After the Declaration of Independence, all-you-can-eat 2:00 AM Chinese food, and the end of the Twilight craze (we’re still waiting), there is nothing more important than deciding which college or university to attend. Wait. Except making sure your parents send you a Box-O-Box when you get there. Obviously.
We are sooo tired of the lists of best schools where “you want to hug a tree for 4 years,” “you never go on a date,” and “you will live in the library – don’t even bother paying for a dorm room.” So we’ve assembled the Box-O-Box branded, straightforward, and most importantly, realistic, college decision-making process. Drum roll, please:
1. How addicted are you to your parents? If you cannot imagine a weekend without hanging with your folks or eating meals cooked for you on a nightly basis, please do the rest of us independent (and cool) people a favor and go to your state college or university. That is down the road from your house. And good luck to you.
2. The super-mathematical but useful algorithm: dorm-to-classroom distance. Monumental (ok, kinda large, but walkable) dorm-to-classroom distances mean that you must leave your warm bed and fuzzy feet pajamas behind in the morning. If you are so lazy and in love with your teddy bear that you do not think you will make the trek to class, please look into a small college that resembles a summer camp. If for whatever reason you engage in such embarrassing behavior and attend a large school, odds are you won’t attend class and your friends will get sick of filling you in on lectures and writing your papers. Unless you pay them.
3. Do you like to paint your face and lose your voice at sports games? Or pound the pavement and take public transportation? A suburban or rural school is for you if: you want to live in an enclosed campus with thousands of your closest friends, attend many sports games and spirited social events, and don’t want to think about an off-campus existence. If the thoughts of never seeing a highway or people who aren’t college students make your head spin, please check out those hipster urban schools, and buy a pair of skinny jeans, gals AND guys. Not to mention you can then go mingle with the 30+ crowd much more easily.
4. Perform a Freudian analysis of the freshman orientation itinerary. Your parents are probably shelling out big bucks for you to hang out on campus before classes start so that you can get all buddy-buddy and drunky-drunky with your new friends. What does the orientation week hold for you? Base camping or kayaking during a smelly week of “team building?” Leadership programs with the next generation of promising (achemm…nerds) young scholars? Expensive lattes and walking tours of “up and coming” neighborhoods? Please look into this, youngins’. Crackberries and iPhones don’t work in the wilderness.
5. Sex & Cultural Makeup. Who goes here? What's the cultural makeup here? What am I prepared to open myself to? How many guys? How many girls? Which ones do I like and do I know yet? With the lattermost question aside (because we hope you'll figure that one out on your own with quality experience and not too much sideline coaching), this is something to consider quite heavily. After all, the “happy ever after” stories of our parents' generation often seem to point toward the college years. And statisticians will tell you – numbers DON'T lie. So think long and hard about your dating and social prowess; your cultural comfort zones and how you see yourself when placed outside those zones. Consider the environment you've known, and whether that is the same one that's right for you to thrive in going forward. Think about birds and bees, meeting new friends or partners, gaining meaningful insight to the world you'll soon be immersed in. And remember, if it doesn't workout the first time – DON'T WORRY - you can always go through the pain of transferring.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
10 Sent-From-Home Items that Cause College Kids to Scream: "I checked my mailbox for THIS??!!!"
(Mom and Dad, please don't send me any of this stuff. I'm begging you.)
1) Pre-addressed, stamped envelopes and stationary so we can be "pen pals" with our parents! Yea, how about a message in a bottle, or attach a note to a balloon while we are at it! Learn to use the computer, try some texting (but not to me), and don't say to me, "Can you just send me a letter, this whole www @ whatever stuff is too confusing."
2) Home videos from childhood birthday parties, first grade 'graduation,' middle school dances -- you get the idea. And yes, these videos were originally recorded on VHS tapes. BUT have no fear, parents will convert them to DVD so we can watch them with our new college friends! Just what I always wanted, my college friends meeting my family for the first time and seeing me take a bath when I was two years old.
3) Condoms. Really?!?! Why don't we just talk about your hazy crazy college days!? You know what, on second thought, how about we pass right by that conversation too. Done.
