Entry #2: You aren't always what you eat

In social psychology, the fundamental attribution error (or correspondence bias) is known by some as the cornerstone concept to understanding and analyzing human behavior. The term is defined as our human tendency to over-value a person's personality or disposition as a way to explain their behavior in a given situation, instead of considering any outlying factors as a means for explanation. Basically, when we see someone do something (whether it is smart or dumb or right or wrong), we chalk it up to them. Their personality, their morals, values, attitudes, whatever. We rarely stop and consider any other influences.

Now, we could just believe that these are very strange men.
But we don't know how hot it was in the photography studio.
We don't know what it is like not to be able to afford shirts. 

My own real-life example of the fundamental attribution error took place a little before and during the beginning of college. I had heard the rumors: college makes you fat, the freshman fifteen is inevitable, JMU has the best food of all time, etc etc. I didn't believe my friends and family. I thought to myself, college does not make a person fat. The person makes themselves fat.

I'm sorry, but this was all you honey.

I mean, how could someone possibly slip into the realm of tubby while away at school? JMU had a gym. I liked salad. I had tons of free time. I would be fine. In my head, the people I knew that put on weight during their freshman year of college were lazy, unhealthy, and previously inclined towards heiferdom anyway. It was in their souls to be chubby undergraduates. However, this way of thinking was my fatal mistake. I attributed their downfall to their dispositions. Their personalities. Who they were made them fat. I did not believe the situation had anything to do with it. I did not blame college.

Boy, was I wrong. 

As wrong as a motherf****ing duck phone. 

During my freshman year at James Madison, I learned what buffet style eating was. I learned about ice cream at E-Hall. I learned about grilled cheese Thursdays. And I got a scholarship in binge drinking. Eating healthy was harder than I previously thought. 

No one wants a salad on Sunday morning.
They want 500 mg of Advil and some dangerous carbs. 

Not to mention, going to the gym was a pain in my (growing) butt. After an exhausting midmorning to afternoon of rigorous general education classes, napping always sounded more promising than a trek to the University Recreation Center. Plus it was always crowded when I wanted to go work our. Plus it was a really far walk. 

What I am trying to say is, I got fat during my freshman year of college. I put on about 20 pounds in a matter of months, as a result of all of the aforementioned vices that greedily snuck their way into my life, into my pants. When I went home for Thanksgiving Break, I got lunch with a couple of high school seniors that I was friends with. Suddenly aware of myself, and aware of my weight, I warned them intensely of the trials and tribulations that awaited them during their first year of higher education. The parties! The food! The laziness! The food! I blathered to my young friends about the same things I had scoffed at only a year before. I desperately wanted them to know it wasn't my fault that I was a fatty. It wasn't my inner Michelin Man that had caused this. 

This picture is only here for the sake of science. 

Yup, I had gained weight. However, I had also gained some perspective. Perhaps it was not an innate personal quality to get chunky. Perhaps the freshman 15 really was situational. A collegiate slap-in-the-face, if you will. A test of one's budding self-control. An impossible challenge to a naive freshman like myself. Luckily, I had been decently athletic in high school. And I really did care about my health. So after a year and some change spent as a heavy-hitter, I got myself in shape. While blaming college for the size of my thighs was easy (and pretty accurate), it was me that had to fix it.

After all, it was, fundamentally, my own error of fattribution.