The case for taking the “Long Way”
Why staying active in university might have less to do with finding time and more to do with how we use it
By the time I reach my 9 a.m. lecture, I have already climbed three staircases, trekked across campus, and chugged half of my water bottle. My day begins at the parking lot, alongside several other students rushing toward the RAWC stairs. On mornings when I am already cutting it close, I barely have time to catch my breath before starting the climb. Between my heartbeat pounding in my ears and my backpack weighing on my shoulders, I’m more focused on making it to class than realizing that the incline is similar to a workout itself.
UTM has always felt deceptively small. The buildings form a circle, making every destination seem close. Yet the walk from one end to the other always feels longer when your next class starts in seven minutes. By noon, I have usually traversed the circular path several times, weaving between the Davis building, Library, and Deerfield Hall, often opting to climb another set of stairs to get some more steps in and save time, because waiting for the elevator usually takes longer.
Around lunchtime, the search for a place to sit becomes a campus-wide scavenger hunt. My friends and I scout out tables in one building with no luck and repeat the sweep across several other common areas. By the time we finally find a table that fits us all, the search would have taken us through half of campus. By then, we had definitely earned our lunch.
None of these choices feel intentional. I don’t wander campus counting my steps or calculating how much physical activity I have accumulated. They become a part of my routine as I rush to class or meet up with a friend.
Throughout most of my time at UTM, I approached staying active with an all-or-nothing mindset. I would wait for the perfect week, when I was somehow caught up on all my work and still had enough energy, to spend an hour at the gym. But unfortunately, exercise often became something I constantly put off for another day.
One morning, an invitation from a friend for an early gym session had me at campus before the sun had risen up. What started as a one-time invitation quickly became a routine. It felt good to start the day having done something for myself before school’s demands caught up with me. However, that satisfaction was often tested when I reached the stairs on my way to class, and the ache in my legs had me seriously considering the elevator, despite still having ample time before the start of class.
Still, I do not make it to the gym every day. Some evenings I join friends for drop-in sport games or swim laps at the pool. Other days, there is no formal workout at all. My only movement comes from walking across campus, climbing stairs, or deciding that the food in another building is worth the walk.
As students, we tend to treat exercise like another task competing for space in an already demanding schedule. However, so much of student life is already built around moving from one place to the next. Our campus asks us to walk, climb, and carry before we get the chance to sit.
It is easy to dismiss these moments because there is no timer running as I cross campus, no hype playlist chosen for the occasion, and no one applauding me for taking the stairs. The routes we choose and habits we repeat matter more than we give them credit for.
That accumulation of movement has been emphasized by public health researchers. The World Health Organization recommends 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity each week for adults, while emphasizing that some movement is better than none. A 2025 study examining daily step counts found that greater number of steps were associated with better health outcomes. For students who spend much of their day walking, even these ordinary choices become part of the bigger picture.
The benefits extend beyond improved physical health. A study found that higher levels of physical activity were associated with lower odds of depressive symptoms. Even light-intensity exercise was associated with improvements in anxiety and stress levels.
However, walking to class is not a substitute for other forms of exercise, nor does taking a few flights of stairs suddenly transform an otherwise sedentary day. It simply makes the distinction between ‘working out’ and ‘being active’ less rigid.
There will be mornings where you do not make it to the gym and evenings when assignments take longer than expected. Sometimes, maintaining an active lifestyle means noticing the opportunities hiding in the time you have. And sometimes, that can look remarkably ordinary.
