Ommmmm.

According to our friends at AOL Health, we are ruining our lives. They’ve compiled a list of dangerous ways to relax – and unfortunately for me (and probably a lot of you) this list could pretty much make my “interests” section on Facebook.

For college students, things like zoning out in front of the TV, pigging out on greasy pizza, and binge drinking are simply facts of life: we don’t see their inherent potential to harm us, we simply perpetuate these behaviors because they’re easy or convenient or fun.

But this AOL Health article really rings true. Yeah, we do a lot of these things because in the moment, at this point in our lives, we can usually come out of these behaviors completely unscathed. Sure, it’s fine to indulge in Gossip Girl marathons once in a while, or to wake up in the middle of the night and reach for that stick of cookie dough after a hard breakup, but replacing these unhealthy, sometimes-unsafe practices with healthier ones could make a huge difference in the long run. Stress can have really serious implications, so why engage in behaviors that only do more to ruin our bodies?

Here are five awesome, easy ways to deal with stress in a healthy way:

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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 »

Working at a bookstore, I run into plenty of what I call “book snobs.” People who will only read a book if it’s received 5-star reviews from the most prestigious of literary critics, if it is on the Bestseller list or if it’s won the flipping Nobel Prize. Even though these people see themselves as the cream-of-the-crop of book readers, I think they are just shallow and narrow-minded. Plenty of books, even fluffy ones, can have great messages and really strike a chord within the reader.

That’s one of the reasons that I read teen fiction. It always has a great message and doesn’t try to be precocious. Teen fiction – written to inspire a love of reading in young peoples’ hearts – is written soulfully and simply. And I love it.

One of my favorite teen fiction reads is “Looking for Alaska” by John Green. This is Green’s debut novel and, in my opinion, his best to date (although “Paper Towns” and “An Abundance of Katherines” are great as well!). He writes from the perspective of a naive teenage boy, finding his first love. I find this book so beautiful and honest and, most importantly, quirky. Read More »

For all of you Dan Brown fans just chomping at the bit waiting for “The Solomon Key” (word on the street is you’ll be waiting for eternity), I have a book to satisfy your appetites for a while! “The Reincarnationist” is an adventure novel with a slightly paranormal twist; several of the characters have been reincarnated and are remembering their past lives!

This novel is a quick, easy read, but has a great story. Rose is an accomplished author and is exceptional at description, making you feel as though you are in the story. The beautiful settings of modern and ancient Rome and New York City are so vivid and vibrant, I had no problem envisioning the adventure taking place right before my own eyes. The emotions of the story run high as well and I found myself wrapped up in the story, cheering for the good guys and cringing when the bad guys got ahead.

The historical aspect of the book was also a real treat. Rose did her research about ancient Rome and seamlessly intertwined interesting history into her novel. Even though I am history buff and former history major, I found that I learned some about the Pagan religions of the ancients, and especially enjoyed reading about the Vestal Virgins. Read More »

Ugh. Finals. Is there anything worse? You sorta coast through the entire semester with nothing to do but some really boring reading and then – BAM – you have to take a giant test that determines your entire grade (and possibly future). Yeah, that’s not stressful or anything.

So now you are stuck in the library for days at a time trying to stuff 4 classes worth of info into your alcohol-tainted brain. And you need an effing break! What do you do? Here is what CollegeCandy’s writers do for their much needed study break:

Sues – University of New Hampshire: My whole day is pretty much a series of study breaks since I continuously get sucked into the Internet and realize that I’m online shopping, reading blogs, and basically doing everything but studying. If I step away from the computer, I go to the gym!

John – UConn: My study break is when I stop drinking coffee in order to drink beer.

Kari – FSU: My study break looks like Phish Food, a well earned back rub from my boyfriend, and a wonderfully distracting episode of The Office…30 minutes of Jim Halpert’s face will perk me up any day. Read More »

Well, the blisteringly glorious months of summer are upon us. Here we are, drenched in sweat and heat irritation, more concerned with our margaritas than all of the things we swore we’d be doing once summer came back when it was cold. Let it now be known; I am against this summertime laziness. I will not abandon the to-do lists I made in January for July. I will freeze bottles of water and let them nurse me through my adventures, because winter already depresses me as it is…I don’t need to add summer regrets to my list of things that bum me out when the cold weather returns.

So here are some things I’m definitely doing before summer ends…maybe you should add them to your list, too! Read More »