Nostalgia mixed with tears and touching, true and fitting lyrics by Stephen Schwartz.

Time for a little personal story.


The summer before 10th grade, my best friend and I were at the mall by ourselves (it was cool, we were 14, without a car and there's nothing else to do where I live) just relishing in our last days of summer. We were doing a bit of window shopping for our homecoming dresses and both found the perfect ones on the first try. After we'd accomplished that mission, we were just kind of wandering in and out of stores, trying hats on and sampling perfumes... and then we saw the Build-A-Bear. Now keep in mind that we were only 14 and Build-A-Bear was still considered an acceptable activity. We made a bear together, named her after our high school mascot and stuck her in a purple prom dress that came with a matching sash. (Coincidentally, the color of the bear's dress is almost the exact color of my prom dress from this year.)

We paid for her together and made the agreement that when we went to college, we'd cut her sash up, each take half and then give the bear to our high school choir director (we're very close to her). As I was cleaning my pigsty (really) of a room, I found her, in a closet, still in the little 'house' boxes they send them home in, perfectly preserved. It texted my best friend to make sure she remembered, and she did. We're meeting next week to cut up the sash.

For me it feels like the end of an era. When we were making the bear, college was so far away. We had barely scratched the surface of high school and all it had to offer. It's funny to look back on that time and think of how carefree we were, not even thinking about the future that wasn't so far away. It brings me to tears to think about all the fantastic people and friendships I'm leaving, even though I know college is an entirely new adventure and I'll surely meet even more awesome people and make lasting friendships.

Actually right now as I'm thinking about it, tears are streaming down my cheeks. I'm not usually a crier, but it's all sort of hitting me right now that I'm leaving all this. I'm in the process of making a CD for a few of my closest friends that represents our time together. I just can't believe I'm leaving.

For Good, from the Broadway musical Wicked
Stephen Schwartz

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true
But I know I'm who I am today
Because I knew you...

Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
It well may be
That we will never meet again
In this lifetime
So let me say before we part
So much of me
Is made of what I learned from you
You'll be with me
Like a handprint on my heart
And now whatever way our stories end
I know you have re-written mine
By being my friend...

Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a skybird
In a distant wood
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you

(Glinda):
Because I knew you

(Both):
I have been changed for good

(Elphaba):
And just to clear the air
I ask forgiveness
For the things I've done you blame me for

(Glinda):
But then, I guess we know
There's blame to share

(Both):
And none of it seems to matter anymore

(Glinda):
Like a comet pulled from orbit
As it passes a sun
Like a stream that meets a boulder
Halfway through the wood

(Elphaba):
Like a ship blown from its mooring
By a wind off the sea
Like a seed dropped by a bird in the wood

(Both):
Who can say if I've been
Changed for the better?
I do believe I have been
Changed for the better

(Glinda):
And because I knew you...

(Elphaba):
Because I knew you...

(Both):
Because I knew you...
I have been changed for good...

Laundry. If you don't know how to do it now, learn before you turn all your underwear and socks pink. Before, NOT after.

The whole packing for college thing is quite stressful, I must say. I've got just under 6 full days until I leave and 5 1/2 before all my crap has to be packed and loaded in the car. It is completely overwhelming. I still haven't bought any school supplies, toiletries, towels, or a bathrobe.

I'm in the midst of thousands of pounds of laundry (not really) and because I do not possess the ability to dress myself well more than 50% of the time (really), I have a stylist, or as she prefers, personal fashion guru. Really, it's one of my friends who'll be a senior in high school this year who tells me what to wear when I have an important event to go to or an important boy to impress. In order for her to remember the thousands of pieces (not really but it feels that way) I have in my wardrobe, I'm taking pictures of everything and using flickr to host them, so she can just flip through and tell me which scarf I should wear with which shirt. It means that after everything's come out of the dryer it must be sorted by category, photographed, uploaded into my computer, renamed and categorized, then posted to both my Closet iPhone app and Flickr. It's quite a process.

So far I've washed, dried, photographed and folded my purple/navy, pink/orange/yellow and teal/aqua/green/blue loads. My jeans are in the dryer and the blacks/dark greys are in the washer. That means the ONLY load left to begin the washing process is the whites/light greys. Exciting, no?

In case you were wondering why I separate my clothes into such distinct color groups, it's not because I'm Adrian Monk and must wash my clothes with their like colors only. I actually just have so many clothes that when I wash a large volume of them, I have to do that many loads anyway so I figure I might as well separate. If it's a small load, I just throw them all in together. It's an awful habit, I know and my best friend and I both do it. We're so bad but we've never actually ruined anything so we see no reason to change.

Sometimes you don't realize what you've had until you face leaving it.

My best friend and I tie dyed and then watched four hours of DVR'ed Whatever, Martha.

These are the moments I'm going to miss.


