As finals rapidly approach and the semester comes to a close, I couldn’t help but long for a little reward to get me through a day of “studying” – ignoring all my work and watching “Nathan for You.” Since I’ve had enough Dairy Bar ice cream and gluten free dining hall brownies, I found myself searching for a new treat, one which may finally motivate me. I spent hours researching every confectionary in the area… kidding.
However, my quick Google search of “bakeries near me” left me disappointed. Insomnia Cookies was the first to pop up, an establishment which, albeit delicious, offers few options outside of cookies. The next was Dunkin’, which I believe is an insult to bakeries around the world – better coffee than Starbucks, though. Next was Bagel Zone, which most students remember as a few–minutes’ drive up Storrs Road. Yet, other than moderately better-than-Price Chopper bagels and no options for vegan or lactose intolerant students, the newly relocated eatery has little to offer.
That was it. The nearest option after those was Motta’s Pastry & Bake Shop, located 20 minutes away.
This isn’t a rant about the lack of proper bakeries on campus, though I’ll be patiently waiting ‘til someone fulfills this niche. The food in Storrs is painfully mediocre; nonexistent fresh produce or food cooked in anything other than canola oil are just two examples of its mediocrity. Severely below-average restaurants survive for decades simply because they’re the only option. And food is just the tip of the iceberg.
It’s a metaphor, really, for the inadequate, uninspiring, colorless aura our university emits. To put it simply: UConn is fucking mid.
I’m not the first to say it and I sure as hell won’t be the last. Eye-sore architectural choices and a barrage of brown buildings, the once-pretty views of lakes stampeded by construction zones, scaffolding and fences, the list goes on. Campus and Storrs itself evokes little pleasure to the eye, soul or mind. Maybe it’s just me, but I struggle to believe I’m the only student who wishes campus was just a bit prettier, or the food was much better and that the stresses of college could be offset by some sort of decent quality meal or view.
There’s something to be said about the space you inhabit – let alone for four years – and how the quality of its constituent parts effect your livelihood. When unappealing food and an ugly duckling campus is what UConn offers in response to the trials and tribulations of college that the university itself imposes – not to mention underfunded mental health services and a useless and bloated police force – the recipe for an unsustainable and unwelcoming college experience becomes more and more of a reality. Pleas for help regarding campus safety, sexual assault, the increasing financial burden that is imposed upon students each year and the abundance of other issues that plague UConn students fall upon the intentionally deaf ears of the university and its draconian, morally spineless board of trustees.
Let this serve as my manifesto, or perhaps my own plea for help, that UConn needs to do better, and that this statement remains vague because UConn is lackluster in a general sense. It’s shameful that even a simple Google search yields a multitude of student protests and administrative blunders, and that I had to limit the number of issues I touched upon in this article as covering them all would require something reminiscent of a dissertation. Nor should it be unreasonable to ask for a dollop of sunshine in the form of decent meals, an attractive campus, a functional, half-moral administration, or for God’s sake, something more than goat yoga and therapy dogs to remedy the oftentimes life-threatening stress that is school.
I don’t know, really, what the solution is at this point, nor do I think anybody does anymore. UConn has driven itself into a self-perpetuating cycle of student-fee-reliant expansion that it has nowhere to turn but onto its own constituents to fund its dying need to outgrow the next college, all whilst ignorant to the struggles and misery of its own student body. Rather than attempting to address current issues, the university made the executive decision – in 2014, at that – to espouse naivety and actively silence the cries of its students to prioritize growth.
I began this chaotic, incendiary column in the hopes that I could use it to air my grievances to the void, and finally be able to ease my mind after getting my thoughts on paper. After just one semester of writing, I can confidently say that ignorance is truly bliss, as the burden of knowledge has only furthered my disappointment in our university’s actions. Yet maybe there is a silver lining to all of this – get it? I’ve come to learn that we should never rely on UConn being the source of our happiness, as the more you learn about the university, the less you wish you knew. But rather than being deterred as I have for most of this semester, use this truth as the fuel for your own self-actualization.
Despite college’s grasp on our mental health, there are ways to regain control. Meditation and other forms of mindfulness exercises are a profound way to ground oneself in simple reality as opposed to the complex institutional hellhole we all signed up to be in, even if it’s only for a few minutes. If you’re of age, indulge in the many therapeutic vices that one can legally explore – off campus, of course – while remembering that moderation is key. Not to mention, I don’t think I’ve had a more intense experience than when journaling late at night, silently screaming into my mushroom-patterned Moleskin, just as my therapist recommended – you should try this, too.
So, as we leave for winter break to recover from our varying degrees of academic trauma, remember one thing: UConn has never, nor will it ever care. But so long as we do, our flame will always remain lit, even if it sometimes feels dim.
With that in mind, I’m not over my dream of a proper croissant…
Well, it’s good you have a positive attitude.
