Tag Archives: Summer Wellness

Top 5 student budget-friendly vacations

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These are my top 5 destinations for the young professional on the move. Most of these vacation getaways won’t break the bank, as we know most newly employed graduates and young professionals have yet to begin divesting completely into their company’s 401k program. Check my top 5, let me know what your top 5 destinations are for budget-friendly vacationers.Miami skyline from the airplane

  1. San Jose, Puerto Rico, U.S. – NO PASSPORT REQUIRED. This island state is actually a territory of the U.S., so no passports are needed and U.S. dollars are accepted. The ‘State’ language is Spanish, while American English is widely spoken. The American citizens here are always happy to see there brothers and sisters from stateside.
  2. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic (D.R.) – Coming in at number two, is the beautiful half-island nation of D.R. which shares is western border with Haiti. Off the beaten path are towns such as Santiago and Boca Chica, where tourists are greatly appreciated and can dance into the wee hours of the morning. Hotels in the area range from $40-80 a night with no reservation. An all-inclusive 5 days, 4 night stay here will run you around $825 on the budget side and passports are required.
  3. Various Mexico Destinations – Its Mexico. With it being a mainstay in American college culture as a destination for spring break. Almost any location in Mexico (outside of violent drug corridors) is a great place to spend on a budget vacation.
  4. San Jose, Costa Rica – This place is super budget-friendly. I have already traveled while still on active duty in the military. The people, the culture, and the weather will have you wanting more. There are beautiful beaches on both the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Costa Rica is situated between the once infamous Nicaragua (General Noriega) to the North and Panama to the South. This Central American country also has a lush rain forest in the highlands.
  5. Port-Au-Prince, Haiti – This rounds out the top 5 vacation getaways for young professionals who are on a limited budget. If an individual is willing to brave travel to a country which as a limited infrastructure you will more than double your entertainment investment. The people are friendly and the culture is rich. Once I relocate my passport, I will be sure to book a vacation to Haiti.

These vacation getaways are for individuals on a budget but are also tired of the normal Miami Beaches, N.C. / S.C. Beaches, Las Vegas, etc. Get out there and explore the world before you no longer desire to.

*Pricing information credited to Priceline and Travelocity.

Article by NOVA Online Student, Mikaal Pratt

Want to write for the NOVA Online Student Blog? Share your story? Connect with your peers? Send us a writing sample to get started. Email NOVA OnlineStuLife@nvcc.edu for more information.

NOVA Online Student Spotlight

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The Be SAFE Around Water Campaign

My name is Abigail and I am a competitive swimmer, swim coach, and lifeguard. Teaching people, particularly children, how to swim is my passion. Drowning is the number one cause of death for children ages 1-4 and the second leading cause of death in children under the age of 15. By educating children on what to do if they fall in the water we could play a part in saving lives. I visited over 200 kids at various organizations, such as church and VBS groups, and gave my presentation.

The Be SAFE Around Water Campaign is designed to give children simple steps to follow if they fall into water. I created an acronym of the word “safe” to give children something easy to remember.

Be Safe Around Water (002)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be SAFE Around Water

Stop. When you approach water stop and look around for an adult or lifeguard. If no one is around then do not enter the water or go near the edge of the water.

Ask. If you accidentally fall into the water call out and ask for “help” as loud as you can.

Float & kick. Kick your feet and get your head above the water. Then push your belly up and lay on your back so that you are floating. Then kick your feet to the nearest wall or land.

Exit. Exit the water and go tell an adult or lifeguard what happened.

Want to write for the NOVA Online Student Blog? Share your story? Connect with your peers? Send us a writing sample to get started. Email NOVA OnlineStuLife@nvcc.edu for more information.

Summer Wellness Series: Wrap Up

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Live healthyWe made it! Within the past few months of our Summer Wellness Series we covered many different ways that each of us as individuals can reflect on our overall personal wellness in several areas including: Physical, Intellectual, Social, Financial , Spiritual/Emotional  and Environmental.

So now what? How can you move forward with all of this knowledge you have gained? Create some personal goals!

Here are some reflection to help you do this:

Reflect on your own level of personal wellness. Hopefully you were able to do this as we walked through the series but take some time to think about:

  • How do you integrate personal wellness into your life?
  • What challenges or personal obstacles are you faced with everyday along with being a college student?
  • How can your surroundings influence your health in a positive or negative way?
  • How will choices you make today impact your future? Keep in mind that your social and mental/emotional health is just as important as your physical health.

