Ohio University has dozens of residential housing options. Most students bend over backwards trying to get into the newly renovated dorms at OU, and refuse to live in the older ones. I think that if you're an incoming freshman and miss out on the experience of living in a building like Wray House, Gamertsfelder or Washington, you aren't getting the full effect of freshman year. Heres why:
1. Doors stay open
If you want to make friends, having an open door is the way to go. New dorms have doors that automatically lock and shut right behind you. These dated wooden doors in the old buildings will stay open and allow friendships to be made quicker.
2. Fun atmosphere
Some of the new dorms have cameras in the hallways. In the old ones we don't, so there is always something wild going on like bowling with a basketball and water bottles, or "decorating" a friends door with something inappropriate.
3. Community bathrooms
If you want to get to know the girls or guys in your hall better, community bathrooms help. I know it may seem gross, but it's not that bad. You can wash your face by someone two doors down you've never talked to before, and stir up a convo. It's just another place to bring your floormates together. Even if it is when you're taking a leak.
4. Closer proximity
In the old dorms, the rooms are really close together and most are co-ed hallways. This leaves for a lot of relationship making. I literally met my boyfriend on my floor.
5. Endless excitement
When is the last time anyone heard of something crazy happening in Tanaka? Or Luchs? Exactly. Washington Hall is haunted and it creeps kids out and leads to awesome stories, and Gamertsfelder residents are outside every other night for a fire evacuation, which seems annoying but 9/10 everyone is laughing wondering what asshole did it this time.
6. Everyone knows everyone
I could probably name over 50 percent of the residents in Gam. Ask kids from the new dorms, or even newly renovated ones, and they cant say the same. Here in the less fabulous dorms, we're forced out of our rooms to socialize because they aren't a mini hotel. It leads to a lot of benefits.
7. Location
Most of the old dorms are located on East. East Green has Nelson 5 minutes away and Shively, 2. We also are closest to all of the educational buildings, so a walk to class isn't far. For the old dorms on West, they are blessed by having Boyd, Baker and Peden right there, too.
Basically living in a dorm is whatever you make of it. I could've chosen to complain when I got placed in Gam instead of a new dorm, but I didn't. Instead, I embraced the fun atmosphere, the crazy kids in my building, and the fact that the housing I was in had a lot of character just like I did. Living in the old dorms is a totally different experience, and you never hear of anyone older saying how rad their freshman year was without it following some older building they lived in.
