Life as a Dare

Making Every Moment Count

The Freshman’s Guide to College Day 3: Saving Money on Textbooks

We’re 3 days in to the Freshman’s Guide to College and today we’re talking about buying textbooks!

Buying textbooks is the bane of the college student’s budget. It’s crazy that a book that you’re only going to use for 3 months and then never open again costs over $130.00! When you calculate how much the books for 5 courses all cost, including lab kits and workbooks, you can easily be looking at $600 a semester.

That being said, you know how much I spent on buying textbooks this entire year? A whopping $175. And I sold two of my books back for $60 each, so I am sitting at a $55 all year on textbooks. [Read more…]

The Freshman’s Guide to College Day 2: Choosing your Courses

It’s Day 2 of The Freshman’s Guide to College and today we’re talking about choosing your college courses!

Yesterday we talked about how to make sure you’re not spending unnecessary money on supplies you’ll never use. Back to school shopping is a ton of fun, but courses are a whole other story. Choosing your course load can be overwhelming, especially if you’ve never had to do this before! What’s better? Having one or two courses every day, or two insane days but a 4-day weekend? How do you know which professors will make your life a living hell, and which will light a fire in your heart?

It can seem overwhelming, but I’m hoping that with these tips I make it a little less scary for you!

[Read more…]

The Freshman’s Guide to College Day 1: Back-to-School Shopping

Welcome to the Freshman’s Guide to College series! This is the first part of the ten-part series I’m doing as college is starting up again! I remember how scary everything seemed in my first year at college, so to try and make the transition easier for you I’m going to compile all of the tips and tricks that I have learned over my 3 years in university so that you don’t have to make the same mistakes I made, and but have a much easier time of things instead. The first instalment is about back to school shopping!

I love back to school shopping!

There are so many things to choose from! The trick is to only buy what you need and save money by not buying too much.  [Read more…]

18 Things I Wish I Knew When I was 18

My baby sister just turned 18! It’s insane thinking that she’s an adult now, considering 18 means she’s an adult now, and I don’t really like that she’s going to be able to do adult things now. It’s just strange.

It got me thinking back to when I first turned 18. Eighteen was a big year for me–it was the year that I moved out for school, got my first full-time job, figured out what I want to do with the rest of my life, and met my now-husband, Connor. But 18 wasn’t all good for me–some parts were really hard, actually. I had my heart broken. I started struggling with anxiety. I was extremely lonely when I first moved out.

I did pretty well that year but there are definitely some things that I wish I had known ahead of time. So, Katie, this one’s for you: here are 18 things I wish I knew when I was your age–moving out, just turned an adult, and kind of scared with all the change. [Read more…]

9 Must-Have Apps for College Students


School is starting up again soon, and I’m already excited for it! I know it’s strange, but I absolutely love school. I love going to class, writing exams, researching, everything. A lot of that, though, is because I’ve found ways to make studying and student life easier and less stressful than they normally are.

A bit part of making life go smoothly is utilizing the tools available. I personally don’t like bringing my laptop to school unless it’s exam season, and I was lucky enough to get an iPad for Christmas my first year. Since then, I’ve completely customized it to be my own super-school-tablet filled with amazing college apps, and I use it every day to take notes, write assignments, and make sure that I’m staying healthy! All things that are important in student life!

So here are the college apps that I personally love, and what have worked to keep me organized and good to go! [Read more…]

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