Even if just a furry friend sounds good enough.   It’s nearing finals week, and the end-of-semester stress is starting to build up. Short on time, it may seem like there isn't any opportunity to rest and prioritize your mental health. However, did you know that there is one activity that is scientifically proven to decrease stress levels and improve your mood within just a few minutes? Animal visitation programs (AVPs) are being implemented at a rising number of college campuses across the United States. These most commonly take the form of therapy dog sessions, where students can pet and play with dogs specially trained for the task. How do Therapy Dogs Affect Mood and Stress? Plenty of dog-lovers would say that playing with their dog makes them happier. This applies to therapy dog programs too! In a therapy dog session, students are invited to interact with the canines in small groups. Studies have shown that students self-report an immediate increase in happiness and energy levels after taking part in therapy dog sessions. Students also report a perceived decrease in mental stress even 10 hours after their therapy dog session. Why do These Mood Changes Occur? These mood changes are not just a mental perception; they are related to changes in hormone levels that occur when interacting with animals. An increase in oxytocin levels, which is shown to occur within many people when they pet or play with dogs, helps with decreasing stress. Studies show that AVPs can lead to a significant decrease in cortisol levels in just 10 minutes. Cortisol is directly tied to the main stress pathway in the human body, called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. When someone is stressed, the HPA axis increases activity, and secretes greater amounts of cortisol. Therefore, a decrease in cortisol means there has been a physiological decrease in stress. How Can This Help? Stress has many effects, both physically and mentally. It can affect your sleep, your ability to focus, your appetite, and your mood. College can be an extremely stressful time for many. Stress and academic performance are often a negative feedback loop; when you experience academic stress, it can sometimes lead to performing more poorly, which in turn can lead to a greater increase in mental stress. Therefore, as a college student it is incredibly important to monitor your stress levels closely and take care of your mental health. Check and see if your own college offers therapy dog sessions! Just a few short minutes can make a huge difference for your mental and physical health. WRITTEN BY Gretchen Maune University of Virginia Gretchen Maune is currently a Junior at the University of Virginia. She is double majoring in Biology and English, with a concentration in ‘Science Literature and Global Bioethics’. She is looking forward to a career in the journalism industry, specifically dealing with science writing and creative nonfiction. Gretchen was a summer Editorial Intern for Macmillan Learning’s Life Sciences division. ... View more

To help you get that first (or next) job! Congratulations! You found a job you want to apply to. But how do you present yourself as the best candidate? Here are a few tips for writing cover letters that will make you stand out. 1. Make a list of keywords. Go through the job description and note everything they’re asking for: Skills Responsibilities Past experiences Identify which of those items come up again and again. Maybe they ask about managing budgets in a couple different ways, or maybe they’re really keen for someone who can schedule meetings. Once you identify the two or three main responsibilities, you’ll know what your cover letter should focus on. (Bonus points: use this same list of keywords to strengthen your resume.) 2. Freewrite to generate ideas. Think about the list you just made. How do your experiences relate to what the job description is asking for? Set a timer for 1 to 5 minutes and brainstorm. See how many list items you can reasonably apply to each of your past experiences. Allow yourself to write without worrying about spelling or coherency. If you don’t know what to write, just write, “I don’t know what to write,” and keep going. When you’re done, you should have a good idea of which one or two experiences to focus on in your cover letter. 3. Go deep, not broad. You might be tempted to try and expand on every single one of the qualifications that make you such an amazing candidate. But resist that urge in your cover letter. Your resume is where you can share the breadth of your past experiences. Your cover letter, on the other hand, is a chance to plunge into one or two of those experiences and how they make you a great fit for the position. Whereas resumes are surface level on many things, your cover letter should be in depth on a couple things. 