Students offer support on how to stay fed while managing school, work and clubs

Transitioning from the dorms to living off campus is a change for many students. Students have the option to live with their close friends, have their own bathroom and live wherever they choose. However, some note that they soon find stress in the fact that they no longer have the dining commons readily available to them. Cooking for each meal can take a lot of time out of a student’s busy day, and with a full workload, spending time cooking can be an issue with a student’s schedule.

Justine Saruca, a fourth-year design major, found ease in cooking by using cooking gadgets to cut down on her time spent in the kitchen.

“Sometimes it’s too difficult for me to cook at home with such a busy schedule,” Saruca said. “I have an air fryer and a steamer that I use a lot. My steamer helps me steam food like vegetables and dumplings. It’s really easy to use and it only takes about a minute to cook. My air fryer is really helpful because I can just work on homework while I wait for my food to cook and it’s pretty healthy too. I mainly utilize that when I don’t have as much time to spend cooking.”

Other appliances, like a sous vide or crock-pot, can be used to cook food even when students are away from home. Many of these appliances can be turned on remotely using an application on a phone. They help students cut down on cooking time and have their meals prepared for them by the time they return home from a busy day on campus.

Christina Chang, a third-year statistics major, also uses cooking appliances to prepare her food on a busy schedule.

“I always cook rice ahead of time and my timer on my rice cooker is a huge lifesaver,” Chang said. “When I have class, my rice will start cooking at home at the time I set it to. I also cook a lot on the weekends and eat my leftovers throughout the week, too.”

In preparing her meals for the week, Chang provided some insight on how she decides what her weekly menu may look like.

“I get a lot of inspiration for what I want to cook from restaurants,” Chang said. “I’ll take note of what I like to eat when I go out and think about how can I make it at home. I really like Mexican food, but I always pay over $10 for it when it’s super easy to make something like a quesadilla at home. I really just think of ways that I can recreate meals at home; it’s so much easier. Plan ahead to see when you have free time; you need to buy groceries, prepare everything and cook your food. Make sure you have all the food that you need and make sure you have time to cook.”

Students often agree that the initial switch to cooking for themselves can be difficult, but is something they quickly become accustomed to. Yuanfen Liang, a fourth-year psychology major, described what she did to cope with the initial change, and how her experience in the kitchen has changed over time.

“When I first transitioned into having my own kitchen, I did eat out very frequently,” Liang said. “I definitely take advantage of when I go home; I’ll bring a lot of home-cooked food back with me. Now, I try to do a lot of meal-prepping; I’ll cook a week’s worth of food on a Sunday or Monday and eat that for the rest of the week. If I’m craving something else, I’ll cook a meal in the middle of the week if I have time, but meal prepping definitely helps when I’m too busy. I’ll also go out for food with my friends every once and a while, but when I’m on campus I tend to buy food from the Silo or the CoHo.”

Liang noted that treating cooking as a fun activity with friends definitely elevated her time in the kitchen.

“I cook with my friends very frequently,” Liang said. “We cook together on the weekends, because that’s when we’re most free. On some Fridays, we’ll have potlucks where my friends would each cook and bring their own food to share with everyone, and we would have a big dinner all together.”

Juggling classes, clubs and work, students have found that it can be challenging to make the time to prepare food for themselves. If all else fails, students have noted that some meals are much easier to cook than others, and can be done with extremely minimal time and effort.

“Pasta is one of the easiest things that I ever cook,” Liang said. “It’s so easy to cook a huge pot of noodles and just cook sauce separately. If you don’t know how to cook sauce, it’s super easy to just buy sauce and have salad on the side. I find that it’s a really good meal for a college student after a long day.”

Written by: Alyssa Hada – features@theaggie.org

Advice from former and current undeclared college freshman

Heading out into the world as you graduate from high school and walking into “adult life” in college can be challenging enough as it is, and if you don’t know what you want to study, you might think you’re in for a tough time, but that really might not be the case. UC Davis offers 100+ majors to its students, and many begin their journeys as “undeclared,” but find their way to their future academic emphasis in the knick of time.

