The President shares his view about Pell grant issues…

Oh Pell no he didn't!

President Barack Obama appeared on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last week, taking part in the show's running bit called "slow jamming the news."  

If you haven't seen it, the segment's name speaks for itself.

President Obama, Jimmy Fallon Slow Jam the News

Earth Day

What are you doing to help Mother Earth this Earth Day? 

From family friendly events to clean-up volunteer projects at the Potomac and Anacostia Watershed, there are many events going on this weekend to celebrate. 

Here is a list of events in the metro area. 

Great Source for Learning More about Financial Aid

If you want a quick and authoritative source for information about financial aid, including changes in laws and policies, new opportunities to receive aid, and tips and suggestions, check out the blog Paying for College. The blog is produced by SCHEV, the State Council for Higher Education of Virginia, so you can be sure you'll get accurate information.  Posts are made when there is new information to distribute, but you can read through the archives to be sure you get all the information you've missed up until this point! You can also post questions and receive a response from SCHEV. We hope you'll find this site useful!

NOVA's Financial Aid Blog

Have questions about Financial Aid? Want to stay up-to-date on what is new and changing concerning financial aid? Visit NOVA’s Financial Aid blog to read the most current FA information you may need to know!

Relay For Life

Join ELI Student Life and fellow ELI students, faculty and staff in participating in Relay For Life at the George Mason University Field House. Relay for Life is scheduled for Saturday, April 21, 2012 from 4:30 pm -- 5:30 am. *You do not need to commit to the whole night; we will sign up for shifts.

Saving lives from cancer starts one team, one participant, and one dollar at a time. Join Team ELI as we walk to raise awareness, celebrate, remember and fight back. There is a cost/donation of $10 per person to register, which includes a Relay for Life t-shirt as well as an ELI t-shirt. Each participant has the opportunity to set their own fundraising goal. Relay is sponsored by the American Cancer Society and raises awareness and money for all types of cancer.

Sign up today to join Team ELI. The impact we can make together is much greater than what any of us could do alone!

To sign up to join Team ELI, visit our Relay Team Page. For more information about the event email ELI Student Life or call (703) 323-3510.

Go Team ELI!

Improving Sleep Quality to Make Your Days Productive

Looking for ways to ensure a better night’s sleep to improve daytime concentration, be more efficient on assignments and accomplish your workload with success? See the tips below to consider when planning for a more restful sleep:

• Avoid eating, computer work or watching too much television in your bedroom. Reserve the time for reading something you enjoy or listening to relaxing music or nature sounds. You will come to associate relaxation exercises with sleep, rather than work-related tasks or stimuli that can prevent your mind from fully relaxing.

• If you find yourself tossing and turning, change locations for 30 minutes. Read a book in the living room or prepare your lunch for the next day. It relieves the pressure to fall asleep and the anxiety that can go with it!

• Avoid afternoon caffeine boosts as much as possible. Ideally, if you can avoid caffeinated beverages and chocolate after noon, you are less likely to feel the effects and aftereffects of caffeine as it gets closer to the time you go to sleep. However, some studies reveal that avoiding caffeine after 4:00 pm is a good strategy to promote better sleep. Whatever the case, the type and amount of caffeine that you drink can have a strong impact on the quality of sleep. For more information on this, there are various “caffeine tables”, both online and in nutrition guides that list the caffeine source and its associated caffeine content.

• Plan your exercise schedule for first thing in the morning, mid-afternoon and no later than 5-7 pm. Exercising too close to bedtime can facilitate the fight or flight response which can activate the release of adrenaline and prevent you from falling asleep.

• Eating a small piece of cheese before bed releases the amino acid tyramine, an amino acid that is similar to the tryptophan in turkey in terms of its effects in promoting relaxation. If you are sensitive, allergic or lactose intolerant, turkey or complex carbohydrates in the form of whole grain crackers or brown rice can also induce relaxation by releasing the calming neurotransmitter, serotonin.

• Make sure your bedroom is set at an ideal temperature. You want to aim for between 54-75 degrees. Studies show that people sleep better in cooler temperatures.

• Practice going to bed and getting up at the same time every day, including weekends. Research shows that sleeping in very late on weekends can produce the sensation of jet lag. So, even if you get up just a little bit later than you do during the week, it is better than sleeping until the early afternoon hours, unless you are feeling under the weather and need the extra rest to feel better.

• Invite the sunshine into your life. Exposure to sunshine not only helps to awaken your brain, but it trains your body to sleep when it’s dark and wake when it’s light.
Consistent, quality sleep is especially important when it comes to all of the responsibilities that students juggle; it’s easy to take for granted the hectic pace of life that can leave us on chronic auto-pilot.

A peaceful night’s sleep is essential to counteracting the effects of burnout. For more information on this topic, visit this link.

Getting a Good Start to Your Morning

How frequently do you dread mornings because you always associate them with rushing, a race against the clock and a time to jolt yourself awake for another long day? Well, the morning can actually be a time of ease and relaxation; it’s all in the way that you embrace it. Check out the following tips for improving your morning routine so that you can start your day with renewed energy and calm.

• Plan ahead as much as you can from what you will wear the next day to what steps you will take to prepare breakfast or even have it partially prepared the night before. Delegate these preparation tasks as much as possible if you have family members and/or roommates who are willing to help out and make it a team effort.

• Start your morning at least 30 minutes earlier than usual. The later you start your morning, the more prone you are to rushing and pushing everything to the last possible minute. Allowing yourself the extra time to not only wake up, but to do something enjoyable like exercise or meditation will help you to feel less stressed as you head out the door.

• Make pleasant sounds a part of your routine. Rather than wake up to a blaring alarm clock, make plans to wake up to your favorite kind of music, be it upbeat 80’s tunes, the comforting lyrics of country music, or the relaxing melodies of classical music. These familiar sounds will eventually make waking up in the morning, a comforting, rather than a mind-jarring experience.

• Make time for quiet time. Spend 5-10 minutes reading a reflective book or writing in a journal; meditation and exercise are great ways to clear your mind so that the stressful moments and/or unexpected “curveballs” don’t hit you as hard first thing in the morning.

• Eat a healthy breakfast, rather than rush out the door with coffee and a candy bar. Take your time to prepare something that contains adequate vitamins and nutrients to last you through the morning such as a high fiber cereal or an English Muffin with almond butter. Ideally, combining a protein source with a complex carbohydrate is a good idea to promote lasting energy. Throw in some blueberries or a fruit of choice for added vitamin C and antioxidants.

• Finally, show your family and friends that you care and remind them of what they mean to you. For example, hugging your family members that you live with will reinforce the special bond that you share. Sometimes, just the very act of reaching out to family and friends via phone or e-mail, reminding them that you care can go a long way in putting some positive energy into their day. One of the best ways we can create a smooth and positive morning for ourselves is to pay it forward.

For more information on this topic, visit this link.