"College is the best time of your life" they say. Undoubtedly, a plethora of reasons can explain the reasoning behind this famous saying. For me, the two factors which made it the best time of my life are easy: (1) friends (2) food. The past 4 years have fortunately exposed me to both categories, and the wide variety that they entail, which led me to think about how the 10 types of friends you make in college can be explained by food.
1. The Classmate - Bagels
Whether it's a group project, or you need someone to ask homework questions to, we all have the classmate friend. A classic lunch brought to class (especially going to school in Boston) was a large Dunkin Donuts' coffee. But in some cases, sharing notes or study spaces can turn into a legitimate friendship and they bring more to the table than just an iced Dunkin Donuts coffee, they become someone you can grab a bagel with.
2. The Flakey "We Should Hang Out Sometime" One - Croissant
Whether you're in the elevator or in office hours, randomly meeting someone and getting their contact information to hang out is not an uncommon occurrence. Since college students are so busy, the "we should totally hang out!" or "hit me up!" is nice at first, until it ends up being just plain words over text as opposed to real plans. Some of these people can be flaky, like a croissant. Whether they are plain, or a bit nicer and sugarcoat their text messages with pretty emojis, they might be like these pretty croissants from Tradesman or delicious ones from Cafe Madeline.
3. The Orientation / Freshman Year Friend - Coffee
Freshman year is a wildly interesting time. For an extrovert like myself, meeting people in activities such as Orientation and dorm events was a super exciting part. Everyone you meet is obviously initially super nice, since who doesn't want to make friends in college, right? That being said, it's easy to get yourself energized, just like how coffee does so by getting your heart rate up. However, the honeymoon phase of "everyone is so nice wow, I love college!" is known for wearing off in the second semester of freshman year or even sophomore year, just like how when you finish your coffee, your heart eventually resumes back to its normal beating pace.
4. IG Buddies - The Best Noodles In Town
Whether it be dropping IG handles in Facebook groups or Group Me chats, following people on IG prior to college is common. But actually meeting your followers in-person is a whole other story. On IG, you see their highlights, and get a (rough) impression of what they look like. You might hear things about them, just like how people hear about the best ramen or noodle place in town, although you still haven't been. Despite hearing about it, seeing photos, the question is: how does the ramen REALLY taste like? Same with the friends you follow on IG, what are they REALLY like when you meet them in person?
5. The Foodie - Honey Toast (and all fancy desserts!)
Whether it's someone you met in Spoon University or someone who is a big foodie like me, these friends know how to go above and beyond the most popular places in town or the repetitive places on your IG feed. They know how to find the smaller, but wonderfully delicious places that offer mouthwatering menu items.
To any of my friends reading this, it is very likely that I am the foodie friend.
6. The Dining Hall Friend - (Steast) Cookies
Despite the constant complaints about the dining hall such as the lack of variety, repeated dishes, bland flavors among others, one nostalgic dining hall treat that a lot of students in my school cherish are are warm, soft-baked cookies offered at the dining hall, commonly known as 'Steast cookies'. These cookies remind me a lot of the friends you make in the dining hall. Despite not always being there, when they are there, it is a nice feeling. Sometimes, you can enjoy their company outside of the dining hall too, like you can do if you manage to sneak some cookies out!
7. The Roommate - Instant Noodles
You can become super with someone in college, but living with them is another story. Whether you guys hit it off or not, roommates are like instant noodles. There are such a wide variety of them, some are super good and others, not as much. I was never a big instant noodle person but the two I have tried are Mike's Mighty Goods and a Thai brand I ate growing up, Mama.
8. The One You Met Through Zoom During COVID-19 - Muffins
Whether you tuned in over the COVID-19 pandemic from home or on campus, you're bound to have met someone through Zoom. These people remind me of muffins, in the sense that muffin tops are the only parts shown on menus because of how they look so good. On Zoom, you only see people's top half as well, from their shoulders and upwards. Some of those people might have been regular muffins, but the special ones you met (and eventually saw in-person) are more of cupcakes.
9. The VSCO IG-er - Cocktails
You know who I'm talking about. Their Instagram stories are always on point, from the right VSCO filter applied, to the perfectly color coordinated outfit (which so happens to match their backdrop). These friends are like cocktails. They know how to make their aesthetic really pop out in pictures, just like how cocktails do, from the perfect amount of sugar on the rim to the pretty mix of colors infused in the actual drink.
10. The Storyteller - Dim Sum
The storytellers remind me a lot of the dim sum experience in a Chinese restaurant. Their stories just keep coming, and they come in so many different categories, just like the endless varieties of dim sum offered. Sometimes, their stories are really juicy and satisfying, just like eating some of those perfect xiao long baos (soup dumpling).
Bonus: The Real One - Hot Chocolate
Regardless of how many types of friends you have in college, at the end of the day, it really is quality over quantity. Everyone in college is super busy, but the ones who can find time for you regardless of their schedules are just like a good and warm hot chocolate. They warm your heart the way that hot chocolate does, whether it's in the cold winter, or when you're half way across the world preparing some Ghiradelli chocolate just because you miss the real ones so much.