Recently I went to the dining court for the first time in almost a year and realized how much I missed it. Before college, I loved baking and cooking with my grandmother, having done it throughout my childhood. In high school I would always cook nice dinners with my family and would participate in 4H baking, always receiving high marks because I was so passionate about it.
When I moved to campus I was surprised at realizing how little cooking I would do. My dorm had a kitchen in the basement but the oven was rundown, and you had to rent baking dishes from the front desk. This was not ideal for me since I had every possible dish and baking instrument at my fingertips while I was back home. There was also the issue of buying ingredients. You could buy them from places like Tarkington Market or Third Street Towers, but you had to pay an arm and a leg for them. And so, the most cooking I did in the dorms was warming up some easy mac in my microwave.
My sophomore year I found myself living in the dorms once again. Unfortunately, by this time I was tired of dining court food. I would try mixing it up by using only the panini makers to make crazy sandwiches but soon grew tired of sandwiches. By the end of the year I was so ready to live in my apartment and be able to eat whatever I wanted.
When I moved in this year at the beginning of the year I would make delicious dinners, ranging from shrimp bow tie pasta all the way to acorn squash and steak. As my classes picked up and I had more club responsibilities I only had time to make turkey sandwiches. I also had the added expense of going to buy my own food while I did not have to worry about that the first two years. I soon started to miss the dining courts, there was just enough variation in their foods while living in the apartment sometimes I would eat the same thing for breakfast a whole week in a row.
I also figured out why most of us gained the Freshman 15, the unlimited food was so tempting and you could always have dessert. I don’t think I had a dessert with dinner this year until October. When I went back to the dining court this year I ate so much I physically felt ill later on whereas when I lived in the dorms that would have been enough food for me.
While going back to the dining court was great and I loved everything I had, there were some aspects I do not miss. Sometimes they were so crowded and loud while now I can cook food and go lay o my bed to watch Scream Queens. I was always the unfortunate soul who would get their make-your-own quesadilla stolen and that was my greatest pet peeve, now if someone steals my food I know it is one of my roommates. And finally, my apartment has plenty of clean forks, unlike Hillenbrand of a busy Sunday Brunch day.