I think it’s obvious by now that there are a lot of things I’m going to miss about being a college student. Friends. Three day weekends. The ability to plan my schedule around the latest episode of Glee. Things like that make the idea of leaving in three months and never looking back completely horrifying.

But as I inch closer and closer to graduation each day, I’ve taken the time to consider that maybe it’s not all bad. Four years is enough time to realize that college has its pros and its cons. And maybe I’ve just been looking at this whole thing the wrong way. I’m going to try for optimism instead. And that’s why I’ve listed for you a few of the things I absolutely won’t miss about college.

1. Writing papers. I’ve done my fair share of paper writing over the last four years and it never gets any more entertaining or interesting. The research is annoying. The outlining never works. The writing process is disastrous. And the entire thing just makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs and pull out ALL. OF. MY. HAIR. I’m grateful this part of my life is almost over, if only to prevent the need of wigs at such a young age.

2. Dining hall food. Even if you go to one of those schools where the food is actually edible, after four years of the same choices on rotation over and over and over again it really is time for a change. Plus, dining halls aren’t exactly known for having the healthiest dining options. That personal trainer I’ve been meaning to get will appreciate my sacrifice of no longer eating chicken fingers and fries for lunch every day.

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College students are notoriously strapped for cash, and everyone on campus knows this.  Maybe administrators only do it because they feel guilty for sucking thousands of dollars out of our bank accounts, but the truth is, they actually provide plenty of awesome things for students to utilize – but we never seem to take these opportunities.  Why is it that the turnout for dollar beer night is always SO much greater than the number of students who show up for on-campus lectures?

There are so many chances that college students simply fail to take advantage of.  Here’s a little bucket list, College Candy style.  Make sure you take advantage of each of these things at least once before graduation.  Trust us – these opportunities are painfully rare once you get out into the real world.

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Week after week (after week after week…), CollegeCandy and our pal John bring you some of the weirdest, funniest, and saddest things he hears on his college campus. And we know he’s not the only one who hears this stuff. Join the Overheard revolution! Listen in on some weirdos’ conversations and share them in the comments or send ‘em over. You know there’s a lot of funny things to be heard on your campus, so get listening.

(Guy, watching something in a sports bar.)

Guy: Okay … yeah, okay … ALL RIGHT! YES! I’m the BUTTERMAN! I’m the SEXY BUTTERMAN!

(Two girls, studying in the library.)

Girl 1: Yeah, I’ll probably start sleeping here too. Under the tables or something.

Girl 2: No, I said “sleeping with girls” in the library. That’s different.

Girl 1: Oh. Yeah, I guess it is. Read More »

I do not miss the anti-fun police.

I’m heading back to my old college this weekend to reunite with friends. And by friends I mean 9am kegstands and a drunken stumble to the football stadium. And as I pack my suitcase full of college t-shirts, flip flops and my cell-phone flask, I’m really starting to miss my college life.

Wait. Who am I kidding? I always miss college life. Every. single. day.

It’s just that knowing I’ll be traipsing through my old stomping ground tomorrow has me extra nostalgic. I’ve spent the past 3 days looking at old photo albums (those are those books that existed before Facebook allowed you to create albums online), drinking to increase my tolerance to college proportions, and crying myself to sleep at 10pm since I have to wake up at 6am to go to work.

After drowning my sorrows in 3 shots of tequila last night, my friends yelled at me to snap out of it. “You’re out of college, woman. GET OVER IT.” But how? How am I supposed to move on from the best 4.5 years of my life (of which, I an only really remember 2.25)? By focusing on all the downsides, of course!

College was the bomb.com, but it wasn’t perfect. There were plenty of things wrong with it, so this week I asked the CollegeCandy writers to remind me share their biggest college pet peeves. Note: I still wanna go back.

Ricki – Univerisity of Michigan: When frat guys pour cheap vodka in Grey Goose bottles and try to pass it off as the real thing.  Boys, we can tell. We’re not that drunk!

Laura – St. John’s : While living down the hall/just across campus from all your friends can be a blast, it definitely sucks when you’re trying to avoid someone (i.e. the BFF you’re fighting with or that guy you hooked up with while you were drunk).  You have nowhere to hide!

Sara C – Fordham: ResLife. Ever notice how the on-campus housing staff want to make it seem like you live in a jail cell, not a home-away-from-home? Thankfully, I live off-campus now, but condescending RAs are THE most annoying thing about college.

Thu – USC: How people have been accepted to a good university and yet still insist on stealing bikes and other property. I don’t get it. Some people just have no integrity. Read More »

Granola is a tricky little bugger. Sure, it seems like the healthiest choice to pick at the dining hall in comparison to the other less-than-appealing options, but the truth is that granola can pack a ton of fat and calories if you’re not careful. Like, you’re-better-off-eating-the-Lucky-Charms kinda calories. Luckily, a new company (and my new obsession) has provided a solution: customized granola mixes.

Yup, that’s right! At mixmygranola.com, you choose every single thing that goes into your very own special mix.

How does it work? There are four easy steps:

First, you pick your base (options are organic granola, french vanilla granola, organic muesli and low fat granola), and then you can add in dried fruits (I chose dried mangos, bananas and raspberries…yum!) and nuts (omega-3 rich flax seeds for me). To top it off, if you want to add some treats to the mix, pick from “extras” such as gummy bears, yogurt covered pretzels and chocolate chips.

And that’s all! Just click to order and within a few days, you’ll have a (large) container of ready-to-go granola. Mine came within two days after I placed the order and I must say, it is delicious. It even has the exact nutritionals for my personalized mix pasted right on the side so I know exactly what I’m eating, unlike when I pour a fatty bowl of the stuff in the caf. I just measure the stuff into single serving plastic baggies and grab and go on my way to class. Easy, healthy, delicious.

OMG I’m so in love. And you can start your very own love affair with mixmygranola. CollegeCandy linked up with the men behind the blend and are giving a $25 gift certificate to a very lucky granola-lovin’ CollegeCandy reader. Just tell us, in the comments below, what your ideal granola combo would be and we’ll pick a winner. You have until 5pm on Tuesday, April 14th to get your entry in. We’ll announce the winner on Wednesday, April 15th.

Yay granola!

[Every week, CC and John will bring you some of the wierdest, funniest, saddest things he hears on his college campus.  Join the Overheard revolution!  Leave your own overheard convos in the comments.]

Strange, silly and awkward things overheard on campus this week:

- A lanky blonde man leans against a doorway, talking to a short-haired brunette.

“She’s really… nice, you know?” He shakes his head. “I mean, I just wanted someone to care about.”

“But a freshman?” she asks, feigning surprise. “Really!“

“Yeah. It was like fishing with dynamite.”

- Two grizzled, swarthy males stand in the dining hall.

“Man, I can’t believe there aren’t any forks,” remarks one, his thick lower lip turned in a pout. He moves one finger toward his collar unconsciously.

His friend looks sadly at the empty racks. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t even know anyone who uses spoons.”

- Across the dining hall, a guy stands up and starts singing “I’ll Make A Man Out Of You” from Mulan . About three quarters of the table joins in within seconds. One other guy grabs his tray, gets up and stalks away. “I thought we were done with this,” he says, darkly.

- Down the hallway, a pink-faced man is tying a lumpy plastic bag to a door. As I pass by, he looks up and smiles conspiratorially.

“It’s ladybugs,” he says. Read More »