlet for news, but to keep up with pop-culturish things I actually think Buzzfeed Entertainment does a really good job. Just like them on FaceBook and check yes to notifications so you at least see something when scrolling through your newsfeed! I also like the FaceBook page for Upworthy which gives you positive news.

Take some time to scroll through your FB newsfeed
when you "like" news pages.

Finally, you can always rely on news apps on your phone if that is more your speed. CNN has a great one that allows you to go really in-depth and read detailed articles, or you can just set your phone to get the alerts so that you at least see that!

Homework done, News read and ready for classes
all with time to take a selfie of course! 

So there you have it, my quick tips for staying informed while a student. Of course you could always get a subscription to a newspaper online, a lot of them do student discounts like The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, but I find that these are the most practical ways my friends and I can stay informed.  If you are committed to watching the nightly news or reading a newspaper everyday then more power to ya! but in my experience that isn't what most students will do.

Be sure to let me know what you use to keep up with the news in the comments below!