An Ode to Chocolate Chip Cookies

Imagine a day riddled with tests, homework and long hours of studying — and the only thing that sounds good is something sweet. 

I run to the dining hall after class, ecstatic, ready to eat my sweet treat. But when I’m met with heaps of stale cereal bars and dry chocolate cake, it makes my day even worse. Missing from the smorgasbord of desserts is the crown jewel of Loyola’s dining halls — decadent, chewy, rich, sweet and heavenly. 

I’m talking, of course, about the dining hall’s chocolate chip cookies. The excitement I feel seeing a fresh tray being placed on the desert table can only be compared to how it felt seeing Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour.” The chocolate chip cookie is the best. It’s soft and sweet and never fails to put a smile on my face. The other dining hall desserts simply can’t compare. 

Don’t even get me started on the horrifying oatmeal raisin cookies. These abominations trick the eye from afar by masquerading as the superior chocolate chip. Daggers pierce my heart and stab me in the back when I realize the sweets are filled with raisins.

The defeat I feel after seeing the oatmeal raisin cookies is equivalent to failing a final exam, dragging my spirits down to never-before-seen depths. Beyond the oatmeal raisin cookies, the dining hall sugar cookies are bland and burnt, while the cake is dry and dreadful. I try to avoid both of these icky qualities in my nightly sweet treat. 

My experience with dining hall brownies is the worst of all. When I first saw them I felt excited, ready to try a new option and hoping for a bit of fudgy, chocolatey deliciousness. The reality was beyond disappointing. Dry. Crumbling. Flavorless. I struggle to even get through one bite of the brownies before my mouth is met with dryness like the Sahara Desert. 

I always find myself back where I started — with my go-to, trusty chocolate chip cookie. It’s always able to make me smile. That is, when the dining hall serves them. Chocolate chip cookies are in such high demand people take handfuls of them when they’re available. It’s one reason they’re such a luxury — students hoard them for later to avoid succumbing to the other options. 

Those who consume cocoa are proven to have better memory and cognition, according to a 2020 study from The National Library of Medicine. Cereal bars can’t even begin to compete with that. 

The Loyola dining halls struck gold with chocolate chip cookies. A fan favorite, mood-boosting treat. Don’t fall victim to foul oatmeal raisin cookies or cake —stock up on chocolate chip cookies when you can.