Ew. Ow. Shots. Ew.

At this point, Swine Flu (or H1N1 if we want to be politically correct) has been branded into our consciousness. It seems like we can’t go anywhere without seeing a poster or a commercial telling us to protect ourselves. Suddenly the lessons we learned in grammar school are being made into multi-million dollar ad campaigns. “Wash your hands! Cover your mouth when you cough!”

It’s a little ridiculous how much everyone is freaking out. Then again, whenever I see someone sneeze I run in the other direction in fear that I will soon sprout a tail and oink all the way to the emergency room. So am I avoiding this swine flu like the plague? Hell yes. But when it comes to the vaccine, I’m not as sure.

I want to be as protected as possible, but I also don’t want to throw myself under the bus by injecting this mysterious killer into my blood stream. I talk to one person and feel like it’s the best thing since sliced bread, then the next minute someone else has me convinced that I would be making the worse mistake of my life.

It’s painfully clear: I’m torn. Read More »

College offers so many opportunities and I regret not taking advantage of more of them. I’m not referring to visiting lectures from world renowned microbiologists or Teach For America open houses. I’m talking about opportunities to get things for free.

Club meetings that offer pizza just for coming, computer labs that leave out boxes of paper, and psych professors paying money for you to undergo semi-legal clinical trials. Even though I hate using the countdown, I have to admit that I only have a little over a month to accomplish as much as possible by spending as little as possible. I’ve included the following on my list. Read More »

[It doesn’t matter what school you go to, what state it is in, how big it is, whether it is public or private, all girls or coed…there are experiences that all college students share.No matter how crazy you think your personal situation is, it is not just you. So, let’s bring it all out in the open. Right here. Because you are not alone - we’ve all been there before.]

After finishing another long day of classes (a whole 3 hours!), you head home to grab a quick snack and go to the gym. You don’t even let yourself sit down or get comfortable, knowing that getting near that couch – even for a moment – means you would never get up again. You have a ton of reading to do, but you must squeeze in that daily workout.

You throw on a pair of workout pants, squeeze into a sports bra, grab your iPod and a bottle of water and make your way to the gym.

You play your workout mix as you walk, pumping you up for the big workout ahead. It’s gonna be a long run, or maybe 45 minutes on the elliptical.

When you get to the gym you realize that everyone and their mother had the same idea as you; the gym is packed. You make your way to the cardio room and notice a short line has already formed for both the treadmills and the ellipticals.

So you wait.

As you stand there, losing any motivation you may have had for a long, sweaty workout, you look over at the machines to see if anyone is close to finishing. That is when you spot her.

She’s wearing crisp, tight yoga pants and a sports bra. Not under a shirt, but as a shirt. Her hair is perfectly straight and her face is made up for a night at the bars. And she is on the phone. Her feet are barely moving – god forbid she should break a sweat and ruin her eyeliner – as she discusses her evening plans (quite loudly) with whoever is on the other end of the call. Read More »

Listen to me: your mom is not coming with you to college.

There is not going to be anyone there to feed you soup when you have a cold or hand you band-aids when you’ve had too much to drink, fall, and cut yourself on glass. There is only the student health center and they don’t want to hear about your minor ailments; they’ve got a whole campus worth of people with real problems. Like broken limbs… and broken condoms.

Because of this you have to be prepared to take care of yourself when it comes to the minor things: the tummy aches, the colds, the bumps and bruises. And you have to be prepared.

Below is a handy dandy list of things you’ll need to build your very own medicine cabinet. No more unnecessary trips to the Health Center (where they probably can’t help you anyway), or crying to your mom on the phone. Well, you can still cry on the phone, but at least you won’t have to leave the house to get some Pepto.

1) A container

First things first – you’re going to need a place to store your medical supplies. This can be an under-the-bed plastic tub or a cool toolbox you decorate with stickers. Anything you want really, as long as it’s storable. And make sure that whatever you pick can hold a few 20 oz and cans.

2) Band-Aids and Bandages

This is the most basic part of your kit; the thing that you will probably be using most of all. You should stock up on band-aids of all sizes. You never know what you might need one for: blisters, shaving nicks, paper cuts, drunken falls. Also keep a few ace bandages handy. Thanks to the combination of stilettos and alcohol, sprained ankles and wrists are inevitable. Read More »

I like to think of myself as a progressive woman. I pay my own rent, buy my own drinks at the bar, and I don’t expect my boyfriend to have to pay for me. I am a big fan of the unspoken agreement we have where I’ll pick up the tab sometimes, and he’ll get it others. So far its been working out well, and I’ve had no complaints – until now. Two words: Birth Control.

As it seems, birth control is one of those things that the girl is expected to pay for, and I am not happy about it. Last week I went to pick up a few months worth of birth control and was completely shocked to hear the nurse say to me, “That will be $97 dollars.” I stared blankly, and peered into my brown paper bag, yep, there was still only 3 months worth in there. She must be mistaken, so I asked her to make sure.

Nope, $97 bucks. Obviously I have grown too accustom to the generous helpings of birth control that were handed out at the health center in college like candy. Free candy.

I sadly handed over my visa and thought of the darling little number at Banana Republic that I would have to put on the back burner for another pay check and went home.

Upon my arrival, my gent inquired as to my appointment. I jumped at the opportunity to share my outrageous bill and almost vaguely saw a ray of hope towards getting the outfit from Banana again! This would be the time when my gent says: “Whoa! $97 bucks?? I’ll give you some money for that.” Because lets face it, it is the right thing to do and as I recall, it takes two to tango.

This sentiment in mind, you can imagine my shock to hear this: Read More »