Brock Turner, a 20-year-old former swimmer at Stanford University, has been sentenced to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. Judge Aaron Persky worried that a longer sentence would have "a severe impact" on Turner.

The victim’s blood alcohol level was more than three times over the legal limit at the time of the crime, and Turner’s was over two times the limit. The victim, whose name has not been released publicly, stated she was not able to remember the events that transpired on the night of her assault, while Turner claimed that he could. This made it possible for Turner to profess his apparent innocence in attempting to rape an incapacitated woman who was passed out on the side of the road, as witnessed by two bikers who found the two and helped the victim.

The maximum sentence for this crime was 14 years, according to CNN, with prosecutors against Turner recommending six years. The punishment of only six months reportedly left the victim and her defense “disappointed and baffled.” In March, The Washington Post reported that Turner’s total crimes included  “three felonies including assault with intent to rape...and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.”

The lax penalty can likely be attributed to Turner’s athletic prowess and social standing (as well as other demographic factors such as his race), while the judge who determined the sentence stated they “took into consideration both [Turner’s] age and the fact that he had never been convicted of a serious crime before.” Mike Armstrong, Turner’s defense attorney, said himself that he would be “livid” and “furious” if his own daughter had been the victim of this crime and the perpetrator received such a minimal punishment.

Turner's father, however,  wrote a statement defending his son, where he dwelled on changes to Turner's mood and appetite, and talked about how now, "his life will never be the one he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve," saying, "That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life."

The victim powerfully eviscerated this point of view in a statement she made to the court at sentencing, which was printed in full by BuzzFeed News.

"You have been convicted of violating me, intentionally, forcibly, sexually, with malicious intent, and all you can admit to is consuming alcohol," she wrote to Turner in the statement. "Do not talk about the sad way your life was upturned because alcohol made you do bad things. Figure out how to take responsibility for your own conduct."

Dear grads,

You’re my friends. You’re my former classmates. Just a month ago, you were me.

You graduated from college. Maybe it was last month. Maybe it was last year or the year before. And yet you're not working at a full-time job you love in the field you wanted to during your college years. You haven’t found your stride yet, but all around you, it seems like everyone else has. Every time you go online, you’re bombarded with photos of your fellow alumni attending work conferences, apartment shopping, complaining about laundry—and other adult things you feel left out of.

The truth is, we’re all at different stages in our lives. When we leave high school is probably the last time we’re all on the same track. Because after that, inevitably, some people don’t go to college. Some attend community colleges. Some take time off, volunteer in AmeriCorps, travel abroad. Some jump right into working. There are so many differences—both planned and unplanned—in the directions our lives take from those around us.

And, especially if you felt like we were all on even footing just yesterday, it can be overwhelming. Your best friend in the world has a killer job that she’s always talking about. Another friend is getting married and buying a home. Someone else you know just got their master’s degree. You sometimes kind of feel like your life is a meme, to be honest—like you’re that person watching everyone else grow up, and the hardest decision you made today was, “Should I eat cookies before dinner?”

I’ve been the person who sits in jealousy, wondering how she hasn’t caught up. I’ve also been the person who was the object of these feelings. I’ve seen both sides, and let me tell you: they’re not all that different.

Two weeks after graduation, I got my first job offer. It was at a fun start-up company in the city. My friends were all in awe that I’d had such an easy time finding a cool job after college. What they didn’t realize was that I was commuting about two hours each way, because I hadn’t yet moved out of my dad’s house. I had no time to research apartments because I was exhausted—so I ended up with an apartment I’m not 100 percent pleased with. The start-up I was working for was a fairly new company, so I worked a lot of hours to save up for apartment expenses, and started freelancing on the side. Almost all of my summer was spent working, sleeping or commuting.

In the fall, the start-up wasn’t able to keep any of its newer employees, and I began my reign as someone feeling left out. Everyone else I knew who’d gotten a job right out of school was still working there, while I was applying frantically to everything, trying to explain away why it had ended so quickly. I ramped up my freelancing to full-time, but some of my projects were sporadic and, as an extrovert, I really missed going to an office and being a part of a team. 

Throughout all of this, people still thought of me as successful. I deftly avoided those "What's next?" questions because I had so much going on. I was freelancing for major magazines and going to grad school full-time. 

It's been a year since I graduated now. I can't believe it, to be honest. It doesn't feel real. Like many recent college grads, I don't feel like I'm enough sometimes. It's a very competitive job market, although it seems to have gotten better since the major financial crisis. So even when I was doing my absolute best—taking graduate classes, completing an internship in my field, applying to full-time jobs, freelancing and volunteering—I never felt good enough. 

In the year since I've graduated, what I've realized is that recent grads are doing our best. There are so many insidious stereotypes and way too many negative articles about our generation in the first place—that we can't get jobs, that we don't even want to work, that we're lazy and entitled, that we live at home with our parents forever, that we're a stain on society and the economy.

If you're a recent grad and you haven't found the job yet, that's okay.

Getting started in your career is a little like dating. You don't always get it perfect on the first shot. If you're in your first or even your second job out of college and you know it's not right for you, don't beat yourself up over it. It's completely okay if you're working in retail, customer service, or in any job that just doesn't feel right or perfect. It's okay to freelance, volunteer, intern or take a job you don't love to pay the bills.

In the year after graduating, I never thought I'd feel this way. I never expected to lose my confidence and to feel unsure of my next steps. Throughout high school and college, I'd always been sprinting, more like catapulting, onto the next thing. But the world after college isn't always like that. I never stopped trying, even on the days when I got nothing but rejection emails from full-time jobs I really wanted, or on days when I was exhausted coming home from class after a long day of working on-site for a freelance client.

Take the challenges as an opportunity to show your creativity.

After graduation, you may find yourself (or already have found yourself) feeling lost, especially if, like me, you knew what you wanted to do during college and this is the first time you've ever felt uncertain about something. You may try hard and not get the job you wanted. You may be rejected from graduate school and need to wait and re-apply. You may be working as a waitress, cashier or customer service rep and feeling like you're underemployed and not using your talents. Or you may be working a grueling job you hate because you've heard it's the stepping stone to launch your career, Devil Wears Prada style.

If you're doing any of these things, or so many others, you're already taking on an extreme challenge, and you're showing how creative and determined you are. You don't have to be working full-time at your favorite company to be doing well. All you have to be doing is your best. And by taking risks and finding new ways to gain experience and make it work, you're only showing how great you are when placed in a challenging situation. And that's a great skill to have for when you do land an amazing position at your favorite company someday.

The most important thing to remember is that this is temporary. You'll probably look for a job again someday, but next time, you'll be looking with more experience, and with a lot more under your belt to leverage in your favor. There's nothing as straining as figuring out your career for the first few years, but by sticking it out and taking it in stride, you're getting over the worst part already. 

All medications have potential side effects, and the Pill is no exception. Weight gain and breast enlargement are often reported from girls on the Pill—but does that happen to everyone and is it really caused by the Pill? We talked to a gynecologist and collegiettes across the country to separate fact from fiction so you can choose the right birth control for you.

Does the Pill make you gain weight?

Some girls report slight to moderate weight gain while they’re on the Pill—but actually, weight gain is rare. According to Dr. Anne Burke, an associate professor of gynecology at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, very few women experience significant weight gain on the Pill. “Most scientific studies indicate that the Pill does not cause weight gain. In the few studies that have shown an effect, it's been in the range of 3-4% [percent of women who gain weight on the Pill]. I never say never: some women may gain weight on the pill, but most really do not,” she says.

