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Finding a Cosigner When Your Parents Aren’t an Option

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You may need a cosigner for a financial product if your credit score isn’t up to par. Here is some information on cosigners, why you may need one and what your alternatives might be.

What Exactly Is a Cosigner?

A cosigner is a person who agrees to take full responsibility if another person defaults on a loan product. Such people usually have excellent credit scores and strong reputations with credit bureaus.

A cosigner situation can occur in various loans, but they’re most common in student loans and other instalment loans. According to Ascent Funding, it’s quite common to have private student loans with a cosigner. An automobile loan or regular personal loan may require a cosigner, as well.

When Could You Need a Cosigner?

You may need to request a cosigner if you have less-than-desirable credit. The lender might be a bit nervous about you and want to be reassured they will receive repayment for the loan product.

According to Ascent Funding, “if you don’t qualify for a loan in your own name,” you should consider applying with a creditworthy cosigner.

A lender may also ask for a cosigner if you’re new to the credit world and don’t have a history with any creditors at all. They may be willing to provide you with the loan funds but still want a little reassurance.

Four Alternatives to Having a Cosigner

Other alternatives are available if you don’t have a traditional cosigner, such as your parents in mind for your loan product. You have the option to ask a friend or family member to cosign for you instead of your parents.

This person will have to know you very well and have faith that you understand how important it is to repay your loans on time. You can sit down with the person and discuss the cosigning situation when no distractions are apparent.

You may have to settle for taking a much higher interest rate for a while. This may be more true with an auto loan than other types of loan products. The good news is that you may be able to apply for a refinance loan when some time passes.

You might also be able to talk to the loan company and see if they will take a larger down payment to compensate for the lack of credit score qualification. Larger down payment may make the lender a bit more confident that you’re fully invested in the product and repayment.

You could also try looking for help from a non-traditional lending source. Many lenders are open to the idea of helping people who have less than perfect credit. Thus, you can try to apply with that type of lender. You could also go in the direction of a peer-to-peer lender for help. Peer-to-peer lending involves people who want to invest in helping other people.

Should You Wait to Borrow Instead?

In some situations, you may prefer to wait a little while before you request a loan. For example, you might want to work on boosting your credit score for a few months before applying for a student loan, car or home. That decision will depend on where you stand financially, but it’s perfectly acceptable for you to do so.

Now you know more about cosigning and how it can work for you. Use the information above to take the next steps toward getting the perfect loan products.

Importance of Education

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“Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.”- Robert Frost

Education is an integral part of an individual’s life. It helps in the holistic development of a person and that of society. From providing fresh perspectives to illuminating thoughts, there are a lot of advantages to quality education. Today, we will be looking at the importance of education and how it helps to develop a nation.

Importance of Education

As mentioned earlier, there are a lot of advantages that come from education. Educated citizens are an asset to the country. Let us look at the advantages or benefits one by one:

Character Building

One of the most important things that a man can possess is a great character. What the world needs is people who can understand other people and education plays a huge role in character development. Over the years, there has been a paradigm shift in the field of education and the syllabus and curriculum now place focus on important aspects such as teaching. The main aim of education is not just to impart knowledge but also to build character. The purpose of education is to be able to listen to others, to be compassionate, and to realize that you don’t know everything.

Employment and Career

Education opens doors to new opportunities and possibilities. The better educated an individual is, the better the chances are of a great career. Again, another important point that we have to underline here is that education is not just about degrees and certifications, it is also the books that one reads, the experience that one gains, the observations, and the growth. More often than not, people restrict the term education to schools, colleges, and other similar institutions. Whereas, in reality, education is a much bigger realm and is a lifelong process.

Economic Development of a Country

The more educated a country’s citizens are, the more developed the country can become. For instance, people who are well educated in the field of science and medicine are trying hard to find a cure for the pandemic that has put us all to the test. The more educated minds are at play, the better the chances are at winning.

A well-educated nation can conquer new heights and achieve great success. We have resorted to new ways of education such as online teaching and virtual classrooms. There are brilliant Edtech start-ups that are redefining the education sector altogether. For instance, Teachmint is an app that is a one-stop solution for online teaching. With a host of amazing features like automatic attendance, online whiteboard, live class recording, and more, it has enabled teachers and tutors across the country to take their classes online. This development is a result of quality education.

