Posts filed under 'Pop culture & college'
Can you remember when you read your first Harry Potter book? What about when you saw the first movie with Daniel Radcliffe, who was such a cute little kid when he took on role of the famous wizard? It might seem like Harry Potter has been with you almost your entire life – through elementary school, middle school, and high school. The first book came out in 1997 and the first film in 2001.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione, as they were in 2011.
Now that the last movie – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – is out at theaters, it’s the end of an era for Harry Potter. It’s a bittersweet moment for a lot of Harry Potter fans, and that may include you, too!
This final Harry Potter chapter in film is getting a ton of attention with publications like Entertainment Weekly looking back at great Potter moments and how the film’s stars have all grown up. Radcliffe is on Broadway, for example, and we’ve written often about Emma Watson’s (or Hermione’s) college pursuits.
When the first part of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows came out last year, we had fun imagining how Potter and his friends would stand out in the college admissions process. And while the series’ finale (spoiler alert!) doesn’t have Harry, Hermione, Ron, or other Hogwarts students heading off a special wizard university, the end of Harry Potter could add to your feeling that it’s the end of an era for you, too, as you finish high school.
Rupert Grint’s (aka Ron Weasley) recent comment to Larry King on CNN shows that he and other cast members feel the same way. He says: “It was kind of like the last day of school, and I remember packing up my dressing room and putting all these kind of odd birthday cards and toys that I’d kind of collected over the years … It was quite a big kind of shock, really, kind of, leaving it behind.”
The trio a decade later, at the final "Harry Potter" movie premiere. (PR Photos)
As you say goodbye to Harry Potter, savor the impact the book series and films might have had on your childhood.
Maybe those hefty books encouraged you to read more. Maybe you formed friendships with other Potter fans, who also stood in line – wearing broken glasses, wizard-like cloaks, and a fake lightning-bolt-shaped scar on your heads – for the midnight showings of the movies. Maybe it helped you and your parents find something to enjoy together throughout your school years.
And as you head off to college, you’ll savor those memories, but now it’s time for the next era of your life, just as the stars are moving onto a new chapter in their careers. And if you get nostalgic during fall semester, don’t worry – Rowling’s Pottermore site is set to launch in October!
–Lori Johnston
July 15th, 2011
If you’re spending your summer scooping ice cream, keeping a close watch on kids at a pool, or lathering on the bug spray for another nightly campfire as a camp counselor, consider yourself in A-list company, as all these jobs have been filled by celebrities before they got their big breaks. After all, before they were pulling in the big bucks, stars and musicians had to find ways to make money during the summer, too. So whose footsteps are you following in this summer, before heading back to high school or college?
John Krasinski: “The Office” cutie went off to camp when he was a teenager, serving as a counselor at Camp Chickami in Massachusetts. He told Access Hollywood: “I had a summer job that I loved. I was like 16 and I was somehow given the responsibility of the 13-year-olds. So we were just a couple years apart from probably hanging out and I had to be like ‘no don’t do that.’ And then I’d go do it. It was this weird, bizarre thing where I probably could have been beaten up by half of them and it was a really fun. It was a fun summer.”
Tina Fey: No joke – the Emmy award-winning actress and Sarah Palin look-a-like worked at a swim club’s snack bar as a teen.
Gwen Stefani: Stefani served up Dilly Bars, soft-serve cones (my favorite is chocolate-covered!) and more while working for Dairy Queen. When her brother Eric formed No Doubt with other Dairy Queen workers, she joined as another vocalist, People reported. We’re thinking her success calls for a special summertime Blizzard in the fashionable singer’s honor!
Mick Jagger: The Rolling Stones front man also got into the frozen treat business. He sold ice cream from a cart. We guess it was memorable – a couple of years ago, he reportedly offered to buy a vintage ice cream van, but the owner turned him down.
Sean Connery: Before he was 007, the debonair actor was in a life-saving role as a lifeguard, his bio says.
So if you’re getting ready to head to work today, think of these future celebrities heading to camp or dishing out ice cream. Are you one of them? Dish up what you’re doing this summer in our comments section below.
–Lori Johnston
July 5th, 2011
If you love receiving presents (and we all do, right?), it’s a great time to be a high school graduate. Some of your family, neighbors and friends are probably dropping off gifts to celebrate your accomplishment – and get you ready for college. At a party I attended this weekend for a high school graduate, there was a big pile of presents and cards in the corner, right near the German chocolate cake. (Yum!)
