I miss the dining hall. There—I said it. As I begin my second semester of dorm-free living, I’m starting to appreciate the cafeteria more than I ever did last year—when I actually had to dine there every day.
When I say I miss the dining hall, I mean sometimes. Since I love cooking and have been dabbling in it for quite a while, the shock of switching from having my food prepared for me to doing it myself wasn’t too severe.
However, it only took me about a week of living off campus to realize I despise doing dishes. There I’d be, cooking away—having a great time—and then the sink-full of dishes would catch my eye. Buzz kill…
And so, dining hall, I’d like to thank you for your magical conveyor belt that carried away my dishes to the mystical land that was the dish room. In hindsight, I appreciate all you did and miss you deeply.
I’ve now realized that it isn’t so much the quality of the dining hall food I miss, but rather it’s the availability factor.
Looking back, walking through those doors seems like it was a transcendent experience: there it was, a full salad bar—a deli with someone waiting to make you a sandwich—steaming wells of prepared food ready to fill your grumbling stomach. It doesn’t even seem important that most of this prepared food was fried, swimming in oil, or dripping with cheese.
For that reason, when I ate in the dining hall I didn’t usually frequent the hot food lines; I was much more drawn to the deli and salad bar with their fresh fruits and veggies abound—this is really what makes me nostalgic.
photo credit: thedailygreen.com
Since I only get to the grocery store every few weeks, it’s hard to keep salad supplies around on a usual basis (that’s why I always try to stock up on these staples!). I knew I could always count on the dining hall to provide me with some nice romaine or spinach and all the fixin’s.
Last year I would sit down at the table in the dining hall, whine and complain about eating the same food day in and day out, and absentmindedly drop my tray on the dishes rack. Fast forward one year, and some days all I want is that crappy food back.
On that note, I’ve got some dishes that request my attention.
Until next time,
E.
No More Ramen: A college student's culinary adventure 
Dining hall = LOVE. and one of the main reasons that I am one of the few juniors still living in the reshalls.
Hahaha I love this post. I work at the South Quad dining hall and have had many shifts in the dishroom and it is nice to know that someone out there appreciates our hours of toiling away washing dishes. Also, at least a South Quad, we are attempting to make our food healthier.
I work at Mojo (I know–I work in the dining hall but somehow still miss it…weird!) and they’re also attempting to make healthier options. I admire their efforts, but somehow it seems like wayyyyy too much oil finds its way into recipes.
Hahaha I know exactly how you feel. There are even times when I cave and buy a meal after I’m done working. I work a little more in the kitchen now so I can see what they are making firsthand. I love when I walk by the grills and there is a huge pot with about 20 sticks of butter melting in it. So much for healthy haha
I know exactly how you feel! I never thought that i would see the day that I would miss the dining hall, but i do. Having food prepared for you already is definitely a plus. I enjoy cooking as well, but trying to cook and clean in between homework and studying can become a hassle at times. As a result of that, I try to hang with my friends that are still living in the dorms as often as possible so that I can get swiped in the dining hall as a guest. I enjoyed this post!
Thanks Ashley! I do the same thing–whenever I’m with a friend who is a dorm-dweller I try to casually bring up lunch, their treat of course 🙂
GURL SAY IT LOUD AND PROUD!
Haha but caps and misspellings aside, I didn’t realize how much I loved (and underappreciated) the dining hall until after I moved out of the dorms. It probably doesn’t help that whenever I get swiped in by my friends, I eat about ten times my body weight, but I love that I can always make my own salads because while I buy like a maniac in the grocery store, I can never buy all of the ingredients or even manage to KEEP them to make salads D: It’ll be a sad day when I enter the Adult World and can’t even enter the dining halls anymore.
I think I’m going to add “having my own personal salad bar” to my bucket list…
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