You really can’t learn much about college life until you’re living it.

Despite the many campus tours we were all forced to attend and information sessions at random hotels in your hometown, nothing really does college life justice. Recently the Freshmen 15 fable was debunked and with that I have set on a quest to expose the harsh truths of college life. The truth about RAs, roommates, cafeteria food, sororities and other college stapes has been exposed in the 10-image gallery.

You’re welcome. Read More »

Ah, we are finally creeping close to one of the best times of the year! Intense rivalry games are about to pan out on football fields across America (Go Yale! Go OSU!), juicy stuffed turkeys are on the cusp of popping out of ovens everywhere, and Dora the Explorer is preparing to menace us all as she floats down 42nd street as part of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The air is crisp, the dorms are abuzz with “I’m going home!” and my suitemate and I are—feverish. Literally.

What started off as the both of us coughing slightly like dainty ladies a week ago has morphed into some kind of psycho illness that left me hacking and feverish, making me miss a.) Kelly Cutrone giving an inspirational speech during this leadership workshop I was supposed to attend and b.) A sikk (but not sick like me) tailgate before the Yale-Princeton game.

Here’s my question: Why isn’t Mommy here to deliver me ice water and bring me up dinner from the kitchen to my room? Answer: Because I’m a freaking adult now! And I need to suck it up! Or else I’ll turn into, like, Lindsay Lohan or something and wallow in my own existence until bodyguards come and carry me everywhere I need to be.

So as a mature woman (pah, let’s be honest), I have been attempting to take care of myself as best as possible. After getting the whining, calls to my mother for some much needed sympathy and more whining, of course. I have been sleeping. I have been stealing grapefruit and oranges like crazy from the dining halls. I have been drinking lots of water (clear pee is the goal, you guys). I have been skipping class (…I don’t wanna infect other people). Read More »

Amidst naked trees, pee on the toilet seat, and icy treks from the shower to the dorm room, the happy charm of college is beginning to wear thin.

Right now, I just want to go home and watch Desperate Housewives with my mom and not wear flip-flops in the shower! Ah, such are the woes of homesickness.

While this time is not as bad as the last time homesickness hit (sixth grade 3-day sleep away camp. . .never again), it certainly has taken its toll. Recently, I’ve found myself creeping through my high school albums on Facebook an unhealthy amount, as well as reading up on news from Cincinnati (my hometown) that I otherwise wouldn’t care about (apparently a fire halted production of a local potato chip company…).

I’m sure my lovely suitemates are already starting to get annoyed with my constant “I miss Ohio!” and variations of it — so what do I do to combat it?

It definitely helps to stay in touch with friends from back home. Because Thanksgiving break is so near, I know a lot of friends and I are already planning times to hang out over that week. We have happy coffee breaks, shopping trips and ole-fashioned sleepovers planned. It’s a nice, fuzzy feeling to realize that you have things to look forward to and people to meet up with when you go back.

Also, I’ve found it helps to call my mom sometimes. She helps on two levels: First, she happily agrees to cook my carefully selected menu for the week I’m home—nothing beats Mom’s Chinese dumplings. But perhaps more importantly, she fills me in on the fact that absolutely nothing is happening back at home. None of my friends are in town and the weather is just as cold there as it is here. My car is still sitting idle in our driveway and the kids who still go to high school still have to wake up at 6 in the morning to catch the bus.

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This post provided by college nutritionist, author, and all around excellent source of healthful info, Melanie Jatsek.

Do you eat when you’re not hungry?  Sure, we all do to some degree!  Food is one of the necessities of life, but it’s also a source of comfort for those times when you are feeling sad, stressed, homesick, angry, or [insert emotion here].  This occasional indulgence usually isn’t a problem, but when you start responding to every emotion with food it becomes a problem in more than one way.  Can you say weight gain and feelings of zero willpower?  You did just eat that entire bag of Lay’s Potato Chips after all!

It’s time to stop beating yourself up.  So you slipped up and let your stress get the best of you – so what?  Forgive yourself and move on.  But what if it happens again, you ask?  What are you supposed to do the next time you are struck with a bout of good old-fashioned homesickness?

Follow the three steps below to learn how not to eat your feelings. Read More »

I was one of those kids that never really got homesick when I was in college. While my friends would have occasional breakdowns and cry about not being with their families or their hometown friends, I never spent too much time dwelling on what I could have been missing at home – I was too busy doing everything else. But now, as a fully functioning member of real life, I think I’m suffering from my first adult case of homesickness.