Incoming freshman need just more than a set of clean sheets, a phone, and a laptop to survive in college. So here are some of the fun and stylish things that could make great gifts during graduation season:
Keeper of the Keys. Show your school spirit and keep close tabs on your keys (I know one college student who constantly locked hers in her car) with a key chain ($25 from Pottery Barn) stitched by needlepoint with your college or university logo and colors.
Smells Like College Spirit. You’re barely going to have enough time to study, not to mention clean your dorm room, and if you have multiple people living with you (and possibly pets), you’re going to need to cover up all of those odors with a fragrance you love. Squirt your room with sprays such as Bath & Body Works’ pink sangria, sparkling Mojito, and peach Bellini. Best part? You don’t have to be 21 to enjoy these responsibly.
Stay Organized. Space is limited in your dorms or apartments, so anything you can get to keep things organized or hold multiple items is a must-have. Pottery Barn’s Perfectly Prepped Hair Accessories Organizer ($99) has spaces for your hair dryer, curling iron, flat iron and all the styling stuff you need for those days when you can actually wake up early enough to do your hair. You can even get your name on it – just so your roommate knows not to steal it!
Laundry time: The Container Store has bins and baskets covered, with a variety of sizes, colors, and patterns like polka dots. But it also has the cutest laundry hampers, like the cute reisenthel® Clothesline Laundry Hamper ($39.99) that has connected well with the growing clothesline trend. People are choosing to forgo the dryer and line dry their clothes, saving energy all while giving shirts, shorts, and other clothes a sunny smell. You may not want to (or may not be able to) hang your clothes outside for all to see on campus, but you can toss your dirty laundry in the handled bag and tote your clothes to the dorm laundry room (or your parents’ house).
Bunk mate: When space is tight, it’s easy for things to get lost. So you slide the simply named “Bunk Pocket” ($6.95) over the post of your bed or loft, and it can hold your phone, glasses, ID, key, remote control, and any other items that you’re going to need while you’re laying in bed or desperately trying to get out of it.
Message center: Leave messages for your friends and roommates (we’re hoping they’re sweet notes and not snarky ones about kitchen messes) with the Umbra® Puzzler Boards ($8.99), also from The Container Store. The cork board and a dry erase boards fit together for a message center that’s so much better than leaving a Post-it note on a cabinet.
What’s on your wish list? Tell us about it in the comments section below.
–Lori Johnston
June 1st, 2011
Want to get a sense of the highs and lows about being a college student? You’ll find realistic insight–in real time–on Twitter. Students’ comments capture the college experience – so here’s some of the honest truth about academics, relationships, money, and more.
Now’s the time to read all the comments – good and bad – because #incollege is trending on Twitter this week. Here’s a few of our favorites. If you’re on Twitter, go on and add some words of wisdom of your own.
–Lori Johnston
May 26th, 2011
In a rare turn of events, the cast of “Jersey Shore” has done something close enough to be considered an academic endeavor–they have bought Rosetta Stone software to help them learn Italian so that they can blend in a bit better with their Italian neighbors this season.
Oh, who am I kidding? The “Jersey Shore” cast will never blend in ANYWHERE they go, but at least they are trying the limit the amount of feathers they are sure to be ruffling by learning a few phrases in the native tongue. Who knows? Maybe Snooki’s real talent is with languages. (Stranger things have happened.)
Jokes aside, I have to give credit where credit is due. The fact that the ragazzi are trying to learn some Italian shows that they’ve got a bit of respect for the Old Country and will at least try to use some basic phrases and vocabulary during their travels. I’ll give them some help:
Where is the tanning salon?
Dov’e il solarium?
Does my hair look OK?
I miei capelli è bello?
Yo, that girl is a grenade.
Ufa! Quella ragazza è un granata.
Study hard, guidos and guidettes…
–Barbara Bellesi
May 16th, 2011
Some colleges get the dubious distinction of being named a top party school by The Princeton Review or even Playboy magazine. These rankings just further show how much drinking is part of college life, which is often a temptation that causes some students to plummet academically during freshman year–usually as their perceived social status is rising.
It’s common for college students, underage or not, to say they must drink to handle the stress of school, or to spend weekends blowing off steam related to the flurry of exams, papers, and projects combined with work and financial pressures. But some colleges are paying attention to the tough topic of alcohol and drug use by offering programs and even on-campus housing where students can counter addiction.
