The senior year of college is an emotional roller coaster that you can’t get off of until you cross the stage at graduation. (Then you enter another ride called life and I just haven’t been on that ride long enough to give you the appropriate theme park metaphor…my apologies.) As much as you love your friends and your school and your classes, you’re also freaking out about what you want to do after college and if what you want to do is right. And if you’re anything like me, you’re probably suffering from a killer case of the “what-ifs”.

What if I go to grad school?

What if I move to NYC without a job?

What if my boyfriend breaks up with me?

The what-ifs are never-ending and you’ll find them creeping up during class, while you’re at happy hour and  even while you’re hooking up. It’s a nasty sickness that’s hard to cure. Luckily CollegeFashion has a handy dandy guide to figuring it all out. Check it out here!

I got an email a few weeks ago explaining that we needed to apply for graduation before registering for the next semester. Um, what?! I don’t even know what classes I’m taking yet, and I already have to apply to graduate? Well, I did apply. And got a degree audit. And picked my final semester’s classes. Talk about scary. Thank goodness I’m not graduating in December like a lot of my friends because I still don’t even know what I want to do!

Let the freaking out about commencement commence.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m really excited to start my life in the “real world.” I imagine myself living somewhere amazing with cute decor and my dog, strutting down to the local coffee shop every morning where the hot barista will know my order and eventually write his number on my latte. A girl can dream, right? But I know that’s not the reality. I’m going to get a job, find a place that will need a lot of touching up and probably doesn’t have a doorman. I’ll work long hours and sleep less than I do now in college. I know all of that, the reality. But that’s not why I’m scared.

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Dear Those of You Lucky Enough to Still be in College,

The next (insert number of years here) is going to be one of the greatest times of your life. You’ll get to experience the freedom you’ve longed for, stay up for the late nights you didn’t expect, and find the greatest friends you never even knew existed.

You will fight with you roommate, multiple times. And it will be okay; nothing a small talk and a few bars of chocolate can’t fix. Remember, sometimes your mom can help. Call her, ask her what to do, involve her in your life. You are the one who needs to set the boundaries on when and how many times she can call. So talk to her.

It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to fail a lot, make mistakes, take stupid chances. There won’t be another time in your life when you can try this many things. So test out the waters, see what you like, find out what really makes you happy.

Sometimes it’s okay to skip your study sesh. You’re going to remember the night you stayed up playing Apples to Apples with your best friends, not what you got on a quiz that counts for 10% of your grade. Which brings me to…make memories! Yes, you go to college to get an education. But you’re only getting half of what you pay for if you only learn from books. So put off that paper one more day and go out with your friends.

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So, graduation’s over. College is done. You got nothing to your name but a new set of luggage (thanks, Uncle Steve!) and a lot of uncertainty. And anxiety. And drunken photos that you have to un-tag because you’re trying to get a job.

Cue the freakout, right?

We get it. We’ve been there. It’s dark and it’s scary and the worst part is, you don’t even have your BFFs by your side. You’ve got your parents and as good as they are, what do they know? How can they understand what you’re going through?

Well, good news, ladies! Brittany knows what you’re going through, because she’s going through it too. And she’s kicking ass. We sat down with her (OK, so we chatted with her on AIM – homegirl’s too busy at her awesome job to sit down with us anymore) to get her take on post-grad life. Here are some inspiring thoughts from the mind of Ms. Brittany:

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We really want to read the new Will and Kate book

Is next fall gonna be good or what?!

Can men and women just be friends?

The hottest shoes of the summer

Lessons for the newest graduates

WTF: Temporary LIP Tattoos?!

Did Betty White kill Bin Laden???

Breaking down the 25,000th Big Mac

This is who Arnold cheated on Maria with?!

As finals start to wind down and graduation looms closer most graduates will be reminiscing about the memories they had with their besties. The late night chats, the embarrassing moments, the day you met freshman year as you walked in a giant mass of people to the nearest frat party. But those girls and guys aren’t the only ones you’ll have to say goodbye to come graduation day; there’s also all those randoms you’ve met along the way that added a little spice to your college career.

The ones you see daily but NEVER talk to.
The ones that you share awkward smiles with when you see people take a tumble on an icy street.
The boy from your intro to Anthropology class that giggled with you whenever your teacher unintentionally said something funny.

These are the people you have taken for granted for the past four years and soon they’ll be out of your life forever. When you think about it – it being the fact that you have met so many people that you’ll never see again – it’s weird, right? So let’s take a moment to reflect on these randoms and give them the goodbye they deserve: Read More »

Graduation.

A time for celebration. A time for remembrance. A time for nostalgia. There will be parties and dinners, and congratulations all around. But seeing as how you’re now another post-grad girl without a job or savings the thing you’ll probably be the most excited about are the presents. I mean call us superficial but I feel like there has to be a few perks to leaving behind one of the parts of your life. And that means presents.

And while your family and friends all mean well. Sometimes their ideas of a good gift for graduating seniors are just a little bit of the mark. Ladies,  I present to you some of the ugliest graduation gifts ever.

It’s finally happening. Hard as you tried to push it off, you’re graduating. You are taking the big steps, literally, across the stage and into adulthood. To prepare for the big day, you chug a beer spend all morning primping, getting your hair perfectly curled, ironing your new dress, fixing your shoes. Then you cover it all up with that big, overpriced black gown. The gown that could easily fit two more people.

You look at yourself in disgust, then complain to your mom. “I look like a giant square!” you whine. So she soothes you in that sweet, motherly way. Well, unless it’s my mom then it’s an “Everyone does, get over it” kind of way.

True Story: No matter how bangin’ your bod or how figure-friendly your outfit, there’s nothing flattering about a graduation gown. But when you’re standing outside as your grandparents snap 1,637 pictures of you lookin’ round and squat in that rayon muumuu, you can at least take solace in the fact that you’re not wearing this:

Really, though, regardless of what you wear or how much you sweat under that gown, congratulations on this major accomplishment. No, really. We know what you’ve been up to for the past 4 years, so congrats on making it out alive…and ready to take on the real world. Yay, you!

It’s almost the end of the school year and for those unfortunate seniors out there, it may also be the end of college. (Wah Wah) The second most asked question (right after “what are you doing to do after you graduate?”), will be “what do you want for your graduation gift?” While my wise brother always claims that cash is king, the older generation often wants to give you something more tangible as a gift.

So here’s a list of things you should ask for so you don’t end up with five copies of Oh the Places You’ll Go:

So by now we all know the statistics.

The economy is suffering and because of that post-grads are suffering as well. More college graduates are left without job prospects than ever before, and maybe even more importantly, more college graduates are moving back in with their parents than ever before. Years ago, this may have been taboo. It was practically unheard of. But now, it’s happening more and more often, and is far more widely accepted. And that’s because for the first time, my generation does not expect to have a better lifestyle than that of their parents. That’s right, ladies – the recession has officially become a depression, and post grads are eying their limited prospects wearily.

According to The Huffington Post, in a survey conducted only 44% of those interviewed believed that they would surpass the lifestyle they grew up with. And as one of those soon-to-be post grads, let me say that I understand this lack of optimism completely. The economy is still recovering. The job market is terrible. And companies are downsizing instead of hiring. So how can we know be sure that we’ll even find a job, never mind a job that will provide us with a better lifestyle than the one we grew up with?

It’s a dark realization. Read More »