One of the perks of going to Marquette is the meal plan. Unlimited swipes in Cobeen, Straz, and McCormick can be a fantastic thing. The AMU, Schroeder, and Mashuda also present interesting possibilities for your taste buds. Food has become a way for people to get together and catch up. At this age most of my socializing occurs during the different meals of the day. There is a lot of power in the meal plan, but more importantly it’s how you use that power.
I will warn everyone that your digestive system will plummet. It will be extremely unpleasant, and you will just pray for it to end. Mom’s homemade cooking is no longer around, and you’re left with little healthy options, or having to go to extreme lengths in order to get to those options.
Mom is no longer forcing fruits and vegetables down your throat before you can eat dessert, and as a result fruits and vegetables are the last thing to cross your mind at a dining hall, while soft serve climbs to the forefront. The lack of fiber will most definitely not do anything to help your current bathroom situation, and you then realize why mom always wanted you to eat your fruits and vegetables. If only they could be delivered to us by this adorable dog.
A main issue with having digestive problems when you’re in a dorm is the lack of privacy in the bathroom. Even if you have your own bathroom, you’re still sharing it with a roommate. No one in your room or wing will be safe after pizza and multiple hot cookies. You could potentially end up like Elaine in "Seinfeld" asking her neighbor if she had a “square to spare.”
Another college reality is the Freshman 15. It doesn’t matter if you were a three-sport athlete or if you don’t think it’ll happen to you. No one is safe from it. Time becomes more and more difficult to keep track of and before you know it, it’s just way too cold to travel through snow to the rec. The hot cookies are dangerous, and a Marquette specialty, especially with ice cream on top. As someone who used to live in Cobeen, I am well aware of the dangers that arise every Monday and Thursday evening.
Transitioning to college can be a difficult task, and some things can be hard to get used to. The food is probably the most prevalent example of this at Marquette. Your taste buds might like the change at first, but your digestive system will not. The good thing is that we’re all in this together, and everything will, hopefully, go back to normal. Eating healthy and working out when you can is possibly the solution to these problems. It’s college, so live it up and try your best to get the big stall in Raynor bathrooms (my personal favorite bathroom spot on campus).
