It’s one of those times that every on-campus student dreads: with the long Easter weekend, the entire food game changes. Mabee’s hours suddenly transform, and if you thought you were going to get that late-night taco from Coates, you can think again. Even your access to the POD becomes severely limited. Fear not, though: it’s possible to survive the Easter Hunger Games.

My first (and somewhat obvious) suggestion would be to keep yourself updated on changes to dining hours in various locations. Dining Services will post these changes in the vicinity of each place, so to save yourself time over Easter weekend, take a photo of the new schedule on your phone. This way, you won’t waste time searching for the schedule on the Internet””or turn up at the POD to grab lunch at 2:02 p.m., only to find that it closed two minutes earlier. I speak from experience on that one.

When the changed schedule won’t work for you, remember that we don’t live in a desert. If you don’t have a car, there are many places within walking distance from Trinity. A quick walk down to North St. Mary’s gives you access to places like Candlelight Coffee and Demo’s Greek Food. Alternatively, take a longer walk down Mulberry to Broadway for even more options, which I recommend if you’re working with a tighter budget. It’s finally spring””see it as an opportunity to take advantage of the great weather!

If you’re car-less but are more likely to starve than leave the Trinity bubble, there’s still hope for you””although it will require some effort. Stock up before the food famine begins.

Option one: buy out the POD’s stock of noodle bowls and EasyMac. If you have Bonus Bucks to spare, this is probably a good choice, but it’s definitely not a nutritious option. The all-noodle diet is less than ideal.

Option two: ask a friend with a car to take you to the grocery store before the weekend. Trader Joe’s has an endlessly awesome selection of frozen or refrigerated ready-made meals, or you can pick up some frozen staples from H-E-B.

My final suggestion: the dorms do have kitchens. See this as an opportunity to experiment! Invest in a skillet and a pot and see what happens. It’s not that hard to boil some pasta, throw sauce on it and add chicken or something. You can even get a little fancy if you want! It’s much cheaper to cook for yourself than to eat out all weekend. You may think the dorm kitchens are gross, but Lightner and Prassel have some nice ones. Plus, there’s nothing like eating a homemade meal painstakingly cooked in a grungy dorm kitchen””it’s all about the experience. Besides, heat burns germs away”¦right?

It’s possible to make the most of your Easter food famine. Look on the bright side and discover some new places or develop a cooking talent. The results might surprise you!