You wanna know what else I learned today (besides the fact that my BFF and I could totes be Alexis and Jennifer)? That annoying Henry the 8th, I Am, I Am song? It's by a 70s group called Herman's Hermits. Legit. Wanna know how I learned that? The Facebook status of a guy I have a huge crush on. It's a long story. Don't ask.

You don't have to read this if you don't want to. Honestly, my day was fucking boring while I was doing it. I can't imagine reading about it.

You wanna know what I did today? Let's see.

Woke up at 2pm.
Watched the reruns of Less than Perfect my DVR recorded this morning and the reruns of Friends from last night.
Rented 17 Again from OnDemand. (What? It's a cute movie. And I'm waiting for Verizon to get I Love You, Man.)
Showered.
Got yelled at for not having thank you's done.
Got ready for work.
Served ice cream to annoying customers for four and a half hours.
Drove around for a little while to avoid going home. (Okay, yes. There was an ulterior motive besides not going home.)
Got home.
Got yelled at for not having thank you's done.
Scrounged up some food from the back of my refrigerator.
Watched The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
Watched some more Friends reruns.
Watched the In Plain Sight from last week.


The entire contents of my day. I leave for college in 10 days and all I did today was watch TV, go to work and semi-stalk someone. You know what I'm doing tomorrow? Tie dye with two of my best friends.

Wow my life is exciting.

Yes, this is a particularly controversial topic. If you have a problem with my opinions, take it up with the comment box.

As this is a blog about college, religion is something I wouldn't normally post about here. However, the topic recently came to my attention while talking to a couple friends of mine.

We were talking about the availability of health and sex-related services on our respective campuses. All of us in this conversation are still virgins so for us, it's more about the hypothetical necessity and less of a practical need, but for many incoming freshmen, the access to STD screenings, gynecological services and more importantly, birth control, is crucial. One of my friends is going to Boston College which, as you may known, is a Jesuit-affiliated school. (Jesuits are a division of Catholics.) It shocked me that they do not have any form of birth control offered on campus.

Now before you get all up in arms about the whole thing, I was raised Catholic. I am familiar with the church's disapproval of pre-marital sex, but I also have a very liberal mother who always taught me that while the church may frown upon it, she lives in this century and realizes that it will happen. She always told me that when I felt I was ready to have sex, she would take me to the doctors and get me the pill. She stressed that it shouldn't be a decision entered into lightly and that I should put a lot of care and consideration into making it.

That being said, BC is not a Catholic exclusive school. There are non-Catholics that attend. According to their website, they do offer STI, HIV and prenancy testing and will provide "non-judgemental counseling". They will not, however, "provide materials for the purpose of preventing conception or counsel that would encourage abortion." Though Catholic University of America does not clearly state their birth control policy as BC does, they do say, "Medical care provided and advice given is consistent with teachings of the Catholic Church."

It seems to me that both these schools are not serving their student body as they should be. They are imposing the Catholic beliefs on all that attend, whether or not they subscribe to the religion. Sex is something that will happen on all college campuses; it's just not preventable. Most students I know are going there for the quality education the school provides and not necessarily because they agree with the traditions of the Catholic church.

I'm sorry, but I think these schools are doing a severe disservice to their students who are paying $50,000 a year and are subscribing to their health plan by not providing them a means of contraception. Teenagers and young adults WILL HAVE SEX. It's a fact of life. Making contraception harder to access won't deter them from doing it, it'll just make them more likely to have unprotected sex.

Although I suppose that by going to these schools and others like them, you agree to accept their policies and simply have to deal with the lack of contraception. It's not for me, though. If I decide to have sex while in college, there is no way in hell I'm getting pregnant or getting an STD. Condoms and the pill for me, thanks. I'll take my sex without the life-lasting consequences.

Umm, culturalification is totally a word. It's in the Dictionary of Made-up Words. Duh.

My best friend and I decided long before we graduated that this summer we'd make an effort to be more cultured, to do things we wouldn't normally do and see things we wouldn't normally see. Unfortunately since we're poor college students, we have to do these things on the cheap. Finding culturally enriching activities near us that are inexpensive has been a difficult task, but I think we've managed.

The Pre-College Culturalification Process

1. Plan a trip to Philadelphia. Itinerary items include: the world's largest clothespin, world's largest LCD screen, the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and a free performance of a modernized version of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Abington Art Center, located 30 minutes outside the city.

2. Convince my father that we wouldn't get raped, pillaged or maimed while in the city.

3. Convince my father that the car wouldn't get stolen.

4. Convince my father that we wouldn't get kidnapped.

5. Convince and demonstrate to my father that I know how to change a tire, use flares and dial 911.

6. Go to Philly, have an amazing time and only spend $15 per person, including parking, food and gas. All our activities were free. Also, return with all our limbs intact.

