College is a high-stress, high-cost, but, most dangerously, a high-calorie world. For most freshmen, food steps over the line of just being fuel and starts to mingle into the world of fun.
When you don’t have the time or money to go out and do fun things with your friends, you tend to make eating a social engagement.
After my freshman year, I was lured into club meetings with signs that read “Free Pizza” and study groups that offered snacks.
Now that I am walking into my senior year carrying most of those late night meals on my hips, I see how I could have made better decisions. But I don’t think anyone should let that hinder their education or let their weight become their priority while trying to get a degree.
Although I chose to eat Cheetos and pizza while cramming for an organic chemistry exam, I was still focused and working hard on the task at hand: learning.
Too many times, I hear college students talk about ways to succeed on your diet instead of ways to boost your GPA. It worries me that members of my generation have been taught that their appearance is more important than their intelligence.
As a whole, we need to open our eyes to what is important instead of looking in the mirror to find our value. Our futures can be enriched by our education – not our jean size.
I am not saying that we should put our health on the backburner, because a healthy body is stronger physically and mentally, but we should also not be slaving over our calorie counters when we need to be studying.
We all need to find confidence in our success and remember that we came to college to meet our career goals, not our goal weight.
image via lifehack.org
