Student Interview

Here is an anonymous interview I conducted with a female, 18 year old freshman living on campus at USF.  My intention with this interview is not to make a generalized statement about how students feel about health on campus, but simply to get a personal account from one student that can be considered when thinking about healthy lifestyles at USF.

(Italics indicate me, the interviewer, and regular font indicates interviewee)

Narrative from a Student Living on Campus:

So what do you think about the food here on campus?    

       

Hah. Yuck. I really hate eating on campus and I try not to eat in the dining hall whenever possible.  It’s super gross most of the time and when they do serve any real food it’s gone so fast I can never get any.

So what do you eat?

I eat Moe’s a lot, haha.  I had never had it before I started going here but now I eat it like every day.

Wow, that’s a lot.

Yeah, but now I’m almost out of dining dollars so I guess I will have to start eating at Fresh Foods more.  Haha, it’s weird to me that they call it that.  I swear they take the leftovers from the other dining halls and try to make it into food.

So the other dining halls are better?

Yeah they are mostly better.  Champion’s sometimes has good stuff and I can usually get something I like at JP, but it’s such a far walk… of course the dining hall where most kids living on campus eat is the grossest.

Do you think you eat healthy?

Heck no! It’s not that I don’t like healthy foods, everything on campus just sucks.  I’m lucky that my older sister and her boyfriend live nearby because they will pick me up and make me a healthy dinner every once in a while.  I feel bad for kids who don’t have that.

Would you say that USF makes it easy or difficult to stay healthy while living on campus?

I mean, they have the gym and stuff and there are fliers in my hallways about getting enough sleep and not doing drugs and eating healthy and whatever, but the food is kind of a pathetic attempt.

So you think they should change something about the food? Do you think it’s a budget issue?

Yes, please feed me real food! It would be kind of messed up for it to be a budget issue.

Why do you say that?

Uh, because I pay a ridiculous amount of money to eat here! It’s over 1,500 dollars for the cheapest meal plan when you live on campus.  Like, how freakin’ hard would it be to make some decent food for that kind of money?  Most of what they serve is pizza or pasta or something that was frozen and I know that stuff is cheap.  Why not invest some of the other hundreds of dollars that I pay to but some better vegetables and chicken breast, and maybe hire someone to not completely overcook and destroy the somewhat decent food they do have.  

Anything else you’d like to suggest for USF to help keep students healthy?

Mm, I don’t know. Mostly just food.  But I guess it would maybe be good if the RA’s or something planned more physical activities or like group trips to the gym or something.  Maybe that’s just me.  I’m kind of shy so I don’t really want to join a sport or anything and I’ve never been to the gym so I guess I’m kind of scared to go. I guess that would more be something extra than like, necessary. You know?

Yes, thank you.