4) Phone cards so we can call you more. We'll use the minutes to call friends at other schools. And if you increase our monthly text messaging limit, we still won't text you. I want that as much as I want the junk mail that's accumulated at home from people that don't need to know my new address.
5) THOSE VOICE MESSAGES THAT WE WILL DELETE AS SOON AS WE HEAR THAT NAGGING TONE...we aren't eating healthily, we don't care about cleaning up our dorms (the messier the better) and we aren't getting enough sleep!
6) The college version of a toddler themed room - pink for girls a la Disney Princesses, blue for boys like the days of Power Rangers. I know Aunt Pearl really wants to get me a fluffy pink pillow because it is "all the rage" and "just to die for," overheard at her hopping senior bingo, but please...Just give us a gift certificate and we'll go to Bed Bath & Beyond.
7) Any sort of gear or gadget. Yes, we know all about those MP3 things, already have the newest and best version, and you probably couldn't turn it on anyway.
8) Tasers or pepper spray. Are you testing me for your next "surprise 8:00 AM visit?" I promise I'll be careful...jeez mom!
9) And in the food category, we're very picky. Visit www.boxobox.com for ideas. Nothing healthy please (unless it's from Box-O-Box).
10) Presents for our roommates. What about MEEEEE? (Use whiny voice). Take our advice from the last tip, and please send a Box-O-Box, promise we'll share!!! (Revert to angelic tone).
1) Pre-addressed, stamped envelopes and stationary so we can be "pen pals" with our parents! Yea, how about a message in a bottle, or attach a note to a balloon while we are at it! Learn to use the computer, try some texting (but not to me), and don't say to me, "Can you just send me a letter, this whole www @ whatever stuff is too confusing."
2) Home videos from childhood birthday parties, first grade 'graduation,' middle school dances -- you get the idea. And yes, these videos were originally recorded on VHS tapes. BUT have no fear, parents will convert them to DVD so we can watch them with our new college friends! Just what I always wanted, my college friends meeting my family for the first time and seeing me take a bath when I was two years old.
3) Condoms. Really?!?! Why don't we just talk about your hazy crazy college days!? You know what, on second thought, how about we pass right by that conversation too. Done.
4) Phone cards so we can call you more. We'll use the minutes to call friends at other schools. And if you increase our monthly text messaging limit, we still won't text you. I want that as much as I want the junk mail that's accumulated at home from people that don't need to know my new address.
5) THOSE VOICE MESSAGES THAT WE WILL DELETE AS SOON AS WE HEAR THAT NAGGING TONE...we aren't eating healthily, we don't care about cleaning up our dorms (the messier the better) and we aren't getting enough sleep!
6) The college version of a toddler themed room - pink for girls a la Disney Princesses, blue for boys like the days of Power Rangers. I know Aunt Pearl really wants to get me a fluffy pink pillow because it is "all the rage" and "just to die for," overheard at her hopping senior bingo, but please...Just give us a gift certificate and we'll go to Bed Bath & Beyond.
7) Any sort of gear or gadget. Yes, we know all about those MP3 things, already have the newest and best version, and you probably couldn't turn it on anyway.
8) Tasers or pepper spray. Are you testing me for your next "surprise 8:00 AM visit?" I promise I'll be careful...jeez mom!
9) And in the food category, we're very picky. Visit www.boxobox.com for ideas. Nothing healthy please (unless it's from Box-O-Box).
10) Presents for our roommates. What about MEEEEE? (Use whiny voice). Take our advice from the last tip, and please send a Box-O-Box, promise we'll share!!! (Revert to angelic tone).
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Ahhhhcchhoo! Oh, post-college health insurance...
Let's talk a bit about something that impacts many a Box-O-Box care package recipient: the post-college health insurance scramble.
An anxiety-inducing fact: health insurance from a parent's employer typically ends with college graduation. One of our Box-O-Box interns exclaims, "WHAT?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD COAST MY ENTIRE LIFE RIDING THE COAT-TAILS OF MY PARENTS' INSURANCE AND LIVE AT HOME UNTIL I AM 30!" Echhemm...NO.
