25 Things Yale Students Talk About Instead of Grades (Part 2)

Dining hall with text

If you thought my first piece covered everything Yale students talked about at meals, think again! That was just the appetizer. Get ready for another serving of “25 Things Yale Students Talk about Instead of Grades.” Dinner is served!

1. How many more days until Chicken Tender Thursday?

2. The great American sauce debate—ketchup, hot sauce, or BBQ?

3. What do we look for in a romantic partner?

4. Are one-night stands worth it?

5. What do you look for in a friend?

People doing YMCA Dance
I look for a people willing to jam out to YMCA at a fancy party on a moment’s notice, people like Grace, Veronica, Kobe, and Drew!

6. Stories from our hometowns—I learned from my Alaskan suite mate that there is an Alaska-themed theme park in Alaska and that it’s the only Alaska-themed theme park in the world. Did I mention it’s Alaska-themed?

7. Planning a friend’s surprise birthday party.

8. The Laughing Exercise TM. Okay, this is not technically a topic of discussion, but I HIGHLY recommend you to try it out. Look at a friend dead in the eyes and then each of you should start fake laughing. Force through the fake laughter, and eventually it will transition to real, uncontrollable, side-punching laughter. Yes, you will get weird looks from everyone in the dining hall, and, yes, it will be worth it.

9. To double dip or not to double dip?—That is the question.

10. Dogs vs. cats

11. Best party themes—EDM Fathers and Disappointed Fathers is one of my personal favorites.

12. What’s the best way to understand the universe? Science, Philosophy, or some combination of the two?

group picture of classroom
This is my first-year D.S. philosophy class. We talked a lot about these topics at different meals. We still don’t know much, but it was fun to talk, regardless!

13. Is there a God?

14. Best parties—Easily the Morse Residential College, three-floor Decades dorm-room dance party. Each floor took on a different decade of music, from 80s to 2000s, and throughout the night you could choose on which floor you wanted to get down.

15. How many apples can you juggle at once?—Sorry for playing with our food here…

two people skipping with apples in hand in open field
Not quite juggling, but here is my friend Isabel and I frolicking through an apple orchard on a trip sponsored by our residential college, Ezra Stiles, our first year!

16. Best science credit classes for humanities students to take.

17. Best writing credit classes for STEM students to take.

18. Best date spot on campus—A picnic on Yale farm. Easy.

19. Best date spot off campus—Lots of debate, here, but recently my senior friends have been swaying Harvest, a local restaurant with delicious drinks and a great ambiance.

20. The art of bread-making—I was surprised that a lot of the Yalies I met actually made their own bread!

21. The art of bread-eating—This one’s more my speed.

two people eating a GIANT piece of bread
Yes. This is real bread. It is big. It was delicious. Faith (pictured above) and I referred to it as our bread baby, and then we ate it like Cronus ate his children.

22. What movie will we watch during Friday movie night—Always a topic of high contention. If my suitemate Nate had it his way, it would be a different work from the Schwarzenegger canon each night.

23. Remembering our first days at Yale, when we were young and bright-eyed.

24. Reminiscing over all the wonderful memories we’ve made since.

3 people selfie in front of football game

25. Reflecting on how quickly these four years flew by.

group photo in front of wall

I’ve had some of the most fun, hilarious, lively, interesting, and memorable talks between bites of chicken tenders and kale salads in the Yale Dining Halls. No matter what I have going on—no matter how many midterms or how many pages of that ten-page paper are yet to be written (hint, it’s always ten)—I know that three times a day, I can go to a place where the food will be great and the conversations will be even better. Bon appetit!