“I’ve been on the Pill since high school,” says Justine, a student at Johns Hopkins. “I never gained any weight from the Pill.” Emily, a student at the University of Virginia, also did not experience any unpleasant side effects: “I had heard a lot of rumors that starting birth control might make me gain weight, but I didn't feel any changes in my body! I actually lost weight while I was on it,” she says. According to Dr. Burke, most girls will respond to the Pill like Justine and Emily—with no significant weight gain.

Basically, the Pill contains hormones like estrogen that suppress your body’s natural cycle. “Instead of your hormones causing menstruation and ovulation, the Pill gives you steady levels of hormones all the time,” Dr. Burke says. Because the Pill’s formula is such a low dose of hormones, side effects are typically minimal and most women tolerate the Pill quite well. While there are many types of oral contraception on the market (like Seasonale, Yaz, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, to name a few) most of them have very similar doses of hormones. There’s really not a huge difference per pill.

The hormone/weight gain connection

The Pill has been around for decades now, and older versions contained very high doses of estrogen that did cause weight gain. “The doses today are lower than they’ve ever been,” Dr. Burke says, so while your mom’s pill may have made her gain weight, it’s unlikely yours will.

According to Dr. Burke, there are about 60 to 70 kinds of oral contraception on the market right now, and they’re all similar in hormone dosage. So trying a different pill may not be the key to mitigating any unwanted side effects that you may experience. This was true for Elizabeth, a collegiette at Bucknell University, who reported weight gain on the Pill. “I switched to a lower level of estrogen and it still didn't fix anything,” she says.

Why do we still hear about weight gain on the Pill?

Occasionally, girls do gain weight—but it’s rare. “A small amount of women will tolerate them differently,” Dr. Burke says. “We don’t 100% know why. It has to do with the person. We don’t fully understand about how different individuals respond to any medication.” Regardless of what kind of medicine or drug you take, not every person is going to respond the exact same way. Depending on your genetics, general health and other factors, you may experience side effects that your friend taking the exact same pill won’t. Weight gain on the Pill might happen to you, but there’s no way of knowing until you experiment. Although weight gain is rare, it’s not impossible—which is why weight gain is listed as a potential side effect.

“The first month on the Pill, I gained seven or eight pounds—it was instantaneous. I also found that it gave me an increased appetite, although that faded over time,” says Megan*, a collegiette at New York University. “Between the effects of the Pill and general weight gain (the dreaded Freshman 15!), my bra size also increased from about a 32B to a 32D/32DD.”

While Megan’s story is a severe case, it’s also rare. So if the prospect of weight gain is making you question whether or not to go on the Pill, don’t let it be the determining factor. Medical research shows women who gain weight from the Pill are definitely the minority.

Other explanations for weight gain on the Pill

Many girls begin taking the Pill at a time in their lives when weight gain happens naturally—during adolescence and while in college. So, if you gain weight while on the Pill, it’s important to look at different factors that could be causing you to gain weight.

“Large amounts of weight gain generally don't happen just because of the Pill. It is important to look at what else may have changed - diet, lifestyle, alcohol, exercise, sodas/sports drinks, etc., in order to tease out whether or not the Pill is a major factor,” says Dr. Burke. However, if you do see a major shift in weight while on the Pill, Dr. Burke advises that you check in with your general care provider or gynecologist.

If you don’t want to even deal with the possibility of side effects, there are other methods of birth control that don’t involve hormones at all. Dr. Burke recommends girls try an intrauterine device (IUD). “The copper IUD is a great non-hormonal method, and no hormonal side effects. The hormonal IUD (Mirena) is less likely to produce hormonal side effects than some other methods, and weight gain is usually not a significant problem,” she says.

Does the Pill cause breast enlargement?

Though not as often as weight gain, some girls also report an increase in cup size once starting the Pill. “My breasts grew after taking the first pill, I kid you not!” says Ashley, a recent grad of West Virginia Wesleyan College. “They hurt for the first two weeks, and I was really sick during that time, but they continued to grow until around the time I was finished with my second month. I [started as a] small A cup, so perhaps this is why I grew so quickly.”

While Ashley’s breasts seemed to respond to the Pill, most girls do not report the side effect. “I noticed some tenderness, but absolutely no increase in cup size since I’ve been on the Pill,” says Vanessa, a student at Johns Hopkins.

According to Dr. Burke, this side effect is also very rare. There is tissue in the breasts that responds to the hormone estrogen, which is present in the Pill, but because it is at such a low dosage, most women will not notice any significant changes, Dr. Burke says. Women are more likely to feel breast tenderness when first starting the Pill, but major increases in size are rare. “If a woman does experience this, and finds it worrisome or uncomfortable, then it makes sense to find a birth control method that does not have estrogen. Examples would be Depo-Provera (the shot), implants or IUDs,” Dr. Burke says.

As is the case with weight gain, girls should look for additional factors that might be causing breast enlargement—like the fact that they’re experiencing these side effects at an age where having your breasts continue to grow is perfectly normal.

What are normal side effects of the Pill?

While weight gain and breast enlargement are not common side effects of the Pill, there are plenty of normal side effects that occur, though most will subside within a few months of starting the Pill. These include nausea, mild headaches, irregular bleeding between periods and mild breast tenderness, according to Dr. Burke. If any of these symptoms are severe or persist for several months, contact your doctor. You may want to try a different pill or another form of contraception.

So if the fear of weight gain is preventing you from going on the Pill—don’t worry. Weight gain is very atypical. If you’re nervous about side effects (but you shouldn’t be!) you can always try non-hormonal birth control or other forms that have fewer side effects until you find the one that’s right for you.

With the presidential election within just a few months of now (or 154 days...but who's counting, right?), it's time to start thinking seriously about who you want to vote for. One way to start is by looking at the issues. We're here to bring you everything you need to know on what's important this election and where the presidential hopefuls stand on each topic.

First up are reproductive rights. Even if you think you've found yourself a candidate, it's time to look closely at their stances and figure out exactly who is best for you—especially when it comes to your body and your health. 

What Are Reproductive Rights?

Reproductive rights are basically human rights—according to Amnesty International, states have the responsibility to provide for the sexual and reproductive health needs and rights for citizens.

Reproductive rights have two main themes: Choice and Access.

Individuals and couples should have the right to choose when, how and whether they have children or do not have children.

They should also have the access to privacy, health centers, family support, medicine and knowledge. Amnesty International even posted an animation on reproductive rights to explain what the implications are when individuals do not get to choose when and how they have sex.

Where Does the U.S. Stand on Reproductive Rights?

Although the United States is a developed and progressive country, we're still fighting for reproductive rights. Feminist groups have indeed come a long way from the early 20^th century. However, there are still plenty of limitations on reproductive rights here in the U.S. Politicians, who are mostly white men, are finding their own ways to restrict women in their decisions on what to do with their own bodies.

Abortion

From 2011 to the end of 2015, states enacted no less than 288 abortion restrictions. A total of 57 restriction were put in place in 2015 alone.

In Texas, these laws have shut down all but a few clinics that can perform abortions. One study found that because of an inability to access safe abortions, 100,000 to 240,000 Texas women ages 18-49 have attempted to perform an abortion on themselves—which is extremely risky and can even be deadly.

Arkansas has also seriously limited abortion. The state requires two in-person trips to a clinic before a woman can obtain an abortion. The first trip is an anti-abortion counseling appointment. Let’s also not forget Utah Governor Gary Herbert, who vowed to cut funding to Planned Parenthood that was supposed to go toward STI testing.

Paid Family Leave

Nearly 25 percent of women go back to work within two weeks off having a baby, according to CNN. Why? They simply can’t afford to stay out on leave longer than that.

