One of my favorite summertime activities—especially at night—is to go to concerts. Many cities have a free night concert series during the summer. Even if not, you’d be hard-pressed to find any urban or suburban area that doesn’t have an outdoor area that holds an occasional concert or two. You can find rock shows, country shows, orchestral performances . . . whatever you like to listen to, you can probably listen to it outside. Check out places like TicketMaster or city guides like CitySearch to find outdoor venues near you.

Another thing that’s a lot of fun, but not quite as organized, is hitting the beach after dark. Most public beaches are closed after sundown (and may be patrolled by cops), so it’s not a good idea to use these, but you probably know someone who lives outside of town that can recommend a private beach that you can go to after dark. Build a bonfire, make s’mores, grill hot dogs, go swimming . . . do everything you’d do during the day. For some reason, it’s just cooler at night!

If you’re looking for something a little more relaxing, find a local bar or restaurant that’s open late and get a table outside. Enjoy some appetizers or just a couple drinks and watch the comings and goings of the city around you. Exploring new places to eat and drink is a really fun activity for a summer night, and can quickly become a regularly planned event with a group of friends.

Depending on the city you live in (this is less suggestable in certain areas), going exploring can be another great summer night activity. Walk around the urban areas of the city you live in—you’ll see a lot of things that you’ve never noticed before! Even if most of the businesses are closed, you’ll still notice ones that you’ve never seen before. You’ll hear concerts coming from buildings that you thought were office buildings. You’ll see people going into a bar that you thought was a coffee shop. And you’ll see a lot of familiar things in a new light. The city can be very beautiful at night. Check it out!

No matter what you decide to do, make sure that you get out at night this summer and take advantage of the great weather during all different parts of the day. What’s your favorite thing to do on a summer night? Leave your comments below and help other people think of more fun things to do after the sun goes down.

One of the most important things you can do to keep your sanity when living at home is to stay in close contact with your friends from school. If you live near where you go to school, it’s pretty likely that several of your friends will live pretty close to you, so you should be able to meet up often for lunch or to toss a frisbee around. If you’re going to school across the country from where you live, this might be a little more difficult. If you’re lucky, a couple of your college friends will live within driving distance. If you’re not so lucky, you’ll have to resort to keeping in touch via email, Facebook, or the phone. If you’re far apart, you should still try to hang out at least a couple times throughout the summer. (Perfect opportunity for a road trip!)

In addition to stay in touch with your friends, you should make peace with your parents as soon as possible. Let them know that you’re thankful that they’re allowing you to stay at home (think of all the money it’s saving you), and that you’re willing to compromise on any rules that you disagree upon. Most parents are pretty cool with letting you do pretty much whatever you want—you have been living on your own for almost a year, after all. If your parents have some rules that you disagree with, like curfews or limits on how many friends you have over for a party, you should address this soon after you move in. Remember that your parents are being gracious in allowing you to spend your summer at home, and try to peacefully resolve the dispute.

Getting a summer job can also be a great way to make sure that living at home for the summer is a good experience. Not only will it get you out of the house often, it will also provide you with some cash so that you can a) go out and do things on the evenings and weekends and b) live on your own next summer. It’s tempting to just hang out and relax at home all summer, but I highly recommend getting a job (okay, you can probably take one summer off . . . it can get financially difficult, but it’s worth it).

As long as you can maintain your social life and keep the peace with your parents, spending your summer at home won’t be a big deal at all! In fact, living at home can be awesome . . . you don’t have to pay for food, you have a nice bed to sleep in (much better than dorm bunks), and you get to see your family every day (which may seem more like a curse than a blessing at first, but you’ll come to appreciate it in the coming years).

If a college advertises itself as having a dry campus, there will be zero tolerance for breaking the rules: if you are in possession of alcohol, you’re going to be in trouble. And it’ll probably be fairly serious trouble. Getting caught on a dry campus is not something that you want to risk. So be smart about it.

“Well then,” you may be asking, “what should I do if I want to drink?” Fortunately for you, it’s not expected that everyone on a dry campus will completely refrain from alcohol, so there’s no way that you can get in trouble for drinking if it’s off-campus. So if you’re over 21, you can go out to a local bar without risking getting caught doing something you shouldn’t (unless you signed a drug-free pledge when you got to school, which a few colleges require). If you live in an off-campus apartment, or have friends that do, you can have a few drinks there whenever you’d like. As long as you’re not on school grounds, you can pretty much do whatever you’d like. I’d caution against getting back on campus if you’re really drunk, however, as there’s a possibility that your public safety officers may not like that very much.

It gets a little more complicated if you’re under 21. Dry schools are much more likely to have pretty harsh punishments for underage drinking, especially if it happens on campus. You might get off with a warning the first time (if you’re lucky), but if it happens more than once, you can count on some pretty severe consequences, including—in extreme cases—being expelled. So it’s really not something that you want to mess around with.

