As a freshman in college, most people will have to spend their first-year dorm living. While living in a dorm has its many pros and cons, that’s a topic for another time. Right now, I am only going to get into one con in particular: dorm diet. It can be hard to find ways to add variety to your diet in your first year of college when you don’t have access to a kitchen and don’t want to eat at the same dining hall all three meals every day of the week. So here are a few tips I have learned in my experience living in a dorm:
- First, buy a mini fridge. Second, stock it up with easy to prep and eat food (fruit, milk and cereal, sandwiches, etc). By doing this, you can easily access a variety of quick and easy foods that are good for breakfast/lunch.
- There are places to eat on campus besides the dining hall. I encourage you to explore the different school building on campus, as a lot of them have different cafes/eateries that can be an easy way to get a prepped meal that is different than the dining hall. (Check out Capitol Cafe located in Grainger Hall: https://union.wisc.edu/dine/find-food-and-drink/capital-cafe/).
- Two words. Food. Trucks. When the weather permits, a diverse selection of food trucks will park right outside Memorial Library. One food truck in particular that is very popular among students is the spring roll truck (but don’t forget to bring cash!).
- Lastly, if you are still looking to add variety to your diet, I encourage you to not be afraid to befriend some upperclassmen. One of the great things about college is that people across all 4 years can connect and often you can find yourself befriending someone a year or two above you. Most students at Madison tend to switch to apartment living after freshmen year, you know what that means? Yes. KITCHENS. So, if you get access to one, don’t be afraid to hit up the grocery store right by campus (Fresh), buy some fun new foods, and let your creativity fly!
