TikTok U

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTFootball players aren’t the only college students who have learned to sell their images for profit. At several universities, students can now major in content creation. In a recent survey, nearly four in 10 Gen Z respondents said they would take a million social media followers over a steady 9-to-5 job.For a story in The Times today, I profiled someone who’s working on it. Meet Haley DeKreek, a 20-year-old junior at the University of Arizona. With more than 45,000 TikTok followers, a gift for self-deprecating humor, a talent manager in Los Angeles and several paid brand deals (the biggest so far worth $3,000), DeKreek says she can now pay for all her shopping, food, vacations and beauty services just by doing what she has loved since kindergarten, when she played with her mom’s makeup and recorded videos of herself making slime.A life onlineDeKreek lives in the Alpha Phi sorority house, a Spanish-colonial-style mansion just off campus in Tucson that is decorated in pale pink velvets and artful stacks of coffee table books about fashion. (Kourtney Kardashian, Arizona class of 2002, was also in Alpha Phi.)Just off the foyer, a mailroom overflows with packages. There are boxes with yoga sets and dresses for formals, boxes of makeup, hair products and skin care. Many of them are destined to appear in the “Get Ready With Me” videos DeKreek regularly posts. And a lot of them are freebies from brands that have spotted her potential as a budding influencer, a one-girl campus marketing powerhouse.DeKreek doesn’t formally study content creation in college, but her major, retail and consumer science, is entirely online; she never attends class in person.I met DeKreek last month in the days before Arizona’s homecoming football game against Iowa State. It was a big week: Alumni had returned to campus, and fraternities and sororities threw events almost every night in the run-up to game day. She had a lot to do, beauty- and workwise, and I followed her around as she prepared.Wednesday: Eyelash lift and tint, brow lamination, spray tan. Americans have spent the last year agog at male looksmaxxers, who hammer their own jaws and inject dubious substances in the name of beauty. But women have been practicing time-consuming, expensive, invasive and potentially self-destructive interventions for a long, long time. And they’re starting younger than ever: twentysomethings get Botox, teenagers get filler and preteens buy anti-aging skin care products.ImageDeKreek getting a spray tan.Credit...Gabriella Angotti-Jones for The New York TimesAt 20, DeKreek says she has already had lip filler and breast reduction surgery (her large chest made everyday activities physically painful). There have also been multiple rounds of Botox in her forehead (to keep her eyebrows level), cheeks (to stop nighttime jaw-clenching), armpits (to stop sweating) and upper lip. She has a hairstylist for her extensions and a friend who gives her regular spray tans. Now an aesthetician gives her an eyebrow-smoothing treatment and then perma-curls her lashes.Thursday: Skin care, wellness walk. DeKreek starts every day by applying six of the skin care products stored in a white mini-fridge on her vanity — the first half of her routine. Then she and her friend Lea Gorham power-walk through campus, each sporting under-eye patches that are supposed to brighten and de-puff the skin there. Gorham is debating whether to get lip filler or just a cheaper lip flip. She doesn’t like the way she smiles. “I don’t necessarily need it, but it’s, like, everyone else at this school has it,” she says.Both procedures are available at a local med spa, where undergraduates can use CatCash — student bursary funds, generally replenished by parents — to pay for any noninjectable beauty service by swiping their student IDs.Next comes a blowout before DeKreek and her friends get ready for “Greek wedding,” an annual tradition where sororities and fraternities stage mock weddings between senior girls and senior boys, complete with funny speeches and parties. She spends three hours prepping: hair, makeup, body glow, dress, jewelry. The next day brings DeKreek’s monthly facial.The big dayDeKreek herself has never had a boyfriend. She describes college hookup culture and the dates she has been set up on as a “waste of time.” “I just want to focus on myself,” she said, “and the right one will come along at some point.” It’s a common sentiment among young women, who have fewer romantic relationships than those in past generations.Saturday. It’s time for the big game. DeKreek and her roommate deftly paint, blend, dab, brush, spray and dry their faces. Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Christina Aguilera sing from a speaker. The roommates’ friends burst in without knocking to rummage through their wardrobes, needing to borrow cutoffs and jewelry. DeKreek slides on a strapless gingham-and-lace mini-dress. Everyone is wearing identical tan knee-high boots, clomping to and fro.This is what she means when she says, tenderly, “It’s like girlhood, all of us together.”ImageDeKreek and a friend at a homecoming tailgate party.Credit...Gabriella Angotti-Jones for The New York TimesImageMarina LacerdaCredit...Gillian Laub for The New York TimesMost shared: Times readers wanted their friends to know about the difficulties faced by people who are double-jointed.THE LATEST NEWSAir TravelTwo planes collided on a taxiway at Miami International Airport a day after a nationwide ground stop disrupted air travel.The halt to flights across the United States began with upgrades by a little-known defense contractor that operates infrastructure used by the F.A.A., federal officials said.It could take days for flights to return to normal. Here’s why.NvidiaJensen Huang’s resignation shocked people in Taiwan, where he is a celebrity known as “the people’s dad.”Tech leaders sent letters to Nvidia’s board arguing that Huang’s exit would set the United States back in the A.I. race.He concealed the nature of his relationship with Alice Huang for months. Read the story of how it eventually led to his downfall.In the video below, our White House correspondent Maggie Haberman explains how President Trump came to see Huang as a modern-day Henry Ford. Click to watch.VideoWhat’s Behind the Trump-Huang Relationship?President Trump’s show of support for Jensen Huang as he was under fire was a remarkable moment in a relationship that barely existed two years ago. Our White House correspondent Maggie Haberman explains how Mr. Trump came to see Mr. Huang as a modern-day Henry Ford.CreditCredit...Jonathan Ernst/ReutersPoliticsA judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from closing a park in Washington where Trump wants to build a championship golf course.The administration is planning an aggressive effort to block potential investigations by a Congress controlled by Democrats.The podcaster Joe Rogan said Trump’s policies contributed to the midterm results.After their sweeping success in the midterms, Democrats are looking ahead to 2028.Around the WorldVolodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine’s access to the Starshield satellite internet system was being restricted again, disrupting military operations.Carmelle of the Philippines won the first Eurovision Song Contest Asia.Officials believe Iran or its proxies are behind a number of cyberattacks and attempted terrorist attacks across Europe and in Britain.Other Big StoriesImageStarship upon its return to Earth.Credit...Eric Gay/Associated PressSpaceX’s Starship spacecraft successfully returned from orbit to its launch site in South Texas, where it was caught between two mechanical arms.Officials in California warned people to stay off the beaches as the largest waves in nearly two years pounded the coast.FROM OPINIONImageCredit...Eric ThompsonSPORTSCollege football: Oklahoma and Ole Miss will play today after their game was postponed because of disruptions from the F.A.A. ground stop. The teams spent the unexpected day off arguing about the decision.Women’s soccer: The Washington Spirit beat the Utah Royals, 2-1, to reach the league’s championship game.Marching bands: Conference realignment and the College Football Playoff expansion are muting the traditional soundtrack of college football. Read why.BOOK OF THE WEEKImageCredit...Bloomsbury Publishing“A Court of Splintered Harmony,” by Sarah J. MaasMaas’s latest blockbuster follows in the footsteps of the first five installments in her series “A Court of Thorns and Roses.” The saga follows seven characters facing an invasion by an ancient death god. With a seventh book, “A Court of Forgotten Melody,” coming out on Jan. 12, Maas’s immense fandom has plenty of deep secrets and strained loyalties to unpack.For more on the latest book, go here.For more on Maas’s fandom, go here.THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINEImageCredit...Photo Illustration by Pelle Cass ImageCredit...David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.You ought to try this recipe for stir-fried cabbage and pork in fish sauce butter. To start off, brown the pork with garlic, ginger and scallions, then cook down the cabbage till it’s silky. Combine it all with salty fish sauce, bright lime juice and chopped cilantro. (Trust you’ll have no leftovers.) Find more recipes here.NOW TIME TO PLAYVivian Yee is a Times reporter who writes about women in America, focusing on cultural and political shifts during the Trump years.Related ContentAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT