I’ll never forget the first footage I saw of the uprising in Egypt last winter – Tahrir Square full of people shouting, chanting, and waving Egyptian flags. As the Arab Spring movement continues to grow, we are witnessing a revolution. But watching a revolution from afar is strange – it’s exciting, scary, and confusing all at the same time.

Recently, I had the chance to interview Lara Setrakian, a foreign correspondent for Bloomberg Television and ABC News. Lara is a young American journalist based in Dubai, but travels back and forth to the United States frequently. She has come to be regarded as an authority on the political situation in the Middle East, and reported live from Tahrir Square earlier this year as the rule of President Hosni Mubarak came to an end. Who better to provide a little perspective on these events than someone who has seen them firsthand? Read on for my interview with this incredibly inspiring and driven lady!

Read More »

In honor of Women’s History Month, CollegeCandy has decided to spotlight some of the world’s most influential women. Last week we focused on the women from our generation and this week, we pay attention to some of the most spectacular thirty-somethings. These are the women that show us life really does get interesting in your 30s, whether you’re a famous movie star or activist. Anything can happen, and just like these women have done in their 30s, we can make a difference in the world at any age. Read More »

When I first started this internship, I had high expectations. I knew that it would be different than the other internship I had; I could tell from the interview alone that this one would be a little bit more exciting, a little bit more hands-on, and was definitely about a subject matter that I enjoy. And I have to say, I was pretty much right.

I think that my experience has been exactly what an interning experience should be: there have been highs and lows, exciting moments of feeling like an actual journalist and those back-to-earth moments of feeling like the lowest person on the office food-chain. There have been frustrating moments when I’ve felt like I just want to walk out and never come back (like a 12-hour day where there was absolutely NOTHING to do), and there have also been moments where I wouldn’t give up the job for the world (like when I got to interview Derek Jeter). I’ve had to deal with some rude people, but I’ve also gotten the chance to meet some really amazing people. And probably the best thing was seeing my name in a national publication several times, and knowing that my hard work in school was finally starting to pay off a little. Read More »

[While everyone is fabulous in their own right, we thought we should celebrate the campus fashionistas of the world for their continued excellence in not looking like a hot mess for class. So, we started stalking those girls on campus (like Ashley from Lakehead!) to get a few pics and get some tips on their personal style.

And maybe a restraining order or two.

But it’s worth it to highlight fresh, unique wardrobe choices that show personality and the courage to wear what you believe in. You think you've got some major style? Know someone else who's always looking ferosh? Think the world needs to see what she can do?  Send us an email with some photos and she could be the next fashionista celebrated right here.]

Allow me to introduce you to Tatomme, probably the only girl I’ve ever met who can truly pull off a chambray jumper. And by “pull off” I mean “work it like she’s got Rachael Zoe dressing her and she’s walkin’ down a runway.” I just met her this semester, and I was instantly impressed with her style.  We are in a few classes together right now – including being on a team in TV -  and I look forward to seeing what interesting and unique outfits she comes up with each day. She incorporates so many things that I could never pull off, and some I might even wonder why she ever thought to even try it on, but I always admire what she is wearing… and the creative mind that thought to put it all together.

I mean, those shoes and the jumper and that jacket? How did she ever know it would all work together? But it does. Flawlessly.

My favorite thing about Tatomme’s look, though, is that signature bag, which she casually slings across her body as we lug camera equipment across campus.  When I asked her about it, I learned that this Liz Claiborne bag originally belonged to Tatomme’s mom, who wore it when she was about our age.

Vintage, cute and sentimental…. I just love it. Read More »

Welcome back to The Rival Rundown! If you’ve always wanted to give props to your school on CC, now’s your chance! Shoot us an email explaining what’s awesome and unique about your school (or what stinks about Rival U) at rivalrundown@collegecandy.com!

Let’s travel to the Midwest, where the people are friendly, the food is hearty, and the state school rivalries are relentlessly combative. In the great state of Indiana, two state school systems (Indiana University and Purdue University) are so entrenched in a battle for loyalty that many homes boast signs in their windows reading “A House Divided”–or in other words, the domain has both Purdue and IU alumni.  Can one school win the rights to true Hoosier pride?

1. Mascot Match-up

Indiana – The Hoosiers are not only the university mascot but the state nickname–a term for someone who transports bales of cotton.  Though a derogatory word in other parts of the country, a Hoosier is a label of pride in Indiana!
Purdue – The Boilermakers get their moniker from the longstanding tradition of excellence in engineering at Purdue, which in the 1890s (at the time of the mascot’s inception) meant toiling in the forge room to boil and meld metal.

