I’m feeling nostalgic today — four years, eight semesters and 40 pieces later (yes, I counted), I am writing my final entry for my column, Moments to Savor.
In the sunny month of August 2021, I remember seeing a flyer for TSL in my freshman dorm, Pomona’s Wig Hall. I had never written for a school newspaper before, but as someone who enjoyed writing, the flyer piqued my interest. When I looked up TSL’s available positions on its website later that night, the “Food Columnist” position seemed intriguing — I thought writing about food could be fun. But I also remember thinking to myself, “If I don’t have much journalism experience, could I actually do it? Is it worth applying and taking that risk?”
Looking back four years later, I am so happy that my hesitant freshman self took that risk. Writing this column allowed me to explore meaningful memories through the lens of food. It gave me a break from academic writing, and I so enjoyed the biweekly rhythm of reflecting on a food or drink and its significance in my life.
In my mind, even if I (and my editors) were the column’s only readers, I was still content.
While brainstorming column topics, I’d make a list of everything I ate or drank over the last two weeks. Malott surf and turf, a cocktail in the Claremont Village, oranges and Hi-Chews in my Asian American Literature and Cultural Critique class — I laugh because my notes app is filled with lists of possible “TSL ideas,” and many of these list entries became the columns that people read today.
One week in my freshman year, I took the words “eggs at Frary brunch” from my list and wrote about a humorous debate my friends and I had one Sunday about the best way to eat an egg. During my sophomore year, I once focused on the bucket of mini donuts I had safely transported from Claremont to Orange County in my car. My junior year, the list entry of “LAVENDER LATTE” (in all caps) made its way into a reprise of my first-year “Caffeination Meditation.” And in my senior year, the haphazardly-typed phrase “salty ramen salty tears” inspired my first piece of the fall semester.
“I had never written for a school newspaper before, but as someone who enjoyed writing, the flyer piqued my interest.“
Every piece shared a snippet of my college life through the lens of food, and as I write my last one, I feel incredibly grateful. I’m grateful for the ways in which this column allowed me to inscribe into memory so many sweet moments of Claremont life. Had I not written them down, my feeble mind would eventually forget.
I’m grateful for the ways in which searching my mind (and taste buds) for what foods or drinks to write about each week led me to remember not necessarily the big, flashy moments of college, but the sweetness of the everyday. About how thinking about my Sunday Frary omelet suddenly made me remember a silly conversation about scrambled versus soft-boiled eggs. How the slew of snacks in my room led me to recall the morning I literally ran to Trader Joe’s.
I’m grateful that this column allowed me to share these memories with others, too. As the semesters passed, it filled my heart with delight to connect with avid readers of my work. I loved hearing about how my pieces sparked conversations about the joys of Malott cold brew and the creativity inherent in charcuterie-building. I loved chatting with other seniors about our shared affinity for Iron & Kin’s Graceful Matcha and our similar sentiment toward second-semester senior year.
Someone even told me that they pinned one of my pieces on their fridge, once. That made me smile so widely — that’s the best compliment ever.
So, as my last spring semester slowly comes to a close, I’m sad to leave Moments to Savor behind. Writing this column has been one of my greatest joys in college, and it’s bittersweet to see it come to an end. To all my readers, thank you for holding these memories with me.
As I leave this silly archive of mine behind, I encourage you, whether in writing or some other form (my friends know I also love voice memos), to record your daily college moments. Jot down the absurd conversation you had with a friend. Take photos with the people you love. Maybe even make a list of everything you ate and drank from the week in your notes app — because I assure you that memories from those meals will start flooding back.
As for me, though this is my final column entry for TSL, I know I will continue making these lists. After all, I still have almost a whole month’s worth of meals left in cozy Claremont. And who knows, maybe I’ll write a little something more. Just for me. You know, just to remember.
Emily Kim PO ’25 is from Irvine, California. She (happily) wrote this piece instead of revising her cognitive science thesis. She also hopes to continue writing about food and life and memory even as she attends speech-language pathology graduate school in the fall.
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