Candy canes, hot chocolate and crowded libraries, they’re all synonymous with one thing–finals season is in the air (or for some at least, it’s already done with and they’re busy tanning their backsides in Barbados). Between writing papers (ew) and eating so much junk food that Cheetos dust is running through my bloodstream, I’ve had some time to reflect over semester one of my college experience. I made some errors, I had some fun, and I figured out that 9 am classes aren’t such a bad thing (if you have a good professor).

So besides information I now know about the international criminal court and how to conjugate Spanish verbs, here is some life knowledge that I’ve gained:

Do not bring a lot of t-shirts from high school: This is more of a personal issue. I have so many Class of 2010/National Honor Society/Cross Country t-shirts that I don’t know what to do with them. After assessing my clothes situation the other day, I realized that I don’t even wear those shirts since they’re irrelevant and instead, I could fill that closet space with better clothes.

If you hook up with a guy that you know, make sure you see him the next day to avoid future awkwardness: This is a tried and true method, my friends. If you don’t see him the next day, the awkwardness and overanalysis of the previous confrontation just builds up and then explodes in your face later on. By seeing him, you re-establish a chill connection immediately after the hookup and it doesn’t give you (or him) time to overanalyze and freak out.

Take fruit from the dining halls: Guys, scurvy isn’t a joke. Neither is cookie addiction. If all you have in your room is junk food, that’s all you will eat at night. However, if you have some carefully and sneakily procured fruit on your desk, you could add a little bit of healthy vitamin C to your night-snacking diet. Read More »

We all know we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but let’s face it, half of us do it anyway. Plus, judging by appearance and prior knowledge does sometimes work. (Example: M. Night Shyamalan movies…)

College classes are the perfect example of things that can be accurately judged from a first impression, no matter how fleeting. Let’s take a look at some of the most common experiences you might have on your first day and what they might mean about the class ahead.

What happens: Your prof shows up 10 minutes late, frazzled and smelling heavily of espresso.
What it means: Feel free to come to class in your PJs and contribute to class discussion with garbled comments that aren’t fully formed, since your prof will neither care nor be able to tell the difference.

What happens: A PowerPoint presentation is already up on the screen when you enter, and the prof has a writing implement in his or her breast pocket.
What it means: Watch out, sister! This prof isn’t going to take any shenanigans. S/he is likely to be a hard grader, so start assembling your study group pronto with the cute dudes who sit near you.

What happens: The prof hands out the syllabus, reads it word for word, asks if everyone has the textbook, and dismisses you early.
What it means: Don’t be fooled by the early dismissal. This is a by-the-book prof who isn’t too keen on original ideas and probably doesn’t want to hear yours. Learn to read and regurgitate what’s in the textbook, and fast. Read More »

I remember the days of running around Bed Bath and Beyond with my parents, frantically scrounging the aisle for that perfect plastic bin to stash all of my Ramen. Talk about a brutally long scene of events.  I stood in the florescent-lit aisles of so many department stores I started dreaming about shower caddies, futon throw blankets and Audrey Hepburn posters.

However, my parents were more than generous when they stashed the cart with college-goodies.  Especially food.  I think my mother thought I was going to eat all my food the first day, never have the desire/money to buy anymore and end up looking like a famished kid come Christmas.  Bless their hearts, ma and pa provided me with everything I would ever need in a my 8X8 dorm room.

And they didn’t even realize the half of it.

Although my parents made sure I had just about everything to satisfy my college-soul when I hightailed it to party-town, there are some sneaky things they didn’t even realize they’d purchased.  I’m not saying I smuggled a box of Trojans in between my binders; I’m simply stating there are some things out there your mama and papa can buy you that serve a college purpose they’ll never know or understand.

Allow me to explain.
Note: I really hope my mother never reads this. I love you, Ma! Read More »

This week flew by. I mean flew. Between watching Shark Week, voting for my favorite trends of the ’90s and topping it off with the second episode of Jersey Shore of the  season, I made quite the dent on my couch and my parents’ pantry food supply (I’m serious, I probably gained 10 pounds in White Cheddar Cheese-Its).  And I just have to get it out there (because it’s been troubling me the past week); is this a late realization or is anybody else starting to get the hots for Ronnie? Ok, as quickly as it came, it’s gone. I put it out there.

Moving forward. As August rounds the final corner of it’s first week (I can’t believe it’s almost time to start thinking about getting ready for class again), here is the week that was.

