17 Times That Game of Thrones Described Your Semester

May 5, 2015May 21, 2015Leave a comment

When you spotted a hottie from across the bar

When you rallied the pregame and headed to the bar

When you went to your professor’s office hours and they were a total hardo

When you thought about your life too long and started feeling all of the feels

When you ran into the kid you hooked up with the night before at breakfast

When it was 2 a.m. and someone asked for some of your pizza

When you were hung over on Sunday and someone asked if you were going to the library

When you watched a boy attempt to open a bottle of wine

When you tried on those white jeans from last spring

When your friends were salty that you snuck into the bar without paying cover

When a guy offered to teach you how to play Kings

When you texted your crush and he didn’t respond

When you remembered you’re a strong independent woman who don’t need no man

But then he texted you back and said something pretty cute

When your parents tried to talk to you about life after college

When the bartender made a comment about how you’ve never missed happy hour

When you posted this article on your friend’s wall and she didn’t think it was funny

This article was originally posted on Her Campus Fairfield‘s website on May 5th, 2015.

12 Signs That The Real World Is Right Around the Corner

April 10, 2015December 27, 2015Leave a comment

1. Your inbox is flooded with job search engine e-mails. Basically serving as constant notifications that say, “You still don’t have a job! You should probably get one!”

2. Your countdown app goes from counting the days until spring break to counting the days until graduation. What once served as a way to measure the distance between you and endless margaritas now acts as the perfect way to measure the distance between you and post-grad depression!

3. Every time you and your friends do something somebody says “Guys, what if this the last time…” What if this is our last real snow day? What if this is the last time we get brunch at this place? What if this is the last time all of us are wearing these exact outfits, listening to this exact song, drinking these exact flavors of iced coffee? Dramatic? Maybe. Real? All too real.

4. When you’re at happy hour, people assume you are a young working professional and not a college kid. Um, excuse me, bartender, I don’t know if you noticed but I am currently wearing leggings and this eyeliner is blatantly leftover from last night, so I’m going to need you to go ahead and card me.

5. You have a well-rehearsed, knee jerk response to the question “So what are you doing next year?” You’ve had this bullshit response memorized for months and can recite it as automatically as the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s filled with vague buzzwords like “considering” and “exploring” and it lasts for several sentences while successfully communicating absolutely nothing.

6. You’re suddenly envious of freshmen. Sure, they’re probably still in the middle of a dramatic saga with their high school ex and can’t get into any parties on campus, but that said their biggest concern for next year is what color scheme they’re going to use to decorate their dorm while you’re stuck Googling “What is health insurance?”

7. Your post-grad friends start texting you cryptic messages about “the end.” You: Yeah, senior year has been a blast so far! Post-grad friend: That’s good. Just enjoy it while it lasts! You: Haha yeah, I plan on it J Post-grad friend: No. Seriously. Savor every last drop of freedom while you still can.

8. You realize that Thirsty Thursdays are about to go extinct. And you start waking up on Friday mornings with soul-crushing hangovers and a renewed sense of anxiety about your future.

9. Your dad makes you fill out your own tax return paperwork. Because he wants you to be ready for the real world and apparently this is the kind of miserable, unavoidable activity that real life adults do.

10. Your parents start making jokes about being your new roommates. And this makes you actually suck it up and start reading those job search engine e-mails.

11. You start becoming more concerned with where your friends are from and how far the drive is from where you live. Wait, so how many hours away is that? 8? Well, at least gas is cheap… and FaceTime is a thing.

12. The thought occurs to you that maybe you should figure out things like doing laundry on a regular basis and not considering “drunk food” an actual food group. But what other category does Goldfish dunked in Nutella fall under?

This article was originally published on Her Campus Fairfield’s website on April 1st, 2015.

Executive Bio for Her Campus Fairfield

February 13, 2015February 23, 2015Leave a comment

MaryKate Callahan – Managing Editor

“MaryKate Callahan ’15 was the original Managing Editor for Her Campus Fairfield and has most recently started focusing on the Blog Section of Her Campus Fairfield. Her life philosophy, which particularly applies to food and music, is “Don’t bash it until you try it.” She believes the best accessory is a sense of humor and/or anything Kate Spade. Basically, her quest in life is to find a career path that she loves, master winged liquid eyeliner, spend a day with Bill Murray and eat all of the guacamole.”

