“You wake up, flawless.
Post up, flawless.
Ride round in it, flawless.
Flossin on that, flawless.”
Queen Bey is at it again empowering women all over the world. It’s really easy—with all do respect to Bey—to tell a girl she’s strong and beautiful. However, in a world where there are models with thighs the size of my forearm, sometimes it’s easy to put a lot of pressure on ourselves. Especially in college. Who doesn’t want to look cute when heading to Turf in their low-cut Tobi shirt-freshly shipped to the front desk of their residence hall?
However, it’s a constant struggle to feel good about myself when there are so many delicious and fun temptations at my disposal. Also, you better believe I’m not thinking about my waistline at 2 AM when inhaling a pizza the size of my face at Pizza Kingdom. But why should I?
Maybe we should all embrace the Freshman 15. I like to think of college as the four years in your life where you can get away with most things without being judged. After that, you’re always labeled as something negative.
Think about it: college is a bubble where most things are socially acceptable. To express this more clearly, I will compare the difference between a 40-year-old woman doing something, and a college student doing the same.
40 year-old woman: Going out and drinking on a Tuesday night= alcoholic.
College Student: Going out and drinking on a Tuesday night= the kind of girl you want as your best friend.
40 year- old woman: Falling asleep in random places= homeless.
College Student: Falling asleep in random places on campus= a student during finals week.
40 year-old woman: eating a buffalo chicken wrap every day for four years= featured on My Strange Addiction.
College Student: eating a buffalo chicken wrap from the North Campus diner for four years= a student balling on a budget.
As you can see, plenty of life’s indulgences such as drinks and fast food are used moderately in the real world. However, in college, moderation doesn’t exist. So lets embrace the stains on my shirt after going to Bobby’s Burger Palace. Lets cheers to thinking romantically about Jimmy Johns. And lets embrace the late nights at Bents with good friends.
College is not the time to be overly critical about yourself. It’s about enjoying yourself- even if that does mean consuming a bit more calories than desired. These four years should be the best ones of your life. So go out, have fun, and eat Ben and Jerrys at the end of the night ladies.