Every college freshman has their own expectations of dorm life: some cannot wait to bond in their PJ's with other students in their hall, and others can think of nothing worse than sharing a ten by ten room with somebody else- for the record, it's only about 50 square feet of personal space. Expectations are met or greatly exceeded after the first week, but for some students, those 50 square feet aren't the worst of their problems; gluten allergies, or any severe allergy, present a major obstacle for any student.
Now for the record, when speaking about a gluten allergy, it is just that-- an allergy, one to wheat barley and rye. For a great number of people, it is not a fad or a means of losing weight; it is simply a means of survival. Gluten allergies can range from a minor allergy to Celiac's disease-- a genetic disease where ingesting gluten can lead to severe small intestine damage.
The first problem that these gluten intolerant students will encounter is the dinning hall. Very seldom can a university dinning hall accommodate these students. Dinning halls are equipped to serve food in bulk. Arrangements can be made with doctors notes on file, but like everybody else, it quickly becomes tiring eating meals like salad, fruit and scrambled eggs everyday. After a few weeks or so, everybody is ready to escape the mystery-meat in the cafeteria's "homestyle" line, but living in a dorm makes it tough to cook, given only a mini-fridge and a microwave. Some meals can be creatively whisked up in that tiny ten by ten room like mac-n-cheese, soups or frozen dinner meals. The best advice, find a friend with an apartment who is willing to let you dirty up their kitchen once or twice a week. Personal cooking can lead to yet another dilemma, grocery shopping. One of the most dreaded words in a college student's vocabulary is "bill(s)," and with the outrageous cost of organic and gluten free foods from the health store, grocery shopping can cost a pretty penny for the gluten intolerant community.
Living in a dorm isn't an easy adjustment for most, wearing flip-flops to shower or needing more closet space, but getting accustomed to college can be much more challenging when presented with such an extreme dietary restriction such as gluten. Every college student comes to find their own problems their first year of college, and who's to say that one is issue is worse than another, but if there was a list, gluten allergies would at least crack the top ten.
For those who are searching for some encouragement, it's a challenge to get through the year, but it's possible. Good luck!
