brooke's pages::

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Why I Don't Believe College is for Everyone.

Being in college has given me some interesting insight on the world of college. I've seen people I know for a fact that are extremely smart, book-wise and common sense-wise, fail classes and such. Things like this have caused me to start wondering if college is actually right for everyone.



Just a couple things I'd like to point out here.

College Con:
Steve Jobs. The creator of Tumblr, David Karp. Mark Zuckerberg. The founder of WordPress (which many of you fellow bloggers use), Matt Mullenweg. The founder of Spotify, Daniel Ek.
Do any of these names or sites sound familiar to you? You're looking at the names of five extremely successful people that never graduated college. Some of which didn't even graduate high school.

College Pro:
The average high school graduate will make about $30,000 a year. Just by getting a bachelor's degree, this goes up to $45,000.

College Con:
Those two numbers in the last example have been growing closer and closer together.

College Pro:
Having a college degree makes getting a job a whole lot easier.

College Con:
...that is, if you can find one.

College Pro:
Most college graduates do not regret college.

College Con:
However, some do.

College Con: 
Two words: student loans.

This list alone makes me really think about college. Personally, I don't think college is right for everyone. I most definitely don't think that anyone should be pressured into going, especially right after high school. So many people fail out of college and after working for a few years, return and do amazing.

I also don't believe that college is as worthwhile as many people say it is. The salary gap is closing slowly. Many college graduates cannot find jobs and the ones that do often have entry-level jobs regardless of their college degree.

What are your opinions on this? I'd love to hear.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

My {fave} Ladies of Pinterest!

I love Pinterest, just as I'm sure most of you do. My only problem seems to be finding the best pinners that I want to follow.

I thought I'd help you all out with finding your favorite pinners by sharing some of mine! Introducing...


Some are geared toward college students, or family-oriented, but I'm sure there will be at least a couple that you will love.

Here they are:

Studentrate Trends: {not necessarily a girl, but the page is mostly for girls} This is by far my favorite Pinterest page. It's geared toward college students, though everyone can benefit from them. They have the best boards and they have boards for everything! One board, College Trends, they are also asking for people who would like to be pinners and it's my favorite board! It's super cool.

Casandra Linden: She has boards for everything, and as you can see, she likes glitter. and pink. and food. She has several food boards that she pins to the most often of all of her boards. It's the best. I even made a Facebook status about this {I love when I get on Pinterest and see that Cassie has been on because that means my entire homepage will be covered in food.}

Deb Clem-Buckert: she has a lot of great resources for bloggers like boards for different social networks, she has tons of food boards- my fave, and she has just about every other type of board you could want!

Paige Nicole: she organizes her boards really well by naming them things like RECIPES: Slow Cooker, RECIPES: Lunch & Dinner, and things like that. It makes everything easier to find if you're looking for something specific.

Melanie Eccles: I love her Pinterest. She bakes, so there are always lots of awesome-looking desserts popping up. I love how she names her boards too {runner of miles, maker of meals, etc.} and I personally know her, so it makes it all the much better.

Her Campus: This is another board geared toward college girls. They have a lot of really fun boards and they coordinate all of them {every board cover is pink in some way!} very well. I love their Pinterest.

Bailey Marie: Bailey's Pinterest is largely family-oriented. She has a lot of wedding boards {my fave, I love planning my future wedding on Pinterest}, food boards, home-type boards, and kid-centered boards!

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Video of the Week: Cats + Abs


This week for the Video of the Week, I've chosen a video done by Cosmopolitan. I received this in an email from the Her Campus Study Break {love, by the way} and I was dying. It's the best video basically ever. Here you go, ladies ;-)



You're welcome.

Monday, March 17, 2014

Off the Beaten Path tour review!


If you're a fan of country music, this concert review is for you!

Justin Moore, Randy Houser, and Josh Thompson are currently on tour together for the Off the Beaten Path tour.

I had the pleasure of seeing them play in Ypsilanti, MI on the 15th!

This was an interesting concert for me because none of these bands are particularly my "favorites." I love country music but these weren't artists I have ever really gotten into. I enjoy a couple songs by each of them, but I am by no means a die hard fan of any of these singers.

I was pleasantly surprised, however, by this concert.

