Archive for the ‘onValues’ Category

Pressed Juice and your Pressed Wallet

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013

The cold-pressed juice trend that has swept up many health-conscious New Yorkers seems an enticing new way to stay healthy. But cheap? It is not. With a juice-bar on every street corner in Soho and countless pictures of green concoctions popping up in my Instagram newsfeed, I felt I had to try it. However when my beet, orange, carrot, lemon, ginger blend the size of an average bottle of water rang up at ten dollars, my eyes widened and I knew this would be my first and last juice. As much as I hoped that this little juice would be a worthwhile investment for my health, a ten-dollar juice is simply not do-able for a student looking to use college discounts at every possible opportunity.

http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com

Although, pressed juice is a fresh, innovative way to get in your daily nutrients without harming your digestive system, there are cheaper, less-trendy alternatives. If you feel committed to juicing, you could invest in a juicer, which runs at about 80 dollars, the equivalent of only eight pressed juices, and less than the cost of your average juice-cleanse at your average New York juice-bar.

Another great option and perhaps the most obvious one, is simply to eat fruits and raw vegetables (which is not a bad idea even for those who are partaking in the juice trend). Juicing removes some of the pulp, which contains fiber. One may not have the same opportunities as far as combinations of fruits and vegetables go, but there are plenty of great pairings, like strawberries and beets, apples and celery, oranges and carrots, that compliment each other well in salads and snacks, so you can get both sides of the pyramid in one meal. Keep in mind that it’s a good idea to eat fruits and vegetables in a myriad of colors, as different colors contain different nutrients that are important for your diet.

http://www.jpost.com/

Yet, fresh fruits and vegetables at your average New York City grocery store can still run up quite a bill. To avoid high prices, I recommend making weekly trips to Stiles Farmer’s Market in Hell’s Kitchen and stocking up on fresh produce. The market is a much cheaper alternative to Morton Williams or Food Emporium, and they have daily specials on bundles of produce. Another money-saving option is to head over to your local Associated grocery store and fill your cart with fruits and vegetables. You can save ten percent on your entire purchase with our Campus Clipper coupon and your student I.D. Juice your purchases or eat them as they are, even though you didn’t buy into the juice trend, your body – and wallet – will still be grateful.

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Frankie Johnson, New York University. Check out my Twitter!

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The New Museum: Free for NYU, Columbia, and CUNY Students with Student ID:

Wednesday, June 12th, 2013

Utilize the Freeseums program at NYU, Passport to Museums from Columbia, or Cultural Passport from CUNY!  There are a ton of museums accessible through your student ID card’s college discounts. New York City is a cultural center, and its universities know that students experience much of life outside of school, so they often give free passes to expensive places. Going to a museum can be a workout for your mind as well as a relaxing experience. You can contemplate an artist’s work or the historical context of a piece without worrying about homework attached to it!

Keep in mind also that these museums are almost certainly air-conditioned! In the heat of summer, museums are a great way to get out while staying inside so that you don’t melt. To top it all off, guided tours at many museums are free.

About the New Museum:

The New Museum is “New” because it exclusively houses contemporary art. It exhibits works by living artists from around the world and serves as a center for new ideas and reflection on the current time period. It is the place to view art from individuals who have directly experienced the pressures of the era you live in.

domusweb.it

The New Museum displays an array of exhibitions simultaneously. Currently showing are the After-after Tears exhibit on the fifth floor and Adhocracy (watch 3D printing in action!), both available until July 7. Multimedia installations from Erika Vogt and unsettling paintings by Llyn Foulkes are showing throughout the summer and into September.

Up until July 31, the experience truly begins before you even enter the museum, thanks to a 28-foot-tall rose on public display on the second floor balcony. Rose II is a sculpture by Isa Genzkin, a Berliner with a love affair for New York. Interested in integrating sculpture, nature, and architecture, Genzkin originally created this rose in 1993 as a symbol of tribute and love to the city.

newmuseum.org

Isa Genzkin’s rose is installed on the New Museum, viewable from below as well.

