5 Habits to develop in College (and 5 to Avoid)

College, just in its nature, is a huge lifestyle change. Instead of living in small family units, you live in dyads and triads of friends in dorms. Instead of a rigid schedule of constant superior monitoring, you’re left to your own devices. Instead of a strict regimen of breakfast lunch and dinner, you have vaguely outlined “meal periods” or 24 hour dining options. Instead of curfews and “I don’t know their parents!” you’re free to go on 2AM adventures with complete strangers.

This weird, ridiculous free-for-all can lead to the forming of strange habits. So listen to me, a wise college sophomore (almost junior. WHERE DID THE TIME GO?) about some habits to build (and those to avoid).

1A- Do: Develop a regular eating schedule, maybe even with friends

College is weird in that you are really left to your own devices to eat. If you want to skip a meal (or two or three) nobody is monitoring you. To avoid that “I’m to busy to eat” habit, set up regular mealtimes when you know you’re going to eat. And, while you’re at it, kill two birds with one stone and make those set mealtimes into friend dates. It’s a really nice thing to know you’re going to see certain friends every week, because everyone gets so busy at college.

1B- Don’t: Adopt Fourthmeal as a regular thing

While this might be a “my friend group” thing, and an unfortunate result of a 9PM-12AM rehearsal time, fourthmeal is a real thing in college. You know, breakfast, lunch, dinner, fourthmeal.
While I’m a big fan of fourthmeal for keeping energy up when you have late night activities, don’t make it an everyday treat. Maybe only before tests when you’re going to be up all night, or during finals when you’re so stressed you have to eat something.

That extra late night meal can really help that freshman 15 come along quickly.

2A- Do: Be social and adventurous, try new things

College is a time of exploration. It’s going to be the last time in your entire life where you are completely surrounded by people who you can relate to in age and interests. But you’re never going to see that if you’re alone in your room every night. Even if you don’t want to party or drink, you can find perfectly fun and crazy things to do that are safe and legal. Go to an open dance party stone cold sober, or run around in the woods with some of your friends, flashlights, and a camera.
One of the craziest nights I’ve had at college involved looking for an abandoned theatre in the woods at my school.

Put yourself out there and do some things outside of your comfort zone. Make memories.
Be safe, be smart, but don’t be stagnant. 

2B- Don’t: Be afraid to take a “me” night

On that note, one of the worst habits you can develop in college is “going out” 4 nights a week (Thursday-Sunday) every week. Don’t be afraid to take a night to yourself to get ahead on homework or just veg out. If you have the option between going to the bars, and laying in bed with your best friend eating Ice Cream, watching Once Upon a Time on Netflix, and toasting the end of both of your relationships, don’t be afraid to take option 2 if that’s what’s fun to you. Because, while both are fun, one will result in cuddles and a full nights sleep, and one will result in a hangover.

3A- Do: Adapt to college eating (at least temporarily)

Unfortunate part of college life, you need to get your food where you can get it. Which might mean learning to eat some foods you hate for protein/vitamins sake. For instance, I never ate cooked green beans before I started school, lots of my friends started eating yogurt or tofu after starting school. It could be something as easy as learning to eat a salad once and a while, and making sure there’s enough veggies to fill you up.
This can also mean lowering your standards. It might be a lean cuisine kind of night. It might be a ramen week.
Quoth my roommate: “I’m legitimately scared for the day I get sick of Easy Mac”

3B- Don’t: Rely on snacks

This is a bad habit I’ve developed. I have a small appetite and considerably limited free time. So sometimes I might have a bag of popcorn and a few spoonfuls of nutella for dinner, because I don’t have time for anything more substantial. It’s fine once in a while, but don’t make it a habit. Schedule in your meals and don’t skip them.

4A- Do: Attend your classes

True life: I have only missed 1 of each of my classes this semester, and they were excused for a college-sanctioned event.

Remember that you are at college to learn. And that tuition money you are paying is going towards these classes you’re taking. Go to your classes. Do your work. Don’t get lazy. If something is hard or boring, it might be a struggle to drag yourself three times a week, but definitely go. Also, most classes are awesome. My Russian history and literature professor tells amazingly off-color jokes, my Adolescent Psychology class is the most engaging and fascinating seminar I’ve ever taken (even at 9:30AM), and my Cognitive Psych class, though tough, has a really charismatic professor.

Also, 4/5 of my classes this semester take attendance every day and have “three unexcused absences and you fail” policies. Make sure you know the attendance policy in your classes.

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4B- Don’t: Use “They don’t know my name” as an excuse

This is more common with big lecture classes, but seriously, just because they don’t know your name doesn’t mean that you can be disrespectful. My biggest class I’ve ever taken was Astronomy-Astrophysics, with 175 students in a giant lecture hall. Well… only about 100 of us showed up all the time, but you know what I mean. My professor didn’t know any of our names. Many students took this as an excuse to not show up, talk through lecture, make snarky comments, or just not pay any attention.

Guess what? One of the biggest tricks I can teach you about school is that if a professor knows your name, it will help your grade. Go to office hours, introduce yourself, participate actively in class. It will help you.

5A- Do: Start exercising

The Freshman 15 is real. It’s from the greasy food and calorie ridden drinks. But it’s also from inactivity.
Even if you hate to exercise, take advantage of the free gym at school (well… free with tuition). Set a schedule and stick to it. Now is the time to start these habits. They’ll relieve stress, and offset some late night pizza that you just had to have.

5B- Don’t: Stick to one thing

When you’re exercising you’ll often find one thing that is enjoyable to you or works for you. Don’t stick to one thing; try a lot of different things. If you like running on the elliptical, try a bit of weights. If you’re very into yoga, try the treadmill. You need to do cardio and strength to keep healthy.

And know that it’s not always easy. I love yoga and I started running this semester. I’m now limping around in an ankle brace because I pushed myself too hard.

The most important thing I can tell you is to find a balance between health, school, and social life. It will make you happy and fulfilled, and help you get the most out of your school experience.

Don’t let bad habits form, make good ones instead.