If you’re thinking about attending college, a student loan can help finance your efforts, and you certainly wouldn’t be alone in using this option. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, about 20 million Americans go to college annually, and more than half of them rely on student loans. Keep reading to get tips for choosing and paying off your student loans, so you can stay focused on your education.
Make a Plan
Unfortunately, some students and their family members feel so relieved about getting accepted into a college that they don’t perform an adequate amount of research in about student loans. Start by using a loan calculator to determine how much debt you can handle.
Next, research the options. Many experts feel that loan programs offered through the federal government are ideal, because they offer fixed interest rates, and don’t require repayment to begin until a person graduates or leaves school. In contrast, private loans usually have variable interest rates, and require a person to make payments while they’re still in school. As with any major decision it’s important to go with a plan that fits your lifestyle and current financial situation.
Start Preparing to Make Payments
It’s never too early to start thinking about how to repay your loan quickly and responsibly. Before you finish college, you’ll probably be required to attend loan counseling. This is an opportunity to ensure that you fully understand your rights and obligations
If you rely on more than one federal loan, it might be worthwhile to think about getting consolidation. This strategy can lower your interest rates but may also carry some risks. Before making a final decision, make sure you’re informed about the pros and cons.
Set a Budget
In the same way that you might have used a loan calculator during your application process, it’s also advantageous to figure out how much of your income you can use towards paying off your loans. Start by adding all the necessities together, such as the cost of your rent, groceries, utilities and transportation. Also, give yourself some cushion so you’ll be more secure in the event of an emergency.
Once you work out all the details of how much you make versus how much you spend, consider using any spare income towards making loan payments. This not only helps you pay off the loans faster, but usually causes your interest rates to drop, as well.
Be Aware of Options
It’s important to note that in many cases, you can pay off your loans through several methods. For example, if you expect that your income level will steadily increase throughout the coming years, consider a graduated payment. Then, the amount you pay will start off small, and increase every other year. Also, certain factors like economic conditions, participation in an internship or being unemployed can help you qualify to put a temporary suspension on your loan payments, also known as a deferment.
Many people find that student loans help smooth the path towards achieving educational goals. By understanding the difference between federal and private loans, and taking steps to formulate a strategy for paying back the debt, you can put yourself in a position to ease the financial requirements of obtaining a higher education.
Sara Lewis is an avid blogger forhttp://www.financialcalculator.org/personal-finance/loan-calculator. Use this Financial Calculator to help you determine the best ways for you to save money.
If you work toward a human services degree it is likely you will have a chance to try a hands-on approach for your chosen occupations.
Would-be nurses and doctors go through clinical trials, future social workers volunteer in the community, and student teachers go into the classrooms to learn their trade. Simulated courtroom proceedings offer the same training and experience for criminal justice students.
Learning Through Trial and Error
Until you’ve tried something, it is difficult to know how it will work. Like students working toward any human services degree, you are more likely to have a successful start if you have already had the opportunity to try and fail. A simulated courtroom trial offers you just such an opportunity, a chance to role play different methods toward achieving justice for the defense or the prosecution.
In a simulated courtroom, criminal justice students are able to act in ways that may or may not be successful in a real courtroom. The fact that it’s not real, of course, means that no one is being put in real jeopardy. If you have heard a certain method does not work but you are unsure why, the simulated courtroom can give you the time and place to see for yourself. Lessons that result in failure are much more easily remembered than those that are just tested on paper.
Seeing the Process in Action
Simply reading about courtroom procedures and requirements is not enough to understand the intricate workings of the process. Getting to see these elements firsthand can help the criminal justice student get a better understanding of why they are necessary and how best to work within them.
For many students, a criminal justice education will occur outside of a courtroom, making it difficult to keep proper courtroom behavior and proceedings in mind. Having the opportunity to work in a mock trial gives you the framework to properly provide your information to the court. This can help you avoid actions and behaviors later that will cost your case instead of advancing it.
Experiencing the Moment
One of the most difficult aspects for criminal justice students to understand is how to think both in terms of strategy and in the moment. Just as nursing students learn how to deal with emergencies, it is essential for you to have the opportunity to react in a controlled situation. This is an exercise in both controlling your behaviors and in thinking fast.
Lawyers have years of learning to work in a courtroom, but most criminal justice occupations are more comfortable working in the field. Still, getting the chance to be put on the spot in an intimidating setting where you are graded can help you be better prepared for thinking when faced with a real case.
Any human services degree will require you to learn about many facets of the job. Being able to experience some of the more rigid elements can help you prepare for dealing with courts.
