Staying Active and Healthy While in School

by Asia Chapa

Doing well in school is important, and so is staying healthy. Finding the balance between the two can be tricky, especially when other responsibilities seem to be filling up your schedule. With assignment deadlines endlessly taking up your time, staying active is easily pushed back on the long list of things to do. Speaking from personal experience, balancing school and a healthy lifestyle is a hard feat to accomplish, so this article is meant to explore some of the different methods that a busy student can use to stay healthy and active while in school.

There are many on-campus resources provided to students. At UNLV, all students and faculty have access to the Student Recreation and Wellness Center. The SRWC offers students free access to licensed dietician, nutritionists, and personal trainers, who can offer advice on the best foods to eat and the best ways to exercise. The gym is also open from 6am to midnight during the weekdays, which is convenient for students who have a time preference for their workouts. The SRWC also has a variety of different intramural sports like soccer, volleyball, basketball, and badminton to help students stay active and get involved with on-campus activities. During my second year at UNLV, I decided to take advantage of these resources, so I joined an intramural volleyball team. It was through this team that I met other students who were going through the same experiences that I was: tight paper deadlines, midterms, and final exams. We ended up hanging out together outside of practice and even studying at the library or at each other’s apartments. Looking back, joining an intramural sports team was a great way to meet other students who were trying to balance school while staying active. It was an environment that required me to de-stress, but stay focused on school at the same time.

Along with staying active, eating healthy foods is a big part of staying healthy. However, eating healthy can be hard, especially when you are on a budget. Students tend to eat foods that are cheaper, which tend to be less healthy. I find it useful to look at the advertisements from different grocery stores to see what kinds of deals there are that week on fresh fruits and vegetables. If you see a deal on a fruit or vegetable you’ve never tried before, trying one may be a good way to bring some variety to your routine and expand your palette from what you’re used to. This way, you are still sticking to your budget, but also getting access to the healthiest foods available.

Now with all of this information, you’re probably thinking, “But Asia, it’s easy to say that I’ll do these things, but how do I actually do them?” Whether it is adding events in your phone or planner, joining an intramural sports team, or clipping coupons, adding an extra activity to a busy schedule can seem like an especially daunting task for a college student. I have found that physically writing the activity in my calendar is the most effective way to follow through on my plans. When you see “Hike” or “Workout” pop up on your phone or planner, you are reminded of its importance. The reminders don’t mean that you have to do those activities, but that you want to do them!

Asia Chapa has been in the Interactive Measurement Group since Spring 2017. She is currently a senior at UNLV studying Psychology and Criminal Justice. She plans to graduate with her B.A. in Spring 2018. Her interests include the various coping mechanisms of criminals and victims of crime and victim advocacy in the criminal justice system. She hopes to pursue her graduate education in Forensic Psychology.