As students of any subject, we are scholars of life. No matter what you study, whether biology, urban planning, music, or otherwise, there is sure to be something at the New Museum of interest to you. Practice thinking about the art you see through the lens of what you already know. You may be inspired forever, or maybe just for the day, or you may just keep the experience in the back of your mind for an essay or two later in your schooling (professors eat this kind of thing up). Either way, a visit to the New Museum is an inexpensive way to experience culture, and, since the exhibitions are constantly changing, no visit is ever the same.

The New Museum is on Bowery, just below Houston. The closest subway stations are the Prince Street N and R Station, the Bowery J station, and the Second Avenue F station.

Check out the New Museum’s past, current, and upcoming exhibitions: http://www.newmuseum.org/exhibitions

Plan your visit to the New Museum: http://www.newmuseum.org/visit

Nearby:
Housing Works: A charity bookstore cafe. Follow Prince Street to Crosby Street, and take a right.
Cafe Habana: Stop by for a torta or some tacos! On the corner of Prince and Elizabeth Streets, one block to the east of the museum.
SoHo: The New Museum is a short walk from Broadway, for all of your shopping needs.

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Claire M., NYU.

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Free Summer Concerts in NYC for College Savings

Wednesday, June 12th, 2013

Summer in NYC teems with fun, heat, and excitement, and there is nothing that encompasses all three of these qualities like a summer concert.  With thousands of concerts to choose from, and festivals such as Governors Ball and Electric Zoo, summer fun can leave your wallet aching and dry.  Luckily, for students lacking a handsome, continuous income, New York is chockfull of free concerts during these hot months.

A popular venue for free music fests lies downtown in South Street Seaport. Nestled comfortably east of the Financial District’s towering buildings, the Seaport Music Festival has brought a collection of talented artists (including Animal Collective, Abe Vigoda, The XX, and Asobi Seksu) to its famous Pier 17 for ten years. This year, artists such as Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Ex-Cults have been announced, with still more to come.  A great facet of this particular music festival is the spacing between the acts.  Instead of all these bands playing clogged together over a day or a few days, some bands begin playing on the first Friday in June, with the other acts playing on the subsequent three Fridays.  That’s already enough concerts to hold you over until July.
But if your insatiable desire for free concerts continues, South Street Seaport will be holding an all day festival after the Seaport Music Festival culminates. Sharing the beautiful seaside venue, the 4Knots Music Festival is guaranteed to melt your face off.  Fast, punkie, and unrelenting, the 4Knots festival features a group of musicians whose genres range from punk to psych rock.  Artists Kurt Vile, Parquet Courts, The Babies, and The Men shine in this year’s lineup, so get ready for a fast-dancing, sweaty, and fun time.

The most popular summer venue in NYC, however, is undoubtedly the Central Park Summer Stage.  In the next few months, the Summer Stage will host about twenty shows, more than half of which are free. The stage will see bands like Twin Shadow, The Airborne Toxic Event, and Django Django.  Music from all genres will play, so if certain acts don’t strike your fancy, don’t fret, because there will be plenty more to catch.

If you want to hang in a borough other than Manhattan, there are free concerts for you as well.  The Northside Festival has acts playing across venues around Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn. With an integration of film and music, and boasting over 300 bands set to play from June 13th to 16th, the Northside Festival is an art-lover’s dream.  Unfortunately, the festival works like NYC’s fall CMJ festival, with an array of free events but some premiere showings that cost money.  But if you pick and choose carefully, you can attend the festival without dropping a dollar, like if you go to see The Walkman or Solange (Beyonce’s sister) for free with an RSVP at McCarren Park.

nycgo.com

There are too many opportunities for inexpensive fun, so be sure not to miss out. Make a plan, gather up some friends, and head out this summer to enjoy warm weather, good company, and great music!

 

 

 

Alejandro Font, Student at NYU.

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Coffee as a Health Drink

Wednesday, February 27th, 2013

Know any coffee addicts? I never had a taste for coffee in high school, but long nights and early mornings in college seemed to push me towards it. I’m not hooked on the stuff (my roommate last year used to drink around four cups a day — yikes!), but I do enjoy a cup every so often (as in “Oh my gosh, this project is due tomorrow and I still haven’t started it” kind of often). And while this habit of mine may not be the healthiest in terms of sleep scheduling, early birds and night owls alike will be happy to learn of some research that’s been happening over the past few years assessing the possible health benefits of drinking coffee.

