Unspoken Rules

I have noticed that growing up consists of many unspoken rules. Here are some that I've learned recently.

1. Wash your dishes regularly. This seems like common sense, but when you're washing for one it's easy to say, "I'll wait until I have a few more dishes and wash them all at once, instead of washing one or two a day." That system would work really well if a funny thing called mold didn't exist. Here's how I know I've waited too long to do my dishes: If what was once in there is now unrecognizable as a food substance. If looking into that bowl on your desk, you cannot remember what you were eating that made that kind of rancid crust around the edge, you have waited too long. I promise you it is much less pleasant to spend 30 minutes washing dishes with unrecognizable rank then to wash the dishes one at a time. If you are brave and are unfazed by mysterious substances in the bottom of your glass, then here's another tip off that you've waited to long to do dishes: When you knock over a dish and fruit flies fly out. It's unpleasant. I don't consider myself an unsanitary individual but lets be real, I have forgotten about some dish or other sitting on the corner of my desk and come back to find something I could have lived my whole life without seeing.

2. Don't get fat. Soda, cookies, chips, and pizza are the four food groups in college. I don't remember how many food groups there are normally but in college you live off those four things. So don't get fat. Remember that there are other things to eat then junk food. But again, it's impractical to think that you will be able to avoid those thing completely. So drink Coke Zero; eat cookies in moderation (I recommend dark chocolate for those of us like me who are addicted to chocolate-- less of it satisfies cravings, it has less milk and thus less fat, and it has healthy type things like antioxidants); eat Baked chips or pretzels; and get veggies on your pizza. If you can mix up the variations of dorm food and junk food you will burn out much slower. But burn out will inevitably happen. When this happens I either drink as much Odwalla juice I can cram in my body or I eat Thai food off campus. You're body needs fresh fruit (and veggies as much as my roommate and I might deny it) and protein, so remember that. In cafeterias there is a lot of "mystery meat" meals. So people go for vegetarian options or other alternatives. It's surprising how good it feels to eat good meat when you do-- and that's because your body is deprived of a little thing call protein. So in the end, take care of yourself, the freshman 15 is not an legitimate excuse. Plus when you go home for vacation don't you want to look fabulous in front of all those people you left behind.

3. You are not an adult. Don't pretend like you are one. You are a freshman, you are anything but the big man/woman on campus so don't get big headed now that you are in college. Just because you don't live with you're parents anymore, doesn't mean you know everything. This means a few things. One is that it's okay to be confused, homesick, lost, and dumb. You have every right to freak out. For the rest of your life you will be over compensating for the dumb things you did in college, so enjoy them and don't worry if you fuck up.

4. Make friends. It's pretty self explanatory but don't stop meeting people. Don't get complacent because you feel like you've met your core group in college. You should get out, walk around, go to events, say hi to people, introduce yourself to people.

5. Don't get into a hot tub in your dress no matter how drunk you are. This should be self explanatory.

6. Most likely you are a dinosaur. This rule means nothing and makes no sense, but I'm stalling while I think of something.

7. Keep up with your homework. Seriously. If I'm diligent about my reading in my psych class I have roughly 7 pages a night, sometimes less. But forget a day or skip a weekend, and you can fall behind extremely fast. As my friend says, "finish your homework so in your free time, you can actually have free time." Basically this means, if you are diligent about your work, you will be able to do fun things, and with the added bonus of not feeling guilty that you are behind in your work and aren't doing it. It can be very easy to do your work, or very difficult, and it depends on pacing and focus. Don't study in the dorms with the expectation that you won't be distracted. Roommates, neighbors, friends, music, youtube, facebook, food, your bed, etc are all distractions that are usually limited to your dorm. Find a quiet place, outside or in a library-- although if you live in Seattle like me or think libraries are for pussies/nerds then find a cafe, a mug of coffee and a comfy chair and snuggle up with your text book. Word from the wise though, don't get too warm and comfortable or some texts will lull you to sleep and that is even more embarrassing in public.