FIRST YEAR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

As you are planning your time, give yourself an important gift: time to do nothing. Grab your calendar and mark out a time meant just for you, no one and nothing else, just YOU. Take sometime to daydream. Try lying on your back and looking up at the clouds, imagining them into outlines of sailing ships and fantastic animals. Or go to the top floor of the library on a snowy day. There is no better place on this campus to watch as snowflakes decorate the tops of the trees just outside the windows.

While daydreaming may at first appear to be totally unproductive and boring, it is actually a productive activity. We can become so 'time-managed' that we overlook the value of daydreaming. Studies have shown that people who spend time daydreaming, or 'visualizing' if you will, are much more likely to achieve their goals.

None of this is meant to suggest that you ditch your planner, skip a class, or daydream away several days at a time. Do so and your daydreams may become focused on how to get back into college. Just remember to give yourself a little gift of daydream time now and again, when you can afford it, or when your stress level is getting a bit out of hand. You might just be surprised at the payoffs.

Almost 20% of Truman students who completed the National College Health Assessment survey identified that they had been diagnosed with back pain. For college aged students, back pain is often related to poor posture or carrying too heavy loads in their backpacks.

Carrying more than 15% of your body weight in a loaded backpack is not recommended. Planning carefully and only packing necessary items can lighten your load. More frequent trips to your residence hall can add more exercise to your day as well. Load the heaviest items closest to the back of your backpack. Adjust the shoulder straps so that the pack fits snugly to your back and the bottom of the pack rests in the curve of your lower back.

You can prevent pain from poor posture by frequent stretching during prolonged periods at your computer or desk. Taking stretching and walking breaks can also prevent the strain that comes from sagging shoulders.

Being active is one of the best things you can do for a sore back. Sleeping on a firm mattress also helps. For acute back pain, try icing your back for 10 to 15 minutes every 2 hours. Use a bag of frozen peas that molds to the sore area. After 2 days, you can alternate ice and heat. Keep clothing between the ice or heat pack to prevent injury to your skin.

If your back pain lasts longer than 2 to 4 weeks or keeps you from sleeping, standing, or walking, you should see a health care provider. Also, if the pain results from a fall or sports injury, or exists in concert with urinary problems or fever, consult a medical provider.

Do any of your classes this semester require you to complete a research paper, project, or speech? The Reference Librarians at Pickler Memorial Library can help you identify appropriate sources. You can get help from a Librarian by:

The Reference Librarians have also prepared the following guides that you can find on the library website (http://library.truman.edu):

"I believe in the power of the unknown. I believe that a sense of the unknown propels us in all of our creative activities, from science to art.

"Einstein once wrote that 'the most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true science.' What did Einstein mean by 'the mysterious'? I don't think he meant that science is full of unpredictable or unknowable or supernatural forces. I think that he meant a sense of awe, a sense that there are things larger than us, that we do not have all the answers at this moment. A sense that we can stand right at the boundary between known and unknown and gaze into that cavern and be exhilarated rather than frightened.

"Scientists are happy, of course, when they find answers to questions. But scientists are also happy when they become stuck, when they discover interesting questions that they cannot answer. Because that is when their imaginations and creativity are set on fire. That is when the greatest progress occurs."

--From The Power of Mysteries by Alan Lightman from NPR Morning Edition Series "This I Believe"