In some ways, I like the unclear path. I am taking classes because they sound interesting, not because they will help me complete a major. I am learning just because I want to, and my grades are just because I want to try my best, not because I know I am looking for a certain grad school or want to impress future employees. For all I know, I could be studying subjects which will be completely irrelevant to my future. So I have no pressure.

Except, I still have pressure. In some ways, it’s even more than I had in high school. Sure, it’s not like I know I have to get a certain GPA and do certain activities to get into college. But now that I’m here, I can’t believe there’s no more plan. I am the kind of person who plans out her entire future—not minute-by-minute or a 10-year-plan, more like a general idea of what’s to come– but now I have no concept of past college. All my life, I knew I was going to go to graduate high school and go to college. Now I’m here, and I can check that off the list.

What’s next? Grad school? An internship? A job? All I’ve ever done is be a student. I am good at that; I can study, write essays and take tests. I envy my friends who know what they want to be. One studies political science, so she wants to go into politics. One has a knack for design and math, and he’s planning on being an engineer.

I just like learning Spanish. But no, I don’t want to be a teacher, and right now I don’t think translating sounds that wonderful. I like writing, but I’m not betting on that being a life-long career. In fact, I like most of the subjects I learn, but none link directly to a career which catches my eye.

So here I am, one semester down, seven to go. And then what? Well, I guess I’ll figure that out soon, hopefully. But for now, I’ll settle for an undeclared student with no plans whatsoever except one part of her 10-year-plan: start planning one.

As I danced through (and let me say, there was a lot of dancing on the weekends) my spring semester of freshman year, everything came to a screeching halt when I returned from class one day with the word bitch written in big letters across my whiteboard. My first intention was that my friends did it as a joke – no big deal. But when I asked them about it, they had no idea what I was talking about.

And then it happened again. And again. And nearly every time I left my room. It turned into this monotonous cycle, where bitch turned into other words, and when I say ‘other’ words I am talking about every negative synonym under the sun. Then messages were left letting me know that I was disliked, “hated” in fact, around campus. My door decorations disappeared or were ripped up. My name was even blacked out on the community bulletin board for my hall. Eventually, my whiteboard disappeared into the grungy abyss of my neon green hallway. Every time I shut my door or pretty much blinked, I had to prepare myself with what would be there next.

As it happened, over and over again, I reported it. Each and every time. I had no idea who would spend so much time doing something so crude over and over again. The first few times were laughable, but then the consistency of the messages and removal of my property alarmed me. I felt like I was being watched. So, I talked with my hall RA and the head RA of the building, and then I followed up the line with the Area Coordinator of Housing and Residence Life on campus, the Dean of Students, and Campus Safety. Everyone told me that I was being too paranoid, that it was just a prank, because no one could actually be that mean on campus.

This all started in January, but the worst of it came in April of 2007. Returning back to my hall after a party in my best friend’s room, there was a trail of banana’s coming from my door. Walking closer, I realized that not only were banana pieces placed outside my door, but they were smeared on the bottom of the door, and they coated my door knob. Anyone who knows me knows that banana’s make me sick. The smell of bananas immediately makes my stomach turn, and within seconds of standing at my door, I threw up.

Running to get an available RA, I brought her to the witness the disgusting display of the yellow fruit. After opening my door, we realized that someone actually slid banana pieces through the crack of my door, so that the smell would get into my room. Expecting the RA to help the situation, she instead, stood there with her boyfriend and told me to clean it up – despite seeing how sick it was making me. She didn’t even help besides glaring at me. I could not believe what was going on, so I started taking pictures of the banana’s to send to my parents and the administration. Telling me to stop taking pictures, the RA snapped and told me that I needed to stop being so ridiculous because they were just banana’s. Cleaning up the mess, I continued to gag and get sick without any help from her.

Immediately, I reported it to EVERYONE that I thought should be informed in a higher position on campus. Monday morning, I received a knock at my door by the Area Coordinator. “I got your e-mail this weekend, where are the banana’s you said were smeared on your door?” Looking at her, I could not believe she would have actually thought I would have let the bananas fester in the hall for an entire weekend. When I told her I cleaned them up, she skeptically looked at me like I made up the story as a piece of fiction.