The United States is one of only three countries in the world with no federal paid-maternity-leave law—the other two are Papua New Guinea and Oman. While five states in the nation have enacted laws to provide some sort of paid family leave, much of the United States has not. States are starting to budge on the issue, but for now there’s still a lot of work to be done.  

Sexual Assault

According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, each year almost 300,000 women are victims of sexual assault. Eighty percent of the victims are under 30 years old. Even scarier—98 percent of rapists will never spend a day in jail or prison. 

Women in particular are at an extreme risk of sexual assault, sexual violence and rape. Ninety-one percent of all sexual assault victims are women. One in five women will be raped at some point in their lifetime in the U.S. This same statistic applies to universities, as well. While on campus, over 90 percent of rapes are never reported.

This is a huge part of reproductive rights. When a woman or a man cannot decide how and when they have sex, their human rights are impeded.

Birth Control

Birth control, or contraceptives, are pretty widely used in the U.S. More than 99 percent of women ages 15-44 have used at least one contraceptive method, while more than 60 percent are currently using birth control, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Thanks to Obamacare, or the Affordable Care Act, birth control must be entirely covered by insurance—therefore, those with insurance can obtain free birth control.

There are some states who have fought for “refusal clauses” or “conscience clauses” for pharmacists and doctors who think that contraceptives are against their religion. For example, the Catholic Church has taken a hard stance against unnatural family planning and abortion. The church believes that synthetic contraception is sinful and wrong. Ironically, only 2 percent of Catholic women have never used a contraceptive method. Regardless of religion and beliefs, women everywhere are embracing their sexuality and the increased choice they have in enjoying it without worrying about children. 

OK, So I Think I Understand Reproductive Rights. But Where Do the Candidates Stand?

Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are the only candidates left in the presidential race. Reproductive rights is an umbrella over many questions and concerns that can and will impact your life. In order to make an informed decision come November (or during your state’s primaries, if they haven’t happened yet), it's a good idea to take a look at the candidates’ stances on reproductive rights.

Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders, true to his left-wing liberalism, has stated that he wants to protect all reproductive rights. To begin with, his campaign has promised to expand Planned Parenthood, rather than defund it. This is because the clinic offers necessary healthcare services for millions of men and women. He also threw shade at politicians who have attempted to defund it.

“The current attempt to malign Planned Parenthood is part of a long-term smear campaign by people who want to deny women in this country the right to control their own bodies,” reads Sanders’ website.

Sanders assured his supporters that he would keep the government out of a woman’s decision to have an abortion. That choice should be between an individual and her doctor. He also plans to only nominate justices to the Supreme Court if they support abortion and reproductive rights fully.

Sanders’ website lays out clearly that he believes all women full access to birth control. Objections by employers to provide contraception to their employees are “unacceptable.”

As far as paid family leave goes, Sanders proposed at least 12 weeks each year for a family. He plans to fund this through a small payroll tax—0.4 percent shared by employer and employee—which is already floating around Congress through a bill called the Family Act. For good measure, he also threw in two weeks of paid vacation and one week of paid sick days for American workers.

“The Republicans talk a lot about ‘family values,’” reads Sanders' campaign website. “Well, it is not a family value to force the mother of a new born baby to go back to work a few days after she gives birth.”

Sanders also promised to expand services for survivors of domestic violence through the Violence Against Women Act and the Family Violence Prevention and Services Act.

Hillary Clinton

Hillary tends to be pretty similar to Bernie on the issue of reproductive rights. They both take a liberal, progressive stance on access to contraception, paid family leave, abortion access, health centers and sexual assault.

To begin with, Clinton’s campaign promises to guarantee up to 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave per year. She also wants to make sure that employers will ensure at least two-thirds wage replacement during this leave. As in, by staying home and caring for your family, all employers would need to pay you at least two-thirds of what you were already making.

She has also promised to make childcare more affordable for families. This, unlike Sanders’ plan, would be funded through a new tax on the rich.

Clinton focuses on sexual assault, especially in terms of on-campus rape and assault. She promised to ensure fair disciplinary proceedings on campus and in court for victims, to provide victim support, and to introduce prevention education programs on consent and bystander intervention in both college and high school.

Overall, Clinton takes a broad and somewhat vague stance on reproductive rights. She’s promised to “defend women’s health and reproductive rights against attacks.” Her website detailed that she plans to fight against the defunding of Planned Parenthood and to keep the Affordable Care Act intact.

As far as abortion goes, Clinton promised to keep a woman’s choice alive and well. Basically, she thinks women should decide for themselves what to do with their bodies and can choose to be pro-life or pro-choice. However, as soon as “the government gets involved and you say it is illegal and women and doctors are criminal, that is way too far.”

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has provided some of the more interesting moments in the presidential race. That does not just include his boisterous antics or his attacks on fellow candidates. He has also divided the Republican Party, beating out their more “establishment” candidates like Jeb Bush and John Kasich and pushing them past their pre-conceived ideas and stances.

One of these is on the topic of child care. Trump has actually pushed to improve work-life balance at the employers’ cost. He thinks that companies should begin to have affordable, on-site child care provided. “It’s not an expensive thing. I do it all over and I get great people because of it,” he said, according to TIME. However, he has not come up with a plan for paid family leave, besides mentioning that is a widely-discussed issue.

Following the line of the Republican party, Trump does not support abortion in the United States. He has also said some pretty terrible things about women who decide to get an abortion. “There has to be some form of punishment,” Trump answered to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews when posed with whether women should face criminal prosecution if they get an abortion.

However, within a day of that interview his campaign corrected his statement. Apparently, he meant to say that the doctors should be punished if abortion were made illegal, not the women. Which is completely aligned with the views of the larger Pro-Life movement.

This wasn’t the first time Trump changed his stance on abortion. In 1999 he claimed that he was “very pro-choice” during an NBC interview. As soon as he decided to run for president on the Republican ballot, he said that no one should even have the choice to have an abortion. On June 28, 2015, Trump also confused “pro-choice” with “pro-life” in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper. It seems as though he can’t exactly form an opinion on abortion when asked straight-up. He needs his campaign to do it through print for him.

His “official” stance is that abortion should be illegal except in cases of incest, rape and the life of the mother. 

A 17-year-old Chicago teen killed one of his friends on Friday with a gun. Although he claimed it was an accident, he made one very ill-advised mistake: admitting to the murder on Snapchat.

Police arrested Anthony Mendoza after 16-year-old Christian Bandemer was found shot-dead in Bridgeport, a neighborhood in Chicago. "I killed Chris and now I'm going to kill myself," said Mendoza in a Snapchat video taken from the back of a police cruiser, according to prosecutors. 

The Chicago Tribune reported that the two boys, joined by Bandemer's 20-year-old cousin, were toying with a shotgun. The cousin went out of the house to go smoke when he heard a gunshot. He ran back in to find his younger cousin with a bullet wound in his chest, dead. Mendoza reportedly ran off to hide the gun and told the cousin "not to snitch" on the shooting. 

Mendoza'a defense team claimed that the shooting was an accident. 

The judge seemed not to be jumping to any conclusions. “What this is, is a tragedy. An absolute tragedy,” said Judge Peggy Chiampas, according to The Washington Times. She set Mendoza's bond to $250,000, ignoring prosecution's requests for the teen to be held without bail, claiming that she didn't see enough evidence to prove that the death was absolutely intentional. 

Even so, the Snapchat evidence is hard to dispute—the teen put up video proof that he killed his friend. Social media may be great for plenty of things, but murder probably doesn't fall under that category. 

