U researchers have found that, on average, Utahns live two years more than the national average.
One of the reasons explaining this extended longevity is the fact that many Utahns have cultivated an active lifestyle and participate in outdoor activities with greater regularity than other people across the country.
Living in Utah, we have many great opportunities for outdoor recreation, and we should take advantage of them.
At the risk of sounding like a tourism guide, Utahns have the opportunity to ski, rock climb, mountain bike, kayak, hike, etc., without traveling too far from our homes. While most of us likely take this for granted, not many other people in the United States can claim all these disparate outdoor activities within their state borders.
As college students, we have even more opportunities for recreation. Campus Recreation Services has sporting and camping equipment that students can rent at a discounted rate with their UCards.
The U’s department of exercise and sports science offers classes in which students can learn to do everything from fly-fishing to snowboarding-and get credit toward graduation while they’re at it.
Additionally, many recreational venues, such as ski resorts, offer a student discount rate.
College students also have more time for recreation than the average adult Utahn. Most of us are at a point in our lives where we have the flexibility to take off for a few days of biking at Moab or boating at Lake Powell-but a few years down the road, that situation will undoubtedly change.
We should take advantage of these opportunities because not only will the student discounts disappear after graduation, but so will much of our time.
These activities also help individuals socialize and form community groups-another factor in longer lifespan and higher quality of life.
We are at a unique point in our lives when we can do all sorts of new things and meet all sorts of new people. Rather than letting this time pass us by in a wave of tests and papers, we should remember to stop and smell the roses-or go waterskiing, as the case may be.
After all, it could help us live longer.