There’s one thing every college student has to deal with: money. Whether earning it, spending it or losing it—it’s a constant struggle. For many students, college is the first time in their lives they’re completely on their own. They all deal with finances differently. Some find jobs, while others continue […]
Month: May 2010
This is not a movie. College does not revolve around keggers and frat parties. The biggest concern is not what outfit to wear to the bar, despite what Hollywood thinks. College is not that final you somehow pass after skipping class for a full semester. It is not large rooms […]
College kids love to party. The average student has seen or tried it all. Drugs and alcohol are an escape. Some drink to forget their social embarrassment. Others take drugs to fit in. Some do it to run away from everything. But a night of debauchery can easily turn into […]
It was a beautiful fall day, and my college buddies and I were out enjoying the nice weather by shopping in town. We stopped in the boutiques and head shops that line the streets of New Paltz and finally made our way to the candy store. A sign on the […]
Just back from my shift at Moonlight Café, I open the door to our second-floor apartment. The smell of pot comes pushing down the stairs, looking for an exit. As I start up the stairs, I can hear their baby-like mumbles and the click-click of defunct lighters over the TV […]
“Sam, quit fuckin’ around and take this delivery, will ya? It’s been on top of the oven for 10 minutes now!” George, my boss, yelled to me from the sweaty, closet-sized kitchen as he ladled marinara sauce. I loaded the order into the passenger seat of my dented 2001 Civic, the smell […]
“He’s been cheating on you for six months,” Matt, my boyfriend’s best friend, says. I don’t even know how to react. My hands tremble. I’m surrounded by his friends, and he’s supposed to be meeting me here. But he’s with her. I live over 200 miles away from him when […]
Beep! Beep! Beep! I look up and take my receipt and the crisp $20 bill. My bank account has now dwindled down to $63.47. I walk across the parking lot and into my friend Dave’s car. Two college students away from home with no jobs results in diminishing bank accounts. […]
3:30 a.m. I’m up drinking one of those cold Starbuck’s drinks with two shots of espresso in them that I bought at Hawk Station. I sit at my desk determined to revise the pile of papers to my right and read the pile of sociological research to my left, all […]
“Does anyone have any questions?” “Yeah, how quickly can I drop this ball-buster of a class,” Leighann muttered in as she flipped through the seven-page syllabus. Professor Salerno continued talking about the importance of reading textbooks and actively participating in class. She stared straight out into the lecture hall, not […]
Lisa patiently waits to enter room 306 in Van den Berg Hall for her appointment. She needs to sign up for classes for next semester, but must get them approved first by her adviser. As a girl with an orange backpack rushes out, Lisa rises from the uncomfortable metal seat […]
I’ve got deadlines and places to go, people to interview, you know, being a journalism undergraduate. Alex is a junior studying physics at SUNY New Paltz. We’re dumpster-diving through New Paltz streets during garbage week instead of doing homework. “I’m going to get my insurance policy tomorrow, go to the […]
“I understand the loathing, but what really bothers me about this novel is the word fear. It’s just so ambiguous.” “Oh, I completely agree. The ambiguity is really the issue. This guy has nothing on real academics.” A friend sitting in the next desk over looks at me and rolls […]
My cousin was driving me back to school from visiting her in New Jersey for the weekend. We were somewhere up the Thruway when she said it. “It’s cool that you love your guy friends so much, but what are you going to do later?” Later? I thought. All I […]
“What classes are you going to today?” My roommate Elizabeth is daubing on her makeup, glancing at me in the mirror. I’m maneuvering myself through the tiny room, simultaneously getting dressed and stumbling over the rain boots of our third roommate, Michelle. “Uh, French and English,” I respond finally, shucking […]
Enter the girl I used to see. Ignoring the caution lights and wild oncoming traffic, I walk towards her with the confidence of James Dean’s last words: “That guy’s gotta stop… He’ll see us.” This will end badly. We’re beyond the age when honesty worked, so I’m being coy. She’s […]
Beep, beep, beep. I awake in my bed, disoriented from a late Friday afternoon nap. I look at my cell phone. A text message from Max glows on the screen. Max 5:49 pm: “Can we hang out tonight? I miss youuu.” What? We rarely speak. Is this one of those […]
“What do I call her?” Amanda asks. “I think she changed her name again” Emily whispers across the table in the college library. “She shouldn’t be allowed to do that. It’s confusing. Why does she have to be so ballsy?” “Well, what did she write on the project last time?” […]