Everything freshmen will never experience without the Big O
RIP to the best buffalo chicken pizza in the world
It’s finally time for a new group of innocent freshman to come in, and as a senior, I can honestly say that some things just simply won’t be the same for them as it was for us just three years ago. The biggest change being no Big Onion, slyly nicknamed, the Big “O.”
The Big O had everything: cheap pizza by the slice (buffalo chicken was by far the best kind), endless iced coffees, and of course the best, fluffiest, breakfast sandwiches this campus had to offer. Senior Amanda Melocchi said, “I feel like I grew up there.” And she’s not wrong — freshman year seemed to center itself around this part of Findlay commons.
Throughout our short nine months living in East, there are things that we grew to love and things we absolutely started to hate about the beloved Big O. Here are just a few for seniors to reminisce about and to help the freshman try to understand exactly what they were missing.
Hungover breakfast sandwiches
After a long night hopping around frat row and having to make the long, epic journey back to East Halls, you at least knew that in the morning there would be a big, beautiful breakfast sandwich waiting for you to absorb all that excess sugary alcohol in your system and to revive you for a day of classes or just laying in your bed.
Football weekends
On a normal day, navigating the Big O, even at its busiest times, wasn’t too unbearable. However, after a football game it was a complete disaster area. Upperclassmen who finally had a reason to be back over near East made the excuse to come back for the much coveted buffalo chicken slice and parents flooded the area hoping that the commons would be less busy than downtown. They were so wrong because everyone had exactly the same idea: drink all day, eat Big O.
Photo Credit: sites.psu.edu
They had absolutely everything
It was so much more than breakfast sandwiches and pizza. They had grab and go sandwiches, every flavor of chips imaginable, and treats from the Creamery. Not to mention the iced coffee that could give Dunkin’ a run for its money. I’m sure whatever replaces the Big O will have a similar selection… but it will never be able to compare.
While nothing will ever truly replace this one stop shop, hopefully our mass amounts of tuition and the largest class of freshmen to date will help to create something just as good to replace the Big O. Here’s to the future, but RIP to the Big O.
Featured image also courtesy of sites.psu.edu