By Marissa Muniz | LTVN Reporter
It baffles me that I ever thought dining hall plans were awful. Living off-campus has given me a whole new appreciation for the convenience and luxury of a dining plan. Now that I’m off-campus, I’ve come to understand just how good we had it.
With prices constantly fluctuating, trips to H-E-B, Sam’s Club, Target and Walmart are always unpredictable. One week, a carton of eggs is affordable — the next, it’s a splurge. And even if you’re lucky enough to have a solid job that pays more than the hours Baylor lets us work, you still have to deal with the unpredictability of adult life. Food goes bad. Roommates “accidentally” eat your groceries. And we’re busy college students who might not always have the time to scroll through Pinterest or TikTok for new meal ideas every week.
Dining halls solve all of that. They offer meals, cleanliness and smarter finances in one package. No worrying about dishes piling up or ingredients expiring before you get to use them. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned living away from home is that when my parents used to say: “There’s food at home.” Now? It’s hard to even convince myself that “eating at home” is the cheaper or the easier option because groceries have become so expensive and unpredictable. Sometimes, buying ingredients just to toss half of them a week later feels more wasteful than anything else.
Even meal prepping, which sounds great in theory, gets exhausting. Finding new recipes to keep things exciting takes time we don’t have. We’re juggling exams, projects, jobs and social lives, and it’s not easy to cook for one.
Dining halls took all of that off our plates. Fresh food, a variety of choices and never a worry about expiration dates. It was simple: just show up and eat.
With dining plans, we have options, all at the swipe of an ID card. Whether it was a comforting omelet from Brooks, a flying saucer from Memo in between classes or nuggets on Thursdays (which, let’s be honest, were better than McDonald’s) — there was always something to look forward to. The dining staff brought joy and consistency to our days. It wasn’t just about food; it was about community and comfort.
My packed lunches now don’t come close. Chick-fil-A runs drain my wallet and leave me unsatisfied. The dining halls give us the best of both worlds: comfort meals when we were homesick and healthy options when we were trying to be better. We took that for granted.
Now, as I reheat my meal preps and try to stretch my budget until the next paycheck, I can’t help but miss those warm, perfectly portioned meals and the smiling faces that served them.