Society/ Community Building

Man is a social animal and education helps to understand and define boundaries and create and develop meaningful ties. It helps the enrichment of society and as mentioned to builds strong, meaningful communities. In addition, education helps the community and contributes to its advancement. In fact, being educated is an advantage to help our people and build a good society.

Builds Confidence

An educated person knows better. They have an understanding of the ways of the world and how things work. This adds to confidence. We cannot say that education is the only thing that contributes to building confidence, but it is one of the most important parameters that help to build, develop, and sustain confidence. The importance of education goes beyond words.

Self Dependency

Another advantage of education is that it helps people to be self-reliant and self-dependent. Being able to stand on one’s own feet is extremely important in today’s time. It not only helps to secure a good social reputation but promises a secure future and a stable life. Nothing is better than being financially independent.

Conclusion

We have discussed the importance of education in this article. Education develops a mindset and prepares a person for the life ahead. And not to forget, it is a continuous process. It is like a guiding light that gives the basic guidelines as to what is right and wrong and how a person uses it varies according to their background, wisdom, and wit. Educated citizens make and develop the country and are a great asset to the nation. As it is rightly said, there is nothing such as too much knowledge and too much education. Education is wealth.

How Education helps in Developing a Mindset

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“It’s not that I am so smart, its that I stay with the problems longer”- Albert Einstein.

Although these are just a few words from Albert Einstein, they mean a great deal when it comes to developing the mindset. Having a PhD in Psychology, Carol Dweck has characterized two different mindsets after multiple studies. 

One of the mindsets is called a growth mindset. Individuals with a growth mindset have a hunger for gaining knowledge throughout life. Furthermore, failures seem like an opportunity to learn and strive to achieve higher goals. 

On the other hand, a fixed mind lets the individual have a fear of failure. They believe that all individuals are born with intelligence, and it is not changeable. As a result, they do not set higher goals for themselves. 

The role of education plays a vital role in developing a particular mindset. Both educators and parents are responsible for teaching the young ones that achieving anything in life is possible. 

Carol Dweck’s Studies

Carol Dweck, an American psychologist, studied over 1000 students’ behaviors. She noticed that some students rose back to their feet after small setbacks while others were devastated by their failures. Hence, she concluded her findings into two terms, growth mindset and a fixed mindset. 

Advanced research shows that the human brain is more adaptable than we ever encountered. Research shows that the connectivity between neurons changes with experience. In other words, neural growth is in our hands. The connections become stronger when using different strategies, finding answers to questions, and having a healthy lifestyle. 

Furthermore, studies have shown that there is a direct link between mindsets and achievement. For example, a group of 7th graders was taught and encouraged to believe that intelligence is malleable, which resulted in lots of efforts. Hence, they were able to achieve excellent grades in mathematics. 

Two Types of Mindsets

People with a fixed mindset are prone to believing that intelligence and abilities are inherent and fixed. So, no matter how hard they try, they will never exceed the limit of inborn intelligence. This type of mindset leads to a setback in achieving higher personal goals. People with such a mindset lose the belief of succeeding after a failure. Hence, failure is a dead-end for them.

On the other hand, people with a growth mindset are well aware of the fact that that some people are born with natural intelligence. The thing that makes them stand out from the crowd is the belief that working hard and learning new skills will eventually lead them to success. They do not give up easily when there is a failure. They embrace challenges, gain information, and seek inspiration from others to give out the best of their abilities.  

The Role of Education in developing Mindsets

The goal of education should not be to pass the skills and knowledge only. Instead, education should teach the student the ability to problem-solve and take on challenges. This way, the student will be well-prepared to tackle an issue outside the school and later on in life. Both parents and educators have an equal role in developing a growth mindset. 

Educators Role in Developing a Growth Mindset

Education is broader than achieving a particular course or degree. Research shows that students’ mindset plays a crucial role which affects how comfortable and motivated they are when faced with a new or difficult problem. Students with a growth mindset have been able to take on difficulties and challenges more effectively than those with a fixed mindset. Hence, educators should incorporate growth mindset strategies in their interaction with students.

