You can Avoid it!

There are those two words that ever freshman in college dread to hear…

I bet you could guess, it the terrifying “Freshman Fifteen”.

Gaining weight is very common especially your first year of college. Most freshmen have the 7 day unlimited meal plan, and abuse it, getting burgers, fries, and all those other greasy foods.
Coming from high school, most students were involved with a sport or club, and were forced and required to stay active. Having so much extra time and freedom, freshmen either just sit around or eat out of boredom, because they have no one telling them what to do; no one to motivate them.
Since we are on a college campus, of course there is going to be parties, and believe it or not, there will be alcohol, I know shocking. Alcohol believe it or not is full of calories and if you’re drinking every weekend, those calories will build up and you will start packing on the pounds. Now, I’m not trying to tell you how to spend your weekends, but just realize all play and no work, you will gain weight.
In order to be successful you need to be mentally strong. Avoid the pizza. Avoid the burgers. And especially avoid the fries! If you don’t think you can do this alone, get a friend to do it with you! Having support from someone else makes everything easier.
When it comes to the gym, start off slow. If you don’t know how to work out, ask someone. Employees at the Rec Center are very friendly and would be more than happier to help or assist you while working out. If you’re afraid to work out alone, take a class there! The Rec Center has multiple classes every day and various times to fit into all students’ schedules. They even have a brochure with the times of every class so you can’t forget! If you’re not a fan of working out, just stay active by getting involved on campus.
Now how do you go about this? Start a plan!
Decide what days you can go to the gym and what you are going to do on those days when you go. Try to make every meal healthy and well balanced. But, also remember to treat yourself, look forward to something in the week. For example, back at home my mom would buy ice cream every time she went grocery shopping, and every time I would eat it all in about a week. Now, since I’m on my own I only eat ice cream once a week, crazy right? But, now every week I have something to look forward too.
Avoiding the freshman fifteen is very do-able. Try to eat healthy, work out or just stay active somehow. Stay mentally strong, and if you can’t bring a friend with you. Having support from someone else is huge a part of staying on track. Well I hope my advice was somewhat helpful. Good Luck!

Competing in a Sport at ISU

Being recruited onto a college sports team is something that not many students aren’t able to achieve. Competing on that level of intensity is something that is very difficult. One great thing about ISU is that you can participate in club or recreational sports. This allows students that are not recruited to still participate in a sport. A club team is a competitive team that still travels and competes against other schools but is separate for the actual ISU team. It allows people who are skilled but not recruited to still compete in a sport. You do have to commit to it and attend all of the practices. Another option is recreational sports; this is different because you don’t have any sort of commitment and no skill level is required. It could be your first time ever playing or you could have been playing for years. It is enjoyable because it is normally free and still allows you to play. If you cant make it to a practice than it doesn’t matter, it allows you to put school first and when you have time play you can. This is a great attribute that Illinois State University has because it allows you to still play a sport even though you are not on the official school team. It’s a great way to meet new people who have the same hobbies as you or even a great way to meet new friends.

Hoopin' in the Rec.

If you are heading to South Campus it would be very hard to miss seeing the newly renovated Fitness Center. With over 170,000 square feet of fitness and recreation space, the Rec. Center is the ideal place to workout and socialize. With tons of cardio, strength and other work out equipment you will be in shape in no time. In addition there are features like a lap pool, a track, two basketball courts, one multipurpose court, a huge rock climbing wall, and last but not least a Jamba Juice.

My favorite features in the Rec. Center are the basketball courts. You don't have to worry if you don't have a basketball because you can always rent them there. With brand new courts and rims, you will hear my shoes squeaking up and down the court or nothing from my swish. There are employees that monitor the courts to make sure everything is safe. You will typically meet cool people there and in fact I met one of my best friends playing basketball. At night there are always pick up games available or if you want to play by yourself, noon is usually the best time to go.

And to replenish your system after a hard work out stop by the all new Jamba Juice which has an incredible staff. Just make sure you bring about five dollars if you want to buy a smoothie.

There is no reason the make excuses that you have no time to go because the Rec. Center has very flexible hours. It is open 5:30 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Friday's, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday's, and noon to 8:00 on Sundays.

