The only time I ever lived off campus was during sophomore summer. Even then, I was in the Murphy's apartments, in which, if you hang your head out the window, or trot down to the street in pajamas -- as I did, often, with no shame -- you can still pick up the College's wireless.
My apartment was intensely hot; class, if I chose to go, was a mere three-minute schlep, and all the people on my hall were other '09s -- and some were even my friends. In other words, there was virtually no difference between that apartment and living in the College's dorms. Except, of course, for the smell of the Dirt Cowboy that wafted in the windows in the morning, and less pleasantly, the smell of Five Olde's wings floating through my window after around 4 p.m. in the afternoon.
Still, like a dorm, there was no personal space and the bathroom was grungy. Though our beds were full-sized, I distinctly remember calling one of my friends, who had worked in construction, to come check that the make-shift bunk loft wouldn't collapse and kill me in my sleep. And there was the fact that, at the price we were paying, I could have rented my sister's loft in Philadelphia.
Thus, I decided to live on campus for the rest of my time at Dartmouth. Which worked fine for my junior year, in Streeter Hall -- though the two-room double was really one room plus a broom closet. But, as I approached senior year, I knew I needed more space for my shoes, if not for my peace of mind.
I'm not sure why the senior apartments sounded like a good idea, other than the fact that my friends and I had miserable housing priority numbers, and affinity housing seemed the way to go. (Hallo, Kade German Center!) The hike down the hill is unbearable in the cold, and trekking past Thayer is hardly an improvement. Plus, the architecture is bleak and our common room looks like a crack den. Surely there has to be a way to live in style, or at least in comfort, at Dartmouth. But is living off campus the answer?
I talked to Julia DeWahl '09, who lived off campus her sophomore summer, junior spring and now senior year. Apparently, each experience has been enough of a success for her to continue to try her luck in Hanover real estate, rather than braving the Dartmouth housing system. And, in the interest of full disclosure, she was my freshman and sophomore year roommate.
"My absolute favorite was the Love Shack," Julia explained to me. "That house epitomized sophomore summer for me."
"You've seen it," she said, waiting for my response.
I made a noise indicating the affirmative.
"It's like a run-down red cottage. Everything's wood and old and feels summery to me," she said.
It strikes me as odd that the reason Julia liked her sophomore summer off-campus digs was the fact that it was falling apart. I mean, I'm for charm as much as the next person, but I also like freshly painted walls and clean windows. And, after hearing stories of squirrels in another off-campus house, "run-down" is not exactly the word that makes me weak with property jealousy.
I steered Julia in the direction of her present house, which she says isn't "as interesting" because "it has standard-height ceilings and just isn't as beat up." I've decided at this point, it might be alright to just agree to disagree.
But Julia started speaking my language when she described a perk of all three of her past and present off-campus pads.
"I've had a single in all of them. And a double bed in all of them, too," she noted.
Just as I started to get jealous -- I finally have a single this year, but my bed is the regulation twin extra-long -- I brought up the question of distance.
Julia actually doesn't find the walk from her current abode to be too far.
"I don't find it bad at all," she said. "It's just a short walk up the hill and the first thing you hit is Collis, which I frequent anyway."
It was then that I realized that, actually, she's closer to Collis than I am, and I technically live on campus.
But Julia wasn't so happy about the distance from her off-campus house to campus last spring, when she lived on Summer Street. But, always a Pollyanna, Julia said she made it work for her.
"That's when I got my road bike and I'd bike to class and feel pretty cool," she laughed.
Overall, Julia is very positive about off-campus housing.
"I support off-campus housing. I've had a great experience with it ... It feels more homey," she said, "It's usually a good space for throwing parties."
But that doesn't mean Julia is against college housing.
"There are a lot of new dorms that are nice, and the senior apartments seem nice," she said.
I was pretty sure she was trying to console me at this point. But then I realized that she is neutrally philosophical about the entire issue.
"Your room is always your room," she said.
I agreed, and mentally took note that mine desperately needs to be cleaned.
