College students, contrary to popular belief, are not super humans. They aren’t immune to the cold and flu infections that go around every year. Because of this, it’s important as an 18-25 year old to take care of yourself and help your body avoid catching a cold.

Wear a jacket

I know this seems like common sense, but more often than not, I find my friends going outside without a coat or jacket on because it’s “not cold outside”. More often than not, those same people are the ones who have a cold within the next couple of weeks and then I say, “I told you so”.

Wearing a jacket to ensure that you’re always warm is important to avoiding getting a cold. If it’s “not cold outside”, wear a light jacket. Don’t go outside with just a t-shirt on and feel like you can move mountains. The next day you’ll be struggling to move your head from your pillow because you won’t feel good.

Wash your hands often

This is important because we don’t wash our hands enough. It’s a standard to wash your hands after you use the restroom but neglecting to wash your hands after you have worked on something that requires your hands (which means a ton of things) means that germs and bacteria are thriving off of your lack of cleanliness.

Just keep in mind that you should wash your hands (and dry them good as well) approximately every four hours. That’s if you don’t use the bathroom in between or get your hands dirty either. It should be a rule of thumb (see what I did there?) to promote good hand-washing among your friends as well.

Drink water

Again, a very simple habit that people often neglect: drinking enough water. Your body needs to stay hydrated at all times. I know that it seems like a hard thing to do but if you get into the habit of drinking water more often, especially during the winter months, you’ll make it harder for your body to catch a cold.

Wake up and drink a glass of water immediately. Starting your day with water intake helps regulate all kinds of things inside of you. Drink more water with your meals, and make sure that you’re eating 3 to 4 meals a day. This will help you get into the habit of drinking more water. Drink some water while you’re exercising. Buy a nice water bottle and carry it with you everywhere you go, making sure that you don’t let it drain. This all will help you get into the habit of taking in more water and avoiding a cold.


This one is the one that college students often forget to do. Sleeping is so important to making sure that you’re healthy at all time. I know it may not seem like it on a Friday or Saturday night, but your body will thank you if you give it enough rest to wake up early and feel energized throughout the day.


Make it your New Years Resolution to exercise more, but start right now instead of in 2013. Exercising does wonders to your body without you even noticing it sometimes. Even going for a walk can help your body feel great. So make it a point to stretch and get a nice workout in whenever you can, or at least 3 times a week. It will only benefit you.

Vitamin C

This one is simple: get more vitamin c into your diet. The more that you take in, the harder it will be to catch a cold. If this means drinking more OJ every day or eating the foods that are heavy with vitamin c in it, then go for it. But whatever you do, make sure that you’re taking it in and keeping your body safe from any cold or flu that may be lurking in all kinds of areas.

What else should you do to try to avoid a cold?

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