Most of us have been settled into our rooms for a whole semester now, a couple of weeks for some, but it's never too late to spruce up your room for the New Year! There are million different easy things you can do to organize your room, clear up the clutter, and make your space as effective as possible.
Always losing your keys? Easy enough. All you need for this project are two things! Any old frame and screw hooks. Drill a hole on the inside of the frame wherever you want the hooks to be placed and the screw them in. Hang it up on the wall by the door and there ya go! Lost key no more!
Need a calendar but hate having to buy a new one? Simple. You need a plethora of paint chips (just drop by Lowes or Home Depot) and a larger frame, depending on your paint samples. Cut the samples down into squares, as close to the same size as possible. Paste the squares, in whather color scheme you should choose, onto a large piece of white paper, leaving some space at the top. Put the paper into the frame and just use dry erase markers on the glass.
Got a clutter of cords? Can’t tell one from the other? All you need are binder clips and bread ties to clean up that mess. Take the bread ties, indicate which cord it goes to, and place it around the base of said cord. Take a binder clip, thread the end of the cord through the handles and pin the clip to the side of your desk. Now, instead of reaching down and untangling, all you do is grab it and plug it into your computer. Quick, easy, and painless!
Room missing a little flair? Well, it’s easy enough to glitter up the most mundane of items. Candle holders, jam jars, an old Iphone case that’s lost its pizzazz, literally anything can be remade and used once again. Just find your local craft store, stock up on Modge Podge and glitter in whatever color suits you and it’s as easy as mixing the two together. Just put as much glitter in as you want on the item your covering and paint it on with a foam brush. It may take about three coats to really get looking perfect, and let dry. Then set it on your desk and refill the candle holder with a light, the jar with pencils , and the case with an Iphone. Simple glitter and glam.
Image Sources: http://www.curbly.com, http://lh6.ggpht.com/-
When my dad was in college and he wanted to see a girl, he gave her a phone call and if she accepted, they went on a date. Twenty years later, I’m sitting in a college classroom thinking about how I haven’t really been on a date since I have been to college. Personal problem? Maybe - I am hoping to attribute the lack of romantic outings in my life to the huge difference in our generations and a new application called Tinder.
These days, if girls want to know what guys are into them, they don’t wait around for a phone call. Boys don’t need to worry about a rejection either, because now they have a heads up to whether or not the girl they saw in Five Points the previous weekend is actually interested or if she just wanted a free drink. Thanks to Hatch Jobs Inc., girls and boys alike can avoid putting themselves out there at all.
When I first heard about Tinder, it was in humorous conversations where people were making fun of their friends for having an insta-dating application on their phone. In the midst of Manti T'eo and Catfish drama, Tinder was a joke. Soon enough though, everyone was talking about Tinder; what started as a joke became serious. When I realized every single one of my roommates and friends seemed to have it, curiosity got the cat and I downloaded the application.
What did I discover? In order to set up your Tinder profile, the application syncs to your Facebook and allows you to choose five or so pictures from that profile to use for your Tinder. Obviously everyone chooses the most photogenic pictures they have, whether they’re accurate or not. Using pre-sets on your profile, the application finds people within a set mile radius. You can scroll through a potential match’s photos, mutual Facebook friends and what interests you have in common. If you like them and they like you, you’re a match and can use the app to converse privately. If you hit dislike, the person will never know; if a person dislikes you, you’ll never know. If your boyfriend/girlfriend is conversing with others via Tinder – you’ll never know.
Almost every profile that appears for a like or dislike is someone I already know or could easily go about meeting on my own, if interested enough. This application provides another way to allow technology to replace guts and courage utilized in my dad’s time.
I have come across several university athletes, fathers posing with their children and friends I see every day while playing the “Tinder game.” The variety of Tinder users is at large; I just choose not to be one of them. I deleted the app, not able to take it seriously. I won’t use it to find a “match” with someone I already know. I’d rather just meet them through fate. If you’re laughing at me for counting on fate to find love, just remember you’re probably the one counting on Tinder (we can call it even).
Image Source: Madisyn Kellough
I was doing my usual before-bed-twitter browse the other night when I came across an article tweeted, “Why Did Men Stop Wearing Heels?” The title itself caught my attention, as my first thought was, “Why were men wearing heels in the first place…?” The article was about how in 18th century France, heels were a symbol of wealth and status for men, until they were banned by Napoleon because he was frustrated with the idea that no matter how high his heels were he was still the shortest at every party. I made up that part, but I digress. I remembered reading an article in the New York Times last year about men in their 20’s, living in New York City, who envied women and their wide variety of clothing options available to wear. So, what’s better than having guys wearing 5-inch heels to clubs in the city?! Exactly what they did. Are guys in South Carolina about to start strutting around in heels at night, fighting the blisters and whispering to their friends, “You can do it, beauty is painful,” as they walk to Pavs? I decided to weigh the pros and cons of this situation.
