Picture this: You set your backpack down, exhausted after yet another grueling day at school. All you want is a refreshing and delectable snack to satiate the all-consuming hunger you have nursed as class time ticked by. You make your way into the kitchen, scanning the messy countertops and empty cabinets, dreaming up your next fulfilling snack for the day. Undoubtedly, this situation is a familiar one for many students. 

For us, there are a few things more motivating at the end of the day than coming home and curling into bed with our favorite after-school snacks. Whether it be a comfort food that incites nostalgic memories or just a guilty pleasure that you can’t get enough of, we all have go-to snacks that always hit the spot.

There are some snacks where you can never go wrong with: the highly addictive Skinny Pop popcorn, a classic Z-bar (the best flavor is iced oatmeal cookie) and the unmatched Cheez-It — to name a few. Let’s even go one step further: Cheese is a very acceptable after-school snack to sink your teeth in, whether it is in the form of simple cheese sticks or the superior Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese.

But to add some controversy to the mix, it is no secret that cereal tastes better at any time other than the morning. There is something about eating breakfast food without the added stress and rush of going to school that just enhances the flavor, the texture and the overall experience. 

Cocoa Puffs in particular always hits the spot, maybe even passing as an easy dessert if you squint hard enough. Its chocolatey flavor and crunchy texture are delicious — it’s safe to say that “Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs” isn’t far off from the truth.

And while we are naming underrated gems: King’s Hawaiian Rolls. Without sounding too much like an advertisement, we could eat these soft, chewy, sweet buns forever. They are light and addictive bites, posing the dangerous prospect of consuming an industrial sized Costco pack of them. Would that really be so bad though? Bottom line: We are shocked at how underrated they are.

Even so, one should not hesitate to go back to the basics with an apple or an orange. Fruits are the best of all snacks: healthy, almost always stocked in the kitchen and rarely failing in the taste department. The most versatile of all snacks, they can be eaten fresh, thrown into a blender to make a smoothie, eaten with yogurt, and more.

At the end of the day, no one can define a good snack for you. We all have our own diverse snack experiences that speak to our own taste, background, and lifestyles — after all, you are what you eat. Your after school snack experience is entirely subjective, a beautiful and flavorful journey tailored to you.