Being a college student has a lot of perks in terms of accessible facilities, discounts and resources. Here are a few tips on what to take advantage of while you’re a student:

• Amazon Prime. The power of a dot edu email address is amazing and here’s a great way to get a top-notch service for free for a year. Amazon Prime gives you free two-day shipping on eligible products and one-day shipping for $3.99. This is a sweet deal and I’ve used mine up already on my textbooks for the past two semesters. After the introductory year is up, you get a discounted rate of $39/year down from the original $79/year.
• The gym. Membership to your university’s gym is probably included in your tuition and fees anyway. You may as well get up off your butt and use their facilities and sport-specific courts like racquetball, tennis and basketball. Exercise hard and live easy.
• The student health center. Hooray for potentially cheap healthcare! The doctor might not always be there but someone will help you when Mom is what seems like a million miles away.
• Student movie tickets. If you and your date want to go out to a movie, a student ticket can save you a few bucks at the box office. Now you can spring for popcorn!
• Advisors. Universities are full of advisors specific to your major. If you don’t have a major, chances are good there’s someone who can help you choose one. Advisors have experience working with people like you and can assist you with everything from course selection to financial aid and it’s not like the general public can use them!
• Discounts on big-name computer software and hardware. Things like Microsoft Office, anti-virus software, Photoshop and Apple products all usually have some kind of discount for students. Cash in!

I hope some of you have ideas to add, too. Feel free to comment!

Aaron Lin is a chemistry major at Louisiana State University but has plans to transfer to LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans to pursue a medical laboratory science degree and further feed his interest in the application of scientific and medical knowledge. In his free time, Aaron likes to eat food, read and write about food, exercise to work off that food and play the occasional computer game. He also enjoys footbiking, running and Frisbee.

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