College is a time of many changes for several students. One of the biggest changes students can experience is with their diet.
People often associate college students with eating Ramen Noodles, mac ‘n’ cheese and pizza because that’s what’s easiest. These meals may not always be the best decision, but sometimes they are necessary due to overloaded schedules and qualms with what the university dining hall offers.
First-year music education major Avery Beair has been a pescatarian for a little over three years, and the university’s menu has not always been accommodating to him.
“There have been a few days where I’ll show up in between the meal times, and so my only option is…yogurt,” Beair said.
Because of his major requirements, Beair’s schedule is already demanding, even just a few weeks into the school year. His busy schedule only allows Beair to eat at specific times that may not be normal.
“I’ll probably eat around 10:30 or 11:00, if I can get to 11:00 because that’s when actual lunch starts,” Beair said. “And then for dinner, it’s anywhere from 4:00 to 7:00.”
From Monday through Friday, the Main Dining Room (MDR) serves breakfast from 7-10:30 a.m., lunch from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. and dinner from 4:30-8 p.m. Many students with odd schedules, including Beair, need to eat during the brief transitions from breakfast to lunch and lunch to dinner, but they’re not always able to.
Abbie George is a junior majoring in chemistry, biochemistry and biology. Her majors also demand a busy schedule, so she has difficulty finding time to eat on campus.
“I have a lot of lab classes, and a lot of the time they take place in prime MDR hours, which is why I always have to eat [at One Main Café],” George said.
One Main Café is one of the university’s other dining options, operating from 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Monday through Friday. These hours have helped give students times to eat that are more fitting to their schedule, but the food served may still be an inconvenience.
“[One Main Café] recently got rid of the grilled cheese,” George said. “So now I don’t really have anything that I like to eat down here.”
George expressed that she does not usually eat meat, so the removal of the grilled cheese from the menu has been a struggle for her. She wishes that One Main Café offered more meatless options because “the rest of [the menu] is like burgers and wraps that have meat in them.”
Another student, junior English literature major Shannon O’Donnell, is also very busy between her classes and her job at the Blackmore Library, but she is slowly starting to figure out what works best for her.
“The first week of class, I was…constantly hungry, and I was probably really annoying to people because I was ravenous all the time,” O’Donnell said. “But, as I’ve gotten more into a routine, I’ve had more time to eat.”
O’Donnell’s solution may not be the answer for every student, but she has been able to eat small meals during her classes.
“There are certain days where I’m just not in my room for long stretches of time…and unless I bring food with me, I just won’t really have time to eat,” O’Donnell said.
For more information on the university’s dining options, click here.
