Clearly dining halls are an integral part of the college campus, student life, and the overall college experience. They are notoriously avoided if possible, which is not often, for their usually below-par food. So what makes dining halls so important? Besides the obvious, of course, which is that they serve us food. They are a social space: a vehicle for social interaction. During the day, it seems that a lot of people get their food to go, in those little red and white to-go boats, if they have a class to get to, some work to catch up on, or don’t want to sit alone.
I find the dining halls most interesting at night, around dinnertime, since that’s when the majority of the student body flocks to Chase and Emerson. You see different kinds of groups sitting together; sports teams, random assortments of friends, different clubs, etc. Eating is an extremely social action, so it’s only natural that the dining halls become such a space for social interaction. For the freshmen, during the first couple of days of orientation, meals in the dining halls make for prime friend-making opportunities, and can act as an aid in bringing people together.
If it weren’t for the dining halls and the time I spend there, I most likely wouldn’t see half as many of my friends on such a regular basis. Dining halls are important because they bring people together, and can help keep people from becoming too isolated if they otherwise don’t spend that much time socializing, which I think can be very important.
So true! Not only does the dining hall serve as a place where I can get a few spare minutes of socializing with my friends throughout the day, it also acts to bring together my basketball team.There are only two places that I can think of that my whole team has ever been in at the same time and that is the gym and the dining hall. It is a great space to relax, have fun, and unload from a long day and a hard practice. Additionally, for me, the dining hall is associated with relaxation. My days are very busy and usually consist of running from one project to another and the only time I take a break is to eat. So thank goodness for the dining halls!
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