It’s that time of year when College students are headed back to campus. For those being away from home for the first time, it can feel daunting. For others, an exciting adventure awaits. Apart from settling into dorm life, making new friends and coping with homesickness, how to ensure you survive and positively thrive in a College setting? Can feng shui help? Of course!
Feng shui is ensuring the energies that surround you work for you and not against you. Feng shui is not complicated and it shouldn’t be made out to be. It is like anything else – learn the basics and check off your checklist feng shui to dos, while avoiding feng shui taboos.
For College students, here are the most important:
1. GET YOURSELF A GOOD BOOK BAG
The best way to start off a new school year is to get yourself a new book bag! Make sure your new bag is of good quality – something that evokes sturdiness, strength, durability. College life is fun, but there will be tough moments when you need resilience and staying power. There will be an adjustment period when you acclimatize to a bigger workload, new learning style and self-discipline. A sturdy book bag to get you on the right track is a good place to start.
2. CLIP ON AN EDUCATION AMULET
Never dismiss the power of symbolism. That’s why each year we design activators for different kinds of luck. Study luck is the most important for the young person, and our scholastic enhancers feature all the symbols of good education luck, together with lucky Dakini symbol for luck in exams and learning. Clip onto your bookbag at the start of the year.
3. PICK YOUR DORM ROOM WISELY
If you have a choice of dorm room, pick one with a bed where your head can be pointed towards your FU WEI direction. Each person has four auspicious directions they can tap. For the student, the best direction is your Fu Wei, which brings Personal Development luck. Pick a room and bed that allows your head to point this way. Sleeping the right way is SO important for the student. It allows you to get a good night’s sleep and ensures the knowledge you learn during the day has the best chance to sink in as you sleep at night.
4. PACK BRIGHT COLOURS
When you’re living away from home, you will have to do your own laundry. For most young people, this may be a first, so collate a wardrobe that’s low maintenance – machine washable and dryer friendly.
Equally important – don’t pack just dull clothes. Blacks, greys and navy blues are suitably studious, but too much of such colours could get you down, particularly for those schooling in climates that get cold and dreary in the autumn and winter months.
Introduce a pop of bright colour – a scarf, a top, your school bag. Bright colours do so much for your mood and will help you stand out in a crowd; useful at College when getting noticed has its benefits.
5. DON’T CUT YOUR HAIR TOO SHORT!
Hair that is too short is unlucky. Many guys before the start of a new term have their hair cut short, so their haircut “lasts” a long time, before they have to make their next appointment to the hairdressers. Or parents arrange for enough hair to be taken off, so their kids don’t end up looking like mops by the next holiday. BUT cutting your hair too short cuts away your good luck!
Your hair is your crowning glory, so don’t let your hairdresser take off too much. If you find overly long hair too hot, at least leave enough as a fringe. Having enough hair gives you a certain charm, but more importantly, brings you good luck.
AVOID RIPPED JEANS
Designer rips may make you look hip but does NOT make suitable college wear. At College you should aim to achieve the right vibe. Keep your clothing decent, professional and non-ripped. Ripped is never considered good feng shui, particularly so when attending College.
6. PEN AND PAPER
Don’t neglect a good set of stationary. Pens and plenty of writing paper. When you’re trying to retain knowledge, there is nothing better than making notes the old-fashioned way. Writing by hand influences your cognitive process in a way that slows you down – allowing your brain more time to think and soak up what you’re learning – much more so than typing on a keyboard.
It helps improve your understanding and helps you to remember new knowledge better. For students, handing in neatly-typed-up assignments is great, and will be well appreciated by your Professors, but don’t substitute handwriting completely. Handwritten notes at the research and planning stage are a hugely important part of the learning process.
7. HAVE DIFFERENT GROUPS
Once you find your clique of friends, it is easy to become so comfortable it seems senseless to put effort into developing more diverse groups and connections. But for a healthy College life, you need both close friends, and friends that are not so close. There’s great value in mixing with different influences that bring new stimulus your way.
Have dorm mates, study mates, sports gang. Be diverse in your social choices. And don’t neglect becoming acquainted with teachers and professors. When you find a way to connect with them on a level, it helps prepare you for the real world where you will be required to converse with people of all ages and experience. It will make you more mature, and this maturity will come across in your work, giving you an advantage over your peers.
8. DON’T GIVE UP EXTRA-CURRICULARS
Just because you are trying to focus on your studies does not mean you should give up on your passions and pet loves. The workload at College may be more demanding, but having other activities balance out your days actually makes you more productive. Once you leave College, you have even less time to indulge in music, drama, sports, debate; don’t waste the varied opportunities that College life provides.
