Unfortunately, I do not think I am the only student at the University with too many Paw Points to count left on my meal plan. 
Students who purchase a meal plan at the beginning of the fall semester can start off with $600 in points. If a student has leftover Paw Points at the end of the fall semester, the points are rolled over into the spring semester. However, at the end of the spring semester, if a student still has not spent all of their points, the money goes down the drain.
I agree with the University’s policy of only allowing Paw Points to roll over for one semester, but I think an exception should be made this year. As the rest of the world has been turned upside down, so has the University.
Thursday afternoon, the LSU community received an email notifying us that the remainder of the spring semester will proceed online. The University also recommended that students living on campus return home. This email sent many into a frenzy, including students with meal plans who had to get rid of all their unspent Paw Points.
When I got back to my dorm that afternoon, my roommate and I thought we had the perfect idea to quickly and efficiently get rid of our remaining points. Our plan was to hit the LSU AgCenter Dairy Store on campus first. There, we would stock up on steak, milk and my personal favorite, ice cream.
After this, we would go to Take 5, which is basically a convenience store attached to the dining halls. We figured we could stock up on every snack in the book. Since we were going to be stuck at home for a while, we thought we might as well do it with some good junk food.
Sadly, we were far from the only ones with this master plan. We were too late to make it to the dairy store, so we went straight to Take 5. There, we were greeted with a line practically out of the door and shelves that were nearly empty. I piled up everything I could and then waited in line for close to two hours.
For dinner I treated myself to Chick-fil-A as well as Smoothie King just because I had that many points. The next morning, I got the largest coffee possible, but I was still nowhere near the end of my Paw Points.
Before I headed home for my coronavirus hiatus, I checked just how much money I would be losing because of my unspent Paw Points. Between the fall and spring semesters, I have almost $550 remaining in points. I was so disappointed since this money was going to waste and there was nothing I could do about it.
If this were a typical semester, I would say shame on me for not spending my points properly and letting them go to waste, but it simply isn’t a normal time. This semester came to an abrupt ending, and there was no way for students to properly disperse of all their unused points.
I am sure I am not the only student at the University who would greatly appreciate the University reimbursing unspent money. Whether it is by allowing students one more semester to spend their points or by putting a credit on our fee bills, everyone would be thankful.
The world is a crazy place right now, and I am sure Paw Points are way down the list in most people’s minds during this time of uncertainty. I just hope that when things return to normal, those in charge will consider making an exception for unspent Paw Points in this whirlwind of a semester.  
Elizabeth Crochet is an 18-year-old political communication freshman from New Orleans, Louisiana.