When a 17 year old male turns 18 they are required to enlist in the selective service system by law.  In order to get financial aid for studies at a college or university males need to sign up to the selective service system within 30 days from his 18 birthday.

The selective service system is also used for student loans, grants, job training, federal employment, and naturalization.  If a male fails to register, he will not be eligible to receive benefits that are part of being enlisted in the selective service. 

Women are excluded from the selective service because they are excluded from combat.  So if your an 18 year old male planning to get financial aid or job training, REMEMBER to sign up within 30 of your 18th birthday.

The life of a college student can be hectic, with work, school and possibly volunteer, life can become a jumbled mess.  If your stuck in a similar situation, you don't have to sacrifice any of the extra activities you do in your normal life, you just have to learn how to put everything together.

One thing you can do is get yourself an agenda so you can write down important dates, such as:  quizzes, midterms, finals, assignments, and work schedule so  you will be able to refer to it to remind you of the task you need to complete. 

Depending on your classes and what time you need to attend school, you can look for a job that fits your schedule, whether its everyday or only specific days, you can also fit in activities such as exercise time, or a hobbie, or even save yourself a day of study and homework, so you don't have to stress about having time to do school work.

Something we can all relate to is procrastination.  Leaving something to the last minute, staying up all night to finish up a project, we've all done this and it seems that this habit gets worse with time.   Most of us would rather  do other things  such as: hanging out with friends, playing games, or sleep rather than read, do homework or our chores.

How does procrastination build itself, you ask?  Well, lets just say my mom asked me to clean up my room but instead I decide to watch television and told myself I will just do it tomorrow. 

Tomorrow comes and your mom is upset and tells you to clean your room before doing anything else, when you start your friend calls to go to the arcade or hang out but you can't because you procrastinated and in turns made you miss out on a fun time with your friends.   Procrastination can affect your relationship, education, work and life.  Try not to tell yourself "I'll just do it later" soon enough later would be now and you would have so much to do and not enough time.

In conclusion, you shouldn't let wait till the last minute, procrastination will catch up with you in the near future.

Planning for college can start as early as your sophomore or junior year, to get started on your college plan and/or career path draft out goals.  Examples of some goals are: applying to 2 scholarships each month, study for SAT or ACT exam once a week or look into 1 college per week that you are interested in.   I was a high school senior once so I would assume that most of you have not done these things and there is probably not much time to invest in accomplishing these goals.

That's the problem of many teenagers now a days.  Students are too occupied by graduating that they forget to stay on task, most people refer to this 'illness' as  senioritis.  Symptoms include falling behind on class work, tardiness, ditching and incomplete assignments.  Senioritis can happen as early as junior year.

This is a big problem when the end of the spring semester comes, graduation becomes a question and your anxiety kicks in.  Questions like, how do I apply for financial aid, how will I afford school, will I be graduating, what will I do if I don't graduate.  Don't be that person and stay ahead, it will make your senior year remember-able and hassle free.

Loans may be an option, if you didn't apply to FAFSA.  However, loans are not free money, loans have to be paid back - you are borrowing money when getting a loan.

Everyone likes free money and that is what scholarships and financial aid is, free money that will allow you to go to college, buy books and supplies.

Make the best out of your graduation experience, just keep in mind to also be responsible at the same time, get informed on what you need in order to graduate and plan ahead to make it happen.

Many high school students ask themselves what is college going be about, how their professors are going to be like, and more likely, if they're even going to make it through their classes.

Many of them believe that college is going to be a really hard experience they will have to go through, when really?! college is going to be the best years of their lives, as many college graduates affirmed.

K-12, everything was decided for you, what courses to take, when to go to class but college is different.  College leaves decisions to you, what classes to take, whether to come to class, the choices made daily are your responsibility.

Its good to take your classes seriously, however, also make sure you enjoy the experience!  Meet new people, learn and study new cultures, jobs and careers you enjoy, but always keep in mind that time management is the key to success.