Always ask- even if she's cute.

Jacob was home from school and back working nights at a small convenience store near the beach. Jacob has worked there summers and holiday breaks since high school stocking, pricing and ringing up purchases. It's a few extra bucks in addtion to his daytime job as a lifeguard.

On typical summer weekends the store is crowded with partiers stocking up. Ice, chips, wine and beer, lots and lots of beer are typical purchases. The law in Jacob's home state requires identification to purchase alcohol for anyone who looks under thirty. By now Jacob is pretty experienced in spotting underage buyers and always asks for ID. Well, almost always. On a recent busy Friday of a holiday weekend the store was packed and Jacob was busily ringing up for the beach bound revelers and occasionally asking for ID just in case. In the midst of all this busyness a girl approached Jacob's register with a Fourty. She looked "kinda young" as Jacob recalls but she was also "pretty cute" and had a friendly smile. For the sake of expediency and possibly for the sake of making a friend Jacob skipped the part about asking for proper identification. He rang up the purchase and the girl left.

A few minutes a police detective entered the store accompanied by some local uniformed officers and the girl who had purchased the Fourty. "Did you sell this girl alcohol?" the officer demanded. Jacob was practically dumb struck. "Yes." he replied. "Did you see her identification?" Jacob said he didn't remember.

It was a sting.

The local police in association with that state's Alcohol Licensing Board had a program of sending minors into retail stores to attempt to purchase alcohol. These operations were usually during busy holiday weekend evenings. If the minor was successful the seller was cited. The detective filled out a citation while the officers took Jacob's picture with the girl holding the Fourty. Jacob signed the ticket which was an order to appear in court.

Since that night Jacob has appeared in court. The district attorney has offered him a deal in which if Jacob completes an educational course held over a weekend the charges will be dismissed. The course costs several hundred dollars, just about what Jacob makes in a month at that job.

Expensive lesson. Note it carefully. No matter where you are but especially where money is involved always follow the rules, regulations and guidelines. In retail, if part of your job is selling alcohol always, always, always ask for ID- even if she's cute.

Don't do the crime if you can't pay the fine.

The sheer busyness of life on Planet College offers numerous opportunities to cut corners, especially with minor nuisances like parking meters. "I'm just gonna run in here for a second so I don't have to put any money in the meter." Experience often shows it is best to put the money in the parking meter- even if you'll "only be a minute." While parking without paying may not seem like a serious crime, once a parking ticket is issued the actual fine can be steep. And ignoring the ticket can add up to some serious money. Skipping a few coins now can result in to paying some major bucks later. Parking tickets add up. If they are on campus unpaid tickets can eventually interfere with getting copies of your transcript. So before you "just stop for a minute" in the disabled parking space or a no parking zone-think- do you have the money to pay the fine? Well? Probably not. So go park where it's free, even if you have to walk a few blocks. Don't do the crime if you can't pay the fine.

Living in Your Department.

Summer on Planet College is the time most students earn most of the money they will need for fall term. Two jobs, three jobs even four not at all uncommon- even with squeezing in a summer school class or two. The advantage to working more than one job is you have that much less time to spend the money you are earning. This can lead to an opportunity you may not have considered.

At some point in the perpetually discouraging life of every student on Planet College there comes a time to declare and act on it. That is declare a major and do what is necessary to fulfill the requirements. This usually entails more than the average attendance/attention expended so far in your courses.

Making an outrageously serious effort to actually get somewhere in your education requires time, commitment and application. And money. If now you are strenuously involved in accumulating as much money as possible for Fall consider this.

This fall take as many courses as you are permitted in your major. Be in your department for every event, every course you need, every guest speaker and every major related program offered. This is often referred to as "Living in the department" and, as you've seen ,some devoted majors do actually end up sleeping in the hallway. Student's who have made this exceptional effort often report experiencing an unexpected lift when grades are issued. Spending one full term concentrating on nothing but your major will upgrade your assessment of your self as a student. It will also put you significantly closer to actually graduating.

Living in the department takes a special effort and is of course dependant on your finances. If working during the regular term is a necessary priority then living in your department may not be possible. Still, if you can save enough money from all those work hours this summer, then, you may be in a position to really make a move this Fall.