Posts Tagged ‘student discounts’
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Tuesday, November 22nd, 2022The Art of Eating Chapter 6: Cuban/Mexican Food (Café Habana)
Monday, October 17th, 2022For as much as I loved to complain about the summer heat, the first wisps of fall are already in the air, and I can’t help but start to miss the warmer weather. On this particular Wednesday afternoon it’s only the end of September, but the short walk from my apartment to Café Habana already leaves me feeling a bit chilly. I typically walk past Café Habana with some degree of frequency during my regular week. There’s always a lot of people surrounding it both inside and outside, so I’m excited to finally go and give it a try. Today is no exception to my past experience– even though it’s a bit later in the afternoon the store is still basically full. Once inside, I stop by the counter first where the friendly staff directs me to a table in the corner. Right off the bat, everyone there is super nice and helpful. From the workers behind the counter, to the lady taking my order, and the servers walking past who check in on me, the whole staff seems really welcoming. With such a great environment, and colorful walls decorated with lively paintings, I can already feel my excitement about the meal growing even more.
Interior eating area of Café Habana
After a few minutes inside it’s easy to let this exciting atmosphere (and the protection from the wind) start to warm you up. With one worry out of the way, it’s time to take a look at the menu. Café Habana has a wide range of items; from burritos, to tacos, to platos fuertes, Café Habana even has breakfast until 1 pm on weekdays and brunch on the weekends. But of course, I have to start with their famous corn which perfectly combines flavors like cotija cheese, chili powder, and lime. It’s easy to see why this item is so popular. Everything mixes together perfectly making it both unique and delicious! But grab your napkins because it’s the kind of food that gets on both your face and your hands when you’re eating. It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed the actual process of eating food so much though. It reminds me of being young eating corn on the cob on a hot summer day with my family. Just like the rest of the restaurant, Caf´é Habana’s corn is fun and energizing from start to finish.
Café Habana’s famous seasoned corn
After eating the corn I almost feel warmed up like normal, but it’s time to move on to the main event. Their next famous item is the Cubano, a sandwich that flaunts Cuban classics like roast pork with chipotle mayonnaise and fries on the side. On days like this, it’s hard to beat such a classic sandwich. Much like their corn, the flavors are all familiar, but they make it special. Nothing is unbalanced and all the different parts work in harmony together. The Cubano is also another item to pick up with your hands- but hold on tight! The pork wrapped in ham is likely to fall out if you’re not careful about it. The pork is so soft that it just melts in your mouth and completely compliments the smooth ham around it. But not only is the meat inside steaming hot and delicious, the bread around it is toasted as well. Just holding it already alleviates any lingering cold feelings and eating transports you back to summer days.
Cubano sandwich with meat inside and fries on the side
Overall, both the corn and the Cubano are instant classics. I really love their handheld vibe because it warms you up fast on a chilly fall afternoon– but don’t be afraid to get messy with them! Café Habana has a great and welcoming vibe that warms you up in more ways than one. It’s a perfect place to visit for the start of fall!
If you’re planning on making a trip to Café Habana soon make sure to use this coupon with your student ID to get 15% off your order of anything on their menu!
And to anyone looking to see more of the inside of Café Habana or clips of the food they serve there make sure to check out my video on the Campus Clipper TikTok page!
Peter Schoenfeld is an illustrator and self proclaimed food fanatic from New York. If he’s not trying new food, he’s drawing it (and if he’s not doing either of those things, then you can probably find him curled up on the couch watching dramas). As an incoming sophomore at the School of Visual Art he focuses on creating art that connects people to his personal passions– like eating!
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
The Art of Eating Chapter 5: Japanese Food (J’s Kitchen)
Wednesday, September 14th, 2022It’s officially the start of September which means that it’s also officially the start of the fall semester! Recently I finally moved back into the SVA dorms after four months away, and I was shocked at how hard it was to transition back. It feels like I was just here, but yet it’s also completely different. For me, one of the biggest adjustments is losing access to a kitchen. Yes, my dorm has a kitchen for the whole (20 floor!) building, but it’s just not quite the same. SVA also has no dining halls, which means a lot of my meals this semester will involve my small dorm fridge and microwave. Even if you do have a college dining hall, it’s still easy to miss getting meals straight from the kitchen during the school year. That’s why I’m at J’s Kitchen New York this Wednesday to seek out some of that more homey cooking that’s so hard to get once school is back in session.
