Three of the four freshmen residence halls are currently occupied at full capacity during the school year, and students are conflicted about the experience.
McIntyre, Downey, and White Halls are occupied almost entirely by freshmen underclassmen, while Orr Hall is reserved for COVID-19 quarantine.
“I ended up living in McIntyre because I was rooming with a friend who joined Freshman Interest Group, which happened to be on the seventh floor,” Samuel Gonzalez Garcia, a freshman in McIntyre Hall said. “The social opportunities are a very good thing because everyone lives so close, but the problems are the amenities.”
Stephen Christensen, a fellow resident of McIntyre Hall agreed with Garcia’s sentiment.
“The principle of dorm living is good, but there are a lot of fallacies that reduce the experience to the bare minimum of enjoyable,” Christensen said. “The communal bathrooms are the worst part, but my expectations weren’t very high at the beginning, so I’m pleasantly unsurprised.”
Students did say the proximity of the dorms to campus was beneficial.
“It’s a great experience, living this close to people I know. I connected with my roommate over the summer, and I got to know other people over the semester,” Elijah Brown, a freshman living in White Hall said.
Overall, Brown of White Hall had fewer complaints about dorm life than Christensen and Garcia of McIntyre seemed to have.
One possibility could be down to the panoramic views available to Brown from the 10th floor of White Hall, which happens to be the tallest building in the state at 12 stories and 200 ft.
“First semester is the most fun I’ve had, and the dorms are part of that,” Brown said. “Sometimes the elevators break, but that’s just a little annoying. One thing I wish the dorms had was tunnels to more buildings on campus, not just to Washakie.”
Bailey Dagen, who lives in Downey Hall, had similar complaints to Christensen and Garcia but shared Brown’s views towards dorm life.
“It was a big transition from living at home, but it’s beneficial because living in close quarters I was able to meet people,” Dagen said. “I miss having my own space, but I’m lucky because my random roommate is now pretty much my best friend.”
