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Student Life | Housing Guide spring 2021
The freshman perspective: REFLECTING ON DORM LIFE IN THE FALL 2020 SEMESTER Reilly Brady Staff Writer After a semester unlike any other, many Washington University students, home for winter break, have been reflecting on their experiences in the dorms during this past semester. This semester, students were housed in individual dorm rooms without roommates, leaving some in single rooms with multiple suitemates, some in doubles with one suitemate, and others in spacious doubles or triples with no suitemates. Students were also instructed to refrain from visiting other buildings, but students within the same building could visit each other as long as masks were worn and social distancing was maintained. The rules established this semester will be continued into the spring semester as well. As a freshman living in the dorms this past semester, I spoke with freshman Maddie Dieffenbacher, a fellow resident and neighbor of mine on the second floor of Umrath, about the highs and lows of life in Wash. U. housing on our floor this past semester. Our conversation has been edited and shortened for clarity. REILLY BRADY: First of all, generally, how was dorm life for you? MADDIE DIEFFENBACHER: It was very spacious [in my triple] and I guess luxurious. It was way
bigger than my regular room at home, so it was nice to be able to have space. And I had two desks, so especially in COVID times, studying in my room was not a problem at all, and it was also nice to have people over and have space to social distance. Even though I didn’t have [a suitemate], somebody I could share a bathroom with, I thought it was really nice.
ple the first week, I didn’t mind taking the time to coordinate and find time to meet up with people, so it really wasn’t that big of a deal at the end of the day.
RB: With your triple, since you had all that space, did you reorganize your room at all to fit the area?
MD: Oh, totally. I don’t know if this is regular, but because I had weekly quizzes in a bunch of classes, it was really nice to have a place where I knew it would be quiet and no one would be coming into my room. I came home after break, and it’s just one less thing to worry about when you know no one’s going to be com-
MD: I had three of every type of furniture. I used one desk to put a TV on and store plates and utensils and random food items. So that was one desk, and then the other two desks I used for school. One of the beds I made into a couch, and the other two I combined to make a big queen bed.
RB: Especially with online classes, how much time were you spending in your dorm? Do you think it was more than if it had been a normal semester with in-person classes?
RB: I remember seeing it and being very impressed with your decorations. So you had the triple, and you had a lot of space that way, but did you feel like it was harder to meet people without a suitemate, or were you still able to meet people just as well as you think you would have with a suitemate? MD: I think maybe the first week for meals, that was really the only disadvantage I had was not [having] someone easy to coordinate with, but after that, it really wasn’t bad at all. People were super friendly. Once I met peo-
GRAPHIC BY MIA GOLDBERG
ing in and out of your room. Not that a suitemate would be interrupting, but to have all of that space just for yourself was really nice for online classes, and I definitely think in a regular year, if I did have a roommate or a suitemate, I would be probably in the library a lot more than usual, [more] than I was this year. I think like most people, [my room] was the easiest because you didn’t have to walk anywhere. I could be pretty productive there just because there wasn’t a lot going on. RB: I understand that totally. I feel like I would have used the libraries more, too, but, my goto was just [the Bear’s Den] if I needed another space to work in, or otherwise the common room
