There comes a time in everyone’s life when they are faced with the terrifying fact that they will have to eat a meal by themselves. No friends, no family, no one. Just you, your phone and your food.

This past semester I was faced with this dilemma every single day at lunch. Unfortunately, my lunchtime was so late that none of my friends were eating at the same time. Actually, no one was eating at that time. It was just me and the lovely ladies that work in our dining hall. I was awful to walk into Dhall and know that I was going to be sitting by myself for a good 30 minutes. At first, I always brought something to do and ate as fast as I could. I would bring my laptop and pretend like I was doing work because god forbid someone saw me all by myself.

As time went on, I began to care less. I started just sitting and enjoying my food. I started talking to the dining hall ladies instead of rushing to get my food. I began to enjoy it. Enjoying the peace and quiet. Enjoying my conversation with the ladies. Enjoying my food. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

There is a social stigma that the “uncool” “weird” kids sit alone. That is what the “unwanted” people do. We see it in movies all of the time. We read it in books. The kid with no friends eats alone. That is simply not the case. Eating alone is a life skill. Yes, I said life skill.

There might come a time in your life where you have to make a choice to go somewhere that you know no one and are all alone. I hope you will be able to eat by yourself, because your other option is to starve.

You will be amazed by the people that you meet when you take a step back and actually enjoy your time when you aren’t with your friends.

Long story short, eating alone can be one of the hidden treasures in life. So go hit up your local favorite restaurant, talk to the owner, meet some new people and eat some good food. You deserve it.