When going into my freshman year of college, it was all I could do to find people giving genuine advice – I scrolled through countless “pack my bag for college” vlogs, hundreds of “top ten things I wish I knew before going to college” TikToks, and worse, genuinely asked my guidance counselor how I was supposed to know what to do once I got on campus. However, regardless of who I talked to or which influencer I watched, this common idea of gaining weight seemed like it was the worst thing that has ever happened to anyone in college.
The freshman fifteen philosophy, or the notion that in your freshman year of college, regardless of sex, you gain 15 pounds(although, let’s be honest, no one is more judged for gaining weight than young women), is an absolutely ridiculous concept. This is a “curse” that freshman all across the United States of America are terrified of, and yet, do we know that it’s a real thing?
This is a concept we see constantly repeated in our own culture as well – the idea that gaining weight somehow hinders our value or changes us fundamentally. This is obviously not true. Weight does not, will not, and has never equaled value, and yet American Beauty Standards continue to push the idea that a 00 pants size is the only way to survive the college experience.
But let’s be real for a moment, I mean, do people actually even gain weight in college? According to the University of Georgia’s Health Center, the freshman 15 is a myth popularized by the media in the 1980s. Moreover, the article also mentions that more students lost weight in their first year of college than those who gained it.
But I mean, who actually cares?
As a freshman now, I can reassure you that your weight will have nothing to do with the opportunities that are presented to you, the classes you take, or the friends that you make. College is a difficult transition, it’s a hard time in your life, and society has made it twenty times harder by creating the myth that is the Freshman 15. As students, we should be worried about our class schedules, social lives, grades, and developing who we are more than answering the question – is our appearance appealing to those around us?
This is your reminder that it is not your job to be the perfect model of societal expectations (you don’t owe it to anyone to be pretty, handsome, or even attractive). Maintaining your health, being comfortable in your own skin, and having confidence are the only factors that you should consider when trying to be the best you can – not anything that social media has to say.