Got a question? We’ve got an answer. 

Tired of hearing about what your college experience might be like? Have some burning questions that you’re embarrassed to ask about? Look no further! The Advice Corner allows you to submit your questions anonymously to college students who have gone through anything and everything you could possibly think of. From college applications to black out nights to acing exams and graduation- we’ve done it. Submit your anonymous questions by clicking here. 

The post The Campus Companion Advice Corner appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Now that weed has become legal in Colorado and Oregon, and is already a common occurrence in a college student’s life, here is a look at what marijuana does your body.

So What is Weed, Really??

Pot comes from the dried flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa.  In this plant, there is one specific chemical, a cannabinoid, called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC for short). This is the chemical that makes you high.  Our bodies make our own cannabinoids, which bind to receptors in the brain and throughout the body and cause all kinds of different reactions.  When you put weed into your body (by joint, or by brownie, or any other method I’m not savvy enough to know about), the added cannabinoid THC from the cannabis plant increases the physiological changes caused by cannabinoids.

Marijuana and Your Brain

In the brain, there are receptors whose only job is to wait for cannabinoids to show up, so they can bind to them and form a molecule that signals changes throughout the brain, either by getting in the way of other chemicals or helping those chemicals be more effective.  In the hippocampus, the memory storing portion of the brain, THC sticks its molecular butt into pathways, blocking their signals.  One example is the pathway that forms short-term memory.  This might explain why, the last time you got high, you’re pretty sure you had the same conversation with the same person at least three different times on the same night.

Marijuana also causes a significant decrease in blood flow to the motor control part of the brain, the cerebellum.  Blood flowing anywhere in the body brings signals and essential molecules that help that part of the body function, and the brain is no different.  By decreasing blood flow to the cerebellum, marijuana lowers the power of this site. That glazed-over look you see in people who are high is from the cerebellum entering a hazy state where it has slowed down.  This down-regulation impairs reflexes, coordination, and movement.  That’s fine if you are sitting on your couch watching your roommate play Halo, but when you get behind the wheel of a car, you might find you can’t seem to hit the break quickly enough to avoid rear-ending the person in front of you.

Research has shown that long-term use of weed may cause permanent damage to the brain.  Because THC does such a great job of slowing everything down, with a lot of use, it can lead to long term depression in brain function.  More specifically, you may find it is harder to access previously learned information for problem solving and complex concepts.  Which might make it a bit hard to remember all those formulas on your next physics exam…

Marijuana in Your Blood

You have probably heard that if you smoke weed, it stays in your system for up to a month.  This happens because the chemical properties of THC make it really fat-friendly (lipophilic), so it happily squeezes itself into fat cells throughout the body.  It sits there until the body decides to use or recycle these fat cells, so blood concentrations of THC will rise and fall over a number of days, simply due to daily physiological changes of the body.

Marijuana and Your Appetite: The “Munchies”

Why does week-old anchovy pizza and Velveeta never look more appetizing than when you are high?

Appetite is regulated by two molecules: leptin and…you guessed it, cannabinoids.  Leptin decreases appetite by telling the brain when you are full.  Cannabinoids, naturally, do just the opposite and increase appetite.  Like I said before, when you use marijuana, you hop your body up on cannabinoids, and bam; even though you just ate Chick-fil-A an hour ago, you are hungry enough to eat an entire loaf of bread.  And a jumbo box of Goldfish. And maybe your roommate’s left-over queso from dinner three days ago.

Marijuana and Your Mood

Weed causes relaxation and euphoria because it acts on the limbic system, which is the main control center for emotions.  THC can increase feel-good reactions, but, depending on your mood, health, psychological state, marijuana can also increase panic. In some cases, weed causes psychosis or severe depression.  This is more common in those who are predisposed to anxiety, but there is no way to predict how your body will react each time you get high.

Finally, if you use marijuana often, or over a long period of time, you build a tolerance, because your body gets used to that overstimulation of cannabinoid receptors.  The body is lazy; it will do whatever it can to streamline its chemical reactions. If you use marijuana multiple times a week, your body realizes it doesn’t need to make its own cannabinoids anymore.  This is where you become dependent, because when you stop smoking your body still doesn’t make its normal levels of cannabinoids, causing withdrawal as the body attempts to correct itself.

Weed vs. Cigarettes: Which is Worse?

One of the best excuses I’ve heard for smoking weed is that it isn’t as harmful for the lungs as cigarettes.  But is that really true?  It turns out, yes, it might be.  One study found that smoking a joint a couple times a week (that’s a week, folks) was not as harmful as smoking a cigarette as often.  The chemicals in weed do not cause the lung problems associated with tobacco, meaning it might actually be a better alternative to smoking cigarettes.

