There comes a time in every Lewis & Clark student’s life where they become overworked and sleep deprived; where their eyes struggle to stay open in class and the library chairs become a daily accessory. Life seems bleak. We forget breakfast, fall down two flights of stairs and realize we forgot our ID card halfway through our trip to class. In these dark times there are few things that shine brighter than the little triangles of cheese and tortillas that grace our plates biweekly at Fields Dining Hall.
As we make it through the week on “soy curls” paired with over-salted sauces and bok choy-heavy stir fry that will not fail to sour the spirits of even the most optomistic LC student, the one day we get to indulge in the cheesy goodness of the cheddar and monterey jack cheese combined with the flour tortilla makes it seem like it will all be okay. The knowledge that at dinnertime, I am promised a greasy pocket of cheesy goodness has me skipping to class, blowing kisses to both the hot and non-hot people I see around campus (I am, after all, a generous soul) and sitting in class with a smile on my face, creeping out all my professors.
This quesadilla is good enough that you will not even mind the retribution your lactose-intolerant body will enact upon you for daring to consume cheese. This quesadilla will make you call your mom and tell her how much you love her and have you staring at your ceiling with your mouth watering, waiting for the moment that cheesy tortilla can slosh around your mouth washed down with Coke that definitely does not have enough syrup.
When I can nestle the warm skin of the quesadilla against my cheek on cold, lonely days in the Bon, it reminds me of home. I know we all remember stealing away to the kitchen at night as kids, to make quesadillas by ourselves in the dark, not only to eat, but to also keep us company. Quesadillas are an important part of what makes us happy as humans. The dopamine you get from that first bite of quesadilla could put drug dealers in all of the Pacific Northwest out of business. Who needs meth when you can get something better with a simple meal swipe?
It is imperative for the well-being of all students, from first years to super seniors, that the Bon properly integrates our cheesy friends into our daily diet. I need to be sure that I can walk up five flights of stairs and stand in line for 20 minutes for a slice of gold. The stability of a crispy quesadilla at the end of each long, rainy day would completely change my dining experience. No one would actually ever eat alone with the familiar face of a quesadilla smiling at you from your plate.
Regardless of your opinion on the cuisine they serve at our dining hall, we can all agree they should focus on where they excel and make their quesadillas for every meal- breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Why complicate a perfect thing? Who needs inch-thick “pizza” and chicken ruined a million and a half different ways when a quesadilla is an option? Who cares if there is a mass clogging of toilets around campus. Give the people what they want, give them the one food a microwave just really can not make right. Give us what what keeps us up at night and gets us up in the morning. Give us quesadillas, or give us death.
Illustration by Umi Caldwell
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