This past week, Douglass Dining Hall was closed due to the heavy snow. To many, especially freshmen living in the Susan B. Anthony Residence Hall, this is not that detrimental of an occurrence, as Danforth is but an elevator ride away. But what about your average high-motor sophomore? Having been on this campus for over a year-and-a-half, I find myself slowly conforming to the society around me by becoming a creature of habit. This personal trait of mine has influenced multiple facets of my everyday life—facets such as my sleep schedule, nightly exercise, and most importantly, food. Most students at this university create schedules that limit themselves to 30- to 45minute breaks in-between classes.
I am, of course, one of these people. Due to these small windows of time to eat, many students find themselves limited to eat at one of the few dining options at the heart of the River Campus. These options include Wilson Commons, Douglass, and the Grab & Go.
Douglass is ideal for people looking to quickly use one of their unlimited meal swipes to feast on stale coffee and chicken salad, or, as I like to call it, the “Breakfast of Champions.” As for the Grab & Go, students can grab their favorite sandwich or salad, bag of chips, fruit, drink, and cookie, all for the cost of a single swipe.
And finally, the hub of all upperclassmen, Wilson Commons, is best known for satisfying an urge for a burrito without E. Coli, or sending any college student to artificially-preserved Heaven with that sweet taste of orange chicken. The main difference between the Commons and our other two options is that Wilson Commons food is generally never the same cost as a meal swipe. As an ambitious sophomore, I found myself retaining the same mindset I had a year ago when choosing my meal plan, and decided to limit my amount of Declining severely in order to have unlimited access to certain dining halls. Up until this past week I had thought this was the best option out there. To my surprise, I was horrendously wrong.
Upon hearing that Douglass was closed, I had no idea what I was going to do. Do I wait to eat food when I get out of class at 8:15 that night, or do I give in and eat at the Pit like a normal sophomore should do? Ultimately, I found pride had taken over completely, and I decided to refrain from eating until I was out of class later that night. As a message to all students younger than me: Do not follow in my footsteps. Don’t give yourself such a terrible class schedule, don’t get the unlimited swipes plan, and never trust the Rochester weather.