Right off the bat the interior of J’s Kitchen has the perfect, inviting vibe I’m looking for. Throughout the restaurant there are plants everywhere: hanging from the ceiling, decorating the tables, placed on the floor, etc. Beyond that, the rest of the store is very simple. The decorations are few and far between, but it doesn’t feel empty or anything, just neat and welcoming. Furthermore, another nice thing about J’s Kitchen is that you can actually see their kitchen in the back behind the counter. The cooking area there is also very clean and neat, but obviously much more lived in, with signs of the chef moving about to make the food. It’s definitely exciting to be able to see people actually cooking once you order your food bringing a certain personal quality to eating out that you don’t get everywhere.
Interior of J’s Kitchen with kitchen area in background
Once said kitchen finishes preparing your food, they bring it out to you, which was also very nice. We ordered at the counter, so I was expecting to have to go pick it up. Instead, the staff was super friendly about it and both brought out our food and took it back when we were finished. As expected, the food is steaming hot when it arrives at our table. It already smells more delicious than anything I could procure in my dorm room, so I’m excited to dive in. For my lunch I ordered the main star of J’s Kitchen, the Tokeru Wagyu Hamburger with Teriyaki Sauce. Just to start, the size of it is impressive. I feel inclined to ask for a fork and knife just to deal with all of it. Still, not only is the burger seriously tall, they provide you with a side of fries and (very cutely) two mini pickles. Lots of food. The teriyaki sauce was definitely a solid call because it is so good and adds a really great layer to the burger which is super soft and warm and delicious inside. It’s totally the kind of food that warms you up and makes you feel better if you’ve been missing home. Their curry is also another favorite. For me, it feels like the more classic comfort food that I would seek out. It’s similarly very flavorful and warm– and it comes with a lot of options for cutlet you can pair with it, like chicken, pork, and beef. If you’re still looking for vegetarian options, they have those too with the same great quality and taste. Everything comes direct from their kitchen, so you can be sure that it will satisfy any craving you have for homey cooking.
Tokeru Wagyu Hamburger with Teriyaki Sauce
Overall, J’s Kitchen is perfect for any student looking for some high quality meals in the midst of leaving home and going back to living on their own at the start of the year. Their food is delicious and the atmosphere in the restaurant is really welcoming. I absolutely recommend people to go there for their classic Japanese food favorites, or look for something new if you’re up to it! You can’t go wrong!
Planning a visit to J’s Kitchen New York? Be sure to bring your student ID and show this coupon when you go to get 10% off your order:
If you want to see more about my trip to J’s Kitchen check out my video on the Campus Clipper TikTok page!
Peter Schoenfeld is an illustrator and self proclaimed food fanatic from New York. If he’s not trying new food, he’s drawing it (and if he’s not doing either of those things, then you can probably find him curled up on the couch watching dramas). As an incoming sophomore at the School of Visual Art he focuses on creating art that connects people to his personal passions– like eating!
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
The Art of Eating Chapter 4: Japanese Fried Chicken (TORI BIEN)
Thursday, September 1st, 2022With September just around the corner I’m sure a lot of my fellow students are starting to feel the pressure of returning to school after these months away. For unfortunate students, like me, you might be cramming trying to brush up on some necessary skills again before the fall semester starts. Still, it’s important to take breaks and always good to spend time with friends before seeing them off to wherever they might be studying. Most of my friends leave me alone in New York once the school year starts and travel to different states for university, so the end of August always feels like a bit of a goodbye. As a (albeit temporary) goodbye to the city as well, it feels only right to have a day on the streets with good food and good company. On Tuesday I’m with my friend, Catherine, who won’t be far from New York this school year, but also won’t have the time to visit often for the next few months. I alone in my friend group enjoy walking tens of thousands of steps across the city, and since she’ll be gone, I make it an excuse to drag her around for the day. We stop into a lot of cute shops to cool off from the heat, but for lunch we make our way to 9th street and drop in to TORI BIEN for some food. The inside of the store itself is rather small– there’s no seating there, but conveniently they have benches placed outside, so you can choose to sit on those and eat if you want. It’s a cute restaurant with the perfect vibe for our afternoon out!
