So I’m registering for classes this week. The second semester of my senior year. My last semester ever as an undergraduate. Better make it a good one right? Oh, I intend to.

You see, I have a plan. I’m going to take my last two required college classes and then take on an internship for college credit so I don’t have to take a full course load can gain some real life experience without jumping into real life at full force.  But as I sit here and consider my potential schedule for next semester I start to realize, once again, just how final all of this is.

If everything goes according to plan (then again, nothing ever goes according to plan) I’ll only be in class two days per week next semester, six hours each day. Plus work, and the occasional club meeting/party/annual-event-I-swore-I’d never-attend-again-last-year. College life will still take up a decent chunk of my time, but not nearly as much time as it takes up right now. And it will be a complete turnaround from this semester, a semester that feels a whole lot like someone is playing a game of let’s see how long we can keep Jenn away from her bed before she collapses. So yeah, it will be different.

Less time on campus, means less time to be involved on campus. And as my college life gets closer to ending, my college life gets closer to ending. The school paper has already starting training editorial assistants to replace us, something I have a hard time grasping. We’re training people to replace us when I still feel like I need to be trained! And continuing with that theme, that campus job I had since I was a freshman? I’ve started training my replacement there as well.  And as I yammered on incessantly about the exact font size and label color that should be used on each folder, I started to realize exactly how not ready I am to hand over my color coded filing cabinet to someone else. (And, no, I don’t think it’s just because I’m a control freak, either.) Read More »

YouTube trends range from the adorable (kittens and babies, anyone?) to the grimace-worthy (FAILblog’s YouTube channel has over 1 million subscribers). Recently, though, a trend has popped up that is downright inspirational- the It Gets Better Project.

I didn’t hear about the campaign when Dan Savage, a gay columnist and activist, first started it a month ago in response to Billy Lucas’ death. Lucas, a 15-year-old high school freshman from Indiana, hung himself in his grandmother’s barn when the endless name-calling and physical abuse by bullies at his school became too much. Savage had a message for any gay teenager who was considering similar action- it gets better. The feelings of loneliness, worthlessness, and confusion fade away, and so do the close-minded bullies. He and his partner posted a video describing their life together to try to show teens that a happy, gay lifestyle is attainable, even if it seems impossible now. Read More »

It’s that time of year during which my peers and I are go crazy trying to prepare for upcoming midterms, lab practicals, 10-page essays, and other ultra stressful, all-nighter inclining assignments.  Although I am not pre-med, almost everyone in my classes is (it’s the sad reality of being a nutrition major) and their academic stress and competitiveness can be contagious if one is not careful. And it doesn’t help that I attend Cornell University, a school known for it’s abnormally high levels of competitiveness amongst students, depression and suicide.

With school pressures up the wazoo paired with the changing of the seasons, it’s understandable that my peers and I might not be as happy as we could be.  So, the fact that my school is so demanding and does have such a high rate of suicide brings me to the topic of this article: how to obtain a whopping dose of happiness the natural way.

1)   Light in the morning and darkness in the evening is just the best for saying sayonara to the blues. Make sure to get some rays of sunshiny goodness in the morning (as close to dawn as possible) to prevent depression and to treat depression if you’ve got it.  It is now known that light therapy is wondrous for treating all types of mood disorders, not just Seasonal Affective Disorder.  A 2005 metanalysis (a study which combines the results of multiple independent studies) of bright light therapy for depression found that “bright light treatments are efficacious, with effects equivalent to those in most antidepressant pharmacotherapy trials.”  Woot! That means bright morning light works just as well as antidepressant medications, but with no side effects!

On the same note, don’t go all Edward Cullen on yourself  (sorry Twilight haters) and not get any sleep.  Staying up late or pulling an all-nighter is pretty much equivalent to just asking moodiness to come find you.   Not only this, but studies show that staying up late makes you more inclined to eat late at night, thus increasing the odds of gaining weight, thus making you more inclined to dislike the way you look, thus making you more likely to become unhappy. Read More »

8 celebs with strange (really strange) side jobs.

Taylor Momsen just keeps getting better and better.

