There are only 4 days (well, more like 3 days, 22 hours and 12 minutes) until your flight takes off for Cancun. You’ve got 6 lectures and 2 discussion sections between you and the smell of SPF 30/sweet, sweet freedom, but your brain has been checked out for days.

While your professor drones on and on about about the feminist’s criticism of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” you’re having a mid-day dream about strawberry daiquiris and that adorable new tankini you just picked up at Target. Instead of taking notes in History of the Civil War, you work on your packing list, adding necessities like “dangly earrings,” “push-up bra,” and “Listerine bottle full of Absolut.” And when you should be in the library brushing up on Physics, you’re off at the campus drug store stocking up on tanning oil (and aloe for when said tanning oil inevitably fails…3 hours into the trip).

And you’re not the only one. Come on, it’s SPRING BREAK. It’s been months since your last break from school and between midterms and the gloomy, gray weeks, every student on campus has been on a mental vacation for days. And that would be fine with everyone if it weren’t for that hard ass professor who always likes to prove a point. The eternal party pooper who returns home to his 12 cats every night and can’t handle the idea of college students having fun. Read More »

So normally, I try to keep the Weekly Ten a positive place. Best kisses. Best boys. Best ways to spend your winter break. But this week, well, that’s just not happening.

I’m not sure if it’s the bad weather or the senioritis or my inability to focus on any one task for more than five minutes at a time, but I’ve been in quite the mood these past few days. And I’m taking my anger out on February, this too short, unproductive, cold, depressing, and generally annoying month.

So here’s why I am officially hating on February.

10. Groundhog Day is a bogus holiday. Yes, okay. So it’s cute to watch a little groundhog crawl out of a whole and get scared by its own shadow. But is this holiday ever actually accurate? I mean, I’m crossing my frozen fingers that this year it will be; there’s nothing I’d love more this year than an early spring….especially after Snowmaggedon 2011.

9. One month closer to midterms. What comes after February? March.  The month of midterms. The month of study sessions and papers and cramming and procrastinating.  The two week long process of trying to relearn everything you’ve already forgotten. February is cruel even as it leaves us. Read More »

Since most of us won't get near those nasty tubs in the communal bathroom, I've got a few better ideas for relaxation...

October is a busy month. Between midterms and registration, and finding the perfect Halloween costume, things can get pretty crazy there for a while. But it’s important to remember to take a step back from it all for a while. Relax. Enjoy the little things. Relieve some stress.

Here’s how…

10. Indulge in some junk food. This probably isn’t the best advice, since eating your feelings isn’t exactly healthy, but chocolate cures all. At least for a little while. So just indulge for a little bit. Something sweet, or something salty, or something sweet and salty (chocolate covered pretzels…mmm…). Just a little pick me up. Besides, isn’t dark chocolate good for you anyway?

9. Dance it out. Yes, I am totally ripping off Grey’s Anatomy here, but the “twisted sisters” know what they’re talking about.  Dancing is an excellent stress reliever and you don’t even have to have any rhythm whatsoever. (Trust me. I would know.) Just enjoy yourself. And relax.

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 »

[Meet Margaret, a freshman at Yale. We've been checking in with her every week to see what she's doing, who she's meeting and what new college surprises she's tackling (or freaking out about) as she embarks on the journey we call college. Or as I like to call it, the best thing since Trader Joe's Honey Greek Yogurt. That is, until midterms season hits, of course.]

So I’m new at this whole midterms thing. The idea that I’ve been more or less lounging around for the past 6 weeks and then – wham! – I’m hit with a test that’s worth 40% of my grade…that’s kind of crazy.

Needless to say, this past week has been an acne-inducing, sleep-lacking, chocolate-eating cram week. But, terrible as it was for my complexion and caloric intake, I have to say that this week has definitely taught me some things about studying.

First, it’s much easier to not stress about midterms if you actually know what’s going on in class. I’ve been going to class, but this was definitely problematic for a lot of my classmates. In a lecture of 400 people about something as non-stimulating as econ, it’s easy to doze off. But unfortunately, while you are dreaming about your next Halloween costume, your professor is actually saying important things. Even though my professor puts his notes online, so many of his notes are things where you have to fill in graphs and equations that you learn about in class. Bottom line, try your best not to fall asleep in class and then have to teach yourself everything the week before the exam. Read More »

Fall is in full swing. The pumpkin spice lattes are a part of your daily ritual. You’ve broken in your new fall boots. You’ve given up that whole turning over a new leaf idea – you know, the one that involved getting your homework done on time. And hey, just in time for midterms too.