TORI BIEN exterior with benches for customers
Despite not having indoor seating, the food at TORI BIEN comes already packaged once it’s cooked, so it’s not inconvenient to bring it somewhere else. My main meal, the Kara-age Onigiri Bento comes in, well, a cardboard bento box with all the components neatly separated. It’s cute and reminds me of the lunches other kids used to get when I was still in school. Catherine’s meal also comes partially in a box, but the fries she ordered are separate from it in a little paper bag that reminds me more of the lunches I used to get when I was younger, with my mother’s signature, disposable paper bag. Still, everything is easy to grab and take with you. The food itself also has more of a handheld vibe. My box of food comes with items like onigiri, a triangle shaped rice ball, and boneless fried chicken. The onigiri is super delicious. It’s perfect because the seaweed wrap gives it a nice crunch, but the rice inside is the perfect, soft consistency. It has fish flavoring too, so it’s not bland. The fried chicken is super crispy and I love that it’s boneless because that makes it easier to clean up when I’m done!
Handheld fish onigiri with seaweed wrapper
Catherine and I decide to rest on the bench for a few minutes and eat there before we continue our journey through the streets of New York, but there’s also a couple of nearby parks if you’re looking for more of a true picnic vibe. Catherine also orders fried chicken, TORI BIEN’s specialty, but it comes in a sandwich instead of loose, like my box. There’s a layer of sauce on the top of the bun, but the meal still isn’t messy. It’s similarly good to just grab and eat; and even if it wasn’t, they definitely provide you with sufficient napkins. The sandwich itself is wrapped up in a nice, thick sheet of paper that makes it convenient to hold as well.
Kara-age Sandwich with sauce, fried chicken, lettuce, and pickles
Overall, no matter where you chose to eat your meal from Kara-age, the flavors are delicious and it’s perfect to enjoy with friends. They offer an assortment of fun options and everything is perfect to take on the go!
Planning on taking your friends out on an end-of-summer picnic or just looking for some great Japanese fried chicken? Use this coupon code when you visit TORI BIEN to get 15% off your order with your student ID:
If you want to see more about my trip to TORI BIEN check out my video on the Campus Clipper TikTok page!
By: Peter Schoenfeld
Peter Schoenfeld is an illustrator and self proclaimed food fanatic from New York. If he’s not trying new food, he’s drawing it (and if he’s not doing either of those things, then you can probably find him curled up on the couch watching dramas). As an incoming sophomore at the School of Visual Art he focuses on creating art that connects people to his personal passions– like eating!
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
Please Handle With Care
Saturday, August 27th, 2022Whenever we are shipping or traveling with something fragile, we always label it as such and make sure that the item is handled with the utmost care. Why do we so seldom treat ourselves with the same caution? Items are replaceable, but we—as I hope you know—are not.
I’ve covered a lot of different topics throughout my writing about the COVID-19 pandemic—from being sent home from college, to current events, to relationships, and everything else in between. Truthfully, I could probably write about all the other ways that this unprecedented era of human history intersected with our normal lives, but almost anything you can think of would lead you right back here to a discussion of mental health and self-care—perhaps the greatest lesson that COVID may have had to offer.
Mental health wasn’t really something that I thought deeply about until I got to college. When I look back on high school and think about a lot of my habits—burning the midnight oil to finish my homework, sacrificing sleep, and generally spreading myself too thin—I can’t help but cringe. We’re taught that this is what it means to “work hard,” but it comes at a pretty high cost, especially when you’re young. No one should have to feel like that is the way you need to operate, no matter what stage of life you’re at. You are not the work you do or the grades that you get; your worth is far beyond that, which is something I try to remind myself when I start to believe otherwise.
I still find myself exhibiting many of these behaviors in college, and it wasn’t until this point in my life where I started to feel physiological responses to my stress or anxiety—heart beating too fast, thoughts racing out of control, worrying about everything. And most of the time, I was concerned more so with how it would affect me academically, not physically or mentally. Yikes.
