[Everyone’s got a vice, a bad habit, something they know they need to change. Unfortunately, everyone also has a million excuses why they just can’t do it. Not anymore. Every month we will be following a different CollegeCandy writer as she takes on a personal challenge. This month, Charlotte’s kicking her bean habit. Her first week wasn’t as easy as she was expecting, her second week was worse. Is the withdrawal finally over?

Okay, this month was going to be hard no matter what. A month without coffee? Find me a hundred college students who would voluntarily do that. Hell, find me one. But add to that the fact that a) it’s January, notoriously the hardest, coldest and most depressing month of the year and b) the fact that I’m an international student who not only tried to pack in as much as she could while she was home but also has to deal with jet-lag and a full day of traveling.

Put it this way: contrary to what I expected to happen as this month progressed, this week has been the hardest yet.

My flight was at 9am Saturday morning. I had to be at the airport at 6am and we decided that 4am would be the most appropriate time to get up. Great, I thought, I’ll hit the hay about 8pm so I get a solid 8 hours before my flight. As with most plans for an early night, this did not happen.

At 7pm my Dad suggested an episode of Dexter. Now I’m new to the Dexter thing; after a semester in America I realized I was clearly missing out on something so we borrowed the first two seasons while I was home. Fine, a couple of episodes will be great. Unfortunately, we only had 3 episodes left, so after two I knew I had to know what happened next. One more episode? Hey, why not, it’s not like I can’t have a gallon of coffee to wake me up in the morning. I fell into bed around 10pm. Read More »

Fact: exercise is boring. I know, I know: it clears your mind, gives you an endorphin high, keeps you from dying young, and so on. Still, at the end of the day, you’ve wasted valuable whiskey money on a gym membership so that you can run for hours on a treadmill that takes you, by my latest calculations, nowhere.

This is why I like bicycles. They actually take you places – useful! – while providing you with the toned leg muscles and mighty forearms of a god. Also, if you ride in the city, biking can totally kill you. That’s always exciting.

I’ve just started biking in New York. This weekend, I rode from 125th Street to the South Ferry. That’s right: I traversed pretty much the entire island of Manhattan. You may all bask in my accomplishment now. (Note: I am aware that some people ride much harder, and for much longer distances, than I have. I don’t want to hear from them! Get your own blogs, hippies.)

By the end of the trip, I was sweaty and exhausted, I looked like hell, and I was riding a wave of pure giddy euphoria. This, for those keeping score, makes biking exactly like sex, except for the fact that your bike can’t give you chlamydia. I highly recommend it.

Here are some tips. Read More »