Later that day, I had a meeting with the Dean and the head of Housing. They told me that they didn’t know why I was so worked up over the incident. To them, it was just a prank. By this time, I had 14 documented accounts of vandalism and messages left on my whiteboard – yet it was still a prank for someone to take time out of their life to personally affect me? It didn’t make sense to me as they told me this, and it doesn’t make sense to me today.

The more I fussed about the situation, the more they pointed the finger at me. The administration told me they thought my friends did it – even though I was with them all night. They told me that no one would do that at our university. They pulled out their favorite card: “What did you do to deserve this? What did you do to make someone want to put bananas on your door?”

Although I told the administration I felt like I was being harassed and bullied, they told me to basically shut up and let it go because in their eyes, I wasn’t being treated any differently on campus. Right, because everyone has bananas and the word bitch smeared all over their door day after day? They said they couldn’t do anything. However, they chose not to do anything. Any reputable college would work with a student to make them feel safe on campus, especially to prevent such attack again (the banana episode sadly wasn’t the last thing to happen to me).

My school did not.

If you know of someone bullying someone else or harassing them, even in subtle ways like writing nasty comments on their whiteboard, you as a student have a responsibility to speak up. I am sure that someone on my hall saw someone write a message or put the bananas out, but they didn’t object or question the situation.

It’s not right for a student to fear opening their door or being alone on campus, especially when the administration is hush hush about the situation in the first place. What I found to be important with this issue was speaking up. Telling as many students as I could about it, so they knew that such incidents actually happened on campus. Even on a small campus, such as Hollins. Students have the right to know what’s going on – whether it is the administration ignoring another student or what happens in their dorm buildings on a Friday night.

Every Monday I will be back to teach you how to do something useful, even if it also happens to be completely random. Because, hey, you never know when you just might need to know how to change a tire…or mix a perfect martini.]

I’m off to the Obama inauguration with some friends this weekend, and I am sooo psyched about it. The inauguration itself will be cool, obviously (despite our lack of tickets—we hope), but what will really be cool is the ROAD TRIP!!!!!

There’s nothing better than hitting the road with some pals and feeling your everyday responsibilities and stresses trickle away behind you. Road trips seem to enable a greater sense of freedom than other vacations, and they can be done so spontaneously—just pack up and go, basically.

Still, a little planning goes a long way (both in terms of miles and preparedness). To ensure your road trip is a smashing success, follow these 4 tips.

1. Print directions!

A map is incredibly useful, yes, but it won’t necessarily get you to where you’re going. Some maps have such tiny print that you can’t read anything on them, and other maps aren’t detailed enough to get you back on track when you’re lost. To be safe and save time, use Google Maps or Mapquest to print driving directions for your trip, and designate the person sitting shotgun to be your navigator.

2. Be open to sideshows.

Road trips aren’t any fun if you just drive the whole way through—you have to explore! Before you take off, show your directions to everyone in your group, and ask each person to find a few places along the way that sounds interesting. They could be restaurants, museums, or really crazy national monuments, but if you hit up even half of them, you’ll be guaranteed an entertaining journey.

3. Keep a kit of essentials in the car.

On the open road, anything is possible—so do as the Scouts do, and be prepared. Store a box in the car that you’ve filled with a first-aid kit, wet wipes, Purell, a clean towel, a blanket (if you’re driving in cold weather), emergency phone numbers, a flashlight, and high-energy snacks.

4. Research detours, roadways, and traffic patterns.

I’m told that numerous streets and bridges will be blocked off in the D.C. area early next week for the inauguration. If I don’t check which streets are blocked before I go, I won’t be able to get home (which may not be entirely a bad thing…). To drive as safely as possible, try to learn about the roadways you’ll be traveling on before you go. That way, you won’t have to pull off any risky driving maneuvers or make any split-second risky decisions. Staying safe now means you can go on as many road trips as you want later!

[Image courtesy of autos.canada.com.]

I have made quite a few mistakes over the course of my college career, which have taught me quite a few things. Learn from my mistakes and this semester will be easy breasy. (I bet you expected me to say CoverGirl, right?)

Tip 1: Procrastination will kill your grades:

Trust me, writing a 10 page paper at 3am the day it’s due is never the best way to get your assignment done. Yes, you like to work under pressure, and, yes, at least you actually did the paper, but doing it in a hurry means you rarely have time to spell-check, let alone stay awake long enough to turn it in.