The pandemic really changed my perspective on mental health, not only showing how important it is to prioritize all aspects of your health, but also pointing out how many of the things we accepted as normal before COVID were deeply flawed. For instance, growing up, it was always expected that you would go to school or to work even if you were not feeling well. If you had a cold, you had to stick it out. If you didn’t sleep well, were feeling overwhelmed, or were burnt out, you had to find a way to get through the day. But now that we have lived through the onset of a deadly, infectious disease, we realize just how ridiculous this kind of behavior is. At school, more and more professors in their syllabi are now encouraging us not to come to class if we feel any inkling of an illness to make sure that we don’t spread it around to others. There is no good reason to force ourselves into doing things when we are not at our best, a mindset we should have adopted long ago.
Now, a lot of my professors have also added mental health provisions to their syllabi, encouraging us to take a day off class if we are struggling mentally and can’t engage with the class. Our student government leaders are pushing to make missing class for mental health reasons count as excused absences. In 2021, a student organization that carries out the mission of the Bandana Project, a national mental health awareness and suicide prevention campaign, was formed on our campus, seeking to provide students with resources for and breaking the stigma around mental health—all it takes is a green bandana to show your support and willingness to engage in the campaign. All of these changes ensure that we never have to feel that our academic career takes precedence over our wellbeing. At the end of the day, we’re at college to learn, not to burn ourselves out.
Be sure to check out this amazing organization!
Over the last couple of years, a lot of different stressors in our lives have converged at once: the spread of COVID-19, long periods of isolation, our nation in turmoil, and the general uncertainty of everything, while still having to go to college either online or in person when it became safe again. We are still dealing with the long-term consequences of all of these things, and the pandemic still isn’t really over. But we are all human and we can only expect so much out of ourselves, so if COVID did one thing for us, it was to force us to slow down and reconfigure our thinking to gear ourselves toward what is really important: taking care of ourselves.
So, remember to listen to what your body or your mind is saying—you are the best person to judge your limits and realize what you need at any given moment. Do the things that you enjoy doing, make you happy, and help you to heal—read a book, do a face mask, chill out (just to name a few of my go-to strategies). Totally cliché, but life really is all about balance. It takes effort to unlearn all of the things ingrained into our brains, something that I have still been struggling with, but at the end of the day, just please handle yourself with care.
As I said with my previous chapter regarding relationships, it should not have taken a global pandemic just to learn that we have to take care of ourselves physically, mentally, and emotionally. But I suppose it is better late than never.
By: Katie Reed
Katie Reed is a senior at Villanova University studying English and Communication. She is in utter disbelief that she just admitted to being a senior. She loves to read, but has made barely a dent in the increasingly large pile of books on her bookshelf that she told herself she would read this summer. She hopes to enter a career in the editing and publishing industry.
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
“You’ve Got a Friend in Me” (As Long as You’re Vaccinated)
Monday, August 22nd, 2022As you get older, you learn a lot about relationships, be they familial, platonic, romantic, professional, or anything in between. High school is where you think you hit your stride in this department, since you start to become more independent and have many more choices to make; you are both physically and metaphorically in the driver’s seat more than you have been in your whole life. Making friends is also super convenient, as most of the people you are close with live no more than ten miles from your house and you see them every day at school. Minimal effort required.
But then once you graduate and enter your twenties, you realize there’s a reason that sitcoms focus on this age group—it’s the time in your life where you’re constantly trying to find your way in the world and relate to the people around you. All of your friends and family (probably) don’t live around the corner anymore, so it’s on you to forge those new connections. College plays a big role in this growing process because never in your life will you have as much freedom, but also as much confusion, as you do in those four years.
Freshman year of college is a particularly unique time because it feels like all the different realms of your life are trying to collapse in on each other. You’re trying to keep in touch with your friends from high school, you’re trying to make sure your family doesn’t feel isolated, and all the while, you’re trying to make new friends in a completely new environment. Being from Massachusetts and going to school at Villanova, I felt far removed from everyone I had grown up with, which was both a little bit sad and exciting. On one hand, I was wishing that I had chosen a school closer to home so I could cling to that sense of familiarity, and on the other, I was happy to be somewhere that felt completely my own where I could push myself outside of my comfort zone. After the first semester, I was feeling good about the friends that I was making both inside and outside of my dorm, and I felt like I was finally starting to see this new place as my home.