The ingredients in coffee are beneficial on a few fronts:

Life Expectancy— Coffee is loaded with antioxidants and compounds that ward off a number of diseases. According to the The New York Times’ Well blog, regular coffee-drinkers are 15% less likely to die of “diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, stroke, [and] infections.” This is based on a fourteen-year government study that included over 400,000 adult men and women. I was a little surprised to read this, since all that I’d ever heard about coffee was that it stunts your growth and makes your heart race.

Mood Elevation— This one’s specifically for women, although there have been studies that have found similar results in men. Evidently, the caffeine in coffee has a lifting effect on our moods that doesn’t occur in other sources of caffeine. In fact, this study shows that the risk of depression is 20% lower in women who drink coffee daily than in those who don’t, and the more of it they drink, the lower the risk drops. I knew lattes put me in a good mood . . .

Workout Endurance— You may already have heard that caffeine can boost our workout. Basically, it promotes the production of fatty acids in the blood, which your body burns in place of carbs for fast energy. This is true for endurance sports like running and swimming, but another article on the Wellblog talks about the ways in which it can also be beneficial to sports with short bursts of activity, like soccer and weightlifting. In this study, athletes

Image from thnest.com

who were given caffeine before their workouts were able to exercise for longer without becoming exhausted, and they felt better and more energised afterwards. Coffee as a sports drink? I’ll take it.

Of course it’s never healthy to drink beverages that are full of sugar and cream, so keep this in mind when you make your morning cup. You don’t have to be a coffee addict like my old room mate to get excited about this research!

While you’re on your coffee-kick, here’s a free cup on us! Enjoy!

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Laura DeFrancisci, Manhattan College. Check out my Blog!

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Open Season: The Job Hunt

Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Sometimes jobs fall right into people’s laps, and in today’s economy we entry-level folk go to sleep at night hoping to wake up to a missed call and voicemail from an unknown phone number with a genial stranger—probably named Steve—asking us to come down for an interview that is really just a formality because he is dying to give us a job and full benefits and make sure we don’t fall behind on student loan payments.

When I wake up and check my phone, I find nothing of the sort, so I check my Facebook and Twitter and my email and decide to make some coffee. I decide that although my milk was “BEST BY” three days ago, I will drink it anyway because it will probably still be “WELL ABOVE AVERAGE BY” tomorrow. I pour it into my cereal and begin scrolling through Craigslist once again.

I check my email and Facebook and force myself back to Craigslist and Indeed and wish there was a filter for applications that require cover letters. I taste that the milk in my cereal is a little “off” and now I really begin looking for a job. I find four entry-level positions in my field and then learn that the “desired applicants” should have two years of previous experience. I find myself asking what “entry-level” means in 2013, and I linger and wonder if it is worth submitting my resume and writing another cover letter. I slurp down the milk left in the bowl, breathe in that sour smell, gag a little, take a deep breath and start writing that cover letter.

As someone who didn’t apply for jobs until after graduation, I regret not getting started sooner. If you’re still a student, do what you can to find an internship while you’re still in school! Yes, it will probably be an unpaid, thankless job, but it will be worth it in the end. You’ll have some of that mysterious, required “previous experience” by the time you graduate, which will help raise you above much of the competition. The connections you’ll make can only benefit you in the long run and you may even be hired as a paid employee after your internship has been fulfilled. You won’t be one of those college graduates stretching the truth about his/her “previous experience,” and you’ll have some legitimate references that aren’t your uncle or your roommate.

One way to think of your time as an intern.

The best thing to do is to get your name out there. Apply, apply, apply. Network. Send out your resume. Take the time to go to a Career Fair at your school and hand your resume out like you’re one of those comedy club promoters in Midtown. Take advantage of your school’s career center and its counselors. Ask the counselors to help you write and review your resume, ask them about career options relevant to your major, and attend workshops with interviewing tips from recruiters. Just get out there and profit from the resources your school created to help you.

...really, though: now what?

Talk to family members, family friends, friends, friends of friends, professors—the people who want to see you succeed. Sure, not everyone wants to give into some form nepotism, but beggars can’t be choosers. You will be the one making your way in this world, so why not let the people who care about you give you a hand?

