So much of your college experience is made up of your social life. Sometimes the academic side of college is easier than the social aspect. Even though you are being dropped into a setting comprised of young men and women around your age, it can be difficult meeting new people and making solid friendships in college. Not everyone is blessed with the perfect roommate their freshman year. It is definitely easier if you have a friend in your roommate as you can spread your wings together and draw more people into your group. However, don’t be dismayed if you arrive on your first day of freshman year and you can tell you despise your roommate. There are tons of easy ways to make friends.

Keep in mind that everyone is in the same boat at the beginning of freshman year. Sure, some students will arrive at school knowing some other people from their hometown, but, on the whole, everyone else is looking to meet friends. One of the simplest things you can do on Day 1 of freshman year is say, "hello," to other people in your dorm. This sounds silly and obvious, but it can be difficult to muster up the courage to say "hi" to a stranger. Just remember that everyone else feels like you do. There will be countless opportunities to mingle with people in your dorm the first couple of days at school. Classes haven’t gotten into full swing yet and everyone is still moving in and getting comfortable with their surroundings.

Talk to people in your classes. You are coming from a high school setting where you knew many of your classmates for years; it was easy to find someone to talk to back then. Now, you just need to suck it up and strike up a conversation with someone sitting near you. Usually, the other people in your class are waiting to say something themselves, and if you can break the ice you will notice a deluge of conversation erupt.

If your college has fraternities and sororities, these are great places to meet new people. If you decide to rush one of these organizations, you will be initiated into a group of classmates with likeminded interests. It is almost an instantaneous way to make new friends. Do some research about the different organizations on campus to make sure you will be a good fit with the frat or sorority you decide to join. If the Greek life is not for you, find a club or group on campus that is based around a theme you enjoy like volunteer work, tutoring, sports, etc. The possibilities are endless! The only way you won’t make friends is if you stay in your dorm room and never come out.

You’re in college: there’s no reason for your medicine cabinet to look like your grandparents’. Beyond a few basics, you don’t need to fall for all the trendy pills or even quick-fix medicines that promise to de-bloat, cure your hangover, or make you lose weight. There are lots of home remedies you can try, and different foods and teas that relieve a lot of the symptoms that come with mild illnesses or drinking too much. Ginger, for example, is a great aid in treating nausea, while banana peels work for warts, poison ivy and cramps. So what do you really need in your first aid kit or medicine cabinet, and what’s a waste of money?

Always keep a stock of band-aids and a roll or two of gauze in case of more serious accidents. You don’t need an entire kit, but bandages and gauze will help until you can get to the health center on or off campus (depending on what time of the night it is). Ibuprofen (like in Advil) and acetaminophen (like in Tylenol) are good basics to keep for headaches, fever, muscle aches and soreness, and other mild pains, but watch your intake if you plan on drinking. Acetaminophen can be especially damaging to your liver if you drink alcohol while it’s in your system. Keeping a thermometer on hand is also a good idea, as it can save you a trip to the doctor if you’re unsure if you have a fever, and if you want to know how seriously you need medical attention. An antacid can also be a lifesaver in the middle of the night when you’re suffering from heartburn or even nausea.

Don’t spend your money on any supplements you can get naturally through foods, unless you have a history with a certain condition. Vitamin C pills are generally a waste, since you can get lots of the vitamin from fresh fruits and vegetables or 100% juices, but if your body finds it hard to store iron or get enough iron even if you adhere to a pretty well-balanced diet, iron pills will help you keep up your energy and avoid anemia. Multipurpose vitamins are your best bet, and will give your body the nutrients you might be missing on a college student’s diet, but always try to add a salad and a piece of fruit to your meals to get vitamins the natural way.

Most people credit fall and winter with the cold and flu months, but it’s still possible to get sick during the summer. If you’re traveling, you’re probably excited about your vacation, but you should organize a strategy for staying healthy leading up to your trip and while you’re away. Nothing will ruin your time like getting sick, if you’re even able to go at all.

While you prepare for your trip, make sure to get plenty of rest and avoid getting stressed about your travel arrangements. Work on your preparations a little each day to avoid getting anxious and losing sleep at the last minute, and keep up your strength by committing to your regular routine of exercising and eating healthy. Vitamin supplements can help keep your immune system working right, especially if you’re a little too busy to eat balanced meals every single day. Other important daily habits that are simple but often overlooked include washing your hands frequently, including before and after meals — even if you dine out — cleaning your keyboard and mousepad, particularly if you share one with someone else, and drinking plenty of fluids. Keep your hands away from your nose and mouth, and politely avoid people you know are sick just before you leave.