You are spot on, man.. I went to school here in the 80s (I know, “things were better back then”) but, in fact, they were. There is no live music anymore, not even a bar near south campus, no 24 hour diner, restaurants that aren’t some corporate enterprise are priced out of ‘downtown’, no soul, nothing. Bagel Zone is great though, not a bakery, but those bagels are way better than price notchopper. Thanks for saying what always needs to be said. Mid is giving it too much credit, it’s the worst major university campus I’ve seen yet, as far as culture goes, and I’ve seen most of them.
Bagel zone is dog shit Chris get a grip man
Love UConn and the campus is beautiful. There is construction because they are adding to the campus. Nice attitude . Maybe you should’ve transferred
beautiful? Spent most of your time drunk?
I mean the campus is in the middle of no where so unless you can earn enough money during the academic year it’s not worth the lease probably.
you would be named Karen, this school sucks. read a book
Good shit, Owen. My friends and I have the same experience. Ignore the shallow thinkers. I’m screaming into the void with you 🙂
I totally agree with all the strong statements you made Owen. I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks this way. The lack of good food offered here really does affect our attitudes. I hope your voice is heard by many students here.
Wow. Poor, poor you.
If it is so bad, transfer soy boy! Go to your safe space and scream into a pillow.
and you should stay,Mediocre Man
UConn University is not perfect but still Great. The guy who write this is a depressed soul.
That’s a funny joke, you should do stand up at the funny bone. Uconn is like everything else in ct, fucking trash
If you’re so unhappy then leave! You’re a spoiled brat.
I’ve never agreed more.
Bring back the IDC!
I hadnt been back to the campus in 30 years until recently.
It did feel more cookie cutter then I remember. Any of the personality it had(never tops) is lost to a more uniformed design that. The building trying to look stoic and traditional dont fool anyone.
This article feels a bit out of touch. I think you forget that tertiary education is a privilege, not a right, a privilege that you CHOSE to exercise here at UConn. The concept of trashing the very university that will award the degree that you will build your future career on is quite an odd choice.
What a whiny little s#%t! A useless bloated police force you say? With all of the school shootings happening, be grateful for their presence. If you want better food, advocate for it. I pity the future with whining cry babies like you. Go out and help your fellow man instead of thinking about yourself. Better yet, go somewhere more to your liking and see what you will pay to have a more aesthetically pleasing campus.
Exactly! Instead of going on a rampage, try to see what the possibilities are to fix it! Even just transfer schools if you don’t like it instead of shaming the school!
Thank you for speaking up for us.
Straight disrespect to Stix and Stones as a bakery I see. Go to any other state school in New England and you’ll have the same experience. Rename the article to college is mid you silly goose.
I graduated in 62. Loved the place
It was great then, before it was corporatized
How about a headline in English and not millenial text speak
Trash article.
Trash article!!! Sounds like someone needs some tissues and bottle with warm milk.
It’s funny because the state of UConn is a direct reflection of the whiney dipshits who came before this one. The last thing UConn needs is to spend MORE money on their third rate campus, they’ve done nothing but dump cash into that place for the last 20 years while charging insane tuition for a mediocre college education. Not to mention the dozens of cool places that have opened and died on that campus in the same amount of time because for all their crying college kids just want shitty midnight calzones and thirsty Thursdays and that’s just the truth of the matter.
Own your problems, better your situation, and don’t lay blame – the keys to resolving your whine have never been more clear.
OMG Why do you stay it’s so bad , spoiled child. Wait till you graduate will you move back into your parents home in Westport? Move off campus and make your own dinner. What college kids care about the quality of food . Leave UConn and try another college.
Go to BC or Duke. ,,, $$$$
If you hate what you are doing then leave freaking winey bitch
Whiny? Is that your great Uconn education?
it’s whiny not winey
Lol welcome to the real democratic socialism, this is what it looks like. They enter as wealthy, raise our taxes, keep most of it for themselves and we get complete mediocrity. And that will never change because common sense is no longer common
Agree, but it always changes and the trajectory has always been downward for the honest, for 4 decades and counting
Transfer to UMass.
Yeah, it’s nicer than Uconn
We have a dominant women’s basketball team, so the rest doesn’t matter!
The food sucks and the views are bad. But what about the academics? Are you being challenged? Are you learning to think critically or are you being indoctrinated by activist professors who ram the neo-Marxist “social justice” doctrine down your throat? These are the things that taxpayers like me who fund your school are concerned with. Anyway, stay focused on your education because that is why you are there. Go to the gym to get those endorphin levels up and improve your mood. Meanwhile, I’ll send the Dean of Students a nasty-gram on your behalf.
