Appreciating Criticism Doesn’t Make You a Doormat! Embrace it

Taking criticism is a part of life and how we handle it is important in both our professional and personal lives.  The following post discusses some benefits of criticism and strategies for dealing with it.

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Appreciating Criticism Doesn’t Make You a Doormat! Embrace it

Another Debt-free Education Offer – This Time From the University of California

An exciting trend is developing in the collegiate world. Following in the footsteps of Harvard University, the University of California Board of Regents approved a new financial aid plan, on Jan. 5, by unanimous decision.
The Bule and Gold Opportunity Plan, as it’s called, will provide grant and scholarship assistance to undergraduates whose families earn below the state’s median income of $60,000. According to UC’s Web site, the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan “will initially provide a minimum level of gift assistance for 48,100 eligible California-resident students … eligible students with sufficient financial need will receive additional grant support to help defray other educational expenses such as books, housing, food and transportation costs, among others.”
“This plan is intended not only to make our financial aid message clearer, but to encourage more low-income students to apply to the University of California,” UC President Mark G. Yudof is quoted. “There is no better time than during this period of economic hardship to reassure families and students that UC is financially accessible. The Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan sends a simple but powerful message to these families that the University of California is committed to helping them cover the cost of a college education.”
Anyone interested in learning more about the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan can visit the UC Web site at http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu. Parents interested in learning more about whether their families qualify for the Blue and Gold plan, or any other type of financial aid, can visit one of the UC campuses’ interactive Web-based financial aid estimators that can be accessed by visiting http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/admissions/paying.html

Counting Ceiling Tiles

Depending on the job you get, you will either be always busy, always bored, or a mix of both.
Working as a data specialist at a university, 96 percent of my days are nail-biting, deadline-orientation. The best advice for chaotic “hit-myself-with-a-hammer” days? Breathe deeply and hopefully you get to listen to music on the job. For those boring “I-need-caffeine-like-now” days, my advice is to restrain your eyes from wandering to a clock. Stick a post-it over the bottom right hand corner of your computer screen if you have to, but don’t look.
I was stationed to babysit binders in a desolate white room for two hours without computer access. I missed my computer like a snowman misses winter.
After crossing every “t” and dotting every “i” in a report, I made the mistake of looking at the clock. Only 20 minutes (1,200 seconds) had passed.
Ways of keeping to keeping myself entertained ranged from singing the entire soundtrack of The Little Mermaid in my head, to counting the ceiling tiles, to contemplating my dinner options, to begging my IPod’s batteries to survive, to … well… you’re reading it.
In short, if you have absolutely no work to do… Find something (preferably work-related) and don’t look at the time.