Once you’re on vacation, continue to wash your hands regularly, and consider packing a small bottle of hand sanitizer in your carry-on so that you can "wash" your hands on the plane if you need to. Whether you’re heading to Europe, the beach or on a cruise, allow yourself to indulge in yummy treats and drinks that you don’t normally let yourself have, but keep things in moderation. Drastically changing your diet will leave you feeling bloated and uncomfortable, at the least. Making sure you eat enough safely prepared fruits and vegetables — as well as the other stuff — will help you maintain your energy and your good health throughout the trip. If you’re visiting a country with questionable produce, it’s best to abstain unless you’re staying at a trusted resort, but take a multivitamin with you so that your body isn’t deprived. Also remember to drink plenty of water, even if you don’t think you’re thirsty. It’s easy to overheat if you’re out in the sun, and if you’re excited and distracted, you might forget to keep drinking. Getting a little exercise will also help your immune system, digestion and overall well-being, so pack a pair of sneakers alongside your bathing suit.

A popular tool for losing weight and exsercising right now is the weight loss journal. You can use one to record what you eat, keep track of calories and exercise, set goals, write down your insecurities or worries about the process, and list ideas for new recipes or workouts. But just like every good idea or new goal, it can be hard to really stick to weight loss journaling after the first week or so.

First, find a reason to get excited about your weight loss journal and then make it your own. Carry one with you in your work bag or gym bag so that you can refer to it or add to it whenever you want, or choose an app for your smartphone that keeps you connected. You can find lots of tools and ideas online, but customizing your journal will help you be more honest with yourself and more likely to keep adding to it. Consider picking out a journal or online template that includes a calendar as well as a section for notes so that you can balance structure with brainstorming and flexibility.

If you’re not sure how to start your weight loss journal, create a mind map or just write phrases down that inspire you or that organize your goals. You might be focused on exercise, calorie counting, eating more whole foods, or even just changing your attitude about weight loss. Devote the first few pages to your long-term goal so that it’s always easy for you to flip back to your earliest motivations and follow your progress. Make sure to date all of the pages so that you hold yourself accountable for journaling regularly and can keep track of how much weight you lose. Dating entries will also help you pinpoint days of the week or times of day that you stick to your diet or days and times that you have trouble sticking to your plan.

Don’t limit yourself to just writing in your journal. Cut out pictures, motivational quotes, and other items that help you feel inspired, healthy, and happy. Don’t include any images or messages that make you feel bad about yourself: your weight loss journal should be a vehicle that allows you to associate positive feelings and goals with your journey, and that makes you feel strong and confident.

Stress is a normal part of nearly everyone’s life, from high school students worried about tests and dating to young professionals starting out in the job market to baby boomers and grandparents worried about health care, retirement, and employment. And whether your stress manifests itself in the form of panic attacks, chronic anxiety, headaches, loss of sleep, or just general irritation, losing control of your ability to think clearly and rationally can greatly impact your health and your relationships. Long-term effects of stress may include built-up tension in your body, overeating which can lead to high levels of cholesterol and obesity, sleep disorders, depression, indigestion, anger issues, and other conditions. To prevent developing such health issues, you need to actively monitor your stress levels day by day.

First, identify what major problems are causing you stress: unhappiness at work, in a relationship, planning for an upcoming trip, or perhaps finding care for a parent or other relative. You won’t be able to solve these problems right away, but mapping out a general plan will help you feel better organized and more optimistic about tackling the issue, feelings which help you regain control and can greatly reduce your stress levels. Every time you start to feel stressed or anxious about that problem, take a look at your to-do list, journal, or plan to transition your mind from feeling frustrated to thinking rationally.

For smaller situations that can still result in panic attacks or long-term stress, try to close your eyes and breathe deeply for even 2-3 minutes. Remove yourself from the situation and think of a place, person or quote that makes you feel in control and relaxed. Other simple exercises to try:

• Immediately put things in perspective: How serious is the problem in the long-term? Will you still be thinking about it in a few hours, a few weeks or a few months? Gauge your reaction accordingly.
• Go for a walk: A regular exercise routine will help you lower stress in the long-term, but a short, brisk walk can cool you down for the moment, too.
• Stretch: Close your eyes and do head rolls, moving your shoulders up and down, too, to relieve tension.
• Clean up: Clutter can spike stress levels, and doing a quick clean-up is an instant fix to feeling overwhelmed.
• Cross something off your to-do list or calendar: If you’re seriously stressed because of taking on too many commitments, find a little personal time by crossing off a task or appointment that you can easily, reasonably delegate to someone else.

The ability to retain information is a skill that benefits all students. However, not all students are created equal when it comes to this crucial aspect of learning. Most college students are taking four or five classes a semester. Tack on all the reading that accompanies these classes and you may have visions of a system overload. It is true that the brain can only hold so much information. Therefore, the key is to hone your retention skills to ensure that you remember crucial information to make the connections your professors are expecting of you.

