Even though being a post-grad hasn’t been an easy ride (biggest understatement of the year), I have plenty of things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving season. So in honor of the holiday and my new “the bowl of stuffing is half full” mentality, here is a list of post-grad things worth celebrating this time of year:

1. Graduation gifts – Luckily when you graduate, people give you gifts and money and things that you need. Even though these gifts are like “Hey, you’re out of college now and you’re kinda on your own so here is some luggage,” they make transitioning very happy.

2. I’m cafeteria free – Albeit eating in a dining hall and having a meal plan is convenient, not having to eat food made for 800 people is a dream. Do you know how amazing it is to eat food that is warm and flavorful? Maybe my alma mater wasn’t too fabulous in the food department (minus the Swedish meatballs … I lived for those), so I’m alone on this one, but I’ll take making myself food any day over dining hall slop.

3. I can wear my underwear whenever I want – Seriously, every time I would just want to veg out in my dorm room and just comfortably enjoy being in my underwear (with a bag of chips), someone would knock. (Editor’s Note: Thank god they didn’t just walk in. Awkward!) And you know, then you have to get up, put on pants, and open the door. Not now. I can wear my underwear all day and no one bothers me. Hooray!

4. No drama – Getting away from college has been a blessing. No gossip. No drama. Just memories and keeping-in-touch with those I want to (and staying far, far away from those I don’t).  I don’t have to deal with classroom politics, and I don’t have to deal with drunken sorority girls elbowing me on dance floors. It’s great being able to step back from the stuff that made me go “Ughh, I’m so over it.”

5. I have a degree– Even though it may not be enough to find the kind of job I want, I’m glad I have my Bachelors and I’m glad I worked my ass off to get it. College went fast, but the knowledge and the subjects that interest me will last a lifetime. No complaints there! Read More »

Mac 'n cheese for now, pizza for (when you're drunk) later.

Living in college pretty much means you will be living a notch above a homeless person.  You drink cheap booze heavily, pass out in random places, smell like last night on your way to class and (pretty much) live in a box.  Luckily, we all know that is what makes college amazing.

But still, college can get pretty difficult at times.  You don’t have a car your freshman year to make constant trips to Trader Joe’s, let alone the moolah to buy nice minty tea tree shampoo and Charmin Baby soft toilet paper like Mama buys at home (sigh).  What are you ever going to do without a stocked pantry and a private hot shower (that doesn’t require flip flops and a shower caddy?!?).

Don’t fret, college loved ones!  The college campus is a gold mine for basic needs and perks.  And I promise you, one thing we have up to a homeless man is easy access to what we need. Read More »

This post provided by college nutritionist, author, and all around excellent source of healthful info, Melanie Jatsek.

It’s the start of the new school year.  For some of you this will be your first time away from home and you may be feeling a little nervous about meeting your new roommate and dorm life in general.  For others it’s like coming home again, only this time you are moving into your own apartment.

Let’s face it, there are many things in college you can’t control, but what you eat isn’t one of them!  Because certain foods improve your focus and brain health (while others destroy it), your food choices will have an impact on your grades.  What about the so called “Freshman Fifteen”?  You don’t have to fall victim to it or poor eating habits if you play it smart from day one.  In fact, your eating habits can actually improve in college (yes, I did just say that)!

Eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard if you keep it simple.  All you really have to do is remember the 5 basics and build your meals and snacks around them:  fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meats/meat substitutes.  Whether you are a first year college student and only have a tiny dorm room refrigerator (and an even tinier cupboard to store your food) or you are a returning student living in an apartment with a kitchen, here are the 13 foods you must stock up on to stay on track: Read More »

Got something awesome everyone needs to know about? A really great local band? An awesome website? A product that truly changed your life? A great beauty product?! Email your “The Know” ideas to Jill@collegecandy.com or tweet me and I’ll pass them along to everyone right here, every week. Make your kindergarten teacher proud and share!

You know that odd period of time Friday night when you’re done with class, too tired to workout but not quite ready to go out and nothing, I mean NOTHING is on TV? Unless you want to watch the same episode of Say Yes to the Dress for, like, the 12th time all the while thinking (just like you did the first time you saw this very episode), “Why am I watching this crap? There goes an hour and a little bit of dignity that I will never get back.”

Well, guess what? That’s all about to change. There’s a new reality show in town, peeps, and this time it’s actually good. I’m not talking so-bad-it’s-oh-so-good like Jersey Shore and all it’s fist pumping glory (as thankful as I am that I’ve learned how to beat the beat); I’m talking eye-opening, thought provoking, I-can’t-believe-this-is-the-country-we-live-in good, and it’s starting this Friday. Read More »

Freshman year of college, from what I’ve learned so far, is a series of firsts. Some of them are great – first 11:00 a.m. class (yay sleep!), first weekend away at school – while others simply aren’t – like your first midterm exam. But regardless of whether or not these firsts are awesome in themselves, just experiencing them is exhilarating. At what other time in your life can you call Mom and prattle on excitedly about your first time studying at the library until its 2 a.m. closing time?

Oh, wait, that just might be me.

So, my college firsts? Some of them I remember vividly, and others, not so much (but not for that reason – really, Mom, I swear!). Maybe a trip down my four-week-old college memory lane will help joggle my sleep-deprived brain.

First meal

I don’t remember what or with whom I ate, but I do recall being totally daunted by the dining hall. My school’s main dining hall has fifty billion different lines criss-crossing all over the room; while I understand the system now, on the first day, I was clueless. I’m sure wasn’t the only one stricken with trepidation, but who would openly admit feeling totally lost to a bunch of unfamiliar people? Well, now I admit it. I was paralyzed with fear by a freaking dining hall. Laugh if you must.

