Safest Places to Visit Your Student This Semester
Michelle Balaun2020-10-14T11:23:29-04:00We Still Love to Visit Our Bulls Let’s face it, these are odd and crazy times! Things look very different at USF this semester but one thing is still fo [...]
Sorority Recruitment: What to Expect & What to Wear
Michelle Balaun2020-07-22T12:58:03-04:00USF Sorority Recruitment: What to Expect & What to Wear Tips & Tricks You want to know what to expect and what to wear for the best recruitment [...]
Flu Season Ahead
Michelle Balaun2020-09-29T13:17:59-04:00The Flu ends with “U” It’s that season again – and I don’t mean hurricanes. Flu season is generally from October through May; peaking in December. Given [...]
What Classes Students Wish They Took
Michelle Balaun2020-10-06T16:16:57-04:00You can still have some fun! Today, universities have students declare a major almost immediately. That is not to say they cannot change their major but [...]
Hillsborough College First, Then Transfer
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T12:17:59-05:00Then Transfer to USF For many different reasons, some students prefer to start their college career at a local community college and then transfer to US [...]
Money, Money, Money
Michelle Balaun2020-08-20T14:38:29-04:00When Will Financial Aid Disburse? The time has come to pay for your college costs and money panic sets in. I remember receiving my tuition statement fo [...]
Sorority Girl
Michelle Balaun2020-10-02T17:18:10-04:00Sorority Girl Not being in a sorority myself, although I was a Little Sister for a fraternity at USF, having my daughter become a sorority girl was a ne [...]
Nature vs Nurture – What’s around USF
Michelle Balaun2020-09-10T12:48:41-04:00Nature vs Nurture Now that you have a USF Bull, I’m sure your recent trips to Tampa have been all about seeing the school, orientation, and move-in. You [...]
Moving In, It Just Got Real
Michelle Balaun2020-01-28T11:47:36-05:00Moving In Once your student has been given their move-in date and dorm or residence assignment, the process of handling what can be a stressful, labor-i [...]
Supervise an Easy Budget for Your College Student
Michelle Balaun2020-10-21T14:53:19-04:00This is a budget lesson that will serve you in the future! When we attended orientation with our daughter, we were inundated with information from FAFSA [...]
Are U Ready For Some Football?
Michelle Balaun2020-10-22T11:22:41-04:00Are U Ready For Some Football? With most large universities, planning on attending the school’s football games starts in the summer. The big rivalry gam [...]
Auxiliary Fees for Online Classes
Michelle Balaun2020-09-30T12:13:58-04:00Who Pays for This? **Due to the unprecedented Spring 2020, situations and circumstances continue to evolve daily. Please start all your planning for any [...]
Dinner, Early or Late
Michelle Balaun2020-07-30T14:48:41-04:00Well, what are you hungry for, it's dinner time!? Like any college town, there are literally hundreds of dining options from fast food to fast-casual, f [...]
Advice to My Freshman Self
Michelle Balaun2020-04-22T09:35:27-04:00What Every Freshman Should Know, Real Advice Being the oldest sibling in my family, going into college I had no idea what to expect. Of course, my paren [...]
Student Accessibility Services
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T12:48:27-05:00Consideration for Providing Accessibility for Everyone For students with a disability, the Students with Disability Services Office can help. Whether i [...]
More Veggies Please – Vegan/Vegetarian Dining
Michelle Balaun2020-11-05T12:11:23-05:00Eating Healthy is Possible at College. We LOVE Veggies! With our country’s focus on health and healthy eating, college students are growing up used to “ [...]
Searching for Scholarships
Michelle Balaun2020-08-20T13:58:37-04:00Congratulations on Your Child Being Accepted! Now that that’s settled, the idea of actually paying for college looms. Hopefully, you have prepared in s [...]
Diversity and Inclusion for LGBTQ College Students
Michelle Balaun2020-07-10T17:16:32-04:00LGBTQ Campus Support and Resources College can be challenging for all students, therefore finding ways to make connections with others who identify simi [...]
Bright Futures – Shining Bright
Michelle Balaun2020-07-01T12:40:44-04:00The 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 [...]
The Next Four Years
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T13:50:44-05:00The Next Four Years So you have a student ready to spend the next four years as a USF Bull? That means that you will be spending some time in the Tampa [...]
Thrift Shops for the Thrifty Near USF!
Michelle Balaun2020-06-29T09:23:51-04:00When You Need to Be Thrifty and Stay on Budget Thrifting isn’t just a hot trend right now, it’s an amazing way to stay in style while saving money. Bein [...]
Sorting Out College Life- A Guide to Laundry, Dry Cleaning & Alterations
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T14:01:32-05:00Laundry Never Ends! Every mom has thought or said this a million times, and now our college kids are (hopefully) learning the tedious task of doing thei [...]
Food for Thought
Michelle Balaun2020-07-01T15:05:24-04:00No Student Hungry Much like the national campaign No Kid Hungry®, there are many students at colleges throughout the United States that are barely getti [...]
Parking at USF
Michelle Balaun2020-04-21T17:57:17-04:00Get ready, get set, GO! I have yet to hear about a university in the state of Florida where parking is easy-peasy. There are just never enough spaces f [...]
