Pizza.

Of all the late-night foods that fill dorm room mini-fridges and overflow college trash bins, you are the one we have cherished the most.

The first thing to notice about you is your scent.

The aroma you exude is never ill-received. To late night studiers, it is often the farcry call to inspire hope — that even though the paper may only be half written, you are fully ready to be devoured.

There’s no one who can’t enjoy you, because, like any sensitive lover, you define your role in the relationship as one that’s open to change. If someone feels they can’t connect with you, you don’t mind experimenting with new toppings, sauces or dough styles until everything feels right.

I would also like to tell you how much I truly appreciate your flexibility to my needs. Sure, sometimes you are deep with me. This is the side of you that, when the heat turns up, pushes me to rise to the challenge. But I have also seen the lighter side of you, the side that can just hang out with me at lunch and tell some cheesy jokes.

You give me my space when I need it. You understand that sometimes I need to go for a night out with just my friends. But when I come home, I know all I need to do is make one phone call, and you will be right there at my front door in 20 minutes or less.

Wings are wings. Sure, you can throw on some ranch or munch on celery with them, but that’s about as far as wings are willing to go. Too much change, and wings cease to be wings at all; that’s not good for you, and it’s not good for us. We aren’t setting out to make anyone change who they are.

Sure, you come with some baggage. The boxes you come in don’t fit in our trash cans, and sometimes they even overload the dumpsters behind our apartments.

We’re not saying you’re perfect.

But neither are we.

And this is OK, because we both know getting wrapped up in ideals is never the right thing to do. It pushes a focus on the future and leaves the present feeling like a perpetual drag, forever leading toward some brighter future that only gets farther away with each step toward it.

That’s never been what we’re about.

When have you ever once tried to make us feel guilty about being with you? That bad feeling we sometimes get when we’ve eaten a whole bunch of you isn’t fueled by angst or meal-choice regret; we’re only sad there isn’t more of you.

So keep being there for us, pizza, and we’ll keep being there for you.

It’s felt right since our very first slice, and, if you’re still willing, we’ll be calling for you the day we take our last meal.

Will Beaton is the Editor-in-Chief of the Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].

Larry Philbin is the News Editor of The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].