Gluten-free@ College 
in progress...

Practical info ~ 
How-Tos, Online Food, Snacks, Quick Meals, & Party Food  

Tips & Advice ~ from others who have gone before you...   
When you get to college, you do not want to worry about being different or eating differently. If you are cool with it, others will be too.

You want to relax and not be uptight about food. No problem! But it won't work to ignore GF eating. You have to work it out.

So, keep it real and stay GF:     
Learn what to do. Prepare ahead. Stay with it... You'll hardly notice it after awhile.

1. Set up your area:  Appliances and food storage affect what you can eat! You need to know what appliances you can use (rules vary) and what food storage you have. 

Work out arrangements with roommates and the school. Find out if school policy has exceptions. Contamination is an issue. You might be permitted a full-sized refrigerator - - or even a personal (gluten-free!)toaster oven or kitchen facilities. These make a difference.

If you have questions or need help on this, and especially if you hit a brick wall and get a poor response, please contact us. 

2. Think and plan ahead. Get down the basics. Spontaneity doesn't work most of the time. 

Now that you are in a totally new environment you need to figure out what food to get and where to get it. 
Most students have relied on family meals for the whole food thing. And your food is more complicated. Meal plans can be insufficient, for example.

3. Food draws a crowd. 
Most GF food is pretty good. Some is excellent. If you share your know-how, you take care of yourself AND may help out others. Food Checklist...

4. Find others on campus who eat GF. Coordinate. Organize. How... 
Benefits: 
Food (online ordering) is cheaper in bulk. 
Others may have practical tips - cafeteria, school facilities, etc.
You share prep work: cooking, shopping.
It's good for company, restaurant reviews, campus food co-op...etc. 
For an organized group, Food Services might arrange special appliances.

Best Gluten-free & celiac blogs and Vendor web sites   
New information & tips, new food products, free samples and coupons. more...  

How to explain & deal with questions
There will come a point when you really don't want this to be a big deal. You want to join in, and are tempted to pretend you can eat what everyone else eats. It would be great, except it will make you very sick to do it. Sorry.

The best way to handle this is to stay honest about your health issue. If you present it as normal for you, you allow others to accept it that way. People who are worth your time and friendship will settle down and include it as part of who you are! Everyone has their stuff...

On the one hand, you are not being difficult to inconvenience anyone, by being gluten-free - -  so do not let anyone be misled about that. You are careful for a reason. On the other hand, you do not want to be hyper-sensitive about it.  You might assume others are judging you when they are not.  You can discuss this topic in an online forum.
To be continued...