7. Attend a performance of Les Miserables put on by our local Teen Professional Theatre, starring a couple friends from a state-wide choral group we were in together and also in the hope that a guy we both adore will show up because he is also friends with them. Cost: $10 per person.

8. Attend a performance of a completely student-run production of Little Women the Musical because it featured the aforementioned guy. Coincidentally sit behind who we now know are his girlfriend's parents. (She was in the stage crew and somehow whenever she was moving props and set pieces around, the word, "whore" came out of our mouths. It's a very weird affliction.) Cost: $10 per person, plus the added benefits of hearing our guy sing (He's amazing. Truly. And also going to school to get a BFA in musical theatre so the world will probably know his awesomeness soon.) and the knowledge that the proceeds would be donated to Broadway Cares.

9. Go to the County Fair. See a couple of girls hit on a semi-attractive carnie and make us wait 10 minutes to ride this awesome new ride. Have a serious conversation about Madison and college while on the Ferris wheel. Make awesome slushies at the slushie bar and top off a quintessential summer night with the windows down and We the Kings' Stay Young blasting from my car speakers. Cost: $5 for admission, $10 for ride tickets, $3 for slushie. Total: $18 per person.

That's all we've got so far, but there's still 11 days until school starts. Tie dye's planned for Wednesday but I'm sure there will be more events to come.

I'm not really sure what to use hydrogen peroxide for but my father says I need it so...

So you know how I said before that I'm not a big enough dork to want to play Muggle Quidditch in public? Well apparently, I'm a big enough dork to paint my first-aid kit box to match my bedspread. I saw the idea of a personalized first-aid kit on another blog and because I am that nerdy, I decided I'd make one myself. But instead of putting clever song lyrics on it like this blogger did, I went totally art-nouveau and channel my inner artist. Please note that 'artist' should be pronounced ar-TI-st, not AR-tist.

It was quite a process and I'm not even sure I'm finished yet because much like a professional, I am never satisfied with my work. Anyway. I decided to paint the inside of the box to prevent the paint from scraping off from normal wear and tear. The benefit of this decision was that it made the entire process much cleanlier and seeing as how I was doing this little project within 6inches of my baby (new MacBookPro) cleanliness was important.

I drew the design on in dry erase marker based off the swatch of my bedspread on PBTeen.com.
(I ordered it online and haven't gotten it yet.) I
decided to invert some of the colors, because the actual design has lavender centers with white dots in the middle of those centers but I'd much rather have more lavender than white. I think it looks better, although it actually has more white right now. I'm not sure if I should paint the entire background purple. Anyway.

The nature of my process required me to do the painting in layers. First the lavender center centers, then the white centers, then finally the black petals, leaves and vines. It doesn't really look like it, but it took over four hours. I had to wait for each layer to dry completely before I could do the next coat to ensure opaqueness, and then had to wait for that to dry before I went on to the next color. I'm very proud of it. It's probably the best looking art I've attempted in my entire life.

Image via PBteen.com

My process:

The finished product (maybe):


And the inside:

You can still see where I haven't wiped off the remaining dry erase marker. I'm still not sure if I should just leave it at this or paint the background as well.

The contents of my kit:

• Ankle brace
• Ace bandage
• Tweezers
• Bandaids
• Advil
• NyQuill
• DayQuill
• Tylenol Cold and Sinus
• Anti-diuretics
• Zantac
• Gauze
• Neosporin
• Thermometer
• Alcohol wipes
• Scissors
• Instant cold pack
• First aid tape
• Small package of tissues
• Qtips
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Safety pins

Anything I forgot?

Sorry, but I can't let my dork flag fly THAT high.

Okay. Muggle Quidditch. Ever heard of it? It's become a big thing on college campuses with a competitive league and everything. A friend of mine going to Elon in North Carolina mentioned it to me because apparently, they have a team. Now normally, I'm all for public displays of geekitude, but this seems to be at a level that is way higher than I'm willing to participate in.

The way I understand it, the rules are basically the same and has the normal Quidditch positions as described in the series, plus the addition of a Snitch. The Snitch is generally a member of the track team who's dressed in all yellow. Once the game starts, they have free reign over the entire campus while the two Seekers try to catch them. The Quaffle is a basketball or volleyball and the Bludgers are softer balls, like nerf balls. Sometimes the Beaters use tennis rackets to hit the Bludgers, and sometimes Beaters are just allowed to tackle other players.

One of the girls in my class started a new topic on our group's discussion board concerning this very idea. We don't have a team already, so she wants to start one. A couple of my classmates have already expressed interest in playing.

I'm sorry. I love Harry Potter and will happily stand in line at 10pm for a midnight showing wearing tshirts with puffy paint with my best friends, but I outright refuse to play a game that involves pretending that broomsticks have actual flying powers. I won't do it. Sorry, soon-t0-be-formed Hearst College Muggle Quidditch team, I will not be joining your ranks.

