The beginning of college is a very busy time and sometimes your health slips to the “backburner”, when it should always be a top priority. Amongst getting acclimated to campus, making friends, and starting classes, you also need to be sure to check in with your physical and mental health. While it can sometimes be overwhelming, there are a lot of opportunities to exercise, eat well, and mentally decompress to ensure you are feeling your best!
Mental Health:
Mental health is the cornerstone to your overall health and success for your first year at Penn State. Being away from home for the first time and having a new normal is challenging. We personally struggled a lot the first semester of college and these are some of the tools we acquired for the second semester onward.
Impromptu calls with friends and family: All three of us were used to seeing friends and family everyday at school or at home. None of us knew anyone on our first day (other than WEPO friends) and we tried planning calls, however, these kept being rescheduled due to our opposite schedules. Calling while walking to class or taking a quick study break has worked the best. This way we didn’t feel as bad about missing calls and could talk to them more often even if it was for a short period of time.
Schedule breaks: Signing up for clubs, campus rec classes (more to come below) or making plans to grab dinner with friends are a great way to get out of your desk. We felt these activities were more productive than the breaks from your computer, on your phone. Team F Envoy, Lucy Traub, and her WEPO friends and joined a curling club to meet once a week and have fun trying a new activity. She finds when someone else is also counting on me to take a break, she’s less likely to not do it. Mostly taking breaks away from electronics and socializing helped her make friends outside of the academic world and feel more comfortable at Penn State. Mentor Katie Maloney suggests putting these breaks in your calendar like you would a class or assignment–it gives you something to look forward to when planning your week and also forces you to take time for yourself!!
Team F Envoy, Lucy Traub, bottom right, alongside her WEPO friends at the curling club.
These can be every day or once a week depending on the activity and your schedule. For instance, Team F Mentor Jodi Patterson sets aside time for a run with the Club Cross Country Team every day while only attending other events/breaks intermittently. You can always play around with this and see what works best for you and what is most important to you!
Team F Mentor Jodi Patterson, far right, running alongside her Club XC teammates at the Nittany Lion Invitational.
Being on top of your schedule/making lists: College is very different from your high school schedule because it is not the same hours every day nor the same assignments. All three of us were very overwhelmed looking at all the work we had to do, but it was more manageable when writing everything down in one place. Lucy said that when she had her schedule written out and timed out assignments, she no longer was missing assignments and doing them stressed the night before.
This can be done using anything from Google Calendar to a physical planner, which is Jodi’s go-to! She loves crossing things off, and often sets reminders for the following day on her phone.
Remember to laugh at life and enjoy your own company sometimes. Your friends are amazing and a great source to vent to and destress with, but enjoying time with yourself is also important! Katie found the independence in her first semester was liberating, but at times also riddled with loneliness and anxiety because it meant spending time alone. If she was eating by myself, or walking to class alone, or working out solo she felt like everyone would think she was friendless and weird. The saying “everyone is thinking about themselves way more than they are paying attention to you” is cliche, but it is so accurate. After we stop thinking about everyone else’s perception, we were able to enjoy these moments and use them as a time to collect our thoughts. Using this time to take charge of independence and get to know yourself is incredibly beneficial to your mental health and overall happiness!
Exercise:
While it is different for everyone, exercising at PSU was a great way to make friends and a fun way to take your mind off classes. There are plenty of ways to stay active on campus- so here are some of our favorites!
Free campus rec group classes: You can download the campus rec app and see when and where group classes are being held. Katie’s favorites are cardio kickboxing, power remix (dance workout!) and cycling, but they also offer HIIT, zumba, and many more! These classes are a super welcoming environment and Katie had a BLAST letting loose, not caring what she looked like (see the photo below haha), dancing or kickboxing and forgetting all of her worries of the day!
Team F Mentor Katie Maloney FEELING the music at a power remix dance workout class. This picture was in an onward state article but we promise you there will not be photographers at all of the classes!
Walk around campus: While it might be tempting to take the bus to forum or doordash dinner, walking is a great way to stay active. It will wake you up in the morning before class and it's calming to listen to music or call friends. Taking walks around campus recreationally is also a great way to learn where everything is and explore campus with your new friends!
Club or IM sports: For high schoolers who are used to after school sports everyday, it is weird to completely stop that form of exercise or do it alone. Almost every sport you can think of has a club or IM team.
