Living on Fredonia campus creates memories

from the desk of...

Justine Januszkiewicz
Communication Manager

When Fredonia students reach their third year, many of them are excited to move off campus. Even sophomores try to escape by pretending they are commuting from home. As someone who has had only positive experiences dorming, I do not understand the rush to live off campus.

My freshman year in Kasling, I was put in a suite with seven amazing girls who became my best friends. I remember the first weekend when one of the girls showed me her piercings and tattoos. I may not have befriended someone with nipple piercings before but living with her showed me that it was not what was poking out from underneath her shirt that counted; it was her fun-loving qualities that mattered.

These girls and I went out together, ate together (hello, freshman 15) and even stayed in some nights to play board games. When I look back on my freshman year, all of my best memories include my suitemates. Known as the 206 girls, we even had a Facebook group to include other people who made memories with us. Our official list of everything that "did us in" that year is proof of all of our wild experiences, such as no. 47: "Champagne (all of it)", no. 61: "INTENSE sledding," and no. 85: "Flooding the bathroom."

We wanted to stay together in our sophomore year but due to the complicated housing process, it did not work out for us. My roommate and I drew bad numbers and I remember standing in line scared of what was going to happen. By the time we neared the front of the line, only a kitchen suite was available but we needed a set amount of people in order to get it. We asked the two friendly-looking girls standing behind us if they wanted to go in on it with us and they did! Then we only needed one other person to take the third room, a single and we found someone in line who didn't have a roommate!

Our kitchen was remodeled the summer before the fall semester. It felt like I had my own apartment and I didn't need a meal plan. It was the perfect hangout for our friends after Late Night ended at 11 p.m. The suite was also located at the most convenient place to get to class on time: on campus. My schedule was crazy and I was always in a rush, but I could leave my room ten minutes before class started, and if I walked quickly, I could even make it to Thompson Hall.

Having my own kitchen and preparing meals but still living in a dorm was a good step for when I eventually moved off campus. I thought that I was ready to make the move my junior year but that did not work. You have to start planning that the October prior, who knew. The girls did not want to get a kitchen again, which was a disappointment because I felt like getting a meal plan was taking a step back from entering the real world. Yet, wouldn't you know, things worked out for me once more.

I managed to snag a downstairs suite, the prime of on-campus living beside University Commons. There are only four of us that have to share a shower, a nice change from the eight of us clogging the shower drain with hair freshman year (no. 114 on the list). Our rooms are bigger and I have enough space for all of my things including my exercise ball and ice skates. We actually use our common room because it is connected to our rooms and we have a private patio to hang out on, or in my case, to tan, when the weather is nice.

There are even some cool benefits of living in the dorms if you take advantage of them. Resident assistants each have to plan five activities a semester, so there is always something fun to do. Last year, two of my resident assistants put on a program to see Wicked in Toronto. They got us discounted ticket and the musical was absolutely amazing. It was probably one of my favorite days in college.

At a recent party, a girl selling jello shots reduced the price for those who paid in quarters so she could do her laundry with them. I can do my laundry without scrounging for change and the new "LaundryView" Web site even informs me of how many machines are available. As long as I do not choose to do laundry on a Sunday afternoon, I don't have any problems. Not to mention, I don't go have to go through any hassles trying to steal the Internet from my neighbors and I don't worry about electricity bills!

Though the three strike policy and 2 a.m. fire drills are not fun, college is the only time in our lives when we will have the option of living on campus. If you're upset because you're stuck living on campus, keep in mind that the rest of our young lives will be spent living in rundown apartments and houses until we can afford nicer apartments or houses. These four years are our only chance to share a building with hundreds of other crazy college students.