The first time I ever made pizza from scratch was in the second floor kitchen of Loose Hall in a blizzard. My hallmates and I were snowed in, class was cancelled, and it's hard to get excited about getting caught up on homework when the snow outside is piling up to more than a foot. Since no one really felt like venturing to the Dining Hall, which suddenly seemed miles away with a wind chill below zero -- we ended up combining the contents of the dorm kitchen -- someone's cheese, some flour left from a baking study break, tomato sauce from the third floor -- to make an impromptu pizza. It was delicious, made better by the community that fostered it. When people ask me about the best parts of Grinnell, I think back to moments like these: times I spent with people I never would have spent time with if we weren't brought together by being Grinnellians.
One of the most unusual things about Grinnell's residence life is that people of every year live together on the floor of each dorm, rather than having each year live in a particular set of dorms. This means that people build relationships with each other regardless of their years, and learn from each other all the time. I know that bonding with other Grinnell students regardless of our differences is something facilitated by the unique environment of residence life, and I'm so glad that I got to experience this during my four years here. Plus, I'm pretty good at making spur of the moment pizza.
