#TBT REPORT: Students Increasingly Turn to Late Meal to Deal With Pressure of Midterms

Congratulations: If you’re a Princeton student reading this article, that means it’s Thursday, my editors have run out of content and decided to run my trash, and most importantly, you’ve made it through midterms week! Pat yourself on the back, have an extra cookie in the d-hall, and celebrate! However, we all know that many sacrifices had to be made during that week, and we know that there were also many casualties along the way; some lost sleep, some lost friends, and some simply lost their sanity.

Despite all this, there is one thing Princeton students generally will not forgo, even in times of crisis: Late Meal. Whether grabbing a bit of comfort food or making up for a missed meal, Late Meal is an essential part of any midterms week, and honestly, of any week in general (I like my fries). We at the 'Prince' caught up with a few undergraduates to chat with them about how they dealt with midterm stress and more importantly, what their item of choice is at late meal.

Kennedy Leverett ’20

How are you feeling about midterms?

I’m feeling pretty good about them! I don’t have too many sit-down exams left; I already had one this past week so I have two this week, and then one project.

What’s your general approach to exams? Do you get stressed easily?

Yeah, I do get stressed pretty easily, but for midterms, my general approach is to plan everything in advance since we have to keep going to class while we test.

What are some techniques you use to plan out your week?

I use my planner religiously and I’ll write down everything, all of the homework and anything the teacher says will be due and take pretty tedious notes.

Do you have any advice for people before/during midterms?

Definitely plan out your week and stay organized, but don’t stress out too much about things because at the end of the day they aren’t going to determine your final grade.

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What brings you to late meal today?

I was hungry and I didn’t feel like going to the D-hall. [laughs]

What is your late meal of choice?

Anything from the grill is really good. Sweet potato fries, mozzarella sticks, quesadillas, all of the above.

Then why did you have a salad today?

Because I don’t need to be eating sweet potato fries every day!

[Interviewer nods in agreement]

Hollis Kuang ’21

How are you feeling going into your first midterm at Princeton?

Honestly, these are my first midterms so I’m feeling very nervous, very scared, but I have a super great support group that’s there to study with me, there to support me, so even though I am nervous I’m feeling somewhat confident, and I hope to remain confident after midterms as well! [laughs]

What midterm are you most stressed about?

Most stressed about my COS midterm. It’s a class that I wanted to take for fun, but it’s a lot harder than I thought it would be. Right now I spend more time on COS than I spend on all my other classes put together. I’ve never coded before, so this is something that’s been very … different for me.

What brings you to late meal today?

Well, with how I have my schedule set up, I have to miss lunch every single day, so if I attend my classes I can’t attend regular lunch so late meal is a savior for me.

What is your late meal of choice?

Well, I like to think that variety of the spice of life, so I like to mix it up, sometimes i’ll get a burrito, maybe a quesadilla— but that quesadilla line is always crazy long, so that’s only if I'm willing to wait … there’s also chicken tenders and everything else too.

Angelly Garcia ’21

How are you feeling about midterms?

I’m very stressed out about it … I’ve been studying every single day for my calc midterm and that’s the only midterm I have. I used to have chemistry too but I dropped that because it was very stressful, so I’ve been trying to get better at calc and be prepared for [the exam].

How are you preparing for that calc midterm?

They have posted previous midterm exams, so I’ve been doing those every day along with review problems.

Is your approach to exams at Princeton different from how you approached exams in high school?

Well, before I didn't really study that much, and here I definitely have to, so it’s a little bit more serious, a little bit more stressful.

What brings you to late meal today?

I missed lunch so this is my meal I guess. And I was hungry.

What is is your late meal of choice?

I usually get the chicken tenders and fries or a turkey sub.

And what’s the best combo here at Frist for late meal?

The chicken tenders, fries and a drink.

*Editor's note: This article was written and scheduled to be published during Midterms week, but due to logistical reasons we're publishing it this week instead as an homage to Late Meal, which continues to reign supreme.