Michael, Box-O-Box’s Boxmaster and CEO, knows from personal experience that
post-graduate insurance can provide for trying times. Michael was on his mother’s insurance and then COBRA but was dropped prematurely. Why? Although New Jersey state law, like many other states, allows post-college students like Michael to continue with COBRA if within the ages of 25-30, his mother’s retirement prompted an immediate cancellation of his policy. Let's just say that the NJ Board of Education will not be receiving any free Box-O-Boxes***** anytime soon!
So if you're not sure if you want to leave your health insurance fate up to state laws, be sure to check out these resources:
COBRA. Once your insurance expires under your parent’s plan, you can temporarily extend your current coverage through Cobra but bear in mind that there may be a bit of “red tape.”
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm
Awesome Online Resources:
* Ehealthinsurance.com provides affordable health insurance quotes and allows you to compare individual health insurance plans side by side.
* HealthCareCoach.com is provided by the National Health Law Program and includes a search engine to learn more about specific plans as well as a helpful list of health insurance terms.
* Healthinsurance.org allows you to search for insurance plans by zip code and has a useful FAQ section.
Ah, finding health insurance is a rite of passage. And while it may be overwhelming, you’ll be happy when you have the sniffles (and hopefully a Feel-Better Box!) and can go to a doctor.
*****Footnote time: They may not be free, (sorry!) but regardless of whetheryou or someone you know has health insurance coverage, there are a variety of Box-O-Boxes that can help you stay healthy or help if sickness has already gotten to you. With that said, as much as we'd like to tell you that it could, you should never replace a visit to a good doctor with the excessive consumption of Box-O-Boxes. However, indulging in the contents of Box-O-Boxes certainly wouldn't hurt, and we've got them ready for you any day of the week.
An anxiety-inducing fact: health insurance from a parent's employer typically ends with college graduation. One of our Box-O-Box interns exclaims, "WHAT?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! I THOUGHT THAT I WOULD COAST MY ENTIRE LIFE RIDING THE COAT-TAILS OF MY PARENTS' INSURANCE AND LIVE AT HOME UNTIL I AM 30!" Echhemm...NO.
Michael, Box-O-Box’s Boxmaster and CEO, knows from personal experience that
post-graduate insurance can provide for trying times. Michael was on his mother’s insurance and then COBRA but was dropped prematurely. Why? Although New Jersey state law, like many other states, allows post-college students like Michael to continue with COBRA if within the ages of 25-30, his mother’s retirement prompted an immediate cancellation of his policy. Let's just say that the NJ Board of Education will not be receiving any free Box-O-Boxes***** anytime soon!
So if you're not sure if you want to leave your health insurance fate up to state laws, be sure to check out these resources:
COBRA. Once your insurance expires under your parent’s plan, you can temporarily extend your current coverage through Cobra but bear in mind that there may be a bit of “red tape.”
http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/health-plans/cobra.htm
Awesome Online Resources:
* Ehealthinsurance.com provides affordable health insurance quotes and allows you to compare individual health insurance plans side by side.
* HealthCareCoach.com is provided by the National Health Law Program and includes a search engine to learn more about specific plans as well as a helpful list of health insurance terms.
* Healthinsurance.org allows you to search for insurance plans by zip code and has a useful FAQ section.
Ah, finding health insurance is a rite of passage. And while it may be overwhelming, you’ll be happy when you have the sniffles (and hopefully a Feel-Better Box!) and can go to a doctor.
*****Footnote time: They may not be free, (sorry!) but regardless of whetheryou or someone you know has health insurance coverage, there are a variety of Box-O-Boxes that can help you stay healthy or help if sickness has already gotten to you. With that said, as much as we'd like to tell you that it could, you should never replace a visit to a good doctor with the excessive consumption of Box-O-Boxes. However, indulging in the contents of Box-O-Boxes certainly wouldn't hurt, and we've got them ready for you any day of the week.
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