It’s the early morning and I’ve already read a few newspapers, some blogs and a couple celebrity gossip sites.

I know a lot—sometimes too much—about our nations state of cultural affairs. But hey, at least I’m informed about something and it IS my job, right?

There was a day though, particularly all four years of my undergraduate career (save the Thursday Style section of the NYT) that I knew nothing about current events.

Apparently, I’m not alone in this. In a recent study based on 1,800 Americans, only 18% of those from ages 18-30 read a newspaper everyday. The results found that our generation is more of a glance at the news type of group than any other.

And although we spend hours in front of our computers each day, most of the news we do watch is from the television.

Even more importantly though, it isn’t the ways in which we are receiving our news, but the fact that we are getting it at all. It is sad to think that of the many times I spent hours mindlessly surfing the internet, I never once really went to the New York Times homepage or even USA Today, which is slightly fluffy, to find out really what was going on in the world. Read More »

I had a poignant moment during my very last all-nighter of undergrad:

I was finishing my very last assignments ever of my Salem College career and somewhere around 5:30 am I jumped up, ran from our camp in the basement of a different dorm, and bolted to my room to brush my teeth.

I could no longer ignore the fact that I had not brushed my teeth and they felt as fuzzy as the fleece I was wearing.

It was sick. I was sick. I had a problem. I could no longer function—or write—during the day. But I had made it to the end.

And then, I slept. For about two days straight.

To say that I mastered the all-nighter during my four years would be an understatement. I was pretty much the ninja master of staying awake for hours on end, typing furiously at my keyboard and screwing around long enough during the normal hours (until at least 3 am) to HAVE to make it until class the next day.

Damn you, facebook.

My best friend and I would down coffee, pop adderall (hey, at least mine was prescribed) and sleep in shifts. The second semester of my senior year was so grueling I was pulling at least one a week just to keep up. Writing and editing the first four chapters of a novel is no easy feat.

I basically triple majored. It was a dumb idea. Read More »

I’m pretty sure EVERYONE I know is getting married.

That is… except me. And I’m in no rush. No rush at all. I have tons of friends who are getting married. And some of them, the ones who have been together for 5 plus years, or the ones who have been dating older guys for a while, those situations I understand. But the girls who are getting engaged during their junior year of college?

Cut me a break. It’s unnecessary.

You do not have to get engaged to be in a secure, stable and mature relationship. Going through years together shows much more commitment than a big rock.

Of course, I want the big rock one day, but I also want to be emotionally ready for all that marriage entails. Marriage is meant to be a lasting union, not a trend that everyone has to follow.

This isn’t fashion, ladies. You can’t decide you don’t like your hubby next season when suddenly you feel like he’s out of style.

I have a friend from high school who I have just found out is 23 and getting a divorce. And they were one of those relationships everyone thought would work. I also know another girl who is now a senior in college and on her second engagement.

I want to get married young enough so that I can enjoy being married before I’m ready to settle down with a family. But I don’t want to be young enough that my fiancé and I have yet to experience the real life situations that make a couple grow together. Read More »

“In 2004, 26.5% of black males ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in college versus 36.5% of black women that age, according to the American Council on Education’s most recent statistics”.

Which is one of the reasons why black women are dating more white men then ever before, USA Today claims.

The hot button article appeared last Sunday, stating, among other things, that “American black women are among the least likely to marry”. The reason for this low marriage rate? The negative statistics aimed at young black men.

According to the article, recent numbers have shown that black men are “seven times more likely to be incarcerated than white men and more than twice as likely to be unemployed.”

Combine those figures with a growing number of black women frustrated with the ‘high rates of successful black men choosing blondes”, and you’ve got women ready for a change.

“I think a lot of black women are realizing or feeling that the pickings are slim,” one such women is quoted as saying in the article, while another one claims she witnessed “All the black men literally [pushing] (us) out the way to talk to the blondes” at a party she once attended. Read More »

After sporting high heeled pumps or strappy little stilettos, nothing feels more satisfying than slipping my aching feet into my trusty Reef flip flops. I practically live in flip flops during the summertime months, as do most of my friends.

Unfortunately, I recently learned that flip flops were never really meant to be worn as everyday shoes and are therefore causing young women more foot problems than ever. According to an article in USA Today, “the problem, foot doctors say, is that flip-flops offer little cushioning and no arch support, and they force their wearers into an unnatural, toe-gripping, foot-slapping gait.” Because of this, young women are getting foot pain that is usually associated with older, fatter women.

I don’t know about you, but I would like to keep as much of my youth intact as long as possible and try not to show signs of becoming a middle aged woman at the spry age of 22. Along those lines, something that grossed me out were the possible consequences of constant flip-flop wearing… Read More »