Welcome to the next four years of your life. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you will inevitably eat, most of you will eat a lot. I’m sure you’ve heard of the ‘Freshman 15,’ many of you probably fear it more than death itself. I am here to tell you that it’s OK. There is nothing wrong with gaining some weight during your first year of college. In fact I am insisting that you do.

You are about to embark on the one journey in your life in which you are expected to screw up, throw up and stuff your face with excessive amounts of grease, calories and fat. Of course, you can act in a similar manner later on in life, but it would be highly frowned upon. I am not suggesting you commit to an unhealthy lifestyle for these next four years, you’ll probably need to introduce vegetables back into your diet once you become a sophomore. I am simply suggesting that you should feel free to give into temptation during this rare point in your life.

Yes, you’ll gain the weight, but you’re still young enough to quickly work it off. It’s called Archibold Gym, find it on a map quickly. Spend your summers eating fruit and hitting the gym, and you’ll quickly forget that you ever gave in to the Freshman 15.

You’ll never remember the time you spent at the gym, but you will always remember how delicious that 2 a.m. box of Domino’s cheesy bread was.

So take advantage of this opportunity, and keep in mind that you may never be able to live in such a carefree way again. All-you-can-eat dining halls and food courts opened until 3 a.m. are gifts that should not be wasted.

Go ahead and have two slices of pizza, cheese fries, fried rice, a bowl of ice cream and piece of cake for dinner! Wash it down with three glasses of soda, too. Get your campusfood.com account set up as soon as possible, and hang up all the Chinese menu’s that will be slipped under your door. Don’t hold back, gain that Freshman 15 and gain it proudly. If anyone should comment on your college weight gain, just smile and walk away with the knowledge that you have lived life to the fullest. Happy eating!

Lauren Tousignant is a sophomore communications and rhetorical studies major. She is the opinion editor at The Daily Orange, where her columns appear occasionally. She can be reached at letousig@syr.edu.

Published on August 26, 2009 at 12:00 pm