University of North Florida
Michelle Balaun2019-02-12T15:41:15-05:00University of North Florida 1 UNF Drive Jacksonville, FL 32224 (904) 620-1000 www.unf.edu [...]
Best Apps For Students at UNF
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:03:40-05:00App? Apps? What is that? Did someone forget to add the “le”? My kids make fun of me and when I say “when I went to school.” Well, when I went to scho [...]
Best Places to Study around UNF
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:04:12-05:00Shhhhh, Here Is a Great Study Spot! Finding the perfect study spot complete with peace and quiet may sometimes be difficult. Students can bring earphone [...]
Staying at UNF for Thanksgiving
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:04:46-05:00Make it a Friendsgiving Although UNF’s classes are canceled from November 25th – December 1st, 2019, the dorms will be open and not all students will be [...]
Who You Going to Call…
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:06:24-05:00Who Should You Call When You Need Answers? The important contact info you need to have. Over the years there have been only a few times that I, as a par [...]
Happy Birthday Care Packages
Michelle Balaun2020-02-18T09:17:53-05:00If You Can’t Be there this is Best for a Birthday. There is not much I love more than my children’s birthdays! I make a point of buying them a bigger g [...]
Budget 101, Money Talks
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:05:40-05:00The Budget Your Money Talk Some of the most common and often asked questions from new parents are “how much money should I give my student?” “Should I g [...]
Brunch is Breakfast plus Lunch plus Fun
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:09:05-05:00"Brunch is breakfast without an alarm." -- Unknown Most college kids sleep late. It’s a well-known fact. So, going out for breakfast on weekends, in par [...]
Banks and Credit Unions UNF
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:08:18-05:00Many Places to Grab Money, Banks Galore! Leaving for college comes with so many new things, but handling their own money can be one of the scariest. We [...]
Register to Vote UNF
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:10:19-05:00How to Have Your Vote Count While at College, Register! For students in a new city adapting to a busy college schedule, the voting process can seem daun [...]
Cell Phone and Computer Repair
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:07:46-05:00When Disaster Strikes, repair it! Ugh, nothing is more annoying than when your cell phone stops working or when your computer suddenly shuts down. For s [...]
Storage at UNF
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:11:52-05:00Where Will They Put All Their Stuff? In Storage? Feels like they have just moved in! Cars loaded with Every. Single. Thing. from their room at home to [...]
Pets in School
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:12:19-05:00Take Your Dog (or Cat) to College I do believe that the greatest gift I could give to my daughter, maybe almost more than some new clothing, purse or je [...]
Dinner, It’s Time Check out these Restaurants
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:11:14-05:00It's dinner-time! Everyone has their favorite place, here are the places we love to frequent, which one is your favorite restaurant? Restaurants Within [...]
Sorority Girl – The Inside Scoop
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:14:03-05:00It’s More Than Parties, Sorority Life. Congratulations if your daughter has joined a sorority! Joining a sorority was one of the best decisions I made [...]
They’ve Been Accepted
Michelle Balaun2020-02-24T12:15:52-05:00Now, What do You Do? Congratulations Class of 2024… Swoop and Welcome to The Nest!! You can now take that sigh of relief that a decision has been made a [...]
Entertainment is Entertaining!
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:12:55-05:00Try These Fun Things To Do! While visiting UNF and the Jacksonville area, there are plenty of things to do for entertainment. The campus is within 20 m [...]
Lunch Bunch
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:16:20-05:00Mid-Day Munchies- what’s for lunch? Jacksonville is host to a massive amount of lunch options, with restaurants dotting the streets of Town Center and S [...]
Retail Therapy makes starting college easier!
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:16:51-05:00A Little Retail Shopping Helps! One of the best things about UNF (for a shopper) is the surrounding area. UNF is a relatively new school and over the p [...]
Career Showcase: A Student Perspective
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:15:36-05:00How To Align Your Studies With Your Future Career Plans As a freshman in college, being asked to decide your major and think about your eventual career [...]
Our Favorite Apartment Rentals For Real!
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:15:08-05:00Our Fave Rentals Save U Time! Most students cannot wait to move into rentals or apartments after their freshman year for very good reasons. They will g [...]
Grocery Stores at UNF for quick meals
Michelle Balaun2020-01-21T13:27:37-05:00A Kids Gotta Eat! On-campus or off, meal plan or not, your child will need to get groceries at some point and time. UNF has many shopping options right [...]
Bucket List for Osprey’s
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:18:20-05:00Check out these Bucket List Osprey things to do! If you have committed to becoming an Osprey, there are a few bucket list things that you might want to [...]
The ABC’s of 529 Savings Plans UNF
Michelle Balaun2020-02-04T14:00:43-05:00What 529 Pays When you decide to have kids, your first thought is not how am I going to pay for college, but it might be your second. When my kids were [...]
Dropping a Class
Michelle Balaun2020-01-21T10:06:27-05:00Dropping, When Is it Time? Here are the guidelines you should consider when dropping a class. “I need to drop my Business Calculus class.” Not the best [...]