Now, use some the this reflection to develop personal goals:

  • Create some long-term goals that you want to achieve over the next year or more.  (Example: Remove meat from my diet).
  • Break these down into smaller tasks that can become more manageable targets you can hit in the short term.   (Example: Plan to remove meat from my diet one day a week for a month). 
  • Develop a way that works for you to be accountable (Example: Use food tracker to record progress).

We hope that this will help you jump start you health and wellness goal-setting!

Thank you to all who have participated. Feel free to continue connecting and sharing information on our Virtual Student Union.

Summer Wellness Series: Environmental Wellness

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environmental wellness picThe last week of our summer wellness series focuses on environmental wellness.  This involves taking care of your personal surroundings. Actively working to serve your environments can improve your health and the health of the people around you.

There are many things that you can do to reflect on how you are being mindful of your impact on the environment. Here are some things to consider:

Do you recycle? Why or why not? How do you recycle?

Do you attempt to converse energy? How do you conserve energy?

Do you think the government is doing enough to protect our environment?

How can we reduce our carbon footprint?

Why is preserving the wilderness important?

We will use this week to address some of these issues on a global level but also help you consider how you can play a role in your personal life to help preserve this beautiful planet we live on!

To start some reflection, below is a graphic that lists 10 reasons to drink tap water that we got from the Fairfax Water Newsletter. It shows how much is wasted in the creation of bottled water.

environmental_wellness_Would having this knowledge about the waste bottled water creates, change the way their drink water?

Visit our Virtual Student Union to share your thoughts and continue the conversation!

Summer Wellness Series: Emotional and Spiritual Wellness

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i like this quoteThis week we focus on spiritual and emotional wellness.  College is stressful and students can often feel overwhelmed.  Maintaining a healthy emotional and spiritual life is important to overall health.  This can include managing your stress level, staying on top of school work and knowing when to ask for help.  Exploring spirituality can include a religious faith community, meditation, being in the outdoors, and taking time for reflection.

The following are some things you can do to focus on your emotional and spiritual wellness:

  • Check out the Motivational Minute: Yoga Your Worries Away and Managing the Demands of School through Mediation blog posts.
  • Take time to review the NOVACares From this website you can connect to ULifeline, an anonymous, confidential, online resource center, where college students can be comfortable searching for information they need regarding emotional health.  Learn about some signs and symptoms when a friend may need help dealing with emotional issues or a mental health problem in the Emotional Health section.   Find resources about sleep, exercise, nutrition, stress management and relaxation, as well as connectedness and healthy relationships in the Wellness section.
  • Need more ideas? Check out other articles that are part of the NOVA Online Summer Wellness Series.

Continue this conversation with us in our Virtual Student Union. Connect with peers on this topic and learn more about resources to maintain your emotional and spiritual wellness!

Summer Wellness Series: Financial Wellness

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money jarThis week’s topic for the Summer Wellness Series is Financial Wellness. Through financial wellness, you can learn to live within your financial means, plan for future financial health, learn to think short and long-term in order to manage your resources is essential for a healthy financial experience including learning to be a good consumer.

Here are some resources to help you improve or maintain  your financial wellness:

Mint.com is a free app that helps you organize and balance your budget. It organizes your transactions by categories, you can set up and track your budget, and you can see your balances and transactions at a glance.

As a NOVA student, you have access to CashCourse – Your Real-Life Money Guide. You can register for a free account and go through the financial tools. NOVA Financial Aid is giving away twenty $100 grants to students who participate in specific topics. Get started on some of topics, and stay tuned for more information about the grants in the fall.

This Financial Fitness Library provides you with guides, resources, and tutorials to help from credit scores, to saving, to planning for retirement. This 66 Ways to Save Money Guide, provides you with tips to save in transportation, insurance, housing, utilities, and others!

Do you know of or use any apps to help you track your budget? What helps you stay on track each month? Continue this conversation with us in our Virtual Student Union. Connect with peers on this topic and learn more about resources to maintain your financial wellness! Use #SummerWellness to share your pictures and stories.

This week at NOVA Online

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Open registration for fall classes is currently underway. Check the schedule of classes in NOVA Connect and follow this tutorial to help you search for online classes through NOVA Online. Make sure you change the date to reflect the term you are looking to register for (summer ’15 or fall ’15).

Have you ever been assigned a paper or project and don’t know where to start? Are you curious what library resources are available to you without going to a campus library? Join the NOVA Online Librarians for the Beyond Google – Basic Library Skills for Online Learners webinar on Thursday, July 9 from 6:30-7:15. This 45 minute webinar will give you a brief introduction to what library resources are available to you as an online learner. There might be more than you expect! Register here.