However, weed affects your brain in ways that cigarettes do not.  It can interfere with your studies, your social life, and weight. But because weed doesn’t have nicotine, it isn’t nearly as addicting as tobacco products are.  Of course, a regular tobacco user tends to smoke a few cigarettes daily, while a regular marijuana user smokes a couple of times a month.  Lower smoking rates alone can contribute to the decreased effects on the lungs of weed.  Before you start proclaiming your weekly joint is not harmful to your lungs, keep in mind that studies are limited, and that weed users have shown increased throat irritation as opposed to cigarette users, so while weed might not be hurting the lungs, it could be bothering other parts of the body.

Marijuana has many practical uses.  Chemotherapy patients use it to combat nausea, those with chronic pain use it to help alleviate that pain, and college students use it to help chill out.  The key is moderation; like with any other drug, marijuana can be habit forming and cause harmful, potentially permanent, changes to the body and mind with excessive use. And don’t forget, if you want to look good for the spring break season, smoking a bowl and then steadily working your way through an extra-large pepperoni pizza probably isn’t doing you any favors.

The post This Is You On Marijuana appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Yet, given the unnatural amount that most college students consume, your coffee addiction could very well be killing you. According to the Mayo Clinic, the ideal amount of coffee is 200-300 mgs (2-4 cups…real cups, not thermoses). Anything more than that over a long period of time can lead to gastrointestinal issues, ulcers, anxiety, and insomnia (not the kind you were hoping for to get your paper done).

But, aside from the health risks, there are other reasons to cut the coffee out. 1) It’s pretty expensive, particularly if you’re making pit stops at Starbucks for Macchiatos. 2) The crash you experience post-breaking the seal is miserable and only makes you want to make a stronger cup. 3) It’s bad for your complexion, teeth, and breath. 4) It fucks up your tastebuds.

You might say it’s all worth it just to maintain your academic and social functionality, but what if there is another way…one that also doesn’t require the use of energy drinks or Ritalin?

Believe it or not, it is possible to exist in this world as a human being without coffee. My first year out of college when I was living in China, I had to totally forgo coffee because it was a rarity and difficult as fuck to find cheap. For me, giving up coffee was a big deal, particularly since I’d been consuming it on a regular basis since the age of 13 (and the reason why I’m only 5’4″). I’m not going to lie, I had some major headaches my first week off of coffee, and I had to supplement my intake of green tea with some Tylenol. But, honestly, once I got over that hurdle, it was a breeze and I could rest easy at night knowing that I wasn’t shelling out 80 yuan for a cup of coffee.

Also, for once I didn’t feel as though my life would end without consuming a cup of coffee. It was kind of scary how totally dependent on coffee I had become while in college, and it felt truly liberating to realize that I was the same reasonably intelligent and sociable person without that cup of coffee.

It might be a huge ordeal to quit coffee mid-semester, but remember, coffee in moderation is actually great for you. The key is making sure to stay the middle course. Try using some of these tricks to help keep you within that 2-4 cup range, so coffee won’t ruin your life:

1. Tea Time

After 2 PM, cut yourself off from the coffee and switch over to black tea. It’ll give you a similar boost, and it’s also so much better for you (fewer calories, more antioxidants, won’t corrode your stomach) and so much cheaper. Plus, you can easily transport it in your pocket, so if you start feeling the sleepies midway through a 3 pm lecture, you can always duck out for a cup of water, brew, and imbibe.

2. Exercise

Yes, counter-intuitive in some ways because if you have a real workout that pushes you, you’re going to feel a little tired and achey afterwards. But, to quote the iconic Elle Woods, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands.” That’s right, you can reach a point where exercise can replace your need for coffee to curb any murderous tendencies. Have you ever noticed how effortlessly you can accomplishing things when you’re in a good mood. Well, regular exercise will give you that natural high and build your stamina on top of it. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that it’s a great way to physically hash out any anxiety or stress you have while also keeping you looking good.

3. Put Your Contacts In

This is a weird one, but I swear it works. There’s something about putting two circular discs in your eyes that makes them open up and alert to the world around you. All of the colors are brighter and the lines are sharper. It’s like switching your TV from Low-Def to Hi-Def.

4. Carrot Juice

Carrot juice has long been touted as the key to good eyesight, bones and teeth, and liver, as well as helping to reduce the chances of getting many types of cancer, including breast and skin cancer. But, believe it or not, carrot juice is a great natural substitute for caffeine products because within seconds of taking a few gulps, your eyes open up almost immediately. Although I can’t vouch for the taste (personally, I detest it), at least you’re drinking something extremely healthy that’s also helping you to curb the caffeine addiction.

5. Napping

This is so key. Allowing yourself to sleep when you’re tired is probably the cheapest and easiest way to get you off of coffee. You don’t need to be awake until 3 AM every single night to get your work done. It’s all about efficiency and quite frankly, you’re probably doing your best working within a 3 hour time-frame. So why try to trudge through 8 hours of mediocre work, battling the sleepies with massive amounts of coffee, when you can nap for at least 2 of those hours and get all of your work done in 3 highly productive hours? Napping is also a great way to break up any writer’s block you have because you wake up with a fresh start. Consider it over that cup of coffee that only gets you half the way there.

