Sayonara, State College. Au revoir, obligations. Hello food.
You’d think with all the food options downtown, we wouldn’t act like starved vultures when we get back home. But for some reason, we pretend Happy Valley is a land of famish, and succumb to primitive survival mode the second we step into the XXX (insert area-code here), where we pounce on our favorite eats.
For the next 14 weeks, the majority of Penn State students will abandon ship and venture home, abroad, internships or wherever.
We’ll have a nice meal with the family. We’ll go on to lunch dates with high school friends. Dinner dates with some more friends. Then we’ll come home and pick at mom’s leftovers. Invade the snack cabinet. It seems that going home is simply synonymous with eating.
But we have a choice to make. Summer can be the pinnacle of our fitness or the demise of any motivation. The sun may tire us out, but then again, the sun is out. Get moving.
Ice cream truck jingles may ring around your neighborhood all day. Drone it out with your iPod on a jog.
Family barbeques will pry at the button of your jeans shorts. Shoot hoops in the driveway or initiate a game of manhunt to help avoid or burn off the picnic dishes.
Beers on the beach will leave you snoozing on a towel (and ultimately sunburned), as well as add loads of unnecessary calories. Run the boardwalk, throw a frisbee or play pickup volleyball instead, and actually enjoy the sand beneath your toes.
In all seriousness, don’t forget to keep active this summer. Some gyms offer specials to college students and if not, well, it’s nice out! Come back next fall looking like you did when you left. Or even better. Photo by Rhiannon Hendrick
