Posts tagged "college life"

Holiday #ClapBack Season!

The holidays are right around the corner, which means along with delicious home cooked meals will come lots of inquisitive relatives wanting to know all about your personal life. There are very little ways to avoid it but we are here to help you survive it. Relatives know how to push your buttons but with these tips, your holiday season can be somewhat peaceful and your business can remain private.

Give Only A Little. When the family asks about what’s going on in your life, they’re going to expect a long summation of what you’ve been up to since the last holiday season. Throw them off with simple and vague answers.

Stay Away. Your aunties and uncles usually ask the hard-hitting questions around the dinner table. Therefore, once you’ve made your plate of food make a run for it to another part of the house or take a seat at the kid’s table. They’ll be sure to keep you entertained.

Be Petty.  The last resort is a bold one. If you’re feeling exceptionally petty, you can hit your relative back with a #thanksgivingclapback. We warn you to only try this with your cool aunt, your older cousin, or anyone that knows how to take a joke.

 

Tia B., Content Editor

Clutch It! 3 Money-Wasters!

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College brings on many new responsibilities and being fiscally responsible is one of the hardest. It seems like money leaves your wallet faster than it goes in and your bank account is starting to collect spider webs. Believe it or not, there are plenty of ways you’re wasting your money in college. Check out some of these things to cut back on so you can stack those coins!

Junk Food Foodie?– Although it is nice to treat yourself to fast food every once in a while, the campus is full of eating spots that are included in your meal plan. This is so much better than having to spend money on take out every time you’re hungry. The other benefit is that campus usually offers healthier options so it’s a win-win.

Rent’em + Return’em- Buying textbooks is a hard financial hit in the beginning of the semester. In order to cut costs, rent your books from websites like Amazon and Chegg. You should also ask your professor to see if you’ll even need the book before you buy it.

Ride Along– Having a car on campus is obviously convenient, but the money you spend on upkeep isn’t worth it. You’ll have to pay for gas weekly and some colleges even make you pay for a parking pass every year. Ditch the car and opt for a bike or walk like most students do. Large campuses even provide transportation to your classes.

 

~Tia Banks, Content Editor

Beauty Diary x Haley!

Scroll through the beauty diary of Atlanta based teen blogger, Haley!

What’s your name + city do you live in?

My name is Haley Cencere and I currently live in Atlanta, Georgia.

Beauty is all about being comfortable in your own skin + having fun! What are 2 beauty trends you’re loving this year?

One trend that I am loving to see is how women are now more comfortable wearing their natural curls. Many women on social media have embraced their natural hair as well as their natural face and I am living for it. Beauty can be seen in many shapes and forms and I believe this trend is truly spreading that message. Many celebrities are now posting bare face pictures and it is truly inspiring. I am also in love with glossy eyelid trend that has been on seen on celebrity such as SZA and Kylie Jenner. I am in love with the effect that it gives to their makeup, it simply gorgeous!

If you had only 15 seconds to grab 3 beauty products, what would they be?

I would definitely grab lash glue, my favorite foundation and definitely a moisturizer like shea butter or cocoa butter.

Beauty inspo is everything! Who’s your ultimate beauty icon + why?

My ultimate beauty icon is supermodel Duckie Thot, she is beautiful and is always stylish. She has been a rising supermodel this year and I believe her imagine inspires many girls of a darker complexion to embrace their melanin. In my experience growing up as a darker complexion often times, I found people addressing my beauty being prefix the terms of you’re a beautiful dark skin young lady. Instead of just saying I was beautiful.

Getting ready for class can be fun but stressful if you’re in a time crunch, what’s one beauty must-have that lives in your book bag?

Lip Gloss is always a must have at all times. I will NEVER leave the house without my lip gloss because it is an easy touch up for a plain face or for a made up face. I am in love with MAC’s glass or you could go to your local beauty supply store for lip gloss.

What’s your number 1 beauty rule?