4. Focus more on what they need than what you want. Obviously, you wouldn’t apply to a job if you wouldn’t get anything out of it. But a recruiter will be far more interested in what you can offer them, rather than what they can offer you. Focus on the value you would bring to the organization. Show how lucky they would be to have you on their team. As best you can, limit “I” statements, and really place the focus on them. 5. Be obvious! The person reading your cover letter knows you are applying for a job. You know you are applying for a job. You don’t have to dance around the fact that you think you would make a good fit. Clearly lay out how your past experiences map onto this new position. If you think you’re being too obvious, you’re probably doing it right. After all, the person reading your cover letter is likely reviewing many other applications. Make it easy for them, and be very direct in linking your past experience(s) to this new opportunity. Be confident and enthusiastic. You’ve got this. WRITTEN BY Casey Wells Northwestern University Casey Wells is a graduate of Northwestern University, where he studied creative writing, playwriting, and French. He lives in Chicago where he takes improv classes, runs 10Ks, and guards a prodigious hoard of books.   ... View more

And scientists may be our most important storytellers. As you navigate college, your career, and your future, it is important to keep in mind the fact that you are responsible for telling your story, the stories of those around you, and perhaps even part of the story of the world. Typically, folks in the humanities are considered society’s storytellers, but scientists, engineers, and just about anyone else are also storytellers. In fact, I think scientists are some of our most important storytellers. They study the universe, its nature, how it works. Then, they take their knowledge and share it with us so that we can learn the story of the universe. Being able to take something as complex as neuroscience or astrophysics and paring it down to something for the masses to discover? That takes talent and it is invaluable. Where would we be without those people who can look at the complexity of the world and find a cohesive story in it? I am studying psychology and statistics, and my goal (and the goal of all psychologists) is to figure out how humans work. What makes us tick. I want to help tell the story of humanity. But psychologists can’t tell this story alone. Our information is incomplete. We need the stories from biologists, historians, physicists, archaeologists, and neuroscientists (to name a few) to paint a complete picture of the past, present, and future of humanity and human nature. The elements needed to craft a compelling work of fiction are the same elements needed to discover and share the nature of our world: context/setting, motivation, characters, conflict, etc. This is why I believe the best scientists are also able to communicate their findings in a compelling, creative, and engaging way. As someone working toward a Master’s of Science, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read a dry, boring, mundane article. Sure, they were informative and told a part of humanity’s story, but they were not engaging. If you want folks to read the story you tell, you need to make sure you communicate it in a compelling way. It’s the same with fiction, too. Fiction should be compelling, entertaining, and thought-provoking. The stories we tell through fiction also give insight to human nature and the human experience. Music, sculpture, art, dance, poetry, literature? Those are all media humans use to tell their stories. The fields of history, social science, and psychology have a long history with creative works and the insights they share, and it baffles me how little our creatives are valued in many societies. Aside from the joy and entertainment they bring, creatives are our unofficial historians in a sense – capturing the world as they experience it and sharing it with others. An objective retelling of history that professional historians (should) strive for is not complete without us being able to also learn the subjective feelings of the parties involved. Emotion is what brings history to life. I can tell you honestly that I would not remember as much history as I do without class lessons being supplemented with music, film, art, poetry, and photography. Our world’s storytellers are some of our most critical people and we must cherish and nurture them. Support your local artists. Rally for the funding and sharing of scientific research. And, please, consume the stories that these people have made for us. WRITTEN BY Kris Shiflet Currently pursuing a co-terminal BS Psychology, minor in Stats, and MS in IO Psychology –basically a big old nerd. While HR is my work passion, I also love creative writing and I have way too many unfinished stories in my drive. I write to music, but a chaotic mix of heavy metal, jazz, classical, punk, and pop. Hey, whatever works, right?   ... View more

