By Hofstra Advice Columnist

We’re at the halfway point in the semester, and there are various ways to be stressed out, but also reward ourselves. Do we stay in to pick our spring semester classes? Are we supposed to celebrate the passing of midterms on Halloween? Our advice columnist explains it all! If you have a topic you’d like to see covered, email us at [email protected].

1) I’ve finally gotten myself through my midterms, but now, thanks to those tests, my entire sleep schedule is messed up. How do I fix it?

Let’s face it, a crazy sleep schedule is something we’re all going to have to face eventually, and why not start now with your midterms? The real problem, like you said, is trying to get your pattern back to normal. Here are a few tips in case you are having this issue:

A) If the problem is that you’ve pulled an all-nighter and only want to sleep during the day, try to take short, sporadic naps; this ensures that you will still be able to sleep at night, and that you will remain conscious during the day.

B) If the problem is that you’ve slept all day for a test in the evening, and now you’re as awake as can be, you might want to pull a necessary all-nighter; by the following night, you will be begging to crawl into bed!

2) Soon, we’re all going to pick classes for the spring semester, but I’m still trying to figure out my fall schedule! What can I do to make the selection process easier?

There are a number of people you should meet with: Academic Advisors, Major Advisors, Advisement Deans, and friends that may be in the same major or classes as you. You will want to receive as many opinions as possible and look at the number of ways you can design your spring schedule to fit around your needs and wants.

Would you like an early morning class rather than an evening class? Does International Business sound more relevant to your major than Global Studies? Really, the questions are endless, but easy to answer with a detailed look at your DAR (Degree Audit Report).

However, in the end, it’s really all up to you, the student, to decide what you want to do with yourself, your major, and your future.

3) Halloween is potentially my favorite holiday of the year (Free candy!). But what do you think; is it too late for me to still go trick-or-treating, or can I pull it off?

I’m right there with you! Next to Christmas, Halloween is easily one of my favorite holidays in existence! Everyone can do with a little candy in his or her lives, but there might come a time when you might want to call it quits on the trick-or-treating.

Now, if it was you and a group of college friends going, then all the power to you; get dressed up and go enjoy yourselves! But if it is just you by yourself… than that’s when some problems may begin to arise.

As much as free candy might attract you as much as a fly to a lamp, you are getting older and would want to approach events like trick-or-treating with a little more caution. God forbid you are mistaken for something more dangerous than just a college kid wondering by him or herself at night with a bag of candy, your parents will most likely not be too thrilled when they get a call.

Just have fun and express caution, and for everyone’s sake, take friends!