Even before I moved in to Drake Hall freshman year, I knew I needed a food board. Those tiny rooms are just too tiny for all the stuff we think we need to bring to college. I don’t know about the dorms at other UW schools, but the bookshelves above the desks in ours are perfect for shoving a two-by-eight plank of wood between them, or, in my case, a beautifully varnished custom-made food board with swing-down storage I inherited from a family friend.  

Despite meal plans, there is always cause for snacking in the dorms. Whether it is a stockpile of hot chocolate packets and ramen, or pretzels and peanut butter for basement study sessions, all that food has got go somewhere.  

Anything that fits finds a home on one’s food board. Chargers, books, spoons, cups, tennis balls, water bottles, plates, plants, and even glasses! Whatever you can put on the board means there is less clutter on your dresser or desk. Utilizing this board as a miscellaneous storage unit is the best thing you can do to keep those things you do not need every day in their places. Better yet, you won’t have to dig them out of a bin under your bed when you do need them.  

String lights look great on food boards, and a cheap clock hanging from a nail in the center comes in surprisingly handy. These boards are so useful that my roommates and I had two sophomore year.  

Now, yes, these magical pieces of tree are only compatible with the traditional residence halls on campus. So unfortunately, Eagle Hall residents, you know where to move to next year. More problems arise when you find yourself really embracing adulthood and moving off campus. Apartments and houses rarely have kitchens or bedrooms conducive to installing your trustee food board for yet another year’s use. The solution? Hand it off to an underclassman without a board of their own. May the circle never be broken! 

This Labor Day weekend I tried to do just that, and to my tremendous surprise, all three freshmen I tried to gift that flashy upscale board of mine to refused it! They really do not know what they are missing out on. Thankfully, I had another pal take the trusty board to fill the void in his room.