Lunch crews claim territory during breaks
By Andrew J. Barnes ’12 and Kevin M. Cabano ’12
THE ROUNDUP
age of students eating lunches and hanging out during lunch.
“The most special part about my group is that it’s open to everyone,” said Flavio Bravo ’12, who has sat in the middle knoll in the David Brown Mall since his freshman year.
The Mall, which consists of three grassy knolls, is mostly populated by seniors and it has been somewhat of a tradition that seniors hang out there during breaks.
“When I was a freshman, I used to look up to the seniors and they all used to sit around here (Mall area),” said Diego Valenzuela ’12. “I wanted to be like them.”
In the grassy knolls, students enjoy themselves by relaxing in the shade under the trees and chatting with each other.
“I like the south knoll because we have lots of space and we can play Frisbee and football,” said Jack Welty ’12. “And we still get to feel like a part of the whole Mall scene.”
Antonio Salas ’12 said he likes sitting in the north knoll because of the “great scenery” and how the area is like a “parabola-shaped vortex.”
East of the Mall is the “stoop,” the southernmost of two stairwells leading from the gym that face the Mall.
The stoop, despite its relatively small physical size, is home to two groups of students.
“We’re the real stoop,” said Matt Muller ’12, who belongs to the “south stoop.” “We’ve got Andy McCoy ’12.”
“It’s like a civil war,” said Matt Munhall ’12, who sits on the “north stoop.”
Outside of the mall area, there is a plethora of places where students eat lunch and hang out, including the Great Hall, Student Activities Center and outside the Info Commons.
“I really enjoy the company,” said Kipp Charlton ’14, who sits inside of the Student Activity Center at lunch.
“Sometimes we have singing and karaoke lunchtime,” said Nick Wren ’12, whose group eats in the Plaza outside of Piper.
Patrick Dampare ’13 eats with his friends in the courtyard outside of the Info Commons, and has been since his freshman year.
Dampare said that “after we’re done eating, we just head in (to the Info Commons) and work on homework or chill.”
In between Keating and Eller, students eat their lunches in Poet’s Alley.
Connor Lawston ’14 gave a simple reason as to why his group is together: “we like eating lunch.”
A large group of seniors hang out in the hallway outside of the Chapel, near Romley. “We started in the tree,” said Tarren Villaverde ’12, referring to a tree that used to provide a sort of bench for students in the grass near the Chapel.
Villaverde said that after the tree was cut down, the group “migrated” into the covered outdoor hallway.
“We’re a very diverse group of people,” said Brad Keller ’12.
This diversity is present all over campus among the various lunch groups.
“We’ve got baseball players, lacrosse players, football players, (but) kids don’t have to play sports to sit here,” said Jake Steffens ’12, speaking about his group in the Mall area.
Despite the diversity and different student personalities, students say there is an atmosphere of welcome and inclusion in all of the groups.
“Everybody’s welcome,” Bravo said.