Harry Potter fans are awaiting the highly anticipated play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, set to open in London’s West End on July 30. As the eighth installment of the HP franchise, the story follows the lives of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger nineteen years after Deathly Hallows.

However, some fans are still complaining that actors chosen to portray the Golden Trio in the play look nothing like they were described in the novels. Specifically, many have an issue with the casting of black actress Noma Dumezweni as Hermione, claiming that the books describe her character in a way that makes her exclusively white.

J.K. Rowling, however, is having none of this. In a recent interview with The Observer, the Harry Potter author says she is happy with the casting and insists that Hermione can very well be a black woman. Put simply, she says, “With my experience of social media, I thought that idiots were going to idiot.”

“I had a bunch of racists telling me that because Hermione ‘turned white’—that is, lost color from her face after a shock—that she must be a white woman, which I have a great deal of difficulty with," Rowling admits. But she has decided not to let the criticism bother her, stating, "Hermione can be a black woman with my absolute blessing and enthusiasm.”

Affirming her support for Dumezweni, Rowling simply says, “Noma was chosen because she was the best actress for the job.”

Back in December, when the cast was first announced, Rowling defended Dumezweni's casting as Hermione on Twitter: “Canon: Brown eyes, frizzy hair and very clever. White skin was never specified. Rowling loves black Hermione.” Complete with a kissing emoji, it's clear Rowling is all for black Hermione. What else will it take for critics to stop complaining?

Between college, internships, jobs, and, you know, sleeping (duh), life as a twenty-something can be an extremely busy and stressful time. Some days you might even wonder how you have time to breathe or think! Although all of those things mentioned above are extremely important—you are in the best years of your life, after all!—another important aspect of balancing your abundant responsibilities is having a social life. You are away from your parents, most likely for the first time, and it’s a time in your life where you get to explore who you are and the type of people you want to be around. So how do you do that when you have so much else going on? The good news is it is possible with these tips.

Schedule, Schedule, Schedule

If you are known for being constantly busy, a planner is going to be your new best friend. You are probably already pretty organized between having classes and multiple jobs, but you can use your planner to schedule a social life, too! Iris Goldsztajn, a senior at UCLA, says, “I color code my planner, and social things are pink. That way, it's really easy to tell if there isn't enough pink in any given week, and I can work to schedule more fun things!” Here are a few tips involving scheduling to maintain a social life and keep up with your constantly busy agenda. 

Related: 4 Ways to Stay Informed When You’re Way Too Busy

Schedule lunch breaks and coffee dates

Although your day may be packed, you probably have a lunch break at some point. There is no better time to meet up with friends than during something you usually do every single day anyway! Even if it is just half an hour in the middle of the day, keeping those relationships alive is extremely important to your well-being. As well, instead of grabbing your usual cup of coffee on your way to work in the morning, plan it for a time where you can meet up with a friend. That way you can keep your normal routine to some extent but still work around other people’s schedules.

Work with a friend

If you typically stay cooped up in your apartment or dorm doing your homework, maybe try heading to a local coffee shop with a friend instead. This way you can have some company while still doing all the work that you need to do. This setup is also a plus if you have to go to the bathroom and don’t want to leave all your stuff alone. Plus, going to the library on campus is a really great way to make new friends if you are struggling with that because you are so busy. Maybe take a risk and sit next to somebody new! You never know who you might meet. Allie Walter, a sophomore at University of Florida, says that although she is constantly working with her internship, she tries at least once a week to meet up with a friend at the local coffee joint to do work together. "This way we can both finish the stuff we need to but also socialize when we are taking breaks," she says. It really is a win-win situation. 

Plan an evening out at least once a week

Every week you need to make sure that you are saving at least one night to see a friend. Even if it is just for coffee or drinks, spending some time with real people outside of the classroom or office is extremely important. For example, Jazyme Jackson, a sophomore at Boston University, has “Empire Wednesday” every week with her friends to watch Empire and hang out. “We bring snacks and stuff to have an hour or so to break up our schedules. If I'm loaded with work, I'll bring it with me but I try to avoid that. We've been doing it for almost a year now and I love it.” Even something as small as one hour a week can keep things social! Also, switching up your routine will keep things fresh and new. If you are constantly doing the same thing week after week, there is a pretty good chance that it’ll get boring even if you absolutely love being busy and having a tight schedule. 

Take advantage of the city you live in

For most places, no matter how small the city, there is always probably at least one thing going on. Even more if it is during the summer! Find some local bands, a festival, anything, and use it as a reason to get out. Any part of your busy routine can be changed just enough to enjoy the local scene. All it takes is being a bit flexible. For Lucy Roberts, a senior at NYU, living in New York during the summer is particularly amazing because of all the social events going on. "I work full-time during the day but at night I try and relax by listening to live music and just meeting new people. It's totally effortless because everyone is doing the same thing," she says. A social life and work? What could be better?

Be flexible

Because you are so busy, you might be used to everything going according to plan. But also because your free time to socialize is so limited, you need to be able to adjust accordingly if something doesn’t go exactly as planned. Being flexible is a huge key to staying successful and having a social life. Although you may be busy, your friends may not be, or they might have other plans. So don’t just assume that everyone is going to drop everything for you the moment that you are free to hang out for once! 

Busy People + Other Busy People = One Happy Life

When your schedule is always packed, it may feel like you will never have time to hang out with friends or have any social life at all. But one of the keys to making this possible is finding people who understand you and your busy schedule. Here's how to find those people. 

Find people with similar lifestyles to yours

One of the most important aspects of maintaining a social life and a busy schedule is finding people who have the same values as you. If you are very career driven, finding others who are the same allows for more flexibility and understanding. If you have to cancel a lunch date because of a work meeting that came up, find the people who will totally understand. They probably have issues fitting friendships into their life, so as long as you have a mutual understanding that you will both make time for each other somehow, it will work out. Alaina Leary, a graduate student at Emerson College, says that it's especially important to schedule time with your SO as well if you both are equally as busy. She says, “We plan specific date nights and in-home movie nights so that we both know we can't come home from work and just separate all night. It helps keep our quality time prioritized!” This is a great example of how people who are like-minded have managed to figure out a way to make the relationship work regardless of how busy each of them are! 

Know when it’s time to walk away

One of the most important things is understanding when a friendship is not working. Although you may be flexible with your scheduling and change of plans, your friends may not be. If someone who you were once close with is constantly getting upset with how busy you are, you have to reflect on what you are gaining from the friendship if there is always negative energy. 

Happiness is the most important 

At the end of the day, regardless of how busy you are, the most important thing is that you are happy with your choices and your life. If you love being busy, then BE BUSY! It is your life. But with that you have to make sure that you are sane. You won’t be able to maintain a healthy social life if you are not taking time for yourself. 

Allow yourself one day off each week, sans people

It is extremely important each week to take a night to do something just for you. Whether that means going to your favorite restaurant and ordering your go-to meal, or just sitting and reading a book, having that time to reflect and think about your week is very important. When you are busy you are constantly surrounded with people, oftentimes not by choice, so it is important that you enjoy some peace and quiet. 

Related: 7 Daily Habits of Wildly Successful Women

Overall, the truth is that maintaining a social life when you are always busy is hard. It means scheduling everything down to the last minute and being a stickler about time. But at the end of the day, it will make you so much happier to have a life where you are surrounded by the ones you care about as well as reaching your career/job/school goals. You really can have it all as long as you put in the effort to make it happen.

Although "Hello" may have been the number one song of the year, Adele had some other ideas for what to sing at her concert in the Netherlands this past Friday. After giving a shoutout the Spice Girls, Adele belted out a few lines from "Spice Up Your Life."

