Doughnuts and Decisions

I had heard people talk about ‘the freshman fifteen’ before I came to college. Being on your own for the first time, having to feed yourself and being responsible for your own meals undoubtedly can lead to bad eating habits. In a dining hall that provides an endless supply of pizza, hamburgers, soda, doughnuts, ice cream, cake, and french fries, why would anyone take the time to make themselves a salad or stand in line for the meal option that looks a little bit more like what mom makes at home? Or, even better, why not just get both? There might not be a line anymore by the time you finish your first plate, after all.

I don’t think that it’s that there are too many options or that no one is monitoring your meals for you, however, that is the major problem. The issue is restraint. Most freshmen are eighteen, still teenagers, still not quite old enough to have mastered the mysterious gift of self-control. Set us free on a campus that caters to our every whim void of any adult figureheads prowling the halls to enforce curfews or make sure you eat your vegetables, and students will get drunk on their newfound freedom.

Literally, if they’re so inclined.

Finding the easy way out is the root of nearly every problem a freshman could run into. It’s too easy to skip a lecture when there are 199 other students and the teacher doesn’t take attendance. It’s too easy to grab a Coke whenever the craving strikes you. It’s too easy put off homework for the day because you don’t have any of those classes. It’s too easy not to write any of the four required drafts for your English paper until the night before it’s due because the professor isn’t stalking you every step of the way. And if you coasted through high school, it’s too easy to think that it should be exactly the same here: easy to justify not studying, not attending tutoring sessions, not reading the textbook.

Who’s going to stop you? Your peers don’t care; they’re doing exactly the same thing.

I don’t mean to generalize. As part of the honors college, I realize that this doesn’t exactly hold true for everyone. There are a lot of conscientious students in my dorm. A lot aren’t- one girl in my honors-only class said that most honors students are only here because they are better at bs-ing their way through school- but there still are quite a few exceptions. I also understand there should be a balance of school and fun. You only go to college once after all. However, wasting an entire year because you were just too lazy doesn’t seem to make much sense. College freshmen need to remember simply to think before they make decisions- something I want to assume we are all capable of as adults- to make the most out of their first year at university.

There are so many opportunities there for us. It just takes a little effort to choose the right ones.