This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at TCNJ chapter.
I don’t think I’ve ever come across a TCNJ student who hasn’t had at least one unfortunate Eick dining hall experience. Not to bash our hallowed hall, but it would give students more options and fewer bad experiences if we had an alternate main venue for mealtime. Am I right?
I’ve compiled a list of some of Eick’s problems that have me just shy of sketching up some blueprints for a new dining hall myself.
- It’s too crowded. This is the most blatant issue of them all. Respect for personal space goes out the door when you enter Eick’s doors during main eating hours.
- Sushi, but only for lunch. Who is to say I can’t enjoy a nice veggie roll during the nighttime hours? Apparently Eick.
- Omelets take too long. If I’m leaving my table to get an omelet, I might as well kiss each of my friends goodbye, because who knows at what hour I’ll return. Sometimes with only two omelets cooking at one time, I think it would be faster if I ventured outside and cooked my egg yolks on the alumni grove cement by way of the sun.
- Watch your wok. The name of the game is, “keep your eye on your dish.” If you don’t have those hawk eyes, then prepare to get your food snatched by the vulture from your Chem class (I’m sure she’s a nice girl, though).
- Taco station line is off the charts. I need to squint to see if the end of the line is existent or if it goes on to a point of unknown end.
- Beverage machine. When the main beverage machine is out of stock, I never feel so defeated by an inanimate object. What’s worse is that I don’t demand a soda or sweetened tea, just some good old-fashioned water. And when I can’t get that, I almost want to use my tears to fill my cup instead (that’s not dramatic is it?).
- Small dish, for big food. At Quinby’s I understand if I receive a little plate to place some peas in, but when I want a whole leg of chicken and still have to confine myself to a miniature dish, I just feel like “the man” is keeping me down.
- Don’t take the fruit. I thought the school would celebrate my enthusiasm for being healthy and choosing fruit, but that is not the case. Is it wrong that I like to stock my room with a few bananas? Am I not paying for all of said bananas? I get stopped for my actions as if I just strolled in with a wheelbarrow to collect a month’s worth of produce.
Now, I realize Eick is set in its ways. But maybe a new dining hall would be more lenient regarding its fruit-taking guidelines or even its sushi-making hours. A new dining hall would also help lessen the crowd and shorten the perpetual lines. I’ll update you if I ever get the ball rolling on those blueprints.