Heading off to school for the first time is an exhilarating experience. Most of us probably know that by now. College is jam-packed with a goodie bag full of firsts: our first test, first hangover, first boyfriend, first affair, first time away from home… you get the point. Just like we were hundreds of years ago in kindergarten, we’re first-timers once again!

While Ms. Jones might have taught you how to reluctantly share your crayons or recover from your first fall on the playground, there aren’t very many teacher-pick-me-ups once you reach the higher ed world. Yes, mom and dad are always just a phone call away, but when you’re stuck in the library at 4am cramming for your first big exam, those words of encouragement don’t really work. Damn.

College is a whole new lifestyle. Late nights, eight hours of classes, a whole week devoted to midterms and finals can really drive a girl crazy; and on top of all that other stuff, you’ve got to make it work with whatever roommate you’ve got in a crazy 11 x 11 closet space.

We dwindled down the long list of college stressors to compile the top eight stressors for college girls. Read More »

You finished your last exam early and, after waiting for someone else to turn theirs in (you don’t want to be first!), ran down the steps of that lecture hall, slammed that baby on the desk and skipped your way to freedom. As you walk home you notice how great the air smells, how bright the sun is and how beautiful your campus is. School is out and you are feelin’ groovy.

After regaling your roommates with tales from your 90-minute essay exam (“I totally rocked that shiz!”), you head to your room to start the end-of-the-year cleaning session, beer in hand. You grab a garbage bag, sit down at your desk and start sifting through the piles of papers, books and notebooks that litter your desk.

In the back of your mind, you know that some of those notebooks will come in handy for next year’s classes. In the front of your mind, though, you know you will never look at them ever again. So, in a celebratory fashion, you toss one binder after another into the Hefty. Read More »

Like with most things in my life (namely, the boy I’m kinda, sorta talking to right now), I have a very complicated relationship with college. Over the past four years, we’ve had our ups and downs. There have been moments when my only thoughts were, I love college (when I was living one of these moments), and there were others (like when I was writing my thesis) when I’ve thought, I hate college with a fiery passion…

Ahem.

But that’s probably because college is a complicated institution, full of things we want to do, things we should do, and things we have to do. Some of the stuff is fun (Saturday tailgates), and some of the stuff is not so fun (Sunday all-nighters). So often, we love college just as much as we hate it. It’s a different experience for everyone, but I’ve pulled some of the more universal love/hate conundrums that go hand in hand with the college experience. Read More »

You wake up for class and something is different. It takes you a moment before you realize that – OH MY GOD! – there is sunlight coming into your room! It’s not dark or dreary out!

You pull back the shades (or sheet you’re using as a shade) and let the light in. Your mood is instantly lifted.

You skip to the bathroom to take a shower and hum a little tune to yourself as you lather up. While you blow-dry your hair (no ponytail today!) you plan out your first-day-of-Spring outfit: new bright cardigan, new jeans and – YIPEEEEE – flip flops! You are so excited for the day ahead that you even swipe on a little bronzer.

Before you head out the door you toss a magazine into your bag. You have an hour to kill between classes and instead of running home and sitting by the heater, you will grab an iced coffee and sit outside people watching (read: secretly hoping that guy you heart will walk by) and catching up on the latest celeb drama.

And now you are ready. Read More »

There are only 4 days (well, more like 3 days, 22 hours and 12 minutes) until your flight takes off for Cancun. You’ve got 6 lectures and 2 discussion sections between you and the smell of SPF 30/sweet, sweet freedom, but your brain has been checked out for days.

While your professor drones on and on about about the feminist’s criticism of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” you’re having a mid-day dream about strawberry daiquiris and that adorable new tankini you just picked up at Target. Instead of taking notes in History of the Civil War, you work on your packing list, adding necessities like “dangly earrings,” “push-up bra,” and “Listerine bottle full of Absolut.” And when you should be in the library brushing up on Physics, you’re off at the campus drug store stocking up on tanning oil (and aloe for when said tanning oil inevitably fails…3 hours into the trip).

