Merrimack College has been the best place, and worst at times, to spend four years but has ended up being a place to call home. It is crazy how four years have flown by already because by the blink of an eye we can remember moving into Freshman year. There has been stressors but that is what college is all about right? We are meant to be pushed to our wits end and make it through somehow. Here are all the things we want to thank Merrimack College for giving us, as well as some of the anxieties it has given us. Here goes nothing!

1. Zyme, Zest & whatever starts with a Z in the library is the best place to eat on campus.

This Panera like restaurant is the sole reason why I never seem to make it through an entire semester without running out of Mack bucks. With good coffee, hot soup, warm paninis and flatbreads this place has a great menu to choose from. The Library is the central spot between the four academic building, it is conveniently located when you are running to print a paper right before class to grab a bite to eat and some caffeine. If you need a spot to go, choose here before trekking to Sparky’s where you might not even find a seat, at least the Library is three floors!

2. Hunger games to find a table in Sparky’s.

With campus expanding more with bigger freshman classes each year, it is becoming harder to find a table during dinner rush in sparkies. Most may call this Hunger Games: Sparkies edition because as soon as someone sees you getting up to leave or you see someone getting up to leave, you start to dash to claim the table before anyone else can.

3. Most of the staff in the School of Education Department and Social Policy are great!

The Education Department has some great staff hiding behind closed doors. For instance, the Director of Undergraduate Support always has his door open whenever us students need someone to talk to. He also makes sure all our stuff is in order when it comes to advising and always makes waiting for advising somewhat more enjoyable whether that is bringing in lifesize Jenga, or makes small talk while you wait to get called in.

4. Where is the second Turf Field?

Throughout four years at Merrimack there was always the saying of, next year, next year. Austin field was taken away during the summer of 2015 for new dormitories for additional students to our “small” school. This is where club sports teams were given field time to practice as well has a large space to hold events at the college. The talk of the second Turf field was mentioned but was never seen. We hope that Merrimack finds the space to add this field as it was crucial to many sports teams and would end the awful practice schedule that some teams are given over others gaining priority.

5. Classes on campus are small enough that you are more than just a Student ID number to your professors.

What drew me to Merrimack was the small classroom feel that my professors were going to know who I am. Allowing the professors and students to get to know one another took away the barrier that you see in movies of a large lecture classroom with the teachers just knowing your ID#. When you are having a bad or an off day your teachers can tell and will work with you to help as they can. Not understanding every topic or every subject is normal but being in such small classes the personalized education is there. Your teachers will meet with you during office hours or by appointment to make sure that you understand the material and better prepare you when you just feel like failing is the only option. Small classes are definitely a plus at Merrimack with the ratio of 14:1.

6. Painting the walls in all of the dorms does not make them “New Again.”

It is always a game when you see the paint chipping away in the dorms and wondering what was under there. Why is there such a thick layer of paint on every single wall in all the dorms over 4 years. The worst culprits of these are in Ash and Monican, the two definite oldest dorms on campus. The cinder block walls cannot be painted anymore. These dorms need to be severely renovated or something because simply painting them one more time is not going to do the trick of making them new again. Start fresh and redo the dorms please!

7. Den Debbie & Sheila will always brighten your day!

Surprisingly enough Den Debbie actually use to work in the Den back in the day. Now we get to enjoy her company as she walks around and greets us students during breakfast, lunch, or dinner at Sparkies! Sheila is always there to swipe you in and to tell you how many swipes you have left until you have to use your guest swipes or beg a roommate to swipe you in for dinner. Without these two Sparkies wouldn’t be as great as it is.

8. The Information Technology Staff is by far the best staff to work for and with during four years at Merrimack.

With open arms I was able to walk in on my first day and be greeted by the nicest and heartwarming staff on campus. As part of an Information Technology major a requirement was a 4 hour a week internship for one credit a semester for two years. Here I had the ability to get to know the people that keep all of the smart classrooms running, our emails working properly, making sure the staff and students are taken care of, and answering the Merrimack College main phone number (switchboard). The interns are welcomed into the family along with student workers that most of the time used to be interns. We have the chance to learn from the faculty and staff while getting hands on experience at what the field we are going into will be like. Whenever you have a problem with the WiFi in your dorms, or your computer breaks (if you are in the laptop program) someone is there to help! Thanks for giving me the best staff to work with and learn from over four years Merrimack, I will truly miss them!

