When sophomore Grace Channell was 3 years old, she first started baking with her mom. By the time she was seven, she was already baking by herself.
Channell said she started cooking shortly after that.
“I got introduced to baking because my mom has always been a really big baker, so I started helping her out pretty much as soon as I could pick up a spatula and actually mix things without dumping them all over the counter,” Channell said.
Baking and cooking had always been a big part of Channell’s life, so when she was preparing to come to Taylor for her freshman year in 2023, she knew she had to get used to a new kitchen space.
Channell lives in English Hall and enjoys the layout because of the open concept, which allows her to meet new people.
“There are a lot of people who recognize me because I cook and bake all the time in there,” Channell said, “I've had a lot of people who are like, ‘you’re the girl that always makes the English kitchen.’”
While Channell has become well known for baking in English and enjoys it, she is also aware of the flaws of the kitchen in English.
Channell said that she would like a new kitchen, as the current one works but is not in the best condition.
“I'd say we definitely need a new oven,” Channell said, “It does not heat up all the way and the stove smells like plastic.”
Other dorms like Wengatz Hall, have had renovations to their kitchens. Wengatz underwent a renovation in the summer of 2023.
Senior Enoch Eigher lived in Wengatz Hall during his freshman year prior to the renovation. That is where senior Enoch Eicher lived his freshman year.
Eicher has been known around campus by many for multiple reasons, one of which is the dinner parties that he and his friends hosted.
He attended a boarding school in India and started cooking in high school. Eicher said the food there was good, but he wanted to supplement his diet a little bit.
“Me and a couple of my friends bought a little hot plate, and we would cook stuff illegally at night,” Eicher said, “We weren't allowed to have a hot plate for fire hazard reasons and things like that, we would sneak at night and make different stuff, like pasta and more basic stuff at that time.”
When he moved to Taylor, he began to miss the familiar flavors of home.
Eicher found that cooking his own food was not only more affordable but also more satisfying.
“I got a more authentic experience when I cooked it, rather than finding, like, Indian food near me,” Eicher said.
Prior to the renovation in Wengatz, the kitchen was in second center, and it was tiny, Eicher said
Eicher said that it was a struggle to cook what he wanted because of the space constraints and lack of equipment.
He said it was a blessing to move to Bergwall Hall for his sophomore and junior years, as the kitchen had a lot more space and made cooking better.
“Berg had a much more open kitchen connected to the lobby area with a couple countertops, larger stove, dishes, dishwasher, etc. which just made cooking a lot easier, and that was a blessing,” Eicher said.
Eicher started hosting more dinner nights because the Berg kitchen was more equipped to make large amounts of food. The dinner nights originally were held in the Berg lobby – but when more people started arriving, they transitioned into the basement.
Eicher moved into the townhouses for his senior year – he now lives in Flanigan Hall. Sharing a space with eight other people has been interesting, especially with two of Eicher’s housemates, who also cook a lot. Eicher said that he enjoys it.
The townhouses are designed so that the kitchen is the first area you enter, equipped with an oven, stove, large refrigerator and a spacious sink.
“We have a lot of stuff always going on, so there’s always a bit of a struggle to keep it clean because we have to keep clean, it's a living space as well, and we have to respect each other as well,” Eicher said. “So that's been the difference: it’s harder to keep it clean.”
Despite space limitations and outdated equipment, these shared spaces have become essential to their lives and communities.
Since their first memories in the kitchen, students like Grace Channell and Enoch Eicher have brought a love of cooking with them to Taylor, creating new experiences in the campus kitchens.
