Into a Writer's Head

Nostalgia...

I recently received a letter from my college announcing that next fall they will celebrate their 40th Anniversary (***note, this is the college, not the University as a whole). They were notifying alums ahead of time, to ensure we'd have plenty of planning time. But there was an added component. In preparation, one alumna is putting together an art/word-type installation in celebration. The alumna was asking for fellow alums to contact her with their memories of East Quad, the dorm that houses the Residential College.
Me, being a writer, felt compelled to add my 2 cents. And of course, because I'm a writer, I'm going to share those memories with you.

I remember East Quad very well. I attended the RC from 19***, and lived in EQ for 3 of those years. I had to go back and look, but I'm pretty sure I lived in Hayden, Anderson and Tyler. Of course, this is a fuzzy memory, as I'm lucky I can remember my address now!
The first year I had a roommate, but spent the next two years in singles. I loved it. All the rooms had the same "dorm" feel to them. White walls, tiny windows, heaters that never really turned off. I remember my freshman year, in the dead of winter, sleeping with the windows open to combat the heater, which we couldn't turn down. I remember having to memorize codes in order to call my family in FH, and then WA after they moved. I remember rushing downstairs at the last minute to try to grab dinner before the caf closed for the night. And I vividly remember awakening at 2 a.m., to snow outside and blaring alarms inside when someone pulled the fire alarms every year right before finals. Now there's a memory I could live without.
During my last 3 years at school, I acted as a student representative for the RC, which meant giving many, many tours through EQ as I showed prospective students classrooms and living quarters, laundry facilities and computing rooms.

If I had any advice for current residents, it would be to embrace EQ life. There is so much going on, it's sometimes overwhelming. I could never begin to tell you all the things I did, and didn't do, simply because of time. Get to know your neighbors, and branch out from your comfort zone. Most of all...enjoy it. It may not be the most glamorous dorm, but it has history. And sometimes history trumps glamour.

Today I live just outside ****, Washington. I'm an unpublished writer, at work on my 4th manuscript. Of course, for a day job, I teach 5th grade in *****. I still keep in touch with my roommate from freshman year, and we often laugh over memories of Buffy parties and movie nights. Of our neighbors who seemed to spend more time walking around in towels than in pants, and of the crazy squirrels that seemed to take over every spring. I also keep in touch with Lana K., over in the RC office, who gives me the scoop on all the important people I miss. EQ is an indelable part of my life, a part I will never be able to forget.

So there you have it, my memories of some of the more colorful years of my life.

posted by Erin @ 9:47 PM