The post How to Pass Classes Without Being Addicted to Coffee appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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After a full night of working on my Lauren Slater paper for my Lying, Cheating, and Stealing seminar, I stumbled into my dorm room at about 1 pm, ready for an epic afternoon nap. Not even bothering to change into pjs, I took the bare effort of tossing my boots and sliding into bed, with my contacts still in my eyes. I tossed and turned for a bit, having reached the point where I was too tired to fall asleep. Thoughts of how much my paper sucked and how I never wanted to get out of bed because eventually I’d have to be confronted by a terrible grade drifted through my head until I finally fell asleep.

At some point the dorm fire alarm sounded, and I knew I had to get up and go outside. With great difficulty I managed to muster open a single eyelid, and I could hear the trampling sounds of several people walking down the stairs near my room. The alarm was still ringing, and as I looked around the room through blurry vision, I realized that I could not physically lift my head. Panic started to settle in as I realized that it was not just my head that I could not move, but my arms and legs were completely limp and all my mental efforts to move were not being executed by my limbs. I was wide awake, but my body was not, and I was trapped inside of it for what felt like hours. After panically reciting a few prayers, thinking I was about to die, I managed to somehow put my mind back to sleep, and the next time I woke up, I could fully move again.

This wasn’t the first time that I had experienced sleep paralysis. I could recall experiencing a similar sensation my senior fall of high school, but at the time I just assumed it was either a very lucid nightmare or just something I was mentally conjuring up before I’d actually wake up. It wasn’t until this horrifying fire alarm experience that I realized this “dream about being paralyzed” was actually happening and wasn’t a dream at all.

What is sleep paralysis?

Sleep paralysis is when your mind is in an active state of consciousness, but your body is still in a state of atonia, so you can’t physically move or even speak. Before it was recognized as a medical condition, cultures from East Asia to Africa to Japan to Europe found ways to attribute this occurrence to demonic forces pressing upon the body during sleep. In Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, references to incubus and succubus, various demons that would lie on top of humans, were made and possibly formed the basis of some of the accusations made during the Salem Witch Trials. Actually, a recent study found that 90% of Mexican adolescents interviewed described sleep paralysis as a “dead body climbed on top of me.”

Sleep paralysis really isn’t as scary as all that, but in the moment of experiencing total incapacitation, it is truly horrifying. Before I knew what it was, I would wake up shivering and crying, and I would have to turn on the lights and watch TV or read before I could fall back asleep. Fortunately, aside from the panic factor, there really is nothing harmful about sleep paralysis, and its worst it has some distant link to narcolepsy.

What causes it?

Sleep paralysis usually occurs as you fall asleep or as you wake up from sleeping. The causes vary, but most often it can be attributed to loss of sleep/changes in sleep patterns, stress, sleeping on your back, underlying mood disorders, narcolepsy, and even substance abuse. For me, I’ve usually found that it occurs either during moments of high stress or if I’m laying on my back while napping in the middle of the afternoon. The times it occurred most frequently were during my senior year of high school, junior and senior year of college, and my first year of law school, all of which were high-stress periods. Very few formal studies exist on the frequency of the occurrence of sleep paralysis among college students, but my bet is that it can get pretty high around exam time and most people don’t recognize what it is.

How to treat it:

There is no real way to treat sleep paralysis, but I’ve found that just having an awareness of what it is has helped reduce the panic factor when it does happen. At this point it’s been ingrained in my head that this is just a weird harmless thing like the hiccups, and I know to talk myself into going back to sleep when it happens. Initially, I’d get thrown into major panic mode, which only made the sleep paralysis worse. The key is to finding a way to relax so that your mind can go back to sleep and re-awake with your body.

The post Sleep Paralysis: The College Curse appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Are you ready for this?

1. The (stereotypical) Beach Trip

Remember all those random MTV specials of college kids in Cancun? Now’s your time to shine! Head down to where it’s sunny, beachy, and boozy and you’ve got your stereotypical Spring Break. While many of these Spring Break attractions can be sketchy, there’s no doubt that partying for a straight week has its perks (and it’s fair share of interesting stories). Be warned, your Miami getaway could cost a lot when considering the budget of the average college student. With thousands of other schools on Spring Break at the same time, chances are prices are already going up for hotels motels and flights. So grab your closest friends, a swim suit, some sunscreen and try not to be filmed by MTV…that really could come back to haunt you.

2. Road trip

Got friends? Got a car? Got some money for gas? That’s it! Your set for a road trip to any destination of your choosing (within reason). The alumni who interviewed me during the admissions process for my school told me about a junior year road trip from Rhode Island to Alaska that was planned in one night..and eventually came to define his entire college experience. He had me sold on that one. So, make sure your travel buddies are the type of people that you won’t want to strangle after a few hours in the car and head out! The beauty of road tripping is that you never know what you might come across. There’s got to be a museum of yarn somewhere that will pique your interests. Think about it: this is one of the only times in your life that you can get up and go, with no strings attached and no serious responsibilities.

Ready to take a Road Trip? Map it out.

