Considering that my last post looked back and cleared the slate for me to realize that my life has finally moved on past high school, it’s time to look ahead. And there’s no time like the present (with NYE looming ever so closely) to take everything I’ve learned this year and use it to change myself for the better.

So her are my totally dope freshman year resolutions:

- I will become more globally aware: You guys, I know some of us (me included) set New York Times as our homepage and then, as soon as we get on the internet, our eyes glaze over at the mention of any word like “security” or “Iraq” and then we’re just like “Whateva,” and read Perez instead. Totally guilty of this. However, knowing your current global events is kind of a big deal—you always have an intelligent conversation topic to keep in your back pocket and you gain so much perspective on your own life—just how good you have it, and just how much plight really is out there. It’s easy to ignore it, but this year, I will dive into it.

- I will keep up appearances: I think I’m getting better at this overall, but this next year especially, I am vowing to stay away from the sweatpants and the not-washing-my-face-before-bed-because-I’m-too-tired excuse. Looking good helps me to access my swagger, both while doing Spanish homework and shaking my thang on the dance floor. Plus, looking good makes an impact on anyone around you—just see how intense (read: AWESOME) UBS’s dress code is for their employees in Switzerland!

- I will volunteer more: My school is in the middle of a city. Volunteer opportunities are all around me, and it’s not like I don’t have time to help out anywhere. I was so overwhelmed first semester that I didn’t really do anything and I feel like a lump of horse poop because of it. No more of that, ladies and gentleman; I will give back to the community this semester. Read More »

I’m living in an obnoxiously clean room and my days consist of waking up at 2 pm and then eating for the next 12 hours. It could only mean one thing: break time!

I’ve decided recently, while lying naked in my bed after a shower (try it—it might just be the greatest thing about being home) that this break is 5% nostalgia, 25% catching some Z’s, 20% eating and 50% flat out weird.

While it’s great to see old friends and talk about that one girl in our class who got married in a hush hush courtroom wedding, or to share in on the somberness and tears of the death of our classmates’ family members, such events are not just fodder for ladies’ “let’s catch up!” sessions. More than that, they mark a tangible milestone of the passing of our high school years and the reclamation of something a bit more personal.

I’ve always held my life motto to be that I don’t take myself too seriously—and yet, maybe, taking yourself seriously is what going to college is all about. But in a different sense than what I’d ever thought about.
My good guy pal (who also decided to go to school out of state) attended our high school basketball game last weekend. To him, it was weird sitting in the college section, seeing all the high school girls clad in Ugg boots, visibly clinging to any tentacle of popularity, and all the high school guys standing chests puffed and arms crossed, the picture of hetero manliness. It was weird seeing all these doppelgangers of ourselves past adhering to the unwritten standards of our mainstream Midwest conservative high school. It was weird realizing that we were those people, just a year ago. And it was most disconcerting of all to recognize that we no longer are. Read More »

Candy canes, hot chocolate and crowded libraries, they’re all synonymous with one thing–finals season is in the air (or for some at least, it’s already done with and they’re busy tanning their backsides in Barbados). Between writing papers (ew) and eating so much junk food that Cheetos dust is running through my bloodstream, I’ve had some time to reflect over semester one of my college experience. I made some errors, I had some fun, and I figured out that 9 am classes aren’t such a bad thing (if you have a good professor).

So besides information I now know about the international criminal court and how to conjugate Spanish verbs, here is some life knowledge that I’ve gained:

Do not bring a lot of t-shirts from high school: This is more of a personal issue. I have so many Class of 2010/National Honor Society/Cross Country t-shirts that I don’t know what to do with them. After assessing my clothes situation the other day, I realized that I don’t even wear those shirts since they’re irrelevant and instead, I could fill that closet space with better clothes.