9. On campus parking is a nightmare

Whether you are a commuter or a resident we all share the same pain when it comes to parking on campus. Before residents were assigned to park in lots I, J, & K. But this year we were booted out of lot I and sent to park in just lots J & K. Walking from the back of lot K is the walk every resident dreads on a cold snowy or rainy day and even at night. With addition of a few blue lights and cameras, lot J & K still can be creepy especially with the light that flickers on and off everytime you pass it.

Commuters have to share the remaining ten lots with faculty, staff, and visitors. Although they have ten lots to park it, they still struggle to find parking spaces near the buildings their classes will be in or near the library because they all get full by early afternoon. When it’s time for seniors and juniors to pick their colleges, the Sack lot tends to fill up full of prospected students making Merrimack use our wonderful lawn space by the church as a parking lot to accommodate all these people. When you don’t parked in your assigned area there is no free warning ticket saying don’t park here or this isn’t a spot. Instead you get a $25 warning ticket that gets added to your bill. You can always try and appeal it, but unless you don’t have a good enough reason why you were parked there you will still have to pay it. After three tickets you get the bright orange tow sticker that is a pain to get off your window and also blocks your view to your mirror. After you get the orange sticker of doom, you car will be on the radar and will get towed if you park in your unassigned area. There have been rumors about building a parking garage in the back of lots J & K which would be one short term solution to end the parking issue.

10. “ So far Sully” isn’t that far, can make it to class in 10 minutes or less

As much as we all complain about the walk from the resident lots to our dorms or the walk from apartments to the academic buildings or the walk to North campus or the walk to the freshman quad from apartments, these walks really aren’t that bad when you compare them to other schools. Yes it may take five to ten minutes to walk to and from your car to your dorm or walk to and from your dorm to your friends, but it truly is not that bad. So we are getting a little exercise by walking the ten minutes, if you think it takes to long then you can always invest in a Razor scooter like Chloe Rothman did or even long/skateboards. These will help you get around campus a lot faster then your feet will.

11. The heat, something Merrimack cannot seem to regulate.

Ask anyone and I am sure they can tell you one time out of many that the heat on campus was just a bit too high or out of control. Whether this was in the academic buildings, a central community space like the Sakowich Center, or even the dorm rooms there has been at least one memory of the heat being outrageous. Don’t ask me why in four years I would be wearing shorts and a T-shirt when I went to class on the second or third floor of Sullivan Hall but it was necessary. The classroom would feel less like a relaxing learning environment and more like a sauna or a boiler room. This made classroom conditions unbearable for not only the students but also the professors that were teaching. Nevermind trying to go to the gym and get a good sweat out because just walking in there sometimes it happened almost immediately. Merrimack, I wish you could figure out how to have normal temperatures in the dorm rooms, when it is cold out the heat seems to disappear and not work or on the other hand it is blasted to the point of dry warm air where we are sweating in the middle of the night.

12. Being on a team gives you a sense of family on campus.

Regardless of if your team is in the NCAA, if it is Club, or Intramural's, you have a group that you could closely call family. The days in and days out of practices, team dinners, games, and just hanging out, friends turn into family at Merrimack. Some teams are composed of athletes from all over the world, all over the United States, or all over New England, regardless we miss our families now and again. Having people that you see on a daily or every other day basis is truly something we take pride in. The support system that you are given by being on any type of sports team at Merrimack College is what the college thrives upon, a sense of community. We are all in this together and we can truly say that joining at team changed our experience for a positive over four years!

13. Unless your sport brings in money, not many people care.

Merrimack has 22 varsity sports teams on campus with the main ones being the Men's and Women’s Ice Hockey Teams. These two sports tend to draw in the biggest crowds and bring in the most money compared to other varsity teams. Unless you know a roommate, friend, or classmate you might not find big audiences at other sports games like you do at the hockey games. But as campus grows more and more students are starting to attend and cheer on other varsity teams too. Club sports don’t even get half the attention that varsity's sports do because they mainly just compete with other club sports teams near by.

