Falling for Accessories

accessories
"Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall." - F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby

Fall has always been my favorite season.  The trees are painted shifting hues of red and orange and yellow and brown, while the leaves already fallen form a sort of orchestra under my feet.  The air becomes chill, and I need no excuse to bundle up in sweaters and scarves and drink hot cider or read books all day by a fireplace.  Fall is also my favorite season in terms of style, as it's the last chance to make an impression before you bundle up in a parka for the long winter. 
Here are some of my favorite fall accessories this year:

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Come Fly With Me

featured

This past summer, I was fortunate enough to spend two months studying abroad in Italy and travelling throughout Europe - an experience which can only be described as a dream come true.

St. Augustine once spoke, "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page."  
Every person has a story.  Every city.  Every religion, every tradition, every culture.  
An empty lipstick-stained glass of wine left on a table on a street-side cafe table in Paris.  The crumbling walls along an ally in Budapest.  The fixated stare of a marble statue in Florence.  
They all have stories.

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College 101: Organization and Study Tips

advice

It's getting to that point in the semester when everything begins to catch up to you way more quickly than you'd like.  It feels like Welcome Week was just yesterday, but your professors are already assigning ridiculous amounts of reading and giving you pop quizzes, and suddenly midterms are looming closer every day.  Trust me, I've had my fair share of mental breakdowns to know the pain.  Those midnights before a paper is due when you don't even have a thesis statement?  Or those all-nighters spent cramming for exams that you know no matter how much you study for, you'll never feel prepared enough?  The woes of college life are literally endless.
 But then again, how can we complain when we're so lucky to be here?  I always feel a tinge of guilt when I'm stressed out and thinking about how I'd rather just drop out of school and join the circus.  And then I realize that I don't have the coordination to walk a tightrope and I'm not as cool as Reese Witherspoon and can't perform gymnastics on top of an elephant.  So instead, I clear my head.  I remember that I want this because I have big dreams and this is how I'm going to get there.  I get focused and I get organized.  The best way to treat a new school year is to get in control of your work before everything you feel overwhelmed.

Here I've laid out some study and organizational tips that work for me.  Granted, everybody learns differently.  How I study may not be what works best for you.  The best way to figure out what does work for you is to try out different methods.  If you are really struggling in school, talk to somebody.  There are countless resources on campus to get help - counselors, academic advisers, tutors, etc.  Utilize them.  You may feel like you're drowning in the pressure of the semester, but trust me, you are not alone in that feeling.  Getting focused and organized will help you live up to your potential.