Club sports offer all the same benefits as Division I sports but on a smaller scale and open to individual participation. Club sports allow Penn Staters to go to games, meets, and tournaments much like typical sports teams while even having the opportunity to travel out of state. Most teams allow you to participate as much or as little as you would like and are open to people of all abilities. For instance, on the Club Cross Country Team, we have people who have never run before joining as well as people who chose not to run in Division I because of hard majors. Most people are between the two extremes. Another interesting advantage is that most club sports do not have a coach, so practices are student-run (in our case literally) and non-mandatory.
Intramural sports, on the other hand, allow students to compete against other Penn State students and/or clubs or organizations. This can be especially fun when you get your friends to sign up either together or against one another. The other cool thing about intramural sports is that they’re totally free and occur on campus which makes them easily accessible to all students. There’s even lots of unique teams and games to compete in, and if you can’t find what you’re looking for, start your own league. Penn State is generally very open to new ideas! For instance, Jodi had never played badminton in her life but she joined the IM league and had a lot of fun! She also joined pickleball and got so into it she slid to get a ball and tore her pants!
PSU fitness centers: the IM building is closest to East dorms, Hepper is closest to west, and the white building is the central campus. The gyms are open very early to very late and can accommodate virtually any schedule. This is a great option if you have specific personal goals or you have a certain routine you enjoy. Katie recently got more into weight lifting and she loves going to Hepper before her classes! She liked going before class because it was a productive kickstart to the day and couldn’t make excuses like “I have too much homework” or “I don't have time before my club meeting” because it was already out of the way! Another “trick” she used her first year was ALWAYS wearing athletic clothes to class (I mean I would have done this anyways haha) because then she could go to the gym in between classes or directly after her last class. She knew if she went back to her dorm and sat down she would never get the motivation to go to the gym, so always giving herself the option to go by being “gym ready” was helpful.
Outdoor activities: Some other advantages of living in Happy Valley, PA are being surrounded by so many gorgeous mountains and farms. For fellow runners, hikers, and outdoor enthusiasts, this is a dream come true. Hiking is a great way to exercise, and there are so many places to explore from Mt. Nittany to Rothrock, the world is your oyster! The only downside is that many of these locations are not easily accessible without a car, so plan out your hikes in advance. You can also join clubs such as Penn State Outing Club (for hikes), caving club, skiing club, or others to coordinate rides with upperclassmen.
One other cool State College exclusive exercise is Tussey Mountain. For skiers and ultra-marathoners alike, Tussey is one of the best places to visit. There’s lots of great ski and snowboard slopes throughout the area, and it is home to Tussey Teasers which are local (VERY hard) mountain races from 5Ks to 50 milers!
All in all, Penn State is a great place to exercise whether you’re trying something new or continuing with a tried and true favorite! There’s truly something for everyone!
Food:
Go to Restaurants: Roots, Panera (multiple locations on campus), Irvings, Chipotle, Soup&Garden (in the hub)
Pack snacks: We find when we are in between classes and have to grab a snack quickly in the hub, we will choose a less healthy option than if we already packed a granola bar (can find these in the markets!).
Eating at the dining halls: There are lots of options but it is just as easy to eat unhealthy at the dining hall as it is to eat healthy- so as with everything it is all about balance! You can look up the menu each week and plan if you like the food each day. It was nice to go into the dining hall with a game plan for each meal and not have to make on the fly decisions. This works 80% of the time (for Katie) and it's important to still be flexible when you will unexpectedly grab food with friends or when the West cookies look too good to pass up!
Buying snacks off campus: Our go to is always the Target downtown (only two blocks away from some of the engineering buildings!) because it was only a quick walk/ bus ride away. It's nice to have a small amount of fresh fruit and easy snacks like popcorn and pretzels in your dorm.
Be aware of how what you are eating makes you feel! This definitely doesn’t happen to everyone, but first semester Katie started getting horrible stomach aches and cramps and bloating and just overall was not feeling great. She called the doctor and they asked her to keep a log of what she was eating and how that made her feel. She had never had any issues with dairy or gluten in her life but, as the doctor explained, being in a new environment can change how your body reacts to different things, and she developed slight intolerances to them. She still enjoys her fair share of cheese and pasta, but now she is more conscious of what she is eating and how she feels- it's important to be intune and listen to your body!
Link to Campus Rec Website:
https://studentaffairs.psu.edu/campusrec
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