Sparkler Smokey778 obviously has tons of experience destroying opponents in debates while bringing audiences to laughter-induced tears. We're not sure if we have a future president or the next host of The Daily Show on our hands, but either way, we like it. —SparkNotes editors

Intellectual sparing, civilized argument, verbal chess, whatever you call it, debate is a big part of high school, college, and for some people, the real world, and you'll probably have to take part in one eventually.

There are different tactics for dealing with debates: You could research your subject thoroughly, construct a logical argument, then calmly analyzes your opponent’s views and find its weak points, or you could dip kittens in Jell-O, then ride around the town square on a llama singing "Barbie Girl."

You Sparklers must up to your hipster bangs in tests, exams, and presentations, because procrastinating on schoolwork has been a big theme lately. What we like about this post by SongByrd94 is that it offers different advice than previous Sparkler posts on dealing with procrastination. We hope one method works for you! —SparkNotes editors

While procrastinating is easy to do and allows us to go do fun things with our life, let’s face it, it also SUCKS!  But by taking a few simple steps, we can quickly prevent ourselves from entering the never-ending cycle of procrastination.

You’ve all heard the phrase “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” In fact, you probably stumbled across it while trying to stab your eyes out with a highlighter during your English-class-enforced reading of Romeo and Juliet. But if names don’t matter, why don’t we all go by Geraldo, or Captain Hook? Can one name really capture our personality better than another? We believe it can, which is why we’ve put together yet another scientifically inaccurate and socially irresponsible analysis, this time to find out what your SparkLife nickname says about you.

IF: Your SparkLife name is taken from literature or television, like dracomustdie or ihearthemingway

Are you puzzled by pep rallies? Skeptical about spirit week? Confused by continuous references to something called “Homecoming”? SparkNotes is here to help. For those who live outside the U.S., or in a town that scoffs at the whole concept of Homecoming, we’ve created this brief guide to explain how the festivities work—and how you, too, can institute a weeklong celebration of the athletic event of your choice. (We’ve used the traditional example of football here, but if you want to customize Homecoming for your school’s undefeated Table Tennis Champs, that’s cool too.) Are you ready to HOMECOME? Then you’d better…

Essays are usually a tool used to gauge something about you—for example, your skill at writing, your ideals and personality, or your ability to repeat some things about Charlemagne before forgetting them forever.

You might assume that if you're writing about your ideals and personality, there are no right or wrong answers, and that's probably true. But there are awesome and far-less-awesome answers. Sometimes, despite seeming absolutely insane, an unexpected approach winds up surprising and delighting the people who read these things. Here are three crazy college admissions essay approaches that somehow (rumor has it) actually worked.

I think it was either Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. who first said, “In Girl World, Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like total tramps and no other girls can say anything about it.” And if you’ve been paying any attention to Halloween fashion over the past few years, you’ve probably noticed that the costumes available for ladyfolk have taken that advice to heart in a major way—all of them seem to involve fishnet stockings, plunging necklines, and just enough fabric to cover one, but never both, of your buttcheeks.

Indeed, the “Sexy Halloween” trend is happening in full force, right now, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. But here at SparkNotes—where we generally prefer to weather the October chill with both of our buttcheeks safely under wraps—we’ve noticed one glaring problem with said trend:

GeekGoesGlam is a self-help guru-in-training. We have a feeling she'll have her own book series, podcasts, and talk show in 10 years! —SparkNotes editors

There is this one person and s/he is your life. You think about this person constantly. You doodle her name in the margins of your notebooks and all over the back of your calculator. You love being with her—and then, suddenly, it's over.

When you break up, your feelings for the other person, and the good things you see in him, don't go away instantly. But by following my five step plan, CAOGI (no, it does not mean Can Any Other Guy/Girl Interest Me?), you will be over the ex fast, no matter how hot s/he is. Before you hit the rocky road ice cream, try this:

What's in a name? A lot, if you get to choose it. Sparkler chessnerd89 has some wonderful tips on bonding with peers who aren't natural social butterflies. —SparkNotes editors

Do you have a million friends and love to socialize? Are you the person whose phone constantly beeps with texts and calls and messages? The one who always has something to do and someone to do it with? The one who actually tells people, "let me check my schedule!" Or, "If you want to hang out, you better ask me a month in advance because I’ll have to take off work, and I have this thing on the 5th and then I’m going away for a week"…?

I am not one of those people, but my best friend is. These are the things I wish she knew:

Once, a long time ago, two exceptionally evil people had a conversation that went something like this:

Evil Person #1: Man, look at these high school students.
Evil Person #2: I know, right? They’re all disheveled from getting up so early…
Evil Person #1: And sporting monster zits from all the stress of AP exams and homework…
Evil Person #2: And sweaty from gym class…
Evil Person #1: And lumpy from awkward pubertal changes…
Evil Person #2: Yep, they sure are a mess.
Evil Person #1: Hey, you know what we should do? Hire a sadistic and not-very-talented person to take pictures of them!
Evil Person #2: AWESOME! YEAH!

And so, the school yearbook photo was born.

Sparkler synchrogirl117 is HILARIOUS. We're laughing. We're snorting. Our burrito bellies taut, flawless six pack abs are strained. Orange juice is coming out of our noses. We hope you react the same way. —SparkNotes editors

All of us (unless you are famous, shipwrecked on a desert island, or Bella Swan) are back at school by now, and probably already swamped with homework, crazy teachers, and cafeteria food. But never fear, for there is a wonderful event coming to shake up the horrible monotony of education: HOMECOMING!