This young man sounds like he is clinically depressed. If so, then I am truly sorry and I hope he gets the help he needs. If not, then he is a whiny, entitled brat who expects everything served to him on a silver platter. UConn is an amazing institution and we our lucky to have it in our great state! I attended UConn from 1988-1992 and was always able to find beauty,support,and fun. This was long before the state-of-the-art recreation center, modern on-campus dorms and apartments (before on-campus air conditioning!), science and math buildings equipped with the newest technology, a downtown area,etc. As an 18-year-old, my priority wasn’t quality baked goods. I built connections with my professors and advisor by attending their office hours and I found beauty in the quiet corners of campus such as horse barn hill and the William Benton Museum. Most importantly,I developed friendships that I still maintain 30 years later. I am so grateful for all the opportunities UConn has afforded me! Now, I have a son who attends UConn and loves it there. He takes advantage of all that UConn has to offer. Some advice from someone who has a lot of life experience- find the positives or your whole life will be “mid”.
I have two more thoughts: 1. This year I toured ten college campuses with my high school senior. Every single campus had construction. Every. Single. Campus. 2. In my previous job I was on the selection committee several times for new hires. We put resumes from UConn alumni on top because they were consistently the best candidates.
That’s a stupid lie
Perfect..this showcases how pathetic today’s youth has become… I think education and intellect have become “mid” ( and that’s giving them much credit) in this generation.
Try sports to get away from it all. Maybe UConn has a jacuzzi with it’s pool.
Bravo, Owen. Firstly, the true whiners here are the boomer adults who think they know everything and look to find any reason to belittle today’s youth. Students of any university have every right to criticize it, regardless of how trivial your objections may be. Secondly, as a graduate myself (’92), I can’t stress enough how much I agree. Being bombarded with Alumni emails asking me to donate while watching my tax dollars go toward million dollar sports businesses is upsetting, and it’s even more sad to know that students of today are being effected by it too. I chose UConn because it was an elite and affordable education, and I assume you did the same. Don’t listen to the trolls, old people have a way with their obsession with the youth — some, to a worrying degree. Bless you, Owen, you’ve done a good thing speaking up as many students have before you.
Cry about it
Most of you are so idiotic I’m surprised you know how to use a computer. As someone who currently attends UConn, this writer is exactly right. Since when has the need for good nutrition been a “whiny” pursuit only made by the entitled? UConn speaks again and again about their desire to grow the student body– mind and actual body. Students cannot perform nearly as well as they potentially could when bombarded with inadequate food. Food that makes many students so sick they stop eating at the dining halls. I have found this issue to be extremely pertinent in my own educational experience. UConn gives students the bare minimum in most aspects and expects complacency. Tuition is only going up (a number which would shock a majority of the alumni in these comments) yet the quality is going down for most students who aren’t athletes. We all deserve a quality and affordable education, which is a requirement in the world we live in today. I’m surprised the older people in this comment section have yet to realize that. Most people go to UConn because of the relatively low cost and fairly decent education. Many students cannot afford to transfer– that expectation is so ouch of touch with reality it’s embarrassing for anyone to make. UConn is mediocre and the more students start talking about it and realizing they can advocate for more quality over corporate quantity, the sooner we can see change on our campus that this writer clearly cares about (or they wouldn’t have written this article in the first place).
OMG. You are so lucky to be attending college which places you in a small category of privilege compared to much of the world. Appreciate where you are and the positives of a college experience in Storrs CT. Unbelievable entitlement display by spoiled and pampered Gen Zers. Get over yourselves and deal with the massive adversity of a lack of nutrition options near campus.
Just because you boomers were abused by your parents for speaking up about issues doesn’t mean the new generation should lie over and take it too.
YOU GUYS KILLING ME RIGHT HERE READING THIS AS A THIRD PARTY.
Dude. If you think this is bad you should’ve seen UConn ten years ago – the entire town across the street from campus didn’t even exist. Stop complaining, students today have it better than it ever was before. I get that this is an opinion piece, but nonetheless I can’t believe absolute trash like this gets pubbed by Daily. You guys should have standards for opinions too – this is more on the editor than anyone.
Owen Silverman is a typical brain washed snow flake – a product of our educational system gone way too far away from what education was when I was in college from 64-68. The only college that I’d send a child to now would be HILLSDALE COLLEGE
A proper croissant? You are in Storrs, CT…not Paris you D-bag. Lucky you have Dunkin
Poor baby….. Think college is tough?… Wait til you graduate… Love UConn campus. Think best move would be transfer to Stanford.
Seriously. Smh
Congratulations, you just described how it is in most CT towns..not unique to Uconn/Storrs in any way. Next talk about all the Greek pizza places.
Should go to Soleil Bakery in Woodstock!!!!!
Wow, you need to get laid son, unless of course your more concerned where your next doughnut is coming from. By the way it sounds you should stop by your police dept (who btw put their lives on the line everyday fir your pussy ass) for your next doughnut. Maybe announce when you enter you’d like to speak to the head of the “useless and beloated” police force. Use need to take your attitude and pussy eating gluten free diet out of my State university.
