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by Jessica Seals

After giving up a night out with your roommates so that you can write a research paper worth one-third of your grade, you would probably be devastated if your teacher flagged your work for plagiarism. Punishment for plagiarism ranges from a warning or receiving a 0 on the paper to failing the course or being expelled from the college. Your chances at graduating from college should never be put in jeopardy because of plagiarism and here are a few tips to help you avoid it.

• 1. Make sure to cite all phrases and sentences that do not belong to you. Even the smallest phrase can get you into trouble if you do not provide a proper citation for it. Make sure to check with your teacher on what format they prefer their students to use (APA, MLA, etc.) for citations so there is no confusion.
• 2. Ask questions if you do not know how to properly cite something. You can also get reprimanded if you cite your work incorrectly. There are several resources available online that give you step-by-step instructions on how to make citations in different formats.
• 3. Always make sure that your citations are accurate. I learned this lesson the hard way: I was in a rush to finish a paper and mixed up two of my sources. While I did not get into trouble for plagiarizing, I did lose several points because my teacher discovered that I had improperly labeled some of my information when she checked the citations.
• 4.Never put off an important paper until the last minute. A few hours before your paper is due, you realize that there is no way that you will finish in time so you decide to “borrow” the work of another person that you found online. Bad idea: Today, teachers have access to plagiarism software that will highlight any information that came from another paper and give the teacher access to that work. If you give yourself enough time to complete your assignment, you won’t be tempted to copy.

I have seen fellow classmates get into trouble because of plagiarism – depending on the severity of it, even one instance of plagiarism can potentially ruin an otherwise stellar academic career – and they realized it is never worth the risk to cheat when you can easily be caught.

Jessica Seals is recent graduate of the University of Memphis, where she majored in political science and minored in English. She was the secretary of the Pre-Law Society, the philanthropy chair of the Phi Kappa Phi Student Council and a member of Professional Assertive United Sisters of Excellence (PAUSE), Golden Key Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society and Black Scholars Unlimited. Jessica will be back at Memphis this fall to begin working toward her master’s degree in political science this fall; she ultimately hopes to attend law school.

by Kara Coleman

Recently, 10 schools were banned from participating in the 2012-2013 NCAA men’s basketball tournament for failure to meet academic standards: Arkansas - Pine Bluff, Cal State - Bakersfield, California - Riverside, Connecticut, Jacksonville State, Mississippi Valley State, UNC Wilmington, Texas A & M - Corpus Christi, Toledo and Towson.

The NCAA rates teams according to their Academic Progress Rate, in which a team is viewed as a whole and its performance in the classroom is evaluated. If a team’s APR score falls to 925 or below and at least one player fails his classes and drops out of school, that school can lose scholarships. If the APR sinks down to 900, the penalties grow steeper and they increase each year that the team falls below par. Being declared ineligible for NCAA postseason play is a result of scoring 900 or below for three years. If the APR remains low for a fourth year, the entire athletic department is penalized. The school loses its Division 1 status and is reduced to “restricted membership status” in the NCAA.

Is this fair or too extreme? I’m not saying this just because my school – Jacksonville State – is on the naughty list, but I’m not sure that I completely agree with the NCAA’s punishment. If a student-athlete fails to perform academically, he should lose his scholarship, be suspended from the team, etc. But the players who make good grades, the coaches, and the fans should not be punished for the underperformance of the few. College students are adults – it’s up to each individual to study and work hard.

But what do YOU think? Is the NCAA spot-on with its academic standards and penalties, or does something need to change?

Kara Coleman graduated from Gadsden State Community College with an Associate of Arts degree and she is currently studying communications with concentration in print journalism at Jacksonville State University. Kara's writing has been featured in Teen Ink magazine and she is a children's author through Big Dif Books; she is also the editor-in-chief of JSU's student newspaper, The Chanticleer.

by Kayla Herrera

Yoga has many benefits including stress relief, strengthening of the immune system, mind and body balance, emotional strengthening, flexibility and so much more. College students especially should give yoga a chance because not only are most of us bogged down with the stress of school but demanding work schedules as well. Here are some very imperative benefits to taking yoga in college.

Stress relief: Homework and readings killing you? Drama at the sorority house? College is just bursting with different stressors and yoga allows you to take a breath and slow down to revitalize your body.

Body strengthening: Yoga positions allow for the strengthening of your body, which in turn keep it healthy, toned and flexible.

Increased concentration: This could be helpful during exams and homework when your focus has to be at an all-time high. Yoga increases concentration so that the college student has an expanded attention span and can better retain information.

All-around wellness: Personally, yoga makes me want to be healthy inside and out. School seemed like too much to handle before but as I started taking yoga classes, I slowly learned to control my stress.

