Eating in the dining hall every day is an important part of the college experience. At the beginning of the year, you are so excited and overwhelmed by all the options. After a few weeks though, you realize that it isn't all fun and games. Eating in the dining hall requires skills such as balancing plates, figuring out peak times (so you know when to avoid it), and knowing what they are serving before going in. Here are just a few more things everyone experiences while eating in the dining hall.

1. The initial whiff.

The first thing you smell upon entering the dining hall sets the tone for the whole meal. A hint of stir-fry in the air usually signals that it will be a very good lunch. If the scent is unidentifiable, well, you'll just have to figure that one out.

2. Standing in the pasta line like...

After a long day of class, sometimes all you want is some nice penne with marinara. What you don't want is to wait in a line that feels like its moving at snail pace.

3. Finding your friends is like "Where's Waldo"

Since most of your friends are still in that pasta line, you are left to find where the one friend who isn't is sitting. That can be a challenge when there are hundreds of kids in the dining hall at once. You spend more time looking for a place to sit than you do actually eating.

4. It's a balancing act (literally)

You are just trying to get your glass of water when out of nowhere, swarms of people comes from every direction who all happen to want water at the same time. It's such a random thing, but it ALWAYS. HAPPENS.

5. Bringing all your plates to the dish return

At the end of your meal, you realize you somehow ended up with 5 plates and 2 glasses. It comes the dreaded time to bring everything back up to the dish return. You are struggling to carry all your things up, and then place them on a moving dish rack. This requires quite the skill.