Then, you know, this cute little thing called COVID-19 came along, and it became a rather tumultuous time in our collective sitcom eras. Less laugh tracks, more laments.
I started to wonder what would happen to those relationships I had been cultivating those first two semesters—would they survive a global pandemic? When we came back to school (at that point—if we came back to school at all) how would things be different from the first time I saw my peers? And what would happen to the people I was friends with from my town, where even the ten-mile radius felt so far away during quarantine? Everything was so uncertain, and those first few months of the pandemic were some of the loneliest months of my life. Stuck in my house, not able to see extended family members, high school friends, or college friends. But maintaining relationships and keeping people who are important to you in your life takes effort, and this period of our lives was perhaps the greatest test of who you would remain close with and who you might unfortunately grow apart from.
The rules of relationships also seemed to be changing to align with the health crisis we were living through. I was always incredibly nervous about COVID, both contracting and spreading it, so I took every precaution seriously to minimize putting myself and my loved ones at risk. When the spread began to slow and we could start seeing people outside of quarantine, the most important thing for me was to make sure their boundaries were respected. Are they okay hanging out with no masks? Would they prefer to be outside where we could socially distance? Would it be easier to do something or go somewhere that required wearing masks so we wouldn’t even have to debate it? It was great when vaccines started rolling out and we were able to better protect ourselves, but these questions never really went away. Ironically, despite being very cautious, last winter I still got one of my best friends sick after texting her that “I only have a little bit of a stuffy nose, I definitely don’t think it’s COVID” before hanging out with her. Guess what it was!
Though I would never be upset or mad with someone who accidentally exposed me to COVID and got me sick, I still felt a lot of guilt over just the potential of getting anyone sick. My friend was very reassuring about the whole thing, so it helped to ease the burden of what I was feeling.
Maintaining relationships during COVID was difficult to say the least, but it taught me a lot about how you should treat people. From my perspective, the two most important parts of a relationship of any kind are respect and trust. Many people had different comfort levels when it came to the pandemic, so it was necessary to respect when people maybe didn’t want to hang out or wanted to take an abundance of caution to make sure that everyone felt safe. We had to trust that those close to us were wearing their masks, not going to unnecessary “super-spreader” events, and were getting vaccinated when they could. And ultimately, when those around us were sick, we needed to be supportive of them and do our best to be there for them.
These are of course not lessons that are exclusive to a pandemic but have instead been strengthened by it. In fact, it should not have taken a pandemic for us to figure out that we need to be kind and considerate of others, but nonetheless, here we are. And after all of those precautions, the COVID scares within networks of people, and the months of general struggle, I’ve come to realize that what I look for the most in relationships is being around people who make me feel comfortable. I strive to be that person for others, and I would encourage you to do the same, as it will go a long way in building meaningful connections with people.
Hopefully Randy Newman would agree.
By: Katie Reed
Katie Reed is a senior at Villanova University studying English and Communication. She is in utter disbelief that she just admitted to being a senior. She loves to read, but has made barely a dent in the increasingly large pile of books on her bookshelf that she told herself she would read this summer. She hopes to enter a career in the editing and publishing industry.
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
Are You Still Watching?
Sunday, July 24th, 2022Surely we have all come across this question once or twice before in our lives—the one Netflix asks you when you have been watching TV all day and they want to do a cute little check in to make sure you’re still there. At which point you pause, think to yourself, “wow, have I really been watching all day?” and then you proceed to hit “continue watching.” What fun!
If there was a time that we needed entertainment the most, it was during the pandemic. We were cut off from our friends, our family members, our neighbors, and basically everyone who we didn’t already live with, and aside from worrying about our safety, it was a time of mass boredom. We seemed to have so much time on our hands, so what were we to do with it?
