dormicile

Current Mood: foreboding
Current Music: "Kansas City Shuffle" by J. Ralph

A while back, when I first moved into Hillenbrand Hall, I remember thinking "how swank is this?" You really get what you pay for in this dorm (side note: "dorm" is apparently an outdated term, referring to an exclusive area for sleep. The preferred term is "Residence Hall", encompassing dining, living, sleeping, activities, RAs, and a fully functional office. My boss makes a regular point to correct me on that, but I don't really care. It's a colloquialism and I'm used to saying "dorm") and I can safely say this is one of, if not the nicest dorms at Purdue. Here at Hillenbrand, there's kickass full building A/C, three elevators on each tower that have only broken once, a private computer lab, an office open 22 hours a day, our own dining hall, a huge laundry room, plasma screen tvs in the lounge, and generally the newest and nicest equipment and facilities in the entire Purdue "Residence Hall" network.

During the year, I lived in a two-person suite connected via bathroom to another suite. It was a comfortable setup, with my roommate from last year (McCutcheon). Jason and I got along fine, but we weren't especially good friends. In fact, we didn't have much in common, and we are both busy studious engineers, so we rarely talked or saw each other. My suitemates, both upperclassmen engineers, were quiet and very tolerant of my loud music (though they did occasionally sneak through the bathroom to catch me in mid air-guitar solo, and subsequently laugh at me). Hillenbrand has a reputation of being a quiet dorm full of shut-ins and hermits, mostly because fire codes that mandate the doors are spring loaded and automatically shut. This year, I knew even less people on my floor than last. Last year, most of my floor were drunks and party people who dropped out of engineering, but I got to know a few cool people. This year I knew my RA, my room and suitemates, and two other people. How sad is that?

Right now I have moved from 326 to the RA room on 2East for my summer job as an Operations Assistant for the Purdue Summer Conferences. Essentially, the dorms empty out over the summer and become a specialized hotel for various groups. We have SURF (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship), summer biology and science explorer camps (high school and middle school), the Evangelical Free Church group (1,000 people strong over the 4th of July weekend), 4-H, and many other camps and groups this summer. They start on Monday and by mid-June, Zone 5 (my zone, including Hillenbrand and Meredith Halls) hits full capacity and doesn't slow down until school starts.

My job is something like a summer RA. I live in the building(s) and watch over our assets, watch over the buildings and do rounds, check groups in and out, pass out keys and paperwork, pick up shifts in the office, and be a resource for anybody that needs help. I also have "duty nights", which means I have to stay in my room from 7pm to 7am in case of an emergency or questions for the groups staying with us. It's nothing too strenuous, but I am being trusted with a lot of things...I get to maintain the building, get a master key of the building, and have clearance to do simple maintenance and a few executive-type privileges. I'm a part time employee, so I should not work more than 20 hours a week.

I may have complained a bit about my job, but I think (or hope) it was mainly about the stress of working while going to school. I know quite a few people who have the financial security and luxury of not working while classes and I admit that I am envious sometimes. Sure, I think it makes me work harder, balance and structure more efficiently, and appreciate things more, but I get jealous sometimes.

That said, I'm glad that I went through last year's summer training and struggled through work this year. Most of the money went to books (a little over $400 per semester - I'm going to try shopping online this year), and I also was able to purchase things like movie tickets and Christmas gifts with less worry. Perhaps more important than the money - I'm now much more involved and aware of the Purdue bureaucracy. I know a lot of the administration and staff, especially at Hillenbrand, and I know the building and what makes it tick. On a campus of 40,000 people, I am surprised at how many people I recognize and greet on a daily basis (at least during the school year - right now it's a ghost town). The office staff in particular all know me and like me, and I'm known for being a positive and capable problem-solver. It feels good, like the past year of work has really gotten me some hard earned respect here. My boss and supervisor asked me to stay when I said was leaving at the end of this year, and they both asked me to be the new supervisor for next year (I agreed to the former and declined the latter). I have no doubt that working in the office helped me get my OA job.

Along with my job comes a few perks. I get a stipend ($150 a month), free meals when conferences are in session, and tuition remission (basically, I pay a $200 registration fee to take any classes I want to this summer, and that's it). Plus I get this sweet RA room. I have never been a big personal space person, but this is a really nice room. I have my own bathroom with a kickass shower (it's got an adjustable nozzle, which means I no longer have to deal with water pressure that will blast the barnacles off a whale's ass), cleaned for me once a week. I have more than enough room, and after almost two years, I'm back to having my own room and a bed on the floor. Jenny was able to come visit me and help me move in (across the hall, basically), so I'm all set for the summer. I will be here from now until August 3rd, when our final conference leaves. I might come home for about a week after that.

My living arrangement changes once again starting Wednesday, August 16th (classes start Monday, August 21st). I am rooming with Future Roommate Alex (President of the DDR Club, Network Engineering Technology, has a girlfriend and likes the alcohol as well as WOW) and John "Freshman" "Tripod" Tubergen (the new Treasurer of the Ship of Fools, Nuclear Engineering, likes WOW, D&D, sci-fi).

Pros
less expensive living arrangement, cooler apartment-mates, less rules and restrictions, building credit, closer to campus, more freedom, more food choice, living on the first floor, living environment more suited to my tastes/hobbies/interests, no RA or floor meetings, insanely smart and technical friends, more privacy, current SOF administration living together (like Paul and Benji did), two blocks away from Greg and his friends

Cons
a laundry facility across the street, not having a cleaning lady once a week, more responsibility including paying bills, possibly slower internets and such, cooking/preparing meals is on us, no regular bus loop outside, farther from my job at Hillenbrand

It should be an interesting change, and I look forward to it. Future Roommate Alex, John, and I are smart guys. Even though we're going to give off a nerd beacon seen from Indianapolis, I am confident we'll get through the year intact. I think that it will be a good environment for my studies as well. If for some reason I don't like it, I can always go back to the dorms, but I doubt that I will.