Chicken and Waffles

Rolling out of bed is one of the hardest tasks a college student seems to conquer day in and day out. But not all mornings are the same. Personally, I have three different morning routines each week. Two days a week I have to wake up at 8:25 a.m., open my computer, throw in a pair of headphones, and watch my government professor lecture for an hour and 15 minutes, all from the comfort of my own bed. After that, I go back to sleep for at least another hour and a half. Another two mornings of my week begin with an 11 a.m. alarm, followed by a punch at the snooze button, and a slow, "go at your own pace" attitude that brings me into the dining area of my fraternity house for a bite to eat. Of course, those two days end with three back-to-back classes that put a serious damper on my mood. But the last morning is by far the most different from all other mornings. That is because it is Friday morning.

Thursday nights in Austin, TX lead to miserable wake-up calls the following morning. After all, the college weekend starts on Thursday night. Friday's are notorious for headaches, dry mouths, and the need for a black-out curtain. However, after chugging a bottle of chilled gatorade from the mini-fridge at the foot of my bed, I find the power to stumble out of my nest. Living in a fraternity house makes these mornings ever so much more bearable. For some lucky reason, it appears that myself, along with the majority of my brothers living in the house, ingeniously made schedules with no Friday classes for this semester. This, my friends, is a treasure I will try to hold on to for as long as I can. One thing I have learned is that hangovers can be enjoyed by many. Stories can be told about the night before, laughs can be shared, yet everyone feels the same way: hungover.

One of the luxuries of living in a fraternity house is the meal plan. As part of our ridiculous dues, we pay for meals. Meals to be cooked for us approximately 67 steps from a given bedroom. And on Friday mornings, that meal is chicken and waffles, a classic Texas meal that provides all of the grease and fat to put you back to sleep for another few hours, only to wake up in the early afternoon to enjoy the heck out of the rest of your day. It's meal so good that PBS felt the need to write an entire story on it. All of the brothers from the house gather in the dining area, indulging themselves deep into their plates of heaven, all while minimizing that terrible, hungover feeling. It all starts with one meal. The dynamic duo of chicken and waffles helps me get off that "struggle bus," and onto the best of my five days of the week.

Chicken and Waffles (with maple syrup, of course). (Photo: Evan Swigart).