3. Charity

Every school has the alternative spring break option: dedicating your week to charitable work. Whether you’re in Haiti or only a few blocks from your school, giving back to communities can be a great learning experience that could potentially change your life and the lives of people around you. Whether you’re building houses, teaching classes, or offering support, alternative spring breaks offer up a world of opportunity to make small scale changes that impact the lives of others. Remember how you told your college interviewer how much you wanted to change the world? Here you go…

Turn your Spring Break into your chance to change the world.

4. Go Home

Even though there are so many options for spring break, there is absolutely no shame in going home for your week off. Going home means home cooked food, showering without flipflops, enjoying family time, and simply recovering from the stresses of college life. Kick back, relax, and catch up on all of your TV shows or stop by your old high school for a visit. Catch up with some old friends and relive your high school glory days.

Go home and snuggle with your puppy.

5. Make up your own adventure. Right now.

None of these options catching your fancy? Alright here’s a challenge: figure out what you want to do, where you want to go, and just DO IT. I will bet that if you ask your friends if they’re interested in accompanying you on a self-financed backpacking journey through Europe, there’s at least one person who would totally be on board. I hate to bring back YOLO, but YOLO! Go out there and see the world before we all have to sell our souls to corporate America. Do it, I dare you.

Go on an adventure!

The post The Spring Break Conundrum appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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One out of every 4 college students is estimated to be suffering from a diagnosable mood disorder.  In 2009, 46% of college students said they “felt helpless” at least once, and almost 33% felt so depressed that it was difficult for them to complete daily activities. And yet, less than 1/3 of these people ever seek help or treatment. Suicide is the number 3 cause of death among people ages 15-24, and is the second leading cause of death amongst college students ages 20-24.  Almost 19% of people in these age brackets attempt suicide each year.

The Science Behind Depression

So what is depression?  As it turns out, depressive disorders are due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, something that is wholly out of our control, and often not caused by any clear “traumatic” event.  The most common chemical imbalance in the brain causing depression is low serotonin.  Serotonin is a neurotransmitter (a molecule that signals the brain to do certain things, react certain ways, basically an instruction) that is associated with happiness.  It signals the pleasure reward, enthusiasm, relaxation, and calming.  It helps regulate sleep patterns and energy levels in the body.

Serotonin levels can become disrupted a number of ways.  Often, it is genetic.  We all have genes that regulate the amount of neurotransmitters, among thousands of other things in the body.  If someone in your family, like a mother, grandmother, even aunt or uncle, has a history of depression, that genetic makeup could be passed to you.

However, your genes may act of their own accord.  Your body just might not signal enough serotonin release, for no traceable reason.  The third cause of depression is related to social interactions.  Moving to a new place, trouble at home, and traumatic experiences all put strain on the mind, activating neurotransmitters that can lead to an imbalance of serotonin (among other chemicals) in the brain.  However, depression is not caused by social problems alone.  It can come on suddenly, and often without obvious explanation.

The most important thing I think we should all remember about depression is that it is a chemical imbalance in the brain, and not something you can control, especially not alone.  Sometimes, it lasts for a short time and then the body is able to correct itself, but more often than not, depression is a long-lasting illness and requires treatment.  This ranges from antidepressant medication (that allows the brain to have access to more serotonin) to therapy, where a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist guides you to address the stresses causing the chemical imbalance, and assists in easing those stresses or giving you options to release anger or frustration.

Some Warning Signs..

-feeling down or sad

-getting overly bogged down by small things, where one bad moment seems to permeate and ruin your whole day

-losing sleep, or having difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep

-wanting to sleep all the time, or wanting to crawl into bed and be left alone for days on end

-feeling irritated or angry with yourself or those around you for little things, often without warning, especially things that didn’t irritate in the past

-loss of appetite or increase of appetite

-headache, body ache

-difficulty concentrating, often getting lost in your thoughts

-thoughts of harming or killing yourself, planning to harm yourself, or wondering what will happen if you do harm or kill yourself

-increased alcohol or drug use

Types of Depression:

This is a list of the categories depression may fall into:

-dysthymia: symptoms of depression that are long lasting, but do not seriously affect your daily life.  This type of depression is like a constant, nagging sadness or emptiness that you can distract yourself from, but that seems to never fully go away

-major depressive disorder: symptoms of depression that are more severe, to the point where they do start to seriously impact your life and day-to-day activities.  Major depression can happen in episodes, lasting for days or weeks at a time, and can happen once or over numerous periods during your lifetime.  It is the kind of depression that you cannot get out of your head, where every task seems impossible or useless.

-bipolar disorder: cycling mood changes, with severe highs (often called mania, because it makes you feel super overcharged) and lows.  These periods often come with stretches of normal feelings in between.  Mood switches can be gradual or rapid.  A period of mania is followed by a period of depression.

Depression and College

College means a lot of changes and anxiety, from moving out of your house to making new friends to deciding your future to taking on difficult classes.