Organization is the key to strengthening your retention skills. It is human nature to encounter a new fact or concept and then decide whether you should hold onto it or cast it aside. If you determine it is important, then you need a place to put it. Consider a scenario where you are reading in a textbook. The chapters are typically broken up into broad sections which are then broken up again into smaller subsections. Your brain can work the same way. The ability to compartmentalize information will make it easier to retrieve information in the future.

Students have the tendency to freak out at the end of a semester when the exam period begins. They look at their calendar and realize they have to study for five exams that are being given over a period of just a week. How in the world are they going to recall information that was covered in the beginning of the semester for all these different classes? While you will most definitely review material spanning the semester while studying for an exam, you should also review material soon after you first encounter it. A responsible way to do this is to spend an hour reviewing class notes, important sections from the reading, and handouts that have been covered during the past week. Take some time each Sunday to review what happened the week before. This repetition will help you retain information throughout the semester.

It is very difficult for the brain to recall information that stands alone. In other words, try to make associations between new material and other information you already have learned. Do some outside research along with the assigned reading if you feel completely unfamiliar with the material. Stocking your brain with more information will help you make the connections that will help you retain this foreign subject matter.

According to the 2009 National Youth Risk Behavior Study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in five high school students report that they have taken a prescription drug, such as OxyContin, Percocet, Vicodin, Adderall, Ritalin, or Xanax, without a doctor’s prescription. It is a common misconception among high school students that prescription drugs are safer to take than illegal drugs. But both can cause adverse reactions and addiction. It is not uncommon for addictions to develop with regular use of drugs like narcotic painkillers, stimulants, sedatives, and tranquilizers.

Of the students who reported abusing prescription drugs, 23 percent were white, 17 percent Hispanic, and 12 percent black. While there was no overall difference in gender – both male and female equaled 20 percent – more white female students (23 percent) abused prescription drugs than Hispanic females (16.6 percent) and black females (10.3 percent). Prescription drug abuse was also higher among white males (22.8 percent) than Hispanic (17.8 percent) and black males (13.3 percent). Prescription drug abuse was the highest among seniors, at 26 percent, and the lowest among freshmen, at 15 percent, with 22.7 percent of 11th grade students and 18.2 percent of 10th grade students reporting use. High school students were also asked about steroid use, and 3.3 percent of them said that they had taken steroid pills or shots without a doctor’s prescription at one or more times in their life. Overall, the prevalence of steroid use was higher among males (4.3 percent) than females (2.2 percent).

Along with prescription drugs abuse, students also reported the use of illegal drugs. Of the 36.8 percent of students who reported using marijuana more than once during their life, 20.8 percent had used it one or more times during the 30 days before they took the survey. Methamphetamine use, also called “speed," “crystal," “crank," or “ice,” was reportedly used by 4.1 percent of students one or more times in their lives. Eight percent of students reported using hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD, acid, PCP, angel dust, mescaline, or mushrooms, one or more times during their life. Any form of cocaine, such as powder, crack, or freebase, was reportedly used by 6.4 percent of students at least once in their life, and within the month before they took the survey, 2.8 percent of students said they had used some form of cocaine.

Pharmacy schools are mainly smaller sections of larger public schools around the country, which makes their entrance into schools reserved for those students who are serious about their studies.  California in general offers programs in only a handful of universities:

    University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, Los Angeles
    Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy, Loma Linda
    Western University of Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Pomona
    University of California – San Diego School of Pharmacy, San Diego
    University of California – San Francisco School of Pharmacy, San Francisco
    University of the Pacific, Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy, Stockton

These schools represent the best pharmacy schools within the state of California, and the schools which students should focus on applying to. 

The USC pharmacy program was the first pharmacy school in the state, founded in 1905, and still remains one of the top choices for many pharmacists within the state (50 percent of pharmacists attended the school).  USC offers the Doctor of Pharmacy program as well as Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy, all of which are necessary within fields of pharmaceuticals.  This school was the first to establish the six-year Doctor of Pharmacy program and remains a model for pharmacy schools around the nation. 

Loma Linda is a relatively new school, which saw its first class of graduates in the fall of 2002.  This school caters specifically to pharmacists in a Seventh-day Adventist Christian setting, allowing students to achieve a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in this environment.  While the school grants entrance to a wide array of students, priority is given to those who have a bachelor’s degree in biological, chemical, or related sciences. 

Western University has undergone name and location changes since its inception in 1977, when it was known as College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific.  It was founded in response to a shortage of physicians in the western United States, and represents the fourth pharmacy school to be established in California.  The name of the school changed in 1996 to western University of Health Sciences to better reflect its true purpose. 

