Dear (Good) College Professors,

I’m not sure if you know this or not, but this week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and today is National Teachers’ Day. So I thought I’d start my day off (I know. I’m a late sleeper. That’s why you never see me in your 8 a.m. classes) by taking a moment to appreciate you. All of you. For all that you do. Because even though it may sometimes seems like we’ve forgotten it, college students (most of them anyway) do realize that the point of college is to get an education, and that would be pretty difficult without professors.

But I want to thank you for more than just choosing to be college professors; I want to thank you for being really great college professors. Looking back on my four years of college I’ve had some not-so-great professors, but I’ve also had some amazing ones that opened my mind up to thoughts and ideas and novels and topics I never would have considered before. They cared enough to inspire their students. And that’s worth thanking them for.

Teaching is a job. I get that. And as teachers you’re not obligated to do anything more than show up to class (most days) and  give us a grade at the end of the semester (and there are some professors that can’t even handle that). But a lot of you do so much more than that. You go above and beyond what is expected of you. You make class interesting. You make class educational.  And you make class worth attending.

So thank you.

Thank you for all that you do for us. And I do mean, all that you do. Read More »

Since it’s that time of year, the time for choosing colleges (and for some, leaving college) Jezebel has decided to depart some wisdom on all the high school senior hopefuls out here, asking them to really think about what they want out of there college experience, about why they’re choosing the schools they’re choosing, and the effects those choices will have on their college careers.

Well, their great advice has inspired me to give a little advice of my own. Less about choosing a college, and more about the things you should remember once you get there, about how to bridge that gap between college and the real world, and how to make the most of your opportunities while you still have them.

I mean it’s not all boys, beer, and parties (even though those are important too), so here are a few things I wish I knew when I was a mere freshman.

1. You’ll change your major at least once. Everyone always told me this, but I would just shake my head at them and laugh. Not me, I knew what I wanted to major in. I loved to read and to write. I was going to be an English major. But even I eventually had a moment of doubt. The entire second semester of my freshman year into the summer before my sophomore I was convinced I would be changing my major to information systems. That seemed like a far more practical choice with better options for post-grad jobs. Granted I eventually realized I was not made to be an information systems major and found my way back to English (and later, Philosophy) but I was so concerned with trying to pick a major that I didn’t even realize that… Read More »

Let’s set the stage here.

You walk into “The Application of Platonic and Hegelian Ethics to Business” (It’s exhausting just saying the name, isn’t it?), an extra credit symposium, take your seat between the girl who raises her hand every five seconds and the guy who comes to class only to fall asleep, pull out your books and suppress a yawn. You’re exhausted, having gotten no sleep after a late night Teen Mom marathon and barely made it to class on time.  You are in no mood to listen to lectures today. But you need the extra credit so here you are. And there your professor is, walking into class, putting down his bag, writing on the board, and then…calling in the strippers?

Yes, I said strippers. And I meant it.

This was not an exercise to make sure you were paying attention. This is reality, at least it was for the students of Jack Rapport, and assistant professor at La Salle University, who claims he was simply trying to  enrich his teaching by using real life application. And getting his students lap dances? Sure, just like the f**ksaws guy, right?

What is wrong with the world? Have all of these professors gone mad? Are these their attempts to gain media attention, be the cool teacher, or just get their students to like them? Because I hate to break it to ya, while I’m sure Rapport has given his students a great story, I don’t think this stint will win him any professor of the year awards. It’s fun in the moment, but that sort of thing won’t help students in the long run. This certainly wouldn’t get a guy on my professor of the year list.

But you know what would? A few things a whole lot easier to pull off than that, like:

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It’s SAT season and you know what that means: high school juniors are buckling down and getting ready to take “the most important test of their lives,” the test that will determine whether or not they get into college, the test that will supposedly predict how well they will do there. Now, I don’t know about you ladies, but as a seasoned college student I have to say I think that is a load of ridiculous. I mean vocabulary and problem solving and knowing who the Kardashians are is all well and good, but is it really an accurate portrayal of how a student will do in college?

No. It’s most definitely not.

So we thought we’d help College Board and all those other important SAT people out by offering them a few alternative SAT questions. Real life questions, the kind of questions that college students may encounter on any give college day…

1. One tequila, two tequila, three tequila…

(A) Four (B) Floor (C) Bed (D) Death

2. Beer goggles is a commonly used college expression. Explain the meaning of this phrase and then use it in a sentence.

3. A walk of shame is:

(A) Walking into class after said class has started (B) Walking home during the early hours of the morning in last night’s clothes after spending said night in with a guy (C) Tripping while walking in high heels

4. A steak dinner is to real life as ____ is to college life.

(A) cafeteria food (B) Ramen noodles (C) Chef Boyardee

Read More »

It’s a Friday morning. Your alarm goes off for the tenth time. You look at the clock and realize you’ve hit the snooze button well into the first five minutes of your ever dreaded Friday morning class, which you’re only taking because it was the only thing open when you were finally able to register. You grab your shoes and your books, spend ten minutes in line for coffee — because, yeah, it’s necessary — and finally sneak into a seat at the back of the class just in time to hear your professor ask that you send your assignments forward.

Assignments?  What assignments? You think, you think, you flip threw your notes, and then finally, in the bottom corner of the page next to your sunflower doodle is your homework assignment. The one you totally didn’t do. Now what? Well, now you need a way to get out of handing it in today. Now you need an extension.  Now you need a really good excuse.