Tip 2: Try To Take Shorter Classes.

You may think it’s worth it to take that 3 hour class on Wednesdays so you get that full 4 day weekend, but sometimes longer classes are worse for your GPA. Let’s be honest: when was the last time you could pay attention to anything for longer than an hour? Whenever possible, try taking a 50 minute class three times a week (or whatever shorter options you have at your school), instead of a longer class that meets only once. You will be able to focus more in a 50 min class, not to mention be more on top of things when you have to prove yourself to your prof 3 days a week instead of one.

Tip 3: Don’t skip class.

Seriously. Unless you are dying from some rare and contagious disease, go to class. Some profs only take a couple points off your final grade for absences, but when you think about it, 2.5 points added to an 88% score could mean the difference between an A and a B. Oh, and the whole point of college is going to class and learning, so it might be a good idea. Professors often make it worth your while by, I don’t know, teaching you things and making it all easier to understand.

Tip 4: Don’t drop a class unless you absolutely have to!

I am the kind of person that drops a class when it gets boring, if the teacher annoys me, or if the homework is too much. I always say,”I’ll take it next semester with a better Prof.” Bad idea. Putting off classes that I need to graduate only sets me back and could mean more money spent on tuition or, gasp, summer classes.

Got any other lessons you’ve learned? Share ‘em with the class, ladies!

Exam week can be pretty intense. All you want is to pack up your shizz and go home to party for a month, but the word “cumulative” is making you want to throw up in your mouth. Can you slide by, or is exam week going to destroy the grade you earned busting your butt on every paper you wrote this semester? Everyone has their own study tips and ways to deal with stress, but here are some surefire tactics to avoid if you really want to make the grade.

1. OD’ing on Caffeine

If caffeine were illegal, I’d be a certified crack whore. So I know that overdoing the stimulants can only end poorly. There have been times where I drank so much coffee that it had an adverse affect on my body, and I passed out facedown in the books. Or I got so hyper that I alphabetized my DVD collection instead of hitting the books. Overdoing the caffeine can also keep you up for hours after you’ve shut the books, and you’ll be super groggy when the time comes to put number 2 pencil to paper (if you don’t sleep through the entire final!).

Another major caffeine no-no? Taking energy pills such as Stackers. You’ll be more concerned with the heart palpitations you’re having than the exam itself. You don’t want to pull a Jessie Spano in front of the whole lecture, hall do you?

2. Facebooking

It starts innocently. You sign in to put “[your name here] is cramming for exams all night long” into your status. Then, you decide to write on your BFF’s wall. Then, you decide to browse the groups she’s in. Then, you join some of them. Then, you decide to friend some of the people in those groups. While you’re doing that, someone FB-chats you, and the next thing you know, you’re a member of “If a Million People Join This Group, I’ll Shave My Head,” you’re friends with strangers in all 50 states, and you still don’t know jack about derivatives, the Civil War, or what the eff is going on in Eliot’s The Wasteland.

3. Taking Sexams Instead.

Tell your boyfriend to put his libido on pause for a week, and promise a f— fest once you’ve aced all of your finals. Nuff said.

4. Picking Up Extra Shifts At Work

Yes, the holidays are coming. Yes, you need bar money after your last final. Yes, you’re simply dirt poor. But picking up another shift means five less hours to study for Econ. And if you fail a class and have to take it again, you’re going to have to pay an arm and a leg for those extra credits. If anything, you should take a shift off. Besides, once winter break hits, you’ll have all the time in the world to work your butt off… provided you’re not spending every moment at the bar.

5. Liquor in the Library.

Or at your desk. Or in the study hall. Just lay off the booze, ok? Sure, a glass of wine will calm your stressed-out nerves, but one glass always has the potential to turn into another, and the next thing you know, you and your roommate are dancing to “Footloose” instead of cracking the books (not that I would know from experience…cough). Yes, it’s tempting to go to the bar during finals week because you don’t have to wade through a sea of thousands of procrastinating collegiates, but all in all, getting bombed during exams usually isn’t the best idea.

