As I enter the dining hall, I know that I will have to make a couple of laps around to figure out what I finally want to eat. I pass the rows of pizza, burgers, and french fries as I try and look for something that is better for me. I pass the desserts that are filled with cookies and cakes knowing that I shouldn't pig out on them. Everyone has heard the tale of the college freshman coming home for the summer and everyone noticing that they have gained the freshman fifteen. In my opinion, one of the man causes of this is from the lack of healthy choices that dining halls offer.

I am not trying to fat-shame anyone or make fun of people who weigh more, this is about eating healthy. By only having the options of junk foods, it does not let me feel like myself. I feel more sluggish and I'm not really motivated to do anything. When I go into the dining hall, I see plenty of unhealthy options, such as pizza or pasta, but the healthy options are limited to the salad bar, or sometimes the meal that is prepared for the day will be healthy, but no one wants to eat the same meal for lunch and dinner every day for a whole semester. There have also been multiple times where the meal of the day has just not been edible due to it either being raw or overcooked.

This may be because where I live on campus, the dining hall that is the closest is the smaller one, therefore there are not as many options as the larger one, but I have been to the larger one and it's not much better. There a couple more options at the further dining hall, such as a vegan station, but the problem with that is that the meals are served on very small plates, so you would have to get multiple plates just to fill up.

I'm not saying to take away all the junk food because just like everyone else, I also like to indulge in these foods, but sometimes it is just too much. I feel like we just need to incorporate more healthy options in our dining halls so that people can make the choice whether they would like to have something healthy or unhealthy. For people who either want to go onto a diet, or just like to eat healthier foods, they should have more options.