I get the picture, embarrassing things happen to the best (and most innocent) of us.

But in a college world where things need to be taken pretty seriously, you have to love and embrace them!  Why else wouldn’t the word ‘embrace’ begin the same way as ‘embarrassing?’ Well, the first three letters anyway.

Really, embarrassing moments are so much more than a shot to your ego, they are an opportunity to laugh at yourself (and others) if the time is right. They bring people together. They show us as we really are at our most vulnerable. And, when you look back, they’re really, really funny.

Getting caught ‘O-faced” singing to ‘One Time’ in your car.

I know it may be embarrassing when stranger Joe rolls up next to you at a stoplight and catches you belting the lyrics “Baby” by Justin Bieber like your love life depends on it. I mean, I may not be 15, or four feet tall, but I do have the pipes to share the empty space in my Ford Escort. And the personal concert I’ve held for myself on the way to class may have just brightened my entire day, whether or not Joe is pointing and laughing at me.

Videos of people falling.

If you are having a bad day, pop up You Tube on your browser and go ape-crazy.  Videos of people falling may turn your cloudy day into a vibrant shining one. And nobody should turn down the opportunity for a giggle-fest study break.

Personal footage of yourself falling.

When I trip and fall, usually, I mean business. I have scars and scrapes to prove it. And a 30-minute laugh session with my girlfriends while eating pie at Bakers Square the next day. I hadn’t laughed that hard telling a story since, well probably last night, but that is because I fall so much. Worth it.

Sharing an embarrassing story with your crush.

Whether or not it is recapping a super embarrassing drunken story, or a tid-bit about your relatives, nobody can get past blabbing absent-mindedly to your crush about something you will probably regret later.  But what you won’t regret later? Knowing that he’s sticking around for the long haul, even when you’re being yourself.

Listening to NSync/Backstreet Boys/Hanson on your downtime.

Whichever you prefer, boy bands are a universal guilty pleasure (at least in my opinion) and something you shouldn’t be ashamed about.  They send you back into adolescent teenage-hood where the answers of the dating universe are”Larger Than Life.” And have you ever been a part of a college-NSync-chorus via dorm room with your friends? Probably one of the best embarrassing things to admit to, ever.

“Beating the beat” on the dance floor.

Shake your bon bon. Raise the roof. Break it down.  Whatever it takes, no matter how embarrassing it may look, or if your favorite dance move is ‘the lawnmower’, it feels nice to let it all out. Have you ever heard the saying “dance to express, not to impress?”

Ordering a water and a lime at the bar.

OK, this may seem practical, cheap, and smart, but in college it is weird, lame, and boring. I suggest you try it sometime. It is embarrassing when the bartender looks at as if you told him you had a bomb but completely un-embarrassing when you aren’t the one hugging the porcelain God later, or telling your crush you love the way his hair looks in his Facebook profile picture.

Buying condoms.

We’ve all seen Teen Mom. Go ahead, visit the Trojan aisle.

Last week, my boyfriend and I met for dinner in Manhattan and ended up going to his friend’s apartment afterwards to hang out. It got pretty late, and one of the roommates said that we could crash in an empty room (the guy who lived there was vacationing in Brazil) if we didn’t want to go all the way uptown in the rain.

Although I had my doubts about sleeping in someone else’s bed (What if he has some bodily lice? Is it so wrong if we have sex here? Where am I?), we decided to accept the offer. After all, we were in a fabulous building in the financial district overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge, and I was starting to get a headache from a little too much red wine at dinner. Navigating the subway wasn’t looking too hot.

In the morning, when we thought that everyone had left the apartment, my guy and I took a shower together. Why we felt the need to shower in someone else’s apartment (with someone else’s loofah), I do not know, but we did. And, since everyone knows that joint showering is no fun without at least a little touching, we decided to have sex. Hey – it seemed like the cleanest place to do the deed in someone else’s house, there would be no need for cleanup, and, well, it’s just inevitable when you’re in a steamy bathroom with your devilishly good looking boyfriend!

