As a generation of Facebookers, Twitterers, bloggers, BBMers, iPhone-ers, GPS users, and so on and so on, we are often viewed by the older I-went-to-the-library-to-do-research generation as lazy and dependent.  We have the world at our fingertips and we don’t have to use our brains for virtually anything, or so they claim.

Yes, we can access Google at any moment, and no we do not need White Out to correct our papers, but to the contrary, it is our 24/7 connection that makes us anything but lazy when it comes to fighting for what we believe in.

Take for example, the heated debate of gay marriage.  While an older generation calls the shots in Congress, in most states, it is still illegal.  According to a study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA, 65 percent of college freshman surveyed were in favor of gay marriage.  The findings revealed that even a large majority of students classified as far-right were also supporters.

With such a large percentage of college students in favor of gay marriage, there is an obvious disconnect between this generation and the older generation who make decisions on our country’s behalf.  Many influential people of the older generation are still taking action to deter gay rights.  Even some school system officials can be categorized this way.  Just last week, a lesbian high school senior was denied permission to bring her girlfriend to her prom.  Because of our networking capabilities, through Facebook, YouTube, blogs (including this one) etc, the news spread like wildfire.  The incident stirred uproar amongst our generation and discussion of outrage was consumed through every outlet.  Although an unfortunate event, perhaps it is appalling decisions like these that motivate our generation to stay open-minded and fight to make a change.  If it weren’t for our Internet dependency that may classify us as “lazy,” we would also be blind to incidents such as this one and consequently just as closed minded as those who dictate the fate of our country today.

It is refreshing to observe the findings of this study and to know that change is on its way.  With so much hate still circulating in the World, news like this gives us hope that our generation has potential to make massive strides towards the good of mankind.  Researchers found the results so highly in favor of gay marriage, they deemed the future legality of it practically inevitable.  Yes, we have officially re-written the question from “if” to “when.”

So what do you think? Is gay marriage inevitable?

81% said: to get rich.

51% said: to be famous.

I don’t know about you guys, but this makes me squirm in my seat just a tad.

Sure, it’s understandable that a large number of people want to have a fat wallet and their face plastered all over newspapers. Actually it’s a little too obvious. Our generation certainly boasts an embarrassingly high number of public figures with absolutely zero talent or reason for being there. Just think about it, some of the most famous celebrities are reality stars who got famous for being normal people on national TV and occasionally throwing in a fist fight, indulging a cocktail binge or going through an incredibly messy divorce to spice things up.

With these figures being glorified by our society, of course there are going to be those who want to follow in their footsteps and get their 15 minutes. But aren’t these numbers a tad bit high? The main goal of 81% of college students is to be rich?! What about being happy? Having a family? Improving the world in some way?

Are we just lazy? Is that why the life of the rich and famous looks so appealing? Or do people actually consider “famous” an appropriate fill in for the blank next to “occupation”?

I’d like to hope (it’s actually more like I’m praying for the sake of humanity) that there are people out there who want to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, engineers and journalists, not because of the money and recognition that comes with it, but because of the impact you can have on society.

We can all honestly admit that fame would be nice for a couple of days (being chauffeured around, cutting the lines at clubs and events, having people scream your name…), but the thought of our generation becoming a bunch of Paris’ and Lindsay’s is ridiculously frightening.

What do you guys think? Is being rich your top priority in life? Would you choose fame over a career you enjoy?

On top of all of that, she’s only 21 and still a student at Northeastern, studying Spanish, Management Information Systems and Finance, currently on internship in NYC doing data analysis for a mega media company. Not to mention, she’s sassy, hilarious and can we say: Coolest. Hair. Ever. When I discovered this girl, I knew I had to bag an interview, so I contacted her via YouTube to grab her attention (don’t laugh). It worked and we quickly began collaborating on this interview, on top of a few other projects in the works. Sarah Merion is an inspiration for college girls who want to be entrepreneurs while still in school and proof that maybe, just maybe, the finance world isn’t as screwed as we thought.

5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1. What is your most ridiculous college memory/most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
Haha, no comment. Definitely did not involve me dancing on a bar. Hoo boy.

2. What are five things you can’t live without?
1. MAC foundation.
2. iPhone! Hello Tweetdeck, I love you.
3. Pink and black Herve bag. I seriously carry it EVERY. WHERE.
4. Hanky Panky underwear
5. Classic cherry chapstick. Wait, no! Friends! The TV show. Oh also, vanilla Yoplait light yogurt. And Kashi GoLean. Kashi GoLean Crunch. Grande non fat cappuccino with one Splenda. Shoot, that’s more than five, isn’t it?