While you are not likely to spend much of your time in a courtroom setting, nearly all criminal justice graduates are guaranteed to need to speak in court during the regular course of their jobs. Having experienced a simulated courtroom proceeding will help prepare you for a part of the job that could be intimidating.
Generally speaking you are being bullied if someone or a group of people are acting in an offensive, intimidating or malicious way towards you. Or if they are abusing their power to undermine, humiliate or injure you.
Examples of bullying at work include:
- Spreading malicious rumours or insults
- Copying people who don’t need to know into memos that are critical about someone
- Overbearing supervision
- Unwelcome sexual advances
- Making un-founded threats about job security
- Intentionally blocking promotion or training opportunities to prevent job progression
- Deliberately undermining a competent worker by overloading them or by constantly criticising their work
Steps you can take if you’re being bullied at work:
- Consult your employee handbook or company policy documents
Every company should have policies and procedures in place to protect employees from bullying and harassment. If you feel bullied at work, ask to see these documents and check to see whether the way someone is treating you can be classed as bullying. These documents should also give you an idea of what you can do if you feel bullied and what support you can expect from your employer.
- Get advice
If you do feel bullied, it’s worth approaching HR, your line manager or a colleague you are comfortable around, and expressing your concerns. They should be able to help guide and support you and may be able to take action on your behalf. If you are a member of a Trade Union you should also contact your representative for advice.
- Keep a diary
Keeping a diary can help you make a formal complaint or legal case against bullying at work, so it’s really important that you keep a record of any instances where you’ve felt bullied. That can mean noting down comments or actions that you have felt have hurt and intimidated you, as well as where and when this occurred, if there were any witnesses etc.
It’s also advisable to keep a record and print out of any email or web exchanges – where you feel bullying has occurred.
- Tell the person bullying you to stop
Even if you’ve asked the person or group bullying you to stop, it’s worth asking via a written or email memo that expresses that you feel bullied as a result of their behaviour and clearly outlines what behavioural aspects you object to. Be calm, be clear, be honest – don’t be aggressive. And keep a copy for your diary/evidence. And ask HR, a line manager or a Trade Union representative for their advice and support or to act on your behalf.
- If the bullying doesn’t stop, consider formal action
Your workplace should have formal complaint procedures in place. So ask HR to guide you through the process of making a formal complaint – or, if you’re afraid to approach HR, ask organisations like the Citizens Advice Bureau for their help.
- Consider asking for mediation
After you’ve made a formal complaint, you might want to consider asking HR to organise formal mediation (available from third party organisations like ACAS) between you and the person bullying you. This might be especially helpful in a situation where there’s been a change in management, work requirements or organisational style. Your Trade Union rep and the Citizens Advice can help you decide if this is right for you if you don’t feel able to ask HR about the pros and cons.
- As a last resort, consider taking legal action
If you’ve tried all of these avenues and are still being bullied at work, then you might want to seek legal advice and determine whether your case can be taken to an employment tribunal.
It’s important that you have tried to resolve the problem using the steps above before you take legal action, as records you’ve kept and the steps you’ve been seen to take can be used at tribunal to help make your case.
Are you being bullied at work? Do you have any tips you can share with people going through a similar situation?
Author Bio
Rob Hawkins is a freelance copywriter who writes for a variety of websites, including specialist personal injury solicitors RJW.
The fierce Hurricane Sandy has left thousands of people in heavily damaged homes, without power, heat or hot water. Many of Sandy's victims are still suffering, and living conditions are harsh for tens of thousands of people who have still been unable to return to their homes.
Hurricane Sandy destroyed the east coast and left New Jersey coastal towns, New York City and plenty of other locations with billions of dollars worth of damages. Teams are working night and day — ordering home inspections, helping people get meals, water and gas for generators.
With cases of flooding, structural damage, power outages and more, the clean-up process for Sandy is certain to be extended and costly. In a situation like this, many homeowners' insurance policies are pretty clever and do not cover the cost caused from flooding. In order for flood claims to be paid, a consumer must have already purchased a flood policy prior to the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.
Many victims may have to sue their insurance companies to get full coverage for weather related damages. In context of the present bad economy, most Americans probably cannot afford the services of an experienced lawyer.
In a situation like this, it is best for victims to get free legal advice and take advantage from pro bono legal services available online. These services have a staff of renowned lawyers and paralegals that will assist you in getting your required claim for damage caused as a result of Sandy.
Let’s hope the US law can get all damages caused as a result of the ferocious Sandy rightly claimed for ones who deserve the most…
