Students, are you a fan of Chipotle? If so, there is an opportunity for you to become a student brand manager for the fast-casual restaurant. In order to bring Chipotle to your high school or university you must be 16 or older and be actively involved on your campus.

What exactly will your duties be as a Chipotle Student Brand Manager? You will have to promote the yummy burritos and tacos to fellow students on campus. You’ll be representing the brand, looking for opportunities that will let other students know that Chipotle is on campus, and using social media to promote the brand. Don’t worry – you won’t be doing this all on your own. Chipotle will offer guidance from their marketing representatives.

The company is offering a real-world experience for students who are looking for a career in the marketing industry. In other words, it is similar to an internship for college students because they have to attend two full academic semesters at their university and must work on Chipotle projects for five to ten hours per week. Read the rest of this entry »

Beloit College in Wisconsin has made a habit of releasing a “Mindset List” every August, painting a picture of pop culture, politics, and technology for the incoming freshmen. Since 1998 the school has released this list, primarily as a way for faculty to be aware of their possible dated references with the students. Today, the list has turned into a fantastic catalog of the worldview of incoming freshmen for all to enjoy.

Having the understanding that this year’s freshmen have never known a world where women couldn’t fly war planes or understanding that they see the Michael Jackson family in the same way you saw the Kennedy’s allows for a major gap to be bridged for all. Some mind blowing stats for the class of 2016 include that they were born in 1994, meaning people like Kurt Cobain, Jackie O., Richard Nixon, and John Wayne Gacy had always been a part of history.

The yearly lists are fun to read and even those of us who didn’t think we were that old are left with our jaws dropped when we realize how very different our experience of the world has been compared to these young students.

A few highlights from this year’s Class of 2016 list include:

Robert De Niro is known as Greg Focker’s father-in-law in the “Meet the Parents” movies, not as a member of the Corleone mob family.

This class may only think of Bill Clinton as a senior statesman and really have no idea about him not “having sexual relations with that women.”

The class of 2016 has never known an airport where you actually carry your suitcase versus rolling it and they’ve never had an actual airline “ticket.” Read the rest of this entry »

A majority of college parties involve alcohol, and it is rather a hot topic for college students. According to DoSomething.org, about 30,000 college students require medical treatment after overdosing on alcohol each year. Most college students binge drink, which is the consumption of five or more alcoholic drinks in a row on at least one occasion. Mary Hartley, RD, the nutrition expert for DietsInReview.com, confirms that, “it is a big problem among teens and adults.”

Binge drinking can do more than speed up the process of intoxication. According to Mary, “Young people frequently combine drinking and high risk activities and so heavy drinking carries a risk of serious injury due to falls or wrecks, as well as pregnancy, or sexually transmitted disease, date rape, and even death from alcohol poisoning.”

Binge drinking can also lead to alcohol abuse. Because alcohol is a normal part of the lifestyle, college students aren’t likely to stop drinking because of warnings of dangerous risks. However, they can certainly be more informed and be safer when they do imbibe. Read the rest of this entry »

A tiny dorm room isn’t ideal for most college freshmen, but sharing a room is something most freshmen will have to get used to. Students should be aware that roommates can affect your life more than expected. Bruce Sacerdote, Professor of Economics at Dartmouth, wrote in a study, “Roommate effects are important influences in freshman year GPA and in decisions to join social organizations.”

The scenarios of how roommates can affect your freshman year are endless. For example, before the school year begins, roommates talk about joining different organizations which can include going Greek. Another example is studying for an exam while every other roommate may suggest going to a party. While being away from home, first year students may have the desire to be social, instead of studying. College is all about learning how to be an independent adult and accountable for your actions, so if there starts to be a sign of lower grades and there is a direct correlation with your roommates, then something must be done to fix the situation.

Here are tips on how to fix roommate problems:

1. Speak up to your roommate, tell them you have priorities and that you need to find a way to accommodate each other in such a small space. Read the rest of this entry »

The first day of class is just days away for many college campuses. That day can be very emotional for any student. However, there may be no one more emotional than the incoming freshmen. The first day of college is more than just attending a new class, it’s entering a whole new world.

It’s been 12 years since I had my first day of classes. Many of my biggest fears came true that day. I couldn’t find a place to park, I got lost, and I was very late to my first class. It was a public speaking course. The first assignment was to give a quick speech about the person sitting next to you. My partner had very little time to interview me as I was so late. Her speech went something like, “I can only assume she’s not a very punctual person given she was so late today.” That got her a laugh and me a red face.

Looking back, I find it funny, too. But that day I was ready to cash in my chips and assume college wasn’t for me. Our emotions have a way of getting the best of us. By my final semester I had made many more mistakes, been late a million more times, and still managed to get lost on campus after all those years. Those issues among a million others seemed to happen to everyone though, and after a few years of it, the fretting stopped and it was just understood that college is a dynamic environment. Everyone was trying to find their way, it wasn’t just me who struggled from time to time.