Residence halls for students who have been treated for drug and alcohol abuse are offered by schools including Augsburg College in Minneapolis, the University of Vermont, and Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA Today recently reported. At Rutgers, the substance-free campus housing allows students to live in a place free of nicotine, alcohol, and drugs, and with access to support from counselors to handle the demands of college.
These and other efforts at schools across the country show that if you have had problems with drug and alcohol abuse in high school, you don’t have to face a losing battle in college. If you’re in this situation, consider searching for a school that is making a point not just to teach academics, but also to provide life lessons to students.
The more services and help that schools offer related to drug and alcohol abuse can put you on a better path once you graduate. Students will be better prepared to handle the stress of the real world – without using alcohol or drugs to help them through it.
–Lori Johnston
May 9th, 2011
You probably already know–whether you want to or not–that the newest season of “Jersey Shore” will be filmed in Italy. It’s as if the show’s producers got tired of insulting Italian-Americans and decided to take on the Old Country instead. Grazie, MTV. (How do you say “sarcasm” in Italian?)
However, it looks like Italy isn’t getting ready to pump its collective fist in delight. TMZ obtained a letter (as only those wacky folks at TMZ can) from the Istituto Lorenzo de’ Medici, a university in Florence whose administration is warning students that the guidos and guidettes from the Garden State will soon be using one of its dorm buildings as a shooting location.
The letter reads:
“Dear Students,
Our Housing dept. has informed us that starting May 9th there will be shootings inside the 2nd floor apartment of your building. We advise you to NOT sign any paper, let anyone in, and keep us informed.”
Uffa! Who says you need to fall asleep on a tanning bed to get burned? No amore for GTL in Italy, it seems. Looks like Snooki and The Situation are about to get schooled, Italian-style. Stay tuned, ragazzi.
–Barbara Bellesi
May 6th, 2011
I’m staring at my incomplete NCAA men’s basketball tournament bracket, trying to figure out which teams I’m going to select, leading up all the way to the national championship game. I don’t have much time, as I need to fill out my bracket today or tomorrow to compete with my friends and even strangers (even President Obama filled one out last year!) who are hoping to be the one with the best bracket by the end of March Madness and the national championship game on April 4.
Choosing a college can be a lot like filling out an March Madness bracket. You’re pitting schools against each other, too, in making your decision. Call it your own college choice bracket. Sure, you probably don’t have 68 colleges to choose from, like those competing in this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tourney (it is March Madness, after all), and maybe you’re down to your sweet 16 or the elite eight or the final four. Maybe you’re at the point where there’s just two schools vying to get your enrollment, just like the basketball tournament. Only one can win–but which one?
Here’s what you need for a winning bracket, which also can relate to your school choice:
1. Knowledge of the schools. Just as with the basketball tournament, those filling out brackets this week need to research which teams can make the cut. You’re also looking at which colleges are the best fit for you and how they compare to others you’re considering. For the tournament, we’re looking at the quality of players, experience they have had this season and strengths and weaknesses as a team. In making your college decision, you need to look at the reputation of the school and its accreditation, what programs it offers that of are interest to you, and what makes it stand out in its student life–dorms, activities, and yes, athletics.
2. Location of the games. If a team has to travel all the way across the country, like Washington is having to do when it plays in Charlotte on Friday, the long travel time can be a factor in the team’s performance. It’s the same for you – you have to consider whether attending a school far away from your family will hinder your ability to thrive despite homesickness–or whether it’s just what you need to gain independence.
3. Underdog status. You don’t want to immediately discount the smaller, less-well-known schools in the bracket or your college choice. Teams such as Morehead State University, Wofford College, and Oakland University, described by The New York Times as a mostly commuter university in suburban Detroit, may not have the big-name recognition as others, but they could still give their opponents trouble in the tournament. Those underdogs that continue to perform well are referred to as the Cinderella team–a group whose talent is underrated, but just might result in a happy-ever-after ending. So if you are weighing a larger versus smaller school, look past the size and focus on what else besides an enormous campus.
4. Gut feeling. When it comes to two teams where they both have the same amount of strengths and weaknesses, I have to go with my gut. That’s what makes filling out the NCAA tournament bracket so much fun – and so nerve-wracking! But with your college choice, you should feel confident in knowing that there are many schools that will give you a wonderful education and college experience. Where your gut comes in is in knowing which school feels like a better fit for you at this time.
So fill out your college choice bracket and recognize that you’re a winner just in making the decision to attend college!
