Every weekend my roommates and I go out to brunch. We started this tradition during our first week back at school because we were too tired and lazy to cook ourselves breakfast after a late night out. We spend either Saturday or Sunday mornings downing extra large coffees and munching on pancake and egg combo dishes, alternating between Stella’s Diner, Cosmo’s Pizza and Grill and All Night Eggplant.

Last weekend we decided to shake things up from our normal routine and get in touch with our Westcott roots, so we ate at Mom’s Diner. The morning seemed to be progressing as per usual: poking fun at each other and cracking jokes, inhaling plates full of greasy food, still wearing leftover mascara from the night before.

We ran into a group of older women who were wearing matching navy T-shirts that spelled out ‘Syracuse Back to Campus Tour’ in bright orange script. The women were once roommates and graduated in 1973.

Sharing a conversation with these ladies, who were older by thirtysomething years —women who walked on the same Quad as we did, sat in the same classrooms and dare I suggest they lived in the same residence halls as we did — felt more significant than just a simple, passing moment. While we were separated by decades of time and generational experiences, we found common ground in the fact that our coming-of-age moments happened as young women at the same university. Our meeting was an intergenerational experience in itself.

I couldn’t help but think up a series of questions after our initial run-in, but was never able to ask them in fear of getting too personal. Where did they live on campus? What kind of books were required reading in literature classes? Did any of them write for The D.O.?

To ease my own inquiries, I started to think about a mental time capsule of my own that would represent the life of a young woman at SU in 2011. If my roommates and I reunited for a Back to Campus Tour of our own 30 years from now and we ran into a group of undergrads, what information could I reminisce about?

This column: I absolutely love my privilege and ability to contribute to The Daily Orange, a publication at SU rich in history and circulation. It’s my own space to discuss the subject matters most important to me. It will also serve as an artifact someday when newspapers are no longer in print and future students will quizzically hold an archived copy of The D.O. in bewilderment.

Austin Powers coffees at People’s Place: Aside from my Keurig machine, this is my favorite cup of coffee I’ve ever had. This delicious combination of chocolate milk and regular coffee is a Syracuse University staple and will forever remind me of cold fall afternoons on the Quad, rushing to Hendricks Chapel in between classes and scrambling through my bag for 93 cents.

‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood: This is one of my favorite pieces of literature of all time, and I first read it in a course here at SU. The book is representative of my combination of interests as a women and gender studies and English and textual studies major.

Big East basketball games: Anyone who tells you that girls aren’t enthusiastic about sports has clearly never attended an SU basketball game. I learned early on in my freshman year at Syracuse to prioritize Big East games — no matter if it meant lacking sleep, losing your voice, getting a sore throat and feuding with friends from home who go to University of Connecticut. Thirty years from now, students won’t be able to say that they watched SU participate in a Big East Tournament.

And finally — I won’t forget senior year weekly diner trips.

Krystie Yandoli is a senior women and gender studies and English and textual studies major. Her column appears every Wednesday. She can be reached at klyandol@syr.edu or followed on Twitter at @KrystieLYandoli.