Three credits to: Indiana, since it takes some balls to claim a questionable slang term for a school (and state) nickname! Read More »

Everyone has learning experiences freshman year of college. We learn to stay away from the Jungle Juice if we want to keep our heads out of toilets and trash cans, we learn that skipping class can only lead to slipping GPAs, and most importantly, we hope to learn what we want to do with our lives. Some of us go into college with our careers already laid out, and every step of the way planned. Those lucky few dash through advisor meetings in less than five minutes, their transcript following their 4 year plan to a tee.

And then there is me.

My transcript veers through the course catalog like a tiny geriatric attempting to ferry her car through a Wal-Mart parking lot. My long-suffering advisor looks at my transcript and schedules another thirty minutes for our meeting. My major first changed at Orientation after I took one look at the sample Political Science schedule and saw “Microeconomics” shamelessly emblazoned upon it. I’m a flake when it comes to big decisions like this, and it shows in my spotty track record with trying to pick a major. If there was a Indecisive Majors Anonymous, I’d be a repeat attender. Read More »

Let’s talk about Twitter: To have a Twitter, or not to have one? To use it, or not to use it? And most importantly, how do you use a Twitter?

It seems like everyone’s all atwitter about, well, Twitter these days.  Started in 2006, Twitter is a “micro-blogging” service where users post status updates (called Tweets) that are limited to 140 characters, which answer the question, “What are you doing?” You can also add friends on Twitter by “following” their feeds.

But while you may be thinking, “only status updates? Just 140 characters? Why would people care what I’m doing 400 times a day? I already have a Facebook, thanks,” don’t dismiss Twitter just yet.  As a matter of fact, its beauty is in its simplicity.

People use Twitter for everything from updating their friends about their whereabouts (“at the airport- Spring Break Cancun here I come!”) to sharing breaking news and reactions to important events.  It’s actually become quite a phenomenon among journalists and media-types. Many will post links to fresh news stories or recent articles they’ve written. It’s easy because you can update Twitter from your cell phone (via text message) or instant messanger, so you can post when you’re on the go. Read More »

While I may be one of the only people still undecided for the upcoming election, I came across something today that I thought was important to share with you all. A girl I know posted a video on her Facebook status and I had nothing better to do except check it out (and by that I mean, of course I had a million things better to do but procrastination seemed like the best choice).

Anyway she posted this video showing John Mccain from last March swearing numerous times to an NY Times reporter.

It already has over one hundred thousand views.

The only problem is: it’s not true. Far from it actually.

Take a look at the ORIGINAL video; it is true that the clip is showing McCain on edge when being pressed about his private conversations with John Kerry. However, he did not swear during the interview. Not even once. And now, because some guy with too much time on his hands got crafty with his computer gadget editing tools, over one hundred thousand people are judging his character over something that is just not true. Read More »

When it comes to Facebook, you would be lying if you said you never found yourself looking at the pictures your winter vacation hookup (from 2001) just posted… or at the girl that annoyingly keeps writing on your boyfriend’s wall (and at all of her friends). I know, I know, you just randomly, somehow, stumbled upon them; you really, truly, only logged on to check your messages…3 hours ago. And now you are searching for that cute guy you met last night whose last name you don’t know (why did his name have to be Aaron?!).

Let’s face it; we’ve all stooped a little bit lower than we like to admit (logging on to a friend’s account to look at someone not in your network). Posted something for the sake of ONE person seeing it (an ex boyfriend perhaps? This picture totally screams “I am SOO over you”), or for the whole Facebook world to see (Look! I met Vince Vaughn! We sat at his table! This totally validates that I am cool. Take that all you who shoved me in a locker in high school!).

Every now and again, we all do a bit of random stalking or, as I chose to call it, investigative journalism. (The dictionary of my life says an email to my friends reporting my findings completely counts as journalism… “He’s single! Scooore!”) But with all this quasi-stalking that we do, we never really think that we are that important or fascinating enough that total randoms would waste their time looking at our photos from Halloween 2006.

That is, until it happens to you… and you find out.

And then, Facebook becomes really creepy. Read More »

Every once in a while I’ll be walking down Second Avenue and see a guy with a cat on his head and think, damn! Why don’t I have something to record this with?! Or I’ll be home after a night on the town and catch my roommate spouting off some of the best drunk philosophy ever and wish there was a way to capture her wisdom.

But being the poor individual that I am, I can’t even afford a digital camera, and the tiny, no sound video application on my phone takes such a long time to start working that whatever I wanted to record is gone and over by the time I’m ready.

And what about those of you about to go abroad? Don’t you wish you had something to capture the exotic sights and sounds with that didn’t cost an entire semester’s tuition to buy?

Well, I think I might have found something that could help us all.

The Flip Video camera is a pocket sized digital camera that comes with a built in USB port and it’s own simple editing software—all for less than about what it would cost you to buy a new outfit. Read More »