Gaining More Than an Education

By Amy McKeever

After class is dismissed, Freshman Stephanie Aguayo can be found at the Stonehill College gym.

First, she does 25 minutes of cardio, running on the treadmill then on the elliptical.

After, she moves on to the weight room for 10 minutes. She walks on the stair master and then rides the resistance bike, on strength training settings

She leaves the gym exhausted and confident she will avoid “the freshman 15”.

Seventy percent of students gain weight in their first semester, A Prospective Study of Weight Gail During the College Freshman and Sophomore Years said.

Gaining weight is a well-known issue for freshman, commonly referred to as “the freshman 15”.

“I would define ‘the freshman 15’ as the essential weight a freshman must put on in order to properly embrace college,” Johnny Baggia said, a freshman at Bentley College.

Many changes in the first year of college encourage weight gain.

“People freak out about it because they’re already worrying about so many new things in their life. Its just another thing to worry about,” Rianna Fasanello said, a first year at Southern New Hampshire University.

Some factors leading to weight gain in the first year of college are stress, lack of sleep, alcohol, pressure, lack of free time, and increased intake of processed food, according to students.

“People can be so stressed out that they stress eat,” Hannie O’Connor, a freshman at Stonehill College, said.

Jessica Greene, the Health and Wellness coordinator at Stonehill College, urges students to keep track of what they do, how they eat and exercise, to become healthier.

“It is important to write down what you’re doing and keep track to improve,” Greene said.

But some students think the freshman 15 is more hype than fact.

“I think the idea of it scares people more than the actual thing,” Jillian Cortese said, a freshman at Stonehill College.

Greene said that first year students do often gain weight, but much less than the predicted 15 pounds.

“It’s a myth. It’s more like two to four pounds for first year students,” Greene said.

Even so, the myth seems to catch the attention of more female students than male students.

“No doubt, it’s a problem that mainly girls worry about,” Jameson Hutch, a student at Stonehill College, said.

To tackle the issue, Stonehill College’s Health and Wellness Department created The Freshman Nutrition Workshop, for first year students to learn about common college pitfalls, such as unhealthy eating.

“It’s an old topic that always seems to resurface, but this generation is definitely more health conscious,” Greene said.

Aguayo is one of these health conscious students.

“I like keeping active and it makes me study more. I need to work out to not stress myself out,” she said.