Khuyen Nguyen / Daily Nexus

BUZZ. BUZZ. BUZZ.

I opened my eyes to the sound of my alarm thinking, “What a great way to start off my day!”: waking up to my annoying five-minute-long alarm. I reach for my phone, searching for the snooze button. The thought of skipping lecture crossed my mind, but I realized that I would be wasting the financial equivalent to 230 pieces of chicken nuggets if I missed this lecture.

For every lecture you skip, you are essentially wasting $58. How much is that worth in delicious, non-dining-common food? With that amount of money, you can purchase 230 pieces of chicken nuggets at McDonald’s; that also comes with medium French fries or salad and soft drinks. Two-hundred thirty pieces is a lot to consume in one day, so let’s break that down into portions. On average, people eat about 15 pieces per meal, and multiplying that for three meals, that means 45 pieces per day. These 230 pieces of chicken nuggets can last you through five whole days! That means five extra days of non-dining-common food! And that is a HUGE bonus if you dine at Portola.

If you are not a fan of chicken nuggets, we can compare it to I.V. meals. When talking about living college life, one cannot leave out parties, and I know most of you party. After the party, food is a must, especially after a large amount alcohol consumption and crazy dancing. Well, what’s the number-one place to go when you’re drunk? It is none other than Freebirds. A Freebirds veggie burrito sans guac costs roughly $8. That means you can get seven burritos with $58. This translates to three weekends’ worth of after-party meals if you party twice every week, and if you are somewhat introverted and only party once a week, that’s nearly two months’ worth of party meals.

The money can also be used to purchase late night snacks when you get that midterms/finals season craving and decide to order SBMenus. We all know the delivery fee is ridiculously high, but with $58, you can get up to three or four meals delivered straight up to your dorm. The meals can range from wings or pizzas from Woodstock’s to the famous McConnell’s ice cream to 805 Boba that just opened for delivery. What else could you do with $58? You could treat your girlfriend or boyfriend out for a modest dinner date at a fancy restaurant, spend it on around 10 cups of your favorite coffee drink or purchase 300 instant ramen meals that can last you the whole quarter! Hopefully, the thought of wasting all these delicious foods will motivate you to get out of bed and attend that morning lecture.

Fifty-eight dollars might not seem like a very big number by itself, but if that number doubles or triples, it can dramatically increase to $174. Instead of paying for lectures and not showing up, think about the amount of food you can purchase with that money; it is endless. Since you are already paying for the lectures as part of your tuition, you might as well attend and make it worth your education. Yes, waking up to an 8 a.m. alarm may be annoying, but losing all that money is just heartbreaking. I know that you would rather drown yourself in a pile of food than a pile of homework, but life is not always favorable. So, next time you decide to play hooky, just convert the amount of money you will be wasting to your favorite food to make yourself feel guilty so you’ll get yourself out of bed.

Kevin Son / Daily Nexus

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