If you expect money to show up under your pillow like it did when you were five and lost a tooth, you're kidding yourself.

This is a little difficult for me to discuss, but it's an issue that bears mentioning.

Let me start off by saying the following anyone who's just now looking into colleges, deciding between two or three choices, or trying to find the money to pay for college:

College is fucking expensive.

I know we all know this, but it seems that one of my friends didn't realize just how true that statement is. Actually, she'll probably need a name for the sake of this post, so we'll call her Madison. Madison's had a hard life family-wise and money-wise. Her mom doesn't have a job, and her dad's not in the picture. They basically live off welfare and Madison's waitress job. Anyway, her money issues have not changed for a long time; she hasn't come under recent struggles because of the economy. She's known about and been in this situation practically her whole life. This had made her very independent and taken away a lot of her childhood, but she's gone into her college experience very naively.

When she first started her college search, she had her heart set on a very expensive private liberal arts institution with a huge name value. She didn't get in, so she started looking into the places she was accepted to. They include two large public universities, one in-state and one out-of-state. Because her home situation is so bad, she opted for the one out-of-state. She fell in love with the school but when the bill came, it was a higher number than she'd realized. Long story short, she's now having a huge problem coming up with about $6,000 a semester.

My friends and I feel bad for her, of course. But we feel like Madison went into her whole decision with blinders on. She knew how much FAFSA was giving her and she knew how much the school cost. If she'd gone to the in-state school, FAFSA would've paid for her entire education. Tuition, room and board, books, spending money, everything. Now, she's facing the difficult situation of not being 18 and thus, not being able to get a private loan without a cosigner, which she doesn't have, and the choice of either staying at home and doing online courses or transferring to a different campus but not getting housing.

It's obviously an impossible situation, but one that could have been very easily avoided. If she'd gone to the in-state school and done her core requirements there, she could have transferred to the out-of-state school and started her major's courses where they have the better program. She could've saved loads of money and would have been able to work to save money while having her entire education paid in full.

One of the worst parts of the entire situation is how she's let her troubles permeate her entire life. We're all excited to go to school and talk about about it all. the. time. If we talk about around her, she gets pissed and yells at us for not being considerate about her feelings. If it were just one or two times, it wouldn't be so infuriating. But it's every single time we see her. Even if we're not talking about college, she is constantly depressed.

Now none of us are rolling around in the coin ala Scrooge McDuck so we try to do things that are inexpensive or free. When we do things that cost money, she either gets upset that we didn't invite her even though she's said many times that she can't afford it, or expects one of us to pay for her. We'd be happy to if it evened out in some way, but we know it never will. We all have to go to college and are saving for our own spending money, and we just don't want to pay for her, especially if she's going to spend the entire evening moping.

Moral of the story: be realistic about what you can afford. Most public in-state schools are less expensive than their out-of-state counterparts, and much less than private schools. In this economy, full rides are almost unheard of for out-of-state students and especially from private schools. Look into private and federally-funded loans before the bill comes. Check the school's endowment and see what percentage of students receive aid, and how much of their demonstrated need is met. But most importantly, have a plan to pay for everything way ahead of time. Don't be surprised by the bill. Money doesn't grow on trees and it won't magically appear just because you want it to.

I don't have a quippy, metaphoric title for this one because these stupid kids crapped all over my creative mood.

I belong to the Hearst Class of 2013 Facebook group just as almost every other college freshman belongs to their respective school's group, and we have a topic involving partying on campus. We're all underage, and while our campus isn't Yale and doesn't ignore underage drinking, it's not a dry campus either. If you're over 21, it's perfectly acceptable to have alcohol but the school's made recent efforts to crack down on underage drinking. I understand that as brand new college students, the party scene and accessibility to alcohol is something most of us think about. (Not me, more on that later.)

Hearst tries to be very connected with their students and one of the ways they do that is to check our Facebook group to get a feel for the incoming class. I commend them for it because there really is no better way. These kids don't think anyone's watching so they don't censor themselves, and that's what the college is looking for. An uncensored look at this year's incoming freshmen class.

That being said, one of our preceptors went on the partying topic a couple days ago and politely informed my classmates, who were in the middle of a discussion about which type of liquor was best for dodge, that their professors, admissions officers, deans etc. can view the forum even though they may not be a part of the group, and seeing as they're all underage, are broadcasting an image of the class they might not want to be. She did it in a very polite way and was just trying to look out for these students. I myself, didn't realize the deans looked on the forum, and was very glad at that moment that I hadn't posted anything of that nature. I figured they'd delete the topic. Oh, was I wrong. They started attacking her, calling her a 'party pooper'. Another current student went on there to defend the preceptor, and they attacked her too.

This is something I do not understand. These are older students who are aware of exactly what the drinking policy on campus is and know that these kids are potentially projecting a bad image and creating a bad reputation for themselves before they've even stepped on campus. They're just trying to help them out, offering them some friendly advice. I think it's incredibly rude for these students to do that. What kind of spoiled, pretentious brats do they think they are that the federal drinking age doesn't apply to them?

