Hill Hall from the Other Side
*title to be sung to the tune of Adele’s “Hello”*
When I tell people that I live in Hill Hall, I’m met with a few different responses. Some mention the bright green hallways and abnormally spacious rooms that sit above a fitness studio and massive common room downstairs. Others are troubled by the thought of my “long” walks home, though I am quick to remind them that “it’s really not that far behind Miller” and “mail services is just a staircase away!” But after five months spent living in Hill, I can tell you that this dorm is so much more than its layout or location.
I can tell you that I have laughed hysterically between those vibrantly colored walls and modeled a sand levee in that common room. I can tell you that I look forward to brushing my teeth with my hallmates and that I love how we keep each other up with our chatter when we probably shouldn’t. As cheesy as it may sound, coming home to Hill is comforting and exciting — and I owe it all to the people who have shared it with me this year.
It didn’t happen all at once, this whole making-Hill-a-home-away-from-home thing. Over time, I’ve gotten to know each of my hallmates in different ways. Sometimes, it takes finding a connection outside of our dorm to become friends in it, whether that be through classes, mutual friends, or shared interests. Some friendships are still forming, with five months down and three months left (?!wait, where has the time gone?!?!), and I hope that these relationships will continue to evolve even after we’ve all moved out of this freshmen-only hall.
Whether a Hill night means dressing up with the girls and going out to Gal-entine’s Day dinner in Cambridge, or staying in to ramble about life and love with some of the guys as they order pizza for the millionth time, I have accumulated so many fond freshman year memories that are tied to this dorm. We laugh, we cry, and we go about our busy lives at Tufts with the comfort of knowing that Hill is a place to call home.
Evidently, it’s hard for me to talk about Tufts without gushing about my own personal experiences. I guess the point I’m trying to make is one that seems to be a recurring theme of my blogs: that college is so much more than a brochure or ranking can tell you. As much as there is to worry about when you think of communal bathrooms, temperamental laundry machines, and living with complete strangers, dorm life is much more fun than a floor plan can convey.
But don’t just take my word for it! Below are a few points made by my friends when I asked them to share some of the best and worst parts of life in this dorm.
Hill Highlights:
- The people
- Ab workouts in the hallways
- Stacking recycling boxes like a wall and skateboarding through them (read: no hall sports allowed)
- Existential crises on the carpet
- “Coming home to Hill is kinda like arriving at Heathrow Airport in that 'Love Actually' scene” (yeah, this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUoxXpqof8A) (no, it's not an exaggeration...)
- Receiving multiple packages of luxurious, two-ply toilet paper rolls in the mail from a concerned mother and stocking the girls’ bathroom with them for several weeks
Hill Lowlights:
- Occasional smells...
- One-ply toilet paper
- “My roommate” - (quote from my roommate)
...let’s stop there. There are plenty of memories of your own to be made! No matter which carpeted hallways you end up following home come your freshman year, I just hope you leave this post with more excitement than fear about life in a residence hall.