3. What’s your motto/advice you live by?
Break the rules.

4. What is your favorite song to belt out at the bar/in the car/for karaoke?
“Take Me Home Tonight” by Eddie Money in the bar, but I’m not gonna lie, once, I rolled the windows up to my car I sang every word to the entire Celine Dion CD. Yes. I know every. Single. Word.

5. Ten years from now you will be….
Skinny. Rich. Married. Kidding! No, I’ll be really fit, not skinny. Kidding aside, I’ll own my own business. Either be a solopreneur or some sort of entrepreneur starting many different companies. I’ll be active in many different philanthropies and I’ll continue spreading my message about social media and inspiring Gen Y.

5 Questions just for Sarah Merion

1. Your motto is “Break the rules.” Now, does that mean break the social norms and go out on a Monday night when you have a final tomorrow or…?
My motto is “Break the rules” because when you break the rules or step outside the mediocre, then you create your own game. No one can beat you when you create your own path. Do something that scares you, make yourself totally uncomfortable. Life doesn’t have to be about the “norms” and staying on path. You will always succeed when you push yourself to go against the grain.

Now, I’m not saying go out and break the law, skip class and be a bum. What I’m saying is, challenge yourself, push boundaries and do something that people might look unfavorably upon. No one ever got noticed by doing what everyone else did. Even though blood and needles terrify me, one day I stopped and thought “Hey, I could be a surgeon” and I seriously thought about it. I realized it wasn’t my calling, but I wanted to because I COULD.

2. You talk about Gen-Y a bunch.What the heck is Gen-Y and what’s their deal?
Gen-Y is our generation, that age range from about 10-25. We are the internet babies in a way. Our biggest problem is that we have big goals and aspirations, but we don’t act nearly enough on it. We’ve been spoiled by the internet and technology and instead of harnessing it for our good, we’ve been expecting instant gratification. They talk the talk but don’t walk the walk.

Gen-Y needs to step it up, break the rules and work hard. We’re in a rough time right now and people have been saying that we won’t be as successful as our parents. That’s a really scary thought. But, we can fix it! Gen-Y can take full advantage of all our opportunities and create their own lifestyle, instead of simply expecting it.

3. How did you get into all of this? What were the obstacles? Did all those super serial Finance major peers think you were nuts?
Honestly, I was just bored one day. I was in school, not working and I just got the itch to do something. I found this guy @LewisHowes on Twitter and he really turned me onto Social Media, we connected and before I knew it I was his assistant. I wasn’t getting paid, but I was getting a ton out of it. He was mentoring me and I began building a network on Twitter. My parents, peers and classmates were appalled. They couldn’t believe I would just work for free.

I started living by “break the rules.” I’d always been very organized and planned everything and all of a sudden I found myself just jumping into the social media world, going against the grain and standards of the “typical” finance student.

At the time, I was in a very competitive program at Northeastern for International Business. This program requires you to both go abroad and study in a foreign language for a semester on top of a six month internship in that company. It’s widely renowned and I was mere months away from going when I started getting into this social media world. I started doing workshops at Northeastern and MIT and eventually wrote the grant to go to SOBCon. After the conference, it was settled. I knew I had to drop out of the IB program and focus my energy on what I was succeeding in. I never regretted my decision to completely switch paths and my successes have proved that it was the right choice.

4. We recently wrote an article about “Facebook bullying.” Since you are such a prominent figure in social media, and also a college girl, what advice would you have for girls about getting attacked through social media (Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, AIM, etc…)?
Not to be a mom, but just ignore it. Don’t engage in the behavior. The other person looks like they’re just talking to themselves. Or, just write an article about it that a ton of people read. Look who’ll be laughing then!

5. You’ve made your professional name through Twitter, LinkedIn and your site. We like to tweet and blog about boys, booze and bathing suits. Are we totally screwed down the line in our professional careers?
Honestly, I started out writing a really racy “Sex & The City”esque blog before I realized how I wanted to make my name. I took it down because I really believe if you don’t want something you write to be on the front page of the paper, then don’t write it at all. I decided to focus on a different area and leave the racy stuff offline.

But no, if you do it the right way, you won’t be screwed. You just need to step back and assess your goals. If you want to be a corporate lawyer, maybe you shouldn’t write about your sexcapades. However, you can be a professional woman and if you’re creative and savvy about it, you can create your own niche and write about whatever you want. Just OWN it.

Thanks Sarah! We’ll keep on blogging about lip gloss then… in a fierce and professional way, of course! Sarah will be attending CollegeCandy’s Cocktail Hour in NYC! Come stop by and say hello!

