You leave for college as a freshman expecting to be presented with sub-par food.

Then you get used to it and decide in your head that it's not half bad.

Then you go home for your first break from school and your mother (or father) make you your favorite meal.

Game Over.

Where has this food been?? WHERE IS THE SALVATION?? You realize what you've been consuming for the past days, weeks, months, is cardboard compared to the beautiful deliciousness that is your favorite home cooked meal.

4 years later and trust me, the struggle doesn't get better. But at least when you live in a suite style apartment or off-campus house you can cook for yourself.

A recent weekend trip home made me realize how good home cooked food is and how much I actually missed it. Granted, now that I live off campus I am able to cook for myself but we all know it just isn't the same.

Going to college makes you appreciate how good you have it at home. There is no need to pick between the unrecognizable meat that's been sitting in the tray for a few hours or the same wrap you've had for a week in a row. Your fridge is fully stocked! You go home, ask your parents for your favorite dish and most likely before the break is over you will have it. If your parents are like my mother, you will not only get the dish you requested but it will be accompanied by 5 other dishes you didn't even know you missed.

There are a few reasons why home cooking is so amazing:

1. First, and most importantly - it is FRESH. There is nothing more delicious than a meal that hasn't been sitting over a heater for hours, or last night's vegetables re-purposed into today's stir fry. Even if you are eating leftovers, at least you know that they were made from home and are edible.

2. You automatically know you like it - There is no experimentation necessary. You know you like and enjoy that particular dish so there is no need to try the food with skepticism and fear. Just dig in and enjoy.

3. It's (most-likely) healthy - natural ingredients make for healthier dishes. You trust where the ingredients came from and know that even if you fry them, they will have more nutritional value than the canned soup that gets passed as "homemade" in your university cafeteria.

4. You have access to endless amounts of it. Because we all know that in a dining hall setting as soon as one thing is deemed as "good" that food item is the first to go - and for some reason never gets replaced. When you're at home, you can eat the whole tray of [insert favorite food here] and the only person you have to fight off is your sibling. I call that a small victory.

5. It was made with Love. This is cheesy but there is something to be said about having a meal prepared by someone who actually cares about you. It wasn't made arbitrarily but rather, someone took the time and effort to make you that dish because they knew you'd enjoy it. That's pretty nice.

So here's to delicious food made at home. Everyone will survive dining hall food and going some time without even a taste of their favorite dish but we all know the feeling when we get home and take that first bite of utter deliciousness. There's nothing like sitting down to feast with family and friends. So appreciate your meals at home and remember that dining hall meals don't last forever.