As a college student myself, I know how short on time we can really be. No time for a life, no time for friends and definitely no time to eat.

With a crammed school schedule and what seems like a full-time job, how do we ever get the time to eat? Most of us barely get time for breakfast because we would rather sleep in the extra five minutes.

I start school at 9:30 a.m. on our main campus. My alarm is set for 7:15 a.m. and I continuously hit the snooze button until about 8:15 a.m. That gives me about 45 minutes to get ready, and in order to get to class on time I have to leave my house at 9 a.m.

Within those 45 minutes, getting breakfast is the last thing on my mind. So you better believe that when I am in class my stomach is yelling at me for skipping a meal. And can I yell back at it? No, because it’s my own fault for not eating.

But I’m not writing this to tell you my morning routine, I’m writing this to tell you how important it is to eat something, somewhere, somehow in your busy schedule.

Have you ever been so hungry that you eventually get past the point of hunger? You’re just not hungry anymore but you feel shaky and almost weak in the knees?

Well I’m no doctor, but I think that’s a sign to get nourishment in your body before something worse happens.

Some tips you can take and things you can do to reduce your hunger:

* Buy some fruits, like grapes or berries, and bag them up the night before to make a berry mix. Grab it before you leave to eat on the way, and add a banana to go with it. Be sure to put your name on the bag letting your siblings or parents know it’s not a snack for them because someone will eat it — and you know it.

*2 Buy a large bag of your favorite mixed nuts to keep in your car or backpack so when you get hungry during school, you can have a quick snack.

* Make a trip to your local grocery store and buy a big pack of oversized breakfast muffins. Wrap individually to make them easy to grab for the road. Maybe even take an extra for later. Mark these as well unless, of course, you want to be nice and share.

* Now, you don’t want to take anything that might go bad or get spoiled in your bag. Things like yogurt or cheese are definitely things you don’t want to keep in your bag for a long period of time.

* Snacks like crackers or granola bars are great to keep in your bag or car because they last forever.

* Try and stay away from foods like potato chips or candy. Although they are tasty, they’re not really good for your body. Every once in a while, they are okay to eat.

Now, it might seem like a lot of extra work to do all of this, but trust me — I know how it feels to be starving during class. Heck, I’m even hungry right now as I’m writing. Especially with being in college and having to scrape by, none of us want to spend that extra dollar at gross vending machines or the student store.

So why not save your money and bring something from home? Be proactive and healthy at the same time. Plus, then it won’t be your stomach growling louder than the teacher’s lecture in class next time. Take the extra time to grab a snack in the morning because I can personally tell you that anything is better than to be starvin’ like Marvin.