EE1 Draft

Convenience becomes one of the main food values for most college students in that their focus is generally centered on study and they do not have kitchens in all of their dorms. Also, the daily schedule of most college students is irregular; they eat whenever and wherever they like.

College students are always in a rush heading for classes, which means they do not have enough time to make food even to eat food. Coffee shops, cafeteria, dorm and fast food restaurants, therefore, become the main places for college students to get food. I always see many college students order some drinks and small eats at Jazzman’s café & bakery, a cafeteria style coffee shop, and then take them away to class, dorm and library. Fortunately, most food in Jazzman’s is take-away food, such as chocolate croissant, brownie, cupcakes, milkshake, sandwiches and coffee. It is convenient for many college students and effectively saves a lot of time for them. Also, many college students prefer Jazzman’s because of its convenient location. It is located on the second floor in Driscoll, which is like the center of the campus, so most students will pass Jazzman’s on their way to classes. However, some students may stay at Jazzman’s during the break time after ordering some food. Those students coming alone will sit at the bar or the single tables near the windows, drinking coffee, eating dessert and studying, while some students coming as a group may sit around the big tables or sit on the sofa in the lounge area after ordering some food. Most of time, they will discuss group project and do the homework together. Jazzman’s is a really good place for students to study and quick recharge themselves during the short break between classes, because the atmosphere of Jazzman’s is quiet and comfortable and the food in Jazzman’s is made fast. Thereby, students do not have to waste too much time to wait for the food, saving the time to study and relax. Moreover, Jazzman’s is close to Penrose library, so students who study in the library for a long time will go to Jazzman’s and buy some ready-made sandwiches and sliced fruit to have some nutrition and energy. Because of the increasingly rapid pace of school life today, those students studying in the library sometimes skip several meals and study for the whole day, thus, a convenient place like Jazzman’s is really important and necessary for those college students to quick recharge themselves. Burger king is a good place for many college students to get food as well. We just need to drive to burger king and order food in the car. A few minutes later, the food is already packaged and we can take them away to any place.

Not only study, but also the reason that we have no kitchens in our dorms encourages us to pay more attention to the convenience of food. In my dorm, there is just a microwave oven and a refrigerator. So I can just buy some frozen fast food and heat them up in the microwave oven. This looks unhealthy so I often buy some fruit and vegetables, putting them in the refrigerator, washing and cutting into slices before eating. Therefore, it is impossible for college students who have no kitchen in their dorms to cook a meal, instead, most of them prefer to buy some frozen food from the supermarket, such as frozen delicatessen, frozen vegetable blends, frozen chicken rings, frozen pizza. It is quite convenient to make frozen food because all the things you have to do before you can eat them is to put them into microwave oven and wait for about 3 minutes. Instant noodle is also one of the easiest food to make. I always buy a box of instant noodles when going to the supermarket. However, I think instant noodle are so unhealthy that eating them too often will have negative effect on our health. Sometimes, many college students even eat some snacks as a meal to satisfy their stomach since it is even easier than heating up frozen food.

Also, most college students eat for convenience because they do not have a reasonable class schedule. Many college students have classes during the lunch time, which means they do not have time to have lunch at school cafeteria. Most of time, they will bring small snacks, take-away food and some drinks to the classes. My friends and I have class at 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and we have to run the whole way during the 10-minute break between two classes. So we often buy some desserts and coffees at Jazzman’s and then bring them to the class, otherwise, we will have lunch after 2 p.m. Therefore, the convenience of food is extremely important for college student under such situations. At this point, the convenience food means quickly made, easy to take away and easy to eat.