Bake my Monday better

Dessert is my favorite part of a meal. It genuinely brings a lot of joy to my day, and that is why during every sit-down lunch at Mercersburg, I wonder what the dessert for the day will be. Most of the time, my question is quickly answered. But on Mondays, I have to grapple with the heartbreaking realization that there will not be any treats at the end of the meal. This has to change. People should not have to have the same saddening realization I do during lunch. Dessert should be provided even if it is unhealthy. 

Mondays are generally bad days of the week. You have the most time left until the weekend, and you are required to go to Monday night dinner. Why make the day even harder for students and faculty by depriving us of our sweet treat and starting the week off on a bad note?  

Dessert is proven to give you more energy and to make you more happy; these are things that many people need in the middle of a school day. When I go to lunch and eat a brownie or two, I feel much more ready and excited to go through the rest of the day—a day consisting of two more classes, a PGA, Monday night dinner, and study hours. It is especially important that teachers and students get this energy. After all, we are the people that need it the most. 

A high school is a place where we are supposed to be more free and independent than ever before, but dessertless lunch is not the way for the school to reinforce our freedoms. Instead of being treated like capable people, our school is babying us by making decisions about our diets on our behalf.

While it could be argued that dessert is unhealthy and that limiting it from students and faculty will be a healthier alternative than not, this is not a good way to make the menu healthier, especially since only taking dessert away from one meal a week is not going to do anything. An alternative option would be to have desserts on Monday, and instead of completely taking them away, help people make healthier choices. Rather than having a sad and tired school after lunch on Monday due to a lack of dessert, why don't we offer fresh fruit or healthier alternatives?

Nothing brings people together like food. Many important decisions or meetings happen over a good meal or snack, so why should we be deprived of having this way to connect?

Dessert is a tool for energy, happiness, and bonding, and an essential part of any meal, so why shouldn't we have dessert at lunch on Mondays? The answer is clear: we should have a sweeter Monday.