A study on college students found that students more inclined to have depression or depressive episodes tend to choose majors in the arts and humanities.  Creative writing, for example, and fine art are both associated with higher levels of students reporting, or seeking treatment for, depression.  Students in the math and sciences (like physics, chemistry, or engineering) had the lowest reported rates of depression and mood disorders.  However, this does not mean that if you are majoring in engineering, you aren’t ever going to be depressed, and if you are a creative writer, you probably have or will develop depression.  Many outside factors contribute to depression, and it can happen to anyone.

Seeking Help

Many schools have free or cheap mental health services.  My school, for example, offers counseling (including a nutritionist who specializes in eating disorders) free of charge to students.  I have visited the center myself, and encourage many of my friends to go when they are having a tough time.  I know from personal experience that it is hard to go to a stranger and admit that you are having a rough time and maybe even need serious help.  However, I promise you, if you are feeling down or just need to vent, giving the counseling center at your school a chance could be the difference between whether you have a terrible year or a great one.  Don’t be afraid to look around, either.  Sometimes, certain counselors work great for some people, but not others.  Seeking help is the best thing you can do for yourself, because it could be the difference between having a fantastic college experience or having a terrible one.

The post The Illness Nobody Wants to Talk About: Depression appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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Where did aspartame come from? 

Aspartame was allowed for use in solid foods in the eighties, followed shortly by approval for drinks.  Hello, Diet Coke.  It is now used in over 6000 products. Aspartame is the primary sweetener in low calorie or zero-calorie soft drinks, like diet sodas, and is also found in hundreds of different foods, including yogurts, cereal, flavored water, chewing gum, and pasta sauces. Most “sugar-free” or “diet” foods contain aspartame, which can be listed as NutriSweet, AminoSweet, Equal, or Splenda.

Why is it bad?

While it sounds like a wonderful alternative to sugar, Aspartame has been getting a lot of negative attention since it was first legalized in the United States.  When you ingest it, the components of aspartame work like neurotransmitters, or molecules that signal neurons in your brain that control the rest of your body.  Aspartame signals the body that it is receiving sugar, so the body responds to digest that sugar by releasing insulin for sugar breakdown.  However, because the body is not actually receiving sugar, it is looking to process something that isn’t there.  As a result, the body craves more sugar, because it now thinks it needs it.  Therefore, you start to crave more sugar, or more aspartame, in order to sooth that lack of nutrients.

Cancer, Depression, and Weight Gain

Aspartame has also been linked to cancer growth in rats. This is thought to be due to the way the false sweetness of aspartame causes the overexcitement of neurons to signal cellular reactions.  When the cells become overactive, they may overwork themselves, and have a higher chance of becoming damaged.  These damaged cells then continue to multiply, and cause tumor growth and damage to the surrounding cells. Because aspartame is not a molecule the body would normally encounter in nature, the body has no clue how to handle it.

In addition to potentially causing cancerous growth, aspartame has been linked to up to 92 physical side effects. One study found that when depressed patients were given an aspartame pill, their symptoms of depression worsened or did not improve, even with treatment.

Because of its makeup, aspartame is not detectable in the blood, so it is difficult to diagnose a toxic overload of it.  However, the US Food and Drug Administration attributes migraines, uncontrollable blood sugar, and weight gain to regular ingestion of aspartame.  In fact, one study found that regularly drinking two diet sodas a day caused a 500% increase in waist circumference, and those who drink diet soda regularly are more likely to gain weight each year than those who do not.

What can I do?

If, like me, you are an avid gum chewer and diet soda drinker, this new can be daunting.  I recently undertook a project for an immersion journalism class to cut as many chemical additives and artificial sweeteners from my diet as possible for one month, and write about the experience.  I am only on day 2, and I’ll admit, I craved the Diet Coke and packaged foods throughout most of my classes today (but, it did keep me awake!).  I looked up some information on aspartame withdrawal (which apparently is a thing) and many experts say it can take two weeks to thirty days to completely withdraw from aspartame without symptoms.  And I’ll tell you, so far it has sucked.  But because I told my professor I would write a paper on it, and because the research I did for writing this post scared the crap out of me, I am going to stick with it, and I encourage you to try it as well.  But be prepared, the symptoms of withdrawal include lethargy, headache, nausea, and tremors.

The post The Dangerous Chemical in Your Diet Soda and Food: Aspartame appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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At 9:50 I scurried up the stairs to the reception area. “Hey Joanne, I’ll be right back. I just have to move my car,” was how I reminded the school receptionist that 10 AM was fast approaching. Being only an Adjunct, I didn’t have access to the Faculty Parking Lot, whose spaces were assigned to those who had passed the 15-year mark. All others had to subject themselves to the torture of finding a parking spot on the streets of Providence every 2 hours because of a stupid ordinance Cicilline passed while mayor. After wracking up 3 parking tickets in the span of a month, I knew better than to risk leaving my fate in the hands of the vigilant Providence meter maids.

