41 Minutes of Freedom

* “Because every minute counts!” —Lucas Amory, junior

* “I find it nice sometimes to take a walk and get some fresh air. It feels suffocating to be in the same building for seven to eight hours a day.” —Megan Huang, junior

* “It’s a little difficult to have a straight one through ten without a break in between, but it’s not a huge deal. I’ve gotten used to it.” —Serene Joe, junior

Though not frequently discussed, the way in which students spend their lunch periods may reflect their tendencies. Students have the option of either going out or staying in for lunch. However, some may not even have a lunch period, or may utilize their lunch period to do homework. The majority stay in the fifth floor cafeteria and eat school lunch. There are a number of reasons why students prefer to stay in school during their lunch periods. “I eat inside simply because I can’t afford to buy Tribeca food. It’s mad expensive,” junior Jacqueline Thom said. But, Thom also admits that school food is not exactly appetizing.

Bringing lunch from home is another option for students who opt to stay inside the building for lunch. Senior Saahir Ganti-Agrawal is among the few who pack their own lunch. For him, school lunch does not provide enough food. “I [stay] late [for robotics],” Ganti-Agrawal explained. Because he lives only 20 minutes away from school, he can quickly prepare his lunch in the morning and still arrive at school on time. Students who live much farther from school do not enjoy the same luxury, but preparing lunch in the morning does not have to be like organizing a buffet. Ganti-Agrawal usually spends only 10 minutes a day preparing very simple meals. “I usually eat stuff I heat up in the microwave and put in my furnace, like chicken or rice,” he described. If he forgets to bring lunch, he buys food from Ferrys or a Halal cart.

Students also enjoy the option of going outside to eat. Junior Megan Huang prefers going outside over getting cafeteria lunch. “I prefer to spend a few dollars rather than eat bland school lunch, which is not even filling,” she said. “Moreover, I find it nice sometimes to take a walk and get some fresh air. It feels suffocating to be in the same building for seven to eight hours a day.” Huang usually goes out with her friends; however, she finds herself leaving the building alone quite often as well. “I feel like many students are reluctant to go out alone, but sometimes being alone for just 41 minutes is revitalizing,” she commented.

These 41 minutes of freedom are not something students with band or chorus lunch enjoy. Junior Serene Joe, who has band lunch, stated, “It’s a little difficult to have a straight one through ten [schedule] without a break in between, but it’s not a huge deal. I’ve gotten used to it.”

A number of students have no actual lunch period, mainly due to band or chorus. Junior Alyssa Cheung asked for chorus lunch. “I don’t eat that early, and I decided that it was useless to have a free period doing nothing,” she explained.

That is not the case for Joe. “I didn’t choose to have [band lunch],” she said. “[The Program Office] just gave it to me.” She accepts her schedule since the credits she receives from band exempt her from classes like Music Appreciation. Joe’s passion for playing the French horn overrides her need for an exclusive lunch period. “I was in band in middle school, and I felt an impulse to continue playing my instrument in high school,” she said.

Because band and chorus lunch do not give students sufficient time to eat, students have to find pockets of free time. Joe claims that the few minutes given in band to get food is not sufficient enough to actually eat lunch. “I come from the tenth floor, go to the lunchroom, where there usually is a huge line, come back, eat lunch, get my instrument, and by the time all that is finished, it’s well into the period, and [Dr. Winkel] will mark you late,” Joe noted.

Prioritizing attendance over lunch, Joe seeks out the most convenient times to eat by taking advantage of classes like Advanced Placement (AP) Chemistry, which gives her a free period every other day. “I’m lucky enough to have a free period right before [AP Chemistry], and that free period is eighth. So on days where I do have a free, I’ll get lunch, and on days I don’t have a free, I’ll bring yogurt, or fruit, or something from home,” she mentioned.

Still, there are students whose mealtimes are not regulated by free or lunch periods. Freshman Shriya Anand’s eating schedule embodies irregular eating habits. “Sometimes I eat [during] my lunch period; sometimes I eat after school; sometimes I eat when I get home,” she said. Since she is part of the First Technology Challenge robotics team, she arrives home anywhere between 5:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., raising the possibility of not eating lunch for the whole day. Anand expresses that there is not a particular rhyme or reason behind her irregular lunch schedule. “Sometimes I just don’t have an appetite. If I don’t eat, that’s usually because I am not hungry,” she said. On the rare occasion that she does eat during her lunch period, Anand usually goes out to buy food with her friends. Typically, she buys Halal food from the cart near McDonald’s because it is the most economical option. “I go to Whole Foods. I see their food and I’m like, ‘This is too expensive,’” she jokingly said. “I come out and then get Halal food.”

Besides eating lunch, students may also use their lunch periods to do work. Nowadays, Huang stays in school more frequently during her lunch period to do schoolwork. “Because students aren’t allowed to enter the building until the warning bell of that period rings, if I need a decent amount of time during the day to study or work, I have to stay in school,” she explained.

Junior Lucas Amory also works instead of relaxing during his lunch period. He stays on the first floor next to the pianos for the convenience of being able to practice piano after eating. Sometimes he spends the entire period practicing the piano, while other times he allocates half the period to eating and the other half to practicing. “Because every minute counts,” he said. “I have limited time at home to practice because of neighbors’ complaints, so I try to get it in school when I can.”

Likewise, junior Charlotte Yee spends her lunch period outside of the cafeteria to do work. “I don’t go to the cafe during my lunch period because it’s too noisy, messy, and crowded,” she said. “I prefer the library because of its environment, which is suited for quiet, independent work.”

The importance, and the nuances, of having a lunch break is often overlooked by Stuyvesant students. While it is true that Tribeca is an expensive neighborhood, students can use the newly implemented StuyVantage discount system to buy lunch at convenient places around Stuyvesant. Whether it is taking a break from work, broadening their lunch experience, or walking around in fresh air, students can do so much with 41 minutes of freedom.