With greater age comes greater freedom. As juniors and seniors are allowed to leave school campus for open periods, more students opt for different lunch options.  However, some still prefer the classic lunches brought from home or bought at school.

One  student, Asha Spetter, junior, says she prefers to bring her lunches packed from home for affordability.

“It’s cheaper and I don’t have much money,” Spetter said. “I [do not like spending  my money on things all the time, and [homemade lunches are] also healthier for me because eating out usually means fast food.”

Part of the convenience in bringing cold lunches comes from Spetter’s dad, who she says packs her lunch for her and her sister because he wakes up early for work.  It only “takes him around ten minutes” to pack lunches for her and her sister every morning.

On the other end, Ruhi Mahjumdar, junior, likes to go out for lunch to restaurants near the school because she has off-campus privileges.

“It helps that I have a parking spot in the school lot,” Mahjumdar said. “It’s just a fun way to get away from school for a little because now I can go off-campus which I couldn’t before. […] I like trying new things, but I probably should start going out less because I think I waste a lot of money.”

On her trips, Mahjumdar also brings her friends with her to get food, and says she “[has] points from having a Starbucks account so [she] can also treat [her] friends if [she] feel[s] like it.” But despite having points, Majumdar considers the benefits of other lunch options.

“I like eating out, but I probably should start bringing a lunch or something,” Majumdar said. “I definitely need to save money, even though I have a job.”

While both Spetter and Majumdar have the option to eat out, Katherine Pyasik, sophomore, is stuck with cafeteria food or packing a lunch until next school year as freshmen and sophomores are not allowed off-campus.

“I get hot lunch because it’s more convenient than bringing stuff from home every morning,” Pyasik said. “If I was allowed to go off campus, I think I would probably go off campus instead of getting a hot lunch.”

Pyasik says she usually gets a pack of chips for herself from the cafeteria everyday as she doesn’t eat a big lunch, but is open to both bringing her own lunch or going out in the future.

“I consider [packing lunch], but I don’t have too much time in the morning so it’s kind of hard to plan out what I would pack for lunch and then have the time to do it sometimes,” Pyasik said.

Like Pyasik, it seems students favor convenience while debating their lunch options. Spetter agrees but says she sees advantages of her lunch outside of it just being opportune.

“Sometimes I want to go eat out, but then I realize I don’t have any money and that it’s just a lot easier to eat the lunches that I bring from home,” Spetter said. “I can kind of also pick and control what I want in my lunch when we go grocery shopping so it’s not so bad.”