It’s going to be a good year for me.

Freshman year, I was still learning how to navigate this institution. Now, I can confidently say that I know the names of at least 60% of the buildings affiliated with the College, and respond to forgetting application deadlines with shrugs instead of panic (if it were important, I would’ve put it on my G-Cal).

Sophomore year, I was settling into my college identitiy. Though I still don’t know exactly what the future holds, I feel ready for whatever comes next. I’m taking classes I enjoy, doing research that excites me, and making memories with friends both old and new.

Junior year? I’m eating breakfast.

~~~~~

It was the evening after I had moved back onto campus.

As an avid checker of the “This Week’s Undergraduate Menu” page on the HUDS website (frankly, more out of habit than anything; I already have the menu sent to me via Flyby’s incredibly informative Harvard Today newsletter), I was already aware of the layout- and design-related changes they’d been making.

What I didn’t expect was a new “Misc” heading under the Breakfast section, which included items that took my breath away. Namely — baby spinach, red onions, and tomatoes.

Was I dreaming? Could it be that there were vegetables available in the morning?

Like many of you, dear readers, breakfast in the dining halls has not sparked joy for me in a long time. Personally, I find little appeal in too-sweet pastries and the hardest-boiled eggs known to man. Plus, one can only make eating oatmeal feel whimsical in so many different ways. When I started imagining myself as a medieval peasant eating gruel, I knew that I couldn’t do it anymore.

It was refreshing to see a diverse array of colors in the morning with varied tastes and textures, rather than the usual beige continental fare. I began looking forward to waking up in the mornings and making myself a sandwich (which had the added benefit of ensuring I had the energy to pay attention during my 9 a.m. lectures). In fact, I shifted my sleep schedule to do so.

Let me say that again: one menu change by HUDS was the catalyst for improving both my eating habits and sleep schedule.

I know that I am not the only person to feel this way, as evidenced by the fact that my house’s dining hall is now populated by more than about three people at a time before 11:30 a.m.

Furthermore, the topic of “breakfast sandwiches” has organically emerged shockingly often between the standard conversation starter of “how was your summer?” and complaints about increased laundry prices.

This is, not to mention, that there are many other points of change for which HUDS deserves praise, including the unexpected-but-appreciated presence of pre-mixed Caesar salad and the genuinely life-changing nature of the Pickle Bar (yes, a simple crunch can make that much of a difference). Though I will personally mourn the loss of Bistro Bowls and Build-Your-Own nachos, I feel positive about the direction HUDS is headed in.

As much as I like to joke around, I am being 100 percent serious when I say that I (and every other undergraduate at the College) deeply appreciate the hard work HUDS puts in to not only feed thousands of college students three square meals each day, but to keep improving while doing it.

We might not express it as often as we should (everyone better start texting positive messages to the number on our napkin dispensers), but none of us can imagine what it’d be like without you all supporting us every step of the way.

Thank you, HUDS, for everything you do.

P.S. HUDS, since you’re on a roll, may I suggest a congee bar at breakfast? It’s about the same difficulty to make as oatmeal, and toppings are already on hand (e.g. anything from the pickle bar and maybe scallions from the chili bar). Plus, I feel like congee appeals to a much larger audience than chili. Yes, I’ve been thinking about this since I stepped foot on campus.