Parents Role in Developing a Growth Mindset

Likewise, parents should encourage their children to explore, embrace new experiences, and enjoy challenges. Encouragement and appreciation to both success and failures help immensely in the early stages of developing a mindset. 

Parents should focus on the process of hard work rather than the outcome. For example, instead of commenting “you are so smart”, a parent should give an insightful comment like “I like the choice of colour of that picture.” It sends a message to the child that the efforts, hard work, and dedication are more important than being smart. It enhances growth in the present and the future. 

How can blue light affect your eyes during online classes

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Long months of lockdown and online classes have exposed us to high-intensity blue light that can cause multiple chronic and acute optical defects. You might have surely seen one of your friends buy glasses online with an anti-blue light coating on them and wondered what blue light is. Well, here is the answer:

What exactly is blue light?

You might have already read about this in the science lectures but read on for a recap:

  • The sunlight is a spectrum of lights of seven different colours of the rainbow – Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red. 
  • Moving from red light to violet light, the wavelengths decrease and their energies increase.
  • Red, orange, yellow, green and blue lights are the colours visible to the human eyes, hence they form the “visible spectrum”.
  • Now, being the last colour of the visible spectrum, blue light moves with an extremely high energy.
  • This high energy of the blue light contributes to its damaging nature for the human eyes.

How does blue light affect our eyes?

There is not just one, but multiple reasons for doctors to recommend blue light glasses for students during online classes:

Cataract

Do you know that the human eye lens can absorb light rays of short wavelengths, that is, the blue waves to block them from reaching the light-sensitive retina? However, during this absorption, the lens releases some substances and derivatives that get added to the lens cells and turn them yellow. This is how the lens turns opaque and the eye develops a cataract. 

Macular degeneration

The retina of our human eyes are extremely sensitive to different colours of light, and this is why it identifies different colours and creates an image on the screen. When high-intensity blue rays from tech screens fall on the retina, they induce some toxic reactions in the cells of this screen. Gradually, the tissues start to deteriorate and with time, the eye develops macular degeneration. Age-Related Macular Degeneration is a major cause for age-related blindness among the UK population.

Dry Eye Syndrome

Digital Eye Strain is another extremely prevalent eye defect among the masses. It is caused by excessive exposure to blue light emitted by laptop, computers, tablets, and smartphone screens. The symptoms include dry, itchy, irritated, and sore eyes that can be very painful. 

Insomnia

Do you feel like an insomniac these days? It’s probably because of the blue rays you are being exposed to. The sleep cycle in our body is regulated by the sleep hormone, called melatonin. Melatonin is released in increased quantities in the absence of blue light, signaling our body for sleep time. However, blue rays from tech screens during bedtime suppress the production of the sleep hormone, thus resulting in loss of sleep.

Tips to prevent blue light damage

Limit screen time

Prevention is better than cure. You can try to minimise the use of tech gadgets by switching Kindle with paperbacks and online gaming with indoor board games. When you sit on the screen, try to follow the 20-20 rule: after every 20 minutes, look away from your screen for 20 seconds. 

Wear blue light glasses

Blue light blocking glasses are becoming extremely popular these days, especially due to online schooling and work from home routines. These glasses come with a special coating that reflects back any blue rays falling on them, thus preventing them from reaching the eyes. You can ask your optician to add an anti-blue light coating on your prescription or varifocal glasses.

Eat good food

Eating a balanced and nutritious diet, filled with fruits and vegetables good for eye health can help to combat all the above mentioned diseases and disorders. Foods like carrots, oranges, blueberries, bell peppers, legumes, green leafy vegetables and nuts include nutrients and antioxidants like Vitamin C, E, lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-carotene and bioflavonoids. While beta-carotene functions as a precursor for the production of Vitamin A, lutein and zeaxanthin help to shield the eye against light damage. 

If you have been looking for cheap glasses with blue light coating online, you can check Specscart’s website for a decent variety of premium quality spectacles at the super affordable price range. 

