Old School
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LAT1963
Posts: 1,375 Member
Er, hi.
I'm 51, was out of work a few years due to a variety of issues including undiagnosed hypothyroidism and some serious orthopedic problems. Now I'm treated and can have a life again. Updating my skills working on a materials engineering masters degree.
As an undergrad, decades ago, I did sprint-length triathlons. Being an old fart, I have a little advice for newbie college students.
1) If you are not paying per-unit, take PE classes (which I think now are listed under "kinesiology" or some other pseudo-dignified word). Learn obscure skills like ballroom dancing, fencing, martial arts--because once you get out of college, learning these skills becomes expensive; sometimes you get a break subscribing monthly eg: at a dojo, or yoga studio, but often you must pay per class.
Also, neuroscientists say physical activity improves interconnection between hemispheres in the brain and thus increases intellectual performance. Taking a PE class (even if you do so credit/no credit, which I recommend) forces you not to blow off your exercise, makes you accountable to show up, and just might improve your grades even though it is a time-commitment away from study.
If you hated PE in high school, don't worry, it's much different in college. They're actually trying to teach you how to do skills and there really isn't any of the gym-bully action going on.
In particular, swimming is a high-value life-skill that is very expensive to learn (and has questionable teacher quality) outside of college. Even if you don't like it you should take one swimming class while in college just as an essential life-skill. If you do like swimming or were on a swim team, it's also the cheapest place to get coaching on your form, so even skilled swimmers get high value taking at least 1 swim class.
2) Most schools have all the facilities of an elite health-club tucked away somewhere on campus, and you don't have to pay extra to use them. So use them. Your access to sports facilities will probably never be better in your lifetime than it is now.
3) The food sucks. But you knew that. Do the best you can to pick something edible out of the muck, but accept that the "freshman 15" can happen. It's a driving force for seeking off-campus living.
4) The best time to do your aerobic exercise, if you can arrange it in your schedule, is first thing in the morning. This gets it out of the way for the day and leaves you free for everything else you have to do. Most people are kind of groggy first thing in the morning anyway, so this means you're not really losing valuable study time if you exercise first thing.
My undergrad schedule was to swim before breakfast 6 days a week (master's club), jog/run MWF afternoons and bike Tu/Th/Sa afternoons. Sunday was my day off.
I'm 51, was out of work a few years due to a variety of issues including undiagnosed hypothyroidism and some serious orthopedic problems. Now I'm treated and can have a life again. Updating my skills working on a materials engineering masters degree.
As an undergrad, decades ago, I did sprint-length triathlons. Being an old fart, I have a little advice for newbie college students.
1) If you are not paying per-unit, take PE classes (which I think now are listed under "kinesiology" or some other pseudo-dignified word). Learn obscure skills like ballroom dancing, fencing, martial arts--because once you get out of college, learning these skills becomes expensive; sometimes you get a break subscribing monthly eg: at a dojo, or yoga studio, but often you must pay per class.
Also, neuroscientists say physical activity improves interconnection between hemispheres in the brain and thus increases intellectual performance. Taking a PE class (even if you do so credit/no credit, which I recommend) forces you not to blow off your exercise, makes you accountable to show up, and just might improve your grades even though it is a time-commitment away from study.
If you hated PE in high school, don't worry, it's much different in college. They're actually trying to teach you how to do skills and there really isn't any of the gym-bully action going on.
In particular, swimming is a high-value life-skill that is very expensive to learn (and has questionable teacher quality) outside of college. Even if you don't like it you should take one swimming class while in college just as an essential life-skill. If you do like swimming or were on a swim team, it's also the cheapest place to get coaching on your form, so even skilled swimmers get high value taking at least 1 swim class.
2) Most schools have all the facilities of an elite health-club tucked away somewhere on campus, and you don't have to pay extra to use them. So use them. Your access to sports facilities will probably never be better in your lifetime than it is now.
3) The food sucks. But you knew that. Do the best you can to pick something edible out of the muck, but accept that the "freshman 15" can happen. It's a driving force for seeking off-campus living.
4) The best time to do your aerobic exercise, if you can arrange it in your schedule, is first thing in the morning. This gets it out of the way for the day and leaves you free for everything else you have to do. Most people are kind of groggy first thing in the morning anyway, so this means you're not really losing valuable study time if you exercise first thing.
My undergrad schedule was to swim before breakfast 6 days a week (master's club), jog/run MWF afternoons and bike Tu/Th/Sa afternoons. Sunday was my day off.
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