Hi everyone!
I had to put a lot of thought into what my first blog post should be about, and I've decided to write about my dorm, Foster, because as an incoming freshman, that was what I was most curious about.
I live in the Northwest neighborhood in Foster Harper, which is one of five Foster buildings. The others are Shea, Magee, Jenkinson, and Martin. Foster Harper is the main building of the five, and it's also the biggest with nine floors.
The Best Things About Living in Foster Harper:- Since I live in the main building, there are elevators. Yes, taking the stairs is good for you and you think you'll take them. Trust me, I thought so, too. However, all it took was one trip up to the sixth floor to figure out that the stairwells aren't air conditioned and that you get winded by the fourth floor. Seriously. I take the stairs every now and then, but elevators are a beautiful thing. (The sub buildings don't have elevators, only stairs.)
- AIR CONDITIONING. Plain and simple. Once you go into Wright on a ninety degree day, you'll understand. Actually, once you walk to and from class on a ninety degree day, you'll understand and thank the gods of every religion for it.
- Food is literally a thirty second walk from the front doors of Harper to the food court, Gresham (Gresh for short). Gresh has a lot of options: an Asian stir fry place, a Mexican place that's sort of like Chipotle and Qdoba, a breakfast place, an Italian place, a salad bar, a donut case, tons of prepackaged foods, fresh fruit, and many drink options. If you're not feeling Gresh, McNutt, the dorm across the street from the Foster Quad, has what's called the C Store. It's compareable to a Walgreens or CVS, and it also has a sandwhich place, a fajita line, and a coffee/smoothie line. The C Store has more fresh options (deli sandwhiches, premade salads, fresh fruit and veggies).
- Even though the Northwest neighborhood is the furthest from the majority of the classroom buildings, I love the location. The area is beautiful, the stadium and Assembly Hall are super close, the SRSC (one of the gyms) is a five minute walk, and you're guaranteed to get your exercise if you commit to walking to class everyday. The Northwest neighborhood is also the newest, so all of the buildings are really nice.
- The rooms are bigger than you think. I was totally apprehensive about living in a room so small with another person. But seriously, you will have room for everything. The closets are HUGE. It's awesome. To make the most of your space, I would definitely consider bunking or L lofting your beds, but even if you don't, you will still have plenty of room.
- The Crimson Creamery and the Hoosier Den -- If you like anything that has to do with ice cream, you're living in the right place. In the basement of Gresh is the Crimson Creamery. THEY HAVE AMAZING ICE CREAM AND YOU WILL GO THERE AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK. Just go. Just say yes. We also have the Hoo Den, which is open from 10 PM-2 AM, but I haven't gone yet... I've heard there's karyoke and tons of delicious, unhealthy food like pretzels, nachos, pizza, etc.
- There is a bus stop right outside of the quad. This comes in handy.
- While NW is known for being the party neighborhood (it is), Foster is actually pretty chill compared to Briscoe and McNutt. I'd be lying if I said Foster can't get a little wild sometimes, but usually it's pretty quiet, which you will appreciate.
So those are some of the reasons why living in Foster is awesome. Now for the cons of living in Foster:
- It's far away from almost everything. While this is good because you get your exercise, it gets old when you're sick or it's raining or you only got three hours of sleep the night before. The majority of my classes are a 15-20 minute walk all the way across campus.
- There is a vast array of food right outside your door. This is dangerous because you really don't want to gain the Freshman 15. Try to maintain a healthy diet and eat the usual three meals a day. It's okay to treat yourself to ice cream from the Creamery or to those delicious soft cookies that Gresh has. Just don't do it all the time.
- In Foster Harper, the first five floors are all guys, and the last four floors are all girls. I believe that the smaller buildings are one gender buildings. While this is nice because you don't have to worry about sharing a bathroom with guys, it's actually kind of disappointing because you don't get to interact with guys as much. I've made tons more girl friends here than guy friends, so far at least.
- Wearing shoes to shower sucks, and having to walk down a hall to pee at one in the morning sucks.
- Foster, along with McNutt, is at the top of Fee Lane, which is appropriately called Fee Mountain by any student who has to hike up it multiple times every day. It's a serious hill. You will get sweaty. Your shins and calves will hurt. It's not fun.
I've only been living here for about five weeks, but I love it. Although there are downsides to it, there will be downsides to any place you live. I originally wanted to live in Briscoe, but I'm so happy that I was placed in Foster. Below are some pictures of my room; I know when I was preparing to come to IU, I was dying to know what a room looked like.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to reach me through my Twitter, @alyssaaaamodos
You can also follow me on Instagram to see more of IU -- alyssamodos (:
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