#residence hall

[mortuusflores]

Winter solstice sunset over Old Kenyon Kenyon College, Gambier, OH December 21, 2019

[electronicsquid]

Moving a chair in at Yale

(Bill Eppridge. 1964)

[lost-in-prose]

Orientation “Week”

I don’t know what kind of preppy, rich, crackhead hellscape I have managed to get myself into, but I know one thing for certain: this school is dope. 

Now, since I am unequivocally horrible at writing out little excerpts of my time here, I will compact this tomfoolery into pulled points. It is as follows:

was told I have a nice accent by someone who is from Georgia (???)

called “ma’am” by a guy that is 100% older than me

has a stash pile of donuts in my room (3 boxes)

met a guy who was so energetic I’m pretty sure he’s on all the drugs

same guy argued with a figure skater in Russian (neither are Russian)

said figure skater is friends with a bunch of Olympic Gold athletes

became friends with a girl from Vietnam

watched a bunch of shirtless guys play an exaggerated game of invisible tennis, the net and ref tower being shirtless dudes as well

spun around in a chair so much that I almost threw up in a Walgreens parking lot

had a pickup line competition in front of the entire freshmen class and one dude said “I’m no doctor but I’m fairly certain you’ll get at least one inch tonight” 

found out “National Ghost Hunting Day” and “National Mashed Potato Day” is on our campus calendar 

ran for my life from a sprinkler

broke my dorm room lock

lock got fixed

only to accidentally lock ourselves out because it didn’t work again

found a pair of soaked underwear in the middle of our shower room 

found out someone got an alcohol violation on the first night here

ATE SNOCONES

obtained an obnoxious shorts tan line

drank over 140 fl oz of water in the span of 12 hours

woke up at 5 am, went to go wash my face because that’s what you do, found someone vacuuming our hall

got a football launched at my face (I was sitting on a balcony in an auditorium)

popped a blood vessel in my eye somehow

so many sex jokes like what the ass people (BY THE ORIENTATION STAFF IN FRONT OF EVERYONE)

Had someone tell me they could fit 87 skittles in their mouth as an introduction

That’s it for now, but I will definitely have more later on. I have 2 more days of the bullshit and I just have a feeling that tonight its gonna get wild 

[retropopcult]

"Service shop in Idaho Hall, Arlington Farms, a residence for women who work in the U.S. government for the duration of the war here in Arlington, Virginia. These shops, one in each residence hall, sell cosmetics, drugs, sandwiches, Cokes, etc." Photographed 1943 by Esther Bubley for the Office of War Information.

[preparingforcollegeblog]

Roommate(s)

Living with someone you know (a friend) or don’t know (a stranger) can be difficult. However, it can also be the start of a life-long friendship. Living with someone else is part of the college experience, so embrace it. 

Most importantly, when you’re applying for housing and filling out the questionnaire BE COMPLETELY HONEST. If you can’t fill it out being completely honest about your sleeping pattern, cleanliness level, or your study habits, have your best friend or parent fill it out for you. Do not put on the questionnaire qualities that you wish you have or had or desirable qualities you want your roommate to possess. Your roommate is not going to change your behavior (you’re not going to magically transform into an early to bed, early to rise person) and you’re not going to make him/her upset because your lifestyles and habits are not actually compatible. Then your roommate is going to request a room change and you’ll probably have to have a roommate mediation with your RA. (I was an RA, I’ve been there and dealt with these situations.)

The second most important thing is to go into the arrangement with an open mind. When you receive your roommate’s contact information, reach out to them and ask for their social media (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook). Do not be a creepy stalker, but definitely try to get to know them. Ask about their vision for the room, a color scheme, ask what items they’re bringing for shared areas, and ask about mini/micro fridge rental splitting. When you meet in person for the first time, keep in mind that they’re nervous too. Have lunch/dinner with your new roommate to get to know him/her better. 

Have an open discussion about the temperature you’d like the room to be at, what time you go to bed and want the lights to go off, and what your morning routine is like. Discuss what time you want visitors to leave. But also make sure you mention if you have any allergies or medical issues that your roommate may have to help you through. (Even discuss emergency contacts if something happens to either one of you.)

Remember that it is okay not to see eye-to-eye all the time and to have disagreements. However, before you approach an RA about the issue, please speak to your roommate(s) first because you don’t want someone to be blind-sided by an RA showing up and the roommate not knowing that there is an issue. 

Good luck with your living arrangement! 

[doctors-daughter]

Views from 620!

[hemmunchkin]

Baker House at Massachusetts Institute of Technology

[ubik-void]

Marcel Breuer, Bridge at NYU Residence Hall (1961, Bronx)

(c) Syracuse University Library