Unconvinced? Check this:

Messing up under a magnifying glass! Many of us are using these four years or so to try new experiences – skipping class, dancing wildly at the college bar, and possibly dabbling in illegal drugs. Though they may not be the wisest choices we make during our time at higher learning institutions, at least we have the opportunity to forget about them as early as the morning after. On the other hand, the pictures of Miley Cyrus experimenting with salvia, the reputation of Paris Hilton taking over tabletops and the criminal record of LiLo will not only spread farther than any of the immediate social circles who could ever find out about our little mistakes, but they will be remembered forever.

Playing a rigged dating game! As if it isn’t hard enough to find a decent guy to take home to Mom and Dad for Thanksgiving weekend, playing the field as a celebrity must be hard work if a successful couple is as rare as a Top 40 song without AutoTune. Not only do we have a wider selection of prospective candidates, but we also aren’t widely scrutinized for every bad blind date or every mate that we think is actually good for us when they actually aren’t. And thankfully, there isn’t overwhelming speculation regarding when we do decide to become sexually active…or with whom.

Walking constant runways! We all try to model our most cutting-edge fashion during the first few weeks of the semester, cleverly hiding our holiday weight gains and PMS breakouts. But once midterms start rolling around, we move into our university hoodies and PINK sweatpants, sacrificing today’s styles for tomorrow’s tests without judgment. Good thing we aren’t famous, because stepping outside in a fashion disaster that was never supposed to be seen beyond our bedrooms would probably land us on E!’s Worst Dressed lists for years to come.

Staring at endless mirrors! College women are already pressured to be a certain size by caring parents, traumatizing high school classmates and marketing sharks in the media, and throwing in freshmen fifteen weight gains, campus dining halls and depression-related eating disorders has occasionally resulted in a recipe for disaster. But celebrities unknowingly volunteer to be critiqued for their silhouettes: Overweight? Obese? Underweight? Ballet-dancer frames? And throughout the past decade, the “perfect” woman shape has ranged from Kate Moss to Beyoncé – there are only so many trainers and nutritionists for everyone to keep up, if anyone!

Whether actually talented or otherwise, it’s obviously difficult to be a celebrity of any kind; I’m not suggesting that we feel sorry for them, because these days, this is part of their job description. However, when we see yet another child star sprout into the spotlight, let us celebrate their success and cross our fingers for their falls, potential fiancés, fashion choices and body frames. Who knows – maybe they’ll surprise us all and rise to the top, and empower us in the future!

[It's pretty obvious that the average CollegeCandy reader has some very strong opinions. Opinions that she likes to share with everyone on the site.

A while back we had some qualms about the big Rihanna interview and it’s timing. Wherever you came down on that argument, it got me to thinking: is it really any of our business? Celeb watching has existed for basically as long as celebrities have, but in the info-age things have been cranked up to 11 (197,000,000 hits on the search “celebrity gossip”!).

Have we gone too far?

On one side, celebs put themselves out there to be seen. You don’t become a movie or pop star today without knowing that paparazzi will be following you around. And not only do they need that kind of rabid attention to draw people to their work, but a lot of them use it to their advantage. I’m sure it’s annoying not to have any privacy, but it’s kinda hypocritical to complain about how no one will leave you alone in the magazine article promoting your new TV show. Being a celeb now is a package deal, and everybody who’s trying to break into it knows that – maybe it’s time to just suck it up and deal. Or totally embrace it.

But still, celebs are just people like the rest of us, with private lives – the fact that more people see the work they do doesn’t mean we should have the right to see the minute details of their lives. Is it really our business that Tiger Woods is cheating on his wife? That Adam Lambert and his BF broke up? Does that information affect who they are in their professional lives?

And there are a lot of things we’ll ignore in real life that we watch obsessively with celebs. Like practically all of us know someone who’s divorced, but people don’t walk up to them at parties and bombard them with questions about their ex. With celebs, that kind of behavior is fair game. Maybe more importantly though, thinking about real life, is what it reflects on us to be so celeb obsessed. I have lunch with the same girl everyday and I couldn’t tell you with certainty the name of her bf or her roommates – and yet I know Katy Perry’s cat’s name (Kitty Purry) and I’m not even a Katy Perry fan! Are we really so shallow that “knowing” celebs trumps knowing real people?