* I went to New York this week and Williamsburg was infested with them.  Hipsters. And New York isn’t the only place feeding the crop of PBR drinking people who don’t smile. Time to hate on the hipsters.

* It’s that time of month again. . .the time of month where you don’t feel like doing it. Wait. . .what?

* Since college is creeping around the corner, time to pimp out your dorm room so you can show it off to all of those drunkie boys you will be showing it to. At 2 am. Don’t worry, they will appreciate your David Beckam poster. And they will like it.

* Now, focusing on school.  CollegeCandy points you in the right direction better than a Target employee. Time to get school supply shopping. Read More »

So you’re going to be a freshman. Thanks to your advisor/mom/campus tour/Bed Bath and Beyond advertisements, you think you’re ready. You learned how to do laundry, you’ve purchased the Twin XL sheets, you measured your future dorm room (and cried when you realized you could touch all 4 walls from the middle of the room) and all those A.P. classes have prepared you for the workload that comes in college.

Congrats. You now know about 10% of what you need to know to survive freshman year.

The truth is, there is a lot that happens your first year of college that no advisor (and especially not your parental units) is going to know about. And that’s why we’re here – to get you from Welcome Week through final exams in one glorious piece. And to try and stop you from making the same mistakes we did. Again and again.

You wanna survive your first year of college? Avoid any and all of these freshman year faux pas: Read More »

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site. We love a strong woman, so we thought we'd give her a real forum to discuss her thoughts, feelings, and perspectives. Every Friday I'll be featuring a hot topic (like healthcare reform!) and leaving it up to you, the readers, to duke it out. So, read it and get your debate on in the comments section below!]

There’s all kinds of advice out there about your freshman year, but more than what classes to take or how I should bring my own Solo cup to parties, the the biggest piece of advice I heard back then was “don’t get a boyfriend right away, play the field.” Of course, being the serial monogamist that I am, I didn’t listen. And got a boyf faster than most students unpacked their boxes. But now I have to wonder if I would have been better off if I had listened to those wise sages. There’s a definite up and down side to the first semester boyfriend, and I think we owe it to all the ladies getting ready to start freshman year to talk it out.

The temptation of the first semester boyfriend is almost insurmountable. You’re in a new place, surrounded by new people - new, attractive people – who don’t know about that time in high school when you slipped in chocolate pudding and had to walk around all day with a brown stain on your butt. All of a sudden you get to pick the kinds of classes you take, the activities you get involved in, the events you go to - which means your chances of meeting someone who’s really compatible with you is way higher than when you were just meeting guys who lived in the same school district as you. Read More »

The first week of college is summer camp. The second is back to reality. When I arrived on campus a little over a week ago, I never imagined going from name-games to essays in a blink.

My college has a week of orientation, so it never really felt like school until I walked into Geology on Tuesday morning. Before that, I had been watching movies with other freshmen, exploring—well, really getting lost in—the campus, and trying every imaginable ice cream combination at the dining halls.

From the moment I walked into my class, I realized I can’t just watch movies and eat ice cream for the next four years. Buying textbooks before the class was its own problem—really, if a book is used, shouldn’t it be dirt cheap, not just a fraction less expensive than the new version?—but being in a room filled with strangers, most not naïve first years like me, was unnerving.

In high school, the first day was one of my favorites. Sure, I hated knowing I had a year of work ahead of me, but I loved seeing old friends, catching up on summer gossip. Here, I sat down and immediately started taking notes. What part of this lecture was important enough to write down? Who was the person sitting next to me? Was I allowed to raise my hand to ask a question? Read More »

I have never thought of myself as a “sorority girl.” Like many people, when I thought of the term “sorority girl” I didn’t have a whole lot of positive connotations. I thought they were fake, perky, skanky, High School queen bees, who did a lot of partying and a lot of drugs.

Okay, so I guess I let Hollywood feed me that stereotype.

However, once I started freshman year I started meeting some great girls (who were none of those stereotypical adjectives) and who were also in sororities. The contrast baffled me, so I decided to investigate.

Sororities are pretty big on my campus and something like 35% of girls go Greek. That fact and all the nice girls I had met led me to sign myself up for the 2 week long process of rush. My floor friends all signed up too, but I was still pretty iffy about the idea. I told a few home friends and their reaction was…well less than enthusiastic. I got responses like; “Are you serious?” “Why would you do that to yourself?” and “You are not a sorority girl!” Even my mom, who went Greek in college, said that it might not be for me. These people were the people that knew me best, so I thought that they were probably right, and I prepared to pull my name off the list of about 700 girls. Read More »