Marie Wu

Back when we were all still living in UChicago Housing, we used to go to Bartlett dining hall as a group for lunch after class. We would all disperse to go get food, and then meet at one of the small round tables towards the side or the back. Most of us would show up with one plate, maybe two, usually with safe choices (pasta, sandwiches, grilled chicken). You’d show up with three or four plates, each containing (slightly questionable) foods from all the different stations. A lot of the time you never even knew exactly what it was you had grabbed; you thought it looked interesting, that’s all. We always had a good laugh, poking at the food and trying to figure out what it was supposed to be. And somehow, at each and every lunch, you would finish most all of the food you took, no matter how weird. I never understood how anyone could eat so much, or, for that matter, why anyone would want eat some of the nondescript food you accumulated. But this was just how you were with everything in life, both good and bad – everything was fascinating, everything was worth trying at least once, and you, Austin, you wanted to try it all.