You finished your last exam early and, after waiting for someone else to turn theirs in (you don’t want to be first!), ran down the steps of that lecture hall, slammed that baby on the desk and skipped your way to freedom. As you walk home you notice how great the air smells, how bright the sun is and how beautiful your campus is. School is out and you are feelin’ groovy.

After regaling your roommates with tales from your 90-minute essay exam (“I totally rocked that shiz!”), you head to your room to start the end-of-the-year cleaning session, beer in hand. You grab a garbage bag, sit down at your desk and start sifting through the piles of papers, books and notebooks that litter your desk.

In the back of your mind, you know that some of those notebooks will come in handy for next year’s classes. In the front of your mind, though, you know you will never look at them ever again. So, in a celebratory fashion, you toss one binder after another into the Hefty. Read More »

"I can't believe I spent $500 on this sh*t."

Two good things come out of buying your college textbooks each year.  They are great for beating your roommate over the head when she doesn’t do her dishes a blanket-weight while studying out in the quad and the short change you get back on ‘book buy-back’ day (for drinking purposes).  The dark side of the spectrum of book buying?

You spend more money on Biostatistical Genetics than you would on your first born child. Not exactly my idea of a good time. (Nor is having a child…)

Fortunately, for all of those students out there planning a farewell party for the limited cash in their bank accounts, there is hope.  Thanks to the Higher Education Act of 2008, new textbook regulations will lower the price of textbooks. Hooray!

One way they will do this is by not requiring students to buy those CDs strapped to the insides of books that cost so much you’d think they contain flecks of gold.  Professors will also be encouraged to provide a list of books early, so all of us money-strapped students can scour the web for the best deals on those 10-pound behemoths we only open when it’s time for finals. These new regulations also promise student discounts on Amazon (for everyone with a .edu address!), and lower price options from publishing companies.

I say this calls for a textbook celebration!  Go ahead, take all of those old textbooks that you couldn’t sell back and turn them into a drinking game (take a drink every time you turn to a page without a picture. Good luck, English majors…).  Treat yourself to the most quality of vodkas (you’ve got extra cash now, right?!).  Flash back to third grade art class and whip up some paper mache.  It’s really your call how you want to party, but party you must.

After all, it’s Friday and it’s time to embrace college life without textbooks that only Lebron James could afford.

Winter is a time for work.  We’re working hard on our schoolwork, our savings accounts, our bodies, and many other very useful things.  Summer, by contrast, is a time for play.  We’re ready to kill some brain cells, show off our bodies in barely-there outfits, and spend all that money we worked so hard to save.

Our friends over at Oscar Mayer, the people who have given us hundreds of good times at cook-outs and barbecues throughout our young lives, are giving us something else – free hot dogs.  Oh yes!  That word was FREE, homies!  Oscar Mayer doesn’t want you to spend your hard-earned cash on delicious food to sustain your amazing summer schedule.  If you go to www.oscarmayer.com, you can sign up for a coupon for free hot dogs.  Could summer get any better?

Um, yes.  I think it could.  I don’t mean to be greedy, but why don’t any other businesses give away free stuff?  Free hot dogs are pretty rad (as is free chocolate!), but where is my free pair of designer shoes?

Here are the Top 5 things I would like to see free coupons for: Read More »

You finished your last exam early and, after waiting for someone else to turn theirs in first (you don’t want to be first!), ran down the steps of that lecture hall, slammed that baby on the desk and skipped your way to freedom.  As you walk home you notice how great the air smells, how bright the sun is and how beautiful your campus is. School is out and you are feelin’ groovy.

After regaling your roommates with tales from your 90 minute essay exam (“I totally rocked that shiz!”), you head to your room to start the end-of-the-year cleaning session. You grab a garbage bag, sit down at your desk and start sifting through the piles of papers, books and notebooks that litter your desk.

In the back of your mind, you know that some of those notebooks will come in handy for next year’s classes. In the front of your mind, though, you know you will never look at them ever again. So, in a celebratory fashion, you toss one binder after another into the Hefty. Read More »

Days as a Freshman: 12

Current Mood: Hungry“

Do you think Sasha has a girlfriend?”

Stacey stared at herself in the mirror, running her tongue over her teeth and pulling the skin underneath her chin tightly against her neck. I had no idea what she was doing, but she had been doing it for the last 10 minutes.

“I mean, he’s so cute. Plus, he’s a soccer player. I love that. I love athletic guys.” She pursed her lips and gathered up her hair, piling it on top of her head. “How do you know him anyway?”

“We sat next to each other at the welcome ceremony.” Flipping through a giant History textbook that weighed about 10 pounds and had cost about five times as much, I did my best to feign boredom with Stacey’s questions.

She couldn’t know I was interested in Sasha. Read More »