Financial Wellness – Understanding how to live within your financial means. Planning for future financial health. Learning to think short and long-term in order to manage your resources is essential for a healthy financial experience including learning to be a good consumer. Use #SummerWellness to share your pictures and stories.

What are your summer plans? Have an internship? Traveling? Taking a class? Day Trip? We want to hear about your adventures. Use #NOVA OnlineAdventure on Twitter to share pictures and stories.

This week at NOVA Online

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American patriotic balloons in traditional colors over whitePlan ahead – NOVA Campus Testing Centers will be closed Friday, July 3rd & Saturday, July 4th for the Independence Day Holiday Weekend. ProctorU is available on those dates if the service is available for your course exams.

Are you thinking about an online course through NOVA Online, but not sure if it is right for you? Review our Furthering your education with NOVA Online recording to see if online learning is a right fit for your current educational needs. You could also take the Smarter Measure assessment to see how your personal learning styles will work with online courses.

Have you utilized Student Lingo On-Demand Workshops? Take advantage of a wide variety of recordings available to help you manage your course load, plan for the future, or tackle your math anxiety … Just to name a few! Interested in working with your Personal Success Coach to create an action plan? Contact your coach at elisuccess@nvcc.edu or 703.764.5076.

Are you participating in the Summer Wellness Series? Review the past blogs to get more information and share your stories!

What are your summer plans? Have an internship? Traveling? Taking a class? Day Trip? We want to hear about your adventures. Use #NOVA OnlineAdventure on Twitter to share pictures and stories.

Summer Wellness Series: Social Wellness

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This week’s summer wellness series focuses on social wellness. This area can include developing healthy relationships, having a strong support network, nurturing pro-active and reactive habits (online and in-person), and boundary development.

When I started thinking about this topic, I immediately thought about my housing community and the stress that it causes me on a daily basis.

How many of us have had/currently have that loud upstairs neighbor that you know exactly when they get up in the morning until when they go to bed at night? I’m currently in this club! I will say, having a loud neighbor makes me more aware and conscientious of the neighbors below me! This Buzz Feed article makes light of the constant struggle of shared walls! Seriously what are they doing up there?

Upstairs_Neighbor

How are the relationships in your community? How do you communication your frustrations about your neighbors – both online and in-person? Do You? Remember when you are communicating via email or online discussion boards to use appropriate netiquette.  Sometimes we feel brave behind our computer screen, but at the end of the day, does it really make us feel any better about our situation? Social wellness is about building and developing healthy relationships within our community and ourselves. We learn to express our concerns in a healthy and appropriate ways. Easier said then done, when lack of sleep and frustration comes into play though!

What picture stood out to you in the Buzz Feed article? What makes you feel better after frustrating situations?

Continue this conversation with us in our Virtual Student Union. Connect with peers on this topic and learn more about resources to maintain your social wellness!

This week at NOVA Online

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Open registration for fall classes is currently underway. Check the schedule of classes in NOVA Connect and follow this tutorial to help you search for online classes through NOVA Online. Make sure you change the date to reflect the term you are looking to register for (summer ’15 or fall ’15).

Are you thinking about an online course through NOVA Online, but not sure if it is right for you? Review our Furthering your education with NOVA Online recording to see if online learning is a right fit for your current educational needs. You could also take the Smarter Measure assessment to see how your personal learning styles will work with online courses.

Plan ahead – NOVA Campus Testing Centers will be closed Friday, July 3 & Saturday, July 4 for the Independence Day Holiday Weekend. ProctorU is available on those dates if the service is available for your course exams.

ThinkstockPhotos-81715768Tuesday, June 23rd from 1:00-2:00 pm – Participate in a New Student Orientation Webinar – This one hour webinar is required for new-to-college students aged 17-24. New Student Orientation will focus on academic and career goals, reading degree plans, and registering for classes. All are welcome. Register here.

Have you ever been assigned a paper or project and don’t know where to start? Are you curious what library resources are available to you without going to a campus library? Join the NOVA Online Librarians for the Beyond Google – Basic Library Skills for Online Learners webinar on Thursday, June 25 from 6:30-7:15. This 45 minute webinar will give you a brief introduction to what library resources are available to you as an online learner. There might be more than you expect! Register here.

Social Wellness – This area can include developing healthy relationships. Having a strong support network that can give you guidance when you are stressed or need stress relief. Nurturing pro-active and reactive habits that can aid in the development of healthy communication (online and in-person) and boundary development. Use #SummerWellness to share your pictures and stories.

What are your summer plans? Have an internship? Traveling? Taking a class? Day Trip? We want to hear about your adventures. Use #NOVA OnlineAdventure on Twitter to share pictures and stories.