It’s finally here! Once again, we’ve been knocked to the bottom of the totem pole, but this time, it’s not a big deal. While looking like a major n00b around campus for the first month or so is far from fun, there’s certainly more of a welcoming vibe from the upperclassmen. If you have yet to move in and make your mark in your classes and social circles, read carefully.

Move-In Day can either be a hit or a miss. The worst part is over when you finally chuck the deuces up to your parents as they get back in the car (“Later, guys! No, I totally won’t give in to peer pressure. I’ll def study hard. Love you too!”). Trust me, missing them won’t be as bad as you think. It’s like ripping off a bandaid. Don’t do it slowly or you’ll both cry.

Now, may I be the first to remind you: just because your new friends take full advantage of the free beer and meal plan doesn’t mean you should, too. Keep that cute lil ass of yours in check!

That said, rest assured that everyone is friendly. So be outgoing, Hang out with your God-fearing RA’s rather…um…interesting roomies. Don’t freak out if you don’t instantly click with someone- you’ve got four years to make another impression. And also- this is important!- don’t be weirded out by the idea of tagging along with the crew you meet heading out at the same time as yours. Bigger crews = better fun. By doing this, you’ll make connections for next week as well! Read More »

Candy canes, hot chocolate and crowded libraries, they’re all synonymous with one thing–finals season is in the air (or for some at least, it’s already done with and they’re busy tanning their backsides in Barbados). Between writing papers (ew) and eating so much junk food that Cheetos dust is running through my bloodstream, I’ve had some time to reflect over semester one of my college experience. I made some errors, I had some fun, and I figured out that 9 am classes aren’t such a bad thing (if you have a good professor).

So besides information I now know about the international criminal court and how to conjugate Spanish verbs, here is some life knowledge that I’ve gained:

Do not bring a lot of t-shirts from high school: This is more of a personal issue. I have so many Class of 2010/National Honor Society/Cross Country t-shirts that I don’t know what to do with them. After assessing my clothes situation the other day, I realized that I don’t even wear those shirts since they’re irrelevant and instead, I could fill that closet space with better clothes.

If you hook up with a guy that you know, make sure you see him the next day to avoid future awkwardness: This is a tried and true method, my friends. If you don’t see him the next day, the awkwardness and overanalysis of the previous confrontation just builds up and then explodes in your face later on. By seeing him, you re-establish a chill connection immediately after the hookup and it doesn’t give you (or him) time to overanalyze and freak out.

Take fruit from the dining halls: Guys, scurvy isn’t a joke. Neither is cookie addiction. If all you have in your room is junk food, that’s all you will eat at night. However, if you have some carefully and sneakily procured fruit on your desk, you could add a little bit of healthy vitamin C to your night-snacking diet. Read More »

[Meet Margaret, a freshman at Yale. We've been checking in with her every week to see what she's doing, who she's meeting, and what new college surprises she's tackling (or freaking out about) as she embarks on the journey we call college. Or as I like to call it, the best thing since dark chocolate Reese's Peanut Butter cups.]

So I’m 3 weeks into my bright college years, and in between realizing that I have Spanish homework to do at 1 in the morning and figuring out how trash piles up so quickly when clearly I took out the garbage like, a day ago, there are plenty of Solo cups and pregaming parties to keep my thoughts occupied.

In the past year, I passed through the rookie stage of drinking. You know, getting over the fact that drinking isn’t such a big deal after all (I know some may beg to differ, which I totally respect, but step off for a sec, darlings) and then advancing into classic teen movie, drink up mode. It was like I was Cady Heron (a la Mean Girls) being de-innocentized, except minus The Plastics. There were chill house parties, high-ish quality alcohol bought by nice older siblings, and then classic senior year, I-don’t-give-a-f**k debauchery. Getting to a stage of happy drunk was part of the whirlwind of senior year and really, part of the fun. But I was good about it – no blacking out and never even vomiting.

So coming to college, I was under the impression that it would be the same, but something about drinking here just doesn’t feel settling to me. The glowy halo of happiness that surrounded drinking just totally disappeared.

