College is hard. Especially if you're going to school out of state and you don't have older siblings giving you the do's and don'ts. You don't know what to get at Slayter and you wonder what's the best way to avoid long lines. As a first year student at Denison University, I've learned some of the in and outs of Denison and I hope this helps for any new students at Denison.

Befriend Nancy from Slayter.

If you go to Slayter three times a day like I do, then you definitely have met Nancy before. If not, then befriend her ASAP. Nancy sparks up conversation every time I see her and she helps you out at Slayter whenever you don't have your swipe. Bonus plus: she always makes your coffee just right.

Noodle station at Slayter: Ask them to toss in your rice with your stir fry.

When I first ordered rice from the station, the cooks just stir fry your vegetables and meat and put it over warm rice, which is good to some people, but it's not enough for me. If you ask them to specifically toss it in with everything else, the rice will taste so much better (also try light soy sauce and Sriracha). It's life changing.

Get your food at Slayter at 12:50pm.

Don't want to wait for more than 15 minutes for you food? Order before 1:00! Your declining swipe won't work until 1, but you can wait an extra 5 minutes with your food in your hand instead of being late for your next class. You'll avoid the rush of people trying to order.

Use the quarter machine at Slayter on a Wednesday.

It's such a hassle walking down the hill to CVS or the bank to get quarters for laundry. To save some time for yourself and the effort of walking up that huge hill, get your quarters in the middle of the week in Slayter. I realized that the quarter machine is usually refilled by Wednesday (but don't count on it always being refilled every single Wednesday).

Your declining swipes DO roll over.

During my first week, I was told that your meal plan swipes do not roll over at all. False false false. Declining swipes do not roll over after your spring semester, but they definitely roll over between fall and spring semester. So, make sure you're not overdoing it to the point where you have only $60 on the last 2 weeks of school and save some money for the spring semester.

Walking through Mitchell Center to get to Huffman Dining Hall.

This may not apply to people who do not live on North Quad, but for those out there, we're in the same boat and it's such a struggle. You know you won't be satisfied with just going to Curtis, so you troop it no matter what the weather is like. But with the bitter weather in Ohio, you want to stay warm as long as possible. Walk through Mitchell and there's a back door that leads to the parking lot right before the stairs up to Huffman.