Brough

Walking through the door labeled with the Brough dining hall hours, I stood in the entry way with an obvious look of confusion. Unaware of where to swipe my meal plan card, I quickly felt embarassed by my lack of awareness as a set of stairs displayed the quite apparent answer. We trudged up the stairs. My legs felt like lead as I used the railing to pull myself up one stair at a time. Ten. Eleven. Twelve- we seemed to climb forever. The amount of stairs to reach the dining area seemed kind of ridiculous. Really, what college student wants to begin their morning having to drag his or herself out of bed and climb a mountain of stairs to eat a breakfast that will most likely have to be enhaled to make it to class on time? I would say majority of the students prefer not to begin the morning with any sort of physical exertion. This fact seemed to prove itself as each student I saw moved at a rate similar to my snail pace.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs and the entrance to the cafeteria, the woman swiping meal cards seemed surprisingly perky considering the early morning hour. Wishing us a good morning and enjoyable meal, she went back to her newspaper reading. Not much to my surprise, the cafeteria lacked any large amount of people eating, and the few there were dispersed throughout the eating area. With the exception of a few workers loudly voicing their opinions about what needed to be done for the lighting fixture that seemed slightly dimmer than the rest, the cafeteria lacked any real amount of noise.

Taking a spot by the window, we observed a number of students rushing hurridly to class. Considering the cold weather and strong winds, I didn't blame them. Most wore hoods tightly tied around their necks-any attempt to keep warm. One girl walked more slowly to class, dressed in apparel that seemed more fit for a funeral in Alaska than a school day in Arkansas. Black shoes and pants covered by a black trench coat with a hood of fur. She atleast appeared to be retaining some of the warmth within her heavy jacket that the various other students had lacked.

Eventually a table across from us became occupied with three guys who were deep in coversation. Curious to the subject at hand that seemed to be inticing all three boys, I realized the topic of debate was the importance of marshmellows in cereal. Not exactly solving world hunger or curing cancer but to give them the benefit of the doubt, it was quite early in the morning. Oddly enough, the guy that so greatly argued the importance of marshmellows in cereal as key for a good morning was eating fruit loops. No marshmellows there-ironic.

The intensity of livlihood within Brough cafeteria didn't really pick up, and when 9:10 rolled around and we journied back to the wonderful world of essay writing, we were left with an appreciation for warm winter clothes, knowledge on how possibly to fix a light fixture, and a new perception on cereal marshmellows.