A Few Photos & The Ballad of Housing
katherinemiller August 19th, 2008
As a little closure to my trip, I thought I’d post a few photos, then offer a little perspective on housing, since we’re right here in between the freshman and upperclassman move-ins. First off, before we went on vacation, we went to my cousin’s wedding in the Orlando area:
I rather like the picture of all three of us (my brother, myself, and my mom — my dad was lurking around there somewhere). In Captiva, though, I got a good chance to play around with some long exposures, as I’m a big photo geek, so this was sort of thrilling for me. This was the neighbors’ dock:
And, of course, here’s a sunset because what trip to the beach is complete without a ubiquitous sunset photograph:
So, basically, now I’m just packing in a rush, buying new jeans, and insisting on Chesapeake Bagel Bakery for lunch (seriously, it’s quality and I pine for it when at school). Anyway, freshman year, I requested a single and lived in Kissam Quad. Quite honestly, as terrible as everybody makes it sound, it’s really not that bad. Old, home to some really terrible carpet/paint/tile sartorial selections, and a little moldy? Yes. But it’s not the seventh circle of hell or anything.
This past year, I lived in one of the new dorms on the Peabody Campus, Stambaugh, which faces the Commons building, and has the giant veranda/porch situation on one side. The two things that really stand out about that room are: how bright and clean it was, and how incredibly high the ceilings were. While I think all the freshmen having roommates will definitely liven their first few weeks up considerably, something about the old housing choices for freshmen really appealed to me as a prospective student. What cannot be called anything but spectacular, though, is the Commons building; beyond the very, very solid dining there, it was a great place to work and to feel like a part of a network of mutual friends. A lot of us referred to the dining hall, with all the oak, as Hogwarts (because we’re lame), but with everybody thrown in there together, at meals and from around 9pm to 1am with people studying and working Sunday through Wednesday especially (Thursday can be a lot lighter because people go out), it’s very casual but memorable way to see a lot of your friends on a daily basis.
This year, after a housing lottery process that felt a little bit like success meant communing with the devil, I have a single in Towers II. One of my best friends is two floors below me, and three friends are on my floor, so hopefully it will go swimmingly. Some of the housing rules changed (in previous years, academic standing, rather than true standing determined the number of points you had in the lottery), and there were fewer off campus exceptions granted, so many a junior are in singles this year. I’m definitely more central to main campus this year, which I appreciate — though, really, I actually like walking a lot. While some of the upperclass housing leaves a little to be desired, that so many of us are on campus really does set Vandy apart from many of our counterparts, and it definitely creates a much stronger focus on the campus and campus community, which I can certainly appreciate from a student media level, among others. Anyway, if there are any housing related questions, please feel free to throw them in the comments.