As expected, fans went crazy, but they weren't the only ones. The Spice Girls seemed to enjoy the performace as well. Baby, Ginger and Sporty Spice all retweeted the video.

Is it just us, or does Adele deserve an honorary spot in this girl group?

Since the passing of The Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act (HB2) law, widely known as the "bathroom bill," many artists and performers have canceled appearances in North Carolina in protest of this anti-LGBTQIA act.

Selena Gomez, however, will not be cancelling her Revival Tour concert scheduled for June 7 at Charlotte, North Carolina’s Time Warner Cable Arena. Instead, she announced in a statement to Billboard that she will donate proceeds from her concert to help overturn the discriminatory law.

Gomez began her statement by saying, "I am very fortunate to have grown up in a home where I learned from an early age that everyone should be treated equally."

She admits she "went back and forth on whether I should cancel my concert in North Carolina,” but she ultimately decided it was best for her “to move forward with my show and donate a portion of the proceeds to Equality North Carolina and their effort to defeat this act of discrimination.” 

This is in addition to the proceeds from each ticket that go towards the Alliance for Lupus Research, a national health organization working towards finding treatments for and preventing lupus. (In 2013, Gomez was diagnosed with lupus and underwent chemotherapy.)

Gomez went further to reassure fans that the venue she will be performing at will have gender neutral bathrooms, as she wants “everyone coming to my show to be welcomed.” 

“I feel like my generation is the most progressive one yet,” she concluded, “and believe there will be a day soon when laws like HB2 won’t even be a consideration.”

Content Warning: This piece contains descriptions of rape. 

The night before finals your junior year, your parents go out of town. You have your friends over and a few of the senior guys you and your friends have been seeing. You stock the fridge with cheap beer and even cheaper vodka. Everyone has arrived and you all start to drink while a generic playlist is blaring in the background. The beer pong is set up on your parents’ formal dining room table and everyone is kissing their temporary other halves.

Hours later, you remember you have a final project due in the morning. You pull yourself from the company and disappear to your room to work. The guy you’ve been seeing follows you up shortly after. As you see him turn the corner to come into your bedroom, you feel a sense of security. “Oh good,” you think, “he wants to talk to me. Maybe he cares about me, maybe he’s not as terrible as all of my friends think.”

For the few years you’ve known him in high school, he’s been dangling a relationship over you. Pretending he cares about you, but going to parties and messing around with other girls. He’s not the relationship type, but you have this silly belief that you could change his mind. You’re so different from the others and you encourage him in his endeavors, trying to help him be a better person.

You thought his coming to find you in the midst of a party was a reassurance from him that he cared about you.

You start kissing, which is fine—you’re used to that. But then he shuts your laptop and turns off your bedside lamp and you know this is going somewhere fast. Maybe you can satisfy him with a make out session like you have so many times before. It’s always worked when you’ve pushed him away after it’s gotten too intense. And you tried to push him away playfully, but instead he slides his hands between the waist of your pants in an uninvited motion to slip them off completely. You’re anxious because this is unchartered territory. Because you’re not ready and you don’t want it to happen like this and you don’t want it to happen with him.

You whisper “Stop,” but he doesn’t. Maybe he didn’t hear you, so you keep your legs together in an attempt to turn him away. He parts them forcefully and you mutter a “No,” but the alcohol and the fear and the nerves don’t let you sound confident in your protest. He shoves his face between your legs and holds them apart with strength like he’s not willing to let someone’s lack of cooperation interrupt his desires. You keep saying no, but you don’t even know who you’re talking to anymore because no one is there to listen. He comes up for air and he can’t see the tears running down your cheeks in the dark, but you can see him towering over you like a giant that has every intention of crushing your soul.

He slides inside of you and this time you say a “please” before you breathe another “stop” like the manners that your parents taught you as a child were going to keep a teenage boy from using a toy that he didn’t have permission to play with.

The tears come more rapidly now as you lay there and think of your parents. How they’re somewhere else and they think you’re safe. And this is happening in the house where you’ve all eaten dinner as a family and watched movies and hugged each other good night. You start to blame yourself because you let him in your home and maybe he thought that invitation was extended into you and now everything about you is tainted. Finally, it’s over and he finishes like the moans of your objections were moans of satisfaction and encouragement.

He grabs his boxers and leaves you alone. Normally you’re afraid of the complete darkness that encompasses your room, but this time you’re afraid of the light and what it might do to your memory. You can’t remember the room you have to live in for the next year and a half like this, so you leave it in the dark. You gather yourself and get back to the party. He’s outside smoking, so it’s safe to reappear in front of everyone. Your two best friends come up and ask for the details and you whisper that you lost your virginity and you tremble and you cry and they direct you to your parents’ bedroom. The three of you sit on the king size bed and they know you’re not okay, but they assume it’s just because it was your first time, and you’re not going to redirect their thoughts. You sit on your parents’ bed and you cry, and you’ve never felt so dependent on another person’s presence and so helpless.

You all return to the kitchen and he’s there, sitting in your dining room chair. He nods you over, so you go. You sit next to him and he shows you his phone. “Look, we got twenty-three likes on our picture.” As if that was some sort of reassurance from twenty-three people that what just happened was okay because they approved of you together.

The next day comes and the sunlight washes the night to the past. You’re okay. Not because what happened was any different, but because your friends made it seem normal.

As the days pass, you make excuses for him. Not that he deserves any, but at the time it seemed to be no one’s fault but your own.

You’ve made new friends since high school and you tell your story like it’s typical and they are taken back with shock. They tell you it’s not. They tell you what it really is. You refuse to believe it, because all the stories you’ve heard about it aren’t like yours. It’s too late to rearrange the actions in your mind. It doesn’t deserve your emotions, and as far as your concerned that night wasn’t real. That couldn’t happen to you. As long as you don’t accept it, you aren’t its victim.

If you haven't heard the news, T. Swift recently crashed a fan's wedding—what could be more exciting? Here are seven reasons why we want Taylor to crash every event of ours:

1. Surprise performances

Yes, she performed "Blank Space" at the wedding.

2. Handmade gifts

How sweet is she?

3. Her killer dance moves

Work it, girl.

4. So we can form the ultimate girl squad

Tay is the perfect addition.

5. Getting to admire her in person

Totally fangirling.

6. Style advice from the queen

Can she take us shopping?

7. To spend time with T. Swift—why else?

Feel free to crash any of our events, Tay!

Whether you're a Trump supporter or not, there's no denying that he's the wild card in the race to the White House. Here are some questions we'd love to ask him (although we already know the answer to many of them):

1. Are you serious about this country?

2. Do you fake tan?

3. How'd your hair get like that?

4. Why do you think it's okay to degrade women?

5. Why are you so radical?

6. Why do you disrespect minorities?

7. Where's yours?

8. Do you actually believe you'll be a good president?

9. Do you think your money can get you everything?

10. Would you continue to be rude if you were president?

11. Do you ever think before you act?

12. Does making fun of other people make you feel better about yourself?

13. How do you come up with half the things you say?

14. Can the American people put their faith in you?

15. Would you change your ways if elected?

We can only hope the American citizens have enough common sense not to elect this racist, sexist man.

This past weekend at the Hollywood Bowl, all of our Disney dreams came true when a live performance of The Little Mermaid was done by literally all of our favorite actors and actresses, including Pitch Perfect’s very own Rebel Wilson. 

