Bergen County Academies is a high school unlike many. We have a bit more freedom. We have bake sales practically every day. Our one and only Chartwells company gets broccoli cheddar soup from Au Bon Pain. From the food we always get to the food we somehow manage to get, here are 7 food-related things you'll only understand if you go to Bergen County Academies.

1. Brooklyn's has the best pizza in existence.

Brooklyn's Coal-Burning Brick-Oven Pizzeria is the only place to go if you're stuck at school for IDA, sports, debate, MUN, or just because you live, breathe, and sleep in Commons. Sure, you could take a short stroll across the parking lot to Boston Market, but crossing the street to Brooklyn's charred crust, hand-pulled mozzarella, and heavenly tomato sauce pulls your heartstrings so much more.

2. It takes finesse to eat in the hallway or in Commons.

If you're eating in the hallway or in Commons, Jackie Chan-level finesse is the minimum requirement. Don't deny sneaking food in your shirt sleeve—we all do it and we all embrace it. Well, maybe not the Commons guy.

3. StuCo's free food events save lives.

Sue Lee

During hell weeks, our trusty Bergen County Academies student council is there to make us feel slightly better about the tests we bombed and the presentations we botched. Thanks to them, our hell weeks end on a brighter note—with free Domino's pizza, ice pops, coffee, hot chocolate, and more—no matter how horrible the week actually was.

4. You need to dash to bake sales asap to get pizza.

As expected, pizza is always the first thing to sell out at Bergen County Academies' nearly daily bake sales. If you're so hungry after school that you can't sprint to Brooklyn's or Boston Market, you better skedaddle to that wobbly bake sale table in front of the gym.

5. When BCA Mart ended loyalty cards, our souls were crushed.

For a year, we enjoyed the BCA Mart loyalty cards that gave us a free item after earning 8 stamps. When BCA Mart announced this year that Bergen County Academies would no longer have loyalty cards, we all wept a little. Rest in peace, loyalty cards. You will be missed.

6. Cheesecake Factory is where you spend your hard(ish)-earned money.

Whether you're eating lunch on a half-day, having a huge meal with your academy, or anywhere in between, The Cheesecake Factory is the place to go—as long as you're willing to spend some of that Christmas money. As high school students, most of us can't drive, so bless our neighbor, The Shops at Riverside, for having The Cheesecake Factory.

7. Free food is the best that it gets.

As students of Bergen County Academies, we will do almost anything for free food. Here is a purely hypothetical dialogue that you might hear all the time: "Did you hear that their class/ club has food? Let's take some!" Remember that Spoon BCA event (Which Pizza's the Best?) where we gave out free pizza from all the local joints? We all flocked to that bake sale table. Honestly, anything's worth it for free food.

As much as academics is a big part of Bergen County Academies, so is food. We have a lot of opportunities to get pretty decent and spectacular food, whether it's from inside the school or from our neighbors. As our school loves to say, embrace the journey!