food is so addicting/teacher's pet

(I'm mad conflicted about which one I want to write about more, so I'm just going to split this up.)

food is so addicting.

I can see why my mother was worried about the freshman 15.

I mean, I like to think that I'm blessed with some sort of fast metabolism that I generally don't gain very much weight...but no. I am eating all the time, and it's very hard for me to resist.

Case in point, right now. I am sitting in Meyerson (just like every other day) and it is nearing eleven o'clock and I am so very tempted to just swipe my PennCard and get a nice little snack. But it's late, and it's bad to eat junk food late at night. I mean, eating junk food in general is bad enough as it is, but at this hour? Even worse! And yet...

Swedish Fish. Hot Fries. Peanut M&Ms. Oreos. Pretzels. PopTarts. PayDay. Hershey's Bars. Fat. Sweet. Salty. Sad.

And maybe you'd say, why are you trying so hard to resist? Just buy a snack and don't sleep for another three hours or something. But no.

We need willpower in our lives. If we succumbed to every whim that we ever got - food, sleep, fun - we'd all be extremely inefficient and unfocused. And I'd be extremely obese. 

It's getting harder and harder to get out of bed these days. It's cold outside, and my blanket's warm. The logical thing to do (by ANY standards) is to stay where it's warm. Human instincts for survival. It's also hard to not drop everything and cease studying after every midterm. I thought I was done after yesterday...but I'm not. So even though I really want to hang out with everyone everyday until Thanksgiving....I can't. 

But the thing is, everything should be in moderation. Food should be eaten in moderation. Sleep should be had in moderation. Fun should be had in moderation. Even studies, clothes, video-gamage, thinking etc etc should all be done/had in moderation. 

The only thing that should not be in moderation is love. (*Note: And I said love, not infatuation/lust/Facebookstalking.)

teacher's pet

Back in elementary school, I remember getting upset because someone had called me a "teacher's pet" and stopped being my friend. In middle school, I remember feeling embarrassed because someone in my geometry class had called me out and said, "Stop being such a suck-up." In high school, I remember some people naming my great admiration for my AP chem teacher a result of her favoritism. 

But here, in college, I have never gone to see my professors for office hours, nor have I even been particularly stand-out-ish in discussions. (And I guess that could be detrimental in the future if I ever want recommendations. But I'll start soon enough.) So it's been a while since I've heard any of those terms.

But favoritism. It's a difficult thing to manage, because even though you want to treat everyone the same exact way, you end up being pulled in one direction because of similar interests or personalities. It's a natural way of life. Even when I'm tutoring my kids at Comegys, I try really hard not to just talk to the one girl I always tutor, but also the other kids I haven't exactly learned the names of yet. But sometimes, I just end up sitting with her or picking her to help me out. And what does that do to her head? It makes her think that she can get away with anything with me, and sometimes, she can be really disrespectful. 

I hate the idea of a "teacher's pet" or a "suck-up" or just straight-up "favoritism." I never tried to be that way, and I'm sure no one in general ever tries.

But when you're not the one being called that, why does it feel so much worse?