But, as a former college student myself, I know that the risks won’t stop everyone. So you have to be smart about it. If you have to go out drinking on the weekends, make sure that you’re going somewhere off-campus. Just like I mentioned before, off-campus apartments and houses are safe (from college authorities, anyway—you still don’t want to get too rowdy and get busted by the cops). And if you’ve been drinking at all, don’t even go near campus. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights have always been the big party nights, and public safety officers will be on the prowl. If you’re showing any signs of having had a drink or two, stay at a friend’s house. Again, it just comes down to being smart about what you’re doing.

College campuses, like most places, are almost completely safe during the day. While classes are going on, people are all over the place, walking to class, heading to the cafeteria, throwing a Frisbee, studying outside, and doing any other number of things in public. After dark, there are usually a few less people about. It’s almost impossible to be completely alone outside, even if it is dark (especially if your campus has night classes, or it’s a weekend). During the day, however, safety is one of the last things you’ll need to think about.

One of the foremost safety rules on campuses, as with anywhere else, is to always travel with a friend. Whether you’re walking home from a really late class, heading to your car to make it to a party, or just getting out to stretch your legs before a long study session, don’t go alone. Invite someone to go with you, or meet someone and go together. It’s just a good practice to get into. In a similar vein, make sure that when you go to a party, both you and a friend are accountable for each other. Make a deal before you get to the party—if one leaves, so does the other. Stay together and watch out for each other (especially if one or the other gets especially intoxicated).

In addition to practicing good safety habits, it’s important to know your college’s campus safety practices. Does your public safety department offer off-campus escorts? This may be really useful if you’re a long way from home and you need a ride—just call public safety, and they’ll often come pick you up. The same goes for leaving campus; if you parked a few blocks away, you can usually get a ride out to your car. Many campuses also have emergency stations in some form or another—they often look like light poles with large blue lights on top of them. In case of an emergency, you can set off an alarm and call for help from one of these stations.

Safety on college campuses is rarely a major concern, but it’s important to keep it in mind. Bad things can happen anywhere, and it’s a good practice to start picking up good habits early. You shouldn’t be afraid of travelling in the dark, or nervous that you might be a victim of a crime if you leave a party, but you should be aware of your surroundings and what’s going on around you.

Be safe!

College sports and school spirit are funny things. On some campuses, they’re very important, and it seems like everyone follows the sports teams. On others, it’s hard to find a single person who cares about the athletic program. Maybe it has to do with the type of people that are attracted to a particular school, or how successful the sports teams are—I’m not really sure. But I can definitely tell you that getting involved as a fan of your college’s sports teams is a lot of fun.

Even if you don’t pay any attention to your high school’s football team, Division I hockey, or professional basketball, you can get into your college’s teams. You don’t have to know much about the sport. In fact, I know people who don’t even like the sports that they watched a lot of in college. It’s all about getting out with a bunch of our friends and classmates and representing your school and showing your school spirit, especially during games with rival schools (as you can see in this slideshow of a St. Thomas-St. John’s football game, both home and away fans can have a good time). Going to games with friends that know a lot about the sport can be a good way to learn about the game and begin to develop and understanding of rules and strategy; or it can just be an excuse to spend some time out in the sun.

If you’re really serious about support your sports teams and showing school spirit, you can definitely go all-out. Face and body painting (and even dressing up in costumes, like this guy) is common at games, and is a fun way to get ready for a game (involving alcohol in your painting session can be a lot of fun, or be disastrous . . . judge your artists’ intoxication level before letting them paint on you!).

Whether you’re really into sports and follow all of your favorite teams on a daily basis, or you really couldn’t care less about athletics, I strongly encourage you to check out your college’s sports teams. You might find that you really get into it—and even if not, you can certainly still have a lot of fun!

The easiest, cheapest, and most common method of car-free travel is walking. Most college campuses are small enough to walk between your destinations without too much trouble. You don’t have to wait for a bus, beg for a ride, or get your bike ready. You can just lace up your shoes and go. Walking is the primary means of transportation for the vast majority of students. Many campuses are close enough to places like grocery stores, movie theatres, gas stations, liquor stores, and restaurants that you can get to almost everywhere that you need to go fairly easily.

If you have to go a little farther, such as across a big campus, or a few miles away to a grocery store or friend’s house, you may want to invest in a bike. Using CraigsList is a great way to get a bike without spending too much money. If you already have a bike, you don’t have to worry about this—just bring it to campus, keep it in your dorm room, or lock it up outside. While you can’t carry as many things on a bike as you can in a car, you can add a rack and panniers to your bike and have enough storage room for two grocery bags. This should be more than enough to get you through your day-to-day routine. Having a bike on campus makes living without a car much easier, and is often the best way for students to get around.

Mass transit is an efficient and environmentally-friendly way to get from place to place if you have to travel several miles very quickly. Many campuses offer free shuttle services between buildings or campuses. This provides the advantage of not having to walk from a bus stop to where you need to go; you can probably get dropped off right in front of it. If you need to go somewhere else, like to the mall, or downtown to the bars or clubs, you can hop on a city bus for a few bucks. It’s a lot cheaper than getting a cab, and you can fit a much larger group on a bus than in a car.

