The Vegan's Dilemma

Yesterday, my dad and I drove down to Champaign-Urbana to have a look at the University of Illinois. I'm currently taking classes at a community college in River Grove, and I'm hoping to transfer next fall to a four year university. So, as always, I'm faced with the dilemma of traveling as a vegan. Breakfasts are usually ok wherever I go, as there's almost always the obligatory bowl of oatmeal and fruit cup on the menu of every local diner. Lunches and dinners, however, are usually a little trickier, or at least a little blander. I usually get stuck with either the plain pasta with marinara sauce or the grilled chicken salad minus the chicken, which usually means a bowl of iceberg lettuce and a lone tomato on top(I'm always amazed at how difficult it is to find even a VEGETARIAN salad anymore, let alone vegan). However, as we were going to a University, one that prides itself on its ever-increasingly diverse student body, I was confident that I would find plenty of delicious vegan food in their cafeterias, as well as in their many local restaurants. No such luck. The first night we arrived and tried to get something to eat, we ended up eating at a taco bell after driving around for a good 45 minutes trying to find somewhere I could eat (my heart goes out to my poor dad, who was just as hungry as I was, but abstained from eating until I could find something). But maybe the on-campus options would prove to be more fruitful. Next day, after several long presentations and a campus tour, I was pretty hungry, so we wandered over to one of the residence hall cafeterias, which we were told was the best in regards to variety. I pick up my tray and walk up hopefully to the buffet, my eyes searching for vegan mac n cheese, seitan burgers, and tofu stir fries. Hmm...lentils and spinach? Ok, I guess I'll try that. Roasted cauliflower...ok sure, but I need something to fill me up (and something yummy, perhaps?). Oh....vegetarian chilli. Now, I can't complain about the chilli, it was delicious. But it was the ONLY vegan option they had that could qualify as a meal. Now, when I go to college, it would be really nice if I could eat. Even better, I'd like to eat a variety of foods that taste all right. Ideally, I would absolutely love to have a nutritionally sound diet that didn't leave me nutrient deprived. Here's my fear: I am left to eat bland vegetables every night supplemented with protein bars and the occasional vegan entrée of vegetable soup. If that's the case, I'm going to have to get myself an apartment with my own kitchen so I can cook for myself. OK, maybe I'm just spoiled on Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, with their barbecue tofu steak sandwiches and vegan triple chocolate cake. I just don't want to my college years to be remembered by four years of hunger pains and tasteless food. But then again, I guess that would make it the same as everybody else's, wouldn't it?