Tuesday, March 03, 2009

DORMY

Apparently last week's revelation that I lived in the dorm "residence hall" for four years (and one summer) surprised a few of you. I think the dorms got a bad rap. They really weren't that bad. Amazing? Palatial? Spacious? No. But when I pledged my sorority, living in the dorms was the thing to do. Plenty of people who weren't officers lived on the hall. But unfortunately, when I graduated, finding people to fill the hall was like pulling teeth.

Going into college, there was never a question of where I'd live (Quad); just the matter of into which dorm Laurie Ann and I would be placed. Luckily, we applied for on-campus housing early enough (read: before our senior year of high school began) to get our first choice and were put into one of the two all-female dorms in the Quad, just like we wanted. Our room - 217 - was super cute and faced a busy street, so when I wasn't throwing cheese balls out the window, I was always just a quick walk to the sorority dorm, class, the football stadium or my car. I loved living in Lupton and had a great experience (aside from the time that our suitemates took the toilet paper and left for the weekend, but not before leaving a note, written on a square of toilet paper, that said "Have a nice weekend!")

My sophomore year, I lived with Melinda (the one that went on to become Miss Alabama) in the sorority dorm. She and I had tons of fun, only a few fights, and got along great with our potluck suitemates. I have plenty of funny stories about living with her, including one about the time she woke up because she had a bad dream and wanted to talk about theology and demons at 3 in the morning, but that story warrants its own post and/or permission to tell it. Living in the sorority dorm was great.

My junior year, I braved the foursome setup for the first time. Me, Lindsey, Susanna/"Susan" (another funny story) and Anna had our twin beds in one room (neatly bunked for half the year, unbunked and resembling an orphanage for the other half) and our desks, "kitchen", futon, etc. in the other. It was crowded to say the least but we made it work.

The last day of the spring semester, I moved all my stuff down to the Quad for CWE. We were required to live in the dorms during camp sessions but the majority of us just stayed there regardless. That's the summer that I lived with JB and became best friends with her and a good group of other people. It was a great summer.

My senior year, Katie and I lived together. Our second day in the dorm (during rush), she announced her engagement. So, after the fall semester, she moved up to Birmingham do her student teaching and finish planning her wedding. Also doing her student teaching? One of our suitemates, and our other suitemate was doing an accounting internship or something so she moved out too. We went from 4 to 1. I was sad to be left all alone, but after I moved the extra furniture into that empty room and realized I had a room all to myself and enough empty space to do a cartwheel (okay, a forward roll at best), I felt like I'd won the lottery. And there were still plenty of people around.

I had one final semester left and lived off campus for the first time ever with Haley, Haley and Elisa. I liked it but at the same time, I didn't. I didn't like driving to campus but it was nice to experience Auburn with a different view than from Berta Dunn.

So all of that to say, I loved the dorm. It had definite lows, but the highs far outweighed the lows. There were always people to prank or go to the store with. There were always movies to borrow (or for some people, to steal). We had a copier on the hall which came in handy so often. We would all crowd in one room to watch TV shows, like the Bachelor (way back when it was good).

I know a lot of you reading this lived in the dorms, most of you in the same dorm as me! What are your favorite dorm memories? The tornado drill in the middle of the night when our RA wasn't even there? Piling all the move-in day trash outside of some innocent sophomores's suite? Do tell.

14 comments:

  1. I liked the time that the hurricane came and we all were trapped in the dorm and slept in the chapter room because we were afraid we'd get blown away, and bradford boney came to protect us. I loved living in Berta Dunn! And compared to the dorms at UTK, Auburn dorms are palatial.

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  2. Emily, i have to say that was before i was friends with yall...the night everyone slept in the chapter room, lonely freshman kate went out with shae and returned to an empty dorm...i made several of my friends sleep on the floor that night because i was scared of the deserted dorm...berta "get 'er dunn" hall was fun...thanks for the pranks, guys.

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  3. HAHA i remember when Anna convinced the R.A. that it was ok for us to come in your room, Kate, and steal your sheets. Poor freshman Kate. Then we awkwardly set you up with a certain golfer at dinner with like, ten of us. Bless your heart :)

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  4. I never lived in the dorm (except for CWE) but I remember coming out of Parker freshman year to a group of girls in their pajamas sitting outside Owen because someone (ahem...Erin) set off the fire alarm.

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  5. It wasn't Erin's fault that the stove was jacked up! Haha, I still remember that burnt pan of cookies lying in the grass...

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  6. "She SHAT on my LOOFAH!!!"

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  7. we had some good times in your "single" dorm room, and mine too. ahhh ... good times.

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  8. 1. I LOVE and remember the loofah comment!!! I just laughed out loud. Let's also remember the large football players that frequented that room. Just saying.
    2. I enjoyed when Miss Eunice got fired for NEVER WORKING, and I got blamed. Though I knew this fact, I did not and would not have ratted her out. She used to leave signs that said TAK the TRSH. Who would fire that? But the RA and I had an altercation about it.
    3. I also lived in the dorm for 4 years and loved almost every second of it, especially the Bachelor nights.
    4. I commented - you can move my name!!

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  9. @Emily: I was the one that convinced Yonti to let us in Kate's room. I told her she took Anna's toothbrush and that was gross. And a lie.

    @Jennifer: by "good times" do you mean your cat?

    @Kelly: I knew there was a story I was forgetting. Good ole Eunice. What was our RA's name? She was foreign right? And you have to comment more than once or twice to get moved Keep going, you can do it!

    I hope the victim of or witnesses to the Loofah incident will speak up... As well as other former Berta Dunn residents reading this!

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  10. Thanks Wes, for the shout out... I can always count on you for a kind word or two. And thanks Lilley, for being in my corner. You are absolutely correct, the oven WAS faulty. The cookies had been in for seven short little minutes if I recall. Hey, at least I created a memory for us, right?

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  11. how about eunice (the janitor) writing kelly (when she was president) a note about the TRSH. i still call trash "trish." it drives matt crazy.

    oh wait, it looks like i'm a little behind the times with my comment!!

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  12. I was reading this one and had to suppress laughter about the loofah with a fake cough. It's probably not a good idea to laugh out loud when I am supposed to be working and am in a tiny room with people who, I assume, are working. I miss Berta Dunn!!

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  13. Apologies for the mis-attribution of the persuasion of Yonti :) Another of my fond Berta Dunn memories is the adpi scent that was vacuumed into the chapter room carpet after every rush party. And frozen grapes! Although that's not technically a dorm memory, I suppose.

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  14. I didn't mind the dorms either!
    I lived in 5 different dorm rooms in 3 years.

    Glenn - for 1 semester
    Harper - for 1 semester
    Leischuck- suite-style room for 1 full year
    Leischuck - double with our own bath for 1 semester
    Leischuck - MY OWN room for 1 semester

    Lots of moving over those years. Then I ended up in Ross Park for two years. Let's just say that I'm awesome at packing!

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