Category: Wellness

Survivors of Sexual Assault: You Are Not Ruined

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survivors of sexual assault

If you have experienced sexual assault, it is important to realize you are not alone, and you are not ruined. Your body is yours, and only you can decide what to truly and willingly share with another person. You may not always receive this message in school or from the media, but your choices are important – and you are still a whole person worthy of respect, personal decision making, and intimacy.

If you have endured the physical and emotional trauma associated with unwanted sexual contact, assault and rape, unfortunately you must also deal with conflicting societal messages. Broken self perception and diminished self worth is a long lasting side effect of sexual abuse, particularly in a society that condones abstinence-only education, creates a culture of slut shaming, and has a lack of physical and mental health resources. The system is broken; you are not.

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Don’t Lag Behind: 5 Ways to Start The School Year Strong

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tips for back to school

School kicks off in early September for most, for others it may already be a grueling reality. Whether you are already trudging through the halls or enjoying your last few mornings of MTV, here are a few tips for starting the school year off right.

1. Start waking up a little bit earlier each day. It’s harder to make yourself go to bed earlier than it is to wake up earlier (even if it doesn’t feel that way!) Avoid ‘back-to-school jet lag.’ Jet lag doesn’t only happen when you return home from a European vacation; starting a new routine (like cruising into first period by 7:45 am) can take a big toll on your first weeks back at school, which can have a significant impact on your grades for the year. Try adjusting your sleep patterns for a few days in order to prepare for your upcoming schedule.

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Sex Ed: Why The Bedroom Belongs in the Classroom

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It's hard to make a pencil and sharpener look sexy but use your imagination here.

It’s hard to make a pencil and sharpener look sexy but use your imagination here.

There’s an interesting [read: incredibly dangerous] tension between teenagers who do not want to talk about sexual health with their teachers, teachers who often cannot inform students any further than an ineffective abstinence-only education, and the parents who threaten legal action when their children are introduced to the concept of intercourse as anything more than a marital, procreational act.

It’s completely understandable that teens feel squeamish about sex education in the classroom. Why? Teens get completely mixed messages. In the media, everyone is having very sexy sex. In the classroom, the lesson plans sound like they were created in a different century: sex is taboo, secretive, and illicit before marriage. Of course teens are clamming up in the classroom, feeling guilty about their actions after hours, and engaging in high-risk sexual activity regardless.

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Building Lasting Friendships in 5 Steps or Less

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building lasting friendships

A follow up from Part I: 5 Ways to Make Friends Fast (Just Don’t Expect It To Last).

Whether the honeymoon period from Freshman Orientation is growing stale or you are new to the neighborhood, building real friendships is important for your well-being and emotional life. It may be easy to bond with someone over a shared yoga class or a frozen yogurt, but it can be trickier to establish real, intimate friendships where you feel comfortable sharing your deep thoughts, venting personal frustrations, or just being together in comfortable silence. Remember: It’s takes time to meet people and build lasting friendships. Here are 5 steps to help you along the way.

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5 Quick Ways to Make Friends Fast (Just Don’t Expect It To Last)

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How to make friends

If you are on the brink of heading off to college this month, or even starting a new boarding or high school, you may have been sent this recent article in the New York Times, The Real Skinny on Freshman Year. Conventional wisdom at its best – a definite read as you embark on a new adventure surrounded by strangers and boundless options.

What the piece didn’t break down was how and when you make friends. When starting a new school, this is perhaps the most anxiety-producing, keep-you-awake-at-night dilemma as you envision your new life unfolding. The truth is, the friends you make off the bat when starting a new school may not be the friends you end up keeping in touch with 10 years (or even 10 weeks) down the line – but they are important to settling in, feeling happy, and meeting those friends that will click for life. Maybe you’ll get lucky and your roommate or lab partner truly will your maid of honor someday. If not, here are 5 solid, quick tips (and their flip sides) to finding fast friends as you step foot onto a new social scene.

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HPV: Dodging The Common Cold of the Cervix

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8 out of 10 people contract HPV in their lifetime.

8 out of 10 people contract HPV in their lifetime.

Chances are, if you have been sexually active in your lifetime, you have contracted (and likely spread) HPV (Human papillomavirus). No, not you? At least 8 out of 10 people will get or have already received a hearty helping of HPV. Most often it comes and goes without complication, but for many, HPV can become problematic if left untreated- especially for women.

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Love Letters: Body Image & ‘Puberty The Remix’

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Love Letters

‘Love Letters’ is a Petal + Sass blog feature that regularly asks a group of diverse women in their 20’s and 30’s about their experiences with health, sex, emotional wellness, body image, college, careers – and what they wish they had known themselves as teenagers. Visit the ‘Love Letters’ To My Former Self page to learn more about the contributors.

Question posed: How did you feel about your body as a teenager? How has your body changed over the last 10 years? Has your body perception changed as you got older?

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Volunteer Work: Personal Reward, Professional Boost

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volunteering college transcript

The old adage goes, “there is no such thing as true altruism.” Whatever your thoughts are on this, when it comes to volunteer work, who cares why you’re doing it? Putting in any time and effort to help those in need or make the world a little more polished is the whole point and nothing but the point. Whether you are doing it to get into a good college or trying to casually impress your date, we’ll take it.

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