More than a decade later, I wondered what today’s freshmen were dealing with. What fears are keeping them up at night as they prepare for their first day. I asked several members of the class of 2016 and here’s what they said were their biggest fears: Read the rest of this entry »

School is back in session for many colleges and universities across the country. Freshmen go in with wide-eyed wonder and seniors just want to get it over with. Meanwhile, alumni, like myself, become a bit nostalgic. While I wouldn’t want to go back to my demanding course schedule and bi-annual struggles with financial aid, I would love to go back for even a couple of days for a few of those key collegiate experiences, and even fill in the gaps with the ones I missed.

The beauty of the college experience is that it can be incredibly unifying. We’ve all had to scrape enough quarters together to wash a pair of jeans and probably even slept on a mysterious couch to ensure a safe arrival home the next day. And every school has their own set of unique traditions, like riding the Sooner Schooner at an OU football game, jumping in Mirror Lake at Ohio State, participating in CalTech‘s ditch day, or unleashing Northwestern‘s “the scream” on the Sunday morning before finals. You should take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way – no matter how ridiculous it may seem at the time.

Whether a freshman, sophomore, or fifth-year senior, we want you to have a classic college experience, and so we’ve put together our picks for a college student bucket list. You’ve got (at least) four years to accomplish the items on here, but you’ve got your entire life to conjure up the incredible memories that each item will no doubt deliver.

1. Live in the dorms.

2. Take a nap in the “quad”.

3. Order a pizza and eat the whole thing.

4. Stay up all night cramming for an exam.

5. Become friends with one professor. Read the rest of this entry »

As millions of students head back to campus they all have at least one thing in common: the bag on their backs. Besides having a pen, pencil, notebook, and books in your backpack, there are a few essential items that should not be overlooked as you pack for the first day of class.

Water Bottle

Drinking water will help to wake you up, especially if you have an early morning class. Water suppresses your appetite, so drinking water during a 45 minute class will help control your hunger before it gets out of hand.

Snacks

I’ve had countless days where I get a hunger attack in class. I forget about my professor’s lecture because I am focused on my growling stomach. Having a snack in your backpack will help curb your hunger and you won’t have to spend money on the expensive (and unhealthy) snacks at the student center. Make sure the snack is healthy like an apple or trail mix. And, don’t leave the snack in your backpack if it can melt.

Student ID

Student IDs are convenient because they can act as debit cards while on campus. You can deposit money into your account and use your student ID to pay for printed paper from the library, food at the student union, or even flash it for a discount around town. Read the rest of this entry »

The end of summer is nearing for many. The only indicator is the start date of classes bearing down upon us; Lord knows it’s not the weather. If your first day of class is coming up, take a minute to think through what you’d like your semester, year, or entire college experience to look like and maybe heed the advice of those of us who made enough mistakes to offer you a few useful tips.

1. Don’t write off the first day of class as “pass out the syllabus day.” Many of us assumed it was a pointless day that guaranteed early release and that’s all we focused on. Instead, listen closely, ask questions, and if needed, go directly to the registrar’s after class and drop it while it’s still refundable.

If it’s early in your college career, you can replace that class with another credit – one that’s worth your time, one that you’ll care more about. Those classes are expensive and time consuming; if you don’t jive well with the professor or care enough about the content, find a class that better suits you. Read the rest of this entry »

A new study from Ball State University is going to have parents of high school students, and the students themselves, quite upset and worried. According to the study, 81.3 percent of 305 high school counselors reported that their schools do not have any sort of protocol or procedure for handling reports of adolescent dating violence, which is any psychological, emotional,  sexual, or physical violence that occurs within a dating relationship.

Even more upsetting is that 90 percent of the counselors who were interviewed reported that they had not been trained in how to assist victims of adolescent dating violence within the past two years. Forty-three percent of the counselors said this lack of training was the main barrier that kept them from being able to help victims of this form of abuse. However, 61 percent of the counselors said they had indeed assisted victims of adolescent dating violence in the past two years, even though they did not have any training in the issue. Read the rest of this entry »

What do Joe DiMaggio, Lord Krishna, Ernest Hemingway, and a sacred tree in South America have in common? No, the answer is not a bad joke like your dad might tell. Instead, these four things are all part of the subject material for a course that is currently being taught at New York University called “Baseball as a Road to God.”

Dr. John Sexton is teaching this class to 18 undergraduates at NYU. Some of them are serious baseball fans, while others don’t really know or care what Babe Ruth’s curse is. However, they all are in process of “touching the ineffable,” as Sexton describes what students are learning in the course.

“The real idea of the course,” Sexton said, is to develop heightened sensitivity and a noticing capacity. So baseball’s not ‘the’ road to God. For most of us, it isn’t ‘a’ road to God. But it’s a way to notice, to cause us to live more slowly and to watch more keenly and thereby to discover the specialness of our life and our being, and for some of us, something more than our being.” Read the rest of this entry »