Preparing For College Checklist

Congratulations, you’re officially a college freshman! This is both an exciting and daunting transition for most students. Help take some of the edge off and start your first year with confidence by doing these 7 things before college starts:

Schedule your campus tour. You can show up and walk around on your own, but scheduling a tour gives will give you more insight into the different areas of campus and what you can expect on your first day. Avoid not knowing how to get to your dorms or your first class and make sure this “to-do” is a priority. While you’re exploring campus, make sure you note where the emergency points and security office are.

Improve your reading skills. Consistent reading not only increases your speed, it helps you process what you’re reading faster. If your freshman English professor hasn’t already assigned summer reading, get your hands on the syllabus or recommended reading list and see how many books you can knock out before the first day of college.

Start networking early. If you haven’t already, consider joining LinkedIn. It’s never too early to start building connections and working your way up to that awesome internship or part-time job. Connect with classmates, friends, and even your professors.

Download time-management and study apps. Make managing college life easy with a little help from your smartphone. From note-taking and citation assistance to time-monitoring and collaborative learning apps, there are a plethora of options available that can make your first year at college a breeze. See a recommended list here and here.

Put together a budget. It’s easy to get carried away with money in college, especially with food, shopping, and weekend trips with friends. Start putting together a budget by analyzing how much money you will need each month for food, gas (if you will have a car on campus), clothes, etc. As much as possible try to stick to this budget – it will help with your financial and prioritization skills down the road.

Prepare for life in a new city. Personal security is important. Stay alert, build a "buddy network" of roomates and new friends where you watch out for one another. Download and use the Virtual Halo app amongst your friends, it will help you check in with each other when you're supposed to, or send out an SOS if you get into an emergency and your buddy's will know where you're at.

Get to know your professors. Show initiative and willingness to participate by developing a relationship with your professor before school starts. As the year goes on, they might also be willing to act as your mentor and guide you through challenging coursework and college life. Remember to be respectful and sincere when contacting them.

Participate in orientation activities. Orientation is a crucial time to start making friends, researching clubs and organizations, and getting to know your campus environment. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to ask questions and get involved.

Reprinted from EnvisionExperience.org

Adventure of the Week - # 1 - Bali

Each week, we're featuring a journey, an adventure, a unique event somewhere around the world. It could be in your back yard, or it could require four flights, a tuk tuk ride and you helping crew a junk across one of the vast stretches of water that cover our planet. We travel - a lot! It's in our blood, it's who we are. All Adventures that we write about we've done - unless you've got one that's so awesome, we need to share it. Got an adventure that competes? Email us your experience and who knows, it might be featured!

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Our Founder, Josh at the Besakih Temple on Bali

Adventure # 1 - Bali

Bali is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, but getting there isn't one of the easiest, although it's worth the journey. From the US, you typically need to traverse to Australia and then take a 3-hour flight from Melbourne to Denpasar, Indonesia, which is on the island of Bali. The US State Department has listed Indonesia in its list of "Worldwide Caution." They've also assessed the Indonesian Directorate General of Civil Aviation as not being in compliance with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) aviation safety standards for oversight of Indonesian air carrier operations. While their advice is extremely valuable and should be headed, we believe that life is about the journey. Weigh the risks and choose for yourself as long as you're not breaking the law.

Once you've made it to Bali, the main tourist spot is Kuta Beach. It's beautiful, but can be crowded. You'll find yourself one of the only American's to be found, but in a sea of German, British and Australian tourists. English isn't a problem - everyone speaks it that we encountered. While there are a ton of cheap motels around Kuta, you need to think about what you're looking for. Are you going to go out to the bars and clubs each night? Just lounge on the beach? Or do you want a more secluded stay? Bali has it, but if you want quiet, Kuta is not for you.

Unfortunately, the backdrop of Kuta has been slightly diminished by the site of Western chains such as McDonalds. This is unfortunate. Do yourself a favor and bypass the urge for a Big Mac. Sure, there's a novelty to say you've eaten a Big Mac in each country, but is that really something to be proud of? We think not.

Instead, explore the city on foot. You can go inland 3-5 blocks and that's all you need to get out of the tourist centric areas. You'll smell the sweet scent of incense burning and see the offerings laid at the foot of shop doors, placed on car dashboards and on the desks of hotels everywhere. Bali is unique in a way that it has a split religious population; about 50% of the people are Hindu and the remaining 50% are Muslim.