–Lori Johnston
March 16th, 2011
One of the cool things you’ll see as a college student is the chance to hear from famous alumni who return to campus to share their wisdom, whether at special lectures for events like Black History Month, or big ceremonies like graduation.
Of course, many actors, athletes, and singers have chosen their careers over college. The Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am, for example, didn’t go to college, but the Super Bowl halftime show performer has created a scholarship fund that gave four students full college scholarships in the hopes that the recipients will be the country’s future leaders and innovators.
In honor of Black History Month, here’s a look at some of the top Black celebrities who did choose college at some point in their lives. This is what talent and perseverance combined with a college degree looks like…
President Barack Obama: The first black U.S. president graduated from Columbia College, then followed up by earning his law degree from Harvard Law School.
Michelle Obama: The First Lady graduated from Princeton University and also has a Harvard Law degree. Michelle recounts meeting Barack Obama when he was a summer intern at a Chicago law firm where she worked in 1989, according to her White House bio. “I went to Harvard and he went to Harvard, and the firm thought, ‘Oh, we’ll hook these two people up,’” Michelle said.
Oprah Winfrey: This TV personality and namesake to the OWN network graduated from the historically black college, Nashville’s Tennessee State University.
Spike Lee: The filmmaker is among the politicians, civil rights leaders, writers, and actors who graduated from the all-male Morehouse College, one of four historically black colleges in Atlanta.
Denzel Washington: The Oscar-winning actor called “action” on his career by receiving his degree from Fordham University in New York.
Taye Diggs: The “Private Practice” actor and Broadway star graduated from the visual and performing arts college at Syracuse University.
Toni Morrison: This literary dynamo, who has both a Nobel and a Pulitzer Prize to her credit, graduated from Howard University, a noted HBCU that also attracted the likes of dancer/choreographer Debbie Allen and her actress sister, Phylicia Rashad.
General Colin Powell: The distinguished military veteran and former Secretary of State got his undergraduate degree at the City University of New York and later his MBA at George Washington University. His illustrious career is proof positive to those toying with the private college vs. public college debate–it’s not where you go to school, but what you do there that matters.
–Lori Johnston
February 25th, 2011
Good movies make it easy to pick nominees for the Oscars and Golden Globes. Bad celebrities make it way too easy to pick nominees for our annual Hall of Shame. And since awards season is in full swing, we decided to include the short list of those bad boys and girls who have a way of taking the shine off of all that red-carpet glamour.
Yes, we are in the business of sending people off to college to earn a degree. It’s because we believe that education has the power to transform individuals into great human beings. And while some people would need to have five Ph.D.s before they finally get their act together, we believe in one small step at a time. So have fun reading our roundup of celebrities and pseudo-celebrities acting badly — and the one college class they could take to make them do a 180-turn in life:
The Men
The nominees for Best Male Trainwreck are:
Charlie Sheen: Go on a bender. Hook up with a stripper or porn star — or both. Wreck a hotel room. Rinse and repeat. The consistent bad behavior of this A-lister should bore us, yet we’re still enthralled. First rehab failed, and now he was recently hospitalized for a hernia (probably from picking up that suitcase full of cocaine). How is it that this guy can drive himself into the ground one night and show up for work the next day, unfazed?
We suggest that Charlie enroll in the anthropology program at UCLA. There, he’ll learn about the origin of human life and how it is not only limited to adult film stars, exotic dancers, and drug dealers. He doesn’t even have to take on the entire human race at once, but thinking outside of his sordid little circle would be an excellent start.
Brett Favre: Even if you’re not a football fan, you know who Brett Favre is. But rather than know him for his illustrious history with the Green Bay Packers, most people now consider him the idiot who sent pictures of “little Brett” to New York Jets sideline reporter Jennifer Sterger. Unlike being involved in a steroid scandal, his touchdown pass record will remain untarnished, but smirks will inevitably follow the mention of his name for the rest of his life.
Had Brett simply taken “Can Texting and Facebook Limit Your Success?” during the off season at the Center for Professional Excellence at York College of Pennsylvania, he would have learned a bit about Internet etiquette and refrained sharing TMI, which only results in our LOLs.
Jesse James: We get it, Jesse James. You’re bad to the bone. You own a bike shop. You’re running out of skin for your tattoos. But did you have to go and cheat on America’s sweetheart, Sandra Bullock? It just adds fuel to the bad boy cliché. What next? Get engaged to a tattoo artist?! Oh wait…
As the saying goes, “Once a cheater, always a cheater.” Unless, of course, Jesse takes a class in the Marriage and Family Therapy program at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX. Maybe what he learns moving forward will help him be a better husband and father.