My personal decision is to refrain from alcohol. It's not a religious decision, it's not a social one, and it's certainly not because I'm a 'party pooper'. I have my own personal reasons for doing so that I'm not going to broadcast on the internet. I don't look down or think lower of people who do drink when they're underage. It's a huge problem in this country and something needs to be done about it. But no matter how you feel about that particular issue, the fact of the matter is that the drinking age is still 21 in this country. If you are under that age, it is illegal for you to purchase or consume alcohol. I feel like these students should have some sort of respect for that and at least pretend that they're following the law instead of broadcasting and bragging about how they don't plan on doing so.

Yes, you really do go through six sticks of deodorant in a year. Or at least, you should.

So I'm finally going dorm shopping tomorrow. My mother is giving me her credit card and my best friend and I are going, but only under the condition that I also buy my little brother his school supplies. Yippee.

Making all my lists and organizing them by category and then store has made me uber excited for college. I'm planning on making myself a personalized first-aid kit and a personalized trashcan. I'm a total dork, by the way, but I also love to paint, design and personalize things. You'll see pictures when I'm done, trust me. I'll also include a list of what I put in my kit for everyone to see.

By my estimate, I have at least five stores to visit, including the mall which I am none too happy about, but it's the only way I can stock up on shampoo, lotion, perfume and eyeshadow. I had one of my older, already-in-college friends tell me that one of the best things she ever did was to buy duplicates of all her toiletries while her parents were footing the bill, so that when she ran out in the middle of the semester, she wouldn't have to pay for them. I'm planning on putting them in my under the bed storage box.

Sometimes I think colleges give kids money just to guilt them into being good students.

I'm the kind of person who does best in new situations when I know what I want to get out of them. Most often, this involves a set of goals. Now, I'm not saying I'm perfect and whenever I make a list of goals, I almost never accomplish all of them. My to-do lists are full of uncrossed out lines and I can't tell you how often I've abandoned some of them all together.

I still make the lists though, and these are my five goals for the start of my college career.

1. Practice good study habits. This includes actually studying, something I didn't do much of in high school. It also means reading all the assigned chapters, another task I neglected. How I got into the school I did is beyond me. (Not really true. I know how I got in.)

2. Not procrastinate for at least three weeks. I am, by nature, a procrastinator. (I think most teenagers are, even the most goal-oriented ones.) For example, I waited until the last possible hour to write my paper for my freshman seminar just a couple days ago. I've waited until this week to start my dorm-buying and room-packing process. I figure that if I can maintain at least three weeks of proactiveness, I should be able to keep it up for the rest of the semester. Maybe. Hopefully.

3. Maintain a regular sleep schedule. I did a post a couple days ago on this, but in case you didn't read that, I have a really fucked up sleeping schedule. I honestly think I was meant to be noctural but a 9:30am class does not fit with this destiny. I must alter my sleeping habits. I'm thinking I'll sleep from midnight to 8am. Or maybe 1am to 8am, we'll see.

4. Use Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoons to do homework. These are the blocks I don't have classes, so I have to utilize them to get my work done. Time management is key.

5. Go to the campus gym at least twice a week. I'm a lazy ass person. My idea of exercise is walking from my car to house and room to bathroom at least three times a day. I'm awful. I hope to find at least one kindred spirit who'll drag me along to get my lazy ass in shape.

My goal is to accomplish at least two of these goals. I'm lowballing it, I know, but I've got to at least try to pretend that I'm a good student to justify the scholarship money they're giving me, right?

I'm the kind of parent that would never outwardly choose a favorite child unless I really had to. And then I would.

You guys, I just got the best news ever. Like, of my entire life. (Not really.) You know how dorms are notorious for having crappy storage and not enough closet space to house one outfit, let alone enough clothes for 9 months? Well, I was going through the class of 2012 Facebook group, and I found a girl who had my dorm and floor last year. She'd put pictures of her room up, like most female freshmen do, and guess what? She had a walk-in closet!

Come to find out, all the rooms in my dorm have walk-in closets! They're big too. According to a sophomore who lived there last year, a girl put her entire desk in the closet and still had plenty of room for clothes. Best. News. Ever. Now I won't have to decide which of my 37 tank tops to leave at home because I'll have room for all of them! I'm so excited.

Just to make something clear, I am not a shopping-addicted girly girl. I shop online with coupons about three times a year. Most of my closet is graphic tees and the tank tops I wear under them and I have three pairs of Converse, all of which I love like my own children. (Not really.) I own exactly one dress that is not my prom dress; it's black and I've worn it probably 10 times to all sorts of different occasions. There's not a designer label in sight (unless you count American Eagle) and even though I do dress sort of preppy, I have waaay more tees with clever sayings than I have polos.