Melanie currently interning in NYC, taking full advantage of all margarita specials and those blonde summer boys. Stalk her on Twitter: @tinkermellie

Sometimes you see/read the craziest things on the internet (two girls, one cup…) that can make you laugh hysterically or get really angry (or – in the case of two girls, one cup – make you hurl).  Today I read something that made me do both.  A blogger on thedailybeast.com scribbled a little article about our generation and the increase in narcissism.  Not only did the article indicate that most of us are narcissistic sluts, but it also said that our “I can do and have anything I want” attitude is preventing us from focusing on close, emotional relationships.

Wait, what?

I don’t know about you… wait, yes I do. We’ve all been force-fed the idea our entire lives that we need to focus on ourselves and build a strong character so we can be independent enough to survive. We’ve been taught since birth that if we want something we need to do whatever we can to get it for ourselves.  How is going after what we want and expecting the best lives for ourselves suddenly narcissistic?!

Is it wrong to like myself and want to do things just for me before I settle down to have one of those close, emotional relationships? Or to, I don’t know, look for my perfect mate? No, I think not.

I’ll admit that some of the examples of narcissism in our generation cited in the article are genuinely crazy: you’d have to be clinically insane to hire paparazzi to follow you around for the weekend (and besides, aren’t they busy with Brangelina?) or get a professional photographer to take your Facebook photo (if you do this, you are lame).  But that’s not the norm.

And, sure, Twittering what you had for lunch or thinking that you could be the next Chelsea Handler may be a little more narcissistic than people of the past, but so what! If you can’t love yourself, who will?  The consensus is that you have to love yourself before you can love someone else (thank you, Dr. Phil, Oprah, Tyra, etc.) and I guess we’re just better at that than previous generations.  The ability to love and focus on oneself should not be a scapegoat for our apparent lack of traditional relationships, as the article has made it out to be:

…a few unreturned booty texts and some one-night stands might be the least of the collateral damage wrought by the narcissism epidemic. Narcissists are myopically focused on how they appear to the world. Translated into the realm of romantic relationships, the message comes across as: I’m great, and you’d better be, too.

I’d rather be a narcissist with a good job and a great sex life than a pushover in a dead-end relationship who can’t stand on her own two feet (not like those are the only choices – I’m just saying).

I say screw this article!  I AM awesome and whoever I date better be just as awesome.  No, I’m not completely obsessed with myself and no, my life isn’t perfect.  I just want to be an independent, strong single lady with a positive attitude.  We have the world at our feet, why not try to grab up as much of it as we can?

Enter Liz Funk, who knows the ins and outs of being a “Supergirl,” as she calls it: a girl who believes she must achieve perfection in every area of her life. Simultaneously a student, author, blogger and freelance writer, Liz is both living the dream and fulfilling her prophecy that young women today face enormous pressures to be successful. At just nineteen years old, she published her first book while balancing life at Pace University’s Honors College.

In the book, Supergirls Speak Out: Inside the Secret Crisis of Overachieving Girls (now available in stores and on Amazon.com) Liz investigates how societal forces impose dangerous pressures on young women to succeed—pressures which can often lead to depression, eating disorders, or other devastating emotional traumas. It is a godsend to any young woman who ever cried upon receiving that “little” envelope from Harvard or clocked hours on the elliptical just to maintain her size 6 frame.

I got the chance to speak with Liz about her book, her passions, and life as a Supergirl. I not only admire her success, but respect her for articulating a problem that affects too many young women. We are proud to feature her in our College Candy series, “The 5 Questions We Ask Everyone,” and wish her luck as she continues her nationwide book tour.

The 5 Questions We Ask Everyone:

1.    What is your favorite college memory/the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
I went to college in New York City, and my first year there, my friends and I got a flier for this rooftop party in a really dangerous neighborhood of Brooklyn that was a fundraiser for urban farming.  We went because there would be cheap alcohol and because it sounded fun, and when we got there, it was literally in a terrifying neighborhood, on this sketchy warehouse rooftop; people were doing drugs out in the open and there was a band with the lead singer wearing a snorkel mask and a red Speedo.  It was something out of a movie!  But we had a ton of fun!  The view was incredible.  I’m all about nice views in New York City.

2.    What are the five things you can’t live without?
My BlackBerry, Red Bull, champagne, Aveda leave-in conditioner, and my Coco Mademoiselle perfume. Plus, my family and friends.

3.    What’s your motto/advice you live by?
“I am open to exploring the wonder of my life.”  A life coach who I interviewed for the book, named Cathy Wasserman, told me that and I say that to myself everyday.

