As winter draws closer and the temperature continues to drop, soup serves as a universal comfort food for many Marquette students, bringing warmth and a sense of home onto campus for some.
For Nick Ladewig, a senior in the College of Engineering, the cold weather is nothing new.
“I’m okay with cold. I’ve grown up in Wisconsin, … it’s just too early for it right now,” Ladewig said. “I’d like it to wait until around Christmas time, but it is good for soup, I guess, because soup is nice and hot and warms you up.”
Ladewig’s dining experience on campus has been unorthodox; he commutes to school every day and relies on meal swipes from friends.
“I do eat at Marquette a lot in the dining halls, (so) I would say (the soup) doesn’t remind me of home,” Ladewig said. “But that might be because I go home every night.”
Nathaniel Shin, a first-year student in the College of Health Sciences and a Minnesota native, shared his own feelings about the cold weather and how homemade soup is a reminder of good memories with his family.
“My favorite soup is my mom’s wild rice soup. I grew up on it, so it just reminds me of home,” Shin said. “It’s just something we always make in the winter, so it’s kind of like after you shovel outside or you’re cold, you come in and eat it and get all warmed up.”
Alex Abendschein, unit marketing manager for Marquette dining, said that he and his staff members work hard to make Marquette’s campus feel more like home, especially for those like Shin who don’t get to go home on a regular basis.
“I would tell you that our staff spends a great amount of time making soup,” Abendschein said. “There are some soups that are from Campbell soup that we get in a bigger bulk, but a lot of our soups are made from scratch, especially in our residence dining centers.”
Abendschein said soup is available at each dining hall on campus, including the soup station at Marquette Place. He said new soups are constantly being rotated in with the traditional ones. The lobster bisque, potato soup, cheesy broccoli and chicken noodle soup are just a few examples of the offerings.
Julia Luo, a first-year student in the College of Health Sciences, said she likes eating soup from the dining halls in Straz Tower and The Commons.
“There’s this one lady who works in the cafeteria at Straz, … she cares about everyone, and she takes the time to learn about if you have food allergies, or if you’re vegan, or whatever,” Luo said. “Every time I go in and get food from her, she’s super nice.”
Luo said the kindness of the dining hall staff plays a big role in making her feel more comfortable and at home at Marquette.
“My mom really likes making soup any time it’s cold outside, and anytime we’re sick she’ll always make soup, so I always associate soup with good memories,” Luo said.
Soup is easily accessible at many of Marquette’s dining halls and Marquette Place in the Alumni Marquette Union.
“I would encourage people to come down to Marquette Place. It’s centrally located on campus, you can get a nice soup to go,” Abendschein said. “I would also encourage people to check out our mac and cheese because it is also really warm, hearty and feels like a very Upper Midwest type of warm-your-soul food.”
This story was written by Skyler Chun. She can be reached at [email protected]. She can be reached on Twitter @skylerchun_.