From the start of new a beginning... to the beginning of a new adventure.

The excitement and nervousness of this new adventure just fully hit me about an hour ago. I've felt it before, but never at this strength. I now have a full schedule of everything I need to do before I go and the days on which I'm going to do them. It's quite an extensive lists and includes: buying all my dorm stuff, school supplies and new clothes, cleaning my god-awful mess of a room, doing the months of laundry I need to do, photographing every article of clothing I own for my iPhone closet application, packing my life into boxes, making collages of our high school years for myself and my best friend, and saying goodbye to all my friends leaving before me, which would be exactly all of them. (By the way, my descriptions of my room and wardrobe are not exaggerations. The reason I have the iPhone application is because I need something to keep track of all my clothing. And yes, I haven't done a full load of laundry in months. I really have way too much stuff.)

I spent a couple hours on Facebook today going through photos from my four years of high school, emailing and messaging friends for pictures I knew they had but hadn't posted, and going through my box of old movie stubs and programs deciding which to include. The collage starts from freshman year all the way through the events of this summer, with the focus on senior year and the past few months.

The reason I decided to make this collage is for one very simple reason: these are memories we'll never get back. Yes, college is a new adventure with a new setting and whole new group of friends, but we can't let go of our past completely. Even if I lose touch with my best friend, I still want to remember the good times we had together.

Looks like my mother's Amish wallet decided not to join the church.

My mother just told me that we needed to go shopping for dorm stuff next week. You guys, she's actually going to pony up the money! Of course, the whole experience will be ridiculous and frustrating because she's my mother and we don't agree on anything, but at least it's a start.

I guess her wallet is capable of spreading its legs after all.

I'm not delusional and I'm not a Twilight fanatic, but I'm pretty sure I'm a vampire.

I had to work today at 6pm, but because of my nocturnal tendencies, I was awake all night writing a paper for my freshman seminar and then slept from 11:30 to 5:30. Work is important to me no matter how much I detest it, and being late is not an option. I will get fired and since I've only got two weeks left but $200 left to make, I simply can't afford to not work. During those six hours, I woke up four times and frantically checked the clock each time to make sure I wasn't late. It made for a very restless experience, and I was not a happy camper when I clocked in at 6 for my shift. It occurred to me later that I hate sleeping with a time restriction. The 6 hours I was supposed to be using to catch up on sleep I spent worrying about waking up on time instead.

Knowing how my fellow teenagers and I arrange our vampiral sleeping habits and that in about three weeks I'll have to drag my ass out of bed every Thursday for an 8am lab, I did some research about sleep habits and cycles and such.

I found a great resource, a blog called StudySuccessful. (There's a whole bunch of other scientifically based sleep and study techniques on the site too.) It explains Steve Pavlina's method, adapted from Pavlov's dog training technique, that trains the brain to recognize the sound of an alarm as time to get up. The author says it works, and I am inclined to believe him. The science is there but I have a feeling my implementation of the method could be riddled with problems.

One. If I get in bed and 'pretend' to sleep for two minutes, I'm actually going to fall asleep. Two. A lot of my problems getting up stem from a disease my dad calls, "Living Dead" in which I sleep like a fucking log. The reason I can't wake up isn't because I hit the snooze button twelve times, it's because I can't hear my alarm. Three. My sleep schedule is so ridiculously fucked up its celebrity equivalent is Lindsay Lohan. (Or maybe Mischa Barton, she's had issues lately.) I am incapable of power napping for 20 minutes; I have to nap for three hours. And this severely fucks up when I go to bed, so I end up staying awake until 6am and sleeping until 3pm.

I still decided I'm going to try and use this new method to fix my brain. It might not work, but I'm certainly going to fucking try.

Financial advice and a reference to the Amish, all in one post.

I did a post about finance a little while ago, but I really stressed my own personal financial trouble and didn't really offer any advice, other than how to create a metaphor in which you compare your mother's tight wad-edness to an Amish teenager on Rumspringa.

1. Have a bank account. This might seem like common knowledge, but I don't want to assume anything.

2. Make sure your parents have an easy way to send you money. Sending cash through the mail isn't safe, and despite how much Walmart advertises their $11 money transfers, having an account linked to your parents' at a bank that allows easy online transfers is the best way. I can't tell you how often I've been in a pinch and had to have my dad transfer money to my account in a jiffy.

3. Have an account at a bank on or near campus. Those $3 ATM fees will add up fast, and when you don't have that much to spend already, spending three bucks and getting nothing for it sucks. You don't have to keep a lot of money in the account, just enough so that you can grab a soda before class.

4. Know how to transfer money online, if your bank offers it. If you have two or more accounts, you may need to transfer money in between them quite frequently depending on which cards you can use at which vendors and ATMs.

