Of the many things I’ve learned during my first few weeks of college, perhaps the most often reinforced lesson is that Friday night + Saturday night = party time on campus. But if you’re like me and not really into the party scene, there are still tons of ways to have a great time on the weekend without resorting to the usual standby of a DVD and popcorn.

Just get creative (and a permit from public safety)!

Here are a few ideas on how to have some extraordinary (in a good way) fun on Friday and Saturday night, based on things my friends and I have done or aspire to do at some point this year. Although it’s always nice to have a plan in mind, I’ve found that the most spontaneous things end up being the most enjoyable, so don’t be afraid to just go with the flow when the sun goes down!

Screen a musical outside and have a massive sing-along

A couple of weeks ago, a program house on campus screened Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and the musical episode of Buffy on the porch. If you’re a techie (or have friends who are), you can gather up all the theater geeks and have your own musical screening on the side of your dorm! Just be sure you have the necessary permits to do so.

Set up a bowling lane on your hall

This one’s really easy. All you need are assorted shampoo bottles/hairspray canisters and something that rolls, and there you have it – a bowling alley! If you want to raise the stakes, have a tournament for prizes, or simply for bragging rights. Not that knocking down a few bottles of shampoo with a grapefruit is that impressive, but it’s still something, I guess. Read More »

Study hard, play hard – right? College is a major balancing act. It’s delegating what needs to get done and when, setting priorities and holding yourself to deadlines. And after a long week of working hard (attending class, writing papers, and staying ahead in the reading, just to name a few tasks), it is no wonder that college students have a reputation of wanting to party.

No one should be expected to sit in the library or stare at their dorm room walls every day of the week with their nose in a book. Everyone needs something that helps them unwind, especially on the weekends.

Sometimes finding something to do – especially on a campus where parties are a rare occasion -  is hard. I knew when I signed my life away as a Hollins woman, I was going to be living in Roanoke, Virginia,and that I wouldn’t have a big city as my playground on the weekend. I knew I wasn’t attending a huge state school where fraternity parties are the social factor and that club activities would be endless. As a prospective, I remember asking about the student life on the weekends only to hear the same fib that my fellow peers heard themselves as prospective students: “Don’t worry about it, you will always find something going on.”

Oh, but that is very far from the truth. Options on campus are very bleak. From the first weekend as a first year, I realized as no one was around on the weekends I would have to be entirely responsible for finding something to do Friday and Saturday nights. While not feeling bogged down by having too many social activities planned, I like that Hollins has a sleepy atmosphere (especially for those weekends I need to do a lot of work), but for the most part – I don’t understand why we can’t have some sort of decent entertainment when the weekend rolls around.

Read More »

College brings a whole lot of new experiences, new lessons and new people. But it seems that no matter what school you go to, there are same characters on every campus. The frat house groupie, the sensitive all American, and The Cool Girl.

When walking around campus, you see her. She’s rocking the casual look like it’s nobody’s business. And she’s doing it well. Her bootcut jeans are accompanied by a perfectly worn-in t-shirt layered under a zip up hoodie. She’s wearing black Converse or a pair of well-worn sneakers, the laces tight enough to keep them on, but loose enough to allow her to slip in and out of them easily. Her haircut is low maintenance, but totally chic.  She’s rocking plastic rimmed glasses, no contacts; a watch, no jewelry.

You don’t know her, but you want to.

This is one co-ed who has got it together. She is the kind of girl who is naturally pretty, has a killer body and is completely oblivious to it. She is friendly, kind, and her easygoing, low maintenance attitude makes it easy to get along with her. Even her professors are drawn to her, always chatting with her before class and helping her after.

She has a large circle of friends, filled with a variety of different types of people. Girls love her, guys love her, nerds love her, athletes love her. And though you don’t know her, you kind of want to love her too. Read More »

Although the President of a college or university is the top administrator in charge (on campus – the Board of Trustee’s usually has equal power, in general), they are usually the last person to hear about a problem.

Proper protocol is usually required to get to the bottom of a situation. Sometimes you have to start with an RA or the Dean of Students; each issue has its own designated driver to get to the bottom of what’s going on. However, when you reach the end of the line and nothing is solved, going past the usual set of rules and skipping to the top becomes the only option if you want action!

After going all freshman year without much success from the Dean of Students and the Housing and Residence Life, my mom and I decided to set some time aside to schedule a meeting with the President of my university in hopes to get everything sorted out. Eager to put an end to the continual issues that beleaguered me throughout my first two semesters in college, I expected results and an apology from my university’s president.

Before going into the meeting I compiled a list of all the things that happened and how they were handled. I remember looking down at the list as we walked into her large office thinking that it really was one thing too many. As my mother and I spoke openly about my experience at Hollins and the issues that I have seen on campus such as bullying, harassment, and the roommate debacle I survived, President Gray (a very cheerful, articulate, and warm woman) sat across from us with a look of disbelief on her face. In telling her about the botched responsibilities of the Student Life administration, she spoke about not knowing these issues beset her campus. Apologizing for the terrible experience I have had on the campus, President Gray looked forward to making my university a better place with input on how to improve. Read More »

So I’ve heard about college finals for years, and I expected the worst. I was ready to pull all-nighters, write twenty-page papers, and spend every waking hour of the day tucked into a library corner. But finals are next week, and here I am, writing this blog instead of hiding behind piles of books.

