Trick or Treat – Smell My (Clean) Feet

Trick+or+Treat+-+Smell+My+%28Clean%29+Feet

 

Sight. Smell. Touch. These three senses can be greatly be affected by one’s . . . hygiene.

Yes, hygiene. And while some of you may be giggling at the thought of acknowledging the importance of taking care of one’s body, hygiene is not something that is always common sense to everyone around you. Turn to your left and take a sniff, maybe even the person sitting next to you lacks personal hygiene or even the knowledge of it.

Let’s start with the basics; why is hygiene important, especially for college students?

Better hygiene correlates to having better health. With better health comes a stronger immune system, which can help prevent illness or infection from bacteria. Remember that Fortnite tournament you held last night? I hope you washed your hands before handing off the controller to your buddy or you might have also been handing off your bacteria.

The more bacteria that seeps into your body, the more likely you are to become sick. As college students, we often don’t have time to be sick so think of each handwashing as another day that won’t be spent using up your sick days.

Your hygiene also affects the people you associate with on a daily basis.

Do you ever walk into the DISC after an intramural basketball game and instantly smell the stench of body odor? It is not pleasing, is it? Now, imagine that smell following you into the classroom or being the odor’s host. Body odor is a distinct smell that is far from pleasant and cleaning your body, or not cleaning your body for that matter, can distract your peers from their education.  

The problems of bad hygiene are not only noticed through touch and smell, but also sight.

Have you ever been walking down the stairs of Shilling Hall and noticed the glistening coming from the head of hair in front of you that is overflowing with excess oil? Or what about when you pass a paperback and notice the dirt piled underneath your neighbor’s nails?

Within the first three seconds of walking into your classroom every day, you are instantly judged from that first impression. A wrinkled sweatshirt that hasn’t been washed in a month or a dirt-stained pair of jeans can give your peers and professors the impression that you simply don’t care about yourself. If you don’t care about yourself, why would they believe that you care about their course?

Having good hygiene to the eye is not about impressing others. It is about treating yourself and those around you with respect. Now that isn’t to say that coming from pottery class with clay stained clothes is a disgrace. There is a difference between an accident and intentional disregard for yourself and others.

Taking care of your personal hygiene not only shows self-respect, but it shows respect to others’ company and health. Next time you leave your dorm in the morning, take a look in the mirror. That extra 10 minutes spent on a shower just may save you an illness and an A.