Photo: simply bloom photography

If you’re a college student without a ton of cash that wants some affordable date ideas for Valentine’s Day, you have come to the right place.

1. Fondue and bubbly. Get some cheese and chocolate to melt, borrow a fondue set, and cut up pieces of fruit and cake to dip. Pop the cork (Martinelli’s or soda may be a good alternative if you’re underage) and you’ll have a Valentine’s date to remember.
2. Look for things going on around town. For example, dmadesign says that a theater in Boston is showing Casblance on V-Day
3. Check out an open mic night. Local cafes will often have open mic nights when amateur musicians and poets can perform their latest creations.
4. Plan a Clue Murder Mystery dinner. A Murder Mystery dinner is sure to add some intrigue to your Valentine’s! If you want to get really into character, you can even dress up!
5. Take a couples massage class. Learn a few massage techniques to make your Valentine melt!
6. Go ice skating. You can hold hands the entire time!
7. Group dinner date. If you and your Valentine have just started dating, a group dinner date is a great way to take the pressure off on February 14th. Have everyone bring a dish to share.
8. Go for dessert. Find a local place that serves decadent desserts or frozen yogurt and go
9. Stargaze. There’s nothing quite like winter stargazing with impressive constellations like Orion high in the sky. It will give you a chance to get close and share body heat while you’re staring up at the cosmos.
10. Go sledding. If there’s snow on the hills by your campus, grab some inner tubes or a toboggan and go sledding! Afterward you can warm up to hot chocolate. Mm!
11. Hit a karaoke club. Warm up those vocal chords and get ready to do your best Cher!

Do you have an online college student on your Christmas list? Thinking about splurging on yourself this holiday season? Here’s our list of five must-have gifts for someone working to earn their online college education:

1. Laptop Bag - Every student enrolled in online courses uses a laptop. So why not get them a stylish and functional bag so they don’t break their back?

2.USB Drive - Online college courses consist of homework done on a computer. A USB drive will make transporting files and submitting homework a snap for your friend enrolled in online school.

3. iTunes Gift Card - Earning an online college education doesn’t have to be all work and no play. Give your friend an iTunes gift card and next time they need a study break they will be grateful for some great music!

4. Planner - An online college student can always use a planner to schedule tests and study groups, and to set goals and keep track of homework assignments.

5. Wireless Mouse - Why not get the online college student on your list a wireless mouse so they can take their classes on the road and work on homework no matter where they are?

As Christmas nears and you wonder what to ask for from Santa this year, think about the classes you will be taking when you go back to college. College is a major investment, but the opportunities that will come from it make it more than worth the time and money spent on the education. To get the most from your education it is important to be prepared with the materials necessary for your upcoming studies. The following are some great items to ask for.

1. Laptop Computer-A laptop computer is a powerful tool for taking notes and doing research on the go. A laptop computer offers portability without sacrificing the power and CD drive of a desktop.

2. Notebooks and Pens-The easiest way to take and carry notes from one place to another, these are extremely valuable to any student. You can never have too many of either.

3. Class Materials-From books to lab essentials to art supplies, these are the materials required for each lecture or lab.

4. Mp3 Player-Some colleges now require them for audio recordings of lectures. They are also useful because you can bring your study music anywhere.

5. Preloaded debit card-A preloaded debit card allows you to make purchases wherever debit cards are taken. This can be useful for anything from study snacks to household essentials and any school supplies you run out of.

6. Coffeemaker-This allows you to make coffee instead of visiting coffee shops or the cafeteria.

7. Tablet Computer-Not a necessity, but a spiffy and handy item, this thin touch-screen computer is great alternative to a reader as well as an alternative to paper and pen for note taking.

8. Alarm Clock-An essential for waking up in the mornings and setting for other deadlines.

9. Cellphone-This item is necessary in today’s world. As a student on the go, this allows you to stay connected as through calls and text messages.

10. E-Book Reader-This small tablet can store hundreds of texts in a thin, light-weight device. More and more schools are also making required texts available in e-book form.

One of the best things about earning your degree online is the freedom that online classes offer you. You can do your class work on your own schedule and in a comfortable environment instead of sitting in a cold lecture hall. Learning in comfort can help you to relax and therefore absorb information more readily than if you are surrounded by a lot of distractions like those found in traditional classrooms. To help yourself relax and get into the mood for studying, you can even listen to music, something that you would never be able to do in the traditional classroom setting. Music has even been shown to help you retain information and to boost your test performance, a phenomenon called “The Mozart Effect.” In fact, there are several companies that market music like this to students wishing to improve their grades. Below are ten composers to listen to while studying for online classes.

1. Mozart

The best place to start to take advantage of the so called Mozart Effect is with its namesake, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, perhaps the greatest composer of all time. Mozart excelled in many genres of music, but perhaps the best place to start for the online college student would be the piano concertos. Since they are instrumental pieces, there are not any vocal elements like in opera, which can be distracting.

2. Bach

Like Mozart, J.S. Bach is considered one of the top three composers of all time. Writing in a highly ornamented Baroque style, his music is full of vitality and complexity, both of which can help an online student to focus. Bach’s works for keyboard, like the Partitas, French, and English Suites would set the perfect mood for studying.

3. Beethoven

Perhaps the most famous composer of all, Beethoven also makes for excellent study music for students of online universities. Some Beethoven works like his symphonies may be too loud or bombastic for study, so it’s better to listen to the more introspective string quartets.