You may find that the first jobs that are most attainable to you are jobs that are only appealing because of potential paychecks. These are the jobs that we are only half-interested in and are scared to step into in fear that we might get stuck. These are the cold coffee of the entry-level world: you need that little pick-me-up, but you have to force it down, and it may make you crash in the near future, but right now it is here when nothing else is. Deciding can be difficult, but why not take the job? You may really enjoy it once you get into the swing of things and there is no reason why you can’t continue your job-hunt on the side. If you’re still unsure, then try finding two part-time jobs in different fields you may be interested in and decide after a few weeks or months which career you’d like to pursue further. You have more time than you think to figure things out. It is common to not find a real career until a few years out of college.

Hopefully it never comes to this.

Patience and persistence are two traits you should embody as you begin your job hunt. It is tough out there right now, everyone knows it, but you can’t wait around for Steve the Genial Stranger to come looking for you with a salary job, some fresh milk and a hot coffee. You have to get out there and shake hands and answer questions and ask questions and write what seems like too many cover letters and then, hopefully, some genial stranger—probably named Steve—will call you with a job offer.

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Don’t Rely on the Comfort of Dorm Rooms

Friday, February 15th, 2013

The move to college doesn’t just represent a change in atmosphere, it also introduces a new group of people to live and get along with. Sure, everyone has had to deal with family members hogging the bathroom or waking you up with their annoying habits, but now you have new roommates: people your own age placed into a tiny room with you where you all have to learn to get along. These are your peers, and since you’ve just moved to college, you probably feel the need to make as many friends as possible.

Roommates are often a college student’s first introduction to college life, which is why many people cling to their first roommates. While being friends with roommates is a great thing and can ease the transition, it is necessary not to limit yourself to the people you live with. Though you will spending a lot of time together, having friends outside of your room will help you to stay your own person. Living as a college student, especially in New York, offers a huge amount of space (literally and figuratively) for you to grow and find yourself. Limiting yourself to the confines of your room takes away from all the greatness that is offered around you.

Go out! See a show! Don’t just stay in the room watching Lifetime movies because your roommates are lazy. Get rush tickets and hit up the TKTS Booth in Times Square for cheap seats!

If it turns out that your roommate is not that friendly, don’t get discouraged! As my mother likes to say, “It’s their loss.” You’re living together, and as long as you get along within the room, that’s often good enough.

If there are issues between you, then it is necessary to take care of these things before they escalate.

Don't let things get too out of hand. It may not be an ideal room, but at least keep it pleasant!

Many people find it helpful to create roommate agreements. These can include anything from schedules for cleaning the bathroom to rules for overnight guests (an important one if either of you find yourself with a clingy significant other always lying around). While the drafting and discussion of agreements for living together sound ridiculous, it is a very good idea for the establishment of good roommate relations. The agreement puts everything on the table and opens up an avenue for discourse if any problems arise.

 

one of the most common horror stories of college life

US News has great advice for roommate situations, and the most important is to communicate. Living together means you have to be able to talk to one another and understand each other. Even if you aren’t friends, you should still be able to talk and feel comfortable in your new home. If you don’t, make sure to confront your roommate personally and air any grievances. Do not go around them and move out without them knowing. It is best in roommate situations to eliminate any sort of animosity that could arise.

Just be yourself and find your own niche in your dorm room. College life is meant to be an exploration of culture and life — not four years of cinder block walls with people who limit you.

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Jen Orlando, Manhattan College. Check out my blog! Follow me on twitter!

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Breathe, Repeat.

Friday, February 15th, 2013

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G0vgWemq210/UF7_hDU3tTI/AAAAAAAAAj8/V_GtHwpHJho/s1600/Stress_Rudko_4.jpg

Being a college student is all about new experiences: new people, new classes, new living situations – the list can often seem daunting and never-ending.  In the process of creating this exciting new life, it’s easy for us to get caught up in the whirlwind of it all, and even easier to lose track of the person who matters most when it comes to the state of our happiness – ourselves.

Friends, significant others, co-workers, parents, or any combination of the above are always competing for our attention.  Everyone wants a piece of us – who wouldn’t, right? We’re twenty-something and fabulous! – but there’s not always enough of us to go around, so the only solution can often seem to be spreading ourselves thin enough to reach a little bit of everyone.  However, bending over backwards, sideways and every other which way trying to please everybody else is exhausting, and it more often than not leaves us in a contorted mess while the rest of the world continues to breeze by us with their morning coffee.