If you’re not planning on bringing a car to campus your freshmen year, there’s no need to worry about how to get around. If you can’t walk somewhere, you can probably bike there. If it’s too far to bike, hop a bus! You’ll learn very quickly which methods of transportation you’ll need while you’re in school, and you’ll find that living without a car is a lot easier than it may seem.

When it comes to managing stress, time management is paramount. One of the decisions that you’ll have to make every day is how to prioritize different things in your life. These can include your social life, athletics, a job, academics, and anything that might take up even a small amount of your time. Learning to balance all of these things is a skill that takes years to develop; however, if you focus on discovering the best way to organize your day, you’ll be a step ahead of the game. Keeping a schedule, either on paper, on a PDA or cell phone, or on your computer will aid your time management efforts. Use it to plan all of your activities—but don’t be afraid to change them when needed. Don’t let your schedule cause more stress than the things that you put in it.

Finding a relaxing activity that you enjoy is one of the more valuable things you can do in the battle against stress. There are as many different stress-relieving activities as there are people. Some popular ones include reading, journaling, watching movies, exercising or just holding a non-school-related conversation. Find something that you like to do that takes your mind off of the problems that you have. You’ll find that you feel a lot better if you can schedule this activity into at least most days.

Finally, don’t be afraid to use on-campus resources. People like your RA, a counselor or a chaplain can provide very helpful information as well as listening ear, which can be just as important as the above strategies. Going to talk about stress or problems that you’re having is nothing to be ashamed of—in fact, once you seek help from these people once, you’re very likely to go again. It’s an effective way of getting advice from someone who has a greater amount of experience than you do.

While stress is something that you’ll be feeling a lot of throughout your college career, you don’t have to let it control your life. Be pro-active and take steps to manage your stress; the earlier you start, the easier it will become.

That’s where StuVu.com comes in.  StuVu.com is a place for high school students to research schools that they want to attend, and get an idea of what being a student at that particular campus is like through the eyes of a student.  All of the videos, photos and reviews on the site are created by students at those universities, which ensures that everyone gets an authentic view of a “day in the life” of a university student at that particular college.  College bound high school students, and even undergraduates looking for grad schools can base their decision on student reviews of colleges and universities rather than statistics and guide books written by people who haven’t been in college in years.

StuVu.com is also a place for current college and university students to share reviews, photos and videos of all kinds of facilities, restaurants, services and events around campus with their fellow students.  As a newer student on campus, you may not be familiar with certain campus services, or hot spots in town that other students may know about. StuVu.com can bridge that gap of knowledge and make sure that everyone on campus knows where to go and what things they should avoid.

The bottom line is that most high school students currently base their college decision on top 100 lists, statistics and pamphlets created by the schools themselves.  StuVu.com provides a community that allows college students to be the voice that directs college bound students to the right colleges based on what’s important to them, because in the end, there’s a lot more to college than just statistics.

Don’t accept a leadership position until at least sophomore year. By then you have a handle on your studying habits and how you handle maximum stress so you’re better able to manage your time. If you try as a freshman you may get overwhelmed, depressed, and not know what to do.

Only do two clubs your first year and then decide if they really provided everything you expected the second year. If you’re still happy with them stick with it and jump on a few more, just make sure you can manage your time. Also, make sure your study sessions take top priority over a meeting; you’re not getting credit to hang out with your friends.

Get yourself out there if you’re really passionate about the club you joined. Championing for your cause and getting your voice heard is the best way to build self esteem and your network with the campus faculty. This comes in handy in later years when you’re looking for a job and going to interviews needing recommendations from professors.

If you like the people in your club make friends with them outside of club time. It will make finding new friends easier and make campus events more fun when you have a new posse that you’re already comfortable with.

Establish at least one credit card, purchase one thing on it, and then put it away so you can’t use it. This will afford you an awesome line of credit and more credit card opportunities without breaking your bank. Spend only the amount you have to spend in your normal account and then pay it off right away. Viola, instant money management when you can’t pay right away, but you know in the next week at most, that you can.
Check your daily balance online, over the phone, or at an ATM whenever you can during the week, every week. The age of paper statements is at a close and it’s so much better to save tress then waste them on monthly account updates. However, this means for the most part you have to stay on top of what your balance is yourself through whatever means possible. Nothing is worse than getting overdraft fees that you can’t afford because you spent money you didn’t have in your account.

Save all your change and then find Commerce Bank. They have free coin stars instead of having to pay half the amount you’ve had counted. When you’re a college student you want to save money, not give it away mindlessly and most coin counting machines profit off your laziness. Worse comes to worst, count it yourself and save yourself the trip period.

If you do incur charges that you cannot pay, if you work with the bank, they will work with you. Tell them you’re a college student, answer all their questions, and they will often put a hold on the account and stop charging you fees. It pays to be aware, honest, and face any problem head on.