Welcome back
Sign in to comment to your favorite stories, participate in your community and interact with your friends
or
LOG IN WITH FACEBOOKNo account? Create one
1. Planning decorations and themes
GiphyShe's not afraid of failing. Delta Nu would have the best themes!
2. Choosing a lipstick to match your recruitment dress
GiphyPink lipstick all the way. For any dress.
3. Needing to get away from the craziness after a long day with your sisters
GiphyFor Elle, it's chocolates. For me, it'd be pizza.
6. Listening to other's past recruitment horror stories
GiphyIt's always good to make sure the awkward doesn't happen again.
7. When people finally get the hang of "bumping"
GiphyFor those who don't know, "bumping" is a term for transitioning between two sisters when talking to a PNM. Woohoo!
9. The important pep talks over spirit week
GiphyFaith in yourself = confidence transferred to your new sisters!
Happy recruitment prep-month, everyone!
Instagram
1. Get a planner, and actually use it.
Elle Woods has big plans, and like all other university students, must stay on tasks and deadlines. This semester, I plan to actually use the planner I get and keep my tasks on track. This is the only step one to organizing my life and reaching my goals.
2. Don't procrastinate.
Nobody is perfect, and I think everyone procrastinates a little bit. But in order to make it a great semester, I am going to get close with my syllabus and not wait until the last possible second to get things done.
3. Eat healthy...unless we're talking about chocolate.
I tell myself to eat healthy all the time, but it never happens. Elle is totally the queen of making good decisions and I believe that eating well applies. (Unless we're talking about a box of chocolates, because those totally don't count. Right? Right.)
4. Work out.
What more can be said, exercise gives you endorphins, and we all want those positive vibes, so this semester is the perfect time to hit the gym for a workout.
5. Take actual time to study.
This goes hand in hand with not procrastinating. Even when the curriculum is tough, it always helps to break out the textbook. I am guilty of doing the bare minimum, but this semester I plan to model Elle Wood's drive for knowledge and not just scrape by.
6. Go out and have fun.
But not too much fun... college is not just about studying. You also have to go out and get to know people, but don't go past the point of not being about to manage both school and parties.
7. Stop putting off assignments until the last minute.
The longer you study the more knowledge you gain. This semester, I plan to start an assignment the second I get it because academic success leads to reaching whatever goals you have.
8. Actually go to classes.
Even if you hate that one physics or calc class, go. I have always been bad about following through with this. You may surprise yourself into actually learning something.
9. Make a mark on everything you do.
Elle knew how to make a mark that is unforgettable. This semester, I aspire to make a mark on each little thing I do. While you don't need to make your resume pink or scented, it is guaranteed that if you make yourself unforgettable to your professors, you'll go further.
10. Stop making excuses.
Elle never lets a status quo stop her. Don't make excuses for yourself, even if it's hard, or you don't think you are capable of doing something. Push and make it happen! Elle shocked everyone when she got into Harvard and proved herself to be a great asset. She never let anything set her back. The further you push yourself, the further you'll go.
As Elle would say, "no matter what, always believe in yourself." That is the greatest thing to remember as you go through the semester. Don't let failure get you down, learn and come back stronger. I know I will keep these goals in mind as I go through the semester, and you should too. Channel your inner Elle and work it.
Den of Geek
As laughable as this moment is, the principle behind Warner's ill-founded breakup still stands a bit too strongly in our culture-- that is, the idea that traditional perceptions of "beauty" and "brains" are somewhat mutually exclusive, or that we may find a niche in one but not the other. Or, worse, that we're allowed to take someone less seriously as an intellectual based on their looks, or disregard the femininity or aesthetics of someone outwardly intellectual.
All too often, women are placed into categories according to whether or not they are considered more "girly" or more "bookish" as if these generalized labels are polar opposites, or that there are two distinct categories with which to classify women. Even if done in jest, it's, at best, unfair and unrealistic for anyone to arbitrarily decide whether a woman is a Daphne or a Velma, a Hailey or an Alex, a Darcy or a Rachel, a Madge or a Millie, or, as Warner himself presumed, a Marilyn or a Jackie.
This paradigm tends to breed unnecessary envy and spite between women-- friends, strangers, sisters. We're left wondering if we're the "pretty sister" or the "smart sister," or Warner's ultimatum of Marilyn Monroe or Jackie Kennedy. We discount that both "the Marilyn" and "the Jackie" are unique, charming, strong, witty, and beautiful. We compare ourselves to one another and pine after whatever beauty or brains we feel we somehow lack or see one or the other as an asset to be relied on.
At the end of the day, there is no hard-and-fast rule that says someone can only be good at or be seen as one thing. There is no universal "look" of the average model, actress, engineer, or lawyer. No one should be forced to invest more in one than the other, and no singular person's understanding of either should serve as a universal definition.
So, forget the infamous beauty vs. brains debate.
Don't tell yourself you'd be happier or more successful if you looked or acted more like someone else. There's already enough unnecessary judgement and sexism in the world to deal with. We owe it to ourselves to, at the very least, perceive ourselves and one another in a manner that reflects our true complexity.
