- Willis ­Samson, St. Louis, Missouri

The cafeteria. Some may find the college cafeteria as a place to miss Mom's home-cooked meals. However, I see it as the realization of my dreams. A place full of food for my taking and for my liking. Sure, the meat may be a little shady and the fruit not so fresh, but the options are limitless. Because of this time-honored eating establishment, I can eat pizza for every meal of every day of every month of every year, if I so desire. But, Mom, don't fret, I do eat my vegetables, as long as they are serving french fries with the burgers. Now, the food is not the only factor ­involved in making a cafeteria. The people are perhaps even more important. When else do you get to eat with 500 other people your age and not have to clean up the frat house afterward? In fact, more things happen in the cafeteria dining area at dinnertime than in the student union at all hours combined. More pranks are pulled and more traditions are started. And this is why I went to college - for the wonderland that is called the cafeteria. Just don't tell my mother that. - ­David Ritter, Fremont, Indiana

Angel Stadium. Period. - Suzanne Spear, Irvine, California

Bangor, Maine. I stepped onto American soil for the first time in nearly eight months. I wanted to kiss the ground. I left for Iraq in March 2003 knowing little about what lay in store. I arrived in Kuwait, joined my U.S. Army unit (the 101st Airborne Division based out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky), and fought through jet lag to integrate into the preparations to cross "the berm" - the line dividing Iraq and Kuwait. Over the following­ eight months, my unit fought through the country, making stops in An Najaf, Al Hillah, Baghdad, Tikrit, and Mosul. It was sad to see the destruction of war but joyous to watch Iraqi citizens experience freedom for the first time. … By November 2003, it was my time to leave. I boarded a plane from Mosul to Kuwait and proceeded through the airports of Qatar, Cyprus, and Shannon. Our next stop was Bangor, Maine, and even Ambien could not induce sleep or hope to contain my excitement about being back in the United States, back to safety. In Bangor, we were greeted as heroes. Volunteers in the local community lined the jetway. They applauded, cheered, and offered us free phone calls to our loved ones. What a great homecoming! I wanted to kiss the ground. For this reason, Bangor, Maine, will always hold a special place in my heart. - Kevin Terrazas, Cambridge, Massachusetts