Steven Slater. Funny, the flight attendants on Jet Blue seem to really enjoy their work. But perhaps we’ve never had the pleasure of being on a flight with one Steven Slater. Shame on you, Steven. Don’t you know that you should never release the emergency slide unless it is a true emergency? Though his antics resemble more of a deleted scene from Airplane! rather than a true-life crackup, the head honchos at Jet Blue weren’t laughing. (Though we still are.)
Had Steven just taken a deep breath and one of the classes in the hospitality degree program at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI, perhaps he’d still be gainfully employed. After all, everyone has a bad day at work from time to time, but there are other ways to solve workplace problems that won’t land you on the evening news and across every news site on the Web.
The Women
The nominees for Best Female Trainwreck are:
Miley Cyrus: When you go to work for the House of Mouse, it seems that there will come a day when you want to emerge from the perfect little bubbles Disney likes to put around its young stars. Miley burst hers in epic fashion by getting caught on video (taken by a “friend”) getting high on a salvia-packed bong. The country learned about salvia and its wild effects, but it’s not exactly the educational experience we prefer.
Miley has already indicated that she’s not interested in stepping out of the limelight to attend college, but we think she’ll have time to squeeze in some substance abuse counselor certification course in between projects, like those offered through the California Association of Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC). Miley’s “been-there, done-that” philosophy with drugs would enable her to be the perfect role model for coaching tomorrow’s child stars on how not to ruin their reputations via YouTube or TMZ.
Lady Gaga: We’re normally pretty keen on her crazy couture, but her eggy ensemble at the 2011 Grammys and the “Meat Dress” that she wore to last year’s MTV Music Awards is where we draw the line. We just can’t keep our “poker face” when we see her on the red carpet anymore. No doubt there is a message she is trying to convey, but when you’re dressed like a bloody cow carcass or ingredients for a giant omelet, it’s kind of hard for your audience to concentrate.
If Lady Gaga ever decides to finish out her degree program at NYU, we think she should take a few classes in costume design. By studying the work of designers over the centuries, hopefully she’ll learn that while clothing can definitely make a statement, it doesn’t have to beat you over the head with its message.
Lindsay Lohan: Where do we begin? Maybe at the end of last year, when the struggling star entered rehab at Betty Ford. Funny, BF used to be such a quiet, anonymous place for celebrities to go dry out. Not any more. These days, Lindsay Lohan would probably need to find a deserted island in order to stay out of trouble. Since no one is too keen on working with her these days — Lindsay was officially dropped from the movie “Inferno” — she’s got some time to kill between courtroom and jail stints.
Lindsay should look into a college or university — preferably one outside of L.A.– that offers a program in international travel and tourism, perhaps with a minor in geography. That way, she’ll be able to find that deserted island and go far, far away — preferably taking her mom and dad along with her.
Paris Hilton: Sure, Paris. It wasn’t your purse in which the cops found the cocaine — you borrowed it from a friend. Get real. Your last name is Hilton. You don’t borrow anything from anyone!
Perhaps Paris should enroll in an online business degree program. She wants us all to think she’s too cool for school, so through an online program, she can log on and chat with classmates and her professors from the comfort of her own penthouse. Perhaps a good shot of business knowledge will bring her to her senses so she can finally make good on the legacy of her family’s brand. (Although she does manage to appear ridiculously good looking in her mugshots.)
Best Collective Trainwreck
We’re keeping it to just one nominee in this category because no one else is more deserving than these lovely ladies and gallant gentlemen:
The Cast of MTV’s “Jersey Shore”: The sad thing is that some of these fake-baked party animals have gone to college already. But we think they could all benefit from getting some formal schooling in marketing. After all, the orange glow will eventually fade from this absurdly popular reality TV show, and the gang will need something to transform their 15 minutes of fame into… 15 days of fame. That’s it. We can’t take much more.
Enjoy the real awards show on ABC on Sunday night along with us–we’ll be live tweeting from @CollegeBoundNet, @CollegeSurfing, and @SpaBeauty. Be sure to interact by tweeting or retweeting us during the telecast and be entered to win an Amazon.com gift card. Don’t forget to check back with us on Monday morning to see how our own nominees fared.
–The CollegeBound Network
February 23rd, 2011
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