Having to balance work and school is tough, and it can slow down your progress through college. Look for ways to cut costs and minimize your need to work while you’re in school. For example, you might:  Attend an in-state school or community college, so that you can pay lower tuition rates. Get an online degree or go to a school close to home, so that you don’t have to worry about paying rent or campus housing fees. Apply for scholarships, grants, or federal student loans to help cover the costs of tuition and fees. If you’re trying to get through college quickly, you’ll need to devote all of your time and attention to passing your required courses. This might mean missing out on participating in student organizations, social events, service opportunities, and internships. If you decide to take on activities and responsibilities outside of your regular coursework, choose carefully and try to focus on opportunities that will help you achieve your career goals. early. Most college students end up changing their major at least once. There’s nothing wrong with feeling uncertain or wanting to explore your options. However, changing your major or starting college without a major can slow you down quite a bit. If you want to get through college as fast as possible, decide on your major ahead of time and stick with it. This will help you avoid taking a bunch of courses you don’t need for your degree. Taking courses you don’t really need can slow down your progress through college. That elective course on medieval weaponry may sound awesome, but it might be best to skip it if it doesn’t count toward your Horticulture Studies degree. Work with your adviser to make sure you are getting the most out of your credits and staying on track to graduate as efficiently as possible. Getting support is especially important if you’re struggling to balance school with other responsibilities. Ask friends, family, advisers, mentors, and fellow students to lend a helping hand sometimes so that you can get through college more efficiently.   For example, if you’re a working parent trying to get through a college degree, ask a relative, a friend, or a fellow parent to help watch your child sometimes so that you can get homework done. Some schools offer support groups for non-traditional students. Look for student clubs or campus groups for adult learners, working students, or students with families. Don’t be afraid to reach out to teachers, advisers, and school staff if you are struggling. Remember, it is their job to help you succeed.

Summary: Avoid working during college, if you can. Cut back on extra-curricular activities. Choose your major Focus on required coursework for your major. Reach out to your support network.


Make a pair of shears and shear them. The wool can be dyed using dyes obtained from plants and other sources. You can hit them with a fist, a sword, etc.  If you're good with redstone, then try making an automatic kill switch to kill your animals. Rig up some floodgates to push the animals to their doom(whatever you desire). If you kill a chicken, you get feathers and raw chicken. This will make them more useful.

Summary: Shear the sheep. Kill animals for meat, leather or feathers. To produce more materials, you may want to make a bucket/shears.


Unlike most essays, a speech is written to be read out loud, and your audience will be more engaged if they feel like you’re having a conversation with them. As you’re writing your introduction, imagine you’re talking to someone and trying to convince them of your point as opposed to writing a research paper. Just make sure your introduction is still authoritative and professional.  To make your writing more conversational, try to use brief sentences, and avoid including jargon unless you need it to make your point. Using contractions, like “I’ll” instead of “I will,” “wouldn’t” instead of “would not,” and “they’re” instead of “they are,” can help make your writing sound more conversational. Being concise is especially important when you’re writing a speech since you want to hold your audience’s attention. Long, convoluted sentences will make your introduction hard to follow, and you risk people tuning out. Make sure you don’t include more sentences than necessary when you’re writing the different components of your speech. Being aware of your audience while you’re writing will help you craft a more persuasive message. As you’re writing the introduction to your speech, think about who will be listening when you deliver it, and use that to help you decide what information and strategy you’ll use. For example, if your audience will be made up of the other students in your college class, including a pop culture reference in your introduction might be an effective way to grab their attention and help them relate to your topic. However, if you’re giving your speech in a more formal setting, a pop culture reference might fall flat. It will be easier to persuade your audience if they feel like they’re having a conversation with you as opposed to listening to a lecture. To help them feel like they’re a part of the conversation, don’t be afraid to reference them or directly speak to them in your introduction.  For example, you could write something like, “I know a lot of you may strongly disagree with me on this. However, I think if you give me a chance and hear me out, we might end up finding some common ground.” Or, you could include a question like “How many of you here tonight have ever come across plastic that's washed up on the beach?” Then, you can have audience members raise their hands. Reading the introduction to your persuasive speech out loud is a great way to catch any awkward language and complicated sentences. If you find yourself stumbling over a certain section, stop and revise it. Keep practicing like this until you can confidently read through your introduction and everything flows together nicely. You can even record yourself reading your introduction to get a sense of how you'll look delivering the opening of your speech.

Summary: Write in a conversational tone. Be concise when you’re writing your introduction. Tailor your writing to your audience. Connect with your audience. Practice reading your introduction out loud.


Set your large piece of scrap paper, like a place mat, in front of you. Place your cardstock in the middle of the scrap paper. Lay out your cardstock so the surface you want to emboss on is faced upward. Look at the stamp to make sure the surface of the stamp is completely covered with the embossing solution from the pad. Firmly press the stamp onto the desired spot on the cardstock.  Find a happy medium with the amount of ink you use to cover the surface of the stamp. Too much ink can make the design appear blurred once stamped onto the paper.  To ensure a crisp image, carefully lift the stamp straight up. Clean the stamp by wiping any leftover embossing solution off with a damp rag. When pressing the stamp against the paper, make sure that level pressure is applied firmly to the stamp’s back to ensure an even application. Follow the stamping up with embossing powder. Make sure all the embossing solution is completely covered. Lift the card so any embossing powder that did not adhere to the stamped area can fall to the paper below.  You may need to lightly tap the card. Return this unused powder to its container to be used again. Sit your card back down. Use your paint brush to dust off any embossing granules that remain on the card outside the stamped design. Plug in your heat gun and hold it a couple inches away from the card. Move it around above the powdered area. The heat will begin to transform the powder into a raised, shiny coating.  Pay attention not to get the heat too close to the card or hold it in one place too long as it can scorch the card and ruin the embossing. Be careful not to burn yourself with the heat gun or with the finished embossed design. Allow it to cool for at least 30 seconds before touching it.
Summary: Prepare the cardstock for embossing. Press the rubber stamp you chose lightly onto the embossing pad. Stamp the paper with your coated stamp. Sprinkle embossing powder over the stamped location. Emboss the design onto the paper with your heat gun.