Last spring, I was gearing up to graduate and was waiting for the job offers to come rolling in. Instead, the only opportunity that came my way was a summer internship. At the time, I was making plenty of money waiting tables, but I knew that the added experience of an internship would add to my credentials– even if it meant taking a pay cut. So I moved to upstate New York to a place that was a five-hour drive from everyone I would care to visit.

When I first got there, I quickly realized that this job sucked. My boss, the woman who had hired me, misinformed me when I had inquired about the hours, the workload, and the learning potential of the position during my interview. However, by the end of August, when it was time to pack up and move on, I realized I had just had one of the best summers of my life.

Before I go into the ways that you, too, can make the most of your summer internship, let me explain why mine was so terrible. I had been hired by a nonprofit regional theater company as an administrative intern for their summer season. As an English major who was trying to break into theater, that sounded right up my alley when my boss had described my duties. However, when I arrived, I quickly learned that the majority of my time would be spent serving as assistant house manager — ripping tickets and listening to patrons bitch for 8 shows a week. Read More »

Learning the ropes of an internship is one thing, but becoming accustomed to a big city for the first time while starting an internship can make those first few days all the more nerve wracking.

After scoring two internships in New York City last summer, I couldn’t have been more excited – and then the realization of living alone in a city I didn’t know anything about terrified me. From the moment my plane landed at La Guardia, I was a nervous wreck until I made it through my first few days.

By the end of my time as a summer intern, though, I had the interning and city gag down pat. In fact, I couldn’t get enough, so I decided to come back to New York in January to intern again. With three different internships under my belt in one of the biggest cities in the world, here are some tips that helped me become a big city intern faster than I thought was possible. Read More »

[Life isn’t black and white. As much as we wish we simply loved or hated things, there is often that whole annoying gray area in the middle. Like, we hate getting up for early morning classes, but we love being done by 11. Or, we love how Spanx make us look, but hate how sweaty we get putting them on... Damn you, gray area; you make decision-making that much more complicated!

There are so many difficult choices in life (do we love or hate high heels??), so we thought we’d sort through ‘em right here. Every week we will discuss another issue we are torn up about. Let us know your thoughts in the comments section!]

So, we now all know what Twitter is. I can guarantee that you either Twitter yourself, have a friend who Twitters, or know a celebrity that Twitters (and creepily internet-stalk them).

Since its launch in 2006, Twitter has gained roughly 5 million users, coming in 3rd in the social network sites, with 2nd going to MySpace and 1st place to Facebook. It’s actually kind of like the status updates on Facebook, without all the wall posts and bumper stickers (and those annoying pokes). But sometimes I do miss a good laugh at a not-so-attractive FB picture (*untagging now), and a friendly poke now and then isn’t so bad. So Twitter: I’m torn. Read More »

Questiony for Tuffy? Email her at tuffylove@collegecandy.com to be featured in her column, which runs every other Tuesday! ASK. ANYTHING.

Dear Tuffy Luv,

I’m graduating from a small liberal arts college in May and I’m starting to get realllllly nervous about job hunting. Everyone says this is a terrible time to start looking for a job. What am I supposed to do?????????

Thanks for your help!

Terrified Senior

Dear Senorita Senior,

Honey, boy do I feel your pain. You think there’s a lotta work out there for stylized advice columnists? Hint: There ain’t.

The economy here in the US definitely sucks right now. As of December, the unemployment rate was up to a very frightening 7.2%. But, listen. Tuffy’s got a few tricks up her sleeve for you. And it’s a very large sleeve. Bell, maybe. Or perhaps kimono. Read More »

Just another reason to hate Keith Olberman and the rude ladies at The View.

We are so happy that Holly Madison isn’t hung up on Hef anymore.

Mod makeup has been popular since the 1960s and is back again.

Apparently, being a lesbian is way worse than being bi.

The Super Bowl is now going to wreck more women’s lives than usual.

Michelle and Barack Obama scoped out their new pad today.

Being green can be dangerous, especially for James Cromwell.

Watches, to wear or not to wear?

Oprah has taken over the world, well almost.

If only this worked to change water into wine too!

“Heyyyyyy!!!! Ohmygosh we haven’t talked in ages!!!! How have you been? You look like you’re doing great. WE should totally get together sometime!”

We all have those friends on Facebook. People that we knew ten years ago and don’t talk to anymore. Except for on Facebook.

I have plenty of friends like that. And I even friend requested some of them.

Of course, those friend requests were mostly because they were the people that made my middle school years hell, and I like to stalk them and silently gloat over how much cooler my life is than theirs.

But some of them were sparked by a genuine desire to see how they were doing and what kind of people they had turned into.

So how does this whole reconnecting thing work, especially on the internet, and especially if one of the two parties may not be exactly thrilled at the idea of sitting across from their grade school buddy whom they haven’t seen since 1999? Something about the cyberdistance makes the idea of rekindling a friendship seem more approachable over Facebook (or Myspace, as the case may be). If your old classmate doesn’t feel like answering you, it’s a lot easier to not take it personally when all you’ve done is send a digital message instead of digging out an old phone number and calling out of the blue. Read More »

The week before you ship off to college is notoriously known for extended shopping excursions.

As you push your cart up and down the aisles of Wal-Mart and Target stocking up on the necessities, your bank account is slowly draining (unless your parents plan on footing the entire bill-in which case you can stop reading now).

The money you’ve saved up at your menial summer job may be non-existent by the time you hit the mall to pick up some new kicks and a few back to school outfits.

So what happens when you land on campus broke as a joke in need of food and fun? You begin the job hunt.

As a seasoned veteran of the work study program, I would not recommend this line of work. My freshman year was spent slaving away between classes in an office with no windows. Fetching sandwiches for a hostile man whose job it was to make photocopies for 7 dollars an hour wasn’t my idea of a worthwhile part-time job.

When I ventured out to find legitimate employment during my sophomore year, I applied to every store, restaurant, and office within a 20 block radius of my school.

To be blunt, I went crazy, spreading my resume like wildfire to anyone who would take it. You would think my phone would have been ringing off the hook. Read More »