As a college student, it can be challenging to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Falling into some unhealthy habits when adjusting to a new environment and entirely different people is a common occurrence for many college kids. Also, with a heavier workload and challenging classes, many students often neglect their fitness and physical health because they feel like they don’t have the time. In hopes to help college students learn how to maintain a healthier lifestyle at school, we have put together a few simple, but significantly important tips to follow :
Work out 3-5 times per week
Be realistic and start small. Don’t think you need to have an intense hour long workout every single day. Just make sure to move your body in ways that work best for you. Try to incorporate this into your weekly routine for at least 30 minutes. A good way to hold yourself accountable and make sure you get to the gym is bringing stuff with you to class. This way, you’re already on campus and it’ll be much easier to just head to the gym when your class lets out. Sometimes the hardest part of working out is just getting up to go, but once you’re there you’re glad you came.
Take Better Notes in Class
Staying focused in class can be a struggle, especially if it’s being held through a zoom screen. However, exams often will reflect a lesson that was taught during class and if you were zoning out, you’ll probably have no recollection of what the question is asking. Everyone is different when it comes to how they memorize things, but research has proven that hand writing your notes is the most effective way to retaining information. Clicking through the slides on your laptop during class and actually writing down the content are two completely different things.
Hand written note taking tips:
- Don’t write down every single word shown on the board
- Make your life easier and abbreviate long words
- Don’t be afraid to ask the teacher to go back if you missed something
- Don’t get caught up in making your notes look perfect – Just make sure they’re legible enough so you can use them in the future for studying
Eat Healthier
As a college student, you’re going to be eating unhealthy foods and that is okay. However, it’s important to keep in mind that you should be eating unhealthy foods in moderation. The weekends are most likely the time where you’ll be making some unhealthier choices. So, during the weekdays, it would be smart to eat fairly clean and healthy to balance things out.
It’s also important you are eating three meals living off campus!! A lot of college students off campus are broke and try to save money by cutting down on the groceries. Your body needs enough food and nutrients to function properly and to feel good – don’t deprive yourself!
Plan a Trip
Spring Break for Fredonia students takes place Monday March 14th through Friday March 18th. It’s very easy to travel with your college roommates or friend group when you’re already living together. Set aside time one night to choose a destination and then book your flights together. This will make for memories you’ll never forget and since you have the free time to get away now you might as well use it! It’ll be much harder for you all to plan a trip once you’re out of school when everyone is living in different places with busier schedules.
Get Involved
If you haven’t joined a club yet on campus, then you definitely should start looking at options. Having a good GPA is not impressive when that is all you have on your resume. When you begin applying for jobs, you will be way more valuable if you show diversity on your resume. Most jobs are looking to hire someone who is actively trying new things. It’ll look even better if you can maintain a good GPA while being involved in clubs, sports, and campus events. Club sports or intramural are a great opportunity to stay active, make new friends, and it’ll look nice on the resume. After college, team sports are harder to organize, so take advantage of this now.
Another great option to consider is a student-run entrepreneurial organization called Fredonia Enactus. In this club, students work on projects for the school and local businesses to positively impact the local community. This is a club where you will have the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the community, while gaining plenty of experience and skills you can apply for the rest of your life. It’s also a great way to network and meet people who may be able to help you with a future career. Consider signing up for this club in the fall or whenever they have openings.
Hopefully these tips can help inspire you to make some healthier lifestyle choices and improve the overall quality of your life!