we are... all freshmen.
Living in a tight knit space with people that are also going through their freshmen year provides comfort to many freshmen living at Penn State. At a campus with over 40,000 undergraduate students, it can be intimidating and overwhelming at times. Therefore, it is nice coming home to a place where there are only freshmen. Additionally, since all freshmen are in the same boat, they are all looking to make friends.
Comparing different residence halls.
Lucy unsihuay. resident of east halls fall 2014-spring 2015.
Living in East Halls this year contributed to making my first year at Penn State such an amazing one. Being on campus surrounded by sophomores, juniors, and seniors could be intimidating so it was always nice to know I could come back to East Halls surrounded by people my age going through similar experiences as me. Between late night trips to the Big Onion, walking together to football games, spending all my meal points at Good to Go, and doing more socializing than studying in the commons, living in East Halls was an experience I'll never forget.
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Lucy with all of her friends hanging out at the quad in East Halls.
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Kathleen scanlon. resident of east halls fall 2014-spring 2015.
Katherine leahy. resident of pollock halls fall 2014-spring 2015.
When my roommate and I got our living arrangements, we were bummed that we got Pollock, but we didn’t take any action to live in East. Although I liked living in Pollock (the proximity to downtown and most of my classes, the great food, the cute quad, etc.), I feel like I missed out on a lot by not living in East. During sorority recruitment, Pollock was a place great to walk across the street and sleep in between parties, but once I was actually in my sorority, all of my Freshmen sisters lived in east. Although I grew extremely close with all my friends in the Pollock dorms, I didn’t feel as close with East people as I did Pollock people. I feel like you grow close with the people you live with; you go out together in groups, eat dinner, cuddle during Netflix sessions, and are always (literally) there for each other. I feel like I missed a huge bonding experience with all of my new sisters and other Penn State Freshmen.
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Pollock Halls.
abigail ventosa. resident of east halls fall 2014. resident of south halls spring 2015.
Living in East Halls fall semester of my freshen year allowed me to develop friendships that I still have today. Without having the convenience of being able to walk from residence hall to residence hall or being able to go to the Big Onion to grab a quick bite, I would not have been able to make the strong friendships that I did as quickly. However, after pledging my sorority and developing these special bonds, I was ready to move onto the sorority floor in the spring. Even though a majority of my sisters were living in East Halls, some were moving onto the floor with me. Moving onto the floor was a great experience. I am living with some older girls, which gives me the opportunity to work with them when I am struggling with my homework or with choosing classes for my major. I also have access to many more diverse and healthy food options. Additionally, the single bathrooms are in much better conditions than the communal bathrooms in East Halls. However, as much as I have enjoyed my experience on the floor, I wish that I was able to finish off my experience in East Halls with the majority of my sisters and my fellow freshmen.
South Halls.