IMSA, but explained with food

When you really look at it, going to IMSA isn’t very different from making a sandwich. There’s a whole bunch of different ingredients that add up to make an amazing-flavored school year. Sandwiches are very customizable, though, so first we need to look at what’s required in every sandwich.

1. The bread

If you don’t have 2 slices of bread between your ingredients, are you even eating a sandwich? (If it’s a hot dog, yes; otherwise, no). The bread, in the case of IMSA, is having a strong foundation. You need to go into the school year ready for it. So don’t stay up until 4 AM every day playing Roblox with your friends. Trust me, it sounds fun, especially when you don’t have homework, but you’ll soon learn that sleep debt is very real, and it will come back to bite you (you’ll also learn about sleep debt later in Foundations of Healthy Living).

2. Some sort of vegetable

Yes, you need to be healthy; you can’t just have bread and meat in your sandwich. And that’s also exactly what this represents! You need to make sure to take care of your physical health. Make sure that you have medicine you might need and that you’re eating a variety of foods at Lexington. As much as we say it’s slop, try to have at least 3 colors on your plate, and no, they can’t be separate shades of ‘fried.’

3. Protein

Your protein is you being prepared. Know where your classes are, have all the supplies you need, find people you can ask questions when you don’t understand topics, find out who’s in your classes, and be fully equipped for the academic year.

Now that we have finished the non-negotiables, we can talk about more optional toppings.

4. Sauce

Not everyone puts sauce on their sandwich, and some people only do it sometimes. Your sauce is ambience. Knowing how you want everything to be set up, whether it be when you’re chilling or studying. It could be lighting, white noise, or having a good playlist (I personally just listen to my liked songs).

5. Cheese

Cheese is pretty popular, but not everyone adds it to their plate. Cheese is having a study group of people who are working on the same topics as you, so you can collaborate with them. But just as there’s such a thing as too much cheese, there’s such a thing as too much togetherness in studying. There’s a difference between asking a friend to show you the first step of a problem on your MI2 problem set and copying their answers. Know when you’re overstepping so you can stop, and you’ll be golden.

There’s the IMSA sandwich, or at least my version of it. If y’all have any other tips for the school year, drop them in the comments, or you can also drop your favorite Lexington sandwich order (if you do, I may try it and reply to you with a review).