7A Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

A Healthy Balance

Opportunity:

Incoming students may find a lack of balance in many crucial aspects of daily life when it comes to their first-year transition into college. This is due to having to live on their own for the first time and not having a way to keep track of and hold themselves responsible for maintaining such a balance.  Aspects such as time management, stress relief, healthy eating, and physical fitness are all crucial to maintaining a balanced life. Being unable to create this life balance early on in one’s college career may be a huge detriment to them later in life.

The who: Incoming and current college freshmen

The what: They are unable to maintain a healthy balance of the many crucial aspects of daily life when first transitioning to college.

The why: Students having to live on their own for the first time and not having a way to holding themselves responsible of maintaining such a life balance.

Testing the who: Not just incoming or current college freshmen could have this need. Anyone about to join the workforce or moving to a new city could have this need. Anyone who needs to find a way to maintain a “balanced” life really fits into the “who?” category. The reason college freshmen are the “who” in this opportunity is because college is where most of the skills needed to maintain a balanced life are learned and developed.

Testing the what: There could be some boundaries for this need. Some people can maintain a balanced life on their own or already have such a life. Maybe some people are well balanced in some areas and not so much in others. Everyone is different so not all aspects of a balanced lifestyle may be affected by the transition to college.

Testing the why: The answer as to why students may struggle maintaining a balanced life after beginning college is different for everyone. Being away from home where you could rely on your family for certain things could be a factor. Time management skills could have not been the best before the transition. Maybe the person did not have a well-balanced lifestyle before. Everyone from the “who?” is going to have a different personal reason because everyone was raised differently, and each has their own lifestyle.

Interview #1:

This student is a current college freshman who is an anthropology student. This student stressed the importance of having a good school ethic and emotional balance among other things. They stated that in their opinion it is very difficult to maintain a balanced lifestyle during the college transition because people have to find a specific community to connect with. Once friends are made, the transition goes much smoother. They said that maintaining a balanced lifestyle is also experienced by military families who are forced to move a lot. They think that the reason many struggle with maintaining a balanced lifestyle at the beginning of college is because its hard for people in a new place to plug in and be accepted.

Interview #2:

This interviewee is a first-year student studying English. For them the first-year transition started off rocky but eventually smoothed out. According to this student, the most important aspects of leading a balanced lifestyle are: eating right, time management, good sleep, and taking care of mental health. For them the transition was difficult because they were not used to living on their own. In their opinion, eating healthy and adapting to new environments are probably the most difficult aspects of a balanced lifestyle when transitioning into college. They also mentioned that college grads joining the work force may also be affected by this. They think an app to help aide people keeping a balanced lifestyle would be very beneficial.

Interview #3:

This student is an Innovation Academy freshman. The transition to college life was fairly easy for them since they were used to being independent. To them one of the most difficult aspects to a balanced lifestyle to tackle in college is staying organized and clean. This person its all about mental attitude at the end of the day and that helps decide the kind of lifestyle you are going to have. It is about what people focus on and how they react. Even though they have had a relatively easy transition into college, they would still like a resource that would help them maintain this level of balance.

Interview #4:

This student is a first-year engineering student. Their transition was pretty smooth. They said the most important aspects of a balanced life are time management and work life balance. They said the most difficult part of their transition was time management (time to study vs. time doing chores). They believe that most freshmen struggle with time management which creates difficulties in maintaining a balanced lifestyle. They predict that a resource that could help with time management would be very beneficial.

Interview #5:

This student is a first-year psychology student. They said their college transition was a little difficult in the very beginning, but things eventually smoothed out. They said in order to maintain a balanced lifestyle, the person must have a good work ethic, be motivated, and have stress relievers. If you make having a balanced lifestyle a priority, then the transition will go smoothly and keeping the balance will be easy. They said that from their experience, the most difficult aspects of a balanced lifestyle during the first year of college are: health, diet and fitness. They think the reason people struggle is because the fact they total freedom for the first time and that can lead to imbalance. They said things such as fitness class and group therapy are great ways for people to achieve and maintain balanced lifestyles.

Given your interviews, what do you know about the opportunity that you didn't know before? 

From my interviews, I found that not every freshman struggle with maintaining a balanced lifestyle during the transition to college life, which was expected.  Since the term “balanced lifestyle” is not super specific, it was interesting what others thought were the most important aspects. Going in I figured time management and work ethic were going to common themes. I did not think about mental wellness, which came up multiple times. What I was very interested in was which aspects did the interviewees find to be the most difficult to maintain. This information helps me narrow down how to find a solution to this opportunity. What I found most shocking was that all supported the idea of having an application that would help users maintain a balanced lifestyle, even if they did not find the transition into college very difficult. Overall, I feel like I learned a lot about the opportunity from the interviews.