Maybe it’s the advent of fall or just the general time of year – back to school – but everything just feels off. While everyone on the East coast is talking about the leaves starting to change, I’m anxiously awaiting for some kind of sign that a seasonal change is about to take place. While I’m looking to head back to school next year, Facebook is blowing up with status updates about first day of classes, professor quotes, and new discoveries out in the real world.

And as the world turns, well – I just feel like something is missing. Read More »

It’s that time of year, when people start packing up their lives to fit into the ridiculously small storage closets they call dorm rooms.  For some of us, we will be heading back to familiar sights and sounds, having already navigated our way through a couple years of school.  For the rest of us, it will be the first time on campus and the start of a much-hyped period in your life: the college years.

There have been several books written to prepare incoming freshman for all the crazy shiz that will go down during their first year of school.  Their relatives, friends, guidance counselors and even complete strangers will also advise them on how to stay healthy in the cafeteria and how to sneak alcohol into their dorm room.

To really be prepared for your freshman year, however, you should get familiar with the people that will surround you on a daily basis.  Will your roommate be a Loner or a Homesick Child?  Will your lab partner be an Athlete/Ultimate Fan and therefore too busy checking on player stats and scores to write the chemistry report with you?  Only time will tell, so you might as well be prepared.

Here’s the 10 types of freshmen you’ll meet on campus: Read More »

I am never alone in college. Sure, I have the elevator to myself occasionally and sometimes my roommate is at class when I’m not, but usually there is always someone else nearby. This is drastically different from my high school experience.

Of course I would spend every high school moment from that morning bell—which seemed to ring earlier and earlier as my senior year wore on—to the final bell with my friends by my side. I was part of a bunch of different groups, all of which met after or before school and surrounded me with people. But at home, I had solitude.

With both my parents working and my brother off at college, I spent many nights doing homework, watching bad television and heating up leftovers all by myself. Some may think that would be lonely, but I really liked the peace and quiet.

It’s never quiet here. And sometimes I like it; with all the commotion, I haven’t had time to get homesick or have a culture shock freak out. There’s a feeling of community when I walk around campus and see someone I know or when I strike up a conversation with a stranger in the dining hall. Yet every once in awhile I realize… I never have a moment to myself. Read More »

I am the biggest. idiot. ever. Why? Because I will be spending one dreaded semester at home. That’s right, I gave up my freedom so that I could come home to spend a little extra time with the ‘rents. No, I’m not one of those people who can’t bear to spend time away from my parents, I just made a couple of mistakes…well, let’s call them choices…

Rewind to the end of senior year when a certain girl was debating between College A and College B. College A is the largest school in North Carolina, is very serious about their sports program (which means tons of fans to party with, plus I love college football) and just happens to be an hour from my boyfriend. College B is a smaller but well-known school located right in the middle of a booming city not to far from my home in Virginia that also happens to house an insane Arts/Fashion program.

Of course, naive senior Amber picked College A so she could get a degree in Fashion but still tailgate, party like crazy and spend time with her beau.

One cringe-worthy break up, one failed class, dozens of racial/socioeconomic clashes and too many drunken nights later I decided that it was time to transfer. My decision was a good one, but was made too late; by the time I submitted my application to another school (College C, I guess), it was impossible to receive housing and a decent financial aid package. Then I remembered good ol’ College B with the awesome Fashion program and decided going there was worth spending one semester at a sh*tty community college while having to obey Mom and Pop’s rules.

Some of you may have decided (or been forced) to stay at home too, or maybe I’m just hoping I’m not the only one that gets upset when I see those back to school commercials with all the cute dorm furniture and kids running through campus. Either way, there are pros and cons to movin’ back in with the rents and I know all about them: Read More »

Cory Matthews is, and forever will be, my dream man.

Mom, can I please go to Camp Rock this summer?!

Help make “Another Stakeout” become another cult hit

Of course Mariah Carey has a 3,000 sq. ft. lingerie closet

Would you hook up with the Office Casanova?

…Because Hayden Pannetierre says it’s wrong…

This is why I’m afraid to try pranks

Want to catch some friends this weekend?

This video makes me really homesick

Learn to play Ysketball