Just face it. You were — or still are — gross.
There are many reasons why the memories of your college days are hazy.
Maybe it’s been years since your last syllabus week. Or, maybe, you had too much fun outside of class.
But there’s also a whole other explanation: You have actively blocked out your college experience because you’re disgusting. Or at least, you were.
From not wearing shower shoes to undercooking food, here’s everything gross you did in college. And if you’re still a student, bookmark these habits and tips.
You’re not wearing shower shoes.
Communal bathrooms are typically a treat reserved for freshmen. You might share toilets, sinks and — you guessed it — showers with your fellow classmates. But your shared shower experience is a breeding ground for all things gross. “There, you have the potential of picking up a fungus infection in the feet, either like an athlete’s foot type infection or a toenail fungus infection,” says Dr. Thomas Wedia, associate dean of clinical affairs and chief medical officer for the University Medical Center, run by the University of Alabama College of Community Health Sciences.
You’re staying up all night.
Whether it’s cramming for a test or Skyping with your girlfriend who is studying abroad, all-nighters are all too common, and arguably a quintessential part of college culture. That said, these habits could damage your health in some surprising ways. Sleep deprivation could actually hurt your immune system, making you more prone to infection, Weida says. He also recommends avoiding over-caffeination, which could interfere with your sleep cycle and cause sweating, anxiety and a racing heart.
You’re texting and driving (or walking).
It can wait. “Certainly with texting and driving, but I see enough cases of people who are texting and walking and go right across the street,” Weida says.
One study found that 80 percent of college students text and drive. Penn State psychologists studied the tempting nature of text messaging among college students and found that it occurs in inappropriate circumstances (i.e., while having sex or at a funeral).
You’re not washing your sheets.
While washing linens may seem like a no-brainer, the process — and cost of using a dorm laundromat — sometimes leads to neglect. In fact, one SleepBetter.org survey found that 41 percent of college students didn’t wash their pillows ever and 43 percent neglected to ever wash mattress pads. But though it may seem gross to go weeks (or even months) without washing linens, it probably won’t make you sick, at least. “That’s just a matter of hygiene and the sheets start to smell,” Weida says. “I’m not sure you’re going to necessarily pick up an illness or disease from that.” A more important way to shield yourself from illness throughout the semester? Get a flu shot, Weida says.
You’re drinking so much you’re breaking a bone.
Weida recounts an incident in which his son’s friend, then a freshman, fell off a curb or “who knows what” and broke his femur. Thus, it bears repeating: Drinking too much could lead to circumstances that harm you way more than just the effects of alcohol alone, such as by inspiring risky behavior (think: having unprotected sex or sitting on an open window ledge). Nearly two-thirds of college students admitted to binge drinking in the last month, according to a December 2015 fact sheet from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
You’re drinking too much too fast.
Weida doesn’t sugarcoat the problem: “Kids die from drinking too much too quickly.”
College students often don’t know how much they’re drinking, especially when playing popular games like beer pong that inherently lead to imbibing more alcohol, faster (not to mention putting you at risk for germs like E. coli).
While binge drinking is often linked to college students, it can become more problematic as we age. It’s a particular issue for those ages 26 and up, where 70 percent of binge drinking incidents occur, according to a JAMA study highlighted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 38 million adults in the U.S. binge drink.
“If you drink alcohol, aim for one drink per hour,” writes Linda LaSalle, director of health promotion and wellness at Penn State Student Health Services, in an email. “Your liver will thank you.”
You’re having unprotected sex.
Weida paints a clear, if crude, picture of a typical college sexual experience. “What happens is that you’re at a party, you get drunk, you hook up with somebody and your usual defenses and sensibilities get waylaid, and so then you get laid,” he says.
Meanwhile, “1:2 sexually active people will be infected with an STI by the age of 25, this has risen mostly due to the prevalence of HPV,” writes Alison M. Tartaglia, a health education specialist from West Virginia University, in an email.
It’s possible that the unsafe sex practices started earlier than college. CDC data from 2015 shows that of the 30 percent of high school students who had intercourse during the previous three months, 43 percent failed to use a condom the most recent time.
You’re undercooking food in the microwave.
Bring on the germ parade.
Dorm microwaves can be cesspools of leftover muck from the person who used them before you. If you put your food in without a plate, be prepared to have it tainted by the ghosts of dinners past. This residue, Weida says, may or may not be a source of infection.
But trouble also lies in what you’re cooking in the microwave — namely, if you’re nuking raw meat. Weida says microwaves don’t always heat consistently, so there’s the potential for undercooking meat like chicken. This could increase your risk of infections like salmonella.
Your eating habits are problematic.
When you get to college, you’re likely bombarded by a vast array of eating options that you’ve never before encountered. But having more options doesn’t guarantee a healthy diet in college, where ramen noodles are often the go-to.
At West Virginia University, only 6 percent of students say they eat the recommended five or more servings of fruit and vegetables daily, says Shannon Foster, acting director of West Virginia University’s student health and wellness service, WELLWVU. Her office works with students to help them easily and quickly incorporate fruits and vegetables into their daily eating habits, to ensure they don’t come up short on key nutrients.
You’re following campus traditions.
Sure, college campuses have their not-so-sacred traditions (i.e., fraternity rituals like eating an entire jar of mayo or needing to finish a handle of vodka). But every campus has its sacred traditions … though some “good luck” methods are germier than others. Rubbing a lamp may have worked for Aladdin to elicit a genie, but in real life, you may want to think about where that object came from.
Whether you’re touching the University of Maryland’s signature Testudo statue or the Warner Bentley statue at Dartmouth University, are you making yourself susceptible to a litany of other people’s germs? Weida says you’re more than likely going to be OK on dry surfaces — unless the person who rubbed the statue before you had, say, a boil and transferred their pus on it during the process.
More from U.S. News
10 of the Biggest Health Threats Facing Your Kids This School Year
7 Reasons to Choose a Plant-Based Diet
7 Health Risks of Binge Drinking You Can’t Ignore
10 Gross Things You Should Stop Doing in College originally appeared on usnews.com