Case in point? I did go to the bar the night before my 8 a.m. Shakespeare final. Why? Because I’m a Shakespeare geek, my professor was an easy grader, and I had a solid A in the class anyway. I could ace any essay question thrown me at 8 a.m., with or without a hangover (actually, I was banking on being still drunk and really letting my ideas fly). I ran into a guy from class who was so sh*tfaced, he didn’t even know we had an exam. He never showed up the next morning, and I never saw him again. Yes, I got my A. But my story isn’t the moral here, it’s the fact that Drunky McDrunkerson probably went on Academic Probation and may or may not work at a gas station somewhere today.

The ultimatum? Suffer through this one last week, and you’ll have a whole new semester of procrastinating to look forward to over the holiday season. If you don’t bring your A-game, it’s going to be very difficult to tell Mom and Dad you flunked out while chestnuts are roasting on that open fire.

Got anything else we should avoid?

[Photo courtesy of flickr.com/photos/uscfan]

What do you mean it’s too late to drop a class? I forgot I was even enrolled!

If that’s part of the conversation you’re having with the registrar this far into the semester, you might be in trouble. But never fear. It’s not over until the fat lady sings…or the TA enters the grades. If you’ve over-slacked it this semester, there still might be a way to save your grade.

1. Talk to Your Teacher.

This is by far the most important rule of grade-saving. Talk to your professor. Apologize profusely. Throw yourself at his or her feet and explain why you suck at whatever subject they teach. As a former TA, I can attest that I was far more willing to help kids who actually came to office hours to ask for help than the ones who fell off the face of the earth, only to reappear during finals (or, in one case, after I’d left for the semester) and expect another chance.

2. Ask About Revisions, Re-Takes, and Extra Credit.

Many writing classes offer revision options, and, depending on the class and the prof, you might be able to finagle a test re-take. More and more frequently, classes are offering chances to drop your lowest grade. Pour through your syllabus, and see if you are elligible for any of these options. While you’re at it, it my be a good idea to revisit the attendance policy and see if any points are being shaved off due to the fact that you haven’t been to class since September. Then, follow step 1 and throw yourself at your professor’s feet, offering to do any amount of work just to scrape by with even a D-.

3. Cry N’ Lie.

This is the enhanced version of Talking to Your Teacher. Let the waterworks begin. Tell them any sob story about how this semester was so difficult. You had family problems, you haven’t adjusted, blah, blah, blah. Even if they are a total hardass, your teacher might relent enough to give you a low-but-not-failing grade, provided you come through for exams. If that doesn’t seem to work, turn on the tears at the registrars, or, better yet, Mental Health services. If you can give enough reason to have suffered a trauma during the semester, you might be able to drop at the last minute, or get a bye for exams and re-take them the next semester. This is very hard to accomplish, however, and, if you have any morals, should really only be used if you really DID have some crazy sh*t happen this semester.

4. Study Your Freaking Face Off.

If your prof isn’t susceptible to excuses and extra credit opportunities, you’ve got no other option but to master a semester’s worth of lessons in a couple of days. You better hope your grade on that final is enough to pull you out of the sea of failure. It might not work, but if all else has failed, this is your one last chance to escape and leave that class behind you forever.

For more tips and tricks for college classes, join CollegeCandy’s Facebook group!

[Photo courtesy of unstained.files.wordpress.com]

[The following is the final installment of a five-part series I'm calling "The Top 5 Things You MUST Do In College." Everyone's already heard about buying flip-flops for the shower, stocking up on veggies to avoid the Freshman 15, and to steer clear of mojitos before midterms, but there are other tips for enjoying college that the experts might have neglected to tell you about.

This series is meant to provide advice for getting the most out of college, rather than just getting through it. So far we've already discussed having a professor as a BFF, checking out what's going on in your college town, joining new clubs, and living with strangers. Now, in the final post, we wrap it all up with one important piece of advice: write for the paper! ]

College is supposed to be the best time of your life, but nothing is ever perfect. Whether you’re dissatisfied with your campus’ food (let’s face it, caf pizza isn’t exactly Domino’s), or you’re peeved about your school’s guest policy (can’t have overnight guests?), or maybe you just don’t like how you’re forced to take core requirements in philosophy when you’re paying big money to get your degree in engineering. Whatever the gripe may be, everyone has one.

