Friends and Food

So the other day I decided to go to D-hall with my roommate who I don't normally eat with. I had no one else to eat with though, and she had just arrived at D-hall from her dance class. I had a lot of work and was considering just skipping dinner, but I'm glad I didn't since my favorite veggies were being served; the grilled, seasoned asparagus that is served at the Diner, OMG it's DELICIOUS.

Aside from the good meal I had for dinner, I also got to meet someone new. My roommate had brought along a dance friend of her's who is a sophomore. While talking to her I found out that we are similar personality wise and that we have similar interests. For example, we both love ducks and they are our favorite animal. Okay, maybe we're more like obsessed with ducks, and it was so neat to meet someone else who loves ducks just as much as I do. Usually when I tell people about how much I love ducks they think I'm a loon (intended duck pun) but now I have someone who understands my love! Also, I discovered that she is a newly declared Geosciences major; the same major as me! The department is pretty small, so I'm surprised I had never seen her before.

This experience at D-hall brings me to one of the topics I learned about in my english class: Social capital. Social capital is basically defined as how many connections you have, that you can benefit from. The more people you know, the more likely you will have a connection to something that you might benefit from in the future. D-hall is an amazing place that fosters social capital. You could go into D-hall, run into a friend who invites you to sit with his or her friends at a table, and walk away having a bunch of new friends. Whether these friends may or may not help you in the end is unknown, but you have just increased your social capital by finding a friend at D-hall. In my case, I really lucked out and my social capital increased a lot, since I now know a sophomore in the Geosciences track. I can look to her to help me with future classes I will take that she has taken, and maybe even take classes or do research with her!

In the end, I walked out of D-hall with a delicious meal in my belly and a new friend here at Skidmore :3