I know, totally weird, right? Because, like, obviously drinking is much simpler here. There aren’t quite as many repercussions when you get caught, alcohol is pretty much readily available, and the number of boys who you would willingly drunkenly hook-up with has gone through the freakin’ roof. Read More »

Okay, so you know how when you watch a new reality show, the first few episodes are always crazy because all these people with huge personalities are thrown together and it’s just like a huge firecracker of insanity? Things happen that happen seem totally normal, but looking back you just don’t even understand how any of it was actually possible.

That’s kinda what freshman year feels like right now. I’m meeting a ton of people, but I’m just not sure how they’ll all fit into my lives. Who will be my bff? My Facebook stalkee of choice? My worst enemy?

It reminds me of the Jersey Shore, season 1: Snooki dramas out the first week and everyone hates her, The Situation and Sammie are an item, and Pauly D actually talks – things that are all highly unlikely and strange by now (we could never hate Snookums and you know The Situation would never settle down with just one lady). The guidos and guidettes of the Jersey Shore were just trying to figure out their niche in the house, to settle down and make some friends.

And much as some of you guys will hate to be compared to J-Woww and the crew, figuring out the beat in college happens very much the same way as the Jersey Shore squad approached it. You wander around, looking for potential friends and potential loverboys…and you learn that some are winners, and some not so much.

But unlike the cast of the Jersey Shore, we have to see these people over and over again for the next four years (without getting paid), so it’d probably be better if there wasn’t so much drama that called for big ass apologies.

Some tips for staying on good terms with new people: Read More »

So here I sit in my dorm room listening to Shakira’s Waka Waka playing on repeat and sweating from shaking it like a She Wolf.

Needless to say, the first days of college have been treating me well.

After a month of worrying over whether my roommates and I would get along, I now believe that whoever does rooming assignments has some sort of magical touch because while we 4 are not best friends (does anyone really have a best friend after 5 days?) we do get along curiously well and sometimes I feel myself falling into Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants or Sex and the City mode… especially after we all bonded over some fro yo last night.

The question is: am I in a college-themed chick flick?

Possibly. The floor below and above us is dotted with various cute boys with whom we flirt and our dorm room kinda looks like PBTeen threw up in it… in a good way. Lax bros chill on campus in lax pennies and backwards lax caps in lawn chairs (can we just call them lax chairs?). Growing up in a lax-bro-less suburb, I really thought that they were a myth, but I am now a firm believer. And lax bros (despite being majorly douchey) are hot.

But all that aside, campus is incredibly gorgeous and full of like-minded people sunbathing in the grass while others Frisbee about. And the birds are chirping and I never have breakouts and my hair looks like The Little Mermaid’s lux locks every day. OK, that last part is a lie – my hair still hasn’t gotten used to the water in these showers yet. If only, right? Read More »

So you’re going to college. You got your GPA up and your admissions essay down, you got in, and now you’re out! Happy times are here. Your final days are characterized by blasting Lil’ Wayne with the sunroof open and going to lunch with the people with whom you’ve spent the last four, eight, or even 12 years of your life in school. You’re pretty sad it’s over, but you know that your life isn’t about to end; in reality, it’s only the beginning.

But before you unpack those Yaffa blocks and stock up on the highlighters, allow me to dispel a few of the myths your older, wiser and drunker friends have told you about your freshman year. Is freshman year awesome? Hell to the yes. But there are some things you just gotta prepare for.

“You’re going to become best friends with your floor.”
Maybe. Or maybe not. Yes, while the people on your floor are going to be the first people you meet and become friendly with, don’t feel pressured to become best friends with them. The only thing you may have in common with these people is that you live on the same floor in the same dorm at the same school. They’re great for trips to the dining hall, party wandering in the first week of school, and swapping hangover stories on Sunday mornings, but don’t feel bad if that’s it. You might find yourself laughing a month or two into school saying, “OMG, I can’t believe I used to go to breakfast with her” if your neighbor becomes “that girl” at parties on campus. Your real friends in college will be eclectic, and while many people find them on their floor, many do not. Friendships are rooted in a sharing of values, not a sharing of a hall. You’re lucky if you find both in the same place.