Starting the car parked on Waterman, I took a quick left onto Cooke and then cruised down to the intersection of Angell and Hope. Not a spot to be found next to the school, so I turn right onto Hope, swing a left onto Cushing, and hope for the best as I approach Thayer. Cars line both sides of the street indicating an ominous parking situation, but I take a chance on seeing what I find once I turn left onto Thayer. Shit. Thayer is one way and there are cars parked bumper to bumper on both sides…except, a Sequoia is pulling out from East Side Pockets. Oh crap. I don’t think I can slide into the slot. Shit. I’ve got to parallel park. Goddamnit.

Okay, Sara, that Sequoia was a beast of an automobile. I know you’re driving an SUV, but you’ve got this. Shit! That was the curb. Crap. I can’t tell if I have enough room to cut it without hitting anything. Wait. Let me try pulling out and doing it again. STOP HONKING AT ME ASSHOLE! I. SEE. YOU. GIVE ME A BREAK–I THINK IT’S CLEAR TO YOU THAT I CAN’T PARALLEL PARK. THE HONKING IS NOT HELPING THE SITUATION, YOU MOTHERFUC…SHIT! That was the curb again. You know what forget it. I’ll just go to Charlesfield and just walk.

I got my driver’s license on my first try in January 2005. Yet, because the Rhode Island DMV is more ridiculous than most DMVs, I was never tested on parallel parking. As a result, I never really learned how to parallel park. The combination of never owning a car, heavily relying on public transportation, going to a school with a walkable campus, and living abroad meant that I never really drove all that much anyway, let alone parallel parked like a pro. Yet, as I gave up that spot in search of another one I could just slide right into, I noticed that the car that was honking at me was being driven by someone who was probably only 18 and who very deftly managed to parallel park. At the age of 24, maybe I can’t blame the Rhode Island DMV for my driving deficiencies anymore. This got me thinking about all of the other things we really should be able to do by the time we hit our 20s.

1. Swallowing Pills

I had an outstanding warrant on this one until a couple of years ago. Where most 12-year-olds could swallow whole capsules without even a cup of water, I had to buy the liquid Tylenol, the sole market of which is supposed to be the senior citizen crowd. I used Dimetapp well into my college years, and if I ever had to travel to a country that required taking malaria pills, I’d have to break up the pills in water or juice and then consume it.

It wasn’t until I was living in China 2 years ago that I finally learned how to swallow pills. I had developed a respiratory infection, and the only way to treat it was to swallow these pills that looked like Smints. My Chinese was limited at the time, but I understood that if I wanted to get rid of this nasty cough, I’d have to swallow my fears and swallow those pills.

This is a skill to work on, my friends. Pills are a lot cheaper than the liquid varieties, and once you hit your mid-20s, all sorts of weird illnesses and ailments start to pop up that require prescription meds, most of which only come in pill form.

2. Driving

Yes, New Yorkers, this one is being directed at you. I distinctly remember in my freshman year going to some event that required showing an official ID and seeing one of my New York friends pulling out her passport. She had lived in the City her entire life, and the only times she had ever ridden in a car were in taxis to and from the airport. Otherwise, it was all about the public transportation for her.

I’ll be the first to say that I would take public transportation over driving any day of the week because I’m a big fan of subways and trains. But, at some point, you do need to learn how to drive, otherwise you’ll restrict yourself in everything from your job hunt to relationships to general activities and exploration. Plus, you don’t want to be put in that situation where you’re on a business trip with some colleagues, and they ask you to drive the rental.

3. Cooking/Baking

You will save so much money if you learn how to do this. Takeout can only sustain you for so long. Plus making your own food is a lot healthier because you can actually see what’s going into your meal. At the very least, learn how to make pancakes, because even if the person you’re dating doesn’t like pancakes, they will always appreciate it when someone makes it for them.

4. Cleaning a Toilet

Boys, if you’re going to suck at aiming and if you’re going to leave the toilet seat up all of the time and if you’re going to puke in it after a crazy night out, at the very least learn how to clean the toilet bowl. Believe it or not, they sell these things called toilet bowl brushes that put you at a good arm’s length away from the toilet. Also, most cleaners have bleach in it, so that should help with the grossness factor. If you put in the minimal effort of maintaining the cleanliness of your toilet every 2 weeks, you’ll save yourself a lot of hassel and disgust.

5. Ironing

Dress pants are hard. I get it. You have to get the crease just right.

6. Talking on the Phone

We live in the age of texting, and I get that. I hate talking on the phone. But, it’s a life skill that should be learned, because your grandparents and some of your parents still haven’t caught up to 2012 yet. Also, talking on the phone with confidence is critical because when you start applying to jobs, the screening process for in-person interviews is often conducted entirely on the phone.

7. Gender-Specific Tasks

Using a Tampon

I imagine any guy who just read this subtitle flinched violently, so move on to the next one if menstruation causes you severe discomfort (join the club…we deal with it every month). What’s interesting about this one is the girls who I know who are afraid to use tampons are all sexually active.  That little string is pretty strong, and I assure you that your tampon will not get stuck inside of you. If it does, just go to the doctor. As for all of the scary TSS warnings, just make sure you wash your hands before and after, and you should be fine. Tampons will make your life so much easier because they’re super convenient to carry around and sneak into the bathroom when you’re in the middle of class.

