Tufts Blogs

There is always anxiety during one’s sophomore year about finding housing for the next year because of the fact that Junior and Senior on-campus housing is not guaranteed. I remember I also started to panic because everyone else was worried. Looking back, there was really no reason to worry because of the fact that many people decide to live off-campus and residential life (reslife) would truly work with you to find someplace to live. Another reason why I was calm and collected was because I wanted to apply to live in special interest housing. Special interest housing is where there are different themed houses that students can apply to live in. Examples of themes include environmentally friendly themes (HIVE and Green House), culture houses and more! Normally, invitations to live in the themed houses are sent before students get their lottery numbers, so I definitely was not as stressed as most students were.

If you are reading this right now, I would highly recommend you to apply to live in themed housing 1) because you get your housing all set before other students and 2) you get to live with like-minded people who are passionate about the same things! Also, I will be sharing with you all why I personally decided to live in the Green House and show you guys around!

Before Green House was even created, we had the HIVE which was a 10-person suite in Latin Way. HIVE has 6 singles, 2 doubles, 2 bathrooms and one shared kitchen space. Green House is a community house (COHO) at Bellevue street that houses 12 people with 12 singles. We have 4 floors including the basement, one bathroom in each floor, kitchens in the first and second floor, and most importantly, a full-sized bed. If you were to ask me what the difference is, the HIVE is more for students who are Sophomores and Green House is for upperclassmen (Juniors and Seniors). Here is a picture of Green House:

Some other cool features of the Green House is that all of our bedrooms come with heating and cooling units, low flow plumbing features, bathroom radiant heating, New England sourced wood flooring, Vetrazzo recycled glass countertops, all electric appliances, and solar panels! You could really tell that Tufts put a lot of effort into making this house reflective of its environmentally friendly values!!

Some of you guys may wonder how Green House was even formed and created. This year and last year, reslife gave students the opportunity to create their own themed houses with their peers. We took advantage of this and applied for the Green House to be a place where we would host events related to environmental friendliness such as trivia nights. Some activities that complement the theme of environmental awareness include having an Instagram page @tuftsgreenhouse where we share recipes, arts, and tips related to the environment. In addition, we are very adamant about recycling and composting so we are all Student Sustainability Certified!! Honestly, we do not have high commitments at all living here and it’s so nice living with so many friends! And if you do not know anyone you will make so many friends!

Did I make sure to pull you into applying for theme housing and the Green House?? YES? I hope so!