But does anyone want to hear it?

Surprisingly, the answer is yes.

There are a group of students on every college campus who would LOVE to hear what you have to say: they are the staff of your college newspaper and everyone who is reading it.

Writing for the school paper is much easier than you think. If you’re really uncomfortable with submitting your writing, or you don’t think you’ve got enough words to fill up a whole article, write a letter to the editor. They don’t have to be as formal as your typical article, and you can say whatever you like. If you want to go all the way, though, just talk to the editor of the paper. Usually, editors will work with you in formatting a piece that you are both comfortable sending to press.

And what’s in it for you?

Well for one, your voice will definitely be heard and those that agree with you may join you in your crusade for change. If it’s changing your campus meal plan that you’re after, you can band together with other students who are dissatisfied and petition administration to change your food service. And while you may not see immediate results (and it may seem hard to believe), your school’s administration will pay attention to student opinion. You’re the ones who are keeping them in business.

You may also discover a newfound love of writing for press or social change!

The American college campus is a microcosm of the rest of society. You might never again have the potential to have such a large impact on your community by doing so little. A simple letter to your school’s paper can have a tremendously weighty impact on your campus. By contrast, if you try to write a letter to the editor to a large paper like the New York Times or the Washington Post, there’s a far smaller chance of it getting published. So please, if you do nothing else before graduation — if you’ve read and hated all of the other suggestions in this series thus far — write about what’s bothering you for the paper! You may not win a Pulitzer, but your voice can make a difference.

[You can also write your gripes, complaints, or just general thoughts and feelings on CollegeCandy's Facebook page!]

[Photo of MTV's The Paper courtesy of observer.com]

So now you are stuck in the library for days at a time trying to stuff 4 classes worth of info into your alcohol-tainted brain. And you need an effing break! What do you do? Here is what CollegeCandy’s writers do for their much needed study break:

Sues – University of New Hampshire: My whole day is pretty much a series of study breaks since I continuously get sucked into the Internet and realize that I’m online shopping, reading blogs, and basically doing everything but studying. If I step away from the computer, I go to the gym!

John – UConn: My study break is when I stop drinking coffee in order to drink beer.

Kari – FSU: My study break looks like Phish Food, a well earned back rub from my boyfriend, and a wonderfully distracting episode of The Office…30 minutes of Jim Halpert’s face will perk me up any day.

Elise – UCLA: I slice an apple, cover it in cinnamon and Splenda, put it in the Kitchenette oven…I don’t let myself think of anything stressful while I let it bake… 20 minutes later I have healthy, sugary goodness and a clear(er) mind!

Lauren – University of Michigan: Mind numbing internet surfing. With a Diet Coke and some Pringles.

Elizabeth – UA Huntsville: My study break involves Facebook and some form of chocolate. Lately it’s been chocolate milk. A lot. I hate exams.

Erica – Kent State: Yogatoday.com when I’m feeling extra healthy & productive.

Sarabeth – University of Texas: I put in one of my Grey’s Anatomy DVDs and make some Easy Mac.

Suzanne – Tulane: Honestly? I go on CollegeCandy.

Alex – Lakehead University: For a study break I usually make a cup of tea and either pick up a book if my brain isn’t fried yet or, hop on the computer to check my email. Another favorite of mine is calling a friend for a longer break; gossip can be SO de-stressing.

Beata: Watching Love Actually and crying/laughing hysterically. Very good stress reliever.

Carly – Grinnell : If my brain isn’t too fried from reading academic mush, I curl up with a fun book and a cup of hot chocolate or tea. If it IS too fried, I do a Sudoku. I don’t have math classes, so it’s fun to do something with numbers that is actually enjoyable.

Noa – CU Boulder: I go to the gym. It’s the only way I won’t feel guilty or stressed about taking a study break.

Sara C: I like going for a run downtown. Getting off campus for a bit reminds me that life does go on beyond final exams!

K – NYU: Take out, en masse, with as many friends I can find who also need to procrastinate. Nothing better than chatting and stuffing one’s self with slightly greasy Thai food.

What do you do?

[Photo courtesy of http://flickr.com/photos/spencergoodall/]

This series is meant to provide advice for getting the most out of college, rather than just getting through it. So far we've already discussed having a professor as a BFF, checking out what's going on in your college town, and now we're going to talk about extracurriculars - the ones you never thought you'd join!]