So, am I totally over-reacting? Is celeb watching just another harmless pastime for the tech generation? Do celebs really have a right to complain? Or have we seen the line in the sand and taken a flying leap over it? Duke. It. Out.

First she comes out against gay marriage. Fine. She can have her opinions – we’re totally in support of that. But then we find out her boobs were purchased for her by the Miss California people. And then she wanted to milk her D-List fame a little more by starting a movement against gay marriage nationally. Oh, and now there are nudey photos circulating the web.

I normally tend to spend my time bashing people in the limelight because it is the only thing that makes me feel good without going directly to my ass (like my BFF, the McFlurry), but I’m already eating a McFlurry today, so I’m feelin groovy. And optimistic. And charitable.

So I am going to go out on a limb here and try to find some good in this Miss California sh*tshow. Namely, the lessons we can take away from it. Because she may not be the brightest bulb (“I love to live in a country where you can choose normal marriage or opposite marriage…”), but her dumb mistakes are worth learning from.

1. Don’t do pageants: They won’t catapult you to the fame you’d like them to (because 3 people watch them), and most Americans really don’t care or respect the women who take part in them. You are better off competing on Rock of Love (just look at Daisy!) than to spend thousands of dollars on hair, makeup, dresses (and boobs) for a pageant.

2. Stay Out of the Spotlight: I have longed to be famous since I made the crowd LOL during the candle lighting at my Bat Mitzvah. Seeing how the media has treated Ms. Prejean, though, I am beginning to have second thoughts. There are a lot of skeletons in my closet (and on my Google thread) that would be quickly exposed by the hundreds of enemies I have made in my 20-ish years on this planet. And don’t even get me started on the embarrassing photos. Let’s just say that life is a whole lot simpler when no one knows or cares enough about you to get the world to hate you.

3. Giant Fake Diamond Encrused Earrings Are Not Cute: Really, it’s just too much. Unless you are Flava Flav.

4. Stop Taking Naked Photos, PEOPLE: I would understand if Ms. California had taken some sexy shots in her early years to send to some thick-necked, tattooed boyfriend (because that is the kind of guy I imagine she’d like), but this princess took these knowing she’d be competing to represent her state in front of the entire country. Ok, so the 3 people who actually care. Anyways, the photo (and soon to be multiple photos) circulating the web is just further proof that no cameras should be present when nips, booty and other lady parts are exposed. That sh*t will get passed around, people (especially if you decide not to learn lessons #1 and #2), and everyone will finally know if your carpet matches your drapes.

5.  Don’t Piss off the Gay People: Those fabulous fashionistas can make or break you. You piss them off and you. are. dunzo.

I raise my empty McFlurry cup to you, Miss California, for teaching me what many other hot mess celebrities before you never could!

This Friday, CollegeCandy will be interviewing the one and only Jennifer Hudson! As in Dreamgirls, Jennifer Hudson. Sex and the City, Jennifer Hudson. And singing superstar, Jennifer Hudson.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.

We looooove this woman. We love how sweet and down to earth she seems. How absolutely freaking gorgeous she is. And, of course, her ridiculous talent. We want to be her.

But, since that is never going to happen (considering people in the office run away when we start playing Rock Band), getting the chance to talk to her will probably be the best thing to happen to us. Ever.

I can’t imagine we are the only ones who are this obsessed/in love with J-Hud. How could you not be? So, we are giving you ladies the chance to ask her some questions. Well, not directly – that would be a tad overwhelming for our lady friend, no? – but through us.

Submit your questions in the comments section below by Thursday at noon and we will pass em along to Ms. Hudson. Want to know her beauty secrets (we do)? Ask about em. Want to know all about her new single, Spotlight? Add it to the list.

We will bring ‘em all with us and see what Jennifer has to say. So hop to it ladies; this is an opportunity you do not want to miss!

[Photo courtesy of Yahoo TV]