Tying a Tie

At 17, my brother still can’t do this, and all of his ties have zippers. I have very little faith that he will learn this skill before the age of 20. Because the zip ties mostly cater to 10-year-olds going to weddings for the first time, they all have little sailboats on them. Do yourself a solid and learn how to tie a tie just so you can get some variety in your life.

8. Changing a Lightbulb

My first two years of college, I would totally avoid screwing the bulbs into my awesome floor lamp. My dad would do it on Move-In Day, and then I’d have him change them again when he came to visit and one happened to be out. But, in my junior year, I moved in to my dorm all on my own, and so I had to bite the bullet and learn how to do it for myself. Believe it or not, it’s actually one of the easiest tasks in the world, but for some reason I was always super afraid that once I put in the bulb and plugged in the cord, the lamp would explode.

9. Writing a Check

Plastic and cash don’t work for everything as one of my TAs found out the hard way. The looks on the faces when she asked me where her signature went on the check were priceless.

10. Laundry

Oh come on! This is something you should have learned how to do before you ever set foot on a college campus. This one girl in the year above me was filthy rich and always sent her laundry out. Don’t be sad. There’s no need to ever have to do this.

11. Using a Coffee Machine

I am a coffee junkie, yet I have never used a coffee pot. All of that filter nonsense kind of intimidates me, and I avoid getting coffee at one of the school’s I teach at because I’m afraid of screwing up the machine. If I ever make coffee at home, I buy the instant stuff and I heat the water in the microwave. Otherwise, I stick with tea. I’m in no hurry to rectify this flaw.

12. Reading a Map

For a girl, I have a pretty excellent sense of direction and a way with maps. It mostly comes from having lived in Beijing where for at least 3 months I didn’t know how to read street signs in Chinese, and so I had to rely on landmarks and subway stations in order to figure out where I was and where I needed to be. But, for some odd reason, most girls are truly terrible at reading maps. Listen, ladies when you do get lost with a guy, be it your best friend, brother, boyfriend, or husband, you will need to figure out how to read the map that he clearly misread. It will save you hours of pain and frustration trying to figure out where you are and possibly save your relationship.

13. Waking Up Before 8 AM

This is just a good life skill to have even while you’re in college because it will just give you so much more time to do things. The hardest part about working at internships during the summers in college was altering that college mentality of 10:30 AM being an early morning. I definitely was not at my personal best at 7 AM, and sadly it did reflect in my work performance at one of my internships (it also didn’t help that my coworkers would just blatantly take naps at their desks during the middle of the day, but apparently that’s a normal thing in China). Seriously, though, waking up early will just enrich your life and also give you somewhat of a psychological advantage because while you’re fellow collegians are snoozing, you’ll be cruising.

14. Drinking Responsibly

When you go home this winter break after spending a semester of drinking without consequences, don’t be driving drunk. Ever. A DUI will be the least of your problems after you’re on trial for involuntary manslaughter for killing the parents of a toddler in a New Year’s Eve crash.

15. Killing Spiders

I’ve found that when I’m with people whose well-being is in my hands, like my students for example, I’m more willing to sack up and kill these vindictive, furry beasts. If there’s a man around, I’ll scream and let him take care of it. Although for the sake of everyone’s eardrums, try to get over it and just kill. At least you saw it before you went to bed and it ended up on your face.

16. Using a Lighter

If you don’t smoke or if you don’t live in a third world country where blackouts are frequent, you probably never have had the occasion to use a lighter. But, it’s a nifty thing to learn how to do in the event that a storm knocks down your power lines or if you have to light the candles for your niece’s birthday cake.

17. Applying Eyeliner

This one isn’t so much about the fear of impaling yourself with a crayon as it is about perfecting the line around your eyes. If you’ve never used it, it’s pretty easy to live without, unless you’re cornered by a department store makeup artist. Such a thing happened to me when I was studying abroad in England, and I was shopping for mascara for this May Ball I was attending. This large Lebanese woman accosted me and asked if I was planning on applying eyeliner. Like an idiot, I said no. She held me hostage for an hour until I could do a reasonable job of applying it.

18. Typing Properly

Remember when you had to take keyboarding classes in middle school. Turns out they were on to something. It takes so much less time to write essays when you learn how to type properly because you can actually focus on your ideas and writing rather than trying to find “K” on the keyboard.

19. Picking up Hair from Shower Drain

As much fun as it is to severely annoy your brothers and sisters by not picking your hair out of the drain, your fellow dorm-mates will not appreciate it and will find ways to make your life hell. After a few weeks, everyone knows who the culprit is, so don’t think you’ll get away with it, even if you do have blonde hair.

