12 Activities You Should Consider

These aren’t always your typical college brochure tips, but they are a great diversion from the academics that got you to college in the first place. There are soooo many ways to make memories and have fun; here are just a few to get your brainstorming started.

1. Opera. Don’t know if you like opera? What better way to find out than on campus? And, it turns out, if you have a friend performing in said opera, it’s a great excuse for inviting a really cute mutual friend to be your date… even if a romantic interest is never reciprocated.

2. Foreign films. Yeah, you’ve seen movies. You’ve seen flicks. But have you checked out on-campus or local art house schedules? They’re usually either free or dirt cheap, and pretty stinkin’ entertaining too.

3. Ballet.  It’s kind of like the opera thing. Find out what events your friends are involved in, then go watch them perform or compete, or whatever their activity does. You’d be surprised how many options are out there to broaden your horizons.

4. Monster trucks.Seriously, though, let’s not let the pendulum swing too far one way. You’ve got to find some balance in life. See what other “shows” are coming through town, and get some of the other kind of culture too.

12 Ways to Stay Healthy in College, Part 2

7. Wear sunscreen

You’re in college – you’re smart. So you know that sun exposure can cause cancer. However, a study showed that only half of the university students surveyed felt that they should protect themselves from the sun, even when they thought that people in general should do so. This is illogical at best, and hypocritical at worst; it’s time to put those smarts to use, folks! Most skin cancers occur after years of accumulating sun damage, but melanoma can even happen in young people – see the second link below. If you think tanning makes you look better, just think about how many wrinkles you’re setting yourself up for later. Consider airbrushing or other artificial tanning techniques if you absolutely must have that sun-kissed look – today’s methods have improved leaps and bounds over the orange streaky stuff. For tips about how to protect yourself from those dreaded UV rays, check out the third link in this section.

http://journals.lww.com/smajournalonline/Fulltext/2010/10000/Skin_Cancer__Knowledge,_Behaviors,_and_Attitudes.8.aspx

http://www.melanoma.org/advocacy/confessions-ex-tanner

http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/skin/basic_info/prevention.htm

8. Listen up – turn it down!

Music is an integral part of our lives, and we can now listen anywhere. However, we may also be setting ourselves up for hearing impairment in the future if the volume is too loud. Noise-induced hearing loss occurs gradually, and you won’t notice until it is severe and permanent. No one wants to be the 30-year-old who has to ask everyone to speak up, so now is the time to work on prevention!

12 Ways to Stay Healthy in College, Part 1

I just graduated from medical school. After 8 years of post-secondary education (I like to tell my pediatric patients that I’m in the 21^st grade), apparently I’m an expert in how to be healthy. So you would think that I would be the healthiest person I know, but even I have a hard time following my own advice sometimes. In large part, that’s because medical school is just tough – it’s difficult to get enough sleep, cook healthy meals, and find time to exercise in between long shifts in the hospital and studying for exams. I’ve realized that a huge part of being healthy is building good habits into my life. These habits should be required pre-requisites for entering medical school, along with physics and o-chem.

Whether you’re a pre-med or not, here are a few foundational things that I wish I had focused on more during my undergraduate years. College is the perfect time to start implementing these skills. After all, you’re at university in order to train for whatever God is calling you to do in life, and being healthy is going to help you achieve those goals. College is the time when you finally get to make decisions about every part of your day – no one is forcing you to eat your broccoli at dinner or run laps during gym class. And as you get older, you’ll quickly discover that staying slim doesn’t happen magically, the way it did for many of us in high school.

These tips aren’t new, but hopefully if you hear these nuggets of common sense from someone with extra letters behind their name, they’ll stick.