Everybody has bad habits that they want to rid themselves of. Breaking the bad habits that you’ve had since long before your time at Longwood, or even picked up while you’ve been here, are hard, but it’s important that eventually you break them. You have to realize you’re doing something bad before you can change it. Although some habits aren’t detrimental to leading a successful life, all bad habits should be noted and you must come to some type of agreement with yourself that you are either going to continue with your habit and just live with it, or you’re going to make a change before it’s too late.
Some bad habits are much more detrimental to your life. How many people go shopping and see something they really like, even if it’s just at Walmart, that is far too expensive to even consider paying for. It’s not worth the money, you say, but you still really want it. What do you do? Do you put it back on the shelf and come back for it when you have the money? Do you go ahead and buy it and wrestle with the consequences later? Or do you stick to the “it’s too expensive for the quality, but I really want it” thought process and put it inside your jacket or bag and steal it?
Kleptomania is an epidemic in the United States, and the rates are much higher among college aged individuals because we’re, statistically, broke most of the time, but when we need something, we need it then. ABCnews reported last year that some of the most shoplifted items are: energy drinks, pregnancy tests, liquor and over-the-counter medication.
Kleptomania is a really bad habit that needs to be stopped before it starts. Habits like this one are often brought about when a person is in a state of depression because of a loss of job, less money than usual to spend, or just a need to steal. I know it seems weird to think about needing to steal, but some people do, and this type of action usually begins when a person is in college – like us. Don’t steal. If you need money, get a part time job. If you don’t have time for a part time job to help fund your other bad habits, stop those bad habits. It’s a vicious cycle.
Another important bad habit to break is poor time management skills. It is not okay to be late everywhere you go. It irritates your professors if you walk into class ten minutes late every time you meet, it irritates the other students, it makes you look like a jackass and as if you just don’t care about anyone else. I cannot stand people who walk into class late every day. If it happens once in a while, fine. People lose track of time occasionally, but to be late to every single class period during a semester is simply ridiculous. I’ve had professors look as if they were going to physically beat a student for being late every class. Plus, after a certain amount of tardies, your grade can, and should be, lowered.
I’ve had guys come to class late every class for weeks, and rather than quietly slipping in and chiming into the conversation, they slam the doors, trip over everyone’s bags, and immediately fall asleep. No. Stop that right now. If you cannot stay awake in class, which is another bad habit people have, don’t come to class. I do not pay thousands of dollars to come to Longwood to watch a grown man drool on himself or the desk two or three times a week. You’re gross. Go home. Now you’re just pissing everyone off.
There are a wide range of bad habits that people pick up in college. Kleptomania and poor time management skills are bad and need to be squashed quickly, but drinking and “exciting” activities are also bad habits that should be taken control of. I get it. Buffalo Street and Hampden-Sydney parties are great. Apartment parties are great. There is, however, no need to drink four days a week. Binge drinking is the worst habit
someone can have in college because that leads to a whole mess of bad things, like health issues and poor grades. Having a few beers with people at the bar or at a party is fine, but getting trashed every weekend night and some week nights on Buffalo isn’t ok. Bad things happen when that much alcohol is involved.
I’ve seen people almost die from drinking too much at a college party. I’ve had friends arrested for public intoxication. If you want to have that on your record, fine. But remember, any Honor or J-Board charge you get at Longwood will follow you around. You’ll have to relive the stupidity of your college drinking career when you apply to jobs or for graduate school and have to explain to them that you drank too much, acted a fool, and had to take responsibility for your stupid actions.
I know that some people on this campus are not Kleptomaniacs, late all the time or drink until they throw up and pass out every weekend, but there are a few. I can guarantee there are women and men who have the urge to steal when they go to Walmart because they know they can get away with it. I know there are people who count down the minutes to Thursday night bar night which blends with Friday and Saturday nights being drunk and stumbling around yelling all night. You’re not making things better for yourself by calling that much attention to your drunken state. And, I definitely know people on this campus who are always late. Leave earlier. If you’re coming from another class, don’t stop halfway down Brock Commons and talk to your friends every day. When you have to go out into the real world, you’ll need to be on time, sober, with no theft charges to your name. Start now. Break the habits. It’s hard, but we all have bad habits,some worse than others, that we can break and be the students we truly are.