This bio was featured on Her Campus Fairfield’s Facebook page on February 13th, 2015.

7 Types of Instagrams and What They Say About You

September 8, 2014January 15, 2015Leave a comment

Was this actually a candid picture or just a well-executed pose? The world may never know.

So you’re out and about just living your fabulous life and suddenly somebody takes an awesome picture of you. Immediately, in millennial fashion, you think, “OMG, I have to Insta this.” You proceed to sit down on the fringes of whatever social gathering you’re attending and pretend to be texting for 10 minutes when in reality, you’re trying to find a filter that fits as perfectly as the glass slipper did on Cinderella’s foot. After some tough cuts, you’ve found the winning filter and then it’s on to the caption. Song lyric? Marilyn Monroe quote? Random sequence of emojis? Whatever it is, well done, you probably nailed it. Now all that’s left is sitting back and letting the likes just shower over you.

But, when you were addressing the various factors of this particular ‘gram, did you happen to consider what your body language might be saying? Whether purposeful or not, the pose in any given picture sends a message and can end up revealing more than words ever could. Here are a few telling Instagrams that frequently show up on my feed:

The Jumping Pic:
“I’m fun and carefree, I’m just jumping around with a few friends who also happen to be jumping and oh wow, I didn’t even realize you were taking pictures of us how neat, I hope your we look as naturally happy as we are right now!” Who just jumps and hopes somebody takes a picture of it? No one, except people who want to show everybody how much fun they’re having without having to say it.

The Hand Placed On a Guy’s Stomach/Chest:
This might as well be a “SOLD!” sign on this guy’s front lawn, because he is no longer on the market. The subtle placement of a girl’s hand on a guy’s stomach/chest area in a picture is an irrefutable indicator that these people, to some degree, are romantically involved.

The Hand Placement of a Guy’s Hand on Lower Back/Butt:
Whether it’s a formal picture or just some Friday night at the bar, the placement of a guy’s hand on a girl’s lower back can also say quite a lot. The proximity of hand placement to butt typically indicates some degree of romantic involvement (or at least hopeful romantic involvement.)

The Birthday Collage pic:
This ‘gram is not so much about the body language of the pictures but rather the assortment of pictures that have been carefully selected. The B-Day Insta Collage is a staple among girlfriends and often times is a compilation of several old Instagrams wrapped into one. From my observations, these collages often include a winning combination of any/ all of the following pics: the token pretty picture (“we were SO tan”), the funny and/or embarrassing picture (think sombrero and mustache combo while chugging some Jose Cuervo), a throwback picture (“aww, back when we were little freshies!”) and then any other ones that they feel should make the cut. This Insta is not only meant to let the birthday person know that they are being thought of and loved on their special day, but also to publicly advertise a relationship.

The Model Pose:
This is the blatant, “I know I look hot, you know I look hot, and now the Instagram world is gonna know I look hot” picture. Whether it’s a formal event, new heels or a particularly good makeup night, when the hand goes on the hip, the head cocks to the side and the knee gets jutted forward every so slightly, you know what’s up.

The “Candid Laughing Pic”
I put this in quotes because how often is a candid laughing picture actually candid? How many times has a gaggle of girls asked whoever is taking the picture to “just take a bunch” as they all start looking at each other, tossing their hair wildly, and laughing about literally nothing, except to eventually start actually laughing about how dumb they are in that moment. I won’t rob everyone, sometimes truly candid moments are captured and it’s a beautiful thing, but I would guess that for every five “candid laughing” pictures on Instagram, only about one might be real.

The Hot Dog or Legs Phenomenon:
I always wonder to myself who came up with this trendy poolside pose. A few things can be usually be gleaned from a classic hot dog or legs pic: 1) this person has nice legs and wants people to notice them. Think about it, somebody who is self-conscious about their legs is not about to post an up close and personal picture of them on Instagram, right? Therefore, they are probably nice hot dogs (legs?) 2) This picture is possibly being used to show off the cool scenery in a subtle way or humble-brag about being poolside on a beautiful day. 3) Some girl is getting impatient with the tanning process and just needs something to do.

