Week Two

This week in class we had did an exercise to share and discuss what common issues freshman often face during their first year at Iowa State. The more I think about it doesn't every freshman at Iowa State face some kind of issue at some point throughout the year? Something I'd like to discuss with my class this fall is that everybody needs help sometimes, especially during the first semester of college, it seems inevitable. The fact is that once you realize the problem what's been done is done, you can't go back to change it, you have to look ahead and say from this moment forth what do I need to do to improve the situation. If you don't know what that answer is then ask a friend, and if they don't know try and seek counseling from a trained professional. 
      The hardest part is sometimes accepting that you have a problem on your hands, because it can seem easy to talk yourself out of accepting it. If you have any doubt that there's a problem then share the situation with a friend or family member and see what they think. If you keep putting off the problem, 99%  of the time it isn't going to fix itself, and it will only worsen.
      An issue that I had earlier this school year was the amount of money I was spending on eating and drinking out. I knew I was going out more than I ever had before, and often bought meals and drinks for my girlfriend and other friends. I knew there was a problem with the issue after the first month of school, but I just made an excuse to myself that I was making up for the past year of deployment. Finally I decided enough was enough and added up the total charges on my bank statement for going out during a month, and calculated what percent of my income it was costing. I've since then set myself on a budget where I've established a weekly cap on the amount I can spend on going out, and if I meet the cap for the week then it looks like I'll be eating Hamburger Helper and renting a Redbox DVD for my entertainment. I wish I would have come to terms with the problem sooner than I did, the biggest hurdle was being able to accept it.