At the beginning, for me at least, keeping busy took the form of watching TV. It was easy to do before, in between, or after Zoom classes, and it doesn’t take a lot of energy to keep you engaged. I had just gotten Disney+ the previous winter, and during a time of increased isolation, you could say I was feeling a bit nostalgic. I started watching some of my favorite childhood TV shows like Wizards of Waverly Place. Then, I obviously had to undertake the very strenuous task of watching all of the Marvel movies in timeline order. I later started watching the more predictable teenage fan favorites, like The Vampire Diaries and Outer Banks, and after finally succumbing to all of the traction it was gaining on TikTok and Twitter, I regrettably watched the first season of Tiger King (key word, first). As many I’m sure can agree, it was a time that was favorable to consuming all kinds of content in whatever way we could get it.
But the allure of the television could only last for so long, and soon I was looking for other things to do once my time freed up after classes were done for the semester. First, it was making friendship bracelets (which turned out terrible), then it was painting any and everything in my room (not as bad as the friendship bracelets but still not my best work), and finally it was doing 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles (subtle flex, I know).
My family was also trying to find new ways to spend time together, since we were all getting caught up in the monotony. We started getting takeout every Wednesday so we could have a treat to look forward to, even though we usually just rotated between our usual favorite restaurants. When the weather started to get nice and it was safe to spend time with people outdoors, we took our dog on a family walk every Sunday at nearby parks and trails. Although I did not love getting up early on weekends, it was a nice way to get some exercise, leave the house, and spend time with my family.
At school, trying to find ways to be social and have fun while keeping myself and others safe was also a challenge. We couldn’t go back to doing all the things we enjoyed doing at college, but we just had to find new things and expand our horizons. For instance, during the fall of 2020, my roommates and I went to a pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins and get ice cream. It was a great way to do something fun while also abiding by COVID-19 guidelines.
Out of all the activities I did to keep myself occupied during the pandemic, the thing that I did the most was read. Throughout my life, I have always loved reading—getting lost in fictitious worlds, being inspired by my favorite characters. When I was little, I would go through books incredibly fast, especially if they came from the Magic Tree House series. Of course, children’s books are shorter, but I also just had more time and energy to immerse myself in a good read. In middle and high school, I still loved to read, but I didn’t make it as much of a priority as other things—like homework, sports, and extracurriculars. It wasn’t until quarantine that I truly began to rekindle my love for reading. I would take my books, lay outside in the sun, and read for hours. I also started to read a little bit each night before I went to bed, which had one of two effects: either it would help me fall asleep, or it would keep me up half the night turning the pages. Regardless, I made a promise to myself that I would read a little bit each day, even while I was at school; reading was not only something that I loved to do, but it was also a great form of escapism during a time when many of us needed it most.
Our lives are so busy that we rarely take the time to pause and do things for ourselves. We always come up with excuses or push things off, but it’s important to make time for things that matter to us. Of course, work will always be important, but finding small moments every day to do something for you—even if it’s just a chapter a night—can be just as important, whether you are at school or at home. Honestly, if the pandemic had not come along to slow things down, I might not have realized just how caught up I was in the motions of everyday life. I think that sometimes we feel like entertainment is synonymous with wasting time, but it’s always important to take a breather, blow off some steam, and immerse yourself in something that makes you happy. It won’t always come easy, since as I’m sure we can all attest, these last few years have introduced us to a feeling of fatigue like no other, one that makes social activities or hobbies feel just as draining as work. Finding what gives you joy comes in bits and pieces and changes all the time, so just remember to be patient with yourself.
And, if you’re looking to start your own version of take-out Wednesdays, use this coupon to get 10% off Indian cuisine from Punjab Palace!
By: Katie Reed
Katie Reed is a senior at Villanova University studying English and Communication. She is in utter disbelief that she just admitted to being a senior. She loves to read, but has made barely a dent in the increasingly large pile of books on her bookshelf that she told herself she would read this summer. She hopes to enter a career in the editing and publishing industry.
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
You Too Can Tutor!
Wednesday, July 6th, 2022When you think of tutoring, what comes to mind? An expert in a difficult subject who teaches someone younger? Tutoring is a much broader category than many of us realize, and it is an excellent way to earn some additional income as a college student. You may not be an expert in anything yet—I guarantee that I’m not—but we all have skills that someone else wants to learn.
