Before leaving for West Chester University everyone warned me about the infamous Freshman 15. I didn't believe them. I mean I had seen my dining hall many times before... there was a soup station, a salad station, even a wrap station. How could I gain weight? I would be walking to all of my classes and going to the gym (hopefully). It didn't seem possible to me, but I was wrong. No one tells you that the food is barley edible. I thought sleep-away camp food wasn't great, I was wrong. Way wrong. I would even choose my high school cafeteria food over this hands down. The first few weeks were bearable...I thought, "this isn't too bad," until I started choosing pizza every night because the chicken station was "5 year old meat" and the salad station supposedly had hair in it. I also never went to the gym as much as I promised myself I would. It seemeed so easy to balance with school work and greek life, but I guess things aren't always as they seem. By the end of my first month of school I had two food groups: pizza and wraps.
After a while the next stage began. Delivery. After ditching the dining hall my roommate and I thought we should start trying food from all of the local restaurants. West Chester has a restaurant festival every fall featuring all the local restaurants so we knew we wouldn't be disappointed. Chinese food one night, tacos the next, we loved it! Until we checked our bank accounts, and stepped on the scale. My bank account was going down, and my weight was going up. 2am pizza may seem like a good idea at the time, but I promise eventually you will start to regret it. Besides, Jersey pizza is WAY better than Pennyslvania, along with the bagels and even iced coffee.
The stage I'm at right now is living off of granola bars and ramen. How Gourmet, I know. So, future college students, when you go on a tour at your future school make sure you ask the students you see on campus (not the tour guides) how the food is. I wish I did. And also, when your parents tell you to finish your dinner make sure you do because I promise you will miss those last few bites of chicken and surprisingly you will start to miss vegetables too.
Luckily, I am only in my first semester, and I still have a lot of time to turn things around. I haven't quite gained fifteen pounds, but I'm telling you it really is possible. If I have any final advice to college students like myself, or any one going into college, it would be simple... if you listen to this it WILL make a difference:
TWO AM. PIZZA IS NEVER A GOOD IDEA.
Not today, not tomorrow, not yesterday. Don't do it.