This article was published on Her Campus Fairfield’s website on 9/8/14.

http://www.hercampus.com/school/fairfield/7-types-instagrams-and-what-they-say-about-you

The Do’s and Don’t’s of Clam Jam

April 25, 2014January 15, 2015Leave a comment

DO eat some breakfast! EAT A BAGEL, CARB UP. IT’S GAME DAY AND WE’RE IN IT FOR THE LONG HAUL. But seriously, Clam Jam starts early and is a very long day. Embrace the opportunity for carbs and eat a substantial breakfast to keep your energy and your stomach at a good place all day. Besides, people don’t go to Clam Jam for the food * smug face emoji here *

Do NOT get too drunk. Take this seriously. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of the day, especially when it starts so early, but it’s a marathon not a sprint- pace yourself. Spending your day either a) throwing up b) passed out on some senior’s couch or c) in the back of an ambulance are three of the last places you want to be.

DO wear a reliable bag and shoes. It’s a long day so wear shoes you can function in comfortably. There is a lot of aimless wandering involved. Also, bring a reliable bag to hold all of your stuff together. Your hands will be busy taking selfies, holding Solo cups, and peeling your hair from your lip-gloss so bring a bag that will keep your belongings together so you don’t have to.

Do NOT pee in public! Anybody who has been to Clam Jam before knows what a struggle finding a bathroom is. Even if you “know someone” on the Point, odds are that by noon their bathroom has reached some Daddy Day Care levels of scary. As tempting as it may be to find a secretive corner and crouch, DON’T because you never know who might see you and also that’s kind of really gross. Pee before you leave and mentally prepare yourself to hold it.

DO be respectful of seniors’ houses. The seniors who live on the Point are kind enough to open their house to the majority of Fairfield’s student body, so the least we could do in return is respect their property. They have security deposits and personal belongings that you should respect. Treat their house the way you would want people to treat yours. Plus, do you want to realize the house you just spilled a whole cup of beer in belongs to that intimidating Regina George-esque senior in your Philosophy class? Um, heck no.

Do NOT drunkenly mess with a police officer. These are not your selfie-taking, Papa-John-looking public safety officers on bikes; these are real life police officers of Fairfield County. They can and will arrest you if you go out of your way and give them a reason to. Yeah, they’re going to kick us off the Point a few times and give us a few dirty looks, but that’s no reason to get in their face.

DO establish some kind of a buddy system. You don’t have to stay with a single person all day but make sure you generally know where your good friends are. If you or they get into trouble (particularly of the overly inebriated sort), you’re going to want to know where they are, not be drunk-crying alone next to some random Junior sobbing, “I lost my friends forevveerrrr.”

Do NOT attempt to actually swim in the ocean. It’s a great “what-if” convo starter, but don’t for a second think that running into the water with a few bold girlfriends is a good idea. Spoiler alert: you’ll probably forget your phone is in your back pocket, your mascara will smear Avril Lavigne style, and everybody is going to assume you’re embarrassingly wasted while also recording you on their Snapchat story.

DO take pictures! You can still document your day with an endless stream of selfies and “My school is cooler than yours” crowd shots, but remember to keep pictures somewhat classy. Standing upside down doing a keg-stand while giving the student body a glimpse of your cash and prizes is not a cute look. Keep it together and don’t pose for a picture you wouldn’t want your mom to see.

Do NOT put things on social media that your future employers wouldn’t be happy about. I know many of us shrugged off that recent e-mail from Career Planning but what they’re saying is entirely true- employers will look at your social media and your behavior, as it is displayed on the Internet, could affect your future career. Clam Jam is an awesome day, but don’t let the likes you’ll get on a profile pic of you getting Smirnoff Iced on top of a roof in front of the beach while wearing a sombrero cloud your judgment and ruin your future.

DO make sure all of your stuff is fully charged! Clam Jam is a long day so make sure your electronics are ready to go, especially your phone. Not only will it be harder to keep track of your friends throughout the day, but it also makes the chances of finding your phone, if it gets lost, that much harder. Side note: Get your “Find My iPhone” apps ready.

DO NOT bring anything irreplaceable with you! That diamond pendant necklace your dad gave you for your 18th birthday? This is neither the time nor the place for that kind of bling, honey. Stick to that statement necklace you’d miss but could easily replace.

