Hone Your Journalism Skills with Poynter

“Everything you need to be a better journalist” all concentrated on one site, Poynter.org offers free resources for journalists in nearly any form of media, offering tip sheets, interviews, and articles covering a range from graphics to ethics. Additionally, they do many seminars nation-wide, which my personal source says most news-related companies will pay for. Poynter also does job listings, resume postings, and provides resources for developing your career.

So if you feel you’re well on your way to being the editor-in-chief of Redbook or an executive producer of a major-market news broadcast, head on over to Poynter.org and hone those skills.

Pre-Pre-College Advice

A close friend of mine, a freshman in high school, asked me today what he could do now to prepare for college (college…) in the future.

Paraphrased: “I’m only a freshman, so I’m not eligible to apply for scholarships or fill out the FAFSA. I can’t apply now. Test scores won’t be the greatest, as I haven’t learned nearly enough to score well on the tests. I’m not old enough to work. What can I do?”

My best advice? Nearly every statement is incorrect. Here’s a breakdown:

“I’m not eligible to apply for scholarships.” This is inaccurate. Website Brickfish.com organizes a wide variety of scholarship contests, which, according to website Fastweb, are open to high school students ages 14 and older at the time of submission. The awards are rarely huge sums of money. However, any little bit helps. Additionally, you can sign up for Fastweb.com, a website dedicated to high school and college students which lists scholarships, advice, colleges… Anything you can imagine. This website will help you not only narrow down your choices in colleges, but also provide you with a huge list of scholarships to choose from. Some are available to freshmen, but mostly, you’ll be getting help by learning what scholarships are available and what the essays will be like.

“I’m not eligible to … fill out the FAFSA.” For those of you who do not know, the FAFSA is highly-helpful Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Though you typically won’t file one until your senior year, three years later, any experience in filling it out will help you in the future. An example is knowing what information your parents or guardians should keep handy for when you fill one out, such as tax information and gross income.

“I can’t apply [to colleges] now.” This is true. However, like scholarships, many college applications outside of state schools will require essay submissions. It will be helpful to learn what kind of questions will be asked, especially with schools like the University of Chicago, which is well-known for its obscure, thought-provoking essays. It will also show what kind of information colleges are looking for. Chances are, if there’s a lot of fields for extra-curricular activities, you should be able to fill a lot of fields for extra-curricular activities.

“Test scores won’t be the greatest…” No, but taking the ACT and SAT early and taking the tests multiple times will increase your chances of getting a high score. Additionally, the PSAT is a good test to take as a freshman and sophomore, as in junior year, if you take it, you will be eligible for a potentially very large amount of scholarship money. Any experience in what kind of questions are asked will help you to study for it in the future, and you may even be surprised by how well you end up scoring.

“I’m not old enough to work.” This actually depends on your area. Many areas allow 14-and-15-year-olds to work (with certain restrictions) with a permit. Try researching this. Also, you don’t necessarily have to work at an actual business. Maybe you can find other ways to raise money, like walking dogs, cleaning houses and lawns, babysitting, etc. Earning money of your own will help you learn about savings, interest, and, most importantly, temptation to spend.

To sum it up, there are many things you can do: Research scholarships, colleges, essay questions, test questions, work on getting your grades up and maintaining that 4.0+ GPA, join activities through the school and outside the school (a non-profit organization such as the Humane Society would look pretty snazzy), make contacts on college boards to help you get accepted, work on personal development, raise money in any legal way you can manage, and even build up a reputation online (This is the google generation: Don’t post it on MySpace if you wouldn’t want your [parent/boss/admissions committee/god] to read it).

Avoiding the "Wedding Tax"

Anybody planning a wedding and handling venue booking knows about the sales representatives who are out to make a pretty penny. Chances are, your wedding quote is well over what you expect to (and should!) pay for your location. There are, however, ways to deal with these not-so-altruist location venues.

The easiest way to cut costs and avoid paying the “wedding tax” is to simply tell the venue you’re looking to book a location for a “family gathering” or something along those lines. Absolutely do not ever say the word “wedding” when speaking with them. They will overcharge you. For clarification, have your partner get a quote for a wedding, and then call to get a quote for a family gathering. Chances are, your price is going to be a lot lower.

So, loyal readers, what are your tips on avoiding the wedding tax?

Is DIY Wedding Planning Right for You?

Something within many of us tells us that we need to save money. “No, let’s get the cheap ice cream; it’s two dollars a gallon and the other one is five.” Even better, some of us make our own ice cream, shelving, cord organizers… Nearly anything available commercially has a do-it-yourself alternative for lower cost. However, is it really a good idea for you to plan your own wedding?

Here are a couple things you should consider before deciding to plan it yourself:

• Is it really cheaper? Planning takes time – you could spend hours every day and still not cover every area you should. Are you going to be spending a lot of time planning, when you could just hire a planner to do it for you, ultimately saving money by being available to work for longer times? Additionally, you will be tempted to purchase software and premium services online. While this can be cheaper, still, than using a planner, you’re still losing the time. Is it worth it?
• Do you have the patience? Planning also takes patience – things go wrong, people don’t show up, guest lists take fifty edits to get within a margin of error to still be considered optimal. Do you have the patience to call twenty locations to find the ideal venue, only to end up throwing out every last one of them when you call another ten locations the next day?
• Do you have the organizational skills? This is the area where most people falter. Planning takes a great organizational system that goes through much revision before it can be employed. Planners do this for a living, so you can bet they have a good system established… but do you?
• Do you have the creativity? Your partner is likely to reject nine ideas for every ten you throw out there. You need to be a well of ideas that will never run dry, so when he or she hates every flower you’ve suggested, you can still recommend tiger lilies.
• Do you have the craft skills? If you’re going the DIY route for planning, chances are, you’re taking on a lot more DIY tasks. For example, I opted to plan my own wedding due to costs, and I had to make a choice: Two two-hundred-dollar bouquets, one for me, one for the maid of honor, or 200 two-dollar bouquets made of paper, rather than real flowers, or even commercially-bought fake flowers. I opted with the cheap paper flowers. I’m still waiting around for the weekend when all my friends come with reams of paper and help me create 200 bouquets.
• Are you willing to make sacrifices? You may not have the time and ability to do everything to make your wedding day the one you dreamed about when you were in diapers. You may have to cut some corners: A three-layer cake instead of ten; thirty guests instead of 200; a local Chinese food catering instead of a gourmet service located a hundred miles away. If you can’t sacrifice these things, then planning your own wedding is not for you.
• Finally, do you have help? Nobody can do this on his or her own. Everybody needs help sometimes. Do you have creative friends who can recommend ideas? An artistic friend who can help design your invitations? A team of craftspeople who will help you create the DIY bouquets? If you don’t, you definitely need to reconsider planning your own wedding.

DIY wedding planning is very fulfilling – imagine seeing your dreams come true and knowing you did it all without professional help – but it is important to know what you are taking on, preferably before you’ve been going at it for a year when your big day is two weeks away.

It Takes a Village to Learn a Language

One of the better methods of learning a language people don’t often consider is actually using it – learning by immersion. When somebody goes to another country, he or she picks up the language quickly because it’s all over the place. It’s a matter of survival.

This is almost the situation with language learning site Phrasebase, a free (I don’t even see an option for premium) alternative to other programs with support for “over 90 languages.”

Start out reading their translations in phrase book format, and by the end of the day you can have a tutor.

Phrasebase will set you back nothing more than a twenty-second registration and a couple hours of browsing. Not bad for a site to help somebody get a good root system set up for learning another language.

The website can be accessed at http://www.phrasebase.com/english/