According to Refinery29, Wilson played the villain of the classic movie musical, Ursula, and from what everyone is saying, she absolutely slayed. Which, tbh, we are not surprised at all about. Wilson is just one of the many amazing people in the cast, including Sara Bareilles as Ariel, Tituss Burgess as Sebastian, and John Stamos as Chef.

Although we would love to see every single one of those people perform, Wilson still takes the cake on this one. Check out Wilson doing an amazing job singing "Poor Unfortunate Souls" and we dare you to seriously try not to sing along. 

This past weekend, Game of Thrones actress Maisie Williams attended a masquerade ball in aid of the NSPCC, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Child, and much to everyones surprise (not) people were sexist about it. Especially The Daily Mail, as Buzzfeed pointed out. 

When the actress saw this sexist headline, “Unveiled: Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams goes braless in sheer lace dress and quirky headpiece at charity masquerade ball” that seemed to focus more on her appearance instead of the amazing organization that she was supporting, she was just not having it at all. (And with good reason.)

Instead of staying quiet and letting the media do their thing, she decided to rewrite the headline to make it a bit more accurate, while absolutely dropping the mic at the same time. 

The tweet reads, “Alternative Game of Thrones actor, Maisie Williams, helps raise thousands at a Summer Masquerade Ball for @NSPCC.” 

Yes, girl. Yes. 

On our list of least favorite things, breakups fall somewhere between guac being extra and sold out Beyoncé tickets—basically, they suck. Whether you had your heart broken or you were the one to end the relationship, the post-breakup etiquette rules are always a bit hazy. We’re really sorry that he or she wasn’t the one, but we’ve got a silver lining for you: Her Campus had the opportunity to speak with Jodi R.R. Smith, president and owner of Mannersmith Etiquette Consulting—and she’s breaking down what to do right after a breakup.

1. Take the high road

In all cases, but especially in the event that you broke up with your significant other, you need to take the high road. “If they put up a nasty post about you on Facebook, don’t respond,” says Smith. “If they scream at you and say they never want to talk to you again, tell them, ‘I validate your feelings,’ and walk away. Don’t get pulled into any emotional backlash that is happening.” People are going to ask why you broke up, but you shouldn’t be telling them. Obviously you’ll want to talk about the breakup with your closest friends, but you don’t want to make your ex look bad to your circle of friends. If a mutual acquaintance or classmate is really pushing you for details, Smith suggests a number of phrases you can use:

• “We were young and we were in love and now we’re not in love.”
• “The relationship ran its course.”
• “Sometimes things just don’t work out.”
• “S/he is a great person, just not a great person for me right now.”

“You don’t owe anyone a giant explanation of your breakup,” says Smith. If people ask what happened, don’t feel pressured to rope them into the drama.

Smith also suggests giving your ex a little bit of space. “When you’re the one doing the breaking up, give the person the space to be in the places that are familiar to them,” she says. “Go to the Starbucks on the other side of campus or study in a different library so that you’re not causing more pain.” While breakups are never simple, you can help make things a little less complicated by being the bigger person.

2. Process appropriately

It’s important to resist the urge to process the breakup on social media. Instead of sub-tweeting or posting a tearful emoji to your Snap story, call or text your bestie(s) and meet for coffee, drinks or just a walk around the park. Rather than text-ranting to your big, just talk it out. “Process it face-to-face in a place where it’s not going to be documented for posterity,” says Smith. Attempting to understand what just happened is key to accepting it, but you don’t want your emotions coming back to bite you later on.

3. Protect your emotional well being

Smith recommends at least temporarily blocking your ex’s feeds so that he or she is not popping up in your social media while you’re trying to move on. “You’re the only one that can protect yourself,” she says. “And you need to protect your emotional well being. Even the most emotionally healthy person will be tempted to cyberstalk their ex, and that’s not healthy.” Smith suggests blocking them for at least the first month or so, after which you can decide whether or not you want to see what’s going on in their lives. You may also want to unfriend them so that they’re not cyberstalking you. “Make sure that all your privacy settings are what they need to be,” says Smith.

After her relationship ended, Caitlin Duncan, a senior at University of New Haven, deleted all photos and conversations from her phone. “It was torture to sit there and read our old conversations and look back on old photos,” says Caitlin. “I also hid his Facebook posts and muted him on Twitter because I really couldn't bear to see his posts. I didn't want to unfriend/unfollow him, so using the mute feature was helpful.” While you may not want to erase all of your digital memories, if it helps you move on, it may be the right thing to do.

You don’t necessarily have to block your ex’s cell phone number, but Smith does recommend not answering it when you see their name or number pop up on your screen. “Just because they’ve called you or are in the process of calling you, does not mean that you should answer it,” she says. “Let them leave a message. Listen to the message, and then decide whether or not you want to respond. And sometimes you just have to delete. You don’t owe them an explanation.” You know yourself better than anyone, so do what you need to do to make the best of a bad situation.

Related:6 Things You Should Never Do After a Breakup

4. Wallow (a little)

Believe it or not, it’s okay to wallow! “I think that when you’ve had your heart broken, to shake it off and pretend like nothing is wrong doesn’t do anybody any good,” says Smith. “What you’re not allowed to do is to become consumed by the wallowing. If after about the two-week mark you still suddenly burst into tears for no reason, then it’s time to get professional help. But for the first fourteen days, eat a lot of ice cream, cry a lot, watch really sappy Ryan Gosling movies. Really feel what’s going on.” You heard her—break out the Ben & Jerry’s, add a bunch of chick flicks to your Netflix queue and grab some tissues—you’ll need them.

5. Celebrate you

Once you’re done wallowing, it’s time to celebrate you. Smith explains that this means different things for different people. “For somebody that might mean going out and buying a whole new wardrobe or going out and cutting off their hair and having a totally new style; for other people it’s an opportunity to refocus on the things they really love,” she says. “Oftentimes when you’re in a partnership, what happens is you can’t always do everything you like to do, because you have to compromise…that’s part of being in a relationship. Now you’re not in a relationship, so if they didn’t like watching foreign films, go to a foreign film festival. Find the things that you really like to do and do them.”

This means you need to get out of the house (or apartment or dorm room) and connect with people. While you may want to continue moping around in your pajamas, trust us, this will be better for you. Smith suggests helping out at a homeless shelter or volunteering for a breast cancer walk—just do something to get yourself busy again that will help keep your mind off of feeling sorry for yourself. It may sound harsh, but it’s worth it in the long run.

6. Find your own closure

Smith explains that for twentysomethings, the amount of closure we’re going to be able to get after a breakup is pretty minimal. There’s nothing that the other person can really say to make us feel any better. So, don’t look to your ex for closure. Instead, focus on you and your feelings. Get a journal and write about it. “I’m a big fan of journals,” says Smith. “I find that people process when [they] actually have to sit down and write something out. Write the person a letter or write your future self a letter. Write a short story about the different ways that this relationship could have gone. Find the way that works for you. If you need to, it’s perfectly fine to go and see a counselor and talk about why you’re having a hard time moving on.”

Some people like to get rid of every single thing that reminds them of the other person. “If you want to do that you certainly can,” says Smith. However, she recommends taking the stuff and boxing it up, putting it under your bed, in the back of a closet or in storage. When it comes time to move, open up the box and see if there’s anything that you’d like to keep, because it’s nostalgic or meaningful for you. If not, then donate it, give it away or send it back to the person. Again, it’s all about what works for you and your process.

7. Start to move on

While Smith cautions against jumping right back into a serious relationship, she acknowledges that there are many ways to get over a relationship—whether that means having a one night stand or remaining celibate. “You need to decide what works for you,” she says. “But what I caution people against is going out, having a one night stand with somebody and then feeling worse about themselves in the morning. So think about what’s going to make you feel better and do that.” It’s going to take time to accept the breakup and begin to move on. Don’t feel like there is a right or wrong way to deal with your emotions—just do what works for you. You may not know what that is right now, but through trial and error, you’ll figure it out.

