Free....? Dress Down Days???

This post is kind of my-life-specific, so if you can relate to it then great, but if you can't - well, you might just learn something new. I go to a private high school which, needless to say, requires uniforms. I've been wearing uniforms to school my entire life and am pretty much used to it, but there's one problem with a monotonous school dress code that bothers me so flupping much - Free Dress Days.

Before you can say "yayyyyy let's go shoppinggggggg" You have to realize what this entails. Everyone at your school who normally doesn't notice what you're wearing is now going to notice what you're wearing, and, if you're a paranoid high school girl, judge you harshly on your choices. In order to succeed at Free Dress Day, you have to know about the day at least two days in advance, that way you can rummage through your teeny tiny closet and find something halfway decent to wear. You will, of course, change your mind five times and wear every single outfit you own at least twice (remember, you don't own many clothes that aren't khaki skorts, white polos, and plaid skirts). After the outfit is semi-decided and your closet is semi-on-the-ground, it's time for you to ask your friends what they're wearing.

You: "hey what r u wearin 2morrow?"

Friend: "haha idk something"

You: "..."

The conversation will continue along this pattern with lots of unnecessary laughing and emoticons, with you ultimately finding out nothing about what they are wearing to school. When Friday finally comes, you wake up early, fix your hair extra special, apply an extra coat of massacara (because you get to wear your OWN clothes) and hop out the door, immediately realizing you shouldn't wear flip-flops to school. Ever.

When you FINALLY arrive at school, all your friends are wearing t-shirts and gym shorts, and you look like your trying too hard to look good and wish you had in fact changed out of the flip-flops you were debating over earlier. Oh and the school charges you a dollar. To wear your own clothes.

Let's just go back to the uniforms please...

Sooo Not the Prama....

What kind of Huckleberry Frolic is this???
As Prom season has come and gone I think we're all a little bit glad its over. We can stop stressing over flowers, hair, makeup, nails, and - oh yeah - dates.

This year was my first experience in the wonderful world of everything prom and I learned many new and exciting things.

For one, finding a dress is not a magical trip into fairytale land. Groups have to be made on facebook, websites have to be scoured, and even if you find a dress you like, you first have to get the approval of your whole school, just in case someone else had an eye on something similar. Not to mention when it finally comes in the mail, doesn't fit, and you have to start all over again.

Going to a small school is NOT your friend during prom season, and any friends of the opposite gender you may have outside of school become your new best friends as they are your ticket to taking those classically cheesy prom pictures you're secretly dying to take. If you haven't already guessed, this is what happened to me, and even though me and two of my close friends did not get asked to the promenade, we all brought friends and had a rip-roarin good time.

Now, it's not enough to simply secure a date for the prom, but you also MUST schedule appointments for everything. Hair, make-up, and nails all have to be strategically scheduled so that you have enough time to go from place to place while still getting your money's worth (because, believe me, they WILL take your money). On top of that, the feeling of panic you get when finally arriving at said appointment only to find that the hairstylist does not perfectly carbon copy match your hair to the picture you brought in of your celebrity dream hair isn't the best way to start off the night. Likewise, the make-up person will inevitably make you look like a contestant on Toddlers in Tiaras at some point in the make-up stage but never fear, if your make-up is going awry, just be assertive and don't silently cry to yourself about how horrible your life must be.

Finally you get to the prom, struggle to put the boutonniere on, awkwardly pose for the "prom" picture with your date, along with 1,000 other photos, eat dinner, dance?, and go to after prom where you PROMptly wish you could leave and go to bed. By the time the night is over, you realize prom isn't that big of a deal.

woah there....

Somewhere along the line I was going about my daily activities when i stumbled upon my OWN blog and saw that I have reached 1000 views! I have no idea if this is a good thing or bad thing in the blogging world but it's good enough for me! thanks for everyone who has been reading, and keep it up! lets see if I can get to 10 FOLLOWERS!!!!

College Visits: Syracuse

Well I went to Syracuse over a month ago, so this post may be a little bit hazy but here we go.

Syracuse was the first college visit I went on with my dad, which was rather different from going on a visit with my mom. For one there was a lot more complaining about the long 6 hour drive through the mountains and quarries of the east coast than when I drie places with my mom, and a lot wierder conversations...but thats not what this post is about.

