Are Penn State freshmen actually worried about ‘the freshmen 15’?

Since the term was coined in the late 1980s by Seventeen Magazine, all the rave has been about keeping the stress munchies at bay and fighting the Freshman 15.

This rapid and unprecedented weight gain has become a negative connotation immediately associated with freshman year at college, but it is unclear if incoming freshmen actually regard it as a problem.

As articles about not letting the “Freshman 15” turn into the “Freshman 40” pop up with increasing frequency, it is time to get to the bottom of this mystery.

Are Penn State Freshmen actually feeling threatened by the dreaded weight gain or is the “Freshman 15” just a scare tactic to sour the fun of university life?

When asked if her diet had changed a lot since coming to Penn State, Melanie Despinich, a freshman living in Pollock dorms, gave a short and solemn response.

“Yes.”

“My friends and I…we’re just bad influences on each other. We eat Kraft Mac’n’Cheese. A lot of it. And then we’ll try to be good, but Orderup is a dangerous thing.”

When asked if she was feeling particularly scared about the Freshman 15, though, Melanie was not uneasy about the weight gain itself, but the work it would require to undo the damage.

“I’m not really worried, because I know it’s going to happen anyway. I’m just scared about getting it off when it does happen.”

Other individuals, like Amaira Sutton, would agree that the Freshman 15 is an imminent cloud of darkness for unsuspecting freshmen.

“I was so scared of the Freshman 15. Like, at first I was just excited to be here, but after two weeks of cafeteria food, I was seeing that it’s really hard to get some variety.”

As a pescatarian, Amaira says it’s really hard to find healthy, low calorie snacks.

“Stress from schoolwork, and also a lack of time, makes it really tempting to just grab some fries from Pollock and eat on the go, which is such a bad habit. It’s also tough because they only have those canned vegetables at the dining commons, which are gross.”

Alyssa Larco, a freshman Nursing major, also had a bone to pick with the food available to her, but seemed to have the whole Freshman 15 situation under control.

“I honestly exercise more here than I did at home. Diet-wise, I realized I don’t eat as many veggies, just because I hate the taste of the canned ones. But I run a mile and go to the gym some days.”

When prompted about the possible effects of stress on her healthy regimen, however, she relented that she has a weakness for chips that may be her demise when the workload starts to pile on.

While these three exemplify varying degrees of fear for the Freshman 15, it is important to note how many do not consider it a threat in any respect.

Simran Soni, a freshman specialising in the treatment of infectious diseases, says that she never even gave the weight gain serious thought before coming to Penn State.

“I was kind of worried, but then I realized Penn State is a huge campus, and I’m walking 20 minutes to all of my classes.”

She also said that she enjoyed the food at the dining commons and felt there was enough variety of healthy foods to keep her slim and satisfied.

Garrett Taylor, a freshman on the football team, would agree with Simran that freshman weight gain is not a serious issue.

“In terms of exercise, we scheduled our classes around practices and lifting everyday, so that’s not really a problem.”

In fact, Garrett feels that college life has improved the quality of his food intake.

“Most of us, we’d go to, like, Chipotle or Olive Garden, after school. So, coming to Penn State has definitely improved my eating habits, because our trainers gave us a good diet.”

With these conflicting responses, it is prudent to note the different activities these students are engaged in. Some are involved with more sports, while others have very stressful majors, two factors that can have effects on weight gain.

In the meantime, although it isn’t recommend to throw your waistlines to the wind to get through midterms, it is safe to say that indulgences are well deserved for anyone who has left home to hit the books.

So, delete the CATA bus app off your phone, walk wherever you can and take full advantage when your RA offers you insomnia cookies.