As broke, unhealthy, Jewish college students, the struggle is real during the seven (or eight) nights of Passover when you're away from the comfort of your mother's home-cooked brisket and the humorous sing-along of "Dayenu" with your family. This universal pain can be felt by Jewish college students across the world, and here are thirteen struggles that are all too real for us while surviving Passover.

1. Trying to change up every matzah-based meal.

Matzah: the inevitable base for every meal you make this week. We've all heard of matzah and butter, matzah brie, and even matzah pizza, but there are only so many different matzah options you can create before your meals start becoming gross. To even prepare extravagant Kosher For Passover dishes, like matzah-crusted lemon chicken or butternut squash matzah lasagna, feels quite tedious and unnecessary for around twenty-four meals during Passover, especially considering many students live in dorms and residence halls. Matzah is flat-out disgusting, and if you disagree, you're lying to yourself. Save yourself the trouble of eating dry cardboard the entire week by planning out your meals a day or two before, and remember that it's okay to skip the brittle matzah for a garden salad every once in a while.

2. Not going out with your friends to eat.

During Passover, you can forget about eating anywhere else but the comfort of your room. The typical midnight Taco Bell craving with your friends every other night will have to slide for a week, and your friends might as well just not invite you out to eat at all. It may be difficult to swallow at first, but I promise you'll be much happier; you won't get tempted to break Passover, and you won't feel hurt that your friends are rubbing fast food in your face then ditching you. If you plan to go out with friends for the night, plan to eat ahead of time to save yourself the pain of watching your friends pig out while you sit in silence.

3. The only week when everyone seems to offer you food.

It is a universal rule in college that food is sacred, and you may never touch anyone's food stash, ever. However, it always seems that when Passover comes around, your friends feel extra generous and offer you food left and right. You master the resistance of accepting food offerings during Passover.

4. The week-long Manischewitz-induced alcoholism.

No one can resist the sweet taste of Manischewitz wine. Manischewitz is a staple in the Passover seder, as well as just about every other Jewish festivity, because who doesn't love wine? And trust me, you're going to need plenty of Manischewitz to get through the entire duration of Passover. Since Manischewitz is relatively low in alcohol content, you don't even think twice about finishing that bottle...or two...or three..., until you wake up hungover on Manischewitz and wondering how much of the seder you missed. Melissa, it's Wednesday.

5. Missing Mom's home-cooked Passover meals.

Occasionally we'll rag on Mom's home cooking, but let's face it, her slightly dry brisket and overly-spiced charoset beats dining hall food any day. In college, students must fend for themselves when it comes to preparing meals, especially for Passover. It's a fantastic idea to get creative with your imitation home cooking, but try not to set off the fire alarm this time.

6. Normal food is too tempting.

You may love food, but you never truly appreciated food until Passover comes around and you can't eat any of your normal favorites. Though there are chips and candies made Kosher For Passover, we'd be lying to ourselves if we believed that these imitation foods are anywhere near as delicious as the real deal. Matzah must replace all of your main carb sources, and you find yourself eating more vegetarian-style in one week than the entire rest of the year. Everywhere you go, you are faced with food that you cannot eat, and you finally must come to terms with your inevitable food addiction.

7. Non-Jewish friends asking the dumbest questions.

When you're "that one Jewish friend," you're bound to get asked thousands of questions regarding Passover. As Jews, we love sharing our culture and traditions with others, no problem. Yet, every year you end up getting bombarded with ignorant questions that you'd prefer to just ignore altogether. With questions like "Why don't you get presents for Passover?" or "Why do you care if its Kosher versus Kosher For Passover?," it's difficult to swallow how some people can be so disrespectful and offensive towards others' religions.

8. Working at a restaurant during Passover.

When you work in the food service industry, the pressure is on during Passover. Having to serve customers food you haven't been able to taste in a week, or cultivating the willpower to not take home that employee meal, takes an immense amount of strength, and I am truly proud of you. I work in the food service industry, and I, myself, am preparing for the most painful shifts of the semester. Brace yourselves.

9. The perpetual search for Kosher For Passover food.

Shopping for Kosher For Passover food is honestly a nightmare, regardless of where you shop. Usually, the main grocery stores and supermarkets like Walmart, Target, and Publix sell a small collection of Kosher For Passover items, the majority being every kind of matzah known to man and the rest being food that you wouldn't dare consume (Gefilte fish? No thank you). There are very few Kosher For Passover foods that seem the least bit appetizing, and if you don't have a Kosher market near your college campus, good luck surviving Passover. Plus, if you're allergic to peanuts and tree nuts like me, there are even fewer options for you, my friends. A great idea in these situations is to ask your parents for specific Kosher For Passover foods you know you'll eat, and have them ship it to you before Passover begins.

10. Not getting to spend Passover with your family.

College allows you the freedom to make your own choices and be who you wish, and going to school far away from your family can be a breath of fresh air. However, when you start reminiscing on your Jewish childhood nostalgia of searching for the Afikomen and spending the entire seder making faces at your cousins, transitioning from the kid's table to the adult table at Passover seder, your heart breaks a tad and you feel tears start to form. No matter how much you love being away from your family during college, the Jewish holidays always seem to bring out that sentimental side of you that's been hiding throughout the entire semester. Thankfully, many colleges have Chabad or Hillel, which hold seders to make college feel more like home. Although it's definitely not the same as being home for Passover, it's the second best option you usually have.

11. Having piles of homework to do on the first and second night.

Professors don't seem to understand that Jews have holidays too and that we usually aren't blessed with every holiday canceling school or being counted as a "national holiday." Us Jewish students understand that Passover is only a few weeks until final exams, but we deserve an ounce of respect to not have piles of homework, papers, and studying to do during Passover, especially on the first (and second) nights when we have seders. We still have to attend class, take quizzes on these days, and suffer through the entire seder worrying about classwork, and all we ask is for at least one day to not have to stress even more than usual during Passover.

12. When Passover and Easter coincide and you have nothing to do.

Usually, during most of Passover, daily schedules are pretty normal. However, many times Passover and Easter coincide, and us Jews are stuck during Easter with nothing to eat, because nothing is ever Kosher For Passover, nothing to do, because everything is closed for a "national holiday," and no one to hang out with, because the college population mostly consists of Christians, and other various religions. On this day, you officially claim your reign as "Loner" and end up binging Netflix for fourteen hours until you pass out from lightheadedness due to starvation. Make plans with other Jews to hang out during Easter ahead of time so you'll never encounter this deathly solitude again.

13. Everything on TV has to do with food.

Watching TV during Passover is never safe for the hungry Jewish soul. The Food Network and Cooking Channel seem to pop up every couple of channels you scroll through, every commercial is for some food or drinks you're prohibited from ingesting, and every movie or television show features food at some point during your watching period. No source of media is safe for the fragile hearts (and stomachs) of hungry Jewish college students during Passover. It's best to just watch the Rugrats' Passover on loop over the course of one week.