Exonians Reflect on the New Staggered Lunch Block Schedule

Kaylee Gong & Ellina Kim / The Exonian

By DRUV BHAGHAYATH, ERIN HAN, JUNE KOH, FIONA LIU, SOPHIE LOW, AARYAN PATEL and KEVIN THANT

    As the foliage varies in autumn colors and fresh faces cross paths, many noticeable changes on campus have influenced the experience of students and faculty alike, but none as striking as the newly implemented lunch schedule.

    Lunch is generally the most busiest meal of the day. “We have to feed an equal amount of staff and students in a shorter period of time,” said Elm Street dining hall worker Frank.

    When asking Dining Hall about the changes many did not seem to notice a big difference regarding the staggered lunch blocks. “It does make things easier at times,” Frank says “It stops the rush and it makes it a lot easier.”

    But when asked about the changes Frank commented that “Changing from the Elm Tent to Grainger really made much more of a difference. We don’t get enough people in the Elm Tent and that sometimes creates a busy rush in Elm Street.” There was a lack of emphasis on the impact that the staggered lunch blocks had on the overall workload of dining hall staff.

    A concern raised was the quality of food production and sustaining it over a longer period of time because now there are two lunch blocks that the dining hall staff has to take care of. “Our cooks work really hard to put the food out there and I think they’re doing a great job.” The dining hall staff seemed more concerned about when the new dining hall will open for a chance to get inside and out of the tent.

    Students, the ones who are packing the majority of the dining hall and tent, have expressed mixed reactions to the new schedule, particularly concerning its effect on the academic schedule. “I think it’s really confusing…the switch between the staggered lunches on some days and having the one lunch on Friday,” said upper Claire Chetwynd. “It makes it harder to organize stuff with teachers and friends. The lines are bad anyway so even if this is reducing that doesn’t help that much.”

    She elaborated, touching on the addition of the double long block that the new system has brought. “My problem is having double long block on Tuesdays. I have long block C followed by long block F and that makes it so I have absolutely no free time at all on Tuesdays because of assembly. I end up getting home and then I have five hours of homework to do, so that one change in lunch block is even making it impossible for me to even get all my homework done.”

    For others, this aspect has been less felt. “I personally feel fine with the class schedule,” said senior Catherine Yan. I do have back to back long blocks on Tuesdays, but they don’t feel too tiring so far. It also helps that my schedule has more frees so the extra long block gets balanced out.” However, the effects of the schedule on the social aspect of her lunches has been fairly frustrating for Yan. “I prefer the previous lunch schedule because I had lunch at the same time as all my friends,” she explained, “Lunch was also at the same time each day, but now, depending on which block I have lunch, I tend to eat earlier or later than I want to. It’s also harder to remember whether I have lunch or class next because the times vary.”

    Like Yan, many students conveyed their frustration with the new lunch schedule because of its effects on their social life. In past years, with everyone having the same lunch block, eating with your friends was simple. However, now it has turned into a burden. “Sometimes I’ll try to coordinate my schedule with my friends so I can make sure that I have, like, a friend to sit with at lunch,” said prep Rayann Cisse. Prep Betty Pai, agrees saying “Because some people have earlier lunch and others have late lunchtime, we can’t really meet up sometimes, so that is something that I actually dislike about the staggered lunch system.” The new lunch blocks have also caused increased wait times as described by returning upper Claire Chetwynd, “They’ve made it so that they’re doing this staggering lunch AND the lines are still longer than they ever were.” Furthermore, she describes that these long wait times have taken time away from her schedule making it “harder to organize stuff with teachers and friends.”

    For students and faculty alike, the new lunch schedule has shifted the normal routine of Exeter life: long waits in queues, missing out on friends, far away dining locations, and muddled time management skills. But in many ways, the new schedule is just a component of the ever-changing, ever-evolving Exeter experience–just as Wetherall and Granger left in an instant.