If one day you wake up and suddenly realize that you have in fact become guilty of this crime, never fear!  It happens to the best of us from time to time.  According to a study entitled “The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2010,” out of 200,000 freshman students who were currently enrolled full-time at a four-year college, only 52 percent of them classified their mental health state as “above average” – a number that has fallen considerably from 64 percent in 1985.  Many factors contributed to this decline, including the economy, rising tuition prices, job prospects, and constant self-comparison to peers.

Luckily, there are lots of easy ways to combat these pesky stresses of everyday life.  Professionals at the Mayo Clinic encourage the practice of relaxation techniques to help rid your life of stress so you are always feeling at the top of your game.  Whether it’s yoga, visualization methods, or T’ai Chi, find something that works for you and keep at it!  These techniques are just like any other skill-set; they will take work and repetition, but eventually will pay off.

Whenever I am feeling bogged down by relationship drama, school, or life in general, I try to consciously remind myself to breathe – just breathe – for maybe 10 or 15 seconds at a time.  And then I do it again.  It may seem simple or trivial, but it works.  Get outside, take a walk through SoHo for some window shopping, sit in Washington Square Park and watch all of the tourists fawning over the pigeons, get coffee on the Upper West Side and walk around pretending like you’re part of the Gossip Girl crew – the specifics don’t matter as long as you are continuously reminding yourself to breathe.

As you’re walking and breathing, think about all of the things in your life that make you happy.  Then think about the things in your life that don’t make you happy.  Now make a promise to yourself that you will do more of those things that make you happy, and vow to do less of the things that don’t.  This is the time to take that kickboxing class you’ve wanted to take but just somehow haven’t found the time.  Or maybe make plans to put on some lipstick and that favorite dress that you never get to wear and go out with your friends for a night of feeling pretty and good about yourself.

After all, we live in New York City! Get out there and make use of the urban playground that is waiting right outside your door.  Just don’t forget to take a few seconds every day to remember who you are and what makes you happy, and, whatever you do during this time, don’t forget to breathe.

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Lesley Hennen, New York University. Check out my Twitter!

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In the Spotlight: Fresh & Co.

Friday, February 1st, 2013

This restaurant gets my honest-to-goodness best rating, and that’s not just because I’m a vegetarian. I’m very used to going out and ordering entrée salads and fru-fru veggie dishes as meager “sorry you don’t eat meat” alternatives to more appealing items on the menu. And that’s to be expected, really; it’s hard to get a salad that makes you go, “Whoa, you gotta try this.”

The restaurant has very clean look.

But here’s a place that really goes out of its way to make itself an exception to that rule. Last Wednesday I had lunch at Fresh & Co. on Broadway and Waverly, right by NYU. It’s a salad and sandwich place that caters to meat-lovers, vegans, health-nuts and indifferent people who just want to grab some quick good eats. Here’s how it works:

The counter is divided into stations that you line up for depending on what you feel like trying. There’s a Sandwich Station(they also do panini melts; the girl across from me had a grilled

Salad bar. Order a chef designed salad or create your own original one

steak panini and I’m telling you it smelled amazing), a Salad Station (these are not ho-hum salads; you can load ’em up with whatever toppings you want— artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, jumbo shrimp, or even jalapeños), and a Quinoa Bowl Station (this is good, trust me on this one). You order your meal and watch them prepare it right in front of you, which is actually a lot of fun. They hand you your food, then you pay at the register and dig in. Quick and easy, even when there’s a crowd. If you’re looking for something for grab-and-go, there are ready-made soups, salads and snacks, as well as organic coffee. Check out their menu.

I got the Smoked Tofu Edamame Quinoa Bowl (or as some call it, the “number six”). It’s not that I thought it was gonna be bad or anything, but it’s like I said— I’m used to being bored by my food. No joke, I was so surprised by how good this stuff was, by any standard: quinoa, kale, brussel sprouts and other fresh ingredients coated in sweet chili sauce and served up hot. Yum. It knocked my socks off and I really can’t wait to go back. For less than the cost of an entrée salad at one of those sit-down chain restaurants, this is a lunch that kept me full for the rest of the day and made me want to lick the bowl clean. I am officially a fan.