While on Bali, make sure you get a Thai massage. Everything on Bali is less expensive than the United States (except entrance to the Hard Rock Hotel pool complex - which is amazing!), so give it a try. Our experience was that everything can be negotiated. During our time on Bali, we never spent more than $5.00 for an hour-long massage. For the modest-minded people, be warned - they have you strip naked in front of them and lay down; apparently, they have no modesty.

Another great thing to do is to rent a cab driver and his car for the day. When we did this, it cost about $30, and we drove into the city, visited traditional art houses, ventured around 3-story tall ancient statues in the middle of roundabouts. We went further into the island to see the volcano crater lake, rice plantations and visited several ancient temples including the Pura Besakih temple complex (pictured above), which were beyond compare.

As a guy wearing shorts, I had to purchase a sarong to cover my legs and then was on my way up the hill to the high temple with a guide ($2). He taught me how to pray the traditional prayers and explained the significance of the structures and houses within the temple complex, the offerings that people left each day and what their God expected of them. Oddly enough, on my way back down, we came upon an honest to God cockfight. That was a first. The locals were nervous with a 6'4", 270# white American stood over them watching their chickens fight, but I didn't mean any harm and they finally figured that out (my guide had a little to do with smoothing things over).

Without a doubt, you'll be surprised at the smog, the motorcycles that know no lane and the tangle of overhead electrical lines. The chaos of Bali is in stark contrast to its tranquility, beauty and calm. You can be yourself, explore nature, work with the islanders to learn their forms of art, or relax on the beach. We've assembled a top 5 list of things to do in Bali while you're there. You won't be disappointed.

Our Top 5 List of Things To Do in Bali:

5.) Dine at a live volcano - The Madu Sari Mountain Restaurant
4.) pend time at a few unknown beaches - we like Nyang Nyang Beach for its towering green cliff and pristine sands
3.) Experience a day as a Balinese Rice Farmer - in Tabanan
2.) Visit an abandoned place - the abandoned plane parked between a few houses in Kuta, the defunct amusement park Taman Festival, or the uncompleted hotel Taman Rekreasi Bedugul for an adventure you won't forget. Click here for more info.
1.) Visit a hidden underwater temple - The Pemuteran temple was deliberately constructed underwater for divers and snorkelers and is very impressive. It's on Bali's "quiet" side of the island.

One thing to keep in mind while in Bali or anywhere else - stay alert. Everyone wants your money, whether through goods and services, or by pickpocketing. It's ok to say no if you don't want a massage, or their car service or to buy their trinkets. Keep moving - like Dory, if you just keep moving, it's hard for them to corner you into a compromising situation. When traveling internationally, we also recommend registering with the US State Department Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP).

Now, get out there and have an adventure! Enjoy Bali!

The Innovation Showcase Highlights Indiana's Startup Ecosystem

Last week, we had the opportunity to participate in the Innovation Showcase at the Dellara Car Factory in Indianapolis, at the Speedway. What an amazing event! Startups from around the midwest drove adn flew in to showcase their technology.

From agricultural evolution and medical device advances in cancer tissue analyzation to software companies with new apps (like Virtual Halo) to a company that's invented a better toilet seat for people in wheelchairs. The 80 innovative companies given an invitation to exhibit truly were the Best of the Best as dubbed by the Venture Club of Indiana.

I'd like to give a huge shout out to the group at Elevate Ventures, and all of the Venture Capitalists and Angel Investors that attended the events. Those of you that met with us kow who you are; thanks!

The Innovation Showcase was the first regional startup event Virtual Halo has attended, but after winning the two events hosted in Peoria, IL in the past year, it was time to expand. The questions asked and offers made were nothing short of awesome and we are hubled by the excitement and buzz that's surrounding our personal protection app.

Safety Knows Fewer Boundries

Today, Virtual Halo is excited to announce that we've expanded our service into two additional countries - residents of the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic are now able to download the Virtual Halo app from their respective App Store's and utilize Virtual Halo's award winning services.

Residents of these island nations often feel isolated and haven't had a tool that could notify their trusted group of family and friends in the event of an emergency; now they do.

The outbound number that sends the text based notifications will remain the same at (309) 213-2823, which is the authenticated number that broadcasts all Virtual Halo based notifications.

Pricing for the app will remain the same - FREE for the download and to utilize the SOS feature; to unlock the enhanced features, including the Check In and Going Out modules, residents of the Bahamas and Dominican Republic will be charged the equivalent of $1.99 per month in their respective currencies.