If you hook up with a guy that you know, make sure you see him the next day to avoid future awkwardness: This is a tried and true method, my friends. If you don’t see him the next day, the awkwardness and overanalysis of the previous confrontation just builds up and then explodes in your face later on. By seeing him, you re-establish a chill connection immediately after the hookup and it doesn’t give you (or him) time to overanalyze and freak out.

Take fruit from the dining halls: Guys, scurvy isn’t a joke. Neither is cookie addiction. If all you have in your room is junk food, that’s all you will eat at night. However, if you have some carefully and sneakily procured fruit on your desk, you could add a little bit of healthy vitamin C to your night-snacking diet. Read More »

What do I want to do with my life?!

When you first arrive on your university’s campus at the ripe age of 18, the world is your oyster. You have yet to begin your four years of college education, which have a heavy hand in shaping your future. To quote Remember Me, you are most likely undecided… about everything.

Mapping your own personal life-path begins with choosing your major. Although this is the first, it can also be the most difficult step. The vast amount of choices you are given can be overwhelming. What if you pick the wrong major and because of that one mistake your life turns out horribly miserable?

Don’t worry, I doubt such a terrifying outcome will occur. Plus, you can always switch majors mid-way through college. But, if you plan on graduating on time, it helps to have an idea of the educational direction you want to go in, what sorts of classes you want to take, and a vague sense of possible careers post-tossing your academic hat in the air.

Since specific advice varies for every individual (and that’s what academic advisors are for), here are a few general themes to keep in mind when declaring your major.

What Are You Good At
This is simple. People enjoy being successful. If you currently find advanced calculus intellectually stimulating and exciting, but find yourself spending hours solving simple problems, you will most likely regret declaring a math major halfway into your semester. Use your talents to your advantage; not only does this make your classes easier, but it also makes you happier. It’s definitely important to continue to challenge yourself, but don’t burden yourself with an unrealistic course load. Read More »

"Dear Freshman Me. Let me start by saying, damn girl, you look good! That being said, avoid the soft serve. For real."

Dear Freshman Self,

Live.  Wildly, recklessly, and with as much passion as you can muster. Make out with your RA during welcome week.  Accept one last drink from the cute guy working the keg.  Stay out after the bars close.  Make friends with the cab driver.  Lie in the middle of the street laughing with your best girls.  Watch The Notebook at 3 a.m when you’re all drunk and have a good cry over failed relationship attempts.  Curse the cute guys for being gay.  Get up on the damn stage and sing some freakin’ karaoke already.

Notice the true moments.  Wake up in the middle of the night for the first snow of the season and watch the city turn white with your roommates.  (During this, you might even want to put on John Mayer’s underrated, though classic, “St. Patrick’s Day” and sway arm in arm while singing along.)  Find “your” desk in the library.  Watch Grey’s Anatomy every week because you never know when a good thing can turn bad (hint: third season).  Sit on top of the washing machines and have life chats with that random girl from upstairs.  She’ll end up being one of your best friends.

Be careful.  Don’t use that fake ID you found.  You don’t look 28 and you’re certainly not a Pacific Islander.  Observe Cinco de Mayo, but be cautious of the tequila…that one doesn’t end well for you.  No private planes, no matter what.  Study.  All the men you’ll ever date will have the same name – run now from the first one in a curious line of many.  Get mad, but don’t stay mad.  Shopping isn’t always the answer.

Let yourself off the hook.  So you sleep through your first exam of college.  So you crush on a gay guy for an entire semester. So you have a blowout with your roommates.  So you eventually do sing on karaoke night and it’s a train wreck.  So you throw up Chipotle and Jose Cuervo on the basket of shoes under your bed.  So you spend all your money.  So you get a D+ in Italian. So you got on that plane.  So you dated him.

Go to class.  Call your mother.  You’ll be fine.

XoXo

Your Senior Self

What would your letter to your freshman self say? Share it below!

It's the moment of truth, little lady.

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 from the University of Michigan will comment on the common experiences all college women share – like class registration, the dreaded muffin top or, everyone’s favorite activity, procrastinating. Read, relate, cringe and enjoy.

