Projects

Last summer, after a weird ending to my first year of college due to a little global pandemic situation, I found myself feeling weirdly nostalgic for the sometimes subpar dining court food that I involuntarily traded for warm, homemade meals. While not all the food was great, some things like the garlic parmesan boneless chicken wings and the wacky soft serve flavors still hold a special place in my heart. Throughout the beginning of my online school experience, I decorated the margins of my notebook with little doodles of random foods I frequently ate while on campus. As I was flipping through the pages, I decided I wanted to preserve the doodles in the form of collectible stickers.

I took a piece of paper and produced a more intentional drawing of pancakes, with chocolate ganache running down the sides and a dollop of whipped cream on the top. I took a picture of it, traced it, and added color and shading. I did the same thing with the crate of boneless chicken wings. I would eat both the pancakes and chicken wings at the Hillenbrand dining court, which I loved the most. Originally, my plan was to keep them as two standalone stickers and included a couple more from different dining courts. But when I drew out a couple food items from the Earhart Dining Court, I realized putting several together to represent a certain dining court could look a lot better!

Every sticker details the relationship I and many others have with the food there. I want to desrcibe each one in the order of which I finished them, so I'm going to start with Earhart rather than Hillenbrand.

Earhart is the dining court that I visited the most simply because of the proximity to my dorm (can't get much better than same floor of same building). Both the architectural style and hearty food makes it feel much like a diner you'd go to breakfast to with your friends. They'd always serve some type of meat burger and fries, and they also had a stir fry station and an ice cream machine with wacky flavors like green apple or strawberry shortcake. The food did get repetitive at times, but I knew I could always come here for a steady supply of carbs to keep me satiated while finishing homework late at night. Other food included make your own pasta/pizza and sushi, but I didn't get those items as much as I did everything else I included in the sticker.

Hillenbrand, designed to look kind of like a elementary school cafeteria, is undoubtedly my personal favorite dining court. By second semester, I made it a weekend tradition to come to Hillenbrand for brunch when I woke up, which was always either the pancakes or the boneless chicken wings I talked about earlier, along with celery, fries, and ranch. Its safe to say that these foods solely inspired this entire project. Apart from those foods, I loved ordering the quesadillas (and wrapping them in napkins before stuffing them in my pockets so I could smuggle them back to my dorm). I also would get a yogurt bowl with granola, raspberries, blueberries, and soft serve instead of yogurt. Oops. I definitely had more favorites at Hillenbrand but could not include them all!

Windsor always inspired me to choose healthy yet delicious foods to eat. The variety with what you could include in the salads and burrito bowls was the most appealling to me, with avocado pieces, shredded chicken, and different types of cheese. On days I was seeking comfort food after a rough lab session, Windsor also had biscuits and gravy, fried eggs, sweet potato fries, and cheddar potato nuggets. I remember walking back to my dorm on a snowy day with a large cinnamon roll muffin smothered with cream cheese frosting that I picked up from the dining court before I left, and it served as my breakfast for the next two days. Eating at Windsor felt like eating in acastle basement, because Windsor looked like a castle and the dining court was underground.

Wiley is the place I went to regain calories after "working out" in the gym. It was definitely the most large and spacious, and so many foods compelled me to keep coming back. I mostly visited the pasta bar becuase of the fun swirly pasta shape and the breadsticks. Additionally, they offered the most versatile range of cookies and ice cream flavors. They also always had an endless supply of Mediterranean foods like hummus, pita bread, and olives. The one thing in this sticker that I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan of is the meat, mostly since I just don't like meat. Regardless I think the wide variety of meats that Wiley offers is a trademark of the dining court.

I didn't go to the Ford dining court too much during the school year just because it was pretty far from my dorm. However, there were a couple instances where I stopped there between classes, and I remember how they tried to include a variety of ethnic foods, whether that be chicken curry and samosas or noodles and fortune cookies. I never really tried these foods because I didn't expect them to be good, but who knows? Another definining characteristic of this dining court was the various types of pizza served right at the front, which I also don't really remember eating too much of. I guess I just came here to eat random desserts.

At the end, I put them all together in a poster form with individual food item stickers surrounding them (my original idea). I'm glad that wasn't the only idea that I settled with, because then I'd never be able to generate the more elaborate dining court themed stickers. You can purchase them here!