So you might be asking yourself, “what the heck is this Spoon University thing and why is this article keep popping up on my newsfeed?” Well, I’ll tell ya! Spoon University is the “everyday food resource for our generation”. AKA, it’s an organization that brings together 150+ college campuses by throwing events, writing articles, learning about media in this day and age, and how it all relates around, well, food. Did any of those listed things excite you? Awesome. Here are just some of the reasons why you should join the Union College chapter of Spoon University.
1. Meet awesome people
Photo by Julia Portnoff
Food brings everyone together. It’s honestly as simple as that. When you get asked to meet for an interview, Starbucks meet ups are always the way to go. When you need to meet with a coworker? Dinner it is. When you seek out that normal-looking person down the hall from you and you want friends, you ask them to grab some lunch. Food is God’s gift to us because not only is it frickin’ delish, but it’s something that everyone needs and BOOM – instant bonding topic.
When you’re coming into your freshman year of college it’s no surprise that friends are the top of everyone’s priorities list (I mean, school is important too, but let’s be honest here). What better way to meet people than to literally sit around in a circle and talk about FOOD? Everyone comes together and you literally just talk about funny article ideas, insanely delicious food events to put on, and how we can make our chapter even better. If cookin’ grilled cheese in the dining hall or going to someone’s apartment to eat bomb homemade ramen doesn’t make you meet awesome peeps, I don’t know what will. Unless it’s sick AF events…
2. Sick AF events
Photo by Julia Portnoff
At Union, SpoonU has DEFINITELY made their presence known across campus. Sure, you could say it’s because we’re a ton of really bomb ass people, but also because no one can resist when those event invites pop up on Facebook saying we’re cookin’ up some delicious food in Upper or West dining hall. Not only did we get our own Kona Ice Truck last Spring, but we also held an avocado toast bar, a smoothie bowl bar, a french fry bar (yes, you read that correctly), and a GRILLED CHEESE BAR FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. Also, we had an EPIC ramen party. I know, I’m salivating too. Getting to be a part of these dope events makes you feel a part of something awesome. You get to put your cooking skills to the test (that you probably lost from being at college for so long). You also get to contribute to the school and help make Spoon’s presence on campus that much stronger. Plus, free awesome food. No one can resist that.
3. Creative Outlet (and not from a desk)
Gif courtesy of giphy.com
Spoon is an amazing outlet for people who have a yearning to dig into their creative side, but don’t really wanna do it at a desk reading Shakespeare. You like to write, but maybe without all the fancy lingo (I’m looking at you thesaurus.com)? Perfect! Come on over and write ridiculous articles with as much voice and stupid words that your heart desires. Maybe not into writing all too much, but you love taking pics? Perfect! Grab that camera and snap away. Spoon is such a casual, awesome environment for people to embrace their creativity in a modern, millennial run organization where we appreciate voice, ideas, and, well, FOOD. Also, if you are into video production you can join Spoon’s video contributor network.
4. Resume Builder
Gif courtesy of giphy.com
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for joining things for the sake of joining things and not necessarily just doing it for the resume. But I ain’t lyin’ when I say adding the link to your published articles on an application definitely will make you ~StAnD oUt~ and be all ~uNiQuE~ and what not. Especially since so many Spoon articles are written with so much voice. Employers can really see another side to you that’s more casual and, well, you. Being able to say that you have articles published nationally? Not everyone can really say the same. Technology is running this whole world and everyone is looking for a new and trendy outlets. Employers, especially, will love to see that you are involved in such a strong, modern organization that embraces creativity and technology to connect people.
5. Swag
Photo by shop.spoonuniversity.com
I’d be lying if I said a small part of me doesn’t love Spoon so much because of the stickers, pens and bags I got when I joined (okay, maybe a bit more than a small part). No shot you won’t love the endless pizza stickers and the classic spoon logo pasted all over your computer like a basic person would. This reason might not be as long as others, but it is OH so important.
6. You could LITERALLY be on BuzzFeed
Gif courtesy of giphy.com
Something that’s so awesome about SpoonU is that it is connected to websites like BuzzFeed, Time Inc, Food Network, Elite Daily, Food & Wine, and so many more lit places. If your article gets enough shares or views or it’s really just that damn awesome, maybe you’ll be the author of that next weirdo article people are sharing on their friend’s Facebook profiles.
7. Job$ and Internships
Gif courtesy of giphy.com
Mmmmm, what a concept…and what a very needed thing for broke ass college students out on the prowl. Being a part of Spoon not only gives you an awesome excuse to talk about food with other people and write funny shit online, but talk about the doors it could open. Like literally shout out to Madison Shapiro, our Editorial Director here at the U, who’s interning with Spoon University HQ this summer. Even outside of just Spoon University, with alumni working at tons of different companies (like the ones mentioned above, wink wink I’m looking at you BuzzFeed) maybe this could be your link to an AMAZING opportunity. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and again and again…. and again: food brings people together. Who’s to say it couldn’t also help out some peeps in need of the moola?
8. We all just really love food
Photo by Sydney Block
Obviously if you couldn’t tell from this whole article, we’re a really fun group of people who just love food. We love taking advantage of the fact that we can bond over how pretty our avocado toast or ramen was, and we will NEVER judge when the food comes out and you just HAVE to take 20 pictures of the masterpiece. Also, the Nott makes any food look 300x times better.
So, here’s a mini quiz for you all. Do you like food? Do you like being around other humans? Do you attend Union College? Do you have access to the world wide web? Sounds good. See you at our first meeting ;). You can apply HERE.