My first tutoring gig was helping a neighbor with his middle school math homework. This made sense when I was in high school, but when I started college, I felt my tutoring opportunities had dried up. I was a freshman; there was no one younger than me around to teach! I was useless if someone wanted help with the more advanced stuff like, say, calculus. It was only when I saw a flyer for a returning student seeking a tutor that I realized I had been thinking inside the box.
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bjmccray/515435761
I emailed the address on the flyer. The student I tutored was a kind, forty-something woman who was going back to college. She was a nurse but wanted to further her education. Because she had been away from higher education for a while, she was unfamiliar with or had forgotten about what are currently staples of the classroom: things like Google Slides, MLA format, and more. She was looking for someone to help her catch up on the technology, format assignments, and proofread papers. These were all skills I had as a current student. Until then, they felt so much like second nature to me that I hadn’t even considered them to be marketable skills.
She and I worked together for several months, and then she recommended me to a friend of hers who was also returning to school. As a younger student, I was inspired by these returning students’ motivation and bravery. I was glad to be able to help them start off on the right foot.
Older students, younger, or even your peers, there are almost definitely people near you who could use some help with a skill you have. Most of us have the technology skills that I tutored for, but there are endless options. Are you artistic? Someone may want to learn the basics of drawing. Musical? I know I could use some help learning how to read sheet music. If you’re that person I’ll never be, the calculus expert, I promise there are people who need you as a tutor too. Teach a new skill, help someone pass a class, go along on a returning student’s journey, and earn some extra cash for the knowledge you already have.
Takeaways:
- When it comes to tutoring, you already have marketable skills
- People of all ages and education levels may need a tutor—keep an eye out for opportunities
By: Kelsie Lynn
Kelsie Lynn is a rising junior at New York University studying communications and creative writing. She is probably in a coffee shop right now working on her latest short story draft.
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
You Are What You Read
Wednesday, June 29th, 2022English novelist Angela Carter once said, “Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything you read, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.” Escaping into the pages of a book is one of my favorite ways to feel both relaxed and creative at the same time. As a reader and writer, getting lost in a novel is a very therapeutic experience for me. Literature comes to life more so when I am able to relate to the story that is unfolding. Just like when I listen to Taylor Swift, when I read about a character that goes through the same experiences I do, it feels personal and safe.
Taylor Swift once told a fan she loves the novel Normal People by Sally Rooney. After reading it and watching the series adaptation on Hulu, I completely understand why she recommends it. The main characters, Connell and Marianne, struggle to communicate their feelings to each other throughout the novel. Their words get lost in translation and they never truly know what the other is feeling. While reading Normal People, I imagined myself in the story because there are often instances where I assume how someone else feels instead of asking straightforwardly. This can lead me to overthink and sometimes create irrational scenarios in my head. A part of me knows this can all be solved by being direct about my feelings, but it is easier said than done. But as Rooney’s characters showed me, I’m not the only one who does this. And certainly Taylor Swift has shown she does this too, with lyrics like “I’d tell you I miss you but I don’t know how” and “Here’s to silence that cuts me to the core.”
When I first read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, Swift’s song, “The Lucky One (Taylor’s Version),” instantly started playing in my head. The story goes into detail about the main character, an actress named Evelyn Hugo, who achieved great fame and success but lacks happiness in her life. Although she is viewed as “The Lucky One” because of her looks and wealth, she does not actually feel like it. “And they tell you that you’re lucky but you’re so confused ‘cause you don’t feel pretty, you just feel used,” is the Taylor Swift lyric I believe deeply connects with this character. Evelyn Hugo had to lock certain parts of herself away in order to maintain her public image, which is certainly a universal feeling among women.
Reading is inherently imaginative and expressive because we place our own lives and feelings within these plots. The way we interpret a story is what makes each person’s experience reading it individual. I feel lucky that I’ve read novels that give me the experience of being able to temporarily transport myself to a new, special world. However, I understand that this may not come easily to everyone. It took me a while before really finding a book that set off my love for reading, so here are a few tips to find the right book for you:
- Visit a local bookstore. Browsing through the displays, searching through your favorite genres, and asking for staff recommendations can lead you to the start of your reading journey.
- Social media. If you search “Booktok” on TikTok, you can easily find recommendations from so many different people and their unique opinions and perspectives.
