Whether we like it or not, January is quickly approaching.  And we all know what that means.  Yup, that’s right – it’s New Year’s Resolution time.  While self improvement is a noble aspiration, it is also an excellent way to make you feel like ish come February when you haven’t made any strides toward your goal.

This holiday season, I urge you to make a resolution that you will actually keep, and that is to take better care of your environment.  Not just because it’s a good thing to do, but also because it’s a gosh darn easy resolution to stick to.  Having a greener existence is all about baby steps, which translates into easy success without all of the leg work.  Here are some of my favorite tips to get you going to a greener and happier you!

Potential Resolution #1:  “I will get all of my books from the library.”
First of all, this is probably something most of us do on a regular basis anyways.  Second of all, it saves you money and storage space.  Buying books not only wastes a lot of paper and binding materials, but it also takes a lot more energy to package and transport.  If you absolutely need to have a certain book at hand, such as a textbook for a class, see if any of your friends are in the class and ask them to go halfsies on the book.  You’ll save money on those ridiculously expensive textbooks and you always have the option of checking it out at the library if you get in a bind. Read More »

(Last week one of our writers opened up about her personal use of Adderall. We have since received tons of feedback regarding Adderall and the many ways it is used. Here is another coed’s story…)

Sunday night at 3 a.m. again. The lines on the page have long since run together. I have written the same sentence three times. My roommate is blaring the television set that is constantly tuned to E!. I have seen all of the True Hollywood stories. Twice.

“Bailey*, can I have an Adderall?”

“Sure. You know where to find them.”

I rummaged around in the clutter of her desk drawer, and my fingertips having connected with the plastic of a prescription bottle, I tipped a tiny capsule into my palm.

Ah, yes, here was my chemical savior. Focus city, here I come.

This amphetamine derivative was going to help me get through my stack of reading and get that assignment down on paper.

I lay back down on my bed and set my alarm for 4 a.m. With Adderall in my system I would be able to get back up in just an hour and get back to work. And I did. Read More »

Women’s social issues have been treated in programs geared towards teens for ages. Remember when DJ Tanner went on a crash diet so she could look good in a bathing suit, and then passed out on a stairclimber?

On Saved by the Bell, Elizabeth Berkley gained pre-Showgirls notoriety, for the famous Jessie Spano Caffeine Pill Breakdown (I’m so excited! I’m so scared!). Of course, Full House and SBTB were heart-warming sitcoms, where everyone learns their lesson in the end, and move away from their self-destructive behavior, never to mention anorexia, bullimia, or drug abuse ever again.

The breakout Canadian teen sensation, Degrassi, which airs in the US on The N network, covers a variety of teen issues, without the cavity-inducing sugary sweetness of the stuff we grew up on. Among the kids who dabble in drugs, alcohol, eating disorders, and bi-polar disorder, Degrassi introduced the world to Ellie Nash, who is a cutter.

I’m too old for Degrassi, but I don’t care. I’m pretty much obsessed with it. The best part about the show is that it doesn’t sweep the issues under the rug at the end of each 22-minute episode. And because the writers have the balls to “Go There.” I mean, come on: we all know the caffeine-pill incident was a stand-in for a harder drug, like speed or something, but hard drugs don’t exist at Bayside High.

I remember when the cutting craze swept my middle school. I have no idea who started it, or why it caught on, but at my school, cutting was the iPhone of the late 90′s. Read More »