About a week ago, Maddie Gehling (The Scout’s managing editor) and I were sitting in the newspaper office, scratching edits on articles and talking about our terrible eating habits.
Maddie eats mainly ramen and TV dinners, while my meals consist of cheap eggs and several cups of coffee.
After wallowing for a few minutes in self-pity, Maddie and I decided to #treatourselves and splurge on an $8 meal at Geisert Hall.
Neither of us had been to a campus dining hall in years – and honestly, we didn’t have the fondest of memories when thinking back to those dorm-living days. But the all-you-can-eat buffet and promise of fresh fruit was enticing.
So we went, and the entire experience was magical.
The food options were endless – I filled plate after plate with salad, mashed potatoes, chicken, pasta, cookies, Jell-O and more.
The food was also tasty (shout out to the Olive Garden-esque breadsticks), and the best part of the experience was not having to wash my dirty dishes after eating.
Maddie and I returned to the office with full, happy bellies and raved about our dinners. Underclassmen Scouters were shocked at our enthusiasm, and they immediately started insulting campus cafeterias, saying they couldn’t wait to live off campus and be able to cook for themselves.
Well, kiddos, living without a dining plan is not fun.
If I’m craving Jell-O, I have to buy the stuff, do the prep and then wait four hours for it to set. If I want a nice, large salad, that’s too bad, because lettuce turns soggy after just a few days in the refrigerator, so I will never have that laying around my house. If I want mashed potatoes, cool, because I have an instant bag that tastes like Play-Doh in my pantry.
Freshman year Tori couldn’t wait to cook for herself, especially after gaining a few first-year pounds. My mom told me not to worry because eating healthy would be much easier once I’m out of the dorms and in a real kitchen.
False (read in Dwight Schrute voice).
Grocery shopping for healthy food (or any food, really) is difficult when you are on a college budget, no matter how many Pinterest posts say otherwise.
When I was on the dining plan, I ended up wasting a majority of my cafeteria swipes and instead opted for Student Center’s Chick-Fil-A or the pasta bar (RIP). I spent too much time complaining and too much money on other food.
Current dining plan members: don’t make the same mistakes. Appreciate the campus cafeterias while you can, because dining only gets worse from here.