DO be safe. It seems that somehow half the people at Clam Jam end up on somebody’s roof, but while you’re up there letting your freak flag fly, don’t do anything dangerous. Some friendly reminders: you can’t fly, Project X was only a movie, that guy isn’t actually strong enough (or sober enough) to catch you. Keep the “fun” in funneling by making sure a balcony is involved.

And finally…

DO have fun! Clam Jam is the best day of year in StagNation. As long as you remember to bring your common sense along with your favorite sunglasses, everything should go swimmingly (but hopefully not literally.)

This article was posted on Her Campus Fairfield’s website on April 25th, 2014.

Post-Syllabus Week Hangover Recovery

January 28, 2014May 28, 2014Leave a comment

There’s a lot of reason why syllabus week is awesome. It’s the first time you’ve been reunited with your friends since break, you get to party every night and your teachers don’t expect a lot from you. However one of the major downsides of syllabus week is the cumulative hangover/depression that comes the week after. Here are some tips to help you navigate the harsh reality of post-syllabus week life.

Rehydrate. I’m sure it was not water in those red Solo cups. Therefore, it is important you rehydrate yourself with water and electrolytes so that you can resume being a fully functioning member of society. Everybody swears by their own secret: Gatorade, coconut water, Pedialyte, banana smoothies, green tea, just to name a few. A great way to waste a half an hour of your life is to type “hangover cures” into Google and let the crazy/ stupid/ sometimes-useful information just shower over you. Also, don’t let Web MD convince you that you’re dying because you’re not, you are just a hungover slob right now.

Call your parents. They are probably worried about you and how you’re faring after syllabus week. Give them a call to assure them that you’re a) alive and b) everything’s fine and c) that those syllabus week pictures they saw you tagged in on Facebook are NOT an indication of how the rest of the semester is going to go. Also remember to thank them profusely for the extra case of Gatorade they insisted you bring.

Untag yourself. Your phone has probably been buzzing a lot lately with notifications telling you about the pictures you’ve recently been tagged in. Go on and do some damage control because, spoiler alert, not all of these are going to be gems. It’s also likely that your future employers are not going to think that picture of you gargoyle-ing a keg while wearing a sombrero is as funny as your friends do. Syllabus week is known for yielding fun, memorable pictures, but remember that doesn’t mean the Internet has to catalogue every single one.

Reread your syllabi. Take a few minutes to reread the handouts your teachers gave you during the first days of classes because chances are pretty high that for some or all of your classes, you were possibly asleep and/or still drunk. Whip out those highlighters and look over the course requirements. If you want to underline and star the attendance policy, we won’t judge you.

Go to the gym. Even if you’re not a big workout person, there is a lot to be said about working out after syllabus week. Not only is it a healthy way to get some endorphins flowing to help you deal with the sad reality of syllabus week being over, but it’s also a great way to sweat out the residual alcohol in your system. Even if you don’t feel like going hard at the gym, just going for a walk and enjoying the fresh air is probably something your body needs right now.

Wash your sheets. Just do it.

Find a first aid kit and treat those syllabus week wounds. Syllabus week is not particularly known for great decisions or graceful moments, so it’s quite likely you collected a few injuries throughout the week. Twisted an ankle walking around in heels? Took a tumble on the way to the townhouses and skinned your knee? Burned your hand making drunk pizza for you and the random people in your house? It may not have seemed important at the time, but don’t let small stupid injuries turn into actual problems.

Organize your stuff. Odds are you when you first got back to school, you didn’t unpack everything. Life, as well as that text inviting you to go day-drink, probably got in the way. Take some time to reorganize your things and arrange your room the way you’ll want to have it for the rest of the semester. Pick up those almost-outfits off the floor, throw out those pizza boxes, untangle those necklaces and confirm that those plastic water bottles on your desk are filled with water and not something else.

Sleep. A very important distinction needs to be made between passing out and sleeping- they are not the same thing. Just because you may have lacked consciousness for a few hours every night throughout syllabus week does not mean you were actually getting rest. There are countless studies showing that sleep is critical to health, attentiveness and overall happiness. So turn off your phone a few hours earlier, change into your coziest pair of sweat pants and catch some Z’s.

This article was posted to Her Campus Fairfield: http://www.hercampus.com/school/fairfield

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