By Leah Chichmanian | Campus Reporter

The abrupt jump from school to university life has brought about a diaspora of change, notably that of our eating habits. Most students are either commuters or live in dorms, both of which tighten the eating window to a much more difficult proxy than normal and necessitate a swift, efficient manner of consumption. As such, I have asked three students what a full day of eating looks like for them in order to gain insight on how college has influenced them. 

Laetitia, a sophomore in agriculture, sticks to a simple breakfast since she typically rushes in the mornings because of long commutes. A simple zaatar sandwich or a piece of toast is usually her go to. Post excruciatingly long biochemistry session, she likes to treat herself to her favorite food-salads. Bartartine is where she finds herself most of the time, so much so that she’s garnered a proficiency in most of the menu items. If you were to ask her, she’d recommend the edamame salmon salad, as she’s made most of her friends try it and rate it quite highly. Zaatar w Zeit is a close second, where she rotates her order each time, mostly sticking to their wraps. Both places possess quick food service, which works best for her as the escapade from lower to upper campus and the already short break she has necessitates a rather swift food errand. Before exams, she usually sticks to a 2 in 1 from Sage and Savvy, because 1. It’s good and 2. Sage and Savvy is the closest food spot to the Agriculture building. 

Caline, a CCE student, prefers morning coffee runs to kick start her day. Prior to her 8 a.m. class, she ventures to Spill and gets herself her favorite- a cold brew. At noon, she likes to pass by the cafeteria to order her go-to lunch, a turkey sandwich with a side of cherry tomatoes always and a side of cucumbers sometimes. Either that or a packed lunch which she enjoys between back-to-back classes. An obligatory cold brew from Brew is required before Yaghi’s classes. So, according to Caline’s hierarchical ranking of coffee shops, she’d settle on Spill and Brew, the latter of which she finds criminally underrated. 

Leen Al Baba, agriculture student as well as dorm resident, starts off by breaking her fast at Maghreb with a date followed by water. She starts with a Fattoush salad as greens aid in replenishing the lost water during the day. Main dishes during Iftar vary day by day, as the first consisted of Warak Enab, Koussa and laban. Moghrabiya, Riz w Djej, and Maakarona are also other classic examples of what Iftar main meals look like for Leen, all of which being delicious and filling Lebanese dishes. Finally, she likes to end everything off with ice cream for dessert. As a dorm student, Leen usually packs her soup in containers filled halfway so as not to cause spillage, which is why she doesn’t always have it. As for Suhoor, it typically consists of some kind of cheese, labneh and veggies or some simple leftovers for sustainable energy replenishment before a full day of fasting.

Sherel, a mechanical engineering student, chugs a Nescafe during a long commute and washes it down with an espresso upon arrival. Like most AUB engineering students, she has a designated order at Spill,a vanilla iced latte, which she drinks after class along with a packed sandwich. When there’s no time constraint, she goes for loaded fries from Food District or burgers from Roadster. Otherwise, she places a Boneless order to accompany long solving sessions on campus. She also goes for vending machine runs where she gets a Biskreme which is also apparently the go-to snack for most engineering students. After throwing another coffee in there, she ends the day with energy drinks from OSB to power through studies. This concludes the caffeine consumption of the day as well as the last full day of eating. 

Every student possesses their own eating habits and requirements, which poses additional caffeine consumption for some and homemade food for others. This hopefully offered a glimpse into university life and how habits may vary from person to person.