Pros: As a girl who stands 5’10’’ barefoot, I would very much appreciate not being taller than three-quarters of the guys at a bar, and would therefore praise the idea of guys in heels. Also, heels would break the monotony of a typical SC’s guy’s outfit of khakis and a Ralph Lauren button down. Guys, if this description has offended you in any way, and the idea of heels repulses you, then go buy yourself a fedora.
Cons: If I saw a guy walk into a bar flashing his red sole Louboutins, I would be enraged with jealousy because they should be on MY feet, not his. Also, heels are supposed to make a woman’s figure look more attractive and elongated, and I don't see heels having the same affect on guys wearing shorts and a frat tee.
Let’s keep men wearing heels in NYC. As for you guys in Columbia, don’t worry about being taller; I suggest mixing up your strictly preppy wardrobe instead. You can do it, I have faith.
Image Source: http://essentricshoe.com/style/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6:real-men-wearhigh-heels
As the month of January comes to an end, the only thing on my mind these days is applying for internships. Last summer, I had the opportunity to intern in NYC as a graphic design intern. However, my interests have changed to the mainstream and one of the most popular majors around: Public Relations.
EVERY FIRM has a department concerning public relations. Great! Plenty of job positions right? Not quite. The challenge is advertising myself to stand out from all the other public relation majors who also plan to intern this summer, let alone at the places I plan to apply to. Oh, did I mention all these PR firms are ridiculously competitive? Terrific. Now what?
Luckily, I came up with an idea that I've thought about for a while, yet never had the motivation to begin. Start my own blog.
I had the opportunity to speak with an editor for a large media magazine whose advice to me was to make my resume and my work available online and on one site of my own. Not only did I start planning my blog immediately after hearing this adivce, but I also realized I may have found a potential way to make myself look more appealing for an internship position.
This blog not only showcases my publications and other resume-building work, but also provides prospective companies insight to the type of person I am and the type of person I want to become. On paper, it is very difficult to stand out from all the rest. A visual representation highlighting talents, passions, and skills is a more efficient and fun way to showboat.
I began my blog very recently (a week ago to be exact) and I have already received such positive feedback from peers. It is a style blog, one that I formed around my own needs and wants concerning what I would want to read if I came across it. I focus on how to put outfits together, where to find the best quality merchandise for a fraction of its original price, and ways to make the ordinary extraordinary. I try to incorporate the styles of voluntary viewers who want to contribute to the morning dilemmas of getting dressed in the morning that I have struggled with for several years.
In addition to my style tips, I have links and visual publications of some of my DIY work, Toms by Til, as well attachments of my online blogs and publications I have done for G&B.
If you want to stand out from the crowd, demonstrate independence, and showcase your passions, then start a blog. It becomes a rewarding and exciting way to show off what you know.
Check out what I've been working on - tobebright.org and 'Like' To Be Bright & Garnet and Black on Facebook.
Involving yourself within a blog, by creating one of your own or participating in others, demonstrates your networking capabilities that ALL PR DEPARTMENTS are looking at today. Expand your social media use by expanding yourself.
Image Source: http://tobebright.org
My interest in service work wasn't gradual. I dove in head first.
Despite participation in Beta Club, Key Club, and National Honors Society, it was hard to do a lot of service work at my high school. We were far removed from any “real” community and there wasn’t much we could do to serve the small semblance of one that we had.
I always wished that there was more that I could do.
When I arrived to USC's campus, it was more than I had bargained for. Ever since, I’ve gone to every Service Saturday, all of them working outside, waking up during the early hours of the morning to trek over to Russell, as well as gone with a group to Greenville to help at the South Carolina Special Olympics taking place there and have volunteered at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk for a Cure.
I joined the Carolina Service Council and have taken on as many projects as I could handle, from preparing stockings to give to children at Christmas, gathering food to give to a family in need this Thanksgiving, and collecting as much loose change possible for UNICEF this past Halloween.
I’ve signed up for Relay for Life for this coming April, as well as plan to participate in one of the Martin Luther King Jr. Days of Service. I’ve talked to people with amazing ideas that I want to help push forward in the upcoming year, in addition to working on a project that I have in mind.
USC has not only given me a fantastic education, it’s also given me something far more amazing; a plan towards my future. I have received a plethora of options and opportunities from this amount of service work available, which has given me the power to give back.
I now have a direction to follow upon graduation. Through all the service work I’ve participated in, there isn’t anything better than knowing you changed someone's life.
From fixing up bike trails in the Harbison Forest, helping a student in a local school, or raising money for a walk to cure cancer, every single bit helps, even if it's a grand gesture or a simple favor. In the end, you're helping someone, and nothing inside feels better than that.
Image Source: http://community.bacc.cc/2011/