- Join a book club. Whether it be online, on campus, or in your city, this is a great way to integrate reading into your social life. Fun discourse can lead to deep and meaningful conversations.
Don’t forget to create a playlist of all the songs that remind you of the next book you’re reading to enhance this experience!
By Jacqueline Rappa
Jacqueline Rappa is a rising senior at the Fashion Institute of Technology studying Advertising and Marketing Communications with a minor in English. You can find her aimlessly walking around New York City while drinking an iced coffee and listening to her favorite albums on repeat.
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
What Your Favorite Character Says About You
Tuesday, June 21st, 2022Instead of feeling guilty about binge-watching a series all day, allow yourself to embrace the intriguing plot that you’re immersed in for those few hours. There is always something that can be learned from watching a film, even an early 2000s rom-com. After all, this form of entertainment can be used to spark your own creativity and imagination. Characters can inspire you and you can even find yourself relating to them and feeling seen. You can use movie elements to enhance your own life. Dialogue about love, conflict, and different passions can teach you new ideas and help you learn more about yourself.
I have an endless list of characters I love and relate to. I love seeing myself and my personality reflected in films and shows. That’s why so many of us get lost in fictional worlds. It provides us with escapism from our everyday lives. I watched the series Gilmore Girls for the first time last year and in a way, it changed how I see the world. I grew a new appreciation for living in my small neighborhood, fun days with my mom, and the joy of going to a coffee shop for a few hours. I saw my relationship with my mom reflected in the relationship between the two main characters, Lorelai and Rory. Gilmore Girls bonded us and made our relationship stronger. Throughout the series, Rory’s drive to succeed motivated me to want to learn as much as I could, take more trips to Barnes and Noble and read for pleasure. I realized how much I love to get lost in a novel because of her character. Lorelai’s carefree personality allowed me to stop taking myself so seriously and embrace my quirks. Watching her on my TV encouraged me to wear fun outfits even when I’m at home in the suburbs, not just at school in a big city.
When I listen to music, not only do I relate the lyrics to my own life, but certain characters come to mind too. Of course, Taylor Swift has a song for every emotion and situation, so naturally, she has a song that connects with nearly all my favorite characters. This just goes to show how deeply relatable the experiences she sings about are. In “Nothing New,” Swift sings about the experience of getting older and realizing how little we know about the world and ourselves. In Gilmore Girls, as Rory goes through college, she notices she might not know herself as well as she thought she did as she starts to make mistakes. Listening to this song and having a character that also goes through this experience validated my feelings of being unsure about myself from time to time.
As a Taylor Swift fan and lover of numerous drama series, it is exciting to watch adaptations feature Taylor Swift songs. It is about time that her lyricism is used to enhance thrilling moments in film. For example, in the new Amazon Prime series The Summer I Turned Pretty, there are several Taylor Swift songs featured throughout the show. They represent the emotions of the characters and songs like “Cruel Summer” perfectly capture that hopeful feeling that fills the air at the beginning of summer. Swift’s songs add a sense of nostalgia to the series and help better connect the audience to the characters.
If you’re ever looking to draw inspiration from a TV show or film character, try to find one that you strive to be like. This doesn’t necessarily mean the most successfully written character or the most attractive, but maybe one that is in tune with their emotions. One that embraces their individuality and is unapologetically themselves. This will help deepen the connection you have with yourself as you realize your experiences are universal.
By Jacqueline Rappa
Jacqueline Rappa is a rising senior at the Fashion Institute of Technology studying Advertising and Marketing Communications with a minor in English. You can find her aimlessly walking around New York City while drinking an iced coffee and listening to her favorite albums on repeat.
For over 20 years, the Campus Clipper has been offering awesome student discounts in NYC, from the East Side to Greenwich Village. Along with inspiration, the company offers students a special coupon booklet and the Official Student Guide, which encourages them to discover new places in the city and save money on food, clothing, and services. At the Campus Clipper, not only do we help our interns learn new skills, make money, and create wonderful e-books, we give them a platform to teach others. Check our website for more student savings and watch our YouTube video showing off some of New York City’s finest students during the Welcome Week of 2015.
