<p>When I took a summer course with high schoolers, in college, eating time was different on the weekends. Well 1 morning, everyone felt "sick" for some reason, but I was starving, so I decided to go alone. When I got there, there weren't a lot of people in there anyway, and this guy who liked me and i kinda liked him kept looking back to where I was sitting, but he was with his "buddies", and I guess felt...shy or something. I was pretty shy too. So I just ate alone. </p>
<p>You may be wondering if this story is going anywhere. It is. Anyway, there was a morning I was late to a lecture, and he had a completely different class, and I came out of the bathroom and he was eating breakfast alone...we both had really little time left to class, but I sat with him anyway. He was really cool about it, and yeah, things hit off from there...:)</p>
<p>So in conclusion, if you're not eating with someone the first few days, you may feel awkard, but it's really okay. But surely you'll see start seeing more of the same people, and maybe can strike up a conversation, since you all have the same scheduled lunch, at least for that semester. Alternatively, you can always sneak some food in your backpack and just go back to the dorms :D</p>
<p>Make friends I am sure you will meet somone like you. No offense but I kinda feel a little sad becuase no one should be alone. Many different types of people you are sure to find you group.</p>
<p>Dude, the fact that you're asking this question shows you have a ton of insecurities about this type of thing. Relax, you can do whatever the hell you want and no one will care. </p>
<p>If you're a freshman and have no friends then fine go try and meet some people by eating with them, but if you can't meet people without the presence of having food with them to give you some sort of excuse to sit down and talk to them, you're not going to have a ton of luck this way either.</p>
<p>In all other situations you're just trying to get food and you've had classes, so go get it, you'll naturally end up seeing people you know here and there from classes or your dorms if you're anything but a freshman with no friends. In other cases, it just won't matter, sometimes you just eat in 20 minutes and go about your day.</p>
<p>I was used to the idea of sitting along during senior year of HS b/c my friends took all APs so most didnt have the same lunch or any lunch at all; and the fact that most seniors ate out only underclassmen were left and I didnt give a damn about what they thought. Anyway I occasionally eat out with my roomates if we happen to be in our room during dinner time, which doesn't happen as much because after class I hit the library or I grab dinner before I come back to the dorm. every now and then I'll meet with someone who comes over but other than that I dont bother to look for anyone along with the fact that 51% of the students commute anyway ( to my college)</p>
<p>My school is pretty small, and I already know a lot of people. I've only had to eat half a meal alone. I usually organize a time to eat dinner with my friends, but there's almost always someone I know in the cafeteria when I go. </p>
<p>Still, if you find none of your friends there, I don't see anything wrong with going up to someone you may have only met once. I did that last week, and now I'm friends with the guy. </p>
<p>The best way to meet people for lunch/dinner is to go with a buddy. They might see someone they know and want to sit with them. Then you meet another person and perhaps catch up with them and some of their buddies in the cafeteria one day.</p>
<p>Eating alone is no big deal. I sometimes go to the cafeteria just because I have nothing at home and use the time to read the paper or something. And there are other people who are reading stuff by themselves there too.</p>
<p>And just for comparison's sake--at my HS everyone was supposed to eat in the cafeteria. However, there were people who would randomly sneak out at times. I got out of lunch a lot because I was a computer technician there and frequently did my work while eating lunch. But one day I was coming back to the cafeteria from a short repair and found a friend of mine sitting alone in the hallway working on chemistry. I asked her why she was there and she said that she was "sick of all that went on in there and just wanted some quiet time." She actually lost a lot of productivity time because we wound up hanging out in the hallway WITHOUT PASSES for the rest of the period. (When you work as a computer dude, they don't see you as a student--I never got checked for a pass)</p>
<p>You won't have the stuff that goes on in HS cafeterias in college (my friend can rest assured of that). The atmosphere is completely different.</p>
<p>usually I only eat meals with groups, but sometimes a couple people. I have an apartment this year, so I have lunch at the apartment, and dinner too unless I'm specifically eating with people on campus, which is a few times a week. Now that I have a kitchen, I avoid the campus food for the most part =P</p>