How to Professionally Format an Email

Learning to properly and professionally format an e-mail is something we are never taught in high school, but expected of us as adults. I know many of you like myself may have to fight the urge to use internet slang when typing an e-mail. For example, I usually don't spell out the word 'you' and use 'u' for short, I somehow have 'lol' engraved in my head because I'm always tempted to add it to my text when wanting to seem less serious. In fact, before deciding to write about this topic, I myself had no idea how to professionally format an e-mail to someone such as a possible future employer or even my professor.

• I'm not sure about you, but I usually never add anything to the subject line (probably because it's optional). When sending a professional email, make sure to include a relevant subject in the subject line. It could be something as simple as Employment Resume or Thank You.
• If you know who you are writing to, don't forget to add a salutation such as Dear Mr./Mrs. If you don't, write Dear Hiring Manager when applying for a job.
• Try to make your message as concise and to the point as possible. Only include essential information because when reading a long messages, people tend to skim.
• Make sure to have a simple font, no emoticons or slang words, and also make sure that your spelling and punctuation is correct. An error free, and correctly written message shows you are professional and serious.
• Sign off your message with "Thank you," , "Sincerely," or any other simple send-off, followed by your name.

To make it look extra professional, add an email signature. This should be about three to four lines.

Do NOT include your email address in the signature.

                       Your name

                       Title (optional), Company (linked to website)

                       Phone Number

If you'd like, you could also include your social networking information as a 4th line.

Try out newoldstamp for a unique e-mail signature generator

Tips and Tricks For Easier Internet Use

Today in my internet tools class I learned a lot of tips and tricks for simpler internet use!
For the most efficient web use, Firefox Mozilla is recommended. I've always preferred to use google chrome, but after being in this class I can see that Firefox offers a lot better add-ons for efficient web browsing.

• Delicious.com - A method to store and organize your bookmarks to be able to access them from any computer. This is great because I'm always on different computers wishing I could view a site I bookmarked on another computer. Now view your bookmarks anywhere and share them with other people!
• Make a web page text larger by using ' command + ' for a mac and 'control + ' for a pc
• Use (-) minus to make text smaller
• When you're searching for a specific word on a web page that you searched for and you can't find it use ' command F ' mac or 'control F' pc and at the top right of your browser a search bar will pop up. Enter in that word and it will show you all the occurrences of that word on that page!
• Command G/Control G will go to next occurrance of that word

GOOGLE TIPS

• Using quotes "" gives you a more accurate google search
• Using (*) gives you more options on a google search
• To search a page that doesn't contain a specific word  put a minus (-) in front of it
• Use (~) to find synonyms of a word
• You can search within a site on google! For example enter : (site:youtube.com top music)
• You can find a specific url. For example enter : (inurl: pool "eight ball") this finds a url with pool in it that looks for eight ball on the page so it knows you dont mean swimming pool
• Type " define: WordYouWantDefined " to define a word without going to dictionary.com

FIREFOX ADD-ONS 

• Cooliris Previews (addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2207) - allows you to preview a page on a search engine without opening a new page
• Google preview (addons.mozilla.org/firefox/189) - places thumbnail size images of website in search results
• Cache view (addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2323) - allows you to right click to see cached versions not loading
• GDirections (addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1104) - highlight any street address on webpage and right click for google maps to load directions immediately
• Interrupted download - resume a failed download and speed it up with Download Them All (downloadthemall.net)
• Video files - now that you can download faster, you can save videos for offline use with a Video Downloader (addons.mozilla.org/firefox/2390)

I hope my learned tips and tricks of the internet will help you in one way or another! As I learn more, I will be adding them to this post

How to Successfully Eat Healthy With A Busy Schedule

Even though you'd like to eat healthy, sometimes a frozen pizza or pack of cheez-its it the easiest go to food compared to cooking up a vegetable omelette. When you have a busy schedule and want to stay healthy like me, you need to start small.
Switching over from an unhealthy diet to a balanced nutritious one is hard. It's especially hard if you try to cut out all the high sugar and carb foods cold turkey. It is known that you are less likely to succeed in a diet if you try it this way. Instead, start one by one, substituting that granola bar on the go for a banana or apple. Choose a glass of water over any other commercial drink. Beverage calories like soda don't add up like food calories. A can of soda every here and there can not only cause you to gain wait, but cause you to feel sluggish during the day.
Every single healthy choice substitute is a victory gained!
It's okay to reward yourself with some junk food every now and then too! When I'm craving something sugary or salty, I eat only a few bites of it, then I drink a glass of water. I do this once, but sometimes twice. It helps with the craving and still gives you some satisfaction.
If you want full balanced meals and no time at all to cook throughout the day- or the money to pay for a seven dollar salad, two words: MEAL PREP. Yes, it is that simple. Every Sunday(or whichever day works best for you) plan out your meals! If you don't already know, google all the healthy meals and snacks that you can make because there are a crap ton on pinterest. Go shopping weekly according to these meals and cook all the food that needs to be pre-cooked (like chicken). Put each prepped meal in a tupperware container and just like that you can grab a meal, heat it up real quick(if necessary) and go.
Yes it is easier to stop at that taco bell on the way home from work or heat up a frozen pizza instead of whipping up a whole meal, but chances are you stumbled upon this blog post because you want to make an effort to eat better.
Eating healthy is no piece of cake (no pun intended), but with these tips I've shared with you, it doesn't have to seem like such a chore.

Does Going to a Community College Make your Degree Less Credible?

The answer is no. Community College is deemed to be an inferior last resort school that people only go to when they have no other options. Yes, it is a cheaper alternative and may not offer as many course options, but community college is just as credible as any other university that you would pay an arm and a leg for. I go to a community college. That doesn't mean I am dumb and couldn't get a scholarship; I was a full AP student with a 4.0 GPA in high school.  It gives me room to work while going to school because I have more time during the day since I live at home and go to school locally.
The material learned is the same, and the credits are just as valuable. In fact, a teacher that is teaching at a university could also be teaching at a local community college as well. The important part is that you learn what you're supposed to learn. A professor at a university could be a horrible teacher causing you to not understand the course material and a professor at a community college could be one of the best teachers you've ever had!
I believe community college is better because I am an indecisive person and I switched majors after a year of school. If I went to a university I would've wasted a lot of money on classes I don't need. Yes I wasted some money, but no where near as much as I would've if I went to a university. If I wanted, I could go to a two-year school too since I am currently finishing up my second year at a community college. I'm choosing not to for financial purposes, but the option is always open for you to transfer if you make sure that your taking courses that have transferrable credits.
Of course if I could afford it I would've went to a university for the experience - that's what I believe you pay for; the experience. Society looks at community college so negatively because that's how it's been made to seem, so that you will pay more money for your education.
The best part of it all is that I will be DEBT FREE after I start my career, unlike many university goers. Don't believe the myth that a community college earned degree isn't as credible as a university degree, because it IS.

Welcome to My Blog! (That I Have No Clue How to Run)

Do you feel like high school didn't prepare you for the real world? One minute you have to raise your hand to go to the bathroom, and the next you are expected to decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. One minute you're worrying about who subtweeted you in fifth period, and the next you're worrying about a career choice, college plan,  balancing a job, social life, and school, and much more. Fear not! You are not alone in this. We are all clueless inside, even if we don't show it. Follow me on my journey to becoming a seemingly credible adult while I find all the tips and tricks to surviving in the real world... things that high school didn't teach you.