To be honest, I have no way of telling who you are (unless you later comment my blog and let me know). I will assume that you are a college student, particularly a freshman this year since this blog of ours is about surviving college and what to expect there. Either that, or you’re a student in high school getting ready to apply or go to college in the next year or so. Or maybe you’re even a parent of a potential college student. I have no idea. But I do know that IF you ARE like me, you’re a freshman in college and you’re struggling between your class schedule, and trying to find time to eat every once in a while, and once you do find time, you get sick of eating the same thing over and over again. Chances are it will get better and you will adjust…eventually. I have gotten used to it, and if I can do it, anybody can, including you.
Most people go to college knowing that there will be dining halls where they can access somewhat decent meals three times a day (unless you go to Purdue where they do not serve dinner on Sunday nights and then the students starve, but that’s beside the point….). If you go to the same dining hall two or three times without making an appearance at a different one, you will probably notice that the hall you’ve been going to has the same food every day. DO NOT ASSUME EVERY DINING HALL SERVES THE EXACT SAME THING ON THE SAME DAY. I made that mistake and after three weeks, I just found now found out that the dining halls serve different food even though each one has the same kind of food every day. So there IS a variety to choose from… the only obstacle standing in your way now is the walk from “starting point A” to “ending point B”.
The other problem I would like to pose a solution for today has to do with schedules and dining hall operating hours. Most of us average students are up until 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning and have a 7:30 AM class. The dining halls open at 6:30 AM for breakfast until 9:30 AM, but those of us up late don’t always have time to go to breakfast, and WE NEED FOOD! Ask people around campus about any possible solutions if you find yourself in the same boat. I just found out 4 days ago that Purdue has a system called “On The Go”. Instead of buying a meal and sitting down to eat (like in the dining halls…usually), we can just go in, pick the food we want, pay, and be on our way. This works great because you can just eat while walking to class. I would assume since I did not hear about this system, not many other people knew either, and maybe still don’t. The same thing goes for lunchtime. If you have classes around dining lunch hours, there has to be something at your school that will get you by for a few hours. Think about it. They can’t just let you starve. They have to feed you somehow! So just take my advice, and ask questions because there is always an answer, even if the answer is a simple “no”. At least you know you tried right?
Oh yeah, chances are there are “Grilles” on campus that stay open later than the dining halls for late night snacking if it’s a must! ;-)
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2 comments:
I also am a freshman at Purdue and I LOVE On the Go! It is probably the best food idea that could be added to any college campus. Not only is it fast, but it's actually pretty good. They also tend to have much healthier food choices at on the go - sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, etc. Also, since you are limited to 5 items, you can pick up a main item like a sandwhich and a few smaller items to snack on throughout the day. This keeps you from overeating at one main meal and instead having a piece of fruit or something later on in the day. Another idea... if you have extra meal swipes at the end of the week, go to On the Go and use them up! I usually stock up on milk, cereal, fruit cups, fruit snacks, crackers, and occasionally a pack of powdered doughnuts! This will prevent you from wasting meal swipes and it will also stock up your dorm room with fairly healthy snacks without stealing a penny from your pocket!
KJ I completely agree! Since I've heard about 'On The Go' my eating habits have gotten somewhat better. And I'm just glad we go to Purdue so that we have this system to use at our advantage. However, not all colleges have 'On The Go' so hopefully those students will find SOMETHING like that. Or hopefully there's a mini mart close nearby!
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