“Some of my friends knew exactly what they wanted to do right after college, what job they wanted and I knew I wanted this general field but I had no clue what I wanted exactly,” said second-year cinematography and digital media and communication double major Michelle Demoss. “I just kind of took my time…’Oh, these classes kind of sound interesting and they fill up my GE’s so I’ll go for them.’”

Demoss talked about her experience of choosing classes as an undeclared major.

“Most classes I took were related to the field that I wanted to do, like cinematography and media of sorts,” Demoss said. “But I did take classes that were very random since I wanted to see if  I would like them.”

Demoss tied these classes into her choice of a career path that she discovered through her courses.

“I’m taking college more like an experience altogether,” Demoss said. “Even if I don’t work in communications in some way or if I don’t work in film, which will be really sad, but I at least had a good time in college and had a rounded experience and I know ‘science’ stuff, or I know how to build stuff  because of my job in theatre. I’m trying to do as many different things so if I don’t get something similar to my major, [I’ll still be prepared].”

First-year seminars are another campus resource available to undeclared students that can offer guidance. These classes are typically between one and three units, with a grading or pass/no-pass option, and cover topics range from the meaning of life to “drawing and the art of meditation.”

“First-year seminars are always interesting.” Demoss said. “Nowhere near my major but I thought it was very enlightening. The one I took was ‘Hunter Gatherer Society,’ and the violence between them. That was really weird but it was a fun experience.”

Max Lemann, a first-year undeclared student talked about his experience as he entered college without a specific major.

“I feel like coming in undeclared took a weight off of my shoulders, allowing me to just take the classes that interest me in hopes of learning more about myself and what I will want to major in when I must decide,” Lemann said.

His thoughts on having over 100 majors available at UC Davis are similar to those of Demoss.

“Having 100-plus majors is a large pro for me,” Lemann said. “I enjoy the comfort of knowing that I have options. When I figure out what area of study interests me most, there is such a large chance that there will be a major available for me.”

When asked his thoughts on whether or not people end up in careers they majored in as an undergraduate, Lemann said: “I know that my dad majored in history and anthropology but is now an entomologist and museum curator, and my mom was a communications and journalism major who is now an elementary school teacher. I would try not to build judgments around that, but they certainly did not go into the field that they majored in.”

Choosing classes when you don’t know what will count towards your degree and what won’t is a challenging task for a lot of first-year students.

First-year undeclared student Amy Lu spoke about how she chose her classes as an undeclared major in order to best suit her academic plan.

“I am signing up classes by interest at this point, also by my potential study area,” Lu said. “For example, I am considering majoring in political science, that’s why I signed up for ‘Intro to Comparative Politics’ just to see if I actually like the content.”

These three undeclared students gave their advice to those who might be in a similar place in their collegiate journey. Demoss favored trying new things and remaining stress-free in the midst of your decision.

“Try new things,” Demoss said. “Have a social life. Don’t freak out, but study. Don’t worry too much about grades. This is gonna sound bad. But. You’re already in college, this is what my dad would always tell me. You’re already in college. Don’t stress yourself. The hard part is over. A doctor that has all Cs is still a doctor.”

Lemann highlighted avoiding nervousness and instead trying to find coursework that excites.

“I would just say that incoming undeclared freshman should not be nervous if they are,” Lemann said. “Look for classes that excite you and enjoy your studies as best you can.”

Lu told students to be cautious in their decision since it is long term, encouraging them to take steps necessary, no matter how long they are, to find the right fit.

“Be open-minded and don’t rush to make your decision, because sometimes it takes time to understand your true passion.” Lu said.

If you are currently an undeclared major, there are plenty of resources through advising, first-year seminars and your peers to help you gain insight toward what you want to do. But, from some students who have been in your shoes, the advice seems to be to try new things and go where you feel most excited.

Written by: Rabiya Oberoi – features@theaggie.org