Tag: girls

Love Letters: Freshman Blues, Red Leather Pants, and Do-Overs

Leave a comment

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: What was freshman year of college really like for you? What were your expectations versus the reality? Do you have any regrets, and what would you do differently looking back?

Continue reading →

Building Lasting Friendships in 5 Steps or Less

2 Comments

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.

Continue reading →

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

Leave a comment

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.

Continue reading →

Role Call: Real Women In Publishing

Leave a comment
Christine is an Authors Relations Manager in Montreal, Canada.

Christine is an Author Relations Manager in Toronto, Canada.

Role Call is a Petal + Sass blog section featuring interviews with professional young women occupying diverse careers- and their advice to teens.

Name: Christine Munroe

Age: 30

College & major: McGill University (Montreal), English Literature (Minor in Sociology)

Graduate school & concentration: McGill University again, MA in English Literature

NYU School of Professional Studies, courses in Publishing and Creative Writing

Continue reading →

Love Letters: Sexual Pressure, Harassment and Rape

Leave a comment

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: Were you ever sexually harassed or pressured into engaging in sexual activity that you were uncomfortable with as a teenager? If so, how did you handle the situation? What would you advise a young person who was being pressured or harassed today?

Continue reading →

Role Call: Real Women in Writing

Leave a comment
Sara is an English teacher in Connecticut.

Sara is an English teacher in Connecticut.

Role Call is a Petal + Sass blog section featuring interviews with professional young women occupying diverse careers- and their advice to teens.

Name: Sara Erdmann

Age: 32

College & major: Hamilton College ’05, Creative Writing major, French minor

Graduate school & concentration: University of New Hampshire, MFA in Writing
Binghamton University, PhD in Literature and Creative Writing

Continue reading →

HPV: Dodging The Common Cold of the Cervix

Leave a comment
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.

Continue reading →