By Andrew ’22
There’s just something different about Tostada Day. Walking on campus first thing in the morning, you feel this current of energy and anticipation flowing through the school body. Throughout the day, as more students and faculty learn of the deliciousness awaiting them come lunch time, the anticipation rises. Suddenly, the tension erupts during the afternoon lunch periods, manifesting as bustling, unending lines trailing out of the cafeteria. The wait during those final few minutes is agonizing. Ecstatic students walk past with golden, crispy tortilla bowls heaped with warm rice, beans, various proteins, and vegetable toppings galore, and all you can do is stare as your stomach grumbles. Finally, when you finally get your own scrumptious bowl and sit at a table with your friends, it’s forty-five minutes of bliss.
The awesome cafeteria staff at Harvard-Westlake works hard to prepare a wide variety of fresh, delicious food for the school community every day. After tostadas, some of the most popular lunch entrees include enchiladas, teriyaki chicken, and pulled pork sandwiches. Other meal options include a make your own sandwich station, salad bar, and chicken tenders. In addition to these lunchtime favorites, the cafeteria is always stocked with various snacks throughout the day for students looking to grab a quick bite between classes or before an afterschool activity. For me, Oreos have become a must-have pre-workout snack. All transactions are done with HW ID cards, and meal costs are automatically charged to students’ accounts. This convenient system allows for quick purchases at the checkout station, and students don’t have to worry about carrying cash to pay for their lunch.
Lunch is also one of the most social parts of a typical school day. From walking to the cafeteria to waiting in line to talking at the lunch tables, there’s never a moment when you’re not surrounded by friends and mentors. In the schedule we used up until this year, students were assigned a specific lunch period throughout the day. Smaller communities would develop within those lunch periods as students ate and hung out together every afternoon; additionally, the students in your lunch period wouldn’t always be people you were already close with, so many new friendships would grow through a common lunchtime.
Starting this year, with the newly implemented block schedule, all students, faculty, and staff share a common one-hour lunch period. The school community tried this system in-person last year, and I found our trial runs to be hectic, yet exciting experiences. Although I missed the more intimate setting of smaller lunch periods, these schoolwide breaks were great opportunities to catch up with friends I might not have seen otherwise during the school day. Getting food, however, was a challenge. With nearly a thousand members of the Harvard-Westlake community rushing to get food at once, I felt lost in the hungry crowd as I struggled to grab a bowl of teriyaki chicken. To meet the high demand of a common lunch, a new cafeteria has been built on the Upper School campus.
Even during socially distanced online learning, lunch remains a rejuvenating, community centered time. It’s been too long since I’ve had a tostada at school, but I still take the time to enjoy new foods, whether it’s experimenting with meals cooked at home or exploring new takeout places in Los Angeles. The hour-long free period also provides new opportunities for community-wide activities. We have had the opportunity to listen to guest speakers and college representative visits, for juniors and seniors, during lunch. These are great ways to stay connected and informed in an isolated learning environment, but nothing beats spending a sunny California afternoon eating delicious food with friends.