Another new school, the University of California Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences was established in 2000, graduating its first class in 2002.  This program specifically focuses on the intertwining of science degrees such as chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering, with pharmacy.  This school has recognized the need for students who are well-versed in all sciences and pharmacy in order to tackle modern diseases, which is why it now ranks third in the nation for the development of biotechnology products as a result of this emphasis on sciences.  Plans are still underway to create a new program that offers a B.S. in Chemistry and a Doctor of Pharmacy degree in a joint seven-year program. 

The University of California, San Francisco Pharmacy School boasts the title of the nation’s top-ranked pharmacy school, as well as one of the oldest pharmacy schools in the West.  The school has focused over the years of the growing link between drugs and technology and has evolved its teaching methods as technology has allowed.  Therefore, as the top-ranked school, it has catered to evolutions within the technological field while still retaining the core pharmaceutical values. 

The Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences is another school that has been around for more than fifty years in California.  Making a name for itself on the Pacific Coast, the school offers an extensive history of unique humanistic approaches to education.  The school recently celebrated its fiftieth anniversary and continues to be a beacon of strength on the West Coast. 

Strokes account for the third highest cause of death in the United States, cutting off oxygen to the brain and causing serious damage even if the patient survives. While your chances of having a stroke increase dramatically as you get older — doubling for each decade after you turn 55 — everyone should know the risk factors of the disease, either to help themselves or encourage friends and family to adapt healthier lifestyle habits.

Some people suffer strokes because of family history or their ethnicity: African Americans and Hispanics are at an especially high risk for having a stroke, and women are also more likely than men to have a stroke before the age of 65. Those who have already had strokes or heart attacks — including transient ischemic attacks or TIAs — are also at a higher risk. If you have a history of heart problems or TIAs, visit with your doctor regularly to monitor your health and your risk.

Other diseases or health conditions that increase your risk of stroke include diabetes, artery diseases, especially peripheral artery disease and conditions which narrow or block blood vessels, atrial fibrillation, sickle cell disease, and high blood cholesterol. High cholesterol and certain types of diabetes may be the effects of unhealthy lifestyle choices, like obesity, a high-fat diet, incredible stress, and a sedentary lifestyle, which also contribute to stroke risk. Those who smoke and eat a diet high in sodium will also place themselves at a higher risk.

Whether you belong to a certain risk group because of your sex, age and/or ethnicity, or your just want to do whatever you can to lower your risk of stroke, eat a diet with lots of fruits and vegetables — doctors recommend at least five servings per day. Get enough exercise, don’t smoke, control your blood pressure and cholesterol, and try to take care of your heart. While there is no guaranteed way to prevent having a stroke, you can educate yourself on risk factors and smart lifestyle choices to lower your chances and help loved ones stay healthy, too.

Depending on where you live, summertime could mean an escape to the outdoors or an entire season of hibernating in air-conditioned malls and movie theaters. But just as winter brings dangerous snow drifts, wind chills, and icy roads, summer also poses many health risks, especially for the elderly and for people who like to stay active during the summer months. From sunburns to heat stroke and heat exhaustion to dehydration, make a plan to protect yourself from the intense temperatures this summer.

If you head to the pool or beach to cool off, be strategic about when you take a dip. It should be easy for you to get a tan at almost any point during the day, so give your body a break and avoid lying out in the hottest part of the day, from around noon to 3pm. Always wear sunscreen, even if it’s early in the day or late in the afternoon, but don’t fool yourself into thinking your skin is the only part of you that’s vulnerable to the sun. Pack plenty of water in a small cooler or insulated lunch bag, especially if you plan on drinking alcohol while you’re in the sun. Foods like watermelon, fresh berries and baby carrots or celery sticks will also help to keep you hydrated and are refreshing snacks in the heat.

Similarly, if you want to engage in any sports or other activity like jogging, riding your bike or playing tennis, choose shady parks and neighborhoods to play in, and stay indoors during the middle of the afternoon. Bring lots of water and take breaks to drink beverages fueled with electrolytes, even if you don’t feel tired. Be aware of the signs of heat stroke, which can creep up on you especially during very humid days. Symptoms include headache, muscle cramps, difficulty breathing, disorientation, dizziness and nausea, weakness, fatigue and possibly even vomiting. You need to take a rest and go indoors if you experience any of these symptoms, and you should seek medical attention if you stop sweating but still have very flushed or hot skin.

Assemble a summer first-aid kit that includes bandages, ice or cooling packs, aloe vera, sunscreen, a portable, battery-operated fan, Tylenol, and anything else you need to keep you cool and comfortable during the hot summer. Remember to take lots of breaks and continue to drink water even if you don’t feel thirsty or tired, as dehydration can occur quickly and possibly lead to a serious issue requiring medical attention.