4.    Your favorite song to belt out in the car/for karaoke?
This is embarrassing: “Burning Up,” by the Jonas Brothers.

5.    Ten years from now you will be….
Hopefully still writing books, and maybe having something to do with Hollywood?  I really like screenwriting and I’ve been thinking about L.A. a little bit lately.  Plus, I need to be somewhere with warm weather.  As much as I’ve loved living in New York, when I’m in the warm weather, I am so happy almost all the time.

And now five questions specifically for Liz:

6. You have published your first book before finishing college! Would you say “Supergirls Speak Out” is more of a cathartic memoir or an attempt to discourage young women from trying to accomplish so much, so fast? In other words, how do you reconcile the message of your book with the fact that you are “Supergirl” yourself?

I think that because I’m a Supergirl, I gave an extra bit of insight to the book.  I think that if a writer who was covering this topic wasn’t a Supergirl, she might have trouble trying to wrap her head around the fact that a young woman on a Saturday night who doesn’t have plans is more likely to stay home and finish a paper due eventually or do a pilates DVD, instead of going to the movies and eating a box of chocolates by herself, because being a Supergirl is about always trying to improve yourself.  Because I was on the same page as most of the girls who I interviewed, it makes it easier for the idiosyncrasies of the Supergirl psyche to not get lost in translation.

7. A lot of young women who want to become writers seem to follow a similar formula for success: find a college with a good writing program, become editor of a campus publication, land an internship/job. How did you deviate from this “traditional” path, and did you ever have doubts along the way to success?

To be perfectly honest, I did what I did largely because I was a Supergirl and because I wanted my career to make me matter.  But I also wanted to write about issues in Generation Y because I don’t think that when adult reporters and commentators take on quintessentially Gen-Y things, like sexting and gossiping and posting racy photos on Facebook, that they get the story right, because they’re not really in the trenches and Gen Y is complicated!  There are some sociologists and media commentators lately who have been writing about how Generation Y is narcissistic and over-entitled and it’s so not true, and we need young writers and commentators in the media, speaking out and serving as a check on the media’s power.  Also, I had a feeling when I was younger that I wanted to be a freelance writer, not an editor, and when you freelance, you have to write full-time for awhile before you start to earn a living wage, so I knew that if I wanted to be able to support myself after college, I had to get acclimated with publications early.  We’ll see what happens!

8. What advice do you have for college-aged women who have a lot on their plate and can’t seem to manage it all?

Two things: first and foremost, I would recommend that girls take a look at their schedules and see if that they are making tasks bigger than they actually are.  I met a lot of Supergirls whose only commitments were 15 credits at school and participation in one student group, but they were mind-blowingly busy 50 hours a week, because they made every little task into a giant production because they wanted everything they did to be perfect and because they felt like they were valuable if they were busy all the time.  So I would encourage girls to consider whether they’re making themselves busy, and why being busy is such a big part of their identities and their sense of self-worth. Then, I would encourage girls to block out some time in their schedules, whether it’s Tuesday evenings or Saturday mornings, to be specifically for doing some completely fun and savoring their success–make yourself your favorite cocktail and watch a DVD marathon of your favorite show, or get a pedicure with your student discount, just for fun!  Girls need to cut stress out of their lives and reward themselves for their successes!

9. If you had one book to bring with you to a remote desert island, what would it be and why?

This is such a great question–and a hard one!  I’m debating between bringing a book that’s super long or one that’s super-complicated. It’s a tie between the 7th Harry Potter book or The Great Gatsby.  The 7th Harry Potter book is huge and has a lot of layers, so you could spend a lot of time reading it and thinking about it.  With the Great Gatsby, you could read that book five or six times and still pick up on some new detail or plot layer in the story every time you read it.

10. Name one person, living or dead, with whom you’d like to have lunch. What will you talk about?
I would love to have lunch with Katie Couric.  I have a feeling that she would have such fascinating insight as to women’s roles in society and the corporate elite, as well as world issues.  Plus, Katie Couric has mastered that tricky balance of having the best of feminine qualities (being relatable, funny, and charming) and also being a professional powerhouse.  I think there’s a lot we can learn from her.

A few months ago, we at CollegeCandy attempted to do a roundup of all the hotties on Capitol Hill.

The results were less than appealing.

Someone upstairs heard our cries and brought us this: the hottest guy ever to step foot into the House of Representatives. Might we introduce you to Aaron Schock, the newest and youngest (27, baby) Congressman from Illinois.

Time to send naughty photos write a letter to my congressman. Get your congressional eye candy below.