Embrace your truth and natural beauty. Find beauty in your insecurities. I have always wanted to spread this message to woman all over the world because I lived in my own shadow for years not embracing my unique beauty mark. I have a birthmark on the right side of my face that covers the entire right side of my face and I used to try to hide it by covering it up at a young age. The day that I embraced my beauty mark was the day the world around me embraced it and I am now known for having this very unique trait. I stand for a platform that promotes “ find beauty in what makes you uncomfortable or different because that is simply what makes you, you.”

Follow more of Haley’s beauty inspo here!

Instagram

Strict Much?

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Don’t you absolutely hate when your parents get on you about little things?! It’s like they’re trying to prevent you from living your best life! You feel like they are breathing down your neck and don’t give you any room to enjoy your youth. Well we’re here to give you some tips on how to deal with overly strict parents.

Keep it 100| Show your parents that you are serious about having more freedom. Sit down with them and discuss the rules that are in place and why you feel like they are unrealistic. Along with that, give them suggestions for appropriate punishments and reward system.

Relax| When your parents come down hard on you, don’t use your energy to yell and argue back. It will make them see you as immature and further their decision to remain as strict as possible.

Help me, help me! | Sometimes you may need to lean on other family members for help. For example, your aunts and uncles are great people to talk to about your parents’ strict ways since they grew up with them.

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Tia Banks, Content Editor

 

Queen EXTRA? Not Today

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We all have that one friend who does the absolute most! We love them to death but sometimes their personality is EXTRA. You ever find yourself rolling your eyes whenever they’re around? Yeah, it’s time to check this diva.

Remain Unbothered -When your friend is having a diva moment don’t exhaust your energy by feeding into it. They’re probably telling you a story with lots of embellishments in order to get more attention.

No More Drama -We love hanging out a spilling tea with friends. However, we are going to have to cut this friend off from tea spillage. Drama only adds to our diva friend’s over the top personality. This is a fire you don’t want to add fuel to.

Keep Calm and Carry On –Everyone has their issues where they need a friend to vent to. When your diva friend contacts you for support, make sure you remain calm. No need to add in any “Oh no she didn’t” and “Girl! Are you serious?!”. Just give her the advice she’s looking for.

Small Doses- You may need to cut back on some of the time you spend with her all together. It’s easier to handle personalities like that in small doses. You care for her the same, but you do so from a distance.

-Tia Banks, Content Editor

Body Talk!

From social media influencers to getting an inside peek of celeb lifestyles, it’s easy to start playing the comparison game.  Being a teen oftentimes invites social pressures that can have you feeling out of place, isolated + constantly battling with body image. It can be difficult not to compare yourself to others when perfection is portrayed every time you scroll on Instagram. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in five teens ages 13-18, have or will have, a serious mental illness.

Knowledge is power + it’s important to learn more about yourself and how you perceive your body. We spoke with Jamie Manwaring, PhD, Primary Therapist from the Eating Recovery Center in Denver to give us additional insight on the impact of eating disorders and self-esteem.

Come join us for body talk!

With social media being so prevalent throughout teenage years, how has that affected the rate of eating disorders + depression of teens?

Many studies have recently shown strong correlations among the amount of social media used by teenagers, and their resulting body image dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, and symptoms of depression. We do not yet know if this has impacted the prevalence of eating or depressive disorders in teenagers, but social media can certainly provide unhelpful messages and triggers to teenagers at risk for these disorders, including a greater ability to compare to peers.

An eating disorder can lead to suicide or suicidal thoughts, how does struggling with body image create a sense of hopelessness?

We don’t know the exact mechanisms by which poor body image can lead to hopelessness, but we do know that body dissatisfaction predicts depression for girls, but not for boys (Bearman & Stice, 2008), although the relationship between poor body image and low self-esteem is similar for both genders (Davison & McCabe, 2006). For those who are unhappy with their bodies, this can create hopelessness due to being in your body all the time, and thus struggling to separate themselves from this component of their unhappiness.

Davison TE, McCabe MP.J Soc Psychol. 2006 Feb; 146(1):15-30. Adolescent body image and psychosocial functioning.
Bearman SK, Stice E. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2008 Nov; 36(8):1251-63. Testing a gender additive model: the role of body image in adolescent depression.

