Centennial Halls. Also referred to by the school as "A hub of activity, bordered by the Ritchie Center, and close to Sturm Hall and the light rail station. Student in Halls take full advantage of the cafeteria and lounge area, with its plush seating and large flat screen TV's." It pretty far from the library but who cares because it overlooks that beautiful lacrosse field otherwise known as Peter Barton. Halls is said to be "the place to live" when you're a freshman at DU.
However, they forget to tell you what living in Halls is actually like. There are endless awkward social encounters, especially when you're riding the elevator up to the top floor with someone else.. in dead silence. You have to be on your best behavior when you walk past the front desk at 2 a.m. reeking of alcohol and stumbling around. If not, you'll be sent to detox. Just when people think they got rid of their parents...nope! The RA's are watching you. The rooms in the building kind've resemble prison cells. Get used to a twin sized bed and a roommate that snores. Oh, and don't forget those community bathrooms. Hopefully, you're a sociable person and don't mind talking to people while you're trying to shower...or trying to go to the bathroom.
Let's talk about that great cafeteria. Yeah, that one. They cook extravagant meals during orientation week so your parents think you're being wined and dined. Then orientation week ends. The food becomes sub-par and you end up eating the same thing every night. You will long for home cooked meals.
Ah, but you do have quite the view from Halls. You get to look out the window and see the lacrosse field. You get to hear the lacrosse team every morning while they practice. You get to watch them condition. You get to watch them try to hold their sticks when it's snowing outside and their hand are frozen. Questioning why you didn't play a sport in college?
Hi Katy! Once again a really good post. You really connected the reader to the "Halls experience," which, RIP (I was a Towers girl my first year). I think the only thing I would've wanted to see more of is the lacrosse players maybe thrown in throughout the story. Do you see them in the dining hall? Are they riding the elevator with you? Just something so that the audience gets flashes of them here and there but not overtly done. But otherwise great job! This was really funny :)
ReplyDeleteHey Katy! I really liked this part of your story. Especially the last sentence was surprising just because the way I pictured it in my head I did think you played a sport (still). I liked the detailed imagery in this post, it helped me feel like I was there and experienced it even though I've never lived on campus. I thought you did a great job with this post, using language like "detox", "prison cells", and "sub-par". Maybe even more words like this would help me to feel the social distaste of actually living on campus
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