Breakups definitely aren’t fun, but they’re a perfectly normal part of your college years—and beyond. You have to kiss (and date!) many frogs before you find your prince or princess, so don’t give up. Like Smith says, “This too shall pass. No matter how hard it is…it goes away, you get over it and you’ll go on to live a complete and happy life.” It gets better, collegiettes!

After dating a guy for a long time, you might be eager to drop the highly anticipated L-bomb. When you’re head-over-heels in love with someone, you want to scream it from the rooftops, for goodness sakes! That’s why it can be pretty frustrating when your boyfriend is reluctant to express his feelings of love toward you, no matter how strong your feelings are for him. In fact, you might not even know if he loves you at all!

But just because he isn’t saying those three little words doesn’t mean that his love for you isn’t there. There could be plenty of signs that your guy is digging you just as much as you’re digging him – you just might not be noticing them!

After all, actions speak louder than words, right?

Why Isn’t He Saying It?

Just because a guy doesn’t say it doesn’t mean it’s not true! There could be many things holding your guy back from saying “I love you.”

Reason #1: He’s afraid of being rejected

Fear of rejection could be a huge factor in why your significant other isn’t showering you with love. Denise Christopher, a dating and relationship coach and founder of the love and date consulting website denisechristopher.com, says that you shouldn’t worry if your guy hasn’t said “I love you” yet. “Guys are no different than women when it comes to rejection; they too have a great fear of being rejected,” she says.

Let’s face it – dealing with rejection is no fun. No one wants to say “I love you” and not have those same feelings returned. Your boyfriend may be worried that you don’t feel the same way and won’t reciprocate his proclamation of love, which could be a big factor in why he’s holding back.

“I dated my girlfriend for six months before I told her I loved her,” says Scott*, a sophomore at the University of Washington. “I knew I loved her after about three months, but I was so afraid to tell her that I just couldn’t say it. I had no idea if she loved me and I didn’t want to get rejected. That would just be awkward.”

Reason #2: He had a bad past relationship

Unhealthy relationships from the past could also be a contributing factor. “Everyone has emotional baggage, and often deep hurt can effect your guy’s decision to say ‘I love you,’” Christopher says.

A terrible breakup or an unhealthy relationship can really take a toll on someone both mentally and emotionally. If your guy had his heart broken in the past, he may be scared to tell you he loves you in fear that your relationship will have the same heartbreaking ending. Fear of repeating the past can cause a guy to take a step back and assess the relationship to make sure he’s really committed to it before he takes it further.

“My last serious relationship ended really badly, and it was hard to recover from,” says Liam*, a sophomore at Washington State University. “I casually dated a few girls after it, but I never fully committed myself to them because I was always worried that they’d just end up like my last one. Getting your heart broken is no fun, and whenever I get involved with a girl, I always think about that.”

Reason #3: He doesn’t know how to say it

Maybe your guy is totally, madly in love with you, but he’s struggling to find the right way to say it. After all, it’s a pretty big deal and it comes with a lot of pressure! “Most guys aren’t as verbally expressive as women,” Christopher says. “Your guy may be feeling challenged to actually say the words ‘I love you.’”

While it may seem like a simple thing to say, a lot of guys find it very stressful and straight-up nerve-wracking.

“Like I said, I was absolutely terrified to tell my girlfriend that I love her,” Scott says. “I had never said it to a girl before and I wanted it to be special, but I had no idea how to say it or when to say it or where. I didn’t know if I should tell her casually or take her out to a fancy dinner or make some big, romantic gesture or something. I thought about it way too much, which is probably why it took me so long!”

How Can You Tell if He Loves You?

Even if he hasn’t expressed his love for you verbally, there could be plenty of nonverbal signs that he’s totally in love with you. If you’re on the lookout for clues that he’s in

L-O-V-E with you, watch out for one of these signs!

Sign #1: He makes you a priority

When you become an important part of his day-to-day life, that’s a pretty good sign that he’s feeling some love for you. Taking time out of each day to catch up with you, planning weekly dates and being attentive to your needs are all signs that you’re becoming a priority in his life.

“I know you never want to be that guy that blows off his friends, but when I started dating my girlfriend, I noticed that I didn’t mind ditching ‘guy time’ to hang out with her,” says Cameron*, a sophomore at Seattle University. “When you love a girl, you make sure you have time to see her no matter what; it’s just what you do!”

When he makes time in his busy schedule of friends, school and sports just to make sure he can see you, that’s a good sign that you’re a real priority in his life.

Sign #2: He talks to you about the future

When you think about the future, you always factor in the people you love, so when your guy brings up the future to you, there’s a good chance that you’re one of those loved ones! Christopher says there’s a definite possibility that he loves you if he “talks to you about the future using the words ‘we’ or ‘us’ instead of ‘I’ or ‘me,’ sometimes without even realizing it.”

Even if the future plans are just hypothetical, it’s still a big sign that he imagines you being in his life for a long time.

“My boyfriend took SO long to tell me that he loved me,” says Hannah, a junior at the University of Washington. “I was getting really frustrated because we had been dating for several months, but one day he told me that he was thinking about places that we could move to after graduation and I was kind of taken aback. When I realized he was factoring me into his future plans, it made me feel a lot better. Even though he hadn’t said it yet, I knew he loved me—he just needed some time!”

Sign #3: He keeps you close

Unspoken displays of affection can be a big indicator that a guy has some pretty strong feelings for you – mainly, his body language when you two are out together in public.

Christopher says there’s a good chance he loves you if “he keeps you close, walks next to you and has no hesitation to show a public display of affection (i.e., holding your hands, placing his hand at the lower part of your back or giving you butterfly kisses). All this not only lets you know he’s into you, but also lets others know he’s not available.”

When a guy loves you, he wants everyone to know that you’re his girl, which is why these subtle displays of affection can hold a lot of meaning!

Sign #4: He actively listens to you talk about your day

Any guy can pretend to listen about your day, but when a guy loves you he’ll actually listen. Why? Because he wants to!

If he loves you, he’ll want to know about how your day was and how he can make it better. He’ll be there for support when you’re having a pretty crappy day or happy for you when you got an A on that big test of yours. If you notice he’s really engaged when you’re telling him personal stories or he asks a lot of pertinent questions, it’s a good sign that he’s heading towards those feelings of love.

“When you love someone, you want to know about their day because you actually care,” says Patrick*, a junior at Gonzaga University. “It also makes you want to open up to them more, too, and share personal stories about yourself. I tell my girlfriend things I wouldn’t be able to tell my guy friends or my siblings because I know she cares and I feel comfortable telling her.”

Talking to you about his day may also be a sign that he loves you. When he shares personal stories with you and values your input, it says a lot about his feelings for you.

Sign #5: You meet his extended family

Meeting the family is a big deal, so when he takes you home for Thanksgiving or introduces you to his grandparents, don’t take it lightly! Most guys wouldn’t introduce their significant others to their relatives unless they were really serious about them.

“I would never let a girl meet all my relatives unless I knew I loved her and saw a future with her,” Cameron says. “If you bring a girl home to meet your whole family, they all usually assume it’s pretty serious. I know my relatives still ask me about my ex-girlfriend ALL the time because I brought her to one of my family reunions a few years ago. It’s not worth it to just bring any girl home; she’s got to be special.”

Should You Say it First?