As hard as they may practice and as well as they may do, they tend to get the s***t end of the stick when it comes to field space, vans, athletic services,recruiting services, locker rooms, and access to a weight room that the entire campus doesn't use. Trying to have team lifts or gym sessions in the gym in the Sack is extremely difficult and annoying to other students who just want to workout. Even with the new expansion of the gym, club teams still tend to take up the entire gym and tend to always be using most of the equipment. Having an area just dedicated to club sports and treating club sports similarly to varsity sports would help the club sport program grow and would resolve many of these issues.

14. Student Organizations are Where It’s At! #MakeItYourMerrimack

With over 60 clubs on campus, there is without a doubt something for everyone. You can get involved in welcoming the Freshman to our campus by joining Orientation or FYE (First Year Experience)! This is rewarding to get to know the new faces as well as making them feel more comfortable to walk around our beautiful campus and transition to the college life. Showing your music abilities with Pep Band playing at all sorts of events including the Division 1 Hockey games is a fun way to express yourself. If you like comedy there is a club for that, if you like gaming — guess what? There is a club for that!

Greek life is another way to have a family on campus! Merrimack Programming Board organizes our school’s spring concert and other entertainment events throughout the school year. Active Minds helps to end the stigma against mental illness and start the conversation. College is what you make of it, there is a reason that we pride ourselves on Make It Your Merrimack! Joining one or many of the student organizations that are offered on campus will change your experience for the positive we promise!

15. Stop accepting so many people, where do they come from?!

When coming to Merrimack we had the feeling that it was a place where we would see familiar faces all the time and we would feel comfortable. While that is true for the graduating Class of 2016 and prior it is not the feeling that all will have going here for four years. Wanting more money is just how a college runs, we get it, but do you really need to accept so many people that some become homeless in their years here? Why do we need so many people that we cannot find a spot in our student parking lot, our cafeteria or even the gym? Merrimack needs to stop expanding so the authenticity does not run out of the small school with the sense of community and family we all know and love.

16. The Beauty of Campus

There are so many beautiful places on campus regardless of where you go. The Mendel Pond is the best place to sit and relax with the beautiful fountains running. It is a tranquil place to be outside of the stressful spots being the academic buildings. The landscaping in the spring is filled with flowers, green grass, new mulch, and new trees being planted. Autumn is so gorgeous on this campus, the foliage is picture perfect every time. All the trees get decorated for the holiday season with lights galore so even during finals in the Fall you have a brighter scenery to look at. The decorations that Merrimack College adds to this campus make everything so much nicer! Regardless of the crazy weekends there may be, the trash that is left by some is cleaned up by the amazing Facilities workers leaving our campus looking clean and pristine all the time.

17. Housing selection and on campus housing stinks

On campus housing is great when you live in the newer/nicer buildings. “South Campus,” the Deegans, Gatti aka O’Brien, and North Campus are the few nicer places to live on campus. Ash, Monican, townhouse, and the Apartments are all run down. These are some of the oldest standing buildings on campus. Merrimack is starting to go through two apartments at a time repainting the walls and installed new rugs. As nice as they seem with the fresh paint and new rugs, they still look run down in the kitchen area and the windows. The townhouses have spiders and other insects that are crawling around the walls and ceilings. They also have creaky wooden stairs leading you up to the second floor and old windows. The housing selection this year might have had good intentions behind it, but it still sucked. Many underclassmen were unhappy with the fact that they couldn’t get into the dorms they wanted and that there are so many residents looking for housing but so little rooms for them all. Others weren’t happy with living in Royal because they didn’t want to walk across 114 and the shuttle takes a while. The other half of North Campus still hasn’t gone up because of zoning issues and lack of money. Maybe with all the incoming freshman coming Merrimack will get the funding to build the rest of the dorms and knock down townhouses and build new ones.

18. Finally, thank you for allowing us to meet and get to know so many amazing people these past four years. We will truly be life long friends and Warriors!

Being forced to mingle with other freshmen during orientation was probably one of the worse but best things Merrimack has made us do. Without orientation we wouldn't have meet the roommates and the friends we have today and we wouldn’t be as involved as we are without some of the best orientation leaders and involvement leaders out there. These past four years have been some of the best four years of our lives! Once a warrior always a warrior, Merrimack College will forever remain in our hearts! Farewell to all and to all a goodnight!