This generation of college gals are smart, savvy, and driven. Do you want to be a CEO of your own company one day? You’re probably already president of your college’s Business Leaders of Tomorrow club. Are you an up-and-coming style maven? No doubt you’re involved with your school’s Passion for Fashion group.

Yeah, being involved in career-minded clubs are definitely a must these days if you want to make connections, but what about joining a club…just for fun? It may seem difficult, especially when it’s so hard to manage school, friends, guys, a job, and elusive “me” time. However, if you take the plunge and join a club you never thought you would, a lot of things could happen.

First of all, joining a club for fun might lead you onto a completely different career path. Not that everything you do in college has to be future-oriented, but there are plenty of roads to success that don’t follow a “traditional” educational route. Have you seen Tina Fey’s awesome impersonations of Sarah Palin on SNL lately? She didn’t get a degree in Hilarity Studies to snag that gig. If you’re the “funny one” of your group of friends, or just a big comedy fan, why not stop in on a meeting of your campus’ improv group? You may discover you’re just as good at scoring laughs as Ms. Fey.

By the same token, f you’re always the one busting a move at mixers, or glue yourself to the couch whenever So You Think You Can Dance comes on, look into joining the dance troupe. And if you were always good at Spanish in high school but chose to devote your undergrad years to chem labs, maybe drop in on Foreign Language Club meetings to rediscover an old passion.

Furthermore, joining a new club will get you out of your dorm and into a new social circle. Sure, we all have our core group of friends, but do you ever feel like you’re doing the same old things all the time? If you’re looking for excitement, joining a new club just might jumpstart your social life. Most clubs will not only meet on campus but host or sponsor events in the community. Poetry or literary clubs will often hold open mics throughout the year–something to look into if you’re an inner poet or rapper who wants some exposure. Cultural clubs like Hillel or the Asian Student Union will certainly throw parties on holidays like Rosh Hashanah and Chinese New Year (plus, who doesn’t love free food?). And the pals you make from joining a new club can connect you to other fun things going on around campus you may never have heard about.

And joining a club for fun means there’s no “political” pressure to run for treasurer or president just so it looks good on your resume. You can attend meetings when you like, socialize with who you like, and get involved at your own leisure. Best of all, college is a time when you have an enormous amount of opportunities to try new things at very little cost and without expectations of following up. If you want to take a dance class after graduation it’ll cost you at least $15 a pop. So what do you have to lose? Get out there and break a leg!

[Come back to find out the next must-do on my list: Live With Strangers!]

Taking 20 credits, working two jobs, and writing your thesis doesn’t leave for a whole lot of free time, and that’s a pretty hard thing to adjust to. I usually like to procrastinate – I work better with a gun to my head, it seems. But now I have to work in advance, because I don’t have time to do things the way I normally do.

This weekend, I don’t even have time to drink. What is my world coming to?

As for lessons learned these past two weeks or so, I realized the value of backing your sh*t up like your life depends on it. My thesis chapter was due on Monday. I didn’t finish it until Tuesday. Now, because I have an older version of OpenOffice (a free version of Microsoft Office, essentially), when my computer decided to spazz out, I lost 11 out of 12 pages.

Cue comfort food binging.

I binge eat when I’m upset. It’s a problem I’ve been working on for a while now, but I’m worried that this year might drive me back to it – especially when I’m this upset at the very beginning of the semester.

I started work this week essentially calling old alumni and asking them to donate to the college. Some of them ask me what I’m doing when I get out of school, and my uncertain answer usually consists of some variation of “I don’t know.” I’ve always want to work with animals, but I want to continue writing. There doesn’t seem to middle choice that I can find right now…and I don’t really feel like entirely looking for it. I don’t like thinking about the future as it is – planning the next couple years of my life nearly on my own has be a little upset.

Okay, who am I kidding? I’m flipping out.

For now, though, I’m just going to plow through the next couple of days. And maybe on Monday – because I don’t have time to do it on Sunday – I’ll get my drink on. God knows I need it.

I think my senior year might turn me into an alcoholic, you guys.

[Picture courtesy gettyimages.com]