My lunch, about to be gobbled.

Are you a health-nut? Come for the all-natural ingredients and the huge variety of fresh options. Everything you order is prepared right in front of you so that you know just what you’re eating. There’s even an online nutrition calculator. This food may be fast, but it’s definitely healthy stuff.

Are you an eco-enthusiast? Come for the sustainable food sources and environmental conscientiousness. The poultry comes from small companies that treat their bird humanely. Read about them on their “philosophy of food” page. Every week, Fresh & Co. has what it calls “Farm Fresh Friday” when all the food is obtained from local farmers’ markets in NYC. Sometimes this even means getting produce from the rooftop garden of PS 41, a public school only blocks away. This is a green restaurant; even the salad bowls are made from recycled plastic.

Do you honestly not really give a damn what’s in your food or where it comes from as long as it tastes good? Then come for the taste! Come because you want to know what “Thai Turkey Bolognese” is and why it’s so good with soy ginger sauce. Or because Super Bowl season has buffalo chicken on your mind and a panini melt sounds like the perfect lunchtime medium for it. Or because these pictures have been making your mouth water just a little bit onto your computer’s keyboard. If you don’t think you’re really into “health food places,” then just think of think of this as an “awesome lunch place” and give it a shot. I promise you won’t be sorry.

 

It turns out that health food doesn’t have to be bland. In fact, it can be tangy, sweet and delicious. The proof is in the pudding . . . and in the quinoa, and in the sandwiches, and in the salads . . .

Give them a try! College students get 10% off with this Campus Clipper coupon:

 

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Laura DeFrancisci, Manhattan College. Check out my Blog!

Follow the Campus Clipper on Twitter and Like us on Facebook!

Interested in more deals for students? Sign up for our bi-weekly newsletter to get the latest in student discounts and promotions  and follow our Tumblr and Pinterest. For savings on-the-go, download our printable coupon e-book!

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Neither College Savings Nor College Friends Can Prevent Singleness; Embrace It

Thursday, January 24th, 2013

One of my favorite things about the holidays is visiting friends from my hometown and hearing what they have been working on for the past year since I last saw them.  Inevitably, the small talk about little things, the new job, the minor promotion, and the fabulous apartment always arrives at the big kahuna of girl talk: our relationships.  All of my friends from Milwaukee are in serious and very happy relationships.  Each time my girlfriends and I arrive at this topic, the group turns to me and says, “So, Betsy, are there any guys in your life right now?” to which I always respond, “I’m not seeing anyone special.”  My friends, being the sweethearts that they are, say, “Oh, well—you’ll find a great guy eventually,” with that ever-present edge of pity in their voices.  The topic officially shifts from my paid acting gig to how I can use college discounts to get a two for one deal on Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.

Image taken from Cafepress.com

I have noticed an influx of dating advice books and websites each touting their inspirational mantras, step-by-step instructions on how to win a partner, and lists upon lists of white flag warning signs and the best way to navigate the dating world.  Unfortunately, very few of these sources address self-esteem and self-love, or, when they do address it, their jargon sounds like: “In order to have satisfying and healthy relationships with other people, you must first have a satisfying and healthy relationship with yourself.”

While this statement is very true, it makes self-love feel like a key point en route to a desired destination when in reality, loving yourself is the destination.  Be careful of turning self-love into yet another step in finding a partner; I find that this can lead to missing out on an extremely valuable chance to get to know yourself.   A healthy relationship grows from mutual respect and the desire to grow and learn with another person.  You end up cheating yourself when you settle for something that is not right for you just because you want a partner.  Relationships should be optional detours on the road to self-love, not rest areas to cry at because you can’t properly experience the view.  Get back in the car.  Keep driving.  There will be other opportunities.

I have noticed that a few of my single peers have a fear of being alone forever.  I recently went out on a first date with a man who, within the first fifteen minutes, asked me why I was still single, when I was thinking about getting married and how many children I thought I wanted.  He then proceeded to talk about how he wanted children and was looking for a permanent partner.  My friends in relationships talk about how many children they think they want and stress over when their boyfriends will propose.  My single friends troll OkCupid and plan their fantasy weddings on Pinterest.  This is not how to gain self-love.  You will drive yourself crazy trying so hard to get something you do not have.  Be happy about what you have now.  And calm down—you have time.