Needless to say, it got pretty hot and heavy….

Whoa, sorry. Got lost in my thoughts there for a second. Anyways, we didn’t even think twice about letting loose in the shower because no one was there. Or so we thought. Turns out, someone was.

We stepped out of the shower and as my BF was wrapping me in a towel, I heard someone walking around the kitchen. Neither one of us knew of him because he was subletting a room in the apartment and was not one of the roommates that my boyfriend knew. I was horrified. This stranger had just woken up and was attempting to go about his business only to be disturbed by two strangers having (loud) sex in HIS apartment. In HIS shower.

And now he was going to see us do the walk of shame back into a bedroom that wasn’t ours.

To make matters worse, I had used a towel that was already in the bathroom (I know, I’m ashamed, and I promise I’m not usually this gross), and I couldn’t very well walk into a hallway in a towel that potentially belonged to this guy. I thought that my only option was to stay locked in that bathroom forever, and I prepared to do so.

Finally, my boyfriend opened the door a crack and told me that the coast was clear. We only had to run across the living room back into the bedroom. I took a deep breath and ran across the hall at what must have been the speed of light. We got dressed and cleaned up the guy’s room as fast as we could, and when we left the apartment the roommate was nowhere in sight. Thank god.

I sincerely hope that I never have to look that guy in the face ever again in my life, because my behavior was just downright ridiculous. Let’s just hope he doesn’t tell my boyfriend’s friend about out little shower escapades, or else we might never hear the end of it. Or be invited back again.

You got a story to share? Email it to Lauren@collegecandy.com and we’ll share it (anonymously, of course!) on the site!

Well, not hate, necessarily. More like find things about them that just make me embarrassed to be a girl and want to be one of the guys. I have most recently realized these feelings of disdain while watching back to back episodes of My Super Sweet 16 and The Hills. And spending the past week hanging out with a big group of frat-tastic boys.

1. Girls are catty – when we are put in a room together we will find anything (and I mean anything) to argue about. Or, a few of us will find a corner and separate ourselves from the rest of the group in order to talk badly about the others. When guys are put in a room they watch tv or play video games. They fart. They laugh. They have a good time.

2. Girls won’t let anyone kiss/date/talk to anyone they have ever kissed/dated/talked to – It doesn’t matter if it was last week or in second grade; if she dated him, you can’t go near him. And if you do? Watch your back, bitch. Guys, on the other hand, really couldn’t care less. In fact, many like when they “share” a girl so they can compare stories.

3. (Some) girls wear makeup to the gym

4. (Some) girls do their hair for the gym

5. Girls are constantly comparing themselves to others – “Her LV bag is cute, but it is nothing like my MJ.” “She looks really good in that dress…besides that ass.” “Why does she get to date him? Look at her nose.” Guys, on the other hand, are too busy staring at the same girls to notice what other guys look like. (Which, perhaps, contributes to the differences in #1).

6. (Some) girls are cerfitiably crazy – I knew one girl who got mad at a guy, so she had her friends go to his house and throw pies at him. Seriously. I can’t really see any guy coming up with that idea/ever thinking that is a good idea.

It is closing in on the cold, depressing months of winter after all, so let’s take a few deep breaths and maybe we can get through this together.

After all, aren’t you a little embarrassed to bring men home to your unwashed tattered sheets, thong strewn floor (actually that’s pretty hot…keep those there)? You’re in school, use your brain.

Let’s begin with the bed (that’s what she said).

I’ve seen a few different beds in my day and while 300 thread count sheets are so silky smooth they are definitely a little pricey. Never fear! There are a few other options than your classic green and blue checked flannel.

Unless you moonlight as a porn star, please avoid red satin sheets, there’s steamy and there’s sketchy and satin crosses the line in leaps and bounds. Buy these Twister sheets at www.stylehive.com and memorize this line. “How would you like to play a game of Twister…in my bed.”