If you’ve picked up on some of these signs and you’re getting the feeling that he loves you too, should you go ahead and drop the L-bomb first? It may be tempting – someone has to take initiative and say it, after all! Before you go ahead and express your undying love for him, however, you may want to take a step back and look at the reason why you’re so eager to say “I love you.”

“If you are saying ‘I love you’ only in hopes to be reassured about the relationship and hear the words back so you can feel secure... don’t do it,” Christopher says. “He will likely sense where this declaration is really coming from and begin to feel pressured or manipulated.”

If you need to hear the words “I love you” just so you can feel more secure about yourself, then dropping the first L-bomb may not be in your (or his) best interests. You don’t want to pressure him into saying something he doesn’t necessarily feel yet. If you want to say it just to satisfy your own ego, then it may be best to wait.

On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with saying “I love you” first if you truly can’t contain your love. “If you are truly secure and are bursting at the seams, struggling to hold back those words every time you see him… go for it,” Christopher says. “Know, though, that you are ready to express your feelings because they are what they are, and be confident with the possibility that the words may not be returned.”

Although you may get the response you were hoping for, you should be okay if he can’t quite return the feelings yet! You should only say “I love you” if that’s how you really feel. Don’t expect anything in return; just hope for the best! If you truly do love him, you should be willing to wait until he can figure out his feelings and say he loves you when he really feels it. You don’t want him to say something he doesn’t mean just to please you.

If you find yourself stressing because your guy hasn’t said those three important words yet, don’t worry! The love could be there; he may just not be ready to say it yet.

Is it just me or has this season officially gone off the rails? Last night’s episode was filled with blood, manchild arguments and -gasms you never even knew existed.

First of all, Chad left his plate of luncheon meat sitting out all night, confirming his role as this season’s villain (and perhaps the most unapologetic villain this show has ever seen). Yes, I got all this from the throwaway shot of Chad’s meat-littered plate sitting on the kitchen counter.

At the beginning of this episode, Chad and Daniel were best friends. Oh, if they had only known how the tables would turn.

Chad says things like, “We’re kissing. We’re flowing.” Why is this guy still single?

Remember Chase? He’s that perfectly harmless cutie whose name, when said aloud, makes you think for a hot second that someone is mentioning Chad again.

Anger-gasm is not a word I needed to know; therefore, I have already forgotten what it means.

During their one-on-one date, JoJo and Chase screamed and flailed around like four-year-olds whose moms drug them to hot yoga instead of the playground.

Insults were thrown amongst Chad (shocker!), Jordan and Alex when the group date card arrived. That’s when James Taylor stepped in to say Chad should be grateful he’s going on a date with JoJo, proving that he obviously didn’t understand the point of the game these guys were playing.

The sex talks date was the worst thing I have ever had to witness with my dad sitting nearby.

JoJo thinks it’s important to talk about sex in a relationship. But not in front of an audience, right?

Every guy there was clearly calculating the proper age to say he lost his virginity at—young enough to sound cool but not so young they seemed completely creepy. Sixteen was the consensus from what I could tell.

Evan talked about the dangers of roid rage, which has nothing to do with sex…unless it does and I just don’t know it.

Chad got so mad during the group date that he ripped Evan’s shirt. It’s because of the roids that he has the strength to do that, guys. #respect

Chad’s sex stories must be pretty awful for him to do ~that~ instead.

Chad punches doors and points at people in really accusatory ways when he’s angry.

In fact, all of Chad’s “violent tendencies” seem to stem from him pointing his finger at someone. Whoa, dude—watch that thing, all right?

All it takes for Evan to stick around is an almost compliment and a makeout sesh he can tell his kids about as soon as he is kicked off the show.

Angry JoJo is by far my favorite JoJo. Watching her shut Chad down was everything.

We learned two things about James Taylor this week: he is the best goofy dancer, and he feels just the right amount of unlovable to agree to be the next Bachelor.

Daniel gave Chad advice on how to be a better person. (Pause for laughter)

Do you think Chad is selling subscriptions to his diet regimen? Last week it was the luncheon meat. This week, he’s munching on whole sweet potatoes and shards of romaine lettuce by the pool.

The most convoluted round of tattletale I’ve ever seen happened at the end of the episode, with Chris Harrison acting as referee. By the look on his face, I could tell he could NOT care less whether or not Chad rips Evan’s limbs off as promised.

Back in January, Renée Zellweger was the talk of the town when she stepped into the public eye for the first time in about six years. She looked different, according to nearly everyone, and that was the only thing that people could talk about. No one actually asked WHY she was gone for all those years but luckily, the answer has finally been revealed. 

In the July issue of British Vogue, the actress finally opens up about why she took a six-year break from Hollywood, according to Us Weekly. The 47-year-old actress, most known for her role in Bridget Jones's Diary, said the primary reason was that she was exhausted. She said, “I was fatigued and wasn't taking the time I needed to recover between projects, and it caught up with me.” She went on to add, ”I got sick of the sound of my own voice: It was time to go away and grow up a bit." And that she did. 

But it wasn’t just sitting around alone during those six years. “I found anonymity, so I could have exchanges with people on a human level and be seen and heard, not be defined by this image that precedes me when I walk into a room," she told the magazine. "You cannot be a good storyteller if you don't have life experiences, and you can't relate to people." We totally agree. 

And now, six years later, she is ready to get back into the fast lane with three new films coming up, including Bridget Jones’s Baby. Although we missed her these last few years, we are so excited that she is ready and eager to be back on the big screen (especially as our spirit animal Bridget Jones). 

Well, last night's episode of 'The Bachelorette' was interesting. It basically included some cute dates, some not-so-cute moments, and some Chad. Or as Twitter calls him, #TheChad. Although he is rude and violent and overall just mean to all the other contestants, he did have some moments last night that tbh, we kinda agree with. And as #TheChad would like to say, "I'm not stupid." Check out these five moments and try not to say "oh yeah, he's kinda right." 

1. When he didn’t want to go on a date with 12 other guys... 

This was literally what every other guy (and every person who was ever on the show) was thinking but no one had the guts to say. Except Chad. 

2. “You are actually vibing this guy?” 

This may have been super rude of him to say in front of JoJo but we were all thinking it. Pity rose? Probably. 

3. When he didn't want to be compared to Hitler. 

Literally nothing more needs to be said. 

4. “You’ve done nothing with your life except throw a piece of leather...”

Okay yes, it was harsh but maybe it does make a little sense. We love Jordan, he still is our favorite frontrunner, but tbh, this is a true statement. A football is a piece of leather and Jordan did throw it for a living.

5. When he was spot on with the bikini comment. 

This really is common sense, kinda. If she looks as banging as she does in a dress, she probably looks just as amazing in a bikini. That’s all. 

Cue the fanfare: Lin-Manuel Miranda is on "Carpool Karaoke." And he brought his A-game. 

In preparation for the Tony Awards on June 12, Broadway superstars Lin-Manuel Miranda, Audra McDonald, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jane Krakowski all took a ride around the block with Late Late Show host James Corden. 

As is to be expected when a group of Broadway stars pile into one vehicle, they all contributed to one epic karaoke session. 

Miranda and Corden even did their own version of Miranda's smash hit Hamilton. They talked about what might be different this time around, in contrast to when Miranda's first musical, In the Heights, won a Tony in 2009. 

Miranda, Corden, McDonald, Ferguson and Krakowski also performed a couple of ensemble numbers from forever faves Rent and Les Miserables.

No joke, this Carpool Karaoke is the best thing to happen since Hamilton. And if we weren't watching the Tony Awards before, we sure are now!