5. Don't carry a lot of cash. You're on a college campus. You and your fellow students are most likely, quite poor. If you drop a $20 on the ground while scrounging in your pockets for $1 to buy a drink, that money will not be there once you've realized it's gone. Some lucky bastard will be $20 richer and you'll be living off Ramen for a week. Besides, credit/debit cards you can report stolen, cash you cannot.

6. Create, maintain and stick to a budget. Even before you get on campus, plan your spending out per week or month. If you're the kind of person that likes to shop, make sure you account for that. Take into account your alcohol expenses, and remember. Laundry costs money, and people will not like you if you stink.

7. Track your expenses. If you start spending more money on beer and less on clothes from Abercrombie, redo your budget to reflect this change. It'll prevent you from spending money you don't have at overpriced, over-perfumed clothing stores. This also includes monitoring your balance and activity online, which will help you notice any mistaken fees or charges.

8. Make sure your accounts are the right kind. My savings account was under the wrong label and as a result, was charged a $5 fee every month for two months before I noticed it. My checking account was also the wrong type and when I had to report my card stolen, its replacement came with my dad's name on it instead of mine. That required an additional trip to the bank. Not. Cool. Go to the bank and make sure your accounts are right. You might piss off the woman at the counter, but chances are she wasn't in a great mood before you got there anyway.


I'm not a financial expert by any means, and a lot of this is common sense. Or it might not be for you. It comes from my own experiences and being the daughter of a man who stressed financial management. Whereas I've been responsible for my money for most of my teenage life, many of my friends have never been responsible for their own finances before and half of them couldn't tell you the difference between a savings account and a checking account. (Google it if you don't know.)

This is what happens when motivation kicks in in the early morning.

I'm on somewhat of a research kick which basically means reading every article and blog on the internet that concerns college and dorm life.

This one I found to be particularly helpful. It's a countdown of college preparation by week. Of course, if you're heading to college in three weeks like I am, it won't be as helpful.

Also, if I haven't mentioned it before, Dorm Life is a webseries created by and starring current and past UCLA students. It's amazing, and while not necessarily a reliable source for any sort of fact-finding mission, it is incredibly hilarious.

I'm not actually sure how I found this particular blog, but boy am I glad I did. It's called Tales From a Rogue Resident Assistant and will hopefully teach you an important lesson. Do not fuck with your RAs. Yes, they are there to help and guide you, but if you cause them unnecessary trouble, chances are, they'll find some way to get you back. This guy is especially clever and certainly gifted at his craft, so be on the lookout.

You know those moments when a rush of very intense emotion hits you all at once?

I'm watching the third season of Veronica Mars and watching the countdown to orientation clock I put on my dashboard slowly tick the seconds away and it suddenly hit me.

I am so fucking excited for college.

I'm kind of pissed that I'm working tonight and would totally try to find someone to cover my shift, but I need the money. I want to start my dorm nesting like, right now. Rightnow.

And just so this post isn't completely useless, this blog is fantastic for incoming freshmen.

The post where I compare my mom's wallet to a virginal freshman who suddenly becomes a huge slut.

I'm a bad, bad college student. I haven't bought anything for my dorm except one set of sheets, a down comforter, my new MacBook and a laptop lock. Seriously. I don't even have Office on my computer yet. I have most of the major things picked out, but my mother is insisting on being a tight wad and not giving me the cash I need to buy my stuff. It's all very unfortunate. There is so much stuff I need and it's sorta freaking me out.

Luckily, I have all of next week off so I plan on using that time for what I'm calling, "dorm nesting". You know, doing stuff like making personalized first aid kits, making sure your closet is stocked with hoodies emblazoned with the name of the institution that's robbing you blind, and deciding which of your 37 tank tops stays and which goes. (I should mention that I do have 37 tank tops. That'll be a rough day for me.)

Anyway, my nesting is not the point of my post, but rather, finances is. I was taught by my father very early on that budgeting and keeping track of your money is key, so I have a very extensive budget set up with formulas and everything. Every expense pre-move-in day is accounted for, plus a nest egg for spending money once I'm actually there. The college I'm going to is one of those 50k a year liberal arts schools and my dad is not Bill Gates, so needless to say, paying for my tuition is quite a feat for my parents. I got a fairly sizable merit scholarship so they're actually paying about 70% of the normal cost, but it's still not easy for them. The deal we made was that I would work my ass off all summer to earn enough money to spend over the school year (or first semester, as the case might be) and my parents would buy all my dorm supplies. My roommate, Piz, is French so she can't bring the fridge or the TV, meaning I have to supply both. She was very, very apologetic about this and I completely understand. I mean really, what's she supposed to do, ship a minifridge with American plugs back to France at the end of the year? This does increase my required investment, but my dad agreed to pony up this cash. It's my mother who's being obstinate.

