What do a raspberry lemonade, a pub cheeseburger and onion rings from the Tally Food Court and a two-meat Boar’s Head sandwich, 32 oz. soda and three Airheads from the Atrium have in common?
They both use the exact dollar amount of a meal swipe and are featured on sophomore Spanish and history dual major Sophia Hoffert’s Instagram account, @perfect_8.60.
Hoffert started her habit last year when meal swipes were 10 cents less — she took a picture of her meals whenever they added up to the exact amount of a meal swipe.
“I would take a picture of it to create a perfect meal swipe library, I guess, because I always felt kind of proud of myself whenever I was able to get a perfect $8.60 last year,” she said.
In January, Hoffert started her Instagram account as a place to host and share the photos she had taken.
“I just thought, ‘Hmm, I’m already taking these pictures — why not post them on the internet?’” she said.
As of April 10, the account had 140 followers, most of whom Hoffert said she doesn’t know in person.
“I really like that I’m getting to interact with a different part of Ball State’s community that I don’t normally see,” Hoffert said. “It’s a different window into Ball State through meal swipes.”
Hoffert has taken some of the meal photos herself and some are from followers who sent in their perfect meals, such as one by freshman Sarah Schafer.
Schafer’s meal that day featured a medium drink, pasta, two sides from Comfort Zone at Woodworth and 19 Andes Mints — yes, 19 Andes Mints.
The music education major said she fell in love with Andes Mints after trying them at Olive Garden when she was in middle school.
“It’s a perfect combination of chocolate with mint. The combination is equally warm and chocolatey, yet cool and refreshing at the same time,” she said.
Schafer said her love for the candy was not the only reason why she purchased 19 of them that day.
“I wanted to stock up on Andes mints, and also I wanted to get the perfect 8.60 to be, hopefully, featured on the account,” she said.
Hoffert looks at all the photos submitted and the posts with the #perfectswipes. She said this account was a “silly side hobby” she maintains to have a place to post photos and interact with students.
Contact Hannah Gunnell with comments hrgunnell@bsu.edu or on Twitter @hagunnellNEWS.
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