Life in the Tri

Living in Tri towers is not as bad as everyone says it is, i actually may be one of the few that says they like it. Sure the walk is far but that's why there's a bus every 7 minutes that i can take, and lets be honest everyone can use the exercise. Being far away is really the only bad thing that i can say about Tri towers. The biggest plus for me is that our dining center is crazy good. I never would have thought before i went to college that I'd be having Mongolian grill every other day. If there is any ice lovers out there like me Linkins Center also has the best ice on campus. Sure I'd love to live in Watterson or Hewitt/Manchester but i got Haynie. I'm making the best out my situation and trying to find the positives and forget about the negatives.

From Chitown to Blo No

I’m a total city girl. Whether it’s the South Loop or Lincoln Park, I know the city like the back of my hand. So obviously when it came to picking schools my top choices were UIC, Columbia, and DePaul. I mean how I could ever consider leaving such an amazing place? However, I remembered that my goal in life is to be as cultured and experience as much as possible. I thought to myself, “I should just go out to the middle of nowhere.” “I wanna get the whole college experience!” So I packed up my stuff, shoved it into my mom’s truck and moved on into Watterson Towers.

Now, I know everyone’s nervous about college. There are so many things to be nervous about, your classes, gaining weight, being in a totally new area, and your roommates. That’s what I was most scared about. Three roommates! Who puts three girls in a room together!?! The first couple of weeks were a tad rocky. Every night I would walk over to Southside and complain about how I wished I was rooming with some of my friends from back home. I did everything to avoid going back to my room; I just kept myself extra busy. Then one day my roommate Amanda pranced into the room and asked me to go to dinner. I was so nervous. I don’t know why, it was just a little scary, I mean she's twenty! But it turned out to be the best and funniest, dinner of my life! Now we’re completely attached at the hip. And she’s introduced me to so many people and we’ve built a huge circle of friends.

So I guess I made the right decision. It’s hard to leave the people, places, and things you love but you’ll gain from it in the end. I’m super excited to see what’s gonna happen next. Bring it on Blo No!

A Conversation with Dan Savage

On Wednesday, September 14th, Dan Savage (creator of the It Gets Better project) came to speak at ISU and he held both a Q&A session and gave a speech later in the evening.


During the Q&A, Mr. Savage spoke of his beginning as an online blogger to sex columnist to now a voice for the LGBT community--especially in regards to anti-gay bullying in high schools and middle schools. During his interview he was asked which one of the It Gets Better videos really stood out to him and he answered with Gabrielle Rivera's video promoting not the message of life gets better, but rather that it doesn't and one simply becomes stronger as they progress through life.


When asked how the It Gets Better project started, Mr. Savage spoke of Billy Lucas's suicide and how it really brought attention to the issues of anti-gay bullying in schools and how little support there was/is in schools to help kids deal with bullying and to stop bullying (in general) within the schools. As a reaction to this suicide, Mr. Savage and his husband felt it important to make a video for teens struggling through bullying and to say that life does get better as soon as high school ends. Mr. Savage also brought up that when he uploaded the video he only imagined getting 100 or so videos of various backgrounds to appeal to the diverse LGBT community, but what happened was an influx of thousands of videos that began the trend and viral expansion of  what became the It Gets Better project.


All of this information was discussed in the Q&A session and was further elaborated on in his lecture that evening.

Glow Fest

On Saturday, September 17 at 9 pm, there was a university event going on called Glow Fest. This event allowed everyone attending Illinois to be able to go on the quad, to enjoy free food and glow sticks. If you went there right at nine, then you had to wait in a long line to get in. This was a filled event that everyone enjoyed being a part of. When you got through the line, you were able to get your food and glow sticks. The food they provided was pizza, blizzards, jimmy johns, and some drinks. They also had a table where you could get light up glasses. In addition, they had machines that you were able to make some t-shirts. These weren't just ordinary t-shirts; these were shirts that you could put your own design on. They had you put on some color and draw out a design. People would put designs on there that would look like stars, circles, and squares. Then they gave the staff their shirts and they would spin it on their spinner. This would make the lines swirl around the shirt and make an amazing design. This was one event that most people enjoyed doing. They enjoyed it so much that they waited in the line that took a half an hour. Then to top off the night, they were able to dance to upbeat music. Everyone had the opportunity to end the night with dancing, and having fun.