Not only does summer bring warm temperatures and reruns of Lost and your favorite reality TV programs, it also marks the time of year when you could hear that knock-knock-knockin’ at your door.

In a long-standing tradition, spanning over 140 years, college students from all over the country and internationally have traded their text books for another set of books. Nearly 3,000 will spend their summer break knocking on doors just like yours, gaining experiences in sales and life that simply can’t be taught in a lecture hall.

As participants in the Southwestern Company’s summer selling program, student dealers get to see a cross-section of the US (or Canada) as they travel to Tennessee for sales and leadership training and then to the area they will call home for the summer.

These are no ordinary college students, and what they are doing certainly does not qualify as an ordinary summer experience. They walk the beaten path. The path, that is, that leads to your doorstep. It is at your doorstep that their real education begins.

“As independent dealers running their own business, selling Southwestern Company’s educational products give the students a higher level of skills and knowledge that their future employers are looking for,” says Dan Moore, President of Southwestern Company and a former dealer in Southwestern products for six years. “We also have lots of opportunities in our own corporate family of companies which were all started with former southwestern company student dealers.”

When asked why a college student, who could otherwise be at the beach or “vegging” at home would give up their summer break to visit thousands of families, the answer is “why not?” says Matt Atchison, a District Sales Manager with Southwestern Company who has also been an independent dealer in Southwestern Company products for eight years.

“College students want to learn and amass as much usable experience and personal growth as they can to prepare for life after school. With this program, they can experience first-hand how to run their own business, communicate face to face and explore who they are and who they want to become,” says Atchison.

Look out for the men and women of the “bookfield,” ’cause here they come!

It hasn’t been an easy time of it for Scots player Andy Murray, as the months roll by and are revealing a rather tough year. He finally to admit that the game was up at the Monte Carlo games, while the French Open 2010 , starts to gather steam and focus. The star player is back at the practice courts again. The loss to German Phillip Kohlschreiber has caused his odds to go up quite a stretch, and although the loss was pretty substantial, it’s not difficult to see that the performance isn’t up to par.

That can mean many things for a tennis player, and particularly for a star as large as he is. His famous temper could be getting the better of him, as some of the more mean-spirited columns suggest, but it could also be a momentary lapse, like an inhale that comes right before a storm is unleashed. He’s been in the top five for a year now, having made it into the top ten in 2007, and for a player of his lean years, there’s plenty of opportunity in the season, and the years, ahead.

Meanwhile Murray can focus on the Masters at Wimbledon 2010 , with the heat off, and some time to start honing his abilities to come back shining. He always does. He has an incredible resilience, and a very lucky star following him. It would be nice to see the streak finally get broken. He has bounced back from the split with girlfriend Kim Spears , and he can certainly contend with this.

In the case with her, the reports suggest that is was a very amicable split, which just goes to show that this is a player with grace that’s hard to match, on or off the court. The following months will give him ample opportunity to demonstrate his natural talents again.

For many students high school graduation is just around the corner. There are many paths that students will take from here — jobs, college, or the military. For those who will be heading off to college in the fall, the hard part of choosing which college to attend has already been made. Some will stay close to home by attending a local university or junior college while others will travel many hours and states away. Regardless of where your education aspirations take you there is still one major decision that needs to be made. Where to live.

There are several different options to consider when contemplating where to live. There are more than a few students who at 18 or 19 years of age do not feel quite ready to be on their own, so they decide to spend a few more years at home. This can also be a more convenient and cost effective decision especially if the student will be attending school locally .

However if a student has chosen a school out-of-town or out-of state, living at home isn’t an option. Most colleges and universities have dorms for students that come from farther away. Dorms can be a lot of fun and are a good way to socialize and meet people. The downside to dorms is that they are usually very small and most of the time you have to share that small space with at least one other person. They can be pretty expensive and don’t allow you to have much privacy.
If you don’t want to live at home and dorms aren’t your style, the other option is to rent an apartment . There are a lot of amenities apartments offer that dorms do not. There is a lot more space, even if you have roommates, and a lot more privacy. Many apartment complexes have swimming pools, fitness centers, and some even have tanning salons. Unfortunately, apartments can be rather pricey as well, depending on the area.

The best thing to do before making any decisions is to explore all of your options. See all that the school and the surrounding area have to offer before deciding on that perfect place to live during college .

Coming to Hawaii for first-time visitors is one of the most memorable experiences in a lifetime. It might only be eclipsed by the second time, or possibly the third. The truth is, Hawaii just gets better and better the more one looks into it. There are not only a vast array of spectacular attractions that appeal to travelers of all ages, but there is a natural wonder here that is simply timeless. The sea and the land meet in a particularly gorgeous way here, and any time of day or night is a great time to be close to the water.

There are plenty of ways to get close to the elements here, but it’s also worth getting to know the local culture. Hawaii is a mix of peoples and traditions, making a very special kind of place, and one that is enormously complicated. Trying to untie all the complications can be fascinating, although it’s endless, and there’s never a finish to the mysteries here. One of the most popular places to get in touch with the local culture is in Oahu. Activities that are popular here include fun in the sun and fine dining, and a particular favorite among travelers is the luau.

There are a number of popular spots where you can take your guests to enjoy a luau any night of the week. They will all probably claim to be the only authentic place in Hawaii, or the best, and these claims might be true, and might be exaggeration, but they’re all very interesting, and offer a chance to see how Oahu’s gifts are presented to the world. Paradise Cove and Germaine’s Luau are both long-time favorites, offering full meals and entertainments. This is one way to enter into the spirit of vacation travel, and enjoy the presentation of culture and cuisine in a gorgeous island paradise.

If you must drive into New York, you might consider driving an older, smaller car, a car you don’t mind if it gets dinged up. It’s highly recommended to never drive a new car into New York, it will only end up looking beat-up by the time you drive out of the city. It’s also recommended to install a GPS unit or get directions from Google map, but the ability to read and interpret street signs is critical as in an accurate clock to tell you the proper time of day. The reason for this is because many traffic rules are based on what time of day an event is happening, such as parking, turns and lane usage.

Manhattan is a very dynamic place and it’s always changing its driving environments, like first time visitors to New York leaving their Wall Street hotels who seem to have the inability to get their cars up to Manhattan street speed in their big gas guzzling SUVs, because they are too busy looking at everything or a solid traffic jam , where cars are sitting at a standstill for sometimes over 45 minutes. With New York City’s infamous traffic jams, it makes no sense to drive a huge gas wasting car wasting.

At some point, you’ll have to leave the car in a garage, on that aspect, having a smaller car is better. Avoid driving a stick shift, because when you are driving about, you’ll need to have your head on a swivel all the time and you’ll need to drive with one hand somewhere between 11 o’clock and 1 o’clock on the steering wheel, which allows you to make quick lateral movements, a very necessary skill when all of the other cars want into your lane and your spot.

After reading the information given above and you are still intent on driving into New York, drive something you are comfortable with, but it still should be a reliable, beat-up car with good pick-up and handling. The comfort part is because you’ll be sitting in traffic for long periods of time.