The fact of the matter is, I cannot afford to buy all my dorm stuff and still pay my way through the semester. I have books to buy and a wardrobe to supplement. Seriously, I have one pair of wearable jeans and only one bra and it's too small. I need these items. I agreed waaaay at the beginning of the summer to foot the bill for them, so I've been waiting for the perfect moment when my necessities are all on sale and I have a 30% coupon. It's pretty sweet. But I have to buy my stuff soon, so my mom's wallet better start slutting it up real soon.

Money troubles. -( (That's a cyclops smiley. You'll see him often.)

Clearly, they want me to spill acid on myself at 8am because I don't function that early.

I mentioned in my previous post that Lilly and I already know we're in the same class, and that is because our registrations came out the other day. Our school is small, so we don't go on campus for course registration and stuff in the summer, we just do it by mail/online and then have an orientation before classes start. Really, I prefer it. Anyway.

I'm planning on double majoring in biology and music. I'll explain that conundrum in another post, but really all you need to know right now is that there are a couple courses that Hearst recommends you take first semester for most of the science majors. I picked Bio 112 as one of those, and that's MWF. My first year seminar is MW, my music theory class is MW and my Italian class is MTWF. I know having four classes MW will probably kick me in the ass somewhere around the second week, but it was basically the only schedule I could finagle. Anyway, the real kicker is something I just found out 10 minutes ago.

I have an 8am lab for my bio class. EIGHT FUCKING AM. It's on Thursdays so I'll have plenty of time to nap afterward, but I am not happy about it. I am not a fucking morning person. Well actually, I am if I've slept all day and been up all night, but that's different. Besides, Lilly's not in my lab. :(

Honest question: What are the odds of fraternal twins being accidentally separated at birth?

Facebook is a wonderful thing, really. My fellow freshmen already have a Facebook group and I'm proud to say, about 5/6 of the class are members. We're clearly very plugged in. Anyway, most of the class' room assignments have been mailed out, and so begins the "Post Your Dorm and Roommate" discussion topic. There was a flurry of excitement, and since so many of us (me included) did the "friend everyone in your graduating class" thing that I've since learned is a major faux paus, our newsfeeds were full of roommates and hall mates talking. (By the way, I maintain that if your college is small enough, friending people isn't a big deal. Besides, you can always unfriend them later if they turn out to be a bitch.)

I, like many others, posted my dorm and room assignment in my status. Not long after that, a girl commented asking if we were hall mates. Although we technically are, since Dandelion East and West are connected by a study lounge and are really just the same building, she had made a mistake. Honestly, it was probably the best mistake made in the history of the world.

We discovered we have a shitload in common. To the point where it's actually really scary, and if she weren't 7 inches taller than we, I would have thought we were separated at birth. Anyway, we've been doing the wall conversation thing for the past couple weeks, and I have a feeling she'll turn out to be my best friend at Hearst. We're in the same bio class too, which is awesomesauce.

She'll now be known as Lilly, as in Lilly Kane. (Another Veronica Mars reference. For god's sake, just watch it already.)

Yeah, so that truth thing I mentioned before...

It occurred to me that I should probably do a little bit of a bio.

Name: Emma November
School: Hearst College
Year: 2013
Major: Undeclared, but Music and/or Biology
Dorm: Dandelion West
Roommate: Stosh 'Piz' Piznarski


If you've ever seen the show Veronica Mars, you should know that at least 1/3 of this information is not true. (If not, watch it, goddammit!) In actuality, 2/3 of it is false, including the implication that my roommate and I are dudes. Incorrect. I just really love the name Stosh 'Piz' Piznarski.

Anonymity is best on the web, and one day I may find myself writing some not-so-nice things about my college of choice. In all truth, if you went there, you could probably figure it out. It's a small campus. But if you're not one of us chosen ones, you're screwed. Accept it.

Anyway, that is our cast of characters so far. More will be introduced along the way, and all will get codenames to protect their anonymity and also the fact that they'll probably won't know I write this blog.

I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

I know that as an incoming college student, there is a combination of nausea, excitement, nervousness and just plain terror that slowly overwhelms you as your first day on campus draws near. I know that no one really knows how much stuff is too much and how in hell they're going to write a 10 page paper in 12 hours, let alone at all. I know that we all worry about the freshman fifteen (or thirty, depending), getting along with roommates and paying for the expensive shit that college requires. How do I know this? I'm one of you. In exactly 20 days, 0 hours and 46 minutes, I'll be arriving on my college campus to embark on my semi-adult life.

As far as I can tell, there aren't many blogs that chronicle the typical, boring ass life of a college student for those incoming freshman who just want to know what to expect in a few months (or weeks or days, depending on your level of foresight. I won't judge you if it's days. We all procrastinate.) I figured I'd help out the class of 2014 next year when they all get ready to pack their entire lives into boxes and move into a room too small for all their crap.

I should warn you ahead of time, I can be a snarky little bitch. I already know this, but feel free to point it out often.