By Serena Gomez |Staff Writer|
It is unhealthy to gain so much weight in so little time.
In my opinion, I believe we should learn how to take care of ourselves on an individualistic level rather than allowing others to invade our personal health choices.
“Oral Roberts implemented a new prerequisite for their first year students in January, requiring all Freshmen to wear a Fitbit fitness tracker,” stated Marie Solis from Mic News.
“The devices data, which includes statistics on steps taken, distance traveled and calories burned will sync to the school’s online grade book, where instructors will evaluate students according to how much they exercise on a weekly basis,” stated Solis.
Monitoring a student’s health is crossing a personal line—forcing someone to wear a Fitbit is like wearing an ankle bracelet.
The freshman students attending Oral Roberts University need to purchase the Fitbit in their campus bookstore as they do textbooks, which costs about $140 and are required to walk 10,000 steps a day, according to Bill Sherman.
As an ORU student, if you do not pass the Fitbit requirements, you will be scheduled in a health/fitness class the following semester. If you do not pass either one, you will not be able to graduate, according to ORU’s academic policies.
“I’m sure Fitbit and other fitness brands are an amazing resource for the right people. But with my complicated relationship with food and exercise, all the numbers just provided more chances to feel like I would never be enough,” stated Andria Martin for xoJane.
There are many experiences to look forward to when attending college; it is a time to make ridiculous mistakes/memories. It is a time when your life shifts dramatically.
However, gaining weight hurts a college student’s self image.
The transition from home cooked meals to endless chips, Top Ramen, beer, alcohol, sugared coffee, all nighter’s, and fast food, leads to the horrific freshmen 15.
“Researchers at Auburn University in Alabama followed 131 students over four years of college and found that a whopping 70 percent of them packed on pounds by graduation (an average of 12, and up to 37 pounds),” stated Health magazines Amy O’Connor.
When your body experiences the traumatic shock that is freshman year, I can understand how a person can gain the freshman 15.
Typically, you go from living at home with rules and a curfew to no rules and getting home at around three in the morning.
What about those who are insecure about their bodies and have eating disorders?
Although it can be motivating to those who want to get in shape or help those who need to live a healthier lifestyle, there are many people that this can negatively effect. Ultimately causing them to go into a depression.
Having to wear a tracking device on their wrists is a constant reminder about their body image. It can be just the issue to cause severe emotional and mental damage.
It is almost like freshmen students are Regina George and ORU is Gretchen Wieners saying, “you can’t sit with us.”
There are many ways to get into a healthier lifestyle without the pressure of being graded on it.
Try to switch from IPA’s or lagers and go for a Bud Light instead. If you really want to be adventurous, back in the day, they used to go for walks, try it out.
Universities need to stop jumping into personal lives and focus more on reducing tuition.
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