Now that’s class.

Are your walls looking a little bare? You have a few different ways to go. A well placed tapestry tells the campus that you’re chill, down-to-earth, and probably have a little baggy of weed in your sock drawer.

Use a few posters from www.allposters.com as your soapbox to all inform all who dare enter your room how sweet you are. I recommend choosing one piece of art with sexual undertones- I’m fan of Picasso’s “Femme” for $20 and another highlighting you musical taste. Bonus points for smarm and or obscurity as in this little jem for $25.

Walls? Check. Now, if you haven’t already put up a few pictures from your glory days in high school, but not too many. You don’t want everyone to know that you peaked when you 17 and you probably won’t be squeezing into those size 2 jeans until you graduate and get away from the constant supply of delicious food. Don’t live in the past man, don’t live in the past.

Okay, you’re off to a good start. Your bed is made and your walls don’t completely resemble those of a minimum security prison. As soon as you throw in a few extras you’ll be ready to open up your space to friends and potential sexual partners.

Pick and choose from this list:

1. An exotic plant like a bright pink orchid or bird of paradise.

2. Tip jar for your bedside table. Humor is always sexy and you might get some quarters for laundry…

3. 6-pack of imported Hefeweizen from Belgium.

4. White Christmas lights to construct a make-shift chandelier, it looks so good if you do it right.

5. A few works to spice up your book shelf….the Vice Guide to Sex, Drugs, and Rock and Roll is on mine.

6. Couple of wine glasses, fill with hard candies. Practical and fruity. Add wine rack for bonus points.

7. Febreze baby, Febreze. When in doubt, pull the trigger, inhale the fresh scent.

It was senior year in college, a Monday morning, and my friend was sitting in class, doing her best (but obviously not succeeding) to hide a very noticeable, very odd black and blue mark on her bottom lip.

“Oh, I…I was drinking out of a bottle and someone bumped into me. It sucked.”

“Shut up!” I said, knowing exactly where she had been last night. “That did not come from a bottle”

“Keep your voice down.” My friend looked around, embarrassed. “To everyone else, it was a bottle. To you, it was Tim. Nothing bad, nothing bad!” She immediately reacted to my raised eyebrows. “We were just making out and stuff…his lips did this!”

“Still, it looks like it hurts…” I couldn’t take my eyes off her mouth. It was so obviously bruised.

“It does kinda. And when we were together it was a little intense…but I don’t know him well! I would feel so stupid telling him to ease up.”

If you’ve dated around, you’ve probably come across this situation; a partner who’s just a little too rough in the bedroom. Most likely it’s someone you don’t know very well, and most likely they aren’t doing anything bad, they’re just…a little too wild and crazy for you, and you don’t know how to tell them.

Here’s the thing, you need to tell them. One of the issues of hooking up with someone you’re not to familiar with is that no one knows what the other person’s sexual stylings are. If you’re uncomfortable, but not saying anything, how on earth is the guy supposed to tell? We all know men aren’t mind readers, and I’d say that their not-so-keen intuition becomes even less keen when there’s a naked chick in front of them.

If the guy’s decent, he’s going to listen when you tell him “not so hard” or “can we switch positions? This isn’t comfortable.” If he doesn’t, get him out of your bed and out of your life immediately. Hickies are one thing, but bite marks and bruises are another, especially if you’re not comfortable at the time.

A lot of girls feel embarrassed or awkward when it comes to actually communicating with someone they’re having sex with, but the older you become and the more control you have over youself, the less this excuse works. If you don’t dictate the inner workings of your sex life, who will? Certainly not that guy you hardly know. You’re not even sure if he’s worth a second date.

So have fun. Do whatever floats your boat. But never allow someone to make you feel uncomfortable. Sex is about both partners. And if he makes you feel stupid for pulling back, then he’s a Grade A Douchebag.

And nobody likes Douchebags.