Your boxes are unpacked, your bed is made, and your parents have left the building. You are officially a college student.

Woohoo! No more living under their rules. You are a free adult livin’ the dorm life. It takes a few days of getting used to, but you’re finally feeling settled. You’ve even sorta mastered the cafeteria slop. This whole college thing isn’t so hard after all.

That is, until you need to do a little #2 in the public bathroom down the hall. The one every other girl on the hall also frequents to shower, wash up, dry her hair, and do her business. Girls you don’t know. Girls you want to befriend. Feeling the stage fright, you’ve been unable to go for days and, between the cafeteria salad bar (roughage!) and the frat party jungle juice, it’s been rather difficult. Read More »

Halloween in college is a big deal.  Major, really.  You may have thought you hit your trick-or-treating peak in the 3^rd grade when you wrapped yourself in tinfoil and went out as leftovers, but think again.  Unlike Christmas, the 4^th of July, and Thanksgiving, everyone’s on campus for this most hallowed of evenings and the booze will absolutely be flowing (perhaps in cauldrons).

From fog machines to technicolor jello shots, there’s a lot of stimuli to process and as a freshman it’s easy to get overwhelmed.  But novice or otherwise, you’ve got to keep your head, wigged or otherwise, in the game.  Here’s what you can expect as your favorite bars and frat houses become unrecognizable with silly string…

A General Lack of Pants
From dozens of Risky Business-era Tom Cruises to sexy cats/bees/fairies/mice, there will be maximum leggage come October 31^st.  I’m not sure what it is about “everyone dress up crazy” that translates to things being purely pants-optional, but it’s a fact: ass cheeks will show, cellulite will be on parade, hairy man thighs will make a one-night-only appearance.

Dry Ice
Is it edible?  Will it kill you?  Why did those stupid pledges have to go stick it in the jungle juice and ruin a perfectly good concoction?  No, it doesn’t look like witches’ brew.  And the fact that he’s 22 and just drew that connection makes you question his sanity.

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 »

[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.]

Okay, so I am completely not a hippie. Let me just get that out there. Incense makes me sneeze, middle-of-the-forehead headbands make me look like an awkward boy and I own nothing made of hemp.

All that being said, I really do value the idea of finding inner peace and the feeling of “chillness.” So much so that one of my favorite teachers pegged me as the type who would go off to college and become one of those offbeat Bohemian types. Like Ashley Olsen.

And I clung to that idea—the idea that college would be a time for lots of self-pondering, free of nagging parents and 7 hour school days. I would ideally sit underneath a tree reading Whitman surrounded by perpetually tan Frisbee players and crooning guitar boys singing love songs aimed indirectly at me. And I would feel self-actualized and understand the deeper version of myself and be eternally fulfilled.

Well this little fantasy has turned out to be flat out false. 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.]

In high school, I had a clear label. I was Ms. Student Government, Ms. Good Grades, Ms. Overachiever. And even though all of our years of primary schooling have told us that labels are totally, totally terrible and that we should define people by their true selves and inner lights, etcetera, Oprah wisdom, etcetera, Oprah wisdom, I’m just going to say this: I heart labels.

Because for some reason, rather than being stifled and held down by my defined structural cocoon of a label, I ultimately felt freer to be anyone I wanted to be. Completely ridiculous, right? Yeah.

By being known as the Smart Girl, I no longer had to prove that part of myself. It was like, I could be flexible. I could get a B on a paper, I could forget to do my homework, I could bomb an English test, but I would still be known as the Smart Girl. I mean, I guess it’s kinda like how Paris Hilton could potentially save puppies and ace an LSAT, but she always has that Party Girl image. Except, the opposite, you know?

It’s like, when you have a defined label, all you need to do is be like, “But wait, that label is not all that defines me.” And wham, you can do whatever you want and you surprise people because obviously Real You is so much more interesting than Labeled You. Read More »