Dear Nye Hall,
I can't imagine living anywhere else during my freshman year. You were everything I wanted and definitely more. Housing 544 residents and standing at eight stories tall, you are a beast. Upon arriving at the university, I remember how excited I was to be able to live in such a dorm. It was known to be social and I love to be social. When I arrived, you embraced me with open arms and no air conditioning. Despite Reno getting incredibly hot, I didn't mind (too much) that you lacked the proper cooling system and I forgive you for that. It is beyond your control and, after all, you do have heat.
Honestly, I have heard it all. How much better Argenta and the LLC were. They both had air and heat and they both had bigger rooms. Nye looks run down and is older. Community bathrooms. But I didn't care. The room was definitely big enough for two people to live comfortably. Even though your paint was coming off of the walls in some spaces and one side was a brick wall, I still loved you even if you looked like a prison. And the community bathrooms? Not a big deal, they were cleaned daily and nine times out of 10, no one was in there. You allowed us to leave our doors open, something no other dorm could offer. And what a life saver that was! Making friends is so much easier when you can leave your door open. And the access of having the lounge was such a life saver. If it wasn't for the lounge, a majority of my art projects wouldn't have gotten done nor would we have developed a dislike for Chrissy Teigen while watching "Celebrity Lip Sync Battle."
It was in Nye where I found my best friends and my current roommates. It was in Nye where I learned to put myself out there more and to get involved on campus. My RA helped get some of us involved and soon enough our floor (Six West, I see you) became a family. We stood by one another through those trying times and we were there for the triumphs. We definitely had our ups, downs, and times when we literally were not sure what was going on. But we held through like a dysfunctional family and managed to still love each other in the end. Sometimes I miss hearing people in the hall or people blasting music at 2 a.m. because I know I will never get an experience quite like that again. Or I miss how everyone was literally right next door and someone always was home. Between the late night pranks and early morning walks to class, there was always something going on and I miss it.
Nye, you were there when I was frantically writing a last minute essay and the WiFi went out. When I accidentally signed a lease and was crying my eyes out for two hours. When I celebrated my nineteenth birthday and my roommate decorated our room and all of my hall mates came in at midnight to sing to me. Whether it was academic, friends or real life, you were there.
Whenever I meet a freshman on-campus, the first question is where they live. I want to know who else is now basking in all the glory that is Nye Hall, because they are the lucky ones.
Thank you for the adventures, Nye.