It was my first week as a Macmillan intern and I was so excited to have finally landed the job that would begin my career in publishing. I nervously introduced myself to my team and met everyone I would be working with, but when I began sitting in on meetings and going through orientation resources, I realized I only understood a portion of the things I was hearing. I struggled to catch and juggle acronyms and words like “CBT,” “frontlist,” and “attrition,” and found myself fumbling with these unfamiliar phrases. My meetings with my manager would be filled with me going through my list of questions as I began to build a personal dictionary.  So, if you’ve ever been stumped by a word someone has used or felt like there was just so much you didn’t understand, know you’re not alone. Publishing, like any industry, uses a lot of field-specific jargon and no one expects you to know it all. But, my hope is that this short list of common publishing phrases might be of use to you. Know it’s not exhaustive, and I’m sure there are specific phrases that will be used with your team but no one will ever think less of you for asking them to clarify what they mean. Good luck on your publishing journey, and take comfort that we’re all in this together! I’d also like to take a moment to thank Molly Pyles, Lizette Faraji, and Caitlin O'Beirne for their contributions to this list and for just being wonderful.    Acquisition - A term used when a publisher buys the rights to a book from an author. Advance - The money an author is paid upfront when they sign a contract with a publisher. Advanced Readers Copies/Galley (ARCs) - A pre-published book given to librarians, educators, influencers, bloggers, etc. by a publisher to facilitate buzz around the book before its official release. Agent - A liaison between a writer and editor or publisher who advocates for his or her client (writer). Agents usually take a 10-15% commission from the advance and royalties. Attrition - Term that basically means lost business. Someone, who was once publishing with us, is no longer. Auction - Publishers sometimes bid for the acquisition of a book manuscript that has excellent sales prospects. The bids are for the amount of the author's advance, advertising and promotional expenses, royalty percentages, and more. Auctions are conducted by agents. Backlist - A publisher's list of its books that were not published during the current season, but that are still in print. Blurb - The short quote or paragraph on the back cover of a book that allows the reader to get an idea of what it’s about. Bound galleys - Prepublication edition of book or final galley proofs, also known as "bound proofs." Canonical Fragment Identifier (CFIs) - Links within an ebook for specific parts like sections and chapters. Comp - Comparable or competitive titles—usually included in a book proposal. Imprint - Name applied to a publisher's specific line of books. International Standard Book Number (ISBN) - The specific number given to a particular book. Foreign rights - Translation or reprint rights to be sold in other countries and territories. Frontlist - A publisher's list of books that are new to the current season. Also known as “new titles.” Jira - A project management tool used for planning, tracking, and supporting software projects. Mass market - Non-specialized books of wide appeal directed toward a large audience. Metadata - Backend information for ebooks that include their title, edition, ISBN, etc. that works as an id used to create/define connections between versions or other resources. If there is a new version added to an ebook, it could change the metadata and thus mess up connections already established using the link to the old version. Middle Grade (MG) - Genre that targets the 8 to 12 year-old age group. Narrative nonfiction - A narrative presentation of actual events. Also called creative nonfiction. POD - Print on demand. Publisher’s Weekly - An American weekly trade news source. https://www.publishersweekly.com/ Serial rights - The right for a newspaper or publication to publish sections of a manuscript. Subsidiary rights - All rights other than book publishing rights included in a book publishing contract, such as paperback rights, book club rights, movie rights, and more. Translation rights - Subsidiary rights for books to be translated and sold in another language. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) - Guidelines that are a part of a series of web accessibility guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium – a.k.a. the main international standards organization for the Internet. https://www.w3.org/standards/webdesign/ Young Adult (YA) - Genre that targets any age from 12-18, but nearly half of its readers are older than this. WRITTEN BY Grace Bartel University of Delaware A Media Editorial Intern at Macmillan Learning, Grace is an English graduate student at the University of Delaware. More interestingly, she’s an avid dog mom, reader, writer, hiker, and video game lover who spends the majority of her free time willingly lost in fantastical stories.     ... View more

