When I chose to live at Centennial, I had done no prior research on the layout of State's campus since I was transferring in as a Junior. I knew I wanted to live somewhere on-campus so that I could get a feel for the school's environment. I went to the University Housing website, saw that the apartment was on-campus and looked nice, so I signed up! Little did I know that my department (yay Humanities!) was on North Campus and I had chosen the furthest on-campus living option from all of my classrooms.

This whole year has been a learning process. After nine months, I can say that I have finally adjusted to the Centennial Campus culture. Here are some of the things I have learned about Centennial and have come to love about it.

1. It is really calm, like, weirdly calm

Walking through Centennial Campus at night, you can hear every movement of the breeze, the birds, and the trees. After spending a few nights on Main Campus this year, I was happy to have my quiet little place on Centennial to get away from the craziness of Main Campus and the city.

2. All of Wolf Ridge's residences definitely requested a bus stop in the transportation survey that was sent out at the end of last semester

And we all definitely rejoiced when we came back in January to see a new bus stop outside of Innovation. Now we don’t have to walk all the way down to the Hunt Library stop, and it’s a blessing to all of our tired legs.

3. Those of us who have to go to Main Campus have to plan our whole day around our "commute"

It is ridiculous how much time I spend every day getting from my apartment to class. I tell myself that I am commuting into the city for work and coming back to the suburbs in the evening like a big person to make the situation more bearable. Yes, it does take that long.

4. Wolf Ridge is full of Engineering students.

We also have a lot of International Students, which is really cool because you get to hear multiple languages being spoken every day! No, I don’t eavesdrop on people’s conversations trying to figure out what they are saying.

5. Looking up at those grad school balconies like

On some really nice mornings, it is hard to tell if I am at a really nice beach hotel or at school. The layout of the apartments, the beach volleyball net, and the breeze coming off the lake just make it feel like I am at the beach. Or…is it just me?

7. The Oval is underrated and should be open for dinner

I mean- sometimes I want chicken tenders for dinner and don't want to have to go to the store and make them myself. Main Campus has Talley for dinner, can't we have the Oval?

8. Speaking of the Oval...

Is anyone else extremely sad to walk by the construction at The Oval right now? I liked seeing the open field of grass. It was a great place to see the Eclipse, play some soccer, enjoy the sun! It is going to be missed over the next two years!

9. Finding the Lake

When I found the Lake Raleigh and the greenway, I was so excited. It is a great spot to get away from everything and enjoy nature! However, I am always disappointed that I don't have time to use it as much as I would like to.

10. Hunt Library

Living on Centennial is all worth it in the end because you have the coolest library on campus (in the state? country?) in your backyard. It makes late night study sessions more bearable knowing that your bed isn't that far away. And, there never seems to be anything that you can't discover at Hunt, so boredom is never an option on Centennial!