Every girl grows up watching, reading, and idolizing fairy tales. From our tiniest age we dream of wearing a crown, marrying a prince and living happily ever after. Right? Of course the idea of a fairy tale reality is appealing. Princesses grow up to live in castles, marry handsome strangers, and have amazing adventures.
They do not live in tiny college dorms with five other girls struggling to get by and eating ramen.
Seriously this is my life.
But what if they did...? Why can't my life be a fairy tale too? I learned a lot of things growing up about life from my fairy tales. There's a lot to be said for a story that inspires you to stand up for what you believe in and be a better person. Maybe in our lives good doesn't always win, maybe you don't always get the prince and maybe your castle is an apartment, but that doesn't mean we aren't living fairy tales.
Here are some things I've learned from Disney princesses about how to have a fairytale life on a college budget.
Tiana taught me to never give up on your dreams. So maybe I don't have a well thought out plan that I've worked my whole life to achieve, but I have aspirations that I can work on each week. "This week I will go for a run three times, and finish all of my homework by five. I'll make sure my dishes stay clean and my laundry is done before Sunday." I know that doesn't sound like the fun part of the part of the fairy tale, but every princess has to work for what she gets. But honestly the best part of this movie is learning to cut loose and just let it swing.
Cinderella taught me that sometimes life is hard. She had it rough, losing her parents, being forced to work long hours and never having any fun. But she always kept her head up. Cinderella sings to her friends about the dream she had of having a happy life, and she works everyday on the hope that that dream will someday become a reality.
Now my parents aren't dead, and I don't have a wicked stepmother, but sometimes college can be just as hard. You work long hours on homework, classes and internships and you don't get paid. If you are lucky enough to have a job it's minimum wage and it's not enough money to get by on. In reality you are paying to work long horrible hours week after week. It's just one big party.
But like Cinderella we can't let our hopes down. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. The best thing about Cinderella's story is that she didn't do it on her own. In the end she needed the help of her fairy god mother and her friends. Make good friends up at college, call your mom when your feeling down, ask for help. There is no shame in not being a one woman show. My mom may not have a magic wand but she is a wiz with a sewing machine and at making meals out of the minimal ingredients in my fridge.
And the very best thing that Cinderella taught me... to never stop shoe shopping, because you never know when your footwear needs to leave an impression. :)
-Emily
Here are some things I've learned from Disney princesses about how to have a fairytale life on a college budget.
The Princess and The Frog
Snow White
Snow White is one of my favorite princesses because she taught me the value of cleaning and taking care of a house. I mean I honestly always wondered about her because what sane person walks into a cottage in the woods and thinks, "I will clean it!" But if we are being honest Snow White's work ethic is admirable. She cleans and keeps house for a group of seven dwarfs to make their lives more enjoyable. She probably also cooks, which is awesome. Living with five strangers in an apartment can be compared to living with the seven dwarfs. They might be sneezy or sleepy, or grumpy, or even dopey and you're stuck with them for at least a semester. My advice is to try your best to not be labeled as Messy. If you take after Snow White and know how to clean up after yourself, and work hard, you will be the favorite roommate. No one wants to live with a slob. Trust me. Also Snow White teaches us the value of beauty sleep, and taking after her makes it easy for me to justify nap time. After all, she was the fairest in all the land.
Beauty and the Beast
Belle taught me a lot about the value of standing out and being my own person. She was beautiful, but she was also smart, and she wasn't ashamed to be seen reading and thinking. Girls sometimes think that it doesn't matter if they are smart. They just need to be pretty and know how to cook and land the handsome prince. But husband shopping isn't a good reason to go to school. Belle sings about having a life and living her dreams. "I want adventure in the great wide somewhere. I want it more than I can tell." If you dream of seeing far off places or having an exciting career, DO IT! Write a book, backpack Europe, see the ruins of South America, be a journalist; just do something that makes you happy, even if it brands you as weird. In addition to all of that serious stuff, Belle also taught me that just because a guy is popular or good looking, doesn't mean you have to date him. Beauty is never a substitute for brains.
Cinderella
Cinderella taught me that sometimes life is hard. She had it rough, losing her parents, being forced to work long hours and never having any fun. But she always kept her head up. Cinderella sings to her friends about the dream she had of having a happy life, and she works everyday on the hope that that dream will someday become a reality.
Now my parents aren't dead, and I don't have a wicked stepmother, but sometimes college can be just as hard. You work long hours on homework, classes and internships and you don't get paid. If you are lucky enough to have a job it's minimum wage and it's not enough money to get by on. In reality you are paying to work long horrible hours week after week. It's just one big party.
But like Cinderella we can't let our hopes down. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. The best thing about Cinderella's story is that she didn't do it on her own. In the end she needed the help of her fairy god mother and her friends. Make good friends up at college, call your mom when your feeling down, ask for help. There is no shame in not being a one woman show. My mom may not have a magic wand but she is a wiz with a sewing machine and at making meals out of the minimal ingredients in my fridge.
And the very best thing that Cinderella taught me... to never stop shoe shopping, because you never know when your footwear needs to leave an impression. :)
And no, your mom will never understand.
-Emily
