The magic of meals is in the digression. The random tangents that take you to places completely unexplored, foreign, and perhaps uncomfortable.

Every meal is an opportunity for growth. Yale dining halls are a magical place, and depending on your lifestyle, meals might be the only time you spend with people outside of your circles. College is the only place where a good enough excuse to say hi is sitting at the same table.

When you’re with your friends, you’ll likely be encountering ideas that you are already familiar with (because Everyone has a schtick that you get familiar with over time). In contrast, when you’re talking with someone new, it is an opportunity to explore random ideas and encounter perspectives that you’ve never met, that falls squarely in your Unknown unknowns.

One of my favorite questions is to ask ”What’s Your Story?” and see where it takes us.