So be sure not to use one of these…

1. The dog ate it. The oldest excuse in the book. Teachers can see this one coming from a mile away. But it’s particularly difficult to pull off in college because more likely than not, you’re not allowed to have pets in the dorm rooms. So even if your professor does, on the slimmest of chances, believe you then you’ll be dealing with some much bigger issues.

2. My printer stopped working. Back in my high school days, I’ve actually seen this one work a few times. It’s plausible, direct, and clearly implies that the homework is done, but you just couldn’t get that paper printed in time. But that was all before the entire world went online. Now, not only would you have been able to send it to a friend to print, but you could also send it directly to the teacher. And they will ask you to — believe me, they will ask you to.

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The following post is written by Aaron Johnson from University of North Texas, one of our many friends at Uloop, a student powered marketplace. Read more great posts in their blog.

With college classes well underway, many, myself included, look to the ever-daunting decision of picking a major. Do I want business? Engineering? Journalism? Art? A foreign language? What does this do for me, anyway? What if I hate it?

Academic advisors kept asking me what I liked to do, and my reply continued to be: everything. While there were a few obvious things (most involving too much math) I knew I didn’t want to do, there were very few things I couldn’t see myself doing on the long list of majors they displayed for us.

As I continued to go to these advising sessions, I slowly began to narrow my choices down to a few. I don’t want to do something just because I’d make money; I want to do something I enjoy, or at least tolerate. I want to learn about it before I choose something. Thus, I continued to take exploratory classes.

As you look for what you’d like to choose in a major, don’t settle for something simply because you could see yourself doing it, or you think you’d make bank doing it. All too often you see people returning to college because their first go-round left them getting lots of money, but miserable, as they couldn’t stand the career path they had chosen. Read More »

We’ve teamed up with our favorite organizing guru Peter Walsh and OfficeMax to give one lucky CollegeCandy fan an entirely new workspace. As in a new desk, message board, file tray, cord management station, portable inbox station, expanding files, writing board, notebooks, letter tray, ottoman with hanging files inside, and more!

Yeah it’s a lot — I’m out of breath just typing it!

Last week we invited people to upload their messiest desk pictures to our Facebook fan page to prove to us why they deserved to win this awesome prize. And even though our desks are filled with old wrappers, crumb-filled keyboards, and coffee stains, you guys managed to out-do us. We’ve chosen the 5 MESSIEST desks from all the entries and now we’re asking you to help us pick a winner by voting for the person who NEEDS the new workspace the most.

Check out the pictures below, then place your vote at the bottom! The contest ends this Friday, February 4th, so don’t forget to vote! Read More »

[It's a new year meaning it's the perfect time to wipe that slate clean and start anew. And we made it our resolution to help you out. Every Thursday this month we've been bringing you advice from experts on ways to improve yourself and your life.  First we feng shui-ed your rooms to make them happier, more productive places and centered ourselves so we could handle whatever comes our way. Then we got our finances all in order. And now, at long last, it's time for organization expert (seriously, Oprah uses this guy!) Peter Walsh to help us get our desks and lives in order. P.S. He's giving away a MEGA prize, so check that out at the end.]

Does this sound familiar? You’re taking 18 credit hours, involved in extra curriculars, trying to study for exams, accepting social invitations left and right and trying to impress the cute guy in psychology class. You don’t exactly have free time, and well, your desk reflects it. These days, it’s starting to look more like last night’s party scene than an efficient, productive workspace that you started with in August. And I’m guessing the same holds true for your “mobile office,” i.e. your backpack!

You’re not alone! But it’s time to take back control and start the New Year off with less clutter and more organization. The following are a few of my favorite tips and advice for organizing your workspace and mind that will help you maintain your studies, social calendar and sanity throughout the rest of the semester and year.

Here’s what you need to know: Read More »

In the back of my closet sits a neatly folded black robe, a phoenix feather wand, and costume makeup. Like Nagini’s eerie parseltongue, they seem to whisper my name louder and louder as the release date for part one of The Deathly Hallows nears. For those die-hard Harry Potter fans out there like me—whose favorite pastime includes arguing over which house their real-life friends would be in— it can seem unfathomable, absolutely preposterous that some people have never read the Harry Potter series.

How, they ask, could parents let their children miss out on such a blissful and beautiful reading experience? And, likewise, how could some children not force their parents to reignite their now-dead imaginations with a bit of wizardry? Some cite the evils and villains the novels include as too harsh for children. Some feel they are above the pre-teen categorized stories.

However, I am here to prove these naysayers wrong. Not only is the Harry Potter series a must-read for any literate human being, it’s also a beacon of literary, religious, and historical references. It challenges readers’ ideas of ethics and provides youngins with information they would otherwise toss-aside if in a different format.

Still unconvinced that Harry Potter isn’t worth a second glance? Or that it shouldn’t be considered lasting literature? Well, just ask these following universities that offer or have offered various interesting and completely awesome courses analyzing J. K. Rowling’s genius series. Read More »

I’ve been in a grand total of (roughly) 32 college courses during my college career.  I did a little math (with my cell phone calculator because I haven’t taken a math class since high school) and that puts about 960 students in my life.  That’s a lot of a-holes students in a small classroom.

So in honor of National Dunce Day, I wanted to take a moment and highlight those people in class who make our hair stand up on our arms, the muscles in our cheekbones twitch, and our blood pressures rise.

Today is their day. Hopefully they’ll celebrate by taking the day off from school….

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