20. Being on Time

Aside from rudeness, nothing grates on me more than people who are late. It’s something I’ve had to deal with my whole life because my entire extended family runs on CPT (Colored People Time). I’ve carried this pet peeve of mine with me into the professional world where I’ll be significantly less likely to hire someone if they’re even a minute late.

The mastery of this could very well determine whether or not you get hired, whether or not you get beyond the first date, and whether or not you make that midnight train going anywhere.

The post 20 Life Skills We *Should* Have Mastered Before Our 20s appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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According to a new study, the bright lights in your classroom at school could be harming your ability to learn and drive you to depression. Even reading on your iPad, surfing the web on your laptop and watching TV late into the night could be bad for your mental health.

The study, published in the scientific journal Nature, was conducted by Samer Hattar, a professor at John Hopkins University. Hattar subjected mice to 3.5 hours of light followed by 3.5 hours of darkness for a two-week period. According to Hattar, the mice in the experiment began to exhibit signs of depression as well as increased amounts of cortisol, a stress hormone, and showed difficulty in learning and information retention.

“Of course, you can’t ask mice how they feel, but we did see an increase in depression-like behaviors, including a lack of interest in sugar or pleasure seeking, and the study mice moved around far less during some of the tests we did,” Hattar said. “They also clearly did not learn as quickly, or remember tasks as well. They were not as interested in novel objects as were mice on a regular light-darkness cycle schedule.”

The study found that chronic exposure to bright light at night elevates cortisol, a stress hormone that can cause depression and reduce brain function.

“Expose yourself to bright light in the day and avoid it at night,” suggested Samer Hattar, “That will keep the ipRGCs that affect mood from being activated.”

The researchers created light-exposure patterns for the mice that allowed the scientists to rule out the possibility that circadian rhythm and sleep disruption were responsible for the changes in learning and mood that they observed.

While we may not be able to do much to get rid of the fluorescent lights found in most college classrooms and apartments, Dr. Hattar suggests using applications for your phone or laptop that allows you to lower the amount of blue light that is emitted. Also, something as simple as turning off the main light when you are studying and just keeping on a desk light can help.

“See how much you can lower the intensity [of the light] so you can still see comfortably, but you are not exposed to incredibly bright light,” Hattar said. “Get more bright light during the day and limit it at night. It is really actually quite simple. The discovery is quite interesting, but the remedy is quite simple.”

A similar study, conducted by Ohio State University researchers and published earlier this year in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, between bright lights and depression, except with hamsters.

Although it may not be conclusive information since the studies were performed on mice and hamsters, it is still good to consider the research. Bright lights could be the difference between passing a class or having better mental health.

For more information about Samer Hattar and this study, visit: The Hub

The post Turn Off the Lights: Bright Lights and Depression appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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“One thing at a time” has been my mantra when I get overwhelmed. I find myself saying this more and more as finals come around. There never seems to be enough hours in the day to complete all the things that need to get done before the semester ends.

It’s not like I don’t see it coming. I started my finals preparation two weeks in advance this semester. Still, here I am, pontificating about how I’m going to get such a prodigious workload done in such a short period of time. I’ve come to realize that this feeling is inevitable—and you should too.

I need to preface this by saying that I’m the kind of person who always feels like he’s never doing enough. I overload myself to avoid the feeling of unproductiveness. I loathe unproductiveness. What I’ve reluctantly come to accept is that it happens to many people. So I’ll be brief with my insight as I know you should be studying and not procrastinating with this column.

I could sit here and give you some kind of list about the five best things to do to prepare for finals, but I’d feel like a phony. Everyone is different. Drinking a sixer of Redbulls and popping Adderall all night might be a terrible solution for some of us. It is for me.

I’ve heard all the typical finals-week horror stories. Last year, I remember watching some poor freshman lose grasp of her own mind. She had to be escorted out by her friends—tears streaming down her face. It’s a real issue that needs to be taken seriously.

The only thing I can offer you is my mantra—and that’s to take one thing at a time.

As I write this, I currently have six projects due next week…and then finals. God forbid you have to work too like myself and a lot of other college students do. The situation makes you feel vulnerable because it seems so insurmountable—like it’s out of your hands. I’m telling you it’s not though. You just need to take one step back. View things like a recipe out of a cookbook. Sure, you can do some preparation, but in order to finish, you need to go step-by-step. I’m telling you to analyze one thing at a time.

Take a minute to push the notion of blowing your brains out aside. Stop focusing on everything that needs to be done. Believe me, it’s too overwhelming anyway. This is a universal dilemma. So logically, taking your workload and chopping it up into individual tasks will help maintain your sanity.

I must admit, it’s therapeutic just to write about this process. It makes things feel more manageable. That’s all anyone wants during finals week—isn’t it?

Whatever your dead week ritual is; whether you put yourself on a strict diet of caffeine and uppers or sleep more than usual, just remember this mantra: one thing at a time. It works with whatever finals regiment you’re on and can improve your quality of life during future arduous endeavors—like next semester’s finals.

The post One Thing At A Time: Sanity In The Time of Finals appeared first on The Campus Companion.

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