A third-year student and a first-year resident of the IRC, I returned ever begrudgingly to the dining hall after a year of freedom and less-than-free grocery shopping off-Grounds. I remember first walking from the IRC to Newcomb last semester, head down, hat covering my face. Still, I could not deny the convenience of on-Grounds dining, and my arguments were weak as my mom arranged for not 50, but 80 meals. She even threatened unlimited, which would have chained me --- an upper-class student --- to eat only at the dining hall.
Yet, more horrifying than my initial vision of a marriage to Newcomb Hall, was my realization the last week of fall semester that I was out of meals. So soon? "How's it going to be?" I wondered, hearing the tune of Third Eye Blind's hit single swimming in my mind. How would I make the cold, long trek to the Corner -- or worse -- to the kitchen? Would Kathy forget my face? Would the server at the burrito line forget my regular chicken, extra cheese, no wrap? Must I revert back to existing as just another paying customer, no longer a card-owning member of the dining hall family? "What do you mean? I'm out of Plus Dollars, too?" I asked, my voice becoming shrill.
Thanks to Cav Advantage, I never had to answer those questions or enter the real food world on my lonely own that semester. I managed to make it through, abiding by my normal Newcomb-loving schedule, one which I continue this semester. Since my confrontation with the possibility of losing Newcomb and the long break without it, I appreciate it like never before. The food tastes fresher. The air smells meatier. I relish my Newcomb excursions, bee-lining first to the greasy-licious staple: nachos con queso. Side-stepping and excusing myself, I navigate the checkered floor of the no-man's land, bridging worlds of exotic foods and traditional American dishes. Here, all food is welcome. Here, we see U.Va.'s diversity promotion at its best, and, by the end of my shopping, I have a medley of foods from all over the Newcomb terrain, including a corn dog, turkey and stuffing and if I'm lucky, even Indonesian style tofu, cooked to perfection (not too firm, not too soft!).
In the dining hall, I feel the exhilaration of choice within boundaries that we at U.Va. have come to know and love. "That's the spirit!" I say to myself, "Try every dish, every activity, test them all out and see what you like! Get too full and figure out your limits! Design your own intake! Build your own tray! Leave triumphant, yet humble, in the grease stains that cover your shirt!" By the end of my speech, others are confused, frightened and even scooting away from my table, but that's the best part of the dining hall: There's always another place to sit! There's room for everyone.
The question you must ask yourself is clearly not "Should I get a dining plan?" Neither is it "Will the food be good today?" Rather, the real question is: To stay or aller? While dining in Diningland is marvelous -- you can always find another enthusiastic Newcomb member with a friendly face to accompany you -- the to-go option means you can either stuff as much as possible in your box and consume copious amounts in the privacy of, say, a bathroom stall or flaunt, in the presence of your less-stylish friends, the glory of the dining hall.
These days, I just wait for the chance to defend dear Newcomb. In doing so, I have a cause, a purpose --- I am Newcomb's Lorax (Dr. Seuss), so to speak, and I will speak for it when it cannot for itself! That's right, disdain away with your Take-It-Away and your big business needs. I will stay loyal to thrifty dining hall delights.
This said, I remind you I am not unfamiliar with the real world. Yes, for my whole second year I shopped, attempted cooking on my own and purchased goods with cold hard cash from places like Little John's.
It is not that I am scared of adulthood or life after college. Well, yes it is. The point is, however, that I have learned in my maturity as a third-year student to appreciate the environment we have here at U.Va. I have come to understand the joy and freedom within limits that a dining hall and a university can offer. I value the community the dining hall promotes, and I see how the routine doesn't make life boring -- it makes me and my life richer. Sure, you can choose fancy joints, like the White Spot or, its strange child, the Sweet Spot, but I know where the best spot is. While some of you out there are finding Subways, we Newcombites are finding our own way.
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