Your Dream Scholarship Awaits: The Best to Study Abroad

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I know why most of you are here. Because you are confused, and this is the problem most of the students are suffering from. They want to study abroad in the best universities, but the only hesitation is the ‘cost’.

Yes the cost, not everyone is in the position to afford all these expenses. Because it’s not only the tuition fee to worry about, there are also other things attached to it.

But fear not, you still have a chance, if you are in truth a hard-working student. There are some kindhearted people who care about you and have managed to make a way for you.

There are hundreds and more scholarships that offer the best students to study abroad and fulfill their dreams. Some of these scholarships are offered by governmental agencies, others by the universities, and some of the charitable enterprises and external funding foundations.

The Categories of Scholarships

Merit-Based Scholarship

These merit-based scholarships are offered to the students who have shown excellent academic results in their previous institute. They are also offered to the students who have participated in any extracurricular activities and volunteer works.

Student Specific Scholarship

These scholarships are offered to the students to study abroad with respect to some various factors such as disabilities, race gender. Or if a student is considered as a minority. First-gen college students can also take advantage of this scholarship

Region-specific scholarship

These scholarships are based on the region or country of the student, or the region of the institute of students. These are also given to those students who want to proceed with a program in that country in the future.

Program-specific Scholarship

These scholarships are based on the specific subject or program that is the major field of the student to study. It is offered by the universities on the basis of personal goals and achievements.

10 Merit-Based Scholarship Offered by International Universities

CIEE scholarships

There are some merit-based scholarships that are offered to the students by CIEE based on the academic records or by submitting an essay on CIEE, that how will it impact on our future plans.

It offers summer and semester programs

Apply Now

PING SCHOLARSHIP FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE

Award: $2,500 (semester program cost)

Award: $750 (summer program cost)

Qualifying programs: All summer programs, all semester or year-long CIEE program.

MCDERMOTT HEALTH SCIENCES, NURSING, AND PUBLIC HEALTH MERIT SCHOLARSHIP

Award: $2,500 (semester program cost)

Award: $750 (summer program cost)

Qualifying programs: CIEE’s Community and Public Health summer, semester or year-long programs.

RITZMANN TROPICAL AND MARINE ECOLOGY SCHOLARSHIP

Award: $2,500 (semester program cost)

Award: $750 (summer program cost)

Qualifying programs: CIEE’s Sustainability and the Environment, or Tropical Ecology and Conservation summer, semester or year-long programs.

Foreign Government scholarships

There are some merit-based scholarships that are offered by USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and France mentioned bellowed:

EIFFEL EXCELLENCE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM (FRANCE)

This scholarship program to study in France was developed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that the higher education of France can allow the best students of masters and Ph.D. level to study in their best universities. The Eiffel program does not cover the tuition fee. In fact, it covers the student’s monthly allowance, cultural activities, social security, and a return trip.

Apply Now

ENDEAVORS POSTGRADUATE AWARDS (AUSTRALIA)

This scholarship program offers international students to study in any field in Australia. It covers all the financial support of a foreign student.

Qualifying Programs: Masters (up to 2 years).

Ph.D. (up to 4 years).

Scholarship Coverage: Tuition fees, travel allowance, monthly stipend, health insurance, travel insurance, establishment allowance.

VANIER CANADA GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP (CANADA)

This scholarship was meant for international doctoral students to study in Canada and participate in establishing it into a world-class global center in higher education. The course covers doctoral degree or combined MA/Ph.D. or MD/Ph.D.

Award: worth $50,000 per year for three years.

CHEVENING SCHOLARSHIPS (UK)

Chevening scholarship program is basically meant for the superlative students that show a potential towards leadership. They are allowed to study and cover their courses at the postgraduate level in the best universities in the United Kingdom.

Scholarship Coverage. Most Chevening scholarship programs cover tuition fees, living allowance for one person only, an economy class return trip back to the UK and additional grants for necessary expenditures.

Some of these programs cover only a part of the cost of studying such as only the tuition fee or only the living allowance.

