The Breakfast Life

While most college students love sleeping in–no class until 10:00!–I personally love waking up early. Or, to be more specific, I love breakfast. I go to breakfast every day and usually spend an hour or two there. Every morning, after a swim (some days) and a shower (every day!), I head to Frank, the South campus dining hall, around 7:30 or 8 AM. Around that time, there’s always a very particularly variety of Pomona students at breakfast. They can be broken down into two subsets: dedicated breakfast-goers who genuinely want to eat before their 8 AM classes, or people like me who bring reading or homework to do over long, lingering morning meals.

What is it about breakfast that has me waking up at the ungodly-to-college-students hour of 7 AM? It’s not about the food, though in my opinion, Frank breakfasts are where it’s at. It’s about the vibe. There are few enough people at breakfast that the dining hall is quiet and peaceful, avoiding the loud, clattering din of lunch and dinner. There are also few enough people that it’s completely acceptable, even desirable, to sit on one’s own and enjoy a morning of peace and solitude. While I often sit with a lovely group of breakfast buddies, every once in a while I choose to sit alone, outside. Usually, there’s no one else there, so I have the crisp morning sunshine, the chirping birds, and the burbling fountain all to myself as I do class readings and sip on tea.

I wasn’t always a morning person. I never ate breakfast in high school, and I barely ever woke up in time for breakfast my first semester at Pomona. But I’ve come to realize that I love the breakfast life, easing into the busy day with a period of peace, quiet, and solitude.