Hello hello!

So, I’m assuming many of you who have looked into campus life at Princeton and have stumbled upon the existence of eating clubs, which are basically communities in which students eat meals and go to social events.

So, before I continue this post, I want to clarify that I have no problem with eating clubs; I just decided not to join one. My decision was largely based on the fact that I have a wonderful community in my hall and in the Center for Jewish Life, I like my dining plan, and I am happy where I’m at right now. Because I made the conscious decision not to join, and have been thoroughly happy with my decision, I wanted to share some insight into the system in general.

Here are a few things you may have assumed about the clubs, and here is the bigger picture:

1) Eating clubs are the only option for dining/social communities:

FALSE:  I can proudly say that as a student still on the dining hall plan, I have a great social community, and promise to write many many posts about my friends. Also, I get to stay in my residential college, which is super nice and a great living arrangement.

BUT, the dining hall isn’t the only option if you decide that clubs aren’t for you. I found this fabulous website detailing the alternate options, which include co-ops where students get together and cook their own meals, and advice on how to successfully go independent, which means you have no meal plan and cook in the kitchens located in your dorm buildings.

2) Membership is the only way to spend time at eating clubs:

FALSE: I’ll just outright disprove this one because I have spent time myself at eating clubs. Two things to keep in mind here:

1. Meal exchange: basically, your friend in an eating club takes you to eat with them, and then you take them to eat with you in the dining hall.
2. Many events (like semi-formals, which are fun!) involve plus-ones, and I have already gone to a bunch of events as my friends’ “dates.”

Long story short, not joining does not mean total isolation from the eating club experience.

3) Everyone joins:

FALSE: Only one out of three of my roommates joined. With the other options listed above, joining can be a consideration, not a must. 

4) You have to compete to get into all of them:

FALSE: Many of the clubs work on a sign-in system, which is... exactly what it sounds like. You express interest, go to some fun orientation events, and then sign-in to join. 

5) Joining an eating club dictates your social options:

Yes, you guessed it: FALSE.  If it hasn’t become clear from above, Princeton is not at all divided into a world of eating club members and lost souls. We are lucky to have a diverse group of people and a diverse group of options. What’s best, though, is that all of these options are highly integrated, making Princeton a multidimensional experience. 

Sorry I was a bit long on this post. Stay tuned… I may or may not have tons of awesome photos from my play in my next post!

The college experience, perhaps more so than any other, should be defined by a sense of freedom – the freedom to study what interests us, the freedom to transform ourselves into whomever we want to be, and, of course, the freedom to let loose like we’ve always wanted. I’m happy to say that it was this freedom that pervaded at Wilson College’s last study break.

Just over two-thirds of Princeton upperclassmen are members of an eating club. There are 11 clubs in total and each has its own distinct feel.

Juniors and seniors at Princeton have several eating options. Many become members of eating clubs, some elect to eat in residential college dining halls, some choose to “go independent” and cook food for themselves, and some join co-ops. I chose this final option and joined Brown Co-op.

Brown has around 30 members, and we have our own kitchen and dining room on the second floor of Brown Hall, a campus dormitory. We get regular food deliveries from a company that typically supplies businesses, so our pantries are always full.  

Once a week, each member joins a cook team of around four people to prepare dinner for the whole co-op. Here’s how a typical cook night goes down:

10 a.m.:  Select the meat 

Princeton has three co-ops: 2D, a vegetarian co-op; IFC, a co-op that focuses on international food; and Brown. Since Brown has no official theme, we joke that our unofficial theme is meat.  We eat meat nearly every night, and always have lots on hand. Each morning, a member of that night’s cook team will select a type of meat to defrost.  

4:30 p.m.:  Meet as a team and decide what to make 

We usually don’t plan meals in advance, so we start by looking around the kitchen to see what ingredients are available. The team then decides who will cook the meat, who will cook a vegetable, who will cook some sort of grain, and who will cook dessert.  I love making desserts, so I always hope for that job.

5:30 p.m.:  Cooking!! 

Cooking is always an adventure at Brown. A cook team has two hours to prepare food for 30 people, so we have little room for error. But nearly every night something goes wrong—we suddenly realize we’re out of eggs, the oven starts to smoke, or a burner stops working.  Somehow, though, everything always comes together in the end.

6:30 p.m.: Dinner time

Around 6:30 p.m., hungry co-op members start to arrive and begin to eat. Everyone sits around a long table, and we have lively conversations while enjoying our food.

7:15 p.m.: Cleaning up and saying goodbye

After dinner, the cook team cleans the kitchen and says goodbye, leaving with good memories of cooking and eating!