Nor4East

Hall: Norris. Floor: fourth. Side: east. The most basic way to summarize my location on campus is Nor4East. Norris Hall may be at the far end of campus, but it has its advantages: A/C and spacious rooms. Although you might feel isolated up on the far end of North Campus, you soon realize you’re not the only person living there. Most of my floor-bonding experiences include the first-year girls on my floor. We get together and engage in rituals with some of our friends in which we learn new things about each other and do random fun activities.

Floor bonding experience #1. Time: 10 p.m. A circle of college girls can be spotted on the east side of Norris fourth floor. Our conversations cover our lives and differing interests, which include playing the violin and writing. A common interest for the Gossip Girl TV show leads to the wild decision to watch episodes and then go on a late-night bakery run. With determination to eat fresh baked goods in the middle of the night, we stay up. Some of us take a nap that extends into a nightlong sleep. Others resist the temptation of sleep by munching on junk food.

At 2 a.m., we confront the morning breeze and walk downtown. The synchronized stoplights serve as a guide to Main Street and finally to the Danish Maid Bakery. A sketchy alley leads to the backdoor of the bakery, where Bill the baker greets us and shows us a selection of delicious calorie-stuffed pieces of dough that will contribute to our Freshman 15.

Floor Bonding Experience #2. Time: 7:30 p.m. My roommate and I raid a whole bunch of hall whiteboards with Expo-marker invitations to a floor-wide Sunday Movie Night. The movie is I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, a comedy to make us laugh and forget about our homework. With a great turnout and my roommate’s dorm-baked cookies, we indulge in a great time of laughter and leisure. It’s nice to have a tray full of cookies and a movie to distract us from our homework-addled minds.

Floor Bonding Experience #3 and others. Time: 6 p.m. With future plans to continue bonding, our floor’s student adviser (SA) comes up with the idea of having a floor dinner each week. Meeting in the fourth floor lounge each Friday, we walk over to the dining hall. One Sunday night, a trip to Tropical Sno (a snow cone stand in town) ends prematurely with an unexpected “Business Closed Due to Illness” sign. Our SA suggests several other options, but finding an open business at 7 p.m. on a Sunday night is difficult. After going from one closed store to another we end up eating Dairy Queen desserts that fit the cold windy weather.

Our floor bonding sometimes leads us all the way to the dance floor at Harris parties. There you can usually spot the Nor4 girls dancing to the rhythms of hiphop or ’80s tunes. My floor is the perfect combination of fun and community. It is simply great to belong to Nor4East.