Staff Writer- Amelia Dewberry
For many junior and senior Gusties, the opportunity to live in an apartment or ILS house is a coveted upgrade from dorm living because they offer a kitchen and more space to spread out. However, the new living situation also means the loss of a meal plan for most. Junior roommates Veronica Wahman, Mackenzie Murphy, and Emily Dehn reflected on their first few weeks living in a house.
Wahman noted that the most noticeable change in her life this year is fewer minor social interactions with friends, strangers, students, and faculty members. In the past two years, “maybe while I was serving up a salad, I’d run into a friend I hadn’t seen in a week, and we would catch up. Even if we weren’t going to sit by each other, we were still going to reconnect for a second. And now I don’t get that because I don’t go into the cafeteria,” Wahman said.
Murphy echoed Wahman’s experience. She estimated that she spent an average of three hours per day socializing in the cafeteria last year. This year, she spends those three hours at home, more isolated.
“I thought I was going to be very happy to not have to eat in the Caf because I was excited to be able to eat whatever I wanted, but it turns out that I miss the joys of seeing people more than I thought I would,” Murphy said.
The roommates agree that making the additional effort to pack meals to eat in the cafeteria would help combat this social isolation. Murphy acknowledged, “I have every opportunity to pack a lunch and go see people, but I don’t. It’s just a little bit more work that apparently I’m not willing to do.”
On the other hand, Dehn feels that her social interactions have actually increased since living in the house, “having a space to invite people over, to cook for them, to eat with them, to watch a show together, has made me feel more social than it did when I was in a dorm, not being able to do those things.” She also tries to maintain social interaction by studying in the library with her cross-country teammates.
The comfort and extra space of the house are leading factors that make it more difficult for the roommates to put in the additional effort of leaving the house to eat in the cafeteria. “I don’t think it’s the physical distance that makes me want to stay in the house. It’s just that the house is so cozy,” Murphy said.
Wahman seconded that, saying, “I’m much more likely to spend more time in the house and leave only to go to class because I’m extremely comfortable doing my homework in the house. When I was in a dorm, I only slept in my dorm and did homework elsewhere.”
ILS house living provides a quiet space among close friends. For Wahman, “nothing compares to waking up, making a pot of coffee, sitting on the couch in the sun and reading my book.” Initially, she thought that everything she could need was offered by the house before realizing, “I do need interactions, and I’m missing them.”