Florida Tech’s End of Semester Midnight Breakfast

At the end of last semester, many students looked forward to seeing the movie The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug after finishing finals week. Before the film came out, Florida Tech featured a hobbit-style meal in our Panther Dining Hall. The breakfast featured everything a hobbit could dream of: bacon, sausage, French toast, pancakes, waffles, fruit, pastries, hot chocolate and doughnuts galore.

Because the meal started at 11:00 p.m., some students coined the midnight breakfast as “elevensies,” referencing the hobbits’ meal from J.R.R Tolkien’s novels. I doubt their elevensies is as important to them as midnight breakfast is to our students, though. The line to get into the dining hall stretched all the way past our Panther Aquatic Center.

This special culinary event happens at the end of every semester. The best part is that it is free to all students; no meal plan is required. For this reason, I often spot almost every undergraduate student I know at the breakfast. While some students stay up specifically for the breakfast, most students have been up studying all evening. The breakfast is definitely a welcomed break from the stress of finals week.

It’s easy to spot my study group during an exam week. We’re a little goofy over in the biology department. An alumnus from my group of friends used to always knit during class and the hats she had made started a tradition. Every exam week, whenever we’re really stressed, we wear our “stress hats.” Of course, this led to all kinds of funky headwear, including Jayne’s hat from Firefly, Batman masks, and even a full Robin Hood costume.

I’m sure every study group at this school has their own exam week traditions. Midnight breakfast, however, is one tradition all Florida Tech students love and will continue to enjoy for many exams weeks to come.