Meet new people: Though you're not really supposed to talk in class, yoga is a great way to make friends with similar interests. Men should not feel like yoga is strictly a female activity, as most yoga classes are mixed gender.

Yoga provides more benefits than you may think and everyone should give it a shot! Namaste.

In addition to being a Scholarships.com virtual intern, Michigan Tech student Kayla Herrera is a media coordinator for the Michigan Tech Youth Programs and is a writer for The Daily News in Iron Mountain, Mich., Examiner.com and WHOA Magazine. She love a tantalizing, action-packed video game and can't get enough of horror movies (Stephen King's books always have her in their grip, though she prefers the old over the new). Writing is what she has always done and that is what she is here to do.

by Radha Jhatakia

One of the best ways for a student to learn something is to teach it. This is an ideology that many professors use by assigning students projects in which they must demonstrate something to their classmates. When these projects expand to outside the classroom and become open for any students to attend, it becomes a seminar and an opportunity for other students to learn something.

Student-run seminars are growing in popularity because they allow students an access to knowledge and allow other students to hone their teaching and presenting abilities. At SJSU, the College of Social Sciences hosts “COMM Week” – five days devoted to projects presented by students in seminars that are open for all students to attend. Professors in the communications department give students guidelines and the students have the entire semester to conduct research for their presentations. An example of one project was to design and market an app for a smartphone. Students conducted research on what apps were profitable and how to sell their app and then proceeded to create interfaces, pamphlets and websites to promote their ideas. (A few students even turned their innovative ideas into career opportunities, as these projects were presented at a trade show with investors from different companies.) Another project included conducting a training workshop for students to assist them learning something such as presenting, networking and other skills valued by employers. Companies pay trainers to teach employees different procedures and policies within a company so really, the students who were successful with their seminars could continue to train as a form of work.

Whenever students ask when or how they will use something they learned in the classroom in the real world, they should know that what they learn in school gives them skills to use in life after college. Any of these or other school projects can even be used to jumpstart a career!

Radha Jhatakia is a communications major at San Jose State University. She's a transfer student who had some ups and downs in school and many obstacles to face; these challenges – plus support from family, friends and cat – have only made Radha stronger and have given her the experience to help others with the same issues. In her spare time, she enjoys writing, reading, cooking, sewing and designing. A social butterfly, Radha hopes to work in public relations and marketing upon graduation.

by Alexis Mattera

Ah, the college application essay: where a student can give admissions officers insight into the person they really are (in about 500 words) that the standard transcript can’t provide. While some schools rely heavily on the document in their admissions processes, others don’t require it at all – a discrepancy that has experts debating its future.

Admissions officers and college counselors discussed application essays and personal statements at length yesterday at the Harvard Summer Institute on College Admissions and according to an article in The Chronicle, counselors are citing essays as burdens on overworked admissions staffs as often as they are questioning their authenticity. Gone (or disappearing) are the days where a great essay can help a borderline student gain admission to their dream schools: Top institutions like Brown are giving them less weight than it has in past admissions cycles – “A spectacular essay can raise more questions than it answers,” said dean of admission Jim Miller – and some schools are requiring applicants to submit copies of graded written work to use as a barometer. What do the students think? Sure, crafting compelling prose comes as naturally to some college applicants as breathing or blinking but Martin Bonilla, director of college counseling at the College Preparatory School in Oakland, Calif., has found that the essays cause his students more stress than any other part of the application.

Do you believe the essay component of the college application is on its way out or here to stay?

by Jessica Seals

I recently came across several articles published in journals and magazines that all stated that fewer college graduates are working in field related to their college majors; instead, more students are working retail jobs or other jobs that only require them to have high school diplomas. Naturally, these stats may have you wondering why having a college degree so important if you will have the same job that you could get as a high school graduate. I'm with you there: Personally, my current job is completely unrelated to my college major and what I want to establish my career in so this position allows me to see the situation from two different perspectives.

I continue to work at my job because it is allowing me to save up money that will be used to help further my education – I want to attend graduate school and law school in the future, which will burn a huge hole in my pocket! Like many other graduates, I just wanted any job that would allow me to save for the future. I do not plan on keeping this job forever but it is nice to have so that I am not always stressed out over money as I prepare for grad school. On the other hand, there are some students who accept jobs unrelated to their fields because they need the money in order to survive. Having a college degree may make them overqualified for some jobs while they are still underqualified for other jobs because they only have a bachelor’s or associate degree. Accepting an unrelated job is the college graduate’s crutch to rely on until they can find a job that relates to what they want to do.