Fix It! Fix it good!
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:17:25-05:00If it’s Broken, You Must Fix It Fix it and repair shops are one of the necessities of life, and when our kids are away at school, we want to make sure t [...]
The Benefits of Joining the UNF Alumni Association
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:19:59-05:00Alumni Networking, Perks and More ... Truly some of the best times of a young adult’s life are college. But all good things must come to an end and wha [...]
Bright Futures – Shining Bright
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:21:52-05:00The Future Is So Bright You'll Need Shades! SEE END OF BLOG FOR CHANGES EFFECTIVE WITH THE 2020-2021 ACADEMIC SCHOOL YEAR Bright Futures has been a grea [...]
Wakey Wakey- Eggs and Bakey Breakfast
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:21:18-05:00Here are Our Favorites for Breakfast Another Broken Egg Café - Start your day the delicious way with southern-style biscuit beignets, gourmet omelets, a [...]
Getting Involved
Michelle Balaun2020-01-21T10:10:00-05:00When You Join You Get Involved Part of the beauty of the University of North Florida is the size of the school. With just about 16,000 students, UNF is [...]
Fun Electives to Take as a Freshman
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:30:15-05:00When You Need Electives and Some Fun! As incoming freshmen, students are guided by their advisors to take their core academic classes. Advisors will mi [...]
Father-Daughter or Father-Son Weekend
Michelle Balaun2020-02-18T09:24:20-05:00Officially, unofficial for Father. There is nothing like a father and son or father and daughter weekend to get the bonding time flowing! I truly belie [...]
Auxiliary Fees for Classes
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:30:53-05:00HaveUHeard of These Fees for Online Classes? There is no denying that college tuition, in and of itself, is a huge expense; however, on top of the cost, [...]
Make The Call to Admissions
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:31:58-05:00Should I, or Shouldn’t I Make the Call? Waiting to find out if you were accepted into the college of your choice is nothing short of nerve-wracking, esp [...]
Planning to Sublease Your Apartment at UNF
Michelle Balaun2020-01-17T12:54:18-05:00The Supply is Greater Than the Demand, Here’s How to Sublease HaveUHeard that when a student moves into an off-campus apartment they generally sign a le [...]
Care Packages
Michelle Balaun2020-01-20T15:14:18-05:00How to Take Care of Them Who doesn’t love an awesome care package?! I remember being in college and receiving a care package from my mom. It was fille [...]
My Student Made Honor Roll
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:33:08-05:00Honor Roll Pride Some parents believe in rewarding hard work-honor roll, with money or gifts, I happen to not be one of those parents. I always tell my [...]
Getting There – Transportation
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:31:28-05:00Planes, Trains, Buses, Transportation, Oh My! Whether it will be the first time dropping off your student, visiting them for parent’s weekend or attendi [...]
Flu Season Ahead
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:35:33-05:00The Flu ends with “U” It’s that season again – and I don’t mean hurricanes. Flu season is generally from October through May. Given that the flu is easi [...]
Graduation
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:35:00-05:00Can they Already be Finished? It seems like yesterday that your Osprey was an incoming freshman and now, within a few months, they will be graduating an [...]
I’m Not Your Maid: Cleaning Services at UNF
Michelle Balaun2020-02-03T14:50:00-05:00Maybe It’s Not A Luxury, But A Necessity? Do our students really need a maid? I never thought I would be saying this but sometimes hiring a cleaning ser [...]
Grad School Housing is More Grown Up
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:37:12-05:00Because Grad School Needs are Different Most grad students are looking to live in apartments or houses. Their needs are different than incoming freshme [...]
Advice I’d Give my Freshman Self
Michelle Balaun2020-02-27T14:10:50-05:00Freshman Year is an Adjustment, Here's My Advice... My freshman year wasn’t your typical one. I started as an undecided freshman at Florida State Univer [...]
Health Insurance
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:35:59-05:00Know More About Insurance Options Students at many colleges today must have a health insurance plan that meets their university’s minimum requirement. [...]
Sending A Package to UNF? Make sure it get’s there.
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:38:56-05:00Make Sure Your Package Gets There For all the many reasons that a student receives a package, most of them are a welcome highlight to their day. Whether [...]
The First Few Weeks
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T12:39:25-05:00We completed the drop. We unloaded the car in the treacherous Florida heat and we set up their rooms. The bed was made, everything had been put away and [...]
Eating on a Budget
Michelle Balaun2020-01-09T15:14:28-05:00Teach Them To Budget And The Rest Is Easy Eating on a budget is hard to do at any age. Teaching my three kids how to budget their money was not an easy [...]
Home Sweet Dorm Make it Fab!
Michelle Balaun2020-01-28T17:04:53-05:00Turn Their Dorm Room From Drab to Fab Don’t be alarmed on move-in day when you walk into your student’s bare and cold dorm room. It’s amazing how quickl [...]