A Fashion Passion?

Yes, college is about books, academia, research, partying and alcohol. But it also is about discovering your real passion. Here are some tips to try if you think your passion might be fashion.

1. Can you look at a piece and tell who its designer is and what season and year they designed it for? Bone up on all of the hottest designers. Try style.com. I like Daily Candy for fashion and shopping in the major metro areas, as well as for online shopping. Chelsea Girl and Midnight Sparkle have great vintage clothing. Maybe devote a wall in your bedroom to a designer. Emerse yourself in their work. Do you find studying designers something that you find yourself doing when you have spare time? If the answer is yes, fashion may be your true passion.
   
2. Attend a fashion show. Yes, you could actually do this; it isn't a crazy idea. Take one of your breaks, and save up money to attend fashion week in London or New York. There are some shows that don't require an invitation; try the Champagne Fashion Brunch. Can't get into a fashion show? The New Yorker magazine has a fashion show section on its web site.
3. Try to start a trend. It is frightening sometimes to wear an outfit that noone else would dare to wear. Add an unusal piece or accessory to your wardrobe. Do strangers look or ask you where you bought the piece?
   
4. Learn to sew, crochet or knit. You can buy a kit or a book if you don't know how to knit.
   
5. Write reviews of designers and their collections. Get them published in your school's indie or local newspaper or zine.
6. Create a web site exhibiting information about designers/ your favorite designer. Check out Splendora for ideas on the different things one could put on your site.
7. Try modeling. Sign up for classes at a modeling school. Even if you don't end up doing any professional modeling, you can get a sense of what the model go through and make some great contacts in the business as well. Remember even if you don't like who you are working with, always be positive and polite. Keep in contact with models and photographers and other you meet; you never know when they might be able to help you out in the future.
   
8. Form a fashion club for those interested in discussing fashion design.
9. Start designing your own clothes. Take a sewing course, if you don't know how to sew. If you already have a significant amount of work done on some pieces, you might consider selling your stuff online. Try Virgin Threads.
10. Read fashion blogs at least one hour each day. I like these sites:

http://hotbisexualmodel.blogspot.com/
http://www.fashionologie.com/
http://blogs.papermag.com/category/fashion-schmashion/
http://papierblog.papierdoll.net/
http://dappr.com/

Even though very few of these activities are associated with school, they are great to put on resumes or bring up in interviews. But the biggest plus of all is that they put you out there taking risks and getting experience.

Get published as an Undergraduate

One great thing you can do as an undergrad to better understand what you enjoy doing (or what you might enjoy doing for the rest of your life) is write something to be published in an undergraduate journal. Getting published in an Undergraduate Journal is a great way to push your analytic skills further than you would normally in writing a paper for a course. Journals and conferences for Undergraduates generally come in two different categories: those that accept a articles and presentations from a variety of disciplines and those that accept articles and presentations from one discipline.

How to tell whether research and writing are for you

1. A good thing to think about when trying to get published is what your motivations. Are you motivated by the idea of giving a presentation or sharing your thoughts with others? Or are you drawn by the ideas of a specific field?
2. To be passionate about something is to be continually trying to improve your work and abilities in that area. Are you constantly tweaking a paper or argument you are working on? Are you continuously reading articles and journals in the area you think you might be passionate about? Do you bring up your research in everyday conversations to drawl similarities and insights? These are signs that research in a particular area are for you.
   

Check out:
Journal of Undergraduate Sciences
Undergraduate Journals and Conferences Directory
Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Cognitive Science
The Harvard Brain
Undergrad Journals in Philosophy.
If you know of any other journal or conference sites, feel free to post them here.

I would like to use this space to impart some of my experiences from college to up and coming college students. The site should not function as a checklist of activities to be accomplished or attempted during the span of your years at school. With this site, students should see the creativity of other students and aspire to develop such creativity in their own lives.

Is the following a description of you? Neither students nor profs know what to do with you. Your peers are experimenting with a variety of illicit substances, but you want to experiment with new ideas and new activities.

Maybe you want a million dollar education, but don't have the money. Or as a Valedictorian, you may be offered free tuition at a state school and must 'decide' between a free education and a much pricier Ivy League education that you really can't afford. What are you to do if you cannot attend a school that offers small classes, lots of special talks, and research opportunities? Or maybe you are at Ivy League U. and want a heads up on what all is out there (or don't know how exactly how to take advantage of all of the opportunities available to you)?

Maybe you don't want to travel half way across the US to go to school and your only other option is to attend Local U.

How can a college student to continue develop his or her intellectual pursuits while sitting in a biology class of 150 people?

Why should only those who perform well on tests have access to the smallest classes, special talks and opportunities? This site helps students continue exploration in their gifted areas, even though their school may give most of its opportunities to more well rounded students.

Because many students who are accepted to America's top Universities are unable to attend for financial reasons, this site seeks to help college and high school students take their education into their own hands and to a whole new level. Here's a springboard of ideas to expose ambitious students to activities and ideas. This site aims to encourage students to forge their own paths while making the most out of their college experiences, no matter where they may attend school. Additionally, this book seeks to show students how they can begin to develop unique and authentic lives.

Many students, including myself, have expected to finish college with a clear and correct conception of the 'real world' and the skills to get that perfect job. Often, however, upon completing college, students either do not have a clearer idea about what they want to do for a career or have unrealistic expectations about the positions they will have in their field.

As a college student, you should be preparing to enter a field or searching for a field. Undecided majors or students who change their major often are patronized for not knowing what they want to do with their life. But, honestly, there is nothing that you can do to stop a nagging mother from popping the question during your every trip home. Try to think of your family's interest in your major as a result of their personal investment in you. They have educated you, fed you, nurtured you and now they are anxious to be proud of the decisions you will make concerning the 'real world'. No pressure...yeah right! In thinking of your family's expectancy, remember that they are looking to see what decision you make 'on your own', not a decision that you make in order to gain their praises.

The activities students should participate in while preparing for a field are not entirely unlike those that students should participate in while searching for a field. The major difference between searching and preparing for a field is that a ctivities in preparation for a particular field are limited to those in a field of study.