The transition from high school to college can be frightening for students. For many, it will be the time where they are exposed to a range of experiences including living away from parents, managing their own day-to-day lives, and surviving the rigorous academic curriculum. With so many challenges, it is essential that students find a school that can provide them with comfort. And all across our society, good food is considered one of the most essential comforts of them all.

There are many people who claim that food should not be a major factor in a student’s decision on which college or university to attend. These people generally focus on a school’s academic characteristics and often disregard the school’s food menu completely. However, multiple problems can occur when  new college freshmen step onto campus for the first time and find the school’s food totally disagreeable to their personal appetites.

First off, a student might obtain bad eating routines by shying away from the school cafeteria and instead loading up on alternative options like instant noodles and chips. Whether they eat very little and snack out during late night study sessions or choose to skip meals entirely, students develops eating routines that over time can be detrimental to both their health and academic performance.

A student’s rejection of school food can have a financial impact as well. Because most of  schools’ tuitions cover meals, students who choose to eat out instead of dining on campus are essentially paying money for a wasted resource. In addition, frequent restaurant dining can make it difficult for a student to return to the much less extravagant cafeteria food and as a result, over time, the often pricier out-of-campus options can tempt students into spending much more than they would like to on dining.

Finally, the realization that one must spend the next four years stuck with unpleasant school cafeteria food can wear a person down emotionally. For many people, the excitement of a coming meal and the enjoyment of eating is often seen as the highlight of a day. Eating has come to be associated into many aspects of our lives, whether it be a tool friends use to spend time together, a method used to deal with stress, or an energizer used to give the motivation needed to finish a project or activity. Consequently, if students dislike the food on campus and are powerless to change what they are offered,  this knowledge can be enough to dampen their overall college experience.

By settling down on the decision to attend a particular college or university, students are not just choosing their future learning grounds, but choosing their home for the next four years as well. If they disregard the school’s food, they run the risk of entrapping themselves in a situation that can be detrimental to their overall college experiences. Whether we acknowledge it or not, food is home.

Recently, one DBHS alumnus visited my class of seniors to answer some questions about college criteria, such as tuition costs and majors. It wasn’t long before I began to hear many student questions pertaining to an aspect I hadn’t seriously considered before: college food. Even worse, I found this to generally be one of the first things students discuss when looking at potential colleges.

What? College is somewhere we go to find new opportunities. From my perspective, those opportunities are what should be on every student’s mind when they think about the future. While food gives us comfort, knowledge and new locations give us much greater opportunities for new experience.

I realize that food is a basic need for survival.  It is a part of the whole “college experience” and gives students something to fall back on when they are stressed. However, worrying about food in college seems silly. It reminds me of people who look forward to theme parks because of the food (which is usually bad.) Yes, some people do that.

Eating, something that has to be done for nourishment, has become more important in some seniors’ minds than things like costs and academics. When I think of college, I worry about getting a job that will help me afford food, and not about the food itself.

I realize that most students do consider these things when thinking about which college they would like to attend, but I feel that students should be getting their priorities straight. I have faith in my fellow seniors, but I sincerely hope that food isn’t near the top of the list when they narrow down their choices. From my perspective, the most impactful criteria would be the price, the types of majors offered and the quality of the programs.

Rather than doing what every other human is doing—eating and breathing—students can look for opportunities that are unique for them. As they think about which college fits them, they should set goals on what activities to join and what subjects they would be interested in. Location is also an important aspect to think about, and it could also play a big role in what careers students will choose.

From going on campus tours over the summer, I learned that indeed, some colleges like Pomona College, UCLA, and Cornell have food that is very good compared to what is typically offered at colleges. However, for those of us who won’t be attending prestigious schools, the food will likely be no better than what is offered at the high school level.

We’ve all heard about the freshman fifteen, and we can accept it as something that can be inevitable with the stress of a new school and newfound freedom.

Where health and body consciousness is concerned, however, the freshman fifteen isn’t really something that I yearn for. And based on what’s on the minds of fellow seniors, most college freshmen aren’t really thinking about preventing it.