Once again, I’d like to kick off this week’s post with a big, enthusiastic CONGRATULATIONS to the newest Clarkies admitted to the class of 2017 this week. I’m so excited for you! This is about the time that I was admitted to Clark last year, and I remember how exciting it was. If you have any questions at all or you just want to have a chit-chat about Clark, feel free to reach out to me. I pinky promise that I can give you more information about Clark than any big name’s “Guide to 1240945345 American Colleges” ever could.
Half of Bullock’s second floor common room. I spend quite a lot of time here.
A few quick updates: It’s Spring Break! After finishing two midterms and a research proposal, I’m enjoying my well-deserved time off. I’ve been sitting in my friend Faith’s room for two days doing nothing but eating fast food, doing yoga and watching Dexter. We even went for a run around the lake that’s ten seconds away from campus. It’s creepily quiet here, since most people left for their Spring Break adventures immediately after class on Friday. I, however, am not leaving for my Big Canadian Adventure until Thursday. You can most definitely count on a Montreal-themed post, but if you’re itching for Clark Diaries adventure, check out what Pinar has been up to.
As soon as you send in your paperwork saying “YES, I AM READY TO ACCEPT MY BEAUTIFUL FUTURE AT CLARK”, you’re going to have to start filling out forms on forms on forms. Forms to the left and forms to the right. I have two takeaways from filling out thousands of these forms:
1. Yes, you do have to fill out your health forms. Remember when I didn’t, and I almost couldn’t register? That was a huge nightmare. Just do the health form. You won’t regret it.
2. Yes, you do have to take these forms seriously. It can seem tedious, and like they’re going to keep coming, but keep powering through. Some of these forms are boring, like the insurance stuff, but the roommate and housing stuff is so important. Those are words of golden wisdom, future Clarkies. Keep it in mind.
And this brings me full circle to the title of this post: Home, Sweet Home. Specifically, your collegiate home. Clark has a lot of housing options for such a small school, and as incoming first years, you’ll have the option of living in the Johnson-Sanford Center (JS for short), Dodd Hall, which is the all female hall, Wright Hall, and finally, my personal favorite hall and my current place of residence, Bullock Hall. All four of these halls are part of Clark’s First Year Experience program, which is a “residential program designed for new students and their needs during their first year at Clark University. The Residential FYE program combines three major components—residential, academic and programmatic—to enhance students’ academic preparation, leadership development and overall college experience”. It creates a sense of support and community that I’ve really come to value. I know it sounds mega cheesy, but it’s unbelievably true.
A lot of students here trash-talk Bullock because it’s the smallest residence hall, but I really like it because I think the size really fosters the previously discussed sense of community. I know everyone who lives here, and the third floor even collectively refers to itself as its own family. It’s nice to feel so close with the 150 people who live around you. Also fostering this sense of community is Bullock’s abundant common rooms, lounges, and general hang-out areas. There’s two small lounges
on the second floor towards the back of the building, three large common rooms, and two study rooms. You have to admit that for 150 people, that’s a pretty generous amount of space.
Also, I like Bullock better because it’s closer to the University Center (where all the food is…yum), the library, and the parking lot. It doesn’t get more convenient than that, future Clarkies.
We’re also equipped with a fully functional kitchen, which I was going to take a picture of, but there were about 13 people having a dinner party in there and I didn’t want to disturb them. The laundry room is on the second floor, and my favorite part about it is that cold water washing is free! Who actually needs hot water wash anyway?
Bullock may be small, but it has all the functions and facilities of every other hall on campus. It’s worked better than I expected to serve as my home, sweet home away from my other home, sweet home.