First reading assignment

The first assignment I read was a “short story” (i.e. a rather long piece masquerading as a short story) for my English class. Heeding my professor’s advice, I annotated the sh*t out of it, but when I was through I had absolutely no idea what I had read. A second read revealed to me that it had been some bizarre satirical story, but for a good half-hour, I was reconsidering whether or not I was ready for college. Read More »

Nearly every first year student worries about putting on the dreaded “freshman fifteen” upon entering college, which makes the dining hall and food options offered by a university a major focal point of conversation among its student body. While most colleges across the nation have a variety of options in their dining hall and the students are satisfied, a lot of colleges simply suck in the food programs they provide for their students. However, while those programs may not be ideal for the student body, administrations often work with students to get insight into creating better menus, offering more variety, and improving overall healthiness of the food.

My university is not one of those schools that eagerly works to improve the situation in the dining hall, even though it is overwhelmingly a huge issue on campus.

From day one, I have heard nothing but complaints from my peers, and even my professors – and now, two and a half years later, complaints and concerns of the dining program (created by Sodexho – a program which works with many schools across the nation) still circulate on a day-to-day basis.

As a campus, Hollins students are indisputably guilty for interminable complaining about the issues with Sodexho as a program and the administration taking responsibility (or lack thereof) for student concerns over food issues, but I don’t blame anyone for their incessant pressure on trying to improve the situation. Hollins doesn’t offer a varying meal plan; its unlimited access to the dining hall from breakfast until the cafeteria closes at 7pm binds students to the meal-plan, making getting off the meal plan nearly impossible. Read More »

Time is flying and no matter how much I try to ignore how quickly the semester is going, all my friends have turned into professional counters who can tell you exactly how many days, hours, and minutes we have left.

All I have to say is, “I’m not sure I’m going out tonight because it’s hailing fully formed snowmen,” and within in seconds I have 14 texts, 9 IMs, and 1 roommate chirping out: “We only have 12 more Mondays to go out!” And of course the countdown always makes me give in.

It’s not that I doubt I will have plenty of Mondays in my future to get drunk (recession, unemployment, YES) but it’s more like I only have 12 more Mondays to get drunk in a socially acceptable way. After that it’s drinking alone on Mondays from old Manischewitz bottles that I find in the back of the fridge. And nothing good ever follows Manischewitz (although my brother will be the only one to argue that gelfite fish follows Manischewitz and gelfite fish is good). Read More »

If you are a fan of Oprah you are quite familiar with her friend, Dr. Mehmet Oz. Oprah counts on him to enlighten her (and all of us) on everything from getting rid of stinky feet to what a tapeworm looks like.

Yum.

Well, Dr. Oz has a daughter and she is awesome. She also happens to be an expert in healthy living in college and shares her expertise with you in her book, “The Dorm Room Diet.”

The Freshman 15 has no chance when you have Daphne Oz on your side.

She will be guest blogging with us this week and sharing great tips for surviving the cafeteria and fitting workouts in between all that partying studying.

If you are struggling with the free ice cream in the caf., stick around – Daphne’s got your back.

It’s weird how when you’re away from your campus for so long and you finally roll into familiar stomping grounds, you feel like you never left. It seems like a dumb and cliché thing to say, but there’s something about being dropped from one familiar place (home) to another familiar place (school) that erases what little shock value might want to rear its ugly head.

Maybe it’s because I wanted to come back to school more badly than ever before, but I’m not having a hard time tucking summer into closets and chests. I’m still a little shell-shocked, though. I think it might have something to do with knowing that this is my last year here. I made this place my home more than real home, and not being here just sounds…wrong.

My school isn’t very nice to its upperclassmen, so I moved in on Saturday – which is a bitch when you live on the third floor with NO elevator – and started classes this Monday. I think maybe it’s to try and limit our Welcome Week to Welcome Weekend.

Like I told you guys last time, I’m playing the catch-up game, so I’ve got twenty credits this semester… and 16 next semester? Not sure how that one’s gonna work, what with my school only giving 4-credit courses, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. That’s five classes. Still, it’s nowhere near as bad as it sounds. There’s an ass-crack of dawn class (really, it’s only 8:30, but if the sun is still in the east it’s too early for me) that only has six people in it, a general psychology class STOCKED with freshmen (more on that later), an acting class that I can already see is going to be my chill-class, a colonial American Literature class with a professor who loves to hear himself talk, and an advanced poetry class that I still haven’t taken and I’m a little worried about. Read More »

[Chasing Chastity is a series by C. Ryder. You can read Parts I, II, and III here!]

“Well, thanks again for lunch, Jack.”

“Sure.” He looked at his watch. “Oh, sh*t, I have a meeting. Gotta go!”

“Bye.” He scurried off, leaving me alone in a cafeteria filled with chattering secretaries and yawing businessmen – the tables were divided according to sex. I NEED A

DRINK. THIS BIZ WORLD . . . UGH., I thought sullenly.

As soon as I walked through the front door of our Tudor home, I could see that Jack had contacted me through gmail chat. I poured myself some scotch into a crystal tumbler, sighed with frustration, and sat at my husband’s wooden desk.

Jack: hey

me: hey. What’s up?

Jack: just glad to see that you got home safe

me: thanks

Jack: ok, gotta go

me: all right then, have a good day

Jack: by the way, you looked very nice today…glad to see that the retail worked for your already lovely image

me: well, i try

Jack: good job! let’s have a dinner date next week. Cara is gonna be out of town, and i’m dyin’ to buy you a martini!

me: thanks

Thinking that our conversation was over, I stood up, patted my dog’s head, and headed to the bathroom. But Jack pinged me again.

Jack: if only i were younger, and we were both single! Read More »