This mid article is not so well written. But I applaud its plea for good food. I suffered from dormitory food for 2 years. So I moved out. Owen, you have that option, too, why not.
Get a life. BlaaaaaAZZZ.
CLEARLY a spoiled product of academia.
1988 graduate. Loved every minute. So did my father, and daughter. Use the transfer portal.
Wow Nothing better to complain about huh?
From almost beyond the grave, success on your finals to All who can be bothered to read this:
Alas, ´twas ever so, tho´ in days of yore it was far simpler to escape the budding educational – industrial – corporate Progress complex, into the arms of old Mother Nature; before UT, the P-gone and The Science took full control, to feed off the old carcass at the expense of taxpayers and students. All to create the public/private post-modern Potemkin urb and traffic jams that you enjoy today – but you´ll be able to fly in over it all in a flying electric vehicle for Homecoming Day, as an alumnus one day – maybe.
Back in the unenlightened olden days of the ´60s/´70s, a gourmet meal was overcooked lasagna (or questionable chicken/veal) all laden with greasy parmesan at Husky´s Restaurant, served with a slippery iceberg salad or an ice scoop of slimy coleslaw – though edible pizza and grinders could be had cheaply at the strip mall just off campus. Otherwise you were at the mercy of your dining hall, which is how the Jungle came to be named – I can remember hearing, as I picked quizzically at something on my plate presented as some form of ´meat´ there, as ´I Can´t Get No Satisfaction´ throbbed in my ears.
Academically, things were SO BAD that you could still jump over a muddy puddle and stumble (here and there) into something very like a (discounted) classical liberal education, under the tutelage of a professor every bit as deeply knowledgeable and flakily tweedy as any denizen of a Yale or Harvard (or Oxford/Cambridge for that matter) faculty lounge: the places that had produced more than a few of them.
But, brilliantly as they might hold forth or put pen to paper, they were handicapped by a lack of flair for the changing demands of publishing, and so they were deemed third-rate and had ended up as muddy puddle jumpers, along with the stoned and scruffy proletarian scions of our GI Loan generation (and were we ever scruffy!). A lot of those never-published diehards were far from snobs, and actually seemed to feel a kind of aspergic affection for us, when we could be bothered to try to learn; but then many of them had once shared foxholes (or typed in base offices, more likely) with all sorts.
They were all retired or dead/dying (unpublished) when I returned to jump muddy puddles again (oh yeah, I came back for more!) in the ´80s for my F.Ud; to find that, with Progress accelerated by computer technology, muddy puddles had proliferated by leaps and bounds, but I had a car at my disposable then. A skeptic might say that it was all for the benefit of politically well-connected contractors who were infamous for always getting the essentials badly wrong – so that they´d always have to come back on an even more lucrative contract to get it all wrong, all over again.
But those bad old days of cronyism and shady dealing are far behind us, and I´m sure that nothing like that can explain why you now find yourself always jumping over muddy puddles just as I did in my youth – though you have the advantage of springy modern athletic footwear made in China; it´s just a fine old Husky tradition – and Progress!
On a nostalgic note, as I bring this at least semi-senile little memoir to an overdue close, it was good to see again, a few years ago on my little crystal machine (the first one of which I used had taken up a hangar built next to the – now somehow sustainable – campus power plant); the hokey old mural of humble farmer boy (on the north end wall of the Student Union ´great hall´ – perhaps you saw it) gazing lovingly out over the beautiful green rolling hills he was being educated to ´husband´ – a reference to the original purpose of Lincoln´s Cow College Land Grant). He had been used to mud and puddles and cow pies his whole life.
He had been liberated – however briefly – from beneath the dust-faded and rotted Marimekko rip-off tapestry rag that had smothered him since the mid-´70s (I forget the forgettable name of the ´somebody who knew somebody who knew somebody artiste´, who produced a set of those for a tidy sum).
From what I can see, farmer boy has now been reduced to pentimento forever, under an oeuvre that looks to my untrained eye like something resulting from a collaboration between Hieronymous Bosch and Leon Trotsky (I think I can just make out some things that appear to be muddy puddles!); but hey, who am I to criticize Progress?
All I can say to the writer of this article is that I feel your pain, but with age and the wisdom that it has certainly never brought to me, will come to you a fond affection for those muddy puddles of your youth – in the middle of nowhere.
Tim Musheno, ´73 and ´98 (I was working full-time my second time around, and UCONN made a bundle off me in continuing education fees – so I´ve more than paid my dues: I was only working 25 hours a week first time around).
P.S. I agree with Angelito G – get off campus.
Are you capable of expressing thought without using the eff word?
loved the piece Owen! very well written and loved every statement that you brought up. you said what everyone else is thinking.