Aren’t we students notoriously low on cash? Even high school students like me whose lives are heavily subsidized by our parents seem to be forever in need of a quick buck or two. These ides won’t pay your way through any degree programs, but they might get you a movie over the weekend, or a few dollars to burn at the mall. Or you know, you could save it all and invest in a high growth mutual fun or an emerging market in Asia and then take that money a few years down the road and retire at 40.

• Perform a service for someone. No, not thatkind of service. If you’re really good at a little something, why not charge people to do it for them? I’ll give you an example. I’m neurotic about maintaining perfectly manicured nails. I carry a bottle of nail polish with me every where to touch up any potential mishaps on the go. I often like to do crazy patterns all over my nails. Replicating country flags, doing zebra stripes, or having little flowers on all my nails, that sort of thing. A friend recently noticed this fact, and paid me 5 dollars to paint a fun design on her nails during a free period. It was only five bucks, but that’s a latté the next morning, so it was all good. Maybe you’re really good at organizing book shelves, or shoulder massages after soccer practise? You’d be surprised what people will pay for.
• Check someone’s mail for them each day for a small fee. Or walk their dog, or wash their driveways. (Homeowners in Canada love to do this, although I don’t get why your driveway needs to be spotless.)
• Drive your friends to restaurants or coffee shops and get them to buy you something there in return. You won’t make money, but you’ll get free food/drinks. This probably works best for people in my age group where not all my friend have driver’s licences yet, so someone is always chauffeuring everyone around and taking something in return. But once again, you’d be surprised what people pay for.
• Have a carwash after a rainfall.(Everyone’s car will be dirty.) Donate half to charity and the other half to your Starbucks habit.
• Have a dessert sale.Except you sell desserts from other cultures instead of your standard cookies and cupcakes.
• Fix people’s gadgets. Or teach them how to do it so they won’t have to bug you again.
• Tutor an elementary or high school student in a subject you’re learning. I had a friend who once got math tutoring from someone getting a degree in physics. They charged a little more than other tutors because they were learning such high-level math. The other bonus to this is that if you tutor a kid in the younger elementary grades, they’ll think you’re really cool because you’re so much older. Remember how much in awe you were of teenagers when you were in the third grade? Exactly. Their parents will be more willing to fork over cash to you if their kids admire and look up to you. Parents like when their kids have good role models.
• Makes bets on everything. Bet on how long it’s going to rain, whether or not your teacher will say certain words during tomorrow’s lecture, how long before Ashely Simpson’s baby is born, etc. Use your imagination. I once made 20$ on a bet that my geography teacher would pull his pants up to this belly button the second class started. And he did. Ka-ching!
• Start a lemonade stand on your street. People will think it’s hilarious because of your age, and they’ll stop by to see what you’re doing. Toss in a killer sales pitch, and you’ve got enough lunch money for a week.

What other creative ways to make some bank can you think of?

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My midterm report card will be shipped home this Thursday. But just so there are no nasty surprises in three days, all my teachers gave out our grades today. First period American History- 87%. That’s pretty good, but if I were diligent in my homework I’d be 3% better. A 90% in accounting. That’s really good actually considering I don’t even like the course. In fashion (my best subject!) I am breezing by with a 92%. The last key mark was my English mark. But I never worry about English. Proper grammar and impeccable spelling are my greatest joys. My ninth grade nickname was “Webster,” as in the dictionary. So when I turned over the piece of paper with my overall grade written in the corner, I had a grin on my face- a grin that was quickly replaced with a look of horror. It’s not so much that an 85% is a bad mark. But if you knew me better, you’d be shocked as well that I don’t have a higher mark. The Elements of Style is my Bible. I can dissert Shakespeare like multi-page essays are going out of style. If there’s one subject thing I can emerge from summa cum laude, it’d be English.

