The “freshmen fifteen,” three words feared by college students all around the country. As college cafeteria food improves, the will power of students diminishes. Middlebury for example has quite an array of options for students. With three dining halls that offer an enormous amount of options, it is nearly impossible to not find something that you love. For example, Ross Dining Hall has a couple main entrees for dinner, but also has pizza every night. If you are not happy with the steak and potatoes that are being offered, you have another great option. Along with pizza, all three dining halls contain a salad bar throughout the day as well as fruit. Soda machines contain almost any type of drink you could want and the chocolate milk is heavenly.

After finishing your main meal, there is still more to come. The desserts are incredible, ranging from German Chocolate Cake to Banana Cream Pie. Every day there is a new dessert and every day that dessert never fails to impress me. Although the desserts are great, most days I like to go with a simple ice cream cone. My biggest weakness is the ice cream machines that are always open and inviting me to have some. The chocolate sauce, caramel, and sprinkles do me in and I find myself having ice cream every single night.

Lucky for me softball is starting up soon and I will be working out almost every day; however if I didn’t have softball, I would be in serious trouble and on track for gaining the freshmen thirty.

Today, in my Digital Media Literacy class, while discussing our media usage, some of my classmates claimed that they were addicted to social media. Whether they doing their homework, on a date, or trying to go to sleep, they claimed that they couldn’t stop checking their phone, their Facebook newsfeed, or even their twitter stream. Although, I didn’t agree with many of my classmate’s points, what I found more frustrating was the amount of times some of them used the word ‘like’ while trying describing their effort to get on the “IRL” wagon.

Although I’m definitely guilty of over and misusing the word ‘like’ – especially when I’m nervous – the word has become so ubiquitous in the conversations of most teenagers that it’s almost just faded into the background like a subconscious tick. Like, our nose looking past our eyes, we’ve become so unaware how much we use the word to fill space that it’s simply become routine. Ironically, this is how I think much of our generation used social media: as a space filler. Whether it’s a conversation coming to a natural lull, having just ordered dinner on a date, or switching from one page of homework to another, with so many social platforms so readily available, it’s almost become routine to check your phone to fill space. That having been said, like saying ‘like’, flicking your hair, or using any of our generation’s other catchy yet regrettable ticks, it’s become so ingrained in our culture that we’re unaware of it. Although, I do believe that it’s possible to be addicted to new media, I think that for most people, the road to rehab as simple making conscious choices. Whether that’s consciously trying to smooth out your sentences or purposely turning off your phone, like everyone knows, knowing you have a problem is the first step to recovery.

-Sebastian