Josh Thompson came out first, obviously. He has a genuine and unique sound to him and that is amplified when he's live rather than recorded. He got everyone into the concert very well. I believe Josh will just continue to get bigger and will be a big name just like Randy and Justin someday.

Randy Houser was probably my least favorite of all of them live. I'm not a big fan of him normally and he didn't really sell me on his performance. He has a decent voice but he's not very engaging when he performs. I was a little disappointed.

Justin Moore was actually my favorite. I love his southern accent and I think it's more pronounced live. He has an easily distinguished voice from others and I like that about him. He performs well too, even only for the little amount of time I stayed to see him (not by fault of Justin, just didn't feel well). He is a great performer and I would be interested in seeing Justin play again (luckily for me, he's playing at the county fair in my hometown this summer).

Overall, it was a good concert. It could've been better {especially without the drunk people in front of us that spilled their beers, threw their trash everywhere, and then the girl that was passed out...} but I think it was worth it!

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Have the Best Spring Break- at home!

The College Diaries: Spring Break edition!

Thursday was my last day of class, meaning I'm on spring break
No more classes until the 17th. I'm too happy.

In honor of this wonderful occasion, I decided to share a few things I thought would help share a few things to make your homebound spring break a little better!

For those of you not at home, you stink and you can have all the fun you want, so let the rest of us sulk and pretend we're enjoying ourselves at home.


Spend a day just hanging out with people. 

Don't go out, don't watch movies, just talk. Heart-to-hearts have a way of making us smile, no matter what your talks end up being about. It's a great way to spend time with those hometown BFF's too (keeping those friendships are lifesaving).

Buy at least one article of clothing for summer.

Prepping for summer is the best way to pretend winter isn't still among us. Get your mind out of this wondrous weather and into summer! :) Maybe even get rid of some old clothes you don't wear too.

Have a home-spa day.

Whether this means alone or with friends, have fun and just chill at home. Relaxing. Nail painting. Face masks. All that good, girly stuff.

Take a good shower.

If your college is anything like mine, which I assume it is in this way, your showers probably aren't the best so just take a nice, long, warm, undisturbed shower at home.

Have a movie day with your family.

They miss you and I assume you miss them, so spend some time actually in the same room and just laugh with them.

Start your own blog!

Join me and make your own blog! It's a great thing to do and gets your mind off the crazy, stressful times we so enjoy {cough, sarcasm} at college. You can even follow me! :)

Have a backyard camp night with your best friends!

Once again, it's probably not warm enough to go outside, but if it is...
Friends from high school are in just the same position you are, so set up tents or something and have a "night out" with your friends. Take a laptop out even, and have a movie night outside.
If it's not warm enough: do it in a {warm} basement or a something!


Have a great spring break! :)

*also part of my weekly College Diaries post*


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Things about Home.

Being at college can be the best time of your life. Many people call their college their home.
I'm not one of those people. My hometown will always be Home to me.
Therefore:

ten favorite things: the place I call home.



Endlessly BeLoved

1. My family is there. 

My family are some of the best people in the world & I'd die without my mom. 

2. My kittens

CrayPrin & Bazinga {Crazy Princess, for those of you that were curious where the name CrayPrin came from & Big Bang Theory is responsible for Bazinga} are the cutest little kittens ever. I love them to death. 

3. The amazing people I call my best friends.

I love the friends I have at college, but once again, home trumps college. My friends at home are my rocks. I don't know where I'd be without these people. They know me better than anyone else. 

4. My wonderful bed.

Let's be honest, a bed with a pillow top >>> dorm beds.

5. There are actually good food places.

I love food. A lot. And food I don't have to make is better.

6. I can actually go do things.

Being stuck on a college campus makes you appreciate simple things like being able to go out and do something.

7. I know my way around.

I actually like driving, but only if I know where I'm going, so home is a nice place for that.

8. I have an insane amounts of memories at home. 

Good friends make good memories. Great friends make amazing memories.

9. I have a room to myself and can be alone when I want.

I love, love, love being around people, but let's be honest, sometimes you just need alone time. 

10. I'm not in the middle of nowhere in a town that's biggest "store" is Dollar General and has a grand total of about five places to eat. 

I miss good food that isn't McDonald's or a 15-minute walk away. 


{this is part of a link-up at Endlessly Beloved}