Mid semester exams are inevitable. And annoying. Just when you’ve started to think you could get away with not doing any of the reading for your classes and getting all of your notes online (from the comfort of your futon), midterms rear their ugly heads.

Essays?
Quotation identifications?

You are not prepared for this. Time for some serious studying, right? Not just yet, there are a few things you really need to do first…. Read More »

We’re well into another new school year and to honor that, we at CollegeCandy are bringing back the fan-favorite series, “We’ve All Been There.”  (We tried to get another national holiday/long weekend for you guys but it’s way harder than we thought so this will have to do.) Every week, Lauren – University of Michigan will comment on the common experiences all college women share – like stupid group projects or, everyone’s favorite activity, procrastinating. Read, relate, cringe and enjoy.

You’ve spent the past 4 nights in the library flipping through your tattered notebook. You’ve highlighted and re-highlighted all the most important sections in the textbook. You’ve answered the sample review questions your T.A. gave out and the entire review packet distributed at the review session.

Hell, you went to the review session.

And now, on the eve before the big blue book exam, you feel ready to go. You’ve done everything you can and now it’s time to show that little blue book who’s boss.

Before you climb into bed at the ripe hour of 11 p.m., you pack your messenger bag with two blue books, 2 pens (in case one runs out of ink), a few pencils (in case that is what the teacher prefers), White-out, gum, tissues and a bag of Sour Patch Kids (for a post-exam celebration). You set your alarm and snuggle into your Twin XL to get the required 8 hours before the big day.

Except you only got 5 hours. The other three were spent staring at the ceiling freaking out.

“Oh God. This exam is 50% of my grade. 50! I can not eff this up. What is an example of Intrinsic Motivation? What are the symptoms of Multiple Personality Disorder?! Why am I still awake?!” Read More »

With my midterm exams finally over, I’m taking this opportunity to do a little midterm reviewing of my own. Now seems to be the perfect time to reflect on the first quarter of my freshman year and to start looking forward to the rest of the semester, the next semester, and, well, just the future in general. As scary as that sounds.

When I first started counting down to college, I was doing so with a level of excitement you’d expect from a kid who has just eaten four bowls of sugary cereal. I couldn’t wait to get out of high school and show my stuff at an institution of higher learning, although admittedly, the idea of college itself was fairly daunting (living among 22 year-olds/life without Mommy and Daddy/doing my own laundry/etc.). Towards the end of the summer, the dream started to become a frightening reality. Was I ready? Could I handle college life? Would I get a roommate from hell?!

Then, college. Ahh, college. Orientation was definitely awkward at first, but a few weeks into school, I was absolutely loving it (and, of course, I still am, in spite of all the reading I have to do for class tomorrow). I got extremely lucky and quickly became friends with my hallmates, and as classes started, I began developing friendships with people who share my passions, understand my sense of humor, and appreciate my personal brand of insanity. Weekend movie marathons and game nights became my weekly rituals. Read More »

The air is crisp, the leaves are changing, and you can wear cute scarves without looking like a jackass. We all know that that means… MIDTERMS!

October is the best month of the whole year: apple cider, long weekends (Columbus day), and Halloween parties galore. Of course, the world is a cruel place, so amidst all the fun fall festivities, we also get crushed with the madness of midterms.

I think it’s about time we stop letting a few little exams ruin the best party month of the year, so I’ve put together a guide with everything you need to enjoy your midterms.

Study-Group Sloshfest

A lot of people find it more tolerable to study in a group, and a lot of people find it more tolerable to be in a group when they’re wasted. Why not combine the two? Set up a study group, ask each other questions, and anyone who gets one wrong takes a shot. When someone passes out, use their skin as notepaper to write out difficult facts or formulas. They won’t forget the answers next time!

The Best Friend/ Boyfriend / Boy-Down-The-Hall with Adderall

I can guarantee that someone you know has an Adderall prescription. Find them and get to know them; they are your new best friend. If you’re able to obtain a few (or fifty) Adderall, you’ll be able to put off all your studying until a night or two before your exams, leaving your weekends completely free for apple-picking and Halloween parties! Read More »