When you come to college for the first time, you will probably have to accept more responsibility than ever before and for the first time, have complete charge over many aspects of your life.
When you think of personal responsibilities, things such as keeping good grades and doing your laundry come to mind, but there is another responsibility that many freshmen and even upperclassman neglect — health.
“Everybody is an individual, and their needs are going to be really unique,” said Eric Smith, director of Health Promotion and Wellness Services.
Smith said that a major health issue freshman struggle with is anxiety.
“When you’re a freshman, you want to do everything you can, you’re going to want to join 10 different clubs, and you’re going to want to, at least at the start, go to all your classes, and you’re going to want to get involved with everything you can under the sun,” Smith said. “I always encourage people to learn early in life how to say no, and maybe they don’t need to be in three organizations and take 15 hours.”
Smith said that when a student learns how to manage their time well, it goes a long way in reducing their stress.
Smith said that many college students also struggle with getting a proper amount of sleep.
“When I say enough [sleep], yes, I am talking like eight hours, at minimum seven hours,” Smith said. “We’ve got to get people sleeping a little bit more.”
Smith said having a daily routine before going to bed and not watching Netflix late at night can help students go to sleep at reasonable hours.
Smith said that students often get into bad eating habits while in college and said that talking to a registered dietician at the Office of Health Promotion and Wellness is a great way to establish healthy eating habits.
“In our office, we’re big believers in all foods are good foods, but you can’t always eat all the cookies and ice cream you want,” Smith said. "There needs to be some type of balance in there. There need to be a few more fuel options that aren’t necessarily a bunch of sugars."
Smith said that before a student meets with a dietician, the student first writes down everything they have eaten in the past three days. The dietician then goes with the student to campus dining halls and grocery stores and talks about different ways to improve their diet.
“Sometimes people get stuck in a rut. They always eat Chick-fil-A for lunch, and they always eat Panda for dinner,” Smith said. “You need to start thinking about those habits.”
Smith said that the rec center is also a great resource for students who want to stay healthy, and there is way more than just weightlifting at the rec center.
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