The Anatomy of the College Frosh Basket

August 16, 2016August 17, 2016Leave a comment

Stressed about what to get that off-to-college student in your life? Fret no more. I have the answer.

Start with a plastic bin; they’ll need at least 32 for their personal belongings anyway. Add TP rolls for filler as well as the first gift item…they’ll need those too, mostly for non-toilet purposes. Tissues when they get their first cold and realize they used all of their tissues for napkins. Napkins when the tissues were used for toilet paper. Or for good old tree-adornment during Homecoming. Also: things that look like a face for the win.

Fill with even more items-they’ll-need; in my experience, that means plenty of shelf-ready food, notebooks, a few toiletries, and one of those magnetic white boards for your dorm door. Those never go out of style.

Cover any gaps in the pile-o-presents with some tissue paper, wrap in cellophane and ribbon, and voila — the perfect going away present for a college first-year. Here’s a list of the other items in my basket:

Farberware magnetic clips

Emoji stickies

Snickers bar

Nutella

Ramen Noodles

Toilet paper – 3

Composition notebooks – 2

Door whiteboard

PB2 add-water peanut butter

Venus disposable razors

From the Archives: Potent Quotables

November 15, 2011November 13, 2011Leave a comment

This month, I was able to tackle some very cool articlesfor The Women’s Times, profiling speakers slated to appear at the 15th annual BayPath Women’s Leadership Conference. It’s an assignment I’ve taken on in years past, and I’ve been able to meet, interview, or photograph some amazing people, including Maya Angelou, Madeleine Albright, and Mia Farrow as a result.

It’s a event that always leaves good thoughts and ideas rattling in the brain. This year, for whatever reason – be it the sunny weather, the theme ‘Community Matters,’ or the fact that I not only wrote stories but Tweeted throughout the day to add a social media wrinkle to the media mix – the info-sharing seemed to border on staggering in its breadth.

Here are a few digestible glimpses at the day, and some of the pearls of wisdom speakers left behind. A full Twitterstream of the event is available here , and more photos are here.

Collins Tuohy