Many things change when one transitions from a first year to second year -- dorms to apartments, intro classes to those 3000 level courses, and of course, unlimited meal plans to scraping together grocery money and eating a spoon of peanut butter for dinner. As one of these second years myself trying not to starve to death every day, I've realized there's several food-related struggles that seem to be fairly universal to those still attempting to adjust to the idea of feeding ourselves.
1. We actually miss the dining halls.
If someone told me last March that I'd miss stopping by O'Hill after the gym or being able to swipe into Newcomb for coffee between every class of the day, I wouldn't have believed them. I mean, UVA food is notoriously and unfortunately not good, yet here I am, staring at my empty fridge, missing all my unlimited meal swipes. Take advantage of that salad bar and ice milk machine, kids. You never know how good something is until it's gone.
2. We go to random school events just for free food.
Do I really want to learn how to swing dance? No, and I don't actually have an interest in ceramics club, but if you're having pizza or s'mores at your first meeting, I'm there. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
3. Groceries become a bigger pain than homework.
I thought the hard part would be learning how to make things other than PB&J, but now I have to take multiple hours out of my day to bus to the grocery store, figure out all the ingredients and food I need to get, begrudgingly pay for them with my debit card, and get back home before my afternoon discussion? Not cool, dude. Not cool.
4. We're constantly faced with the dilemma of whether or not to try to cook.
Another pain is the constant question: should I attempt to grill some chicken and make some sort of salad, or will I hate myself a little more if I have Ramen for the tenth night in a row? I have good intentions, I really do want to be healthy and build up some culinary skills, but...my bed is so comfy...and cereal is just so easy...and who wants to wash dishes anyways? I'll cook tomorrow. I swear.
5. We try to befriend first years just for free swipes.
Oh, heeeeeey, I'd love to meet at Clem and work on our project together! Oh, wait, I forgot my ID at home...could you maybe use one of your guest swipes for me so we can grab lunch together first? We're evil, I know. Duty calls.
6. We're the ones stuffing 8 bananas into our backpacks at Newcomb.
If your parents did actually get you one of those small meal plans, you know you have to make full use of your limited meal swipes, so it's necessary to cram as much food possible into your to-go box. And a couple handful of apples and maybe a loaf of bread or two for your backpack.
7. And sometimes, we have sleep for dinner.
If you're like me and don't get home from class or the library till really late, exhausted from a full day of work and studying and reading, making a meal is the last thing you'll want to do. Boiling pasta or going to bed? You already know.
RIP summer and all those weeks of stocked fridges and Mom's homemade dinners. Though we all got sick of O'Hill's subpar breakfasts and blowing through all our plus dollars at the Dumplings truck within the first month, we didn't have to worry about whether or not we'd be having real food for dinner or if we'd accidentally already spent our grocery money at Boylan the night before. If the Freshman 15 was real, so is the Second Year Slim down.
