Maybe it’s the stress of finals kicking in, but when I realized that for the next four years I would be forced to buy a meal plan at Davidson, I was pretty annoyed. As a vegetarian and just a lover of good food in general, I’m not a big fan of the school’s dining services. Don’t get me wrong, I still crave quesadillas and commons desserts every once in awhile, but not as frequently as my meal plan may lead you to believe. The least expensive plan you can get at Davidson is 75 meals a semester, and it costs $877 per semester. That’s about $11.70 a meal, which seems like a lot to me considering a meal at the Union costs $8.70. That means that if you used every meal swipe at the Union, you’re essentially wasting $224.50. That’s a lot of money.
This frustration made me wonder what other things I could get for $877.
1. 135 Burritos
A burrito at Chipotle costs $6.50. Even if you wanted to splurge and get chips, guac, and a drink, the total cost of your feast would come out to $11.55. Which is less than the cost per meal on the 75 block plan.
2. A flight to Hawaii
A round trip flight from Charlotte to Hawaii over winter break cost $891. Granted, it was on United Airlines so it’s admittedly risky, but I’ll take it over Commons any day.
3. Automatic laundry folding machine
This is only fair after Davidson discontinued the laundry service
4. Flying personal robot
I think this speaks for itself
5. World’s most expensive ice cream
It’s literally topped with edible gold, need I say more?
6. Inflatable windsurfer and sailboat
Not only would this make you the coolest kid at lake campus, but the fact that it’s inflatable means you can store it in your dorm room easily.
In retrospect, I don’t know if this was cathartic or damaging, but it was definitely interesting. All jokes aside, I’m pretty annoyed that we’re forced to be at minimum almost $900 worth of campus food, especially when thinking about everything else that money could buy (textbooks, maybe??). I think it’s time Davidson got rid of this policy, or seriously raised the bar on campus food.
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