CollegeCandies, today is a very special day.

Today is the birthday of not one monumental figure in pop culture, but two. Because not only is today the 17th birthday of Justin “everyone freaks out when he cuts his hair” Bieber, it’s also the birthday of everyone’s favorite childhood author, Dr. Seuss. Yes, the man who brought you The Cat in the Hat was born on the very same day as the boy who brought you “Somebody to Love.” So who to celebrate? Which one will get the coveted CollegeCandy celebration?

Well, we just couldn’t choose. So instead we came up with a way to honor both of these legends. In honor of Dr. Seuss I will be presenting you lovely ladies with a poem, but in order to bestow upon Bieber the honor that he deserves, that poem will be about him. So ladies, may I present, for you enjoyment, Oh The Places You Can Find a Bieber Fan

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I did it! I graduated. Although the moment of hearing my name, walking across the stage, receiving my diploma, and turning my tassel went by incredibly fast, the road to Commencement has been an unforgettable eye-opening four-year journey.

It’s been made up of classes I’ve loved (like Arab-American literature) and those I’ve hated (Computers 100, I’m talking to you and your Microsoft Word projects). There were those endless papers analyzing literary theorists, ethical dilemmas, Shakespeare’s couplets, and acts of radical feminism. I worked on and cried over hundreds of math problems and graphs, all while reading books that would forever change me and the ways I think about the world around me. I wrote and edited poem after poem for numerous workshop classes, while expanding my poetry vocabulary from e.e. cummings and Emily Dickinson’s collections to the voices of Lorine Niedecker and Naomi Shihab Nye. All these academic experiences led me to learn things I would have never known if I strayed off on a different path.

Outside of school, I interned – a lot. There were the internships I learned a lot at, and the ones that failed to utilize their internship programs to the full extent. There were the people in the business world I met that I admire and respected, and then there were the ones that made me promise myself “I will never end up like that.” I traveled, whether it was from the Upper East Side to SoHo in New York City or from London to Paris for a weekend. Honestly, I even spent most of my time in college traveling to and from other colleges around me (this was part of my college’s campus culture – especially at such a small all women’s college), which convinced me that a two hour car ride is nothing but a quick ride down the road. Read More »

"Uhhh... what now?"

[OMGeeee. Graduation is coming soon. As in, my graduation. As in, in less than two months I'm going to be donning a really unflattering gown and listening to someone tell me that the world is my oyster and blah, blah, blah. As in, I'm about to be a real adult living in the real world. There is so much to do, to enjoy, to learn before I graduate, that I'm not sure I'll have time to do it all. But I'm going to try, starting with my Senior Year Bucket List, then tackling a little reading....]

With graduation fast approaching, I am trying to cram in all the education and life lessons that I possibly can before I have to leave this place. I go to class, take notes, listen, and really try to absorb the teachings from all my amazing professors, teachers, and friends.

However, there are some life lessons that simply can’t be expressed in a quarter long class or in a classroom at all. There are just not enough practical classes that will ready us for life after graduation, or answer so many of the questions we don’t have the answers to. Like, how do I manage a checkbook? How do I find the perfect apartment in an unknown city? Am I going to stay in touch with all my friends post college? How do I make a cup of coffee? What am I actually going to do? Who will I become?

Since we don’t have much “real-world” experience yet, we can benefit and learn from others’ life experiences, stories, and knowledge. There is so much to be learned from other people, and thankfully, so many of those people have written their wisdom down for us.

So for all my fellow college-seniors-who-are-freaking-out-about-graduating-and-have-no-idea-what-they’re-doing, here are five great books by five great authors that might give us all a little insight and guidance. Read More »

March is here! More importantly, Spring Break is here!!! And even though most of us can’t wait to get off campus and onto the beach, there are a couple more reasons why I love this month of March.

1) Red Cross Month

Obama’s Presidential Proclamation last Friday marked the 66th time March has been declared Red Cross Month, and in honor of it, the American Red Cross will launch the first national Change A Life contest, running from March 2-16 (so enter now!) Just go to RedCross.org and share your story of how the Red Cross has changed your life or someone else’s life, and you could win a trip for two to Washington D.C. to join Keith Urban on his Escape Together world tour concert!

2) Rebounding

In celebration of Red Cross Month, I’m going to introduce you to a new form of the rebound – not just for sex, basketball, or even the emotional one anymore. I’m talking about the heart-healthy, original pure form of the rebound: on a trampoline. It’s quoted by NASA as “the most efficient and effective exercise yet devised by man,” and you can do it at home whilst watching TV! Unlike jogging, which for many people can cause stress on the joints, rebounding is a zero-impact exercise and is suitable for all ages and abilities. Read More »

A wise person (Dr. Seuss) once said, “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” I know it sounds cheesy and the thought of reading for pleasure while in college is often daunting, but hear me out.

When you stop and think about it, you probably have more time to squeeze in a couple pages of a great book than you think (the few minutes before class starts when you’re usually just zoning out into space, while you’re on the elliptical or bike at the gym instead of reading trashy celeb mags, during a commute across campus on the bus, etc.) …You get the point.

I tell you this not as someone who successfully found time to read while in college, but as a recent graduate who has noticed how much more interesting and intelligent a well-read person is once out in the real world. Seriously.

So, with all of your best interests in mind, I will bring you occasional reviews and recommendations for books that are worthy of squeezing into your hectic jam-packed weekend. I would love to hear all of your thoughts and opinions on the selections as well.

First up on the list: Valley of the Dolls. An absolute CLASSIC and must read for any college girl about to start out on their own (Ah hem, Seniors!). Although written back in the late 1960s, this book was way ahead of its time in chronicling the struggles young women go through when setting out on their own and trying to make it in competitive industries such as entertainment or the media.

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