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How to hack your college life: jobs, dorms, and junk mail

Life happens. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want, or maybe you’re not ready for what’s about to come along. With this column, we are bringing up a few issues every week college students tend to face and offering you simple life hacks for when Murphy’s Law is looking right at you from the other corner of the ring.

Problem: You really need a job, but your resume is a mess. You have no idea what a cover letter is, and the thought of attending an interview is petrifying.

Solution: Go to the on-campus Career Development Services, a free service for students and alumni. The office can help revise a resume, create a cover letter and even do a mock interview to help you through the nerves. Visit the office in Cohen Center room 160, or call 239-590-7946 to make an appointment.

Problem: You have a really cool summer trip planned, but you (and your parents) are worried about your money being stolen.

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Solution: Ladies, save a wrapper from a maxi pad and stash your money in that. Put your cash in an envelope, then wrap the envelope in the maxi pad wrapper for a quick hiding spot. Gentlemen, hide your cash in an old chap stick tube. Save a used tube, then roll the cash in order to store it safely inside the tube. With the lid on, no one will be any the wiser. (Extra: at the beach, keep your essentials in an old, wide-mouthed sunscreen bottle.)

Problem: You live in on-campus housing, and after a year of living in your room, the walls are a little scuffed up.

Solution: First things first, embrace the possibility of paying a maintenance fine whether you fix the problem or not. Then, go to the paint department Lowe’s or Home Depot and mention you live at FGCU. You might luck out and talk to someone who can help you identify exactly which color you need to remedy your problem.

Problem: Between social media and sites you subscribed to in high school, you receive about 8,000 emails a day. Your solution to your ever-growing inbox is to ignore all of it.

Solution: Your mail filter is your friend. Create filters using keywords or email addresses, and have them sent automatically to another folder or to the trash. Unsubscribe to any mailing lists you no longer need or want, or mark them as spam. Finally, consider starting a separate email for professional or school purposes only. Don’t use an old cluttered email address for important information unless you want to risk missing it.

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