Maybe it’s just the classes I am taking—and of course, I know the freshman 100-level classes are the easiest—but I don’t feel too freaked out. Well, maybe I’m a little stressed, given that most of my teachers think that assigning long essays is better than assigning a final test. That leaves me with hours of work to do this weekend. But I’d rather write an essay than study for a test, so I am not too worried. I’ve found these classes pretty reasonable, which proves to me that all those AP classes actually did simulate the college experience.

What I’m feeling this week more than nerves and stress is relief. I’m relieved to have conquered the first semester of college. It’s not that I expected to have a terrible first semester, but I never assumed it would be so easy. I was terrified that I would be the girl who made lots of so-so friends, but never made a real connection. In high school I liked to stand out in class, and I thought I would hide in the corner in college classes. And I thought I’d miss my old friends and my family like crazy. I’ve seen other freshmen here go through that. But for me, everything seemed to fall into place. Read More »

[The following is the third of a five-part series I'm calling "The Top 5 Things You MUST Do In College." Everyone's already heard about buying flip-flops for the shower, stocking up on veggies to avoid the Freshman 15, and to steer clear of mojitos before midterms, but there are other tips for enjoying college that the experts might have neglected to tell you about.

This series is meant to provide advice for getting the most out of college, rather than just getting through it. So far we've already discussed having a professor as a BFF, checking out what's going on in your college town, and now we're going to talk about extracurriculars - the ones you never thought you'd join!]

This generation of college gals are smart, savvy, and driven. Do you want to be a CEO of your own company one day? You’re probably already president of your college’s Business Leaders of Tomorrow club. Are you an up-and-coming style maven? No doubt you’re involved with your school’s Passion for Fashion group.

Yeah, being involved in career-minded clubs are definitely a must these days if you want to make connections, but what about joining a club…just for fun? It may seem difficult, especially when it’s so hard to manage school, friends, guys, a job, and elusive “me” time. However, if you take the plunge and join a club you never thought you would, a lot of things could happen. Read More »

Mandy Moore and DJ AM back together. Compassion or career move?

Wax is not kind to Carrie Underwood.

How to deal with incompetent student leaders. 

Are there animal parts in our makeup?!

Baby pandas melt our hearts.

Our bank accounts shrivel up to nothing, but we still love the richies.

This chair looks uncomfortable. In so many ways.

Seriously? Who gives Bonnie Hunt a talk show anyway?

Arizona’s coach, Lute Olson, is stepping down.

Press on nail polish?

Oprah is being sued….for $180 MILLION.

Happy Sweetest Day, ladies. Time to snuggle up with that sweet person in your life and tell one another how much you lurve eachother with some candy and flowers. Or, for those single ladies out there, time to snuggle up with a little cookie dough before hitting the mall to show yourself a little sweetness.

Whatever you choose to do today, here are a few sweets to celebrate with. Starting with the sweetest kiss.

Chuck Bass is the ultimate womanizer.

Looks like redheads are having all the fun.

Marcia Brady has tried anal sex??

10 things your student bag should never be missing.

Heidi Klum loves her milk.

Will Sarah Palin be on SNL tonight? Only time will tell.

How to settle your debt with the roomie.

What insult should be the new “douchebag“?

Days as a Freshman: 90

Mood: Guilty

“Do you have any gum?”

Stacey shifted in the brown leather chair, straightening her blazer. She had dressed for the occasion, opting to go for “mature and classical” instead of her usual “fake and preppy”.

I was sporting my standard jeans and long sleeved shirt look, being under the impression that the Dean of Student Life didn’t really care about our clothes.

“Here.” I reached into my giant purse and pulled out a half-crushed packet of gum. “You sure you want to be talking to Dean Carlon with stuff in your mouth, though?”

“Do you have any gum that hasn’t been through the washing machine?” Crinkling her noise, Stacey stared at my hand like I was passing her a dead rat. “And I was gonna spit it out before going in there anyway. I just have this horrible taste in the back of my throat.” Begrudgingly taking a piece of gum from the pack, Stacey slipped it behind her shiny pink lips and bleached white teeth. “I always get a gross taste in my throat when I’m nervous.”

“Should we be nervous?” I took a piece of gum myself and started to chew quickly, realizing that my jaw had answered my question for me; we should be very nervous. Read More »

Days as a Freshman: 64

Mood: pissed off

“Campbell!”

As the soccer boys stomped over to us, I felt myself pushing against my hard, black chair, wishing I could use it as camouflage. Everything about them was loud; the way the walked, shoving wayward chairs and tables out of their way, the heaviness of their boots on the linoleum, the shouts they threw back and forth at each other, even their energy made too much noise, the small atrium cafe seeming suddenly much too tight and airless.

“You missed the meeting, man!” Pulling a chair over to our table and sitting on it backwards, the loudest and biggest of the soccer boys pushed Sasha’s shoulder playfully, but hard enough to almost throw him off his chair. “It was a shit show. A total shit show.”

The two other soccer boys, dressed in almost identical blue sweatpants, white shirts, and blue baseball caps, stood on either side of Sasha. Their eyes slid over to me. I looked down, staring at the bobbing teabag in my cup.

“Coach was there. He told the student life people to calm down. But not before they put the whole f*cking house on probation.” Still ignoring me, the head soccer guy pulled his own baseball cap over his face. “No parties for a while, man. At least none that they hear about.”

“So they didn’t…did they ever find out if anything really happened?” Read More »