 

Being a teen and discovering your personality can be an intense emotional roller coaster, how can friends + family detect between teen moods and a potential mental illness?

It is normal and natural that teenagers want to gain their independence and often react harshly to their parents to achieve this outcome. This, in addition to their hormonal changes, can make it difficult to distinguish what is normal versus what deserves intervention. Given that teenagers typically want to spend time with friends and engage in extracurricular activities outside of the home, a change in this desire for a teenager may signal something more is going on for them than just a bad day. In general, look for the severity of their symptoms, the duration of their symptoms (a deterioration in mood that lasts two weeks or longer may indicate depression versus a bad mood), and how many domains their symptoms impact (e.g., at home, in school, and with friends). Finally, parents should always trust their intuition and talk to their teenager’s medical providers and teachers to obtain a better understanding of how the teenager is functioning.

Struggling with an eating disorder? Never be ashamed to reach out for help within a supportive community. Learn more here:

Eating Recovery Center

Campus Cuisine! Ramen Remix

Ramen has become the staple meal for any broke college student. It’s cheap and easy too make, which is why it’s the go-to meal option. Now lets mix it up! Here are three ways to enhance your bowl of ramen and take it to a gourmet level!

Tis the Seasoning! | Try adding some extra seasoning to your bowl of ramen. Sautee some garlic in a pan and add it in along with a little garlic powder and onions.

Breakfast Ramen | Add an egg (whatever style) along with some crumbled bacon. Now there’s no excuse for skipping breakfast anymore!

Spice it up! | If you like a little spice, add in some sriracha. Try a few drops for a little kick and a couple squirts for the spicy lover in you!

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-Tia Banks, Content Editor

Professor Shade?

Your parents may think you’re overreacting, but what do they know? There’s a possibility that your teacher is out to make your semester miserable. Ugh! We can’t pinpoint why but we can help you through it with these 3 survival tips:

Ask Around – Be observant of your teacher’s behavior and ask a classmate if they feel the same way. If they do, then you won’t be going through this semester alone!

Focus- Even when your teacher is in full savage mode, remain focused. Now is not the time to become the class clown to lighten the mood. Save it for your lunch period.

Talk to Them-This is the route for the bold and mature crowd. Speaking directly to a teacher in a respectful manner is a way to face the problem head on. Just remember this is not your peer so you mustn’t speak to them like one.

-Tia Banks, Content Editor

Period Alert!

Ugh! It’s that time of the month again and you’re dreading the week to come. PMS will have you angry one minute, sad the next, laughing after that, then back to shedding tears. It’s emotional AF. What’s a girl to do? Here are some tips on how to handle the madness!

Break A Sweat -Any kind of activity that increases your heart rate will be a huge help in improving your mood. Take at least 30 minutes out of your day to dance it out or try a yoga class.

Cravings? Although your body wants to eat the whole container of chocolate, opt for one piece to satisfy the craving. Then, grab a piece of fruit. It still has the sweetness you’re looking for but obviously a better option.

De-stress With The Squad-No one gets it like the girls who are going through it too. When you’re feeling super emotional, invite your girls over for a movie day. Get some advice from them on how they handle PMS.

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-Tia B., Content Editor

Friend Zone: Forget Or Forgive?

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Any relationship should be 50/50 and when you start to notice your friendship becoming strenuous, it might be because you are putting out more effort than you are receiving. Being taken advantage of by a friend isn’t worth it and here are 4 steps to take when you think it’s happening to you.

Give It A Second Look: Determine how the situation makes you feel. If the roles were reversed, would you have done the same thing to your friend like she did to you?

Benefit of The Doubt: Find out if she’s going through a tough time, which is causing her to change her behavior.

Be Assertive, Be Be Assertive: Tell her how you feel and how you think she has taken advantage of you whether it was just this one time or on multiple occasions.

Drop Her: ONLY IF NECESSARY. This is the bottom line. If what you’re saying is going in one ear, out the other, and behavior isn’t changing, it’s best for your own mental health to respectfully move on.

-Tia Banks, Content Editor