How has the recession affected women?

Prevent the cold this season!

Does anyone understand what’s going on in Kanye’s latest movie?

Keep those lips kissable all winter long.

I know it’s a dumb question at this point, but what’s up with Gaga’s hair?

There are a lot of perks to experiencing Halloween as a college student, that’s a given. But remember Halloween as a little kid? When you looked forward to more than the drinking games and the slutty sexy costumes?

Sure, I loved the costumes, and the candy, and the pumpkin carvings, but for me it was really all about the movies. And not those crazy, creepy, scary ones either, but the fun ones. You know, the ones about friendly ghosts and clumsy witches and great pumpkins…
Allow me to refresh your memory…

10. Beetlejuice. Originally this one was going to be higher up on the list. But as I rediscovered the plot of this Halloween time horror, I realized it was actually kind of creepy. Way to get your big break though, Winona Ryder.

9. The Little Vampire. Think back, way back. Before Twilight. Before Edward Cullen. Before vampires were ever associated with glitter. Remember when you actually thought vampires were kind of scary? It made the idea of a little boy being BFFs with a vampire so much cooler. Read More »

You didn’t leave all your work until Sunday night did you? What!?! You did. That’s okay. No stress. You’ll get it all done. We’re so sure that you’ll get it all done that we’re giving you a few more excuses to procrastinate.

You’re welcome.

Read More »

The following is a guest post by our new friend Elizabeth O’Neill, a college-life aficionado and freqent contributor to The Huffington Post College. Follow her on Twitter: @SomethingKnew.

Compared with the grind of the working world, college is a pretty cushy experience.  Still, not everything on campus is as rosy as the tour guides would have you believe.  Despite its many opportunities, student life is fraught with frustrating rules and limitations.  If you like cereal for dinner and long hikes to class in the rain, you might be the perfect candidate for college living.  If, on the other hand, you need your creature comforts in order to stay sane, you’ll want to be forewarned about the following: Read More »

Choose the major that will get you to your dream job

3 fun and unexpected Halloween costumes

Just a typical college ACB thread

Tailgating on the cheap

Do’s and don’t of bringing a laptop to class

Unusual careers for college grads

4 habits you should adopt in college

Best places to study

Dive bar or trendy bar?!

Should she apply to an out of state school?

How to get more exercise in college

Life lessons from a college drop out

28 ways to clear an over-worked mind

[Everyone’s got a morning after story (though most don't involve a large group of potential sorority sisters) and we wanna hear yours! Send it over to us and we’ll post it – anonymously, of course – right here!]

So one time I hooked up with a freshman. And I liked it. But I knew (or thought) it would be a one time thing.  Kind of like drinking a Venti before rush-hour was a one-time thing. Or shamelessly Googling pictures of Zac Efron. Or drinking margaritas on a Monday morning.

Yeah. Oops, I did it again.

Only this time he’s a sophomore…
And I’m about 4 months past graduation.

You’d think I would have figured these things out by now (that I’m probably too old to be prancing around the local college dive bar scoping out the sophomore scene), but I was too ignorant and curious.

He was just so sweet when I saw him.  He danced with me to my favorite Rihanna songs, bought me a Bud Light, held my hand while we stood up against the bar and made out.  His lips were just so soft and luscious.  Besides, I have been living at home for the past three months and hadn’t “gone all out” in way too long.  Like Fabolous would always say, this was my time. Read More »

You’re probably acquainted with the certain level of poverty that comes with being a student—let’s face it, as collegians, we’re not exactly whipping up filet mignon each night. The rice and beans diet is a rite of passage among us (which, I might add, I actually enjoy a lot).

And you might also be familiar with the it’s-fall-and-its-not-actually-very-cold-but-my-landlord-hasn’t-turned-on-my-heat-yet-so-it-seems-FREEZING charade, too. Which is why I found myself craving something rich and hearty this week, something low-cost but high-comfort. Since I’m also too cheap to buy a Snuggie (hi, Ma! My birthday is just around the corner!), chili is the only thing I can count on to warm me up from the inside out. Read More »