Whether you have ADHD, you’re a chronic procrastinator, or you just can’t seem to focus, here are some tips that can help you survive and thrive in college. During my first year in university, I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). For me, ADHD made studying, staying focused, and managing my time one-hundred times more difficult. But through trial-and-error, I found a routine that helped me survive (and thrive) in college. While I know ADHD is different for everyone, here are a few tips that helped me succeed in university.  Stay Busy Okay, I know this sounds counterintuitive. If you find it difficult to manage your time without the added stress of extracurriculars, how is staying busy supposed to help you better organize your time? The answer is simple: staying busy ensures you have a set routine and schedule. If you’re anything like me, keeping track of time is beyond difficult, and if I don’t have anything planned for the day, I don’t feel any sense of urgency to study or do anything productive.  Keeping yourself busy, however, forces you to keep track of time. Maybe you can join a club with weekly meetings, get a part-time job, or volunteer at your local nonprofit. Whatever it is, consistently having something to do helps you keep track of and manage your time more effectively. For me, I joined my student newspaper, worked and interned part-time, and volunteered at a student resource center. Having something to do nearly every day of the week (even if it was just for a few hours) instilled in me a sense of urgency and helped me realize that time was a precious, limited resource.  Plan Your Time: Prioritize. Prioritize. Prioritize. Here’s a scenario I often experienced as a college student (and perhaps you can relate): Finals week is quickly approaching. There’s twenty hours worth of lecture material to review, fifteen hours of assignments, a ten-page essay to write, and two finals to study for. There’s so much to do – maybe you don’t even know how to start studying. Maybe you get so overwhelmed that you just freeze and take a stress nap instead.  In times like these, it is essential you know how to effectively prioritize your assignments and plan your time accordingly. For me this process was an uphill battle, but through trial-and-error, I eventually found a method that made conquering this mountain of work seem doable. The method goes a little something like this: Take a sheet of paper. Separate it into 8 sections: 1 section for each day of the week and 1 section for miscellaneous notes. Think about what you have planned for the week (extracurricular activities, work schedule, etc.) and write those down. Make a mental list of all your assignments. Assign an amount of time you would like to spend on each one. From there, break the assignments up into smaller – more manageable – chunks of time.  Based on the assignments’ due dates, write each one down under the specific day you would like to work on them – along with the amount of time you would like to spend doing each one. Assigning a specific amount of time to spend on each assignment is essential for this technique; it ensures you don’t spend too much time on one task and not enough time on another.  Separate your assignments into “TO DO” tasks (what you must complete for the day) and “OPTIONAL” tasks (what you can do for the day, if time permits). Optional: Color code for aesthetic value and ease of reading.  I call this the Micromanaging Technique. For an example, see below: This technique might seem excessive, but I (and all of my friends who also use it) swear by it. Writing everything down ensures that nothing is forgotten, and assigning a specific amount of time to each task helps you plan and prioritize your time. Plus, it’s super satisfying to tick off the boxes once you complete each task!  Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help Finally, if you ever feel completely stressed and overwhelmed, don’t be afraid to reach out to friends and family for support. It’s important to have and maintain a strong support system in college, especially in times of need.  Also, your college’s mental health counseling and disability services are there to help you. Almost all colleges offer disability services and accommodations for students with disabilities (including students with ADHD). If you feel that ADHD hinders your ability to study and complete schoolwork, go to your college’s disability services office or website, and see how they can help. WRITTEN BY Lindsay Ito University of California, Los Angeles Lindsay Ito graduated in Spring 2022 with a BA in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Born and raised in Los Angeles and Orange County, Lindsay’s life has been uniquely shaped by her Southern Californian upbringing: she’s worked as a Jungle Cruise Skipper at Disneyland, loves the beach on a sunny day, and (embarrassingly) cannot drive in the rain. In her free time, Lindsay enjoys reading a good horror story, cuddling with her cat, and rewatching old episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.   ... View more