4. Haydn

Like Mozart, the music of Franz Joseph Haydn epitomizes the Classical era. His music is full of catchy tunes and motifs, which can blend easily into the background while you are studying. Try listening to his symphonies during a study session. Since there are over one hundred of them, you are sure to have a wide variety to choose from for a while.

5. Chopin

Chopin was the master of the piano and its preeminent composer. His lush and romantic piano works make for the perfect study music. It can induce a sense of tranquility and peace that will help you study. Chopin’s nocturnes are an excellent place to start.

6. Brahms

Brahms’ music is like an extension of Beethoven. Brahms used Romantic musical vocabulary and combined it with Classical forms. His music is lush and rich. If you plan to listen to Brahms while studying for an online university, begin your journey with his chamber works.

7. Schumann

Robert Schumann’s music is in a way bipolar, a condition which afflicted him. On the one hand, some pieces are loud and boisterous, while others are somber and introspective. His smaller piano works are a good place to start when choosing music for studying.

8. Debussy

Like in Impressionist art movement, Impressionism in music was also an important movement. Claude Debussy is perhaps the most important representative from this school of music. His music is quite atmospheric and lush sounding, which can create a tranquil environment for your study.

9. Ravel

Ravel was another important French Impressionist. Much like Debussy, Ravel’s music is lush and full of interesting harmonies and melodies. Some people find his music more accessible than that of Debussy, although the two are often confused for one another by novices.

10. Gershwin

Sometimes when studying, you just need to let your hair down and relax. The music of George Gershwin is jazzy and has catchy tunes, which can help to set the mood and relieve some stress.

In order to help musicians build their brand, name, and career, it’s important to team up with a public relations specialist. Public relations specialists with online degrees from reputable schools nationwide can help musicians with their advertising, social media, and branding. Musicians who hire public relations specialists can focus on doing what they do best — writing, recording, and performing their music — while the PR professional can take care of getting them visible positive press.

Public relations specialists help manage a musician’s relationship with the public, creating opportunities for them to be featured in publications such as newspapers and magazines by the distribution of press releases. While it is possible for musicians to do their own public relations, many musicians struggle with this business aspect and prefer to have someone take care of it for them.

A well-respected public relations organization New York recently facilitated a European rock band’s tour to America, coordinating radio promotion, press materials, and interviews while on tour. As they drummed up interest in the band through a variety of different media channels, the band was able to deliver memorable interviews and focus on their performances.

Many schools offer online degrees in public relations, allowing busy professionals to work their school around their busy life, and not the other way around. With a public relations online degree, graduates can choose their niche markets and work with the likes of musicians, small businesses, non-profit organizations, or even politicians. For more information about a public relations online degree, visit My Colleges and Careers.

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There is much that can be said for doing what you love. As they say, if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life.

For people who would love nothing more than to enjoy a profitable career in the video game industry, there are available jobs other than just programmers, game testers, and computer animators. After all, what would Super Mario Bros. be without the music?

One of the most popular video games of all time, the music for Super Mario Bros. was penned by Japanese composer Koji Kondo who has been on Nintendo’s payroll since 1984. Talk about job security!

Since video games have become mini-movies, no video game is complete without a music score. Music professionals adept in composition and arranging can enjoy careers with video game companies writing video game theme songs. Through a music or composition degree, you can develop the music skills necessary to have your compositions be immortalized in video game history like the Super Mario Bros. theme!

It’s 10:00 at night, that huge final you’ve been dreading is tomorrow, and you just can’t seem to summon the concentration you need to cram a few extra hours of study time to prep for it. Did you know that baroque music can help you study?

Fascinating studies on music and its effect on concentration and learning have yielded incredible results. Baroque music, typified by composers such as Mozart and Bach, is played at approximately 60 beats per minute and activates both sides of the brain, effectively increasing the listener’s learning capacity and the retention of information. Baroque music causes the heart rate slows down which relaxes the listener, enabling them to become more alert and improve concentration. The Center for New Discoveries in Learning reports that learning potential can be strengthened up to five times simply by listening to music at 60 beats per minute.

Not convinced? When Thomas Jefferson was struggling with wording for a particular section of the Declaration of Independence, he stopped to play his violin and was then able to find the appropriate words. Albert Einstein, revered as one of the brightest minds of our time, learned the violin as a child. He loved playing the violin and embraced the music of Mozart and Bach, two famous baroque composers. Einstein apparently found solutions to his equations while improvising on his violin, according to a friend of Einstein’s G.J. Withrow. How’s that for evidence about music and learning?

Fascinated about music and its learning benefits? Learn more about music by investigating music programs on My Colleges and Careers.

If you don’t own any Mozart, no worries. Thanks to the internet, baroque music can be streamed for free on Pandora Internet Radio.

And the next time you can’t think straight, turn on some baroque music and let us know how it works out.

Before these musicians were famous, they were writing term papers just like the rest of us. Many of them studied creative arts and a few even studied less artsy subjects like, gasp, economics! There is something to be said for smart rock and something to be said for an individual who is smart enough to get their education on the off-chance that they are not the next Mick Jagger.

An artist’s intelligence shines through in their work. Smart lyrics laced within literary illusions and metaphors make for some, well, to use a regional dialect, “ril good listenin.” Check out our list below.

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