Admittedly, I asked to go to the “bathroom” after I saw my mark and proceeded to go cry in the arms of a friend I saw wandering the hallways. Did I overreact? Probably. Banshee-like wails seemed entirely appropriate at the time. So did banging my fists on the wall and calling my teacher various names that rhyme with, well…never mind. I’m sure you’ve been in a similar situation, regardless of your current academic level, be it the last legs of your M.D. or the first few weeks of gym class. Getting disappointing grades- for lack of a better word- sucks! So what’s one to do when faced with such an academic despondency? Well for starters, don’t lose your cool and disrespect your teacher the way I did. In hindsight, it was madly immature. As my loyal friend put it, “that’s not the kind of academic karma you want to be building up, yo.” The better thing to have done of course, would have been to take a few (or a lot of) deep breaths and asked the teacher after class what could have been done to improve the grades. And then sitting down and creating a set of goals and then an action plan for how I can improve.But as much as grades matter, I sometimes can’t help but wonder if in all of our desires for impeccable GPAs we lose huge amounts of perspective. What I mean is, if your house burned down tomorrow would you care about what grade you have in your economics course? What if you found out a family member had a fatal illness? Would you still care about your grades in biology class? I apologize for being morbid, but as I was walking home, staring at that big loopy eight standing to the left of the squiggly number five, I couldn’t help but wonder: Would I even remember this moment in ten years? Was anybody going to sue me because I have this grade? Am I putting anyone’s life in danger because of my grades? No. No. And most certainly no. If you can answer no to all three of those questions the next time you are faced with an academic disappointment, feel free to take a deep breath. Calm yourself down. Tell yourself that you’ll do better next time and then move on. (But then actually make the effort to do better next time, lest all your rational thinking be in vain.) There are worse things that could have happened to you. And at the very least, you’ll have an interesting story to blog about later!

(photo © Maria Schwartzman 2008)

Tending to a plant or a small garden can be very relaxing and rewarding, creating a sense of responsibly along with something physically fruitful. Plants brighten up a room, add fresh air, and can also be very useful to have around if you grow vegetables, herbs, or medical plants such as Aloe Vera. Here are some suggestions on what to grow and how to do so in your dorm room.

What to Grow:
Vegetables - Peas, small carrots, and cherry tomatoes are all easy to grow inside in a pot. You can also try lettuce. Fresh naturally-grown veggies are really nice to have around and taste really good!
Herbs - Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme…among others like Sweet Basil and Cilantro. Herbs are very easy to grow and grow pretty quickly. These are also great to have around to add to pasta sauce or a chicken dish, or anything else you can think of.
Flowers - Wildflowers, bluebells, geraniums…there are literally hundreds of flowers to pick (no pun intended) that you can easily grow in your room. Flowers are a sure way to brighten up a room and make it smell fantastic. However, make sure that you (and if you have a roommate) are not allergic to the flowers you plant.
Other Plants - Spider Plants, Aloe Vera, other cacti, small vines, bamboo - all are great options for dorm rooms as they don’t tend to take up too much space. They are also easy to trim down to the size you desire.

How to Grow:
It is important to read all the planting directions on the seed for whichever plant you choose, or to look up information on your plants before buying them. This way you know how much light and water the plant needs, along with desired temperatures and pruning advice.
In general, most plants, especially vegetables, like light and a good drink of water. But all plants are different, so make sure you aren’t overfeeding, underfeeding, over- or underexposing it to too much light, or getting it too cold or too hot.
You will probably want to find a secure, well-lit area in your room, such as by your window. Hopefully the ledge of your window is wide enough to allow small pots (around 5-8in in diameter, depending on the plant) to sit on it. If not, try finding a table or bookcase to put the plants on while still letting them get enough light.

If You Don’t Have a Green Thumb:
If you want a plant in your room but are afraid you will kill it, I recommend getting a cactus. They can survive a while without water (so you don’t have to remember to water it every day) and basically don’t need very much attention. Even better, I recommend getting an Aloe plant, since you can actually use them for something. Aloe is great for applying to cuts, sunburn, etc.

What I Grow:
Just as some reference, I am currently growing Peas, Black-Eyed Susans, a Wildflower mix, Aloe, a Spider Plant, and a Bamboo plant in my room. In the past I have also grown Parsley and Sweet Basil.

If you have questions or comments, feel free to leave a comment below!