By Caitlyn Meisner | Staff Writer
Being a college student is hard enough. We don’t need to make the essential tasks of surviving any more difficult than they already are. Feeding ourselves after having been so used to our parents feeding us is a task in itself and can become a nuisance.
Despite working two jobs, I don’t always have enough money to buy myself groceries that will last me three meals a day, seven days a week. If I can barely afford gas prices, how can I pay over $50 each week at the grocery store? That is why I buy a meal plan even though I live off campus.
Furthermore, I don’t have the time to pack myself a lunch every single day and to remember to grab it on my way to class in the morning. I’m too worried about getting a parking spot in Speight, so I don’t have much brainpower left at 9 a.m. Even then, how good can a sandwich be after it’s been sitting in my backpack for five hours, squished by my notebooks and out in the hot Texas sun? I experienced that misery in high school, and I swore to never go back.
It is weird to subscribe to the mentality of thinking my food is “free” when I swipe my ID, when it clearly is not. I feel better knowing that the meal swipes and dining dollars loaded onto my ID are not taken directly from my bank account, so I might as well utilize them at the dining halls or Chick-fil-A.
Baylor’s CampusDish website lists the prices for each meal as they were during the 2021-2022 academic year. Breakfast was $6.75, lunch was $10 and dinner was $12.19.
If I were to go to campus every single day of the fall semester, that would be approximately 65 days. In theory, I would have to pay $10 to eat lunch at one of the dining halls each day. That would cost $650.
Not so bad, right?
However, we all love Chick-fil-A, Panda Express and Starbucks. Now you’re paying even more out of pocket. Instead of paying out of pocket for these luxury dining experiences, you can choose a meal plan that comes with dining dollars for the times you want to ditch the dining halls.
Personally, I chose the Block 65 meal plan; it comes with 65 swipes per semester and $225 in dining dollars, which I can use across campus.
Lastly, I get to maintain my ties to campus life. I love living in my own space away from Baylor, but I also enjoyed being surrounded by campus — being able to look out my window to see something going on in the courtyard of South Russell Hall or over at North Village.
Baylor’s community ties run deep for underclassmen living on campus, so why can’t upperclassmen have that too?
Next semester, get a meal plan. It has made me feel better about living off campus, as I know I can still feed myself during the day instead of waiting to go back to my apartment to eat dinner.
Even if I don’t influence you, that’s OK. More Memorial Dining Hall cookies for me!