Our tour guide at the school was VERY funny, probably the best one I've had in terms of entertainment value. He was particularly interested in telling us about all the traditions and legends surrounding various aspects of the school, from the kissing bench to the inexplicable construction of the the building with no front door. The campus itself is really really pretty, but its rather unfortunate that the nice features like the quad can only be used one month out of the year do to crippling amounts of snow, but most of the building are within a reasonable walking distance of each other and not too inconvenient. The coolest part about the school (besides their mascot being an orange) is their communcations school which boast a SERIOUSLY impressive alumni and has state of the art facilities. As a side note, Marshell Street - which lies directly in front of the college - is a really cool street targeted at college kids who have a penchant for pita bread. Seriously there were 3 Pita resturaunts on the one street alone, that's more than I've ever seen in my entire life...

Overall I had a really great day visiting the 'cuse, and we were blessed to go on the one day a year it was above 60 degrees. My only complaints are the actual city of syracuse is incredibly dead and the weather is god-awful for a greater majority of the time you'd be up there. Other than that I loved the Orange

College Visits: Bucknell

First of all this is a very late post so unfortunately I may not remember every little aspect of the school but hey, NO ONE READS THIS ANYWAY We were fortunate enough to go to Bucknell on an open-house for juniors so they day was centered all around selling the school. When we first came to the school, I noticed the slews of students standing in front of the auditorium entrance, wearing their Bucknell blue and orange, screaming "WELCOME TO BUCKNELL" as a bison danced on gleefully. Five minutes later, Bucknell was able to completely win me over with delicious snacks and an amazingly persuasive lecture. The following lecture and the student session were absolutely informative and interesting, I found out a lot about Bucknell's different programs (most importantly to me study abroad) and a little about student life. I really liked how many of the students at Bucknell can major, minor, or double major in many different and seemingly unrelated topics (for example, our tour guide was a double-major in chemistry and Spanish). For someone like myself, who is relatively undecided about what I want to do with my collegiate life, Bucknell was perfect in this regard. After this we had a lunch/information session and then a tour of the campus. The campus is gorgeous and spacious, and has just the right touch of an old campus feel without looking decrepit. All in all, Bucknell did everything right for their open house. My only complaint is: location, location, location! but even then, there are plenty of opportunities the school offers to get off campus, trips to New York, Philly, and DC should easily alleviate any cabin fever a student might have. So far, Bucknell has been my favorite college!

College Visits: Lehigh

On the same cold, rainy April day that I visited Villanova, I also journeyed out to Bethlehem, PA and saw Lehigh. Overall the campus was one of the prettiest I've ever seen, and although it is on one giant hill, the walking isn't half as bad as it looks. The campus tour guides were all friendly, but for the most part not the most outgoing bunch, but they did answer any questions posed to them on the tour. Oddly enough, I got the only outspoken tour guide, which is a serious understatement because she was practically shouting the whole tour, and quickly lost her breath during our many treks up and around the campus. While on the tour, like any respectable school, they showed us some of the more grandeur buildings, at Lehigh, this would most definitely be the library. If you like libraries that literally transport you into a scene from Harry Potter, Lehigh is the school for you. The library was one of the coolest places I have ever seen, and looks like a great place to study when the weather's too cold to be outside on one of the many lawn's of Lehigh. Overall I thought Lehigh was a very nice school, although it is too focused on business and engineering for my taste. Some of the older buildings and commons areas inside the Dorm Rooms are in dire need of refurbishing, and I'm not a fan of their school color; Brown (it does nothing for my complexion)

College Visits: Villanova

Villa-no-fun? Villa-so-fun! I visited the Villanova campus on a cold, rainy April day, so my expectations for enjoying myself were a bit low. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the wind and weather didn't tarnish my views of the school. Not only is the campus BEAUTIFUL, but it is ever so close to the city of Brotherly Love (Philadelphia) and even shorter if you take the subway. The tour guides were very friendly and helpful, answering all my inane questions and not acting a bit annoyed, and the insides of the buildings were almost as beautiful as the outsides. Now I may be slightly biased, seeing as I look good in the color blue and have a penchant for coffee (Villanova has these Holy Ground's Coffee Shops all over the campus, and it taste like the sweet nectar of the god's). My only complaints about the school would be their ridiculous core curriculum, and dorm rooms that are a little on the small side. The dorm room situation mainly has to do with some of the older building not being quite up to date yet, and although the core curriculum sounds intense, it's an intense school, so it's a nice fit. All in all, I liked Villanova, and I recommend anyone considering it to take a visit up there and see it for themselves, If you don't like it, at least you still get to spend the weekend in Philly!