“Your classes aren’t that hard.”
Kind of a lie. Senior year you don’t do any work at all, and it’s really hard to turn your brain back on and retrain yourself to read and understand 60+ pages of reading a night. This lie depends on the school you go to and the classes you take, but the way I experienced it and the way most of my friends experienced it is that your classes are kind of hard. Especially when you’re trying to decide on a Tuesday night between $1 pitchers of beer and making notecards. You need to do a lot of the learning on your own and if you’re not careful, it’s very easy to fall behind. You might have floated through high school, but college is an entirely different ball game. You’re going to have to retrain your study muscles for those college classes! Read More »

College: a time of growing up, trying new things, and, of course, meeting new people. From the bitchy girl in Chem class to the hot guy from a frat party, freshman year brings a slew of different characters. While no two people share quite the same college experience, there are a few archetypal personalities that, without a doubt, can be found on a freshman floor. Read More »

So although I know some of you have already gone off to college and pimped out your brand new dorm room, lots of us are still languishing around the pool, savoring the last few weeks of this glorious summer.

Speaking for myself, the past 2 months of blissful relaxation have been more or less bitchin, and the thought of buying textbooks and attending freshman seminars feels like a dagger to the heart. I’d rather not waste my last few weeks with my darling high school summer friends just bumming around and drowning my sorrows in queso dip, so in between buying dorm room supplies and re-reading all the Harry Potter books, I’ve been looking for ways to truly relish these memorable last days:

I’ve had a Toast Night: I decorated my backyard with paper lanterns, candles and tons of Christmas lights and invited about 12 friends over to be merry and toast the past years of our lives, the wonderful summer and our hazy futures. It was the perfect balance of totally precious and disgustingly cheesy, something we all needed to commemorate 12 years of schooling… and an occasion to drink outside.

I’ve been soaking in the sun: I don’t know if it’s just me, or if it’s everyone, but I aspire to arrive at college the shade of a well-toasted marshmallow. This is the last span of time to get natural sun and Vitamin D (which we all lack come wintertime) and a perfect excuse to lounge around the pool and gossip and hang with your pals. Just make sure you slather on some SPF. Read More »

In a couple of days, I will be leaving for college for the first time. No big deal, right?

Try telling that to my wobbly knees and trembling hands.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m totally excited about going to college. But, at the same time, I’m nervous as hell. My type A personality is rearing its ugly head in the form of innumerable “what ifs” and “holy sh*ts.” While most of my friends have been counting down the days with New Year’s Eve-esque anticipation, I’ve put a 24-hour ban on talking about college in my house and can hardly look at my suitcase without having a mini-freak out.

For me, it’s a combination of doubts, fears, and just plain nostalgia. Going to college is a huge deal for me, perhaps more so than it is for many of my peers. It’s my first time being away from home for longer than a five week stretch, and since I’m generally a homebody and have a very close relationship with my family, the idea of going from seeing them every day to seeing them once every few weeks is hard to deal with. Plus, I have the general anxieties that I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling: coping with the workload and stress, making new friends, living on my own.

That being said, I’m also very excited for the new opportunities ahead of me. I know that, once I get settled in, I’ll find my niche and have the best four years of my life. It may take a couple of weeks, but I’ll find my place eventually.

Do you current college students and grads have any advice for an anxious prefrosh?

[The following post was written by the smart, savvy and totally rad ladies over at SomeoneSpoilMe.com]

August is here and it’s time to gear up for back-to-school.  In preparation, we, the gift experts at SomeoneSpoilMe.com, have compiled our list of the Top 7 Products Every College Student Must Own. This includes the latest gadgets for dorm rooms, cool devices to take to class and sentimental items to make home seem not so far away.

Video Camera Pen
Yes, we are serious.  This James Bond-like device can record up to two and a half hours of footage! While it may look like a ballpoint pen (it is), it has a built in video camera that records video and audio. It’s great when attending lectures.  If you need a bathroom break, leave behind the Video Camera Pen to record what you have missed!
Read more… $130 Read More »