Keep it in Perspective

Classes and clubs and a social life, oh my! College life can be a little overwhelming when you first get on campus as a freshman, but I'm feeling the pressure even as a junior.

One of the blessings that college has is that you are free to do any and every thing that you want. So you want to go to bed at 5 a.m.? Totally fine. Want to eat raw cookie dough for breakfast? Honestly, you haven't lived until you have. Going to the gym instead of doing homework? Mom isn't here to tell you no!

However, it is important to remember to balance everything. Going to bed super late is great until spend the whole next day walking around like a zombie, or worse, sleep through all of your classes. That cookie dough tastes great only the first time around, and your homework won't do itself, no matter how many pushups you do instead!

When I first came to school, I was stoked to become involved. I went to the activities fair and put my name on the email list for about two-thirds of the clubs I saw. You know that saying "Good grades, a social life, and enough sleep, in college you can only pick two"? Well, I didn't think that that applied to me.

Now though, I'm starting to see that while it's not 100 percent true, it does have some meaning to it. I am so glad that I am a part of everything that I am. I've been given some great opportunities, taken classes with amazing professors, and met some awesome people, but at some point, it is okay to say no.

It's taken me two and a half years to realize this, but nobody is perfect. No one can do everything. And that's fine.

College is a time to get a degree and learn skills that will help you in careers for the rest of your life, but it is also a time to learn about yourself. How to live, how to interact in adult relationships with other people, how to effectively manage your time... It's a lot, and it takes time to learn these skills.

Start by thinking about what is truly important to you. Life is short, and it's not worth your time to do things that will not better you as a person, or that you don't enjoy. As important as it is to be involved, your sanity and well-being are more important.

So take a deep breath, step back, and remember: it's okay to take a break every once in a while.

My Secret Mentor: Aimee Bender

Aimee Bender is not your average fiction writer. Often described as "surreal" or "bizarre," Bender's stories manage to captivate and disturb readers all at once. She is able to take the impossible to imagine and not only present the ideas in easy to understand and picture ways, but connect to the readers on a very personal level. Her use of metaphors and imagery make her writing flow in a calm yet effective manner.

Her short stories and novels all focus on plots that deal with the fantastical: a girl that can taste emotions, a boy with an iron for a head who is born into a family of pumpkin heads, and a boy with keys for fingers, to name a few.

I first read her novel "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" a few years ago, and I was instantly hooked not only on the weird and addicting plot, but also on Bender's beautifully written prose. She is able to describe emotions and human nature in clear and deeply detailed ways.

"I'd stopped waving to passengers in cars by then- I'd grown suspicious of people and all the complications of interior lives- so I sat and watched and rode and thought, and as soon as the bus doors opened, we all rolled out the door and split apart like billiard balls,” (Bender, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake).

Her down-to-earth yet fantastical prose is a versatile and intriguing model that every writer can learn from.

If you'd like to learn more about Aimee, you can visit her website here.

My Favorite Sites

The Huffington Post
This online news source contains a good mix of hard news, politics, and feature stories. Founded by Arianna Huffington in 2005, The HuffPost began as a blogging outlet but has since become a credible news source, with writer David Wood winning the site a Pulitzer Prize in 2012 and international editions being published in Canada, Great Britain, France and Spain.

Thought Catalog
Thought Catalog is a digital magazine that was created in Williamsburg, Brooklyn in 2010. Anyone can submit pieces to be published, but they must be entertaining, journalistic and literary. According to the site, "the more worldviews and rhetorical styles on the site, the better. We want to tell all sides of the story."

The Daily Muse
A relatively new site, The Daily Muse was launched in September 2011. The site focuses mainly on career advice, and features job listings for those that are in search of a new job. It also features lifestyle articles on topics such as fashion and cooking,  and advice for management and workers in general.

CNN
The Cable News Network site is full of both hard news and feature stories focusing on the U.S. and international news. I am partial to the opinion pieces on this site, and I find them snappy and informative.

Pink & Black
As a staff writer for this site, I'm a little biased, but I thought that Pink & Black was a great site before I even applied to be a writer for them. Aimed at teenage to young-adult women, this site features advice, feature columns, and some news stories.