Dear Those of You Lucky Enough to Still be in College,

The next (insert number of years here) is going to be one of the greatest times of your life. You’ll get to experience the freedom you’ve longed for, stay up for the late nights you didn’t expect, and find the greatest friends you never even knew existed.

You will fight with you roommate, multiple times. And it will be okay; nothing a small talk and a few bars of chocolate can’t fix. Remember, sometimes your mom can help. Call her, ask her what to do, involve her in your life. You are the one who needs to set the boundaries on when and how many times she can call. So talk to her.

It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to fail a lot, make mistakes, take stupid chances. There won’t be another time in your life when you can try this many things. So test out the waters, see what you like, find out what really makes you happy.

Sometimes it’s okay to skip your study sesh. You’re going to remember the night you stayed up playing Apples to Apples with your best friends, not what you got on a quiz that counts for 10% of your grade. Which brings me to…make memories! Yes, you go to college to get an education. But you’re only getting half of what you pay for if you only learn from books. So put off that paper one more day and go out with your friends.

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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, the cool girl, the Unhinged Coed, and the Americanized International.

Allow me to refine this status: Americanization is not to be confused with Westernization, nor is it a put-down.

International Students take up a demographic in most US colleges and universities. They are usually easily spotted on campus. No, not because that of clothing choices or accents, but because they maintain a certain wide eyed fascination and solemn intelligence. International students seem refined and sophisticated. Hard working and goal oriented. They worked hard to get to this prestigious American university and they keep that in mind as they work even harder to graduate.

Most International Students stick together, seeking the comfort of the familiar. They tend to sit back in class and take notes as the more abrasive and comfortable students take over answering the questions, debating the topics and joking with classmates. As soon as class ends, they head to the library or the comforts of their dorm room to get started on the reading assigned. They never join the rest of campus at the weekend parties.

But then something starts to change. As the semester rolls on and these students find themselves more at ease in their new environment, they begin to engage in common American customs. They become The Americanized International. Read More »

Launching your cute little self out of your comfort zone and into the land of college is exciting…’cause, if your ‘comfort zone’ growing up was anything like mine…just about any circumstance would be more comfortable. Or so you think.

You don’t truly realize the invisible lines that are drawn in society until college. You don’t have your own beliefs questioned so much as you do in college. You don’t have to push your own mental and physical limits so much as you do in college. And you (hopefully) never have to live in such close proximity with others your whole life, outside of college.

You will, invariably, encounter some things that are strange to you and you’re just gonna have to learn to deal…but here are some tips.

Open Sexuality

Maybe you’re not that sexual. Or maybe you’re just moderately sexual. Nonetheless, you’d better be OK with seeing naked bodies and hearing people do the humpty dance on the bunk above you, because sex is more than just a past time at college. From girls shaving their coochies in the ladies room to walking in on sex in the stairwell, my first year of college certainly reminded me that I wasn’t in Kansas anymore…and it’ll probably do the same for you. Read More »