What NOT to Bring to College
Michelle Balaun2020-04-21T15:27:23-04:00Do You Really Need It? Ok, I have only sent one child to college, but it really only takes one send off to learn the ins and outs of what a freshman col [...]
Spring Sports playtime in the sunshine!
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T14:12:07-05:00Sports, Let’s Face It! Fall is about football. At least, at most schools, and USF is no different. But when the season is over, and students are back [...]
Working While in College at USF, Here’s How to Cope
Michelle Balaun2020-11-10T13:40:15-05:00Working While in College To Work or Not to Work? Working while in college is a very personal decision. Each family will decide on the needs of their stu [...]
Sick at School While at USF
Michelle Balaun2020-09-20T13:49:54-04:00Sick at School Get ready…it’s bound to happen. At some point, the phone will buzz and your independent college student with a cry, “I don’t feel well, I [...]
Bulls Green with Envy With A Heart of Gold
Michelle Balaun2020-08-25T11:44:47-04:00Putting Together Great Bulls Gameday Outfits I love going to college football games- there is nothing like game days. HaveUHeard how USF got its colors? [...]
Grocery Stores
Michelle Balaun2020-01-12T16:41:04-05:00Grocery Stores A Kids Gotta Eat On-campus or off, meal plan or not, your child will need to get groceries at some point and time. USF has many shopping [...]
Get Involved
Michelle Balaun2020-08-10T15:14:47-04:00Get Involved USF is huge! With over 37,000 undergraduates across over 1500 acres, it can sometimes be hard to not feel overwhelmed by the size of the sc [...]
Preparing for Grad School Exams
Michelle Balaun2021-05-07T13:09:58-04:00Just keep going! Whenever you hear someone say, “four years fly by” believe it! Preparing for graduation comes as a shock to some, but then there is th [...]
The Best Apps for USF Students
Michelle Balaun2020-11-10T13:40:43-05:00The Best Apps for USF Students I always feel old when I say, ‘back in my day’, but the truth is that back in my day, we lived in a world without apps, c [...]
Favorite Apartment Rentals
Michelle Balaun2023-05-08T16:39:30-04:00Favorite Apartment Rentals Not Your Momma’s Apartment Just when you think you have your student all settled in the dorms, chances are you will be hit wi [...]
Mother-Daughter Time
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T14:42:09-05:00Mother-Daughter Time Although I had visited my daughter a couple of times at school, my first weekend alone with her was in the Spring for her sorority [...]
Campus Resources for Students of Color
Michelle Balaun2020-07-27T09:44:33-04:00Campus Guide to Resources for Multicultural Students Campus diversity amongst students has grown considerably over the years and USF vies to maintain an [...]
Eating on a Budget at USF, Ways To Make It Fun.
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T14:48:20-05:00Eating on a Budget One of the not-so-fun things parents do is to teach their children to budget, about money and how to handle it. We’ve all heard it; [...]
Birthright Israel – Hillel
Michelle Balaun2021-01-14T16:30:37-05:00Birthright Israel – Hillel What exactly is Birthright? Birthright began in 1999 with a bold idea—offering a free, life-changing trip to Israel to young [...]
Care Packages for USF Students
Michelle Balaun2020-10-01T10:42:48-04:00Who doesn’t enjoy getting a care package delivered? We know you really care, you care a lot about your student and want them to be happy. Whether it is [...]
It’s All About the Delivery at USF
Michelle Balaun2020-09-15T13:07:13-04:00Delivery, It Is So Easy! When I was in college, the only delivery available was pizza delivery. Getting a five-dollar pizza delivered right to my dorm w [...]
How to Transition as A Transfer Student
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T14:54:12-05:00Becoming a BULL We all know that there are many ways for a student to end up at their final college institution. Maybe you have attended the college of [...]
Make the Call to Admissions if you have Questions
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T14:57:14-05:00Should I, or Shouldn’t I? Call admissions or not? After the excitement of finally deciding on what colleges to apply to, there comes the time-consuming [...]
An Insider’s Guide to Living on Campus
Michelle Balaun2023-05-08T16:34:12-04:00Learn the Best Way to Manage Your Housing. Housing is one of the first decisions you must make after being accepted into USF. The housing you select wil [...]
Finding a Roommate
Michelle Balaun2020-05-07T18:32:37-04:00What To Look For In An Ideal Roommate. One of the biggest fears of any new college student is “the roommate”. Finding the ideal roommate can be stress [...]
Family Weekend
Michelle Balaun2020-04-21T17:46:53-04:00Family Weekend Every school has Parents Weekend, and for USF the tradition continues. This is a great time to see your students in their “natural habit [...]
The First Few Weeks
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T15:14:53-05:00We 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 [...]
The Stress of College
Michelle Balaun2020-06-01T12:15:04-04:00The Stress of College It happens to all of us, even our kids. You probably saw this when they were studying for their AP exams or writing the dreaded c [...]
Trouble in Paradise
Michelle Balaun2020-01-10T15:24:41-05:00Trouble in Paradise Your student got in trouble. Or they are having trouble. Now what? It’s not uncommon. Sometimes even “the best kids” end up getting [...]