Five Wellness Tips for College Students
College can simultaneously be one of the most exciting yet exhausting periods of your life. When high school seniors step into college as freshmen, they find themselves in a completely new world. It is their first exposure to adult life and being fully independent. In college, your decisions have a lasting impact on your life, so you must look out for yourself and make the most informed choices.
A great deal of looking out for yourself can revolve around your wellness choices. Unfortunately, thereâs an unhealthy stereotype of college students living exclusively on ramen, pulling all-nighters, and generally living an incredibly unhealthy lifestyle. It can be easy to fall into this loop with hectic classes and social life to maintain. However, following specific wellness tips can help you protect your mental and physical health. If youâre interested in learning more, keep reading below.
Set a work-life balance
While some students end up partying most of their college years away, some spend most of their time studying, with little focus on anything else. Being on either extreme can be incredibly unhealthy and make you miss out on a lot. Worrying about your grades is natural and vital, but spending every waking hour studying and worrying can wreak havoc upon your mental and physical wellbeing.
You can find it even harder to establish a healthy work-life balance if youâre a medical student. Healthcare is no joke, and you can find yourself constantly overburdened and spending most of your waking hours studying or attending classes. However, it is possible to bring some balance back into your life even while working hard as a medical student. If youâre studying healthcare administration, you can easily opt for an online program to help you manage your education alongside everyday life. A master of health administration online is an incredibly intensive yet flexible degree you can study for online without having to overwork yourself.
Get some sleep
When we think of college students, we rarely imagine them to believe in the motto âearly to bed, early to rise.â College can be incredibly fast-paced, whether in your education or social life. When you feel like you have so much to keep up with, you can sacrifice your sleep. However, doing so can lead to many drawbacks and make it incredibly challenging for you to focus on work.
If you havenât had a good nightâs sleep, you can feel irritable, unfocused, and depressed. In addition, sleep deprivation can cause many physical ailments, such as elevated heart rates, obesity, heart disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Setting a strict bedtime for most days can help you get all your work done without waiting until itâs too late. Reading a book before bedtime and taking a screen-time break can help your body wind down and prepare for bed. Although it can be challenging at first, with time, your bodyâs circadian rhythm can readjust and help you sleep on time.
Eat well
Most of our unhealthy habits in college come down to a lack of time management skills when we have to figure out how to juggle various things at once. If youâre not eating well, it can be for the same reasons that youâre not sleeping well or taking time to relax and feeling overburdened. Sticking to the stereotypical college student diet of fizzy drinks, sugary foods, noodles, and alcohol can leave you mentally and physically drained.
However, changing your diet and eating clean is easier than you may imagine. Instead of dishing out hundreds of dollars on coffee shops in the morning, consider investing in high-quality coffee beans and putting together your brew. It can help you have a clean, sugar-free drink. Additionally, meal-prepping can be a godsend in helping you eat more healthy meals. Overnight breakfasts such as oats and chia seed puddings are excellent and are packed full of nutrition. Finally, utilizing your weekends to prepare meals can help you eat clean even on your busiest days.
Go easy on yourself
For many students, college is when they feel they need to be doing everything at once and excelling in every field. Alongside studying as hard as you can to get good grades, you might also be going to every social opportunity you find. Trying to juggle so much simultaneously can lead to a lot of friction, and at times youâre likely to fall short. However, you must realize the importance of going easy on yourself and not pushing yourself beyond your limits.
Missing out on a few social gatherings doesnât mean youâve missed out on your chance of experiencing college life. Similarly, sometimes slipping up and not getting the grades you wanted doesnât mean youâve failed. Instead, take your time to recoup, recover, and become stronger. FOMO is all too real, but not every missed opportunity has to mean the end of the world.
Focus on sexual health
College students often take the first step to explore their sexuality. While this can be a liberating experience, staying safe is also essential. Unfortunately, many college students can be irresponsible when protecting themselves sexually, which can cause immense mental and physical harm. In addition, unsafe sexual practices can put you at risk of contracting STDs, having unwanted pregnancies, and even being exposed to sexual violence.
Itâs always important to be mindful of the partners you pick and feel entirely safe before engaging in any sexual activity. Moreover, itâs essential to practice safe sex and get tested regularly, especially if you have multiple partners. Regular exams, such as pap smears and breast exams, can also help you prevent any issues. Additionally, itâs essential to communicate with your doctor and partner if youâre experiencing anything. Too much pain, odor, discharge, rashes, or other conditions may signal some severe issues, so itâs important to know what to look out for.
Conclusion
When you play it right, college can easily be one of the best periods of your life. Going to college is a big step in life that necessitates a lot of smart choices. The decisions we make and the habits we develop in college will have a long-term impact on our future selves. Therefore, good habits and staying healthy while in college will benefit you now and in the future. With these tips, you can protect your mental and physical wellbeing and ensure you make the most of your college experience.