And you’re not the only one. Come on, it’s SPRING BREAK. It’s been months since your last break from school and between midterms and the gloomy, gray weeks, every student on campus has been on a mental vacation for days. And that would be fine with everyone if it weren’t for that hard ass professor who always likes to prove a point. The eternal party pooper who returns home to his 12 cats every night and can’t handle the idea of college students having fun. Read More »

Best friends are important in everyone’s life. They are the people you can count on. The people you can turn to, no matter what you need. The people who get you through life.

But sometimes they’re not people at all.

Every college girl knows that her best friends aren’t necessarily just the girls she heads out to lunch with. A girl’s got a lot on her plate and therefore must have a full on support system to help her get by. Thank god she’s got her 20 BFFs by her side. Read More »

You’re at a house party or a bar… or in line to get into a house party or bar. It doesn’t matter. Wherever you are, you’ve just spotted a very handsome boy and you want to talk to him. You turn to your friends and point him out.

“OMG, girl, he IS hot. Go to him,” they say. Then you spend the next 5 minutes debating the best conversation starter/reapplying lip gloss/yanking your shirt down a wee bit lower to show off the girls. When everything is in order (“Do I have anything in my teeth??” you ask your friends as you flash a big, toothy smile), you move in.

Due to some extreme Power Houring before leaving the house, your friends are feeling rather rambunctious. As you make your way to get a drink, they shove you into the boy. Not part of the carefully laid out plan, but that move has been known to work wonders in the past. Read More »

It’s Parent Weekend, or your birthday, or just a Thursday night and you’re craving a free meal a la parentals. Either way, your parents are coming to campus and that means one thing and one thing only: it’s time to clean.

It’s not like your place is dirty – at least by your standards – but something about having mom and dad sit on that couch (where your roommate hooked up last night and – oh! – her bra is stuffed between the cushions) is just not right. You don’t need your parents seeing the cans from last night’s impromptu party, or the empty Doritos bags littering your
bedroom floor.

You run home from class/work and get moving on the deep clean. You start with your bedroom. You fold all of the clothes that have been piled on your floor for three weeks and put them away.  After you make your bed, you decide some vacuuming is in order. Good idea, too, as you find some less than parent-friendly goodies (your bowl or some empty condom wrappers, perhaps?) under the bed. You remove the dirty dishes (AKA the cereal bowl from last week filled with congealed milk) from your desk and replace them with books and binders.

You take a moment to survey the room. It just screams, “I’m studious!” Read More »

It’s been a long night. The only thing on your mind is throwing the 12 decorative pillows (that your mom insisted you buy) off your big comfy bed and burying yourself under that warm, fluffy blanket.

You fight to keep your eyes open as you take the elevator up to your room. As you round the corner and get closer to your room you grow more excited to kick off your shoes, peel those skinny jeans off your legs (you swear they weren’t this tight when you bought them…) and take a one way ticket to Snoozetown.

And then you see it. Scribbled on the dry erase board tacked to your door: come back later.

The writing is messy, but the message is loud and clear. Your roommate’s got someone in there and you are not welcome.

Angry, you stand there for a few moments taking it all in. It’s late on a weeknight. Everyone else is already asleep. And how long have they been in there?  Where the hell are you supposed to go? When can you come back?

You scan the hallway. Yup, everyone’s doors are closed and the hall is quiet. You are going to have to find somewhere else to pass the time. You take the elevator back down to the study room on your dorm’s main floor. You’re exhausted, but you decide you’ll do a bit more reading and try the room again in a half hour.

When you walk in you find another student in there reading on a couch.

“You too?” You ask. She nods. Read More »

Best friends are important in everyone’s life. They are the people you can count on. The people you can turn to, no matter what you need. The people who get you through life.

But sometimes they’re not people at all.

Every college girl knows that her best friends aren’t necessarily just the girls she heads out to lunch with. A girl’s got a lot on her plate and therefore must have a full on support system to help her get by. Thank god she’s got her 20 BFFs by her side. Read More »