When I reminisce on the glory and hardships of freshman year, one of the most important locations during that special time was the dining hall. It was noisy yet relaxed, and had an extraordinary energy that made it much more fun than any high school cafeteria.
Now that I’m three years removed from the dorms, I realize how comical our conversations were. Everyone went through hilarious experiences on the regular. Those long, crowded tables were the perfect location to share tales with new friends. These topics should be familiar to anyone else who was a regular in their dorm’s dining hall.
Complaining About Classes
Everyone loves to complain about school, but freshman year is the only time you can count on having the same classes as your friends. The dining hall is where friends find emotional support after a particularly traumatic Calculus II test. Cry it out, bud, that’s what the unlimited desserts are for.
Foiled Attempts to Drink Alcohol as an 18-Year-Old
Every time a puppy is born, a freshman gets an MIC. Every time a kitten is born, a freshman gets caught with booze or pot in their dorm room. In other words, freshman are good at getting themselves in trouble. And what’s funnier than laughing at the mild legal struggles of your new friends?
Trying to Scam Free Food
I got to eat at what was known as the nicest dining hall on campus. The lucky outsiders that got in as guests could be spotted with 8 plates in front of them. The unfortunate ones that tried to sneak in but failed were spotted walking out of the hall with a look of shame and hunger only a college freshman surviving off goldfish and granola bars can have.
The Freshest of Freshman Topics
I don’t mean to be patronizing, but there are some dining hall conversations that just scream “I am a college freshman”. The dining hall is home to the most utterances of “Where you from?”, or “What’s your major?”, of anywhere on Earth. Everyone exchanges phone numbers and social media tags so liberally, one might think freshman are paid to have friends on Snapchat.
This special place is also where it is still acceptable to flex high school championships- varsity lacrosse hoodies are the dining hall version of a blue oxford shirt
But all of This Was Back in My Day…
I have been out of the dorms for 3 years, this is just what went down when I was a lanyard-toting, gold-shirt-wearing youngin. Stay tuned for my foray back into the land of the fresh, as I discover what dining hall conversations the class of 2020 are having that catch my ear.