Gavin McCann, Staff Writer

With the end of the semester approaching, students are doing everything they can to give themselves a boost in the classroom.

One way of doing that is cooking for themselves, whether making an on the go snack or a healthy meal after a long day of studying. For some students, eating healthy is a key factor in having success in the classroom at the end of a semester.

“I always try and eat healthy, but I try and make it a point to eat healthy towards the end of the semester,” said junior Chris Dunn. “I feel like it’s very easy to get lazy and eat unhealthy food. Cooking healthy dishes gives me more energy that’ll help carry me through the grind of the end of a semester. Between classes, work and internships cooking for yourself can be tough. There’s times where I’ll get back late at night and the last thing I want to do is cook, but after when you’re enjoying a nice meal it’s worth it, minus the dishes.”

Dunn makes a variety of foods, but sometimes finds himself making chicken, rice and broccoli. His favorite dish to make is a New York  strip steak with vegetables and mashed potatoes.

Other students are often on the move and do not have time to cook full meals, so they snack on the go.

“Between classes, internships and baseball I’m always on the move and don’t have a lot of time to cook,” said junior Christian Tiffin. “Usually what I’ll do is meal prep and cook meals for my week ahead and make snacks throughout the week. When I meal prep I always try and keep it healthy, when we go on baseball trips we don’t eat the healthiest, so I try to counter that. I’ll usually cook chicken, or something that contains protein and I’ll cook a lot of pasta that’ll give the carbs and energy I need.”

Other student’s like to cook everyday because they have a love for cooking and thoroughly enjoy it. Senior John Franchi has been cooking ever since his mother taught him at a young age.

“I’m Italian so it’s in our blood,” Franchi said. “I can make almost any Italian dish. You name it, I cook it. I don’t know if I can pick a favorite. I’d probably say Lasagna just because I’ve been told it’s out of this world. I really enjoy making chicken parmigiana, but that’s still a work in progress.”

Franchi finds himself cooking everyday, and if you can’t find him in class or studying you will find him in the kitchen.

“I’m really looking forward to having a wife to cook for,” Franchi said.

Other students simply do not cook because they don’t have the means to do so.

“I don’t really cook to be honest,” said junior Kiernan Briggs. “I live on campus, so I don’t really have the resources.I mean they have a small community kitchen in the dorms but who knows how often it gets cleaned. I usually stick to the cafeteria or will go out to eat.”

Briggs does not like eating in the dining commons, but due to not having his own space he does not have much of a choice.

“Next year, I’ll be living off campus, and I’m looking forward to cooking for myself,” Briggs said. “I can cook the basics. Things like eggs, chicken and pasta. I plan on learning how to cook other dishes in the meantime.”