Professors are people too.  Professors are human beings with thoughts and emotions just like you and I. Students can give themselves a huge advantage if they have strong professional relationships with their professors. There are many ways to do this, but here are my five fail-safe methods to win over the hearts and minds of your professors. Go to office hours. Office hours are a forum that exists for students to meet with professors and ask any and all of their questions. It is important to go to office hours early in the semester to introduce yourself to the professor so they can put a name to the face, especially in larger classes. Office hours allow students and professors to develop relationships that go beyond the typical roles in the classroom. Students who go to office hours can get the opportunity to receive academic advising, mentorship, and obviously help with their class. Ask questions and participate in class. Even if a professor’s lecturing makes you want to pull your hair out, it is crucial to answer the professor’s questions and ask those of your own. Although it may seem futile in bigger classes, participation is incredibly important in showing the professor that you are engaged in the class and taking it seriously. Put your technology away! Having spoken to many professors about this topic, it seems widely accepted that technology is the biggest distraction students face in the classroom today. Whether it is your iPhone or your laptop, it is crucial not to let your devices take away from your academic success. Don't miss class. In larger classes, especially those that do not take attendance, it is counterproductive to miss class even if you are able to stay up on the work. The experiences and insights you gain when going to class are unparalleled and can not be replicated by simply doing the readings and homework. Even if you are able to do well in the class without going, professors oftentimes notice the absence of students whether it is occasional or consistent across an entire semester. Ask what they are teaching next semester. Professors have dedicated their lives to the subjects that they teach and often times are pleased when a student expresses interest in their work. Therefore, before it is time for course registration, it is a good idea to reach out to your professors about what courses they are teaching in the coming semester. This demonstrates to the professor that you enjoy their teaching style and class. WRITTEN BY Noah Skelskie Emory University My name is Noah Skelskie and I am an intern in the Macmillan Marketing Department. I am a rising junior at Emory University and was born and raised in New York City. I enjoy watching any and all sports but most of all, my New York Mets (unfortunately). ... View more

How to actually be productive in the library. For college students, the library is the hub for printing and copying papers, looking for scholarly sources, and, of course, doing homework. Being productive in the library, however, can be challenging: distraction, procrastination, and exhaustion are usually associated with the library. Even the most dedicated lib-goers (library-goers) sometimes struggle with finishing all of the work that they had set out to do when they arrived at the library in the first place. Being a frequent lib-goer over the course of my undergraduate career, I have compiled a shortlist of what to do -- and what not to do -- in order to make the most of your time in the library. Do... Be organized. Before starting your journey to the library, decide what you want to work on and what you want to accomplish. What homework is due the soonest? When is that test I have to study for or the due date for that paper I have to write? Asking yourself these sort of questions will help you prioritize your work. Prioritizing, along with figuring out how much time you have to spend in the library, will help you determine what to work on as well as what books and notes you’ll need to bring. Take care of yourself. The library is normally associated with stressful cramming and long nights of studying or writing. There are many ways to ease your stress and boost your morale. Listening to music, taking periodic breaks, and eating snacks are quick fixes to stay focused and get as much work done as you can. Utilize the café. If your library has a café, be sure to take advantage of it. The lib-caf at my school is my favorite place on campus because of the social yet productive atmosphere. The café is a great place to work on group projects because, unlike the rest of the library, talking at normal volume is encouraged. If you work best with background noise, no other on-campus space beats the lib-caf! Work with friends. Going to the library with friends is a great way to keep yourself motivated. Your friends make sure you’re staying on task and won’t be afraid to call you out if you keep procrastinating or talking too much. It’s also comforting to have friends with you while you work to remind yourself that you’re not alone. Doing homework is stressful, but knowing that your friends are in the same boat as you may ease your stress and provide an outlet for talking about the workload. Don't... Overwhelm yourself. Thinking about all the homework you have to do is stressful. Instead of thinking big picture, try breaking down your homework by class, time commitment, or due date. Which class do I have the most homework for? How