Apply Now

FULBRIGHT FOREIGN STUDENT PROGRAM (USA)

The Fulbright foreign student program is a scholarship program that provides allowance to the students from other companies to come and research in US universities or any other suitable university for one year or longer. It provides funding to the students for study duration such as tuition fees, monthly allowance, textbooks, returns airfare, and health and travel insurance.

Apply Now

Merit Scholarship based on essay writing:

STUDY ABROAD AWARD

The good colleges study abroad award is an essay writing competition scholarship award that allows the students to study abroad in different countries at the college level. For this purpose, the students have to write an essay of around 150 to 250 words on the given topic in order to win the competition.

The students who win this competition gets a cash prize of $2,000 which can be used as living expenses as a foreign student while studying abroad.

Deadline: the deadline for this program is November 1st every year.

Merit Scholarship Based on the learning of Critical languages:

Many universities allows the scholarship to the students on the basis of learning certain critical language.

CRITICAL LANGUAGE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

The US government has put effort in this program so that the American students enrolled in US colleges and universities would be able to learn any one language out of 15 different critical language.

For this purpose, a student is sent abroad for 8 to 10 weeks in order to promote a rapid language gain. This program includes intensive language instructions and structured cultural enrichment so that the student could gain experience.

Award: $2,000.

10 Best Money Making Ideas for University Students

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Starting a business as a university student is not such a bad idea. For one thing, it can pay your tuition fee. Also, you can put your learning into a hands-on experience. Moreover, it can become your career in the future. Besides, when March Zuckerberg came up with the idea of Facemash in his second year of college, he had no idea it would make him the king of Social Media.

10 Best Money Making Ideas for University Students

Universities can take a lot of hours and energy from a student’s day. However, with proper time management and being organized can give you success in your startup.

Virtual Assistant 

All you need is an internet connection and a laptop and some basic communication knowledge to be a Virtual Assistant. Let’s face it. Many successful businesses are too occupied to keep up with the Social Media updates with so many tasks at hand.

You, as a university student, could pitch into work as a Virtual Assistant and screen emails, update contacts, maintain Social Media accounts, or proofread blogs, emails, and presentations.  

Tutor 

There might someone in your university that is not doing so great in a subject as you are. This is a great opportunity for you to help that student to achieve better marks by tutoring.  

Youtube 

If your interest lies in acting or performing, Youtube is a great platform to portray. It could be book reviews, tutorials, funny act out clips, or just your view on something that is trending. If there is enough traffic, then you could make money out of it by Ad-Sense or become a business partner with Google.  

Start a blog 

Students who have an interest in writing could start a blog. Blogs could include content on makeup, fashion, technical gadgets, or even a personal blog. With a good traffic flow, add Google Ad-Sense to make money.  

Write an E book 

Some students who have the ability to make stories can enjoy writing E-books. They could write a self-motivation, a fiction or non-fiction story, or a true story.  They can sell their Ebooks through their blogs or Amazon.  

Work as a freelancer

Students who have skills like voice over, marketing, or know computer programming can sell their services world-wide. There are many platforms where a student can work as a freelancer. The best thing about freelancing for a university student is that you can be your own boss so you can work at your own suitable timings.  

Jewelry Making 

Every student is talented. Some are into books others are into arts and crafts. These students can make use of their gifts and make jewelry. There are many tutorials on youtube to upgrade your talent or even learn the art of making various jewelry.  

Photographer 

Let’s say you have bought a DSLR camera and want to make some money from it. You could put your pictures on social media like Instagram and gain lots of viewers. The more the viewers the higher the chance of someone contacting you for their business. Even if it fails, you can sell your photographs of premium photography websites.

Drop Shipping 

A drop shipping business is a product-based business without the products in hand. If you have the skills for selling and marketing, you can benefit from this one. You have to be the middle person among the consumer and the manufacturer. Make a website and sell the product as if it were yours.   

Earn through Apps 

There are many apps that can help you earn. Some apps give you money on conducting online survey. Others let you sell things online. Still others let you make money by completing basic errands or tasks.

Without a doubt, there sure are many possibilities to make money with just a cellphone and an internet connection. All in all, there are a variety of ways a student can make use of their free time and bring in some cash. All it takes is determination, the key to success.