Written by Olivia L., Residence Education Advisor
Living at Ontario Hall in my first year, I loved the dining hall food. It’s known for having a strong dining hall, and it definitely shaped my first-year experience. Because of that, I thought cooking for myself in second year would be easy. I constantly looked forward to it and even had this long “Recipes” folder saved on Instagram, filled with ‘college student’ meals I was excited to try.
When I actually started living off campus, things didn’t go as planned. Balancing cooking, commuting to school (even though I lived quite close), my Med Sci coursework and work turned out to be much harder than I expected. Going into second year, I was already worried about the increased workload, extracurricular commitments, and commuting, and on top of all that, there was cooking. Not just learning how to cook, but finding the time, energy, and motivation to do it consistently, and managing the money and effort that comes with it.
What I’ve learned is this: there isn’t one “right way” to cook as a student. The key is finding systems and habits that actually work for you. For context, I’ve now been living off campus and cooking for myself for three terms (and counting!), after a year of what felt like fine dining at Ontario Hall. Here are some things that helped me along the way:
1) Use your appliances to multitask
Think oven, air fryer, rice cooker, whatever you have. I often make 4-5 portions at once using a single appliance, or a combination of them. While things are cooking, you’re free to do other things, like calling a friend, listening to a lecture or planning your week. You don’t have to be actively cooking the entire time. Just make sure you’re staying safe and not leaving anything unattended!
2) Identify your barriers and work around them
Everyone has small things that make cooking harder. For me, I take a long time washing vegetables, and I hate when they’re not cleaned properly. I also struggled with planning when to cook, which sometimes meant my groceries went bad. Instead of avoiding cooking altogether, I adjusted. I started buying more pre-washed or frozen fruits and vegetables to remove that barrier. Don’t aim for perfection, aim to make cooking easier for your needs and circumstances.
3) Stock up on pantry and freezer staples
There will be days when you’re tired and don’t have anything ready. Having simple, ready-to-go options like ramen, pasta, instant oatmeal, or freezer meals can make a huge difference. It gives you a fallback that’s still convenient and accessible.
4) Prioritize nutrition and how you feel
It’s easy to focus on what’s fastest or most convenient, especially during busy times like exam season, but your body still needs real fuel. Check in with yourself: Have you eaten proper meals today? Is there a small way to make this meal more balanced? For me, that meant always having shelf-stable or long-lasting foods like broccoli, carrots and hummus on hand for low-energy days and adding grains like barley, quinoa, or black rice to plain white rice to make meals more filling and nutritious.
5) Use on-campus supports
You don’t have to figure everything out on your own. Programs like FRESH offer peer support and nutrition education and often host residence-based workshops on quick, balanced meals. The USC grocery shuttle is also really helpful for making grocery trips more accessible. These resources are there to make the transition easier- use them!
Cooking and life
I used to think cooking would take up too much time on top of school and extracurriculars. But I’ve realized that your time fills up no matter how many or few commitments you have, you just learn how to adapt. If it feels overwhelming, know that so many students before you have gone through the same transition. It’s part of learning how to take care of yourself in a new way. Over time, you figure out what works, you build routines, and it becomes something you can actually enjoy.
Like everything else in this stage of life, you’re constantly adjusting, learning and growing into someone more capable and more self-aware. And even the things that might feel difficult at first, like cooking, become part of that process.