long do I think it will it take? When is it due? These questions are essential for prioritizing your work and avoiding getting overwhelmed. While it is good to try to get as much done in one sitting as possible, you also have to think realistically about how much can actually be done. Over-caffeinate or under-sleep. While it might sound tempting, drinking too much coffee or losing sleep in order to finish all of your work won’t pay off in the long run. Neither practice is healthy for you, and oftentimes, you end up producing poorer quality work when you overdose on coffee or underdose on sleep. Aim for 1-3 cups of coffee and 8 hours of sleep per day in order to maximize productivity. Talk too loud. Despite serving a wide variety of purposes, the library is still a library. Whether you choose to sit in the café or elsewhere, you must respect others around you. Being surrounded by other stressed-out college students makes it difficult at times to remember the library’s rules, but always keep this one in mind to avoid being asked to quiet down by a librarian or fellow student. Get too distracted. Between music, breaks, snacks, and friends, staying on task at the library is difficult. If you find yourself procrastinating too much, try recalling what needs to be done in order to refocus your attention on your homework. Setting specific time limits on your breaks -- as well as how often you get to take them -- can help you focus as well. As for music, jazz and classical are common genres that students listen to when they need to remain motivated in order to meet the homework goals they set for themselves. The library is a popular study area for much of a college’s student body. By staying on task, keeping organized, and using your support system of friends, success at the library is entirely possible! WRITTEN BY Kelly Vena The College of New Jersey Kelly Vena is a senior at The College of New Jersey, where she is finishing up her English major and Communication Studies and French minors. She has worked as a marketing intern at Bedford, Freeman & Worth Publishers, the high school textbook branch of Macmillan Learning, since the start of the 2018-2019 school year. Kelly has been a writer since her senior year of high school, and her poetry has appeared in two publications as well as multiple editions of TCNJ's literary magazine. ... View more

A message from those who made it. Dear Stressed Out Student, I am writing to you today to help you get through that point in every semester when it seems that all your professors plot together to give you an exam, project, and assignments due in the same week in every single class. Luckily, there are some ways to prevent getting overly stressed out during this inevitable week of pure horror. Organize Using an app like myHomework Student Planner will help you organize all scheduled assignments and exams. Organizing tasks most likely will help you feel like your workload is under-control and less stressful to think about. Prioritize My advice is to prioritize all the big-ticket items first (term papers, group projects, final exam prep) and leave the small-valued assignments to the end. Prioritizing helps remove the need to rush to finish something that has a heavy weight on your final grade by devoting your time and energy to the more important tasks. Plan Ahead Busy the weekend before a big exam? Plan ahead some time to study before your weekend plans so you aren't cramming the night before. Space out your study time over the course of a week to allow a proper understanding of the material. Allow yourself breaks Taking breaks from any task is valuable in retaining focus, as found in a 2008 study on retention rates. Giving yourself 15 to 30 minutes breaks will help you stay focused for longer periods of time. Use this time to eat, nap, or exercise to free your mind. Don't overstudy You may feel the need to overstudy but it could have negative effects on your studying ability. Overstudying can cause you to easily lose focus, increase in anxiety, and the inability to sleep due to an overactive brain from stress. Once you feel like you have a deep understanding of the topic, stop studying, and take a break. Don't procrastinate Not procrastinating is easier said than done, but it's the easiest way to prevent stress. Give yourself personal deadlines of when you want something due and then reward yourself with candy, take-out, or an extended nap. It took me 3 full academic years and a few sleepless nights to figure out that not leaving all papers and tests to the day before is an effective way to do well in college. Don't be like me; start being productive early to get into the right kind of habits. Sincerely, The Ones Who Barely Made It Out Alive WRITTEN BY Rebecca Connolly Hofstra University Rebecca is a senior marketing major at Hofstra University. Originally from Colchester, Connecticut, she loves exploring New York City and finding all the best food. You can usually find her anywhere that serves pizza, buffalo wings, or chocolate milkshakes while panicking over her post-graduation future. ... View more