Page 67 - The Ultimate Guidebook for Teens with Food Allergies

When things go right
Nothing to be Worried About, by Sydney P.
I was a tad nervous when moving into residence for my first year of university. This was mainly because someone else was now in charge of cooking. I decided to e-mail the residence coordinator in July to give them plenty of notice that I suffer from severe food allergies to peanuts and tree nuts. I woke up the following morning to find a wonderful e-mail waiting for me in my inbox. I was being offered a single room to reduce the risk of being exposed to allergens in residence. And I was scheduled to meet with the head chef of food services on my move-in day to discuss how they could help accommodate me. I was overjoyed! While I was organizing my room on move-in day, in September, the residence coordinator herself came to meet me and she introduced my parents and me to the head chef in her office. He explained the various precautions they had in place to make eating safe. And they gave me his e-mail and phone number in case I had any more questions. To top it all off, the residence coordinator showed me around the cafeteria and explained what to watch out for. We finished the day by all eating dinner together. I could not have been more pleased with the way the residence staff handled my food allergies. I was able to go that entire school year reaction-free!
A Smooth Transition, by Caitlyn
When I was first thinking about going to university, I always thought that it would be cool to have a roommate. Well, wouldn’t you know, lucky me, I didn’t get just one roommate, I got TWO. I ended up being placed in a triple room. That’s right folks. It was three girls surviving in one room for an entire school year! When I found out who my roommates were in the summer, I contacted both via e-mail right away to introduce myself. After establishing who we were, I informed them both about my allergies and the seriousness of my peanut allergy. I was fortunate that both of them were very understanding about how serious it was. And they offered to not bring any peanuts into our room. Moving into residence was a hectic and exciting time and I was meeting a lot of new people. When I met my residence don, I told him about my allergies and the seriousness of them. By doing this, he was able to remind everyone on the floor as he met them that day that we had a floor member with life- threatening allergies.
On the same day that I moved into residence, I met both cafeteria chefs on campus so they would know me and know about my allergies. It was there that I found out that they had specially prepared allergy- friendly meals for students with allergies. This was a great relief! I soon after established a good core group of friends to go out with who understood my allergies and knew where I kept my auto-injector. Making the shift to university involves a lot of changes that relate to managing your food allergies. Taking smart measures can ensure both your safety and allow you to still make the most of your university experience!