North by Northwestern

New year, new me! It's 2018, which means we’ve all seen some variation of that phrase posted on social media, from your friends’ self-deprecating tweets to your aunt who uses Facebook too much. You might look around and think that everyone has it together (AND is in our DNA, right?) , but we’re all college students, and we can all think of an unhealthy habit (or a few) that we should change. Deep down, we know we’re probably going to forget about these resolutions by February, but for now let’s just live in the moment and pretend a new year really is a new us.

This might be counterproductive for those who are aiming to lose weight in the new year, but I'd say a better resolution is to love your body and eat tastier food. And if you gain a few pounds, so what? A little extra chub never hurt anyone; in fact, it'll probably help you survive the Chicago winter. If you remember your first tour of Northwestern (you probably don't), you'll remember that Evanston holds the very prestigious title of Dining Capital of the North Shore, so venture away from Sargent and take advantage of it.

You probably think this one will be about quitting drinking, but honestly, that may be setting the bar too high for a college student. It's time to call off your intimate relationship with the $3 wine from Whole Foods. It's 2018, and we're treating ourselves. Move up from Three Wishes and Skol to something classier (like Svedka!). At least for one drunken night you can pretend you're not a broke college student.

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Once again, you may think this is about your health, but the truth is, it’s just too damn cold to be smoking. If you don’t care about your lungs, at least consider your frostbitten fingers with these below-zero wind chills.

Have you ever drunkenly stumbled to Lisa’s halfway through the quarter and realized you were out of Dining Dollars? It’s not a good feeling. We all struggle to say no to a late-night milkshake from Fran’s or our sixth Norbucks drink of the week, but if you resist now, it’ll pay off later.

Does this one really need explaining? No, it doesn’t. Go make the call.