Image taken from ehow.com

I love my single life.  I have all the time in the world to pursue my interests such as my yoga teacher certification, writing my full-length play, auditioning, doing community service and playing Nintendo Wii like a boss.  Self-love is all about accepting exactly where you are in the moment and embracing and celebrating it. I am still single because I want to be. I’m only twenty-four and marriage is not a concept even remotely close to my mind. And, if maternal instinct kicks in, I will happily buy a puppy.

 

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Vive la single life! Treat yourself to a delicious, discounted crêpe at Vive la Crêpe!

 

Betsy K. NYU.  Like me on Facebook!  Follow me on Twitter!

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Reversing the Freshman Fifteen

Wednesday, January 16th, 2013

College is a great time to reshape yourself and discover who you’ll grow to become as a person. We gain so much during these years— friendships, independence, knowledge . . . two or three inches around the waist . . .

Image taken from Reallyhealthynow.com

If you see yourself “reshaping” in a way that you didn’t exactly plan, you may have already met the “freshman fifteen.” A scary thought for many. Never fear, however, for this fate is preventable, and indeed reversible. You just need to recognize the pitfalls of campus health and learn to avoid them. If you’re living at school, and especially here in NYC, there are dozens of ways to avoid weight gain and even become fitter than you started out. In fact, this is the perfect time to experiment with different health-care techniques and establish a good tone for your new life as a young adult. Ready for some tips?

  1. Make good choices in the dining hall!! This one seems obvious, but it’s by far the biggest reason first-year students tend to put on weight. Your dining hall (if it’s anything like mine) is well-stocked with greasy goodies, fried and battered, full of salt and sugar. You will find these foods everywhere. Of course this is where your meals are coming from, and you probably paid good money for your meal plan, so don’t let it go to waste. But it’s not mom’s cooking. Take this into account when you pick meals; you’re in charge of your own nutrition now, and the school’s not going to force broccoli onto your dinner plate. It’s up to you to choose the salmon over the pizza and the peas over the French fries. There’s a salad bar— use it. Go for something green over something beige, and take it easy at the ice cream station. Basically, use common sense here! We all know by now what a healthy diet looks like. I’m not saying that you should never indulge; just don’t underestimate the effect that it will have on your health if you’re eating nothing but junk food.

Image taken from TableHealth.com

 

  1. What you can’t get in the dining hall, get at the grocery store.Not all dining halls are created equal, and you may have caught on that the food at yours is not exactly gourmet. Does your school’s spinach taste like mush? Don’t be shy about supplementing

    Image taken from Buy.com.

    your diet with your own creations. Recently I invested in a personal smoothie-maker for a little over ten dollars. When I have an early class and can’t grab breakfast, I throw in some fresh fruit and veggies for a meal to-go. This is a great trick for slipping some important nutrients into your diet that your dining hall might be ignoring. It’s also not a bad idea to sneak some vitamins and dietary supplements into your smoothies— whatever your diet may be lacking. Vitamin C and Biotin, for example, are great for healthy hair, skin and nails. You can find these in pill-form at most drug stores. Look for them at Metro Drugs and save with this coupon

Campus Clipper Deal- Save at Metro Drugs!

http://metrodrugs.com/

  1. Make the most of your school’s gym. You’ll wish you still had it when you graduate and have to pay for your gym membership. Try to make it there even a couple times a week and you’ll feel yourself getting stronger. Regular exercise will give you more energy. Try bringing a buddy along. A friend can help to motivate you as well as make your workout a little more fun. Take advantage of your school’s gym equipment— a little goes a long way here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. Try new things! Fitness never has to be a chore. There are so many

    ways to have fun and exercise at the same time. If the treadmill isn’t your thing, try stepping off campus and going to a yoga place, or even a dance class! Consider something like this:

 

 

Campus Clipper Deal- Latin Dance lessons at Piel Canela!

 

 

So go ahead and reshape your life. You don’t have to let your freshman fifteen semester become a pattern for your next four years!

 

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Laura DeFrancisci, Manhattan College. Check out my Blog!

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