Anyways, eating in the dining commons at my school was my least favorite option and I imagined it to be the same for every campus, until I came across an article on Yahoo about the Top 20 Rankings for Best College Food and became insanely jealous of these delicious treats.

At Wheaton College, ranked number one in this survey, Klaud Mandl, the General Manager of Food Services at Wheaton, who previously worked at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston, has a menu of Belgian chocolate homemade truffles, lavender-infused pork chops with onion gravy, and cumin-lime baked chicken with avocado cream sauce. Are you serious?!?! Homemade Belgian truffles??? The closest thing we got to that at my school was a help-yourself ice cream machine with watered down frozen yogurt.

These dishes at Wheaton are created by “The Wheaton Cuisine Team,” a group of students who represent the student body and come up with ideas, new recipes and fun ways to create a staff-student partnership with the dining commons. The Yahoo article goes on to report that the New York Times recently did a story on this topic, saying “as palates grow more sophisticated and admissions become more competitive, many top colleges are paying attention to dining rooms as well as classrooms.” Nifty. Who would have thought that food is becoming as high a demand as academic?

Is this true? Well, it sure wasn’t at my school. From the burnt burgers to the sticky, over cooked pasta, there sure wasn’t any “Cuisine Team” and there definitely were no chocolate truffles (although, that may have added to the freshman 15!).

Here are the Top 20 schools for 2009…is your school on here? If so, please dish about the uber delicious foods you are chowing down on, while I stick with my daily diet of Lucky Charms cereal.

1. Wheaton College (IL), Wheaton, IL

2. Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME

3. Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

4. St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN

5. James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

6. Colby College, Waterville, ME

7. Franklin W. Olin Col. of Engineering Needham, MA

8. Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO

9. University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN

10. Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN

11. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

12. University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

13. Scripps College, Claremont, CA

14. Middlebury College, Middlebury, VT

15. Claremont McKenna College, Claremont, CA

16. Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA

17. Miami University (OH), Oxford, OH

18. College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME

19. Bates College, Lewiston, ME

20. University of Georgia, Athens, GA

[photo by JFKlibrary.org]

So, everyone’s had (at least) one of those, knew him well enough to say I know him, hooked up with him one night while blackout, now terrified to run into him-type of guys.

So, what the hell do you do when you’re back on campus after a long peaceful summer miles away from the guy? Where you could run into him without warning at any moment? Lord knows you wanna look good, in case HE looks good.

You’re human, so obviously you want him to want more, basically so you can turn him down the second time around and prove you’re not the easy hoochie he might think you are.

Or maybe he rubbed you the right way and you want him for another romp-around, because (secretly) you want more. Or maybe, god forbid, it was horrendously bad, but you thought he was a pretty cool guy and hope you don’t have to spend the next few years avoiding him, and can instead laugh together over that blurry night and move on as friends.

How do you prepare for the dreaded run-in?

In the dining commons. Of course, you have on that bbq-stained Celine Dion t-shirt that you only wear on laundry day. So how do you survive the embarassment? He’s already spotted you in the sushi line so there’s no turning back. You can’t wave because you already stock-piled your tray with two-hands worth of peach cobbler, so smile. With your warm eyes and pearly whites there’s no way he won’t walk over. You’ve got this.

In the elevator. This one’s tough. But just because you’re ‘going down’ doesn’t mean you’ll crash and burn. Give him a hug and ask him how his summer was in a not-so-Mom kind of way. Laugh when he tells you he tried to learn how to surf but completely wiped out, and try to leave out how hammered you were last night- no matter how chit-chat worthy it seems. The last thing you want to do is remind him that you two really got to know eachother after six shots and a couple beer bongs. You’re a whole summer older, you’re so much more than that now, duh.

On the way to class. This one has to most potential for a-w-k-w-a-r-d, but don’t fret! Just because there’s that whole possibility of you slowing down while he’s planning on a wave and pass-by doesn’t mean you can’t control the situation. When you spot him, stop dead in your tracks and smile. That way, he knows to slow down and approach you. Once again, give him those come-hither eyes and a hug that reminds him just how enjoyable it was to make a little physical contact with such a bombshell like yourself. Ask him what he’s up to this weekend, and that you guys should hang out and catch up. He’ll get it.

At a party. No matter how sloppy drunk you are don’t be sloppy drunk! This could make or break you. (But no pressure, hehe!) He’s probaby just as tipsy and quite likely very excited to see you, his long lost lovaa. Giving advice from a sober standpoint, don’t hook up with him this time. You will just pan out the rest of the school year avoiding him and feeling exactly how you hoped you wouldn’t. However, I know the difficulty of reasoning these things when you’ve been boozin’ so let’s say you do end up arranging a sleepover. In the morning, attempt an actual conversation, invite him to breakfast, don’t walk of shame without a strut.

We all have to deal with awkward mornings after, weeks after, and the oh-so famous summer after. The main point is to remember that you’re in control, and that stud aint got sh*t on you. Now work it!