The 4 years of undergraduate years are when us adolescents do the most growing – socially, academically, internally. Thus, many of us go through a phase of fat-phobia thanks to our societal norms. We’re so deadly afraid of gaining a few pounds that we start counting calories, starving ourselves, eat a bar of ice cream the whole day, workout way too much, and the most harmful – compare our beautiful bodies to other people’s and think that we are not enough.

I took the time I had at home during 2020 to try to heal my relationship with food and my body. I wouldn’t say I’m completely healed, but I do realize that the relationship is so much better than what it was a couple years ago. However, now that I’m in college, it seems like a majority of college students care tremendously about their calorie intake or how they don’t eat Peanut Butter because of its high fat content or how they’re going to workout extra tomorrow for all the “bad” stuff they ate today. How can we embed in our young minds that it does not matter how ‘fat’ or ‘skinny’ we are?

Of course the phrase “The Freshman 15” does not help matters AT ALL. Who ever coined this phrase and embedded it into college students’ and their parents’ minds is ridiculous. It is inevitable to put on a few pounds in college. You don’t sleep as much. You can’t always have total control over the food you eat. You may consume alcohol on a weekly basis. It’s inevitable. What this phrase essentially implies is that students should aim to look/appear a certain way in college – no matter what.

College is so much freaking pressure y’all. And the way you look should NOT be adding onto that pressure because it doesn’t matter.