After reading those articles on the employment statistics of college graduates, I can honestly say that I am not surprised with the findings. The economy is not perfect and sometimes you have to take what you can get so that you can either save up to further your education or until you find your dream job. What do you think and what would you do?

Jessica Seals is recent graduate of the University of Memphis, where she majored in political science and minored in English. She was the secretary of the Pre-Law Society, the philanthropy chair of the Phi Kappa Phi Student Council and a member of Professional Assertive United Sisters of Excellence (PAUSE), Golden Key Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta Honor Society, Sigma Alpha Lambda Honor Society and Black Scholars Unlimited. Jessica will be back at Memphis this fall to begin working toward her master’s degree in political science this fall; she ultimately hopes to attend law school.

by Alexis Mattera

There are many reasons why a college will rescind a student’s admission but the number one is by far senioritis. If you think you can abandon your work ethic during your final semester of high school, you’re very wrong...and you may have to reconsider your college plans as a result.

Approximately 100 students who have been admitted to Texas Christian University but failed to keep their grades at the level that helped them gain acceptance will soon receive what’s informally called the “fear of God” letter from the Fort Worth-based school. The letter – which asks floundering students to submit a written statement detailing their less-than-stellar senior year academic performances – is meant as a wake-up call, said TCU dean of admission Raymond Brown. “You need to be aware that people are watching and that this is important. We care because your study skills are going to be atrophying,” he explained. Otterbein University has a similar approach: “We do not automatically rescind the admission decision because of a poor senior year,” said VP for enrollment management Jefferson R. Blackburn-Smith, “but we do want the student to know that we are concerned and will be watching their performance.”

What do you think of the stance taken by TCU, Otterbein and other schools regarding their admissions policies?

by Alexis Mattera

Many students find it easier to remain committed to something when working closely with someone else. Does the same hold true when that something is college completion? Jill Frankfort thinks so.

Frankfort is the co-founder of Persistence Plus, a new service that draws on behavioral research to deliver personalized messages to students through a mobile phone app or text messages. The company has been in existence for just about one year and has secured agreements with a small number of institutions to test the technology. Thus far, they’ve found students have been engaging with the app and text offerings – “Reminders don’t actually change behavior that much but when you can help someone actually plan out their time and create a mental map of when they’re going to do a behavior, they’re more likely to do it,” explained Frankfort – as well as strategies aimed to guide and inspire students as they encounter the challenges of college life.

Do you think a program like Persistence Plus would help you finish college or would it take more than an app and some text messages to keep you on track toward graduation?

by Alexis Mattera

Armed with degrees in their fields of choice, newly-minted college grads have the world at their fingertips...and, often, student loan payments lurking right around the corner. The job market isn’t what it used to be so what’s a recent grad to do to keep collectors at bay? A change of address may be in order.

Communities across the country are attempting to attract young professionals by offering incentives like paying down college loans and income tax waivers if they become full-time residents of specific cities or counties. Niagara Falls is putting an initial $200,000 behind the idea to, according to director of community development Seth Piccirillo, bring back the talent and brain power the city has lost over the last 50 years. (Here, graduates who have earned a two- or four-year degree or a graduate degree in the past two years can apply for up to $3,500 a year for two years towards repayment of their student loans.) Farther west in Kansas, 50 counties have established Rural Opportunity Zones (ROZs) authorized to offer the following financial incentives to new full-time residents: income tax waivers for up to five years and/or student loan repayments up to $15,000. To date, program manager Chris Harris has received 338 applications – 75 percent of which have qualified for one or both incentives.

Read more about the current incentive plans here - would you relocate to one of these areas in exchange for the incentives listed?

by Suada Kolovic

If you’re a recent high school graduate, chances are you’re looking forward to the surge of independence that comes with becoming a college freshman. And while anticipating all the excitement that comes with entering college – meeting new people, establishing a home away from home, sleeping in until noon, etc. – establishing how you’re going to pay for it is an entirely different story. Here at Scholarships.com, we encourage students to apply for scholarships early and often but taking out student loans might be inevitable. With that being said, knowing what questions you should ask your student loan servicer might ease the transition and U.S. News and World Report has done some of the legwork for you by compiling a list of helpful questions that financial aid officers, student loan counselors and former lenders recommend you ask:

• When exactly will my payments begin?
• Do you have my current contact information on file?
• What is my interest rate?
• Is my interest rate competitive?
• Is there any way to get an interest rate reduction?
• Is consolidating my loans a good option for me?
• How do I qualify for Interest-Based Repayment or Income-Contingent Repayment?
• Do I qualify for an economic hardship deferment?
• What happens if I lose my job?
• If I go back to graduate school, what are my loan options?

Can you think of any other questions you’d like answers to? If so, feel free to let us know in the comments section.