{"id":706,"date":"2015-01-07T20:33:06","date_gmt":"2015-01-07T20:33:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wellness.winonastateu.com\/?p=706"},"modified":"2021-10-18T15:35:55","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T15:35:55","slug":"15-ways-to-own-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/blog\/15-ways-to-own-2015\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Ways to Own 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"collage<\/a><\/p>\n

We are barely a week into the New Year and 2015 is still young and full of possibilities for us all to be smarter, healthier, funnier, happier, kinder and generally more awesome. Here are 15 ways to improve your life intellectually, occupationally, socially, spiritually, emotionally, physically and environmentally and make 2015 your best year yet.<\/p>\n

1. Prioritize Classes, Not Procrastination<\/strong>
\nI know that after a day of classes you\u2019d rather watch Netflix than study your textbooks, but do your homework anyway. Not only will you actually retain the information better, but also having your homework out of the way early lets you have fun without worrying.<\/p>\n

2. Learn a New Skill
\n<\/strong>Try your hand at knitting, snowboarding, or French cooking\u2026 whatever has piqued your interest lately or has been a long-neglected passion. Now is the time to try!<\/p>\n

3. Attend a Career or Job Fair
\n<\/strong>If you\u2019re an undecided major, there\u2019s no better time than now to decide on a career. Visiting a career or major fair<\/a> is a great way to explore your options. Or, if you\u2019re like me and graduating in a semester, attend a job fair<\/a> to network your name and ready your resume so you can leave WSU with a career in place.<\/p>\n

4. Look for a Summer Internship Early
\n<\/strong>Internships have become something of a must, so get started on finding one<\/a> sooner rather than later. There are many internships out there, so take the time to find one that provides serious learning opportunities and maybe even a paycheck!<\/p>\n

5. Smile and Say \u201cHi\u201d to Passersby<\/strong>
\n<\/b>We\u2019re \u201cMinnesota Nice,\u201d right? So let\u2019s try this in 2015: instead of blindly walking past each other on campus, make eye-contact and smile. We are a community after all and we should acknowledge each other even just in passing.<\/p>\n

6. Join a Club
\n<\/strong>Whether you\u2019re shy or outgoing, student clubs<\/a> are a blessing because they\u2019re an easy way to connect with people who have similar interests whom you might not have met otherwise. Who knows, maybe you\u2019ll find a new best friend! If not, at least you\u2019ve gotten out of your dorm room for an hour or two.<\/p>\n

7. Volunteer in Our Community
\n<\/strong>Help out at Watkins Manor, Kids First, Habitat for Humanity or any of the other numerous volunteer opportunities<\/a> in the Winona area. It doesn\u2019t matter if you can commit to a shift every week or only twice a month, volunteering benefits the whole community and you too.<\/p>\n

8. Go to Religious Services Regularly
\n<\/strong>If you were raised with a particular faith or have found a denomination since coming to college, start regularly attending religious services. I can\u2019t say that I\u2019ve found Mass to be fulfilling each and every week, but the simple routine of going to church on Sundays helps me keep in touch with my spiritual side.<\/p>\n

9. Watch a Sunrise<\/strong>
\nIf you find more spiritual experience in nature than in a church, challenge yourself to watch a sunrise at least once a month. The feat of getting up before dawn is amazing in and of itself, and the sight of a slowly filling sky is so worth the effort<\/p>\n

10. Practice Patience and Positivity
\n<\/strong>Let\u2019s face facts: people are often pretty annoying and life doesn\u2019t always go your way. But those things aren\u2019t going to change and you can get upset about it or you can take a deep breath and let it go. Patience and positivity will get you through more situations than pettiness and pessimism will.<\/p>\n

11. Write Thank You Notes<\/strong>
\nNot only is it polite to send thank you notes, but everyone enjoys receiving a message of gratitude. Thank you notes aren\u2019t just for birthday presents either. Send them to employers after an interview whether you\u2019re hired or not. Let professors who have helped you in your college career know how much you appreciate them. I promise, you\u2019ll make their day.<\/p>\n

12. Take That Intimidating Fitness Class<\/strong>
\nI admit I\u2019ve never gone to the class Butt \u2018N Gut because it sounds too intense, but why should I allow myself to be so intimidated? Maybe for you it\u2019s Turbo Kick or Power Hour. Either way, let\u2019s make 2015 a year of confidence at fitness classes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

13. Join an Intramurals Team<\/strong>
\nIf you played sports in high school like me, you may find yourself missing the court and the camaraderie of a team with a single purpose– TO WIN, I mean, have fun. Join an intramurals team <\/a>and you can play for the love of the game again with new friends and exercise routine as added bonuses.<\/p>\n

14. Learn to Recycle Properly<\/strong>
\nMost of us know that recycling is an easy way to help the environment, but it\u2019s a little more complicated than you might think. For instance, you can recycle only certain types of plastic and pizza boxes are definitely a no-go. Make sure you know the rules<\/a> so you can recycle right.<\/p>\n

15. Drive Less and Walk or Bike More
\n<\/strong>Gas prices are down to $2 per gallon and that is really exciting, but that doesn\u2019t mean we should take the car everywhere just because we can. Walk or bike\u2014weather permitting, of course\u2014 instead and you can help cut down on greenhouse gas emissions and get a quick workout in as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We are barely a week into the New Year and 2015 is still young and full of possibilities for us all to be smarter, healthier, funnier, happier, kinder and generally more awesome. Here are 15 ways to improve your life intellectually, occupationally, socially, spiritually, emotionally, physically and environmentally and make 2015 your best year yet. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[512,509,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-social","category-spiritual","category-wellness-blog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7PQJv-bo","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=706"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2863,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions\/2863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.winona.edu\/wellness\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}